Charlie

by Elin Peer

  Damian held up both hands. “Nah, I have no problem admitting that I ate the cookies.”

  “Good, but to a psychopath it’s second nature to lie and confuse people. Poor River doesn’t trust her own mind. She thinks Conor is helping her escape ending up in a psychiatric hospital like her mother.”

  “But didn’t River think that her mother is in India?” Kit asked.

  I shook my head. “She admitted to me that her mother is sick. She told me the story about India because she’s embarrassed about it.”

  Kit raised her voice. “Are ye sayin’ the poor lass thinks Conor is protectin’ her from the same sad destiny as her ma, when the truth is that he’s probably the one who pushed her ma to need psychiatric help in the first place?”

  I nodded.

  “Och, that’s just wrong. And what about Charles? Is he still blinded by Conor and his disciples?” Kit snatched the bag of cookies from Damian when he reached for another one.

  “As I said, I keep planting little questions in his mind, but Charles is particularly susceptible to Conor's deceit because he has Asperger’s and doesn’t read people as well as others do. I don’t blame him for not seeing Conor’s true colors. I mean, I came in knowing Conor is a con man, but if I hadn’t been warned, I might have been sucked in by him too.”

  “Nah, ye’re too smart for that,” Damian said.

  “It’s not a matter of intelligence. You haven’t met Conor, but he can take on the persona of someone witty, charming, intelligent, and knowledgeable, and when he talks, it’s with such confidence that it’s easy to buy into it. When I told him that I regretted never learning how to play an instrument, he insisted that I let him teach me to play a melody on the piano right then and there. He makes you feel like you’re the only one that matters and that he would make the moon and stars align in order to help you to be the best version of yourself. It’s a powerful feeling to have someone show that level of interest in you.”

  Kit wrinkled her nose up. “God, ye sound like ye admire the bastard.”

  “No. I’m just trying to explain to you that Charles and Conor’s other followers aren’t fools. It’s easy for me to see why they’re so blinded by Conor. That’s all.”

  “But haven’t ye been able to open Charles’ eyes to the other side of Conor at all?”

  “I thought he was starting to see, but it’s like the new pressure on Conor has enhanced how protective and loyal Charles is. Maybe because he’s been acting as his legal adviser. It’s weird because Charles was in the room when the police listed a whole number of legal problems from Conor’s past, and he still believes every excuse Conor gave for why he was really the victim in those cases.” Feeling restless and frustrated, I drew a doodle on the paper in front of me. “You would think that hearing of Conor’s criminal past would make Charles question things, but no.”

  Kit snorted. “That’s bollocks.”

  I brushed my hair back. “Yeah, it sucks, but even if Charles wanted to leave, I couldn’t abandon the children. They are innocent in all of this and after Conor’s stunt with the gun last week, I want to make sure he doesn’t do something awful to the children.”

  “But are you and Charles still good?”

  My face softened. “The more I get to know him, the more amazing I think he is. He’s so…” I smiled.

  Damian and Kit exchanged a grin, and he whistled low again. “Geez, she’s a goner, that one.”

  “I can’t help it. Charles has this way of looking at me across the room as if he doesn’t quite believe his luck. It melts me every time.”

  Kit cleared her throat. “Excellent. It helps to have an undercover observer, and if everythin’ goes right, it won’t be for much longer. Mr. Robertson is throwin’ some serious cash into this investigation. We have put together a team of five private detectives in Liverpool to find Jim Maddox and the tape he was using to blackmail Conor. Several of the detectives have strong connections and their pressure on the Liverpool police is workin’.”

  “Working how?” I asked.

  “The Liverpool police have been in contact with our gardas, not to mention that Mr. Robertson has used his powerful connections from the US. Five days ago, the American ambassador made an inquiry to the Garda Commissioner, who is the highest ranking in the Garda Síochána. He discussed Mr. Robertson’s concerns and the old accusations made against Conor O’Brien. That’s why the garda came to question him. Conor is under their microscope right now,” Kit explained.

