Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 122609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 613(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 409(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 613(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 409(@300wpm)
“Honey?”
“Yes?”
“I was never going to let you go without a fight. I knew that from day one. Yes, you can be crass. Harsh and irritating. But we love you here. You’ve got a good heart, and you’re an amazing talent. A rare talent. Right before I sent you out to Denver, my mission was to get you back on board. That’s why I sent you there in the first place… so I could convince everyone how important you were to us. The paper suffered while you were away, but I think you know that. The Denver Post is lucky to have you, and I’m sure they feel as if they’ve won the lottery because essentially they have. You deserve to be happy. I’m not telling you that as a boss right now. I am telling you that as a friend.”
She nodded, smiled, then waved to him and walked proudly out the door…
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Archer re-wound the footage for the thirteenth time, popcorn and vodka in hand. He giggled himself silly as he watched Bannon being taken out in handcuffs, media all around him, flashing their cameras and tossing questions his way. He vehemently denied the allegations, asserting it was all an elaborate witch hunt, and promising legal action against the Denver paper and all involved. The doctor looked like a walrus in mid-yawn while the police officer placed his hand on top of his head and shoved his disgusting ass inside the vehicle.
Soon after, tons of boxes, barrels, and packages containing cigarettes and liquor were seized, but the main stars of the show soon followed. Cage after cage was brought out of the building, all filled with various exotic animals. Everything from crocodiles to miniature pale monkeys, turtles and rare fish.
“I couldn’t believe how small those tape recorders were.” Honey chortled as she sat beside him on his living room couch, dipped her fingers into the popcorn bowl and popped a few into her mouth. “Irish is amazing.”
He nodded in agreement. Honey had placed recording devices in the areas where the boxes had been sitting, as well as where the animals were being held. She could watch and listen remotely, thus managing to gather a treasure trove of more evidence. They sat there laughing as they watched the footage of Bannon being arrested over and over, then he went to another news station to catch similar footage but from a different angle. Honey shook her head at him.
“You are so silly,” she quipped. “He deserved this, though. Every bit of it. Of course he’s threatening to sue the paper for slander, but I’ve got him on tape asking for shipments of cigarettes to send to different places, and talking to one of his flunkies about getting some parakeets. He was in cahoots with some smaller animal smuggling rings that stole from zoos, animal sanctuaries and sometimes even people’s private residences. There’s an entire paper trail, and his name is all over it. I’m glad that they are all in safe hands now, and being well cared for. I don’t know how he believes he can still deny this. All of those animals were on Bannon’s premises. A building he owns. He is fucked.”
He pulled out his phone and pulled up Dr. Bannon’s website. With a mouthful of popcorn, he chewed between sentences.
“Look at this. The website is generic now. Shows that any future appointments have been canceled, and there’s some shit on here about payment plans and so on. No photos, and no book an appointment link. None of that shit. Bannon is out of business.”
“Yeah, well, that office still needs to cover their own behinds. I do feel bad for the staff. I have an inkling they knew he was a pervert, but that was about it.”
He turned off the footage and turned on Netflix instead, then handed Honey the remote control.
“Here, find something for us to watch.”
She snuggled against him and as he stroked her shoulder, he reminisced about him and Irish hauling Billy’s body out of his house in the middle of the night not too long ago, and tossing it into a creek at the Rio Grande National Forest. Archer had explained to the crew and the police, who’d been notified about his disappearance by one of his college-age kids, that he and Billy hadn’t spoken in a while. He notified them Billy had quit his job and said he was moving away, yet never said where he was headed to. He’d showed them his cellphone to prove he’d been nowhere around Billy, except at work a couple weeks back. Of course, he hadn’t brought his cellphone with him when he’d paid the bastard a visit, but why worry about such trivial details?
He handed the officers a copy of Billy’s resignation letter, talked about their business disagreements, but added they’d parted with no hard feelings. Billy seemed concerned about some money problems he’d shared. Archer had made sure this information could be backed up because Irish cleaned the fuck out of that man’s bank account, made it seem like Bannon had made the withdraws, and now, she was apartment shopping. The police had come by Billy’s house to see the man’s home partially packed up, as if he were moving, and no trace of foul play. It helped that Billy had had a reputation of leaving a place when angry or dissatisfied about something. He’d pack up and leave everything in the dust.