TITLE: Family (Chapter 14)
AUTHOR: rcruz
Disclaimer: If I owned them, things would look a lot different. The characters, settings, established histories, and general Grey's Anatomy universe referenced in this work are properties of their respective owners. This is a work of fiction for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement is intended.
Someone in the front seat turned around.
"Davey!" the person said in what sounded like some perverted sing-songy voice. "You don't call, you don't write and you have our money. Now, that just isn't right. Family does not leave their benefactors. There are consequences to leaving the family in the lurch. You've done that Davey and we are unhappy. When we're unhappy, the family is unhappy and we don't like unhappy, especially when you can make everything better."
David said nothing. He was desperately trying to think. He had no money with which to appease his captors and nothing short of money or promises, genuine promises of money, would satisfy. He knew that. He had seen these guys operate.
"I'm getting it. Why do you think I'm here?" he said in a matter of fact tone that he hoped would convey self-assurance, especially since he had none, but Callie was due to show up at any moment and he needed out of this car.
"Oh, you're getting it?" said the guy in the front seat. "Well that makes everything better. Why didn't you just say so before taking off? We spent lots of money trying to find you Davey. And to think this whole time, you were getting it."
The man paused waiting for David to say something, but David waited. He knew they didn't believe him, but they weren't killing him yet and he knew the family and how they operated. They liked to keep good performers alive and not dead and he was a good performer. They knew it too and so even if they didn't believe him, they would give him a chance. He had been hoping for more time, but he was at the end of the road. He would have to get the money from Callie one way or another, kid or no kid.
It came to him in a flash, how he could get the money and cover himself. Clearing his throat, he spoke.
"I have a plan, but now that you're here I feel better about it, since I wasn't sure I'd be able to do it myself. This way, you guys are guaranteed your money. No tricks, no gimmicks."
The front seat passenger laughed mockingly. "Okay, Davey, tell us your plan," he said as if he was dealing with a child.
"There's this girl."
More laughter. "There's always a girl."
David looked at him waiting for a sign that he should proceed. When no other snide comments were forthcoming, he continued. "Her father owns a huge hotel chain. Big bucks. We're talking trust fund baby. She's easy prey. We take her, ask for a ransom, boom you get your money and we're even."
Everyone in the car was laughing now. "Kidnapping? That's pretty serious and pretty stupid. That's not how we do things, Davey. That's not how the family does things. Kidnapping is a felony which means FBI."
"It's the only way to get the money and its easy. I can help you lure her. We used to be friends in school. I'll make sure she's compliant. Her father can give us the money from his current account. It's small change to him and he'll pay. I guarantee he'll pay."
"You're an idiot. Kidnapping? Did you not hear me Davey? That involves the FBI. No way."
David sat up straighter. He needed to sell this. "We could do it now. She's on her way here. We could grab her, make the call and have the money by this afternoon." He was excited now. This would be better than trying to sweet talk the money out of Callie.
"Yeah and I'll bet we get to be the kidnappers and you get to be the supportive friend, right, Davey?"
"Listen her father has loads of money. We could probably garner extra, line the pockets of some loyal family members like yourselves."
The laughter continued. "Davey, Davey, Davey. Kidnapping is not that lucrative and it takes more planning than this. Besides, there is no lining of pockets. The family would know. They always know and then we'd be dead before we got to enjoy any part of whatever money you claim this guy has."
David heard a car pull up in the parking lot. It was probably Callie. He cursed silently. She was early.
"Alright fine, it's a stupid plan, but that's probably her right now. You gotta at least let me see if I can get the money from her."
"Sure, Davey, sure. But we'll be right here and we'll be watching, so don't get no ideas. The next time we ain't gonna be so friendly, Davey. One way or another, we'll get what's owed to us."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he said trying to display more confidence then he felt. He got out climbing over the guy seated to his right. He thought about coming clean with Callie, but dismissed it. She had been somewhat colder to him this time around and he felt that his chances of getting anything from her were diminishing with each day. He had to act and he had to act now. With one last look at the dark sedan he straightened his clothes and made his way into the bar.
