by Darcia Helle
Ian muttered an agreement as the two men disappeared around the side of the house. Lucianna took his hand and said, “Let’s go inside. Dr. Hunt should be here soon.”
“Do you think that guy knows anything about Alison?”
“I don’t know. Let’s hope so.”
“This is insane.”
“A bit. Yes.” Lucianna recognized that Ian was in mild shock. She led him into the house. “Does your mom know anything about this visit?”
“I just told her you and a friend were stopping by to talk to her.”
“Okay. Good.”
“Ma?” Ian called when they’d come into the living room. “Where are you?”
“In here,” Corinne called from somewhere down the hall.
To Lucianna, Ian said, “I’ll get her. Be right back.”
Lucianna was about to give in to the temptation to go out to the kitchen and watch Vinnie through the large windows when the doorbell rang. She opened the door to find a man somewhere in his mid-forties, thick graying hair cut short, smiling brown eyes, tall, lean, and dressed in a deep blue suit that hung too perfectly to have come off the rack. She held out her hand and said, “You must be Dr. Hunt. I’m Lucianna Martel.”
He took her hand, squeezing it gently in his. “Nice to meet you. Please call me Greg.”
She noted the midwestern accent and the perfect white teeth. His shoes were so shiny that she could see her reflection. Somehow it didn’t surprise her that this man and her uncle were friends. She motioned toward the sitting area. “Come on in. Ian’s getting his mother now. And Vinnie is… well, he’ll be with us shortly.”
Greg nodded as if anything concerning Vinnie required no further explanation. He asked, “Is Corinne comfortable with my being here?”
“She doesn’t understand exactly what’s going on.”
“You’re going to show her a picture?”
“Yes. It’s important for us to know if she recognizes this person.”
Greg made himself comfortable on the couch. “Vinnie explained that she’s in a rather fragile state.”
“Yes. But no one is sure why.”
“Well hopefully we can change that today.”
Lucianna glanced down the hall. What was taking Ian so long to get his mother? And what was going on with Vinnie and whoever the man was who’d been following her? She sank into the chair opposite Greg and tried to look as if she knew what she was doing.
***
Corinne stood in front of her bathroom mirror, struggling to make her lipstick look right. She swiped at the crooked line. Maybe it was the wrong color? Or it could be that she needed more blush. Why was this so hard today?
Ian’s face appeared behind her reflection. Corinne turned and said, “This is awful. I can’t have guests when I look this way!”
Ian’s lips curled up but the smile didn’t touch his eyes. He said, “You look beautiful, ma.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. They’re waiting for us in the living room.”
Corinne propped her hands on her hips. “Don’t patronize me, Ian. I can tell that something is wrong.”
“We’ll talk about it later.”
Turning her back to the mirror, Corinne grabbed a wad of toilet paper and wiped away her lipstick. “Nothing is right today. Nothing is right. Why can’t I make things right?”
“You look fine,” Ian said. “You’re worrying too much.”
“I don’t look fine. My hair is frizzy. It never used to be frizzy. Do you ever remember me having frizzy hair before… well, before…” Corinne pushed her hair away from her eyes. Her head hurt. What was she trying to think of? She leaned against the sink, struggling through the pain in her head. Why did it always hurt like this?
“Ma?” Ian said softly. “They’re waiting. We have to hurry.”
“Hurry?” Corinne turned back to face her son. His eyes shone with fear. Where had that come from? Inside her head she screamed but her lips never moved. Something was so wrong. What? What couldn’t she remember?
“Ma…”
“I have to remember, don’t I?”
“Yes. Well… only if you want to,” Ian stammered. “Let’s go in the living room. We’ll talk about it.”
“Who’s out there, Ian? What are you afraid of?”
“I’m not afraid of anything.”
“I see it. See it. See it.” Corinne’s head throbbed. She closed her eyes, pressed a hand on either side of her head and squeezed, hoping to keep her brains from being pushed out through her ears. She felt Ian’s hand on her arm, heard his soft voice although she wasn’t sure what the words meant. Then everything went blank for just a minute before the pain finally receded into the background. She opened her eyes and sighed. “Did you say we had company?”
