Chapter 41

The next day, Eddie sipped a white, creamy coffee while sitting in the breakfast corner of the mansion kitchen, looking out the window at the faraway view of the lake. Sipping the coffee, he sighed. There was a paused look of fulfilment on his face as he sipped the warm, toasty flavour. That was something he felt the Europeans had gotten right. They always made time for coffee or tea, particularly in the afternoons. Most Americans viewed it more as an energy drink, something to be gulped and disposed of. However, Eddie had a lot to do today, but no matter how busy his afternoon might look, there was always time for good coffee. Today they will be hosting a little banquet for Mary's guests, per Tyler's suggestion to entertain his pregnant wife. These and other fanciful thoughts played through his head as he finished up the last bit of java in his cup. He looked at the empty container with a small amount of dismay, expecting there to be a little more.

Eddie stood and walked into the massive, modernised kitchen, nodding at the chef and the rest of the staff as he straightened his black vest as he walked. The black tie had to be perfect since the rest of his outfit was fairly formal. Standing by the little bistro table, he gazed for a moment at the figure in the mirror. He didn’t think he looked old—not yet, though. After all, he was only thirty-nine. But inside, he felt much too exhausted for someone his age.

There were only a few lines underneath his dark hazel eyes, probably from the years of being on the farm in sunny, hot places back in Mexico. The sun always made him squint. It was rare that he found grey hair in the tussle of dark colouring on his head. Eddie smiled at his vanity and grabbed his keys off the table.

With no family of his own, Eddie was alone. He had been fairly poor back in Mexico, and when they died unexpectedly in a fire accident, he had inherited everything, yet being alone, he ventured to London instead and was employed by Johnson. For a short time, he’d moped around after his parents' deaths, trying to find his life’s direction. The idea had come to him one night while sitting alone at a bar. He needed to get away from the farm and find a life where he wouldn't die from overwork in the soil. He began to wonder what it might be like if he started a business, but when he brought himself to the business world, he failed and was just lucky to find Tyler to rescue him from being homeless. He took a deep breath and suppressed the tear that was trying to sneak out of his right eye. It had been more than a few decades since his parents died in the accident, but from time to time, memories crept into his mind.

Reaching over a chair, he grabbed his mobile phone from the table and headed for the door that led into the garage. He needed to oversee the banquet later. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed through the dining room window that there was a car sitting in the faraway driveway. Curious, he stopped and walked towards the glass to see what the vehicle was doing there. It wasn’t one that he recognized. It was not the food delivery either, or the garden folks.

The vehicle was an enormous black SUV, larger than most he’d seen. He wondered how anyone could drive such a large automobile and still afford the gas prices. It was unusual, though. No one was inside.

He frowned in confusion and stepped back towards the front door to the massive gate of the property, passing the garden, half-expecting to find the driver of the vehicle about to ring the doorbell. Unexpectedly, an arm wrapped around his neck from behind and squeezed tight.

From the shadows of the gate wall, a tall, bald man appeared, wearing a dark English-style trench coat. "Good noon, old man." The voice sounded Scottish.

"Who are..." Eddie began to answer back, but the arm around his neck pulled tighter, cutting off the air he needed to inhale and talk.

"Eddie, you must be Tyler’s butler, yes?”

Confused, he nodded.

“It will all be explained to you later. For now, you must come with us."

"No!" Eddie exclaimed.

"Yes, you are. You do not have any choice but death." The man from the side grumbled and opened the door of the massive SUV.

The bald man nodded, and again, the arm squeezed harder. The lights and panorama began stirring together in a blur. He felt a small prick of pain in his arm as a needle injected something into his bloodstream. A warm, painful feeling eased up his arm; it was only a few seconds before Eddie was unconscious.

Due to the odd noon hour that he went out into the gate, no one noticed the three men carrying Eddie’s limp body out to the truck and stuffing it in the back of the black SUV.

An hour later, inside the coffee shop, Elizabeth Grant smiled at the butler and asked, "So, Eddie, how does it affect your relationship with Tyler if I were to employ you as my man?"

