Your Eyes Don't Lie

by Branton, Rachel

  Getting to the balcony was easier than expected. Once there, she pretended to check the glass door before waving down at Rodriguez. She’d been lucky finding him, and maybe that luck would hold out. She pretended to watch Rodriguez as he started away with the ladder, but really she was scanning the area to see if anyone from the opposite building was watching her. One woman walked out on her balcony, but she only cast a casual glance at Makay before picking up something and disappearing again inside.

  Makay stepped close to the sliding door and took out the glass cutter she’d bought at the hardware store. The hole didn’t need to be large. Just enough for her to open the lock. She worked as fast as the cumbersome cast allowed, taking another break after the circle was made to look for watching eyes before she wrapped her jacket around her left palm and slammed it against the glass. A perfect circle fell inside Lenny’s apartment. Seconds later, she was inside, breathing a sigh of relief when Lenny didn’t rush out and tackle her. He’d been telling the truth about not being home.

  Now to find the information. She’d only been in this apartment two other times, and she had to look around a moment to orientate herself. Much nicer than she remembered, though not nearly on the scale of Harrison’s apartment. Where would he keep his important documents? In the early days when he’d been training her on research, he’d had a large filing cabinet in his kitchen, but it was nowhere in sight. She began a methodic search of the apartment—cupboards, closets, and even behind pictures. Finally she found what she was looking for in a corner of the master bedroom’s long, narrow walk-in closet. But the safe stood as tall as her chest and at least a foot deep. Solid steel. No way was she walking out of here with that.

  The locking mechanism had both a key and a push combination lock. She tried a few number sequences, parts of passwords Lenny had used on computer sites in the past, but nothing worked. So that meant finding a key, if he didn’t carry it with him. She had searched all the drawers in his bedroom and the kitchen when she heard the front door shut.

  She sprinted for the kitchen closet, but even as her hand closed over the knob, she heard Lenny’s voice. “Well, well, well. How did you get in here?”

  In his hand he held a gun. Her gun.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  “Oh, good, you’re home,” she said lightly.

  His pointed face reddened, and he didn’t put away the gun, though it was no longer aiming at her. “I asked how you got in.”

  “The manager, okay?”

  “You’re lying.”

  She wasn’t about to tell him she’d cut a hole in his sliding glass door. He could discover that tidbit of information for himself—hopefully when she was long gone. “Look,” she said, “I came to beg you to leave Harrison and his mother alone.”

  “Harrison?” he asked, but almost immediately he understood. “How’d you find out his name?”

  “Because of you, actually. You asked his mother for cash, and she came to drop it off at Albertsons at the same time I went there to give you the pickup money. What, were you trying to kill two birds with one stone? Save yourself a return trip?” When he didn’t respond, she continued. “She called her son to meet her there. He and I talked and then we started dating.”

  Lenny gaped at her. “He’s dating you?” He shook his head with an utter disbelief that was offensive, but at least he returned her gun to the pocket of his tan pants. “What a joke. Makay, you really know how to pick ’em.”

  Probably not a good time to ask for her gun back. “He likes me, and I like him. I have a real chance here, Lenny. Leave Harrison’s family alone. Please.”

  Lenny’s eyes narrowed. “How much have you told him?”

  Makay opened her mouth to say, “Everything,” but the unusual glint in his eyes stopped her. “They plan to pay,” she said instead. “I’m asking you to call it off.”

  He crossed the space between them, his face coming too close. She could see the rot in his teeth and smell the mint on his breath. “Next you’ll be wanting me to spare your mother and then the next target after that.” His head jerked back and forth. “No freaking way. That fifty thousand dollars is part of my ticket to a better life. That’s ten of my regular deals and your mother will be worth at least two hundred thou. It’s easy street from here on out, babe.”

  Makay shoved past him. “Then you’ll do it without me. I mean it this time.”

  The sound of the gun racking made her turn around. “No, you’ll do what I say.”

