OLIVIA KNEW THAT the silver haired man in the restaurant was the owner of the charter group they had been investigating. Shaver said his name was David Michaelson. Could he be the “D” from the note? There was only one way to find out. If nothing else, he might be able to help her get a flight to Vegas. At the restaurant he thought she was Grace maybe she could use that to her advantage. She was aware this might prove to be a suicide mission but that was a risk she was willing to take. Grace would never have backed down from this.
She was going to have to move fast to get out of town. Olivia was quite sure that Shaver had put a tail on her partially because she was now a suspect and to keep her from doing anything stupid. He warned her when she left the morgue to stay close and forget the Nancy Drew bullshit. She laughed loudly to her empty apartment. He had no idea just how far she was willing to go. None of them did, but they would soon find out.
Olivia couldn’t go out like this if she was being followed, so she put a lightweight trench style jacket over her dress. She needed to blend in. Then she slipped off the red shoes and put them in her gym bag and put on a pair of sandals. She packed all the cash, the key card, the note, and the poker chip into her purse. For the first time Olivia wished she had taken some kind of weapons training. In the years since Grace’s death she had considered it but felt with the episodes she had it wouldn’t be safe. Now she was walking into the lion’s den unarmed. What ever happened she wanted answers and to put an end to this nightmare.
Before she left Olivia picked up her phone. She started to dial Dominic but hung up. Fuck she wished she met him at a different point in her life. He really was everything she would have asked for in a man and the connection she felt with him was undeniable. She squeezed the phone. Fuck! She couldn’t call. He would try to stop her and no matter how much she wanted him, she wouldn’t drag him into this. He needed to stay safely on his side of the law and she was about to cross every line she had sworn to protect. She tossed the phone in her bag and walked out into the Virginia evening.
One of her neighbors was grilling on their balcony. The smell of steaks permeated the air and made her stomach growl. No time to think about food. For everyone else this was a typical Wednesday evening. While they passed the potatoes or did their laundry she was about to step through the looking glass to the dark secret world of Grace Wilson. If she did come back would she ever be the same?
Olivia climbed into her Audi and backed out of her assigned space. As she pulled through the gate onto Duke Street, she saw the headlights turn on from a dark sedan in the space closest to the gate. The space belonged to Julie, who Olivia knew was away on a cruise. Game on. She didn’t know if it was one of Shaver’s cars or someone else, either way they were playing her game now. No more kid gloves. She reached the stoplight and the car stopped two behind her. There was no way to see who it was. She turned left and the car followed. She needed to stay in public areas in case this wasn’t a police tail. Whoever killed Gwen and Rebecca was here in Norfolk. She thought of the pin. Whoever it was sent her a message with that pin. Every turn she made they followed, always staying two car lengths or so behind her. Olivia felt like a new recruit marching off to war not knowing what to expect except the tall tales of the broken men who had returned home. Now she could hear and feel the battle up ahead. False hope and bravado gave way to fear and anticipation of the very real danger that lie just out of sight.
Olivia drove casually to the third floor of the North Parking Deck of the MacArthur Center Mall and found a single space near a door. She smiled when she realized there were no other open spaces she could see in that area. She locked her cell inside the Audi and entered the mall. It would take her tail a few minutes to park and follow her in. If they came in at all. They might just park by her car and wait. Olivia walked quickly to the Sprint store on that level and bought a prepaid phone with cash and put the phone in her bag. She left and walked directly into Dillard’s. Olivia walked with purpose to the elevator and pushed the buttons for the second and first floor.
As the doors closed she caught a glimpse of two men watching her as they walked down the aisle and pretended to look at housewares. They could be officers as they looked vaguely familiar but Olivia couldn’t tell for sure. Were they tailing her or were they after her? She wasn’t going to stick around to find out. Once the elevator began to move she let out a slow calming breath.
And there she was. Why were elevators always mirrored? She looked at Grace. What the hell did you get yourself into? Olivia loved her sister and would have done anything for her. Whatever Grace had been involved in Olivia would have helped her or at least tried. Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you trust me?
She exited the elevator on the second floor of the department store and slipped into the bathroom of the Aveda Salon. She ditched the rain jacket and sandals in exchange for the heels and Gucci purse. Now what the hell was she going to do with the gym bag? She looked up at the ceiling tiles. Fuck it, she was not Jackie Chan. There was no way she was climbing on a toilet seat without falling in. She stuffed her bag in the large trash bin. She could buy another if she made it back.
Olivia caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and Grace smiled approvingly. She took out the prepaid cell and made the call. “David, this is Grace.”
“Grace.” He drew the word out as if the dark sweetness of its sound revived his soul. “It’s been far too long, love. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
Did he really not know that Grace had died ten years ago? Every warning bell in her mind was going off like a six-alarm fire but she wasn’t turning back now. She stilled herself and took a deep breath. “I need you to pick me up.”
“Just name the place.” He encouraged like a spider welcoming the fly.
