Saint's Sacrament - Sins of the Father (95 page)

You didn’t. I did.

“Either way, I will offer him a way out for a payout, in advance. The money, or his ass behind bars with nothing at all. The choice is his. I want every damned penny of that money in my possession. I may make the man suffer anyway…depends on how forgiving I’m feeling.” He laughed. “So, who was your source before I put in the effort to get this shit underway?”

“Oh, I know people, you know that. After a
while, we had the same circle of friends and some of these people, I still associate with. They don’t know about the charges against me because Saint never brought that to public light, as you are well aware of.” She grinded her teeth, angry that the evil bastard had discovered her indiscretion so it had been used once again, to her undoing.

“Good, good
,” he said sleepily, his mind no doubt whirling half-baked thoughts around. “Let me make some calls, and I will follow up with you. If what you are saying is on the up and up, we’re fine, and you will get your money. If you’re lying to me Payton, you’re S.O.L.” He snickered.

“Well,” she
said with a smirk, “I think you will find everything just as I’ve stated to be factual, if not even better.”

And with that, she hung up the phone. She turned toward the vast window to peer out at all of the people m
illing about, shopping, working and taking care of their daily errands on the busy street.

Just in case, goodbye, Manhattan…

~***~

Saint straightened from his slumped position on the couch in his basement. He’d fallen asleep during a marathon of Kings of Comedy. He needed something to distract him, to ease his mind, and Xenia could no longer be his playmate for the evening. She had a big show the following morning, and needed her rest. Even the boys weren’t interested in him. They’d been offered pizza and games at a local fair that Mama Pam took them to. That only left Isis, yet she was fast asleep after a long day of eating practically every piece of fruit in the house. He yawned and looked around in the dark room until he saw the familiar blue glow from his phone.

“It’s ringing…that’s what woke me up.” He yawned again
and looked down at the number, not recognizing it. “Hello?” he said sleepily as he got to his feet.

“Oh, did I wake you, Saint?”

He stopped in his tracks and looked over at his liquor cabinet.

“Is this Sinclair?” he shoved his hand in his pocket.

“Yes, it is! I didn’t think you’d remember.”

“Oh, I remember well enough…”

“Well, you got me fired from my job, and I never called to tell you ‘thank you’ for that!” he snapped with a contrived roar of laughter.

“
You
got yourself fired from your job, Mr. Grayson. You were there under false pretenses, now what the fuck do you want?” Saint grinned, knowing full well what the deal was. The greedy motherfucker had fallen smack dab into his trap.

T
he man sighed woefully. “I understand that things haven’t been going so well for you, Mr. Aknaten. My bad,
Dr.
Aknaten. I keep forgetting you went to school for sex, I mean, boy am I fumbling over my words today…” He laughed. “For sex therapy.”

“I am
a trained psychiatrist in the specific realm of sex therapy, Mr. Grayson. I would appreciate it if you’d move forward with the nature of your call,” Saint snapped in faux disgust.

“Yes. Well, Saint
, it just so happens,” he said, still laughing. “There I go again. Do you mind if I call you by your first name? I feel like we know each other quite well now.”

“I am going to hang up now…”

“Okay!” He seemed amused by his little cat and mouse game. “Saint, I can make all of your troubles disappear. For a small fee, I can make the hemorrhaging to your career stop. Now, I understand that the bank has probably frozen your assets due to the terrible mess you are in with the IRS.”

“How did you know about that?” Saint looked at himself in the mirror as he performed. He only wished he had half the skills of Payton to pull off such a feat.

“Let’s just say that when you messed with me, I messed with you,” Sinclair said proudly. “The cops, the whole nine, I can get it to stop in the next day or two if you meet my demands.”

“I don’t have any access to any money, you just said so yourself.”

“Oh, I have a feeling that you
do
have access to some and my records show that you have a beautiful nest egg in Luxembourg. Matter of fact, I think I may decide to open an account there myself!”

“So this is all your fault? You contacted the IRS? You filed false charges against me, Sinclair?”

“Now, now, Saint. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We can get into that later but first, let’s come to an agreement.”

“If you wanted money, you could’ve asked for it before doing all of this.”

