“Don’t know yet, but we’re going to find out. I’m bringing her in for questioning. I wanted to talk to you all first and let you know.” Booker gathered up the photos, returning them to the file.
“On what charges?” Seth asked. “And what about her dad, Harry? Do we know where he is?”
“No, but maybe we’ll get lucky and Delilah will let something slip during the interrogation,” Booker said confidently.
“But on what charges?” Maggie asked. “You said so yourself, she’s done nothing illegal.” She stood, taking the file from Booker, thumbing through the pictures once more.
“No. I said she doesn’t have a record, but she soon will. Fraud.” Booker pointed to the man in a photo Booker hadn’t shown us. “This is. . . ah…her ex-husband, David Hudson. The divorce agreement stipulated that she go back to her maiden name. Obviously she hasn’t, and that constitutes fraud.”
“She told me about the marriage the day we were shopping for my wedding dress.” Booker and Seth both jerked around to Maggie. She came over and rubbed my shoulders, ignoring them. “Lilah explained how she’d met the guy while living in a commune and that she’d only known him for two days before deciding to get married. She also said it was a disaster.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I pressed.
“Sorry, Cole. I figured it was her story to tell. Anyway, she wasn’t secretive about it. I’d say more embarrassed than anything. I figured she mentioned it to you.”
I propped my elbows on my knees and buried my face in my hands. This was going from bad to worse.
“Would you two mind if I speak to Cole in private for a minute?” Booker asked.
“No problem.” Seth picked up three suitcases, Maggie grabbed the rest, and they disappeared upstairs.
“Cole, there’s something else you should know. Delilah was pregnant at the time of her divorce. The divorce agreement also stated that the baby was not to be given his last name, and he gave up all rights to the child.” Booker sat down next to me. “David disappeared and hasn’t been heard from since.”
“What about the baby?”
“We don’t know what happened to the baby. There’s not a birth certificate on file for it.”
“Maybe David didn’t want the baby around her family and took it before going into hiding,” I offered, still reeling from information overload.
“The circumstances around David’s disappearance are suspicious. His car was found abandoned along the roadside, and there were trace amounts of blood, his blood, found in the car.”
“Do they suspect Lilah was involved?” I asked, not wanting to know.
“Not sure. She would’ve been very pregnant at the time, but she’s a Dreser. They seem to be capable of a lot of things. She could have easily hired it out. She disappeared around the same time. No one’s seen or heard from her until she showed up here.”
Booker patted me on the back. “It’s hard to believe,” I said, confused. “It doesn’t make sense. Why’s she here? What’s her plan?”
“I’ve no clue.”
“I’ll find out.” I stood and started for the door. Booker followed.
“Wait. I’ll bring her in for questioning and you can talk to her there. It’s not safe to go over.”
“No, I’ll go to her apartment and talk to her alone. Besides, I’m sure you have someone watching her, right?”
“Yes, but this is ridiculous. Have you forgotten what they did to Maggie? You’re letting your hormones talk here, Doc.”
I turned, sucking in a lungful of air to calm myself. “Give me some credit, Booker. I’d never put Maggie or Seth’s lives in danger over my hormones, thank you very much.”
I ripped the door open and hurried to my car, arriving at her apartment in seven minutes. It was the first time I’d ever driven over the speed limit in my life.
“I’m such an Opie. She probably didn’t have to work very hard to dupe me,” I mumbled to myself as I stepped out of my car, slamming the door shut. “I still can’t believe that it was all a lie.” I scrubbed a hand over my face, frustrated.
If Lilah wanted to hurt anyone, why hadn’t she? She’d been alone with Maggie on several occasions. She could have rigged up something to look like an accident.
I looked around for Booker’s men, but didn’t see anyone. I started for her apartment, stopping several times. Was Booker right? Did Lilah want to hurt my friends? I almost turned around and left. What am I thinking? I’m a doctor, not a cop. “This is way out of my league.”
