“Hop down right here,” she said to Liza. “The grass makes a soft landing.”
“I love you,” Liza mouthed.
Marion blew her a kiss as she waited for her to hop down, then they walked to Bryce’s front door together, arm in arm.
Liza was glad for the support; she felt unaccountably nervous, although she didn’t know why. This was her brother, after all. Her lying, felon of a brother. Mom and Dad will be so proud, she thought. Oddly, she wasn’t angry at him. Maybe it was because her emotions were too erratic and overworked right now. Yes, that was definitely it. There would be time for anger later, and then she would let him have it, not only for his criminal behavior but also for the sin of omission. How could he not tell her he had been arrested, tried, and convicted? She shook her head. Talk about an emotionally-shunted, dysfunctional family.
Everyone stood back and waited for her to knock on the door. She did, tentatively, and then stood trembling on the step, Marion’s bracing arm around her shoulders. Bryce answered, looking for all the world like a teenager instead of the thirty-year-old he was.
“Sis,” he exclaimed. His shock was palpable, and he seemed to have eyes only for her at first. Then he took in the small group on his porch and turned questioning eyes back to Liza. “What’s this about?”
“We need your help,” Liza said softly, trying hard to keep her bubbling emotion under wraps. Bryce would no doubt freak out and retreat if she burst into tears on his doorstep.
“Now’s not a good time,” he said, trying to be sneaky about hiding one leg behind the door. Unfortunately it was the leg opposite the door, so he was contorted in an obviously awkward position.
Liza sighed. “Bryce, I know everything. Stop lying and help us.” She brushed him aside by roughly pushing open the door before stepping inside. “Where is your computer?”
The question was unnecessary because as soon as she entered the room, she saw it. In fact, it was the only thing in the room besides a chair and a desk. She turned to him, hands on hips. “Where is your furniture?”
“I had to sell it to pay legal bills,” he said, shifting uncomfortably. The action caught her eye and drew it to his ankle where the black electronic monitor stuck out on his pale leg.
Sensing that Liza was about to lose it, Marion took charge. “Here’s the deal, jailbait. These men are federal agents.” She waved in the direction of Sal and Link. “They need you to uncover someone’s tracks for them. Should be simple, unless all the talk has been hype. Maybe you’re not as good as you claim to be.” She stood back, staring at him with crossed arms.
“I’m better, Marion the librarian,” he said. He reached out and fluffed the ends of her hair before she batted his hand away. “What are you all dressed up for? A ‘Hoarders Anonymous’ meeting?”
“I’m not a hoarder,” Marion said defensively. “But even if I were, my house would still be more inviting than this place.” She gave a derisive look around the room. “It’s so empty in here, I can hear an echo.”
“That’s coming from the cavern in your head,” Bryce replied.
“Shut up,” Sal said, startling them both. “What are you two, twelve?”
“Yes,” they replied together before Bryce led the way to his computer, or computers. There were five of them, plus a whole lot of other equipment Liza couldn’t put a name to.
“All right, what do you need?” Bryce asked. He sat behind the computer, appearing more comfortable than he had since they arrived.
“This,” Sal said. He withdrew a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and set it before Bryce. “I need to find out who this person really is, along with an address.”
Bryce took the paper without comment and began clacking on his computer. Liza turned away from the sight of her big brother, seamlessly hacking his way into who knew how many computer systems. She knew he was into computers, but this…
“I’ll be back,” she said, though she didn’t think anyone heard. They were all watching Bryce as he simultaneously typed on two computers, bringing up branches of technical jargon that were too complex for any of them to understand. She slipped down the hall and to the bathroom, inspecting each room as she went. They were all bare except one. In it was a mattress on the floor. By the time she reached the bathroom, she was ready for a meltdown. Not only was Bryce a criminal, but he was a poor one. He had apparently been living like a hobo for who knew how long. Did he have food? Could he afford to eat and heat his house? Could he even afford the house? What if it was taken away? What then? Would he have to go to jail?
