by Diana Nixon
“Why would you think that?” I asked, taking a step closer to the man.
“Even when they were kids, Fletcher always got her into trouble. . .”
“So they kept in touch even after your brother’s family left this house?” Louise asked.
“Yes. Fletcher kept sending her letters and birthday cards. Then, when she graduated from school, she called him and he invited her to come to LA where he and his family lived back then. I begged her not to go there. You know, her mother died when Christine was five and I raised her all on my own. I didn’t want her to leave, she was my little-girl, even all grown up she was still my baby. . .” The man looked at the house behind me thoughtfully, then back at me again. “But when she returned with a diploma in her hands, I was so proud of her. She said Fletcher helped her get into college and when she graduated, he wanted her to work for him.”
I bet Louise and I were thinking the same thing about that.
“Thanks again for your help, Sir,” I said. I outstretched my right hand and the man shook it, nodding.
“Anytime,” he said. “Can I ask you for a favor?”
“Sure,” I replied.
“Will you let me know if you find out where my daughter went?”
Louise spoke, “We will, Sir.”
There was one thing I couldn’t stop thinking about. I looked at the house again, then at the man and said, “Why didn’t your daughter help you with this place? No offense, but it doesn’t look very good.” And neither do you, I thought about the man.
If I didn’t know better, I would have thought he was homeless. He looked like he was homeless, and I wondered how on earth that could happen to him. I was sure his daughter had plenty of money to provide him with anything he needed.
“I didn’t want her help,” the man said. “I used to do everything on my own, even after I retired, and had both of my legs broken in a car crash, I didn’t want her to help me. She sent money for doctor’s visits, medications, food, and clothes; but I wouldn’t accept anything else from her. Even the money she was sending, I was giving most of it away, to help one of the local hospitals for military veterans. And yes, maybe I sound like a pain-in-the-ass old and insane man, but it is who I am. I’m okay with what I have. All I want now is to know that my girl is okay.”
“We will let you know if we find out anything,” I said. “Are you ready to go?” I asked, turning to Louise.
She nodded, and followed me to the car.
“That was the weirdest conversation I have ever had in my life,” she said, as I sped away from Montgomery’s house. “Don’t you think it’s weird that neither Drew nor Christopher managed to find the real address of Debora, also known as Christine Montgomery? And what about her name? Why would she change it?”
“I think I know what happened to Christine’s real name and why she had to change it.”
“You do?” She asked surprised.
“I’ll bet your father told her to change the name to hide the fact that they’re related. And if my thoughts are correct, it was done to fool my dad.”
“You think Debora had been spying on him the whole time she had been working for him?”
“I’m pretty sure of that. The only thing I don’t get is what your father had against mine. Why did he want to destroy him?”
“Do you think it had anything to do with their respective businesses?”
“Who knows? Anything’s possible. I need to ask Christopher to dig deeper into my father’s past and Debora’s life. Turns out we knew even less about her than we thought we did.”
“Why do you think Drew never told me he knew Debora or Christine, or whoever she is? They grew up together. He couldn’t not know her, right?”
“Maybe he didn’t know his brother kept in touch with her. Besides, he knew her as Christine.”
“Yes, but how could he not recognize the address he gave me? He used to live there, he should have asked why I suddenly wanted to visit the house he grew up in. And do you really believe that he didn’t know Debora and Christine were one and the same person?”
“Why don’t we go and ask him all these questions in person?”
But luck was not on our side that day. When Louise and I arrived at Le Papillon, Kate said that Drew was not there.
“Do you know when he’s going to be back?” I asked.
“Nope. He only said he wouldn’t be out long. Did you guys try to call him?”
“We did,” Louise said. “At least ten times. It was all for nothing. He wouldn’t pick up the damn phone.”
“Well, then how about a cup of tea? Or maybe whiskey?”
“A cup of whiskey?” I grimaced at Kate’s choice of words. “Thanks, but not today.” The thought of drinking again made me sick.
Louise giggled. “No whiskey. Though tea would be great.”
Louise, Kate and I went to the bar, full of women in dresses, getting ready for the show that night. A few of them screamed when they saw Louise.
“Oh, look who’s here!” One of the girls said, walking over to greet Louise. As far as I remembered, her name was Natasha.
“We didn’t expect to see you until tomorrow,” another girl said. “You are going to come for tomorrow’s training, right? Valery and I are working on a new dance. We would like to know your opinion.”
“Valery wants to know my opinion?” Louise said, genuinely surprised. “I seriously doubt that.”
“Actually, I do,” Valery, aka Tess said, stepping forward. She nodded at me, then said to Louise, “Can I talk to you for a moment? In private.”
Louise looked at me, preparing to say something, but Kate spoke first, “Don’t worry, I’ll look after your Candy Man. Go talk to Val.”
Louise smiled apologetically at me, then she and Tess left.
“Are you still sure you don’t want some whiskey?” Kate asked, sitting in front of me at one of the tables.
“Positive,” I said.
“As you wish. Ben!” She called the bartender. “Two cups of tea for us, please.”
