True Colors (book #1, The Masks Series)

by Melissa Pearl

“You don’t know shit about me.” Most would discern that his voice was quaking with rage, but I saw fear...more than fear. I could taste it. Something deeper, greater, was driving Liam to do this. I was still unsure if it would push him to put a bullet through my brain, but I couldn’t back out now. I kept staring at him, willing another layer to fall away and it did. I saw the guilt and shame and then past that, as another layer fell away, the hurt, the abandonment, the desperation.

  A pity for him began to stir within and I’m sure my expression folded to match it. “You don’t want to kill me, Liam. I know you don’t.”

  His eyes flashed, the shame and guilt pressing forward, followed swiftly by self-loathing and suddenly I knew. It all came clear as I studied his transparent expression.

  “You’ve seen someone die before, haven’t you? Watched the life leak out of their eyes.”

  “Shut up!” The gun shook in his hands, his blue eyes wild.

  “The smell of the blood as it poured from his head. The whisper of his last breath.”

  “Shut the hell up! I will shoot you!”

  “You want to go through that again? You want to be responsible for someone else’s death?”

  He blanched, the gun trembling in his hand. “It wasn’t me!”

  “Yes it was, Liam. You hit that man when you were trying to steal his car, didn’t you? Smashed him on the head with a tire iron and then you ran.”

  Liam’s lips pinched tight as all his emotions swirled together like a tornado. His voice was quaking as he yelled, “He was threatening my brother. He had a gun to his head. He was going to kill him. I had no choice!”

  I so needed to calm things down. Liam’s finger was still on the trigger and if it accidentally went off, I was dead.

  “I get that. You were protecting your brother.”

  “Mason was the one who finished him off.” Liam licked his lip, glancing at Indie as if seeking her approval somehow. He didn’t want her looking at him like he was a murderer. “I didn’t want to.” His lips wobbled. “It wasn’t my idea, but Mason said we had to or the guy would ID us and we’d get arrested. I can’t go to jail.”

  “You don’t have to go to jail.” Liam spun back around to face me. “You were just doing what you were told. That makes sense. You love your brother. He’s all you’ve got, right?”

  Liam nodded, the relief starting to spread. The gun was still aimed at me, but at least Liam’s hands had stopped shaking. I inched a little closer to him. “I know you’re a good person, Liam.” LIE! “You’ve just been doing what you were told. I know you don’t want to hurt Indie or anybody else. But it’s all you’ve ever known, isn’t it?”

  I had no idea where that line of thinking came from, but I suddenly saw it. A flash of a little boy cowering in the corner. The sick fear on his pasty white face, his bright blue eyes round with terror.

  “Shut up.” Liam closed his eyes.

  “Who used to beat you, Liam? Was it your dad?”

  He didn’t want to answer me, but couldn’t help a small head shake.

  “Your mom,” I said it softly.

  “Get out of my head,” he whispered through clenched teeth.

  “You hated her, didn’t you? You were pleased when she died. You were free to live however you wanted.”

  Liam’s lips pinched together. His eyes were open now, but he wouldn’t look at me. “You and Mason got to live the life you deserved, but then it all fell apart, didn’t it? Mason killed again...trying to protect you.”

  “He didn’t kill her! She fell down the stairs! It was an accident. If she hadn’t been trying to chase us, she wouldn’t have tripped.”

  “It wasn’t your fault.”

  “No! Even the cops said that.” His chin rose a little. He felt justified, but then that guilt crested over him again.

  “But the man, the innocent man. What do you think the cops would say about him?” I kept my voice as soft and calm as I could. In all honesty, I didn’t know how I was doing it.

  Liam’s eyebrows dipped together, his lips trembling as he drew in a ragged breath.

  “If you shoot me now, what will they say about it?”

  His nostrils flared.

  “You won’t get away with it this time...unless you plan on killing all of us. How will you hide the evidence this time? Where will you run? How will you live? Start up another cheating ring, get the rich kids to finance your life again?”

  “You don’t know shit!” The words jerked out of his mouth. “You rich bitches with your charmed life. You have no idea what it’s like. We did what we had to. We’ve never had the luxury of choice!”