But I knew Lilah, or at least I thought I did. The whole concept that she was evil didn’t sit well with me. I’d spent every day and most evenings with her. Surely I would’ve seen something to make me question her actions. But there was nothing.
Maybe somehow there was an error with the fingerprints. Then again, the photo Booker had was of her. No mistaking it.
I stood in front of her apartment, with my head resting on the door, driving myself insane. I could hear her crying.
I took a deep breath and tapped lightly on the hollow door. The crying stopped, but the door remand shut. I knocked again, this time a little harder, but still no answer.
“Lilah, I know you’re in there. Please open the door.” I waited a few moments, almost giving up when I heard the locks rattle. Slowly the door swung open and there she stood, a complete wreck with her sloppy bun, red face, and heartbreakingly sad eyes.
“Promise you won’t hate me?” she said, looking vulnerable as she stood there biting her lip. I wanted to wrap my arms around her. But I didn’t.
Chapter 21
Lilah
“What’s going on?” Cole asked, worry creasing his brow.
“Come in. We need to talk.” I tried tucking the fly-way strands of my hair back into a bun, but gave up. I looked horrible. I came straight home and began sketching a few disguises I’d remembered seeing my dad in before I ran off to Florida all those years ago. I scurried over and picked up the scattered tissues and shoved them into the overflowing garbage can next to the table where I’d been working
“What’s going on, Lilah?” He didn’t come near me, but stayed next to the door, which was weird.
“I have to tell you something, well, a few things really, but I want you to make me a promise first.” I wiped at my nose with a fresh tissue.
“What’s the promise?” he said calmly.
“I need you to listen to everything I have to say before you leave and never speak to me again.” The words hurt to say, and judging from his tight eyes, he didn’t like hearing them either.
“I promise,” he said, settling stiffly on the couch “How’s your father?”
“I . . . I don’t know how to say this. I . . . um . . . I didn’t go see my father. I lied to you. I went to see Birdie. Remember I told you about her. Growing up, she was my nanny.” I paused to wipe away new tears. “Anyway, I’ve been lying to you ever since I came to town. My father made me…No. I made a deal with him, with the devil really. I could’ve run away again, gone into hiding, but I’m tired of running. He promised me I’d be free to live my life however I wanted if I just helped him to. . .” I stopped to mop up the tears that just wouldn’t stop.
“Helped him to what?”
I didn’t like the eerie calm in his voice. Something was up. He stared soberly at me, waiting for a reply.
“He lied to me, Cole. If I’d known I never would’ve agreed to help him.” I inhaled deeply, and through my tears said, “My name’s Delilah. Delilah … Dreser.”
He got up, went to the patio door, and stood there in silence, saying nothing at all, just fingering the curtains.
“Do you hate me now?”
He turned, anger rolling off him in waves. “Why exactly are you here? Revenge for your brother’s deaths?”
“Yes. No. Sort of.”
“Which is it, Lilah, because it can’t be all three,” he snapped.
Not knowing how to explain everything and not come across` as a horrible monster, I stumbled
for a minute. Then I realized there was no way to make it sound any better. I let the story poured out of me in one huge purge. All the ugly details of my father’s financial revenge, and my obtaining Booker’s account numbers and his security code. I also told him about the planned murders that I knew nothing about until yesterday. He remained silent as I went on and on. It unnerved me.
“Here.” I held out an envelope and he walked over slowly, taking it from me.
The A/C still didn’t work and the apartment was an oven. Sweat raced down my back. I hadn’t noticed it before, being lost in my panic, but I felt it now. Sticky, suffocating heat. I went to the door and shoved the grimy curtains aside, pushing the patio door open in hope of relief. Useless. The night air rolled in, just as stifling.
I gave up and turned my attention back to Cole. He’d thumbed through the photos of my father. Daddy’s disguises were masterful. He’d dressed as a nun, a crippled soldier, and another time a homeless guy. One showed him as an ugly woman with a rifle strapped to her chest. Sadly, those were the tip of the iceberg.
“Why am I looking at photos of random people?” he asked, emotionless.
