Friends With Extra Benefits (23 page)

Mr. Blair mostly told the truth about how he
failed to obtain the proper release forms from Natalie and how he
failed to inform the publishing company about Miss Brookhart being
the inspiration for the character in the book. He claimed he felt
that there never was a potential issue with using her likeness, so
that's why he didn't disclose it. He wasn't asked if he had been
responsible for sending Natalie a copy of the book or inviting her
to Jillian's wedding in St. Barts.

After nearly an hour of questioning from Josh,
Stanley took his turn but hardly asked him anything at all. After
Albert returned to his seat, the judge asked, "Mr. Roth. Please
call your next witness."

Josh stood. "Your Honor, we have no further
witnesses."

"So, do the plaintiffs rest?"

"Yes, Your Honor."

"Very well."

Checking his watch, Judge Maxwell said, "We will
resume with the defense Monday at 9:00 a.m."

As Jillian was walking from the courtroom, Brian
pulled into the parking lot of Rob's apartment complex. He saw a
large rental truck backed up to the side of the building. Glancing
around, he thought he spotted Carl Rodgers behind the truck before
he disappeared through a doorway into the building. He headed that
way. Inside, he found Carl dialing the combination into the door to
the vault.

"Carl," Brian called out.

Carl turned toward him, clutching his chest.
"Fuck, you scared me."

Eyeing the giant safe intently, Brian shook his
head in confusion and then turned back to Carl. "Hi. Sorry. Did you
get a chance to check Rob's apartment?"

"What... uh, yeah. He's not there."

Brian looked away, thinking as Carl stared back
at him, trembling and sweating. Glancing back at him, Brian noticed
his condition and asked, "Are you okay?"

"What? Yeah. Sure." Carl shot back quickly.

"Would you mind if I took a look at his place?
His mother is really worried, and maybe I can find a note or his
cell phone or something."

Carl stared at him. A glimmer of a frightening
look crossed his face before he painted on a gentle smile. "No
problem. We'll go through the building this way."

Brian stepped into the middle of the room. After
taking a deep breath, Carl hit the button to close the rolling back
door. Once the door was closed, he pulled out a gun and pointed it
at Brian's chest.

"What the hell?" Brian stared at him,
shocked.

"Shut the fuck up."

"What are you doing?"

Brian stared down at the gun in Carl's shaking
hand. "Hey, I'm just looking for Rob. I don't care what you're
doing here or—"

Carl shouted, "Shut up and turn around!"

Brian turned toward the vault.

Jamming the gun into his back, Carl said, "Get
against the wall."

"You don't have to do this, I—"

"I said shut up."

While holding the gun to Brian's back, Carl
dialed in the combination to the safe. Brian glanced at him from
the corner of his eye as his heart pounded out of his chest. He
thought, This deranged lunatic is going to kill me... I'm going to
fucking die right here.

Carl messed up the combination and cursed. He
pushed the gun harder into Brian's back and started again. After
clearing his throat, Brian began, "Uh, that, uh, bachelor party was
amazing, I—"

Carl yelled, "I need to concentrate here! Shut
the fuck up or I swear I'll kill you right here!"

Brian bit his lip nervously as Carl successfully
dialed the combination. He pushed down the handle and pulled open
the vault. A gold glow shimmered through the door onto Brian's
face, and he titled his head for a better look. As the door opened
further, Brian saw the huge stack of gold bars, and his jaw
dropped. Next, he looked down at the floor of the safe and spotted
a large pair of bare feet. He held his breath.

Pressing the gun to Brian's back, Carl pulled
the safe door open fully. It smashed loudly against the steel wall
of the vault.

"All right, let's go."

Rob was ducked down behind a stack of gold,
holding a brick in his hand.

Brian said, "I won't tell anyone about—" Upon
hearing Brian's voice, Rob mouthed the word, "Fuck." He took a
silent deep breath as he contemplated a change in plans.

"I told you to shut up," Carl shot back.