  “What, you going to shoot me?”

  “If I have to.” He rifled through a drawer and came up with some black shoe laces. “Tie that around your wrist without the cast. Do it!”

  All at once she felt she didn’t know Lenny at all. She considered refusing, but his expression was odd and his gun hand was shaking badly. If she didn’t have Nate to consider, she might rush him. “Okay.” She struggled to make a knot around her wrist.

  “Now put your hands behind your back.” Lenny rushed around and tied her casted arm tightly to the one with the shoelace.

  “Lenny,” she protested.

  He stepped back. “It’s just for a minute. I want to show you something.” Pushing her ahead of him, he led her to the master bedroom where he shoved her unceremoniously onto the tall bed. Makay stifled a protest as the ick factor of being there sank in. Lenny disappeared into the closet. She jumped off the bed but had only made it halfway to the door when she heard him opening the safe. She turned as he appeared with one of his hateful manila folders.

  “You’d better look at this before you leave.” The calmness in his voice and the fact that her gun had once again been put away made her fear crank down a notch.

  She turned, and he motioned her back to the bed where he spread out the contents, his hand no longer shaking. This close, she could see a bit of white powder dusting his nose. Drugs, she thought. He’s using drugs.

  The folder contained what seemed like all of their past scams, including details she’d never known. There were pictures of her accepting envelopes full of money. Most were from years ago in her teens, when he’d gone with her on every pickup, but there was one from last year. She hadn’t known he’d followed her. There was also a lot of personal information, including her address, phone, and social security number. Pictures of her picking up Nate from school and even a list of her friends, including Lily, Tessa, and Janice.

  “This proves you’ve been scamming people a long time,” he said. “The beauty of it is that not one of those people can identify me. You are the face of this operation. I even use a login with your name for my computer research.” Lenny waited until she met his eyes. “You will do the pickups or I’ll give this to the police. I mean, if you aren’t going to help me, you’re worthless to me. I can always start over, so it’s no skin off my teeth, but you’ll go to jail. What happens to your little brother then?”

  “If you can start over, just do it and leave me alone. I want out!”

  “Maybe. We’ll see. But your mother left me a message saying she does want DNA proof, so for now, you’re my partner. That means you and me are bosom buddies for the next week or two. Good thing I have a guest room.”

  Horror seized Makay. “What about Nate? No way am I bringing him here!”

  “I’m sure you have him tucked up somewhere nice and neat. He’ll be fine.”

  Lily would take care of Nate, but Makay didn’t want to traumatize him further, and her not showing up without explanation would certainly do that. Her mind worked to find a solution. “I’ll do it,” she said. “Like before. Now that I know you have this.” She jerked her chin toward the papers on the bed. “But I need to be home with Nate.”

  “Unfortunately, I can no longer trust you.” His mouth twisted in a smile that chilled her. “You broke into my apartment, obviously looking for this folder. And now I’m thinking you might just decide to take off. No, I think you’re better off right here until we finish this first deal with your dear birth mother and the pickup from Ha
rrison’s family. Then we’ll see if we can work something out.”

  Makay shook her head. Working something out Lenny’s way would mean making sure she did exactly what he said. What was next? Threatening Janice or some of the other old folks? Or Lily? Makay felt sick. “Harrison knows,” she blurted. “I told him and his mother everything. Everything!”

  Lenny’s hand shot out, closing around her neck. He forced her backwards onto the bed, choking her as he pinned her with his body. Her feet dangled above the carpet, and her ribs screamed with agony. The edges of her cast dug into the soft flesh just below her elbow as it strained against the shoelaces. “You told them, huh?” His crotch pushed hard against her leg. “Well, I don’t care. The mother won’t come forward. She’s too scared of her husband, too wrapped up in her rich little kingdom.” He smiled as Makay began to struggle for breath. “All this means is that I won’t need to wait any longer to get their money. Or you to pick it up for me.”