  “That’s great news but tell them to work fast.” I looked at the clock. “Charles is done teaching in an hour. I told him I’d be working from a café and meet with him after he was done at four.”

  “It’s fine.” Kit pushed her chair back and stood up at the same time as me. “Ye’re doing amazing, Liv. Just keep soaking up everything you see and report back to me. If Conor makes a mistake, I want you to be there to catch it. Ye have my number. Text or call me anytime, night or day.”

  “Okay.”

  I hugged Kit and Damian before making my way through the streets of Dublin in the pouring rain. When I got to Trinity College, I waited for Charles under the cover of one of the old historical buildings, which looked like a bell tower in the middle of the square. There was something amazing about the rain bouncing off the cobblestones and the tourists moving in packs with their umbrellas.

  My head was full of thoughts about the investigation and what would happen when Charles realized that Conor was a fraud. Would he be relieved that I’d come to rescue him? Or would the shock of how wrong he’d been about Conor overwhelm him to the point where he’d get suspicious of my motives as well?

  The thought of Charles pulling away from me left a chill up my spine. If only I had a way to tell him that our meeting hadn’t been a coincidence but that my feelings for him were one hundred percent real.

  “Liv.”

  Hearing my name, I turned around to see Charles jogging toward me with his bag above his head to shield him from the rain. The sight of him made me reach out my arms and as soon as he was close, I hugged him like I hadn’t seen him for a year.

  “Mmm, I missed you,” I whispered in his ear.

  Charles pulled back, giving me a wide smile that created soft crinkles at the edges of his eyes. “I missed you too, Saffron.”

  Our deep kiss made someone whistle and when we looked over, Charles spotted some of his students.

  “Do you think you’ll get in trouble for kissing me in front of them?”

  He laughed. “I’m just a guest teacher. I don’t think they care and I doubt any of the students will make complaints. They’re just jealous that I get to kiss the prettiest woman in the world.”

  We were nose to nose, with locked eyes. “You want to kiss me again? Just to make sure they know I’m yours.”

  “Mmm…” With a hand behind my neck, he pulled me in again, giving me a long demanding kiss that left my panties as wet as my rain jacket.

  “You want to get out of here?” Charles had such a playful gleam in his eyes that I knew he wanted to be alone with me and make love.

  “I do!”

  His eyes widened and he took my hand. “Standing under a bell tower and hearing you say the words I do just gave me the craziest chills up and down my spine.” He lifted our intertwined hands to his mouth and pressed his lips against the back of my hand. “I hope that I get to hear you say it again in the future.”

  I caught his reference to a future wedding between us and beamed at him before we ran together through the rain. We were like a couple in a romantic scene from a cheesy rom-com until we got into the streets and a car drove by, splashing a load of water on us.

  “Oh, for fuck's sake.” Charles and I stood frozen with our clothes soaked. We tried waving down a taxi but all of them were full.

  “Hold this.” Charles gave me his bag and ran to an intersection where cars were waiting at a red light. Knocking on a car window, he spoke to a man in his fifties and turned to wave me over. “Get
in.”

  I was soaked and ready to get a hot shower, so I didn’t question why we were getting into the backseat of a stranger’s car.

  The driver turned to look at us. “Are ye really givin’ me five hundred euros to take ye to Howth?”

  “I am.” Charles pointed to the light, which had turned green. “Could you turn up the heat? My girlfriend is wet and freezing.”

  At that moment, I didn’t feel my wet clothes. All I could feel was the heat pumping through my body with an acute arousal for Charles. It was such a turn-on to see him be assertive and take charge. From our first lunch we’d put the cards on the table. He knew that I wanted the whole package with marriage and kids, and his comment about hearing me say “I do” told me that he was as serious as me.

