Chase Part 3: A New Adult and College Billionaire Romance (Chase Me Billionaire Romance Series) (2 page)

Chase sat at Oliver’s table when he made it to Lucky’s bar. As it was still early, Oliver had decided to have breakfast.

“You’re thinking about her again, aren’t you?”

“Am I that obvious?” Chase asked.

It hadn’t taken long for the two men to get to know each other at the auto shop. By now, Oliver was aware of how little Meaghan knew. He was one of the few people Chase could talk to at work. The two men had been working side by side lately, before the raid took place, so they often chatted. Today, they were both likely out of jobs. The only thing was, all Chase could think about was Meaghan. He needed to tell her soon.

Oliver dug into his omelet like a man who hadn’t eaten in a week. “Do you think she’ll tell you to get lost when you finally admit it to her?” he asked between bites.

“I left her this morning, with a promise to tell her everything by tonight. I can’t blame her if she dumps me, but I’ll be begging her to give me another chance.”

“And what if she asks you to quit?”

“I’m not coming back, Oliver. I won’t get any deeper into this illegal shit.”

“Yeah, but if you do that, you won’t have a job. It doesn’t sound like a silver lining to the cloud, buddy.”

“Maybe not.” He took a long drink from his cup of coffee. “But I’m making the choice now.”

“Why are you going to this extreme?”

“This was supposed to be a summer job. I earned a lot this last two months. I can survive if I have to, but what I can’t survive is jail time. I won’t put Meg through that. She’s my best friend, not just someone I’m dating.”

Chase sipped his coffee, wishing he could turn back the clock. If he could, he’d stop himself from ever accepting that job.

“She may be your best friend, but I think you’re walking away from pure gold.” Oliver leaned away from his empty plate.

“I don’t know about that. I’ve never been in trouble with the law before.”

“Could have fooled me, with all those tattoos on your arm, and that bad boy stance of yours.”

“What, you think every buff guy with ink is a criminal?”

“You said it, Chase. Not me.”

“This is crazy,” he said.

“Not as crazy as you think, Chase. Here’s a question for you. Do you see yourself getting married?”

“Of course. I’m working on it. In time, I’ll ask Meaghan.”

“Well here’s a little story for you. One day after I got home, my wife came to me. She told me she was unhappy, because she found out how I’ve been paying for all the beautiful things in our house and in her life. It took one thing to make her happy again.”

“And what’s that?”

“I bought her more expensive things, Chase. That’s the key to a woman’s heart, especially if she’s a gold-digger.”

“And what if the woman you love is not after the beautiful things?

“Then you get out of the game. You get out now.”

“You should leave too, Oliver.”

“It’s too late for me. When I got in, I was pretty lucky. The guys up above noticed me. They saw my potential, took me under their wing, and trained me. I did well over the years, with very little trouble. Of course, everyone gets their cut, so they made a ton of money from my sweat too.

“Wow. That sounds familiar,” Chase said sarcastically.

“Everyone has to pay their dues, Chase. You’re no different.”

“No. I’m different. I’m not meant for this game.”

“I can respect that, but what I’m telling you will serve you in life. Whatever you do, use your time to learn and evolve. Start to get the big picture. That’s when you can win.”

“My big picture does not include getting a criminal record.”

“Here’s the deal. Word on the street is someone above us is going to get out of the business. Technically, we all work for that person. We work for them and they offer us protection so we can all win. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“I don’t, Oliver. Whatever your code talk is, I never learned it. And I’m not sure I want to know.”

“You may think you don’t, but really, you do. Because we all live under that agreement. This person will pass their piece of the business to someone else. They will pass it on, collect their commissions, sip on martinis or scotch or vodka, and let in the new blood. But they only want a tight crew. Dependable people. People who aren’t rats.”

“This is too much, Oliver. I don’t want to hear anymore.”

“What you need to know is we had a guy around us some time ago. He was with us for years. Then one day, we found out he flipped. The Police department took him into protective custody. We had one of our people look him up. Turns out, he was working both sides for years. He knew everything about us. And you know what happened to him? He was gunned down in front of his safe house.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because we trusted him, and he broke the code. Do you know the three rules of the code?”

“No. I don’t. And why bring people into this and wait until the shit hits the fan before you break down your code?”

Oliver ignores his question. “In every game, there’s a code of conduct. The code is like playing chess. There’s no room in our business for snitches. Snitches start to think they’re smarter or bigger than the game, like the code doesn’t apply to them. They forget they’re still another chess piece in the game.

“We have three rules in our code. First, never become a snitch. Second, never disrespect your friends playing the game with you. And third, don’t ever let your ego turn you from a friend to an enemy. If you stick to this code, you’re future is golden.”

Chase placed some cash on the table before getting up to leave. “This is too much. I have to go.”

