She pulls back, grinning.
“You okay?” I ask her.
“I’m great. They were so nice.”
“Really?” I ask, skeptical.
“Honestly. Lorraine is fantastic. Apparently they hate my father as much as we do.”
“Guess that’s not too surprising,” I say, laughing.
“Mr. Locks.”
I look over suddenly toward the car. Standing next to it is an old woman with thick, long white hair pulled into a braid. Her face is lined with wrinkles and she’s holding a cane in one hand, but she’s immaculately dressed and her blue eyes are sharp.
Aria pulls away from my embrace, but she doesn’t let go of my hand.
“Lorraine, this is Ethan,” Aria says.
“Good to meet you,” I say.
She hobbles over toward us and extends her hand. We shake and she smiles up at me.
“So, are you ready to demolish your father?” Lorraine asks Aria.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Good.” She looks at me. “I hear you’ve been good to my girl.”
“I have been. Or I’ve tried to be.”
“Keep being good. Did you bring my money?”
I nod. “It’s where you instructed me to put it.” As soon as I got here, I left the money in two briefcases in two different parts of the factory. It was a pain in the ass, but it was what they instructed me to do.
“Good. So my men have it already.”
“I assume so.”
She checks her watch. “And now it’s time for the last piece of the puzzle. Is he normally punctual?” she asks.
“Yes,” I say. “Normally, he’s early.”
“Let’s see, then.” Lorraine joins us, and we stand in a line together, an old woman, Aria, and me. We must look like a strange little trio.
We don’t have long to wait. True to form, Richard arrives on time, maybe even a little early. Two black SUVs pull into the lot and Richard climbs out of one followed by three large men, clearly his muscle. Three more men come from the other car, making six guys in total.
Richard approaches with a huge grin on his face. The bastard probably thinks we’re outnumbered.
He stares at Aria and I feel her stiffen beside me. His eyes drill into hers but she doesn’t look away, and for a second I’m proud of her.
“Hello, daughter,” he says.
She doesn’t respond. Just gazes back at him then spits onto the ground.
Richard laughs then looks at me.
“Well, Ethan,” he says, grinning at me. “You called this meeting. I assume you have a huge fucking bribe for me?”
“Something like that,” I say.
“Good. You’re in one shit position.” He looks at Lorraine and for a second, his grin falters. “And who is this old bat?” he asks.
“I’d be more polite, young man,” Lorraine says.
“Why? Are you going to hit me with your cane?”
Lorraine sighs. “You never know what’s good for you, Richard.”
He frowns at that. “Who are you?”
“I’m here to give you something.” She steps forward, bringing out a manila envelope from under her cardigan. She hobbles slowly toward him, holding the envelope out.
He eyes her strangely. “The fuck is this?” he asks. “Your recipe for pie?”
“Something like that,” she murmurs. “Take it, please. And look inside.”
He takes the envelope from her and she hobbles back toward us, a smile on her face. She winks at me as Richard takes the photographs from inside of the envelope.
His face drops instantly and he shoves the pictures back into the envelope. One of the guys standing right behind him snickers and laughs a little.
“What the fuck is this?” Richard shouts, anger bubbling up in him.
Lorraine slowly turns back toward him. “Be polite, young man. Those are photographs.”
“I saw that. Where the fuck did you get this? They’re fake.”
Lorraine laughs. “They’re not fake. You know that. We have more where that came from, too. Video, if you like.”
He’s speechless. I can feel Aria’s tension next to me, and I squeeze her hand. She looks up at me and forces herself to smile.
“Fuck this,” Richard says. “I want my money, Ethan. Fuck this.”
“We’re even now,” I say to him. “Do you get it? You’re going to sign the contract before last, the one that was a fair fucking deal. And then we’re done with this. You’ll leave Aria alone.”
“Or what?” he says, anger bubbling over.
“Calm down,” Lorraine says. “Or I’ll put a bullet in your head.”
“Fuck you, old bitch!” he shouts.