She wanted to splash cold water on her face, but she was vain enough not to want to mar her perfect makeup job. Instead she retrieved a washcloth from the cupboard—thank goodness he still had plenty of washcloths and towels—wet it with cool water, and pressed it to her forehead. For a few seconds, she debated the merits of throwing up again. Her stomach was calling for release, but Liza rebelled at the idea, not only because she hadn’t eaten anything all day, but also because she didn’t want to smell like vomit, which she undoubtedly would if she gave into temptation and threw up.
When she finally returned to the living room, she found Dirk watching her with a wary, worried expression. But when their eyes met, he quickly smoothed it away before turning his eyes off her. Liza sidled up to him, hoping for a quiet word. What she would say, she didn’t know. But she needed to say something.
“Here we go,” Bryce said.
Everyone strained and leaned forward. “You found it?” Link asked.
“Almost,” Bryce said. “Less than a minute away and I’ll…” He stopped talking as the barrel of a gun was pressed firmly against the base of his skull.
Everyone stared at Puck in surprise, everyone except Bryce who couldn’t turn his head.
“Was this part of the plan?” Bryce asked, confused.
“No, this definitely wasn’t part of the plan,” Link said. “Puck, what’s this about?”
Puck swallowed hard, but his hand didn’t tremble on the gun. “You don’t have to look any farther. I’m the one. I killed the guy, and I want the money for it.”
“You killed someone?” Marion said. The expression on her face was heartbreaking. Liza would have reached out to comfort her if she wasn’t paralyzed with fear.
“I did it for you,” Puck said, his tone pleading.
“What?” Marion gasped.
“For us,” Puck clarified. “I heard what you said about me, about how you’re not sure if you want kids with me because you don’t want to have to buy school lunchboxes for both of us.”
“Puck, I was kidding,” Marion said.
Puck shook his head. “No, I know how you feel about me, what you think, that I’m a failure who will never amount to anything. Even if I ever get a job, how will I pay off my school loans? That’s no kind of life for you, Marion.”
“So your solution was to kill someone?” she asked, incredulous.
“Link said it was lucrative. He said it could pay fifty thousand a pop. And Dirk made me realize I need a life plan. I need a goal.”
“And you thought murder was a good goal,” Marion said. “I don’t believe this. What is wrong with you? And what’s wrong with me? Why are all the men I date mental?”
“I’m not mental,” Puck shouted. He sniffed hard and Liza wondered if he was about to cry. “It was a good idea. I wanted to get someone’s attention and show them I could carry out a job, and I did. What’s the big deal? He does it all the time.” He gestured to Sal.
“The difference is that I’m sanctioned by the government first. You’re just a hitman,” Sal said.
“That’s not true,” Puck said. “I checked out the guy I killed. He was a bad guy. I did the right thing by taking him out, and I want my money.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Sal said. His tone was placating. “But if you put down the gun, we can talk about it.”
“I’m not an idiot,” Puck said. “This isn’t going to end well for me unless I get out of here. And I
’m not leaving empty handed.”
“What do you want?” Link asked. Liza wondered if anyone else noticed the sly look he and Sal exchanged. If she had to guess, they were hatching a plan to take Puck down.
“I want the money for the hit, and he can do it.” He pressed the gun farther into Bryce’s neck. “Put fifty thousand dollars in an untraceable account for me, and I’ll let you live.”
“I can’t…” Bryce began.
“Don’t say you can’t,” Puck interrupted. “I know all about you. I’m what you’d call a fan, although I had no idea until today you were Liza’s brother. I know exactly what you can do, and I want you to do it now or after I kill you, I’ll kill your sister.”
Even though she and Puck had been quasi-friends, Liza had no doubt that he meant what he said. Still, something felt wrong about giving in to him.
“I can’t believe this,” Marion huffed.
“You can come with me, Mar,” Puck said. “Fifty thousand isn’t a lot, but it’s enough to get started until I get some more jobs.”
