by Marnie Perry
He had not lied to her when he’d told her he had been very impressed with her spirit back at the cabin, she had fought damned hard getting in a few good hits before he had overcome her. Neither had he lied when he’d said he was sorry that he had had to hurt her, he had not meant to be so rough with her. He had felt terrible when he had shocked her. Although he knew it was only temporary pain, over in a few seconds leaving only a headache and a lassitude that’s why he had chosen that method of immobilizing her, although he intended to use it only as a last resort.
But he had soon realised that she would continue to fight when she regained consciousness and even when she was tied up so he had had to resort to knocking her out, but punching her had been asking too much, so he had used an old trick he had found useful in the past. Nevertheless, he had hated doing it, hated himself, just as he had when he had tied her up and gagged her. He knew in that moment that he should have done this at the start before he had gotten to know her, to like and respect her. But instead he had done what he had never done in his life before, well, not since Carson anyway, and let his emotions become involved, let his feelings override his common sense.
But it was done now, he could not go back and alter it, just as he could not go back and alter anything that was happening now.
He cleared his throat and said, ‘you should be proud of yourself, Miss. Faraday.’
She looked perplexed, ‘proud?’
‘Yes, the way you handled everything, altering Desi’s appearance and getting her out of Alabama was a fête in itself, but to see her safely out of the country… France wasn’t it? On a private plane no less, that was something else. Not to mention getting the better of those two idiot ex -feebs.’
She was devastated; she thought she had been so clever, so crafty and he had discovered all she had done in a matter of days.
Smiling now he went on, ‘the way you pretended to be a German house freu when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern came calling, that was a coup de grace to beat them all. I was impressed before I even knew you and I’ve become even more so since.’
She recalled when he had asked her if she spoke another language and she had told him she spoke some German. Oh God, how he must have laughed at her naivety, at how easily she could be duped, and he was right, he had every reason to laugh at her.
He seemed to read her mind because his tone was very gentle as he said, ‘you shouldn’t blame yourself for being a trusting soul, for putting your faith in others.’
She gave him a look that spoke volumes then said, 'in hindsight pretending to be German was a huge mistake. I should have just told them she ran from me in the alley after I'd saved her. I was trying to be clever and ultimately paid for it.'
He looked sympathetic, 'maybe, but they wouldn't have believed you, they might even have hurt you. But your little trick bought you some time.'
She looked so forlorn that he said, ‘I know you find it hard to believe anything I say now, but if you believe nothing else please know that I’m being honest right now when I say I admire you, your courage, your fortitude, your compassion, your thoughtfulness. I didn’t lie about everything in the time we were together you know.’
She gave him a disdainful look but said quietly, ‘no, only the important things.’
He seemed surprised by her answer but said softly, ‘that depends on what you consider the important things.’
‘All that consideration for my safety, all that anger over my stupidity on leaving the cabin door open, that was all feigned. You only saved me from the panther because I was too useful to you alive.’
He was unsure whether to let her believe that, while what she said was partly true, it wasn’t the only reason he had saved her, not the only reason he had been concerned for her safety and for some inexplicable reason he did not want her to believe she had not been important to him. He said simply, 'not entirely.'
She frowned in consternation then as if something had just come to her she said ‘you were in my cabin here too weren’t you.’
It wasn’t a question but he nodded. She shook her head as if everything was just too much to take in.
He said, ‘anyways, just to cement the fact that I know you were involved in Desi’s disappearance, I saw another friend of yours in Alabama.’
She was curious but said, ‘I have no friends there, not even Jonas Lando, I hardly knew him.’
He nodded in acknowledgement of her words, ‘well apart from Jonas Lando, who doesn’t seem to like anyone, most of the people I met there seem to have gotten quite fond of you in such a short space of time. I know how they feel.’
She gave him a look of acute distaste and he looked away for a moment before looking back and saying, 'I saw a young guy, name of Sammy.’ Her head shot up, ‘yes, he was very chatty once I convinced him I was a perfectly nice if curious guy. He said he saw you and a younger woman, with short light brown hair but otherwise fitting Desi’s description, getting in a hire car in Mobile and heading north.’
T blood draining from her face she whispered, ‘oh God, don’t, please don’t tell me you hurt that nice, simple young man.’
He contemplated letting her believe he had done just that, but he didn’t want her too frightened to cooperate, not yet anyway. He told himself that it wasn’t because she looked so distraught that he rushed to reassure her, ‘I assure you he was as healthy when I left him as he was when I picked him up, and he got a free ride for his trouble. She let out a long breath of relief and a little colour returned to her face, but she still looked very pale which was not surprising under the circumstances. He added for good measure, ‘I don’t kill innocent people, Miss. Faraday.’ She looked at him with acute disdain and disbelief. He smiled and said, ‘but of course those two goons would have gotten the same information I did if they hadn't asked everyone in town if they’d seen an Australian woman.’
‘Australian?’
He laughed, ‘yes, they thought you were Australian. Lucky for you that delayed them in finding you for a while.’
