Image of Deceit

by Raines, Rumer

  My mind soon drifts to Noah. I wonder if we can find our way back to each other. What if Sam is involved with this? Does Noah even know she is capable of this?

  I walk into the bedroom and close the door. Pulling out my cell, my finger hovers over Noah’s name.

  Noah answers on the third ring.

  “It’s me,” I whisper and there is silence on the other end.

  “Alexis?” Noah replies.

  “I need you,” I confided.

  I cry as I tell Noah that Lola has been kidnapped and Frank was shot. They all believe that Sam was involved, but I don’t know if I can accept that she is capable of all these horrible things.

  “I’ll be in touch,” Noah replies and hangs up on me. I look down at the phone and ask if he is still there and I suddenly hear the dial tone. He hung up on me. I am crying on the phone explaining that my brother was shot, my best friend was kidnapped, and he hung up on me? I throw my phone against the door watching it break into pieces.

  Noah

  Sam walks out of my bathroom in a bath towel. I look her over as I listen to Alexis crying on the phone about Frank and Lola.

  “I’ll be in touch,” I tell her and hang up as I stare at Sam wondering why the hell she is in my house.

  “What the hell are you doing?” I hiss at her as she smiles at me and inches closer to me. When she is within touching distance she drops the towel and smirks. I close my eyes and reach down to grab the towel and toss it at her.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” I growl at her since she apparently didn’t hear the question the first time.

  “Isn’t it obvious Noah?” she takes the towel but doesn’t wrap It around herself. “I think we should both move on past Nick. I have had these feelings for you for quite a while and I am sick of denying myself for a man that clearly isn’t coming back. I know you feel the same, so I don’t think we should wait any longer.”

  I step away from her and start to laugh. Is this bitch crazy? She honestly thinks I would touch her?

  “You’re my brother’s wife,” I remind her, and she rolls her eyes.

  “You didn’t mind fucking your brother’s mistress,” she responds, and I move back and rub my hand against my beard.

  “You don’t talk about her,” I threaten, and she tosses the towel on the bed and walks closer to me.

  “Noah, I am the last person you want to piss off. I want you to drop the attitude along with your pants and you’re going to fuck me. We’ll discuss our future, the future of our company and how we’ll take over Nick’s part,” Sam tells me as she starts to unbuckle my pants. I cock my head looking at her and she reaches up applying her lips to mine.

  I pull away from her placing my hands on both sides of her face and lean in closer.

  “What will happen if I piss you off, Sam?” I tease.

  “Bad things happen to people that make me angry, Noah. Just don’t be one of them.”

  “Did Alexis make you angry?” I ask as I pull her closer and start to kiss the side of her neck and she softly moans that Alexis did, in fact, make her angry. I walk her towards the bed and push her down. I push open her legs and lean over her to kiss her forehead. When I notice her eyes darken, I push myself up and give her a kiss on the lips. “Wait right there. I am going to get us a drink,” I tell her, and she reaches for my arm telling me that she doesn’t need a drink.

  I lean over and whisper that I am going to grab us a bottle of wine and that I plan on drinking it off her. Sam moans in agreement and I walk out of the room rolling my eyes. I grab a bottle of wine and pour us each a glass, adding two sleeping pills in hers. I just hope they work fast.

  The sleeping pills knocked Sam out within ten minutes. They felt like the longest ten minutes of my entire fucking life. I watch her sleep from a chair across the room while holding my phone. I don’t know if I should deal with Sam or find out what is going on with Alexis and her family? Alexis mentioned that Frank had been shot and Lola kidnapped. Why In the hell would she be calling me for help? This is the mob and I doubt they need my help for anything.

  I start to pace as I wait for Alexis to answer. When she finally does, I can hear suspicion in her voice. I apologize for having to hang up earlier, but I ask her what’s going on. Alexis proceeds to tell me how there was an ambush at Deluca’s and Lola has been kidnapped. When I ask Alexis what she expects of me, I drop into the closest chair. The Delucas think Sam had something to do with the ambush. I turn toward my bedroom where she’s sleeping and wonder who the hell is the woman in my bed.

