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Ep6
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
LIES OF HOPE Ep7
Jason stopped in front of the glass door proclaiming the building to be the “Office of the Chief Medical Examiner”. He always needed a moment to prepare before entering this house of the dead. He thought about Jessie and how she had hesitated just a moment before walking past the parlor where her murdered father lay. Had she needed to prepare herself to face death in general, just as he did now, or had it been something more? Had she been preparing herself to face the lifeless shell of the man who had given her life?Dillon reached around him and pushed open the door, apparently not as affected by what went on behind it. Grimacing, Jason stepped inside. The smells hit him immediately – formalin, bleach, antiseptic – smells he associated with death.“You coming?” Dillon called over his shoulder.“Yeah, I’m coming,” he said, following his partner down the long empty hallway. Thankfu
LIES OF HOPE Ep8
Once I was in my apartment, curled up on my old but comfy sofa, I began to work in earnest. However, my internet search netted me only a brief company history, a list of famous clients (the governor wasn’t among them), and booking information for the band “Bowlers and Pins”. So, if I wanted to speak with Mr. Estes – and I did – I had four options: send an e-mail to a generic account and hope someone would hook me up with Estes; spend tomorrow driving over to Norfolk and coerce a meeting with the man; forget the whole thing and hire Bowlers and Pins for a “screw it” party; or call Gail and ask her to finesse a number from the World Wide Web.As tempting as the party sounded, I was going to have to beg another favor. I was really racking up those favors, and the corresponding payback. That was the thing about asking for help – no one did anything for free, and said help always ended up costing far more than it was wor
LIES OF HOPE Ep9
What now?” a churlish voice snapped in my ear, which was pressed against my cellphone.“Geez, Gail. What bug flew up your ass?”“I was right in the middle of flinging a hibiscus at a werewolf.”“You were what?” I couldn’t imagine anyone getting the drop on Gail, but someone must’ve kicked hard enough to damage that stone head of hers.“Flowers and Monsters,” she said, as if that would explain everything.“Why don’t you go lie down for a little bit,” I suggested, now truly concerned. “I’ll call again when you’re feeling better.”“It’s a video game, stupid,” she said, “and I was going in for the kill.”“With hibiscus?”“Werewolves hate hibiscus.”“I’ll take your word for it,&r
LIES OF HOPE Ep10
I stood for a moment outside the shiny glass doors of the sleek ten-story building that housed Bowler & Brothers. I needed to catch my breath after racing the five blocks I had traveled from the garage, since the gated lot was “permit-only”. Why hadn’t I thought to ask about the parking situation? I looked down at my sturdy, flat boots. Thank God I wasn’t a stiletto kind of girl. I wondered if Anders went for the phony, high-maintenance type. Probably not, I decided. He seemed like a man who enjoyed getting his hands dirty, maybe in more ways than one.These thoughts were certainly not helping slow my heart rate, so I pretended I was watching a round of golf until a yawn nearly split my face in half. Worked like a charm.I pushed open the door and was met with a swirl of cool air and vanilla musk. The faux marble lobby was empty and my steps echoed as I moved toward the bank of elevators on the opposite side of the room.
LIES OF HOPE Ep11
Hello officers,” Elroy said with an expansive smile as he ushered Jason and Dillon into his office.“Detectives,” Jason corrected with an edge to his voice. He knew his dislike for the smug bastard was evident, but didn’t really care. He pushed his way past the man, leaving Dillon to follow behind. Elroy, however, gave no indication that he had picked up on the disdain that oozed from Jason’s, thick as molasses.“Please, have a seat,” Elroy said, and damned if the man wasn’t preening at the attention. “I assume this is about that reporter who persecuted me yesterday.”“Persecuted?” Jason echoed. “That’s a rather strong word, don’t you think?”“Not under the circumstances,” he said. “She was wantonly disrespectful.”“Wantonly,” Jason said. “Another interesting word choi
LIES OF HOPE Ep12
Jason was thinking about Elroy, Jessie, and the unholy mess this case had become when he opened his front door and was nearly toppled by thetempêtewho hurled herself at him, tears streaming down her tiny face.“She’s gone, Daddy!” the little girl cried, burying her head in the crook of his neck when he knelt down to her level. “Mouse’s gone.”Jason looked up at Tess, who stood behind his distraught daughter.“A kitten,” she answered his questioning look. “There was a stray kitten outside this morning and this ’possede’,” she said, borrowing her employer’s Cajun slang for “mischievous child”, “brought her in and tried to give her a bowl of milk. We’ve spent the whole day entertaining the little thing, but I made the mistake of stepping outside, and she shot out of here like a bat out of you-know-where.”
