Page 64 of Twisted Trust
“I’m being sued.” Tiredness seeps back into my bones and I slump forward, holding my head in my hands. “My old landlord is suing me for 800 bucks for overdue rent and utilities. So you see? Whatever twisted picture you have of me in your mind is bullshit. I’m just a person, Levi. A regular fucking person dealing with shit like this!”
22
LEVI
“You’re being… sued?”
Out of all the scenarios I concocted in my mind as to why Maeve was speaking to the cops, that one didn’t even cross my mind. I can’t keep the disbelief from my voice as I stare at her hastily wiping away the tears forming in her eyes.
“Yes!” she snaps with a trembling voice. “So I really don’t have time for your shitty accusations or whatever story you’ve made up in your head!”
It’s there in black and white. A court summons for Miss Maeve Jackson in response to an outstanding warrant, where jail time has been waived at the request of the investigating officer. “No jail time?”
Maeve sniffles and paces away from the couch with one hand pressed against her abdomen as if it will help her control her tears. “They said—” She hiccups softly. “The detective said that now he’d found me and he was aware of my mugging and my son, that he was going to waive the jail time. Usually, I’d be in jail until court, but he took pity on me, I guess. Now do yousee?” She turns to face me and her eyes swim. “I’m just trying tosurvivehere.”
“Tell me again.” Stiffness almost locks my jaw. “Tell me everything.”
“I just did!”
“Again!” I snap, rising and moving toward her. “I want to make sure I have everything clear.”
“Why?” Despite her upset, there’s push back in her voice. She’s falling apart but she’s still unwilling to back down. “What does it matter?”
I grasp her firmly by the shoulders and force her to face me. “Start from when you thought I was dead.”
Maeve looks ready to fight me but after a few seconds, she slumps in my grip and repeats her story. Everything from thinking I was dead for a year, to trying to reach out and being met by a stranger who threatened her life and that of her son, which caused her to fully flee New York. Once she finishes, I release her and force distance between us as a strange cloud fills my chest like some kind of weighted inflatable.
“I was never dead,” I say after a few long, strained seconds of silence. “I was in a coma for three weeks. I…” Turning to look at her, I’m faced with a choice. Do I trust her with the truth and risk her running back to the Red Serpents? Or do I leave her in the dark?
At this point, I’m not sure what damage she could do with old history, and I’m not confident she even was.
“You were in a coma?” Maeve prompts, sinking down into the chair near her. “You wanna spit it out so we can get this over with?”
“Do you remember the deal I told you about?”
“What?”
“Five years ago, do you remember what we talked about the last time we were together?”
Her brow flickers slightly and she swipes away a few more tears. “Something about a business deal, right? You were excited. Kept saying it was your big break between you and uhm…” Her brow dips again as if she’s searching through her memories. “I can’t remember his name, but it was important. I remember that much.”
Maybe to be expected, given how long it’s been. “That deal was huge. Biggest of my career, if you can consider organized crime a career. But there was an explosion. A lot of people died and I was severely injured. I ended up in a coma, Maeve. I didn’t die.” I step closer. “Who told you I’d died?”
She stares up at me with wide, shining eyes. “Some guy.”
“Someguy?”
“Yeah, he…” She sniffles again. “He came to the motel where we were staying and said there’d been an accident and you’d died and since I was the last person to see you, your family thought I was the cause. I’d never seen him before, but he had that.” She points at me, and I glance down at the XXX pin attached to my jacket.
“He had this?” I touch the pin.
She nods. “It wasn’t like that, though. It wasn’t sparkly. It was just a regular pin.”
Someone in my own organization told her I was dead? But no one knew about her. No one but Chip, but Maeve knows Chip. She met him five years ago when we were meeting up and she’s met him now. He’s been by my side for as long as I can remember, so I know it’s not him.
“Silver or gold?”
“Huh?”