Carl led Brian into the safe with the gun at his
back. As they moved past a stack of gold, they both spotted only
Bridget's lower half sticking out from behind another stack of
bricks. Her bikini bottom was off, and her hands and ankles were
tied behind her back. Carl stared down at the breathtaking sight of
her perfect female curves while wearing a dirty smile, not for a
moment wondering where Rob might be.

Watching out of the corner of his eye, Brian saw
Rob lunge at Carl while holding a gold brick high above his head.
Brian's expression changed, and Carl noticed. Turning, Carl caught
sight of the danger and attempted to duck out of the way as Rob
swung down. The brick caught Carl in the head, hard, but a little
off the mark. He staggered woozily as the brick flew out of Rob's
hand and skidded across the floor.

Losing his balance, Rob dropped down to his
knees as Carl stood still for two seconds before collapsing to the
floor in a heap. Carl moaned and began to lift his head up as he
slowly raised the gun, pointing it toward Rob.

Springing into action, Brian stepped on Carl's
arm, smashing it back to the floor. The gun went off with a huge
bang that reverberated through the steel walls of the vault, and
the bullet lodged into a stack of cash.

Crying out in pain, Carl dropped the gun and
fought to move to a sitting position as Brian remained with his
foot trapping his arm to the floor. Rob leaned forward toward Carl
and punched him hard in the jaw, knocking him out cold. He glanced
up at Brian with a grateful smile as he struggled to catch his
breath.

Raising his eyebrows, Brian stared back at the
naked woman's ass. "I don't think you really needed my help. He was
a little preoccupied and didn't see it coming."

Rob said, "I know, her ass is spectacular isn't
it?"

Bridget called out, "Okay, seriously. Please
untie me."

"Do I really have to?" Rob grinned.

"I'd better wait out there." After stealing one
more glance at Bridget, Brian stepped out of the vault.

Thirty seconds later, Bridget with her bathing
suit re-secured, emerged from the vault with Rob. She gave Brian an
embarrassed smile. "Hi."

Rob said, "It was my idea to have her bottoms
off."

Brian shook his head with an approving grin.
"Good thinking."

"Brian, this is Bridget," Rob began. "Bridget,
this is actually my stepfather."

Looking at him, a little shocked, Bridget said,
"Really?"

"Yes, that's me, his old man..." Brian grinned.
"Oh, hi, nice to meet you."

A loud moan spilled out from the vault. They all
turned to look through the door at Carl lying face down on the
floor. Brian said, "You tie him up, I'd better call Jillian."

While Brian was on the phone with Jillian,
Bridget called the F.B.I., and agents were en route
immediately.

Almost two hours later, Brian and the
now-fully-clothed Bridget and Rob were finishing up their
interviews with officials as F.B.I. and local police swarmed the
apartment building. At the Wealth Stone headquarters, another group
of federal agents located the safe in the basement of the building
and were in the process of opening it. When the contents were
finally totaled from the safes in both locations, a little more
than eight hundred million dollars worth of gold and ninety million
in cash were recovered and transported safely away.

After their interviews and after promising to
remain available for further questions, the three went up to Rob's
apartment. Bridget headed to the bathroom as the boys slumped onto
the sofa together. Rob asked, "So, how's the trial going?"

Brian just shook his head.

"That bad?"

"They destroyed your mom on the stand. They made
her out to be some revenge-seeking witch. I think they're talking
about settling the case to avoid some huge judgment against
her."

"Shit. So, do you think I still need to
testify?"

Brian shrugged. "Maybe you should call
Parrish."

Nodding, Rob picked up his phone and checked the
display. "Someone from the law office just called. I'll check my
messages."

Rob began listening to voice mail. When he
reached Brian's second message, he heard something interesting.
After listening to it while wearing a grin, he opened his mouth
wide and said, "Holy fuck."

Brian asked, "What is it?"

"Natalie."

"What?" Brian moved to the edge of his seat.

Rob put his finger up. "Shhh..." As he listened
to more, his smile grew wider right along with his eyes. Returning
to the room, Bridget stared at both of them, perplexed.

"You've got to hear this." He replayed the
message on the speakerphone as Bridget and Brian looked on. It
began faintly, until Rob turned up the volume, and Brian's voice
filled the room.