  I ask Alexis to give me a few days and I’ll call her back. I need to figure this shit out. Alexis sighs and tells me once again that she needs me. What she doesn’t understand is that I need her too.

  I climb into bed next to Sam and watch her sleep. She looks so peaceful and innocent that it’s hard for me to believe that she has done so much evil. Am I willing to seduce her to get the information out of her? I hope it doesn’t come to that, but I will get as close as I possibly can stomach.

  Sam starts to stir and looks at me with a surprised look on her face.

  “Noah?” she moans and reaches for me. I grab her hand and pull it to my lips to give it a gentle kiss.

  “It’s about time you woke up, sleepyhead.”

  Sam sits up and narrows her eyes at me as I give her small smile.

  “I can’t believe I fell asleep.” Sam sits up and stretches.

  “I can’t either. Do you remember everything we talked about?” I ask as she shakes her head.

  “No. What did we talk about?” she asks slowly with suspicion in her voice.

  “We talked about our future.”

  Alexis

  It’s been a week since I talked to Noah. He asked me to give him a few days and it’s been a week. I told him that Lola had been kidnapped and he asks for more time? What part of kidnapped didn’t he understand? We still don’t have any leads on Lola and I have never felt so scared in my entire life. I spend most of the time at the safe house watching the twins. I try to keep them occupied, but they keep asking for their mommy. Frank has been so busy trying to find Lola, that he hasn’t spent much time with the twins either, which hasn’t helped the situation.

  After putting the twins to bed, I find Oliver, Alex, and Thomas huddled together whispering. Oliver notices me watching him and touches Alex’s arm and nods in my direction. They all look at me and suddenly stop talking.

  “Hey. Did you find out anything about Lola?” I ask, and Thomas shoots a suspicious look in Oliver’s direction.

  “No,” Alex responds, and I glance at Oliver who won’t make eye contact with me

  “Okay. I know when I watch police shows they normally say if a person isn’t found within twenty-four hours, it means…”

  “We’re not the police, Alexis,” Alex cuts me off before I can finish the statement. “She was taken because of us and they are only waiting long enough to make us desperate enough to give them whatever they want when they ask for it.”

  “How do you know that? How do you know Lola isn’t dead?”

  “Because if she was dead, they would have already sent us pieces of her,” Alex states, and I wish I had not asked.

  I don’t know how long I can stay in this house. There are too many people here and I am starting to feel suffocated. It’s been a week and a half since I talked to Noah. I am becoming painfully aware that Noah isn’t going to help. He couldn’t care less about Lola and even less about me.

  I stare out the window and watch Thomas and Oliver in another intense conversation. I need to leave this house. I watch as Thomas storms into the house and looks at me. When I ask if everything is okay, he grunts and walks past me. He walks over and grabs keys out of the desk. “Are you going somewhere?” I ask and he looks at me and grunts. As Thomas is walking out of the door, his cell rings and he walks back to the kitchen to answer it.

  I watch Oliver and notice that he is leaning against the black Suburban facing away from the hou
se. I sneak out of the house and quietly crawl onto the Suburban floor. I need to get out and what safer place than in the backseat with Thomas and Oliver?

  After ten minutes we pull out of the driveway. Thomas and Oliver discuss how unhinged Frank will become if they don’t find Lola. There is doubt in their voices that Lola will be found and if she is found if she’ll ever be the same. My heart sinks as I listen to them and I pray that Lola survives. After a few minutes of silence Thomas asks Oliver if they can make her talk. A wave of apprehension swept through me as I wondered who they were talking about? When Oliver mentions that she’ll have to die in the end my pulse began to beat erratically at the threatening in his deep voice. Thomas agrees as a chill black silence surrounded them.

  Thirty minutes later the Suburban finally stops. Thomas and Oliver get out and slam the doors. I slowly get off the floor and sit on the backseat. I gasp when I see who they are meeting with. A cold knot formed in my stomach.

