CHAPTER FIFTEEN

"Have you heard from Krauss?" asked Craig.

"For the tenth time, no! I'm standing right here next to you. You would have seen me talking to him."

"Don't get fucking rude with me, Thurst. I'm the only one still standing here with you."

"You're standing with me because your fucking ass is on the line as well. You killed that bitch, Cara; you fucked up and told those two fucking neanderthals that I was an investor. You screwed this up!"

"It was already screwed up! Jesus, get off your fucking high horse, Thurst. This was screwed up weeks ago. Krauss is gonna have both our asses if we don't give him something. We have to figure out a way to make this right, and if we can't get out of the country, I don't know how we do that."

"I don't know either," said Thurston. "I just need to think for a while. Put a hat on and let's take the cable car to the wharf and get some food. Maybe the sea air will clear our heads."

They pulled on two cheap San Francisco sweatshirts and ball caps and hopped the cable car toward Ghirardelli Square. The ride was short but gave them both a chance to just be quiet and observe.

Wallen Krauss was not a man to be fucked with. When Thurston met him at a banquet in Miami, he knew immediately that this was a man that could make him rich. What he didn't recognize was that this was also a man who could take his life without a second thought.

Wallen Kraus was famous worldwide. A builder of submersibles for both business and pleasure, his small subs allowed people to fulfill their dreams of deep-sea adventure or to simply sail beneath the seas. Both men knew that he had a submersible that could allow them to get to Asia. The question was whether or not he was willing to take the chance on them again.

With ties to every major group of organized crime, stretching from Japan to Singapore to Bangkok to Malaysia and on to India, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. The only regions he didn't touch were the Middle East and Russia.

After meeting at the banquet in Miami, Thurston and Craig spent three nights partying with the man on his mega yacht. Naked women were everywhere, drugs, food, anything you wanted you could request.

Late one night, he started to tell the men of his ingenious new website that he wanted to expand into the U.S. He just needed a little help. Fifteen million in help, to be exact.

Neither man had that kind of cash. Thurston tried to get Kelly to fork over some of her money, and in the end, the bitch left him. That's when Craig stepped up. He could easily cheat older couples out of the equity in their homes. It wouldn't be fifteen million, but if they invested properly, it would grow rapidly.

For three years, they kept in touch with Krauss until two years ago, they were able to tell him they had the cash.

Thurston and Craig didn't just invest in the site. They ran the U.S. sites and thereby reported directly to Krauss. A madman with a penchant for violent deaths. They'd witnessed it firsthand on the yacht.

"Come with me, gentlemen," he smiled. "Business with me will sometimes be difficult. I expect perfection, and when I don't get it, well, men are punished. This one is personal to me. Paulo had the audacity to fuck one of my favorite girls."

The two men turned, seeing a man hanging by his ankles from a rope. He was naked, covered in blood, but it didn't appear to be his own.

"She came on to me!" yelled poor Paulo.

At the back of the boat, the two men watched as a group of Krauss's men dumped chum into the water. Sure enough, a few moments later, sharks were circling.

"Please, please, no!" yelled the man.

Krauss nodded as he was dipped into the water headfirst. The sharks ascended, biting and pulling on his flesh. They pulled him out, his torso and legs missing huge pieces. He was barely alert. Krauss nodded again, and he was dunked one more time. This time, when the rope pulled back, there was nothing left.

"I don't like people who screw me over. Is that clear?"

"Abundantly," said Thurston in a cocky tone. "I appreciate your style. I don't like to be fucked over either."

Krauss stood abruptly, glaring at the two men.

"Do not compare yourself to me. I've spent a lifetime achieving all of this. Sex, women, drugs, men, commerce, all of it! I own all of it, and it's not because I was cocky. It's because I knew what I wanted in life, and I knew how to get it.

"Send your payment for investment soon, gentlemen, or I'll find other investors."

Thurston and Craig had a taste those few days of exactly what they wanted out of life. The kind of life they wanted for themselves. They wanted to rule other men, have women drop to their knees at the snap of their fingers.

But now everything was screwed up. The entire U.S. operation was shut down, and Krauss wouldn't stand for that. They had to figure out a way to make it right, or they would be the ones hanging upside down.