by Lisa Daniels
She wondered how she could have been so blind, so stupid. She felt like she was in over her head for the first time in years and the sensation filled her with an unsettling nervousness.
If he is willing to hide the fact that he is married, he obviously shows narcissistic personality traits and narcissists do not like being cornered or ignored. Inevitably, something bad will happen if I don’t confront him.
She knew she needed time to think about her next move.
~ ~ ~
“No offense, Dr. Margolis, but I feel like you’re not even listening to me,” Sarah whined, pouting.
She was right; Maria had not heard one word from the bored housewife’s mouth since she had arrived in the office over half an hour earlier. The psychologist’s mind had been strictly on how she was going to deal with Rivers and Blaise, not necessarily in that order.
She forced herself to smile at the divorce attorney’s wife.
“Of course, I’m listening,” she assured Sarah Butler. “You were talking about how alone you feel with Alfred being so consumed with work.”
It was a wild guess, but there were really only two topics of conversation which Sarah knew. Maria hoped she had picked the right one.
“I just feel so helpless,” she complained and Maria exhaled slowly. The other option for Sarah’s complaints was her Pomeranian, Figgy.
“Have you tried signing up for any classes like we discussed last week? Something that will take your mind off his long absences?”
“I don’t know,” Sarah hemmed. “It doesn’t seem like anything will be a good fit for me.”
“How about a gym membership, Sarah? You will meet lots of new people and you’ll feel much better about yourself. It does wonders for your self-esteem.”
The older woman gazed at Maria hopefully as if the psychologist spoke words of ancient wisdom.
“I guess I could do that…”
“Then it’s settled. By this time next week, I expect to see you with a gym membership in your hand. I can’t wait to see your picture.”
The women smiled at one another and Sarah nodded.
“Okay, Dr. Margolis. I can do that. You really are a miracle worker,” the fleshy redhead told her, rising. “I always feel so much better after talking to you.”
What a contrast working with the Scottsdale crowd, Maria thought, walking Sarah out of the office through the back door. These people need someone to stroke their egos while the downtown patients need to be talked down from homicide.
She managed to maintain her smile as Sarah left the office, but no sooner did the housewife leave than her secretary, Linda, appeared in the front doorway.
“There’s a Detective Rivers in the waiting room. He doesn’t have an appointment but he says the matter is urgent.”
Maria spun to look at her, worry consuming her body.
That bastard has some nerve showing up here. He really is looking for trouble, isn’t he?
“Tell him I am booked solid until next year,” Maria retorted shortly. “Tell him not to wait.”
Linda grimaced, a pained expression on her face.
There’s another difference between here and Scottsdale; Callie wouldn’t think twice about telling Rivers where to go if I instructed her to do so. Linda can’t bear the idea of confrontation.
Maria reasoned that Linda hadn’t had occasion to face unrest nearly as much as Callie.
“He says it’s important, Doctor,” Linda muttered again.
I bet it is, she thought furiously, but she was not about to put Linda in the middle of her personal issues. She wasn’t sure the receptionist could handle it.
“Tell him I have five minutes,” Maria relented.
The stern-looking grandmother nodded, seeming grateful that Maria wasn’t insisting on sending the cop away, and retreated into the front room.
A moment later, Luke Rivers appeared as if he had been listening for his cue.
“What is it, Detective?” she snapped. “I have patients waiting.”
He turned to close the door, but she held up a slender hand.
“Don’t even think about it,” she told him. “Spit out whatever you have to say and be on your way.”
“It’s a private matter,” he murmured quietly.
“Well, these are business hours, Detective Rivers, so I don’t have time to entertain your personal issues.”
“It’s about a patient.”
Maria gritted her teeth, weighing her decision. If he truly wanted to discuss Andrew Blaise, she could not allow for Linda to hear.
But if it was a ploy to get her alone and plead for forgiveness…
If he tries any of that, I’ll just throw him out, she concluded, gesturing impatiently for him to close the door.
He shut it quickly and stepped toward a wing chair, but Maria stopped him again.
“You’re not staying, Rivers. What do you want?” She hoped her voice was as furious as she intended.
“You’re not returning any of my calls,” he stated, a near whine to his tone.
She blinked at him as if he were completely insane.
“Seriously? So you decided to come to my office? Aren’t you a cop? I’m fairly sure there are laws against this. Should I call your superior and find out? I wonder what he’d say to know you’ve been illegally tailing Andrew Blaise.”
She watched as his mouth formed a fine line and she wondered if she’d crossed a line. To her relief, he began to apologize.
“I’m sorry for—”
“Okay, you know what, Detective? I really don’t have time for this. Save your apologies for your wife and your kids. I don’t need to hear them and the mere sound of your voice makes me sick to my stomach.”
She whirled dismissively but he was not finished.
“You have every right to be angry with me, Maria—”
“That’s Dr. Margolis to you!” she snarled. He paled significantly.
