Behind the Mask (MIRA)

by Metsy Hingle

  “Let me help you,” he insisted.

  “If you really want to help me, you’ll leave now and not come back.”

  He stared at her for a long time, and Lily could have sworn he was going to argue with her further. “I’ll leave. For now. Because there’s something I have to take care of, some business I need to finish. But once it’s done, I’ll be back, and you and I are going to talk.”

  But when she closed the door behind him and watched the taillights of his truck wink and fade as he drove away, Lily knew that when Michael came back, she would no longer be there.

  Walking over to the telephone, she picked up the receiver and dialed Nancy Lee’s home number. And when the woman who had been her boss and her friend answered, Lily said, “Nancy Lee, it’s Lily. I’m sorry to be calling you so late, but I’m afraid I’ve had some bad news. I just got off the phone with the hospital in Atlanta, my Aunt Sally’s had a stroke.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Nancy Lee told her. “I didn’t realize you had any relatives.”

  “Just my Aunt Sally now,” Lily said, spinning the tale. “She’s actually my great-aunt, my grandmother’s sister, and I’m the only family she has. The doctors say it doesn’t look good and that I need to come as soon as possible. I hate doing this to you with Mardi Gras the day after tomorrow, but I’m going to have to leave tomorrow morning on the first flight I can get.”

  “Janie, I realize it’s a lot to ask. You’ve practically just walked through the doors of the place yourself, and here I am asking you to take in a couple of strangers.”

  “Michael, I said it’s okay. As along as she and her little boy don’t mind sacking out in sleeping bags until those movers show up, the boys and I don’t mind.”

  “Thanks, Janie. I wouldn’t have asked, but Oklahoma’s probably the last place anyone will look for them. And you’re the one person I feel I can trust,” he said honestly.

  “I’m glad, because I feel the same way about you,” she told him. “Just let me know what flight they’re going to be coming in on, and the two monsters and I will meet them at the airport.”

  “I haven’t checked with the airlines yet, but I’ll let you know as soon as I do. Then I’m going to have to try to convince Lily to go,” Michael said, and he knew that that would be the difficult part. He still wasn’t all that sure how he was going to pull it off—especially considering that the lady in question had just told him to butt out and not to come back.

  “Well, my money’s on you, Sullivan.”

  “Thanks.” He just wished he felt as sure as Janie did that he could convince Lily that he wasn’t the enemy and to let him help her. Although he’d made up his mind to come clean with her, he had sensed her panic earlier that evening when he had pressed her to tell him why she was so afraid. He’d also been fairly sure if he had confessed to her then—that he’d been hired by Webster to find her, but had decided to help her instead—she probably wouldn’t have believed him.

  He couldn’t blame her. He supposed he wouldn’t believe him, either. That’s why he’d wanted to set up a safe haven for Lily and Timmy to go to, a place where Webster wouldn’t think to look for them. Because unless his instincts were off, she was about to run again. He’d seen it in her eyes last night. He suspected she’d been thinking about it for a while now. He figured he had two, maybe three days at best before she bolted.

  “She must be very special for you to do this,” Janie remarked.

  “She is,” he admitted. He’d known that for a while now, but just hadn’t been willing to admit it to himself. “And she’s probably going to hate my guts when she finds out everything. But I’m going to help her whether she wants me to or not.”

  “Sounds like I’m not the only one who’s making some big life changes.”

  Michael frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means you sound more like the old Michael Sullivan. The one who once told me he became a cop because he wanted to make a difference, and figured the best way to do that was by making sure the bad guys didn’t win.”

  “Yeah, well. Lily’s in trouble, and somebody’s got to help her.”

  “And she couldn’t be in better hands,” Janie told him.

  “Thanks, Janie. I owe you one.”

  “No you don’t. Now go talk to the lady, and let me know about the flights.”

  But the flights were a problem, Michael discovered after he made a call to the airlines. It seemed as many people were leaving the city to escape Mardi Gras as there were people coming in to celebrate the event. “So when do you have a flight going to Oklahoma City that has seats available?” he asked the ticket agent.

