A.K.A. Read online

  “What does your gut tell you?”

  “My gut isn’t getting off the fence.”

  “Then what does your heart tell you?”

  “My heart…”

  “What, sir?”

  “My heart isn’t whole, James. I don’t think I can trust it.”

  “Mrs. Caldwell and I had a conversation similar to this when she was playing the game.”

  “You did?”

  He nods. “I reminded her of what her Papa used to ask her.”

  “What’s that?”

  “If a rat swims across a river, is he swimming with the current or against the current?”

  “It’s hard to say. Maybe both.”

  “Correct.”

  “Meaning?”

  “If a rat swims up stream or down stream, it’s easy for you to discern. But when he’s swimming across the stream, it’s not.”

  “I’m still not following.”

  “Thomas was a master at playing both sides. When he was home with Mary, he was a monster, but when he was with Terrance, he was an angel.”

  “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”

  “Something like that.”

  James turns onto a tree-lined street. “We’re here, Sir Drake,” he says as he makes a right onto a narrow driveway. He continues down the drive until we reach a carriage house.

  “This is it?”

  He pulls to a stop. “Yes. She’s expecting you.”

  I get out and walk up a sidewalk that leads to what must be the front door. Before I can knock, one of the doors slide open.

  “You must be Drake?”

  “That’s me.”

  “Come on in,” she says and steps aside.

  I step in.

  She slides the door shut and then holds out her hand. “I’m Millie.”

  I shake it. “Drake.”

  Millie, a pretty petite blonde, smiles and waves me to follow.

  A grand great room opens at the end of the entry hall. I look around. “This is spectacular. Did you do this?”

  “My husband and I did. I’d inherited the house from my grandmother. It had been in her family for generations. We refurbished the house and had plans to turn the carriage house into a duplex. But we fell in love with it and decided to make it our home and rent out the house.”

  “Well, I think you made the right choice.”

  I follow her out a large folding glass door, which spans the back of the house, and onto a brick-covered patio.

  She points to a table. “Please take a seat.”

  I do. “I love that you’re tucked away back here. From the street, it doesn’t exist.”

  “We love that part too. It’s like our very own secret haven.”

  She sits across from me and places what looks like a combination of a smartphone and walkie-talkie on the table.

  “What is that?”

  “A baby monitor.”

  “You have a baby?”

  “Two.”

  “Twins?”

  “Yes. I just got them down before you arrived. Perfect timing, I’d say.”

  “How does it work?”

  She picks it up and shows me.

  “Wow. You can see and hear them.”

  She places it back down and picks up a glass pitcher. “Tea?”

  I turn over a glass and hold it out. “Yes please. I’ve learned one never turns down tea in Savannah.”

  She smiles as she fills it. “Yes, it’s considered a major faux pas in these parts.”

  I take a long sip before I place it in front of me.

  “It was wonderful to hear from Mary. We just don’t keep up like we should.”

  “How long have you known her?”

  “All my life.”

  “Like everyone who lives here.”

  She smiles. “Savannah continues to grow, but the people are small.”

  “Meaning?”

  “No matter how big it gets, the folks who live here don’t change.”

  I chuckle.

  “When Mary called and told me what she wanted me to talk to you about, I must say, I was put out.”

  “I’m sorry. I’m oblivious to what this is all about.”

  “That’s what she told me. She said she wants you to make up your own mind. I don’t have a clue to what that means, but I trust Mary. And if she sent you, I guess I trust you.”

  “You know who I am?”

  “Yes, I know who you are. You don’t look like Terrance.”

  “So I’ve been told.”

  She smiles over her glass. “I bet you have,” she says and sets her glass on the table. “This isn’t easy for me to talk about, so I’m just going to start.”

  “Okay.”

  She blows out a breath and begins. “It was senior year.”

  “High school?”

  “Yes. Thomas had come home for Christmas break. I had spent my junior year abroad, so I hadn’t seen him in two years. He’d grown up and filled out. He was no longer the lanky, awkward teenager. I’d had a crush on him before, so I was majorly crushing on him then.”

  She pauses to sip her tea and then continues. “I’d seen him at a couple of parties over the break. We talked, got caught up.”

  I nod.

  “At the last party, he asked if I wanted to find a room and fool around.”

  “Have sex?”

  “Yes, if it felt right. I agreed, and he said he’d send a friend to get me.”

  “Not following.”

  “He wanted to keep things low key. He was the son of a senator.”

  “I see.”

  “A friend of his took me to one of the bedrooms, and Thomas was there waiting. We made out, and it was good. He was a great kisser, and so we…”

  “I understand.”

  “Everything was great, and then it was like, I can’t really explain it, he was no longer there. He’d disappeared and someone else took over. The sex got rough, and I didn’t like it. He was hurting me, and I asked him to stop. Telling him to stop seemed to make things worse.”

  “He was getting off on hurting you?”

