Dirty Assets

by Rumer Raines

“That’s not what her parents are claiming. According to them, you were very abusive towards Maryann. Abusive enough that she may have faked her death to hide from you.” I make eye contact with Frank and my entire body tenses. Was Garth abusive towards Maryann? She was my best friend. Would she have hidden it from me? Before I can process the information, Frank continues to question Garth.

  “How about your legal name? I can’t find any information on you prior to 15 years ago. Are you originally from Indiana? Frank asks and I hear Garth swallow hard. What exactly is Garth hiding? Whatever it is, Frank obviously knows and I hope he realizes that he is going to walk out the door and leave me here with a pissed off Garth.

  “I don’t know what Maryann’s parents were told, but she was very happy with me. I would never hurt a woman,” Garth tells Frank who glances at me. I close my eyes and grip the couch realizing that Garth abused Maryann. I just confessed it. He hurts me whenever possible and for him to say he would never hurt a woman proved exactly that. I shake my head and look at Garth and wonder if Maryann did fake her death.

  “Are you sure about that?” Frank sighs looking between me and a now pissed off Garth, who suddenly stands as he moves closer to Frank.

  “Adele, would you mind giving us a few minutes alone?” Garth asks me and I have look back at Frank who softly motions for me to leave while Garth focuses his attention on me. As I turn to leave, Frank calls my name and I turn back to look at him.

  “Adele! Don’t worry about anything. Everything will turn out as it is supposed to,” Frank tells me as he takes my hand and squeezes it while searching my eyes. I tilt my head and head to the bedroom as I meet Garth’s dead eyes. I know he is angry. I can feel It radiating off him. I walk into the bedroom and close the door as the curtains stir in the breeze coming through the open window. I shiver and walk over to close it, confused over why Garth would have opened it in the first place. As I pull the window shut, a hand covers my mouth and I am pulled against someone. I try to shake the hand off and cry out for Frank or Garth to get to the bedroom, afraid that someone has broken into the house. I hear someone whispering ‘shhh’ into my ear as their other hand opens on my stomach. “Be quiet, Adele. It’s me,” he whispers into my ear before he releases me and I turn around to come face to face with Alex.

  Alex

  Frank has been in the house for almost twenty minutes. I know that doesn’t sound like that long, but when you’re sitting in a car wondering if he has found your woman, it’s a long time. I lean between the driver and passenger seat and tell Maryann to stay in the car. I think she started to argue, but I jumped out too fast to hear her. I look back towards the car and point at her reminding her to stay in the car and I can only hope she listens. Frank told me the same thing before he got out and now I am sneaking down the street so I can peek inside this damn house. There are several bushes in front of the window so I climb in front of it so I can peek inside. I never thought I would ever be hunched down in front of someone’s window peeking inside. I bet Oliver and Thomas are getting a good laugh at this one. As I look inside, I see Frank and Garth sitting across from each other talking. I see Garth’s hand land on a woman’s leg and I switch my position to see it’s Adele sitting next to him. I close my eyes realizing that I found my Adele. I can’t leave without her and I know Frank will have one hundred different ideas on how to get her out of here, but I only have one that I am going with. I am going to break into this house and take her out of here.

  I crawl out of the bushes and walk around the house hoping to find an open window. I walk around to the back of the house and find a partially open window and close my eyes thanking God for the favor. I push the window open and crawl inside making sure not to bump into anything or knocking something over. Once inside, I glance around the bedroom for a place to hide. There is a walk-in closet so I decide to wait in it until someone comes back to the bedroom. I make sure I still have my gun since I don’t know who will be the first one to enter the bedroom. If it’s Garth, things will most likely go my way because I’ll shoot him and can call Thomas and Oliver to dump his body. If Adele comes, I don’t know if she’ll accept me being here. The last time I mentioned killing Garth, she wasn’t so accepting.

