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Let the truth sting!

James

 

So here I was, waiting for Julian McCarty to open the gate. I had my poker face on. This was going to be the gamble of all gambles.

I needed the man to back off her. Once and for all.

I hadn't told Vi how exactly I would accomplish this task, but after all, I was James Marshall, professional handler. People leave it to me to solve their problems; they don't usually care about the intricacy of it all. This would be no different.

I know she had asked me to be gentle, but sometimes you have to give tough love to be heard. I figured Julian McCarty would not give her up if I let him down gently as she requested.

It was going to be brutal.

I had returned from Dubai the previous evening, and spent most of the night working on my recordings.

What recordings, you may ask?

Well, truth is, when Vi and I had been talking on the flight, I had recorded the first 2 hours of our conversation.

Yeah, I know, underhanded, but I didn't know the full story yet, and needed to record whatever she said for my records, just in case.

I had stopped the recorder, the minute I realized what I was dealing with, and knew I wouldn't rat her out to anyone. This happened at about half way of her tale.

Of course, she didn't know and never would. I had placed the recording in a safe this afternoon after taking what I needed from it. No one but me would ever have the chance to listen to it.

"James Marshall." I said, when he finally came to answer.

Let the show begin, was my thought, as I drove up to the house.

 

((~~!~~))

 

Julian was waiting for him, door opened.

"So, you finally remembered the person paying your bills..." was his welcome, motioning me to come in.

Once inside, before I could reply, a feminine voice said, "Julian, and who is this...?"

It was Frances Palmers, I recognized her immediately and as I waited for Julian to respond, she was licking her lips, watching me with a grin, already flirting with me if I read her correctly.

I realized Julian was not answering, so I said, "James Marshall. A pleasure..."

I was interrupted by Julian who seemed to have finally found his voice, and curtly said, "Frances, if you don't mind, Mr Marshall and I have important business to discuss. Can we take a raincheck on...Hmm...Look, I'll call you later, ok? See yourself out..."

He grabbed my elbow and said pointing towards a corridor, "My office is this way..." and as I was walking alongside him, I turned my head and saw Frances, rooted at the spot with a stupefied, wondering, look across her face.

Once in his office, door closed, he asked me if I wanted a drink. I said, "No, but help yourself. You might need it..." He glanced at me with a murderous look and said coolly, "And, what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means you're probably not going to like what I'm going to say." I replied with conviction.

Julian was silent, and I could tell he was starting to fume, not liking the attitude I was giving him. But I have to give some respect to the man. He just said, "Take a seat, I'll be back in a minute." and walked out the door. He came back a few minutes later, sat down across his desk and said calmly, "Start talking."

"Well, there isn't much to say. I found her, spoke to her, and she wants nothing to do with you. That's pretty much it." I said, all businesslike.

"Really? And all this took 7 days? And incidentally cost me 35k? Do I have 'walk all over me' written on my forehead too?" He asked with a grin.

I smiled. The man was cool as cucumber; I was starting to get impressed.

He got up from behind the desk and came at the front of it, leaned back against it crossing his legs and arms, his eyes never leaving me once and said smiling, "Mr Marshall? If that was it, you could just have returned one of my numerous phone calls and just said what you just said. Instead, here you are  a week later, in the flesh..."

He had me there.

"Well, I figured we needed to meet, at least once, even though I'm the bearer of bad news...." I replied with caution as I was watching him. It was clear as day, he was unfazed.

"James. Do you want to start again, or is this your story? You found her, and she's not into me? That's it?" He continued with a smile, his hands behind his head in a very relaxed posture.

I admit. I was getting nervous. He didn't have the angry tone I had been expecting.

"Well, it's not a story. I'm telling you the woman is simply not interested. What happened between you two was a one-off, and she simply doesn't want you in her life. She's otherwise involved, and wants to keep it that way." I firmly said.

"What's her name?" came back, curtly.

I hesitantly replied, "The one you gave me: Victoryn McGregor."

"So, I was right. She is married...." he said in a wondering tone, more to himself than me.

I didn't reply. "Where is she now?"  He pursued, looking back at me

"Overseas," I answered.

"I see. So this is what took you six days before coming back to LA?" he asked with a pinning stare.

"No, that's not it at all. I actually found her within 24 hours, but yes, I had to confirm it was her; and, getting her to talk to me took a bit of doing. She's not very talkative as you may have noticed..." I explained, "Anyway, we had a conversation, and she confirmed pretty much everything you told me about that night and a few other things, but she made it clear, she did not want to have any more contact with you. She said if I persisted on harassing her, she would involve the authorities. And this applies to you too...She wants to be left alone..." my voice trailed, hoping he'd catch the drift.

