Chapter 58 A Pair of Misery
Elena practically ran the last two blocks to Mandy’s apartment building after the cab dropped her a good distance away.
Call it paranoia, but she wasn't willing to give up her location to anyone, not even the can drives.
Her lungs burned from jogging, but the envelope of cash pressed against her ribs gave her a sense of relief she hadn't felt in days.
Francis was gone. Handcuffed and shoved into the back of a police cruiser by Silas. For the first time since Savannah, she felt like she had won a small battle.
She reached the front door of the building, fumbled with the key under the fake rock, and pushed inside.
She didn't wait for the elevator. She took the stairs two at a time, heading for the third floor. She wanted to burst into the apartment and tell Mandy that her rent money was safe, that the nightmare of the video and Francis was over.
But when she reached the door to the small homey apartment, she stopped.
The door wasn't fully closed. It was hanging open by a few inches, the wood around the lock looked slightly splintered.
"Mandy?" Elena whispered, her heart dropping into her stomach.
She pushed the door open slowly and saw that the living room was a mess.
The small coffee table was overturned, and the "Project Angel" files were scattered across the rug. Elena’s first thought was Julian.
He had found her. He had come for the papers and taken Mandy instead.
"Mandy! Are you here?" Elena yelled, stepping over a broken lamp.
A muffled sob came from the bedroom and Elena ran toward the sound and found Mandy sitting on the floor in the corner of the room.
Her hair was a mess, and her face was red and swollen from crying. She was throwing clothes into a duffel bag.
"Elena, you have to go," Mandy gasped, not even looking up. "You have to get out of here right now. Take your things and run. Get as far away as you can."
Elena dropped to her knees beside her friend. "Mandy, stop! What happened? Was it Julian? Did he come here for me? I am so sorry, I never should have brought this to your door—"
"It wasn't Julian," Mandy said. "It wasn't your husband, Elena. It was mine."
Elena blinked, confused. "Your husband? Mandy, what are you talking about? You’ve never been married. You told me you were single."
Mandy let out a sharp, hysterical laugh and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. "I lied. I lied to everyone. It was a private wedding, three years ago. I married David Kirk. He was twenty years older than me and he was sick. Really sick.”
Elena blinked. "David Kirk?”
"Yes, he had a terminal disease and he only had a few weeks left when we met."
Elena stared at her. "The Kirk family? The real estate billionaires?"
"Yes," Mandy nodded, more tears spilling down her cheeks. "Everyone thinks I’m a gold-digger. They think I saw a dying man with a massive bank account and swooped in to steal his inheritance. But it wasn't like that, Elena. I loved him. He was the kindest man I’d ever met, and I just wanted to grant his dying wish. I didn't even know he had signed over all his wealth to me until the funeral was over."
Mandy grabbed another handful of shirts and stuffed them into the bag. "That’s why the spa is so successful. That’s why I have all that money. But I can't touch most of it. David’s family hate me. They’ve been fighting the will for years. They give me an allowance, and they keep me in this tiny apartment just to humble me. And now... now it’s all over."
"What do you mean?" Elena asked. "Marrying a rich man isn't a crime, Mandy. You have to calm down.”
"But that's not all. I've been living with their hatred for all this while. But now, there won't be any escape when they find out.”
"Find out what?”
"David had a younger brother. Holland. He’s only twenty-two," Mandy whispered, her voice shaking. "He’s a monster, Elena. A few months ago, I was at a family dinner, and I got drunk. I was grieving, and I had too much wine. Holland took advantage of me. He took me to a room and he recorded us. He recorded everything."
Elena froze. "Blackmail?"
"He’s been draining me dry," Mandy sobbed. "That’s why I’m always broke. That’s why I couldn't pay the rent this month. He takes every cent the Kirks send me. He says if I don't pay, he’ll send the clips to the family lawyers. If the board of the Kirk Trust sees those videos, they’ll use the 'morality clause' in the will to cut me off completely. I’ll have nothing. I’ll be on the street."
Elena was shocked.
She looked at her friend and realized they were living parallel lives. Both of them were being hunted by men who wanted to use their bodies and their reputations to control them.
"Mandy, listen to me," Elena said, grabbing Mandy’s hands to stop her from packing. "I just met Silas. My old friend from college. It turns out he’s a detective and he just arrested Francis. He can help you, too. I can introduce you to him. He’ll take Holland down and get those clips back."
Mandy’s eyes went wide with even more fear. "No! No, Elena, you don't understand. Holland isn't like Francis. He’s not some petty blackmailer. He’s a gang leader. He runs half the South Side. He has people everywhere. If the police get involved, he won't just go to jail, he’ll have me killed before I can even sign a statement. He’s more dangerous than Francis and your father combined."
Mandy stood up, pulling her bag over her shoulder. "I have to leave the city. It’s the only way. I have some cash hidden in a floorboard. I’m going to disappear."
"You can't just run away!" Elena argued. "He’ll find you. Men like that always find you. We have to fight back. We have the Project Angel files, maybe we can use those as leverage—"
"Leverage for what?" Mandy screamed. "I’m a beautician who married a dead billionaire! You’re a girl who isn't even a real Vance! We have nothing, Elena! We are just two women in a room while the world tries to crush us!"
Elena stood there, stunned by the raw pain in Mandy’s voice.
She looked at the trashed apartment and realized that her presence really had made things worse. If she hadn't been here, maybe Mandy could have kept hiding.
"I'm sorry," Elena whispered. "I'm so sorry, Mandy."
"It’s not your fault," Mandy said, softening for a second. She reached out and touched Elena’s arm. "It’s just the way it is for people like us. Now, please, grab your bag. We have to go before Holland sends his boys back to—"
BAM! BAM! BAM!
A heavy knock sounded at the front door. The sound was so loud it made the windows rattle.
Both women froze.
"Mandy Kirk! Open up! This is the Chicago Police Department!" a man’s voice yelled from the hallway.
Elena and Mandy looked at each other in total shock.
"The police?" Elena whispered. "Did Silas follow me? Or is this Julian?"
"I don't know," Mandy gasped, her face turning white.
"Open the door now or we will kick it in!" the voice yelled again.
Elena looked at the "Project Angel" files scattered on the living room floor. If the police came in and saw those, it was over.
Everything Julian was trying to hide, everything her father had built, it would all be out in the open.
Mandy grabbed Elena’s arm, her grip bruising. "Is this because of you? Did Julian call them?"
"I don't know!" Elena cried.
Then she scrambled toward the living room, trying to grab the papers, but the door flew open with a violent crash.
Three officers in blue uniforms burst into the room, their guns drawn and pointed at the two women.
"Hands in the air! Get on the ground! Now!"