Rod (34 page)

“Yeah.
 
I was really conflicted about the whole thing and I told Ken that I
wanted to come clean and tell Ronan everything.
 
I wanted to take the blame just so his little girl could be returned to
him, but Ken punched me.
 
It was a big
fight before it was broken up.”

“Did you admit what happened?” he asks
Boris.

“No,” he replies looking down in shame.

“Then why are you telling us all of this
now?” he asks him.

He looks at their lawyer and says, “I have
no money, but my mother is healthy and I couldn’t live with the guilt anymore.”

Their lawyer stands at the words that
Boris
Cardov
is broke and asks the judge if he can
approach the bench.
 
A few whispers
between the counselors and the judge and the lawyers return to their seats.

“With all due respect,” their lawyer
begins.
 
“I would like to ask to be
excused as Mr.
Cardov’s
attorney of record.”

With the pounding of his gavel, the judge
says, “You will stand in as counsel for Mr.
Cardov
for the remainder of the proceedings.”

The attorney has a seat with a look of
defeat on his face.

Suddenly, the court room breaks out in
whispers and noise among its occupants.
 
After Boris gets his leave from the stand, he’s rushed out of the courtroom.
 
The arresting officers give their testimony
and Seth Vinton takes the stand last.

He claims that he wasn’t a part of the
kidnapping plot, but bank account records subpoenaed by our lawyer deem him a
liar.
 
He deflects from his
responsibility in the matter, but the jury doesn’t appear to be taking the
bait.

He spins another web of lies, but our
lawyer rails him at every opportunity.
 
He never waivers in his statements and he doesn’t claim
responsibility.
 
Never the less, the
testimony is all damning.
 

The judge adjourns for an hour for lunch
and we all begin talking among ourselves.

My father says, “Good work, Sasha, and the
rest of you.
 
These guys are going to fry
for what they’ve done to her.”

“Do you think somehow Boris found out
about Red draining his bank account?” I ask Rodney.

“Yeah, he probably did,” he tells me.

“Then I guess he felt that he had nothing
else to fight for now since he knew his mother was safe from your dad’s
revenge?”

“It all makes sense,” he says in response.

We jabber on for the entire hour as our
hearts collectively race for the judge’s decision.

He returns to the bench and a hush falls
over the court room.

The judge looks to Lester, Ken and Seth
while he shuffles some paperwork.
 
He
tells the court, “Lester Samson, you are found guilty of kidnapping, child
endangerment, false imprisonment, assault and gross sexual imposition.”

Lester looks full of disgust, but not for
his actions.
 
He appears angrier that he
was caught.

After shuffling through his papers again,
the judge says, “Boris
Cardov
, who has been taken
into custody is hereby convicted of kidnapping, false imprisonment, conspiracy,
drug trafficking, and gross sexual imposition.”

“Ken Clayton, you are convicted of
kidnapping, gross sexual imposition, false imprisonment, and conspiracy.”

Our side of the court room is nearly
cheering at all of the charges brought upon the defendants.
 
The judge looks to Seth and we quiet down.

“Seth Vinton, you are convicted of the
following charges: conspiracy, kidnapping, bribery, blackmail, and false
imprisonment.”

They all stand and walk away with a police
officer escorting them into custody.
 

“This court is adjourned!” The judge
smacks his gavel down loudly and we all disperse from the court room.

A few nights later at a previously scheduled
meeting, my father calls the room to order.

“My daughter is the new Chief Investigator
of the Green Dragons and I couldn’t be more proud of her.
 
She helped find Sasha and without her help or
intuition, we would’ve been running ourselves in circles.
 
Her place will be interviewing and
investigating each prospective member of the club,” he tells everyone.

I feel a sense of pride overwhelm me as he
continues on with his speech.
 

“She will be everyone’s first point of
contact within our little slice of heaven.
 
If she sniffs something out, the prospect is denied.”

The room breaks out in cheers and my
father motions for me to join him at the front of the room.

“Do you have anything you want to add,
honey?” he asks me in front of everyone, putting me on the spot.

“Yeah.
 
I just want to say that I will be doing criminal background checks on
anyone in the club or hanging around here.
 
No one will be able to get through the front door without coming to see
me directly.
 
If they pass, they get
through for your consideration in joining the club.”

The room erupts into a celebration once
again and people begin passing out beers left and right.
 
Rodney walks over to me and says, “Well,
hello there, Ms. Chief Investigator.”

He teases me knowing that I love every minute
of it.
 
Everyone is full of fire and I’m
the center of attention.
 
I feel that
things would be different if this was three months ago.
 
Then, I didn’t know what I was capable
of.
 
Now, I have a newly defined
confidence in myself and my abilities.

Alex Maple runs up to me anxiously.

“What’s up Alex?” I say flatly.

“Can I blow up Lester’s house now?” he
asks persistently.

“No, you absolutely cannot blow up
Lester’s house!” I tell him adamantly.

He walks away with a sad look on his face.

