Rooted in Lies

by Kasia Chojecki

Ava woke up tired after a restless night. She wasn't looking forward to the conversation with her father. It was bad enough that her mother could have been a blackmailer. It was another to find out that your father cheated on her.

  She looked at the picture again. There it was, the face that shouldn't have been there—her stepmother's. What was Joan doing at a party with her parents? They weren't supposed to know each other then.

  In the picture, Sharon sat on the couch, smiling at the camera. On her left was a man with a laughing woman on his lap. On her right was Michael, his hand on Sharon's leg, his head twisted slightly so that he looked at the woman behind Sharon, Joan. His other hand reached out for Joan as she leaned towards him.

  According to her father, he didn't meet Joan until after Sharon's disappearance. Clearly, that was a lie. She had seen her father and Joan look like that at each other many times. Like there was nobody else in the world but them. This picture implied that they knew each other, possibly intimately, even then. Did Sharon know what was going on?

  Ava needed answers. She called her father, but this time went straight to the point.

  "Explain this," she said when his face came on the screen. She shoved the picture to the camera and watched his face turn pale. "Why is Joan in this picture?"

  "It was a party," he said, but there was a hitch in his voice.

  "You told me you met Joan after Sharon disappeared," she said accusingly. "This proves you lied."

  "Ava, it was a party," he tried to keep his voice steady. "There were many people there."

  "Dad, I'm not stupid. I've seen you and Joan look at each other this way before," she brought the picture closer to the camera. "This is not a picture of two people at a random party who forgot they knew each other."

  Michael looked down and closed his eyes. He sighed.

  "Joan and I had a relationship before I met Sharon," he said slowly. "We loved each other deeply."

  "What happened?"

  "She was married," he said, looking ashamed. "Look, I'm not proud of it. Neither one of us planned for it to happen. But it did."

  "Why not get divorced?"

  "It was a different time, Ava," he told her. "I worked for her husband. He was a tenured professor. An affair would have ruined us all."

  So her father and Joan had an affair? She had a hard time picturing her strait-laced father having an affair with his boss's wife.

  "Did Sharon know?"

  "I don't think so," Michael raked his hand through his hair. "It was complicated. Joan thought her husband was getting suspicious, so we called it off."

  "But Sharon found out about it."

  "Yes," his eyes went flat. "Sharon found out the truth after it was over."

  Ava always suspected her parents' relationship wasn't perfect. Still, childishly she believed that they would have gotten back together if Sharon stayed. But the more she investigated it, the more it looked like there was very little love between them.

  "How did you end up with Sharon?"

  "I was her teaching assistant," he said, resigned. "She was this brilliant, fascinating woman. I was heartbroken after Joan, and I split. Sharon was there, and she made it clear she was interested in me. She was intoxicating. Smart and beautiful. I was, naturally, taken by her."

  The truth wasn't easy, but he had lived with guilt for so many years. Finally, saying it out loud was freeing.

  "Ava, I'm sorry I never told you the truth," he said. "Sharon and I were never meant to be together. It was a mistake. We were two very different people who didn't love each other the way we deserved. When Joan's husband died, we rekindled our relationship. Sharon found out, and she was furious. She demanded a divorce, and I agreed. I gave her whatever she wanted so I could be with Joan."

  So the truth was uglier than she thought. "Did Grandpa know?"

  "I don't think so," he said. "I gave Sharon whatever she wanted in exchange for not telling anyone about the affair. One of those conditions was that I never deny your grandparents time with you. I kept that promise. I don't think they ever knew the truth."

  "Are you going to tell him?"

  "There is no point in telling him the truth after all these years. It won't change anything. There are no bad feelings between us, and I'd prefer to keep it that way."

  Ava shut off her laptop. The call certainly didn't go as she expected. She tried to put herself in Sharon's shoes. How would she feel if she found out her husband was having an affair with an old flame? Would she be furious? Vengeful? Betrayed?