  A few minutes later the bedroom door opens and I hear someone move towards the window. I peek outside the closet and I see it’s her. I quietly walk towards her and put my hand over her mouth. The last thing I need is for her to scream and bring Garth or Frank to the bedroom. I whisper in her ear to be quiet and that it’s me. When I release her, she looks me in the eyes and I can see the tears forming and I pray that she’s happy to see me. All doubt is erased when she puts her hands on my face and places her lips on mine. I pull Adele closer to me as I hold her, thinking that I will never let her loose again. When she takes her hands off my face and puts them on my chest to push me away from her.

  “What are you doing here, Alex?” she asks me and I should admit I am a little confused. She wanted me to come for her, didn’t she?

  “You didn’t want me to come get you?” I quietly ask her as I walk towards the door to close it.

  “Yes, of course, I do. I just didn’t expect you to sneak into the house and hide in the closet. What is the plan? I can’t sneak out this time, he’ll only find me again. And why is Frank here talking about Maryann faking her death?” Adele asks me and I take her hand to sit her on the bed while I sit next to her. Before I start answering her questions, I glance back at the bedroom door and notice a lock.

  “Does the lock on that door work?” I ask her and she glances back at it.

  “I don’t think this is the time for that, Alex. I think they would hear us,” she says and I shake my head as I walk over to lock the door.

  “I am going to take that as a yes. You're also right. The next time we're together people will hear you.” I promise her as I walk back over to the bed and sit next to her. I grab her hands as I look her in the eyes to explain to her why Frank is with Garth.

  “Maryann is alive, Adele,” I tell her and her eyes widen. I almost start to wonder if I should have told her more gently than just throwing it out there.

  “I don’t understand? She drowned?” Adele tells me and I shake my head at her and give her hand a slight squeeze.

  “No, she didn’t. She faked her death because Garth was abusive to her too. I found her picture in your bag and Frank found her. She is waiting in the car for us. She is the reason we're here now Adele. She remembered this house belonged to Garth’s brother.” Adele’s eyes widen and she looks away from me.

  “Garth has a brother? He never told me that. What else don’t I know about him?”

  “Did you know his name isn’t really Garth? Or that he’s wanted by the feds for bank fraud?” I ask her and she looks back at me stunned. She turns away from me and leans over the bed holding her head. I run my hands through her hair and decide to give her life altering news.

  “Baby, you do realize that if Maryann is alive, it means you’re not legally married to Garth or Garrett,” I tell her and she looks up at me

  “Garrett? He thinks Maryann is dead. What will happen if he finds out she is alive? He’ll track her down the way he did me. She’s my best friend,” Adele tells me and I roll my eyes. I thought she would be happy about this news, but only Adele would be thinking of someone else before she thought of herself. I think she would stay here with Garth if it meant Maryann remained free, but I won’t let it happen.

  “Baby... you and Maryann will be okay,” I tell her as I hear Frank and Garth practically shouting at each other in the other room. Adele looks towards the door and nods her head at me. “What is the plan? You better make it quick because Garth will probably be throwing Frank out in a few seconds,” she tells me and I kneel in front of her on the floor.

  “Do you think you can keep him out of the closet tonight?” I ask her and she closes her eyes and takes a deep fucking breath. I can tell I am not going to like anything that is about to come out of her mouth by th
e look on her face

  “You can’t stay in the closet, Alex,” she argues.

  “I’m not leaving, Adele.”

  “You don’t understand. When he comes back to this room, he’ll be mad. He does things when he’s mad. He does things to me and I don’t think you’ll want to sit in the closet and hear any of it,” she tells me and I notice that I am squeezing her knees when she tries to shake my hands loose. I stand up and start to pace running my hands through my beard. I need to hit something and as I look around the room there is nothing for me to hit that will satisfy me. I want to walk out of this bedroom and beat the shit out of Garth. I want to break his fucking neck. It’s not even a matter of me shooting him, I want to make him suffer.

  “Alex,” Adele softly says as she walks in front of me to stop me from pacing. I stop and put my hands on both sides of my neck. I don’t even trust myself to touch her right now.

