Read The Debt 8 (Club Alpha) for Free Online

wind.
    “What do you think of Mack Zee?” Raven
asked Jake.
    He glanced at her.   “I don’t know.   He’s a weird dude.”
    “Are you worried about Club Alpha again?”
she asked him.
    “No,” Jake said, but she wasn’t sure she
believed him.
    “Did you seriously mean what you said
about me being your manager, or was that just a stunt to throw Mack off during
the meeting?”
    Jake gave her a look.   “You can never take a compliment,
Raven.   I swear , everything’s got to have some ulterior motive.”
    “It doesn’t make sense.   I know nothing about the industry.”
    “But you know something about me.   You understand me, you believe in me and
I trust you.   That goes a long way
in my world.”
    Raven bit her lower lip, realizing the
gravity of what he’d just said.   “Thanks,” she whispered.   Perhaps he didn’t hear her though.
    In any case, as they turned onto his
street, Jake whistled through his teeth before swearing under his breath.  
    “What is it?” she asked him.
    He pointed ahead, at a Mercedes parked
out in front of his house, just outside the gate.   “That car,” he said.   “I know that fucking car.”
    “What?   Who is it?” she asked, immediately
thinking, Club Alpha.   Somebody was
there to hurt them.
    But Jake didn’t answer.   Instead. He pulled up next to the car
and left his jeep running.   He put a
hand up to the tinted window of the passenger side of the Mercedes and then
peered inside.   “Nobody’s there.”
    Then he went to unlock his gate.   As he did so, a figure came running from
behind one of the larger palm trees nearby.
    “Jake!” Raven shrieked, her hands flying
up to her face.   “Watch out!”
    At the last moment, Jake spun
around.   The man tried to punch
Jake, but was off balance, as Jake moved deftly out of the way.
    Suddenly, Raven realized who the crazy
man was.   It was Kurt, Jake’s
ex-manager and ex-friend.
    She got out of the car, managing to take
out her phone.   “I’m calling the
police!” she screamed.
    Jake grabbed Kurt by the collar of his
shirt and threw him to the ground.   Kurt hit the sidewalk hard, making a guttural sound as he smashed into
the concrete.   Breathing heavily,
Jake turned to Raven.   “Don’t call
the cops,” he said.
    “But, Jake, he’s crazy and he just tried
to assault you.”
    Kurt moaned, trying to sit up.   “Fucking lucky sonofabitch,” he slurred,
and Raven realized that on top of it all, Kurt was stinking drunk.
    “I should call the police,” she
reiterated, still holding the phone.   “He’s drunk, he’s dangerous—“
    “I said no,” Jake told her.   He unlocked his gate and threw it open.
    “The man stole millions of dollars from
you,” she reminded him.
    Kurt looked at her through slit
eyelids.   “Thas… .bullshit …”
he said, pointing up at her.   “Bullshit.   I did…I did not…”
    Jake grabbed Kurt by his shoulders and
literally dragged him into the driveway and set him to the side.   Then he walked past Raven and got back
in his jeep, driving it quickly through the gate and parking it.
    Raven slowly walked inside the gate,
afraid as she got within a few feet of Kurt’s prone body.   He looked terrible—unshaven,
bloodshot eyes, stained clothing, rips on the knees of his pants.
    Jake closed the gate and locked it
again.   “Help me get him in the
house,” he told her.
    “This really seems like a horrible idea,
you know.”
    “Yeah, you’re on the record,
counselor.   I get it.”   He gave her an impatient look and she
finally started walking.
    Together, they lifted Kurt up and slowly
hauled him into the house.   He was
walking, but just barely.   Whether
it was the booze or Jake throwing him hard into the sidewalk, Kurt seemed to have
had all the starch and fight taken out of him.
    His head lolled back and forth as he muttered.
    “I told you…told you not to…” Kurt
mumbled.
    “Sure you did,” Jake said.   “Sure you