  Leaning in, I whispered in his ear. “When we get back to the house, can we take a shower… together?”

  A smile spread on his lips as his shoulder bobbed up with a tic and he wrinkled his nose.

  God, he was so cute when he did that.

  CHAPTER 20

  A Cry for Attention

  Charles

  Liv and I had just made it into the bathroom when we began kissing and undressing each other. Our wet clothes fell to the tile floor one piece at a time. I couldn’t get her naked fast enough, because being inside Liv had become an addiction to me.

  “I thought about you while I taught today. At one point, I stood with a goofy grin on my lips.”

  “Yeah?” She licked my neck. “Did you imagine yourself pressing me against the shower wall?”

  I pulled my sweater over my head and turned on the water in the shower. “Actually, I was replaying our lovemaking from this morning.” With an expectant smile, I walked to the rack where beige towels were neatly stacked. Like my room, the bathroom was on the top floor in what had once been the attic. A large skylight window gave a beautiful view of the large grounds that belonged with the Red Manor. Despite the rain falling on the window, I caught something out of the corner of my eye and stopped to stare. “What in the world?”

  “Charles, what’s wrong?” Liv came to stand next to me, looking out too.

  “There, in the pond.” I nodded, unsure if my eyes were playing tricks on me.

  “Is that… what is he doing?

  I had no idea why Nathan was sitting in the pond. “The water must be freezing.”

  Liv was already putting her clothes back on, but when her wet pants gave her trouble, she settled for her panties, sweater, and socks and ran out the door with two large towels in her hands.

  “Hey, wait up.” I was cursing as I hopped on one leg, forcing my foot through my pants leg.

  Unlike Liv, I took time to put on shoes while she was already down the stairs, shouting Nathan’s name. Trying to catch up, I slid down the railing like I’d done as a child in my own house.

  Liv had swung open the French doors in the living room, leading to the back yard, and she was already by the pond as I stormed after her.

  Running across the lawn, I watched Liv pulling Nathan out of the water shouting questions at him. I couldn’t hear his answers but she looked back up at the house, and wrapped him in the towels she’d brought.

  When I got there, I began with my own questions, “Nathan, what were you doing? You’ll get pneumonia It’s far too cold to swim this time of year.”

  The boy was naked except for his boxer shorts and the two towels that Liv was rubbing his body with. His lips were blue and quivering. Being of mixed race, Nathan’s normal skin tone was golden brown, but now it had a sickly pale color with dark circles under his eyes.

  “I… wa… wasn’t swim… swimming.”

  Liv was rubbing his back but with the rain coming down, the towel she’d wrapped around him was getting as wet as him.

  “Come here.” While Liv bent to collect his clothes, which had been placed in a pile on the grass, I picked up the boy and jogged back to the house with him over my shoulder.

  When we got to the living room others were gathering to see what the commotion was about.

  “What happened?” Conor stepped forward and frowned at Nathan.

  Nathan was shaking and trying to answer, but he was too cold and his lips wouldn’t work.

  “He said that he was meditating.” Liv reached for a soft blanket from one of the couches and removed the wet towels. “Come here, honey.” Wrapping the large throw-over around him, she nodded to me. “Help him remove his wet boxers. They’re only cooling him down.”

  With the blanket covering the boy, his privacy was intact as I pulled down the soaked fabric and placed the water-dripping boxers in a ceramic bowl that stood on the coffee table.

  Liv wrapped two more blankets around him, making him look like the Michelin guy. “Let’s get you warmed up.” Sitting down in a large reading chair, she pulled Nathan down on her lap. Wrapping him tight in the blanket, she placed his head against her chest. “River, please get that other blanket from over there and wrap it around his feet. A foot rub will help him.”

  River was eager to help her friend and did as Liv had instructed.

  “Why would he meditate in the pond?” I looked from Nathan to Conor.

  Conor shook his head with deep disappointment. “Nathan, how many times have I told you to think about your actions?”