“So how are things have been going here?” I asked, waiting for my tea.
“Not bad, actually. The new girls that Marlena has sent here, are really good. Turned out they were huge fans of Lu. They saw her dancing back in the orphanage.”
“So Marlena keeps sending new girls here?”
“Yep. She and Drew made a deal. He gives them a job, food, and a roof over their heads, and they work for him. Not all of them dance, some work as waitresses. And one of the girls is my assistant now. I have so much to do; two hands are not enough to do it all on my own.”
Ben brought us tea, Kate took her cup from the tray and asked, “So what do you want from Drew? I know you, of all people, have never been a big fan of his.”
I smiled. “True. But I need to ask him a few questions about his family. Do you know anything about them?”
“All I know is that he’s the brother of The Son of a Bitch Montgomery. I hated when he used to come here all the time. He was always so rude to my girls.”
“Fletcher used to be one of the club’s visitors?”
“He still is. He comes here once in a while. Not as often as he used to, but occasionally he still does.”
“Has he ever brought any friends with him?”
Kate thought for a moment. “No. Not that I can remember. He always comes alone, takes one of the furthest tables, watches the show, and then asks for a private dance from one of the girls. But I have never seen him with anyone else.”
“I see.”
“Do you have anyone in particular in mind?” Kate asked, watching me suspiciously. “What’s going on, William? And don’t tell me that it’s nothing, because I saw how troubled you and Lu looked when you came in.”
“Well. . .” I looked around. The girls were leaving the bar, so I waited until Kate and I were alone and said, “We have reason to believe that Fletcher has something to do with my father’s death.”
Kate gasped. “You have got to b
e fucking kidding me. . . Why would you guys think that?”
“Turns out Fletcher and Drew’s cousin, who used to work for my dad, later started working for Louise’s father. And someone told us she might know the truth about my dad’s death. That’s why we thought we would go and talk to her in person. But when we got to the house where she was supposed to be residing, she wasn’t there. And not even her father, who does live there, knows how to find her.”
“Oh, I see. . . Is that why you need to talk to Drew? You think he knows how to find his cousin?”
“Yes. Or at the very least we are hoping he will be able to tell us more about her. She changed her name a long time ago, and personally, I think Drew didn’t know anything about that. But I still want to ask him a few questions.”
“Drew never told me he had a cousin. As a matter of fact, I always thought his brother was the only living relative he had.”
Louise returned to the bar, as pale as a sheet.
“What happened?” I asked, worried. Tess wasn’t with her anymore. “What did she tell you?”
Louise looked carefully at Kate, before saying, “Did you know that the detective investigating Isabel’s death used to come here with my father?”
“What?” She asked, surprised. “Did Valery tell you that?”
“Yes. She said she couldn’t remember where she saw that guy, but then, a few days ago, she saw Drew talking to my father and she remembered seeing them come in together.” She paused for a split second, catching her breath, and then continued, “She even danced for them. . .”
I held up my hand, processing every word she said. “Wait,” I said, interrupting her. “Is Isabel the girl you told me about? The one who used to work here, the one who was murdered?”
“Yes,” Kate answered for her. “But I don’t understand why Valery would talk about it with you.” She looked at Louise.
“Because last time I was here, I talked to Drew about my father, he said something that made me believe he knew more about Isabel’s death than he wanted people to believe. I asked him directly if my father had anything to do with it, but he said no. Then I went to Valery and asked her about the night the poor girl was killed. She told me about the detective investigating the murder. According to her, right after the case was closed, he was sent to work in a different place. She was sure she knew him, only she couldn’t remember where she saw him. And now that we know he was one of my father’s friends, and if we add Drew’s weird behavior during my conversation with him, we might come to a very bad conclusion. . .”
“No. . .” Kate shook her head. “Drew would have never lied to the police if he knew something about Isabel’s murderer.”
“Are you sure about that?” I asked.
She and Louise shared a glance.
“I know pretty much all there is to know about Drew,” Kate said. “But he would never cover his brother’s ass if he were involved in a murder, especially if it were one of the girls working in his club. It would be too risky for him.”
“I think we should wait for Drew and ask him about Isabel, again,” I said.
“What do you want to know about her?” Drew’s angry voice rang out behind us.
Louise, Kate, and I turned to the sound of his voice. As always, Drew didn’t look like he was happy to see me. He knew I would never come to the club if I didn’t have a good reason to be here, and now that Louise wasn’t one of its dancers anymore, I’m sure the man could feel trouble on the horizon.
“We need to talk,” Louise said. “Can we go to your office?”
Drew gave me another suspicious look and said, “Follow me.”
The four of us left the bar and followed Drew into his office.
The moment we entered the room, he shut the door behind us, went to his desk, pushed a few buttons on his laptop keyboard, making all the heavy curtains cover the windows in the room.
“You shouldn’t have come here,” he said, looking at me. “What do you know about Isabel’s death?”
“First of all, we want you to tell us more about Debora Griffin or Christine Montgomery, whichever you prefer,” Louise said. “You know who she is, don’t you?”
He cursed aloud before saying, “I do. Though I wish I did not.”
