“What type of backward-ass logic is that? They haven’t killed me because they haven’t killed me? Do you even hear yourself?”
“I don’t know what they want, and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but after a while . . . I simply didn’t know how. I never thought it would get this deep between us. Thought I could get out of it, give them something so they would go away.”
“Oh yeah, Armand? How is that working out for you?” Michelle was furious. Armand had known all this time who these people were and had not said a thing to her about it. “I’m calling the police.”
“Wait, what? No, you cannot call the police.”
“Why not, Armand?”
“I think getting the DPD involved would make things worse for us.”
Michelle didn’t want to admit it, but he was right. She watched her mom deal with the police over her father more often than she liked through the years, and it was never pretty. It took them forever to do anything, but she still would have felt better being able to turn it over to them. “All right, fine, so what should we do now? Do you know why they chose you?”
Armand shrugged his shoulders. “I honestly don’t know. They approached me with a picture of you. Told me they’d pay me to kick it with you. I would have done it for free, but I took the money. At the time, I didn’t see the harm, but after a while, it changed. It was a strange request, but I really needed the money at the time. I was desperate.”
Michelle looked out the window. The black sedan was no longer parked there. “Well, they are not here now.”
“Michelle, I know how all of this must sound to you, but it’s the truth. I love you.”
“Not at all. I think I need a drink.”
Michelle’s last statement made her start laughing. She had never had a drink in her life. Armand thought maybe she had lost it, but he caught the bug himself and got lost in a good laugh.
Michelle’s joyful tears turned into painful ones in an instant. Armand held her tightly and let her cry softly. She needed to release the tension in her body. He needed to hold her. For a moment, for Michelle, everything was as it should be. Armand was her safe place. Although their beginning had been orchestrated, she refused to let that destroy everything they had built together. The love between them was strong enough to survive a less-than-perfect start.
“Armand, so much has changed. I’m overwhelmed by it all.”
“What’s going on?” He braced himself for what she had to say.
“Ha! Where do I start?”
“The beginning.” Hearing that made Michelle chuckle again, but Armand was serious.
“I’ll give you the condensed version. I have a twin sister, and we recently learned that our parents have been sleeping together or slept together at some point. Lisa is Brianna’s mom.”
“Twin sister?”
“Yep.”
“What do you mean your parents have been sleeping together? Like a big orgy or something?”
“No, nothing like that, not from what we can tell.” Michelle wasn’t sure, but she could not rule out that possibility, though.
“My father and her mother have been . . . involved.”
“What does that mean, then? Is this Lisa your real mom?”
Michelle shrugged. “I thought I was biracial until I met Brianna. My mother is white! Lisa is black. I honestly don’t know what to think.”
“Wow. I know this is a lot, but I’m confident that you’ll be fine. We’ll figure this out together.”
Michelle was grateful to be able to discuss things with Armand. Keeping it from him had been extremely difficult. “So, the Lisa Mason you had me follow . . . that’s the same . . .”
“One and the same.”
“Then Lisa may be in trouble.”
“She is trouble.”
“No, seriously. The woman she’s been hanging out with is bad news.”
“I met with her.”
“What?”
“I got a package with a note telling me to look for her.”
“So you do random shit by yourself now? What the fuck, Michelle?”
“I didn’t know she was dangerous.”
To be as intelligent as she was, Michelle was capable of doing some really stupid shit. Armand wanted to know every detail. “Did you notice anyone following you?”
“Not that I remember. Why?” Michelle continued to let the wheels in her head spin as she watched him pace back and forth.
Armand continued his pacing, wondering why the Marx Brothers had not tried to contact him lately. He thought something was wrong. Now he was certain.
Michelle could sense his nervous energy. “What is it, Armand?”
“I think you need to leave town for a while.”
“I’m already headed out of town for the weekend.”
“Good, but that may not be long enough. Are you going alone? Where are you headed?”