Callie was waiting for him by the bar with what looked like orange juice in a glass. He put on his best smile, elevated his pitch and addressed her.
"Hey, Callie! Wow, you look great."
He sat down quickly and made sure to look at her as he said the words, even though his eyes wanted to turn and look for the bartender. He was hoping for a smile, even a mocking smile would have been welcome, but all he got from her was a suspicious glare. He finally relented to his body's desire and looked for the bartender. He ordered a club soda with lime resisting the urge to order something much stronger. He still had no plan and he needed to come up with one before Callie left. He looked back at her after placing his order.
"So, how are you Callie?"
"Cut out the nonsense little game you're playing David and tell me what you really want."
He studied her keeping his face neutral, betraying none of the panic that was welling up inside him. After a few seconds of silence she spoke again.
"I'm not buying it this time, David and I'd really like to just get on with the rest of my life. I'm not an idiot. I know you want something and it isn't to see Allie."
He tried laughing lightly. "How can you be sure?" he asked trying to say it with some authority.
"I just am," she replied before taking a sip of her drink.
He looked away. He had a feeling that this time would not be like the others. He didn't know why or how, but Callie was different this time. Gone was the neediness that had caught his attention when they first met. She didn't seem to be seeking out attention or approval or validation or whatever it was she was looking for all those years ago. She seemed impatient with him and for the first time in a long career of cons, he felt exactly like that: a con man. She wasn't buying it and no amount of smoke and mirrors or shoddy paint jobs would convince her of what he was trying to sell. But she was still his only option and so he took a deep breath and for once told the truth.
"I need money," he said simply.
"Of course you do," she said listening to the ice clink in her glass. "How much?"
He gave her a genuine chuckle now. "Don't you even want to know why?"
"No," she said.
"Half a million dollars," he said never taking his eyes off her.
She closed her eyes momentarily before looking up at him. "Done, but I need something from you."
His heart was thumping as loud as the bass on a souped up car. He felt it throughout his body vibrating to some unknown beat. His palms got sweaty.
"Anything you want," he said in his excitement.
"I need you to give up any claim to Allie."
He blinked in surprise. He didn't think she would ask that. He didn't know what he expected, but it was his ace this idea he had that Callie would never deny him the kid. He chuckled again before looking away trying to outthink his own brain. He needed the money, knew one way or another she could get it. But if he gave up any claims to the kid, there would be no going back to her.
"You can't expect me to..." he started to protest.
"That's the deal David. You want the money, you need to give up all claims to her. You don't know her, she doesn't know you. Half a million dollars is a lot of money, so I know you must owe someone something. This isn't a negotiation. There won't be any deals. If you don't take it, I'm suing you for child support."
"Child support? Are you freaking joking? You're a surgeon. You make tons more money than I do. I should be suing you for alimony."
"We were never married jackass. I wanted to, remember? You left. Best favor you ever did me. That's the deal. I'm sick of playing this little game with you. This is the last time."
She made a move to get up, but he reached for her hand and blocked her way. "You could lose her," he said pausing for effect. "You want to sue me, they'll give me visitation. She'll know who I am."
"I know," she said pulling her hand from his. "But I don't think you really want that, do you?"
She had him there and they both knew it. He never wanted to be a father, had never asked to see the child he shared genes with. He searched her eyes but they were guarded and closed to him. He only registered the steely gaze that held his with a strength he did not know she possessed.
"Fine," he said in order to seem cooperative and buy himself more time. There had to be a way to get his money and not lose the leverage he had over her. Everyone needed a safety net and she was his, whether she knew it or not, whether she liked it or not. He would not give that up without a fight. He saw the utter relief that invaded her as she expelled breath. She had expected him to respond in the negative. Point in his favor.
She was intent on leaving though and he was not through with her. He thought briefly of enticing a meal out of her, but saw the resolve in her eyes. She considered him for a moment, then looked in her purse and pulled out a card.
"Meet me at this address," she said handing it to him. "Tonight. We'll hammer out the details." She paused. "You could have your money tonight," she said to him before turning away.