  “Right now the earliest availability that I’m showing is Tuesday afternoon.”

  “All right. I’ll need two tickets. One adult and one child,” he told her, and gave her Lily’s and Timmy’s names. “I’d like to pay cash for these tickets. Can you hold them at the desk and I’ll swing by and pay for them tomorrow?”

  “I can’t guarantee them. It would be better if you could give me a credit card number.”

  But he didn’t want to risk using his credit card—just in case Webster grew wise to what he had done. Purchasing two tickets to Oklahoma would surely raise a red flag. “I’d rather pay cash. I’ll try to get to the airport in the morning.”

  “Actually, you don’t have to come all the way to the airport to pay for the tickets. We have an office located in the CBD, the Central Business District,” she explained. “You could go there and avoid the crush at the Louis Armstrong Airport, if you’d like.”

  “I’d like that,” Michael told her, and jotted down the information.

  Once he had Lily and Timmy safe with Janie and her boys in Oklahoma, he could settle up things with Webster, Michael decided. Since Lily wouldn’t tell him why she was so afraid of the man, he was hoping that either his brother or his father would be able to find out something for him. But first, he had to make another report to Webster and see if he could determine whether or not the man had bought his story last night.

  Reaching for his cell phone again, Michael punched in the number to Webster’s private line. He answered on the second ring, surprising Michael, given it was after midnight in Miami.

  “Yes,” he said, a touch of impatience in the cultured voice.

  “It’s Sullivan.”

  “Ah, Mr. Sullivan,” he said. “I hope you’re calling with good news.”

  “I’m afraid not,” Michael began, and went on to explain that he’d hit a dead end. “I realize our agreement was that I’d find her in thirty days. We’re almost at the end of that time frame now and I don’t think another couple of days will make any difference. So I’m going to return your retainer and cut my losses now.”

  “Well, I must say I’m disappointed, Sullivan. I actually thought you were going to collect that million dollars. In fact, I would have taken odds that you thought so, too.”

  “I did think so. And if you think it’s easy for me to walk away from that kind of money and eat the expenses I’ve racked up, you’re wrong.”

  “Then why walk away? I’ll give you a short extension,” Webster offered.

  Michael couldn’t shake the feeling the man was toying with him—the way a cat would with a mouse it had cornered. “A few days, a few weeks won’t make any difference. I’m smart enough to know when I’m spinning my wheels. Your wife has covered her tracks. My guess is she’s left the country, and since I limit my work to the U.S., I’d just as soon cut my losses now and move on to another job that actually pays me something.”

  “And to think that a little less than a month ago you seemed so sure you’d be able to find my wife. I wouldn’t have pegged you for a quitter.”

  Michael gritted his teeth at the barb. “We both know you hired me because no one else had been successful in finding her. And my guess is that whomever you hire after me won’t be able to find her, either.” At least he hoped they wouldn’t. “As soon as I get back t
o Florida, I’ll return your retainer,” Michael told him, and cut the connection without waiting for a reply.

  Adam shuddered with rage. Did the man really think he was such a fool that he actually believed him? The man had found Elisabeth. He knew it. Marching over to the bar he poured himself a whiskey and tossed it back.

  He grabbed the phone and buzzed for Bernie.

  “Yeah?” the sleepy brute answered.

  “Did you send some boys to New Orleans to find Sullivan like I told you?”

  “Yes, boss. They’re there now.”

  “Then what in the hell is taking them so long to locate that son of a bitch?” he demanded.

  “I don’t know, boss. They said something about it being Mardi Gras, and how things were kind of crazy down there right now.”

  “I don’t give a fuck about Mardi Gras. Sullivan knows where Elisabeth is, and I want him found.”

  “Sure thing, boss. I’ll get right on it.”

  “Be sure that you do, Bernie. Because if your people screw up and Elisabeth gets away again, someone is going to pay for it. Understand?”

