House of Paine - (A Romantic Suspense - Book 2) (12 page)

“Off of a dead man,” he told him. “I’ve had it since the night I killed Madrid.”

“But none of this will implicate you...and the evidence all looks like it came from Madrid so Jackson won’t have a clue it was you...You’re a fucking genius!”

“Be careful who you give that to,” Alex told him. “If Dad or Kramer catch up to you and they find that on you...it’s dangerous enough to them to kill for.”

“If Lucas catches up to me, I’m dead anyways and so is Paige. We’ll never get to have a “normal life” as long as we’re running and hiding from them. This is perfect.”

“There are names and dates on the USB. You and I aren’t on there, but Brad is...There’s one more thing that you need to understand Damien.”

“What’s that?”

“I don’t know if you’re having delusions that this is going to scare me straight...but if you are, you can give those thoughts up right now. I’m in this for the money and the lifestyle, little brother. I like my life. When and if Jackson is behind bars I will run this operation the way that I want...you can live your life the way that you want and Paige will be free to do the same.”

“I had no delusions,” Damien said, only half-truthfully. He had entertained a thought or two...a hope in fact, that Alex would someday see the light. His worst fear was that his brother would get caught in the sights and end up in prison. “Thank you. Are you good, if I give this to Jake right away?”

“I’m so clean I’m thinking of shaving my head and buying a white suit.”

Damien grinned and Alex took a step back. “But don’t hug me again. I might have to take you out right here.”

*****

W
hen Damien got back to the penthouse, the doorman stopped him on his way inside. “Mr. James?” Jake introduced Damien and Paige to the doorman as Mr. and Mrs. James. He told him that Paige was his cousin and they were visiting from out of state. That way, no one would become suspicious of them going in and out of the building.

“Yes?”

“Mrs. James asked me to give you this on her way out.” The doorman handed Damien an envelope. On her way out? She wouldn’t leave Kevin alone...He had a sinking feeling in his gut before he even opened it. Inside was a piece of torn lined paper with a phone number on it. Trying to keep his composure when in reality he wanted to rip someone’s head off he said,

“Did you see her leave?”

“Yes sir.”

“When did she leave?”

“It was about half an hour ago.”

Fuck! “Was she alone?”

“No sir...” the doorman suddenly had a look on his face that said he was sorry he’d gotten involved. Damien took a deep breath. “She was with a gentleman.”

“How did this “gentleman” get into the building?”

“I’m sorry sir...I didn’t see him come in. My lunch break is from twelve-thirty to one-thirty. He must have come in while I was gone for lunch.”

“Who mans the door while you’re gone?”

“I have a regular relief...but he called in sick today. One of the front desk clerks covers when that happens...but after I got back, he went home sick too...” the doorman was getting the idea that something was wrong. It was apparent in his voice and on his face.

“What did the man she left with look like?”

“He was probably in his fifties, light brown hair with a few streaks of gray...I don’t remember really looking at his eyes. He was maybe six foot tall...and very nicely dressed in a suit and tie...”

Fuck! The doorman just described Lucas Kramer to a “T.” Why the hell would Paige leave with him? Why not kick and scream all the way down if she had to?

The doorman was still talking when Damien walked away. He pushed past an older company and got on the elevator. When they started to get on anyways he said, “Wait for the next one!” and pushed the door close button. He jumped off on the twenty-second floor. As soon as he walked into Jake’s apartment, he felt sick.

Things were overturned in the living room and it looked like there had been a struggle. He made his way down the hall towards the guestroom. Before he got there, the doorbell rang. He ignored it and peeked into the room. Kevin lying there with a needle in his arm and a tourniquet wrapped around his upper arm and tied tightly.  Shit!  He ran over to Kevin and pulled the needle out of his arm and felt his pulse. He still had one, albeit weak and thread.

Damien untied the tourniquet and picked Kevin up off the bed. He was dead weight and heavier than shit. Struggling to keep his knees from buckling and his back from breaking, he carried him into the master bathroom and laid him down on the rug in front of the tub. He filled the tub with water, picked Kevin back up and plopped him down into it, clothes and all. Kevin’s face went under but he came up quickly spitting and sputtering. Damien called Roxi first. She told Damien she was calling Jake at the office. A few minutes later she got a text message that said,

“Your girlfriend is really pretty.” Damien typed in,

“Fuck you. If you hurt her, I will kill you.”

