chapter ELEVEN
Jenny
He had lied to me. Of course, he would never admit it, but it didn’t take a genius to figure things out. Two thugs had walked right up to us and grabbed me like I was property and Wilson didn’t even raise a finger to defend my honor. I still had bruises on my arms. I had tasted fear before, too many times to be exact, but it had always been fearing that my future would lead me nowhere; not that I wouldn’t have one. The two men knew him by name and the way they talked to him in such a condescending way wasn’t the only strange part, but his reaction was strange as well. He didn’t fight back or even act insulted. He didn’t come right out and tell them “take the whore,” but his lack of action said so much more than his words ever could.
If it hadn't been for the garage door imploding, I would probably be in the trunk of some ancient rust-bucket being held for ransom like a princess. I liked the idea that my life had value, that somebody had deemed me worth stealing, but I truly doubt Wilson would have paid. By the way they were talking they knew him, so for all I knew this was some pre-planned event. If that door hadn't imploded, who knows what I would be doing right now or where I would be.
I stood outside his office listening quietly. “His presence doesn’t change anything,” Wilson bellowed from his office. “I don’t know who attacked your brother, but it won’t change our plans. You will have what I promised and I’ll get the company.” Leaning back in his chair, he started dabbing the sweat from his forehead with his silk handkerchief. “Yes, it was a slip of the tongue. I run the company until I retire and then you take over full ownership.” I listened to the conversation intently, trying to determine who he was talking to. “That isn’t necessary. I don’t know who threatened you, but you don’t need to do that.” He kept staring at the picture of Sammy and I that he always kept on his desk. “No, you don’t have to do that. Our deal was that if I fail, you will take the collateral until you are paid in full. It’s not too late and your guys came for the collateral way too early. Agreed!” Slamming his hand on the top of his giant oak desk he started squeezing the phone receiver tighter. “Son of a bitch. Son of a bitch.” I could imagine his knuckles groaned and crackled as he gripped the phone a little tighter. “No, I didn’t mean you King, I meant this damn situation.” Wilson rarely drank alcohol, but in this ten-minute conversation he’d already down two scotches. “Yes sir, I’ll take care of the situation.”
I quickly snuck away and slipped back into my chair like I had never left. I grabbed my cup of tea in an attempt to look nonchalant, but it tasted terrible. Cold tea never had the same taste as it did when it was freshly brewed and hot. I stared at the door expecting Wilson to come slithering out as he slipped away, making some kind of excuse as to why he had to run to the office. I always believed him before as he never gave me reason not to, but now I had doubts. I waited for some time expecting him to come out at any moment, but he never did. He always had his secrets, but it was always business and as long as he was making money I was content to live in ignorance. I even did all sorts of un-ladylike things to help build his career. He never appreciated the things I had to do and endure just so he could move a little higher up a little faster in his career. I couldn’t help but wonder what else he would expect me to endure now in order to help his career along. I had finally decided that I had to see what he was doing, and walked over to his office.
I called out to him as I neared his door.
“Wilson, what are you doing?” He was still talking on the phone and looked even more stressed than he had been previously. He realized that I was there, but didn’t take the time to respond. With a look, he slammed the door right in my face. Wilson seemed to have secrets after all. Too many secrets.
I wasn’t sure what Wilson was doing, but he sure took his sweet time doing it. I wasn’t used to being alone so the day seemed longer than most days. Most days I would do some shopping and spend Wilson’s money, but I wanted to see what my darling husband was doing behind closed doors. He had never closed his door before, but now he hadn’t just closed it, he had slammed the damn door on my face. He wasn’t exactly whispering as he kept going on about Renaud this and Renaud that. I had always known that Wilson was jealous of Renaud, but now it seemed like there was some kind of mutual hatred and I was the prize caught in the middle. The last twenty hours had made me wonder if maybe I had made the wrong choice. Another part of me was sure that I hadn’t, though. Renaud’s success came from a broken heart. It was that pain that had lingered and made him climb from rags to riches. If I had stayed, everything would be different. Renaud wouldn’t have written that book if he had felt my love. I truly did love him once, but he didn’t have a future back then. He was just a worker bee, and if I had stayed I would be just another worker bee’s wife like all the other woman I grew up with. Some had jobs and most had kids, but the truth was at the end of the day they were just worker bees. They didn’t travel to Europe twice a year, they didn’t see the beaches of world, and they didn’t have the time to live for themselves. They always had to put family first when we were creatures who were designed to love ourselves first and foremost.