  As I watched in shock, I feel a hand over my mouth and nose. I struggle for a few seconds and everything went black. A few seconds later, I am being laid down on something soft. I feel warm and comfortable. Maybe when I wake up this will be nothing more than a bad dream.

  I hear several voices and they are all familiar somehow. Someone is asking how the hell she even got here. Am I the ‘she’ they are talking about? A second voice asks why someone didn’t check the backseat. I can tell they are pissed off and it’s because of me. I trust them, they won’t hurt me. Did I just say that I trust them? These people have lied to me for most of my life and now I trust them?

  Someone is shaking me and telling me to wake up. No, they are telling me to wake the fuck up. They are pissed off and it’s still directed at me. I must be dreaming, I couldn’t have seen what I think I did. Someone is shaking me harder and their voice is getting louder. I moan as I slowly force open my eyes. I am in a big room and there are bright lights. Dark eyes stare into mine with concern. I recognize those dark eyes. They are gentle and belong to Oliver. He narrows them at me and I realize that those dark eyes are pissed.

  “Do you want to explain to me what the hell you were doing hiding in the fucking backseat?” Oliver grunts as he helps me sit up on the mattress that is lying on the floor.

  “I…I needed to get out for a while. I thought the safest place would be to go with you and Thomas,” I whisper, and Oliver tilts his head and grunts at me.

  “You thought that, huh? You thought wrong,” Oliver practically yells, and I jump as I pull my hair away from my face.

  “Oliver, did I see…” I start to say, and Oliver cuts me off.

  “I am taking you back to the house. You didn’t see shit…do you hear me? You didn’t see shit.” He repeats himself slowly as he pulls me up by the arm. When we get back to Suburban, Oliver opens the passenger door for me and he gets in the driver’s seat. I turn to ask him where Thomas is, and he holds up his hand. He isn’t telling me anything.

  Oliver wants me to stay quiet and say I didn’t see shit. That isn’t going to work for me and I have questions that I need answers too. I know that I won’t get those answers now, but I plan on getting them soon.

  Noah

  “Call me in thirty seconds,” I whisper before sticking my phone back into my pocket. I hope Maurice does what I ask him to do and call me back within thirty fucking seconds. I grab two wine glasses and head back to Sam. It’s been two weeks since she threw herself at me and I had to drug her. She’s kept coming back and I have made every excuse possible to get out of these situations with her.

  I don’t know how many nights I have had to fake being passed out or too busy with work. I know she’ll start to catch on, but hopefully, not before I get what I need from her. Sam looks at me and smiles as she reaches for her glass. She is wearing tight, red leather pants and a white sweater that has feathers all over it. She looks like a hooker and has too much perfume on. She pulls me closer as she tilts her head to put her red lips on mine, but before we connect my phone rings. I close my eyes thanking God Maurice listened to me.

  I pretend to be annoyed with the call as Sam watches and I answer the phone pretending to listen. I say yes and no a few times before pretending to be angry and advising that I’ll be right there. Sam pouts and turns her back to me as I hang up. I tell her that I need to get back the office because I need to fix another one of Maurice’s fuckups. Sam sighs and asks why we don’t get rid of Maurice and I remind her that he is an equal partner. Sam seems content with the answer, not realizing that she is the only one I want to get rid of.

  “Care to explain why I had thirty seconds to call you?” Maurice asks, and I fall back onto his black sofa. I lay my head back and squeeze my temples as I think about the woman I left at my house. I haven’t even been able to get rid of her long enough to call Alexis. I doubt she would even take my call at this point.

  “I need to tell you something, Maurice,” I tell him. He cocks his head to listen as he sits across from me. Maurice has known me long enough to read me. He knows that I am about to tell him some heavy shit.

  “Do I need a beer for this?” he questions, and I nod. He brings back two beers and I start to talk.

  Maurice gave me a sidelong glance of utter disbelief as I explain to him that Sam killed Nick.

  “I know she is a bitch, but do you really think she is capable of murder, Noah?”

  “She killed Nick,” I answer, and Maurice falls back in his chair in shock.