“Just think about what you do next,” Oliver said as the waitress brought over his bill. “Believe me. I’ve been around the block a few times. Silence is the best thing for you.”

“See you, Oliver.” Chase left. It was time to make things right.

It seemed to be a day of restaurant chaos for Meaghan. For the first time, she had to call Jeff over to deal with customers who were unhappy with the food or her service. One customer backed down when Jeff came over. They had eaten everything on their plate and then said they weren’t satisfied. Jeff saw right through him and demanded payment. He was an enforcer tonight, and for once, Meaghan was grateful.

“That was a first,” Jeff said. He seemed surprised her by genuine gratitude.

“I’m glad you’re here.” She smiled at him. “Thank you for being so understanding. This has been the shift from hell, and I’ve still got the whole day to go.” She sighed. “I don’t know what I would have done if it had been someone else running shift today.”

“Was it like this all morning too?” he asked, stepping closer to her as she filled a customer’s coffee mug.

“Yeah, it was. A lot of problems walked in today.”

He ran his hand through her hair again. She was afraid this would happen.

“Don’t, Jeff.”

“Why not?”

“Because I said no.”

“All you need is a real man to take care of you when you get home at night. Then you won’t feel as stressed when you’re here.”

“That’s not your place to say, Jeff. I’ve told you already. You’re a nice guy, but I’m not interested.”

She walked away and pulled herself together at the other side of the servers’ area. Breathing deeply, she dropped her head to her hand, wondering if it was worth it at all. As she walked over to serve her next customer, she saw Chase stepping through the front door of the restaurant.

***

Chase spotted Meaghan. He couldn’t stay at home anymore, and he couldn’t keep this to himself. The thought of talking to her about this face to face for the first time in weeks was terrifying. Meaghan deserved to know. It was time he came clean.

When he walked through the front door of the restaurant, their eyes met. Meaghan lifted her hand to him, signaling for him to wait. It was probably not a good idea to do this where she worked, but he couldn’t hold back any longer. When she walked back to him, her apron was off.

“Hi honey,” she said, throwing her arms around his neck. “What are you doing here? Came to rescue me?”

“It very well may be so,” he answered. “Can you spare a few minutes?”

“Sure. I told the manager I’m taking my lunch break now. I’ve got thirty minutes. Let’s go, Chase. I could use a walk, or just being somewhere else. Anywhere else.”

They left and walked to a coffee shop nearby. Chase ordered their drinks while Meaghan found them a table.

“How’s your day going?” she asked him when he brought over their drinks and sat down.

“Meaghan. We need to talk.”

“Oh. This sounds serious.”

“It is. And I’m sorry I kept it from you for this long.”

“Kept what from me?”

“There’s no easy way to tell you this.” He looked away and gathered his thoughts before continuing. “I still need to get answers from my mom, but…the mechanic shop is a chop shop.”

Meaghan just looked at him. There was no shock on her face, only disappointment. “When did you find out?” she finally asked after a few moments of silence.

“I had my suspicions for a few weeks. But I found out for sure that night I worked really late this week.”

“I hate to say this, but I knew it, deep down.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t just come out and tell you. I was hoping I was wrong…It’s really bad, Meaghan.”

“Of course it’s bad. They steal cars, break them down and sell the parts.”

“No Meg. It’s worse than that. They’re involved in other things.”

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s get into it when we’re not out in public like this, okay? I actually came to talk about something worse.”

“What’s that? What could be worse than that?”

“The call I got last night was from Jose.” He leaned to her and whispered in her ear. “The police raided the shop last night. We can all be in trouble.”

“What?” she almost shouted. Thankfully, the café was quite busy, with the noises of other patrons drowning out her question.

“Yes. Look. I’m here to see if you can get time off work.”

“Why?”

“I want to talk to my mom in person, but she out in New York City for the next week. She has to know more. And if she or her husband doesn’t know about it, then one of her husband’s employees has been doing all this illegal stuff at the shop. They need to know. She offered to pay for our ticket. I think we should go. I can’t go back to work, even if they re-open it. I can’t stand being put in the middle of this.”

She rubbed his forearm lovingly. “I would support you, hun. I think quitting is the right decision. Did they…did they make you do anything illegal that night?”

“They were up to really serious stuff that night. I refused to participate, but I saw a lot. They’ve already told me to keep my mouth shut when the police come to see me.

“Why would the police come to see you? You’ve done nothing.”

“Yes but I’ve seen things. I don’t want be a part of it, but I don’t think I can lie to the police.”

“Oh my God, Chase. This sounds so bad.”

“I know. This is why I have to see Mom. She can help me get out of this.” He lowered his head, staring down into his coffee mug. “I think flying out to see her is the best bet. We can’t wait a week for this to get resolved. We have to go see her. Can you get the time off?”

