Chapter 31: Storms Brewing

Ethan and his three sons gathered around the desk to view the images Rico sent. Ethan's blood boiled as he watched his estranged son Jordan spanking and fucking Angel.

"Look at him," Joshua, Ethan's oldest son, laughed, "He's giving her a good hard spanking."

Joseph, Ethan's second oldest son, was also very amused; however James, Ethan's youngest son, only pretended to be amused. He was sickened by what he saw and what it would ultimately mean. At first his heart leapt at seeing Jordan again, because he loved his brother, but then he became concerned. It was clear to all of them that Ethan would seek revenge against Jordan for sleeping with his number one whore.

"A spanking from that pansy ass Jordy will seem like a picnic when Angel gets back here," Joshua sneered.

Ethan clenched his jaw. He couldn't keep his mouth from twitching because he was visibly upset and couldn't speak.

"There's no doubt in my mind that Angel will get what's coming to her," Joseph said as he glanced at his father, "but what about Jordy? He should know better than to fuck around with one of dad's best whores," he mused.

Ethan stared at the computer screen and seethed. Jordan had forsaken his heritage eighteen years ago, but in some ways it seemed like only yesterday. Jordan was Ethan's smartest and brightest son and Ethan had high hopes of Jordan one day assuming control of his empire. Joshua was Ethan's oldest son, followed by Joseph, but age didn't matter to Ethan because Jordan was his favored son and he wanted him to take over for him, right up until the day Jordan left.

Conflict between Ethan and Jordan had been inevitable, but Ethan hadn't realized that until it was too late. Ethan sent prostitutes every night to Jordan's bedroom from the time Jordan was fourteen-years-old. That's how Ethan felt his sons should be raised. At first, Jordan was shy about sex, but he quickly got over his shyness when he learned that the women could pleasure him sexually in all sorts of ways. Part of their task was to school Ethan's sons in the art of pleasuring women and Jordan had been a good student. But slowly over time something happened to Jordan and unlike Ethan's other sons, Jordan gained sympathy for the women. At the age of seventeen it was clear that Jordan didn't believe in prostitution anymore and he began to turn the women away rather than have sex with them and then he mandated that his father no longer send them to him. He also argued with Ethan about holding the women captive.

Jordan's attitude angered Ethan a great deal because he had pinned his hopes and dreams on Jordan. Jordan was strong and smart, just what Ethan could have hoped for in a son. But he should have known something was wrong with Jordan when they had been out hunting jack rabbits for sport when Jordan was about eight-years-old. At first Jordan enjoyed the hunt, but after killing a rabbit, Jordan refused to shoot anymore rabbits.

Ethan had been perplexed about Jordan's impudence. None of his other sons cared about killing rabbits. They enjoyed it just as much or more than he did. He saw Jordan's sympathy for the rabbits as a weakness and he worked to drive that weakness from Jordan. He rebuffed Jordan in anger to teach him to be strong and he allowed his other sons to tease Jordan mercilessly for years to come because he was too weak to kill a jack rabbit.

Conflict erupted in earnest between Ethan and Jordan shortly before Jordan turned eighteen-years-old. In a last ditch effort to bend Jordan to his will, Ethan dropped Jordan off at the bus station and told him not to return until he could learn to be a man. But unbeknownst to Ethan, Jordan had already been planning to get away. He had been applying for scholarships to colleges all over the country and the timing was such that Jordan made his way back east to college and attended school on a scholarship, eventually applying and being accepted to Harvard Medical School. It was prior to his first graduation from college and entrance into Harvard, when Jordan had legally changed his name from Jordan Parks to Jordan Parker.

Ethan paid a visit to Jordan around the time he graduated from Harvard Medical School and attempted a weak apology in the hopes he could convince Jordan to return to Reno, but it backfired. By then Jordan had become even more bitter and he refused to return to Reno. Jordan went on to live his own life and become his own man. Not the sort of man Ethan wanted him to become, but a man nonetheless and Ethan could never forgive him for being so strong.

Ethan ordered his sons out of the room and composed a return email to Rico instructing him to proceed with caution, but to bring Angel back immediately. Ethan realized he still couldn't control Jordan, he had never been able to, but one thing was certain, he wasn't going to allow Jordan to get away with this.

Rico opened Ethan's email and frowned. He was tired of taking orders from Ethan. There was no appreciation or promise of reward for all his hard work and it brought back to Rico's mind the imbalance of power between him and Ethan. Ethan dominated the relationship and always had. Rico had not been allowed to even so much as touch Angel for over twelve years now and it angered him greatly because he was the one who had brought Angel to Ethan in the first place. Rico seethed with anger every time he thought about it.

Rico had to wait until Monday morning when Jordan was at work to slip back inside his house and retrieve the hidden camera. He was in and out of the house in less than fifteen minutes. He didn't want to leave behind any evidence. He suspected it was going to be a tricky situation when Angel came up missing in Argus Falls and a small camera that could be easily discovered would not be good.

