We had some time to relax a bit and go over things while waiting for Menton and his sons to get home. Finally John called. “They just arrived Steve,” he said, “all 3 of them.” “Good, we will be there in a few minutes,” I said, then I called the others and we were on our way. When we got there, Vince, Mac and John went around to the back door while the rest of us used the front door.

BOOM! That was the sound of Rock breaking down the front door! Menton and his sons went for the back door, but when he opened it, they stopped. “Going someplace?” asked Mac, “go back inside, slowly and put that suitcase on the floor, also slowly. Now sit on those chairs at the table.” We then entered the kitchen, that is, Rock, Sky, Crystal and myself.

“Now, that looks so nice,” I said, “you and your two sons, sitting down at the kitchen table, ready to talk.” John had already checked them for weapons and took their guns. “Who are you?” growled Menton, “and what do you mean by breaking into my home!” “I will ask the questions,” I said, “and you will answer them.” “Maybe, maybe not,” he growled back. Mac then put a knife at the back of his neck.

“You will answer,” he said, “or you will die. Your choice.” Mac does not talk much, but he does get the point across quickly. “Check that suitcase Vince,” I said. He put it on the table. It was full of drugs. “Nice haul,” I said, “it now belongs to us.” “Hey, that cost me a lot,” said Menton almost yelling, “you will have to pay for that if you want it!”

“I already have it,” I said, “you will have to tell Painter that someone stole it from you. He just might believe you, though I doubt it. When I am through with you Menton, Painter should be ready to deal with you.” “Who are you? What do you want with me anyway?” he asked, “I do not even know you.” “But I know all about you Menton,” I said. I then started telling him his life story, but briefly.

“Now I want to show you something Menton,” I said and nodded to Sky. She went into the living room and came back with Carrie. The look on Menton and his sons was that of total shock. “Hi dad,” said Carrie calmly. “Wow, look at you!” he said and got up off his chair. I then gave him a backhanded hit, knocking him onto the floor. “You runt!” he yelled, “I have killed men for doing things like that to me!”

He got up quickly but Mac convinced him to sit down again. “I just wanted you to see that Carrie turned out very nicely, no thanks to you,” I said, “and now she has lots of friends, something you never let her have as a kid.” “Is that what she told you?” asked Menton, “she is a liar! She has always been a dirty rotten liar! I should have let you rot in that basement!”

Carrie left quickly at that point and Kristina took her and Muffin out to the van. I then hit Menton again knocking him backwards over his chair and onto the floor again. Vince picked him up and pushed him back onto his chair. “Now Menton, down to business,” I said, “we are taking everything you have in this house, drugs and money, plus any guns we find, or other weapons. Okay cats, start looking.”

They already knew where to look, but they pretended to go around sniffing and locating all of the hiding places. “Now Menton, open that safe in the basement,” I said. “Open it yourself since you are so smart!” he exclaimed. This time Vince hit him, and hard too. Mac went down and opened the safe and we cleaned it out.

“Not bad, around 500K here,” I said, “just the amount that you owe to Painter. He might wonder why you have not paid him yet, considering how much money you really have now.” “I do not have anything,” he said, “that money belongs to Painter, not me, it is from drug sales.” “That is an interesting lie,” I said, “but I know better.” Then I put some papers on the table in front of him. “What is all this stuff?” he asked without looking at them.

“Those papers show how much money you have in 5 different bank accounts,” I said, “totaling just over 9 million dollars. I am sure that Painter would be very interested in seeing these. By the way, you should never keep so much at home with you, easy for someone to come along and, uh, borrow it from you.” “Okay, okay,” he said, “I see what you want now, this is blackmail time. How much to keep quiet about all this?”

“Well, you have 9 million dollars,” I said, “and you have 3 kids, so each gets 3 million. So tomorrow you will transfer 3 million into my bank account.” “Hey, that is a lot!” he exclaimed. “How much is your life worth to you Menton?” I asked, “We will be back, but do not try to go anywhere tonight, we will be watching.”

To Be Continued.

©2023 Steve McLeod.