Live No Lies

by Lily Campbell

  At last, both men got to their feet. They shook hands firmly and walked out. Brenda saw Boyce get into his car and drive off. Greg, she decided to follow at a distance.

  She tailed Greg to his apartment, a handsome semi-detached house, fenced off by a thicket. From her vantage point, she could spot the heads of numerous palm trees within the thicket fencing. The palm trees brought her near-death encounter to her mind, but she shook that off quickly.

  Brenda kept her distance until it was dark enough for her to move easily without detection. She checked her Glock to make sure it was loaded. Then she pulled open the glove box and pulled out two extra magazines, which she slipped into the pocket of her pants. She swiveled her arm gently to ascertain if the wound there was going to constitute a problem. She’d been too busy during the day to remember it. The pain didn’t register as strongly as it did at first, so she could move it a bit faster than before. However, it didn’t matter. Once the bullets came flying, Brenda knew she would have to forget it all.

  Brenda took a cautious look around. To her advantage, the houses had plenty of space between them. It was as if the neighborhood’s developer had picked a spot, thrown rocks as hard as he could in all directions, and built houses where the rocks landed. A neighbor could be undergoing a robbery and absolutely no one in the vicinity would know. Brenda hoped that would be the case tonight. She intended to have a very long talk with this Greg, and she didn’t want anyone interrupting.

  Brenda whipped out her pistol, screwed on a silencer, and held it at the ready in front of her. She started to creep towards Greg’s house. The house’s exterior was flooded by powerful lights, except for the backyard. The lighting at the backyard was mild, allowing the darkness from the night to spill into the compound and cling to the very air. Brenda began to carefully work her through the thickets. Some of the branches tugged at her hair, others scratched her face and the back of her hand, while the leftovers tugged at her clothes. Nevertheless, she forged ahead with only a silent cuss for not packing her hair properly.

  She pulled through the thicket and walked into Greg’s backyard. Halfway through, she stopped abruptly. Standing before her was a silhouette in the darkness. She couldn’t discern the face, but she could tell by the stature that it was a man. Brenda didn’t have much time to debate within herself because the man sped towards her.

  Brenda drew her gun instinctively, and made to squeeze the trigger, but he was too fast. He reached out with his hand, and hit the gun to the ground. Brenda felt the sting of his blow on her hand, but this was no time to give in to pain.

  She found him holding a gun and went for that arm. Clutching it in both her hands, she twisted it over her head, biting through the pain. She stooped forward, flinging the man over her shoulder and unto the ground.

  She heard a thud, and looked to see his gun right in front of her. They both reached for their guns at the same time. In no time, they’d cocked the gun and had it pointed at each other. Brenda stood above the man but he also held his position. Brenda was the first to break the silence.

  “Who are you?” she asked.

  “No, who are—” the man asked.

  “Mack?” Brenda cut him off, recognizing the deep, gruff voice. “Mack, is that you?”

  The man got to his feet slowly.

  “Wait. Brenda? What...”

  Both of them moved into a tight embrace.

  “Oh my God,” Mack said, wrapping his arm around her. “I never thought I’d be seeing you anytime soon. Or think that we would meet over a wrestling match.”

  Brenda appraised Mack when they broke out of the embrace. She couldn’t see much of him in the dark.

  “I heard that you were here before me,” she said. “I just didn’t know for sure that it was really you.”

  “Look, Brenda,” he whispered. “I know by now you must’ve heard that I killed someone.”

  “Killed someone?” Brenda scoffed. “More like executed someone.”

  “I didn’t do it,” Mack said earnestly. “I swear to you on my father’s grave. It was all a setup. I’m not sure Dimitri carried it out himself, but that was his handiwork.

  “Then why did you run?”

  “Are you kidding me? That guy controls the entire police force. Don’t tell me you haven’t seen how they act around here.”

  Brenda stared at Mack. If she could see his face clearly, she knew she’d see the seriousness in his expression and the truth in his eyes. The Mack she knew had almost gotten himself killed in the line of duty. He could be tough, but killing innocent civilians he’d set out to protect wasn’t his style.