LIES OF HOPE Ep13
I stepped from the buzz of street noise into the throb of music and jangle of voices raised to be heard over the jukebox. A single muted television above the bar cast a blue glow that tinged a darkened corner a hazy gray. I could see a man sitting in the niche; the lone occupant of a table near the now defunct payphone. He was lanky with a long, patrician nose and receding hairline. He wore a well-cut suit and expensive loafers.“Feeling a little melodramatic?” I asked as I slid onto the chair opposite him.“Not in the slightest,” he answered, that mellifluous voice contrasting with the cacophony surrounding us. “I simply wanted our chat to take place on neutral ground, away from our respective comfort zones. I trust this isn’t a place you spend a great deal of time?”“No,” I said. The bars I tended to frequent were even worse than this one, but he didn’t need to know that.
LIES OF HOPE Ep14
Too bright. That was my first conscious thought – even with my eyes shut tight, everything was way too bright. And loud. I couldn’t make sense of what the sounds were, but they, along with the damned lights, had jolted me out of a wonderful, deep sleep. I desperately wanted to return to that warm fuzzy oblivion, but I couldn’t ignore the distractions. I lifted my lids a tiny crack. Big mistake! Laser beams seared my eyeballs and shot straight up to my brain.“Ack,” I croaked, slamming them shut. I had been trying to curse, but that was a close as I could get, my throat absorbing sounds in the absence of moisture. I had been in a bright room like this nearly 10 years ago. The heartache that accompanied that thought was unbearable.“Jessie?” I heard a familiar voice pierce my eardrums and scatter the fog in my head. “Jessie, baby, are you awake?”Baby? No one had ever called me baby
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LIES OF HOPE Epilogue
One year later . . .“I look ridiculous,” I said as I stared at my reflection in the full-length mirror. “Why did I let you talk me into this?”“Hush up!” Gail commanded as she fussed with the silky white fabric that flowed like a waterfall over my hips and down my legs in a shimmering cascade. “I didn’t talk you into anything. You look beautiful, and you know it.”I did look beautiful, thanks to my trio of fairy godmothers – Gail, Agnes, and Tess – who had devoted the entire morning to my hair and make-up. I stared at my reflection; I didn’t look anything like myself. My normally stick-straight hair fell about my shoulders in glorious, shiny ringlets, and framed a face that belonged to me, but boasted eyes that appeared huge, luminescent, and more gold than brown. My cheeks were faintly pink, as were my lips.The dress was magnificent. Beautiful c
LIES OF HOPE Ep21
My head was pounding as I swam through the soup of sleep and dreams and into consciousness. The night had been long, and I had spent most of it either crying or shouting into my pillow. God, how I wanted this nightmare to be over! I forced myself to struggle to a sitting position, and it was only then that I realized my head wasn’t the only thing that was pounding. Someone was knocking on my door. Crap! I really wanted to wallow in self-pity right now. I didn’t have the time or the inclination to deal with whoever was out there.I flopped back down onto my bed and burrowed under the covers. The knocking stopped, thank heaven, but then my phone started buzzing. Damn, but someone was persistent! I groped on my side table, swearing as I knocked both the cell and the lamp onto the floor. I scrambled out of bed and snatched up the phone, hitting the answer button without bothering to check to see who was calling.“What?” I barked
LIES OF HOPE Ep20
Jason felt his skin crawl, looking at this horrid creature with stringy blond hair and Jessie’s hazel eyes.“So, if you wanted to hang on to Welling, why did you do it? Why the faked death? Why come back and kill so many people?”Gloria gave an inelegant grunt. “Adam was going down hard and I wasn’t going to go down with him. Who was going to associate with the wife of someone like him? I had to reinvent myself. I got a new face, a new name, courtesy of a few Swiss bank accounts he knew nothing about.Voila! A whole new me.”“But you didn’t change everything, did you?” Jason asked, his eyes raking over her golden pantsuit. Your signature color suits you. Bet you didn’t know you left a little of it behind with the governor’s body.”“The ME declared you legally dead,” I said. “He had proof that you died in that fire.”