“And your answer would’ve been ‘No.’” He cackled. “You see, Saint, unless it pertains to your books and conferences, you seem to be rather secretive. No one really knows what you are doing and how. Now, I’ll admit, you working for a bank is rather odd, and I can’t figure out that angle but I am certain it has aided you in your financial dealings. Now, I am sorry that your American checking accounts and bank cards have been adversely affected. Xenia, I’d imagine, has had to carry the load, and rumor on the street is that that house of your’s, all of those fine furnishings and nannies, and all of those expensive man toys you have in garage cost a pretty penny so it will only be a matter of time before that crib is on the market. Hey, I just may buy it when it comes up for auction! So, if I were you, I’d think long and hard about the proposal I am about to make…”

“Which is?”

“Five million dollars, Saint. That leaves you with about $400,000 remaining in this particular account, to get back on your feet until your legal matters are resolved and I will make sure that happens fast. The sooner you accept these terms, the sooner you can get your life back.”

“You want me to wipe out my entire emergency fund, give it to a man who attempted to use my wife to get back at me for something that occurred over seven years ago and—”

“No, motherfucker.” Sinclair’s calm, easy voice suddenly snapped and morphed like a chameleon. “You destroyed my life. Don’t minimalize this. You got me locked up, due to messing in business that didn’t concern you, and I had to build myself back up from the floor! You then ruined my name by showing out at the show. You are the reason my life is the way it is, and it is only right that you help rebuild it! Now pay up, or go down fast!”

“Sinclair, I don’t think you understand. I didn’t cause you to go to prison. I never informed anyone of—”

“Stop your lies! Do you know what happened to me in there?! Do you understand what happens to guys like me in prison?! Never mind that, you either take the deal and I make this shit stop, or refuse it, and you can keep going down the path you are going right now.”

Saint sighed
. “I suppose you are also responsible for the two brutes who tried to beat my ass?”

“Affirmative. That was a warning shot. I tried to be kind and let you know there was more to come.” He could hear the man’s
glee over the phone. “I was going to keep fucking with you until you ended up in prison, just like I did, but out of the kindness of my heart, I’m offering another solution. So, what do ya say?”

“I can’t, I mean, I need a little time to get my hands on the money. There are procedures in place.”

“It takes exactly two full business days to get that money wired to you. I’ve already done my investigation of the Bankquede of Luxembourgh. You also have a small account in Panama, approximately one million dollars. I’m so kind, I will also allow you to keep that but should you try anything slick, I’ll demand that money as well. You just need to understand that I have your entire financial picture now. I know
all
about your salary, earnings, what you pay your staff at that bank and they are some of the best paid managers and tellers, ever!” He guffawed. “I should work for you! Hey, I guess in a sense I am…”

“And should I do this, how do I know you won’t come back for more?”

“I won’t. You will have my word. I stand by my word, Saint. I’m sure Xenia can attest to that.”

There was a long pause.

“Okay, I will get the money and meet you somewhere. Now, you promise to call off the IRS and police, right?” Saint asked, doing his best to sound worried.

“Yes
, I will give you three days to get the cash…yes, I want cash, not a check. I will meet you at—”

“No, I don’t want you picking the place. I don’t trust you enough for that.”

“And I don’t trust you, either. Now, meet me at the old warehouse on Jefferson Boulevard. You bring the cash, unmarked. Only
you
, Saint. I don’t want to see any of your friends and if you tip off the police,” Sinclair said, his mouth sounding juicy with spit, as if he was trying to swallow his own dry threats, “I will know about it and I will ensure that not only is the deal off, but so is the rest of your life. Don’t try to cross me, Saint. This is your last chance.” The phone went dead.

Saint looked at the phone and beamed, then dialed Jagger.

“Sup,” Jagger answered, sounding upbeat with the distinct hum of the coffee maker in the background and a low roar of his television.

“Hey man, he ate that shit up. Looks like Payton played her part, at least half of it. Now, he wants to meet at some joint on Jefferson, some abandoned warehouse. We need to case it. I’m sure he knows it inside and out and he gave me three days to get the money. It will only take me a few hours
. I already spoke to one of the managers, but this will buy us the additional time to look at this place and figure out how to handle this based on that.”

Jagger burst out laughing. “He has no damn idea what he just walked into! I can’t wait!”