I picked up my phone and just lookedat it. So many contacts conveniently listed in groups. Wilson’s family, business associates, charity contacts, educational alumni, retailers, and financial contacts. I even had a listing for bankers, but no friends. Not a single listing. I used to think of family as friends with blood ties, but over time I realized that I had no friends. I scrolled down to the other folder. Opening it there were only two contacts in it, Mike and Renaud. Once the two people in the world that I was closest too, yet now they were so distant from me that they are now listed under ‘other.’I clicked on Mike’s name and stared at the white box with the flashing cursor. I didn’t have anything to say, but I was lonely.
“Hey, what are you up to?” I texted. I waited for a response, but I wasn’t exactly surprised when there wasn’t one. Over the last few years Mike didn’t respond as fast as he used to.
I clicked the name Renaud and my fingers hovered over the textbox. I asked myself, should I? Dare I text him?
“Hey handsome, what are you up to?” I took the plunge. Tacky I know, but I had to break the ice somehow. I saw the three little dots signifying him trying to respond start and stop a few times under his name, but no message.
The new message chime sounded and I popped open the message. It was Mike. “I am just hanging out with handsome,” was his response. I couldn’t help but smile. It was just like old times. Renaud getting all the attention and Mike trying to turn it into a joke. I always knew that Mike worshipped me, but he was too much like a brother for that kind of thing. I responded in turn, “What are you two doing then?”
He replied, “Just drinking coffee and chatting about life.” I wanted to ask them if my name had come up, but I was afraid to hear the answer. I was afraid that the answer would be no.
“I guess he has lived quite the life after traveling for fifteen years.”
“You would think so, but he isn’t really saying much about it. I think that it was either so damn good he doesn’t want to brag, or so bad he is too embarrassed to say much.”I wanted to text him and ask if I could join them. I felt like I belonged, but I couldn’t. Not yet at least, because I still had to wait until the proper time to slide into their lives.
Wilson opened the door and stormed out like he could read my mind.
“I need you to go to the bedroom and stay in there until I call you.” I couldn’t tell if he was upset or scared, only that he was sending me to my room like a naughty child. Normally, I liked being a naughty girl, but not in this way.
“Why am I being sent to my room? I’m not a child.”
“Do as I say, now!” he snapped. Running his hand across his face he looked like he was about to scream, but he took a deep breath as he walked over and took my hand in his. “Listen, Jenny. I am having a meeting with some men …. not business colleagues. I need you go to our room and wai
t for them to leave.” Stroking my hand, he whispered, “Jenny, just do as I ask for your own safety.”
“Wilson, tell me what’s going on,” I pleaded as I squeezed his hand. His skin felt so thin and soft as I held it in mine. Had it really been so long since we had held hands? There wasn’t really any love or passion, but we at least always gave the impression of a loving couple. Hadn’t we or was I just fooling myself?
“It’s business, Jenny. Just do as I ask and everything will work out. It’s business and I always win at business.” Was he just trying to brave or was he really so sure of himself? He was a brilliant business man,that was a fact. He was like a cobra in a way. He looked so majestic that victims would belulled by how beautiful he looked, but by the time they realized how dangerous he was, they hadalready been bitten and were facing death.
