UNMASKED: Sequel to Behind the Mask

by Heather Carnassale

  Remi held up her hand while declaring, “Wait there’s more from Mr. Rollo.”

  “He said that I was no better than Liam and that because I was the girlfriend of a fugitive that I deserved to be locked away with him,” Remi uttered while frowning.

  “People are not going to care what he thinks,” Beth said, trying to comfort her daughter.

  “Might as well paint a big fat scarlet letter on my chest,” snapped Remi. Beth didn’t say anything at first but then cautiously asked, “Do you regret anything that you did?

  With her forehead crinkled, she countered, “What do you mean?”

  “Helping Liam, lying for him; would you change any of that knowing what you know now?”

  Remi thought about it for a moment then replied, “The only thing I would have done differently is begged harder for him not to do the last job with Charles.”

  “Do you honestly think you would have succeeded?”

  She smirked. “Nope.”

  Neither of her parents was 100% sold on the man who once held their daughter at gunpoint. However, they’d be forever grateful to him for saving her life, and they couldn’t deny that they genuinely liked Liam before knowing the whole criminal aspect, and hopefully could look past that at some point. So after hemming and hawing for what seemed like ten minutes, Beth finally asked the inevitable question. “Do you love him?”

  Without any hesitation, she replied, “Yes.”

  Tony, who was sitting at the dining room table, just lowered his head, as he wasn’t surprised by her answer. Remi always had a propensity to fall for the bad boy, and Liam was the quintessential rebel without a cause. Beth was a little more sympathetic to her daughter’s plight. “Does he know how you feel?” she asked. Remi sighed, as sadness tainted her voice. “I told him that I loved him right before he was leaving to go do that job.”

  “And what was his reaction?”

  “I think he was shocked, but I honestly didn’t give him much time to process it, because he had to go.”

  “He didn’t tell you he loved you back?” asked Beth. Remi shook her head no. “I don’t doubt how much he cares about me, all the things he’s done has proven that, but I’m not sure he’s capable of love,” she said somberly. Afraid he was going to upset his daughter further, he decided to bow out of that conversation by announcing he had work to do. He soon retreated to his office, while Beth headed into the kitchen to grab a bowl of fresh strawberries. Being alone for a moment, Remi grabbed the manila folder out of her bag and read the letter from Liam, again. She had never expected to fall in love with him, nor fall so hard. Twenty years to life, she thought, it just didn’t seem fair. She then looked over the deed to the house along with a couple of Polaroids of it. As she studied the photos, she stroked the top of Peanut’s head and whispered. “What do think sweet Pea, want to go to Miami with me?”

  “Miami?” inquired Beth, apparently overhearing the question as she set the bowl of berries down on the coffee table. Remi hadn’t uttered a peep about the house for fear her parents would be distressed over it. Not that she needed their permission but their approval and support, if she decided to go, would be greatly appreciated. Remi stuck a whole strawberry into her mouth, a possible delay tactic that only worked for about three seconds because Beth spotted the Polaroids. “What a beautiful house, whose is it?”

  Remi coughed. “Mine.”

  Beth’s eyes practically popped out of her head. “Yours?”

  Remi nodded. “Well, it’s mine if I want it.”

  “Do you mind elaborating?” Beth asked while sitting down on the opposite end of the sectional. “It’s the house that Liam bought that we stayed at when we went down there,” she said while taking another strawberry. “Knowing that he was probably going to prison, he turned the deed over to me,” she casually said as if it were nothing. “Just like that?” questioned Beth.

  Remi smiled. “Just like that.”

  “Does he owe money on it?”

  “Nope and he put money into an account to cover property taxes and utility bills for the next ten years,” she said. Dumbfounded, to put it mildly, Beth exclaimed, “Wow!”

  Remi herself was still stunned over the fact he gave her the house. And from her mother’s point of view, she could see how it would seem crazy, but then again, maybe not. Out of both of her parents, her mom was the one who had a soft spot for Liam, so him wanting to make sure Remi was well taken care of, wouldn’t seem out of the realm of possibility. “Are you planning on moving?” her mother asked. “I don’t know,” she replied. “I mean, other than you guys, what do I have here?”