“Be at the dock at six-thirty tonight with what you have against J and K.”

“Who is this?”

“Just be there...and bring what we’re looking for.” Fuck! Damien yelled out as the line went dead. Lucas Kramer has Paige....

––––––––

“A
lex!” Damien called his brother out of desperation. He didn’t know what else to do.

“What’s up?”

“Kramer has Paige.”

“Fuck me! This shit never ends.”

“That’s the worst part, but there’s more. They gave Kevin some kind of overdose. He’s in and out of it but he looks like shit. I don’t know what to do.”

“Shit! Okay, you’re still at the penthouse?”

“Yeah.”

“Give me ten minutes, I’ll be there.”

“Thank you.”

“Fuck!” Alex hung up. Being a helper and a giver was completely contrary to Damien’s brother’s personality even before they became gangsters. Damien knew it better that anyone. But, he also knew that no matter what at any time in his life he’d been able to call his brother and bitch and moan and cuss...Alex would be there.

“Hang on Kevin...Dad...Help is coming.”

It took Alex almost half an hour to get there. When he did, he had a vial and a syringe. “Where’s he at?”

“In there on the bed.”

Alex went in and sat down next to Kevin whose respirations were getting shallower by the second. His skin was as pale as the sheet he was laying on. Alex drew the liquid out of the vial into the syringe.

“What is that?” Damien asked him.

“Narcan.”

“What’s it going to do to him?”

“Save his life...again. This fucker must have nine of them and it looks like I’m in charge of them all.”

Damien suppressed a smile. Being the life-saving hero was also as contrary to Alex’s personality as you could get. If Alex thought he was amused, he might just shoot him. He watched his brother inject the opioid antagonist into Kevin’s vein. Once he took the needle out it was less than five minutes before Kevin started shaking and jerking violently. He sat up all at once and looked at Damien and Alex like he had no idea where he was or who they were and then he tried to jump off the bed.

“Whoa! Kevin, you’re okay. Chill out!” Damien took hold of his arms and tried to get him to lie back down. Kevin was fighting him. Alex was just watching. “Shit! Alex, help me.”

“I did my part. He’s your father, you deal with him.”

With a lot of effort Damien wrestled the older man to the floor. “Kevin! Stop fighting me, I don’t want to hurt you!”

“Fuck, get off my back, you weigh a fucking ton.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine.” Damien slowly rose up off of him. As soon as his weight was off of him, Kevin pulled himself first to his knees and then to his feet. He rocked forward slightly and Damien reached out to keep him from falling. Then suddenly he doubled over and puked all over the floor.

“Gross!” Alex said, still not making a move to help.

“Here, sit down,” Damien told Kevin. “I’ll get you a towel and some water.” Kevin looked wiped out. His skin was a pastry gray now and he was sweating profusely. Damien helped him to the chair and he sat. Damien went and got several towels and a bottle of water out of the refrigerator. He tossed one of the towels over the spot on the carpet and wondered just for a second what Jake was going to think when he got there. Kevin sat there staring at the wall for what seemed like a long time to Damien as he sipped his water. Meanwhile Alex said,

“So who called you about Paige?”

Damien handed him his phone and said, “This is what I got.”

“How do you know it was Kramer?” Alex asked after reading it.

“The doorman described him.”

“So are you planning on taking them the evidence?”

“I don’t know what else to do. You and I both know what they’ll do to her...”

“Then you also know they’re still going to kill her and you too if you show up down there.”

“You have to tell Jackson...” Damien and Alex both turned to look at Kevin. He still looked like he was recovering from getting hit by a truck, but his eyes were finally focused again and some color was beginning to return to his face. Damien ignored what he said for now and asked him,

“How are you feeling? Do you need more water?”

“I’m fine,” Kevin said with a wave of his palm. “Just a little nauseated. Like I was saying, you have to tell Jackson. He’s the only one who can deal with Lucas.”