"Look I'm trying to find Rob. He's missing,
and—"

"Seriously she thinks… I don't
kill men, I please them…
I know you’re
with that old hag just to make me jealous."

"You're out of your mind."

"I'll bet she can’t do this."

After hearing some soft rustling and then a
faint gasp out of the speaker, Rob stopped the message and stared
at Brian. "What'd she do?"

"She did this handstand with her legs spread
wide and her skirt flipped up. I could see pretty much everything.
Did you know she had this birth mark right by her—"

"Of course, I know about that."

Brian nodded casually.

Rob asked, "So what kind of
panties was she wearing, or wait was she
not
wearing any?"

Bridget looked on horrified, as Brian replied,
"No she was wearing just this tiny little—"

"Jesus, guys! Can we get back to the
message?"

The boys shared a "what's-gotten-into-her" look
and a smirk.

"Sorry," Rob said sarcastically as he hit a
button on the phone. The message continued with Natalie
speaking:

"Imagine your cock slipping inside my tight
ass while I'm in this position."

Dropping her jaw, Bridget stared at Rob,
horrified. "Who the hell is this?"

Rob stopped the message, but Brian beat him to
it as he casually replied, "Oh, just Rob's old girlfriend."

"No, it's
your
old girlfriend."

"At least I never had sex with her," Brian shot
back.

"You wanted to, you freaking douche bag."

"Guys, knock it off," Bridget interrupted.

As Rob began to play the message again, the
Brian in the room conceded, "Good point," while the Brian in the
phone said:

"I, uh, you..."

"Do you know how flexible I am? I don’t
think you do. I can get into a position where you're actually deep
inside me, and while you are fucking me... I'm curled up and
actually licking your balls."

Bridget wore a sour look; conversely, the boys
were almost panting. With a sickened look, Bridget said, "This is
your ex-girlfriend? She sounds like a skank."

"Oh, she is." Brian said.

Rob nodded matter-of-factly. The message
continued:

"Wow, that sounds, um, impossible. You can
really do—"

"Just ask Mitchell Garrett. I did that to
him."

"Your roommate
Cindy's boyfriend?"

"Oh yeah he played hard to get... just like
you."

"Aren't they engaged?"

"Not after I got done with him. He got so
hung up on me that he left that chubby bore."

Rob stopped the message once again. "Do you
really think she can do that ball-licking thing when you're in
her...?" Rob glanced down like he was actually trying to picture
the logistics of it. He began again, "She's... How can—"

Bridget stared at Rob in disbelief.

"I know, I was thinking of that on the drive
here, and then I remembered... Have you ever seen those videos of
the guys who can suck their own dicks?"

"Oh, yeah, yeah."

"So, I think it's a little like that," Brian
concluded.

"But the guys who can pull that off are, like, a
foot long, so she would have to..." Rob shook his head, confused,
as he processed this. Bridget stared at both of them with a
wide-eyed look that screamed, "You've got to be fucking kidding
me!"

Brian wore a serious expression. "I see what
you’re saying, but when you're facing away from her..." After
jumping to his feet, Brian spread his legs and squatted down,
demonstrating, as Rob hung on every word. He added, "... like this,
then it could work, since she wouldn't really need to reach her
pu—"

"Okay, stop," Bridget demanded.

Rob ignored her request. "I would so never leave
the house if I could do that."

Brian nodded in complete agreement as Bridget
stared them down.

Brian's eyes went to her slowly. "Sorry."

"Yeah... sorry," Rob added.

Shaking her head in disbelief, Bridget sighed.
Then they all remained in silence for a few moments.

Brian's expression brightened. "I can’t believe
we have this recorded. Would we be able to use this in court?"

Bridget replied, "Probably not."

"Well, at least now we know a name of another
guy she had sex with." Brian paused for a moment. "And maybe if I
played this for Cindy, she would actually..." he made quote marks
in the air as he continued, "... 'remember' some of the names of
the guys Natalie dated. At the very least, she could help us find
Mitchell."