  “I know that Mason’s been making all the decision for you guys. You don’t want to be this way...and you don’t have to, Liam. You have a choice.” I swallowed, praying this would work. I didn’t know how much longer I could keep going with this conversation. His gun hadn’t dipped or wavered once. Emotionally, he was at the point of breaking, but could I do it? I stepped towards him; the barrel of the gun was now only two inches from my face. “You can shoot me. You can watch my blood splatter across the room.”

  He flinched.

  “And then you’ll need to kill Micah.” I pointed to the floor. “And Libby.” I pointed across the room. “And Indie,” I said her name in a whisper, knowing it would tug at his heartstrings. He loved her. That much was clear. It was a warped love, but it was still real.

  “Do you want see the life leak out of her beautiful eyes? Do you want to see blood matting her hair? You’ll have to carry her limp body out of here. You won’t just want to leave her, will you?”

  Liam couldn’t take his eyes off Indie. His gaze traveled the length of her body, his eyes welling with tears.

  “Don’t be responsible for any more deaths, Liam. It’s time to become the person you want to be. Mason can’t control you anymore.”

  The air went still around us. I had nothing left to say, no more words to win him over. I’d seen Liam down to his core. He was a gaping wound to my eyes and I had nothing left to heal it.

  The wait was excruciating. I couldn’t take my eyes off Liam as I monitored his emotions. He couldn’t take his eyes off Indie. She kept her gaze steady, her expression tender. She didn’t feel any warmth or love towards him, but she was smart enough to put on a show.

  Finally, the gun dipped. I wanted to cry with relief as I stepped towards him and gently unhooked it from him. Shame, guilt, longing, agony were pulsing from Liam’s face. “I’m sorry,” he whispered to his girlfriend.

  She shook her head, her eyes glistening with tears.

  I nodded at Libby to untie Indie. I wasn’t sure how long this miracle would last.

  “Caity,” Micah said. “The gun.”

  I was about to frown and ask why, but I read his expression and there was nothing sinister within it. He was still pissed at Liam and I knew he wanted to kill him, but I saw honor outweigh that emotion, so I slid the gun across the floor. Micah caught it in his hand and unloaded it, making sure to empty the bullet from the chamber as well. He gave Liam a molten glare as he pocketed the bullets and tucked the gun into his jeans.

  Liam stumbled back on wobbly legs and fell into a chair. Dropping his head into his hands, he let out a hiccuping wail then began sobbing like a little kid.

  I wasn’t quite sure what to do. My first instinct was to comfort him, but I knew that was stupid. I needed to get Micah and Indie to the hospital. Libby wrestled with the last of the ropes. Indie eased off the bed, wincing in pain. Reaching for her dress, she pulled it on, biting her lips against a wail.

  “Let’s go,” she mouthed, her eyes still rich with fear.

  I was obviously missing something.

  Chapter 29

  I raced to Micah and helped him up. He leaned against me as we hobbled out of the room. Indie closed the door behind us and came around the other side of Micah.

  “I’m sorry.” She clung to his side. “I’m sorry.”

  He kissed the top of her head an
d tenderly squeezed her shoulder. “It’s okay. I’m fine.”

  “We have to get out of here.” Indie’s quivering voice pushed us down the hallway. “He does this sometimes. Falls apart and when he revives, it’s...it’s terrifying.” She shook her head and whispered, “Mason,” then walked forward before I had a chance to ask her what she meant.

  We got to the top of the stairs and were about to descend when Indie pulled us to a stop. “The memory stick.” She yanked it out of her dress pocket, rubbing her thumb over the smooth plastic.

  “What? Are you insane? You told us we had to get out of here,” Libby near yelled. “What about Mason? You just whispered his name, it must be important.”

  “Exactly. Mason. We need some kind of insurance...against both of them. They’re petrified of going to prison. If we have this evidence, it’ll protect us,” Indie whispered back urgently.

  “I want to get out of here. We have to get Micah to the hospital.” Libby argued back, pointing at our bleeding friend.

