Layers Off (23 page)

A tight gulp of saliva squeezed through my constricted throat. I looked to the side of the room where my suitcase still sat by the dresser, unopened. I didn’t even want to know how they had gotten that out of the hotel room in time.

“You know, I’m not sure we would have made it to the helicopter if Sean hadn’t helped us.”

“If there’s a way to send him a thank you basket, can you? His business card is in my jeans.”

Julian cocked his head to the side. I knew exactly the kind of suspicious thoughts that were running through his mind, and I really hoped he wouldn’t pick this time to exert his jealousy.

Julian exhaled and passed me a cold glass of water. “Please forgive me about your parents. I never wanted to lie to you.”

Thank God he’s letting it go!
There was no way I could deal with a possessive boyfriend who didn’t trust me.

“I’m assuming you didn’t have a choice.” I patted the bed beside me in the hope Julian would still like to sit close to a murderer.

“I should have broken the contract and told you.” He shrugged, but moved closer and sat on the bed beside me.

Julian and Tristan were the two most trustworthy men I knew and they’d kept their promises and contracts sealed. Julian couldn’t tell me. It would break who he was and what he believed in. They’ve been successful in business because they followed a set of rules: ones they didn’t bend for anyone. Making sense of what I’d learned swept though me like cars past a turtle at the Indy 500. There was so much information to process, but it was all coming to me way too quickly and I had a feeling I was about to be placed in a race against time. If I didn’t figure this out, I’d be sporting an orange jumpsuit within months.

“I just feel like I don’t know who I am. I don’t want this to set me back.” I lowered my head to my knees. “All I can think about is losing myself in something. I want to forget it all and remember it all at the same time.” My chest tightened as the oncoming swell of gasps choked me. Julian’s bear arms encased me as he trailed his fingers along my spine.

“You won’t relapse. I believe in you. I’ve got you. I always have.”

“I know.” I buried my face in his neck. Julian smelled fresh and enticing, but at this moment, I had to put the swelling need inside me aside.

“Did I really kill him?” I asked pulling away.

“It looks that way.”

The tension in his answer could be cut with a dull knife. Julian cracked his fingers before he continued.

“We’ve been looking for evidence to clear your name for years, and every time we run into a wall. The case is set dead cold against you, K. If you turned yourself in, you’d be arrested. You’d go to prison. We’ve consulted with the best lawyers in the country.”

“What if I remembered something?”

“That would be hearsay. Exculpatory evidence not admissible for you, the defendant. We need solid proof of self defense – which we’re all assuming is the reason you shot him. You know, when I found out about what he’d done to you, in that school, and then you were kidnapped…” The veins in Julian’s neck strained.

“How did you find out? I’d never told anyone what that bastard tried to do to me.”

“Your parents. You’ll have to ask them about it. I’m sorry I couldn’t have helped more.”

“You’d done enough.” I snuggled into him, cuddling into the arms that had saved me so many times. “I know I couldn’t have killed him in cold blood.”

“I know that too. But a jury needs facts, or at least a reasonable doubt that you didn’t kill him.”

“I need to know what happened. Maybe that would trigger something,” I said against his chest.

“No better place to start than with your parents.”

“My parents.” The words rang out of my mouth like sunshine. In this dire time, when I would most likely go to prison, the fact that they were back in my life, alive, made everything all right, even when it wasn’t. It would take a while before I could trust again; or perhaps not. Perhaps this was the new beginning I needed to heal. Once all the layers of my past were exposed, I could finally move on.

Julian stroked the back of my spine as I lost myself in the comfort of his body.

“You need to prepare yourself, K. They’ll be looking for you pretty soon. This will go out into the media. With the camera shots they have of you in that casino, I’m sure all your pictures will be posted on the news… and I can’t lose you. I just found you. I won’t give you up.”

“You may not have a choice.”

“Hell will freeze over before I see you go to jail.”

“And if it does? How deep is Cross Enterprises involved in this?”

“Layers deep. If we can’t prove you innocent, they’d eventually find enough evidence to prove we conspired to keep you hidden.”