“I know you’re furious and you have every right to be,” he tried again. “But please don’t give up on our deal with Blaise. You didn’t agree to help me because of your personal feelings. You agreed to help me because we want to get a cop killer off the streets. Don’t forget that… Dr. Margolis.”
Maria gnawed on the insides of her cheeks.
He was telling her the precise thing she had been telling herself since Friday night and yet she did not want to have any ties to Rivers.
All she wanted was to do the right thing, but she had no idea what that might be anymore.
“I haven’t decided if I am going to continue seeing Andrew Blaise,” she told him flatly. “I think I might have him reassigned to someone else.”
Rivers’ face went pale and he shook his head.
“Please, Mar—” He caught the expression on her face and quickly stopped himself. “Dr. Margolis, you’re my only hope, Sam’s only hope! You can feel whatever you want about me, but don’t let Sam’s killer walk away again! I heard him talking to his brother the other day, telling him to look for someone who has a girlfriend named Amanda. It could be a clue to who his accomplice is. Don’t dismiss this because you’re mad at me. We could be onto something huge here.”
Maria glared at him, unsure of how to answer him. She needed more time to process her own emotions.
“I have to get back to you,” she replied. “You’ll be the first to know when I have made my decision.”
His eyes flared with anger, but to his credit, he did not argue. Instead, he reached into his pants and withdrew a Ziploc bag with two devices inside. He dropped them on the glass and wrought iron center table.
“I’m going to leave these with you, Doctor. One is the wire tap for Con Lair. The other is a GPS tracker as we discussed. You need to tell me if you have set them up so I can activate them. I am trusting you to do the right thing.”
She snorted and pointed at the door. He had a lot of nerve saying those words to her and Maria restrained herself from throwing something at his head.
“Ge
t out, Mr. Righteous,” she growled. “And don’t you ever step foot on any of my properties again or I will do something about it.”
He obliged, slipping from the interior door, leaving Maria to stare after him balefully, but her heart was hammering wildly in her chest.
She was inexplicably afraid.
Suddenly, she had no idea who was the good guy and who was the bad guy in the story.
~ ~ ~
Andrew slammed his burner phone against the floor and Alex tried not to cringe.
“That’s just going to cost you more money you don’t have,” the younger brother reminded his hot-tempered sibling. “Or do you think you’re rich now because you’re living on TV?”
“Shut up, Al,” Andrew snarled. “Why don’t you make yourself useful and help me think of a way to find that son of a bitch instead of playing accountant.”
Alex shrugged nonchalantly.
“I’ve been searching for him for fourteen years, Andrew. You have to accept the fact he’s probably in Brazil by now and the money is long gone.”
“No!” Andrew retorted hotly. “Davis is not that stupid. He had to know I was coming back for our share.”
“Andrew, he didn’t leave my share. He disappeared as soon as you were arrested. He never had any intention of giving up the money.”
Andrew balked but Alex knew his twin had already known that.
“I want you to stay by Amanda twenty-four hours a day,” Andrew hissed. “She has to be in contact with him. There’s no way he left her and the kid without a word. I don’t believe it, no matter what bullshit she’s feeding you.”
Alex sighed and rolled his blazing green eyes skyward
“Anything else? You want me to do your counseling sessions, you want me to trail Amanda, you want me to run my business. Do you want me to massage your feet, too?”
Andrew whipped his head up and glowered at his brother.
“Do you think I want to depend on your incompetent ass for these things, Alex? It’s your goddamn fault I was caught in the first place. If you had been—”
“No, brother, it’s your goddamn fault. You should have been with Davis and out of the country well before the police found you. You had twenty-four hours before they traced the car back to you. You screwed it up, not me, no matter how you want to spin it!”
“You want to argue semantics with me?” Andrew hissed. “I was the one who ended up doing time because of this, in case you’ve forgotten.”
“I don’t want to argue anything with you. I want you to forget about Davis and try to be a normal human being for once in your life. I don’t know how you managed to drag me into this mess in the first place. Forget about the money. You have a good thing in this house. You can do out the rest of your contract and when you’re done, you can come and work for me, be a functioning member of society for once in your life. How long are you going to go on like this?”
The brothers stared at one another, their eyes an identical shade of annoyed. Andrew’s mouth puckered into a scowl and he shifted his gaze away first.
“Just follow Amanda,” Andrew said shortly. “I think I’m being watched outside of the house.”
“By who?” Alex demanded, his blood pressure rising in exasperation. “The crew?”
“Not only the crew, but I think that cop, Rivers, is stalking me.”
Alex sighed heavily. “You’re really up to your neck in it, aren’t you? You should never have agreed to this show, Andrew. You have enough scrutiny on you as it is.”
“You would have me rot away in prison, wouldn’t you?” his brother hissed. “Out of sight, out of mind, right?”
“Andrew, don’t be an ass. I’ve put up with your shit for three centuries. I’m trying to give you a way out and you’re determined to sabotage your own future.”
“Follow Amanda. I want Davis,” Andrew insisted, folding his arms over his chest.
