Chapter 23

Greg didn't say anything to Bonnie, but he was angry. In fact, he was angrier than he'd been in a very long time. He liked Bonnie. He liked Bonnie a lot. Ever since that first day when he saw her in the gas station, he knew that she was special. It really bothered him that her husband could abuse and harass such a nice woman, and he knew exactly what he was going to do about it.

'I can't go around saving the whole world, ' he thought. 'But this is one little piece of it that I can fix!'

The first thing he did was talk to his friend Robert, who'd been keeping a close eye on Bonnie and her house while Greg was gone. He knew when David went into the house, and he waited for her to call, but it didn't come. He also knew that David had indeed hired a private detective to follow Bonnie around, but it only took Robert one meeting with the man to get rid of him.

'Now I've got the ball, ' thought Greg, as he left his friend's house. 'Tomorrow is Friday, and I'll catch up to him then.'

The next morning, Bonnie went through her routine of getting the boys up and ready for school with a lot lighter heart. She was confident that Greg would take care of everything simply because he told her he would.

Little did she know that as she sat in the kitchen sipping at her first cup of coffee, Greg was waiting for David in the mall parking lot. He knew everything that he needed to know about Bonnie's husband by then--even which parking spot the man used.

"What the hell are you doing here?" demanded David. He was just getting out of his car when he saw Greg approaching him.

"I think we need to talk," replied Greg calmly.

"I don't think so! I have nothing to say to the man who's been fucking my wife, and you have nothing to say that I want to hear!"

"That's where you're wrong. You might want to have a look at these before you go inside," replied Greg, as calmly as if he were inviting a friend over to watch a ball game.

David saw the man pull out a thick envelope. Thinking it was some court order, he angrily ripped it out of Greg's hand. But when he opened it, his hands began to shake. The large manila envelope contained a stack of explicit photos of him and Tracy having sex in various parts of the store, including his office!

Greg was pleased with the shocked look on David's face. "They're stills taken from a number of videos that I have of you and Tracy Gillman. By the way, you did know she's only sixteen didn't you?"

David's mind was racing as he thought of her application. She told him she was seventeen, and not caring at the time, he took her word for it. The only thing he required of her was her social security card for proof of citizenship and tax purposes. She'd marked that she was a high school graduate, but he never checked to see if it was true. There was no need for it. At the time, she was just a teenager looking for a job at his store, and he had no reason to not hire her.

The realization that he'd been caught having an affair with an underage girl was worse than his worst nightmare, and he was completely unnerved by it. The word "blackmail" suddenly loomed in his mind, and all he could do was hope that this Greg guy wouldn't want anything more than to have the counter suit against Bonnie dropped.

Greg smiled. He loved this part whenever he dealt with assholes. The fact that David was Bonnie's scumbag of a husband just made it more fun for him.

David's hands were shaking. He knew that Greg had him by the balls and there wasn't a damned thing he could do about it.

"Now listen carefully," began Greg, evenly. "I'm going to tell you exactly what you're going to do. First, you're going to get into your car; get yourself some coffee, and then go close your bank account."

"Bonnie already took the money out of it," replied David in a subdued voice.

"Tsk, tsk, Davie, Davie. I'm not talking about the six hundred or so dollars that you kept in your joint account. I'm talking about the twenty eight thousand dollars you have in your own private account!"

David was bewildered and wondered how Greg knew about his secret account. 'Not even Bonnie knows about that!' he thought.

"Are you paying attention Davie? It's important that you do exactly what I tell you. You might want to take some notes if you don't think you can't remember it all."

David glared at Greg, but didn't say anything. He only hoped that the man wouldn't demand too much of the money.

"Next, you're going to go to a car dealership and buy yourself another car. You will pay for it in cash. I suggest you buy a cheap car that gets good gas mileage since you're going on a trip."

"The hell I am!" exploded David. It was all too much for him to take.

Greg quickly took a step forward, and pushing the man against his car, he grabbed David by his testicles. "Yes you are! Remember I've got these right here in my hand, and in one swift move, I could rip them off!"

Greg was secretly hoping that David would give him an excuse to get a little physical with him, and now that the man knew that he was in physical danger as well as legally, he had the extra leverage he needed to continue. Then letting go of the man's testicles, he gave him a hard look before taking a step back.

"I don't really care where you go. Just think of someplace that you always wanted to see. You know, like Seattle, or Bangor Maine. It doesn't really matter as long as it's far away and you're never heard from again! Hell, for all I care, you can go to Pango Pango in Samoa. It's a nice place by the way. I've been there."

"But what about my kids? My job? What about my friends and parents?" wailed David.

"Just think of it as a sort of witness protection thing. You know, when the witness disappears forever! Just remember; I have eyes everywhere, and no matter where you go or what you do, I will be watching you."

"I just can't disappear like that!" protested David.

"Yes you can. It's a lot easier than you think, too."

"And what if I don't agree? What if I decide to go to the police?"

Greg laughed. "Well if you go to the police, then you'll be the one going to jail now, won't you?"

David suddenly remembered the pictures in his hand and tried to think of a defense he could use when Greg interrupted his thoughts saying, "You know? People have no idea how vulnerable they are. Did you know that anything that makes or breaks a connection can set off an explosion? Just think of it. You open the door to your house, lift the lid of your mail box, pick up the phone, or even open your car door! Hell, who knows? You might be just walking down the street somewhere and turn a corner, then bang! There's a bullet in your forehead!"