Chapter 17

I then looked at the letter I held in My hand which had Duncan's handwriting on it and I held it tight. As I looked at it, I knew that I needed to open it and with trembling fingers I then slowly opened it...

The letter read as follows:

David,

Right now You are feeling pretty bad right now and with all the stuff in regards to the Peacock Clubs, it probably isn't helping You... However, rest assured when You are ready to return, I will happily return Your shares to You.

I'm not writing to You about shares though. I'm writing to apologize to You and to explain My actions and hopefully, You will have calmed down long enough to hear Me as You read this.

David, since the time You walked into victoria's and My life I have cared about You and also tried to protect You. When W/we first met, I saw an arrogant punk who had no respect for A/anyone. Then W/we sat and talked and I saw in You, the young Man I used to be. So full of arrogance but running from a past that I couldnt change and because of My actions, I chose to hide rather than face My past which I will share with You in a bit. However, lets talk about the night You told Me about Rachel and what You believed You had done.

After I heard Your story, I lay awake most of the night trying to think of ways to help and I also wanted to give You a reason to not be afraid as I know what thats like. I spent most of My young years running and even went as far to legally change My name in order to start fresh. Since You have access to the internet look up the name Lester Biggs and You will learn all about Me and My past. I didn't want You pushed into a position of having to do something that drastic and ever since I did it, I've regretted it. I admired You David because You were willing to at least deal with Your past and try to rise above it.

Now getting back to the night We talked about Your past. I wanted so much to ease Your burden but in order to do that I needed to find out exactly what happened to Rachel and when I found out, it was My hope to come back and tell You that it was a mistake and that You never did kill her and that she was living happily somewhere with someone she loved and was really ok. Well in My search for her, I paid a lot of money out to find out what actually happened to her and in doing so, Rachel was able to find Me and eventually she learned of My connection to You and that I cared about You a lot. The reality was that once You and I became partners, she was able to keep better tabs on You because of Your position as CEO for the Peacock Clubs.

However, before all that happened, not long after I put out feelers and threw some money around to find answers, Rachel had contacted Me and had heard that I was looking for a girl who was supposedly beaten to death by a young Man. When Rachel approached Me, it was under the guise of having information for Me because she claimed to know the girl and that the girl was alive and W/we had made arrangements to meet but before W/we were to meet, she wanted to know what My interest was and how much it was worth to Me. Well, like a fool, I told her I would pay whatever it took because the person I wanted to protect, I cared about and would do anything I could to make it happen. I had unknowingly told her that I knew how to reach You and when W/we met that same day, she came clean and told Me that she wanted Me to take her to You. I made it clear that You had suffered enough and that You were full of remorse and I didn't believe You were the same person. I then offered her a large sum of money on the condition she left You alone. she agreed to the money because she had met a man she claimed that had money and that she was living with Him since the night she had been beaten and left for dead by You. At the time, she didnt mention the name so I had no idea that it was Leo Diamond she was talking about.

Well she said the man that had found her was someone she wanted to impress but He saw her only as a housekeeper and a sex toy. She wanted to become a person He would take notice of but in order to do that, she needed an education and money so He would notice her and I gave her a what she asked for. That was My mistake. For a while I never heard from her. She did indeed go to school and eventually did get recognized by Him and she then married Him. However, shortly after the marriage, she approached Me again and asked for more money... this time it was for doctors bills. she had been beaten badly and the scars that were on her after You beat her werent as bad as the ones I saw after Rachel's and My second meeting. Make no mistake David, You hurt her but You didnt beat her so bad that she had to hide her face under veil as she later had to after some botched up surgeries that she had to try to correct the damage that Leo had done to her.

When I tried to get her to talk about it, she kept saying that the surgeries were not successful because the damage was too extensive and everytime she contacted Me for money or favours, she always held that over My head and if and when I refused, she would threaten to go after You. So I kept paying her off with whatever it was she wanted.

Then there was Leo Diamond who was ruthless as a person but who truly never had any business sense and with the schooling I gave Rachel the money for, she was able to help Leo turn things around... David, she really does have a good business sense and if Leo's temper hadnt been His downfall He may have actually learned something. The fact was that all the people Leo had working for Him were excellent but whenever the Man was angered He would either lash out physically or verbally causing those He hurt to either quit or be hospitalized due to physical injuries He caused them. Those He hurt physically, He bought off and spent so much money buying people off He had been doing poorly and without the proper people anymore thats when Leo's financial problems started to happen. When Rachel took over, things turned around and she had also borrowed money from Me to even clean up some of His messes.

As Rachel saw your success as My partner, she decided to put pressure on Me and then started to have eyes for the Peacock Clubs and as You became aware thanks to Dale Saunders, she started using Ted Niven to buy up shares in the clubs and when she couldn't get enough shares for controlling interest, she asked for My shares because she wanted to ruin You and eventually I believe she was going to reveal herself to you to say she was the one to ruin You as You did to her so many years ago.

When I refused, she threatened to kill You as well as anyone who was connected to You which meant that victoria as well as kimberly and Myself were all in danger. David, I could handle her coming after Me, but not My F/family. David, I knew she was crazy and I was afraid of what she would do to all of Y/you. If I had known she was gonna do what she did to kimberly, I would gladly have let her kill Me as long as she left all of Y/you alone so I handed over My shares to her.

David, for the record, I knew what I was doing and despite My age, I'm far from senile. I may be 82 years old but I do have My wits still. I needed to stall her but I also needed You safe so by giving her what she wanted, I was able to do that. It would have worked too but I underestimated Roy's memory and his flare stickiness for details and it was because of his being on the ball that You were able to put a stop to it, which We now know angered Rachel and because of that kimberly died.