"Bitch, you…"

"Stop!" She grumbled and slapped Eddie's hands. "Of course, you do not have a choice; either you'll be my man inside the mansion or I will kill you. But anyway, it must be difficult to make anything last with your employer's interests, right? Or maybe you prefer death? Choose, Eddie! Choose!" She looked at Eddie with a genuinely curious glance, even though the tone of her statement had been lathered in sarcasm. Her head was cocked to the side, and there was a mischievous shimmer in her eyes. The sounds of coffee grinders and cappuccino machines rumbling loudly in the background afforded no uncomfortable silence.

Eddie sat, somewhat uncomfortably, across from the bald man. He thought that betraying Tyler was not a good idea, but he knew that this insane woman would kill him anytime she wanted. However, what made him confused was why here in the coffee shop and not somewhere like he was used to seeing in the movie, an abandoned building, too quiet, creepy, and with an overhead light swinging from left to right while his abductor tortures him to death. So he scratched his messy hair for a moment while considering her statement. The noises and the people bustling about, enjoying their afternoon java, did nothing to ease his mind.

Elizabeth wanted him to do something for her. She wanted him to report to her regarding some of Tyler's internal company deals, contracts, accounts, and spying on the whereabouts of his employer. After ordering two lattes, the two men sat down behind them in a couple of large cushioned chairs in the corner of the coffee shop, preferring their meeting to remain at least a little private.

Eddie had been reluctant to reply to questions regarding his employment. He didn’t feel like it was something glamorous the bitch wanted or needed to know about. There had been a few dramatic incidents, but nothing that he felt the need to reveal to her. "Also, Eddie, I need you to do something about Tyler's wife. I don't want the bitch to deliver the baby. So either you poisoned her or my men kidnapped, raped, and murdered her. You choose."

"I am not going to kill someone!"

"Oh, Eddie, my boy. Of course, you will... or there will be no tomorrow for you." Elizabeth scoffed and smirked at him as she sipped her coffee. "I will give you two days to choose. Ring me!"

For a moment, Eddie stared at the wall-sized window, lost in thought. Downtown London, oddly, was not busy today with pedestrians and commuters. Only a few shops were open, and almost all of the patrons wore face masks, while a few hurriedly headed to work or other appointments. Across the street, a young woman in a red-coloured dress stood staring at a storefront window, unaware of the afternoon commotion.

Eddie sipped his drink, drawing out the seconds before replying. "Well, if you really want her gone from Tyler's life, I prefer not to do it while she is pregnant. I am no killer," he replied, with a sad, distant look.

"Stupid, you didn't get the point, Eddie. I don't want the bitch to give Tyler an heir. I want that baby gone immediately."

"Really? Why?" His eyes squinted in scepticism. "Why now? I thought you were over him already."

"Eddie, my boy... because I want Tyler for myself. I want his money and everything. Isn't it that obvious?"

Eddie sighed, "And why is that? I thought you already had everything? Fame? Wealth?" He asked and sipped his tea like it was just normal to talk about murder. "I thought you loved him, and you're already over him."

He thought Elizabeth and Tyler had been lovers, and often the woman acted like she already owned the mansion, yet their relationship didn't last long, and Tyler had disregarded her like he used to do to his many women. Although he witnessed their over-the-top breakup, the screaming, the yelling, the crying, and even though Tyler gave Elizabeth a diamond necklace and a massive check to shut her up, he thought the woman had stopped, but lately, he knew she had been bothering Tyler again and now planning on killing his employer's life. How insane could this woman be?

"Oh, of course, I am not over him. The diamond and check weren't enough." Elizabeth answered with a smirk and added, "...because in my line of work, a little money is not a good thing. I’m hardly ever home now because I work hard. I want more of it. Eddie and the bitch had it without breaking a fucking sweat."

"So you’re jealous?" he asked with a lifted eyebrow.

A slight snort came out of her nose to accompany the grin. "I guess I am. She took what is mine, Eddie. And I will do everything to get it back. Tyler is mine." She set the cup on a small end table that was positioned between the two sofa chairs.

He returned the smirk with one of his own. "Huh, but why me?" Eddie asked.

"Because Tyler would never suspect you. He trusted you."

"Um," Eddie said, nodding his head. "I want a share."

Elizabeth smirked. "That's my boy. You are smart, Eddie."

"I want 20 percent," he added.

She raised a brow and said, "No! 10 is good."

"15!"

"No, 10 percent or death."

"Fine!" Eddie smirked. "So, Elizabeth, how about you tell me the details of your plans? What exactly was it? I’ve heard some pretty interesting bits and pieces from your man, who thought I was truly unconscious."

