Annihilate Me (Vol. 4) (The Annihilate Me Series) (13 page)

“And
how long do we wait for that?”

“Until
tomorrow morning,” she said.
 
“If any
of them were waiting for you to leave today, they will have gone through all of
their photographs by then.
 
If we
don’t hear from them, it
’
s at
that point that I
’
ll start
calling each of them to see who was there and what they might have in their
possession.”

CHAPTER TEN

At
six that evening, Alex, Tank, and I were to meet Peachy Van Prout at her
mansion on Park.

“This
should be interesting,” Alex said when we walked into his office.
 
“I haven’t seen or heard from her in
years.”

He
leaned against his desk and looked at me in such a way that I could sense an
emotional scar lurking behind his stoic facade.

“I
don’t know what your issues are with Peachy, but I
’
m sure you have a good reason for them.
 
What I can tell you is that when Tank
and I went to her party to meet Henri Dufort, she was nothing if not kind to
us.
 
What has she done to you,
anyway?”

“To
be honest?
 
Nothing directly.
 
This is on me.
 
I told you that when I was young, my
mother didn
’
t give a
damn about
me.
 
I took any relationship she
cherished more than ours as an offense.
 
That was the case with Peachy and with others.
 
In my family, our cooks and my nanny
raised me, not my mother.
 
My mother
was either warring with my father, elevating her position in society, or
spending time with friends like Peachy when I was wishing she was spending time
with me.”

“I
’
m sorry that happened to you.”

“It
is what it is.”

“That’s
true.
 
But it
’
s also unfortunate.”

He
just shrugged at me.

“Peachy
had her last party in October.
 
From
what Blackwell tells me, it
’
s
unusual for someone of her class to have a major event so soon after the last
one.
 
Peachy is breaking the rules
for us.
 
She
’
s putting her social standing on the line
because of you and her relationship with your mother.
 
I think she has deeper feelings for you
than you know.
 
I
’
m sure of this, Alex—she
’
s not having this party and putting cameras
all over her house for me.
 
She
barely knows me.
 
She
’
s doing this for you.”

“As
I said earlier, I
’
ve
obviously
misjudged her.
”

“You
just wanted more from your mother.
 
Many can relate to that.
 
You
know I can.”

I
could tell he was uncomfortable talking about any of this.
 
He checked his watch.
 
“Ready to go?”

I
went over and kissed him on the lips.
 
“I love you,” I said.

“I
love you, too.”

“Maybe
Peachy, of all people, will be the one who cracks this for us.
 
Anything
’s possible.
”

He
smiled at me.
 
“How did I get so
lucky?”

“I
ask myself the same thing every day.”

“Let
’
s do this,” he said, curling his arm around
my waist.
 
“Adrianna Bomba is
confirmed for tomorrow night. Tank will be watching the monitors and getting
the party on video.
 
It
’
ll be interesting to see what
’
s revealed when we make our move and go over
to talk with her.”

*
 
*
 
*

When
we arrived at Peachy
’
s
mansion on Park and Sixty-Eighth, Tank and two of his men exited the limousine
first.
 
The sun had set and it was
dark now, but the streets were nevertheless thick with traffic, and the
sidewalks were filled with people moving at a quick clip.
 
The men checked the area the best they
could, and when they felt that we were reasonably safe, they nodded for us to
come out.

We
did.

We
left the car, and went straight for Peachy
’
s door, and God knows if she wasn
’
t there waiting for us, which said
everything I needed to know about her.
 
She was taking this seriously.
 
She loved Alex more than he knew.

“Alex,”
she said.
 
“My God, it
’
s been years.
 
Look how handsome you are.
 
You have your mother
’
s eyes.”
 

I
closed my own eyes at that statement, but I could tell from her tone that she
meant him no harm.
 
I looked at her
with fondness.
 
She was wearing
black pants, a close-fitting white cashmere sweater that accentuated how thin
she was, and very little jewelry.
 
Her blonde hair was worn in an upward lift just above her narrow
shoulders.
 
I knew she had to be
somewhere in her seventies, but plastic surgery be damned, the woman looked and
behaved as if she was in her early fifties.

She
took Alex
’
s hand and led him into
her massive, wood-paneled foyer, saying over her shoulder, “All of you come
in.
 
Please, please.
 
