The Truant Officer (38 page)

The others joined Darren in the dining room. His eyes first went to Lilly. He was relieved to see that the color had returned to her bronzed skin. They were all dressed for dinner—men in dark suits and women in black evening gowns. Lilly also sported a pair of crutches, her leg set in a cast.

Her eyes appeared hazy, probably the result of pain medication. She gave him a cloudy smile. He pulled his eyes away before her look trapped him. He planned to die with his dignity intact, as best he could.

Audrey had turned back into Natalie Gold, including the blonde wig. Her fans could extinguish their candles and save their tears. It was a miracle she didn’t at the least suffer severe burns or head trauma, and with the wonder of make-up, her facial abrasions could barely be detected. Darren was the only one who was informed enough to understand the odds they beat to survive the crash landing. But the group seemed to comprehend that the odds of surviving Sarvydas were much steeper.

The most surprising guest was Nick. He stood next to Natalie like they were posing for prom photos, which led Darren to again think of Becks. He was worried for her, but wherever she was, it was less precarious than being at this dinner party, especially since they’d likely be the main course.

Viktor entered the room, flanked by a limping Zubov and a handful of bodyguards. The moment called for trumpets to play, but the room was pin-drop silent. He was shorter than Darren expected and wore a flamboyant purple suit. He seemed more like an eccentric musician than a feared international gangster.

As he got closer, Sarvydas locked eyes with Nick. The intensity between them made Darren uncomfortable. They stood in silence, and then Nick rushed toward him.

Surprisingly, Zubov and the guards didn’t make any move to restrain him. The two men embraced. Not a good sign.

“It’s so good to see you again, my son,” Sarvydas said, his words choking with emotion.

The two words hung like a dark cloud over the room—
my son
.

“Oh my god,” Natalie exclaimed.

Viktor viewed the room, before resting his eyes on Darren. He felt a chill down his newly found spine.

Chapter 92

“I’d like to welcome you, Mr. McLaughlin. Your work in getting all parties safely here tonight was nothing short of heroic. But this is not surprising to me—it’s why you were chosen.”

Darren didn’t acknowledge the words.

Sarvydas’ eyes traveled down Lilly’s body until they arrived at the cast. “How is your leg feeling? I employ only the best doctors, and they tell me that you’ll be back to new in no time.”

“What’s the difference? I already died in a plane crash, or at least that is what my obituary will state,” she replied with defiance.

Sarvydas didn’t try to reassure her. He turned his attention to Natalie. “It appears I didn’t know you as well as I thought I did,
Audrey.
A relationship can’t be built on lies. Lies always get you in the end.”

She fired back, “You would be speaking from experience. You tried to murder me once, and used me to lead Alexei to his death. What kind of monster murders his own son?”

“I made you a star, and this is how you repay me?”

Natalie turned to Nick, and seemed to turn back into Audrey. “I don’t understand, Nick. This is the man who killed your mother.”

Sarvydas boiled. “I never did anything of the sort! I have spent my life protecting Nick and his mother.”

He looked deep into Nick’s eyes. He might have been talking to the group, but his words were meant for Nick. “I loved your mother and I wouldn’t allow her to be harmed by my enemies. And when I found out she was pregnant, it wasn’t just her I had to protect, it was also you. So I encouraged Paula to pursue a relationship with Karl, which she did. When Paula informed Karl that she was pregnant, they rushed to marriage, and you were born soon after. I made sure that Paula’s doctor indicated for the record that you were born prematurely. But I doubt that Karl would’ve questioned it, anyway.” He looked at Audrey. “Sometimes we want to believe something so bad that we make ourselves believe that lies are truth.

“After the marriage and child, my enemies backed off Paula. And Karl took a more behind-the-scenes role in my organizatsiya—a role he would thrive in, resulting in our worldwide economic dominance. My enemies knew a simple fact—if Paula Branche belonged to Viktor Sarvydas, then he would never allow his subordinate to impregnate her and live. I was counting on such a response. It pained me everyday to think of Paula with another man, raising my son, but when you love someone you have to make the ultimate sacrifice.”

