Chapter Ten
"Shit!" Lita yelled as paper plates and cups went flying in the gust of wind from the helicopter rotors. She lunged across the table, trying fruitlessly to shield the picnic items with her body. "Someone help me! Grab the tablecloth! Grab the napkins!"
Divas and wrestlers alike ignored her as the WWE corporate helicopter descended, hovered, and then landed. The door opened and a portly man emerged, ducking and holding his black cowboy hat on his head. He looked over at the gawking crowd before shooting an apprehensive glance back into the helicopter where a phantom hand gesture impatiently at him. Get your ass out there!
He seemed to sigh and turned, squaring his shoulders as he headed reluctantly toward the silent gathering.
It was Jim Ross.
Kane gently lowered A.J. back into the wheel chair as J.R. lumbered across the lawn. Lita was cursing under her breath as she knelt to pick up napkins. It was a moment before she seemed to notice the silence and looked up. "Oh my god," she said staring, "Is that….J.R.?"
Kane felt the blood begin to throb behind his eyes as he watched J.R. huff and puff his way up the slight incline. He already knew what the man wanted and more importantly, who had sent him.
"Uh, hello everyone…" J.R. said nervously, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket to mop at his sweaty brow, "I'm uh, terribly sorry to interrupt your party."
"Hey, no problem! You're good old J.R.!" Miz suddenly chortled. He sauntered over and slung an arm around J.R's neck with a big grin. "I never thought you'd be crashing the party but you're just the man we need. You bring any of that barbecue sauce with you?"
J.R. looked at him with barely contained irritation. He pushed Miz's arm off of him, "No, I'm not here for the party. I'm here on business. I have to talk to Kane."
Miz shrugged, "Fine, be that way. And I was just about to offer you a beer too."
J.R. looked as if he'd like to swat Miz like an annoying fly but instead he turned to Kane.
"Hello, Kane. It's been, uh, quite a while since I've seen you. You look….uh…well."
Kane said nothing, his mismatched eyes pinning J.R. with a cold, unblinking stare.
J.R. gulped, "Uhm, I'm sorry to interrupt your party, but…could we speak in private?"
Kane slowly tilted his head and studied J.R. from behind a curtain of tangled hair. After a moment, he turned toward the grill and picked up the bottle of lighter fluid. He turned back to J.R., idly toying with the cap on the bottle.
"Of course, J.R." Kane said with a thin smile. "If I remember, I rather enjoyed the last time we…spoke… one on one…."
The blood drained from J.R.'s face, as he took a hasty step backward. He remembered all too well the interview he'd had with Kane several years ago, an interview that ended with Kane dousing him with gasoline and laughing maniacally as he set J.R.'s body on fire. It had taken him years to recover from the scars of that incident, both physical and mental.
"N-now Kane, I don't want any trouble. I'm just a messenger. I've come on behalf of Mr. McMahon…."
This was enough. Kane tossed the bottle of lighter fluid aside, grabbed J.R. by his lapels and dragged the hapless man off of his feet.
"I know what McMahon wants," he snarled, shoving his masked face up against J.R.'s. "And the answer is still NO!"
He dropped J.R. in a heap on the ground and raked the gathered crowd with a disdainful look.
"And this party is OVER!" he growled. "EVERYONE LEAVE!"
J.R. picked himself up and grabbed his cowboy hat from the ground. He turned and ran down the hill toward the helicopter as fast as his legs could carry him.
Miz sighed, "Knew it wouldn't last," he looked over at Kofi with a raised eyebrow, "Arm wrestle you for the rest of the beer?"
"God damn it," Lita swore as she threw the napkins back on the ground in anger. The guests were leaving. She looked at A.J. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to do something nice for you, but Kane…." she spread her hands helplessly.
A.J. felt a mixture of pity and irritation for Lita. She was sorry the party hadn't turned out as Lita had planned but anyone who knew her husband should have known better.
"It's OK, " she said, trying to sound reassuring. "I'm not really much of a party girl myself. " She turned her wheelchair and started to wheel herself after her husband when a loud, bombastic voice cut through the air.
"Where's my invitation to this little shindig? Get lost in the mail?"
Kane froze, literally in mid stride, then he spun around, upper lip curling like an angry dog.
There was only one man whose voice carried that mixture of imperious arrogance and pomposity. A.J. slowly turned to see Vince McMahon himself climbing out of the helicopter.
The man looked every bit as slimy as the last time she'd seen him, forcing her down the aisle to marry Daniel Bryan. He was wearing several thousand dollars worth of tailored Armani suit, his bright red power tie standing out like an exclamation point against the stark white of his shirt. He was sporting a deceptively simple haircut which probably set him back a few hundred dollars. A gold Rolex flashed on his wrist and a ring on his pinky with a diamond too big and obnoxious to be anything other than real.
