Sticking the pacifier on the desk, Gage started to work on the ad copy. “Qualification number one—female. No more men in my house,” he muttered as he typed. There were too many men appreciating his wife.
Chapter Nine
Cummings’s body ached to hell. He released himself from the hospital against doctor’s orders with the help of his lawyer who signed off as custodian of his care since his injuries were still severe. He felt the pain daily, so he’d popped another round of pills, but they weren’t strong enough to take the edge off anymore. The hospital refused to give him a stronger dose so he wouldn’t turn into a user. Cummings laughed in their faces because he knew that he was stronger than those weak-minded people.
A knock at his rundown apartment door pulled him from his thoughts of getting revenge. He opened it to find his lawyer on the other side.
Cummings let him in and closed the door behind him. When he turned around, Dallas tossed Cummings a small bottle of pills. He smiled and walked over to his glass of vodka and took two of them. From the looks of his attire and the smell of the place, the doctors might have been correct, but it wasn’t something Cummings would ever admit.
“We have good news,” Dallas said, grinning like the ambulance chaser he was.
“Yes, and?” A wicked grin crossed the evil bastard’s face as he waited for confirmation.
“It will all be ready tomorrow.” The first step in the plan had to go smoothly before they could implement the next step. Each one was strategic in getting his life back and achieving the revenge that they both had been looking for.
“Good. Very good.” He took a seat in his less-than-plush chair and smiled. Cummings hated that he was living in unacceptable conditions, but that would be over very soon.Everything he deserved would be granted in a matter of time. He had staked his life on it more than once already.
Almost everything had gone according to plan over the past few months after he’d been released on bail. He’d played his cards close to the vest after the last fuck up. Since he now acquired several of Gage’s enemies on his side, all he had to do was wait to strike, and that moment would be perfect. With the number of people that wanted him dead, it wouldn’t be too much trouble to add his family to the mix for free, and poor Cummings would lose his treacherous daughter. He’d have to put on the biggest grieving father act of a lifetime, but he was certain that he could pull it off.
They would have already gotten to them two weeks ago when Cummings planned. However, someone underestimated the strength of a bull. Perkins was to take the blame for letting the bull out, so they’d have another suspect to investigate when the hits came, but the one-ton bastard was less than cooperative and had been the reason Cummings ended up in the hospital.
Baxter dropped to his back elevated his legs, the potent narcotics hitting his system faster than he expected.
“I want you to take out the pole, then we can let out that big fucker and plant him on Perkin’s property.”
“Easy.” The marksman’s hit split the wooden post with his long-range rifle. It fell, and then they moved into position. They’d brought the rope to wrangle the bull out, but they hadn’t expected him to be so difficult to rustle up. He broke through the rope and then trampled Cummings until the other two pulled him away. They got him on the back of the pickup truck.
“Don’t take him to the hospital. Take him to his apartment and mess it up. Make it look like he was beaten.”
“Yes, that’s a smart idea.”
“Damn, he looks bad. We better hurry.”
“Find that bull. Kill it. Dump it,” Cummings demanded before passing out. They left him at his place and did that before coming back and calling the cops.
That was the last thing he remembered since he’d passed out. They called the doctor from the clinic to help him and then they dealt with the bull, dragging it onto the nearest property.
Taking a deep breath that sent a wave of pain through him, Cummings had been lucky no one noticed the damage. Many equated it to being beaten with a baseball bat like his men said when they called the attack in.
“I say we should celebrate with a toast.” They had a lot to celebrate. By tomorrow, many of Cummings’s problems would be over with. Then it was just a matter of time before he could finish what he started. Revenge would be sweeter than anything he’d known. Little Ethan’s death would destroy Gage and Hope. Cummings couldn’t wait.
“Sounds wonderful. Do you have any scotch?”
“Why, yes, I do.” Cummings pulled out two tumblers and poured them both a drink. With a clink of their glasses, they began their celebration.
****
Sitting in his office, Gage took a long pause after hearing the news Alex shared. “What the fuck do you mean the charges have been dropped?” Their relationship had improved when Gage realized that Alex’s hands were tied by the law. He’d been there before.
“Well, unfortunately, all the tapes are missing.” Gage jumped out of his seat. If Alex had been standing in front of him, Gage wasn’t sure if he’d still be standing. Gage felt a new sense of rage and betrayal that was so damn profound that no one stooda chance in a fight with him. The one person who had a major grudge, who should have been locked away for life, just got a get-out-of-jail-free card.
He paced the office several times before he stopped and leaned on his desk. “Missing?” he asked into the speakerphone on his desk.
An audible sigh came from Alex. Nothing he could say would make his friend relax, but he had to tell him. “Yes. Apparently, someone hacked the system and wiped them away. I’ve already met with the specialist, and they said all the files were irretrievable.”
“I thought other copies were made.” Gage knew the standard practice included several copies to be stored to prevent loss since it was critical evidence. Without it, it was Hope’s word against Baxter’s.
“Yes we had a set of hard copies on CD, but they’ve disappeared. The station suffered a small fire, and during the process of putting it out, they were stolen. At least that’s what I believe.”