  “I’m okay, Alex. I just don’t want you to see me with him or hear anything he does to me. I will never be able to look at you again if you do.” She is visibly distraught at the thought and I close my eyes and sigh, trying to calm my anger

  “Adele, you have nothing to be ashamed of. He won’t touch you again. I promise you that. Can you keep him out of the closet?” she shakes her head and takes both of my hands in hers.

  “You need to climb back out the window,” she tells me and walks away to open the window for me to leave.

  Adele

  Alex places both of his hands on my face and gives me a passionate kiss. When he pulls away he rests his forehead against mine and I hear him take a deep breath. He doesn’t want to leave me and I don’t want him to leave. I just can’t have him hiding in the damn closet when Garth comes back into the bedroom. He climbs out the window and I close it behind him. I lay my head against the cold glass as I watch him walk away from the house. A few minutes later, Garth comes marching into the bedroom and he glances at me as he sits on the edge of the bed. He snaps his head towards me and narrows his eyes.

  “Has someone been in here?” he asks and I glance around the room praying that Alex didn’t leave anything behind.

  “No. Why do you ask?”

  “It smells like aftershave,” Garth says as he stands up and walks over to the closet yanking it open. I close my eyes thankful that I told Alex to leave.

  “I don’t smell anything,” I tell him and he walks over to me and tilts my chin up to look at him in the eye. I decide to turn the conversation around to him hoping he would forget about the aftershave.

  “What do you think about Maryann? Do you think she could really be alive?” I ask him as I pull away from him and walk over to the window.

  “I should ask you that question, Adele? You were the last one to see her. Did she fall out of the boat or did you let her walk away?” Garth asks me and I turn towards him shaking my head.

  “Do you think if I let her walk away I would have gotten involved with you? That I would marry my best friend’s husband?” I practically yell at him and he stalks closer to me as he starts to unbutton his shirt.

  “You’re being a little bold aren’t you, Adele? Who the hell are you yelling at? Garth comes within inches of me and we hear glass shatter and a car alarm goes off. The alarm sounds very close and Garth turns his head and walks towards the window to peek out.

  “Damn It! Someone just smashed my car window!” he yells as he runs out of the bedroom and rushes outside to check his car. I run outside behind him and see that a brick is laying on the front seat as Garth opens the car door to grab it. He looks at the brick in disgust and throws it to the ground swearing and I jump at his intensity. “Do you want me to call the police?” I ask him and he nods his head no.

  “I think we should call them,” I cautiously tell him, not wanting his anger aimed at me.

  “I said NO cops, Adele!” he grits out between clenched teeth. I think back to Alex telling me about Garth being wanted for bank fraud so I suppose he wouldn’t want the police involved. As Garth stares at the broken window, a car starts down the street and bright lights hit us. Garth looks towards the car and starts to walk towards it. When he is a few feet from the Suburban, the front door to house slams shut. Garth and I both jump in shock and he walks back towards the house and grabs me by the arm. Garth grabs the door handle and pushes, but it doesn’t open. He closes his eyes laying his head against the door.

  “We're locked out.” He groans. I turn to look back at the Suburban that still has its bright lights pointed toward us. Garth turns towards the bright lights and stretches out his arms in disgust. I can tell he wants to be fearless, but he is getting a little freaked out. I would be too if I wasn’t certain that Alex is behind all of this. He said that Garth wouldn’t touch me tonight and at this rate, I am safe. Garth and I walk around the house looking for a window that we can climb in. I am already certain that the bedroom window is open since Alex crawled in once, so I am sure that’s the one we’ll go in through. Once we are at the bedroom window, Garth successfully lifts it and crawls inside. I roll my eyes as I crawl in behind him because it never occurs to him to help me inside. I am not sure how both Maryann and I fell for this selfish bastard. Garth locks the window behind me as we hear a cabinet from the kitchen slam shut. We both look towards the bedroom door and Garth looks back at me. I wonder if he is going to send me out to check for burglars? Garth walks to the closet to grab a baseball bat and peeks of the bedroom door as another crash comes from the other room. I start to follow Garth as he walks towards the bedroom door. As if he suddenly cares about my safety, Garth lifts his hands telling me to stay in the room.