Again, she put on a half-embarrassed appearance. "I’m sure most of what you might have heard was somewhat exaggerated. It was a pretty good plan."

Something in her eyes told him that she wasn’t telling the truth. "Seriously, I want to know what I'm getting into, Elizabeth. This is the life we are talking about here. Because I seem to remember hearing something about billions of pounds and the old man's life and a Johnson doctor."

She smiled and said, "You are indeed smart, Eddie."

He was a terrible bluffer, and she knew it. His uncomfortable wriggling probably didn’t help. "Well, the thing is, their doctor was mine now and under my command, and trust me, the old man would be gone soonest. I’m not sure what you heard, but I don’t think any of that matters."

"Of course," he added cynically. But why don’t you just tell me what your plan is? "

He leaned in closer towards her. The fragrance of her curly hair smelled like vanilla combined with a slightly sweet perfume. With the way her head was tilted, the richly brown curls flooded off of her shoulder. She was a sight to die for. There must have been a school for professional women to attend just to get their hair done like that. Eddie tried to keep his feelings of attraction from getting the better of him by taking another gulp of coffee.

"That is for sure. I will not tell you yet. I don’t know what you think you heard from my men, but I assure you, it wasn’t really that fascinating, except for killing the Johnson heir."

"Are you trying to tell me that there wasn’t a plan with any of your men and that Mary would not be taken captive for days by their leader?" He took a long breath of air.

Elizabeth scoffed as she continued squirming in her chair. "Again, Eddie, I’d rather not tell you yet the specifics of some of my plans. Who knows if you would rather betray me?

He could see there was no getting her to talk, even though she was clearly leaving something out. He knew this was not just her plan. And she wasn't the one planning it all. Someone was behind her, and she was just a pawn.

Changing the subject, Elizabeth asked, "Well, Eddie, I believe I am not going to wait for two more days to get the answer from you. Clearly, you are a smart guy who knows where to turn. But anyway, is it true that you were in some kind of special assassin operations group back in Mexico after you went to college?"

Again, his face turned red, and he could not seem to get situated in his seat.

Elizabeth was good. I’m afraid that I can’t tell you that, Ms. Grunt." He thought, How on earth did she manage to get that intel? Even Tyler didn't know that, and yes, he was a former assassin, back in his late twenties.

"Oh, Eddie."

The way that she said his name made him blush just slightly. And why is that? Because you’d have to kill me?"

"Something like that," Eddie replied.

"I have men everywhere, Eddie, and besides, you are an old soul now... But I still believe you have the ability to kill, so... what can you tell me?"

"I can tell you that Johnson is a difficult man to have."

"That I already knew, and yet he falls for his boring secretary."

"You are wrong, Miss Grant."

"What do you mean?" she frowned.

"From what I heard, it was not a marriage of love or so. It was a marriage of convenience. They have a two-year contract, but the child was not on their plan but an accident."

"What?! Really? Wow! The bitch..." she grumbled. "Why the child, then?"

"Sir Anthony's idea."

"Um, what bothers me, Eddie, is why Mary? She was just ordinary, boring, and out of fashion." Her demeanour had become exasperated. Eddie thought about how pathetic Elizabeth could get.

"She was not after his money. She was obviously in love with Mr. Johnson."

"She told you that?"

"No!"

"How did you know?"

"It was too obvious. What can I say? I could read her as the day."

"Um, and Johnson?" she asked, sipped her coffee, and let out a frustrated sigh.

"About that, I think he had feelings for her. As the days went by, I could sense that he started to care too much about her and maybe love her. I'm not sure, though. Tyler was not the type of showy man."

Elizabeth nodded and smirked, "Good, good." She stuffed her phone into her purse and grabbed her coffee as she stood, motioning for the others to leave.

"Thank you for your time, Eddie. You can go now. I will contact you soon. You know what will happen if you betray me, right?" He nodded and stood with her. He extended his hand politely. Not agreeing, but not disagreeing either, she completely headed for the door. The three men behind Eddie fell right into line behind her, then quickly extended their arms to open the door for her. She shot him a flirty glance, not about to thank him for the seemingly long-lost courtesy.

Defiant, they stepped quickly to their black SUV's door. "You will hear from me soon, Eddie."