He hated that she was making this difficult. Tonight would not be enough time. He needed to figure out how to get his money and not lose his access to her.
"Don't these things take time?" he asked trying to buy himself time.
"They don't have to," she said still making her way to the door. He followed her out before the bartender called him back. He threw a few bills on the bar and sprinted out the door catching up to her as she reached her car.
"Hey can I hitch a ride?" he asked trying once again to put on the school boy charm that had worked so many times before. He gave her a full smile as he scratched the back of his head.
She was holding her door open and looked around. He looked around too, noticing the dark sedan parked inconspicuously near the back entrance of the bar.
"How did you get here?" she asked slightly confused.
"Oh I walked. I need money remember," he said again trying for sheepish. He needed her to start trusting him again, at least for a little while.
She rolled her eyes. "Where too?" she asked as she got in the driver's side.
He rushed over to the passenger's side and hopped in trying to think of one of the hotels he had stayed at. They were all seedy.
"Where are you going?" he asked in what he hoped was not an overly friendly voice.
"I'm going to the hospital," she said as she started the engine. "I can drop you anywhere between here and there, but I'm not driving out of my way, so your choice."
She pulled out of the parking lot slowly.
"Hospital's fine," he said. My hotel is near there," he lied as he looked in the mirror. Sure enough the dark sedan was following them. Now he just had to see if he could force them to go along with his plan.
"Callie," he said all cheerfulness fake or real leaving him the moment he started reaching for his ankle.
"Yeah," she said eyes still on the road.
He knew she heard the click. Her face paled at the sound. She didn't even turn her head to confirm its presence. He was shaking and almost laughed out loud at that fact. He had never been good at this even though it was part of who he was. He was more comfortable with the con, getting people to do what he wanted all the while making them feel as if it was their idea or something they wanted to do. He knew how to use the Smith & Wesson he was holding to her head, had held this very gun to other people's heads when the con had run its course or, as in this case, when someone were being plain stubborn, but this was different. This was Callie and despite how everything had started and ended, she was always been pleasant to him. He never imagined having to do this, but the game was survival. His father's voice rang in his ear again. Take what you want, clear and simple. That's all he was doing.
"You need to pullover and we're both going to get out of this car."
"Are you fucking insane?" she said making no move to pull over.
Maybe she had noticed his shaking too.
"I already agreed to give you money," she said.
"Yeah, but I can't sign those papers," he said still holding the gun close to her head. He resisted the urge to steady his shaking hand with his other hand and just continued to hold it there.
"Pull over, Callie."
"What are you going to do?" she asked still keeping her hands on the wheel steady and staring straight ahead.
"You're going to let me drive the car and then you're going to give me money and there will be no signing over of anything."
She laughed, but miraculously started pulling over. He acknowledged her actions by pulling the gun away from her head. He looked straight ahead. She would do what he wanted. He was sure of it now.
"David, the deal is you sign or I take you to court. Either way, we will resolve this. If I take you to court, it means you'll owe me money. You use that thing, you get no money, so where's the angle? For you, I mean. I know you're not stupid. Think it through David."
"I sign I lose everything," he said stealing a glance at her. If you make me do this, I want more." Finally he turned to look at her full on. He had an opportunity here and he didn't want to miss it. He didn't know where the dark sedan was. He hadn't seen it pass, but he hadn't been looking especially hard when he was holding the gun to her head. He was sure they were around somewhere.
"Half a million dollars is a lot of money. How much more do you want?" she asked and he felt like she was losing patience with him. To his surprise the gun had not seemed to faze her. He went for broke.
"I want your trust fund." He expected silence, maybe laughter. He didn't expect a yes, but that's exactly what he got.
"Yes?" he asked not hiding his surprise.
"Sure," she said as if he had asked for $100 dollars instead of the substantial trust fund her father had provided. "I don't need it. My daughter doesn't need it. You want it, you can have it, but not without you disappearing from our lives forever."
