Mistaken (11 page)

He didn’t mean to make her withdraw her touch. In fact, it was comforting to feel Dillan's hand there, knowing that someone else could understand how he felt when he looked at that image. But in the end, these moments, these connections he felt with her, would only make it more difficult to tell her the truth. He could feel her watching him again, trying to discern what was going on behind his far-off stare. Once more, he had to stave off the need to tell her the truth. He took a large gulp of beer then looked up at her.

"You would have liked her. She was a lot of fun." Trey said. Some of the more pleasant memories of his mother immediately flooded back, momentarily forcing away the ever present one of her demise.  She was beautiful, with long wavy black hair, blue eyes and an infectious smile. Despite Trey’s extensive history of troublemaking as a child, she never grew mad at him. It had been frustrating for Trey at times. It wasn’t that he could do no wrong in her eyes. It was that no matter what he did wrong, she still loved him just as much.

He could still hear her words as she kissed his cheek,
“You’re my son, I know there is good in you.”
  Then her hand would gently pat the crucifix that still hung around his neck even now. She had given both him and Jamie each their own when they had gone through their first communion as children. His fingertips found the silver charm hidden under his t-shirt as his eyes met Dillan’s again.  She was watching him with intrigue as she finished off her drink.

“You look like you need another drink too.”  Her lips pursed together into a tight line before she walked back to the bar.
Can’t fight you on that one,
Trey thought as he saw her flag down the bartender again. He watched as Dillan and the bartender spoke, the other woman was eyeing him curiously once again. They were obviously discussing his appearance.  Dillan shook her head, looking down at the bar.  He was almost relieved that he couldn’t hear them from the booth. Surely whatever was said about him couldn’t be good.

“Here you go,” Dillan slid the beer in front of Trey as she sat back down.

“You alright?”  He asked.

“Jamie was popular around these parts,” Dillan shrugged, “Obviously they are going to be a little puzzled by the sight of you.”

“Not that I’m not grateful, but I’m sure wearing his clothes today didn’t really help. I couldn’t even look at myself in the mirror.” Trey sighed. Dillan only shrugged.

“With or without your presence, reminders of him are around every corner, Trey. I would see Jamie everywhere in Midtown, even if you never walked into my life.” Dillan said with a smile, though her eyes now held a watery gleam. She turned her face away from him, tipping the bottle to her lips. Now he was the one that wanted to reach his hand out to her to comfort her, and tell her things would get better. Surely one day, for her anyways, things would get better.

Leave her alone Trey. You’ll only make it worse.

Dillan blinked a couple times as she turned back toward Trey, having suppressed any tears that were attempting to surface. An artificial calm swept over her slowly as the minutes passed and her bottle grew lighter.

“Sometimes a drink or two chases him away for a little while.  But as soon as it wears off, he comes back.” Dillan drew in a deep breath and leaned back against the booth. Just then, a slower Guns N’ Roses song had started playing over the speakers. It was one she remembered walking down the stream to many times as a teenager. With one last swig, and a curious smirk, Dillan polished off her drink, letting the bottle clink against the table as she stood.  A small crowd of couples had formed, embracing one another as they moved to the unhurried tempo. Dillan mixed in with them, swaying alone, eyes shut as her lips moved with the words.

As her body shifted, everyone else seemed to disappear. Sometimes, it was all she could do to push Jamie, her parents, and the years with her grandmother out of her mind.
Let the music play loud enough and it will drown everything else out.

From the booth, Trey could see the telltale glint of tears catch the light as she moved in her own little melancholy dance. Try as he might, he couldn’t help but to pull himself to his feet. His brother had been telling the truth when he told him of Dillan’s ability to lure you in.

“When she smiles, when she laughs, I just want to bathe in it, soak up every bit of its sunshine. When she cries, all I want to do is hold her, keep her from feeling that way ever again.”