“Do you know where she is now?” I asked.
“Yes. But you might not like the answer.”
“Tell us. We need to see her,” Louise said.
“I don’t think that is going to be a possibility. . . She’s been sent to an asylum across town, I don’t think they allow visitors.”
“What?” I stared at him, shocked. “Are you saying that she’s. . .insane?”
Drew nodded, walking over to a small bar in the corner of the room. “Yes, literally.” He poured himself a glass of scotch and drained it dry in one gulp.
“Is that why you left today?” Kate asked.
“Yes.” He looked at Louise. “The day you asked me to find Debora’s address, I didn’t know I would find out so much shit that my brother had been hiding for years. I didn’t know Debora and Christine were the same person. I haven’t seen Christine since we were kids. I had no idea my brother was keeping in touch with her after we left for LA, and I didn't know he asked her to work for him either.”
“How did she get sick?” Louise asked. “According to what we have managed to find out about her, she’s been the head of one of Montgomery’s companies for many years.”
“I don’t think she had much of a choice in that. . . I’m pretty sure the bastard made her lose her damn mind.”
Louise stared at him in shock. “How is that possible?”
Personally, I wasn’t surprised to hear Drew’s words. I always figured Fletcher was capable of anything, including making people go insane, or at least make it look like they were sick. Hell, I bet he could make them disappear without anyone even thinking to question his involvement. He was fucking slimy.
“I have a theory about Christine’s current state,” Drew said. “I’m pretty sure the poor woman is paying for what my dearest brother did to you, Louise. It all started with you. First, you met William Blair, the son of his worst enemy. Then William started investigating your past, trying to find out the names of your biological parents. He met Rea, the nurse from the hospital where you were born. She told him you were Fletcher’s daughter. Then Will told you the truth about your father. And I’m sure Fletcher never expected that to happen. But when he realized that you and William were together, he thought it was like a ticking bomb that he didn’t know how to control. So he thought he would neutralize the only possible witness of all his crimes. And that just had to be Debora. Because she has been with him from the very beginning, she knows everything about him. Or at least she used to know everything, until ‘she lost her mind’.”
“Did you know that your brother hated my family and me?” I asked.
“Honestly, I found out about that just a few days ago, when I put together the things Louise told me about you and Debora. Though yes, there’s one thing that I suppose is the real reason for everything my brother has ever done against you and your father.”
“And what is that?” I asked, crossing my arms. I still couldn’t believe my dad never told me he knew Fletcher Montgomery, and ever worse – that they had been enemies.
“When Fletcher was eighteen, he met a girl named Angela. He fell in love with her, so hard he wanted to marry her. But the problem was, she was in love with someone else. . .”
“My father,” I said, ending the sentence for Drew.
“Exactly.” He nodded, taking a seat in his massive, leather chair. “Fletcher couldn’t forgive your father for stealing Angela from him. I guess deep down inside, he still hates Randal, even though the man is long dead.”
“That is ridiculous,” Louise said. “Do you really believe he would kill Will’s father out of jealousy?”
“Jealously is a very dangerous thing, Louise. It makes people do terrible things.”
She shook her head, pro
bably still unable to accept the fact her father could be that much of a monster.
“What about Isabel?” Kate asked. “What does Montgomery have to do with her death?”
Drew spoke again, “As I have already said, jealousy makes people do terrible things. . .”
Chapter 15
Louise
My blood froze in my veins. I felt like I was about to faint, I couldn’t even think straight.
“You can’t be serious,” I said, practically falling into a nearby chair from the shock of his words.
Drew didn’t look like he was just joking around, but I was hoping he would say he was kidding. Regardless of how sick the joke would have been, it would have been better than what he was saying happened.
“Sorry, Love, but I am being serious,” he said. “Of course, I can’t be 100% sure whether my brother killed Isabel or not, but I do believe it was him because of the feelings he had for her.”
Will laughed sarcastically, followed by, “Don’t tell me he was in love with her too. . .”
“I don’t think it could really be considered love per se, it was more like an obsession he had with Isabel.”
“But Tess told me Isabel was in a relationship with the man who got arrested for murdering her, was Tess right about that?”
Drew sighed. “I knew there was something between them. I didn’t think their relationship was very serious though. Before Isabel was murdered, I didn’t forbid our girls from going out with the clients. The girls are not my prisoners and I never meant for it to seem that way, I used to let them have whatever freedom they needed and deserved. . . In other words, they had the right to have a life outside Le Papillon, with whomever they wished.”
“Until it got one of them killed. . .” I said.
“Exactly,” Drew replied, looking at the floor shamefully, like he was personally responsible for Isabel’s decisions and death.
“Well, I guess that means we will need to reopen the investigation,” Will said. “Both investigations, actually.”
“No!” I rose to my feet and walked over to him. “Don’t you see how dangerous my father is? He’s crazy, that much is clear. And I don’t want you to get hurt because of him.” I didn’t tell him I was also scared he would end up like his father did – dead from ‘an accident’ – but apparently Will knew me well enough to know exactly why I would be worried about him poking around for information about my father.