  Indie’s face crumpled, tears spilling from her eyes. After a quick read, I saw everyone was on the edge of losing it. I snatched the stick off Indie before I could think better of it.

  “You guys go. I’ll get the files and meet you at the hospital.”

  “What? No. We have to stay together.” Micah shook his head and winced.

  “I’ll be fine.” I touched his arm. “You, on the other hand, look like shit, so would you please just get out of here?” I turned to Libby. “You drive Micah’s car. Mine’s still at the beach. I’ll be five minutes behind you.”

  They all stood still at the top of the stairs, hesitating.

  “Go, you guys!” I nudged Libby to turn around. She reluctantly trotted down the stairs and I turned my pointed gaze to Indie. “Take care of him.”

  Indie nodded. “The files are in a folder marked Business. Just grab the whole thing.”

  “Okay.” I gripped the stick in my hand and took off towards the office, hoping Liam would remain a sobbing mess in his room and hoping that Indie, Libby and Micah would make it out of the house without Mason showing up.

  I listened to the front door slam and breathed a sigh of relief as I nudged the office door open with my shoulder. The stick nearly fell out of my hands as I sped to the computer and tried to jam it into the USB drive. Bringing the screen to life, I quickly found the folder Indie was talking about and dragged it onto the memory stick icon. I tapped my finger as I impatiently waited for the blue line to inch across the screen. The files were copying at a snail’s pace!

  The massive painted portrait of Indie and Maverick Swanson stared at me as I drummed my fingers on the desk. The opulent office was unnerving for some reason. I knew it had nothing to do with the decor and everything to do with the fact that I was fully freaking out. What if Liam came out of his room? What if he had another gun stashed in the house somewhere?

  I was near sweating blood as my imagination took flight...and then my insides spasmed as I heard a voice holler up the stairs.

  “Liam!” The front door slammed shut. “Liam! Where are you, man?”

  My head spun as I tried to control my erratic breathing. Mason. It had to be.

  The blue line inched across the screen. The copy was 60% through. Why the hell was it taking so long?

  “Liam! You home?”

  The voice came up the stairs. I held my breath as I listened for footsteps, willing them not to turn left towards me. My heart was thrumming out an uneven rhythm as I watched the door, convinced it would open in a moment and I’d be faced with Liam’s murdering brother. I wished I could remember what he looked like. My brain scrambled for the grainy image of his face, but I couldn’t find it.

  I thought I heard footsteps moving away from me and turned back to the computer just as it dinged, indicating the end of the download. I yanked the stick free and shoved it into my pocket.

  With my breathing on hold, I crept towards the door and eased it open. It took what felt like an eternity to find the guts to peek into the hallway, but I finally forced my head out. It was clear. Sucking in a breath, I slowly pulled the door wide enough to squeeze through, praying it wouldn’t creak. I was just turning for the back stairs Libby and I came up when I heard the shouting.

  “You idiot! Where are they now?”

  “I don’t know, man.” Liam wailed.

  “Well, what were they doing here? What’d they want?”

  “I just saw Indie and Micah and wanted to kill him...and punish her. I thought they were having an affair! My girl was cheating on me!”

  “I don’t give a shit about your girl, Liam. You’re pathetic! What was Caitlyn doing here?”

  “How do you know she was here?”

  I heard a sharp slap. “Focus, Liam! What did she want?”

  There was a long pause and I couldn’t move...until I heard Liam gasp and shout, “The computer! Shit! The files!”

  I bolted, nearly stumbling down the stairs as I made a beeline for the laundry room. I threw myself out of it, pushing open the fence and sprinting down the driveway. I didn’t want to look back. I hoped they were still in the office, fussing over the computer.

  Turning left, I took off down the street, willing my legs to move faster as I hurtled down the hill. My Mini was waiting for me, still looking out across the peaceful water. I scrambled for my keys, nearly ripping my jean pocket as I yanked them free. Fumbling them in my hands, I dropped them on the ground and scraped my knuckles as I collected them back up and shoved the key into the lock.

  My insides were shuddering as my trembling fingers shoved the key into the ignition and turned.