“To Cancun with Brianna, but why do I need to leave?” Alarm bells started ringing in her ears all over again. “What aren’t you telling me, Armand?”
“I don’t know how everything is connected yet, but I get the feeling that I am no longer of use to them. If that is the case . . . I know too much. They are not going to let me walk away. I need to know you’re safe until I can figure this out.”
Michelle was worried and felt her heart rate increasing. “Armand, do you think someone might try to kill me?”
“Michelle, just breathe. I won’t let anything happen to you. Go with your sister, try to relax. You should be safe there. I want you away from all of this.”
“Armand, how am I supposed to relax if some Marx Brothers people are trying to kill me?”
“You will be safe as long as no one knows where you are, all right? Just trust me on this. Don’t tell your mom. Tell Brianna not to tell anyone. Just go.”
Michelle looked around, succumbing to the thunderous wave of panic begging her to sleep.
“Michelle . . . Michelle! Don’t check out on me.” Armand grabbed her shoulders, trying to pierce through the glaze in her eyes. “MK. MK! Can you hear me?”
“I hear you. I hear you. I need a minute to process this.” She sat back, resting her head on the couch for a few minutes. Then she picked up her cell phone and hit a button on speed dial.
Armand raised an eyebrow. “Michelle . . . Who are you calling?”
Michelle brought a finger to her lips to silence him. “Brianna . . . What time is our flight? Six o’clock this evening? All right . . . Don’t tell anyone we’re leaving, okay? I’ll explain when we land. Love you too.”
“Michelle, listen, I don’t—”
“We’re going to Mexico. We’ll be there for at least the weekend.”
“Michelle—”
“If I can convince her to stay longer, we will, but for now . . . It’s the weekend.”
Armand conceded, realizing that he could not win. He couldn’t worry about that now; his mind was already thinking ahead, plotting his next move. He could not let anything happen to Michelle. He would protect her at all costs. He needed to speak with Lewis. He may have started out being an indirect target, but now he would become his ally.
Chapter 21
It was nearly time to take Frank home. The small infection cleared, and he was ready to be released from the hospital. He was awake and alert but still had not spoken to Lisa. She was not sure how to interpret that but thought perhaps it was best that he not say anything, especially if what he had to say had anything to do with their financial situation. What would she tell him? “Sorry, love, but I’ve been robbing you blind to pay my ex-lover to keep quiet about my stripper past?” Right. She could not see a scenario in which that would go over well.
Lisa really wanted to see Charlie. She always managed to help her relax. She wanted to cut her off, but she couldn’t. Charlie was an addiction; she knew exactly how to touch her. Everything she liked and hated. Sometimes, it felt like Charlie could see into her soul. She also had not heard from Lewis. It was n
ot like him to go without calling her, but she could not say she wasn’t enjoying it, though she wasn’t sure if his absence was a good thing or a bad one yet. Time would tell. Lisa was stressed.
“Lisa.” Frank’s voice pierced through her thoughts, startling her.
Lisa quickly grabbed her chest. She had hoped to at least make it home. The silence was preferred over the uncomfortable conversation she assumed they were about to have. She could not even face her husband, afraid of what he had to say.
“Lisa, look at me.”
“Franklin—”
“Don’t do that . . . Don’t do that. Turn around.”
Lisa turned to meet her husband’s stare, his hazel eyes filled with tears. “Frank, what’s wrong?”
“Don’t do that. You know exactly what’s wrong. I asked you what happened to all our money, and I have been waiting for an answer. For over a week, I have waited. I am still waiting.”
Had Frank been awake? Had he really asked? Lisa was shaking. How could he possibly know? Her lips quivered.
“Franklin . . . sweetheart—”
“Stop calling me that! Only my wife calls me, that and you are not her! I don’t know who in the hell you are, but you are not the woman I married and loved for twenty-something years.” Tears streamed down his face.
“Okay, okay, Frank, you need to calm down. You’re still in your hospital gown, for Christ’s sake.”
