GONE - Part Three (The GONE Series Book 3)

by Bladon, Deborah

  "Can I just wait here until then?" I ask even though I know how ridiculous it sounds. Parker isn't worth losing any sleep over and he sure as hell isn't worth wasting an entire day on. "I can't think or sleep if I can't talk to my precious Parker."

  His eyes lock on mine. I have to keep it together if I want him to buy what I'm selling. I rub the end of my nose as I manage to pull out a little sob from within.

  "I shouldn’t do this." His eyes slide up to the security cameras that dot the ceiling. "I think I can pull up Parker's number on my computer if he's working for the company in Dubai."

  I know that he can. That's the entire reason I dragged myself out of bed and put on all this make-up. "Are you serious? You would do that for me?"

  "There's nothing like young love." He taps a few keys on his computer with his index finger. "It'll take me a few minutes but I'll find it."

  It would take me all of ten seconds to find it, but I just stand there smiling at him, knowing that I got exactly what I came here for.

  Chapter 11

  "Lilly?" Parker's voice sounds exactly as I remember it. "The Lilly from the coffee shop?"

  Considering I was wearing my bistro uniform when I took my now infamous nudie shot, I may need to get used to being known simply as 'Lilly from the coffee shop.' I find a small amount of comfort in the fact that Parker doesn't know my last name. "Yes, that Lilly," I say into my smartphone.

  I wait with baited breath to see whether he's going to ask how I got his number. I have a lame excuse at the ready about asking for it at the automotive parts store he worked at in Boston. I'm not even sure anyone there cared enough about him to ask for it. I'm guessing that the fact that I bothered to call him at all will catch him so off guard that he'll skip right over that issue.

  "Hey." I hear an edge of excitement in his voice. "What's going on with you?"

  I breathe a sigh of relief.

  You have no idea, Parker. Seriously. No idea at all.

  "Not a lot," I lie. "How are things in Dubai?"

  I can hear the muted sounds of voices in the background. It's evening there so he has to be out on the town. "It's okay. I don't know a lot of people here."

  "Hey, I've got a small world story for you." I've debated using this as a means to gain Parker's trust but if I want to find out who the mysterious woman is that Clive is protecting, I need to use every available resource I have.

  "Really?" I can hear the hesitation in his voice even though he's half a world away. "What do you mean?"

  "My best friend is engaged to your ex."

  "What ex?"

  I make a mental note to leave that out of this story if I ever retell it to Kayla. "Kayla."

  "Kay?"

  "I met her a few weeks ago," I offer. "I just realized the other day that you're her ex."

  "That's crazy." He chuckles softly. "You seriously know Kayla?"

  "It's nutty, right?" I try to control the building anxiety in my voice. "It's that whole six degrees of separation thing."

  "How is she?" he asks without any hesitation. "You said she's getting married?"

  "She's good." I don't offer any details about her pregnancy because that's not his business. I'm already overstepping a boundary by telling him that she's getting married.

  "Is she marrying the doctor?"

  I'm mildly surprised that he knows about Ben. I've never heard Ben mention Kayla's ex-boyfriend, which isn't a shock. Ben's so wrapped up in his love for her that I doubt he thinks about her past or his much at all anymore. "That's the guy. They're stoked about getting married."

  "I'm happy for her." I can hear the smile in the tone of his voice. "You can tell her that for me."

  I can but I won't. In anyone else's eyes I don't have a logical reason for calling Parker on the phone. I shouldn't be talking to him at all, but he can answer the one question that Clive won't. I'm going to lead Parker right down a path towards telling me the name of the woman who was with Clive in Boston.

  ***

  "Is Mrs. Mitchell in today?" I ask the middle- aged woman adjusting the painting on the wall of the gallery.

  She turns quickly and gives me the once over. "Who are you?"

