Charlie

by Elin Peer

  “Yes.” My grandfather sighed. “I’m not comfortable with her being in his house either.”

  Kit was texting away on her phone across from me while I ended the call with my grandfather. “I have to go, but call me if you hear anything.”

  “Yes, same to you.”

  My grandfather and I ended the call and Kit gave me a quick glance. “I’m telling Liv that the police found Jim Maddox’s body.”

  With a look of determination, I got up from my chair. “I’m going to Howth to get Liv.”

  “Whoa, stall for a second.” Kit got up too. “Ye cannot just barge in at midnight like a jealous lover and demand that she leave with ye. Liv is there because of the children and the best we can do is help her get them out too.”

  “But if the police have all that incriminating information on him, why haven’t they made an arrest yet? If his foundation is nothing but a front to pile up the money for himself, then it’s illegal and he should be brought to justice.”

  “Aye, and he will be, but these things take time.” She pointed to my untouched shawarma sandwich. “Are ye not gonna eat that?”

  “No. All I can think about is how to get Liv out of there.”

  Kit brought my sandwich and fries to the man behind the counter and had him bag it to go.

  When we left, she took a detour back to my hotel and stopped by a homeless woman sitting in a sleeping bag and looking miserable. Kit squatted down in front of the woman. “Here ye go, my love. You’ll sleep better on a full stomach.”

  The homeless woman had greasy hair sticking out under her knitted hat and she was missing a front tooth, but her smile lit up her face and made her look younger than at first sight. “Oh, bless ye.”

  Kit patted her shoulder and stood back up. “Stay warm, Millie. The cold is fierce tonight.”

  “I know.”

  “Do ye have the jumper I gave ye?”

  “I do. It’s wonderful and warm. Ye’re an angel.”

  Kit laughed. “Ask my mother and she can tell ye differently. See ye around, love.”

  When we walked away, I looked back to see the woman opening the wrapped sandwich with a smile.

  “So, what’s the plan?” I asked.

  “The plan is to wait for the DNA match. Once the English police have it, the gardas will arrest Conor and Liv can go home with you.”

  “But what if that takes days?”

  “Then we wait days.”

  I stopped her with a hand to her shoulder. “I can’t just do nothing.”

  “Do ye think it was easy for us to be patient and not get ye out of there by force? Three weeks Liv has waited for ye to wake up.” Like the rest of the Irish, Kit didn’t pronounce the letter h in words like think and three. “Now, I’m asking ye to be patient as well.”

  “But maybe I could pretend that I’ve changed my mind and go back to be with Liv. I could help protect the children.” I shook my head and gave a rumbling sigh from my chest.

  “What is it?”

  “I just remembered something that happened after Liv and I came home from work today. We found Nathan sitting in the pond in the back yard, blue lips and all. Liv tried to tell me that Conor was behind it, but I refused to believe it. In order for him to do something like that he’d have to be a…”

  “A psychopath?” she suggested.

  “Yeah.”

  “He is a psychopath. A sneaky, cunning predator who spins a net of lies so tight around people that they can’t see what’s real or not. He has zero empathy and God only knows what else he has done to mess up those innocent children. He certainly had no qualms about placing a snake in a child’s bed to give him nightmares.”

  “Jesus Christ.” I looked up to the dark sky above us. “I can’t believe I trusted that man. I saw him as my friend and mentor.”

  “Aye, but at least now you see behind his polished façade.”

  “I should go back and help Liv. It’s not right that she’s there as a one-man army.”

  Kit kept walking. “Conor would read ye like an open book and ye’d make everything worse. Ye’re not the lying type, are ye? The moment he starts to press ye, I reckon ye’d tell him what a grand gobshite he is.”

  “Probably.” I ran to keep up with her.

  “I don’t blame ye. I would too. It’s impressive that Liv has been able to keep her mouth shut this long.”

  We had reached my hotel and stood outside with our hands in our pockets to keep warm.

