by Elbie Dee
Twice the Lies
Book Two of the Once Upon a Liar Series
Elbie Dee
Contents
Previously
1. Brilese
2. Bradson
3. Alynn
4. Dezire
5. Matt
6. Brilese
7. Bradson
8. Alynn
9. Dezire
10. Axe
11. Dezire
12. Brilese
13. Alynn
14. Bradson
15. Matt
16. Merrisah
17. Axe
Chapter 18
When Life Throws You Lemons
Twice the Lies
By Elbie Dee
Copyright 2020 Elbie Dee
All rights reserved. No part of this material may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner with the exception for use of quotation as to be used in a review.
Previously
Brilese and Bradson had their ups and downs as a couple, but decided to work on things in their relationship. Out of an act of infidelity, Merrisah conceived and had two of his children. After the truths were unveiled, Brilese became cordial with the other woman.
Bradson and Brilese were supposed to get married, until Alynn crashed their wedding with a devastating secret. If you read Once Upon a Liar, then you were allowed into the scenario where the wedding was called off.
Brilese had her mind set up to where she didn’t want to be with Bradson anymore, but Bradson got a text from Merrisah’s phone that placed their separation on hold. Wishing to make sure Merrisah was okay, Brilese and Bradson rode together to the city of Charlotte to ensure her safety.
What will happen to Brilese and Bradson? Will Brilese hold her promise to end things? Or will his charm woo her back in? As for Merrisah, how will others react once they realize she had been shot by Brilese’s obsessed friend? What will happen to Merrisah? Additionally, what will Alynn have to face, if anything at all?
In Twice the Lies, the answers to all these questions will be revealed. Hope you all enjoy it!
1
Brilese
“How do you know that was Alynn?” Bradson asked, as I was speeding down the highway at ninety-five miles per hour heading toward Charlotte from our hotel in Rock Hill.
“That’s how she texts! I would know!” I yelled. He should have known better than to ask me.
“I swear. If something happened to my kids, I’m killing the bitch,” he stated.
Honestly, if something happened to his kids then I’d be in prison right along with him. Merrisah and I had our share of disagreements in the past but grew cordial once I put her in her place. I opened my heart enough to meet the two children he had behind my back with her and learned to love them just a little less than my own. Since Alynn crashed our wedding with her pregnancy announcement, Bradson and I were done; I still didn’t wish to witness anything horrific happen in his life.
“Is this the exit?” I asked. I remember going to her house once, but wasn’t sure if I could accurately find my way there again. The two times Bradson got the kids, Merrisah met us halfway.
“Yeah,” Bradson said. His short reply allowed me to notice the tension rising within his body.
Immediately, I pulled off the exit and took a right at the light. I picked my speed up to fifty-five miles per hour in a thirty-five mile per hour zone. Only seconds later, we were at the entrance area of the apartment complex. Bradson quickly told me the code to activate the gate to open. As soon as the gate opened enough for my car to fit, I caught my speed through the tight squeeze.
“I told you!” I yelled, when we pulled up to Merrisah’s building and noticed Alynn’s car parked right beside hers.
Before I could completely stop the car, Bradson flung his door open and ran for the stairwell leading to Merrisah’s apartment. Without time for me to find a parking space, I parked my Lexus t-boned with both Alynn’s, and Merrisah’s vehicles. The thought of getting towed for parking in the middle of the parking lot was far from my mind. I pressed the button to the ignition for my car to shut off. I flung my door open and hopped out of the car while my fingertips grazed along my door… barely giving it enough shove to close before chasing after Bradson.
“Nooo!” I heard him scream the moment I reached the bottom of the stairwell, causing my heart to speed. I skipped a stair on my way up to Merrisah’s apartment.
“What the fuck!” I yelled once I entered the apartment. Merrisah laid next to her dining room table with a gunshot wound right under her collarbone.
Snapping himself from observing Merrisah, Bradson stood up from the carpet and shot through the rest of the place. I took his spot next to her as he searched the apartment. As she laid unconscious, I took my shirt off and covered the wound to try and slow the bleeding. With my left hand pressed forcefully on top of her, I used my right index and middle finger to feel for a pulse from her carotid artery.
“Bradson! Call 911. She has a pulse!” I yelled throughout the apartment. Immediately, sounds of the bedroom doors opening and closing were replaced with footsteps pouncing against the floor.
“Here’s my shirt,” he said, once he rejoined me and noticed my bare upper body. “Go to the car and get the phone!” he demanded.
He kneeled and replaced my hand with his, so continuous pressure would be held against the wound. I stood to my feet and quickly threw the extra-large size shirt over my body. I turned from my place, and ran like a bullet through the kitchen until I was out of the apartment. After taking five steps down I heard sirens getting closer. Once I reached the bottom of the stairs, I noticed blue and red lights racing into the complex. I stood on the sidewalk and began to signal for the ambulance and officers to stop.
