by DC Renee
“I don’t need your help. Just some cash to get me settled.”
“What’s gotten into you?” Mason asked as he grabbed her and looked into her eyes. They were dull, no life in them. And that’s when he knew everything he believed was a lie.
“You’re using again.” It wasn’t a question.
“What? What are you talking about baby? I just need some cash so I can settle some things and get back to you.”
“What things?” he asked.
“Some things,” she replied.
“Drugs?”
“No baby, I love you. I wouldn’t do that to you, to us.”
“Oh my God, just fucking brilliant. Just fucking fantastic. You used me! You fucking used me.”
“No, Mason, baby, I love you.”
“Wow, your acting skills see no end. You played me. I love you. Do you get that? I wasn’t acting. I fell in love with you. I fell hard, and all this time, you were just using me to let you go. Well, you’re out now. I gave you your freedom after you played me. I even set you up with a place and money. And yet, here you are, asking for more money to support your drug habit.”
“That’s not what this is. I do love you. I just need some money. Why are you being like this? You say you love me, but you don’t want to help me.”
“Stop, just stop. I can’t take any more of your games. You need to leave. You need to get the fuck away from me.”
“I’m not going anywhere until you give me some money.”
“It’s all about money with you, huh? Fine. I’ll get you money. That’s all you wanted, right? Now get the fuck away from me.”
“No, I love you. That’s why I want the money so I can come back to you.”
“You don’t have to play anymore; I’ll put more in your account.”
“How do I know you will? I need some now so I can come back to you.”
“Don’t you get it, Kat? You might be a Class-A, cold-hearted, manipulating bitch, but somewhere inside, I know you can see it.”
“See what?”
“You’re breaking my fucking heart.” He thought he saw a glimmer of sorrow pass through her eyes, but she stiffened immediately and just stared at him.
“I believed all your lies instead of believing the facts that I saw in front of me. You’ll get your fucking money. But get the fuck out of the way and out of my life.”
He pushed her out and slammed the door in her face, the last thing he heard her saying was, “But I love you.” Maybe she thought she did in some other life. But not in this one. God! He was such a fucking idiot. And now he knew it was all one big lie.
Something didn’t sit right. She wasn’t the same person she was just days ago. What the fuck happened? How could this all have occurred? Because she was the queen manipulator.
The reality of everything that just happened finally sank in. Not only was Kat out of his life, but the Kat he knew and loved was gone too. She never existed. He didn’t know how he was going to survive. He didn’t know what he was going to do.
And just like that, the tears came and he could no longer stand. He fell into a pile on the floor, sobbing loudly. Like he just lost the greatest thing that ever happened to him. Because really, he did.
Chapter 41
Kat had told Trent what had happened with Katherine and he told her he had suspected as much.
“Did you think she would just be so darn thrilled to finally meet her sister that she would go out and try to make things right?”
“Yes!” Kat yelled in frustration.
“Come on, honey. Anyone who would send an innocent guy to prison and have no qualms about it is definitely not the type of person to just wake up one day and say, ‘Hey, I should go right some wrongs.’”
“Well, when you put it like that,” Kat whined. “Then what the hell am I going to do?”
“You’re going to have to get a confession out of her.”
“That’s what I was hoping for!”
“How old are you? Five?” Trent laughed. “Stop whining and start working. You want to get her confession on tape. Record her admitting she falsely accused him.”
“She didn’t even technically admit it to me. She said he got what was coming to him. I asked about revenge, but she never said he didn’t actually rape her.”
“Well, then, you are going to have to make it very clear and get her to admit she is a lying, scheming devil.”
“Is it wrong that I feel sort of bad for her? I mean, she is my blood, my sister. And in all honesty, she was right about me not knowing about her life. What my mom, our mom, did to her was really messed up. Can you blame her for being that way? Maybe all I need to do is try to help her get clean. And then, maybe if she’s thinking with a clear head, she will want to tell the police she was wrong.”
“Oh, Kat. You are truly an amazing and wonderful person. Your heart is bigger than most people I know. And that’s why you care and I wouldn’t expect you not to. But let’s be realistic. She’s not going to magically get clean because you want her to. And if she thinks she’s going to get in trouble for falsely accusing Mason, then even if she’s clean, you think she’s going to choose a complete stranger over herself? Most good people wouldn’t do that.”
“Ugh! I hate that you’re right. This just feels so wrong. It’s like I’m betraying her, and I don’t know if she deserves it.”
“Did she lie?”
“Yes?”
“Did she hurt Mason?”
“You know she did.”
“Do you love him?”
“With all my heart.”
“Then she deserves it. And besides, it’s not betrayal if what you are doing is right.”
“I knew I loved you for a reason,” Kat said as she hugged Trent.
“Because of my awesome style?” he joked.
“Because you are an amazing friend.”
