Inglewood

Chapter 20 - George

Jakes P.O.V

I leaned up against one of the cars and took out my phone,
"George? Jake, I need you to update me, now. This psycho knows about Nats apartment being trashed. What the hell am I paying you for? Your meant to be watching her for fucks sake."

"Mr Flynn, unfortunately I had a family emergency that needed dealing with."

"Well I don't give a shit about that, I told you it was 24/7, I wouldn't put anything past her, and it looks like I was right. Where is she now?"

"She is at home, I'm outside as we speak, her husband just went out for a run, she is laughing down the phone to someone outback."

"Right, did you get the info I asked for?"

"Yes, of course Mr Flynn, there's no evidence of her ever being in trouble with the police, but, she has had multiple run ins with lawyers, the most interesting of which are Mr Archers. It appears around 7 years ago she tried to blackmail him into putting her name on Mark Shultzs death in service paperwork and Mr Archer refused the agreement. She tried to get her people to squeeze him but it didn't work. Apparently her father told Mr Archer not to fold and that he would get her to back off. It seems her father and Mr Archer were friends."

George was quite for a moment.

"Mr Flynn, I should warn you, the clean up crew found evidence to suggest that Gretchen was behind the apartment break in. They found an earring, I had them go to her house, knock and say they had found it just outside her door and she confirmed it was hers, even had the matching one to hand to prove it. I know that's not the news you want to hear, but I thought you should know, shes a real piece of work, Nat is going to have to be watched."

"Sorry I got so mad at you George, it's been a stressful week, I really appreciate your work. Keep an eye on Gretchen, if she so much as opens her door to leave, you call me, immediately."

"Yes boss, understood."

As I hung up, I held my head in my hands, I'd guessed that Gretchen was bad news, but to go as far as to trash Nats apartment? I didn't yet understand the motive behind it, she was clearly a bitch, but it didn't make sense, i was sure there must be more to it.
My plan had been to get some dirt on Gretchen, confront her with it, and convince her to leave Nat alone. But now it had gone too far, now she was messing with the other half of my heart and had got my back up. Nat was mine to protect and now Rob wasn't here to look out for her, it was my job.

I called George back, "It's me again, I've had a thought, did the clean up crew film her admitting to the earring being hers?"

"Yes boss,"

"Good, get them to send the footage over to my phone, I think it's time Gretchen and I had a little chat."

"Boss, I'm not sure that's a good idea, let me handle it, you have someone there that needs you right now."

"Just get it done, Nat is safe here, Gretchen isn't watching her, she's just a chancer who got lucky. Let me deal with things my way, I need you to stay there and keep an eye on her."

I decided to wait till Nat was asleep, then give Gretchen a rude awakening with what I had found out, but before I could give it another thought, the door to the barn flew open, Nat stood there, shaking her head at me.

"What earring? Why were you talking about Gretchen? What is going on Jake?"

"Princess, you should be in the house."

"No, don't try and 'Princess' your way out of this! Tell me what the hell is going on, I trust you with my life Jake, but it is my life we are talking about. Just tell me, let me in, please, I'm not as weak and feeble as you seem to think OK? I watched Rob get stabbed and then he died whilst I was here with you, I'm entitled to have had an off week, but for fucks sake, I've managed perfectly well for 12 fucking years without you!"

Her voice was angry, and her tone harsh, her eyes filling with tears of anger.

"Nat, come to the house, we'll talk, I promise. But not here."

We walked side by side, she didn't utter a word to me and when I reached out to take her hand, she moved out of my reach.

We sat in the dining room, I took a deep breath as I tried to work out where to begin.

"The night you first met George, when we spoke privately, he was giving me a run down on Gretchen. After you told me about your first meeting with her, I had asked George to keep an eye on her, I didn't want her causing any trouble, not with everything else you had going on. When we went to your apartment and found it in that state, I text him and organised a clean up crew to sort it out so you wouldn't have to, I saw how much it broke your heart to see your stuff like that, they've cleaned and replaced what they can, any personal paperwork and things have been boxed and left for you to sort through. They've changed the locks, and I've had cameras installed. I have someone watching them 24/7 in case she comes back."

"She? What do you mean she?"

"Thats what George and I were discussing tonight, when they were clearing up, they found an earring, they couldn't match it to any they found in your apartment so after letting George know, he suggested taking it to Gretchens house and saying they had found it outside her door, sure enough, she had the matching earring to hand. I'm sorry Nat, she was the one that destroyed your place."

Nats face dropped, "So she is behind all of this, all this fear I'm feeling, is down to her?"

"Not for much longer, I promise, I'm going to talk to her tonight, I'm going to tell her we know, and then, I'm going to play her at her own game, I'm going to blackmail her into keeping away from you."

"Don't be stupid, you can't go to her house, we need to call the police!"

"No Nat, let me do this my way. The police have already closed Robs case, they don't have a fucking clue. Just stay here."

I jumped up and walked towards the door. Nat was on my heels, she grabbed my arm to spin me round to face her.

"Please Patch, please, don't do this. Calm down, don't push me away. Please, don't leave. I can't do this."

Her attitude had changed, she had gone from angry and pissed off to begging and pleading with me to stop.
My head was spinning, all I wanted to do is protect Nat, I wanted to take all the pain and stress off her, but I was losing control. I was watching her lose faith in me. But I wasn't about to let that stop me.

"Get off me, stay here, or I will get someone to come and make sure you don't leave."

"I'm not one of your employees Jake! You can't just demand that I stay here! Who are you? Who have you become? The Patch I know would never do this. The Patch I know would say, 'don't let the bastards get you down', The Patch I know would listen to me."

"Stop, Nat, this isn't up for discussion, you can shout and scream, you can cuss me out, fuck it, you can hate me if you want. But I am not backing down on this."

With that, I left, Nat was on her knees in the hallway, tears rolling down her cheeks. I could hear her sobs as I walked down the steps and climbed into the car.