The Devil's Revenge (The Devil's Eyes) (30 page)
“No Princess, I didn’t know anything about this meeting until you told me, but I am sure everything is going to work out fine.” He kisses me gently, but I still see something in his eyes that tells me he knows something. Maybe not about this meeting, but about something.
When we arrive at the district attorney’s office, Welch is already waiting for us. My body tenses but I remain unbroken as we enter the room. We exchange brief formal greetings before sitting. Welch leans back in his chair eyeing me with satisfaction, which doesn’t ease my tension. “Mrs. Jayzon, we would like to offer you a deal. I think we would all like to avoid a lengthy trial, not to mention the press and the unsavory comments that could be publicized between us all. So, I think it is in your best interest, and ours I suppose, to put an end to this right now.” The D.A. mouths but I am sure it is Welch’s words.
“You said deal – what kind of deal?” I ask.
“Fifteen years to life with the possibility of parole.” The D.A. announces.
Welch leans forward, “Well that is something isn’t it! You commit two, cold-hearted murders and basically get away with it with this deal. I must say Mrs. Jayzon, I would take this sweet deal before I am able to talk him into something more reasonable.”
“I didn’t do it, so I don’t feel it as reasonable.” I say ready to get up and leave before they ruin my day much more than they already have.
“If you do not take the deal today we will be seeking the death penalty.” The DA says calmly as Welch sits back with a sly smile.
My attorney stands with force, “Are you crazy? The crime doesn’t call for that! Do you really think you will be able to convict her with that kind of penalty looming over the judgment? Not to mention, she is a mother of an infant boy and a toddler. No one will vote to put her to death – you will lose.”
“Oh, I think they will when they see the victim’s children and his broken hearted wife. Once they hear the evidence, they will see her as nothing more than the calculated cold blooded killer that she is. No one will want children being raised by such a heartless person.” Welch sits back with confidence.
“What evidence? You don’t have anything” My attorney fires back.
“We have a witness and we have forensics telling us it was her gun. We also have more than a few witnesses that will testify that she had the most to gain from his death.” Welch assures.
Nick finally moves from his stoic position and leans forward, “You don’t have anything. I suggest you give up on this malicious pursuit of my wife.”
“Is that a threat, Mr. Jayzon.” Welch smiles.
“No. No, it is a charitable suggestion. I assure you, I don’t make threats.” Nick says calmly.
Welch laughs, “Do what you want, agree to the deal or don’t, I don’t care. Personally, I would love to see that needle in your arm, but my kind friend here is set on not making this a big public ordeal. Of course, I will be too busy packing for the White House to be bothered. Which reminds me to ask you Mr. Jayzon, have you paid all your taxes? Kept all your affairs in order, I might have to check up on all that when I have the chance. Perhaps, I will make you my first order of business.”
“Did you just threaten me?” Nick growls. “I wouldn’t do that.” Nick stands and leans over the table towards Welch with a tone so raging that it ignites the air that it meets, “Do you know who Niccolo Machiavelli is?” Welch nods. “Then you realize the mistake you have made.” Welch shrugs with a slight dismissal of Nick’s fire until a slam of Nick’s fist rumbles through the entire room. “Machiavelli said,
If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared
.” Nick stands up straight and smiles, “The severity of your attack, Mr. Welch, has barely pierced my skin but I assure you the kindness will not be returned. There will be no deal - since we anticipate all charges being dropped.” Nick takes my hand and leads me out of the office with our awestruck attorney in tow.
Once safely back in the car, I turn to look over at Nick, “You are not planning anything terrible against Welch are you?”
“I have a plan, yes, but don’t worry. Someone else is going to take care of Welch for me.” He says so confidently that I wonder who this person is. I wonder how in the world this person is going to deal with Welch without it leading back to Nick.
Lena confirmed my suspicions and now I am going to use my newfound knowledge to help free Kayla from the obvious setup campaign that Welch is waging against her. After much debating with myself, I decide to take Nicky with me to my meeting. He is dressed even better than I am and is already showing skills that can’t be taught. The receptionist immediately sits up straight when I walk in and greets me with a smile a mile wide. “I have an appointment with Mr. Coulton.” I smile back.
