by Gabi Moore
The streets of the city become strange at night, once everyone’s sleeping. Things close up, cool off, go dark. All that remains are all the structures and mechanisms of daily life, but empty now of humans, standing alone waiting for people in the morning to come and reanimate them. The traders and software developers are all sleeping, but their creations are still waiting quietly, not needing sleep, blinking silently and awaiting their next instruction.
California is a machine, a big glitzy processor, and driving its streets at this time of night feels like digging around the backend of its operating system.
I knew my father was no saint. I knew that he didn’t get to where he was being scrupulous and above board all the time. And yet… the way he had spoken to me was so chilling I still felt it in my bones.
In my mind, I turned over his proposition again and again, trying to see the hidden latches, trying to understand the side of the problem he was almost certainly concealing from me. But I couldn’t think clearly. I had no idea what had happened to Elizabeth, or why. But all the same I felt myself being moved like a pawn on a chessboard. My father knew what he was talking about when it came to business, absolutely. If there was anyone who knew how to swing a disaster like this in his favor, it was him. It didn’t mean I liked any of it, though.
I did another loop of Santa Lucia drive.
If I couldn’t think, at least I could drive.
The blue-black light outside was punctured only by the occasional traffic light and the sound of distant sirens. It would be dawn soon. My dark, dreamy time with Nora was coming to an end and the harsh light of reality would soon shine on everything.
Why had I done any of it? If you’re wondering that, well, it’s a question that’s haunted me for days. I had wanted to sweep her away. To spoil her. And now I had bought her into a mess even I wasn’t sure I knew how to get out of.
Do you know what it’s like, having the single most successful living businessman in the world as your father?
It’s fucking exhausting.
I admit I didn’t exactly have pure motives, going after her. I’m guilty, and I don’t care if you think I’m a rich, amoral asshole that I’ve often been accused of being. I have been competing with my father since the day I was born. And now I’m financially secure, my career is rock-solid, and I’m a success in my own right.
The world really is my oyster.
But what I wanted was his oyster.
I wanted to beat him in a way that would actually hurt. I don’t expect anyone to understand what drove me to try and seduce her, but Nora offered me something no other woman had till then: the allure of being able to best my father, once and for all. She had fallen in love with me. That was winning on a completely new playing field. No matter how much money he had, he couldn’t fix that game.
Sounds twisted, doesn’t it?
Well, not as twisted as me wrecking everything by falling in love with the fucking woman myself. I was so damn good at convincing her we were a match made in heaven I went and started believing it myself. It wasn’t supposed to go this way. I was meant to steal her, then rub it in his face so he finally understood: it doesn’t matter how much fucking money you have, you can’t win at everything. Call it some dumb animal side of me, but I wanted him to know that even though he was wealthier, and more influential, I could still be something he never could be.
Fuckable.
The woman he had to pay to see would see me willingly, for nothing.
Yes, I know, I’m disgusting. I deserve your scorn. And frankly, I couldn’t blame Nora for her anger either. Perhaps she was the only one who really had any power in this stupid situation after all. Well, besides the impending murder charges that would be coming her way just as surely as the sunrise was coming.
I grabbed the wheel and spun the car around, rolling into a U turn and bringing the car back on the other side of the drive. I dropped my foot on the accelerator and bit down hard on my jaw. The car picked up speed as I hurtled down Lincoln Boulevard, straight to Nora’s house. I didn’t know if I wanted to kill her or bend her over and fuck her so hard she’d scream and promise never to betray me again. But I knew I had to see her.
She had trusted me.
Maybe it was my turn to trust her.
My hands felt cold as I stood outside the front door, waiting. I rang the bell again. An eternity passed. Finally, a light went on inside and the door cracked open, revealing a single eye that looked me up and down.
“Nora. Let me in, please,” I said, and extended my cold hands. The eye was expressionless as it scanned me over again.
“What do you want?” she whispered. “It’s four in the morning.”
“Will you please let me in? Nora, we have to talk.” The silence was unbearable. The whole neighborhood around us was dead and colorless. I didn’t even know what I’d do if she slammed the door on me now.
Mercifully, the crack widened and she gestured for me to come in. She was wearing something I’d never seen her in: old, ugly pajamas. It took me a while to even realize it was her. A yellowing white tank top with twisted straps, a pair of worn cotton shorts and an oversized pair of hideous socks. Her hair hung neglected in a messy knot on top of her head, strands breaking free, giving her the appearance of a tired and grumpy thistle. I noticed that the swirling colorful pictures in the hall had been removed. I didn’t ask her where they had gone.
I followed her into the living room where she sat and looked at me expectantly. I realized I had no idea what I wanted to say to her. She looked so fragile. Her pale skin seemed shot through with hairline cracks, and like any moment something would shatter her into a million shards. I wanted to just hold her. To tell her that all of this was a big, stupid, horrible mistake…
“Nora, you’re in danger.”
Silence.
I could make out the puffy pink swell of her nipple through the stretched cotton of her top. How had such a delicate, beautiful creature ever played so convincingly at being a demon? How had I ever thought that it was OK to use her like I had?
