Unproven Chapter Ninety Four "Big Plans, Bigger Wrenches"
If you're loved by someone, you're never rejected, decide what to be and GO BE IT
-The Avett brothers
Recommend Reading Introduction to Unproven
DEFINITELY READ Prologue
Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three
Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six
Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty One
Chapter Twenty Two Chapter Twenty Three Chapter Twenty Four
Chapter Twenty Five Chapter Twenty Six Chapter Twenty Seven
Chapter Twenty Eight Chapter Twenty Nine Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty One Chapter Thirty Two Chapter Thirty Three
Chapter Thirty Four Chapter Thirty Five Chapter Thirty Six
Chapter Thirty Seven Chapter Thirty EightChapter Thirty Nine
Chapter Forty Chapter Forty One Chapter Forty Two
Chapter Forty Three Chapter Forty Four Chapter Forty Five
Chapter Forty Six Chapter Forty Seven Chapter Forty Eight
Chapter Forty Nine Chapter Fifty Chapter Fifty One
Chapter Fifty Two Chapter Fifty Three Chapter Fifty Four
Chapter Fifty Five Chapter Fifty Six Chapter Fifty Seven
Chapter Fifty Eight Chapter Fifty Nine Chapter Sixty
Chapter Sixty One Chapter Sixty Two Chapter Sixty Three
Chapter Sixty Four Chapter Sixty Five Chapter Sixty Six
Chapter Sixty Seven Chapter Sixty Eight Chapter Sixty Nine
Chapter Seventy Chapter Seventy Chapter Seventy Two
Chapter Seventy Three Chapter Seventy Four Chapter Seventy Five
Chapter Seventy SixChapter Seventy Seven Chapter Seventy Eight
Chapter Seventy Nine Chapter Eighty Chapter Eighty One
Chapter Eighty Two Chapter Eighty Three Chapter Eighty Four
Chapter Eighty Five Chapter Eighty Six Chapter Eighty Seven
Chapter Eighty Eight Chapter Eighty Nine Chapter Ninety
Chapter Ninety One Chapter Ninety Two Chapter Ninety Three
Chapter Ninety Four
Ary pulled Grayson over to her bed on Wednesday night and laughed as he attempted to push her backward. "Not yet," she admonished, "I wanted to show you what I've come up with for our exit strategy." She indicated her laptop and he nodded, climbing in beside her.
"Okay, first off we're not going to jump in a van with people, not right away, though I'm hoping we'll find something like that in our travels." She pointed at the screen. "This is a music festival taking place in Maryland the weekend after we plan to leave, actually it starts on Friday and I've done some research and found that pre-partiers show up on Thursday, setting up tents in parking lots down the road for a nominal fee. So what I did was find us bus tickets. Completely anonymous, they don't ask for ID to travel by bus, and I picked up a prepaid visa card and put it under the name Jamie Strickland so I could purchase tickets in advance. If we left on Monday morning as planned, we would arrive on Thursday afternoon."
She set the computer in his lap and watched as he perused the sight, his eyes alight with excitement.
"Awesome," he said, "This looks fantastic."
She grinned, "And that's just the beginning. I've found festivals all over the Northeast, for nearly every weekend until September, then there's festivals in the Southeast that go until November. Plus I found campgrounds, some of them free, some requiring a good-faith donation of five to ten bucks a night, also with no identification required, within reasonable distance of every one of these festivals."
He looked at her with admiration. "That's incredible Ary, holy shit I'm so fucking excited! When do we leave again?"
She laughed, "Five and a half weeks. Just over a month." She bounced on her knees, "I'm pretty excited myself!"
"I can see that," he laughed with her. "You know I've never been to a festival unless you count a one-day thing with music in a park, and I've never camped out, never even seen the inside of a tent."
She shook her head, "That's a shame. There's nothing like it. Don't worry, you will be a professional camper by the time we're done!"
He grinned, "Hell yeah, fucking you in a sleeping bag has become an erotic fantasy of mine."
She shut her laptop and moved it to her nightstand. "Fucking you in any situation is an erotic fantasy of mine," she told him, and with that he pounced on her.
**
"He's not here." Jason said over the airwaves. He was not surprised by the silence that greeted him. If Grayson was his kid, he'd be damned shocked to learn he'd foregone a night with some seriously hot hookers for something else. Or many nights as the case may be. And they were hot. Not used up looking, not covered in makeup to hide blemishes, but honest to god, drop-dead gorgeous women. He could only imagine how much they cost, because it wouldn't be cheap.
"Okay." James said finally. "His car is there?"
"Yes."
"Have some fun with the...women, I’ll let them know it's on my tab. And, if he turns up, don't give anything away. You can ask him where he's been, it would be strange if you didn't, but don't let on that there's any suspicion. Make sure you leave by four a.m. then be in my office at nine."
"You got it." Jason smiled. Oh hell yeah, he was going to have some fun tonight.
After dismissing Jason the following morning, James sat at his desk pondering his next move. Right after he’d ended the call with Jason the previous night, he'd been on the phone with the amateurs tailing his son. They had seen him go inside apparently but they'd never seen him leave. After his tongue-lashing they had been much more alert, and witnessed his return. According to them it was as if he materialized out of thin air in the back parking lot, dressed all in black, then slid into his car and left.
Which meant he'd gone on foot, likely crossing yards until he'd gotten to the street where he'd either taken a cab or been picked up. To where or by whom? His bet was on the girl. The one he'd thought was out of Grayson's life for good.
He'd find out soon enough, he had hired professionals to follow him this time.
And if he was right, if it was the girl, what then? He leaned forward and unlocked the bottom drawer of his desk, pulling out the copies of his brain scan from his latest trip to the private hospital he'd been frequenting over the past eighteen months and stared at them with impotent rage. Money could buy much, but it couldn't buy everything.
If the tumor had only been a few millimeters to the right or left, then money could have bought him everything. But there wasn't a surgeon alive who could perform the miracle he needed. He knew, because he'd seem them all. Inoperable, unless he wanted to be severely brain-damaged, and that was the best-case scenario. The worst of course, was that he wouldn't survive it. In light of those outcomes he'd opted to let nature take its course, and now had between eight and fourteen months. To live, that was, in as little as four months he would begin to decline, losing motor functions, speech, and eventually mental faculties. He, the great James Teller, was going to die.
And Grayson was his only hope to make everything he'd worked so hard to accomplish worthwhile.
He slammed his fist down on the desk. He'd worked so hard, too goddamned hard to allow this little waif to ruin everything. He calmed himself.
She had to go. If she was the reason for Grayson's deception, and James could hardly think of another, then she had to go. Without her, Grayson would do exactly as he needed to do, step into his father's shoes, and even exceed him. Marry a woman from the right bloodlines, and produce heirs that would carry the Teller name into infinity. He needed to start making plans. He picked up his phone and made a call.
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I hope nothing happens to her , I think he is a nasty man !
I don't like the sound of this. Grayson should have been more careful. I hope Ary doesn't get hurt.
I can't believe I've reached a point where I'm rooting for James Teller. I mean, this chapter really made me sympathize for him. But, I'm fully on Team Ary even though I'm questioning some of her choices. I really enjoyed reading the contrasting parts, the interplay between them. I liked how this chapter was divided equally between the two players of the game. The reader can see how different their two approaches are, and are left to admire how masterfully they execute it. It's a shame that there should be a winner between the two, unless they reach a compromise (or James has a change of heart). While it's unfortunate that the only prize is Grayson, mad respect for the way the two are playing out their game.