Chapter 36: Meeting of the Minds

With help from the neighbors, the rubble left after the fire was gone by the end of the week. All that remained was a large cement slab with a ten-foot cement brick wall on one side. Cade had no idea how to rebuild a structure like the one he had lost. The garage had been there for a long time, and his property looked barren without it. He began to realize as the days passed, that he would need to figure out a way to deal with Drake Pennington soon, before he lost something else.

Cade returned to work after a week, but he was not the same. When Lonnie attempted to joke with him, his mind was always on something else. Once in awhile Cade gave Lonnie an obligatory smile, but it was obvious to Lonnie that his friend was not listening. Cade was disturbed by what had happened, and it made Lonnie angry that the Cade he had once known appeared to be gone for the moment.

Cade realized the enormous expense involved in restoring what he had lost, and he didn't know what he was going to do. "When are we gonna build a new garage?" Harley asked one night over dinner.

Cade didn't answer.

"We'll rebuild one as soon as we can," Callie managed, attempting to be cheerful.

Harley looked down, "Do you think our house is going to burn down?" He finally asked the question that had been bothering him for a long time.

Cade glared at him, "No!"

Cade's tone alarmed Callie. "Of course not Harley," she said.

Harley didn't feel safe anymore, and neither did Jessica and Ashley. They finished eating dinner in silence, and then Cade stood up to leave.

"Where are you going?" Callie asked in a worried voice.

"I need time to think," Cade said with a heavy sigh, and then he went out the back door and drove away in the old Ford. Callie had to care for the children, and they were distraught every time Cade decided to leave.

Cade drove around for a while and ended up parking about a half-mile away from Pennington's house. He walked slowly toward the large mansion smoking a cigarette. When he arrived on the property, he stood outside the house and observed things. It was amazing how much he could learn simply from watching. He once robbed houses and business, and he was good at noticing small details. After awhile, he crept closer to the house and roamed around the outside until he decided he was standing beneath what was probably Drake's office. He could hear Drake's muffled tones from two flights up, along with another man's ruffled tones, even though the windows and doors were shut.

Cade was dressed in dark clothing, so he was not noticeable, and there was very little security. He figured out a way to boost himself up to the balcony, where he quickly ducked out of site and knelt down squinting through the lace curtains covering the French doors that led into Drake's office. He saw two men inside the room and he wished he could hear what they were saying.

Both men turned their attention toward a TV screen mounted on the wall to watch the football game. Cade took a chance by reaching over to turn the doorknob. To his relief, the door was unlocked and he slowly twisted the knob and nudged the door open a crack so that he could hear the sounds coming from inside the room.

"Fucking Bears," Gary Holmes muttered.

"If the Bears don't make it to the Super Bowl this year, I give up," Drake said, and it was obvious he had been drinking.

Cade didn't want to hear about the Chicago Bears. He wanted to hear about his garage burning down. He listened for a while, and almost gave up, before finally hearing his name.

"What are we going to do about Harrison?" It was Gary's voice.

"That rat bastard," Drake said in disgust. "I can't believe he didn't buy insurance on his property."

"It worked in his favor," Gary said. He was tired of hearing Drake talk about the lack of insurance on Cade's property, because he mentioned it constantly.

"I thought the plan out carefully," Drake said perplexed, "And I never dreamed he didn't have insurance."

Cade wished he had something to record their conversation. Cade realized Drake was planning to frame him for burning down his own garage for the insurance, which would have sent him back to prison. His blood boiled.

"We've got to come up with plan B," Gary said.

"We will," Drake assured him.

Cade could no longer stand it. He rose to his feet and flung open the door, bursting into the room.

Drake and Gary were stunned. Drake reached for the phone to call the police and Cade stepped forward and yanked the phone out of his hand. "Let's talk, and then you can make your phone call."

Gary wondered what he should do. Cade carefully positioned himself between Gary and Drake so he could see them both. "I know what you're trying to do to me, and I want you to stop."

"I told you to go back to the city," Drake said sternly.

Cade glared at him. "I belong here, the same as you do."

"That's not your land," Drake spouted, "It was meant to be mine."

"I own the deed," Cade said, "And before that it belonged to my grandfather. The land is mine."

"Just because you were born to scum you think the land belongs to you," Drake said sourly.

"I wasn't born to scum," Cade tightened his jaw. "If you want to see scum, go take a look in the mirror."

Drake stood up and lunged toward Cade; but Gary quickly intervened, grabbing Drake's shoulder and coaxing him to sit back down in his chair. Then Gary turned toward Cade. "What do you want Harrison?"

Cade eyed Garrison Holmes the Fourth. "So I see you're still hiding behind Drake Pennington's skirts, the same way your grandfather hid behind Drake's grandfather. At least my grandmother left the Holmes family, and I thank God for that."

Drake was impressed by Cade's knowledge of the past. He chuckled at Cade's words, "He's got a point Gary. You're always taking your cues from me. When are you going to be the leader?"

Gary frowned at Cade. "You don't know a damn thing Harrison."

"Sounds to me like he does," Drake smirked. "I was the one who stayed behind to contend with his father Dusty, while you went off to your fancy prep school. When are you going to get your hands dirty?"

Gary seethed and looked at disdain at Drake, trying to justify Drake's words by the fact he had been drinking.

"It's time for this to be over," Cade said, looking at Drake. "Why do you care about owning my land so much?"

Drake pulled out a cigar. "I'm impressed by the way you barged into my house, and that you managed to dig up the history between our three families," he paused, "But if you can do all of that, it seems to me you would already know why I want the land."

"You want to make your daddy proud," Cade observed. "Your father is dead along with mine, so unless there's an afterlife, they aren't going to know either way."

"It's a matter of honor," Gary piped up, "Which is something you wouldn't know anything about."

Cade glared at Gary. "Well if I don't know about honor, it's because my father was murdered mysteriously right after my birth, and he wasn't around to teach me." Gary's face reddened from his neck up, and he squirmed uncomfortably.

"If we weren't at cross purposes, I might learn to like you Cade," Drake smirked.

Cade turned back toward Drake. "You're a bully Pennington, and I've dealt with a lot of bullies in my time. You're all the same as all the others. The only difference might be the size of your bank accounts."

Gary thought about Cade being in prison and growing up on the streets with the drug addicts and thugs. He looked over at Drake, "I think we should call the police."