“You’re jealous? What did you think, that I’ve been waiting around feeling sorry for myself while you make up your mind?”
“I’m not jealous—and I made up my mind, remember?”
“It’s just that with you, one can never be so sure, right?”
She didn’t ask what he meant by that—Willow didn’t want to know. She had kept tabs on him in those past months, had to in order not to jeopardize her contracts. Kat would understand that, wouldn’t she? The problem was he had probably done the same, knew at the very least about Judy visiting the mansion. Well, it was none of his business. She didn’t care about Mandy either.
Simon led her along various hallways to a door that required his fingerprint in order to open it.
They walked into a huge lab with computers, an office area, and daylight streaming in through the skylights. She noted a kitchenette with a coffeemaker and microwave. A soft-looking couch.
“Welcome to your work space,” he said.
“Elaborate.”
“Look, babe, I know you’ve been working on something big. The people I’m dealing with want big, much more than I could ever offer them. You can. I want you to design their security system from scratch. As long as this takes, you’ll be my guest. You saw your bedroom, there’s a nice master bath attached, and you can have meals with me and Mandy or up here. I need you to work. Before you get any ideas, those computers are not hooked up to the internet. There’s an intranet for the house, and a phone system that only works internally.”
Up until now, she hadn’t understood the depth of his delusion.
“Are you crazy? The people who want their money back right now, they won’t wait until I’m done.”
“They will if what they’re getting is their money’s worth. You said you’d help me!”
“And in return you lock me in here? You have lost your mind!”
“Will. Come on. We can make this work, right? I have some notes here, plans of what it is they want. I know you can do it.”
She cast a fleeting look at the papers, wondering if Kat’s connections would be enough to end this insanity in case she couldn’t. Willow was still slightly hopeful. If Simon wanted her to work with the intranet, maybe she could use it to hack her way out. In that case she didn’t need to bother anyone else. The thought that Simon could turn himself in at this point was a bit delusional too, but she had to try.
“I can look at this, sure, but Simon, you have to understand they won’t let you out of this so easily. With people like that, it’s never just about the money.”
“That’s what I was trying to make you understand. They want the product, and you’re going to give it to them. I know you were close to finishing your contract, so this should be easy for you. I brought you your laptop as well, over there. Of course we couldn’t crack the codes yet, but I’m sure you’ll want to work with me here.”
“You have to turn yourself in!” Willow frantically tried to remember if there was anything compromising on her computer that wasn’t encrypted. Don’t panic. You never do that, right? She knew there was nothing even remotely sexual that he’d be able to access.
“I won’t do that, not when we’re so close. It’s okay, you don’t need to start working right away. You must be hungry. I’d like you to have dinner with us, and then get to it.” He said it like it was an extremely generous offer on his part.
Maybe the dining room was a tiny bit less secure, or at least she could assess the quality of the security codes. Pay attention, she told herself. There was no point in getting mad—or scared. She had memorized the way when they went back. The dining room had a more old-fashioned entry with French doors.
“Don’t try anything,” Simon warned. “You won’t get out of this house unless I say so.”
“Yeah, well. I hope you got some wine that’s not spiked. You know I have a hard time standing you sober.”
“Whatever. Will, I’d like to introduce you to someone. This is Mandy. Mandy, my ex-wife Willow. She has agreed to help us out with the bad guys.”
The young woman stood up and shook Willow’s hand.
“Nice to meet you. Simon told me so much about you—it’s very kind of you to help us.”
For a moment, Willow could only stand and stare. She had expected Simon to date someone, younger than her even, because that was just his MO, but Mandy looked barely legal. Willow decided she’d find a moment to get her alone and see if she was here any more freely than herself. Simon could be quite impressive at the beginning of a relationship. It seemed like Mandy hadn’t encountered any of his other facets yet.
“You’re welcome,” she said. “I’m sure Simon told you this already, but I’m sorry, too, that you had to get involved in this. You’re from around here?”
Simon gave her a warning look.
“Oh, no, we met in L.A.,” Mandy explained. “Simon’s been working really hard. It’s terrible those clients turned out to be criminals.”
“Yeah, too bad.”
“Willow.”
“You were right, I’m really hungry. I could use a glass of wine too. Mandy, I know Simon has an extensive cellar, perhaps you could recommend something?”
“Don’t be silly,” he said, the smile not entirely convincing. “I’ve had the cook put together dinner, and there’s some Chardonnay if you like. No specials tonight, sorry—and remember, you wanted to get a head start, right?”
Willow barely kept herself from rolling her eyes. A cook and a wine cellar? Who was paying for all of this? She was beginning to wonder if all of the money he wanted from her would go to paying off the bad guys, or if some of it would finance his lavish lifestyle.
“That’s right. I swear I won’t be drunk at work.” She winked at Mandy who giggled.
So far, so good—or not. She didn’t want to run and leave this young girl here with Simon and potential intruders. He could do a decent system, but if Willow had means to overrun it, then maybe the people who were after him would find ways too. She didn’t want to take the risk.