LIES OF HOPE Ep19
Everything disappeared: The house, the cops outside, her nerves. All that existed were Jason and the delicious icy fire racing through my blood. He pulled back, leaving me panting and feeling quite bereft. I raised my arms and almost wrapped them around his neck, wanting to be closer to him, wanting even more. But then I remembered my heartache and let them fall. That would only lead to more pain.“I’m sorry,” he rasped, still catching his breath. “I’m sorry.”“Don’t worry about it,” I managed to whisper and turned away so he wouldn’t be able to read the doubt on my face. How was I going to stand this? How could I spend three hours teetering on the very edge of insanity? It would take so little to push me right over. I had to find a way to keep my mind busy.“Tell me about your family,” I said, not really sure why I was asking, but knowing anything was better tha
LIES OF HOPE Ep18
I was nervous, anxious to have the whole thing over and done with. I wanted to look my father’s killer in the eye. And I was ready to cut Jason Anders out of my life once and for all. After tonight, we could go our separate ways.I’m not sure why I was so angry, he had just proven to me what I had known all along. You can’t trust anyone but yourself. But I had trusted him. I had let down my walls enough to give him a peek inside. I had thought he was the one who would have my back. My mistake had been disastrous and humiliating, but I had learned my lesson.I stuffed my hurt deep down and looked at my watch, a scratched Timex that I had been meaning to replace for over a year, but had never gotten around to doing. It was only one o’clock. The day was crawling along at a maddening pace.I heard the thunk of my front door, accompanied by the clomp of heavy, booted feet. My back stiffened. Jason had returned, car
LIES OF HOPE Ep17
I snuggled my backside against warm, hard male and sighed in contentment. I couldn’t remember ever feeling so sated, both physically and emotionally. Emotion had never been a part of my love life. It was nice. I was surprised to discover I liked it. I wanted more. I didn’t know much about Jason, really. I knew he was handsome, smart, exasperating, and very sexy. I knew he was a hero from Louisiana who had a young daughter. I didn’t know his favorite food or what his mama called him. I wanted to know those things, which shocked me. Did I also want him to know all of my secrets? It shocked me even more to realize I did. After so many years of avoiding intimacy like a root canal, I now found myself craving it.What did I most want to know about this complicated man? His little girl. The answer came easily. I wanted to know about the most important thing in his life. A sharp stab of guilt pierced my heart. How could I want to make this little girl i
LIES OF HOPE Ep17
I snuggled my backside against warm, hard male and sighed in contentment. I couldn’t remember ever feeling so sated, both physically and emotionally. Emotion had never been a part of my love life. It was nice. I was surprised to discover I liked it. I wanted more. I didn’t know much about Jason, really. I knew he was handsome, smart, exasperating, and very sexy. I knew he was a hero from Louisiana who had a young daughter. I didn’t know his favorite food or what his mama called him. I wanted to know those things, which shocked me. Did I also want him to know all of my secrets? It shocked me even more to realize I did. After so many years of avoiding intimacy like a root canal, I now found myself craving it.What did I most want to know about this complicated man? His little girl. The answer came easily. I wanted to know about the most important thing in his life. A sharp stab of guilt pierced my heart. How could I want to make this little girl i
LIES OF HOPE Ep16
“Okay,” he said. “So, let’s hear your plan.”Shit! “I don’t have a plan, exactly,” I said. “It’s more of an outline.”“I’m shocked,” he deadpanned.“Look, smartass, we have too many villains and no way of knowing which one committed which crime. We do know that one of them wants me dead.” Jason flinched when I said this, but didn’t interrupt. “If we figure out a way to make him or her think they’ve got an easy shot at me, we’ll have ’em.”“And how do you propose we do that, seeing as how we don’t know who they are?”That was a good question, and I didn’t have an answer – at least not a good one. I did have an idea, but it was mediocre at best.“We make sure all of them know that I’m breaking into Cara’s house to
LIES OF HOPE Ep15
What?” he asked, confused by the quick change in tone and subject.“My head is too muddled right now to deal with more than one thing at a time,” I answered. “So, let’s get to work on solving my father’s murder. All cards on the table.”“Fine,” he said, heaving a sigh and sinking back into the hard hospital chair. “So talk.”“Uh-uh. I’ve already shared a couple of things. Now it’s your turn.”“I don’t think . . .”“All cards on the table,” I repeated. “I give you my word nothing will appear in print without your permission.”He raised one of his expressive brows.“Do you want a blood oath, or what?”A smile lit his beautiful face. “I don’t think we need to do anything that drastic. Besides, I hate the sight