  “So, what are you doing here?” she asked. “I heard you were at the bed and breakfast.”

  Mack sighed.

  “I knew something was off with the way that young lady was staring at me.”

  “Yeah, looks like you’ve gotten sloppy. You shouldn’t have given yourself up like that.”

  “I don’t think it’s all about being sloppy. This whole town belongs to Dimitri,” Mack gritted his teeth. “I was supposed to meet the guy that lives here. He’d disappeared without a trace. I only found the snake this morning.”

  “Greg? Well, I didn’t book a meeting with him, but I’m also here to see him. For some reason, a description of him keeps coming up in the files.”

  “Ah, the files. You must know how their policing is by now.”

  “Yeah, looks like the whole force is trying to cover it up. A pair of gunmen tried to assassinate me.”

  No one talked as the Palm Island cool breeze flew by.

  “Looks like we’re on our own, now,” Mack blurted after silence.

  “Yeah, very much on our own. What do you say we go in?”

  “Yeah,” Mack scoffed. “Like we have a choice.”

  They sneaked toward the back door, now able to hear the movements in the house.

  “You’ve got a hairpin, right?” Mack asked as they got to the door.

  Brenda gave him a withering look, but she gave it to him. It didn’t take long for the lock to turn.

  “Ready?” Mack asked, eyeing her under the porch light on Greg’s back step.

  Brenda held her gun close to her face and nodded.

  Mack pushed the door gently and slipped in. Brenda quickly followed behind.

  It can’t be said that they had a successful break-in. Although they had been more than careful, they didn’t see the camera staring right at them from the corner of the doorpost.

  ***

  The back door led through the kitchen and then to a hallway with a series of rooms. Each of the rooms were empty, so they moved on, their guns trained. They moved into the living room, which was filled with posters and framed pictures of nude women and thugs covered in thick plumes of weed smoke.

  This guy’s really into the culture, Mack thought.

  Suddenly, they heard a noise to the left. Mack and Brenda swiveled towards the sound. There was nothing there except a doorway leading into another hallway. Mack and Brenda exchanged glances before Mack moved forward with Brenda bringing up the rear. They heard the noise again as they moved into the hallway. It was a knocking sound, coming from the door to the right. Mack tightened his grip on his gun and stared at Brenda. This was the moment. He gave her a count signal with his fingers. At the end of the countdown, both of them broke into the room, their guns at the ready, fingers coiled around the trigger.

  To their astonishment, the room was empty. They’d just turned to stare at each other when they saw the tiny beams of red light. Then, they heard the coughing sound of a silenced shot, and it occurred to them that they’d been ambushed. But it was too late. Mack and Brenda surrendered to death even as sharp pain exploded on their necks.

  Chapter Six

  Dimitri looked down at his new toys. One of them was a young man. He’d even say they looked of the same age. His head was shaved clean and the tan was obviously false. The other was a pretty young woman. Dimitri licked his lips as he watched the woman’s breasts
heave as she breathed. He felt a thrill run through his body. He licked his fingers and used them to smooth his hair. The man and the woman sat side by side, unconscious, strapped to their chairs with ropes. Dimitri was extremely pleased to see them. These two had tried to hunt him down. It was fun turning the game against them. They were in the Play Room now. He intended to do with them as he deemed fit.

  “Okay. I’m done inspecting the game. Let’s get done with this,” he ordered.

  At the click of his fingers, Simon flung a bucket of icy water against the bodies.

  Mack and Brenda gasped and coughed as the harsh blast jarred them to consciousness. Dimitri waited and watched like a patron saint. He loved this part: when the mind recognized that something was amiss and tried to ascertain what it was.

  Brenda and Mack stared at their surroundings. It took their eyes a while to adjust to the dim lights, but the details of their location grew clearer by the moment.

  They were in a fairly spacious room, with a shut door at the end and no windows. There was a table to their left with an array of instruments on it. What was most jarring about the room wasn’t the number of people in it, but the streaks of blood that adorned the walls like paint. Brenda could judge from the brightness in color that some of them were older than others. Mack spotted three or four bodies covered with tarps at the extreme right of the room.