  She nods. “I fought him, and he fought back. Backhanded me and punched me in the gut. Then he put his hands around my throat and he tried to strangle me.”

  “My God.”

  “I must have passed out. One of my friends found me, and she called the police.”

  “They arrested him?”

  “Fat chance.”

  “Pardon? I don’t understand?”

  “Join the club. He’d left the party, and when the police went to the Caldwell estate, he denied it. Said he’d seen me go into the room with one of his friends.”

  “And there were witnesses who said the same thing?”

  “Yes. He’d plotted the whole thing.”

  “Go on.”

  “The next day, my parents came to the hospital and told me I had to recant my story.”

  “What? Why?”

  “To this day, I don’t know what went down. All I know is that Senator Caldwell threatened them somehow.”

  “How?”

  “They never told me then, and they’ve keep silent all these years. Whatever it was, it was big, because they would have never asked me to recant. Folks around here push things aside, bury things and never talk about them. But my parents weren’t like that. Whatever Senator Caldwell had on them—”

  “Must have been substantial.”

  She nods. “It was a situation that destroyed them no matter what they did.”

  “You recanted?”

  “Yes.”

  “I don’t know what to say.”

  “There’s nothing to say. I couldn’t live in Savannah anymore. Everywhere I went people would point and whisper. I was the bad girl who’d lied about being raped.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I went as far away as I could. I stayed with a family friend in California and finished high school there. Then I went to Berkley, and that’s where I met my husband. We’d plann
ed to live there for as long as we had to.”

  “You moved back after he was killed?”

  “Yes. It was one of the best days of my life. I could come home and raise my family in a place I once loved.”

  I lean back in my chair and chew on this.

  “You think I’m terrible?”

  “No. Not at all.”

  “I wasn’t his first victim, nor was I his last.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because I could see it in the most incredible amber eyes I’d even seen.”

  “Whose eyes?” I ask, even though I know the answer.

  “Morgan Steel’s eyes. I went to her trial. I knew I couldn’t help her, but I wanted her to know she wasn’t alone. I wanted her to know there was someone sitting on her side who knew what kind of man Thomas really was. The trial…”

  “What?”

  “I was just thinking, you couldn’t even call it a trial. Everyone knew she was set up. The jury even knew. They were either paid off or threatened.”

  “How do you know?”

  “The number one former prosecutor in LA would have never made the mistakes they claimed she did. And I knew from my own experience that the senator could make evidence go away. So he most certainly could make it appear.”

  I’m the one who’d made the evidence appear. I wonder how she’d feel about that? Would she have welcomed me into her home and served me tea? I don’t think so.

  “I don’t know what more I can tell you. What he did—” She shakes her head. “—it’s something that still haunts me. You’ve heard the phrase ‘time heals’?”

  “Of course.”

  “It doesn’t. It might lessen the sting, but that’s all. Knowing he’s dead, how he died, and knowing he’ll never ruin another life, has helped me more than a hundred years could.”

  I say nothing because I don’t know what to say. No proper words come to me.

  “I know it’s difficult to learn bad things about someone you care for, Drake. But once you learn them, you own them.”

  “I guess I do.” I finish my tea and return the glass to the tray. “Thank you, Millie. I know this wasn’t easy for you.”

  She stands. “I’ll show you out.”

  “No, please. I’ve taken up enough of what I’m sure is needed downtime.”

  “Okay, if you’re sure.”

  I nod.

  She sits. “It was nice to meet you, Drake.”

  “Likewise,” I tell her before I make my way to the front door. When I get there, I pause to let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

  I open the door and find James standing next to the car.

  He nods my way and opens the door for me.

  “How was your visit?”

  “I don’t know how to answer that.”

  “Fair enough,” he says and shuts my door.

  He gets in, and we’re soon on our way to the second address.

  “James?”

  “Yes, Sir Drake.”

  “I wish you wouldn’t call me that.”

  “Wishing doesn’t make it so.”

  “Whatever.”

  He chuckles.

  “If I told you I don’t want to play this game anymore, James, that I’m tired of being a pawn, would you take me home?”

  “You’re not a pawn anymore. You’re the king, and you need to start acting like one, sir. If not for your sake, for her sake.”

  “Her sake?”

  He says no more as he reaches over the seat and hands me an envelope.

  I hesitate to take it.

  “Please, sir.”

  I take, open it, and read.

  You started this. You finish it.

  Toddy

  “She knows you well.”

  “She’s a pain in the ass.”

  I crumble up the envelope and the note and toss it over the seat.

  “Mary seems different after her trip.”

  “Vacations are good for the soul.”

  “Don’t give me that crap. I know she didn’t go on vacation. Where did she go, James?”

  “You know I can’t tell you that.”

  “What can you tell me?”

  “I can tell you her trip was successful. She found another piece of her puzzle.”

  “She did? What does that mean?”