  She tried to see things from her father's side. Did he hate Sharon that much? What did it say about her, the daughter he had with the woman he never loved in the first place.

  ***

  She needed to get out of the house. Ava hit the street and kept running. The world felt like it was closing in on her, and she couldn't get out. The ground under her feet was shifting with every step while she tried to keep up.

  Why didn't they tell her the truth? Ava recalled what her father said about Sharon. I was glad she was out of my life. She didn't doubt that for a second. With Sharon gone, nothing was standing between him and Joan. Well, except for her, but that was quickly taken care of.

  It was all too much to take all at once.

  Usually, running helped her think. Today, it felt as if her mind was running faster than her feet. She ran down the street, stopping briefly at stop signs, checking for oncoming traffic out of habit.

  Ava didn't know what to think. She was exhausted, but at the same time, there was too much energy pent up inside her. The more she dug into Sharon, the more she didn't like what she found.

  Her grandfather didn't believe his daughter was capable of theft. She didn't share the theory about blackmail with him, so she wouldn't upset him. He would never believe that Sharon was capable of such actions. But, what if she was?

  Ava stepped on the street when someone yanked her back. She narrowly escaped getting hit by a car.

  "You okay?" the man said, as she nodded.

  They both watched the car disappear down the street.

  "You should be careful," he told her. "Crazy drivers out there, I tell you."

  "Thanks," she said. "I'll be careful."

  Still a bit shaken, she decided to head back home. Her heart was still pounding somewhere in her ears as she tried to get her bearings. That man saved her life. Here she was angry at the world, meanwhile, it all could have ended in a flash.

  That was one way to put things in perspective. Once she figured out what happened to Sharon, she would focus on her life. Maybe date some more. She should ask Nick what he used to find dates. She just wasn't as versed in dating apps as he was.

  Speaking of Nick, she thought. Where was he?

  Ava realized she left her phone at the house. She knew he had one of his pre-existing gigs today, but she hoped he had a chance to get those photos developed. She was really curious to see what Sharon had there.

  Even if Sharon turned out to be a blackmailer, Ava thought, that would give them a sense of closure. She clearly had lots of things going on in her life at the time, including becoming a single mother. Was she as clever as everyone said she was, or was she an innocent woman set up to take a fall?

  She would need to check in with Detective Burnett again to see if he made any progress. Maybe he would be able to shed some light on the accounts they found on the disks.

  Ava almost reached for her phone again, just to remember that she didn't have it. She picked up her pace, eager to get home and make some calls. Maybe she could talk Nick into dinner so she could bounce some ideas off him. He was definitely less annoying when he ate and listened. Then again, she paid him to listen to her.

  By the time she got back, the anger had subsided. Ava couldn't wait to get back to work. Maybe she'd even call her father and apologize for being an ass. What happened between her parents and Joan was between them, not her.

  She found Nick sitting on the steps in front of his house. He was texting impatiently on the p
hone. Since he wore a dress shirt with his jeans instead of his regular t-shirt, she assumed he was going out on a date. Looks like she was going to work alone.

  She called out to him as a car roared by. It had one of those ear-splitting mufflers that made the ground vibrate underneath her feet. Nick looked up from his phone and noticed her waving.

  Suddenly, a deafening sound ripped through the otherwise quiet neighbourhood. Her ears were ringing, and she tasted blood and dirt. She realized she was lying face-first on the walkway, and the blood was hers. She was disoriented, but someone was shaking her, saying her name. Then everything went dark.

  Chapter 10

  Nick got an urgent call from a client as he was about to leave for his date with Amber. A quick conversation resolved the issue, but now the client wanted some additional quotes. He sat down on the porch steps and typed out a quick email with the requested information. It was better to send it now and not have to worry about it later.

  He heard Ava call out his name as he looked up from his phone. Whatever she planned to say next was cut off by a piercing roar of a car. It was loud and obnoxious. He winced as he hit send then got up to talk to her.