“My father…” I said, but couldn’t find the words to finish. “My fath--”
“Your father wants to frame me for murdering his own wife,” she said, and the words were like a curse she threw down into the space between us.
“Nora, please.”
“Please nothing. I don’t know what your big plan was, but I don’t care. People like you are all the same.”
“People like me?”
“Is there nothing you assholes don’t fucking feel entitled to? This is my life, Dean. They’re treating me like a criminal. They invaded my home. I’m being dragged into your family’s mess, and now I’m going to take the fall because what, my business is not as good as yours? Because I’m a whore?”
I tried to speak but she was red in the face, pinning me with a gaze so intensely angry it was like she could set me on fire with it.
“And now you come here and you still want more from me, you still want me to tell you it’s all OK, that I don’t mind that you’ve screwed me over? Well, I won’t. Fuck you.”
I was taken aback.
“Nora, please. Calm down and let’s talk about this.”
“I’m going to be charged with murder because your father is an evil psychopath” she said, voice laced with tears. And there it was. The thought that I had spent the last two hours trying to drive away on the deserted streets of Santa Lucia. I didn’t want to believe he could do it, but she had said what I was afraid to think. Yes, this was why I had fallen in love with her. She was fragile. She was desperately beautiful. But she was also sharp as a tack and braver than anything.
I couldn’t argue with her. After all, she was right. That’s exactly what was going to happen here. I wanted to ask her about the photos in her bag. About what she knew about Elizabeth and what was happening in that photo. But I held my tongue.
I was standing before her in a full suit, groomed, tall, wearing cufflinks that came from a store that y
ou needed an appointment to visit. And she sat before me wild, dark circles under her eyes, an ex-Dominatrix with murder charges hanging over her head and bare legs and socks that were unravelling in the corner. And still, I could feel nothing but admiration and respect for her. Still, it felt like she was one step ahead of me, stronger, in supreme control.
“Nora, there’s something you should know. My father has lawyers. He’s already building a case against you and he… he wants me to claim that I was with him last night.”
Her eyes went even wider.
“So you came here… why? To gloat? I don’t understand you people.”
The look on her face broke my heart.
“Nora, I think… I think he killed her.”
She laughed out loud.
“Of course he did. Any idiot can see that. That man is sick, Dean. But it doesn’t matter, right? Because it’s his word against mine. Because--”
“Nora, I want to help you.”
She shot me a dark look.
“Oh, I think I’ve had quite enough of your help, thank you.”
“I’m serious, Nora. Things are about to get crazy, believe me. My father can …let’s just say that if he sets his mind to something, he gets it done.”
I gingerly took a step towards her, just wanting to close that horrible space between us. I had no idea if I could trust her. But I knew that I wanted to, so badly it felt like a magnetic pull.
“I’m not going to be his alibi. I can’t do it.”
She looked up at me with curiosity.
“In fact, I’ll say I was with you the night of the murder.”
Silence.
I was close enough to her now to smell that familiar musk of her skin. Close enough that even the smallest movement would bring our lips together, would bring my hand to all those places on her body I had spent so many happy weeks exploring.
“They’ll want to know what you were doing with me.”
“I know.”
“You’re willing to drag your name into all this?”
I stared down at our feet, mine in glossy black leather and hers in fuzzy, gnarled cotton.
“Yes, Nora. I don’t know what happened last night. But I’m not ready to throw away what we have. Not for anything.”
The words seemed to soften all the lines in her face and she looked up at me, eyes shimmering with tears. I could tell what she was thinking. I could see she was searching my face for clues that I was just a clone of my father, just another rich asshole who was scheming up ways to use her.
“But… how do I know I can trust you?” she said.
“How can I trust you?”
“What? You don’t honestly buy the story they’re going with, do you? That I killed her?”
“No, not for a second. But we have to start being honest with each other.”
“Why? Why should I even talk to you ever again?”
“Because you have no other choice.”
The lines returned to her tired face. She smelled of sleep and pajamas, the warmth on her skin instantly reminding me of all those secret, blissful mornings spent waking up slowly in bed, tangled in sheets, hair and limbs everywhere. That she would never speak to me again was just not an option for me.
She rubbed her face and sighed loudly, then began pacing the room.
“She came to see me,” she said.
“Who did?”
“Elizabeth.”
I pricked my ears.
“She was in trouble, Dean. She came to me to ask for my help. She wanted me to keep seeing him…”
“Wait, she knew about you?”
“Oh yes. Dean, I think I was the safety valve. I think I was all that was keeping your father from hurting her.”
“I don’t understand.”
“She wrote me all these letters, Dean. At first I thought they were from him, but then I realized that she was sending them. She was desperate. I shouldn’t have ignored her…” she said, voice trailing off.
“Nora, what do you mean? You were in contact with her?”
I went to grab her by the shoulders and stop her pacing, make her speak clearly so I could make sense of what she was saying. She looked up at me helplessly.