  Before Beth could respond, Remi answered her own question. “I don’t have a job, and I really don’t want to stay in that apartment building anymore, not without Liam.”

  Beth began to speak, but Remi interrupted. “I know I can move back in with you and daddy, but I don’t want to do that because now that I’ve been out on my own, coming back here would be regressing.”

  Beth nodded but didn’t exactly agree. “Do you think moving over a thousand miles away is smart?”

  While invoking a Liam-esque grin, Remi replied, “I honestly don’t know, but maybe it’s time I got a new start and put the last five months behind me.”

  “I certainly don’t begrudge you the opportunity but how do you think your father is going to handle this?”

  “Not well,” laughed Remi, trying to find the humor. Beth surmised that her daughter had her mind made up, she just wasn’t fully aware of it yet. “I can’t say that you moving to Miami won’t make me sad, but I want you to do what makes you happy.”

  A little while later, as Remi was once again alone with her thoughts, a sudden loud boom of thunder roared, sending a shaken Peanut onto Remi’s lap. “It’ll be okay,” she whispered, rubbing his ears. As lightning flashed outside, Remi reiterated, “It’ll be okay.”

  Though she was saying the words to Peanut, deep down she was really saying them to herself. She just needed to be a tad more convincing. The frightened pup curled up tightly next to her, and while she petted him, she caught a glimpse of the sapphire charm dangling from her wrist. The significance of it never failed to make her smile nor did the selfies that they took the night of Valentine’s Day. She picked up her phone to view those specific images, which while gazing upon Liam’s gorgeous face, a horrible thought popped into her head. If somehow the photos got deleted or her iCloud got screwed up, she’d lose the photos as well. So, much to the displeasure of the snoozing pup, she hopped off the couch and rushed to her father’s office, where he and her mom were talking quietly, which she deduced was about her possibly moving to Miami. She conveniently played it off as she stuck her head in the doorway. “Dad, can I use your printer?”

  “You know you don’t have to ask,” he said, motioning for her to come inside. While she searched for photo paper she noticed his desk was piled high with papers and forms. “Tax season, huh?” she asked. He nodded. “A good amount of my clients like to do them early.”

  She felt bad because she hadn’t even bothered to think about how busy he might be, as she was too selfishly consumed with her own problems. “Sorry, Daddy,” she said. “You don’t have anything to be sorry for, I just want you to be okay,” he said, holding out his arms for Remi to fall into them. He hugged her tightly, giving her exactly what she needed at the moment. “I heard about Miami and I just can’t imagine you moving so far away,” he said, not hiding his concern. But then he injected some humor. “I could barely handle you moving into the city.”

  She wiggled out of his embrace then took a seat on a small ottoman positioned in the corner. “Well, I haven’t decided if I’m going yet, but I need to know that I have your support,” she said. “And I don’t mean financially; I mean that you will understand and not give me a hard time about it.”

  Tony looked over at Beth. “Are you on board with this?”

  She wasn’t fully, but knew it was Remi’s life and maybe it was time for them to le
t her live it. Tony wasn’t as sure as his wife, but Remi was 23-years-old there wasn’t much he could do to stop her from going. “Okay, sweetie, whatever you decide, you have our support,” he said, exhaling as if he’d been holding in that breath for hours. She immediately threw her arms around his neck. “Thank you, Daddy,” she said then thanked Beth too, who also joined in on the powwow. While all three stood there together, Tony grabbed a kelly green baseball hat off a shelf and plopped it on Remi’s head. She laughed because she knew what was on his mind. “Just promise me, you will not become a Miami Dolphins fan,” he said. She removed the hat and touched the vintage Eagles logo on the front and with a huge smile, she replied, “Never!”