I ran a hand through my hair and let out, "I had no choice but to back off, and I can only advise you to do the same...I mean the last thing you'd want is stalking charges filed..." He looked furious, but I added on, "This was 3 days ago. But, I knew you would not be pleased so I delayed as much as I could.... and since she told me she would be away by then, I figured it would soften the blow..."

Julian was silent for a minute processing what I was saying, and looking at my contrite face, but then he said with firm voice,

"This is a very nice story, but I simply do not believe she would not want me in her life. Married or not..." and he continued with a menacing tone,

"Let me tell you something about me Mr Marshall, I don't let go of what's mine very easily, and see, Vi is mine, and it'll be a cold day in hell before I take the word of some shady character and just...."

I interrupted him, saying, "Would you take her word?"

He looked at me and asked, "What do you mean?" while crossing his arms.

"Exactly what I said. Would you accept her own words telling you to leave her alone?" I repeated, my eyes on his.

"Yes. Do you have her phone number?" he asked, his body relaxing.

"I do, but I can do you one better, before you start making calls and make some trouble for yourself..." I replied while I was pulling my Iphone out of my pocket.

He was giving me a puzzled look as I pressed play.

Vi's laugh filled the room. Julian sat down as if he's been hit in the chest.

Until, 13 minutes later.

He barely whispered two words to me, "Get out."

I did, and closed the door.

I told you it was going to be brutal.

 

((~~!~~))

 

Julian

 

I was finally going to meet the man! About damn time! I simply couldn't wait for him to bring himself to the front door.

He got out of his car, and I was somewhat surprised at how young he looked, but I knew Marcus would never use anyone who wasn't a real pro, so if Marcus trusted him, I had no choice but do the same, but I'll admit I was pissed at him. Why on earth did he disappear for 6 days? And not return any phone calls? What kind of professional does that kind of shit over a little search?

When he finally was at the entrance, I motioned for him to come in, sarcastically thanking him for remembering who was paying him.

Once inside, Frances had been waiting for me to make introductions, but I had no desire to share who James Marshall was with her. When he presented himself, I had no choice but to cart him away quite abruptly, in front of a stupefied Frances.

In my office, after the usual preamble, it became apparent that Mr Marshall was a cocky bastard giving me attitude.

Clearly, he didn't know whom he was dealing with.

But before showing him, I had to deal with Frances. I went back to make sure that she had left, and upon finding her in the corridor, escorted her to her car, making sure she was leaving, and locking the door once I got back into my house.

I did not want anyone to hear what James Marshall had to say to me, least of people Frances.

It was bad enough, I had my boys, Marcus and Todd, see me unravel, I didn't need any more witnesses.

When I finally got back to James, he gave me his finding in a simple sentence. He had found her, but she wasn't into me. Period.

I had to laugh. I mean, did he seriously think I would just take that, say ‘thank you, and see you soon'?

Who the fuck did he think I was?

And just when I was about to kick his ass, I heard her laugh.

That son of bitch had pulled a recording of their conversation, and said, "Listen to what she says about you and her life."

Her laughter filled the room. It was her. There was no doubt. My heart started to beat faster, as if I was finally alive again after the week from hell.

I had no choice but to listen to her voice.

13 minutes.

13 fucking minutes. That seems short, but they were the longest.

And that's how long it took for my heart to break.

By the end of the recording, it felt like I could physically feel the thousand shattered pieces in my chest.

And, it hurt like hell.

I could barely speak to ask James to leave.

I was crushed.

 

((~~!~~))

 

James

As I was driving out of McCarty's property, I had placed the Iphone on my car speaker, and as I was waiting for the dial to connect, I was thinking about what I was going to say to her, but more importantly about the tone I was going to use while saying it.

After, a few rings, I heard her voice say, "Yes."

"Hey! What time is it there?" I asked trying to sound calm and somewhat cheerful.

"About 8:00 a.m. How are you?" I could hear the smile in her voice.

"I'm..." I answered, but I noticed that the car that had been following mine right after I had passed the exit gate had lights flashing and the driver was pressing the horn as if there was no tomorrow.

I said, "I'm going to call you back in a few, something is up," and I stopped my car on the side of the road. Getting out, I already knew who the driver of the Porsche Speedster was.

She exited her shiny car, marched towards me, and signature smile on, she said, "I think we should talk, Mr Marshall?"

I grinned and asked, "What do you have in mind Ms Palmers?"

 

 

 






Chapter End Notes:

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Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.