  “Do you live far away?”

  “About forty-five minutes, but I’m staying at my brother’s place tonight. He’s got an apartment in the city and since he’s working tonight, he won’t be disturbed by my late arrival.”

  I rocked back and forth on my feet. “I know it’s late, but if I go to bed now, I won’t be able to sleep. I still have so many questions. How about a drink in the hotel bar?”

  “Sure!” Kit smiled at me. “That sounded American, didn’t it? I’ve practiced, ye see.”

  “Very impressive.” I opened the door to the hotel and we walked through the lobby to the hotel bar.

  “Tell ye what, ye get us a round, while I head to the jacks. I’ll just have a mineral.”

  I had lived long enough in Ireland to know that the jacks was a restroom and a mineral a soft drink.

  “Coke okay?”

  “Aye.”

  Finding a place at the bar, I ordered a beer and a Coke, and took off my jacket. With Kit gone, I took out my phone and texted Liv.

  Charles: I’m sorry for bringing you into this. I had no idea who Conor really was. Tell me what I can do to help.

  There was no answer. It had been half an hour since Liv had texted Kit and it was now close to midnight. Either she had fallen asleep or she was mad at me and ignoring me on purpose. I closed my eyes and blamed myself for being such a naïve fool and for not listening the many times Liv had tried to warn me that Conor might not be who I thought he was. Looking back, I couldn’t believe how patient she’d been, just waiting for me to wake up and see the truth. She had been so subtle with her hints, until today when she took Nathan’s side. Why hadn’t I listened to her?

  Confusion and fear crept down my neck. Why had she been in that bathroom with Conor when she knew what he was like? And what would happen now that her mission of getting me out was over? I couldn’t bear the thought of never seeing her again, but at the same time I could understand if Liv was disappointed with me for leaving her without at least talking to her to get her side of the story.

  Lowering my head, I ran a hand through my hair. I’d been such an idiot for believing Conor’s lies. A headache was brewing from the overload of drama in my life and the realization that I’d blown it with Liv.

  Emptying my glass of beer, I nodded to the bartender. “I’ll need another one, please.” I would need a lot of alcohol to numb the crushing pain of self-blame in my heart.

  CHAPTER 25

  The Next Level

  Liv

  “Liv, wake up. You have to wake up.”

  Opening my eyes, I saw Lumi shaking my shoulders.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s Conor. He wants everyone to gather downstairs. He doesn’t look like himself. Did you tell him that we know about the snake?”

  “No. What time is it?”

  Lumi bit her lip. “It’s one in the morning and he’s waking up everybody. I think he found out that we were in his room. He’s very upset.”

  Like me, Lumi was in her sleepwear. Hers consisted of a blue chemise in a flower pattern with a kimono over, and big bulky Mickey Mouse slippers that looked like she’d stuffed her feet into two Mickey Mouse teddy bears.

  “Okay. You stay here with Nathan and River, while I go down to see what’s going on.”

  “He wants everyone to come down.”

  “Until I know what he wants, I want you to keep Nathan and River here.”

  “But my mom is downstairs.”

  “Lumi. Please stay with River and Natha
n. Your mom or I will come and get you if we want you there.”

  Music sounded from downstairs and I heard doors opening and closing. The whole house was waking up. With a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, I put on some casual clothing and walked downstairs. What I saw made the blood in my veins pump faster.

  Music was playing in the great room and bottles of champagne stood on the table next to trays of flute glasses. Conor was motioning for everyone to come in and take a seat on the floor or in one of the chairs or sofas.

  He waved me closer, but the expression in his eyes scared me and my instincts told me to run the other way. What if he’d heard the news about the police finding a body in Liverpool? If Conor had killed Jim Maddox, then he would know that his time was running out.

  I knew from my time here that Conor had powerful people in his circle of friends. Maybe someone had called to warn him.