“As you wish,darling,” I responded. I stood up and headed toward our bedroom. I hated feeling this way, this helpless sensation that I was weak and had to hide in the back to be protected. Wilson had always showed me off like a trophy. I had always been a symbol of his money and power, not an embarrassment.
As I turned the corner I heard him utter one last reminder. “Don’t leave the room until I call you Jenny.” I entered the room and closed the door. I sat on the bed trying to decide what I was going to do with myself when I heard a click. Running over, I grabbed the handle and it was no surprise that it was locked. The bastard had locked me in. He wasn’t just hiding me in the back, he was locking me up like a frightened child.
Idle hands were the devil’s playground, my parents used to say. My father always made it a point to make sure his only daughter was never left with too much time on her hands. He had gotten my mother pregnant when she was sixteen years old and feared I would follow in her footsteps, so he demanded that I studied hard or helped him fix cars or mow lawns. Pretty much anything that would make me self-sufficient, unlike my mother. She was a helpless princess at best. She cooked supper but it never tasted good, she washed laundry but the whites always turned pink, and she loved shopping but we never had enough money. My father loved her too much and she loved him too little.
I sat there trying to decide what I was going to do with myself. Wilson had always said that the bedroom was designed for sex and sleeping, so he never allowed us a TV in the bedroom. Of course, there hadn't been a lot of sex there either so I rarely spent much time in here. There were no books to read as I wasn't what you would call a great reader. When we bought the three-bedroom condo with the added nanny suite I told myself that I would make it my own and add personal touches to make it my style, but I never did. I didn't even add a coat of paint. The truth was that nothing in the place was mine. The house, like everything in it including me, belonged to Wilson. Well, until he died. Then I would own it all including my body again. It was a fact he never let me forget.
I went for a soak in the bath. A long soak that would relax my whole body until it was like jello. I walked into the unsuited bathroom and started the water in the marble heart shaped tub. Again, tacky as hell I know, but when we bought this place I had the idea that our sex life would be like a porno movie so I kept it. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that it would be just a one-sided film that nobody would even care to watch. The tile was hideous, I thought as I laid there soaking in the heat. It might have looked fancy and the idea of it made me feel rich, but it wasn't homey. It looked and felt too much like a five-star hotel instead of where I actually lived. I laid there in the tub watching the white snow flake bubbles that covered my body. Well, covered the all the interesting parts at least. I adored the way my body looked, with my slender legs and the way the suds made me feel like some kind sex symbol. I stretched out and slithered beneath the water, letting all my stresses fade away.
I was tempted to snap a picture or two and play with Renaud and Mike, but for some reason it didn’t feel right. Maybe our history made it feel wrong, or maybe seeing him and knowing what I will do to Renaud made it feel wrong. If I was developing morals, today wasn’t the day. Today was a day to play. I held my phone at arm’s length and positioned it to get the best angle. Carefully, I examined every detail of the pose. If you looked carefully, you could see just a hint of my nipple. Not enough to look like whore, but enough that someone might think it was just a sexy accident. That was the best part of sexy accidents. They were all carefully planned and calculated. I popped open a text box and tapped Mike and Renaud’s names, attaching the picture with the accompanying text, “Here, have a great morning.” I could see that the message was received and read, but there was no response. Strange as it might sound, I was hoping for some kind of reaction. I would have preferred a “WOW” or “Hey sexy,” but there was nothing. I would have even settled for being called a whore. Any reaction was better than nothing at all.
Glancing out into the bedroom I could see the lights on the intercom panel blinking bright red. I had always played dumb when Wilson wanted to teach me how to use it. He truly enjoyed the feeling of being superior. He had that old school mentality that women were fragile and helpless and the man was the king of the house. I gave him that, but I wasn’t just another dumb blonde. No, I played that part like a rock star, but I always had a knack for figuring out technology whether it was a new cell phone, social media, or in this case an intercom system for spying on the household.