“Birdie gave them to me. They’re pictures she’s been collecting to turn over to the police,” I explained from across the tiny room. He looked at me, offering a slight head shake.
“Cole, they’re my father. Every one of them. He’s a chameleon. His ability to disguise himself is legendary, at least in the drug world. It’s the main reason he’s been able to avoid being arrested all these years. Daddy bragged once about walking right past a handful of cops who were looking for him, and not a one gave him a sideways glance thanks to his disguise. Give them to Booker. I’m sure he knows all about my father’s talent. Here.” I stepped closer; he stiffened. My hands shook while handed him my drawings. “I’ve seen my father in these. I didn’t learn the truth about what he did until I turned eighteen. He’d hid his business practices from me up until then, I suspect on my mom and Birdie’s orders. After my learning the truth, he’d often wear disguises home at night, not caring about my objections. Six months later I ran away from home and joined a commune.
“There are more, but I haven’t had time to draw them up yet. I’ll finish a few tonight and take them over to Booker.” I paced back and forth in front of the table, wringing my hands as I explained my stupid choices to Cole. He stood vexed, with his arms across his chest and his jaw clenched.
“Needless to say, I’ll quit my job decorating Booker’s office complex, but I’ll stay in my apartment. That way I can update Booker on my father, but in all honesty, I don’t know much. He’s at a clinic, but I don’t even have an address. He does call sometimes. Maybe Book can put a trace on my phone.” I was talking to myself more than anything now, planning how I’d help. “I think it might be a good idea to set up a secret code so if he’s monitoring me, which he’s done before, you’ll know I can’t speak freely. Maybe a key word or something. What do you think?”
I looked into his blue eyes as they glared back. He took a deep breath. “So, you used me to get access to everyone.” His jaw ticked, his right eye twitched.
“No!” My face twisted in shame. “Yes. Sort of.”
“Lilah,” he said, exasperated.
“I felt something when we first met, not love at first sight, but something, and it’d been a long time since I’d felt anything for a guy. I decided that maybe a summer fling would be okay. I could have a little fun and do what I needed to do at the same time.” I pinched my eyes shut. “And yes, I thought it would be a good way to worm my way into Booker and Seth’s life by dating their best friend.”
“So I was a means to an end.” He wiped the sweat forming on his forehead. “I gotta go,” he said, an edge to his voice.
“Cole, no—” I leaped forward and grabbed his hand.
“I get it, Lilah.” He ripped his hand from mine. “I get that you were pressured into helping your dad. You came here. You met everyone and eventually realized that what your father told you wasn’t true. You saw the light. I get it. You were a pawn in your father’s hands, and now you want to make amends. I’ll talk to Booker and show him these pictures. I’m sure he will be very grateful. You haven’t done anything illegal, at least not as far as I know. He’ll probably have to let you go. But I’ll warn you, he’s out for blood.” He said it all with a tight curt voice.
“Don’t do this,” I begged in a whisper.
“Don’t do what? I’m the one wronged here. Like I said, I get it.” He turned to leave when I grabbed his arm, this time jerking him around.
“You get nothing. Geez, Cole. Scream, yell, do something. Don’t you ever get angry? Or am I not worth getting angry over, is that it?”
“I’m not the one who did the using, Lilah. I love you like I’ve never loved anyone, but I’m certainly not going to beg you to love me back. I’m a big boy, and I got played. End of story,” he said flatly, anger lighting his eyes.
“I never lied about my feelings for you, Cole,” I vowed, fisting my hands in the front of his scrubs as panic set it. “Remember that kiss in the garden at Maggie and Seth’s wedding? I was already in love with you by then. That kiss, it changed everything for me. I did lie to you, I admit that, but never about how I felt. Every word, every kiss came from my heart. I swear it. I’ve fallen madly, passionately in love with you.” I touched his cheek.
“I’d also figured out by then that Daddy’d been wrong about everyone, though I wasn’t sure if it were all a lie on his part or mistaken information. FYI, all lies, everything he told me was a lie. But it didn’t matter anymore. I had no intention of helping him with his revenge.”