“I don’t think so, Chase. We’re still short-staffed at the restaurant.”

“Come on, Meaghan. If they won’t give you the time off, Just quit. You can get another restaurant job. This can turn out to be dangerous.”

“I can’t believe you’re asking me to quit.”

“I’m not, Meaghan. I’m saying I need to see mom. She can help me. Both of us, if this gets more serious. Please, just ask your boss if you can go so we can take care of a family emergency. In a way, it is.”

“Okay. But I know they won’t agree.”

“Then you’ll quit.”

“No, Chase. If your job has gone to hell, then we need one of us to stay employed. I don’t want you to leave me behind, but I can’t go. You go. See your mother. You don’t have to stay out there a week. You can be back in a day or two, and then we’ll know what to do.”

“I don’t mind talking to my mom alone, but I can’t leave you here alone.”

“Why not?”

“Because…I don’t know. Please just come with me.”

“My lunch break is almost up,” she said, standing from her chair. “I’ll ask my boss and see what he says, okay?”

“Okay. Let me know tonight. I’ll pick you up after work.”

Chase tried to walk Meaghan back to the restaurant. She told him she needed to walk it off and think. He hoped she would go with him to New York.

Meaghan took her time to walk back to work. Chase had been working for a chop shop. Chase was working for a chop shop! She was right all along. Sighing, she brushed a hand through her hair, trying to work out what she was going to do next.

The last thing she wanted to do was go back to the restaurant. She could barely think. She continued walking back there anyway. She couldn’t let her colleagues down, not when they had enough trouble coping with how busy it had been lately.

As she passed a row of newspaper boxes, she thought about picking one up, to see if it the raid had made the news. She remembered it would be easier to use her phone. The online news would be more up to date, unlike the printed versions. She stopped and sat down in a tiny bistro and ordered a coffee. She took out her phone to start looking through her phone’s search engine. She searched ‘San Diego chop shop raid’ and the information came up right away.

The reports were all disturbing. It was hard to believe they were covering the same place Chase worked. As she continued reading, she grew more concerned. The reports suggested the shop had been tipped off before the police had arrived. No arrests were believed to be made, and they were still reviewing evidence at the scene. It was strange. Heaven forbid, but had the police been there one night earlier, they would have caught everyone, including Chase. That could only mean someone at the shop, or up in the hierarchy, had ties to the police. How else would the people at the shop know to clear things out before the police arrived? It couldn’t be a coincidence.

She wished she could talk to Chase for longer at lunch. He didn’t want to speak about it in public. She could only imagine what he had seen. She wished he had told her the truth in the first place. As she finished her coffee, she read everything she could about where he worked. Biting hard on her lip, she tried to work out what her next step was going to be.

There was no easy way of dealing with what had happened, or from what Chase had kept hidden from her. She loved him, and she hated him, and she didn’t have any idea what she should be doing next. For now, she needed to get back to work.

***

Meaghan saw Jeff waiting for her when she returned from lunch. Something in her expression must have betrayed her uneasiness.

“How was lunch?” he asked.

Her shoulders sank. She was certain neither he nor his father would give her the time off. Not with the constant turnover of new waitresses. She had to ask anyway. “It was fine, thanks. Jeff, can I talk to you in the office for a minute?”

“Sure,” he answered. His eyes lit up. Meaghan figured he was hoping she’d finally agree to go out on a date with him. There was no chance of that ever happening. She hoped he would say yes to this time off.

“How can I help you, Meaghan?” He sat in the swivel chair at the small desk, and offered her the guest chair near the door.

“I know the timing is bad, but I need to take some time off. I don’t mind if it’s unpaid, but it’s…it’s a family emergency.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, Meaghan. Anything you want to talk about?”

“I’d prefer not to. It’s just…difficult to talk about.”

“Wow. It’s bothering you a lot, isn’t it?”

She nodded.

“So how long are we talking about? And when?”

“As soon as possible. Tomorrow would be ideal. And I need to go for three or four days, so I can get out there and back.”

“Oh you have to travel? Where to?”

“New York. I’ll be flying, so it won’t be too much travel time.”

“Okay. Can you give me some time to talk to my dad about it?”

“Sure.”

“And can you give me any more information to help his decision?”

“I’m sorry Jeff. I can’t tell you much more. Except I really need this time off, and I don’t want to have to quit to get it.”

She decided bluffing would help. After all, they should be happier with her being gone for three days instead of leaving for good.

“What? It’s that important to you?”

“Yes. I need to go.”

“I’ll try to reach Dad now and let you know as soon as we get a chance to talk.”

“Thanks, Jeff,” she said, standing to leave. “I’d better get back out there.”

“You’re welcome.”