Rico continued to keep a low profile staying at the Hanover Motel and keeping out of sight. He avoided being spotted by Angel or anyone else. Over the years he had learned how to blend in with the crowd and disappear. But he kept his eye on the target and watched Angel's movements from afar, wondering how he would ever manage to get her alone long enough to nab her. He continued trying to formulate a workable plan.

Rico picked up the phone and called Jordan's office to see if he could find out more information about Jordan's schedule, but when Angel answered the phone as Jordan's receptionist he quickly hung up. He couldn't risk Angel identifying his voice. He would have to try a different strategy.

Rico spent a lot of time with the motel desk clerk, Charlie. Rico realized that Charlie was someone who could give him away and he wondered if he might have to kill Charlie in order to ensure that didn't happen, but as his time with Charlie increased, he reasoned it was unlikely Charlie would rat on him, and even if Charlie did, he didn't really know anything. Rico had found a kindred soul in Charlie and he didn't like the idea of killing him.

Rico watched as the snow began to fall outside the front office window of the motel on Monday afternoon as he sat talking to Charlie and playing poker. Rico hated the snow. The snow was one of the biggest reasons he moved away from the city to relocate in Reno. "Isn't it too early in the year to be snowing like this?" He asked Charlie.

Charlie assumed Rico's name was actually Jerry Jones, not Rico, because Jerry Jones was the name Rico had used to register. Charlie took to calling him Jerry or Jer for short, rather than Mr. Jones. "Yeah, it is a bit early."

"I hate snow," Rico sneered.

"Yeah, I hate snow too," Charlie nodded, "I bet some of the local businesses close up if it dumps as much snow as they're predicting. They say this storm is gonna be a mighty wicked one."

The wheels in Rico's mind began to churn. He may need to trade in his rental car for a four-wheel drive vehicle. If Angel were to disappear in a storm, it might buy him some much needed time. "I've gotta run an errand," He said to Rico and left to go trade in his car for a four-wheel-drive vehicle and when he drove back to the motel in his four-wheel drive Ford truck, Charlie was quite interested.

Charlie insisted on a closer look. "Dammit, I tried to get another appointment with that doctor for my back, but he is closed on Wednesday and completely booked Tuesday," Rico said casually as Charlie examined all the gadgets on the dashboard of the truck. The truth was it had taken a lot of skillful asking around to find out Dr. Parker didn't work at his office on Wednesdays.

Charlie scratched his head, "I'm gonna get me a new truck some day."

Rico wished Charlie would pay attention, "I mean, why would a doctor decide to close his office in the middle of the week? I wish I could work any damn time I pleased."

Charlie was looking at the truck so earnestly he almost didn't hear Rico, "Oh well, Doc Parker goes up north on Wednesdays to see patients. There's a lot of little towns up there that he stops at regularly."

"Is that so," Rico said and he realized that may be his best opportunity to nab Angel. "Well, I'll be leaving town soon and probably can't wait until Thursday to see the doc again, maybe he'll agree to see me at one of those small offices he's going to."

Charlie nodded, "This truck has everything, even a GPS tracker."

Rico wondered what else he would need besides the four-wheel-drive truck. He shivered from the cold as he watched the large snowflakes drift gently down from the sky and kept his eye on Charlie who was still very fascinated by the truck.

Angel had almost forgotten what the winters were like in Argus Falls. She had been in Reno too long. She stood outside of Jordan's office Tuesday afternoon smoking a cigarette and shivering from the cold. It had been snowing since yesterday afternoon and the snow was piling up. It was deep and covered everything. As she stood outside, the cold air seemed to drift up beneath her skirt no matter how tightly she attempted to hold her legs together. She cursed Jordan for insisting she wear a skirt to work every day. She needed to be wearing pants on days like this and she suddenly wished she had more winter clothing; she didn't even own a heavy coat.

Jordan realized Angel's predicament and promptly took her to Grover's Department Store after work so that she could buy a winter coat. He was tired of watching her shiver in misery in her thin Levi jacket.

As Angel modeled the different coats for him, Jordan smiled and admired each one. He couldn't help noticing that Angel seemed to be breaking free of her protective shell a little more each day. "If you would let me buy slacks instead of skirts, I would stay warmer longer and then maybe I wouldn't need a heavy coat."

Jordan laughed, "Women look better with dresses on," and he made sure the clerk wasn't looking as moved up behind her and reached beneath her skirt, cupping her panty clad bottom and giving her a rough squeeze. "Besides it allows the boss easier access."

Angel rolled her eyes, even though she was aroused by the touch of his hand. "Remind me to file a sexual harassment suit against my boss."

Jordan grinned, "Just try it and see what happens," he whispered as he nuzzled her neck and admired her in the latest coat, "I love this coat."

Angel pushed him away and twirled around in front of the mirror. The coat was beautiful. She reached down and looked at the price tag, "Ugh. I think this one is a bit out my price range."

Jordan handed the clerk his credit card, "Consider it an early Christmas present."

Angel didn't like him taking charge. She wanted to buy her own clothing especially now that he had finally given her a paycheck. She was tired of accepting his hand outs. "I can buy my own coat," she insisted, "Maybe just not this one."