Rising Darkness Read online

  RISING DARKNESS

  By T.S. Worthington

  Copyright 2016 by Make Profits Easy LLC

  [email protected]

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1: A Grand Opening

  Chapter 2: Murder at the Door

  Chapter 3: Grasping at Straws

  Chapter 4: Dose of Reality

  Chapter 5: Picture Perfect

  Chapter 6: Childhood Games

  Chapter 7: Cat and Mouse

  Chapter 8: Sticks and Stones

  Chapter 9: Unforeseen Circumstances

  Chapter 10: New Game

  Chapter 11: It’s All Relative

  Chapter 12: New Arrival

  Chapter 1: A Grand Opening

  Joe Payton could not believe what he was looking at.

  He had thought that he had seen the most beautiful woman in the world before now, but somehow she had managed to top even herself. He could not help the huge grin that spread across his face as his beautiful wife Tracy walked down the stairs in the most amazing looking dress he had ever seen. Her model features, her curvaceous body accentuated by every subtle nuance of the shape and the fabric that perfectly contoured to her shape, the perfectly crafted hair, and that cover girl smile was the most irresistible image he had ever had the privilege of laying his eyes on. She was stunning; that was all you could say about his amazing wife. He had been married to her for just over ten years and she still stirred up the same excitement inside of him that she did when he had first met her.

  He could recall the day so clearly. He had been at the country club finishing a few rounds of tennis with his best friend Alex Denton, when he had spotted her pulling up in her Porsche. She got out as the valet parked the car, stepping up out of the car slowly allowing those long, slender, firm legs to be put on full display as they slowly revealed themselves, going for miles up to the bottom of her mini skirt. Joe’s eyes continued to travel up the rest of her body, captivated and entranced. He could not take his eyes off of her and he had not been able to since that day.

  Before he knew what was happening he was engaging her in a conversation and they were soon dating. They were inseparable after that and he had to wonder how he had become so damn lucky. Joe had never considered himself to be arrogant or conceited but there was only so much good fortune a guy could take before he had to start believing that he had been blessed with some things.

  Ever since he was a kid it seemed like everything that he touched turned to gold. He was always the star athlete in school and on up through high school. He had won scholarships to play both college football and baseball and had excelled in both. He actually had the option to turn pro at one point, but he knew that the average length of most professional sports careers was only a few years, and then his body would be junk. He had seen too many former athletes completely deteriorate from the damage placed on them by the demands of being a professional athlete. It was a lot like being a million people’s bitch. The whole world owned you and you were forced to do tricks like some sort of circus act. It was a bit humiliating and he wasn’t sure he wanted to do that for even a few years. He had other things on his mind.

  That was when he had first begun to open his car lots. His uncle had been involved in the business and basically taught him everything from the ground up. He had enjoyed the learning experience and quickly parlayed that into a lucrative auto sales business of his own. Now he owned over two hundred lots nationwide and he had branched out to other ventures including night clubs, concert venues, real estate, and he had even become a rather successful venture capitalist. People wondered where he got the time for everything; he wondered where they got the time or the patience to sleep every day.

  He watched his amazing wife Tracy stroll off the stairs of their mansion making the most exquisite entrance that could be made into the party that he had thrown to announce the opening of his newest car lot in the valley. He had thought about having the party there since it was the weekend of the grand opening, but he decided that the mansion in the hills was just a nicer touch.

  Joe walked over to join his wife. He took her by the hand and held her close to him as he kissed her softly on the cheek—she didn’t dare let him mess up her lipstick. He was used to that, but that was a price to pay for having the most amazing looking woman on the Earth on your arm. He was willing to make the sacrifice.

  “You look impeccable,” Joe said.

  Tracy smiled. “I know,” she replied.

  “I love how humble you are,” Joe said.

  “Yea, we are both a couple of humble people,” Tracy said.

  They both had to laugh at that one. They moved over to begin mingling with the crowd that was gathered in front of them. It was mostly business associates and others in the business community of Glendale. Joe had either done business with or tried to do business with almost everybody there. Some of them were rich by accident; they just didn’t have the vision or the intensity for their work that he did.

  “Tracy! You look amazing, dear,” Sally Wilcox said.

  “Oh, I try. I love that necklace you are wearing. Is that new?” Tracy asked.

  Joe had to smile wider. The girl knew how to play the game. That was something his first wife Tori had lacked. He felt a twinge of sadness as he thought of Tori. He hardly ever thought about her anymore. He had no idea why her face suddenly popped into his mind. He shook his head to get rid of the image and continued to schmooze.

  “It is new. I had to have something new for the party,” Sally said.

  Joe thought about the suit he was wearing. He was a multi-millionaire, but he really only had about a dozen suits. And he had not really bought any new suits for five years. He didn’t believe in buying something new just for a social event or any other auspicious occasion. He let Tracy waste money like it was going out of style. She had some way of making him rethink his position on being cheap and he found himself just letting her run wild with the money.