“Sure, I will let him know.” She exhales faintly.
Coulton doesn’t leave me waiting long but I didn’t expect him too. If you tell someone you are ready to make a sizable donation, they are more than willing to make room for you in their day. “Mr. Coulton, or should I say Mr. President?” I ask him.
Smiling wide, he shakes my hand with a laugh, “No, not yet. For some reason they still make you go through the process of getting elected.” He motions for me to sit, taking a moment to greet Nicky too before taking his own seat. “So Mr. Jayzon, what is it that I can do for you?”
“Mr. Coulton, I am going to get right to it and tell you what I want and then I will tell you why I think you should give it to me. First, I want you to have the district attorney drop his malicious pursuit of my wife. She hasn’t committed any of the crimes he is accusing her of and I can prove it. Second, I want you to push for an investigation of the people who actually did do the crimes and I think you should have Detective Brady Simone head up that investigation. He is a solid citizen and would serve this city well as the new chief of police. Third, and this is most important - even more so to you once the previous is executed. I want you to drop Spencer Welch as a possible running mate.” Coulton leans back with a troubled expression.
“Mr. Jayzon, I am not sure why you would think I would do any of this but I find it insulting that you think you can come in here and make these types of demands. No matter how much money you plan to donate, I cannot in good conscious do these things for any amount of money. Now, I thank you for coming …” He begins to rise out of seat.
“I wasn’t asking for those things because of an amount of money I was planning or not planning to give.” I say, remaining in my seat.
“Are you blackmailing me?”
“I wouldn’t call it blackmail, call it … clearing you conscious.” He immediately gives me the reaction I expected. “Do you have any children Mr. Coulton?”
“No, and I am sure of that. I was in a serious accident some years ago and I had a necessary surgery. So, I am positive.” He sits back with a superior attitude.
“Sorry about your accident, but I do believe that you are mistaken. In fact, I know you are.”
“Really, who exactly is supposed to be my child then?” He huffs shaking his head at me in much disgust.
I adjust Nicky and cause him to smile as I kiss his cheek, “This is my son, and I love him more than anything. I never wanted children, but the first time I saw him I couldn’t imagine my life without him. My wife in fact, just gave birth to my second son. I would do anything for them.”
“I appreciate a father’s love and I will say he is a good looking boy but it doesn’t explain your theory – Mr. Jayzon.”
“Be patient, I am getting to it.” I smile with a charm I have learned well over the years. “You see Mr. Coulton, when I met my wife years ago, I fell for her instantly and I promised her I would protect her at all costs. Sometimes I failed at that, but even before me she lived with a mother who drank too much and had countless stepfathers who saw her as nothing more than a toy for their pleasure. Because of my brother, her sister, who was all she had and the only one she could depend on, was brought into a terrible life. She was physically and mentally abused and then thrown away until she was finally killed. My wife had no one left after her sister died. I went looking for her, but she had run away to hide from her mother and her parade of men. I wasn’t sure where she could have gone. I thought maybe she knew her father and possibly went to see him. So, I did a little interrogating of her mother and then some investigating. Recently, I had a blood test done to confirm what was then only an accusation. I wouldn’t trade my wife for anyone. She is tough, and yet still shows the love and compassion for our children and myself. I am always searching for the perfect gift for her. She has a hard time visiting her past in order to investigate her family history, but I know she is still curious. I wondered if telling her who her real father is would give her some peace. I don’t know if she will be angry or happy, but either way it’s a piece of the puzzle that she could finally have.” I stare at him hard as he begins to fidget. “You knew her mother, before your accident that is. Before your surgery Mr. Coulton you got to know a young girl named Claire. She served you French toast one late night and then every night thereafter for two weeks before you finally got up the nerve to ask her out. On your first date you took her to a movie, an old Cary Grant film – North by Northwest. I like that movie too. From what I understand, you had a relationship for some time before you finally left her for your now wife. She named your daughter after your grandmother – Kayla. Claire said she meant a lot to you, you must have talked about her a lot.” His eyes fixate on me and I know I have him. “What was it John? Family pressure you to marry the better pedigree? Or did you just get tired of the slut and decided to move on?” His face pales and slowly drifts downward as he sits silent. “Either way, you left her pregnant and with no way to contact you at all. You changed your number and had your assistants run interference until she finally gave up. I don’t know if you were the one that finally broke her, probably not. She did already have one bastard child, no doubt she had been through worse things.” I edge to my seat and aim my next words directly at him. “What I want to know John, is did you know she was pregnant with my wife, your child, when you left her all alone?”
