Sweet Liar Part 17

It wasnat easy for Mike to put her through this theatrical production. He suspected that, at best, it was going to be an ordeal for her, but he also knew by something he called gut instinct, but Kane very well knew was nothing more than deep, unselfish love, that this was the only way that Samantha could ever possibly attain the peace she so desperately needed.

Because Mike saw it as the only waya"abhorrent to him as it might bea"he was going to say whatever he had to, to get Samantha to partic.i.p.ate. He couldnat very well tell her that he thought the sight of blood and having to hear all the gory truth of what some gangster had done to decimate her family would be good for her, so in essence, Mike was telling her that the night was to be an amusing little diversion that would give his relatives something to do and would entertain everyone.

Mike was lying, as Kane knew that Sam often accused him of, but Mike knew that Samantha would never take part in this drama if she thought it was just for her. She would do it for Mike, but shead never do this for herself.

Silently, Kane listened as his brother threw out a long line of bull about Jubilee having secrets and H.H. knowing more than what he was telling, and how, if Mike could find out answers to his questions, he would fulfill a lifelong goal of writing this book. But Kane knew exactly what his brother was doing, and head never been so proud of him in his life as he was at this moment. With identical eyes that reflected the pride and love he felt, he looked at Mike; Mike saw and, as always, he understood exactly what his twin was thinking. Turning a bit red, Mike looked away, but he smiled, pleased with his brotheras unspoken praise.

After Samantha heard what Mike had to say, she knew that if she hadnat already been sitting she would have had to. aWho are we going to use for an audience?a she asked, eyes wide in astonishment. aHow can we get enough actors to partic.i.p.ate? And even if we found them it would take months to rehea.r.s.e them.a The unspoken words that Maxie doesnat have months filled the room.

aWeall use relatives,a Mike and Kane said in unisona"something that she was beginning to learn that they often dida"and they said the words as one would say, Weall use mannequins.

aMike,a Samantha said, trying to sound reasonable. aWe would need over a hundred people and they need 1920s clothes. Itas going to costa"a ah.e.l.l, weall let the Montgomerys pay, or Frank can pay. Frank can buy some costume studio in L.A. and make a fortune off of ita"as he always does. Donat worry about the money.a Looking down at her hands, then back up at them, she grimaced. The mention of Ornette made her feel a little queasy. aWhat about the band?a aWeall ask Jubilee for the music.a She gave them a look of disbelief. aJubilee is a hundred and one years old!a aAnd bored out of his mind,a Mike answered. aIf we can get him away from his termagant daughter, I bet head love to help us.a Samantha wanted to say that the whole idea terrified her. It wasnat just the idea of singing in front of a lot of people that bothered her, although it did, nor was it the idea of trying to act in front of more than a hundred people. What bothered her was the outrage of that night. People had been killed that night; her mother had been murdered since then; her grandmother had spent a lifetime in hiding because of whatever happened on that night. She wasnat sure if she wanted to look into the face of that evil.

Mike saw her hesitation. Reaching across the table, he took her hand. aI think the idea of a show will appeal to Jubilee, and H.H. with that tattoo of his has got to be the biggest ham alive and maybe, if Maxie sees what everyone else is doing, sheall open up.a She looked at him. aAnd what about Doc?a Mike took a while before he answered. aDoc is going to watch all of it.a At that Samantha laughed. aI can see the invitation now: Miss Samantha Elliot and Troupe request the pleasure of your company at Jubileeas Place to recreate the worst night of your life.a Neither Mike nor Kane looked at each other, but Sam could feel them exchanging looks. aMike,a she said softly, ahow are you going to get him there?a aLet me worry about that,a Mike said patronizingly.

But Kane didnat lie to her. Of course, he didnat have the motivation for lying that Mike did, for Mike was sure his life would be over if anything happened to Sam. Then, too, Mike knew Samanthaas propensity for sticking her nose into places where it didnat belong.

aWeare going to kidnap him,a Kane said.

Samantha nodded, for itas what shead thought when Mike had first said Doc was going to watch. aWhat has been done so far?a she asked, for she could tell that during the last days, while she had been grieving all over again for her mother, Michael had been very, very busy.

This time Mike and Kane did exchange looks, but it was a look of pride on Mikeas part, as though head told his brother that Sam was the bravest person in the world and here was proof.

As they started talking, right away Samantha could see things that needed to be done, such as who was going to play Doc and what did Doc look like as a young man, and where were the headquarters for the many meetings that were going to be needed, and where were his parents staying, not, she hoped, in a hotel.

Kane sat back and drank a cup of coffee while he watched Sam and Mike argue over having his relatives move into Mikeas town house for the duration. aThey are perfectly happy in their various hotels. They have room service, maid servicea"and I have peace and quiet and privacy.a aAll of New York is room service!a Samantha snapped at him. aAnd where is your brother staying? Your twin brother and his darling children?a aThose brats are anything but darling!a Mike half shouted at her. aTheyave already eaten half my roses this morning and one of them dug a hole in my garden you could drop a car into. If I let them in my house, theyall destroy this place.a aOh, is that it?a she asked, her mouth in a tight line. aItas your house, your relatives. Not any of it is mine, I guess, not even the upstairs. I should have understood that from the beginning, after all, Iam just your tenant and nothing else. I have no rights.a At that Mike took her in his arms. aAh, baby, thatas not what I meant. Of course you have rights. If you want all of them, cousins, whatever, here, then you can have them.a Looking over Mikeas shoulder, Samantha winked at Kane. She may have played dirty in the fight, but shead won, and wasnat that what counted? Kane raised his cup to her in silent salute.

