Mackenzie Legacy, The (6 page)

Her heart softened, and she looked up to face him, her eyes glittering in the reflected lights. “There is no one better.” She stretched up to kiss him softly, stroking the back of his neck. He made a little involuntary sound, a cross between a whimper and a sigh, and pulled her tight against him.

His breath grew regular, and they both relaxed as their kiss lingered. She melted into him, and they calmed each other down like only they knew how.

A pair of girls passed them on the sidewalk, giggling to each other. “Get a room!” one of them called back to them over her shoulder.

Calvin pulled away, smoothing a stray curl back from Cali’s cheek with a look of pure love on his face. “My thoughts exactly.”

~

Chapter Seven

BLACKMAIL

~

Layla looked across the desk, her eyes boring into the red face of the man who sat opposite her. Spread out in front of him were a series of pictures– shocking images she did her level best to avoid looking at.

Max wasn’t interested in going after anything as complex as trading fraud; he didn’t understand the vagaries of banking, but what he did know was human nature, and he was ruthless enough to exploit it mercilessly.

His favorite method of blackmail was to send a girl to target a wealthy man, luring him back to the estate where he had a “party room” rigged with cameras and microphones. After recording every last intimate detail of their encounters, he’d send e-mails and texts of the raunchiest images, threatening to post everything online if they wouldn’t meet with him.

Once they gained entrance to the offices of the rich and powerful they found men already inclined to negotiate, men with families and reputations to uphold. The tactic made Layla’s job easier, because they were already afraid by the time she got to them. All she had to do was amplify their emotions to get the best possible return on what Max called his “investment”.

“I didn’t get that last series… Can you repeat the account number?” Michael asked from his seat alongside Layla. His fingers were flying on the keyboard of his laptop as he took dictation while his sister mined another pathetic man for information.

“But- but… That’s my daughter’s college fund,” the man said, sweat beading on his upper lip. He looked up at Max with pleading eyes.

Max cleared his throat from his position by the door. He always came along, just in case a particularly stubborn victim could resist Layla’s laser-like focus. Layla could see that the big oaf relished inflicting pain just a little too much, and it made her manipulations seem almost merciful in comparison.

She sighed. “Mister Bransford, imagine what your daughter would think if she saw these pictures.” Her practiced eyes bored into his, sending him a gut wrenching blast of dread and fear. “Not to mention Mrs. Bransford… Now please give us the account password and we’ll be on our way.”

He finally started to speak, his hands trembling. When it was all over Layla rose from her seat, not sure if she was more disgusted with Max or herself. Mr. Bransford and his perversions came in a close third. She turned to leave the room, and if the big man at the door had the courage to look directly into her eyes he would have received the full brunt of her anger and despair.

She walked out to the parking lot, listening to Max praise her brother, both of them cracking jokes about the lewd photos they’d left behind. “I held back a few of the best ones,” Max laughed, climbing into their waiting car. “I think we’ll be back to pay him another visit one of these days.”

“Cheer up Layla, he was just another whoremonger like all the rest of ‘em,” Michael told her as they drove away.

She cast him a scathing glare. “And what does that make you?”

Michael had no problem spending time with the same girls that Max used to lure the rich and powerful into compromising positions. Layla knew that Max was behind their sudden interest in her brother, but Michael didn’t care. He was a fool for a giggling girl with bouncing boobs and batting eyelashes.

Between witnessing the foibles of the men they blackmailed, and watching an assortment of bimbos wrap Michael around their fingers, Layla’s opinion of men in general was not a good one.

She turned to look out of the tinted windows for the rest of the drive home, watching a couple on a motorcycle fly past them. She recalled an image of Cali, speeding away on the back of her boyfriend’s bike, her hair billowing behind her like a golden flag of freedom. Caledonia had spoken glowingly of her boyfriend, and the image of Calvin as the ideal man loomed large in Layla’s psyche.