He was thinking. There had to be a catch. He wondered only briefly if he could figure it out right there, then decided that it wasn't worth it. He could walk away with her entire trust fund. He picked up his gun and looked at it. "Okay," he said. He felt its weight in his hands as he considered his next move. He thought about what Callie had just agreed to and what would hopefully happen in the next few days. He wanted to trust her, trust that she would keep her word. Callie was as trustworthy a person as he would ever find, but you didn't leave things like this to chance, so he kept the gun in his hands.
"We're going to get out here and walk up to the second floor offices of my lawyer. You'll sign the papers you need to sign and I'll give you my trust fund," she said calmly.
"I want a guarantee. I know you can't just give me the money today, but I need something drawn up."
"No problem. She can take care of that too," said Callie as she opened the car door and stepped out, very deliberately focusing on the door to the building she had parked in front of and not, he was surprised to note, on him. He stepped out of the car, gun still in his hand, and let his gaze rest on her. In hindsight, he should have known. He should have anticipated; he should have expected the force that came at him as soon as he stepped out of the car. His father would be have been disappointed.
Callie had seen Diego in the parking lot along with another car that had followed them out. She knew as soon as David asked for a ride that her brother would be following and just hoped he kept his distance. She also noticed when the weird sedan turned off and breathed easier. She had been imagining all sorts of bad things about that sedan and was glad she had been wrong. Addison must have blurted what she knew to Diego. She was upset at first that Addison hadn't kept her secret, but as soon as she'd heard that click, she felt better that her brother was somewhere nearby. Once the gun made an appearance, her focus had changed from signing papers to getting out of the car and out of the reach of David's gun. She didn't think he'd really use it against her, but he seemed desperate and desperate people were unpredictable. She was surprised that his attention seemed focused on her and not his surroundings when he stepped out of the car, but perhaps the possibility of so much money was clouding his judgment. Either way, he didn't see Diego and even if Diego had not been moving like a blur, Callie thought David probably should have.
Diego had used his body almost like an anvil, crushing David and pinning him to the car. One of his legs had somehow gotten in between David's, his hands focused on the gun in David's hand, which dropped almost on impact. Callie stood wondering what she should do. She heard David's very audible grunt and Diego's curses and then David was being turned forcefully and his chest hit the hood of her car.
"Bastard!" she heard him say.
"You got a license to carry that gun, asshole?" asked Diego as he reached for cuffs from somewhere.
"GET OFF ME!" shouted David as his arms were being pulled back. "I think you've bruised me you little shit. This is police brutality!"
"You wanna go there, let me know and I'll make it worth your while by breaking something," said Diego finally taking a breath after he'd managed to cuff David. He turned to Callie. "You okay?"
She only managed a nod.
"Callie, we had a deal. Tell him we had a deal. I won't sign if he doesn't let me go. Tell him Callie," pleaded David.
All thoughts of deals had gone out the window when he had pulled out a gun, but he had agreed. She hadn't expected him to, but he had and for a moment she was tempted to tell Diego to let him go. She looked at Diego.
"Callie, don't. He's scum and he's going to jail for attempted kidnapping. He's not a threat." He was speaking carefully almost in code and she cringed. This is what she had hated about this whole thing. She hated the hiding and the lies and the subterfuge. It was ridiculous.
She nodded at him in agreement. "Should I call the cops?" she asked him.
"No, I'll do it," Diego said quickly as he turned from her and reached for his phone.
"CALLIE! Don't do this Callie! Tell him I wasn't trying to kidnap you."
"But you were," she said softly because she hadn't believed he was capable of that. "You were willing to do anything." She chuckled weirdly. "Diego was right about you all along."
"HE IS NOT RIGHT!" David shouted as he tried to turn around, but Diego increased the pressure with his right hand. "CALLIE, that's not true! We had a deal. I put the gun down, Callie."
"You put a gun to my head, asshole," she said allowing her anger and frustration to come out.
"Come on," he said mockingly. "You weren't even scared."
"You don't know anything about me," she said taking out her phone and turning toward the building that held Danielle's office, sincerely hoping that it would be the last time she ever saw him. It was unlikely, but it was nice to dream. She never got the opportunity to dial.
"Interesting little situation we have here," came a voice out of nowhere.
