Burning Your Lies (King and Queen Duet #2)

2

Huxley

The thrumming in my veins makes the wait seem longer than it is. I take a sip of my whiskey, hoping the page would load in those few seconds. When it doesn’t, I sigh into my empty room.

I close my eyes, hoping I can forget Savannah for just a few seconds. The broken look on her face haunts me. She truly believes the fiction she’s created in her mind. I pick up the CCTV image of Elliot. I saw him once, but briefly. I paid little attention to him, because I was too busy stewing in jealousy that he was talking to Savannah. Still, my gaze focuses on the man facing away from the camera. It looks like him, yet Savannah firmly believes it’s an imposter. Is there a chance she’s right?

I mentally flick through every conversation I’ve had with Xavier the past few weeks, trying to see if I’ve missed something. But the more I ponder, the more certain I am that Savannah needs professional help. Hell, maybe me ordering a hit on her father and his rape club has a part to play in her paranoia.

With the loading circle still on my screen, I stand up and grab a cigar from my collection. It’s a rare treat, but after the day I’ve had, I’ve earned it. Striking a match, I’m momentarily hypnotised by the flame. Savannah is back in my vision, but this time she isn’t crying. Her eyes house the determination I know her for as she vows to burn his lies.

Taking the cigar back with me, I check to see if my results have loaded. What’s taking so fucking long?

I pull a long drag and wait for the relief that usually comes. Except my brain is on high alert and the weight on my chest is too hard to ignore. The conversation with Savannah keeps replaying on a loop. A nagging lingers in my thoughts.

My eyebrows furrow as I watch the smoke dissipate. I remember the first time I smoked a cigar. Elijah, Xavier’s dad, lit it for us and taught us how to hold it properly. Xavier never smoked one after that because Caitlyn didn’t like it. She said it made his mouth smell foul and refused to kiss him. Caitlyn. I think she was his first and true love. He was smitten with her and wrecked when she left. Savannah was wrong. He couldn’t have hurt her.

“I loved Caitlyn. You know that. I was devastated. How could I have faked that?”

Xavier’s words from our phone call a few hours ago resound in my head. They sound oddly familiar and I can’t quite place why. And then suddenly, the hairs on my arms stand on full alert. Those were practically the same words I said to Savannah in that hotel room when she brought Caitlyn up. No. It was the exact same words.

My eyes fall to the ground, and once again, I question if Savannah was right. But how could he have heard? If he bugged our clothes, it wouldn’t have mattered because we stripped naked. I close my eyes and try to think straight. Am I really considering that my friend is a murderer?

I would laugh at the thought, but the image of Savannah is back again. Taking a deep breath, I think it through logically. Neither of us had a phone with us. We stripped our clothes and discarded them in another room; so that wasn’t a possibility either. Xavier didn’t know what hotel we were in, let alone the room number; so that wasn’t possible. What did that leave?

I put myself in his shoes. If I was stalking Savannah, how would I make sure my bug went everywhere she went? What could I guarantee she would always have with her?

“Handbag?”

I ask myself.

No. That was easily left behind.

“Soles of the shoes?”

No. There was no guarantee she would wear that pair.

“Come on,”

I mutter to myself.

“Think. If I was stalking the woman who gave birth to my…”

My eyes narrow.

“The pushchair.”

My laptop pings as the page finally loads. Needing to make sure my eyes aren’t playing tricks on me, I pull the laptop closer.

No results found.

“How does a dead woman not have a death certificate?”

Xavier said his mum was dead. But there is no record of her dying. In fact, there’s no record of her at all since May 005. The last paper trail of Elizabeth Rivers is a flight to leave the country. But there’s no return.

The clogs are turning in my brain, and pieces of the puzzle are falling into place. Suddenly, I can see what Savannah saw; a pattern. Grabbing the picture from the coffee table, I head towards the one person who would certainly know if that was Elliot Hunter in the picture.