Chapter 47
“How did you find me?” Sam asked.
“I followed you here.”
Sam nodded, having expected that answer. He wasn’t surprised. Not really. He wasn’t even scared anymore. Whatever was going to happen now, he just wanted it over.
His eyes moved to the bed. The leather case remained tucked beneath it, still full of guilt money. He sighed. “What do you want?”
“Your help.”
That caught Sam off guard. “My help?”
“Did you think I’d come here for revenge?”
“Something like that.”
“No. I know why you did it.”
Sam looked down at the newspaper that was spread out on the table in front of him. The words blurred. “I had to tell them. I didn’t know how else to help her.”
“You’re in love with her.”
A statement rather than a question. Sam didn’t look up, didn’t even bother to ask how he knew. “Yes.”
“Can’t say that I blame you.”
Sam finally met the eyes of the man who’d picked the lock and strolled into his room just moments ago. “You haven’t changed much.”
Cameron laughed, though the sound held no humor. “Aside from the obvious of a few gray hairs and… What are they calling wrinkles these days? Laugh lines? Wisdom lines? Whatever. At any rate, not all change is visible.”
“Right,” Sam agreed. “What do you need my help with?”
Cameron shifted his lean frame away from the dresser. His eyes moved to the door, then to the window. Probably a habit after all these years. Couldn’t risk having anyone sneak up on him. Sam didn’t want to live the rest of his life like that. The anxiety was already eating him alive.
Cameron walked to the window, parted the curtains and looked out at the nearly empty parking lot. Sparkling sunshine streamed inside. He let the curtains fall back. For a long moment he stood there, his gaze flickering around the room. Then he leaned against the wall and focused his deep blue eyes on Sam.
“I killed a man,” he said.
Sam blinked several times. He searched for something to say but his mind came up empty. He sat there staring at the man he’d never really known.
“The bastard who turned my daughter into a prostitute at the age of twelve,” Cameron continued. “I took great pleasure in scattering his brains all over the expensive Italian tile by his fireplace. Then I went to the cops, told them what I did and why. Turned myself in that day.”
His voice choked off. He cleared his throat, then said more softly, “I thought she was dead, Sam. I thought my daughter was dead. That’s what he told me.”
“She’s not?” Sam managed to ask.
“No. She got away. When she was fifteen. I’m told she’s living in New York.”
Sam desperately wanted a shot of whiskey. He settled for a long swig from his Pepsi. Then, before he could stop himself, the words tumbled from his mouth. “Did you know what was going to happen to her? Did you have an idea?”
Cameron’s shoulders sagged as he slowly shook his head. “I was so fucked up. I should have known. I tell myself that all the time. What the hell was I even thinking? But I was a drunk. I owed seventeen
grand to Ace. They were threatening to cut off body parts, one at a time, till I paid him back. Corinne didn’t know how bad it was. She didn’t know Ace had pictures of her, used to tell me how sexy she was and how he’d like to fuck her. That maybe he’d take ownership of her till we settled the debt.”
Cameron shook his head, leaned against the windowsill for support. “Then her sister… Christ, Holly was young and it was like sex was just pouring off her or something. I used her. She made me feel good again. It was so easy to blame Corinne for the mess I was in. Till Holly told me she was pregnant. That was just… Christ, what a mess. Naturally I didn’t want the kid. I didn’t take care of the one I already had. And so I saw it as a way out.”
Sam stiffened. He had one hand resting on the newspaper and he began crumbling it in his fist. He said, “Wait a minute. This kid, it wasn’t Corinne’s?”
“No. God no. Corinne never would have… Oh hell, she never would have let me take her baby away. She would have killed me first.”
“Jesus,” Sam muttered. “You never told anyone? That the kid wasn’t your wife’s?”
