Deception (14 page)

Julian pulled a fifty from his wallet and slid it across the counter.

“One more.”

He sighed, but complied.

She scooped up the money and placed it in her bra. “She’s renting the unit a week at a time.”

“An entire week, as in seven days?” Julian clarified.

“That is what I meant by a week.”

“Thank you. Do you have any additional information?” Everett asked.

“She’s kind of high maintenance. Just called down for some clean towels. Said hers were dirty.”

“No, I mean regarding her rental of the unit.”

“Look, I don’t ask any questions. Long as the room gets paid for, I leave the tenants alone. She’s in room thirty-five. She turned and disappeared through the archway.

Everett looked to Julian. “I guess we’ll have to seek our answers from Maura.”

“Good luck.” Julian scoffed and led the way out to the parked truck being careful to avoid the crumbling concrete beneath his feet. “She’s full of lies and secrets. I don’t even know why you’re bothering with her.”

“Dad asked for my help.”

Julian shrugged.

“She could be in real danger, Julian. Alan Douglas has some questionable investors and even more questionable are his actual investments. Put aside your old wounds and look at this objectively.”

Julian shook his head. What did Everett know about wounds? He’d never had a committed relationship with a woman. Julian was sick of everyone making light of his situation. “Just drive me home.”

Everett turned the engine over at about the same time an Audi A8 pulled in alongside the blue Corolla.

Julian watched as Alan unfolded from the driver’s side and cautiously approached the door of room thirty-five. He knocked. It didn’t take long for the door to open. They conversed for a few seconds and then he was inside.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” Julian said.

Everett killed the motor. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going over there.”

“What? Why? She clearly wants him there. She opened the door and let him inside.”

“She may have thought it was the towel delivery, and I’m not so sure she let him inside so much as he pushed his way in.”

“I didn’t see any signs of a struggle.”

“No, but we wouldn’t be able to see much from the truck.” He hopped out and ambled toward the room. Julian followed behind.

They stood before the door listening, but no sounds emerged. Everett gave an impatient shrug. Julian rapped on the door. Silence ensued. He knocked again and heard shuffling inside. The door opened and he stood toe to toe with Maura. Her chin trembled and her eyes blinked rapidly. Suddenly she leapt forward, wrapping herself around Julian, holding so tight he found it hard to breathe. She whispered, “Please help me. I’m sorry, Julian. Please don’t leave me here. I’m sorry.”

His hands went to her back and rubbed to comfort. “Shh. I’m not leaving you.”

Alan stood in the doorway, leering in a custom suit and tie. “It’s a regular reunion. Maura, you should invite them in to your humble abode. You used to be much more hospitable.”

Everett stepped forward. “Everett David, Maura’s attorney.” He extended his hand, but Alan didn’t bite. Instead, he let loose a laugh so big it caused Maura to cringe in Julian’s arms.

“Maura, have you been spreading lies about me? Don’t believe a word she says, she’s a master of deceit.”

Maura pulled away from Julian, her face turning red. She folded her arms across her chest. Wisps of tangled hair blew into her red, wet face. “I’m not.” She looked determinedly at Julian. “I’m not!” Alan continued to snicker.

“Since you two have interrupted what promised to be a very intimate evening, I shall bid you adieu. Until next time, sweet.” He stepped toward Maura, intent to lay his hands on her. That was the moment Julian lost his fucking mind—he’d kill him where he stood. His fist went flying at Alan’s face, catching him square in the nose. His nose gushed in horror movie fashion staining his shirt with flowers of rich red blood. Maura screamed and turned her face into Everett’s chest. Julian threw another punch, but Alan deflected it and threw one of his own that clipped Julian on the jaw. And then a gun was pulled. Julian’s only thought was to protect Maura, but she’d wailed and dashed for the gun.
No
! Julian pulled her back, his hands around her waist. Alan held the gun, pointing from Julian to Maura.

“Step back.” Alan wiped his bloody mouth against his sleeve. “I have a permit to carry this weapon and as I’ve been attacked I could kill you and no one would even think twice. I don’t care what kind of connections your father has.”

Maura’s gasp pierced his gut and Julian winced. “Fuck you. I’ll kill you as you stand there, even if it means my life in return.”

“
Please
,” Maura pleaded.