Cole said nothing. His face held no expression. He just stared at me with his arms crossed over his chest.
“I figured I had time on my side, and I wanted to spend every last second with you that I could,” I continued, not knowing what else to do. “Daddy’s at a clinic in Mexico, which is another of his lies. He’d told me it was in Switzerland. His treatments are scheduled for several weeks. To be brutally honest, I don’t think he’d make it eight more weeks. The last time I saw him he was positively gray. This is all a mess, a complete mess.” I laid my head on his chest, nuzzling up next to his neck. “I love you, Cole, so very much.” Finally his arms came around me, pulling me close.
I sighed. “I should have known my Opie would believe me.”
Instantly, his body went rigid. His arms dropped away. I watched as anger shadowed his face.
“I’m tired of being the gullible, play-it-safe guy. I’m tired of being walked all over. Tired of being taken advantage of.” He wrapped his hands around my wrists and calmly drew them from his neck, setting them at my side before letting go.
“You don’t believe me?” I asked, biting my lip.
“No, I do believe you, much to Booker’s dismay, I’m sure,” he said. “That doesn’t change anything. I need some time, Lilah. I’m sick and tired of being everyone’s lap dog. You’ve hurt me.” He crossed the room, his fingers rubbing his temples.
“So we’re over. You’re breaking up with me.” I stated the obvious softly. “Of course. Why wouldn’t you?”
“We’re not breaking up. I need some time, that’s all. A little space to think. Can you understand that?” The anguish in his voice sliced through my heart. What a selfish, despicable person I’d allowed myself to become. This was not how I was raised. Mami, would be a shamed of me. I was ashamed of me. Why did I cave to Daddy’s demands? Why?
“I said do you understand?” Cole repeated.
I nodded. “Yes, I understand completely.”
I looked into his tense eyes and swallowed hard. “There’s more you should know.”
“More? Great.” Pinching his lips into a thin line, he waved for me to continue.
“You should know . . . I-I was married before.” I steadied my voice, not wanting to come off as a spontaneous idiot, which is exactly what I was; a spontaneous, foolish idiot. Would I ever lear
n to think things through first?
“His name is David Hudson,” I continued. “At eighteen, I ran away and hid in a commune after learning about Daddy.”
“You said that already.”
I took a few steps away before turning back to him. “David showed up about two years after I did. He was gorgeous.” I glanced at him sheepishly, and then added, “Though not nearly as hot as you.”
The corners of his mouth turned up infinitesimally. “Naturally,” he said.
“He also came from a rich family. Both his parents died a few months before I met him. They’d left him a fortune. He gave it all away and joined the commune. He hated money, saw it as an evil. His childhood was cold and empty, and he blamed money for his problems. We got married after knowing each other for only two days.”
“Two days?”
“Crazy, I know. Six months later…” I hesitated, then continued. “Six months later I was pregnant.” I searched his face, trying to judge his reaction.
“So what happened?” he said gently.
“The commune went belly up in my fifth month, no pun intended.” I smiled. “We were out on the streets, cold and hungry. I already regretted the hasty marriage. Not only did David have a distaste for people with money, he also had a distaste for work. I held down two jobs while he did nothing but contemplate life. Soon, my blood pressure skyrocketed and I swelled up like a balloon—”
“Toxemia,” he supplied.
“Yes. I convinced David we should go see my father. I hoped he’d lend us some money until we could get on our feet. We hitchhiked home—”
“Hitchhiked?” His eyes widened. “With toxemia, no less?”
“Foolish, I know, Cole, but like I said, we had no money. It didn’t take David long to figure out what my dad did for a living, not that Daddy tried to hide it, and he wanted nothing to do with me or the baby.” I gathered my arms around my stomach.
“He filed for divorce and made me a deal. If I agreed to take back my maiden name, and if I didn’t give the baby his last name or name him as the father, he’d keep quiet about my dad’s business. He said he didn’t want our family’s filth to be tied to his name in any way.”
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