Page 4 of All Out of Love

Toya knew those rednecks of Marion County wasn’t about to believe her even if The Lowes weren’t one of the most respected couples in town. Their complexion was their protection and, on top of that, they were one of the most respected couples in town. She’d be arrested, tried and convicted of something she didn’t do.

It was fight or flight for Toya and she knew it. And she knew, if she ran now, if she let him get away with this, she’d never stop running.

“Call the police,” she said firmly, and folded her arms too.

Mrs. Lowe was stunned. She didn’t expect that response, not for a second. Secretly, she’d always thought of Latoya as a smart, levelheaded girl, unlike those other ghetto queens around town who didn’t have the sense they were born with. She had to know she didn’t stand a chance. She had to have that much going for her.

“I personally know the sheriff,” Mrs. Lowe said. “The mayor of Ocala has had dinner at our home on several occasions. You’ll get ten years’ incarceration I guarantee it.”

Toya knew she was taking the risk of her life. She knew she was going to put herself into the hands of a criminal justice system that was rigged against people like her from its inception. But he attacked her. He tried to rape her. She wasn’t walking away from that like nothing never happened. “Call the police,” she said again.

Richard looked up at his wife. Then he looked at Toya with shame on his still-aching face. But he was who he was. “Call’em then,” he said defiantly to his wife even as he was still looking guiltily at Toya.

Toya’s heart was hammering in pure terror as his wife called the police. But she stood her ground.

Because she knew her self-respect was all she had.

Because she knew if she didn’t stand up for herself, who would?

CHAPTER FOUR

FOUR MONTHS LATER

Grayson Carrington stood up on his athletically-built, six-feet frame ready to blast his staff of assistants that stood before him. “How many more are you going to present to me?” he asked angrily as he picked up a thick file and slammed it back down on his desk. “Sixteen cost overruns already and we haven’t made it halfway through? I’m fourteen million dollars in the hole already and you’re telling me there’s more to come? What do you think I’m made of? Money? How did this happen?!”

Three senior VPs stood in front of his desk, but nobody wanted to answer his questions. They all looked to Dena, who wasn’t even a VP, for help.

Dena Allen, his thirty-year-old chief-of-staff, held her clipboard tightly to her chest and didn’t want to be the one either. But she knew not one of those overpaid executives were going to do it. “When we acquired Ridgeland, the projections were off from the beginning,” she said to the boss. “We were supposed to buy for twenty and be in for five additional at the most. What wasn’t projected was the backend construction that wasn’t included in the original deal. That’s where all of the cost overruns are coming from.”

“Can we sue the bastards?” Grayson looked at his executives to answer this question as the phone began ringing. They were in his home office, but it was a major operational hub since he worked from home quite often. Most of them, most days, arrived at his home early in the morning and didn’t make it out until late at night. They were beginning to call his home office Carrington Capital East, since he lived east of their headquarters.

“I spoke with Legal,” one of the executives cleared his throat and said, “and they said yes, we can sue, but the chances of success are only about thirty-three percent.”

“Why that low?” Grayson asked. “And why isn’t anyone answering that gotdamn phone?” he blared out.

“Mrs. Javits was supposed to be answering it herself,” Dena responded, “but I’m assuming a problem has arisen that she’s busy taking care of.”

“Then you answer it, Dena,” one of the executives ordered. “What’s wrong with your hands?”

Dena tightened her jaw. They always wanted her to do their dirty work when they were on the hotseat with the boss, but they never had her back. “Yes sir,” she said and went over to the conference table and answered the blaring phone.

“This is bad, Grayson,” said the most senior of the executives. “We all realize just how bad this is. But we’re working day and night to correct the problem.”

Grayson frowned. “Correct it how? Am I going to get my fourteen million dollars back? Am I going to get out of the hole your asses just put me in?”

“Well . . . no sir, but we’re trying to make the best out of a horrific situation.”

But that wasn’t good enough for Grayson. “Who signed off on the Ridgeland deal?”

When he said those words all three executives froze because they knew today it would be the one that signed off on the deal that was on the grill, but tomorrow it would be one of them.

Grayson looked at all three of them angrily. They were supposed to be an extension of him. Given the reach of his corporation, he had no choice but to give them the power to sign off on major purchases and projects. But they dropped the ball this badly? He was dead on his feet from another all-night working session. He had his suit coat off, but his dress shirt was half-in and half-out of his dress trousers, his tie had been loosened so much that it was almost untied, his thick brown hair was a tousled mess, and the pair of reading glasses and expensive pens that sat in his shirt pocket had the pocket overloaded and drooped down. With his face in need of a shave, he could easily be mistaken for a homeless man rather than the richest man in Baltimore, second only to his father.

But they still didn’t answer him. “Who signed off on this outrageous deal? Answer me dammit!”

They all were still too hesitant to respond. But then Dena, who had just gotten off of the phone and was already pissed with them, walked up. And this time, she wasn’t holding back. “Travis signed off on the deal sir,” she said without hesitation.

Travis Holden, who many viewed as second in line to be the head of Carrington Capital someday, felt betrayed. He wanted to turn everybody’s gaze onto Dena and give her a piece of his mind, but the boss was staring at him. “We all signed off on it sir,” he finally said, “but I was the final signature, yes sir.”