She stopped and turned to see three guys in dark suits surrounding them. Diego reached for his gun, but found one pointed at his face in seconds.
"I hate to do this, but I can't let you take this man into custody," said the shortest man who seemed to be the spokesman for the group. "We're just gonna take little Davey here with us and as for the two of you..."
"They're not going anywhere. You can take him and walk," said a cold voice behind them. Erica had taken them by surprise. They weren't expecting her and perhaps that was why they did not immediately turn and point their guns at her head. That or the nearly six feet tall woman pointing at gun directly at Mr. Spokesman's head gave them food for thought.
"Erica?" asked Callie in a shaky voice.
Erica did not acknowledge her. Diego was cursing under his breath.
"You want him, take him, but the other two stay. I don't know who you are and I don't care, but they are not going anywhere."
The spokesman stared at her face and then her steady, calm hands for a few seconds before raising his hands in surrender and nodding. "Gentleman, let's escort Davey here to the car."
One of the men approached David, but Diego stepped in front of him.
"You are interfering with a federal investigation..."
"Diego just shut up. You can lock me up if you want," said Erica never taking her eyes off the Spokesman.
With a steely glance at the man in front of him, Diego stepped to the side.
"Erica, this is a mistake," he said still eyeing the guy manhandling David.
"Yeah, well I'm sick of sitting back and letting things fall apart around me, so today we're doing things my way."
"Erica," he said again as he watched David get tossed into a dark sedan.
"I wasn't going to do anything to them," said the spokesman to Erica, still seemingly fascinated by her steady hands.
"Good, that way I don't have to blow your brains out," she responded in an equally steady voice.
He laughed. "Lady, I don't know who you are or why you care about these people, but I believe you." He paused. "You have the steadiest hands I've ever seen," he said with a gesture that resembled a salute before climbing into the front seat of the plain looking sedan with the dark windows. It pulled away slowly and quietly.
Diego was on the phone within seconds. Callie approached Erica reluctantly.
"Jesus sweetie!" she said reaching out a hand to calm Erica who had put the gun down, but still seemed tense. "Do you even know how to use that thing?"
"Not a clue," said Erica. "It's Diego's. Thankfully he left his car open in his haste to get to the two of you." She started shaking but seemed reluctant to actually look at Callie.
"You okay?" asked Callie rubbing her back.
"Why didn't you tell me you were meeting him?" asked Erica moving away from Callie.
Callie was taken aback. "I...I didn't think...I just wanted him out of our lives."
"That's what I want too Callie. Did you forget that? Did you forget we're in this together? Do you even want...forget it," she said walking away from Callie and toward Diego. "Here, this is yours. What happens now?" she asked crossing her arms. Callie walked over as well, but remained silent.
"We go to the station," he sighed. "You should have let me handle it Erica. I could have put him away for good. He wouldn't be a threat from prison."
Erica looked at him. "You don't know that. And how were you handling it exactly, Diego? You didn't even see those guys coming." She paused. "They would have taken him anyway. I was just making sure David didn't pull Callie into whatever trouble he was in." She moved closer to him. "I saw the gun he was holding to her head, Diego."
"And he was going to go to jail for it!" shouted Diego.
Erica stared at him. "What do you think will happen to him now?"
Diego sighed. "I don't know. They'll probably try to get their money some other way."
"Either way, he's not coming back here," said Erica.
Diego sat in contemplative silence for a few seconds and then chuckled. "Probably not, but he might."
"He's not coming back," said Erica sounding so very sure.
Diego looked doubtful.
"Think about it, Diego. He's now wanted for kidnapping. You know David. I bet they do too. They let the police get a hold of him what's he going to use as leverage?"
And then Diego saw it too. "Shit! They're gonna kill him. They don't get their money, but they weren't going to get it anyway with him behind bars and they can't afford to let him land in police custody. It's just a business loss for them."
Erica did not acknowledge his thought process. "I'll meet you guys at the police station," she said as she walked away.
"Erica?" pleaded Callie, but Erica did not turn around.
Continued in Chapter 15