Switchblade

Chapter 64: Establish A Plan

"The plan is to plant an office near all of yours. That way when your boss is taken down and out of the fight, it'll be easy to grab onto your employees and grow further. Leaving you with nothing. He has detectives in the department telling him everything that goes on during the investigation."
"And he assassinated Johnson." Killian added.
"Yea. He hired the guy that did it."
Killian nodded.
"The manager of each construction company in charge of his project works under him. Literally. So the buildings will be done around the same time. He didn't pay for them. There's a plan to wipe out your warehouses one city at a time. The longer it takes to bring your boss to prison, the longer it takes to wipe them out. Which is why he's so hellbent on getting it done fast."
"What does he have planned for Stone?" Killian asked.
"Nothing. Stone's only job was to testify that your boss was behind the assassination. When Stone disagreed he was almost killed."
"By you?"
Drake just stared.
"I'm not a cop. I don't care. Just don't act like you didn't have a hand in it and you were just an innocent bystander."
"I am."
Killian stared at him. "Where does he live?"
"Segal? Uptown. Countryside. An hour drive from here. 1106 Nickels Avenue. Mansion." Drake answered.
Killian practiced that address in his mind but even if he forgot, he still had the recording they were taking.

"When this is over you owe me." Drake stated.
"Excuse me?"
"I can't go back to him after telling you what I did. He knows about my girl. The baby. He knows where I live. I know you recorded this. I'm not a fuckin' idiot and I ain't new to this. I want an escape and I want cash until you bring him down. When you do...you can let me know and we can come back home and I'll just live a normal fucking life with my wife and kid. You got no idea what he's capable of, the psychotic freak. I've been tired of this job for five years."

Killian just stared at him.

He thought Drake wouldn't gain anything from telling Segal the plan. He also wouldn't put his fiancée's and his kid's lives at risk.

Killian sighed.
"How much do you want?" he asked.
"How long do you think you'll take?"
"To settle everything? If I don't just kill him? Three months to half a year."
"That much plus an extra month in living expenses. I need enough for us to survive while I start searching for a job."
Killian stared.
"As an add on, I'll give you the number to my burner phone. You got any other questions or plans then you can call and ask. He doesn't know about it." Drake dealt.

He admitted Drake technically hadn't killed any of his. Just beat their asses.
Plus he'd come in handy since he knew everything about Segal.

"Give him the number. Then your bank information. You'll receive a wire transfer by tomorrow morning and a plane ticket to wherever I decide you can stay. But your entire trip will be monitored by me so if you run or you ditch your phone, I will send someone to find you and put a bullet in her head." Killian dealt.
Drake gave a nod.

"Untie him. Let's go get Tharen." he instructed and stood up to leave the warehouse.

~•~

Tati relaxed comfortably in the pool with the stars staring at her.

Killian still hadn't returned home, so she assumed he was getting drunk and would stay in his penthouse for the night.

She'd been swimming for a while, but it was so beautiful and relaxing outside that she didn't want to get out just yet.

She finally heard a car pulling into the driveway. Although she was in the back of the large house, it was so quiet that she could hear the slightest sounds whenever there finally was one. But Killian's loud engine from his expensive sports car was hard to miss anyway.

Killian walked inside the house and changed his shoes.

He didn't see Tati in the kitchen nor did he smell food so he wondered where she was.

"Tati?!" he called.
He received no answer.
He started walking to the back of the house to look in her room. Maybe she was in the bathroom.

He got inside and it was empty. But her things were still there.
The bathroom door was open but the room itself was dark.

"TATI!" he shouted again.

He pulled out his phone to dial.
Kolson picked up. "Yes, sir?"
"She's gone." he said angrily. "I want-..."

He thought he heard something so his thoughts finally quieted down.
"You want?" Kolson questioned.
"Shh." Killian commanded. He heard a splash.

He walked to her window.

There she was. Swimming around under the moonlight in the blue pool lit by the soft blue led lights inside it.

"Never mind." Killian stated.
"You found her?"
"Yea."
"She alright?"
"Mhm..."
"Where was she?"
"She's in my pool." he answered. He stared at Tati's relaxed swimming with her eyes closed.
"At night?"
"I don't think she's scared of anything."
"Sounds like your type."
"Yea." He hung up then opened her sliding glass door.

Tati heard and looked.

She saw him walking towards her with his hands in his pockets.

"Did you get bored while I was gone for so long?" he teased.
"A little..." she answered.
"Come on. Get out."
She sighed then drifted towards his pool stairs.

He watched her body come out of the water. She swam in a lingerie set since it was all she had.
He stared while she dripped onto the concrete.
She grabbed the towel she brought out with her earlier and wrapped it over her shoulders. She closed it tight for warmth and dryness.

"Come here." Killian instructed.
She walked over to him.
"Cold now?" he asked.
"Yea." she snickered.
He held her chin between his index finger and thumb and lifted her face. "I thought I told you not to go swimming." he stated.
"You weren't here to tell me not to again." she argued.
"So you rebel when I'm not home? What else have you done?"
"Nothing..." she lied.
"Including not making dinner?" he asked.
"We're out of groceries. That's not my fault."
"Mm."
The space between their faces closed and the two pairs of lips collided. They kissed one another softly. Romantically even. Like they missed the feel of each other's lips.

They pulled away and she looked at his eyes while he awed her lips. She saw the reflection of the pool dancing in them. She thought it was pretty. They were both lit by the pool's LEDs.
"Do you remember what I told you yesterday?" he asked her.
"About?"
"Think."
She wondered.

Then she remembered and looked back at him.
"The...sober...thing?" she asked.
"That's right."
She rested her head against his shoulder and stared at the pool.
"I want you to shower, to warm yourself up and get the chlorine off of you then come to my room."
She looked up at him.
He gave her another soft kiss on her lips.
"I want you to shower to get the work and stress off of you then wait for me in your room." she replied.
He smiled fondly with a gentle bite to his lip. She walked off to head back inside.
He watched the way her hips swayed.
"God, you're my type..." he thought aloud then followed behind.