Page 48 of Troy
I contemplate the lines around Raff’s eyes tightening as we walk through the large, impressive glass doors that give entry to Davenport and Reynolds. Our appointment with Mason is due in a few minutes and Raff’s tension is unmistakable; he knows he is going to have to listen to the phone call I made to Ben. I tried to calm him but nothing worked, and I tried everything!
“Come on, Raff, this is the good side, remember? The ones who are going to put him away.” I squeeze his hand and he glares at me, the corners of his mouth turned down.
“I just fucking hate this shit. There’s so much CCTV footage, and the phone recording; he should just be found guilty on that alone. I just want him locked away and out of our lives.” The pain in his voice is palpable and reflects in the dark shadows under his eyes.
I pull Raff’s face to mine and briefly brush my lips over his. Raff’s hands grip my hips as he deepens the kiss but pulls away quickly when he hears a deep chuckle behind him.
“Good to see you both here.” Mason laughs and claps his hands on each of our shoulders. “But cut that out or you’ll get all the women here ogling you.”
Letting go of us, Mason moves ahead and opens the door into a large conference room, already occupied by Ben and Mason’s brother, Austin, and cousin, Lucas. The three of them work on this case but my nerves kick in when I see them there, folders packed full of papers, all of them pertaining to me.
“Okay, let’s get started, This is how it’s going to work. Lucas is going to bring us up to date with all the surveillance and computer and phone monitoring. Then Austin is going to work with you, Raff, and your brother when he arrives in about an hour.”
I peep at Raff and he clasps his hand over mine, latching on tightly. “I want Raff with me.” I blurt out.
“You will for most of the time, Troy, don’t worry, but there are a few questions Austin needs answering that only relate to the abuse case brought by the two brothers.” Mason expounds, Austin’s smile comforts my qualms. I manage to give him a weak smile before Raff brings my hand up to his mouth to kiss the back of it.
Lucas explains how they have matched up the CCTV footage, mapping the journey from the hotel, where Deschamps approached me, to the warehouse I was left for dead. Viewing the videos of me being forced into the car, and the car approaching the warehouse, I convulse. The visuals cut out as we drive past the last camera into a no-man’s land where no cameras are situated. Lucas also found images from the day before; Deschamps’ driver paces out the area, I see him casting around for cameras.
“This is proof that your abduction had been planned. We have telephone calls from Raff to his brother that have been tapped into by Deschamps’ security team, the last one being the confirmation of your meeting place. They were expecting Raff to be there, I don’t think they were expecting to find you, Troy. I believe the plan was to take Raff; you being there gave them the chance to really hurt Raff.” Lucas is almost serene as he explains everything he found.
“What about Hauffman?” I query.
“Yeah, he’s a piece of shit, isn’t he? What did you do to him, Raff?” Lucas chuckles
“I threw his skinny ass out when I caught him fucking some guy in my bed.” Raff replies but there is no humor in his words and Lucas raises his eyebrows, examining his papers.
“Okay, he was approached by Deschamps’ security and paid to get in your face again. Your father really hates how successful you have become and wants to see brought to your knees.”
“No shit!” Raff replies laconically.
Not long after Lucas finishes his report, Mason talks through everything else they have put together. He brings up the questions he wants me to practice my answers to and expresses how I can react to each video, picture, and recording. Trepidation fills me at the thought of seeing my injuries in color photographs.
A knock sounds and a woman enters, “Mr. Deschamps is here.” Even knowing it’s Corrigan, I flinch. He is obviously nervous and his eyes reach Raff’s before mine but then, as he surveys the other men in the room, he blanches at the sight of Austin and Lucas. He knows them, I think to myself, but how, or why? That’s twice I’ve seen him have a reaction to them, the first time at the mention of Austin’s name.
“Okay, let’s go and get our shit done so we can get outta here. No offence to you, Mason, but I want this over with.”
The four men leave, but not before Raff kisses me firmly, telling me he loves me. With my lips still tingling and my head reeling, I look back at Mason and see him smile.
“Yeah, my wife makes me feel like that, too.” He winks then gets back to work.
Hours pass as we repeatedly go over every question, providing every angle Mason thinks they may attack from. Sandwiches and bottles of water are supplied but the food mainly goes untouched, I gulp the water as my mouth seems to be constantly dry.
There’s a quiet tap on the door and Mason, who has been pacing the floor as he fires questions at me, spins around quickly and scowls when Raff pops his head in.
“What?” Mason barks.
“Time to quit, Mason. I’m taking my man home, now. We can come back tomorrow, but he’s exhausted.” Raff doesn’t back down when Mason marches up to him.
“We need to win this, Rafferty. Do you think the defense is going to let up? No, they will wait till he gets tired and then hit him with the hard stuff.” Mason snarls.
“I know that, Reynolds, but five hours on the first day here is too long; the judge and the jury will get breaks, so let this be ours. We will be back again tomorrow. C’mon, babe, let’s go home.” Raff stretches his hand out to me. Hesitating for a moment, cautious of Mason’s reaction, but he rakes his hands through his hair and scrubs his cheeks.
“Of course, I didn’t realize it had been that long. I’ll see you tomorrow, and, Troy? You did an awesome job.” He smiles again, “Have a good night, gentlemen.”
I nod and stand up, kissing Raff’s tight mouth, making him relax and smile again. “C’mon, Rafferty, I need to turn my brain off for a few hours.”
“Yeah?” I see a delicious glint in his eye, “I reckon I can find a way to do that.”