Beautiful Liar Read online

  I had seen so much that I didn’t piece together. The conversations that were hushed when I was close. The looks, the phone calls. The job, Steven was a financial advisor. I smiled, for Andy Marciano, he killed my brother. But why? If it wasn’t for Marciano, then who? Did Johnathan figure out who Steven was? Kathy would have these answers. I needed to talk to her. I needed to have a few more pieces to this puzzle and to figure out how and why this is happening to me. What do I know? What do I know that I don’t know I know?

  Mr. Little, I think knows more than what he is letting on. I’m pretty sure Paul has a few pieces of this puzzle as well. I looked back to the lake house. Al was watching me from the deck. It’s in me to finish this. How can I walk away without knowing why my brother was murdered, why was Joanna left alive? Why was I left alive?

  My feet started to move, I walked up on the deck and bent to whisper in Al’s ear, “I need you to take me to Kathy. Something is wrong. Running isn’t going to make us safe. Knowledge is.”

  He nodded, “Get your shoes.”

  I went in the house and grabbed my shoes. I wrote Paul a note.

  Please don’t freak out. I will be back. I’m with Al.

  I love you

  V.

  On the way out the door I handed the note to Denny. He nodded and we left, me and Al in one car, Joe and another guy in another car, and then two other men in another car. I chuckled when I realized they were all identical and all had smoked windows. We split up and drove around for a while. I heard Al’s phone vibrate and then we headed to Kathy. Pulling up to a pretty big house with a gate and men with guns everywhere.

  When we got out I looked at Al, “Really?”

  “Well you told Max to make sure she was comfortable.”

  “Not this comfortable.” I smiled.

  He laughed, “Well she isn’t exactly living large here.”

  Shaking my head, I followed him into the house. There were men posted in different places, I took in my surroundings. I really need to trust these guys. They have a fucking army of men, which I’m pretty sure are all ex-military. Al led me to the basement, which was decked out with a pool table, foosball, pinball machines, a big screen tv. Boys and their toys.

  I followed him through a door where there were two men sitting in chairs and a monitor on the desk. I could see Kathy sleeping on a bed. “See she’s safe.”

  I smiled at him, “Is there sound?” He nodded, “Turn it off. I’d like to go in alone if you don’t mind. She won’t talk if you are there.”

  He opened the door and I walked in. I sat in the chair next to the bed and waited for her to wake up. I know when Paul looks at me for a long period of time while I’m sleeping I sense it and wake up. I know he is going to be pissed that I did this without him, but I need to know. I need to figure this out.

  A few minutes after I sat down she rolled over, “What do you want.” She said.

  I smiled at her, “Are you being fed?”

  “What difference does it make? I’m never getting out of here.”

  “Kathy, you are here for your safety, well and you had every intention on killing Joanna and me. But I can forgive that.”

  “What do you want Victoria?”

  “I want you to answer some questions. I want to know what you know, and I really want to know how long you were fucking Steven.”

  “I can’t tell you anything. I don’t know anything, and eight years.”

  I chuckled, “I figured as much. You have information you don’t know you have, as all of us do. The difference between you and me, is mine stays buried in my mind. I know shit I don’t even know I know until it’s necessary to know. I’ve been programmed to do a job, I just haven’t figured out what that job is, but you are going to help me figure it out.”

  She laughed, “What are you talking about, programmed.”

  “By Steven. That’s why he married me. It wasn’t to control Johnathan; it was to control me. He told me, I just didn’t understand what it meant. Tell me about the hushed conversations that took place in my house, between you, Steven and Johnathan.”

  “They were just missions, work shit. You weren’t MI6 anymore so you weren’t privy to the information. At least that’s what Steven said.”

  “Tell me about the accident that killed my baby. Why would Steven kill our child?”

  She sat there looking at me shaking her head, “Steven didn’t do it. He was destroyed by what happened. I know I was there. He was so freaked out, even scared. Victoria, honestly he had nothing to do with that.”