“What did I do to you, Lisa? What did I do that would cause you to steal from me? I gave you everything!”
“Frank, look, we can discuss whatever it is you’re upset about when we get home, okay?”
Lisa began getting his things together, getting her things together, preparing for the ride home, when she heard something that nearly cut her to her core.
“You are not welcome in my house.”
Lisa stopped, turning toward Frank. Surely she had heard him incorrectly. “What did you say?”
“What are you confused about? I don’t want your lying ass in my house.”
Lisa closed her eyes. Her fists clenched involuntarily, and her thin lips trembled. Her face was flushed and red with fury. She had been afraid of this conversation, but now that it’s happening . . . screw it. She was not going to cower and run from it. Everything that meant something to her was dangling in front of her.
“Are you sure you want to do this here?”
“I asked, didn’t I?”
A nurse walked in, saw the situation, and sharply turned around, closing the door behind her.
“Franklin, let me be clear.” The fright gripping her insides was hidden well behind her cold stare. Lisa faced her husband. Though she was well aware she lied, she would not allow him to disrespect her. Right or wrong, when she spoke to him, she did so in her full authority—as his wife. Regardless of whether he liked it, they were equals. “When we married, you did not love me. You hardly even knew me. So, you are right, I am not the woman you married, as if you had a clue about who she was! I was not even old enough to buy a fucking drink, but I was old enough to be a wife. I knew I was just one of the many purchases you’d make, and I didn’t mind. I needed a change and didn’t care how it came. So don’t act like it was all love, because we both know that isn’t true.”
Frank was livid, but he could not refute her words. He had not loved her in the beginning, and he had gotten her like he did everything else in his life, with his money. That still didn’t stop him from unleashing the anger in his heart. “Woman, I trusted you with my family’s money, and you blew it! Where is it, Lisa? Where is it?”
“Is that all you care about? After all these years, Frank? Still? I cannot believe this.”
“Lisa . . . You don’t realize what you’ve done. You just don’t—”
“I’m not finished. I knew you were only with me for that money, but I wanted the money too. Don’t look so surprised. Get over it. At least have the courage to say it. I married you for your money, but I did love you. I grew to love you. I was in a bad situation coming into the marriage, and if you had taken the time to get to know me before you wedded me, maybe you would have known it too. You were so busy throwing your money around; you never bothered to ask me anything.”
Frank was at a complete loss for words. He had no idea that Lisa had known all these years. Perhaps he really did not know her after all.
It was Lisa’s turn to unleash the malice and contempt that resided in her heart. “And Brianna . . . That adoption should be in the Guinness Book of World Records because it was the quickest one I have ever heard of. One week’s time, Frank? Where did you buy her? That is what you did, isn’t it?”
Stunned, Frank got up from the bed and rushed at Lisa. Lisa’s instincts took over as she lifted her leg and kicked him as hard as she could in his groin.
“Franklin, don’t ever try to come at me—ever!”
Frank was lying on the floor in pain. His whole body hurt. It felt like the entire lower half of his body was on fire, and it spread throughout his limbs. He’d snap Lisa in half if he could only move. “Shiiiiiit! You dumb bitch!”
“Fuck you, Franklin. You deserved it. Don’t ever come at me. Do you know who I was before I became Lisa Mason? Lisa Raine Wilson.”
Frank stopped moving for a moment. He sat up as the pain subsided, trying to determine if he had heard her right. “Wilson? What are you talking about?”
“That’s right . . . Lisa Wilson.”
It was a coincidence. It had to be. Jacob had been his friend.
Lisa watched with satisfaction over her deceit as the horror crept into his face as the speculations swarmed through his mind. “Jacob is my foster brother, but we don’t talk much. He kept whatever little secret he’s sharing with you. It’s funny and kind of ironic too. That day in the office, he didn’t even recognize me, but I recognized him . . . immediately.”