  Although she still had some of her own money coming in. He was glad that Tracy was not just a trophy wife; she was an entrepreneur in her own right. After finishing her modeling career she had begun to write some columns for several women’s magazines and she was starting her own online publishing business. With her name and the fact that her name was attached to him—plus the hundreds of thousands in advertising costs they had incurred—she was starting to turn a nice profit. But she still spent a lot of money.

  “Is that all women have to talk about?” Skip Tauney said, slapping Joe on the shoulder with his typical greeting.

  Joe groaned silently—he hated when Skip did that. He knew that Skip did it intentionally hard in a “friendly” manner. It was one of those stupid “alpha” tricks that some guys used to insinuate their dominance over another guy. It was done affectionately but really it was bullying behavior and it was done to impress upon the other guy who was in charge. If it hadn’t been his party and there hadn’t been a bunch of boring, civilized people around that Joe didn’t even like that well he probably would have just belted the guy. When he was younger that would not have even been anything more than an impulse and then the action would have followed swiftly; Skip would have been on the damn floor with a broken nose.

  Joe gritted his teeth and smiled as he slapped Skip back on the shoulder almost as hard. “How’s it going dirt bag?”

  “Well, I got no complaints,” Skip said. “Your wife is looking insanely hot tonight,” Skip said. “I have no idea where mine is.”

  “Yea, I know how hot my wife is. You might want to put your tongue back in your mouth before I step on it!” Joe joked. He really meant what he said though. He had no idea if Skip’s thick skull could handle the subtext or not. He was pre
tty damn thick.

  “Let me ask you something, Joe,” a voice to Joe’s left interrupted his bromance with Skip. It was Charlie Hilton. Charlie was a fairly likeable guy, except he was constantly going on and on about the environment or some other intellectual crap that bored everyone to tears. If he wasn’t such a savvy businessman and Joe had not used millions of dollars of Charlie’s money to turn some great profits over the years he probably would have throat punched him.

  “Shoot.”

  “What is your take on that guy who shot up the college campus last week? I can’t remember where it was… but it was pretty tragic, right? I mean what is going through someone’s mind when they decide that the only choice is to kill a bunch of random people?”

  “Do I look like a damn psychiatrist?” Joe replied. “I dunno. I guess there are a lot of messed up people in the world and somehow the perfect storm is created through life circumstances, or some event triggers a meltdown and they can’t tell fiction from reality anymore.”

  Skip and Charlie both looked at Joe for several seconds before bursting out in laughter.

  “What?”

  “To answer that question—yes, you do look like a psychiatrist. Jesus, Joe have you been watching a bunch of Dr. Drew or something?” Skip asked.

  “No, it just makes sense. I do tune into the news every now and then. They usually have doctors on there who make these diagnoses to explain what happened to these wackos.”

  “You watch TV? I thought you would see TV as a waste of your time when you should be making millions of more dollars,” Charlie said.

  “Very funny. Of course I watch TV. Usually just the news at night before bed or the news during breakfast.”

  “Wow, I couldn’t take that much horrible stuff being dumped into my brain first thing in the morning or last thing at night. No wonder you don’t sleep.”

  “I sleep like a baby, for about three hours a night. It’s not about quantity; it’s about quality,” Joe joked. He sipped on his beer and looked around the room at the other guests he had not even begun to talk to yet. He was starting to regret the party, as he did every party that he threw or went to. There was no fun to be had there anymore. The parties were all just excuses for people to get together who hated each other and pretend not to talk business. He wished that people could just hang out and be friends without money and business intertwining with it. But that was the folly of the rich. It was the lifestyle that he had chosen because he decided that financial success was going to be the driving dominant force in his life. And it had been pretty sweet, for the most part. But sometimes he wished he was a poor working class slob who had the luxury of real friends who didn’t care what was in your bank account.

  Tracy ate this stuff up with a spoon, though. He could not believe how much she loved it. It was like in her blood and she was addicted to it. She couldn’t help but be a socialite. Some people were just born for it. Joe was not one of those people. For him it had always been rather forced.

  He watched his sexy wife working the room with the ease that he wished he possessed. Most would say he did, but he was in agony the entire time that he was faking it. He hardly ever got to just be himself.

  He could not believe how fantastic his wife looked. She was thirty eight and did not look a day over twenty-five, even after giving birth. Tracy had been married once before early in her career to a photographer of all people, but it did not work out. The guy was a worthless douche who became a violent alcoholic when his career began to decline. That was the way it seemed to be with those artist types, Joe had seen.

  “So, Joe how are those girls of yours doing? I bet they are having a blast at college this year!” Skip said.

  “Yea, they seem to be ok. Kirstie is at ASU and Elena is at Oklahoma State. It boggles the mind to know that they are both grown now,” Joe said. It had been a huge adjustment for him to not see their smiling faces when he came home. Kirstie was his daughter with Tori and Elena was Tori’s daughter from a previous marriage. He and Kirstie had always been really close. Elena was Joe’s daughter in every possible way, except that she and Joe had never really bonded. Joe knew that somehow Elena had grown even more distant from him after her mother’s untimely death. He wasn’t sure why all of the crazy feelings were being stirred up again inside of him. He felt like running off into a corner and having himself a good cry sometimes. Tonight was one of those times, but he couldn’t let it happen. He had to keep himself in character and let the pain roll off his back for a bit.