Trey understood his brother’s words now, as he stepped closer to Dillan, and held his hand out to her. Dillan’s dampened lashes lifted above her eyes, and even as Trey knew this would just make it harder on them both, a sense of relief settled over him as she curled against his chest and laid her head against his shoulder. Trey loosely draped his arms around her; he could feel her muscles relax against him as they quietly danced.

Dillan didn’t dare look up at him, afraid that once again there would be Jamie. She squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself further into the music because even then, the memories of her and Jamie dancing on the very same floor threatened her from the dark recesses of her mind. She was growing so tired of the constant battle with her subconscious, always having to ward off thoughts of Jamie for  the sake of self-preservation. Having to numb herself from the open scars that stung her daily. Whether it was right or wrong, she was glad that Trey was holding her then. She felt relaxed, and relieved.

At least one other person in this world knows what I’m going through.

It was nearing the end of the song before Dillan noticed it. Trey had stopped moving, and his arms that had loosely been cradling her, had tensed around her protectively. She turned her head then, looking up at his face.  That same silent anger from the day before had fixed itself around his eyes again, as the sides of his mouth tightened and his jaw clenched.

“Trey?”

“Dillan, we should go.” He said, not taking his eyes off of the unknown subject of his hateful glare. As Dillan pulled out of his arms, she attempted to follow his line of sight, but only found an empty corner of the pub.

“What’s going on?” She turned back to Trey, his eyes still on the empty corner.

“I just think it’s time we should leave.”  His voice was an urgent warning to some unknown threat. So much so, that she didn’t question it as Trey led her from the pub. His eyes darted over his shoulder suspiciously before they exited onto the street.

“Let’s take a cab.” He said as he pulled her toward one that was already waiting at the curb. Neither said anything more as the cab pulled into traffic. Dillan, buzzed from the drinks and her medication, was too spooked by Trey’s odd behavior to question him.
Who had he seen?

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” Dillan swore, as her eyes made out the blinking numbers on her alarm clock the next morning.

11:30 AM.

How did I manage to oversleep again?

Yet again, she found herself scrambling to get dressed. Her head ached slightly as she got out of bed.
Probably shouldn’t have taken those extra doses when I got home.
  She knew she was right, but after their quick escape from Finley’s last night, Dillan’s nerves were more than stretched to their limit. Trey’s sudden, bizarre behaviors had managed to throw her emotions on a tilt which only compounded the already lingering suspicions from the other night.

There was no doubt that Dillan needed these questions answered, but now was not the time. She had no time, and if she kept this up, she might not have a job anymore.
Tonight
. She would sit him down and get her answers tonight.  After she made herself look somewhat presentable, she shot back two more pills then headed for the door.

Dillan glanced over towards the couch to find Trey still sleeping soundly. It gave her some relief that she would not have to speak with him on top of running late again.  Her only other saving grace was that there were not any more accidents to slow down her commute to the office. She managed to get there before noon. Unfortunately, she ran right into Jason as soon as she stepped off the elevator.

“Dillan… it’s nearly noon.” He looked over the rim of his glasses toward her.

“I know… I know. This won’t happen again. I’ll be here bright and early tomorrow. I swear.” Her voice was pleading as she avoided her boss’s disappointed gaze. She knew his confidence in her lately had been severely waning. This did not help.

“You have to be on point tomorrow, Dillan. If there is anything I can do to ensure you are ready, please let me know.” His forehead creased deeply.

“I’ll be ready.” Dillan nodded. Jason gave her one more wary look before he moved past her into the elevator to leave for lunch. With a heavy sigh, she trudged towards her office. She was within a few more steps of the safety of her office, before Kay rounded the corner. Her eyebrows knitted together with concern as she saw Dillan.

“I can’t talk right now Kay… give me a little time to get some work done first.” Dillan knew Kay was just waiting to lay on a full assault of questions, but she couldn’t deal with her friend right now. With an unsatisfied pout, Kay nodded.  Dillan knew she would be back within a few hours and no explanations that she could offer would suffice. She had no excuse for letting her job fall to the wayside, but she also didn’t need Kay reminding her of that very fact.