  “What about Johnathan, did he order Simon to kill him?”

  She nodded, “Johnathan figured out who Marciano was, he knew that Steven was his second in command.”

  “Do you know who he is?”

  She shook her head, “No, I didn’t find out until after Johnathan was killed that Steven was his second in command. By then I was already in too deep to get out.”

  “Were you supposed to kill Joanna?”

  “No, I was supposed to delivery her to Johnny McDonald. Well to let him take her from me if you called. But you killed him in the parking lot. I had a backup plan, I was told if it went all wrong to lose her in the airport and just walk away. But you put me on that private plane, then that guy Max, took my phone from me and threw it out the window. So I had no clue what was going to happen next.”

  “Did you know about the tracker in her neck?”

  “Yes, Steven said it was so they could find her.”

  “Did you know that I had one as well?”

  She nodded, “When you passed out in the Art Gallery, Steven injected it into your neck. He said that way he could keep track of you and your progress.”

  “What was the point of me being at Simon and Simon?”

  “To see if you could discover Steven’s footprint, Marciano’s footprint.”

  “Who did McDonald work for, Steven or Marciano?”

  “Marciano. I worked for Steven, John Simon worked for Steven.”

  “Did you know that there was a deadly poison in those trackers?”

  “No.”

  I sat there looking at her, I could see it in her eyes that she was telling me the truth. “Who put the canisters of poisonous gas in Paul’s house?”

  “John did. He said that Paul was getting too attached to you and he needed a backup plan in case you two got together. He did it after Paul met you in the office and you quit. Apparently, Paul has a way with women and can manipulate them to do whatever he wants. He’s a bad man Victoria.”

  “I know, I read his file.”

  She shook her head, “That file was put together, just for you. All the bad shit was left out, Steven planned this.”

  She believed she was telling the truth, which brought up a great many more questions. “Have you seen this file?”

  She nodded, “John had a copy, and there was a copy at the Art Museum. Steven hid it there, in case I needed some ammunition.”

  “Where is this file Kathy?” I felt myself getting angry.

  “Instead of going in the room where you would meet, take a left and it’s in a crate against the back wall. The crate has the words, ‘Milan, Italy 1852’ stamped on it. Everything you want to know about Paul Simon is there.”

  “What did Steven want me to figure out on my own?”

  “He knew that what he was doing was known by Marciano. He needed you to figure out who he was, I think he believed that you could save him. But Bower slipped and told you we were married.”

  “What was he doing?” I could feel my blood boiling. I did exactly what Marciano wanted me to do. I ended Steven and John.

  “He was actually trying to expose Marciano. This is bigger than you can imagine Victoria. You will never be safe.” She leaned in and whispered, “Never.”

  I sat there looking at her for a long time. I stood up, “I’ll be back Kathy.” Walking over to the door I knocked. Al opened it and we left the house, heading back to the lake house.

  “You
all right?” Al asked.

  “Did you listen in?” He shook his head. “Did you record it?” He shook his head.

  “Trust needs start somewhere,” he said.

  I looked at him, Joe said the same thing to me. “What do you know Al that you aren’t telling me?”

  “I know a great deal. Trust needs to start somewhere.”

  I laughed, “I suppose it does. Well then, let’s start here. Will you take me to the Art Institute?”

  He nodded. We didn’t say anything as he drove through the city. I thought about everything Kathy had said, and everything she didn’t say. Why did Steven try and kill me? Did he want me to kill him? Was he hoping I would save Kathy and their child? What the hell was going on?

  We pulled up to the Art Institute. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  “I can’t let you do this alone. Trust, all right?”

  I sat there looking at him. His eyes were kind, even if his body was a lethal weapon. I needed to trust someone. I nodded. Together we got out of the car. He followed me as I walked into the curator’s office. There was no one there, so I just walked through the door that led me to the room where I would meet Al and Jacob. Standing in front of the door I turned to the left. The shadows gave me the creeps. Kathy’s words echoing in my head, ‘Never’ I reached behind me and pulled Denny’s gun out of my pants.