  “Yea, kids do grow up crazy fast, especially nowadays. They are all so bombarded with messages—both good and bad—on that internet that they are always on. I don’t understand how they even talk to each other in real life. I know they don’t really; I’ve seen them try. It is pitiful,” Charlie said. Charlie had a son who was a senior in high school and another son who was playing football at Texas. He was a junior Joe believed. Charlie used to try to get his girls together with his boys, but luckily his girls both had a couple of working brains between them and they had been able to resist the charm.

  “I hear that. It’s a disgrace. These kids today think they know it all, but if they didn’t have some gizmo to know it for them then they would be completely lost,” Skip said. Joe was pretty sure he was still looking at Tracy’s ass. He felt like breaking the guy’s jaw but he thought it was kind of flattering. Go ahead slime and see the caliber of woman you could never have.

  Joe desperately needed to excuse himself for some air or at least a bit of decent conversation. He wasn’t sure how many more of these lame functions he could attend, let alone put on. It was such a mistake. Each and every time it felt like it took him days to come back down again after this.

  He excused himself politely and walked off to get some more alcohol in him. As he snatched another bottle of beer from the bucket, the sexy female bartender he hired gave him a wink and a sexy smile. He felt himself smiling back, but he tried to ignore it and be discreet.

  Joe was used to women flirting with him; it went with the territory of being rich and semi good-looking. He knew that he was no great physical specimen who was going to give Atlas a run for his money any time soon, but he had to admit that he looked pretty good for forty-two. He had managed to keep most of the grey out of his hair and he was still pretty slim and trim. This was probably due to the massive amount of racquetball, tennis, and golf he played—which were all excuses to have casual meetings. And with his busy schedule he hardly had time to eat much. Besides he hated eating a lot because it made him sleepy and he hated to give in to that when he had so much stuff he wanted to do.

  He moved out by the pool area, where a few of the more adventurous and drunk types had begun to do some skinny dipping. It was a nice atmosphere to be around, but he knew that too much temptation was a bad thing. He had never cheated on either of his wives though. Over the years he had become pretty damn good at ignoring the temptation. Joe was a hopeless romantic at heart and when he fell in love he fell hard. He knew that he would never forgive himself if he did something stupid to tarnish himself in the eyes of his amazing wife.

  “Hey, there,” a voice stirred him from his brooding.

  It was the beautiful Angel herself. Tracy grabbed his beer, took a swig, and placed it back in his hand. Her sweet perfume began to invade his nostrils and he felt himself becoming physically and emotionally aroused. He wanted nothing more than some naked cuddling in the hot tub with his wonderful wife.

  “Hey, beautiful. How are you doing? You finish making the rounds?” Joe asked.

  “I can’t figure out how you talk to two people at the party you put together,” Tracy replied.

  “Well, I guess I’m talked out. I thought I’d have more stamina, but it just ain’t happening tonight.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. Maybe you need the right motivation,” Tracy said eye balling the naked women who were now swimming around the pool.

  Joe laughed as he followed her gaze. �
�I think I’ve got all the inspiration I need.”

  “Well, you need to learn how to function at these things a little better. I thought you wanted to talk to Richard about the grand opening this weekend? I mean that is mostly what this party is about right?”

  “Yea, but he has been swarmed by hangers on all evening. I guess they figure since he is opening the brand new and the coolest place that he must have all of the best cars in the universe. They are all models that hit the floor tomorrow or something. It’s sad, but I can’t get close to him.”

  Tracy leaned into him and held him tightly. She felt so soft and smooth against him and he was honestly not sure what he would ever do without her. She was his Angel; she was his rock.

  “Maybe you just have to use that charm of yours and steal him away from the crowd. That’s what I had to do with you that time,” Tracy said.

  Joe laughed. She was remarking about the time that Joe had gotten so drunk at his own party that he forgot he was married and he was regaling everyone about his drunken days as a carefree bachelor. When he thought about those times sober he wanted to hurl. It was disgusting the things he had allowed himself to get into and the people he had hung out with, but when you were young and lucky enough to have all the money in the world then you were obligated to act like a complete retard.

  Joe moved his carcass away from the outside shenanigans and eventually found Richard being swarmed by a trio of drunk and beautiful girls. Joe had no idea who these women were or how they were invited to the party. He was pretty sure that several of the bachelors who happened to come to his party just called up the women they were seeing and had them call all of their hot girlfriends to show up. He was tempted to put a tighter lid on that, but not when so many guys had that much fun at it.

  After talking with Richard for several minutes about the plans for the opening month of the new car lot he was satisfied that everything was going to go off without a hitch. Joe instantly felt better and less sleepy. He must have been totally worried about all of this. It took his wife to know what he needed. He had to shake his head. Sometimes the woman was just too amazing.