  “Are you sure?” he asks, and I nod. I tell him that Oliver had proof that Nick was alive and well until Sam left. It doesn’t take much to convince Maurice as he starts to put everything together and realize it’s the reason Sam is dead set to take on Nick’s shares of our company. She knows that he’s dead, so it’s legally hers.

  Maurice was momentarily speechless in his surprise. “I guess you have no choice Noah.”

  A tense silence enveloped the room as I understood him. I had no other choice, I will hand deliver my brother’s killer to the mob.

  I silently watched as Maurice’s brows drew together in an agonized expression while he made flight reservations. Before the night is over, I glance over at Sam when her head falls on my shoulder. We soon will be arriving in Chicago.

  Alexis

  “You’re either going to answer my questions or I’ll go ask Alex and Frank.” I threaten Oliver and he grabs me by the arm and leads me to his bedroom. Oliver has avoided me for days and I don’t have the patience to deal with this any longer.

  Oliver doesn’t want me asking questions, but he had to expect them. Noah is back in Chicago. I saw him and to make matters even more confusing, he was meeting with Oliver, Thomas, and Alex. I watched as they shook hands and I saw Noah walk into the building. I need to know why he’s here and why they suddenly appear to like each other and what the hell is in that building?

  When I ask Oliver each of these questions, he walks away from me and shakes his head. I am shocked when Oliver starts to talk. Sam is being held at the abandoned office building and is being questioned. Oliver said she hasn’t cracked yet, but they know she is close. I can’t believe that Noah is involved with this, but Oliver assures me that Noah’s hands are basically clean. I am not sure what ‘basically clean’ clean means since Noah did bring her to Chicago. I close my eyes and picture Lola with the twins and I guess it doesn’t matter what they do to Sam.

  “I want you to take me to her,” I whisper and Oliver’s eyes narrow.

  “No.”

  “Oliver, I want to see her,” I yell, and Oliver tilts his head in shock.

  “Why? What could you possibly have to say to her?”

  How could he not understand that this all started because of me? I had an affair with Sam’s husband. Nick was killed because of me. Chance was killed because of me. I will not sit by while Lola is killed because of me too.

  “I can apologize for sleeping with her husband,” I whisper, and I hear him take a deep breath.

  Oliver sneaks me out
of the house a few hours later. We don’t talk as we both are deep in our own thoughts. I am wondering what the hell I will say when I am face to face with Sam. How does a woman apologize for being the ‘other woman’? If I had known Nick was married, I would never have gotten involved with him. The only problem with making that statement is, if I hadn’t gotten involved with Nick, I never would have met Noah.

  Noah and I both have people in our lives that we thought we knew, but we didn’t. They each portrayed images of deceit. We soon pull to a stop in front of the building and Oliver takes the keys out of the ignition and stares at me. Oliver warns I won’t see anything pretty and I need to consider if I really want to see Sam. I nod, and Oliver sighs as he gets out of the car and comes around to my side to open the door.

  The inside of the building is dirty and there is old, broken furniture scattered around. Oliver grabs my hand and leads me to the basement without turning on any lights. Downstairs, we go down a small hallway and he pulls a key out of his pocket. I gasp when he opens the door and turns on a light. My hands cover my mouth as I try to keep myself from throwing up as Oliver watches me nervously. He again asks if I want to do this and I nod.

  Sam is tied to a chair and her head is hanging back towards the ceiling. The room smells like vomit, and you can tell she has been using the bathroom in here. Her shirt is have ripped off and it looks like someone took a chain and whipped it across her chest. Her pants have blood stains and I almost think I see handprints around her neck. When Oliver closes the door, her head snaps up and I can see her black mascara running down her face. Her hair was in a ponytail, but someone had pulled most of her hair from it. She had two black eyes and scratches all over her face.

  Did the men in my family do this to her? I know she is a bitch, but she is still a woman. Sam’s eyes narrow at me and she glances towards Oliver. I am still standing by the door staring at her and my feet feel glued to the floor. I don’t want to go in any further. I start to feel myself suffocate remembering that Oliver closed the door.