  I took a step and stopped looking at the gun in my hand. Turning I looked at Al, then at the gun. I popped the cartridge out, slid one of the bullets out. I looked at it, then at Al. He was staring at my hand. His head came up and I saw something I wasn’t sure I was prepared to see. I saw fear.

  He took the gun from my hand along with the clip, sliding it back in. Then he handed me his gun and nodded his head. Turning I made my way to the far wall. Just as Kathy said, there was the crate, stamped on the side was, Milan, Italy 1852. My heart, I swear skipped a beat. I think for the first time in my life I was scared. I mean really scared, frozen in fear scared. I reached for the crate, but Al put his hand on shoulder.

  “Wait,” he said, “this could be a trap.”

  I closed my eyes, was I that desperate that I was making mistakes. I am not this person. What the hell is wrong with me? I’m terrified of what lies within this stupid box. I handed Al my gun and checked the outside of the crate. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. Al handed me a little metal case. He flipped a switch on it.

  I knew what it was, I scanned the entire crate. Not one red light. Looking at Al he said. “Let me do it. That little girl needs you.”

  I swallowed and nodded. “You sure?”

  He chuckled, “Not really. But I just want to say something to you before I do this. Just in case.” I smiled at him. “I think you are incredible. I’ve never met a woman like you before. I wanted to offer you a job with us, and I am insanely attracted to you. Like crazy attracted.”

  The smile stayed on my face, “Thank you. If this all works out, I think I’d like to work with you guys, and I already knew that.”

  He nodded, smiling at me. “Now get over there, just in case.” He tipped his head towards the office. “If this goes badly, tell my mother and my brothers that I love them.”

  “Al, thank you.” I made my way back to the office. I could still see him, I realized my hands were a bit shaky. Would Steven really booby trap it?

  “All right, here we go,” Al said.

  I closed my eyes, turning my back. I heard the top of the crate as he sat it on the floor. I turned around opening my eyes. He was walking towards me with the file in his hands. I noticed he had black gloves on. He handed me a pair. “These are special gloves, be careful there could be something on the paper.”

  I nodded, taking the gloves, I put them on my hands and took the file from him. We made our way outside and back to the car, but we got in a different one, with Joe driving. No one said a word, I was in the backseat alone. My hands shaking. Did I really want to open this? Did I really want to know who he really is? Could any of it be true?

  “Take me back to where Kathy is please. I need to do this alone.” I said softly.

  “Paul called, he’s worried about you.” Joe said.

  “As he should be.” I said under my breath. “I can’t talk to him right now. What did you tell him?”

  “That you were talking to Kathy?” Joe said.

  “So you didn’t tell him I was at the Art Institute?” I looked at him in the rearview mirror. He shook his head. “You’ve both mentioned trust to me on many different occasions. Something tells me that you have an idea of what’s in this file. Am I about to be destroyed?”

  Joe took a deep breath, “I am going on the assumption that you and Paul have had conversations concerning your lives apart from one another.” I nodded. “I have no knowledge of what he has told you, but you are a very intelligent woman and I think that perhaps you might already know what’s in that file.”

  Well that was very cryptic. I thought. We pulled up to the house, and through the gate. Al opened my door for me, and then led me through the house to an office. “You can use this room. It’s Paul’s office, so I’m sure there aren’t any camera’s in here.”

  I looked at him, “This is Paul’s house?” He nodded. I walked in shutting the door. I sat the file on the desk, carefully taking off the gloves. I needed to think.

  What did I know about Paul? I smiled, I know that he makes me feel like I’m alive. Could he be deeper into this mess than he lets on? He told me that he was not a nice man that he was deep into this shit. What shit? Arms dealing? Sex trade? Drugs? Prostitution? These things I already knew. I looked at the file on the table. But do I really? “This could all be a set up.” I whispered. I would need to verify everything. How could I do that? I opened the door and Al was standing there.

