“They’re going to do more than take the garage. If I can’t come up with the money, they’re going to kill me. They’ll bury me, Tay. I want you to stay far away from here. If they know you’re connected they might hurt you too.” He pulled me close into a hug. “I can’t lose you. I can’t let them hurt you. They’ll do anything to get to me and the moment they know you exist, you’re in danger. Please, whatever you do just stay far away from this. I can’t have you getting involved.”
I took a deep breath and broke my father’s embrace. I didn’t know who these thugs were, but they were messing with the wrong person now. They weren’t going to come in here and hurt my dad, threaten his life, then take over our business in one fell swoop.
“How much money is it that you owe them?”
“One hundred grand.”
I exhaled sharply. “Okay, that is a lot, but we can figure something out. Maybe work out some kind of payment with them.”
My dad grabbed my hand and squeezed it. “Tay, it’s past that now. It’s one hundred grand in two weeks, or it’s all over.”
After making sure that my dad was okay in body, if not in spirit, I left him tucked into bed in the apartment and made sure that everything was dead bolted behind me. He was right, we couldn’t call the cops if we didn’t want him in deeper for something involving the mob or whatever these guys were involved in.
I was reeling and unsure of what to do, but I hopped in my car and got on the road. I thought of my mother, who died giving birth to me. I had never known her, but I wondered in this moment what she would have wanted me to do to help my dad. Maybe she would have told me to let him take care of it. What kind of fucked up decision was it to get into that kind of deal with people who were very likely criminals? Maybe he didn’t know that at the start, but it was generally a good guess that in our part of the country any kind of high stakes sports betting went back to a certain group with a terrible reputation. He had made his bed, he could lie in it.
But this was my dad. I couldn’t let this happen to him. He had worked hard on the garage, building it up from nothing. It was his second child! It was all that he had to give to me. I didn’t really care if I inherited it, even though I would have liked to. I would do anything to make sure he was okay. It was one thing to threaten our business, but it was another to threaten my dad’s life and think they were going to get away with it.
I sped to Club V. I wasn’t entirely sure why I was going there, other than to tell Samantha what had happened. She was my closest friend and confidant, and while I hated to bring this drama into her workplace, I needed her. I needed her support, composure, and common sense. She would have some idea of what to do, or she could pat my back and convince me that everything would be okay. If it came down to it, I would go to the police. If that was what it took to make sure my dad wasn’t harmed, I would do it. There was no way of being certain that he wouldn’t go to jail or that we wouldn’t lose the garage, but I could be sure that he wouldn’t be killed by these men.
I raced into the back entrance of the bar but slowed my pace as I approached the bar itself. I had texted Samantha to tell her I was coming and she was waiting there. She motioned for me to sit by her.
“I’ve got some time. It’s a slow evening and they don’t really need me at the moment. What’s going on?”
I spilled it all out from beginning to end. Samantha was as shocked as I thought she would be, but she tried to play it cool so that I wouldn’t lose it anymore than I already had. Celeste was eyeing us from the other end of the bar but giving me some privacy with my best friend.
“Okay, let’s think about this. What are your options here?”
I shrugged, completely baffled as to what I could do to fix this situation.
“Well, you could call the police, which doesn’t appear to be the thing you want to do, so we’ll move that down the list. I don’t think you can get rid of these guys on your own. I guess the only natural solution to the problem is to come up with the money.”
I looked at her with exasperated, red-rimmed eyes. “That is one hundred thousand dollars in two weeks. Where on earth am I supposed to come up with that kind of money in such a short period of time?
I didn’t know how long he had been standing there. I had never felt him arrive, but clearly, he had been there long enough to pick up on the most vital details of the conversation.
“Taylor,” Jake Mesa said my name softly from just behind where we were sitting at the bar.
I turned to face him, surprised to see him standing there. He wasn’t the last person I wanted to see—no, the thugs who had beaten up my father had taken that coveted spot on my most hated list, but I wasn’t that excited to see him there either.
“What?” I asked abruptly.
“I think I may be able to help you.”
Chapter 8
I took a seat across from Jake’s desk, the same place I had been the night before. That was three nights in a row now and I wasn’t looking forward to whatever conversation we were going to have here tonight.
“Can I offer you a drink?”
“Thanks, but I’ll pass.” I had no desire to repeat the previous night’s bourbon escapade. “I’d rather keep a clear head until I find out exactly what it is you’ve brought me here to talk about. Why do you think you can help me?”
“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. To tell you the truth, I didn’t expect to see you here again after last night. I was pleasantly surprised to walk out onto the main floor this evening and find you there. Now, I heard what you were saying to your friend, but why don’t you spell it out for me.”
I sighed. “I work for my father in his garage. I’m a mechanic.” I thought I saw his jaw tighten at that, but I kept talking. “Today when I showed up at the garage I found my dad there. He had been beaten up by some thugs who took off when I arrived. Dad had gotten behind on his mortgage payments and was trying to make it up somehow and he got into some shady betting. These guys were coming back to collect on what he owes them or whoever they work for. I guess technically they weren’t coming to collect today. It was just a warning that in two weeks he owes them.”
“And how much did you say it was?”
“One hundred thousand.”