  “Welcome to the Play Room,” Dimitri said with a flourish, attracting the attention of his captives. Brenda and Mack stared at him, then began to strain against their bonds simultaneously. Dimitri fell into a bout of cheerful laughter.

  Then he faced Simon and asked gleefully, “Don’t you just love it when they do that?”

  The huge bodyguard smiled and grunted his agreement.

  “Detective,” Dimitri called. “Why don’t you do the introductions?”

  One of the people in the room stepped closer. Brenda raised her head up. A familiar smallish figure stood just out of reach.

  “Boyce,” she growled.

  Mack looked up as Brenda called out the detective and felt his rage shoot up.

  “You,” he seethed. “You think you’re going to get away with this?”

  The little detective watched them with an expression of indifference.

  Dimitri laughed.

  “I’m loving this,” he smiled.

  Boyce cleared his throat.

  “Detective Mack,” he began, “This is Dimitri Stankovich. Special Agent Brenda, Dimitri Stankovich.”

  “Wow, a police detective and the FBI. I feel so honored,” Dimitri said in a flattery voice. “Well, you two are familiar with Detective Boyce. There’s one more person I’d like you to meet.”

  Dimitri signaled Simon with a look. The huge man lumbered towards the exit and opened the door. Brenda gasped.

  “Mrs. Cumming,” she called. “What are you doing here?”

  The poor widow was shivering in fear. She cast her eyes around the room and seemed to shrink within herself.

  “You leave her out of this,” she yelled at Dimitri. “She’s innocent. Haven’t you done enough? You’ve taken her son already.”

  Dimitri smiled.

  “I thought your colleague did that?”

  Mack scowled. “You can drop the act Dimitri. Unlike you, some people don’t stay fools for long.”

  Simon covered the space between Mack two bounds, and smacked the detective across the face with one meaty hand. Nothing could’ve prepared Mack for the sting of the blow. It was as painful as the hand was huge. He groaned as blood spilled from his mouth.

  “Mack!” Brenda yelled, bending toward him as far as her bonds would let her.

  “Brenda?” Mrs. Cumming called. “Brenda, what’s going on?”

  Brenda faced Dimitri.

  “We’re the ones you want,” she told him. “You don’t need her. Let her go.”

  Dimitri started to laugh. Simon joined in. Even Boyce did, which Mack and Brenda found odd. However, nothing felt as odd as when Mrs. Cumming joined in the laughter. Brenda and Mack exchanged worried glances. They both had the same thought. Something had gone wrong with Mrs. Cumming. She had to have gone insane.

  “Oh, I love ironies,” Dimitri said.

  Something even stranger happened to Mrs. Cumming when she finished laughing. The fear that had consumed her was absent. Vanished. Like it was never there. In its place, her eyes and stature held a purposefulness that Brenda had not encountered before.

  “Are you alright, Mrs. Cumming?” she asked.

  Mack studied the woman. Unlike Brenda, he’d never met her. However, he didn’t need to have met her to know that what she’d just displayed was weird.

  “Now I think I’ll do the honors myself,” Dimitri said. “Special Agent Brenda, meet Officer Abigail Cumming. She’s the past sheriff of Palm Island, and an excellent actor, though you should know this by now.”

  Brenda felt herself go slack with unbelief. She stared shell-shocked at the woman she’d known as Mrs. Cumming. Brenda couldn’t believe that she'd been played this deeply.

  “Don’t be so surprised, honey,” Mrs. Cumming said, pretending to comfort her.

  “Come on,” Dimitri turned facing her. “You should be flattered. The look on her face says that you did your job perfectly. Unlike that fool, Greg. If you hadn’t told me about his deal with Detective Mack here, he probably would’ve gone ahead and betrayed me.”

  “What?” Mack questioned. He was finding it difficult keeping up with Dimitri. He hadn’t seen Mrs. Cumming in the precinct on the day he’d taken Greg in. In fact, he’d never seen her.

  Dimitri read the confusion on Mack’s face.

