Duskwood Mysteries

Part 11

We had settled into our new "home away from home" as the lady at the front desk had told. "Its always nice to see young lovers frequent our charming B & B. Jake cleared his throat. "Of course that is really sweet of you. My husband has hypothermia and so we just thought we might as well rest for a day or two before heading our way." I said. "Oh poor boy. No wonder he is all covered up. I have this lovely homemade chicken stew that will warm him up in no time. Here dear take the keys. Your room is upstairs last room on the right." She said. "That is really sweet of you," I said genuinely. We had head upstairs and were settling in when the lady had given us fresh towels, blankets and of course her "homemade stew." Jake got to setting up his laptop and I was peering outside the window in deep thought. "What are you thinking?" he asked. "Nothing. It seems like I have told more lies in the past few days than my entire lifetime." I remarked. "I think that if have no choice and you lie then it isn't bad. But if you have a choice and then you lie, then that's bad." He said. "Only you can come up with that logic," I smirked. He giggled. "As long as it works. By the way, the stew smells way better than the cardboard burger." I looked at him and asked, "What did you expect? Gourmet burgers made by Wolfgang Puck?". "I prefer Ramsay over Puck. Both in food and passion," he asserted. "Never would have guessed you to be a foodie," I exclaimed. "Ummm," he said sounding a bit uncomfortable. "Well cooking is the only kind of art I appreciate." He trailed off saying just that. "What? Seems like you have a question." I asked. "Jade do you know anyone among your friends in Duskwood have a black Dodge charger?" he retorted. "Cars weren't really something I discussed with any of them. It was the intruder's car?" I asked. "Yes. It looked liked that. Weirdly there wasn't a license plate." He said. "No license plate?" I asked all surprised. "Yes plus it was dark. Whoever was involved thought of everything. I need to speak to Lilly." He said. "No," I said firmly. "No?" he questioned.

"I want to talk to her." I said, "I want to know if she can lie to my face when I confront her about this." "Ok. On speaker please." He said. I dialed Lilly's number. After the 5th ring she picked up. "Jesus Jade. Why are you calling me this early?" her voiced boomed through the phone speaker. "Well seeing that I could have been dead right now, I hope you don't mind the urgency of the situation." I said in an angry tone. "What? What happened? Are you ok?" she asked her voice filled with concern. Whether it was real or fake, it was debatable. "Who did you tell about me being in Duskwood?" I asked getting straight to the point. "About you......No one." She stuttered. Bingo. "Do you think I am a fool? Do not lie to me Lilly." I asserted. "Okay okay I told about you. I told Jake." She said. Of course she had. "I know about Jake. But who else?" I asked again. "Ok I only told Jake. Honestly Jade and that too because I was suspicious of you. What side of the bed did you wake up on?" she quipped.

"If it was up to you it would have been from the coffin." I said. Jake flinched but his eyes still furrowed. "Ok you are not making sense. What the hell happened?" she asked. "Last night someone tried to break into the apartment. The same apartment you put me in and told no one but Jake about. Now unless it was you who was the intruder I don't see how I can believe that you did not tell this to anyone else?" I asked. "Your statement has the answer. Maybe it was Jake coming there to surprise you or something?" she retorted. As usual she did not know that Jake was already with me. "Wow that's rich. You think your brother would do that? Besides I already spoke to him. It wasn't him. And for your information I already know that you told Jake about me. Jake told me that right after you left the apartment the first time. So Lilly you better not lie to me. It is not a freaking joke" I pressed. "Jade believe me. I did not tell anyone. Are you ok? Did he .... Harm you in any way?" she asked again. If she was lying then her lie was pretty convincing. "I am fine." I said. "Did you see the person Jade?" she asked. "No, he was wearing a hood. I am pretty sure he tampered my car too." I said. "Oh God. Let me come there and get you," she said. "Don't bother. I left." I said. Silence. "Oh. Jade you have to believe me. I did not tell anyone. I did not even meet anyone. Jade it would be absolutely stupid for me to lie, the building has security cameras, it would capture who got into the building and who got out." She said. "I know. I am going to check those now. Jake just sent them to me. Lilly if I see someone I know or even you for that matter, remember you are toast." I said. Jake gave me a quizzical expression. We had already seen the live footage. There was no way we could figure out who it was. "Ok Jade I am going to say this again. I did not tell anyone. I don't know how anyone else would know that you are here." She said defeatedly. Granted my bluff was completely bad. Even by some possibility we did find the identity of the intruder, it could not prove that Lilly was the one who had alerted him/her. I looked at Jake for something to ask.

The car, he mouthed. "It was really smart of you to use a car with no license plate. Was that your idea or the idea of the friend you told about me?" I asked accusingly. Somewhere in my mind I couldn't believe that Lilly could so calculative but everything pointed to her. "Are you high? Look if I had to hurt you I would have done it the first time I saw you and don't you think it would be stupid to hurt you in a place that is tied to my family?" she asked. All valid points. But what if the person she told was desperate or in a time crunch or just that my presence put that pressure on them? "Fine. Have it your way. I am going to the cops saying that someone in a Black Dodge Charger without a license plate broke into the apartment that I was staying at. I hope you will be more than happy to answer that to the cops since your family owns the place." I said. I know I was going too far. Threatening almost. But I had to baffle her somehow so that she could tell me the truth. Silence. "Lilly?" I asked.

"Did you say it was a black Dodge Charger?" she asked with a quiver in her voice. Jake narrowed his eyes. "Yes," I said. "What time did it happen?" she asked. "Lilly you've got to stop running around in circles and tell.." "DAMMIT JADE. WHAT TIME?" she screamed. Her tone surprised me. "Around 2 am. What's happening Lilly? Do you know who has that car?" I asked. "Yes.. I know." She said. "And I saw him last night too. At my home. The black Dodge charger had no license plate because it was brand new. It belongs to Dan."