Page 21 of Tyrant

He wasn’t listening. “What is the crisis?”

“We’re being audited because of my ex.”

“Gary Beckett,” he grunted. “I assure you; you will make that flight. Everything will be sorted before then.”

“What do you mean?”

The line went dead before an answer came. I would have called back but I was summoned by the auditors. I spent the rest of the day talking to the external audit team, our audit team and accountants trying to sort out everything. Since I was partner, I too was in trouble and had to show them my personal financial records.

Things were not looking good, and I was beginning to think I should just walk away from this. The stress was killing me. Gary was killing me and now he was nowhere to be found. I swore to myself that I would kill that bastard whenever he decided to show.

Chapter 10

Zakhar

“Who are you?” Gary directed his question at me.

La Policia brought him out and he could barely stand straight. His clothes were torn and dirty, and he smelled of piss. I took a long look at Tabitha’s tormentor and wanted to rip his throat out. I’d never been feral over a woman until a few days ago. Something about her made me want to protect her with everything I got.

I held up my left-hand and pointed at my ring finger – a platinum band with a bezel styled diamond. “Tabitha’s husband.”

The man was tall, thin, and fairly attractive with dark chocolate skin. I could see why Tabitha was drawn to such a clown. It wasn’t hard finding him, but to think he was already locked in jail had been a bonus. He deserved to be incarcerated – or worse – for what he was putting her through. With a busted lip, face all bruised and swollen, it was obvious they were giving him the welcome treatment.

Gary laughed. “Really, who are you?”

“Shouldn’t you be asking, what is it I want, or how I was able to find you?”

Gary’s face lost its color. “What you want?”

The prison house smelled of shit, piss, and stale sweat. I sat in the warden’s chair while the prisoner stood watching me. The warden also stood aside nervously because he was afraid of the commissioner who had ordered this. There was someone from every country who could either be bought or had dirty secrets they were trying to hide. The commissioner of this province was one such man. Gary must have been wondering who I was and how I was able to be there.

Mexico prisons were not nice places. They were overcrowded, and often when a tourist, especially black ones were caught with illegal contraband, they were imprisoned indefinitely without legal counsel. The jail houses were run by criminal organizations for profit, so if you were broke, you were doomed.

“Sit,” I ordered.

“I’ll remain standing,” he returned, my men moved closer to him, but the warden placed a hand on his shoulder and looked at him with a warning. He sat in the nearby chair and looked at my men nervously before staring at me.

“Hand him the document,” I instructed one of my men.

Gary begrudgingly snatched the document from the man handing it over. A frown appeared on his face as he read it. His eyes lifted briefly to glance in my direction before returning to the paper.

“What’s in it for me?”

“Your freedom.”

Shaking his head he handed back the papers to my man. “I’m not signing shit. If Tabitha wants my half, she’ll have to pay top price.”

I stood and walked over to him, stooping so our eyes could meet. “I’m not asking you to sign. I’m telling you,” I informed him in a calm voice. “You will sign this and may walk out of here with no record of this, or don’t sign it and die here … today, tomorrow or some time in the near future. You choose which bet you’re willing to take.”

“If I sign this, I go free?”

“Its not a guarantee, but the odds will be in your favor.”

“Man, that’s bullshit! I need your guarantee that I will walk.”

“Why? You haven’t given me a reason to ensure your safety.”

“This is your doing, isn’t it? You got me in jail so I would sign this?”

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