  “Mrs. Cumming still has access to the precinct as former sheriff. She was at the interrogation room, behind the mirror. After we set you on the run, we decided we had to do something to get the agent. And Mrs. Cumming came up with the brilliant idea to pose as the mother to the headless body we used to threaten your boyfriend here.” He slapped Mack on the face. “Then we created the police report and deliberately slipped in discrepancies that would set you on the search.”

  Brenda gave Mrs. Cumming a furious look.

  “You set me up to follow that Greg guy, didn’t you?”

  Mrs. Cumming smiled.

  “We didn’t know there would be two of you. The goal was to capture you, but the Detective showed up and made our day even merrier.”

  Overwhelmed by spite and resentment, Brenda spat at Mrs. Cumming. She flinched as drops of spit hit her across the face. Brenda got a blow from Simon that almost snapped her neck. Blood poured from her mouth, which she spat out.

  “Easy there, Simon,” Dimitri cautioned. “I may still have plans for this one.”

  Dimitri walked over and reached out to grab one of Brenda’s breasts.

  “Get your filthy hands off of her,” Mack seethed and struggled against his bonds. Another blow from Simon knocked him halfway senseless.

  Dimitri laughed. Then he walked towards the table of tools and picked up a pincer. He brandished the tool in his hand as he walked back to both his captives.

  “Do you know how long it took my father, and his father before him, to build the empire I now expressly enjoy?” he asked. “Loads of hard work, of calculation, of sacrifice and suffering. We grew. We made this island what it is. We own it, and whoever is in it. Don’t you get it? You people are the real thieves. You’re trying to meddle in affairs that don’t concern you.”

  He laughed out loud.

  “But you made the mistake of underestimating me. You thought you could get to me using your police tactics. I’m much better than you in that game. You should’ve considered bringing an armada or a fleet.”

  Dimitri paused to consider something.

  “Now, you’re mine. And you’ll be forgotten like the many others who’ve entered this room. When I’m done with you, I’ll go see Greg. He deserves a punishment too.”

  Dimitri whistled and Simon came forward. He clutched Mack’s hand and held it
out to Dimitri. Mack’s eyes widened in horror. His heart pounded aggressively.

  “Hey, what’re you doing?” he yelled frantically. “What’re you doing?”

  “Tut, tut, tut,” Dimitri said. “It’s a little too late now.”

  The pain Mack felt as the pincers clamped over his little finger was so intense that he screamed his heart out. Dimitri stuck out his tongue as he clamped the pincers harder over Mack’s finger. Dimitri’s face was decked in pleasure as he felt the pincers crush the bone of Mack’s little finger. Mack’s cries died down as he slumped. He teetered on the edge of consciousness. The only sounds in the room were Brenda’s cries and Dimitri’s effusion of glee as he held up Mack’s little finger.

  “Let’s get one of yours, darling,” he said, approaching Brenda.

  Brenda began to struggle frantically against her bonds. Just then Simon’s phone rang.

  Dimitri rolled his eyes and groaned.

  “How many times have I told you to switch off your phone when we’re in here? An artist at work must have no distractions or the performance is spoiled.”

  Simon listened to the phone for a few seconds, and a frown creased his face.

  “Boss,” he called as soon as he was off the call, “there’s trouble. The package slated for shipping tomorrow have escaped their confinement.”

  “How’s that possible?” Dimitri asked, turning away from Brenda.

  “Someone must have let them loose.”

  “Then what are we still doing here?’ he cried. “My properties are running about. Let’s go bring them back in. Bring the children back in.”

  The wave of relief that washed through Brenda as Dimitri stalked out of the room, pincers in hand, was like nothing she’d ever felt. Simon followed him quickly, as did Boyce and Mrs. Cumming. As soon as the room was empty, Brenda nudged at Mack. He groaned. Brenda sighed audibly. He was still alive, but he was losing blood. She didn’t know what to do. The wound on Mack’s finger needed to be staunched, but how to work her way out of her bonds? She wiggled her fingers against the bonds, when suddenly the door flew open and Greg stormed in, dragging a young woman in a bikini with him.