  “I just need to use the bathroom real quick.” I diverted to the small powder room, where I called up Kit.

  “Hello?”

  “Are you awake?” I whispered into the phone.

  “I am.”

  “Conor has gathered us all for some kind of meeting. He looks a bit unhinged. I’m going to record the meeting so I can play it for you later.”

  “No, just keep me on the line.”

  “Okay.”

  With my phone in my pocket I walked back into the living room, where Maximum and Atlas stood in the back of the crowd with morning hair. I stayed next to them and gave a silent nod before I took out my phone and held it in my hand along my leg.

  Maximum yawned but nodded back while Atlas looked away. He was probably conflicted that I had called their dad a monster and threatened to go to the police to rat him out for what he did to Nathan. I didn’t blame Atlas. The boy had shown rebelliousness by going into Conor’s room to see what his father had hidden in the locked closet. For us to discover the snake in there had to have been even more shocking to Atlas than me since he loved his father, and I didn’t.

  “Are we all here?” Conor asked and after a quick count it was established that River, Nathan, and Lumi were missing.

  To buy time, I lied, “They’re on their way down. Lumi is waking up the two sleepyheads.”

  “Good, because we have something to celebrate.” Conor’s words made the people in the room exchange smiles of anticipation.

  “Let’s all share a toast.” He pointed to the two trays where champagne had been poured in beautiful glasses.

  When a few said no thank you, Conor pointed them out. “I’ll take it as a personal insult if you don’t share this toast with me.”

  In the end, we all stood with glasses in our hands as Conor made his toast in a tone of importance. “Let’s cheer the fact that it’s time for us to take our group to the next level. Cheers!”

  Everyone drank but I was paranoid and only pretended to drink before I discreetly emptied the glass in the plant behind me.

  “We have become too powerful for the government to control and they hate it!” Conor’s words sounded strong and confident. “Throughout human history, free thinkers and progressive groups like ours have been at war with the establishment. They don’t understand that we’re not content with following their directions. We’re the true influencers of the world and our strength scares them. Our message confuses them. And just like Jesus was silenced with violence, I fear that retribution is coming our way as well. There are people who want to harm me.”

  “No. We won’t let them.” Carlos, a famous cross dresser with a huge social media following, called out. He wasn’t wearing any make-up, which told me that like the rest of us, he’d been sleeping when he was called down to this meeting.

  Conor continued his speech. “A friend alerted me that if we don’t act now, outside forces are going to force us apart?”

  “What do you mean?” Sara asked and concerned glances were exchanged around the room.

  “You know how much I love you all, but the haters have found a new way to destroy the beautiful bond between us. The same bond that they can never be part of.”

  “They can try, but we won’t let them,” Sara declared and raised her chin.

  Conor walked over to her and placed a slow kiss on her cheek before addressing the rest of us, “Sara is right. We can’t let them split us up, but trust me; at this point nothing they do truly scares me because I have a way to make us untouchable.” Raising his glass again, Conor scanned the room for those who still had champagne in their glasses. “Cheers. Bottoms up. This is the good stuff, let’s not let it go to waste.”

  Conor waited until everyone had emptied their glass before he continued, “Going against the stream has always come with a high price. Jesus was persecuted and hung on the cross when his only crime was helping people and spreading a message of love and kindness. As we speak, I’m being framed for crimes that I didn’t commit and soon they’re coming for you as well.”

  People began booing and Conor let them express their frustration before he held up a hand and silenced them. “All of you in this room are old souls who cannot be fooled by their threats of control over us.” He pointed to the entrance door and boomed, “They cannot control us!”

  As if he had just cast a powerful spell, everyone around me raised their hands and shouted out their support.

  “They cannot control us.”

  “They cannot control us.”

  “They cannot control us.”