Darren looked at Lilly. It was clear to him that making these ultimate sacrifices for the one you love is not always enough.

Audrey agreed. “A relationship can’t be built on lies. They always get you in the end,” she threw his words back at him.

Sarvydas didn’t rage, as Darren expected. He bowed his head in shameful acceptance. “Paula and I had no apologies for taking any means to protect our son. But in the end, you are right, the kingdom that is built on lies will fall like a house of cards.”

Audrey once again turned to Nick. “Did you know about this the whole time, Nick? Was
our
relationship built on lies!?”

“I had no idea of any of this until after my mother was killed. I was just waiting for the right time to tell you, Audrey, I swear.”

“You’ve got me here now, Nick.”

“Do you remember when Viktor showed up at my mother’s funeral?”

“Yes, when Karl accused him of being behind your mother’s murder and threatened to kill him if he didn’t leave. You were the one with the calm head. You separated them and then escorted Viktor off the premises. The funeral went on without further incident.”

“Before he left, Viktor gave me an item he claimed would help me to understand what happened to my mother. It was a key to a lock box in a bank. I threw the key to the ground. But my curiosity got the best of me, and I went back to pick it up after he left.”

“What was in the lock box?”

“A letter from my mother, explaining that Viktor was indeed my biological father. It repeated what he just told you—basically that she and Viktor thought I was in danger, and that Karl never knew. But I still didn’t believe it—I thought it was some sort of trick by Viktor, maybe to give him an alibi for her murder.”

“What made you believe him?”

“I went back to Viktor, demanding answers. He offered up his DNA and I had it tested. It came back as a perfect match—I was his son. He assured me that he was not behind her death, but he knew who was.”

“Who killed your mother, Nick?”

“Viktor gave me the name of someone who he claimed had the answers. That person turned out to be Dava Lazinski—she became our intermediary. She provided me with a video.”

“What was on the video?”

“The moment that changed everything.”

Chapter 93

Nick clicked a remote and the video projected onto the window-television.

The tape was amateurish. Its source was a camera hidden in the wall of a small New York apartment.

Onscreen, Alexei Sarvydas entered the room—he looked heavier than his post-prison look, and his hair much longer. A man followed him into the apartment. He was of average height and build and sported a casual outfit of sweater and jeans. He wore a neatly trimmed goatee on a face that was otherwise bookish-looking. It was Karl Zellen.

“What is this place?” Karl asked, seemingly annoyed to be in Alexei’s presence.

“A little hiding place I use when I need to have a private conversation—I think Viktor has bugged the club. It belongs to this chick Rachel I’ve been seeing.”

“One of your whores, I’m sure. So what is so important that requires such secrecy? I have to pick Sasha up from skating practice, so make it quick.”

“My father would have told you himself, but he’s too busy making music with your wife,” Alexei replied with a knowing smirk.

“Is this about Paula’s album? Viktor tells me it’s coming along nicely. She’s been very excited about it.”

Alexei reached into the pocket of his leather coat and took out an object. He tossed it onto a coffee table that was cluttered with girly magazines. It was a tape recorder. Alexei indicated for Karl to click it on. The tape played the voices of Viktor and Paula.

It started with talk of recapturing their love, agreeing that they had wasted so many years by not being together. Paula stated that she feared hurting Karl, but had made up her mind to leave him for Viktor. “I can’t live a lie anymore. These last weeks in your arms have made that clear. The kids are grown now—they will be angry at first, but they will come to accept us.”

Karl slumped onto a couch as if he’d been mortally wounded. Then it got worse. Viktor protested on tape, “As much as I want to be with you, Paula, the danger is too great. I sent you to Karl, not just to protect you, but also to protect our son. If we are together again, then my enemies will re-examine the past and wonder if Nick is really Karl’s son. It could put him in danger.”

“That was a long time ago. You are Nick’s father, Viktor. Karl is a great man who did a wonderful job raising him, but a young man should know his father.”

“Time might have passed, but old grudges never die.”

“I would do anything to protect my children, and I have, which is why I’ve decided I must tell Nick the truth. Then I will do the same with Karl. The lies are more dangerous to us than your enemies.”