Jordan is speaking into his phone at a rapid speed as I approach him.

“What do you mean she left you with the baby?”

he hisses.

My feet halt. Who is he talking about?

“Mia, where has she gone?”

He’s silent for a few seconds.

“Let me try calling her. She can’t just … I’ll explain later, but the guy is psycho. I hope Sav knows what she’s doing.”

His tone drips with concern.

Why would Savannah leave Elise with a stranger?

“Give me the phone.”

I don’t wait for him to meet my demand, because I’m snatching it out of his hold.

“Miss Woods. Do not react. Do not say my name. Pretend as though you are still speaking to your friend.”

She gulps loud enough for me to hear.

“I don’t know what to do, Jordan. She left the baby here with no explanation. She was so paranoid and kept telling me not to open the door unless it’s you.”

“Say she needs to get help.”

If Savannah is right, then Xavier needs to think his plan is working.

“Yeah, maybe she needs help. What should I do?”

“Sit tight. When I arrive, I will slip a note under the door. You will open the door silently and without addressing me. Understood?”

Mia’s voice drips with fear.

“What is going on? What has she been hiding?”

My eyes flicker to Jordan, who is still staring at me with annoyance.

“I just need to check something. That is all.”

I hand the phone back to Jordan and walk away from their panic. But I can’t deny the panic that is building in me. What game is Savannah playing?

The drive to Jordan’s flat feels like an eternity. The best part about a sketchy neighbourhood is the lack of street cameras, which helps me if Xavier ever monitors who came and went. As promised, I slide a receipt under the door and patiently wait for Mia to follow my orders. When she lets me in, I see the worry in her eyes. I raise my finger to my lips to remind her to be silent.

I pay no attention to the messy flat. I search the room for the pushchair. Holding my breath, I check the fixture first, but the leather and plastic are intact. My fingers brush over the fabric of the seat and at first I find nothing. However, there, concealed within the seam, I notice a loose stitch. Getting closer, I zero in on the bug. He stitched it into the seat.

Savannah was right.

My mind doesn’t let me dwell on it for too long, because a second, more alarming, realisation dawns on me.

Savannah is alone with him.

I rush out of there, not explaining anything to Mia. I’m back in my car and my foot presses all the way down on the pedal.

“He’s committed murder. And I think I’m next.”

I punch my steering wheel as her words pound my head. I fucking told her she was crazy. I believed his lies. And now she is alone in that house where he was probably … I can’t even finish the thought.

I barely put my car in park before I am running towards the house. My fists pound on the door. “Xavier!”

I hear rushed footsteps before a tortured Xavier appears. His eyes are bloodshot and his hair in array.

“She took my daughter! She took her and I can’t find her.”

He is crying while I stand there dumbfounded.

“What?”

“Savannah!”

He scowls.

“She took my daughter. Help me find her, Ray!”

I glance to the side and see both of Savannah’s cars parked. I try to look past him into the house to see if she is inside, but his body blocks the view. My eyebrows furrow at the sight of the red roses that line the floor.

“Where is she?”

“I don’t know!”

He pulls his hair.

“I came home and asked the same question—”

“Not her,”

I mumble. The panic inside me has taken away my ability to breathe.

“Savannah. Where is Savannah?”

When his eyes meet mine, I understand how I was fooled by him because his anguish looks so believable. He shakes his head.

“I know you love her, but she’s troubled, Ray. She needs help. I had to do something before she hurt us.”

He leans against the doorframe as if he’s about to fall apart.

“But I was too late. She took my daughter.”

Nothing around me exists anymore. I stare at Xavier, but I can’t really see him. When I speak, it’s in a trance.

“What did you do?”

“I had to get her sectioned. They’re going to treat her schizophrenia.”

“What?”

“Ray! Where are you going?”

I’m back in my car. I’m driving home. I’m sitting on my sofa. I’m staring at the wall. I’m trying to forget the look on her face when she begged me to save her from him.

And then, I’m crying.