  “Yes, boss,” Bernie said. “She won’t get away. And neither will Sullivan.”

  Adam slammed down the phone. He tossed back another whiskey, but the liquor did nothing to ease his fury. He marched back to the adjoining bedroom, stripped off his robe and started for the bed, intent on working off some of his frustration with the girl.

  She wasn’t in the bed, which only added to his anger. “Now, where did the little bitch go?” he muttered. When he didn’t find her in the bathroom, he stared at the door that led to the room he’d kept for Elisabeth. No, he thought. The stupid cunt wouldn’t dare go in there—he’d told her it was forbidden.

  He opened the door.

  “Adam,” she gasped, whipping around as he opened the door.

  “What are you doing in here? And what are you doing wearing that?”

  “M-my clothes were messed up from earlier this evening,” she explained, reminding him that he had ripped the dress she’d been wearing from her body. “I thought it would be okay if I…if I just borrowed something to wear for now and returned it later.”

  Adam went to her, slapped her hard across the face and knocked her to the floor. “Take it off,” he commanded.

  “Yes,” she sobbed, trying to unzip the dress.

  But watching her tremble, seeing her body exposed, inflamed him. It made him think of Elisabeth, and of how she’d disobeyed him. Him. The man who had given her everything. Just as he’d given this stupid bitch everything.

  “Here,” she said, offering him the dress.

  Adam took it, tossed it aside. “You know what happens to little girls who are disobedient?”

  She stared at him, the eyes that were now green, wide and wet from tears. “But I’m not a little girl,” she said.

  “You’re whatever I want you to be,” he told her, and grabbed her by the hair, shoved her to her knees.

  “Yes,” she agreed.

  “Naughty girls need to be punished. And I’m going to have to punish you, Elisabeth.”

  Twelve

  Lily jumped at the sound of the ringing telephone. After the fourth ring, she picked it up. “Hello,” she said, but was met with silence at the other end. “Hello?” she repeated, and when she still got no answer, she hung up the phone.

  Uneasiness tripped down her spine. She tried to blow off the call as a fluke, a wrong number that someone hadn’t wanted to own up to. But now, now, she wasn’t so sure. And though she had saved money by declining the caller ID device, she couldn’t help wishing now that she’d had it. Feeling a headache coming on, she downed several aspirin and, after checking her watch, she went to wake up Timmy.

  As always when she looked at her son, her heart swelled with love for him. My sweet, beautiful baby, she thought as she sat down on the edge of his bed. Smoothing his hair back, she pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Timmy, it’s time to wake up, baby.”

  He stirred, opening sleepy brown eyes. “I seepy,” he said.

  “I know you are, sweetheart. That’s because it’s very early. But Mommy has a special day planned for us. We’re going to take a little trip.”

  “To pwade?” he asked with a yawn as Lily stripped off his pajama top and pulled on a long-sleeved polo.

  “No, not to the parade. Someplace better.”

  “To see Mickey Mouse?”

  Lily sighed as she stood him up and replaced his pajama bottoms with a pair of blue jeans. “Even better. How would you like to go to Texas and see real horses and cowboys?”

  “Can Mikull come wif us?”

  Her son’s innocent question sent pain slashing through her heart. “No. Michael can’t come.”

  “Why?” he asked while she slipped on his socks and tennis shoes.

  “Because he needs to stay here.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you and Mommy are a family, and families go on trips together. Michael’s not part of our family.”

  “But I wuv him.”

  Not only had the man managed to sneak his way into her heart, but he’d also stolen her son’s heart, too. “And I’m sure Michael loves you, too,” she told Timmy. “But this trip is just for you and Mommy. Understand?”

  He nodded, but those sad eyes and the puckered lower lip were a swipe to her heart.

  “Tell you what. How would you like a bowl of Mickey Mouse cereal for breakfast this morning?”

  “Can I have chocwate milk?”

  Lily blanched at the idea of the sweet cereal and even sweeter chocolate milk. But because she’d already disappointed him, she gave in and said, “All right. Mickey Mouse cereal with chocolate milk.”