Marion’s jaw dropped. “You just threatened to kill my best friend, and you think I’m going to ride off into the sunset with you? Moron.”
Link cleared his throat, most likely to try and tell Marion to put a sock in it.
Behind Liza, Dirk edged protectively closer until he was almost shading her with his body. For some reason, she wanted to see what was in his eyes at that moment. Not thinking about what she was doing, she turned to step toward him, and everything happened at once.
There was a blur of movement, the sound of a shot, and then Liza was on the ground, Dirk firmly on top of her. For a moment, the world seemed to stop as they looked into each other’s eyes.
“Are you okay?” he asked, breaking the spell that had made it seem like they were alone in the room.
“I’m fine,” she said, breathless because the weight of his body was squeezing the air from her. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” he replied, giving her a half smile.
Then reality came fully rushing back, and Liza struggled to get from beneath him. “Bryce,” she shouted. The last mental image she had was of the gun pressed to Bryce’s skull. What if…
But it wasn’t Bryce who was lying on the floor in a pool of blood, it was Marion. Bryce was bent over her, his hand pressed to her abdomen, trying to staunch the wound. “Don’t go, Marion,” he said over and over as Marion seemed to be fading away.
Liza jumped up and knelt across from him, trying to assess the damage and see what she could do.
Beside her, Sal and Link struggled with Puck who had gone wild at the realization that his bullet had struck Marion. Dirk joined the fray and subdued Puck with a bone-cracking uppercut. Puck slumped unconscious to the floor while Sal called for an ambulance. Link roughly shoved Liza out of the way and began to work on Marion. Liza took comfort in the fact that he looked like he knew what he was doing.
Dirk sank to the floor beside Liza and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close while she pressed her face to his chest and prayed. The sight of an unconscious, bleeding Marion was too much for her, and she couldn’t look at it anymore. She remained hidden in the folds of Dirk’s shirt while the ambulance arrived and loaded Marion.
“Let’s go to the hospital now,” Dirk said. He held on to her arms, levering her into a standing position while she leaned heavily on him and allowed him to lead her to the car.
They drove in silence to the hospital, not caring that they had left Link and Sal at the house to clean up the mess, nor that Bryce had been motionless and in shock, still kneeling at the sight where Marion had lain.
“What if she…” Liza had started once, but Dirk cut her off.
“She won’t.”
Something in his voice reassured her, or maybe it was her own desperate hope that Marion would be okay.
They arrived at the hospital and were directed to a surgery waiting room. They didn’t say a word, sitting silently side by side, until at last a surgeon emerged with news.
“She’s going to be fine. The bullet nicked her intestines, and I took a chunk of them out, but nothing she can’t live without. We’ll keep her a few days to make sure there’s no infection from the perforation, but I expect her to make a full recovery.”
Liza nodded frantically, too overcome to speak. Thankfully, Dirk took care of the necessities, thanking the man and asking when they could see Marion.
“She’ll be in recovery for a while and then they’ll move her to a room. You can see her tonight if you want.”
“I want,” Liza finally found her voice. “I’ll wait right here.” She swiped at her brimming eyes and sat back down as the doctor left the room.
Dirk remained standing, looking uncertainly toward the exit. “I guess I’ll go now.” He paused as if waiting for Liza to disagree, but she wasn’t sure what to do. She had broken up with him. What right did she have to keep him here?
He walked to the doors without looking back, and Liza stood, almost toppling over in her haste to rise. “Wait!” she yelled.
He stopped, but didn’t turn around.
“Please don’t go,” she choked. “Oh, please, Dirk. Don’t leave me.”
He pivoted, and the look on his face made her wince. “You broke up with me,” he rasped. “You thought I was the assassin, didn’t you?”
She shook her head feverishly back and forth, her hands pressed over her mouth to keep from pleading with him anymore.
“You did. Admit it. You thought I was a killer.”