  Again, Conor silenced them and spoke. “Like magnets we’ve been drawn together as a family because our souls vibrate when we’re close. The family in this room aren’t like the young souls out there who are happy to be numbed by their government’s lies. We see the deceit with a clear mind. We know their false accusations are a matter of control. But what they fail to understand about us is that we hold tremendous power that we can take with us to the next level.”

  I tried to refrain from frowning at his constant mention of the next level.

  What is he talking about?

  “We don’t have to stay and suffer through endless persecution from an establishment who fear us and attempt to imprison us and control our minds.”

  “How dare they?” Carlos, who was wearing a pink kimono, snapped his fingers in the air with an attitude worthy of his popular drag queen performances, but he swayed and sounded slurred in his speech, which made me look around at the others.

  “Are you okay?” I asked Maximum who was squinting his eyes as if seeing was difficult for him.

  “Mmm, I’m fine.” Maximum giggled low and elbowed his brother, whispering. “Does Dad’s head look gigantic to you?”

  Atlas was swaying too and his eyes were rolling up in his head.

  Looking down at the empty champagne glasses in their hands, I felt guilt. Why hadn’t I stopped them from drinking it? What if Conor had poisoned all of them like that Jonestown cult leader did back in the seventies?

  I was panicking as Conor kept rambling about the threat of outside powers trying to split us apart. His words made no sense to me. The others, however, behaved like they were high and once again they chanted:

  “They cannot control us.”

  “They cannot control us.”

  When they began jumping up and down in what had to be mass psychosis, I backed to the entry door and unlocked it because I wanted an escape route if things got weirder.

  “Liv, come here.” Atlas seemed to have forgotten all his troubles and reached out for me. “Why are you outside the group? Come and hug with us.”

  I had no choice but to walk back and be swallowed up in hugs by Atlas, Maximum, and Lumi’s mom, Aisha, who kissed me on both cheeks.

  “Where’s Lumi? My daughter loves a good party.” Aisha’s voice was slurred and she leaned against me with her arm around my waist.

  Conor fed on their adoration and support. “Raise your hand if you’re ready to go with me to the next level.”

  People jumped and cheered.

  “They cannot con
trol us.”

  “They cannot control us.”

  “I’m a hundred percent loyal to all of you, but are you loyal to me?” Conor screamed to the group, hyping them up.

  The hairs on my arms stood up from memories of what happened the last time he used those words.

  “My family. I have a way for us to stand up to the tyranny of the establishment. Who’s with me?” Conor’s eyes shone with fire and determination as he jumped with Carlos, Sara, Estelle, Ciara, and all the others.

  In order not to stand out, I swayed and smiled too when Conor screamed one more time:

  “Who’s with me?”

  Loud whistling gave the impression that Conor was a rock star who had just asked if his audience wanted another song.

  The hair on the back of my neck stood up when Conor bent down and pulled out a bag from under a chair.

  “We’re going to leave this level and go the next where we can be free to be together and live our lives as we want to.”

  My eyes doubled in size as he took out the first gun, and then the second, third, fourth, and fifth. Some of the members moved closer to him asking questions while others had confusion written on their faces.

  “I need a group of pioneers.” While talking Conor handed out a gun to Sara, Estelle, the twins, and Carlos, who batted his eyes and smiled at Conor.

  “Darling, you’re honoring me. You know I was born to be a pioneer.”

  “I’m selecting you five to go first on this journey. The rest of us will follow right after.”

  Under the pretense of a sneeze, I turned and spoke into the phone. “Get help, now!” My words were muttered and I was unsure if Kit would understand what was going on here.

  Conor put down the empty bag, and gestured with his hands for everyone to stand up. “I want you all to give space for our five pioneers. Yes, that’s right. Sara, you sit down on the floor. I want you to lead the first group. The rest of you will sit behind Sara.” The twins were having a hard time getting down on the floor with the guns in their hands. They were giggling like it was a party game while I was freaking out on the inside. What if these guns weren’t empty like the last time he’d told Sara to shoot herself?