***

Trey eyes shot open as soon as the door slammed shut. It jarred him from his sleep, and temporarily set him in a panic, his muscles tight as his fingers gripped the couch cushions.  He looked around the apartment and called out Dillan’s name, but silence was all that answered back.

She must have already left for the day.

It felt eerie being there alone. Dillan’s absence made everything feel cramped and uninviting, as if he was standing in a crypt.  The uneasy feelings from last night had stuck around too, and continued to grow in the silence that surrounded him. The face that he had seen watching him last night couldn’t have been one of Carlos’ men. Could it?

Why would they be here if they think I’m dead?

Still, the dark eyes and the sinister smirk that he had glimpsed were not just his imagination. Someone had been watching them.  The thought of it raised a hard lump in his throat.

Trey wasted no time in dialing Luciano. He needed answers. He needed confirmation that Carlos was back behind bars and that he was just being paranoid last night.

“Good morning Alex.” Luciano’s voice carried a serious tone.

“Tell me you found something.”

“I did.” Luciano let out a sigh, “But you aren’t going to like it.’

“Just tell me.” Trey’s voice came out in a low growl. He didn’t have time for Luciano to sugar coat anything.

“Carlos is clean. His alibi checked out. We couldn’t find anything to link him to Andrew’s murder.”

“NO. That can’t be it. How can you sit there and tell me that he didn’t do it? Even you said it had to be him.” Trey shook with anger as he spoke, blinded with rage.

“I know I had my suspicions, but he came up clean. There isn’t much else I can do.” Luciano’s voice wavered.

“Then why did he send someone here? How does he even know I’m here?”

“What are you talking about Alex?” The agent was now the one who sounded dumbfounded.

“Last night. I’m nearly positive that one of Carlos’ men was here in Midtown. He was tailing me.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t just someone that looked familiar?” Lucian asked, the doubt in his voice even more obvious.

“I know what I saw.” Trey said through gritted teeth.

“I’m not doubting you Alex. It’s just that there isn’t much I can do at this point. Do you remember his name? I can look into it today.”

Trey sighed. He didn’t remember the guys name because none of them made a habit of giving that information out. Luciano ought to know that as well.

“You can’t be serious. You have dealt with the drug cartels for how long? If I had a name, it probably isn’t the guy’s actual name.” Trey’s patience was fading quickly. “I trusted you to help me, Luciano. Even if you can’t prove that Carlos killed Andrew, you know damn well he was responsible for my mother and a measly ten years in prison is not enough to pay for that.”

“I told you, something got screwed up. It was out of my hands at that point.” Luciano’s voice sounded strained. All Trey heard were more excuses.

“It’s bullshit, Luciano, and you know it! Carlos may have been the one that killed my mother, but it was you and your department that killed Andrew.”

“You don’t know that he did it…” The agent’s voice was becoming less convincing by the minute.

“Then you explain to me how that maniac getting released a year ago and my brother getting two bullets in the chest around the same time are just a fucking coincidence. Is that going to help you sleep better tonight, knowing that now two people I love are dead because you failed to do your job? Well I hope you can sleep with more blood on your conscience, because there’s
going
to be more.” Trey’s voice boiled with rage as he spoke.

“Alex…Please don’t do anything rash. Stay put and give me till tomorrow to find out what I can. Please.” Luciano begged him.

“Fine… but if you come up empty-handed, I can’t be held responsible for what comes next.” Trey’s words were sharp. Even he didn’t know exactly what that meant.

“I understand.”  Lucianos’ voice was quiet as he ended the call. A small part of him felt bad for laying into Luciano they way he did, but there was no way that it was all just a mere coincidence. Trey refused to accept that conclusion.

There had to be more to it, and Trey could no longer just sit and wait to hear from Luciano. Despite his limited resources, he needed to do some digging of his own. It dawned on him then that Dillan might have some information hidden away about the night of the murder. Whatever she had, he had to find it.  Maybe she had a copy of the police report. Maybe there was something that the cops had overlooked.