Kat got a small tape recorder and even figured out how to record on her phone. She figured two recording devices where better than one. And she set out to get her sister to confess. Now, four days later, she was on the verge of a breakdown. Katherine was like a freaking ninja. No matter how hard Kat tried, she couldn’t find her or corner her. It was like she had disappeared into thin air. She had stalked her apartment; she had stalked the places she was told Katherine frequented. Trent even started his detective work again, but it was with no luck.
Kat was crying to Trent about what a failure she was and didn’t know what she was going to do. She worried that it might take them another month or so until they found her again.
“So, then it will be another month,” Trent responded.
“How could you say that? I’ve waited so long already.”
“Good things come to those who wait.” Trent laughed, trying to make the situation better.
“I miss him.”
“Then maybe you should forget this. He loves you and you love him and all this crap is in the past. Maybe it’s worth it to just let it all go.”
“No!” she cried.
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t think I can handle being with him knowing he thinks I ruined his life. How long until the happy honeymoon stage wears off and he starts to resent me? What then?”
“That’s not going to happen.” Trent spoke adamantly.
“You can’t know that. And besides, he deserves to go free. He deserves to have his life back, to have his name cleared. Maybe he could go back to being a doctor. Maybe he could have his prestigious life back.”
“Maybe he doesn’t want that anymore,” Trent countered.
“Maybe, but that should be his choice, not because he was forced to stop. Even if that means we might not be together.”
“Now why would that stop you from being together?”
“Because I don’t fit into that life.”
“First off, you fit in anywhere, and I mean anywhere. And second, then he’ll choose you and it’s settled.”
Kat was just about to counter Trent when
her phone rang. She looked down and saw Benny.
She showed the screen to Trent and he nodded. He knew exactly who Benny was and he knew Kat needed to talk to him just to check in and see how things were going every now and then.
“Hey Benny,” she answered.
“How could you?”
“How could I what?” Kat asked, completely confused.
“He loves you, Kat. How could you betray him like that?”
“Benny, what the heck are you talking about?”
“Don’t play coy with me, Kitty Kat. I know exactly what you did yesterday. He was such a mess. He wasn’t answering any of my calls, so I went over there today and he was a mess. He was stuck to the floor, crying silent tears because there were no wet ones left. Apparently, he’s been like that since yesterday when you left.”
“Benny, I don’t understand what you’re saying. Yesterday? When I left? From where?”
“Oh, now you suddenly don’t remember? You were here yesterday, talking to Mason.”
“What?”
“You have memory issues again?”
“When was I there? What did I say? Please Benny, this is important. Tell me what happened.”
“It was hard to put it all together from Mason’s ramblings. Basically, you came by yesterday and you were all strung out demanding money.”
“That fucking bitch!” Kat screamed. “Benny, shit, I have to go. I’m going to fucking kill her!” she said more to herself than anyone.
“Kat?” Benny asked.
“I’m going to make this right, Benny. But I got to go to do that. I’ll talk to you soon.” And she hung up. She told Trent what happened and then rushed out to find Katherine. Oh, she was going to pay. She didn’t want to clear Mason’s name, fine, that was one thing. But she had no fucking right to mess with her life. Suddenly, all of Kat’s reservations about betraying her sister were gone. She was going down! And if Kat had to be the one to take her down, so be it.
Twenty minutes later, when she knocked on Katherine’s door and the young boy answered again, she didn’t bother waiting or even saying anything to him. She pushed past him and went to Katherine’s door.
She pounded on it, but there was no answer.
“I know you’ve been avoiding me and I know you’re here, you lousy excuse for a human being. I also know what you did yesterday, you bitch. Open the damn door or I’m breaking it down, you coward,” Kat screamed while still pounding on the door, her knuckles hurting from the pressure.
But still Katherine didn’t open the door.
“Fine, sister dearest, you give me no choice,” she sneered at the closed door.
And then she brought her foot up and kicked and kicked until the door gave in. And when it finally swung open, Kat inhaled sharply.
There, lying on the bed, was her sister, her eyes open, but unseeing. Kat walked slowly toward the bed, wary of what she might find, but in her heart, she knew. There was suddenly a chill in the air as it seemed to take hours for her to reach Katherine.
“Katherine,” Kat called out softly. There was no response.
She reached for her hand, but it was cold and Kat drew back sharply. She saw a needle by her on the bed and her worst fears were manifesting. She reached out to check for a pulse, but she knew she wouldn’t find one.
She screamed and collapsed. She hadn’t actually wanted for Katherine to die. It hit her, Katherine was dead. And she sat on the floor by her bed, dazed. And when the young boy came to the door, she screamed again. “No, don’t come in here. You don’t want to see this. Just call the police. Tell them Katherine Gingham is dead of an apparent overdose.” She said the last sentence in defeat.
The boy just nodded and left. And then the tears came along with the knowledge that everything was lost. Katherine, her only family, was gone even before she really got to know her. Yes, she was a horrible person, but that was because of her life and drugs. Maybe one day she could have cleaned up, and they could have had a relationship. But not anymore. And now her connection to free Mason was gone too. Oh God, what was she going to do? Could she just live with this knowledge and be happy with him? She couldn’t think about this right now. She didn’t want to think about it right now. She had a sister to bury, whether she wanted to or not. That was her duty, her responsibility.
