Unstoppable: Truth is Unstoppable (Truth and Love Series) (19 page)

VICTORIA

Jace is clean and fresh-smelling. He's always so nice to look at.

“I'm trying to save your life. Give me something so I can do that.”

“I’ve given you everything.”

He sees me squinting. He moves from in front of the window so the sun no longer blinds me. Decent. Jace is decent.

“I didn't kill my father.”

“Who did?”

“He was a young guy. Tall. Dark.”

Jace scoffs and shakes his head. “You have a very subtle but clear tell when you're lying. Your jaw tightens, right there.” He points to his own clean face. 

“Why do you want to help me so much?”

He looks off, out the window, and when he meets my eyes again, something in his expression is different. It's warmer, kinder and familiar. Derek looks at me like that sometimes. Like I'm a good person and can't possibly be bad. “I know how the legal system works,” Jace says. “There are flaws. I don't want to see anyone else suffer because of them.”

Clouds move in front of the sun. It gets dark in my cell.

“Am I going to die?”

Jace says, “I hope not.”

“But you don't know.”

“No.”

DEREK

“He’s still in town. He can be over in about three hours.”

“Alright. Good. Did you tell him what’s going on?”

She shakes her head. “I figure we can do that when he gets here, face to face.” 

“Fair enough.” It’s getting late, and fatigue is starting to unpack and move in. What am I saying? It's been moved in. Now it's making a kitchen addition and repainting the first floor. I gingerly stand and hobble to the dining room so I can review the files for the umpteenth time, but as I pass Sabrina on the couch, she reaches out and grabs my wrist. I look down at her upturned face.

“Can you sit for a minute?”

Her skin is cool on mine. I glance at her hand on my wrist and, wordlessly, sit beside her. For a while, neither of us speaks. I wouldn’t say the silence is heavy, but it’s certainly not empty. Now that I think of it, no silence between us ever has been. Not with our history.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

She shrugs and picks up a pillow from the floor. She places it on her lap and plays with the seam. “Are you scared?”

I think of a witty reply. Two come to mind. Then: “Yes.”

“What are you scared of? The Corps?”

“I’m scared nothing I do will make a difference.”

She looks at me and her eyes are a jungle, a forest where I can’t see through the leaves. “Do you want to stop?”

“Never.”

Sabrina goes back to playing with the pillow.

I ask, “What happened to you, in the years since we’ve lost touch?”

“What do you mean?”

“I just wonder. Where did you go? Why did you leave?”

Her lips twist in a small smile. Or maybe a grimace. “I went far away. And I left because there was no reason for me to stay.”

Ah yes, the unspoken truth between us. The event of
that night
. Just when I think she'll bring it up, slap it in my face and make me miserable all over again, she says, “I never meant to leave. I never thought I’d be gone so long. But I’m glad, in a way.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because it put a lot of things into perspective. Made me realize the people I couldn’t live without.” She looks at me. “And the people I could.”

It’s hard to maintain eye contact with her, not because it hurts, but because doing so makes me think of too many moments, too many memories, too many times where I found myself talking with her just like this, quiet and hushed, as if we were sharing our greatest secrets and fears. It’s hard to look at her because looking at her always comes with a heavy dose of regret.

For the moments we lost.

For the promises I broke.

For all I can give her and all that I can’t.

And for the fact that she knows it.

VICTORIA

The ring fits perfectly.

There’s no need to hide it now.

I raise my hand and stare at it for a long time.

I imagine a church, an aisle for me to walk down. I imagine a gown, a veil, my father beside me.

I imagine him kissing my cheek and handing me over. And that other man smiles at me. He looks beautiful. And when I’m beside him, he mouths that he loves me.

And he makes me promises.

And then he kisses me.

And loves me.

And tells me I’m his.

I squeeze my eyes shut. Imagining all this hurts. Unbearably.

But
some things are worth the pain
.

DEREK

It’s six in the morning and already near ninety degrees. I’ve showered and checked my ankle. The swelling looks terrible, but the pain isn’t too bad. I drive to the K & M Building and park across the street. There’s a million things to do and it near kills me to have to just sit here, but I’ve got to make sure William goes into the building.

And I’ve got to make sure he leaves it, too.

Five minutes pass. The car is beginning to feel like a pre-warming oven. I open all the windows but it does little to vent the heat. I pick up my e-tablet from the passenger’s seat and click it on. I downloaded the Corps files and I pull up Victoria’s statement. I’ve probably read the thing a thousand times, but every time I do it still hurts.

I glance up just in time to see William’s BMW stop in front of the entrance. He gets out and a valet appears. I can’t hear what he’s saying, but whatever it is, it makes the valet nod and head back inside. William’s car remains right where it is, illegally parked and all.

Interesting.

William disappears inside and I turn back to the documents in front of me. I close Victoria’s statement and open his. I plug in my headphones and listen:

William: My father and I have worked together since I was eighteen, when I graduated as Pre-Law I. I passed the bar at twenty and began working for him full time. It was—is—a demanding job. It requires long hours.

Soldier: Did Victoria work there as well?”

William: Victoria never worked a day in her life. She’s incapable of it. She’s been conditioned to be lazy, to have things taken care of for her. She’s a kamikaze and she wreaks havoc wherever she lands.

Soldier: Can you give me an example?

William: It’d take all year. Let’s just say that when Victoria doesn’t get what she wants, hell hath no fury.

I pull out the ear buds and set the e-tab down. I sit back. Even after listening to it so many times, I’m still disgusted: not only that someone could be so cruel, but that I could’ve missed something so obvious. Victoria was right. William never cared about his family.