  I walked up to him, standing on my tippy toes, he bent down so I could whisper in his ear. “You talked about trust.” I felt his hand on my hip. “If there are things in that file that I don’t know, will you be able to verify it?” I felt him nod. “I have no other choice but to trust you Al. Paul is with my daughter right now.”

  “She is safe,” he whispered in my ear. His voice sent chills down my spine.

  We both pulled back, he mouthed the word trust to me. I nodded and walked back into the room, shutting the door. Sitting down at the desk, I put the gloves back on, took a deep breath and opened the file.

  When she walked out of the room I had to fight with myself not to follow her. She had a look of confusion in her eyes, something I don’t think I’ve seen before. I know she knows things she isn’t really sure she knows, and I’m not so sure I’m comfortable with that. I need her to know the truth, even for me it’s a lot to take in at one time.

  I promised her I would make sure Jo was safe, was taken care of. I can’t go off the deep end here. Her father said he got me out, being who he is, he had to have kept track of his daughter, so it would be logical to think he would know who she was sleeping with. But then again, I was their prime suspect, or was I their smoke screen to the truth.

  Do I know things I’m not sure I know? I casually got up and made my way out into the living room. Denny handed me a note. Looking at it, my heart stopped. “Shit,” I said. Looking at Denny, “No one went with her?”

  “Joe and Al and a few other guys.”

  She knows now about my house. She knows more than I wanted her to know right now. Not that I didn’t plan on telling her, I just wanted to take my time. I started pacing in front of the window looking out at the beach. This is going to be bad.

  Hours had passed as I paced, Jo had gotten up and is now on the beach with Max and Denny. I was clueless until the door opened and she walked in. I just stopped, my eyes locked onto hers. I couldn’t read them, but I could read her body language. She was in work mode; her body was the same as the day we walked into her cottage.

  We stood there for a long time, neither of us moving, our eyes locked in a soul-searching embrace. She was looking for the trust
she had when she walked out the door, and I was looking for the love I saw in hers. I would never hurt her; she has to know that. Fuck I wish she would say something. I almost smiled, she is probably thinking the same thing. But we didn’t, it was Jo who broke the stare down.

  “Momma, look what Max found on the beach.”

  Victoria’s eyes moved and she smiled. I could still tell her senses were at full attention. “Oh my goodness. That’s beautiful, come on let’s put it in your room.”

  Jo was all smiles, I smiled at her as they walked by. I reached out to touch Victoria and she stepped away from me. Closing my eyes, I think for the first time in a long time I felt fear. I couldn’t lose her. I didn’t want to lose her. I went out and stood on the balcony, leaning on the railing I looked out at the lake. I’m pretty sure she knows the truth. I should have told her; it should have been the first thing I’d done. So fucking stupid of me to think she was never going to figure it out. “Fuck,” I said to myself. “So fucking stupid.”

  It’s time to deal with this. I turned around and she was standing there looking at me. I nearly chuckled, she scared the shit out of me. Her eyes were far from kind. They were far from comforting. They were deadly. I opened my mouth to say something but no words came out. I wasn’t sure what I could say to make her understand. She just shook her head and turned to walk away. I didn’t want her to walk away, I reached out gently grabbing her arm.

  She stopped moving and looked down at my hand. “Don’t,” she whispered. I let her go and watched her walk into the house.

  “Fuck,” I whispered. There was a knock on the door. I walked over to open it. Sally and Joe were standing there. “Come on in,” I smiled. Jo liked Sally.

  Joe smiled at me, I nodded. I heard Joanna behind me. “Hi Sally, momma said I was going to play at your house today. Can we bake some cookies?”

  Sally smiled, “Of course we can.”

  I turned to look at Victoria, “Thanks for this.” She said to Sally.