‘Lucky?’ She was doing it again, repeating the last word of every sentence.
His expression was sympathetic as he sighed heavily, ‘Miss. Faraday, those two morons were sent to get information from you about Desi any which way they could. And if you had remained stubborn they were going to abduct you and take you back to their boss, Desi’s master.’
She bowed her head and he only just heard the whispered word, ‘Glissando.’
He was not surprised that Desi had told her about Glissando, this woman had a way of getting information out of people, causing them to say things they had not meant to say, to reveal things they would rather not reveal, he should know, she had done the same with him. He only hoped he was as good as she was at extracting information just as painlessly.
He also noticed she pronounced Glissando the same way his butler Balthazar did only she didn’t make it sound affected. He said softly, ‘yes, Glissando.’
She raised her fear filled eyes to his and her voice a hoarse croak asked, ‘and you, where do you come in?’
He took a deep breath preparing himself to tell her the truth...leaving out his role as assassin of course. But as he watched her face to his surprise her expression changed from curiosity to realisation to terror as the truth came to her in all its horror and he knew that somehow she knew about him and what he was.
Adela was recalling Olivia’s words, “He had such eyes; sometimes in a certain light they looked so dark, almost black.” Adela had thought she meant dark eyes as in brown not blue, blue like no other blue she had ever seen and could sometimes look black in a certain light. Like by the light of candles on a table in a restaurant, or when looking at the woman he was making love to. She let out a moan and her head dropped almost to her knees as she whispered, ‘oh God, oh God, oh God.’
He leapt up quickly and grabbed her shoulder’s saying, ‘take it easy, it’s okay, it’s okay.’
Her body shook and she heaved. He said, ‘put your head b
etween your knees.’ It was a redundant statement because her head was to her knees anyway. He expected her to throw up but she didn’t. ‘You’ll be okay, just take deep breaths.’ She obeyed him and he stroked her back as it rose and fell, ‘that’s it, just slow and steady.’
Eventually her breathing slowed and she lifted her head slightly. He said, ‘take it easy, don’t raise your head too quickly.’
She heeded his advice and slowly raised her head until she was upright again. She coughed and he went swiftly into the kitchen and fetched another bottle of water. He put it to her lips and she took small sips. She turned her head to the side to let him know she’d finished. She looked up at him then away again and said, ‘you…you’re the one she told me about, the assassin, you’re Chertoff.’
He frowned in bewilderment, ‘Chertoff?’
‘It’s Russian for devil.’
His smile was self depreciating, ‘is that how she thought of me? Well I can’t say I blame her, that’s how I must seem to her, and to you too now of course.’
She looked up at him and he noticed how tired she looked, how frightened, how defeated. For some inexplicable reason he wanted to reach out and touch her face, push back her hair from her sweating brow. His hand moved towards her of its own volition but she tensed and he withdrew his hand relieved. This was a problem, he had not expected her to know about him, it was a shock he had to admit. Desi must have held nothing back when telling her about Glissando. He was inwardly cursing. This altered things very significantly.
Fuck, this was another reason he should have done this a week ago and once again this meant he now had to change his plans. He turned and pulled his chair around so this time it was facing the right way and sat down.
He said, ‘Desi told you I was an assassin, and she told the truth. Glissando hired me not in my role as,’ he grimaced, ‘assassin, but for my other, er, talents. He hired me to do what those two assholes wouldn’t be capable of doing, get you to talk. He thought that if I came here and…his words…wooed you, you’d learn to trust me then open up to me and tell me where Desi went. And it worked didn’t it? You did trust me and you did want to open up to me, you wanted to share your secret, the secret that was also someone else’s…Desi’s.
You were going to tell me that night at your cabin, but of course I did what I did to your good friend Maxwell and that plan went down the toilet. The only thing I regret about that night is screwing up our dinner arrangements, not only did I miss what I’m sure would have been a culinary delight but you would have told me all and we wouldn’t be here now.’ He had lied of course about not being hired as a hitman; there was no need to panic her unnecessarily.
Again her fear manifested itself in sarcasm, ‘yes, maybe you should take anger management courses in preparation for the next time you want to seduce a woman into being indiscreet.’
He arched his brows in surprise then burst out laughing, ‘you know that’s the first thing that attracted me to you, your wit and sense of humour.’
It was her turn to raise her eyebrows in surprise but said disdainfully, ‘you were never attracted to me; you’ve just admitted you used me for information. But I’ll tell you something that might please you, you’re very good, very good indeed, you’re the consummate liar. If anyone should be proud you should, if one can take pride in such an achievement.’
Again she amazed him, ‘oh come on, admit it, you enjoyed yourself with me didn’t you, we had fun and I learned a lot from you…and you from me of course.’
If he had expected her to blush he was disappointed because she said calmly, ‘I don’t deny any of that. I did enjoy my time with you, and I did learn a lot from you and a bit more than I wanted to.’ He smiled, ‘but everything you ever told me was a lie, everything you ever did was a lie’ His smile vanished to be replaced by a frown as she finished in a bewildered tone, ‘I liked you.’
