Caught: In A Case by C.M. Steele
Chapter 23
I woke to him packing his briefcase and a small duffle. He told me he had an emergency meeting in Seattle, to square away some issues that had gotten out of control while he was gone, plus, there was no one there running the office. My Jackson had to leave me for the next two days; it was going to be terrible without him. Thankfully, I had my new families; his and the family that was stolen from me. I missed him already. I had just had a nice talk with my mother and father this morning, and it made me feel better.
Milo and I left the house and met my dad and brothers at the playing field in their town. The little Patriots, my brothers’ team, were playing against the Mariners; how funny. I gave them a hug and told them to kick ass, then sat next to my dad while Milo stayed near the end of the stands.
“Hey Pumpkin, I’m glad you could make it. I was surprised that he let you out with him so far away.” I felt sad at the loss of Jackson’s presence for the next few days; this sucked. My loneliness must have been etched on my face because my father patted my head and said, “I know you miss your guy. At first, I was skeptical because of the age difference, but it’s quite clear the boy has it bad for you. I love you, my woman.” I smiled and gave him a tight squeeze on the arm I had wrapped myself around.
After the game, we were going to celebrate the boys win at the local pizza place; however, before we left the stands, we were surrounded by a lot of my dad’s friends and co-workers. Word had spread like wildfire that they had found me after all these years. A lot of women had tears in their eyes and everyone was welcoming. Each person that stopped to talk said I looked just like my mother; I felt so welcomed. I called my mom just to say hello, it was nice to talk to her briefly before she had to run.
~~~~~~~
I was in a warehouse owned by the mob boss, Tony Franchetti. “Blake, you have ten minutes with that fuck to get your answers, but he is mine after that.” We shook on it. I had never gotten my hands dirty before but fuck it, this was my wife and that bastard in there was planning to destroy all that was good in her.
“Hey prick, wake up!” They sedated the bastard because they were saving the beating for me. I kicked the fuck in the shins, and he grimaced his ass awake. He looked like a fucking crack-head. Life wasn’t good to him in Vegas I guess or was it the last few days, knowing that he was being hunted by the Feds and the mob, but hell if I gave a fuck.
He was indignant like he was someone who shouldn’t be treated like anything less than a king. He was a piece of shit and was going to learn the hard way that he was worthless. “You brought me here? What the fuck will my daughter say when she finds out her lover kidnapped her father?”
“First, don’t ever call my wife that again. You don’t deserve the right to be considered her father. Second, she isn’t going to find out. I asked to come and talk to you in exchange for giving up your whereabouts. Her real father, in Maine, said to give you this.” I big-booted his balls. He yelled so loud that I thought the room would fill up with thugs by now, but I guess they expected he would be screaming, now that I got my hands on the fuck. “Now, you filthy piece of shit, what was this whole blackmail bullshit about?” I wanted nothing more than to kill this piece of crap. He had done damage to so many people; namely my girl and her family. He wasn’t worth the air he breathed, but I needed to know who all the players were so that I could eliminate the threat.
“Go fuck yourself,” said the bastard. I just laughed at his ridiculous ass.
“Really?” I belted that prick right in his face and started wailing on his ass. The thugs that had been standing outside the door busted in and pulled me away before I ended the fucking excuse for a human being. “I’m cool. You can let me go.” They released me.
“Lawman remember, don’t kill the fuck, we want him alive, and you need to avoid going to prison for him.” They stayed in the room by the door. I guess they were afraid I would murder the fuck before they got the chance.
“Shall I continue or will you?” I approached him with hatred in my eyes that had him praying they would just take him out and away from me. He nodded, and when the fucker finally caught his breath, he started from the beginning. He was running an illegal prostitution ring with his wife, but his habits got a little too expensive. He owed money; a lot more than he was making. He had taken out a loan from Franchetti when they first started this shit and had no way of making it up, that’s why he offered Elizabeth to him. When Franchetti turned him down, he went to the mayor, who had been a regular customer and had been pressuring them because he wanted in on the take. The mayor couldn’t have such large amounts of cash transferred without leaving a paper trail that could get him caught up, but he told Homan of a friend in Maine who could lend him the funds, if he ruined two people for him.
“Your partner paid us a large sum of money to ruin or kill you both. He preferred that you get arrested for taking underage whores,” he said proudly like he succeeded.