The tape clicked off.

Karl lashed out at Alexei, “You made this up! This can’t be true. Nick is my son, a father would know that!”

“What would I gain from making this up? I am in line to take over the business when Viktor steps aside. The last thing I want is some gold-digging stepmother to take my portion, or a bastard brother dropping in from out of the blue.”

Karl began pacing. “Don’t talk about them that way!”

“Don’t talk about who? Your cheating wife or the son you’re still pretending to be yours?”

“How did you get that tape?”

Alexei smiled wickedly. “When I moved to Florida, I lived at the family compound in Fisher Island. I didn’t think the place was safe enough, so I put in a recording system. I guess I forgot to mention it to my father, must have slipped my mind. Viktor and Paula should have rented an apartment like this if they wanted privacy.”

According to Eicher, Karl was a cool, efficient assassin who rarely showed emotion. But that person had been taken over by the lust for revenge. He screamed out his plans to shred Viktor’s body parts, and a desire to cut out Paula’s womb as a punishment for what she had done. He fired his fist into a coffee table, sending magazines and assorted knickknacks in all directions. He shouted that he would never allow them to be together, and Nick would always be his son. He wouldn’t let them take his life away from him.

Karl gathered himself and morphed into his cold, calculating persona. The two men then hatched a plan. It would start by leaking enough information to the feds so that Karl would be arrested on money laundering charges. They would get word out that he planned to cooperate—make it clear that he was willing to take down Viktor to save his own hide. Viktor would predictably respond with threats, and when those failed, he would make his point in blood. Perhaps a family member of Karl’s would end up dead. Viktor would be blamed when Paula Zellen was murdered.

Karl didn’t waver or flinch as he signed off on the plan that would send his wife to her execution. Alexei, who had access to the mansion, would arrange her murder during one of Paula and Viktor’s “music sessions” that Karl assured her were necessary to keep up for appearances’ sake.

Paula would be killed in the same ambush style that Viktor had used to take power—the ultimate copycat crime. The rumors were always there that Viktor had Alexei’s mother killed, and after what he heard on the tape, Alexei could no longer dismiss them. He would leave Viktor alive, to suffer the same way he did.

When the tape clicked off, Audrey looked at Nick. Her face was horrified, but filled with compassion. “So when you saw that video, you set up a plan to get revenge on the people who killed your mother—Alexei and Karl.”

Viktor spoke for his son, “I had the police set up a meeting with Karl, claiming new leads on his wife’s murder. Karl was very interested in them finding Paula’s killer, just not the real one...himself. Officers Dantelli and Bachynsky told me that the look on Karl’s face was priceless when they informed him that the apartment he and Alexei used to seek privacy, had been under surveillance.”

“But the police didn’t kill him, did they? And neither did Alexei,” Audrey blurted, her eyes locked on Nick. She now knew who killed Karl Zellen—they all did.

Nick stated without emotion, “I didn’t come home unexpectedly. I came home to get justice for my mother. But not until I made him beg for his life.”

“And you also set up Alexei.”

“Dantelli and Bachynsky had access to Alexei’s fingerprints from the NYPD and left them behind. Alexei was on one of his coke benders, and had no alibi...at least not one he could remember. Of course my fingerprints would be there, since I lived in that house of lies most of my life.”

Lilly spoke, “You played the victim and were put in witness protection, but really the person we needed to be protected from was you.”

“You did this to yourself, Lilly. You are no more a victim than I am.”

“You had to get out of Arizona to make sure there was no trial, while getting rid of the evidence along the way—Dantelli and Bachynsky. And the reason you were so desperate to get to back to New York had nothing to do with Sasha’s safety—Viktor never would have let anything happen to her—it was to finish the job by killing Alexei. But you were too much of a coward to do it yourself—you had to use Darren and I as your cover.”

“You wanted this, Lilly, as much as I did. And deep down, even with what you know now, you would do the same thing again.”

“So now that your revenge is complete, you can get rid of the rest of the evidence. Toss us out at sea and claim we died in the plane crash.”