“Which apartment?” a female EMT asked, after a team exited the emergency vehicle and approached me.
I pointed in the direction of the only apartment that’s door was wide open. Three of them rushed past me, while the other two unloaded the stretcher from the bed of the ambulance. They moved quickly, but my eyes saw nothing but slow motion. Merrisah getting shot started to seem like a reality I could face. Alynn couldn’t have gone far. Her car was in the parking lot but she was nowhere to be found in the apartment. Anxiety began taking over me as soon as I realized I could have a gun barrel pointed at me, but then simmered when I remembered there were police around and she wouldn’t dare.
“Hello ma’am. Are you the one who called?” a male officer approached me to ask, which snapped my mind from wandering.
“No. I was about to but I had to get my phon-,” I began, but couldn’t finish.
“That’s her! I’m the one who called!” Alynn screamed, as she came rushing down the sidewalk toward the officer and me. She didn’t have shoes on and drenched herself in an act of tears.
“What? I just got here!” I said truthfully, as I looked her way wanting to kill her.
“Please come with me,” the officer whose badge read, G.S. Downing demanded.
He walked beside me across the parking lot, while a different officer instructed Alynn in the opposite direction to his vehicle. He asked my side of the story and I truthfully told him everything; the text message, the estimated time of arrival and what Bradson and I witnessed since we’d been there. It may have been irrelevant, but I even informed him of the fight Alynn and I got into the evening before! After listening to my story, he jotted my name, phone number and birth date on a small pad.
“We have a pulse!” an EMT shouted as they were railing Merrisah down the stairs in the stretcher. I directed my attention toward the team and noticed the oxygen tube they
shoved down her throat. Shirtless, Bradson followed behind them.
“Is everything alright over here?” Bradson asked as he approached the officer and I… after Merrisah was loaded into the back of the ambulance.
“I’m fine. Just answering some questions,” I replied after he placed his hand on top of my head and hugged me. Bradson kissed me on the forehead before the officer told us to give him a moment. He walked away from us, and Bradson’s eyes followed his movement as he met the other officer halfway in the middle of the parking lot. He didn’t notice Alynn had shown until he saw her standing against a police car on the opposite side of where both officers stood.
“She’s gonna die today,” he whispered. Just as he was about to flee toward her, I was one step ahead and grabbed his arm.
“There are cops out here!” I managed to get out of my mouth before he could release my hand from his wrist.
“My kids can’t go without their mother, Brilese!” he turned his eyes from Alynn’s direction, and yelled in my face.
“I know that but she’ll get what she deserves,” I lowered my tone. It killed me for him to acknowledge such pain in his heart in regards to Merrisah, but I understood where he was coming from. Although she was the mistress, she was still his two kids’ mother.
We watched the EMT’s speed out of the apartment complex as the sirens sounded. On their way out, a forensics team was pulling up to the scene. The crime scene investigators parked the vehicle behind the two police cars that were lined together before getting out of their SUV. A man and a woman approached the police officers and discussed each side of the stories with them. After they were through speaking, the investigators made their way up the stairwell as the officers parted ways.
“Do you mind coming with me for further questioning?” Officer Downing said, after he approached Bradson and I again.
“For what? The bitch shot my kid’s mother. We weren’t even here yet!” Bradson stated on behalf of me.
“There’s two different stories. I believe you two over her one, but I still have to follow protocol,” the tall, built African American officer informed us.
“Bradson, I’ll be fine. Take the car to the hospital to keep an eye on Merrisah,” I turned to Bradson to say.
I was nervous, but I didn’t want Bradson picking up on my energy. There were too many things happening at the moment for me to weaken. I had to be strong, although I was afraid. With Alynn setting me up, who’s to say the officers didn’t believe her?
“You sure?” Bradson asked, after he looked into my eyes and scrunched his forehead.
“Yeah,” I replied.
“Let me get your phone from the car so you can call me when you’re done,” he said before walking toward the Lexus.
The officer and I waited until Bradson walked back our way to hand my phone to me. He kissed me on the cheek before I followed Officer Downing to his police car. Once we reached his vehicle, the six-foot-tall officer reached his long arm in front of me to open the back car door. I noticed Alynn in the other police car before I crouched down and slid onto the hard plastic seat. After closing the door, Officer Downing took his seat in the driver’s side as I gazed out the window watching Bradson pull from the complex.
As we made our way to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police station, my mind began to spin. The Alynn I met and befriended was far from the person she had come to be. It’s one thing to become heartbroken, but she was going overboard. First, she friended Merrisah. Then, she fucked my man and ruined my wedding day. Lastly, I’m in the back of a police car due to her trying to set me up for a murder? She should have just shot me instead.
“Badge 1-9-3,” I snapped from my daze, and looked to notice the officer speaking into his walkie talkie.
I looked out the windshield from the backseat and noticed a gate leading to an underground garage in front of us. The gate opened once the officer informed the dispatcher that we were waiting outside. After taking his foot from the brake pedal, the cop drove down a slight slope and found a place to park his vehicle.