  A few seconds later, I hear shuffling and more crashing. I hear Garth shouting and I hear scraping across the floor. I cover my mouth as I stand next to the door listening for any signs that I need to do something. I don’t want to call the cops because what if it is Alex out there? I don’t want him to get in trouble and the last time I mentioned the cops, he advised me to never do so again. I close my eyes and start to pace the bedroom when I hear the bedroom door close. I stop moving realizing someone is in the room with me. I slowly turn around and come face to face with a very much alive Maryann.

  I start to cry the minute I lay eyes on my best friend. The best friend that I mourned years ago. The best friend whose abusive husband I married and has made both of our lives a living hell. I stare into her eyes and notice that hers also hold tears. I walk towards Maryann and wrap my arms around her as she does the same. I jump as I hear a door slam in the other room and Maryann and I both look towards the bedroom door. She grabs my hand and walks me over to the bed and we both sit on the edge. I can’t believe I am sitting next to my best friend.

  “I can’t believe you're alive,” I tell her and she smiles and shakes her head.

  “I’m so sorry, Adele. I should have told you about Garth. If I would have you would have never ended up in the same situation.” She says as she wipes a tear away and I sigh and do the same. Maryann is right that I would have never gotten involved with Garth had I known. However, it was my choice to get involved. I wasn’t forced into anything.

  “I made my own choices, Maryann. I can’t blame you for any of them. I am just so glad you’re ok and you did get away.” I tell her as we listen to the small commotion in the other room and we both glance towards the door

  “We are both going to be okay, Adele. I am not sure how you got involved with the Mafia, but I have a feeling they’ll look out for us both.” I gaze at Maryann incredulously at the mention of the Mafia.

  “What makes you think they are Mafia?” I ask her as she starts to laugh. I realize that Alex told me, but he wouldn’t tell her, would he? How close did he and Maryann get while I was away?

  “Alex told me. He really loves you, Adele.” Maryann says and I start to laugh at the statement. I know how I feel about him, but highly doubt Alex has those feelings for me.

  “He does, Adele. He wouldn’t have gone through all of this if he didn’t. Let’s be
honest, the man is hot and I am sure he doesn’t have to do all of this just to get the girl,” Maryann laughs and glances towards the door. I narrow my eyes and glance at the door too.

  “What’s going on out there Maryann?” I want to know, but at the same time, I don’t want to know.

  “They are dealing with Garth,” Maryann says and I suddenly have goosebumps.

  Alex

  I practically march back to the truck. I am so pissed off that Adele kicked me out of the house. What the hell is she thinking? What was I thinking to even listen to her? No one gives me orders. I give the orders and yet Adele sent me out like a little bitch. Once I get back to the truck Maryann, Thomas, and Oliver are standing beside it all watching me. I notice Thomas and Oliver throwing glances at each other and Maryann’s eyes stay on me. I want to knock in the car window, but since we don’t have time to run off for stitches, I contain my anger. A few minutes later I see Thomas and Oliver look past me and I turn to see Frank headed towards us. I shake my head realizing that we are all out here and Adele is still in the house.

  “Okay. We found her. She is in there,” Frank tells us and I roll my eyes and let out an annoyed smirk.

  “I know she is in there. I was in there with her,” I tell him and he looks at Thomas and Oliver who shake their heads and look back towards me.

  “What do you mean you were in there?”

  “I sneaked into the bedroom and I talked to her. I am not leaving her here tonight, Frank. We need to come up with a fucking plan because I will not leave her here.” I let them all know as I pull my gun from my waistband. I cock it and start to walk away from them when Oliver grabs me by the shoulder.

  “Let’s be smart, Alex. You can’t just walk into the house and shoot him,” Oliver advises and I look towards Frank and Thomas. I smirk and notice a slight movement and see Maryann turning away from us. I close my eyes realizing that she is an unwanted witness. I don’t think she would be mad if Garth was dead, but it’s never a good idea to leave a witness.