Frank wanted to speak, but it was obvious that Lisa no longer wanted to talk. Her demeanor changed. The temper previously displayed was replaced with an eerie calm. She purged her soul and was in the process of freeing herself. Her spirit felt lighter with every word. “As if I could ever forget him. I ran from one rapist, only to land in a foster home with another one. I didn’t trust anyone when I first got there, but after a while . . . I trusted him. He was always nice to me. He stuck up for me with our parents and kept me from running. They weren’t always nice to me. Jacob was older, and I felt safe for the first time. No one had ever done that before.
“Then, one night, with one thrust, he undid all the progress I had made. He ripped my innocence to shreds all over again. For years when I slept, I used to see him, long after he could no longer touch me. I was miles away from him, and he still had power over me.”
Frank thought he would be sick. He could not believe what he was hearing. Jacob had been his close friend for years. It was hard to believe that he would be capable of doing something so cruel. This news repulsed him. He got up from the floor, reaching out to Lisa, unsure of how she would respond, or if it was even the proper thing to do.
“Lisa, come here, baby. Come here.” He took her into his arms. “I am so sorry, Lisa. I had no idea. I really didn’t.”
“Frank, I need some space. I’m going to stay with a friend for a few days. Can you get home? I cannot do this right now.”
“Listen, we can talk about the money later. All right? I’ll handle it. I just . . . Let me be here for you now. Let me be here.”
Frank still needed to know where the money went. He had not forgotten, but they could discuss that later. Lisa clearly needed him, and for probably for the first time in their marriage, he was able to see exactly how much.
“Frank . . . I need to get out of here.”
“I’ll give you some space, but I will come to get you. I love you.” Frank was serious. He was not letting her go.
Lisa left the hospital room and called Charlie to pick her up. She needed her now more than ever. Jacob was the closest thing to family Frank had, and Lisa had never w
anted to take that away from him. Even if she could not forgive Jacob for what he did to her, he did seem to be a different person, or maybe she just wanted him to be. In either case, the truth was out now, and Lisa felt better. She didn’t need to be the victim anymore. She was reborn. The new Lisa wanted to see the woman that loved her, that seemed to know her. The last thing she wanted was a man.
* * *
Frank sat on the couch in his hospital room feeling woozy from the emotional roller coaster Lisa had taken him on. He went from hating her, to loving her, to wanting to protect her. He could not believe he had lived with this woman for over two decades and had been so ignorant of her life. He thought he loved her . . . that he had been a good husband, but he was no longer certain of that. His family had always handled things financially. It was simply what he had learned to do. Money made the world go ’round.
It was clear he had missed something. His wife had needed something that he had failed to give her: intimacy and understanding. He had been her business partner and not her friend. He did not know if he could be something he had never seen. He still was not even sure if it was his marriage or his ego he wanted to salvage, but one thing he did know: he needed to see Jacob. Frank experienced an urge to seek something he never had before: retribution.
Frank knew where Jacob would be. He left the hospital and went directly to him. He made the forty-five-minute drive in twenty minutes. Things had not been the same between them for years. The tension had been building since Jacob suggested that Frank tell Brianna the truth. Frank politely reminded him that it was none of his business and if he should ever forget, perhaps the board would like to know of Jacob’s side dealings, reminding him of how interested they might be in hearing about all the backdoor deals Jacob used to fund his lavish lifestyle.
That was about five years ago. Jacob had attempted to orchestrate a meeting between Brianna and her sister here and there; Frank shut it down every time.
After Jacob got Brianna’s voice mail, he expected him to show up at some point. Since Jacob had caused Brianna’s reunion with her sister, Michelle, he expected Frank to come and see him. He expected a civilized conversation, a meeting of the minds, but Frank was not in a talking mood. He, in fact, did not say a word. Jacob sat behind his desk at the back of the room in his office. Frank barreled through the halls of the one-story building with the force of a tsunami wave.
Virtuous Deception Page 11