“He’s not going to help me, Kevin...any of us. He thinks you’re dead because he ordered you killed. He hates me...”

“He loves you.”

“Right! The same way he loves you.”

“He does love me...He just lives in a different world, Damien.”

“Why the fuck are you defending him?” Damien could feel his blood pressure rising. If it was up to Jackson, Kevin would be dead...his own brother. And, he kept him from his own son his whole life. How could he even try to make a defense for that man? Jackson is a monster.

“I’m not,” Kevin said, “I’m just stating the facts. If Jackson were being 100% honest he would say he loves us all. Business and family are two separate entities. He wanted to kill me when I slept with your mother. The only thing that saved me was being his brother. There have been at least a hundred more episodes in the past thirty years. This is the first one he really did order me killed...and that was only because he couldn’t do it himself. Jackson loves you Damien and Paige. He will help you...for a price.”

Damien looked at Alex. Alex only shrugged. “You don’t think he’ll help?” Damien said.

“I do,” Alex told him. “He’ll help you...for a piece of your soul. You’ll have to decide if it’s worth it or not.”

“It’s Paige. It’s worth it.”

Alex stood up. He looked at Kevin and said, “Do you think you can manage to stay alive for a few hours? I don’t think I have time for another rescue today.” Alex’s face was dead serious. Kevin smiled.

“Thank you, Alex. I never even thought you liked me and here you’ve saved me twice in the same week.”

“I don’t like you,” Alex said simply. “Let’s go,” he told Damien. “Jackson is at the house. We’ll have more privacy if we catch him there.”

Alex and Damien left Kevin and headed over to see Jackson. Damien’s stomach felt sicker with every minute that Paige was being held by Kramer’s men. Caine was a sick son of a bitch. He learned everything he knew from his father and his father’s brothers. Who knew what they were doing to her. Killing her might be more merciful...but Damien was praying they hadn’t done that.

When they got to Jackson’s estate, the security officer stopped them at the gate. “Does Mr. Paine know you’re bringing him?” the guard asked Alex about Damien.

“No, call him and tell him,” Alex said. They both sat silently and waited until the guard came back.

“He wants your guns left here...all of them.” Alex looked pissed but he didn’t say a word. He stepped out of the car and took his gun from the holster under his jacket. Then he reached down and pulled one out of his ankle holster and handed the guard his keys.

“The automatics are in the trunk.”

The guard took five more guns out of a case in the trunk and then he leaned into the passenger window and told Damien, “You too.”

“I don’t have one.”

“Bullshit, you wouldn’t be stupid enough to come here without one. Get out!”

Damien stepped out and was subjected to a full body pat-down. The guard then proceeded to check the car. They waited impatiently until he was finished and then Alex said, “Are you satisfied Asshole?”

“Yep,” the guard said, smugly.

When they got back in the car and drove towards the house Alex said, “He already knows.”

“He knows what?”

“Everything. He knows that Kramer has Paige. He knows that Kevin is alive...That’s what this search shit is about. I’ve been carrying a gun into his home for ten years. All of a sudden he wants me unarmed. He knows...and he’s going to kill me.”

“Maybe you should let me go in without you.” Damien hoped that his brother was wrong, but when it came to Jackson...who knew? Anyone else would be dead already...but after whatever Jackson had planned for his brother, he may wish that he was.

“No, fuck it! I may as well find out what he’s planning on doing now.”

The two brothers had to wait for another security man to open the door. Jackson must be expecting Damien to come after him; he’s got his security doubled. “He’s in the library,” the man told him. Damien and Alex made their way to the library where they found Jackson behind his desk with a gun trained on them.

––––––––

“I
sn’t this fucked up? Jackson asked them. “I have to have extra security to make sure my own son’s aren’t going to kill me.”

“I’m not your son,” Damien said. Alex glared at him, but Damien ignored him. “I came here to ask you to help me...but let’s be clear that I know you’re not my father and I know that you kept me from mine for nearly thirty years...and then you tried to kill him.”

Jackson smirked and looked at Alex, “Which brings me to you. You were the one person on this earth that I thought would never betray me.”

“You taught me to be loyal to family and then you told me to execute my own uncle.”