  “Bu… but… you said…” Nathan struggled to get the words out.

  “What did I say? If you’re trying to make everyone here think that I’d ask you to go kill yourself by meditating in a pond in October, then you’re worse off than I thought.”

  Nathan closed his eyes and Liv rocked him back and forth like a little boy despite the fact that he was fourteen.

  “Maybe he’s confused,” I suggested. “He’s cold and it’s hard to think when…”

  Conor cut me off. “Don’t make excuses for him. Nathan has a long history of going about seeking attention in destructive ways. It’s something he and I are working on.”

  “What do you mean?” Liv asked with her hand on Nathan’s forehead, holding him close to her.

  “With his mother’s history it’s understandable that he’s longing for constant validation that I won’t leave him too. He creates dramatic and dangerous situations that put him in a position of needing rescue. For years it’s been nightmares about snakes in his bed, and then there was the time he got stuck in a tree and couldn’t get down.”

  “You told me to… to climb… that… that tree.” Nathan stuttered with his jaws shivering.

  “Nathan, stop it!” Conor squatted down in front of Liv and the boy. “It’s one thing to come up with imaginary snakes, but to put yourself in danger like this is reckless. I won’t have it. We’ve talked about it. I would never ask you to do this. It’s all in your mind.” Conor’s face softened as he rubbed the boy’s shoulder. “We all love you and we don’t want to see anything bad happen to you.”

  River sat on the floor next to the couch and was rubbing Nathan’s right foot under the blanket. She had her eyes down and seemed as sad about the situation as the rest of us. Looking around, I saw that the room was full of the children and residents. Everyone was looking on with crestfallen faces too.

  “How do you feel, Nathan?” I asked.

  The boy hid his head against Liv’s chest as if he was too embarrassed to talk.

  Conor rose back up. “How about we all go back to what we were doing? Nathan, you and I will come back to this incident and find an appropriate consequence for your error in judgment. Right now, I want you to go to your room and think about how wrong it is to lie.”

  Liv’s voice was shaking a bit when she spoke up. “Maybe it would be wise for him to see a doctor. Just to be sure he doesn’t have frostbite and that his vital signs are fine.”

  Conor turned to the others in the room. “Ciara, please make the boy some tea and toast. He’ll take it in his room.”

  “You’re not going to let him see a doctor?” Liv asked again.

  “No. All he needs is to warm up in his be
d for half an hour and then he’ll be fine.” Conor tilted his head and gave Liv and me an appreciative smile. “It was a good thing you found him and brought him inside. I thought he was meditating in his room.”

  “Can you walk?” Liv whispered to Nathan but I could tell he was too weak.

  “Let me take him.” Nathan was quiet as I carried him to his and River’s room on the second floor. It was the last room in a long hallway, the next after Conor’s room. Liv followed me and when the boy was in his bed, she went to get clean underwear from his closet. With the attitude of a nurse, she helped Nathan, who was under his duvet, get his feet into the boxer shorts and pulled them up to his knees.

  “Can you pull them up yourself?” she asked and without words he did.

  “Good.” Liv kneeled down next to him. “Nathan, listen to me. River is going to lie next to you and offer you her body heat. This time, you won’t tell her to go away. Do you understand?”

  He nodded and River, who was right behind us, didn’t need any further instruction than that. She climbed onto the bed and spooned Nathan.

  Turning to me, Liv gestured for me to follow her and once we were outside, she spoke in a soft voice the way you do around people who are sick or sleeping. “I’m going to stay with them until Nathan feels better.”

  Her concern for Nathan touched me. I couldn’t remember anyone loving me so unconditionally as a child, and Liv hadn’t even known him for that long. “Okay, do you want me to stay as well?”

  Closing the door to the room, she wrapped her arms around her waist. “Charles, I’m worried for the kids. What if Nathan told the truth and Conor really did tell him to go meditate in the pond?”