  “Please,” Makay tried to say, but his grip was too tight. Her vision was beginning to darken. Was he going to kill her right then and there? A sinking feeling in her chest told her that she’d suspected it might come down to something like this with him. Maybe that was the real reason she’d left Nate with Lily, and why she hadn’t been able to tell him if they’d ever return to Harrison’s.

  Lenny rotated his hips, rubbing against her leg with a lurid grin before letting her go. She gasped for breath, watching him back away. She was such an idiot for coming here. I’m sorry, Nate.

  “At least let me call Nate,” she said, struggling off the bed. “Please. Colorado Springs was bad for him. I don’t want him to wonder if I’m okay. I’ll do all the pickups. Just let me talk to him.” Her voice sounded rough and her throat burned with every word. “Besides, Lily will call the police if I don’t show up to get him.”

  Lenny put his head to the side and studied her. “Promise you’ll be good?”

  She nodded.

  “If you aren’t, I will hurt you.”

  “I promise.” Makay had already glimpsed what he was capable of, and she knew she had to be far more careful. Somewhere along the line he’d started doing drugs, maybe with one of the mindless women he pursued. That made him more dangerous and erratic as his need for money increased, but it also made him stupid and weak.

  “What’s the number?” He dialed Lily’s and held the phone up to her ear.

  No answer on either Lily’s home phone or cell so she must be in her van. “Lily,” she said when voicemail picked up, “it’s Makay. Look, I’ve run into a bit of a dilemma and—”

  “Careful,” Lenny warned.

  “And I have to be away for a few days. Will you please tell Nate I’m perfectly fine, but I’m setting some stuff up for him? Please take care of him.” A sob ripped from her sore throat, but Lenny was already jerking the phone from her lips.

  “Come on.” Not looking at her, he jabbed a finger at the door. With a last glance at the folder he’d shown her, now decidedly scattered on the bed, Makay led the way from the room.

  Lenny directed her to the kitchen where he made her sit at the table. He found some thin rope and tied first her legs and then her wrists to the chair. It wasn’t exactly comfortable, but it was better than having her hands all the way behind her back.

  Still not meeting her eyes, he went to a thin laptop on a desk in the kitchen. As she eyed it speculatively, he said, “There’s nothing on this to incriminate me, if that’s what you’re thinking. I’m really careful that way.” Several pictures appeared on the screen. “Here, want to see your mother?”

  Makay tried to swallow, knowing the pain now came not from being strangled but from the longing of the child she had once been. Her eyes hungrily devoured the pictures, any lingering doubt about Lenny finding her mother vanishing instantly. Their likeness was unmistakable. In the first picture the woman was young, not too much older than Makay was right now. Her cheek bones were more prominent and her face rounder, but she had the same tone of brown hair and her eyes were shaped like Makay’s. The biggest similarity was the slight gap between the two front teeth. In later pictures, the gap had been closed. The older woman appeared more assured, and she looked happy and relaxed. It was Makay as she might have been had she lived another life.

  I’m glad I have Nate, Makay thought fiercely, yet she didn’t blame the woman in the photos for choosing another direction. This woman had probably cried and agonized for months before making her decision. She tried to make it right for me. The pain in Makay’s heart eased.

  Makay turned to look at Lenny, to thank him for showing her the picture, regardless of how incongruous it seemed to thank a man who had made her life miserable for so many years and now had tied her to a chair. Her smile vanished. Lenny was going through her backpack, and he’d found the envelope with the remaining money from her inheritance. “Oh, lookee here,” he said.

  “It’s mine. A friend died and left it to me.”

  Lenny grinned as he slipped the envelope into his pocket. “Insurance.”

  Bitterness swept through Makay. “Right. You’ll probably use it for a hit.” Too bad she hadn’t left the fake bills she’d printed in there; those might have caused him trouble when he went to buy his white powder. “When did you start using?”

  “None of your business,” he growled.

