26. Vengeance Plan For Two

Chapter 26

Vengeance Plan For Two

HUNTER

T he monthly Zoom board meeting with the shareholders of the Middleton Financial Group goes relatively well and once the quarterly goals are discussed and negotiated, our virtual connection ends, leaving behind only Vaughn and me in my office in the club.

I relax and unbutton my suit jacket. "Did you reach out to Nick?"

Vaughn yawns and gets up to prepare a cup of coffee for himself. "Yeah, I dropped by there on my way here and ran into Shelly."

I scowl into my cup of coffee, not wanting to hear of Vaughn's long, drawn-out drama with his wife.

"So, she's alive?" I ask sarcastically.

"Yeah, and she was surprisingly nice to me," Vaughn comments, his voice thoughtful. "She told me that we should have lunch tomorrow."

Shelly Parson is a bitch through and through. The only time I've ever known her to be nice to Vaughn is when she wants something. Usually, Vaughn is a sharp man, but when it comes to his wife, he's blind as a fucking bat.

"You can't be this stupid," I tell him. "Lunch with her?"

He just scowls at me, walking over with a coffee and sprawling into his seat.

"Maybe she's had a change of heart."

"The devil doesn't have a heart," I remind him lightly.

Our conversation is interrupted when there's a knock on the door. "Mr. Middleton, there's a Mr. Nick who is here to see you."

Vaughn and I exchange a look before we get up.

Mr. Nick always has a fidgety look about him, and no one would ever suspect that he runs one of the most successful Hollywood studios in the country. Normally, somebody like him would never have come under my radar, but three years ago it was he who approached me to help him out with a problem, and once you associate yourself professionally with me, you can never get rid of that link.

"How can I help you, Mr. Middleton?" Nick leans forward in his seat, cautiously eager to hear why he's been summoned.

"I'm looking for a girl," I study him. "Ashy blonde hair and an old scar on her right inner wrist."

"Ah, may I ask why?"

I give him a pleasant smile. "No, you may not."

He looks both puzzled and a little nervous as he glances toward Vaughn, then back to me. "How am I supposed to find a girl like that? Have you tried a private detective?"

"If I needed suggestions, I wouldn't turn to you," I say coldly. "Approach your casting crew and tell them you're finding a girl with that description. Make something up about why. The girl should be eighteen."

Nick rubs his hands on his thighs, looking agitated. "You know I don't like getting involved in these sorts of things."

"That's interesting," I smile lightly. "From what I remember, you have a thing for young girls."

"Not like that."

"You were also the one who approached me to handle your business partner. You didn't seem to have a problem with my help back then. Now, I'm asking you to return the favor."

I can see the sweat beading on Nick's forehead. "I know, but I'm a changed man. If you just tell me what you want her for so that I don't feel guilty for putting her in harm's way."

I give him a long look, not knowing whether to feel impressed by the man's courage or disappointed in his stupidity.

"Mr. Nick," I steeple my fingers together on my lap, leaning back in my seat. "I told you back then how things work. If you ask for my help, then you are to make your resources available to me whenever I require it, as long as I don't harm your place of business or your profits. Your morals are your problem, not mine. You knew exactly what you were doing when you agreed to my help."

The man's face is turning white as a sheet and I wait for a response. "If–" his voice is unsteady. "If you can, just give me an assurance that you won't harm the girl."

"You're forgetting your place," I say icily. "I don't have to make assurances of any kind. If you refuse to help me, it's very easy for me to crush your little studio and all of your business investments. I have enough dirt on you to put you right back where I found you."

The defeat in his eyes is satisfying. "Okay. Fine. I'll help."

He stands up, his shoulders slumped. "It's like looking for a needle in a haystack, and it'll take a few weeks, but I'll keep you updated if I find anything."

After he leaves, Vaughn asks, "You think he's going to flake out?"

"No, that studio is precious to him. If he was willing to bend his so-called morals to ask me to dispose of his biggest competitor, he's not going to have a problem now."

I turn to look at Vaughn. "Did the security footage from across the road capture anything?"