They pulled up to the estate, waiting for the driver to punch in the security code. Michael reached over to pat her on the arm. “Come on Layla… Don’t be upset. Let’s do something fun today. Hey– Julie wants me to take her shopping today… Why don’t you come with us? We could all go out to eat after.”

Layla didn’t much care for Michael’s latest girlfriend, but she could see that he was contrite, and at least he was making an effort to be kind. “Okay.”

“Can I take the Mercedes?” Michael asked Max.

Max adjusted the rear-view mirror so that he could see
Layla
. “Sure kid… Just keep an eye on your sister, alright? Show her a good time.”

~

The three of them drove to an upscale shopping district, parking and walking along the boulevard. Layla admired the extravagant window displays, inspecting the expensive and beautiful things arrayed on mannequins that mocked her with their pleasant faces. Julie took Layla’s arm and dragged her into a high-end clothing store, asking for her advice with an insincere smile.

Layla gazed through the window to see Michael sitting outside, fiddling with his phone. A couple of teenagers on the next bench over caught her attention, and she watched them with fascination. The boy reached over tentatively, taking the girl’s hand in his. She smiled shyly at him and his colors expanded. Layla stood transfixed, a lump forming in her throat as she watched their sweet emotions rise and blend.

“Earth to Layla,” Julie called mockingly, drawing her attention from the young love blooming outside. She held up a sequined blouse. “Isn’t this cute?”

“Uh huh,” Layla nodded, flipping absentmindedly through a rack of jewel-toned cardigans. Her all-seeing eyes were drawn back to the drama playing out on the bench outside. Layla wondered what it would feel like to be that girl sitting on that bench, having a boy she really liked reach out for her so sweetly. She sighed, fingering the fine cashmere. She could have all the nice things she wanted, but all she wanted was the one thing she could never have.

“Do you think Michael will like me in this?” Julie asked, thrusting another garment in Layla’s face.

Layla looked back at the raven haired girl. Pale olive green betrayed her anxiety, but she kept trying to make small-talk, chattering on and on about things that Layla could care less about. Layla wondered why she even bothered, suddenly realizing that Max had no doubt ordered up this whole event to try and tamp down her growing dissatisfaction.

She sighed mournfully, looking out the store window to see the couple wandering off, hand in hand. Michael was still engrossed in his phone.

“Well?” Julie asked. Her patience was wearing thin.

“Why should I care?” Layla replied, watching her irritation grow. The girl turned on her heel and went out to complain to Michael. She could see both of them looking in at her, frustrated that she wouldn’t play along with their little charade.

Michael embraced his annoyed girlfriend, running his hands down her body to cup her backside, and Layla looked away with a snort of disgust. Here she was, expected to be content in her captivity, while Michael rudely groped his tramps in public. When she thought about everything she’d done to protect him she started to wonder why she even bothered.

“Can I help you miss?” a friendly salesgirl asked.

Layla reached in her bag for the charge card Max had given her as a reward for demolishing a major Hollywood producer. Lately, the pickings had been slimmer, and he’d admonished her to “go a little easy” on the spending.

She held up the pricey sweater with a smile. “I’ll take one of these in every color.”

~

She suffered through lunch, resenting every giggling flirtatious comment Julie made to Michael. Layla looked away when they kissed, noticing how Julie grabbed Michael’s thigh under the table. She’d never even been on a date, and now she had to sit and watch Michael and Julie suck each other’s faces. It was enough to make her want to puke.

Layla broadcasted a blast of annoyance directly into the server’s unsuspecting eyes, watching with amusement as the waitress’s interactions with Michael and Julie grew increasingly snippy. She toyed with the busboy out of annoyance, making him forget what he was doing when he looked up from the next table to see her brown and green eyes.

Increasingly agitated, she excused herself, slipping past the restroom and out the door to wander down the street. She stopped to look in shop windows, failing to see anything that piqued her interest. She saw the reflection of her curly hair in the glass and thought about Cali again, wondering what sort of exciting adventures she was having.

A car horn blasted, startling her. She spun around to see that a van had pulled up at the curb, and watched the door slide open to reveal Max’s amused face.