He stared at her wishing he was a different person, wishing he could say I like you too. But she would never believe him, any more than she would believe that not everything he had said and done had been a lie. He wished he could tell her that some of things he had felt he had not felt in a long time. That some of the things he had said he never expected to say to any woman. He was still thinking about her last words and his emotions made his tone harsh, ‘well, that’s all water under the bridge now.’
She asked, ‘so what now?’
What now indeed? Of course he could tell her the truth, but realised that it was now much too late, he should have done that an hour ago. If he was honest he should have done it a week ago then they wouldn’t be here now. But her knowing about him, well, that was an unexpected blow. She would never believe anything he said now. Now he would have to change tactics. Out loud he said, ‘what now? You’ll tell me where Desi went, I’ll go get her, get my money and we all go on our way.’
Her look was sceptical as she said, ‘I don’t know where she went after she left me.’
His face hardened and he leaned forward so that they were only a foot apart and said, ‘Miss. Faraday, despite what you might believe I am genuinely sorry about everything you’ve endured because of me. And in my line of work I’ve learned to be very patient, but that patience is not infinite. And both my patience and my sympathy will eventually run out.’
She tried to look unconcerned by his not so veiled threat but her eyes belied her nonchalance. ‘I really don’t know where she went after she got on the plane.’
He sighed deeply and shook his head. She said quickly, ‘The plane went to France but I told her not to stay there but to move on, Germany, Belgium, even the U.K.’ She straightened her shoulders, ‘it turns out that was sound advice, there’s no reason to think she won’t take it.’
‘She must have given you some idea where she might like to settle, a country she always wanted to visit, or to live in. Maybe even a desire to return to the country of her birth.’
She shook her head. He stared at her and the silence was profound in the small dirty shack. She tried not to but she began to squirm under his scrutiny.
He said, ‘you gave her money.’ It wasn’t a question so she didn’t answer, ‘how much?’ She looked away unable any longer to keep his gaze, ‘well,’ he insisted.
‘Not much?’
‘How much?’ This time his tone was curt.
‘About eight and a half thousand dollars.’
He nodded, ‘you drew out thirty thousand dollars, then you realised that she would have to declare anything over ten thousand.’
Her head snapped up. She didn’t know why she was surprised that he knew about the money, of course he would. He probably found the remainder in her bag at the cabin, that’s why she had had the feeling that someone had moved the bag.
He watched her put it together then said, ‘you wanted to give her more but were afraid she would be stopped and maybe searched then have to explain away why she was carrying so much cash. It was also very wise not give her exactly ten grand.’
Adela nodded, ‘the DEA use that amount as an indicator to identify drug traffickers.’
He laughed at her knowledge of American government agencies and their rules.
He said, ‘all those crime books certainly came in useful on this vacation didn’t they?’
She said nothing so he asked, ‘so what else did you give her?’ Of course he already knew the answer to this he just wanted to test how honest she was being with him.
She looked perplexed then recalled the watch she had given to Olivia at the private airfield. The lie was a feeble attempt, ‘nothing.’
He smiled, ‘come on, Miss. Faraday, of course you did. You didn’t just send her off with a measly eight and a half grand in her purse did you?’
‘Eight and a half thousand dollars might be measly to you, Mr. Hennessey, or whatever your real name is, but it’s a lot to some of us.’
‘Yes it is, to someone like Desi, but not to you.’
She was aghast. He couldn’t know about her millions
could he? Of course not he was just fishing. She said, ‘I don’t know what you mean.’
He laughed, ‘I told you once that you were an awful liar, Miss. Faraday and you are. You have money, lots of it.’
‘I don’t know where you get that idea.’
‘From you. You give a hundred dollars to a charity as though it was pocket change. You hand out twenty and fifty dollar bills for tips in café’s and diners as though handing out flyers. You paid for a private plane for Desi without a second thought; you drew out thirty thousand dollars from your account and didn’t even bother to put the remainder back when you discovered you didn’t need it all. Not to mention the big old house of your childhood fantasy that you purchased just before you came here for your seven week dream holiday. And please don’t insult me by telling me it’s your savings, even the Queen of England’s personal cleaner wouldn’t earn enough to save for all of that.’
She looked back at him, ‘whether I’m as wealthy as Bill Gates or as poor as a church mouse has nothing to do with…with Desi.’
He grinned, ‘no, it doesn’t does it. I’m just curious. But you still haven’t answered my question. What else did you give her?’
‘A hat.’
‘A hat?’
‘Yes. My hat, she liked it so I gave it to her, something to remember me by.’
His features softened as he said, ‘I’m sure she won’t need a hat…or anything else come to that…to remember the woman who helped her escape a life of misery.’
She glared at him and her tone was filed with venom, ‘a life you want to send her back to. For what? For a man like Glissando, for the money he promised to pay you? For personal satisfaction? Tell me; what drives a man like you, what drives him to accept a job that will send a young girl back to a life of subjugation, of pain, of slavery?’