  He gave her a kiss and ran to the kitchen.

  Once she had Timmy settled at the table, she went into the next room and placed a call to Gertie. “Gertie, it’s Lily. I know it’s early, but I need a favor. Can I bring Timmy a little early this morning?”

  “Of course you can,” the generous older woman told her. “Do you have to go in to work already?”

  “No. I have some things I need to take care of.”

  “Lily, what is it? What’s wrong? Is Timmy sick again?”

  “No, Timmy’s fine,” she assured her. “I promise I’ll explain everything when I get there.”

  Once she arrived at Gertie’s Lily told her they would be leaving.

  “I can’t believe you’re going to run,” Gertie told her.

  “I have to, Gertie,” Lily explained once again, telling her that she believed Adam had found them.

  “If your grandmother, God rest her soul, were alive, she’d tell you the same thing I’m telling you—that you need to stop running away because you’re afraid. It’s not good for that little boy in there,” she said, pointing a finger to the next room where Timmy was watching a Barney video. “And it’s not good for you. Look at you. You’ve got circles under your eyes and you look like a strong wind would knock you over.”

  “I’m all right,” Lily tried to tell her. If she looked like hell it was because she hadn’t been able to sleep last night, knowing what this morning would bring.

  “You’re not all right. And you won’t be until you stand up for yourself. Take the man to court, Lily. File for divorce and fight him for custody of Timmy.”

  “I can’t. If I do, I’ll lose Timmy. There’s no way I can fight Adam and win,” Lily explained.

  “You don’t know that. Just because he’s a big-shot businessman with money doesn’t mean that the courts will take a child away from his mother. He would have to prove that you were unfit, that Timmy was better off with him.”

  “And he would. You don’t know him, Gertie. He would find a way. Adam always gets what he wants.” He’d wanted her, and had gotten her by first becoming her guardian and then by marrying her. He’d wanted something from Carter—and the man had been found dead. He always found a way to get rid of what he didn’t want—and Adam didn’t want Timmy. Lily shiv
ered. “He has lots of friends in high places—even in the governor’s mansion. He will find a way,” she repeated. And it was the truth. Adam would find a way to take Timmy from her, and when something happened to Timmy, he would play the role of the grieving father for the public, and no one would question him.

  “He’s not the only one with friends. You have friends, too,” Gertie insisted. “That lady you work for, the other people at the diner. And me. I could testify for you, tell them what a wonderful mother you are.”

  But it wouldn’t be enough. And Lily knew it. “I appreciate the offer. But I can’t risk it, Gertie. I just can’t.”

  “Lily,” Gertie began, her voice breaking. Her faded blue eyes filled with tears. “I don’t want you and Timmy to go.”

  “Oh, Gertie.” Lily hugged the other woman close and held her tightly a moment. Then after collecting herself, she stepped back. “I don’t want to leave you, either. But I have to. It’s the only way Timmy will be safe. If there’s any way for me to come back, any way at all, I will. I promise.”

  Gertie sniffed, wiped at her eyes with the bottom of her apron. “All right. Then go on. Do whatever it is you have to do. I’ll take care of Timmy for you.”

  “Thank you.” Lily kissed Gertie’s cheek. “I’ll try not to be too long.”

  And after kissing Timmy goodbye and explaining to him that when she came back the two of them would be leaving for their trip, Lily began taking the steps necessary to end Lily Tremont’s life in New Orleans. To start over somewhere else as someone else—until Adam found her again.

  “Hey, Texas. We haven’t seen you in a while.”

  “Good morning, Gina,” Michael said to the waitress as he strolled into the diner at half past ten that morning. “I’ve been kind of busy lately—some business I needed to take care of,” Michael informed her as he took a table by the window. He patted his shirt pocket just to be sure it still contained the two ticket confirmations for the flight that would take Lily and Timmy to Oklahoma. He felt good about what he’d done and the decisions he’d made. The only hurdle now was getting Lily to go along with his plan.