“Nice try,” he said, gesturing for her to climb in the back seat where Michael sat in a cloud of dark blue shame, looking like a dog that had just been scolded. Julie was nowhere to be seen.

Her brother folded his arms across his chest. “Why can’t you just be happy?”

~

When they got back home she stormed out of the van and up to her room, throwing herself onto the bed. There was a rapping on the door, and she sat up, a little shiver of fear running down her backbone.

“Yes?” her voice was higher than normal.

Michael slipped inside, closing the door quietly. He came over and sat down on the end of her bed. He was a strange mix of colors, violet concern blending with celery green annoyance.

“Nice job. Max is not very happy with you.”

Her eyes narrowed with suspicion, “So he’s having me followed now?”

“He says he’s worried about you… He thinks you’re too emotional, and you’re going to get us all into trouble.”

“
I’m
going to get us in trouble?” she was incredulous.

“He’s worried… He thinks one of our…
clients
… might come looking for revenge. He doesn’t want you to put yourself in a vulnerable–”

She rolled her eyes. “He’s not worried about me! He thinks I’m going to run away.”

“Listen– If you don’t cool it he’s not going to let you come out with us anymore.”

She set her jaw with a defiance she didn’t quite feel inside. “I don’t care.”

“Me and Julie were just trying to show you a good time. What do you want anyway?”

She thought for a minute. “I want to go to college… I want to live in a dorm with other students. I want to be on my own. I want to be…
normal
.”

“But you’re not normal.
We’re
not normal. The professor made sure of that.”

“Cali’s like me, and she’s on her own. I want to find her… I want to find out what happened to her.”

He winced a tiny bit at the mention of her name. “She probably doesn’t want anything to do with us… She probably hates us for helping Teddy catch her.”

“
You’re
the one that nearly got her killed.”

He looked down, bitter shame clouding his already muddled colors. “What’s done is done.”

She folded her arms across her chest. “Well, I for one am getting
out
of here.”

“
Really
?” he said mockingly. “Exactly where do you think you’re gonna go?”

“I don’t know… I’ll figure something out. Max can’t keep me prisoner here forever.”

“Then leave already!” He was frustrated. “We can get by just fine without you!”

“Max threatened to hurt you if I didn’t go along with his plans.”

He looked shocked. “What?”

She nodded seriously. “He’s not your friend.”

“Exactly what did he say?”

“He said it would be a shame if I was responsible for your unhappiness…”

He laughed at her, “Seriously? That’s it?”

“You didn’t hear the
way
he said it. He was threatening me.”

“Ooooh, scary,” he said sarcastically.

Her voice rose, “He was using you to control me… Just like Teddy did!”

He scoffed, “I know he thinks you’re being a pain in the ass, but there’s no way Max would do anything to me. I’m his right hand man… He needs me to help him move the money around.” His chest puffed out, supremely confident, “If you want to go, just go. I bet after one week on your own you’ll come crawling back begging!”

“But Michael…”

He stood up, straightening his blazer irritably. It was such a Max-like gesture it made her shudder. He shook his head at her in disappointment, walking out of the room.

Layla had been trapped her whole life, but she’d never felt so completely alone. She was being denied a life of her own in order to feed Max’s thirst for money, and now her only ally had deserted her. How would she ever go to school or meet someone nice? Get married and have a family?

She needed to strike out on her own, but she was paralyzed by fear.

Layla threw herself back down, crying her heartbreak out into the feathers of her pillow. She curled into a ball, her sobs trailing off as she drifted away to an uneasy sleep. Soon, her hands and feet started gently twitching as she was captured in the gossamer net of a vividly colored dream.

~

The old woman was standing at the door of a big country home, waving a greeting. She donned a straw hat, tying it under her chin with a blue ribbon. She smiled warmly, stepping down from the grand porch and gesturing for Layla to follow her as she walked along a path to the garden behind the house. The air was fragrant with blooming roses, a charming birdbath perched on a pedestal, and the air was filled with the scent of lavender.