  What happened next became a blur. One minute Ava was walking towards him, then next, she was down. The blast sent debris all over the lawn and the sidewalk, but all he could see was her body on the ground. Time slowed, and panic ripped through him like a thunderbolt. He ran to her, screaming her name. She was dazed, her eyes unfocused as he held her in his arms. Then she went limp.

  Sirens wailed in the distance. Car alarms blared on the street, and people shouted around him. Nick was oblivious to it all. Every second felt like an hour rolling by him in slow motion. He has never had anyone die in his arms before, and he didn't want to start now.

  "Shit, Ava," he muttered. "Stay with me. Stay with me. Help is coming."

  Someone grabbed his shoulder and shook it. It was Stan, his face filled with fear. He kneeled beside him, calling Ava's name and stroking her head. When her eyes finally opened and blinked, both men felt a sense of relief wash through them.

  "You're okay, baby," Stan told her, smiling through tears. "Just hang in there."

  Ava squeezed his hand then looked up at Nick. His eyes were wide, and his face was several shades paler.

  "What happened?" she asked, trying to sit up. She looked around them with confusion.

  "It looks like an explosion," Nick gestured towards the remnants of the garbage bins on the curb. "The paramedics are here."

  Nick stepped aside, letting the EMTs do their job. The place was crawling with cops, firemen and nosy onlookers. The damage seemed minimal, contained to the bins on the curb by their house. It was hard to say whose bins were the target, but it was clear they either belonged to Stan or his parents.

  Nick gave his statement to the police, keeping an eye on Ava, who was treated by the paramedics.

  "Any idea who might want to hurt you or your girlfriend?" Officer Tan asked him while he scribbled in his notebook. He seemed to be the one in charge.

  "Oh, no. She's not my girlfriend," Nick said. "We're neighbours. I work for her. It doesn't matter. Do you think this was intentional?"

  "Hard to say at this point," Tan said as he surveyed the damage. "It looks like a homemade dry ice bomb. Teenagers often use them as pranks. More stupid than devious but dangerous just the same. If we're lucky, we'll get fingerprints and maybe get a match in the system. Meanwhile, here is my card in case you can think of anything else. We'll be in touch."

  Nick took his card and walked over to the ambulance where Ava was still being treated. She had a small cut on her temple and some scrapes on her knees and hands. One of those space blankets was wrapped tightly around her. She looked up when she saw him approach.

  "Thank you," she said.

  He shrugged and winked at her. "Just doing my job, boss."

  "Other duties as assigned?" she teased. Her smile died suddenly when she spotted a fresh bloodstain on his shirt.

  Nick saw her pale as she stared at his chest. He looked down and noticed the stain.

  "That's my blood," she said almost in a whisper.

  "It's nothing," he said assuringly. "People bleed on me all the time."

  A ghost of a smile touched her lips. "You're dressed up," she said as if she just remembered. "You were going out. Now you have blood all over your shirt."

  Nick looked down at his shirt again, his date with Amber, now a distant memory.

  "Nah," he said. "I have nowhere to be. But I think these nice paramedics are going to take you in for a checkup."

  Nick watched them load her up in the ambulance.

  "I'll see you at the hospital," he called out before the medics shut the door.

  ***

  Ava sat cross-legged on the sofa, holding a mug of tea while Nick filled her in on the dark sedan that followed him home. She was sporting a bandaid over the cut on her forehead, her hair pulled back in a loose ponytail. She was still sore from the fall, so they relocated their workspace to the living room for the time being. Loose-fitting pants draped over her scraped knees, now covered up with bandages. She tried not to wince.

  "Do you think whoever followed you was the same person that slashed your tire?" she asked.

  "I don't know for sure," Nick said as he leaned back in the big armchair. "If we assume that whoever slashed the tire drove that dark pickup truck, then they either changed cars, or there are more people involved."

  "And you're absolutely sure you were followed?"