  I didn't want to give Clive's ex-lover a heads-up. I'd actually waited on a park bench across the street for an hour hoping to catch her before she arrived at work. I'd finally given up after calling Alec and telling him that I'd be taking him up on his offer for an extra day off. It is ten now on Monday morning and I've been rehearsing for the better part of a day what I'll say to the woman who was with Clive that night.

  "I asked for your name." She sighs heavily. "Do you have an appointment?"

  I resort to my trusty trick of only answering the last question when asked more than one. "I didn't know I needed one. I'm new to the city."

  Her face softens slightly." Are you interested in the classes?"

  Considering that the one and only masterpiece I've created is a paint-by-number picture of a horse, I should probably consider taking an art class, but my schedule is full right now trying to save my reputation. "I'm very interested in the classes."

  "Come with me." She gestures towards a desk sitting in the corner of the impressive gallery space. "We offer group lessons and the private ones, of course."

  Of course she does. "I think I should start with the group lesson."

  "Mrs. Mitchell always suggests private lessons if your budget allows," she whispers the words even though we are the only two people in the room. "If you're hoping to sell your work one day, it's really the best investment you can make in yourself."

  Wrong. The best investment I can make in myself is finding out where the woman is so I can confront her and get this over with.

  "Maybe I should speak to her about it first?" I toss it out as a question. "Is she going to be here soon?"

  She looks around the room, her eyes surveying the space as if she expects to find someone lurking in a corner listening to the two of us. "She was supposed to be here an hour ago but she's meeting someone."

  Considering the way her eyebrows are dancing around, I'm going to guess that Mrs. Mitchell isn't having a meeting with Mr. Mitchell.

  "Gotcha." I wink at her. "She's beautiful. I bet a lot of the students who enroll in her classes are men."

  She chuckles as she reaches for my arm. "They are but she's very choosy about who she gives private lessons to."

  This woman is a master of hidden innuendo. "Is that where she is now? She's giving a private lesson to someone?"

  She leans so close to me that I fear her lips are going to brush across mine when she speaks. "The man she's meeting right now is gorgeous. He's tall. He's got a sexy beard and his eyes are the most intense shade of blue you've ever seen."

  Chapter 12

  "I need to see Rowan Bell." I strum my fingers over the steel of the reception desk. "It's urgent."

  "Ms. Bell is in an interview with someone right now," she literally spits the words out all over her computer monitor. "It's probably for the position you had before you quit."

  You probably haven't gotten laid in forever. That's why you're such a bitch.

  I want to say that but I need to get up to the thirty-seventh floor without Clive being alerted so I take a more subtle approach. "Can you call Dan in developments? I have a surprise for him."

  "Dan?" she parrots back his name. "You want me to call Dan?"

  It's seriously not that complicated. "Yes, I'd like for you to call Dan and ask him to come down to see me."

  "Can't you just go up and see him yourself?"

  It can't possibly be that easy to get past the hyped up security that Corteck is famous for. The biggest threat to their security isn’t a random attack by a hacker, it's this woman right here. "I can go find him myself?"

  "You used to work here." She gestures towards the elevators. "You know the way."

  I nod. I do know the way. I know the route I need to take to finally confront the woman who is trying to ruin my life.


  ***

  I only had to wait in the alcove by the elevator for ten minutes for Bruce to wander away from his desk. I know, based on what I saw when I went over the security systems with Jordan, that Bruce is supposed to lock the double glass doors that lead into where Clive's office is, if he ever has to leave his desk. Right now, there's no Bruce and no lock. Corteck apparently is on the cutting edge of incompetency and Mr. Parker is too preoccupied to realize that.

  I stand just outside the closed doors of Clive's office. Judging by what I've seen since I arrived here, there's a very good chance that I'll be able to walk right in. I'm beginning to doubt if the locks on the doors even work.

