Thin Ice 6 - Hangman & Socrates (8 page)

*****

Blue watched her as she walked, wondering what in the world would bring her back to this place. He readily admitted the house and ground were majestic. Green grass flowed seemingly endless across the pristine yard. There were huge sculptures adorning the fountains that had to cease to flow in front of the house. Even with the police tape all over it, the house still said money, and plenty of it. He sighed deeply also knowing it was a beautiful prison that Lauren had been caged inside of for years while her insane father did all manner of evil to her. She would never tell him everything that happened before she was rescued, but Blue could only guess. He sighed deeply knowing he was hopeless. Blue never followed women. He never wondered about them every waking moment, or was insecure about seeing them again the next day. Lauren had done something to him. She cast a spell on his heart and he happily accepted it. He loved her and there was nothing he wouldn’t do to protect her. Kenny was definitely on his short list of quick fixes. He was heading over to the school and waiting for him this afternoon. A couple of his boys volunteered to come along and help him whip that ass.

Returning his attention to Lauren, he noticed she’d disappeared inside the massive structure.
Shit, now what,
he thought worried someone could be in the house and hurt her. Taking a deep breath, Blue got out of the car and began carefully making his way up the grassy hillside on the opposite side wanting to come in the back and hopefully find her undetected and keep an eye on her.

“
Shit, this is a big ass lawn,” Blue mumbled climbing the hill and soon finding himself out of breath.

The door looked like it hadn’t gotten any closer, yet his car seemed miles away. Stopping for a moment, hands on his knees, Blue caught his breath. He prayed Lauren didn’t flip and get mad at him. He wasn’t trying to stalk her or anything; he was genuinely worried about her. Blue began his journey again with renewed vigor, finally reaching the door, which was also taped shut with a do not cross swatch of police tape. Carefully maneuvering his way under the tape Blue tried the knob on the massive back door. It turned easily under his weight and opened. He carefully and quietly entered finding himself standing in a superbly decorated outdoor sunroom. It was of course glass encased, but the view was magnificent.

“
Damn,” he swore softly aloud.

He’d heard about Carlo’s wealth and extravagance but standing inside it was different. The table that adorned the room was pure Italian marble and he was sure the fine detailing was real gold. The chairs were regal for lack of a better word, done in an exquisite coral green and burnt orange. There was a fully stocked bar with heavy solid oak barstools. Blue noted that none of the liquor seemed to be disturbed.
Guess they just came in and arrested him and kept it moving,
he thought finally turning and heading into the inner sanctum of the house. He prayed he got lucky and found Lauren quickly as he surveyed the depth and width of rooms before him realizing if she had a mind to hide it would take him weeks to find her.

*****

Lauren was on a mission. She quickly put her book bag down in the hallway, emptying the contents onto the floor. Stuffing the 3k she had back into the small outer pouch, she picked up the otherwise empty bag and headed down a long marbled hallway toward the small room contained on the end. Lauren sighed deeply passing the master bedroom, refusing to even look in that direction. Her mind began screaming at her all the hell she’d endured there.
Go wreck it, destroy everything in it,
her vindictive nature was urging. Sighing deeply Lauren pushed it from her mind, at least for now. She had a goal to accomplish and was praying hard everything was still where she needed it to be. Reaching the small door, Lauren opened it, ignoring the loud squeaking. There was no one else in the house, so noise was the least of her worries. Standing in front of the now open door she smiled seeing all the linens, towels, soaps, and other household essentials looking back. Her heart lifted, knowing the secret was still safe.

The police and Federal Agents had searched the house of course and taken anything that resembled cash, bonds, or paperwork with which to indict her father. Finding this closet still intact let her know they hadn’t been as thorough as they thought. Quickly removing the linens from the middle shelf and tossing them discarded onto the floor behind her, Lauren flipped the shelf up, revealing what would appear to be a small crack in the wooden shelf. Sliding her finger along the crack Lauren pressed firmly at the base of the splinter, three times in rapid succession. The wall behind the linen closet began to slowly and laboriously slide open sending everything on the shelves in front of it crashing to the floor, revealing the large dark opening behind it. Lauren slung her book bag over her shoulder once more and stepped over the mess at her feet, venturing down the hidden staircase, using her hands along the wall to guide her. She had memorized the number of steps, carefully navigating all twenty-six of them before she reached bottom, feeling for, and finding the light switch, illuminating the room.

Lauren allowed her eyes to adjust to the light before looking around the room and finding everything exactly the way it was. She shivered involuntarily as her eyes glanced a corner and the contents it contained. Willing herself to look away, Lauren walked over to the coffee table enclosed and laid the book bag down. This was Carlo’s private haven. He came here to smoke his drugs and get high. He also did other unspeakable things here that Lauren didn’t want to think about. The furnishings were a far cry from the decadent extravagance of the main house. Everything in this room reeked of age and poverty. It was as if he were trying to resurrect some segment of his past. Lauren looked at the flower patterned side chair that Carlo for some reason loved and would never part with. It was a ragged shell of what it may have been back during its heyday. The fabric was tearing and the stuffing protruding out. It was dirty and in dire need of cleaning. Lauren had only been allowed in this room three times that she could remember, but the horrors contained were more than enough to keep her from wanting to come back. Today was different though. She had to come back. This was her ticket to freedom.

