All The Pieces (Pieces of Lies 3) (14 page)

It was just for show.

It was just for show.

It was just for show.

It didn’t matter how many times I chanted it in my head, the doubt about how Norah felt about me was growing at a rapid rate. That second kiss was burned into my brain. It looked so...real. It looked so...true. It looked as if her heart had opened up and had finally found its match. Every part of her body was alive during that kiss. It moved in perfect symmetry to his. Her body molded into his hands. Her mouth lost in his lips. And her eyes. They were closed so tight it looked like she was trying to hold onto the moment forever with him.  With Clint. Did she still love him? Did she still want him?

No, I couldn’t believe that. She had come here because she loved me and wanted to help me. She even had agreed to join the Lappell for me, and she was going through with the initiation. No, she hadn’t given up on us. I was certain she wouldn’t just dump me and run back to Clint without at least telling me first. She was just doing what she had to do to find me, to get me back. That was all.

Right?

It was just for show.

“Well, that certainly was entertaining. Did you enjoy the display Mr. Hollows?” Hamilton walked into the office where I had been taken and was seated, my hands tied around a chair and behind my back. His men had un-gagged me when Norah and Clint left the room.

“When her father finds out what you put her through...I mean literally, the moment he gets the information, he will kill you. That’s a fact Brooks. You don’t need to be a genius to figure that out.”

Hamilton eyed me from behind the desk, then slowly, like a predator, moved towards me, making sure I could still see his eyes as he approached. There was no fear in his face, nothing to indicate that he should take the threat to his life seriously.

“Oh but you are wrong. See, once she is one of us, her life belongs to us. Just like yours. Just like Mr. Weston’s.” Hamilton stood behind me so I couldn’t see what he was doing. I heard his feet shuffle as he moved to a large bookcase in the corner of the room. I had seen the shelves when I was dragged in. “Her father will fall into line to keep his daughter safe. Her father will work for us.” He paused and cleared his throat. “I mean, he will work
with
us.” I could hear his hands work through the books and the rustling of papers as his footsteps came towards me again. “And besides, after I’m done here in London, I’ll be, ahem, travelling. It’s not like my whereabouts will be readily available.”

He came back and sat in his chair behind the desk, looking at me face to face again. He appeared to be holding a photo of some sort. I could see the glossy sheen, the black and white image which had trees, some familiar looking buildings and a couple of faces I couldn’t make out.

“You know Josh, with what you did in New York, with how you got your claws into that girl, you had me thinking about how much you remind me of me when I was your age. Smart, determined, ruthless, underhanded. I am very impressed.”

“I’m nothing like you,” I spat at him, offended by his comparison of my demeanor to his own snake-like existence. “What I did, I did for true love. I’m not some sadist getting his power- hungry kicks by tormenting a young girl.”

“Oh, Joshua. True love has its own path. It’s not manufactured. But then again, you already know that, don’t you?” He leaned a little closer across the table. “Seeing her with Clint Weston must be scaring the shit out of you.” I turned my head so I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of an answer, knowing my eyes would certainly scream out ‘yes’.

“But your relationship with that girl is not my concern, nor do I care.”

“They why are you...”

“Revenge Mr. Hollows. Revenge. Plain and simple. You are here so I can get the girl into our fold. And this girl has been the very root of my friend’s pain, so I thought it only fitting to return the favor.”

“I don’t understand,” I said bluntly, unable to decipher Hamilton’s vague tidbit of information.

“Well let me explain it to you then. My friend, knows a certain gentleman who you did dealings with. You know him as Devon Lockley. Mr. Lockley has since disappeared, but not without first sharing with my friend about what you did and how you did it. What my friend failed to do once with Ms. Rossi, will not be my failure. And I don’t react well to my friends being threatened, nor do I let our offers go so easily rejected. This has been a fun little challenge, and a lot easier than I gave you and the girl credit for.”

Hamilton then tossed the paper he was holding in his hands in front of me. It was a black and white photo. It was a picture of two young men, standing side by side. They were both wearing black slacks and white woolen vests. Their hair was combed back. One man had his hand on the shoulder of the other. In the background were the big oak trees and the familiar buildings I knew all too well. I studied the faces closely. One was definitely Hamilton. He was much younger, maybe twenty-one at the time. I shifted my focus to the other and stared intently. The eyes, mouth, stature. Recognition flooded my mind as I realized who the other man was standing next to a much younger Hamilton Brooks.

It was Arthur Wickburn.

“Isn’t it funny Mr. Hollows? If you had never brought Ms. Rossi to your initiation in Morewell, we would have never learned who she was. And if you had never used Devon Lockley for your little game in New York, then Samuel Voltaggio would never have gone back to Morewell and threatened my best friend Arthur Wickburn for information about what Devon Lockley did for you.”

All the dots connected in my head, understanding now how my actions had lead to all this. How if I didn’t manipulate Devon, he wouldn’t have gone back to his origins in Morewell and spoken to Arthur Wickburn. And Samuel wouldn’t have followed the trail I failed to cover up properly.

“Seems you are the root of this girl’s unhappiness. Perhaps instead of ruining her life, you should try saving it for a change.” Hamilton stood behind me as I kept my eyes fixed on the photo. “But it’s too late for self-sacrifice isn’t it? Soon, with thanks to you, she will be all ours.”

I looked at the black and white picture, listening to Hamilton and knowing he was indeed right. It was all because of me. I had changed her life for the worst and not for the better. I had taken away her decisions, her safety, her happiness and even the love she deserved, all because I wanted Norah for myself. I had only brought her pain and anguish and a new kind of fear she should have never have known. And now, after what I witnessed Norah doing tonight, what she put herself through, one thing had become very clear in my feeble excuse of an intelligent mind...I wasn’t Norah’s soul mate...no...I was her death wish.