“I never did,” Liza said earnestly. “You can ask Link. We argued about it almost constantly. He was mad because he said I wouldn’t see the truth, but I never for one second thought you capable of killing anyone.”
“Then you broke up with me because of him, because you’re in love with him.”
“Of course I’m not,” Liza said. “It wasn’t like that with him; he’s just a friend.”
“Then why, Liza? Why after five years did you kick me to the curb with no explanation?”
“Because of the pictures,” she said.
“What pictures?”
“Of you and Scarlet,” she said, hating even to mention her rival. “In Cleveland,” she added when he looked clueless.
“How did you see those?” he asked, not even trying to deny them.
“Link had you followed.”
He blew out a breath. “I really hate that guy. Fine. I had dinner with Scarlet and her husband.”
“Her husband?” Liza exclaimed. “He wasn’t in any of the photos.”
Dirk rolled his eyes. “She’s a married woman, Liza. Give me a little credit. I wouldn’t have dinner alone with anyone but you.” His eyes narrowed on her. “Was that really it? You thought I cheated on you with Scarlet?”
“I know you still love her,” she whispered. The dreadful words, so long held secret, felt heavy in the air between them. At least they did until Dirk burst out laughing.
“What? Are you crazy?”
“No,” she said. “Stop laughing. You guys were a hot item in college, and Scarlet is amazing. She’s beautiful and famous, and everywhere all the time. And you never talk about her. You can’t even say her name.”
“I can’t say her name because you freak out every time she comes up in conversation. I just assumed you two had a falling out. As for being in love with her, I never was.”
“What?” she said, staring dumbfounded.
“We dated in college, true, but we weren’t serious. Scarlet is great, and I like her, but from a safe distance. Do you have any idea how exhausting she was? Every date had to be a big event that she could blog about. I just wanted to stay in and watch a movie together, but instead we had to go jet skiing and then eat sushi, or some other grand adventure. She wore me out after the first year, but we stayed together out of habit. We had already decided to break up when I met you at the wedding.”
“So you wanted to ask me out?”
“Liza, when y
ou die, I’m going to donate your brain to science to see if they can figure out how it works, because I certainly can’t. Of course I wanted to ask you out.” He reached out to tentatively take her hand. “I always thought you were the nicest of Scarlet’s friends, but you were so quiet. Then that day at the wedding you finally opened up and let down your guard. You were funny and unexpected and cute. I couldn’t wait to officially dispatch with Scarlet so I could call you.”
Liza was speechless. Everything she had thought for the past five years was suddenly upside down. “But you’ve never introduced me to your friends.”
“If you met my friends, you’d know why. They’re a bunch of dumb jocks, stuck in their glory days. I have fun when I get together with them, but it’s not exactly the kind of crowd I want my sweet and innocent girlfriend to meet.” He kissed the back of her hand.
“You’re a millionaire, and you never even told me,” she said.
“Of course I am,” he said. “I thought you knew. I’ve been working for my dad since I was eight. When I was eighteen, he made me a full partner, and my salary reflected my new status. I’m a saver and not a spender. Just like you.” He tapped the tip of her nose with his index finger.
She bit her lip. “I haven’t been so great this summer. I’ve spent a lot on my appearance.”
“Whatever you did worked. I can’t keep you out of my head; it’s even worse than it usually is.”
There was a slight lull between them as they tried to process all that had been said. As long as they were having it out, Liza mustered the courage to say all the things she had always wanted to say to him.
“Dirk, why does it feel like you’re never here? You shut me out of your life, and I can’t find any good way to explain your disinterest.”
“I can,” he said. “It’s all in your imagination.”
“What?” she exclaimed, snatching her hand away from him.
He rested his hands on her shoulders. “Liza, on our first date, I thought you were a little standoffish. I liked you, but I wasn’t sure I was going to call again. And then we got to your door and you practically attacked me kissing me goodnight.”
Liza blushed, remembering that night. She had thought the date was a onetime fluke, and she wanted to make the most of it.
The Pajama Affair Page 17