Page 11 of Beneath Deception
~Seven~
I never took kindly to threats, but this one I couldn’t ignore. Even though Colin didn’t go into detail about what his plan was to pin Jeffries’ murder on me, he made it very clear that I was walking a very thin line with him and any more fuck-ups meant that I would be spending the rest of my life behind bars. I only wished I knew what he had up his sleeve so I could stop him, but that was the least of my problems. The way Tessa looked at me when they left more than told me she was beginning to see what type of man Colin really was, given his confession. Little did she know that she was my only salvation in this mess.
Colin wasn’t as smart as he thought he was. If he had been, he would have waited to voice not only his plan to frame me, but the admission to killing Jeffries when there was only me in the room. There could have been only one reason why he spilled everything with Tessa there, and that had to be because he knew she would never go against him. As confident as he might have been, that would soon change. Now more than ever I needed to get her away from him.
When I got to my place, the first thing I did was get in contact with Jonathan. I knew that of anyone, he would know exactly what kind of man Colin was. I had a pretty good idea already, but there was something I didn’t know, and that was what he craved most in life besides Tessa. I figured that if I could coax him away from her with candy, so to speak, maybe then I would be able to take her safely from him and show her that I was telling the truth. I only hoped that Jonathan had proof of his claim that Tessa was his daughter, otherwise this would it would be useless.
As I waited for receptionist to pick up the line, I poured myself a shot of McCallan’s and headed to my office. Answering in the sweetest voice ever, she said, “Criss Cross, this is Darcy, how may I direct your call?”
“Darcy, a beautiful name for a beautiful girl.” I could faintly hear her giggle as I complimented her. “This is Xavier London. I need to speak with Mr. Evans.” I knew that with my sweet greeting, she would be more than happy to put me right through.
“London, I’ve already told you everything I know about Colin Gates,” he stated abruptly.
“Not everything. I need to know more about Colin. I need to know what his likes and dislikes are and if he has any bad habits. Anything that you can tell me about him is important,” I responded.
“Not sure where you are going with this, but I’ll play along. Now let me see,” Evans paused for a moment. “Horses. He loves horses and betting on them. I would say that he is addicted to them.”
“Any particular track he likes to go to?” I asked.
“Yeah, Los Alamitos. He seems to always win there. At least whenever I was with him,” Evans confessed.
Before I hung up with him, there was one more thing I needed to know. “You said that your daughter was dead. Can you tell me how she died?” I questioned hesitantly, but with confidence.
“She drowned. I witnessed it with my own eyes,” I could hear the pain in his voice before he continued. “We were invited to go sailing with Gates. It was just about the time I had found out what he was doing. She got too close to the edge of the boat and fell into the water. She was so small, and an undercurrent took her under.”
Concerned about how this could happen, I had to ask, “Did you see her fall in the water?”
“Not exactly, but I remember the commotion from the crew. The Coast Guard was immediately called, but the divers were never able to find her small body,” he admitted with a crack in his voice.
“Jonathan, do you still have documentation on your daughter as far as birth records, or anything of hers?”
“I have kept everything of hers, even a strand of hair from her first haircut,” he confessed.
“Good. I suggest you put them in a safe place.”
“What is this about, London?” he demanded.
“If I am correct, your daughter is still alive.”
~*~*~*~
I didn’t plan on letting the cat out of the bag just yet, but knowing what Colin was going to do, I was going to need Jonathan on my side. I felt confident when I hung up that he believed what I told him about Tusya, aka Tessa. It made sense that Colin would have her name changed. The only thing that was hard was convincing Jonathan to allow me to get her away from Colin before he did anything stupid. When I told him of my plan to make up some bogus story about a rising thoroughbred being named after Colin and that the owner of the horse wanted to meet him in person to go over the details, Jonathan was all in. He even knew of some people in the horse business who would be more than willing to help since Colin had also double-crossed them.
There was something inviting when I walked inside my apartment and the hint of jasmine and honey filled my senses. I thought I was going crazy, but when I saw Tessa looking out the floor-to-ceiling window, my mind was put at ease. I couldn’t understand what she was doing here or how she got here without Colin knowing. Removing my jacket, I laid it across the barstool and made my way towards her. The sun was just beginning to set and the glow of the light radiating from her face made her look somewhat angel-like. She was the most captivating woman I had ever met. Standing next to her, I took in the view of LA and wondered if she saw the magnificent city like I had.
“How could a city that is so beautiful be filled with the ugliest of people?” she asked shyly.
“Not all people are ugly, Tessa,” I replied as I turned to face her.
When she looked up at me, there was a sadness in her eyes that I knew all too well. Pushing to her toes, she moved closer and without hesitation, placing her lips on mine. They were soft, just like the kiss she laid upon me. It was the most heartfelt connection I had ever been given. When she moved away, her eyes were still on mine as she confessed, “I believe what you said. Colin is a monster and I can’t go back to him no matter how indebted I am to him.”
How could I have mistaken her sadness? I thought for sure it was to say good-bye to me instead of Colin. I was overcome with joy, finding it hard to hold back. Walking with her over to the couch, all I wanted to know was what happened to make her change her mind.
“What happened, Tessa? Did he hurt you again?” I questioned, unaware that I was checking her out for any new bruising.
“No, he hasn’t touched me. He never touches me, at least not when it comes to my punishment,” she confessed.
“Then tell me.”