Hopefully, at this point, Kat wasn’t mad at her anymore. Willow could take care of herself, but with the situation changed, she could use some assistance.
She really wanted to go home.
* * * *
After the meal and a couple of glasses of wine, Simon decided Willow had had enough, and suggested she’d take her coffee in the lab/office.
“Oh, but can we hang out a few minutes longer?” Mandy’s pout didn’t have much of an impact.
“Babe, Will’s got a lot of work to do know. It’s better we leave her to it.”
“I understand. Maybe later,” Mandy said with a wink Willow didn’t understand. It wasn’t important at the moment. A fingerprint was needed to enter the lab, but there was probably an algorithm found on the intranet to override these specifics. Somebody had put them in place—she only had to find where in order to erase them.
Mandy…She sighed after Simon had left her alone and she sat down with her laptop, a coffee from the expensive machine by her side. It would be difficult to get to her. For now, she seemed to worship the ground Simon walked on, but there was no way Willow could leave her here.
Willow worked quickly and jotted down some notes, so it would look like something if he checked. There was no way she’d give up the systems she developed for her government contracts. Besides, she wanted to take a better look at the intranet, how all the security measures in the house were connected, and where to find them. It wouldn’t help her to get out of this room only to trigger an alarm at the front door.
It took her about fifteen minutes to identify each item in the house and how they worked. It was true, with his skill level, Simon couldn’t keep high profile criminals as clients.
Willow shook her head, asking herself again what he had been thinking…but that was always the problem with him, wasn’t it, that he didn’t give much thought to anything, just forged ahead. That was probably how they’d gotten married in the first place.
It was for the best if the authorities finally got hold of him—for Willow’s peace of mind, and for his sake. If he got out of this unharmed, he’d probably do it again, but that wasn’t for certain yet.
Chapter Eleven
A few hours later, Willow had come up with a plan that would hopefully convince Simon. She was still angry, but decided it would be better to save that for later. She needed him to feel safe until she could talk to Mandy and hopefully convince her to leave as well.
There was a knock on the door. Willow barely refrained herself from rolling her eyes as Simon unlocked the door and walked in—as if she had any privacy to speak of here. She consoled herself with the thought that he soon would be behind bars, for drugging her and keeping her against her will at the very least.
“Hey there. I was wondering if you expected me to work all night.”
“Of course not, babe. Once my business partners know the product is in the works, and it’s going to be brilliant, they’ll wait. Of course you’ll wire the money too, right?”
Willow wondered if he realized he was calling her by the same endearment as Mandy—or if he’d ever made a difference for any woman.
“As you like it. You know I can’t do this in five minutes, so I’d like to go to my bedroom now.”
He cast a quick glance at the screen and the papers on her desk. “Seems like you’re off to a good start. You know, I’m really grateful for this, Willow. Thank you.”
Her silence was all the politeness she could muster. “You’re welcome” would have been too much.
“Okay—and this is why I have something for you. You can go to sleep, but if you want, you can join me and Mandy. She’d love that, and I think you would too.”
Willow’s jaw dropped. She couldn’t believe she’d heard him correctly. “I’m working my ass off so you won’t get killed, and in return, you invite me to your bedroom, so I can perform for you with your girlfriend? I feel a little sick right now.”
Don’t get mad, she reminded herself. It’s not worth it. He’s not worth it.
“It’s not like you didn’t do it before,” he said, his tone jovial, close to condescending. Willow cursed the fact that each of them had their spies. He couldn’t have more than a vague suspicion regarding the night Judy had stayed over with her and Kat, but she didn’t like it anyway.
“Yeah, sorry, since it involves you, no thanks. Besides, if you’re so informed about my life, you should know I’m dating someone now. Exclusively.”
“Yeah, your bodyguard that Franklin hired. Your one true love.”
“So?”
“Are you really that naïve? Kat was in touch with her ex while she was living in your house. You think they were just talking shop?”
“I don’t care what they were talking about. This is not your problem, I’d say, considering who’s after you now…the police, a secret agency and some clever resourceful criminals. Only one way to find out who gets to you first, right?”
To her surprise, he started laughing. “Wow, I had no idea how much you hated me. You can’t wait, can you? Think about it. I’ve seen the way you looked at Mandy. You would not regret it.”
“Bring me to my room now?” she asked icily.
Simon shrugged. “Sure. Your loss.”
He walked her back to the room, on the way stopping in front of another door—the master bedroom of the house.
“If you change your mind…?”
Willow shook her head, and they kept walking. He locked her in again, but now she knew where the key to get out was located. She would try to get a feel of when he was out of the house and try to open those doors, tomorrow, during the day or the night. That should be enough before anyone came barging in, bad or good.
Sitting up in her bed in the dark, unable to relax, Willow thought of ways to get close to Mandy. Not the way Simon had suggested, obviously. There was a darker time in her life, after her wedding, when she might have considered it. They’d both drunk a lot and had slipped into a certain carelessness, something she found more and more disturbing with time. Simon, on the other hand, reveled in it, binges and shady deals with God knew whom. Willow had realized that she needed to get out, or he would take her down with him.