  I push my ear to the door. I can only make out muffled voices. I know she's in there. All I need to do is swing open the door and ask them both what the hell is going on. I step back to run my hand through my hair. I'm wearing a simple green and blue striped dress. My intention was to swing by the gallery and then go in to work at Hughes just a few minutes late. Now, my entire day has been sucked into the vortex of chasing Clive's former lover around Manhattan.

  I stare at the polished steel door handle. This is it. I reach for it, push it down and walk through.

  They both turn to look at me at the very same moment. I can't take my eyes off of her though. She's tall, blonde and incredibly beautiful.

  "Lilly?" Clive's hands leap from the pockets of his pants. "What are you doing here?"

  I need to speak. In all of the imagined scenarios that raced through my mind, there wasn't one where I stood in place, frozen with anxiety. I planned this moment out with expert precision. I came here to confront her because after speaking with Parker, there's absolutely no doubt in my mind that this woman is behind what happened at the Hughes event.

  I knew it without a shred of doubt when Parker asked me to send him another picture because he never had a chance to save a copy of the Polaroid I sent him.

  It wasn't Clive. I may have doubted him at first, but after Parker told me this woman's name and I searched for her online, her connection to both Clive and Alec is clear. She's out for revenge and I'm just a tool to her.

  "Lilly," Clive repeats my name as he pulls me into his chest. "Are you okay? Do you need something?"

  I nod as I pull back from his embrace. "I need to talk to Allison."

  Chapter 13

  "You don't have any proof." She waves her perfectly manicured hand in my face. "You are just upset that the entire world saw your little tits."

  They're not that little. I mean they're not big but they're at least a handful.

  "Wow. Aren't you the definition of class?" I toss back because respecting your elders ceases to exist when they share your naked picture at a tech conference.

  "What possible reason would I have to show that picture to anyone?"

  It's a good question and right now, Allison Mitchell, sculptor and charity benefactor, thinks that she has the upper hand. When I did a search for her name online last night, every result was a beautiful image of her in an expensive dress or a glowing character reference from a business tycoon or celebrity. There's no doubt that the woman does amazing things for the charities of Manhattan. If you consider all the pictures of her hanging off the arms of the rich, single and attractive men of this city, you'd think that she has a life most women can only dream of. The problem is that she has a husband and two children.

  "You were involved with Alec, weren't you?"

  "What?" Clive finally re-enters our conversation. He'd taken a seat behind his desk after I told Allison that I knew she was the one who had sabotaged my presentation.

  "She slept with Alec," I stop to correct myself. "She actually was in love with Alec."

  "Alec Hughes?" she spits his name out with as much bitter disdain as she can conjure up. "You think I'd sleep with him?"

  "I know you did."

  "He's not even attractive," she throws the words back so fast my head almost spins.

  "That's a weak argument." I lean back on my heel. "Alec is gorgeous."

  I hear Clive clear his throat but his insecurities need to take a back seat. I'm going to push Allison into admitting what she did.

  "I didn't sleep with Alec." She stomps her foot on the carpeted floor like a petulant child who can't have the last piece of candy. "Alec and I worked on a project together."

  "Call it whatever the hell you want, lady." I roll my eyes. "Alec told me. He told me he dumped you when you went back to your husband for the second time."

  "You were separated before?" Again, Clive picks the most inopportune time to chime in. Apparently, he and Allison didn't have any time to talk when they were banging each other.

  "You were her third separation fling." I hold up three fingers to drill the point in. "She's actually still technically separated."

  "You know that I love you, Clive." She turns towards him as she purrs the words. "Any other man meant nothing to me."

  I look at Clive. His gaze is riveted to me. "How did you find out all of this?"

  I ignore the question because it's not a discussion I want to have in front of his former lover. I turn back towards her even though her eyes are glued to him. "Why did you put that picture of me in the slideshow?"

  "I told you that I had nothing to do with that."

  "I showed Cheryl a picture of you," I almost scream the words into her face. "She said it was you."

  "She's lying," she says too calmly. "The old cow is lying."