“I never said either way. All I told Ace was that I’d trade the kid for my life.”
“Jesus.”
“But I didn’t know what would happen,” Cameron said with a sigh. “Ace told me they got paid for adoptions. You know, teenage mothers who didn’t want the kid, didn’t want to or couldn’t go through the system. He said he’d take care of it for me, make the arrangements for the kid to get a home, and that our debt would be squared. That simple. I wanted to believe it. Christ, I wanted it so bad. And so I didn’t look any further. Didn’t question a thing. I just handed the kid off and went back to the bottle.”
“Did Corinne know?” Sam asked. “About the kid? The affair with her sister?”
“No. She didn’t know anything.”
Sam tossed the crumpled newspaper across the desk. A huge sense of relief flooded him. Corinne hadn’t sold her baby. He couldn’t imagine that she would have. Yet she got stuck paying the price regardless. He said, “How’d you find out the truth? About your daughter?”
“I got sober, straightened my life out. A little late but I grew a conscience. I wanted to find her,” Cameron said. “I just wanted to make sure she was okay, that her family treated her right. All the lies I told myself unraveled pretty damn quick once I started asking questions.”
“Nico knows you found her, doesn’t he?”
“Yeah, I think so. Word is the K Unit’s got feelers out for me all over the place. Dead or alive type thing.”
“Was it you?” Sam asked. “Are you the one that went to Corinne, gave her the blanket?”
“Blanket?” Cameron said. “What blanket?”
“The blanket your daughter was wrapped in when you handed her off. Pink crocheted thing.”
“Corinne has that?”
Sam nodded. “She had some sort of breakdown, you know. The day Ian found her, the day it happened, she had that blanket. Wouldn’t let it go.”
“It wasn’t me,” Cameron said. “I never would have… Christ.”
“No one knows what happened to Corinne,” Sam said. “Her memory. She’s really lost, not talking about whatever it is that happened to her. Everyone’s scrambling to figure it out. But, you know, it didn’t take me much to put some pieces together. I hear the talk. I knew about the kid. I figured it had to have something to do with that baby.”
Cameron said, “I think it was her, Sam. Sara. My daughter. She must think Corinne’s her mother. Will you help me find her, Sam? Help me straighten this out?”
Sam sipped his Pepsi. Part of him wanted to smash Cameron’s head into the wall. The bigger part of him was drowning in sadness. He said, “The cops are after you?”
“Yes. I got a lawyer and learned that my daughter was alive after all. I took off. I had to find her first. She’s in trouble, Sam. Then they can do whatever they want with me.”
“Nico wants you bad.”
“I know he does.”
Sam picked up his Pepsi can, then put it back down without drinking. His eyes strayed to the spot under the bed where he’d tucked the leather case. He could refuse and keep running. This wasn’t his battle. It wasn’t his fault. He closed his eyes and his mind brought up a clear picture of his ex-wife. All the pain he’d caused her. How close had he come to where Cameron is now? Had he been faced with the same decision, was he so sure that he wouldn’t have done the same thing?
He opened his eyes and met Cameron’s gaze. “I’ll help you,” he said.
Chapter 48
“Hey Lu!” Vinnie called from somewhere out back.
Lucianna smiled at Greg and excused herself. She found Vinnie out on the deck. His tie sat crooked and his hair and clothes were wet from the rain. He was grinning like a cat that had just eaten the family’s bird. Their new friend was pressed up against the outside wall. Blood dripped from the corner of his eye. He had leaves stuck to his clothes and mud stains on his jeans. The only thing that appeared to keep him on his feet was the fact that Vinnie’s huge hand was wrapped around his neck, pinning him to the wall.
Lucianna shook her head at the pleasure in Vinnie’s eyes. She said, “Are you finished?”
“I need a rope,” Vinnie said.
“A rope?”
“Yes, you are familiar with the product, correct? It’s been on the market for some time now.”
“You’re just a laugh a minute,” Lucianna said. “What do you need rope for?”