  "I guess it could have been a coincidence," he shrugged. If it was any other day, he probably wouldn't have thought twice about that. "But that's way too much of one not to be connected."

  "Do you think the explosion yesterday was connected?" she asked.

  "Yes," he said without hesitation. "I think someone is sending us warnings."

  Ava sipped the tea as she considered his words. She also wasn't a huge believer in coincidences. The information they uncovered so far didn't provide any huge revelations about Sharon's death, but maybe the killer, or killers, didn't know that.

  "Someone doesn't want us going around asking questions," she thought out loud.

  "Could it be her killer?" Nick asked.

  "It's possible," she agreed, then added, "there was something else that happened yesterday that might be connected."

  She told Nick about almost getting hit by a car and the good samaritan that moved her out of the way. A seemingly random incident that could be dismissed as an accident. Unless you looked at it as another piece of the puzzle.

  "I didn't really think much of it," she continued. "I was too caught up in my own thoughts."

  "Did you see what the car looked like?"

  "No," she shook her head in frustration. "It could have been a dark sedan, but it also could have been something else. My mind is blank."

  Nick considered an idea in his head. "Could the good samaritan have been a plant? You know, make it look like he saved your life while he knew all along what was going to happen?"

  "I don't think so," she dismissed the idea. "I've seen him around. He lives in this neighbourhood."

  "Well, there goes that idea."

  The mystery around Sharon Novak's disappearance seemed to deepen with each passing day. Ava felt like they were getting closer to getting answers, but they were still mainly in the dark about what happened.

  "Did you get the film developed?" she asked. "I totally forgot about it."

  "No, I didn't get a chance yesterday," he said. "I can go and drop it off now. Want to come along?"

  Ava winced as she stretched out her legs. Her head still hurt a bit, and her vision got fuzzy if she stared at her computer screen for too long.

  "Might as well," she said. "It's not like I can get a lot of work done today anyway. Have you seen my phone?"

  She looked around the room, forgetting where she left it.

  "I forgot it when I went out yesterday," she explained. "I don't know wher
e it is."

  They searched the house and found Ava's phone in her office. It was completely dead.

  "Bring it with you," Nick told her. "I have a cable in the car. You can charge it there."

  They drove across town to drop off the film. Ava watched the cars zip by, keeping an eye out for a dark sedan. She tried not to think about the fact that someone out there was potentially watching her right now.

  When her phone beeped, she picked it up. The battery had enough juice to hold for a bit as she checked her messages. She looked over at Nick while she listened to his message. His voice was steady as he recounted the incident, telling her his suspicions. The following two messages were from Kevin and Lori, confirming the details for the meetup.

  "Everything okay?" he asked.

  "Yeah, just getting messages from yesterday," she said as the next one played in her ear. “It’s Frank Mitchell.”

  "What does he want?" he asked.

  "I'm not sure," Ava said as she saved the message. "He said he has something to tell me about Sharon. It sounds urgent. He said to come when I can."

  Nick pulled the car over to the shoulder and stopped.

  "I take it we're going right now?"

  "I think we should," Ava said. "Meanwhile, I'll try to call him."

  ***

  Ava tried calling Mitchell several times as they drove, but there was no answer.

  "Maybe he went out," Nick suggested. "Or maybe he can't hear the phone. Or the battery is dead."

  "Yes, it could be any of those things," she sighed. "Why couldn't he just tell me in the message what he needed to say?"

  "Some people are better at talking face to face," he pointed out. "We're almost there, so you'll find out soon enough."

  The house was quiet as they drove up. There were no black pickup trucks in the driveway or anywhere near the house. It was eerily quiet as they knocked on the door.

  But it wasn't Mitchell who answered. The woman was petite with a crop of short, spiky hair, pale complexion and puffy eyes.

  "Yes?" she said absently. "Can I help you with something?"

  "You must be Mrs. Mitchell," Ava said. "My name is Ava Reed, and I was hoping to speak with your husband. Is he here?"