The morning heats up in a fast boil. One minute I’m just sort of sweating, the next my clothes are drenched. I’m tempted to get out and head for AC, but I don’t want to risk missing William leave. He obviously won’t be in the office long if he refused to have his car parked.

And I need to keep tabs on where he is. And when.

I turn my attention back to the documents on my tablet. My knee jackhammers as I get through Captain Pearce’s comments and the autopsy report. I’m about to start on the suspect description when William appears on the sidewalk. He gets in his car and turns onto Wood Street.

I dial Sabrina’s cell phone as I pull out two cars behind him. “He’s leaving.”

“Matthew and I are in place.”

“Be careful.” I hang up and concentrate on William’s car. It’s slow going, but the congestion eases up a bit as we get past Sixth and up near the Boli Foundation. William stops in front of a mansion-like building and gets out.

I recognize the building instantly: it’s the HYP Club, a lodge-type place for alumni of Harvard, Yale and Princeton. It was built in 1894 and membership has become so coveted that it's nearly impossible to get in. 

William, however, was pretty much guaranteed a spot the minute he was born. His father was a member, his father's father was a member, and his father's father was a member. I remember this only because Victoria had made the most horrible face when she relayed the story.

I park catty-corner from it and get out. No way am I spending another minute in that furnace. Sneaking in after him is out of the question and not important anyway, so I go to the bagel shop directly across from the Club. I order a bagel with cream cheese and take a seat by the window in the corner, settling in for at least a couple hours.

But to my surprise, William comes out only ten minutes later, not even. He climbs in his car and speeds away before I can even take a bite. Based on the direction he’s heading, he’s going back to the office.

I shove my bagel in my mouth and head out. I dial Sabrina’s number.

“He’s heading back,” I say the minute she picks up.

“Fuck! We just got in the damn elevator.”

“I know.” I shut my eyes and press my lips together. My clever idea of Sabrina and Matthew breaking into William’s office while he was gone just went up in flames. It was a long shot, but still. It takes me a minute to breathe against the wave of disappointment that comes over me. “Look, get out of there, okay? We’ll go to Plan B.”

“Shit. Holy motherfucking shit son of a—”

I hang up while she’s still swearing.

As I pass the Club entrance, two waitresses come out, cigarettes already in hand, eagerly sucking down. They immediately start comparing notes: one guy only gave a fifteen dollar tip, one guy only gave twelve. One guy even had the balls to just give ten bucks. I check my watch. It’s a little after 10AM. Jesus, how much does breakfast cost in there?

“Yeah, that blows. It’s like, come on,” one girl says, “I’ve got dogs to feed.”

Her friend laughs. “For real. I got so excited when Will came in, though. He always tips big.”

I stop in my tracks. Will? As in William King? I crouch down, as if I’m tying my shoe lace. Yeah, I know.

“Too bad he didn’t stay. What a tease.”

The other girl sighs. “God, my nipples get hard just looking at him.”

“You’re so gross!” she laughs. I mentally agree with her.

“Oh shut up, it’s true.”

“He seemed pissed off today, though.”

“You got to admit, he was in a better mood than last time.”

“Well, Jesus, yeah. Last time was just terrible.”

That’s my cue.

“Excuse me,” I say. Both girls turn and watch as I approach them. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to overhear, but are you talking about William King?”

“You know him?”

“I’m engaged to his sister.” The girls give me a once over. “Uh, anyway, I just wondered what you meant when you said he seemed better than last time. What happened?”

The girls look at each other, as if asking what the hell is up with this stranger eavesdropping on their conversation.

I flash them a grin, the one I hope says trust me, I’m a very good guy. “He’s about to be my brother-in-law. I’ve been noticing his moods too, and I just want to see if I can help. But you know him,” I chuckle. “He’s too proud to admit he’s feeling in the dumps.”

Feeling in the dumps
? I have never said that phrase, ever.

But the girls must not be bothered by it, or maybe it makes up their minds that I’m harmless. Either way, they don’t run away screaming.

“Well, last time he came in, he was wired. You could tell something was really bothering him. I waited on him that day.”

“How could you tell? Did he say something?”

The girl actually laughs. “It’s not what he said. It’s what he did.” She looks at her friend and grins. Then, turning back to me, she says, “He punched someone in the face.”

“What?” I say, my eyes widening. “Who did he punch? Did you recognize him?”

“Of course I did. I've waited on him too.”

“Who was it?”

“His father.”

PART THREE

SHADOWS OF THE NIGHT

DEREK

I make it back just in time to see William’s car pull into an underground garage. Miraculously, the spot I was in before is still vacant and I make a beeline for it. I call Sabrina and moments later, she’s sitting in the passenger’s seat.

I tell her everything the waitresses said. She listens without interrupting and when I’m done, she shakes her head and says, “What a dick. Who does that?”

I give her flat look.

“Alright, so we have really good stuff to take to the Corps now. I mean, William punched his father days before he died, for God's sake! That's got to mean something to them.”

“We talked about this. He has soldiers working for him. So unless what we have is bullet-proof, something there is no way for them to deny or twist, it won’t be enough.”

“What about that captain guy? You said he seems reasonable. Can we go to him?”

“No idea. Which means we can't risk it.” I shake my head. “No, we go with the plan.”

She leans her head back. I check the clock. Five more minutes.

“Hey,” she says, “I just want you to know that if this doesn’t work, if I get caught—”

“It will work. You’ll be fine.”

She clucks her tongue and rolls her eyes. “Jeez, will you let me finish? I was going to say that if this doesn’t work and if I got caught,” she smiles, “I’m going to say you kidnapped me and forced me to do all this stuff.”

Before I can reply, she opens the door and gets out. She doesn’t look back as she walks to William's office building.

With every step she takes, dread hammers in my heart.