“Do you honestly find it necessary to question me at this particular time?”
Lucianna threw her hands up in surrender. “What was I thinking? I’ll see if Ian has rope.”
Ian and Corinne were seated in the living room with Greg when Lucianna returned. She motioned for Ian to come into the kitchen. “I’m sorry everyone,” she said. “We’ll be right with you.”
As he stepped into the kitchen, Ian said, “Is everything okay?”
His gaze followed hers out the French doors. Lucianna said, “Vinnie needs rope.”
“Rope?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Okay. I’ve got some in the garage.”
“I’ll get things started with your mom while you get it.”
Ian touched her arm as she turned away. “What about Alison?” he said. “What’s going on?”
“Vinnie’s grinning. That means he knows something. Just trust us, okay?”
Ian nodded, then headed out to the garage. Lucianna glanced back out the doors at Vinnie. He winked at her. She let out a slow breath and hoped that trust wasn’t misplaced.
***
Back in the living room, Corinne was seated in her rocker studying Greg. He was smiling back at her, seemingly unaffected by her open scrutiny. Lucianna sat near Greg on the couch. Doing her best to appear unconcerned, she smiled and said, “Hi Corinne. How are you today?”
Corinne offered a thin smile in return. “I’m fine. Did you fire Dr. Hartley?”
“No,” Lucianna replied. Corinne was clearly agitated and the last thing Lucianna wanted was to upset her further. “You can still see Dr. Endicott. We just needed Dr. Hunt to help us here today.”
“He said I could call him Greg,” Corinne said. “And I don’t want to see Dr. Endicott anymore. You know, I don’t even think he has a first name. Isn’t that odd?”
“Yes, that’s very odd.”
“If he has a wife, then she must know his first name. I don’t think she would call him doctor.” Corinne stared down at her hands folded neatly in her lap. “You all want me to remember, don’t you? That’s why you’re here. Something is terribly wrong and I have to remember. I know. I can tell. Ian is very upset but he won’t tell me why. Why. Why. He won’t say why.”
Lucianna caught Greg’s eye. He appeared relaxed and undisturbed, which was good since he was the one with the psychiatric degree. Lucianna had all she could do to keep from ranting like a lunatic herself. She darted a glance at the manila folder on the
coffee table and wondered yet again if she was doing the right thing.
Greg began talking softly to Corinne, calming her almost immediately. He explained that he was there to help and that Corinne was safe. His voice oozed over them like liquid Valium.
Corinne watched him closely. She seemed alert now, more coherent than she had in any of Lucianna’s past visits. Hopefully that was a good sign. Hopefully she wouldn’t fall right off the sanity cliff when confronted with that picture.
But what if Corinne didn’t react at all? What if Corinne’s Ben and Detective Benjamin Sterling were not the same person? What if Detective Sterling wasn’t part of this and didn’t know where Alison was?
Voices and the sound of scuffling came from the kitchen. Ian and Vinnie stopped talking as they came into the room. Vinnie gave Luciana a little nod and an almost imperceptible smile. He leaned against the wall by the doorway and folded his arms. Ian came in and sat beside her, his expression somewhere between fear and confusion.
Corinne stared at Ian. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, ma,” Ian replied.
“You’re lying to me.”
“No, really. I’m okay.”
Corinne shook her head. “You haven’t been able to lie to me since you were a child. What makes you think you can start now?” She turned her attention to Vinnie. “Who are you?”
“Vinnie Martel. Lucianna’s uncle. Pleased to meet you.”
She eyed him as if he was a stray puppy and she couldn’t decide whether he would bite or not. “I’m not sure about you,” she said finally.
Vinnie chuckled at that. “You’re not alone with that opinion.”
She turned back to Greg, stiffened her spine, raised her chin, and said, “I’m ready. Whatever it is you people are going to tell me, or ask me, or make me do, let’s get it over with now.”
Ian walked over to her chair and squatted beside her. “We don’t want to upset you, ma. But we really need your help. Are you okay to help us?”