“Alright, Ms. Selters,” Officer Downing said, after he got out of the vehicle and opened the back door for me to get out.
I slid along the seat toward the opened door before getting out of the vehicle. Without even having cuffs on my wrist, I felt like a prisoner as him and I walked side by side toward the entrance. The garage was cold and smelled like mildew. The air even felt different than life outside of the gate we entered. I only had a chance to witness being an inmate one time and that was at sixteen years old for a high school fight. I swore to myself that I’d take all measures to make sure I didn’t have that experience again… but thanks to Alynn, I broke my own promise.
The officer held his badge to the card reader once we approached the door. After hearing the door lock click, he opened it and instructed me to go in ahead of him. I stepped inside the building onto the tile floor and waited a second for him to follow. He directed me down the hall, and around the corner until we reached what looked to be an interrogation room.
“Have a seat in here. Someone will be here shortly,” he stated, as he held the door open for me.
I did as I was told. I walked to the other side of the room and took a seat on the metal chair that was closest to the wall, and furthest from the door. Once the officer confirmed my compliance, I watched as he closed the door. As I sat waiting, I pulled my phone from the back pocket in my jean shorts.
How are things with Merrisah? I shot Bradson a text. From what I could remember thirteen years prior, cell phones weren’t allowed. But thankfully, on the way to the station the officer informed me I could have a cell phone unless I was being processed as an inmate.
“Ms. Selters,” a man in a suit opened the door and acknowledged me. From the looks of his business attire and clipboard I assumed he was a detective.
“Yes,” I replied, after leaning to the side to slide my phone back into my pocket.
“I reviewed both of the police reports,” he began, before taking a seat in the chair across from me.
“Okay?” I questioned after folding my arms on top of the table. He hesitated, which caused me to worry.
“Well, I believe your story one hundred percent,” he stated, with a pause before he continued. “But we have a problem.”
“What’s the problem? Bradson and I literally had just gotten to the apartment minutes before your department showed up,” I said honestly, with an attitude beginning to form.
“CSI found the gun and the bullet shell in the apartment. After researching the serial number, the gun is registered to you,” he informed me.
“That bitch stole my gun!” I yelled, as I slammed both palms on top of the table after standing to my feet. Tears began to form, and my heart rapidly began to beat. I was about to go to prison for being an accomplice to murder… and I wasn’t even there.
2
Bradson
She’s in surgery. I replied to Brilese’s text within minutes of receiving it, but after a few hours she still hadn’t replied.
Merrisah was out of surgery recovering in the ICU, so my focus was turned toward Brilese. With it being noon, she should have been out of the police station since going in a little after five that morning. She could have called Dezire instead to pick her up, but it was highly unlikely since Dezire was in Rock Hill.
Since I only had one bar on my iPhone, I thought it could have been the signal. I fled down the hall from standing outside of Merrisah’s hospital room until I reached the nearest elevator. I pressed the down arrow on the elevator and looked above the doors as I waited for it to reach my floor. I watched the lights on the numbers switch until the fourth floor signaled, and the doors opened in front of me. My day got worse the moment I noticed who was on the other side of the elevator doors once they were cracked.
“Where is she?” Merrisah’s mother met me in the hallway and asked. Merrisah’s father stood beside his wife without saying a word.
“Where are my kids?” I ig
nored her question, as we stood face to face.
“They’re with Kaylen. Where’s Merrisah and what happened?” she replied with agony. Her eyes were puffy, with dark circles formed around them as tears poured down her face. It was the first time I saw Mrs. Rayser let her guard down when it came to her upkept, businesswoman image.
I watched the numbers to the elevator relight after the doors closed again. After I walked past to reach the button on the elevator, I explained everything to Mrs. Rayser. I assured her that Brilese had nothing to do with the actions Alynn chose after explaining in detail of what happened. She told me Merrisah kept her up to date with everything, and she knew Brilese no longer meant for harm to come her way. I directed her to the hall and told her what room Merrisah was recovering in after the elevator re-approached, and I let myself on.
Without stopping for other patrons, the elevator let me out at ground level to the hospital. I jetted toward the main entrance and shot through the automatic sliding doors. Immediately, I looked down at my phone’s screen and waited for all five of the signal bars to show. My hands shook as I opened my call log app and dialed Brilese’s number.
“Hey, it’s Brilese. Leave a message,” her phone went straight to voicemail. With it being plugged into the charger all night long, I doubted it would be dead. It had been only a little over six hours with minimal phone usage.
Instead of going back into the hospital, I ran across the parking lot until I got to Brilese’s car. I pulled the key fob from my jean pocket and hopped in once it was unlocked. After the ignition was running, I backed out of the space and left the hospital. I was in a rush but there wasn’t a way I could allow myself to show at a police station shirtless. Halfway between the hospital and the station I stopped at a gas station to see if they had any five-dollar tees for sale.
