Marc (Bowen Boys, #4)(31)
“There are like six empty buildings around that store. All owned by the same company. Bowen something…I don’t remember. But I asked around and none of the other store owners have seen her. I was gonna go and see that Bowen guy tomorrow. He’s got some sort of insurance place about a block from the Vintage place.”
“Good. That’s good. And when you get back, swing by the office and tell me what you found.” Harris nodded and left. Anita came through the door as he was leaving and Roy found himself putting his hand on his gun.
“You find her yet?” He told her what Harris had just relayed to him. “She’s as good as dead, you know that, right? As soon as this f*cking thing with pets is fulfilled, I’m going to take her out into the woods and blow her f*cking brains out.”
“We could make a million off just her if we keep her around. I’m not kidding, Anita, I’ve got them lined up out the f*cking door wanting a female panther roaming around their yards. We could practically own this business.” She shook her head. “Then give me a year with her. After that we should have enough money put away that we can go wherever we want.”
“I can go wherever I want now. Daddy would send me just to get rid of me.” She had that right. Her dad had called him just last night asking if she was in danger. When he’d told the man he was keeping his daughter safe, he’d told him not to bother, he wouldn’t.
“She’s an evil psychopath that should have been locked up years ago. Not only that, but she spends more money on drugs than ten men I have selling it for me. I’ve had it with her. She’s not been right since her brother and mother passed.” The older man had broken down after that. “Anita is my only living child and I can’t stand to be in the same room with her any more than it takes for me to hand her some cash. What kind of father thinks that about his own child?”
“I don’t know, sir.” And Roy hadn’t. He’d been dealing with her for less than five years and she seemed to get worse all the time. When she’d found out that his panther was Jonny Thomas, she’d gone over the edge. It had taken him nearly a week to get his office back to rights.
“You mark my words, Dawson, if you don’t get rid of her—and I mean get rid of her—she will bring you down with her. She’s nothing but trouble. And she creates it when she can’t get anyone else to.”
And now she sat in Roy’s office, bitching about how much she wanted Jonny killed. He had always wanted to ask her what she’d done to her, but had been afraid of her rage. So he’d looked it up.
There hadn’t been anything or, it seemed, any contact between her and Thomas until he found the article about Anita’s brother, Samuel, being killed. After reading the article twice, he finally saw what he’d thought was a connection. There had been mention, only slightly, that a panther had been seen within the bank he and a woman named Deb Anderson had been in the process of robbing when the young man Samuel had been killed by his partner. After paying out an ungodly amount of money to have records searched, he found that Deb had been sent to prison and that she had a child. That was all there was, and no matter how much he paid, there had never been any mention of her again. But he had found a picture of Anderson and was amazed at how much the woman looked like his Jonny Thomas.
“Are you even listening to a f*cking word I’m saying?” He looked up at her, trying to remember what she’d said. “I f*cking don’t believe you. I said we should simply put out a hit on her. Daddy does it all the time and it usually takes care of the problem in no time.”
“I need her to fulfill my contracts. If she’s dead, I’m going to have to pay back every penny to those waiting for her, and that’s a great deal of money. Money that mostly went up your nose.” He snapped his mouth closed when he realized that he’d spoken out loud. “I didn’t mean that. But I’m nervous about this falling through.”
“You think I like snorting coke? You think I like being high all the f*cking time?” He was pretty sure she did but didn’t say anything. But he did put his finger on the trigger when she stood up to come around to his side of the desk.
“You could get help.” She snorted at him. “Your father said he’d pay for it, you said. You told me that he promised to give you a million dollars if you completed the program and remained sober and clean for a year. That’s a lot of money, Anita.”
“Yes it is, but it’s not even a drop in the bucket to what he’s really worth. I just figure that he’ll die soon enough and I’ll get all of it without having to be a goody two-shoes.” She staggered to his liquor cabinet and poured herself about three cups of bourbon into a glass. “I know what he does for a living and I know how much he’s worth too. Billions upon billions, and it’ll all be mine someday.”
Heaven help us was Roy’s only thought. She moved to the chair again and nearly tipped it over trying to sit. He didn’t get up to help her…he was afraid to get too close to her. She tended to lash out when she didn’t want help and cry when you gave it to her. She was a f*cking wreck.
“I’m going to make her pay for what she did to me. That f*cking kid shouldn’t have a life after her mother killed my only friend.” She started crying, and Roy sat very still. She was like a time bomb and he wasn’t going to be hit with any flying pieces when she exploded.