Page 9 of Ignite
~8~
Axe
Kenzi was tied up in meetings all morning, which gave me a chance to think about what happened between us over the past 24 hours. It was more than what I could have hoped for. Getting her back was like God giving me a second chance. There was no way I was going to screw this up with her again.
While I waited for her to finish up with her meetings, I slipped downstairs to the FedEx office located across the street. I had to get the documents for the court order against Van Wilkerson and Niles Harris to my attorney back in Atlanta. After speaking with Felix regarding the countersuit, he agreed that once CMW Holdings got served, they would drop all charges against me. I wasn’t out of the woods yet, but at least I wouldn’t have this lawsuit hanging over my head.
When I stepped outside, a rush of traffic flowed heavily across the street. The FedEx office was in a small strip mall and was part of a row of shops that included a flower shop and a small import store. Based on the traffic, I was afraid I would have to wait in line in order to get these documents overnighted. Just as I suspected, when I opened the door, three rows of people, ten deep, extended from the counter. I had no choice but to wait. The line was moving at a snail's pace and I found myself tapping my feet and anxiously checking my watch. Nearly 30 minutes later, I was at the counter.
A young woman, no older than 25, stepped up to the counter. She was pretty, with long curly brown hair caught up in a ponytail and sharp features contrasted by large blue eyes. “How can I help you, sir?”
I held the documents in my hand and smiled. “I would like to overnight these to Atlanta.”
The clock was ticking, and once again, I looked at my watch. I hurried and stuffed the documents inside the legal-sized envelope she handed me. Soon Kenzi would be out of her last meeting. I watched as she punched in the information I gave her, slowly and carefully, into the computer. It wasn’t long before a label slowly emerged from the printer, and she affixed it to the envelope.
Giving me a smile, she looked up and said, “That will be $35.99.”
With a smile, I handed her the money, thanked her, and left. As I hurried across the street, I noticed the NRA sticker on the front bumper of a black SUV.What the fuck?Of all the people I didn’t expect to see, Van Wilkerson stepped out of the black SUV.
Before I could ask him what the hell he was doing in Chicago, he pulled open the back passenger door and motioned me inside. “Get in, Riley.”
I would have told him to go fuck himself, but when he unbuttoned his suit jacket and displayed the gun holstered at his side, I had no choice. When I got inside, Niles Harris was seated behind the wheel. These two were up to no good and them showing up was not a coincidence. “What the fuck do you want, Wilkerson?” I seethed. My skin crawled at the sight of his arrogant grin.
“Let’s just say you have something I want and I have something you want,” Wilkerson said as he pulled his cell from his inner pocket.
I was done playing his games. I took hold of the door handle, having had enough of his bullshit, and he took hold of my arm. My gaze fell to the grip on my arm and then to his phone. My heart dropped to my gut as I looked at the screen. The screen displayed a grainy black and white video. A chair sat in the center of the screen and upon it sat Kenzi. Her hands were bound with duct tape to the arms of the wooden chair and her feet to the legs. Another piece of tape crossed her mouth. Her green eyes were red and puffy—her mascara smudged. I wanted to scoop her up and take her away to someplace where she would never hurt again. Wilkerson was laughing hysterically and enjoying himself as he zoomed in on her on his phone. It wasn’t long until he appeared. His hand moved across her torso as she tried to squirm away from him, which caused him to jerk away in laughter every time she pulled back.
Fire burned in my chest, bright and hot and angry. I reached across the seat and wrapped my hands around Wilkerson’s throat. “You motherfucker.”
Wilkerson released his phone as he tried to stop me from killing him. Before I could say another word, Niles put a gun in my face, ready to fire. “I suggest you take your hands off my brother.”
Releasing my grip, I leaned back in my seat. “What do you want?”
“By now you already know that CMW Holdings is our company,” he said as he pointed between Niles and himself. “We have only recently found out that our father couldn’t keep his dick in his pants and thence you came into the picture.”
I didn’t know where this was going, but I was certain it had to do with my shares of CMW Holdings. “What does Kenzi have to do with this?”
“We just want what is rightfully ours. Gift us your shares of CMW Holdings and we will make sure Kenzi is back in your arms before dinner.”
I could not care less about the shares, other than the shares being the only leverage I had against them. Neither one of them could be trusted. I couldn’t be certain that once they held my shares they wouldn’t proceed with the lawsuit. “How can I be certain that you won’t come after me again once you have full control of the company? I know you planted my prints on the explosives and detonator that destroyed Margot’s bookstore.”
“Maybe so, but there is no way you will ever be able to prove it. You should have listened to me.”
I wished I was recording this conversation. My phone was out of reach and this was a critical moment, one that would seal my fate. Van knew it, too. He took advantage of my feelings for Kenzi to gain the upper hand. Being unprepared was something that I hated. Hate and humiliation swept over me. I looked at Van and swallowed, my disgust mixing with self-loathing as I tried to keep my face neutral. “What do I have to do?”
Van pulled an envelope from his inner pocket. As I watched him remove the contents and unfold the document, I felt my fingers move, seemingly of their own accord. Although my mind raced, I felt disassociated from everything that was happening. “All you have to do is sign these documents.”
I look down at the set of stapled papers that appeared to have been legally prepared. With a shit-eating grin,he handed me the stack of papers and pulled out his pen. “Just sign here, here, and there.” He held out the pen and raised his eyebrows. “I’m a man of my word, now sign.”
I hesitated briefly before picking up the pen from his open palm. I hoped he couldn’t read my mind: that way, he wouldn’t know what I was up to. Gritting my teeth and hoping there wouldn’t be a way for him to tell my signature from anyone else’s, I signed Davian’s name on the documents. Van would undoubtedly file these documents, but not legally. Knowing this could bite me in the ass later, I scribbled Davian’s name on the documents. I reassured myself that I was doing the right thing. Even I couldn’t tell whose signature was on the documents.
Van flipped through the pages as I signed, before finally looking up at me with an evil glint in his eye. “There. That wasn’t too painful, was it?”
He shoved the papers into his inner pocket and reached down to pick up his cell phone still laying on the floor. Within a matter of seconds, his cell was at his ear. “You may release the girl. I have everything I need.”
All I wanted was to get to Kenzi and wrap my arms around her. Staring him down, I lunged at his throat. “Where the fuck is she?”
“I would think she is working hard at her desk,” Van replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm and pride. “You didn’t really think I could get to your girlfriend that easily. Not with my overprotective brother watching her. You should be happy that you still have her, you bastard.”