“What’s that, sweet? Are you pleading for my life or his?”

“Both. Please,” Maura answered.

“I agree. Can we not solve this peacefully?” Everett questioned and then pulled Maura and Julian toward the side of the building.

“Don’t worry sweet, I don’t feel like answering a bunch of questions today. He placed the revolver inside his jacket. Just know”—his eyes scanned from Julian to Maura to Everett—“I won’t go down without a fight and without taking a few with me.” He looked at Maura as he pointed to Julian. “Have him tell you about the time he set fire to his fiancée and watched her burn to death.”

The look of sheer horror on Maura’s crimson sweaty face made Julian cringe.

Uncomfortable silence ensued. Maura looked down to her feet as she rubbed her arms. “I thought it was a fresh towel delivery.” She audibly inhaled and then she looked intently into Julian’s eyes. “I know you think I’m a liar, but I’m not. I wouldn’t have opened the door. I can’t stand him touching me. I can’t stand it! I want to crawl out of my skin, peel it from my body!” Her voice was high, tight, and loud. It sounded painful. The door to room thirty-four opened and a woman emerged. She took in the sight and went back into her room.

Julian pulled her toward him and her head went down to his chest and rubbed back and forth there. His gaze connected with Everett’s. He read worry in his brother’s face. “I’ll just gather your things.” He left Julian with Maura in his arms on the sidewalk in front of room thirty-five.

“I didn’t know,” she wept.

“Hush now.” He comforted her, rubbing her back. Why had she not asked about the information Alan had given her? He’d seen the look on her face. She’d heard it as clearly as he had.

The drive back home was wrought with tension. Julian sat in the backseat with Maura. She wouldn’t look in his direction, but sniffled as she stared out the window. Everett watched from the rearview mirror, frowning at Julian.

“I guess you heard the great news about Bailey,” said Everett.

“Yes, it’s wonderful that she’ll no longer have to go to dialysis. She’s been going for so many years it’s become routine for her.”

“She misses you.”

“I miss her.”

“You haven’t been gone that long.” Julian offered.

“No, but I think she worries.”

Julian scoffed. “For good reason. You’ve got to start acting like a woman whose ex-husband is trying to do her harm. You can’t go gamboling about whenever you get a notion.”

“I wasn’t gamboling about. I was trying to find a new rental home, but all of my applications were denied.”

“Why were they denied?” Everett asked.

“I don’t know, I have impeccable references.”

“It’s Alan.” The son of a bitch was deliberately trying to sabotage her and keep her in his home.

Maura sighed. “I suspect it is.”

“You could have pressed charges.” Julian didn’t intend to say that aloud, but it had been a question that constantly turned over in his mind.

“What?”

“For what he did to you. He brutally raped you.”

With Everett stopped at a red light, everything went quiet. Maura looked down at her hands that she was wringing. Everett forever frowned in the mirror at Julian. They all rode a few more blocks in silence. The only sounds were the hum of the motor and an occasional snivel from Maura.

“He said you could witness that he wasn’t unwelcome in my home…or my bed. That he walked in and wasn’t refused. That he had his bags and expressed his intentions to stay in my room. He said I would have to get an invasive medical examination and male cops would take my detailed statement, along with photographs of my body.” Her lips quivered as she looked into his eyes. “I don’t care what he does to me. I don’t want to go through that.”

He pulled her onto his lap and she let him. This woman had the ability to break him down, do things he otherwise wouldn’t. She had so many problems he should run, not walk, in the other direction, and yet he couldn’t let her go. She was like a baby bird who had fallen from her mother’s nest. He’d be the one to take her in and nurse her back to health and lose his heart in the process.

***

Standing at the foot of the massive staircase in the David home Maura felt unsettled, out of place. “Where’s Bailey?”

“They left this afternoon for Grand Isle—be back in a few days.”

Maura pulled her sweater tighter around her body.

“Have you eaten?”

“No, but I’m not hungry, thank you. I really just want to go to bed.”

Scratching his head Julian sighed. “Well, you know the way.” His footsteps retreated deep into the house. Strained was the only way to describe their relationship. Would she ever feel comfortable around him? Wondering how he viewed her now, after the events of the evening, she climbed the stairs, using the banister to aid her waning strength.