He heard Jagger crack his knuckles. The man had been itching for a fight; his breakup with Traci had practically sent him over the edge. It was evident because he pretended to no longer care. Lawrence and Saint knew it was an act, but he was doing what he needed to do to survive the whole ordeal.

“Oh yes, if things go as planned, this is going to be some awesome fun!” Saint laughed. “So, meet me over there,
uh, about one in the morning. I’m going to call Lawrence and fill him in and we can go from there.”

“Cool. See you then.”

Saint disconnected the call and smiled fiendishly. He’d dreamt about this moment for such a long time and it finally arrived. Timing was imperative. Lawrence had helped drill that home to him. Lawrence was the king of patience, waiting until the optimum point to strike like a lazy snake in the desert, blending in with the dusky landscape.

Oh yes, Sinclair. There will be cash exchanged all right, only, it will be you who will be coughing up the currency. You will finally pay the piper…

And the piper is named Saint…

~***~

“Daddy, what’s wrong?” Xenia stirred the sugar in his coffee as they sat together on the back patio, the morning breeze blowing through the trees and light wind stirring the pool surface. Henry looked at the children and shook his head.

“You are so blessed, Xenia.” Dakarai was sitting poolside with a curly straw of milk, a glossy comic book and his bright green swim trunks on. Hassani was doing leisure laps while Isis frolicked in her plastic baby pool nearby, her skin pruning and her smile wide.

“I am.” She smiled as she put the lid on the sugar bowl. She handed him his cup.

“Thank you.” He looked down into the hot, brown liquid. “I’m having a bit of a money issue, is all.”

Xenia paused. “I thought that was all resolved? I thought the loan I gave you last month would take care of it?”

“Well, I have some old debts
, Xenia, from waaaaaay back.” His small eyes twinkled. “I’m not asking you for any more money, I wouldn’t dare do that. It just has me concerned, is all.”

“What type of old debts?” Xenia set her cup down and crossed her ankles.

“Oh, some old gambling mess, when I used to be involved in that foolishness. The biggest ones though are the medical bills.”

“Daddy, you never told me you had outstanding medical bills. What is going on?” She looked him up and down; he seemed in good shape for a man of his age.

“Oh, you know, diabetes and stuff like that. I was in and out of the hospital.”

The memories flooded back. Porsche had mentioned several years ago that their father had diabetes. Xenia’s heart s
ank.

“Oh, Dad, let me help you with hospital bills at least.” She reached over and caressed his arm.

He offered a weak smile. “I can’t let you do that, honey. You’ve already helped me enough. I’ll figure out a way…just tired of the harassing collection calls.”

“Daddy, this is just silly. Of course I will help you…Hassani!”
She looked over at her son getting out of the pool. “Please stand here and watch, Isis. Grandpa and I need to go in the house for a second, okay?”

“Okay
, Mommy.” The boy came trotting over and plopped down near the baby pool, splashing the baby playfully with the water.

“Come on in.” Xenia smiled as she stood and opened the patio doors. “Now wait right here, I’m going to get my checkbook. I’ll be right back.” She returned less than five minutes later,
her ink pen ready. “Now, how much is the balance?”

Henry ran his hands together, a sweet smile on his face. “It’s $15,000, give or take a dollar or two.” He laughed lightly. “It’s a lot, I know.”

“Look Daddy,” Xenia said. She leaned against the kitchen counter, writing it out. “When it comes to your health and the hospital, I want you to call me. I know you don’t have the best health insurance. You and Mama are getting up in age and you have to take better care of yourselves. She finally let me get her some better health insurance, but it was like pulling teeth. Hopefully you will consider the same.” She tore the check out the book and handed it to him.

“Oh, thank you so much, Xenia. You don’t know how much this means to me, the weight you’ve lifted off my shoulders.” He glanced back down at the check, his cheeks
plumped up when he grinned. “I may take you up on that insurance and I was just thinkin’ about joining a gym. I took my youth for granted, I suppose. I was always in shape, had a great metabolism, you know. I wasn’t as suave and lean as your husband…” He chucked. “But I had some nice biceps.”

“Yeah
.” Xenia smiled sadly as she looked at the floor. “I saw the pictures.”