Race With a Heart
Chapter 82: Blackmail

Chapter 82: Blackmail

"Martin, darling, I have to go out," Paxton announced, gently cupping his lover’s shoulders.

"Something’s wrong, right?" the young mechanic asked anxiously. "Something bad?"

"No," Steve smiled as he tried to calm Martin down. The boy didn’t need to know anything, after all Paxton promised to protect him. "Stupid thing, probably nothing, but I have to deal with it. Sorry." He kissed him on the forehead and then on the mouth. "Forgive me. I will try to make it up to you. "

"Okay," Martin agreed reluctantly.

Steve buttoned his belt and pants and ran out of the apartment adjusting the rest of his clothes. To say that he was agitated is not enough.

Steve was furious. And terrified.

He just got blackmailed!

You might think that you can only blackmail someone by knowing some bad thing about them. Knowing about the wrong thing he has done, or even about the crime. Steve did nothing of the sort, and yet he was blackmailed.

Who? That one question was puzzling over his head. Who might know about his relationship with Martin? Who can threaten to reveal this relationship to the world? What evidence does he have to support his threats? Who was greedy enough to go so far as to blackmail?

But there was no time to think. His bank was already closed, so he wouldn’t get any money out of it. The only thing left for him were ATMs. But he will not get this amount at once! He probably won’t even get it at one ATM. After all, the cassettes with money also had their limitations and people chose cash. And the time was short.

Steve didn’t even know where the ATMs were. He never paid any attention to them. But he knew the locations of two. If they run out of money, then he will start to worry about more. Ten thousand in volume was not much. The text message did not mention the denominations. So he took what the ATM had given him and put the money in the black bag one he had in the trunk.

Steve was willing to pay if the blackmailer had proof. He counted on falling into the trap of having to pay more and more, but he couldn’t let Martin suffer. If the blackmailer got too bold, Paxton was able to give up his career, take Martin out of there, and disappear somewhere where no scandal could hurt them. However, if Steve doesn’t see the proof, he’s not going to confess. He had heard of cases where people got into trouble precisely because they confessed to something without proof.

The meeting point was in a little built-up part of town, almost on the outskirts, near a strip bar. Steve knew this place existed, but he hadn’t been to it. He had been in this area several times, so he knew there was such a place of cheap pleasure, but he no needed to visit it. It was a despicable neighborhood, where cheap motels were almost like brothels, and girls shamelessly paraded the streets selling their worn-out charms. Just being in such a place disgusted Steve.

Steve passed the main street and parked off the beaten track. He found the agreed place and showed up ahead of schedule.

A girl emerged from the alley. She looked as if she had barely entered adulthood, and had already lived more than she should have. She was quite pretty, short-haired, with a boyish figure, but dressed in a black leather mini skirt, a light blouse, and thigh-high boots with very high heels. She was wearing quite heavy makeup and smelled of even heavier perfume. She was chewing gum. She looked like a working girl.

"You have the money?" she asked right away.

"Where did you get my number?" Paxton asked in response.

"From the same guy I have information from."

This was important information. Even two pieces of information. First of all, the girl did not witness any compromising scene for Martin, secondly, her source was someone who had Paxton’s number, and there weren’t many of them.

"So from whom?" He asked.

"From someone who knows your dirty secret."

"I have a lot of dirty secrets," Steve admitted.

"You got a text message, you know which one I mean," the girl got angry. "If you want it to remain a secret, give me the money," she extended her hand.

"You are very confident," Steve remarked. "It’s weird considering you don’t know what you’re talking about."

"What? Do you want your secret to come out? Give me money!"

"Why should I do this?"

"Because I’ll tell everyone ..."

"You tell them and what? Do you have any evidence to back up your reports? You don’t have it and you can’t have it! "

Steve was sure the girl had nothing. Probably someone’s tongue was too long and started talking. Either he knew for real about his relationship with Martin, or he just f*cked what the spit on his tongue brought him. But it wasn’t evidence, just a rumor.

Sure, rumor can destroy a person, but if some tabloid accuses Paxton without proof, even if he was telling the truth, Steve will tear him to shreds.

"I have a proof!" the girl exclaimed. She surprised him, but only for a moment.

"Impossible. You cannot have proof of something that does not exist. "

Denial was the best strategy. The girl has not witnessed any scenes that compromise Martin, so she cannot insist on her own. She relies solely on second-hand information, and this could be a lie or a confabulation.

"The first evidence is you here," she announced in the tone of the prosecutor. The girl missed her calling. "If you were not afraid of revealing the secret, you would not come ..."

"Someone I don’t know is sending a threat to my number. I was curious to know who. This is your proof? "

"I also have a recording."

This already sounded dangerous. The recording, whether video or audio or audiovisual, was a hard piece of evidence that all media would throw at. But how could she get them? He had never seen her with his eyes. Was she an employee at the hotel? Impossible, Anna had standards when hiring even a cleaning lady. Was she Martin’s neighbor? Perhaps Steve didn’t know the people living in his block, but would the girl then talk about the boy, "The Mechanic"?

There was also another possibility. The girl was just a substitute figurehead, behind whom was someone who actually witnessed Steve making love to Martin. It was probably a person from the stable who did not want to reveal his identity. In that case, this someone could actually record them, for example with a phone.

The girl could also get the information and the recording accidentally. Maybe one of the guys from the stable went for whores and she searched his phone and found a covertly made compromising video?

The leak was almost certainly from someone in the stables. It was the only way to get his number.

So the risk of recording was real. Before he gives up, however, he has to verify them. He needs to see if it is possible to recognize Martin’s identity. If not, she can do whatever she wants with this recording. Steve wasn’t afraid of a scandal for himself, although maybe he should, because Karl Walton would have torn him to shreds.

He had to make sure. He had to check what was on that video!

"You made me curious. Show it to me. "

"I..."

She hesitated. Was the recording a lie after all?

"See, you’re bluffing. You want to sell goods that you don’t have. "

"No, I have a recording, just ... I can’t show it to you ..."

What’s that supposed to mean? What was that absurdity?

"Why are you doing this?" Steve asked coming closer to her. "Why do you go to such a vile activity as blackmail? Do you think the money gained from someone else’s fear will make you happy? "

The girl took a step back, then another.

"Yes, they will!" she assuredly. "And you will pay me or regret it when the recording goes online!"

This girl was making Steve angry. When she texted him, he thought she was really one step away from causing a tragedy in Martin’s life. He was scared and furious with himself and the blackmailer. Now the terror is gone, she had nothing at last, but the rage only increased.

Steve has always had trouble controlling his emotions, especially his anger. That’s why he liked to drink. That’s why he liked sex. That’s why he liked to get into a fight. But since he met Martin, since he hurt him, he began to limit everything. He began to drive himself like a decent man. But that doesn’t mean he was always able to control himself.

"I will regret it?" Steve asked, shooting her a murderous glare and still getting closer to her. "I? You don’t really know who you’re dealing with ... "

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