He walked toward them with a shark's grin on his face and the patented Vince McMahon stride, part pimp roll, part corn cob up the ass.
A.J. felt her heartbeat speed up in the beginnings of a panic attack. No matter how much she told herself he couldn't hurt her or Kane, she could feel the power, the money, the influence this man wielded. She tried to back herself away but the wheels of the chair did want to cooperate on the thick grass. A small whimper escaped her lips as she nearly tipped herself over.
Kane was at her side in an instant, steadying her. His hands settled protectively on her shoulders.
"Ah, look at you two, the happy little couple," Vince said with a smile that did not quite reach his beady little eyes. "A.J. I'm glad to see you're recovering from your accident."
Kane stepped in front of her, shielding her. "I should kill you for what you did to my wife." He snarled.
Vince's smile didn't slip a notch as he looked up into Kane's masked face. "Believe me Kane, you're not the first, nor will you be the last man to work for me who wants me dead. But I believe in letting bygones be bygones and starting with a fresh slate. You know why I'm here."
"And I already told you NO!" Kane said between gritted teeth.
Vince laughed, "Kane, Kane. Do you really think that I've gotten to where I am now by taking No for an answer? You see, I have a philosophy when it comes to negotiations. It's something that a man by the name of Ted Dibiase once told me. Everyone has a price, even you. "
Quicker than anyone could have believed for a man of his size, Kane reached out and grabbed Vince by the throat.
"Do you know what my philosophy is?" he growled as he started to squeeze. "Everyone's neck will eventually snap, even yours."
Vince's face was starting to turn purple and his eyes bugged out but otherwise he remained remarkably composed for a man who was about to get his head popped off of his neck like an overripe pimple. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a thick bundle of papers which he waved in Kane's face
"Uue you! Uue you!" he squeaked.
Kane's eyes narrowed suspiciously as he stared at Vince. Experience had taught him not to take the man lightly. He could snap Vince's neck right here and now but slimy worm could very well haunt him long after he was in his grave.
With a frustrated growl, he dropped Vince and snatched the papers from his hand. They looked legal, like court documents and named both himself and A.J.
"What is this?" he demanded.
"Legal papers" Vince said hoarsely, rubbing his throat. "Both you and A.J. left while you were still under contract to WWE. I'm well within my rights to demand you fulfill those contracts or I will SUE YOU!"
Kane stared at him in disbelief. He'd expected almost anything but this. Did Vince really think the threat of…legal ramifications…was going to get him to step foot in a WWE ring again?
He took the thick bundle of papers in both hands, slowly and deliberately ripping them right down the middle. He dropped the fluttering pieces at Vince's feet.
"Sue me," he said contemptuously. He turned his back on Vince and began pushing A.J.'s wheelchair back toward the house.
"Are you sure about that, Kane?" Vince called after him, "Maybe you don't care what happens to you but what about A.J.? You want the stress of a lawsuit during this…delicate time in her life? And it's not just the contract you broke, you assaulted co workers and burned down the arena, I will press criminal charges against you as well. I will take everything you have, all of this, your family home," Vince gestured at the house and the grounds, "A.J. and your child will be out on the street while you are in prison. I'll take it from you and burn it to the ground. I'll dance around the flames while they watch."
Kane stopped in his tracks. A.J. could feel the rage emanating off of him. He was about half a second from turning around and ending Vince McMahon once and for all.
"Kane," she whispered, "No, please!"
She heard a metallic creak from her wheelchair and looked back to see him gripping the handles so tightly he was bending them out of shape. She laid an anxious hand on his white knuckled fist.
"Kane," she said again. His eyes closed briefly as he struggled to regain control of himself. Then he he opened them and continued pushing her back to the house.
As Vince watched them go he reached into his pocket and pulled a business card out.
"Let me know when you decide, Kane!" He called after them. He let the business card drop to the ground, the sharky grin spreading over his face. "You know where to reach me."
"You really think this is going to work?"
Vince turned to see Lita looking at him, arms crossed skeptically. "I mean, with all the strings you have to pull, you're going after him with some kind of legal crap? I know you have a lot more...direct ways...of getting through to him."
Vince straightened his tie, "Lita, I'm a businessman," he said smugly,"And I've learned that sometimes the most direct path to what you want is the one no one thinks will work. Kane will come around. After all, I've practically got his wife and unborn child hostage now."
Lita smiled crookedly, "I could make that happen, literally." she offered.
Vince gave her an exasperated look, "No." he said shortly, "Not yet and not you. And I think Kane will come around. Now, don't you have a job to do? What am I paying you for?" He dismissed her with a wave and headed back toward the helicopter.
Lita watched him go, her green eyes glittering. "You're right Vince." She said softly, "I've got a job to do. It just might not be the one you think you're paying me for."