Only one color, but not one size,

stuck at the bottom, but easily flies;

present in sun, but not in rain;

doing no harm, and feeling no pain.

“Well...The stupid riddle isn’t on the internet.” Tess slammed the laptop closed. “Fuck you Google!”

“Perhaps we should take a break?” Samuel said, watching Tess, who was about ready to throw the laptop off the terrace. “We’ve been working on this riddle for the last twelve hours.”

My eyelids did feel heavy. The fuzziness in my brain from lack of sleep was making me unable to think straight and I needed to stop my mind from the constant stream of ideas that weren’t even making sense anymore. I was sitting next to Clint on the terrace at big round glass-topped table. Both of us had notepads and pens in hand, the midday sun beating down on our backs. The pads were covered with random thoughts and ideas trying to solve the meaning, or location, or word, or whatever it was that the riddle was trying to tell us.

Samuel and Tess sat across from us, staring at the closed laptop, also now resorting to doodling on their notepads. “Was there anything else in that envelope besides the riddle on the card?” Samuel asked, looking as equally frustrated as the rest of us. I peeked over to his notepad where he had resorted to drawing trees and stick men.

“Yes, there was something else, I think.” I picked up the envelope from the middle of the table and shook it again, turning it upside down. The contents spilled onto the tabletop. What fell out was a Lappell coin, and a small thin illustrated book of
Peter Pan
.

Tess huffed. “So we get this riddle, some random coin, and a kid’s story. I mean seriously. Are you kidding me?” She picked up the coin and flicked it towards Clint. “Have you told you Clint that your stupid little society is fucked?”

Clint half smiled at Tess’s annoyance, no doubt agreeing with her choice of words. “You also said Google is fucked too Tess.”

She tried to stifle a laugh. “Yeah well, it let me down. It is supposed to know everything. What good is it if it can’t help us with something this important?” Tess gave into her laughter, and then, so did Samuel, and like the domino effect, Clint and I started laughing too. We were all delirious at that point. Just laughing for the sake of laughing to stop the pressure from becoming too much. It did feel good to laugh though. It eased the stress from building up to psychotic levels in my head. I didn’t want to fall into another episode like Prague. I don’t think my body could handle that here and now. Too much was at stake.

“There must be another way to get you through initiation Nor,” Tess said getting up from her seat. “Hamilton must have given you another option, something else that we can do to get Josh back?”

I hadn’t told Tess and Samuel about the alternative initiation. I didn’t want to have to tell them anything more than I had to about last night. It was hard enough giving them the news that I had agreed to join the Lappell and go through initiation to get Josh. They didn’t hide their stunned and anxious faces itching to yell at me and tell me I was crazy to do such a thing. Their expressions alone were scary enough not to go into anymore details. So much had happened in the span of one evening. So many emotions that I wasn’t ready to examine or analyze. And as for that kiss with Clint...well...it was all too much. It was making me remember something I shouldn’t be remembering. Memories I shouldn’t re-visit. I had to stay focused on the one and only thing that I needed to do, and that was to get Josh back into my arms safely. I sighed, returning to my notes on my paper. I needed to figure out this riddle.

“Okay, let’s try and break this down once more. What type of things feel no pain? Let’s throw those ideas around again.” Clint continued to keep his head down, writing. “C’mon guys.”

“Things that are not human,” I pointed out. “Things that are not real.”

“Yes, that’s good Norah,” Clint encouraged, jotting everything down as he did.

“How about the supernatural?” Tess threw in. “Oh, maybe they are talking about fairies...you know, like Tinkerbell from
Peter Pan
. Perhaps that’s why the book is here too.”

“Ahhh, I don’t think that’s right. Tinkerbell has no problem being in the rain. And besides, she isn’t just one color,” Samuel said, picking up the
Peter Pan
book and flicking through the pages.

“No, the answer is not Tinkerbell.” Clint reached across the table and took the book from Samuel. “But maybe Tess is on the right track. Perhaps the book is here because it holds the answer to the riddle. It’s probably connected somehow.”

I turned to Clint as he stared at page after page of pictures. “You sure they didn’t just throw the book into the mix to mess with our heads?”

“I don’t think so,” Clint said, leaning across and showing me the book some more. “The Lappell have intent in everything they do. It will serve a purpose. It will have a meaning. I’m sure of it.”

“What, like Never Never Land has a meaning?” Samuel said, sounding even more frustrated at this new addition of pieces to an already complex puzzle.

“Man, I don’t know. I’m just trying to put it all together somehow.” Clint pushed the book away and it slid across the table back to Samuel.

“Thanks Clint. I know you are trying your hardest.” I rested my hand on his shoulder, trying to show my appreciation. He smiled at me and pulled his head down quickly to keep writing. I looked at my hand resting on his shoulder. It was still there. I hadn’t moved it yet. I just continued to look at my fingers resting on his body. He felt warm to touch. Comforting, like a sedative to my tension. He flicked his eyes across to me, knowing I was still touching him, knowing my hand didn’t retreat. I smiled back, and then I realized I was having some kind of moment with Clint, in front of Tess and Samuel. I slowly removed my hand, knowing that I was being watched, and then turned my head, their eyes piercing me with questioning looks on their faces. Samuel then picked up and then purposely dropped the
Peter Pan
book loudly on the table. The sound shook me and I moved quickly away from Clint.

What was I doing?

I was tired. I wasn’t thinking properly. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind.

“Maybe we should walk around for a while?” Tess said, moving out of her chair and standing up. “Get some fresh air into our lungs. It might help us...think clearer. Sound good Norah?”