I walked over to the panel and went through the icons one by one. It was not unlike a tablet with specific icons related to each function and quite easy to use. I pressed “security” and a 3D image of our house started to form on the screen. I pressed on the office icon and a password prompt popped up. Wilson always thought that he was smart and that nobody could outsmart him. Of course, after watching him over the years, it wasn’t exactly neuroscience to crack the password. I typed “
[email protected]” and heard the chiming that indicated I had inputted the proper password. I clicked on “listen” and heard voices.
“So on the day this Renaud guy arrives, my little brother gets a visit from this couple. A man and a female.” A loud slamming noise followed, “And they broke his arm, telling him to bring me a message. Who the hell do they think they are? I run both sides of the bridge. Nobody tells me what to do anymore.”
Wilson’s voice was cracking as he responded, “The female would be Murlin. Apparently she’s been with the family for years and they treat her like family.” I could just imagine him pacing around as he continued, “There was no way I could have known that he would return.”
“Johnny says she’s a wild one, this Murlin. Not just sexy as hell, but a tough bitch too. Look at his arm. She snapped it in two like it was a twig.”
Wilson mumbled, “I don’t know if she could do that to tell you the truth. Sexy as hell, but I never would have thought she was capable of something like that.”
A voice snapped, “Do you think that I am lying? Do you think I would lie about some bitch with an accent breaking my arm?” A loud crack happened, followed by a moan. They must have slapped Wilson across the face and I hope like hell they broke his nose. I heard that boyish whimper of his that always reminded me of a frightened child.
There was silence for some time before a loud boom followed, breaking the eerie peacefulness. “Is the picture of the man in the back of the book the one that attacked your brother?”
A deep voice replied, “Yes, that’s him. He is a little older now, but that’s the spitting image of him. That’s the bastard that told me to tell you to leave this guy’s wife alone.”
"My wife was engaged to him when they younger. Maybe he is still stuck on her. She doesn't want anything to do with him, but she will do her part in seducing the company away from him."
The first man snapped, "That raises a few good questions. How does this guy know about our plans and what you offered?" A series of loud slaps followed and he muttered, "Who did you tell, Wilson? I told you when we started this thing it had to be on the down low."
Pleading, Wilson whined. "I didn't tell anyon
e. Why would I be so stupid? I’d end up doing serious prison time if we were caught."
"No Wilson, you won't live long enough to make it to a 6 x 8 cell." Another loud series of cracks followed that was so loud it sounded like thunder. "Who did you tell? A business partner, cops or the bitch you offered up as collateral?"
"I didn't tell anyone, King! I swear I didn't whisper a word."
"I swear to you Wilson, if this thing goes south I am going to whore out your pretty little wife and daughter until your debt is paid in full." What damn debt was he referring too? This made my skin crawl as the threat he had uttered sunk in. That bastard traded us for money. He was always looking for the fine print and selling me was his way of winning. It really surprised me that he was willing to throw me away so easily but selling our daughter was unforgivable. She might not be his daughter by blood, but he raised her like one. How could he throw her away like everything he’d done for her as her father had been an act?
"No, King. My daughter wasn't in the deal. Only Jenny, and that's only if I fail." That son of a bitch made me his collateral.
The dumber sounding one added, "I am not touching ..." A ding sound rang out. I looked and saw a message from Mike.
"What the hell was that?" Fear took over as I realized “listen” had turned on the microphone. A series of booms followed as Wilson whined and someone screamed, "Are we being recorded?" Loud grunts followed as he yelled, "You goddamn fink." After a moment I heard some say "Find out where that came from."
My hands shook as I tried to text Renaud. “Help me! I’m being kidnapped!”
It sounded like thunder as the door broke open. It was one of the men from last night. His face was bruised and twisted. He looked more like a freak then a man and it was obvious he’d been beaten for some kind of failure. I could be certain that a whore would be treated much worse than a thug for failure. I ran towards the bathroom screaming, trying to escape. My neck was jerked back and I heard a loud clicking noise as my feet shot forward and I was yanked backwards.