The Waitress

22 - Tell Me Lies

When it was time, Kaely moved slowly over to the door and tested the handle. It twisted all the way around, and with a gentle pull it swung open. She sighed, not knowing if it'd been open the whole time or not. If it had been, she felt silly. She could've easily escaped by now, and she wouldn't have to sit through an entire night listening to more of her mother's lies.

Unless the lies could be explained.

She wanted so badly to know what really happened on the day of the crash. All she remembered was her mother driving, and suddenly there was a loud bang and the left side of the car – the car that her dad was on – had been smashed in. If Kaely had been sitting behind him, she'd have died. They went over the railings and crashed into the water below, and her father couldn't be saved in time. Kaely managed to get out somehow, and it was only when she began recovering in the hospital that she was told her parents didn't make it. Ever since, she'd lived thinking it had been an accident. Until now. Now, she didn't know what to believe. She knew what Jared had told her; that her mother was a murderer, and that meant she must've tried to kill her and her father. But that was what the boys knew, and she didn't know whether to trust them or Genevieve. They were all as bad as each other, so who was telling the truth?

She descended the stairs in the ballroom and came to the opening that led to the dining room, finding Genevieve sitting cross-legged on the couch in front of the fire. The coffee table before her held two mugs, one in front of her mother and one in front of the empty space beside her. There was a large plate of food on the other side of the coffee table, untouched. Kaely crossed the room slowly, taking a seat in the armchair. She pretended not to notice Genevieve's hurt expression.

"I didn't think you were going to come," the woman announced finally, reaching forward to collect the mug from in front of her. She took a drink and put it back down carefully before Kaely spoke.

"You kidnapped me," Kaely announced finally, trying to keep the emotion out of her voice.

"You would have rather stayed with that boy?" Genevieve asked with a curious expression. Kaely didn't answer. "You've been lied to, Kaely. Not just by me. I didn't mean to kidnap you, but I had no choice. At least here, you're safe."

"You think you're keeping me here?" Kaely demanded, an angry expression on her face. "I'd have been long gone by now if I wanted to leave." She saw Genevieve's reaction and scowled. "Oh, don't flatter yourself," she hissed. "The only reason I'm here is because you said you had answers. I want them."

Genevieve nodded her head, crossing one leg over the other. She looked down at her hands, and Kaely narrowed her eyes.

"Talk," she growled. "You're wasting my time." Genevieve sighed; it sounded pained, but she didn't care.

"From the start?"

"The day you decided to fake your death," Kaely agreed, her eyes still narrowed. "I want to know everything."

Genevieve nodded. "Yes, well... no one was supposed to survive that crash except for me. I've been working with Allison for twenty years now, and together we've done some very bad things to some very bad people. Despite all the murder I'd done, when Richard Campbell tracked us down and contracted us to kill Wade Smith, I said no. Killing the Governor-General was... just too far. Campbell told me that things would get messy for my family; he threatened you and your father–" At this point, her voice threatened to break but Kaely lifted her chin and didn't let her in. "I told Wyatt to pack," she continued eventually, her voice now calm. "We had to leave England, so I could protect you. We came to Australia so I could hide you and publically warn Wade Smith, but as we landed Campbell had been expecting us, and we were run off the road. It was meant to scare me, to force me into submission; I was pulled from the water and my disappearance was covered up, but you were never meant to live. He wanted to kill my family so I would have no other reason than to follow his orders. So I hid you, and made you invisible. I made him believe that I would continue with the plan because he killed my family, but then you poked your head out with Jared Dalton, and I knew they'd discovered my identity. They planned to threaten me, by using you to force me to clear their names and hence declaring myself guilty. But then it went sideways. Richard Campbell soon discovered that Dalton had you, and he set out to find you. He knew he would be uncovered if the boy's threat worked, and planned to use you himself so I wouldn't talk. But you trusted the boy, and escaped. Allison and I tried to extract you, to free you, but the blond girl wouldn't let us take you. It got out of hand; the fire was not meant to happen, but Allison was clearly given orders of her own. I've not spoken to either of them since; they don't know where you are, and they don't know where I am either."