His entire body begins to quiver, “I had no idea Claire was pregnant. If I had I …”
“What, paid her off? Taken her to the abortion clinic?”
“NO!” He yells, standing up and scaring Nicky. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare the child.”
“Your grandson’s name is Nicky.” I say, standing up and handing him over to him. He looks at me with a look of panic but doesn’t hand him back. Instead he sits back down and looks Nicky over. “He is real smart, just like his mother. You should meet her. She is beautiful, intelligent and your second grandchild, Brayden, he is amazing, as well. Would be a shame for her to go to jail for crimes she didn’t commit because of an overzealous Senator and District Attorney.”
“Are you planning on telling …” he mutters.
“Tell who? You mean am I going to have a press conference and announce to the world that their next President left his bastard child to rot in a rat infested home, with murderers and rapists as father figures. No, that wasn’t my plan at all. No, I was hoping that maybe, for once, you would be a good father, a good grandfather and do all that you can do to protect them.” Coulton looks down at Nicky as Nicky plays with an antique car that Coulton shows him.
I smile wide when Nicky holds the car up to me, “Daddy!”
“I see Nicky. … He likes cars too.” I say, watching Coulton shed tear after tear.
Nicky shocks us both and turns to him and wipes a tear away, “It’s okay, you can have your car back.” Nicky smiles up at him, meeting his eyes perfectly before Coulton rests his head against Nicky’s.
“No, you keep it. I would like for you to keep it.” I wait for a few seconds before he finally inhales and looks back up at me.
A man knocks on the door and walks in, “Sir, you have that dinner with the Governor.”
“Yes, thank you Andrew.” Coulton lifts Nicky back to me. “Thank you for coming to see me, I will um … see what I can do about your concerns Mr. Jayzon.” I nod and watch as he walks towards the door and stops again, “Tell your wife … tell her I said hello.”
“I will and by the way, you should probably take this.” I hand him an envelope full of information and leave feeling good about the day.
Now I have to wait and see if all this trouble I went to pays off. I have another target before Welch and I need help making sure I can get to him.
There is one thing left to do, and the last item on my list is the one that I most have been looking forward too. I always felt like a panther stalking its prey back in the old days and I feel no different now. It is an invigorating feeling, waiting, watching and carefully planning your final pounce. Maynard is wisely watching his back with ever step he takes and has obviously requested aid in protecting himself. There are three men strategically placed to nail me if I go after him. It always amazes me how foolish people can be. Like any great predator, I wait for him to feel safe and drink from the pool of water I have carefully laid out for him. He takes three steps beyond a small pawn store and then steps back two. His eyes beam with excitement and he quickly looks around before scratching his head and finally …
drinking
. The small pawnshop happened to get a new item in its shop and what a prize it is, especially to a sports nut like Maynard. Maynard begins to bargain with the pawnshop owner when an elderly looking man makes his way around him and
accidentally
pokes him in the leg with his cane and draws blood.
“Watch where the fuck you’re going old man!” Maynard yells bending down to check the puncture wound in his leg.
Slowly I look up from my disguise, and with a knowing smile I whisper to him, “You’re dead.”
“What did you say to me?” Maynard says in shock.
I quickly lean in and smile wide as he finally looks into my eyes. “I said –
you’re dead
.”