I started pacing back and forth while this fucker continued with their convoluted scheme to ruin Caleb, me, and my Buttercup. Thompson was to pay that prick to have us caught with underage prostitutes, forcing us to pay, and then once paid, he would still send the information to the police. It would never work. Thompson knew we liked the ladies, but he should have known we would have never paid for a whore, much less an under-aged one. Fucking Idiot. The mayor would get Elizabeth, after all was said and done, for setting up the contacts. The mayor was going to pay big time; I wasn’t going to forget this. I know my girl wanted answers, so I had to get those, too.
“Why the fuck did you kidnap Elizabeth as a baby if you didn’t want her? Don’t tell me you raised her with the sole purpose of selling her because that shit wouldn’t make sense.” I sounded calmer than I felt.
“No, I did it for that bitch of an ex-wife. She wanted the brat, and since she didn’t want to have her own, she decided she would take someone else’s. It was by chance that we saw the woman go into labor near the hospital. We had one of our security guards nab the baby in the middle of the night. It was too easy; the security at the hospital wasn’t very good.” He smiled; the nerve of him. That act destroyed so many people. I jumped at the prick and he flinched. It was clear I had him pissing in his pants by the puddle forming on the ground.
“Continue,” I ordered.
“I should have known that the selfish whore wasn’t mother material, but I did it anyway, and when the skank ran out on us, she paid. I found that bitch and made quick work of her body. No more Molly. I kept Elizabeth to make me look good in the community; nobody would turn down business when you were a single father, and the women, they put out. When I met Laney, we had plans to get Elizabeth in the ring as one of the girls.” I was trying to control the rage festering inside, I needed him to finish.
“We thought it best to keep her looking forward to going to school and letting all her friends know she was leaving soon, so it wouldn’t be noticeable when she didn’t return to us. Richards wanted her virginity and it was going according to plan; then she met the football player. I nipped their alone time to save her for the deal. She was useful up until she met you. Then, the bitch…” I laid his ass out. I didn’t need anything else from the fuck. Thankfully, I had gotten it all on tape; I wanted to nail the mayor. Of course, I only started it when he told his tale, the less of my involvement the better.
I had only made it to my car with Duke when I heard a single gunshot. Goodbye, you bastard.
I cleaned up and went into the office. Thankfully, we handled that nasty business before sunrise. I had shit to do, and I was meeting with the Feds today about Homan and the Mayor.
The meeting with them had been two hours long, and it was clear Reid did his job of giving them just what they needed to know. They had raided the brothel and were able to take some of the ladies back to their families while others were taken to local safe houses until something could be done with their situations. Several of the girls they rescued were pregnant. From the description of the man who impregnated them, it sounded like the mayor. It seemed Richards had a fetish; one that he was going to pay big-time for. His wife seemed to be unaware of his proclivities, but they were about to be out in the open. They told me that they didn’t need to talk to Elizabeth about Homan because they had all the evidence they needed to prosecute him, but I knew that he would never make it to trial. I was given a pat on the back, with a thank you and a “congratulations on my marriage”, as they left.
~~~~~~
I called Elizabeth numerous times since I left, hearing her voice made my day brighter; I couldn’t wait to get back to her. I had an idea that I hoped to set into motion that may make all of us happy, but first, I would have to meet with Caleb. When I got home, I was welcomed by my parents only. “Where is Elizabeth?” She should have been here, she knew when my flight was landing.
“She is laying down, Jackson.” Uh oh. What the hell, was she sick again? No.
“What’s wrong? Did you call a doctor?” I asked filled with dread.
“She is fine, Jackson, just tired,” my mom said in an attempt to placate me.
“Too tired to greet her husband? I don’t believe it. Something is wrong.” I didn’t wait to hear what else they had to say. I didn’t even notice that my in-laws were in the same room. I reached our bedroom and practically took the door from hinges. That frightened her awake. “Oh my, baby, are you not feeling well? Did you see a doctor? Why didn’t you tell me when I talked to you?”
She was smiling, probably thinking I was losing my shit. Well, I was. She was my world, and I couldn’t stand to see her sick. She nearly died on me; I lived with that memory every day.
“Jackson, I did see a doctor. No, I’m not sick, but I’m pregnant.” The whole house was alerted that I received the news because my joy was shouted out from the rooftops.