  "You're lying," I snap back. When Lance had called me last night to ask me how I was doing, I'd asked for Cheryl's full name. He told it to me without any hesitation at all. It was unusual enough to be distinguishable from most of Manhattan. After finding her address online, I'd taken the subway to her apartment. I knocked on her door and showed her a picture of Allison on my phone and she'd confessed the entire thing. I'd like to believe it was because I looked so threatening in my oversized sweater and jeans. That wasn't what pushed her over the crevice and into a confession. It was the fact that Alec had explained my past to her and the motherly parts of her couldn't stand the guilt. She not only admitted to everything, she quit her job too.

  "You have no proof," she pulls each of the words over her teeth. "It's my word against her word."

  "You gave that woman a few thousand dollars and the promise of a week-long vacation at your estate in Hawaii in exchange for her to slip my picture into the slideshow."

  She recoils physically with the words. "I can't believe she told you all of that."

  "I can't believe you'd use me to hurt the men you've been fucking."

  Her hand flies in the air but I'm quick to grab her wrist. Clive is on his feet and rounding his desk before either of us has time to react. Allison pulls her arm free of my grip and lunges into his arms.

  "Clive," she whispers into his chest. "I was so upset that you dumped me for that. I wasn't thinking straight at all."

  "What the fuck were you trying to accomplish?" He's holding tight to her shoulders, shaking her gently with each word. "Do you know what you've done?"

  "You can forgive me for this." She pats the side of his cheek. "We were having so much fun before she came along."

  "Why did you take a picture of the Polaroid in the first place?" I step towards them both. "Why would you do that?"

  She doesn't respond. She only ups the volume on her exaggerated sobs as she clings to him.

  "Allison." His voice is calm. It's so calm. "Tell me what happened."

  "You'll forgive me if I do?"

  His head moves up and down briefly. The motion is so slight and minute that it's almost indistinguishable.

  "You came back with Parker after going to see her that night." Her head turns towards me briefly before she settles her gaze back on him. "I heard you telling him to leave her alone. You said he wasn't good enough for Lilly."

  I listen intently. This is a birds-eye-view of what happened that night.

  "When he left, you told me that you were going to book me a flight b
ack to Manhattan." The words escape her in a rush. "I didn't want to go back, remember?"

  "I remember that, yes." His eyes are focused completely on her face.

  "I went to powder my nose and when I came back you were staring at it," she says gruffly. "You were just staring at her body in that picture."

  Chapter 14

  "So you took the picture of Lilly's photograph when I went to get your things from the bedroom?"

  They're sitting together on the couch now. Not more than a few inches separate the two of them. I'm not even sure, at this point whether either of them remembers that I'm in the room.

  "I just wanted to have a copy," she says softly, under her breath.

  "Why did you give it to Cheryl?" He leans forward until his eyes catch hers. "Tell me why you did that, Allie."

  I wince when I hear him call her that. It speaks of familiarity and fondness. He's never called me anything but Lilly and the knowledge of that bites into me.

  "Before we went to Boston and you ended things, we agreed to talk a few weeks later about the charity fundraiser for the emergency shelter." She touches his knee and he doesn't pull back.

  "That was the same night you saw me in my office with Lilly?"

  "I called out to you when you were walking into your office, but you didn't hear me." Tears fall down her cheeks. "You rushed to the window to where she was."

  My stomach knots so tightly that the sheer force of it almost causes me to double over in pain. She was there, in the background, watching us as Clive brought me to an orgasm with his fingers. She'd watched the entire thing. I thought that she walked up to the doorway after our intimate encounter was over.

  "I saw what happened." Her voice is almost a shrill wail now. "I saw you touching her and I heard when she…"

  I'm grateful that she doesn't say the words aloud. She doesn't need to.

  "Did you give Cheryl the picture to get back at me for that?" He pulls back slightly, his arm flying over the back of the couch to gain distance from her.