After what seemed like an eternity, the police came. She answered their questions, and they took the body away.
She called Trent to come get her. And all the way home, she cried. She cried at so many injustices. She cried for her sister, for herself, for Mason, and even for the life she wasn’t sure she could get back now that her sister was gone.
When Trent got her settled in bed and she told him everything, he stayed by her side, telling her everything was going to be okay. They would figure things out. He was there for her and everything would be just fine.
*****
Benny had gotten off the phone with Kat and was thoroughly and completely confused.
“Mason, Mason,” he yelled and even smacked him a bit. “Get it together. I need you to calm down and tell me exactly what happened yesterday, word for word.”
Mason looked at him with unsteady eyes, but nodded, took a breath and repeated the situation.
“You don’t understand. It was like she was a completely different person. She didn’t even fully look like herself, but I guess drugs will do that to you.”
“When was the last time you saw her?”
“A few days ago, you know that.”
“And you think drugs could fuck her up so quickly?” Benny asked incredulously.
“It’s highly unlikely, but not impossible. And given her history, anything is possible.”
“Things don’t make sense,” Benny mused.
“I know. One day, she’s telling me she loves me and to wait for her, and then she is fucking breaking my heart.”
“No, that’s not it. And I just spoke to Kat a little while ago.”
“You did?” Mason interrupted. “What did she say? How did she sound? Is she okay? Is she ready to get help?”
“See, that’s the thing. She had no clue what I was talking about when I confronted her about yesterday.”
“Oh, yeah, great, another fucking memory lapse,” Mason snorted.
“No, it didn’t sound like that. And then, what she said at the end didn’t make sense.”
“What did she say?”
“She said, ‘That fucking bitch.’”
“Huh?”
“You see? She was either referring to herself in third person, has a split personality disorder, or she was talking about someone else.”
“What are you getting at?” Mason asked.
“I’m not sure, but things aren’t adding up.”
“They haven’t been adding up for a while. I mean, if you listen to her talk about her life, she was never a drug addict, and she had never met me. She went to college and had a good education. I mean, when the hell did she have time to even accuse me of rape?”
“She had been in that minor car accident a few years back. She told me about it a while ago, remember? We chalked it up to why she couldn’t remember anything. Bump on the head causing amnesia or some shit. Now, I’m not so sure. I looked into her stuff after she left just to be sure, and Mason, she did go to school and she did get an education. Kaitlyn “Kat” Gingham got a degree in Social Work. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to say anything about her until whatever she was working through was settled. But things haven’t been sitting right with me this entire time.”
“What are you saying, Benny? That she didn’t lie about her past?”
“No she didn’t, and we both know you believed she hadn’t lied either. You just refused to see how it all fit together.”
“So what are you saying now?”
“What if Kat’s been right all along? What if she had nothing to do with your rape accusation?”
“I know, I know. I’ve been thinking about things and they don’t se
em to fit, but I pushed my thoughts aside.”
“Why?”
“Because Kat is the one who accused me. I saw her! And her name even matches!”
“But, I’m telling you, things don’t fit.”
“I know. But then what? She was part of a cloning experiment when she was a baby? She’s got some doppelganger out there that we don’t know about? Wait, holy shit! Benny…you said she got a degree, but what did you say her name was?”
“Kat.”
“No, tell me her full name.”
“Kaitlyn Gingham.”
“No, her name is Katherine.”
“That’s what I thought Kat stood for too, but it’s not, it’s Kaitlyn.”
“No, no, no.” Mason shook his head. “Her name is Katherine. Damn! Shit. Benny, when you talked to Kat, what did she say? Tell me again what she said?”
“She talked about another person. She called her a bitch and said she was going to kill her,” Benny said as things started to dawn on him too.
“No! Can’t be! Wouldn’t she know? How could she not know?”
“She told us once she was abandoned as a kid and went from foster home to foster home.”
“So she didn’t know her family,” Mason confirmed as he nodded his head.
Benny’s phone broke through their thoughts. “Kat,” he said silently as he looked at the caller ID.
“Pick up!” Mason yelled.
“Uh, hey Kat,” Benny answered, still unsure how to speak to her after his earlier outburst.
“Hi, Benny, right? This isn’t Kat. My name is Trent and I’m a friend of Kat’s,” Trent said.
“Who the hell are you and where the fuck is Kat? If you’ve done something to her, I’m going to hunt you down and kill you.”
“Whoa. Calm down there, Benny. I’m honestly a friend of Kat’s. I’m her neighbor and I was helping her with some stuff, so we got close. And before you try to beat me through the phone, I’m gay. You can tell Mason that so he doesn’t threaten to kick my ass too. But that’s not why I’m calling. Kat finally fell asleep, so I could steal her phone. She’s hurting real bad right now and she could use some friends. I’m calling you because I know you are her friend and I know she’d want the extra comfort.”