“No. I am not following anyone. You follow the conditions of your parole and keep your nose clean, Andrew. I don’t want any part of this. Take the money from the show and use it to start over.”
Andrew narrowed his eyes dangerously.
“Does that mean you’re not going back to the therapy sessions?” Andrew demanded, his face flushing furiously.
Alex paused for a moment, chewing his lower lip as he considered the question carefully. He knew he shouldn’t enable his brother but he had a certain loyalty to his screwed-up twin. He had been driving the getaway car that day, after all, a fact that had never come to light, thanks to Andrew’s silence. He had often wondered if he would have done his time as easily as Andrew.
He reasoned that he owed his brother something for the mess that had occurred that night.
Oh, who are you kidding? he asked himself with mild disgust. You want to see that doctor again. That is the only reason you’re agreeing to continue with Andrew’s therapy. It has nothing to do with owing him.
Alex had been unable to get Dr. Margolis out of his mind for days and he was looking forward to seeing her again despite what he had told Andrew.
“No,” he replied. “I’ll go back and finish your sessions, but only because someone needs to keep you out of prison. You’re lucky she hasn’t reported you already. When you see her in the house, you need to tone down the attitude or she’s going to throw you back.”
“She wouldn’t dare,” Andrew scoffed. “Not if she knows what’s good for her.”
Alex rolled his eyes again. Andrew’s huffing and puffing didn’t alarm him. Dragon or not, his fire breathing was all talk, no action
“You can talk a great deal of shit, bro, but she has access to all of your files. She knows you aren’t violent.”
Andrew didn’t seem to like the reminder and he glared at Alex with contempt.
“You know what, Al? Just shut up and do what you’re told. We need to find Davis and both of us will be free and clear for life.”
“With one point three mil?” Alex scoffed. “What the hell is that going to do for us now? It was shitty money fifteen years ago. It’s peanuts now. I make more than that in six months with my company.”
Andrew stared at his brother and Alex felt a chill travel through his body.
He’s thinking about cutting me out. I can read it in his face.
Alex tried to tell himself that it didn’t matter; Andrew would never see a cent of the money anyway, but it was unnerving to know Andrew would consider it.
He's my brother. He won’t leave me after I have done my best to protect him.
Alex wondered if he had done enough to protect Andrew.
“Are you going to your appointment today?” Andrew asked quietly, turning his head, and Alex gritted his teeth. “Or should I get ready?”
“Don’t be stupid, Andrew. You won’t do anyone any good if you end up back in Perryville.”
For the life of him, Alex couldn’t understand the patience of Maria Margolis.
She must be a saint if she’s putting up with the likes of my brother.
It only made Alex appreciate her more.
“You sound like that bitch doctor,” the con snarled. “And if you won’t keep an eye on Amanda, I will have to find someone who will.”
“Like who?” Alex challenged, furious. “If you get caught, Andrew, you’re going to throw everything away.”
“I don’t have time to argue with you, Al. Do your part and I’ll do mine, all right?”
Alex didn’t feel like fighting with his twin any longer and welcomed the end of the conversation.
“See you later, Andrew,” he muttered as his brother rose from his spot at Alex’s kitchen table and headed out the back door.
Alex stared at the closed door long after Andrew had left, his mind whirling.
If Andrew somehow manages to find Davis, will he take my share too and disappear?
Alex was sure his brother would have no reservations about doing exactly that.
He feels entitled to it after covering for both of us, Alex thought
, also rising from his spot to leave his sprawling mansion. He had an appointment to keep, after all.
He descended the steps out the front door and made his way into the garage through the side door.
Would it be such a bad thing if Andrew takes the money and runs? Maybe that would be the best outcome for all of us.
Alex didn’t care about the money; he cared about his brother and protecting what was left of their weyr.
The old Andrew was not the same hardened criminal who had emerged from Perryville prison. At one time, he and his twin had been as close as brothers could be. Their bond had been unshakable, even after the years of their mother’s secret alcoholism and their father’s murdering of her.
It had always been Andrew who was teetering on the edge of reason, involving himself in petty crime, his dragon blood giving him a false sense of invincibility, but Alex knew his brother’s activities were a cover for a deep-seated pain.
The robbery had been Davis’ idea and Andrew had been excited at the prospect of gathering money and starting anew somewhere.
If Alex really thought about it, he knew that his brother had never quite fit in anywhere. The desire to move on was deeply implanted in him, as if his wanderlust were ingrained in his bones. Andrew had never envisioned himself living anywhere very long and Alex had followed him, trying to set down roots wherever they went, but his brother was never happy.
How many weyrs had they attached themselves to? How many jobs had they had?
Alex had lost count a long time ago.
Prison was the longest he’s stayed in one spot, Alex thought ruefully, even though he was being hyperbolic.
When Davis had approached Andrew with the idea of the heist, Alex’s brother had appealed to his need to settle down.
“Just think about what this money could afford you. You could stop moving from job to job and actually put down roots somewhere,” Andrew had said. Alex had gaped at him.
Doesn’t he realize that I move to be close to him? To keep an eye on him?