“She needed my help, and I ignored her. And now she’s…” Her voice wobbled and trailed off.
“Show me the letters,” I said, but she shook her head.
“I destroyed them all. I didn’t think, Dean, I’m sorry. I don’t have them anymore…”
Any jury would take one look at this whole mess and draw the only sane conclusion they could. Nora looked guilty as sin. In that moment, I might have been the only one to believe her. And even I just barely did. She was melting in my arms, completely shattered with guilt.
“Nora, when was the last time you slept?”
She didn’t respond. And just like that I knew what I had to do. I didn’t know how yet, and I didn’t quite understand why, but I knew that I would do anything for her. In less than a day my life had turned into a bad CSI episode, and I no longer knew which way was up. But I knew that having her in my arms like this, looking into those eyes, that this was where I was meant to be.
I tightened my grip on her shoulders, steered her over to the sofa and sat her down firmly. She looked at me with astonishment.
“Nora, things are about to get very bad for us. But I think I have a plan. I can’t promise what’s going to happen from here, but whatever happens, you have to trust me, OK?”
She nodded slowly.
“Whatever my father is planning, he’s already several steps ahead of us. First thing in the morning, we have to leave.”
“Leave? Where?”
“Just listen, Nora. Don’t bring much, and don’t tell anyone you’re going.”
I knelt down in front of her and took her hands in mine.
“Our old game is over,” I said slowly.
She frowned.
“From now on, we’re playing a new one. You’re no longer in charge. I am. I can help you, but you have to listen and do everything I tell you. Do you understand?”
I saw her eyes flicker with recognition and she thought a moment before nodding slowly. I stood tall and looked around the dark house, trying to think.
“First, you need some sleep. We’ll leave at sunrise.”
We both glanced over to the direction of her bedroom and then back at one another.
Chapter 3
Myth: The self-made men of our era, the entrepreneurial heavyweights and the bootstrap billionaires are like modern day saints to us. We imagine they’ve conquered the human failure us mere mortals still grapple with, and can succeed at levels far beyond our own.
Reality: Supremely wealthy people are human. Their successes are larger than life. But then again, so are their fuck ups.
I stared up at the ceiling and finally gave up trying to sleep. For a while, it seemed like dawn was just breaking, but now that I was waiting for it, time felt like it stopped. The house was eerily quiet. My brain offered up no fresh solutions, and now was distracted with another idea: the thought that she was sleeping, in a bed not too far from mine, with a bare face and nothing but thin cotton over her perfect breasts.
I tossed in bed and squeezed my eyes shut.
And just the same way dawn comes in, slowly at first so you’re not sure it’s happening, another thought entered my head, this time a darker one: that my father wouldn’t stop at merely framing Nora. That he’d take his revenge into his own hands and…
I tossed over to the other side.
What could you really expect from a man who was capable of murdering his own wife? It wasn’t evil that I had seen in his eyes over that scotch a few hours ago. It was worse than that. It was inhumane. Pure, cold, calculating. I had tossed and turned for a while now, but I still had no answer for a churning question: how much danger was Nora really in?
A shriek suddenly pierced the air and I leapt out of bed.
“Nora? Nora!” I tore off towards her room a
nd found her there, hands at her mouth, shaking violently.
“My god, Nora, what’s wrong? What happened?” I spun around to examine her room. There was nothing but her glowing laptop propped in the covers, but she stared at it like it was a snake that had just bitten her. She pointed wildly at it, her eyes big and round. A fucking Portal laptop.
“There! He was… he did something to my computer, oh my god, Dean, he…”
She was hysterical.
I quickly looked at the screen.
Nothing but an ordinary looking email inbox.
“He what? Tell me!” I said, but she was having a hard time coaxing her panicked voice into words.
“Oh god, Dean, I was checking my mails, I couldn’t sleep, so I went to check them, and then the screen just, it just went crazy, Dean. It went all these crazy flashing colors and then it showed this …this message,” she wailed.
The terror in her voice gave me an evil rush of goosebumps all over my body. I hurried over to her and held her close, trying to smooth down her hair and get her to slow down. I told her everything was OK, but her scream had rattled me and I soon had a queasy knot in my stomach.
She started to cry.
“He’s after me, Dean… what if he …what if he gets me too?” she cried into my arms. Her tears were flowing freely onto my shirt.
“Shh, what did the message say, Nora? Tell me what you saw.”
She gulped back her tears and tried to speak again.
“It was… it was so disgusting. It was me, Dean. A picture of me. Like a nightmare. Like the scariest thing I’ve ever seen. It was my face but put onto this… body,” she said, her mouth twisting. “It was disgusting. It’s a threat, Dean. He’s going to kill me. He knows how to get into my devices…”
I hugged her close again and narrowed my eyes at the laptop, now sitting innocently enough on the bed.
I’d kill the fucking asshole. I’d tear him limb from limb. I was angry enough then to smash that laptop into a million pieces. But I couldn’t frighten her any more than she was. I had to play it cool. I took her damp face in my hands and gave her a soft smile.