* * *

My legs shook as I walked downstairs. I held onto Julian with one hand and the railing with the other. It felt like all my leg muscles had dissolved overnight. Pucker patiently waited for me at the base of the stairs, his tiny tongue hanging out. This pup seemed happy all the time. I picked him up and he jumped up to lick my face, smothering my cheeks with his drool.

“I missed you too,” I said when I finally pulled away. As much as I loved him, too much dog breath was just that – too much.

My parents were sitting in the family room. When I walked in, their backs straightened. I wasn’t too sure how to react to seeing them, again, but it was certainly better than last night. My mom shot up to her feet and took a few quick steps toward me before halting.

“It’s okay,” I whispered and she resumed a calmer walk to embrace me.

I didn’t realize how much I’d missed her arms and her smell of lemon and jasmine. She always smelled like an organic blend of herbal tea.

“Sit down and have some breakfast.”

The small coffee table in the family room had been set with fresh coffee, croissants, muffins, and bagels. I reached for the coffee, letting that first sip awaken my brain like a drug.

A few minutes of silence passed before I found the nerve to speak. “So what happens now? Are you staying here?” I asked.

“Yes, but we’re looking for a place nearby.”

“Does anyone know what happened that day?”

Julian’s brow raised. I don’t think they expected me to cut right to the point, but I needed answers.

“A gun with your prints was found in a trash container in that room, in your old high school. The video surveillance places you there, but there weren’t any cameras in the class to record the actual shooting. The weapon wasn’t registered, so we know it wasn’t one of yours,” my father said.

I
had gone back to that cursed high school? Seriously? I sat down on a chaise and nodded for him to continue.

“You came home that day and told us you shot your old high school teacher and that was all. You were traumatized, and we couldn’t get a word out of you as to why or how. All you said was that you were guilty. You kept repeating that over and over again. We called John Cross almost immediately. His reputation was well-known in Washington, and within hours of investigating we decided to go on a train trip to Canada.”

“You said the gun wasn’t one of mine. How did I have access to a different gun?”

“We don’t know how you got that one; but Kendra, you were a good shooter. You had a motive because of what we found on your numerous Facebook accounts on your laptop. And you definitely knew how to use a gun. You’d trained for the Olympics.”

“Right.”

“The incident occurred almost a year after we switched you to the private school. We left home that same day you shot him and stayed at the Cross’s. The doctor worked with you overnight, and we left for Canada the next morning, before the police were able to connect you to the crime. John Cross set up the train accident within twenty-four hours. We needed you convinced. We needed everyone convinced that we were dead. We hoped soon people would begin to think you’d perished as well. The funeral, if you recall, was private. And what you don’t know is that there were three coffins instead of two.”

“I really don’t remember all this. I don’t like that.” I stood up and paced to the patio door, opening it wide. “I need some air.”

Warm spring air wrapped around my body as if to say that everything would be all right; and it wasn’t even spring yet. Then why did I feel like my world and my life with Julian was about to crumble? I’d just put it back together, and now there was a chance I’d lose it all over again.

As I stepped onto the wooden deck Julian’s arms wrapped around me from behind. He whispered into my ear, “Your parents acted fast, within hours, before Donato’s body was found. The hypnotist they hired was very good and loyal to Cross Enterprises. You would have gone to jail otherwise. We broke the law. Your parents, me, Tristan and our father – but we believed it was all for a good reason at the time. After what the bastard tried to do to you, we knew you had to have acted in self-defence. It’s a lot to take in, K. But we’re all here for you. We always have been.”

“Did you know about me killing Donato when you met me on the train?”

“No. We found out the details a bit later. If we’d said anything to anyone, our father would have been convicted. Your parents would have been found and charged as well. We really thought we could find supporting evidence first, but we didn’t, and so we remained quiet.”

“I’m gonna go to jail,” I said.

Julian looked down to his feet, confirming my suspicion. “No one knows where you are for now, but people will start talking. They’ll connect us and the police will come.”