What was that Alan had said? Horrible things…
he set fire to his fiancée and watched her burn to death
. Maura shuddered. If that was the dark in Julian’s past then it was no wonder he deemed himself unworthy of female, or even human companionship. He didn’t have any friends that Maura had ever seen. He just worked and stayed at the house—alone in his room with his thoughts. He was governing his own life sentence. Evidently he’d been acquitted. The story didn’t add up. For the life of her Maura couldn’t picture Julian as a man possessed to do those horrible acts. There was another side to the story—a side even Julian wouldn’t allow himself to believe.

The bed in the mint-green room was fresh, the sheets crisp and cool against her skin. She was so exhausted she didn’t even bother to undress. Denim seemed to cinch tighter around her waist as she sunk into the bed, but she was in that lull just before sleep and she couldn’t move a muscle.

“Maura.”

A hand on her arm jolted her from sleep, the events of the day causing her to be a bit jumpy.

“I brought you some tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich.”

The scent of toasted bread and cheese wafted around, causing her stomach to rumble. “Smells good.”

She walked over to the small table where Julian had set up the meal. He sat across from her, intent to watch her eat. With nothing to focus on but her, his plans made Maura self-conscious, but she was too hungry to care. Toasted cheese was the best tasting thing in the world and as it hit her taste buds she moaned, only slightly caring that he watched her. A smile curled his lips and she giggled.

“I guess I was hungrier than I thought.”

“Maura, I don’t want to be lied to.”

Damn, his mood swings would rival any bipolar sufferer. Up, down; left, right; hot, cold. Placing her sandwich on the plate she then wiped her fingers on a napkin. “Julian, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your family’s influence in my life. You saved my sister and now you’re saving me. I understand you’re afraid of being hurt by another person. I’m sorry if I’ve done something to upset you—”

“You haven’t, but Alan has. He had his hands on you, his fingers on you. He was inside of you.”

Maura flinched at his words. “Please stop talking.” She held her hand up to stall his words. “I know he did all of those things, but it’s not what I wanted. You have to believe me.” Her gaze caught his, her face twisted in a plea so hard it physically hurt. “I wasn’t there with him like I was with you. I don’t remember the details. I don’t want to remember them. Please don’t force me to.” She looked away from his intense scowl. “I remember your soft passionate lips and fingers. I remember your soft laughter and gentle caress. That’s all that’s on my mind, singed into my memory. The other stuff was what I had to do to survive. The love we made was what my body, soul, and mind desired. I’m sorry Julian, but I’m not lying to you.”

“You lied about renting a house.”

He said the words with low volume and zero facial or body affect. “I didn’t lie. I never said I’d rented a home. Did I?”

“That’s how you’re going to spin it? I should let you off the hook on the grounds that you didn’t come out and state you’d specifically rented a house?”

The bits of sandwich in her stomach were churning and reflux in the form of burnt toast and cheese backed up into her esophagus. “No, I don’t want you to let me off the hook. I just…” Maura leaned into the table, placing her forehead in her hand. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

Definitely—she definitely was going to be sick. She ran to the bathroom and lifted the toilet seat, spewing the contents of her stomach into the bowl. Dry heaves wracked her body and she felt her back pull and crack from the force. Once it was over she stood and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. At the sink she washed her hands and rinsed her mouth. She sensed his presence all the while watching her from the door jamb that he casually leaned against. Must be nice for him to be so at ease while she puked up her guts. After all, nobody accused him of lying or enjoying abuse.

“Maura, are you okay?” He whispered.

“Look Julian, I’m tired so can we pick up this interrogation tomorrow?”

“Just tell me why you left a place where you would have been kept safe and free from him.”

She looked away, shaking her head in disbelief. “Why do you think I left? You weren’t happy with me here. You wouldn’t listen when I tried to tell you the truth. Our night together meant more to me than it did to you.” Her courage renewed, she caught his piercing green gaze. “I left because of you. It doesn’t feel good to be unwanted.” If he wanted to know why she’d left, she’d tell him. “Honestly I thought we’d moved through our issues. The night we made love I thought something had changed, but the next morning I could see things hadn’t changed so much for you. I don’t think you’ll ever know how much that night helped me or what it meant to me to have your hands be the last to touch my skin. Not his.
Yours.
I don’t regret it at all, but I thought it best to leave. I never thought Alan would find me.”