“That kid needs Xanax or something!”
 
I joke to Rodney.

“Maybe he just needs a girlfriend,” he
jokes back.

“That is entirely possible,” I say in
return.
 
“He just seems like he has a lot
of pent up energy.”

“Like I said, maybe he needs a
girlfriend,” Rodney reiterates.

     
Epilogue

Rodney Vinton

Three years pass after the court passed
its sentence of fifty years each for Lester Samson, my father, Boris
Cardov
, and Ken Clayton for their parts in the kidnapping
of Sasha Fitzgerald.

I rub Trish’s belly and ask her, “How’s my
wife doing today?”

She gives me the look of misery and asks,
“How do you think I’m doing?”

“I’ll rub your feet,” I suggest.

She’s eight months pregnant with our first
child and she looks like she’s ready to pop.
 
Her swollen belly and her crabby disposition make her appeal to me even
more.
 

I still feel that she looks as beautiful
today as she did when we first got married two years ago.
 
She’s gorgeous and sweet and she carries our
child looking like every bit the goddess, despite how she currently feels.

A call comes through my cell phone and the
number looks vaguely familiar.
 

I answer the call.
 
“Hello?” I ask.

“Hey, it’s Red; long time no talk,” he
tells me.

“Red?
 
From the
Deathdealers
?” I question him.

“Yeah, one and the same.”

“What can I do for you, Red?” I inquire.

“Since we’ve had a three year truce, the
voting members all agreed that we want you to have control of the club, no
questions asked.
 
It’s only fair since
you’re Seth Vinton’s heir.”

“I thought we talked about this a long
time ago,” I tell him.

“Yes, but we really want you to reconsider
our offer or else we’re going to have to close the doors of the club for good.”

“You make a strong case, friend.
 
I’ll take this to our president and I’ll let
ya
know what he says,” I tell him.

“Great, I look forward to hearing from
you,” Red tells me as we both disconnect the call.

“What was that all about?” Trish asks
while I resume rubbing her feet.

“That was Red from the
Deathdealers
,”
I inform her.

“What did he want?” she asks.

“He wanted to offer me control of the club
or he says that they’ll have to close their doors for good.”

“What did you tell him?”

“I told him I’d take it up with your dad,”
I say in response.

“Let me know what he says.
 
I can screen everyone if we have anything to
do with them,” she tells me matter-of-factly.

“Yeah, but you’re pregnant,” I tell
her.
 

“I may be pregnant, but I can still do my
job,” she insists as she snaps at me.

“Trish Vinton, not only are you capable
and smart, but I have zero doubt in the world that you can do your job and
more.
 
I was just saying that you could
take a break and let Jason Maple do the work.”

“No,” she says adamantly, before adding,
“No, thank you!”

She grins and I wonder
what’s
running through her head
right this moment.
 
She glows with my offspring inside of her and
she puts up with my silliness every day.
 
I dare not ask her if I deserve her, because I fear that one day I
won’t.
 

“Alright, call dad and see what he says,”
she commands me.

I dial the number and say, “Hey Ronan,
it’s me Rod.”

“Hey Rod, what can I do for you, son?” he
asks.

“I got this call out of the blue from Red
from the
Deathdealers
,” I tell him.

“Yeah?
 
What did he want?”

“He wanted to turn the club over to my
control, no questions asked.”

I hear a chuckle on the other end of the
line.
 
Ronan enjoys every minute of this.

“So, you think you’re ready for
leadership?” he asks and I can’t tell if he’s joking.

“No, I don’t want to leave the Dragons,” I
plead.

“Accept their offer,” he tells me.

“Wait, what?
 
Is this a joke?” I ask in disbelief.

“No, accept their offer.
 
When they make you their president, come back
to the Lair with officers you can trust and petition for us to absorb your club
into the Dragons.”

“Excellent idea, think they’ll go for it?”
I ask him.

“They have to if they turn over full
control of the club to you as president,” he says.

“That makes perfect sense,” I tell
him.
 
“I’ll call Red and tell him the
decision.”

“Good, let me know what happens.”

We disconnect the call and Trish looks
confused.

“What did he say?” She asks me.

“He said to accept their offer,” I tell
her plainly.

“He what?!?” she yells.

“Yeah, he said to accept,” I reiterate.

“Why on earth would you accept their offer
to lead the
Deathdealers
?
 
First, that means that we’re going to have to
leave Hinton Township and live in
Hayleysville
.
 
I don’t know about you, but I think that is
no place to raise our baby.
 
Secondly, I
never thought you would want to leave the Green Dragons, we’re all family
there.”

She blathers on and on, but I can’t bear
to interrupt her.
 
I wait her out and
explain our reasoning.

“Your dad says to take them up on the
offer and then head on over to the Lair with several of their officers and ask
for our club to be absorbed into the Green Dragons.”

“Yeah, but will they go for that?” she
asks.

“He said that they’d have to, because they
wanted to make me their president, no questions asked.”