Jennifer, it
’
s lovely to see you again.
 
So tan.
 
So beautiful.
 
So chic.
 
Just shut the door behind you.
 
And please—lock it.”

“How
are you, Peachy?” Alex asked.

She
reached up and held his face in her hands.
 
“I
’
m well,” she said.
 
“And I
’
m eager to help you.
 
Your men have been here the past three
days, and I think things are in good shape.
 
There are cameras everywhere.
 
Can you see them?
 
Up there?
 
In the corners of the ceiling?
 
It
’
s
hard to see them, isn
’
t
it?
 
But I suppose that
’
s the point.
 
Still, they
’
re there, and I hope they do what they
’
re meant to do.
 
You don
’
t know how worried I
’
ve been about you and Jennifer.
 
Or how much I
’
ve missed you.
 
Why don
’
t you call on me?
 
You know how much you meant to me when
you were a boy.
 
I
’
ve missed you!
 
And now here you are at last with this
beautiful woman.
 
Jennifer, come
here.
 
That
’
s right.
 
Look at you two together.
 
I
’
m
so happy for you.
 
You don
’
t know how happy.
 
When is the wedding?
 
I must know.”

“We
haven’t set a date yet,”
Alex said.
 

“What
’
s stopping you?”

“Probably
what we
’
re going through.”

“Understandable.
 
But once all of this is behind you,
please don
’
t forget about me.
 
Robert and I would love to see you walk
down the aisle with Jennifer, Alex.
 
Now, look.
 
I want to say something.
 
Your mother was a good friend to me, but
I know that she wasn
’
t a good
mother to you.
 
She had her
faults.
 
I
’
m fully aware of them.
 
And I can only imagine how you came to
view her friends as you grew up.
 
So,” she said.
 
“Enough.
 
This is a new day.
 
Come.
 
Let me show you what your men have done,
where all of the cameras are, and what you can expect to happen tomorrow night.
 
We have two hundred coming for
cocktails.
 
The place will be
mobbed.”

As
they moved forward, I hung back a bit and walked next to Tank.
 
Even in my heels, I was dwarfed by him,
and I was far from short.
 
I nudged
his arm.
 
“How do you feel about
this?” I asked in a low voice.

“She
’
s gone out of her way to be accommodating.”

“I
think she
’
s great.
 
But you knew I felt that way when we
came here the first time.
 
She was
nothing if not kind to us.”

“Agreed.”

“How
are you?”

He
looked at me out of the corner of his eye as if the question was
unexpected.
 
“I
’
m fine.
”

“Lisa
asked for you today.”

That
caught his attention.
 
“She did?”

“She
did.”

“Hmmm,”
he said.
 

“Does
that surprise you?”

“Maybe
a little.”

“She
thinks a lot of you.”

“
She does?
 
I can
’
t tell.
 
She
’
s a tough read.”

“I
think she
’
d say the same about you.”

That
caught him off guard.
 
“Would she?”

“Maybe
she already has.
 
But enough of my
meddling in your relationship, because you know that I’m meddling.
 
And if I
’
m meddling?
 
I
’
m
going to be honest with you and tell you that I’m meddling.
 
I hope you also know that I only want
the best for each of you.
 
However
it goes is how it goes.
 
But I
’
m leaning in a certain direction, because
when it comes to my best friend?
 
I
’
d like to think that one day she
’
ll seriously be dating you.
 
You
’
re a good man, Tank.
 
I like you a lot.
 
Lisa is a good woman.
 
I love her deeply, and I
’
m very protective of her.
 
I hope it works out between you
two.
 
I really do.
 
And that
’
s all I
’
m going to say on this matter because it
’
s really none of my business.”
 

He
shot me a conflicted look.
 
I knew
Lisa had her guard up—but was it up too much?
 
Was it up so high that he was unable to
penetrate it?
 
Or was it just the
opposite?
 
I decided I
’
d ask her when we talked next.
 
For now, I hooked my arm around his, and
we continued to follow Alex and Peachy up the grand staircase to the second
floor where most of the cameras were in place, and where the party would be
held tomorrow night.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The
following evening at seven-thirty, when Blackwell and Bernie had finished
pulling me together, I stood in front of the mirror set up for me in our
makeshift changing room at Wenn and looked at myself.