“Monticello entrance to MacArthur Place,” she answered in Grace’s short cool way. Olivia had watched her work every football player and businessman they had ever crossed paths with. Her heart was racing but she would not let it show. She had to be in control. One wrong move and she would end up buried next to her sister.
“I’ll have a car there in fifteen. Welcome back, baby.” His smooth voice darkened like the sky before a storm.
Olivia hung up and let out a long slow breath. She looked at herself in the mirror. Grace stared back determined. Her eyes were wild and alive. She was always so brave while all Olivia had ever felt was fear. You can do this. She had fifteen minutes to lose her followers and make it to the exit. Olivia reapplied her lipstick and let her dark hair fall down around her shoulders. Showtime.
She glanced out of the bathroom and didn’t see anyone out of the ordinary. She walked calmly through the salon and followed a woman who had just had her hair done to the escalator. The dark haired woman was dressed to the nines in a slate gray dress and black heels. Olivia struck up a conversation with her on the way down. Lady luck was on her side, the woman was going to the same exit to meet her ride. As they walked the woman told her about her anniversary plans. Olivia listened while keeping an eye out for her tail. She hoped that this new look would throw them off. They were looking for one woman wearing casual clothes with a gym bag, not two women dressed for a black-tie affair. When they reached the first floor Olivia saw two uniformed officers standing at the entrance. Fuck! Where they there for her? She stiffened but kept moving. She was going to have to walk right by them. The little red purse almost slipped out of her hand as a fine sheen of sweat broke out. Each step led them closer to the two officers. Stay Calm. Olivia positioned herself so that the woman was between her and the officers. When they got close she kept her head down and slightly turned away like she was digging for something in her purse.
“Hold on a sec,” one of the men said.
Sweet Jesus. Olivia’s heart stopped. She kept her head turned away and gave a silent prayer. She could barely hear his next words over the pounding of her heart.
“Ma’am, you dropped this,” he said bending over to pick something up.
“Oh, thank you so much. You are too kind,” the woman replied. Olivia held her breath. Every second it took the woman to reach out and retrieve her fallen item felt like an hour in the rack. Her heart raced like a rocket toward the sun. At any moment they could see her and it would all be over.
“No problem, ma’am,” he called and by some miracle they were walking again. Relief flooded her and her head swam from holding her breath. Once in the hall, Olivia never looked back. She walked in step with her unwitting conspirator toward the exit.
“It was really nice to meet you, Grace. Have fun on your date night!” The woman said as they reached the glass doors.
“Nice to meet you too, Stephanie. Happy anniversary,” Olivia replied as they parted ways. Once she set foot out those doors there was no going back. She took a breath and pressed the metal lever.
The warm salty air enveloped her on contact. A black town car was sitting by the curb. The rabbit hole awaits, Alice. Despite the torturous sea of emotion that raged on the inside, Olivia walked toward her fate without hesitation. As she got close the tinted window rolled down a crack but not enough to see inside.
“I’ve been expecting you.” The words crawled over Olivia with the familiarity of a recurrent nightmare and caused her body to freeze. Any pretense of calm she possessed melted like a popsicle in June. Before she could say or do anything the door opened.
Turn back. Do not do this. Please for the love of God turn around. It took the power of a Greco-Roman wrestler to squash her inner voice and step into the car.
“Venus,” Olivia breathed as she sat back in the dark leather seat and the car pulled away from the curb. She somehow remembered the silver haired woman. Images from a lifetime ago flooded her mind. She remembered being in a limo with this woman on the way to the casino. Two huge men that looked like gorillas in suits sat opposite them. Venus was laughing and Olivia knew she was about to die. There was no way out of the car . . . no way out.
“Grace,” she began coldly and startled Olivia out of her episode, “I don’t know if you are brave or incredibly fucking stupid. Either way it won’t do you much good.” She slowly drummed long metallic purple nails on the leather armrest. Olivia stared at the black streak in her silver hair for a moment and imagined that the trunk must be full of dead Dalmatian puppies.
Olivia’s mind raced. She was sure she had never met this woman before, yet she knew exactly who she was. Venus Murphy worked for Mr. Michaelson, she was in charge of the girls that worked on the flights. She had come up in part of their investigations but Olivia knew more than her name, it was like she actually remembered her. These are not real flashbacks she reminded herself. This was too important for her to let her overactive imagination and panic episodes take over. Before Olivia could answer Venus continued.
“When David said he saw you at the restaurant I knew it was only a matter of time before you came crawling back. What happened? Did you run out of money?” Venus sneered and opened a silver compact. She took out a tube of deep crimson lipstick and started to apply it.
“I need to get to Vegas,” Olivia replied. This was going to be fucking hard. She might look exactly like Grace but, unfortunately, she didn’t know anything about this part of her life. How the hell was she going to pull off being Grace when she had no fucking clue what was going on.
“You’re crazier than I thought.” She laughed. “The plane is already waiting, David had them get it ready the moment you called, but if I were you I wouldn’t set foot in Vegas.” Venus narrowed her gazed and leaned in. “Did you really think you could steal from the devil without unleashing all the powers of hell?