  In his cold, damp cell, Liam stared up at the concrete ceiling, counting the numerous cracks, something he had done every night since he had first gotten to county lock-up. A pre-sleep ritual so to speak, a pathetic one at that, but it worked. However, that night would be different. Having been dealt the hand of twenty-to-life, he found it hard to nod off without wondering what was in store for him. Minutes turned into hours; sleep eluded him. Then around eleven o’clock, an unexpected visitor tapped on the steel bars. “So you copped a deal,” said the familiar raspy voice, more grating than usual or it could be the fact Liam’s tolerance was at zero. A guard, obviously paid off somehow, pulled up a folding chair for Charles to sit on outside the cell. Charles shooed the guard away then declared. “Thought it was time we had a little chat.”

  Liam grudgingly sat up on his bunk, leaned against the wall, and sighed, loudly. “You don’t seem too pleased to see me,” he remarked, wearing a full-on smirk. “Why are you here?” asked Liam.

  “I’m looking at life without parole, did you know that?”

  Liam shrugged.

  “And you got twenty to life with the possibility of parole,” he said. “Am I supposed to feel sorry for you?” retorted Liam. Charles laughed. “No, maybe I’m just jealous that I don’t have a mommy and daddy who are high-profile attorneys with unlimited financial resources.”

  Though he could tell Charles was putting on a big front, once Liam took a gander at him, he realized Charles looked like shit. Dark circles and large puffy bags under his eyes, at least a five-to-seven pound weight loss, along with a few extra gray hairs. Incarceration wasn’t boding well for the Englishman that was for sure. “About an hour ago, I was informed that Interpol is attempting to have me extradited back to the U.K. and have me tried over there,” he said, his voice melancholy and defeated. “Can they do that?” asked Liam.

  Charles leaned in between two of the metal bars and whispered, “Once the request is put in, it could take months or even years for it to be granted.”

  Liam knew full well that was what Charles was counting on. “I see you wasted no time throwing Denton under the bus.”

  With his fingers tightly gripping the bar, Charles admitted, “I’m not going to play innocent here, but getting back at you was all Denton’s idea.”

  Liam didn’t fully believe that to be true but was too tired to dispute it.

  “I knew you had a soft spot for the fair-haired Remi, but I honestly didn’t think you’d go as far as to go to prison for her.”

  Charles had a tendency to bring out the worst in Liam, and though he didn’t feel he needed to justify his actions, he clarified anyway. “I had two options; I could either run or face the consequences; I chose the latter.”

  Charles grinned while shaking his head. “Should have never touched that bank with a ten-foot pole.”

  Liam couldn’t disagree with that fact except for one thing—Remi. Though he often wished he had met her under different circumstances, that heist brought her into his life, the lone bright spot in a very dark existence.

  “Have you forgiven me for what I did to her?” he asked, sounding almost remorseful.

  “You mean when you tried to kill her?” countered Liam.

  “I wasn’t trying to kill her; I was merely trying to keep her quiet and out of the way.”

  “And the threats towards her afterward, what the hell were those?”

  In what Liam thought was possibly a subconscious attempt to mimic what Charles had done to Remi during the heist, Charles suddenly banged his head against one of the bars then backed away from it. He then uttered, “Just part of the game.”

  Since Liam’s expression never changed, Charles did something uncharacteristic. He apologized. “I am truly sorry that Remi got caught up in it.”

  Liam climbed off the bunk and walked towards the front of the cell, so he was within a few inches of the man he once revered to some degree. “You know, I almost believe you,” he said then smirked mischievously. “Almost being the operative word.”

  A guard lurking nearby suddenly announced that time was up. Charles nodded that he got the message then said to Liam, “We had a good run, and up until that heist, we got away with it all.”

  Charles then closed his eyes and murmured, “Ah, the memories.”

  For a split second, Liam remembered all the jobs they had pulled and how that high of stealing was all he needed, never thinking he needed so much more. The guard suddenly yanked Charles’ arm. “Let’s go!”

  As he stood up, he looked directly at Liam and solemnly said, “Until we meet again, old friend.”

  Liam had no words, no nod, no acknowledgment of whatsoever. For him, Charles represented the past and had no intention of ever revisiting that. Liam watched him disappear down the corridor then quietly muttered, “Bye, Charles.”