He shakes his head. "I was reviewing it this morning. People are leaving, but nobody who catches my attention in particular."

"Conduct deep background checks on all the staff," I tell him grimly.

Vaughn sits up, his expression alert. "You want me to do it?"

"I want an external investigation. I find it hard to believe that a customer would be able to get in and out of the basement so quickly not unless they had help."

"Inside help," Vaughn adds, his expression heavy. "I'll run facial recognition software over the video. I need a list of your regulars as well. Could be staff or somebody who's in and out of the club regularly."

"You can talk to Megan," I tell him. "She seems to know mostly everybody who comes in."

Vaughn runs an information brokerage company. His services are used widely, and he's made a name for himself. Despite his easygoing demeanor, he's not someone to be taken lightly. I typically use in-house resources to gather information on potential clients, but shit has just gotten real, and now I need to use someone I can trust 100%. Vaughn can be a dangerous opponent if crossed. After all, information is the most dangerous of all weapons.

"I've got access to traffic cams all around the city. So far, I haven't seen a glimpse of Johnathan, but then, with all that money, he could have gotten surgery to alter his features. That's what I would've done."

"Check into the deaths of any prominent or small-level plastic surgeons, starting from the day he ran," I say. "If he used one, he's not stupid enough to have left them alive."

Vaughn nods, "Got it."

When he doesn't leave, I stare at him. "What else?"

"So, who is she? This girl we're looking for."

My fingers tap on my desk, and after a long silence, I say quietly, "My younger sister. There's a possibility she survived the fire fifteen years ago that I thought killed her."

Vaughn's eyes widen, but he doesn't say anything else. He's not that stupid. Instead, he gets up to leave. He makes his way to the door before pausing and looking over his shoulder. "What're you going to do if it is your sister?"

"Bring her home."

I'm not surprised by his question. After all, my reputation as a heartless monster precedes me. The people closest to me know that rather than having a weakness, I'd rather eliminate it altogether. It's why I've never had a serious relationship like Vaughn does.

I get up and walk over to the large window, and look outside at the busy Los Angeles traffic. From this floor, the cars passing by look almost like tiny Matchbox cars. As I take in the sight of them, my eyes are unfocused.

It wasn't easy to be raised in the streets. My father abandoned us after my sister's birth. I was old enough at that time to still remember his face, even now. The bastard took every cent my mother saved up and left us while she was in the hospital, leaving us broke and homeless (although it wasn't like we were well off before then.)

I tried my best to take care of them, but I was young and had few resources, and ultimately made the biggest mistake of my life, a mistake that cost me them. I became a runner for a small-scale gang in my area which was part of a larger crime organization. They gave me good money, which allowed me to put a roof over my family's head, but the good times were short-lived. I was framed for a local murder I didn't commit, and the gang decided to torch my house to teach me a lesson. It was only later they discovered I was innocent. But it had been too late.

So I waited.

I waited for years until I had the money and the power to hunt them down one by one and murder them in the most vicious manner possible. It hadn't brought my mother and sister back, but wiping out that entire gang with such meticulous precision and watching them cower in fear, not knowing when I would strike next, had been satisfying.

I close my eyes in regret. I should have kept at least one of them alive. Maybe I'd know the truth about my sister if I had.

With a sigh, I open my eyes and see the hard glint in my eyes reflected in the window's glass. It will be challenging to weed her out, but if it is truly her, then I have enough resources to scour the entirety of LA with a fine-tooth comb. It's just going to take some time.

The same goes for Johnathan.

There is nowhere he can hide from me. I just have to be patient. I might have let him off easy for stealing from me because of our history, but attempting to find my sister and use her against me is unforgivable. I'll make him pay in blood for even entertaining that thought.

I will have my vengeance.

Glancing down at my watch, I check the time, and a cold smile settles on my lips. I have to settle another score in the meantime. I recall Megan's words.

I'm going to make something of myself, and they'll regret looking down on me!

I take the elevator into the garage, where Parker and Lars are waiting for me. It's time to give my fierce-eyed kitten a little vengeance of her own.