Sighing deeply she headed for the sink, opening the cabinet beneath it. She had to get on her knees to look under the massive double sided cavern that sat inside the cabinet and again feel her way between the two sides of the sink when she finally touched the small metal object she sought. Lauren quickly retrieved the key and rose headed to the other side of the room. As she got closer to Carlo’s special corner, she stopped, trying to summon the courage to walk into it. Swallowing hard she finally forced her feet to move and walked over to the large wooden armoire, sliding the key inside and opening it. Once again Lauren had to remove the shelving and open the small panel behind them to reveal the safe. It was a combination lock and fortunately Carlo had given her the numbers to unlock it during one of their talks. Her father spent a lot of time giving her life advice, Lauren thought as she turned the tumblers.
Too bad none of it was about how to forget your father was the first man ever to have sex with you,
she continued to ponder as she turned to the last digits and popped the safe handle. The door opened without effort rewarding her with the treasure she sought. All fear and reservations gone now, Lauren quickly grabbed stack after stack of cash, transporting them back to the book bag, filling it to capacity. She grabbed another small tote bag she found in the room and finished emptying the safe, quickly filling that one as well. Lauren knew the safe contained almost a half million dollars and that would definitely keep her hidden the year she needed to finally turn eighteen.

*****

Blue heard the noise and immediately began heading for its source. He arrived on the third floor of the house, finding it once again deathly silent. Taking a deep breath he continued to wait and listen, praying Lauren would make another sound so he could find her. Looking down the long hallway, Blue thought he saw something and began walking toward it. He took in the house as he walked, finding it just a regal as the other floors he’d passed on his way up. Carlo definitely knew how to live. He took in the artwork hanging from the walls, all masterpieces from various French and European painters. The marbled floors were exquisitely polished, causing him to walk gingerly on them, even knowing the house was now deserted. Blue looked up to find himself standing in front of a bedroom. Curious he walked inside.
This had to be Lauren’s room,
he thought as he enjoyed the soft pastel pinks of her curtains and walls. The bed was canopy with a sheer topper that made it look royal. Her dolls lined shelf after shelf in the room. Blue walked over and opened her closet revealing row upon row of clothing, shoes, hats, and accessories. Everything a girl could want, Lauren had. Blue walked into the adjoining bathroom, the pink accessories matching the outer bedroom. He smiled slightly trying hard to reconcile the Lauren he knew now with the soft frilly little girl who had inhabited this room at one time.

Another noise broke his thought and brought him quickly back to the hallway trying to disseminate which direction the sound resonated. Holding his breath and listening, the sound came again, closer this time as Blue turned to his right and continued down the hallway, quickly seeing the mess left in the floor and the obviously hidden stairwell illuminated now by one softly glowing light. Checking his pocket, Blue felt the .38 still in place and carefully made his way down the stairs, praying none of the creaked and gave away his presence just yet. Reaching the midpoint of the staircase, he leaned down trying to get a visual of the room and who might have been inside it. He could only see a couple of chairs from his perch and continued down the rest of the stairs in front of him. Reaching the bottom finally, he saw Lauren. She was on her knees, back to him, clutching something and sobbing hysterically. Not wanting to startle her, and knowing how deadly Lauren could be, Blue made his way directly behind her, reaching out and putting both arms around her, holding her tightly so she couldn’t swing on him. Lauren immediately began to struggle as he spoke in her ear.

“
It’s just me baby, calm down,” Blue told her gently. “I didn’t want to scare you,” he added as she recognized his voice and stopped fighting.

Letting her go, she turned to him asking why he was there.

“
I followed you from school,” he told her honestly.

“
Blue, you can’t be following me and stuff, that’s crazy,” Lauren told him.

Her mind was racing as he explained he only wanted to make sure she was safe at school and that Kenny didn’t bother her. Lauren had planned to slip away right after getting her money. She didn’t want to hurt him anymore than she already knew he would be; now she had to either lie to him or tell him goodbye.

“
Why are you crying baby,” Blue asked, his face filled with concern.

Swallowing hard, Lauren showed him the object she was clutching. It was a picture of Auriel, her mother.

“
I’m sorry baby,” he told her gently, knowing the how of her mother’s death.

“
Is that why you came back,” he asked, still having no clue her plans.

“
Yes,” Lauren returned simply, not enlightening him of the rest.

“
You ready to go, I’ll drop you off, or you can come to the house with me,” Blue tried, really wanting to spend time with her.

Lauren definitely didn’t want to go back to school, and she needed to gather herself for a while outside the walls of this house of horrors.

“
Let’s go to your place,” she replied as Blue smiled and told her okay.

Rising Lauren grabbed her book bag and tote, quickly placing the photo of her mother inside, before leaving with Blue, going back up the stairs and finding their way out of the mansion back into the crisp morning air.

8

Carlo knew it had to come sooner or later, and finally it did. The jury announced they’d reached a verdict this morning and they had immediately returned to the courtroom where they now sat, waiting for the twelve men and women to return and take their seat. He didn’t kid himself, Carlo already knew the verdict and he knew the sentence. The thing that bothered him was simply knowing this was his last day in the spotlight. After today he would fade into a simple bad memory for most, or a long faded legend to those on the street. As much as The Association was still running in some semblance of form, Carlo knew it wouldn’t be long before it ceased to exist at all with he and Cartier to rule it with the iron fist they used to keep it flowing before. Carlo also still wanted to know the who behind them being exposed. It had to be someone close. The information given to the authorities was deeply personal and there were only a handful of people who knew about its existence.
Told you not to trust that bitch,
his mind prompted concerning Hope. He suspected she had far more to do with his incarceration than was being told. That was the real reason he wouldn’t sign the papers giving her custody of his daughter. If she would sell him up the river, what manner of evil would she do his child?

The jurors slowly filed in, eyes on the floor. Carlo looked each of them over with every one of these either not returning his gaze or quickly averting their own. The judge entered moments later as they were all prompted to rise and wait for him to be seated on the bench.