  Click. No rev, no life, no engine.

  “What? No, no please.” I gripped the wheel, near hysterical as I turned the key for a second time.

  Again with the click.

  Yanking my phone from my back pocket, I pressed the ON button and waited expectantly for my screen to come to life. Instead I got an empty battery symbol.

  “Not now! Please! No!”

  I threw the phone onto the passenger seat and thumped the wheel, resting my head against my hands. I wanted to dissolve into tears. My harrowing afternoon was catching up to me like a bullet train. I needed to get to the hospital. I needed to get away. I wanted Eric. I wanted to be able to talk to him and ask him to come and help me, but I couldn’t. I was alone and the thought was terrifying.

  Breaths punched out of me fast and erratic as I tried the key again, but to no avail. My car was dead.

  A black car pulled up beside me, making me jerk. I glanced over at the driver who gave me a friendly smile as he slammed his door shut. He was in shorts and a T-shirt, obviously ready to go for an afternoon run in the sand. He wasn’t a buff-looking gym guy, more of an athletic build, lean and muscly. It made me think of Eric, which just brought tears to my eyes. Reaching for my phone, I rubbed my thumb over the screen and tried it one more time. It was an idiot move. I knew the battery was dead, but I was desperate.

  Tears glistened in my eyes as I laid the phone back down and pushed the door open. I guessed my only other option was to walk.

  “Uh, excuse me?” The jogger looked ready to jump down to the sand and start his run. “Are you alright?”

  I gave him a glum smile. “Car trouble.” I shrugged.

  “Can I help at all?” He stepped towards me, his blue gaze friendly and warm. “I have a phone in my car if you want to call someone or I can take a look if you want me to.” He grinned. “I’m not a mechanic or anything, but I know a few things.”

  I couldn’t help smiling at his sweet expression. I was about to nod, open my door and pop the hood. I was about to let this guy help me, but then I saw the flash. I’d been too caught up in my angst to notice it at first. But it was there. I ripped off his mask and saw the rancor, the intent to kill.

  The blue eyes suddenly looked familiar, and I realized I was staring at Liam’s brother, Mason.

  Chapter 30

  My eyes bulged before I
could stop them and Mason must have noticed, because he grabbed my wrist as I started to step back from him.

  His grip was strong and unrelenting. He yanked me towards him, until I could feel his breath on my face.

  “Give me the memory stick,” he whispered.

  As much as it terrified me, I looked into his eyes, trying to peel back layers and get to his core like I did with Liam. Maybe I could unnerve him as well.

  But all I saw was evil. This guy was going to hurt me and he was going to enjoy doing it.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” My voice pitched.

  His grip tightened. “I know you took something from my computer and I want it back.”

  I shook my head.

  His free hand clamped around the back of my neck, painfully digging into my flesh. His blue eyes flashed bright and angry. “I warned you that if you didn’t back off, I’d introduce you to a new kind of pain. I wasn’t kidding.”

  Shit. Shit, he really wasn’t.

  My chin trembled as I fought the tears.

  “Give me the memory stick and I’ll let you off easy.”

  I winced as his fingers dug in. I wanted to give in. I wanted to rip the stick from my pocket and place it in his hands, but I couldn’t. Not after Indie had been beaten and Micah had been shot. How could I let them suffer and then just ruin it all by giving into my fear?

  I pressed my lips together and shook my head.

  “You’re making a mistake, Caitlyn.”

  His malicious grin made my flight reflex kick in big time. My knee came up, just the way it used to when Toby was being a jackass and trying to wrestle with me. Seth taught me how to do it. I didn’t connect as soundly as I wanted to, but it was enough to make Mason buckle and loosen his grip.

  I turned and sprinted. Why I chose the sand, I do not know. I should have run up the street, raced for someone’s house and banged on the door, but no - I chose the lumpy, uneven surface to make my escape on.

  Terror had turned my brain to putty. I pumped my arms and begged my legs to keep moving. My ankle turned in the soft sand, but I managed to collect myself before falling. Taking a quick peek over my shoulder, I saw Mason gaining on me. Damn, he was fast.