The night she’d spent with Kat and Judy was something completely different. She and Judy had talked it through. Judy had been okay with it, and Kat…Willow leaned back against the cushions and, despite herself, smiled. She had read her correctly, the desire in her eyes when she was watching Willow, her body language. Kat had longed for and deserved pure bliss, and once she knew Willow could give it to her, her resistance had vanished.
That moment, Willow longed for her touch with an intensity that nearly hurt. She didn’t want to be involved in any of this, Simon’s shitty deals, her dad’s spy games. She would have loved to go on an island with Kat, and damn it, once she was out of here, she could.
About the ex…Simon lied. It was part of the game for him, thrilling, to see with how much he could get away. Willow wouldn’t make much of it. She was certain Kat had other things on her mind now.
Back to Mandy. Willow hoped she would get to see her for breakfast or another meal, so that they could talk for a moment. If Willow could convince her to come once she was ready to split, it would look better for her once the authorities got hold of Simon.
It would make Willow look not so stupid after all—but most of all, she wanted to help the young woman avoid making the same mistakes she had.
* * * *
Willow was lucky: The next morning, Simon brought her to the lab again and told her Mandy would bring breakfast.
“Poor girl, now she has to play the maid too? She must be really smitten with you.”
“Yeah, she is, and I like that—but I really missed your sarcasm too. I have to go to a meeting, but you can relax and do your work. You know, I changed all the passwords, just to be on the safe side. I know you’re clever, my love, but you’re not going to get out of here.”
“Jesus, you’re paranoid,” she muttered. “Do you see me trying?” She wasn’t happy that she’d have to do part of yesterday’s work all over again, but she was quicker than he thought. In a few hours, this bizarre nightmare could be over—for her and Mandy. “No, don’t answer that. I’d like my breakfast now. Have a nice trip outside, wherever that is—and don’t get killed. At some point, I do want to get out of here.”
“Sure, babe.” He kissed her on the cheek before he left, unfazed by the fact that she’d shrunk back from him. It came as no surprise that Simon still thought the world of himself.
Mandy entered the room a few minutes later, carrying a tray with a bread basket, jam, juice and two empty coffee cups.
“I thought we could use your coffeemaker here?”
“No problem.”
Willow studied her, wondering how to approach the subject.
“That must be odd for you, me, here in this house. Simon and I didn’t part under the best of circumstances, but of course I don’t want him to get killed. I swear that’s the only reason I’m here.”
“Yes, I know. Is a latte okay?”
“Yes, sure. I’ll get to work in a bit, but maybe you could keep me company.”
“I can do that,” Mandy agreed.
“Are you in the same field as Simon?” Willow asked once they’d sat down.
“Oh, no. I’m a student, at least I used to be. He got me an internship here in town, and they might even hire me afterwards.”
“That’s lucky.” Willow sipped her coffee, desperately trying to find a way how to go from career choices to “leave the bastard as soon as you can.”
“Yeah. He’s done a lot for me.”
“He should. He’s asking a lot of you too.”
“What do you mean?” Mandy asked, her eyes wide. Willow had noticed that she didn’t touch the bread basket.
“Take something to eat, too, please. What I mean is—you know why Simon asked me here, right? He owes some people money, powe
rful and dangerous people, and he thinks that by having me work on this software, he can stall them. He also wanted $400 million dollars from me.”
“No! You must be mistaken.” As Willow had expected, Mandy’s first reaction was denial.
“Well, he said it pretty clearly. The thing is, these people are going to show up here sooner or later, with guns. Aren’t you scared?”
“A little,” Mandy admitted, finally reaching for a muffin. Instead of eating it though, she was tearing it in small pieces on her plate. “But I know Simon will protect me. He will protect both of us, if necessary.”
Oh, for Heaven’s sake!
“I’m sure he’ll try, but what if there was a way we could all get out before that happens?”
The young woman looked confused. “Simon will be gone until tomorrow morning. I don’t want to leave him if he might be in danger!”
“Not even after he invited me for a threesome yesterday?”
Mandy looked down on her plate, blushing. “He asked me first. I said it’d be okay. I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to be sorry to me. If you want to sleep with a woman, or even have a threesome, it shouldn’t just be okay, it should be because you want it—not because some guy decides it. Anyway…” Getting a bit off topic, aren’t we? “I want you to think about it. We have a few hours. Simon thinks this is the way to do it, but I have friends who can better help him out of this mess. He has to make some compromises. I’m sure that’s better than getting shot—or worse.” Willow didn’t mind scaring Mandy a bit more if that had the desired result.
She didn’t know names, but the people Kat, Crystal and Franklin dealt with on the job, wouldn’t shy away from torture or murder. It was hard to overestimate the danger, at least in the long run. There was a good chance Simon wouldn’t come back from his business meeting.
“I don’t want that,” Mandy said hesitantly.
“I don’t want it either. You don’t have to believe me, but Mandy, I’m not making any of this up. What’s more, Simon isn’t a good guy. He brought me here without asking first.”
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