  “Are you asking me what happens next?”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  “Stay tuned.”

  “She’s not the only pain in the ass.”

  “Whatever.”

  I roll my eyes as I look out the window. The tree-lined streets have been replaced with woods and dirt roads. “Where are we going, James?”

  “The next address.”

  “I know that. I don’t think I’ve been to this part of town.”

  “I believe you’re right.”

  I sigh heavily.

  “Something on your mind, sir?”

  “No. Yes.”

  “I’m a good listener, sir. And anything you say will remain between us.”

  “I think about her all the time, James.”

  “I’m sure you do, sir.”

  “I never meant…”

  “What sir?”

  “It wasn’t—she wasn’t the person my father told me she was. She wasn’t this cold, calculating bitch. She was…”

  “What sir?”

  “I wanted her to be the person he described. I didn’t…”

  “Sir?”

  “I’ve always had this empty space inside of me.”

  “Go on.”

  “No matter want I did, or who I was with, it couldn’t be filled. For most of my life, I believed the space was there because I never knew my father. So when I met Terrance…”

  “You thought he would fill it.”

  “Yes.”

  “But…?”

  “At first, he did fill it a little. But when he asked me to …”

  “I understand, sir.”

  “It seemed so simple. Get close to her and gather evidence. But my father…”

  “What, sir?”

  “I’ve never known anyone like him. He’s a master manipulator, James.”

  “Yes, sir. He is.”

  “He didn’t send me to gather evidence. He sent me to play a game. And at the end of the game, he wasn’t going to turn her into the authorities like he told me he would. He was going to kill her. I thought I was protecting her, James. I thought we’d all be better off if she was in prison. It wouldn’t be pleasant, but she’d be alive.”

  “But it’s not that simple, sir. Is it?”

  “No, James, it’s not. Do you know why?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Because she’s the one. Morgan Steel’s the only one who can fill that space.”

  I look out the window as I wipe a tear of my cheek. I finally understand why she wouldn’t allow herself to cry. “I’m being pulled in so many directions and my compass no longer works, James.”

  “Sir?”

  I look his way.

  “This might be your game, sir. But you’re not alone.”

  “Why is Mary helping me, James? Why would she even care?”

  “She cares because you’re not the only one who has an empty space that only one person can fill.”

  James takes a right turn onto a dirt road. At the end of the road is a shack. “What is that?”

  “A home, sir,” he says and parks the car to the left of a Town Car.

  “Whose car is that?”

  He shuts off the engine and turns to look at me.

  “I’m not going in there.”

  “Mrs. Caldwell would never put you in danger, nor would I,” he says and hands me another envelope.

  “Seriously?”

  “The last one, Sir Drake.”

  I take it, open it, and read.

  My Dear (sorry, old habits) Drake,

  I know this last month has been difficult for you. You told me this game was confounding, silly, and… what was tha
t last word? Oh yeah, ridiculous. Do you still feel this way after you spoke with Millie? I hope not, dear. (Sorry, I give up.)

  I felt the same as you did, maybe even more so. You see, I didn’t know who my “game master” (I know you want to laugh.) was. When I found out, just as you’re about to, I couldn’t have been more surprised.

  Not only did I learn the terrible truth about my family, I learned my naïve nature and charitable heart, traits I thought were virtues, had rendered me blind. I finally understood what my Papa was telling me the day I married Terrance. He said that I spent too much time looking into the sun. He was right; the sun had blinded me. So when the clouds came, I couldn’t see them.

  I once told you that what you did disgusted me. I was wrong to say that because I knew the truth and you didn’t. That truth will not be easy to digest. It will be hard for you to accept that someone you thought you could trust lied to you. It will be hard for you to accept that someone you looked up to used you. That’s why I made you play this game. I wanted you to come up with a strategy, so when it came time to make your final move, you’d be ready.

  While you’ve been playing your game, I’ve been putting together a puzzle. This past week I found one of the two missing pieces. The last piece is for you to find. Once you do, we’ll finish it together.

  Love,

  Toddy

  I put the letter back in the envelope and hand it to James. “ I’m ready.”

  He nods.

  “Wish me luck,” I say as I open the door and get out.

  The front-passenger side window rolls down. “Drake?”

  I bend and look through the window. “What?’

  “May the force be with you.”

  “Whatever.”

  The window goes up, silencing his laughter.

  I walk to the front of the house and debate the safety of the stairs. Just as I begin to walk to the other side of the house, the door creeks open.

  Hell!

  I bite the bullet and put my foot on the first step. When it doesn’t cave, I quickly jog up the remaining three and stand on the dilapidated porch. I open the screen door, and it comes off its one hinge. “Crap.”

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  I step through the threshold and blink several times. When my eyes adjust to the low lighting, I see the man behind the voice. “What the…? What’s going on?”

  He waves me to a table. “Please, sit.”

  I look at the old cane-seated chair.