Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 97462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
“Exactly. I’m trying to find out what the fuck happened.” Fox released a long, aggravated breath.
“Come on. Let’s eat. Then we’ll go for a ride. Maybe it’ll clear your mind.”
“That sounds good.” Fox turned in his arms and gazed up at him. “But first, I have something for Dale. Is he here yet?”
“He’s in the living room.”
Fox hollered Dale’s name, and after a few moments, they heard two sets of boots coming down the hallway, because no one saw Dale these days without seeing Rid.
Dale’s big body loomed in his doorway. “Why are you screaming my name like that, Fox? You want me that bad?”
“About as much as I wanna shove metal rods up my dick,” Fox deadpanned.
Dale flinched. “Is that really a thing?”
“Just get in here, asshole. I have something to discuss with you.” Fox went and stood in front of his monitors before he began to speak. “With all the press and promotions Bull’s had lately, especially with the video of you knocking God on his ass going viral, Marcy has really been on him about expanding. Adding in more trails. Getting more horses—”
“Increasing the boarding space,” Bull added.
“Cool.” Dale grinned. “I’m all for that.”
“How do you feel about being my partner, then?” Bull pointed out Fox’s large window that had an amazing view of the sunset in the west field, which was already bursting with wildflowers and animals excited for the first weeks of spring. “Help me run all this. I mean you already do, but it should be official now. You’ve been here since day one, man. And I couldn’t have done it without you. I still can’t.”
Dale’s eyes widened, and Rid touched his back. “Partner. Shit,” he grumbled. “Well, you know I ain’t got plans to go anywhere, Bull. This is my home. But I ain’t got the kinda money you’d need to make me a partner.”
“Don’t be so sure about that.”
“I know what’s in my savings, Fox.”
“Yeah, me too.” Fox chuckled at Dale’s outraged scowl. “All right, Free. He’s in here. Load it up.”
“What are you—” Dale’s voice caught as he stared at the man on one of the screens, feeding money into a meter in the center of downtown. “Fletcher.”
“You told me about this con artist and what he did to you. I gave Free one of his aliases, and, well.” Fox shrugged. “There’s no one he can’t find. And when he does… your life is pretty much his after that.”
Rid gaped at Dale. “The Fletcher you told me about. The one that—”
Dale squeezed his eyes closed. “Yes, that one. And we said we’d never discuss it again, remember.”
“Yeah, but—” Rid pointed at Fox. “I didn’t, he did.”
“Why?” Dale snapped at Fox. “Why the hell did you call me back here to see this?”
“I called you back here to get even… or at least get what’s owed to you.” Fox sat on the edge of the desk. “And with a little interest.”
“Fox. Maybe you should explain a little more,” Bull said.
“It’s simple. That piece of shit stole twenty-two thousand dollars from you and some change. Now according to my calculations, if he’d borrowed this money from say, a bank, with a…” Fox tapped a few times on one of his keyboards. “—an accruing interest rate at nine percent—sure, that’s a bit steep on a personal loan, but we’ll assume he has bad credit—for roughly fourteen years, yeah?”
Dale cleared his throat, still appearing somewhat confused as he stared at his ex on the screen rushing into the towering building that was the City National Bank of Florida. “Um, something like that.”
“That comes out to one hundred and sixty-eight months. Making his interest a total of eighteen thousand, two hundred and some change.” Fox brought up live coverage of Fletcher having a conniption in front of a teller’s window. “Free has the money frozen. All you have to do is say the word, Dale. And it’s yours. Rightfully. We’re just bypassing filing a civil judgment and all that crap. Wire transfers are much faster.”
“Won’t he know it was—”
“Please. You’ll insult my boss if you even mention getting caught. Trust us. We won’t.”
Rid tugged on Dale’s shirt. “That’s your money. Take it back.”
“The only ones that’ll know about this are right here in this room.” Fox checked his watch. “Time’s ticking, Dale. I need your decision?”
“Yes.”
Fox chuckled. “People don’t usually need much convincing when you dangle revenge in front of them.”
“All right, Free. Transfer it to Dale’s account. All forty-two thousand. Make it a nice even number.”
Dale’s knees almost buckled when he got a notification on his phone that he had a deposit. “Jesus Christ.”
Bull came up to Dale and stuck his hand out. “You got plenty enough to invest with now, huh, partner?”
“You knew he was doing this, didn’t you?”
“I figured he’d find Fletcher sooner or later.” Bull nodded. “I’m glad he did.”