  “At least tell me about Harrison’s sister. Did you find her? Is she really looking for her birth mother? Because even if Sherry doesn’t want to see her, Harrison would like to meet her if she’s looking for them. We could give him the information. He’d be less upset about paying you, I think.”

  Lenny smirked and shook his head. “Stop it with the bleeding heart already. The girl has stinkingly great parents, a devoted older brother—also adopted—and works as a school teacher. She just got engaged. From everything I can tell, she doesn’t wonder in the least about where she came from or give a hoot about Sherry Matthews.”

  One of the lucky ones. Makay didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. At least she’d have good news for Sherry, if she ever got out of here. Sherry’s sacrifice had paid off for her baby girl.

  Lenny took her cell phone from the backpack. “What’s the password? Come on. I already have the number on a note somewhere. I just don’t want to search for it.”

  Makay told him the password and watched in frustration as he scrolled down her contacts. He copied one into his phone and started texting. “I’m telling your boyfriend that we’re going through with our original schedule. I left a note earlier saying that we’d put it off until Monday, but this changes everything. He and his mother better have the money by six tonight. That gives them two hours. I’ll text him later about where to leave the money.” He paused and then read aloud, “Be there or your stepfather is the next person I’ll call. Your loving half sister.” He pushed send. “Guess I’ll have to get rid of this phone tonight. Good thing it only has a few minutes left on it.”

  Upturning her backpack, Lenny dumped the rest of her belongings onto the ground. “You don’t mind if I use your backpack to carry the money, do you? I promise to return it.”

  Makay strained against the chair, wanting to slam her fist into his face regardless of the consequences. She’d never felt so helpless in her entire life, not even the first time Fern locked her out of the house. “I hate you.”

  Lenny shrugged. “Liking me isn’t a job requirement. Now be a good girl and sit tight while I get things ready.”

  On the counter where he’d placed it, Makay’s phone rang, and Lenny glanced at the readout. “Looks like lover boy is trying to reach you. Too bad you’ve gone out of town.”

  It could just as well be Lily. “Let me answer it.”

  “No.” Lenny slipped the phone into his pocket. “I’m through letting you do anything.”

  Another hit of white powder, a stop in the bathroom, and three emails later, Lenny left the apartment to collect his fifty thousand dollars.

  Chapter Twenty-Six


  Harrison gripped his cell phone tightly, his frustration mounting. First, there was the text he’d received at work, supposedly from his long lost half sister, telling him the blackmail payoff was back on for tonight even though there had been a note on the Beetle that morning saying it would be Monday instead. Apparently, Lenny had decided to use the cell phone number Harrison had given him with his first response to the blackmail letters, instead of leaving another note that Harrison might not see on time.

  Then Makay hadn’t been at his place when he arrived home. Even so, he hadn’t really become worried until Lily called and told him about the strange message Makay had left on Lily’s cell phone.

  “She would never leave Nate like this,” Lily said, her voice a little too loud in his ear. “Not without talking to him and packing a bag. Something is really wrong. I feel it. I’ve been worried ever since she said that she was going to deal with whatever it is, but this message really scared me. I think she was crying.”

  Numbness spread over Harrison. “Thanks for calling. I think I might have a lead. I’ll call you later, or you call me if you hear anything.” He hung up without worrying about niceties and walked across the room to his mother, who was counting money into a reusable cloth grocery bag on his counter. “Makay is missing. I’ve called her three times in the past two hours, and now her friend said Makay left a message asking her to take care of Nate and didn’t say when she was coming back.”

  Her hands stilled. “Well, since she’s presumably posing as my daughter, she’s going to have to pick this money up, right? Maybe that’s the reason for her silence.”

  “I don’t know. It feels different. He texted instead of leaving a note. Why would he change tactics all of a sudden?” He pondered a few seconds in silence. “Unless he knows that we know about him.”

  His mother’s hand closed over his. “I don’t see how it makes a difference. I have to pay him. You understand that, right?”