I turned around, stepping back inside, barely beyond the threshold. It just felt like I couldn’t get enough air. I wanted to remain outside.

“You gave up your career for me,” I said to my father.

“It wasn’t a difficult choice.”

“I didn’t think you would, you know, when I was young.”

“Of course I would, K. We love you unconditionally. We always have. Nothing has ever been more important than your safety.”

I knew what I had to do at that point, but I couldn’t tell them. They wouldn’t allow me to do what I wanted to, so I would have to settle this on my own. My friends and family had protected me for long enough. It was now time for me to return the favor.

C
HAPTER
23

After a few phone calls to a lawyer Allie had recommended, I was sitting in the police station, turning myself in for murder, in exchange for immunity for my parents, Mr. Cross, Julian, Tristan, and Cross Enterprises.

I had kissed Julian goodbye that morning and told him I needed to go for a drive. The lie almost didn’t pass through my throat. Pucker yelped as I left, as if he could feel what I was about to do.

When Julian burst into the police station, it was already too late. I was handcuffed and behind bars. He grasped the metal between us and slid to his knees.

“Why?”

“Because this time, I’ve got you.”

“K, I can’t lose you.”

“Then figure out how to save me. Find the evidence we need. The bail hearing is tomorrow. Think you can fork out some cash for me?” I asked.

“You’re going to stay here overnight?”

I nodded. We both knew what this meant. Me, locked away, behind bars. I wasn’t sure how I’d get through the night, but perhaps I should get used to the confinement? The mere thought of the closed off walls soon becoming my permanent home scared the living shit out of me.

No!
I shook my head, feeling my eyes swell. I knew this was something I couldn’t live through. If they didn’t find the proof, I’d find a way to stay away from the prison on my own—even if it wasn’t on this Earth.

“Don’t you dare think it, K.”

My gaze met his.

“You can’t give up – ever! I will turn this world upside down before I see you in here permanently.” He finally stood up.

I reached out between the bars and cupped his face, bringing him to me for a kiss.

The guard cleared his throat, gazing at his watch meaningfully. We moved away from each other.

“You’ll be out tomorrow. I’m staying overnight in the parking lot, close to you.”

“Please Julian, you don’t have to do that. What about Pucker?”

“He’s with Emma again, and she’s loving it. Don’t worry about anyone, K. You’ve got a good lawyer, there’s no reason for the judge not to grant you bail.”

“I know,” I said. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

* * *

When I walked into the court room I felt as if I’d had an out-of-body experience. The media had parked outside since the moment they’d caught a whiff of the story, like vultures waiting to catch a hint of gossip. If the judge didn’t grant me bail, I’d stay in jail for the next few weeks awaiting trial.

Each time my lawyer assured me, that little disclaimer he added “but it depends on the judge” increased my anxiety.

Inside the court room, each row was packed. At the front was my family, with Sam, Allie, and Laura all holding hands. I prayed Laura had her team of leprechauns stashed under the chairs.

Julian sat on one side of me, and my lawyer on the other. I blocked the whispers in the back row out of my mind, listening only to my drumming heartbeat and concentrating on the warmth of Julian’s hand on mine.

Both Peter and Frank Donato, the Congressman, were present. Their team of lawyers, dressed in ironed suits, looked like they had sticks up their butts. For a moment I wondered whether I should have had more than one lawyer, but it didn’t matter now. I knew the attorney Julian had chosen was the pick of the crop in New York.

 But no matter how confident I was (which I wasn’t), the fear that I would be leaving here in handcuffs lurked nearby until the moment the judge walked in. When I saw his Caribbean water-like eyes and caramel skin, I was convinced Laura had sneaked in all the lucky charms she owned.

“I’m glad Cindy tracked him down and sent him a thank you basket,” Julian kissed my cheek after the bail was granted.

That’s right: Sean – the man I’d met in Vegas – was a judge. While I knew he would base his decision strictly on professional merits, I couldn’t help but wonder whether our conversation would have any bearing.