  After spending the night and most of the next day at her parents’ house, Remi arrived back at the apartment to find it empty, which was just as well, since she wasn’t up for talking. All she wanted was a hot shower, and some time alone to think. With her parents’ support of her moving to Miami, she just now had to make the decision to do it. She was leaning in that direction. Liam gave her that house for a reason. It was as if he had a premonition and knew how this was going to play out. The house he claimed he had bought as a getaway for him, in reality, would end up being her escape.

  For the next hour, she lingered in the shower, not pondering about anything other than Miami. Carefully weighing the pros and cons of moving down there. A major drawback was leaving her family. Another was being so far from Liam, not that he wanted her to visit him anyway. Leaving her close friends behind would suck, as well as leaving Philly. Then there were the pros, which was living in a warm location, on the beach, with no more snow and freezing temperatures. A beautiful house that Liam picked out and gave to her, it was a place to call her own. A new beginning, where no one knew anything about the heist; the pink diamonds, or her role in any of it. She would get to start over.

  When the shower water finally ran cold and her body pruned up, Remi climbed out but before getting dressed she checked her phone messages. To her surprise, there was a voice message from Penny. A feeling of dread immediately overwhelmed her as she listened:

  I just got word that Liam is going to be transferred tomorrow to a temporary facility to begin the intake process. It never happens this quick, so I don’t know what the hell happened, believe me, I was shocked to get the call. I’ve worked it out with Detective Weston so that you and Liam can have a little time alone before he’s transferred. It will probably be around eleven or noontime, but I’ll let you know for sure.

  Penny’s voice sounded so despondent, a sure sign she was just as displeased about this news as Remi was. “Damn,” she uttered, as the phone dropped from her hand. She wasn’t delusional and knew he was going eventually, it was just, as long as he was in the county jail, it didn’t seem so final. Strangely though, she didn’t shed a single tear, not because she wasn’t sad, it was more because she felt dead inside. Catatonic actually. She lied back on the bed, unable to function and for nearly two hours, she didn’t budge. It wasn’t until Melanie got home and found Remi in that unresponsive state that she snapped out of it. “Rem,” she whispered. “What’s going on?”

  Because she
didn’t think she could get the words out, she just handed Melanie her phone and told her to listen to the message. “Oh God, I’m sorry,” she said after it was done playing.

  “I secretly kept wishing there’d be some miracle that would prevent him from going,” she said. In an attempt to comfort her, Melanie took hold of Remi’s hand. Just then a text from Chris came through, seeing if she was okay. “Good news travels fast,” quipped Remi. Melanie remarked while pointing to the phone, “You know, that one has kind of grown on me.”

  Remi raised her eyebrow, then the two busted out laughing, which lightened the heavy-hearted moment considerably. Remi then decided to call Chris instead of texting, and they talked for a while, discussing Liam’s transfer and her potential move to Miami. She hadn’t planned on talking about that, but it ended up being a pleasant diversion. Melanie had overheard the conversation and put her two cents in when the call ended. “I know you are undecided, but I’m not going to lie,” she said. “For selfish reasons, I don’t want you to go, because I need you here and would miss you something awful.”

  Remi smiled as she slipped Liam’s gray hoodie over her head. Melanie then quickly added, “But in all honesty, I think you moving down to Miami into that beautiful house, would be pretty awesome and you know I’d come visit—a lot!”

  The two laughed about it then Melanie watched as Remi opened a dresser drawer and pulled out the Cornell t-shirt. With a soft sigh, Remi held it firmly in her hands. “I’ve mentally listed the pros and cons of moving to Miami,” she said pausing as her fingertips skimmed the cotton fabric. She then glanced at Melanie and smiled. “And I think the pros have won.”

  Penny trifled through a pile of legal papers while Warren and Marlene nibbled on freshly, baked apple pie. “It’s good, Mom,” he said, his voice maudlin. Though he had always loved her cooking or more aptly, desserts, she knew he was definitely not enjoying the delectable treat, as his only son was about to spend the next twenty years locked up. Marlene asked about the deal and if they were both sure it was the right move for Liam. After exchanging glances with Warren, Penny replied, “If he hadn’t taken it, he would have most likely gotten life without parole.”