31.

A fter Samantha got over her initial qualms about the feasibility of trying to recreate a moment of the past, she went to work with a vengeance. The first thing she did was invite everyone who was to be involved in key roles to the house for dinner and a planning meeting.

aAnd I will cook,a she said, to which Mike began to guffaw, saying that to her cooking probably meant punching the telephone b.u.t.tons until her fingers were sore. Ignoring him, Sam gave Mike and Kane a very long grocery list that included such things as fresh cilantro, green chiliesa"anot those awful canned kindaa"c.u.min, pion nuts, and posole.

By the evening, when Mikeas relatives arrived, the house was redolent with smells of chili, corn, and beef. Mike, Kane, and the twins had spent the day being ordered about by Sam as though they were in the army, as she gave them onions to chop, chilies to roast and peel, and, for the boys, bread to tear into pieces for bread pudding.

Everyone arrived hungry. While Mike poured margaritas they began to organize the recreation of the long-ago evening.

Jubilee with his mean-looking gray-haired granddaughter in tow came, but Jubilee sent her home after the first five minutes, leaving Ornette to stay with his great-grandfather.

It was as everyone was eating plates full of enchiladas, relleos, posole, and pinto beans, exclaiming with every bite about how hot the food was and saying they couldnat eat it even as they reached for more, that Samantha began to believe that it was really going to work, because people were already talking of revealing secrets. Jubilee said that whoever was going to be directing Scalpinias men had better talk to him first. And H.H. (only the older children had been allowed to come and they were fascinated with H.H.as tattooed hand) said head need to talk to Samantha/Maxie.

Halfway through the meal, when it was so noisy they could hardly hear each other, the front door opened and in came Blair, and she had Maxie on her bed, tubes connecting her to the machine rolling beside her.

aI tried to talk her out of it,a Blair said, wearing her doctor face. aBut she begged me. Well, is there any food left?a For a moment, everyone gave Jubilee and Maxie some time alone as they held hands and looked into each otheras eyes, sharing secrets that the others could only guess at. To the surprise of Mike and Sam, H.H. seemed to know Maxie very well. Whatas more, his respect for her seemed to be something that was usually reserved for overlords or, at the very least, great wizards.

aWhoas going to play Doc?a Sam asked loudly, her hand on her grandmotheras shoulder, wanting to break the somber mood the evening had taken, for Maxie looked weaker every day. aOf course it would help if we knew what Doc looked like in those days.a With those words Maxie became involved. All the way over in the ambulance that held Maxieas bed and machines, Blair had told her about what they planned, so Maxie knew what was needed.

Blair reported to Mike that the bloodstain on Maxieas dress was A positive, the most common type of blood. It could have been the blood of any number of people who were shot that night. It was not Michael Ransomeas blood, which was O positive.

After Maxie arrived, Daphne entered with six of her friends. The sight of Daphne brought a hush over the crowd, for she was dressed as gaudily as a Texas tourist in Santa Fe, dripping sparkling fringe, with black and white feathers sprouting from her shoulders. After Samantha introduced her to Mikeas family, Mike told them that Daphne and her friends were going to be the chorus and backup singers for Samantha. One of Mikeas teenage cousins gaped at Daphne. When he recovered his powers of speech, he asked Vicky if they could measure Daphne and her friends for their costumes. Vicky rolled her eyes skyward, but one of Daphneas girls, looking at the clean-cut young men, said theyad not mind at all if the boys measured thema"it would make them feel like schoolteachers.

When Samantha showed Maxieas clothes to everyone, Raine said, aNice shoes,a and they all laughed. Asking about the joke, Sam was told that Raineas mother loved shoes so much that she had a room full of them. Straight-faced, Sam asked, aWhat size?a which caused more laughter.

They ate bread pudding and bowls full of flan as they a.s.signed roles and figured out how everyone was to rehea.r.s.e. Some of them were to help the princ.i.p.als, such as Vicky, to make clothing, then later they were to be in the audience. Jilly was to be the resident historian, giving answers on any and all questions about what to wear, how to act, and what slang was to be used. Slang study was considered necessary after one of Mikeas young cousins said he was sure the word groovy came from the twenties.

Only once did Samantha think of calling the whole thing off, and that was when Mikeas dad, Ian, talked of arranging for machine gun practice. He saw Samas face and told her the guns wouldnat be any more real than they were in the movies, but she remembered the death not too long ago of an actor who was playing with a pistol loaded with blanks.

It was late when everyone left, and there was lavish praise of Samanthaas cooking.

aI havenat been in Santa Fe for years,a Ian said as he stood at the front door, abut I remember it as being a rather sophisticated little town.a aI wouldnat say itas exactly unsophisticated,a Samantha answered without a hint of smile, abut the brides there do register their china and silver at Wal-mart.a Ian chuckled all the way down the stoop while Pat and Samantha arranged for her and Ian to move into Mikeas house the next day. When she left, she kissed Samas cheek.

When everyone had left, Maxie with Blair back to the nursing home, Kane with the boys to the hotel to return in the morning with their clothes to move in, Samantha looked at Mike. And Mike looked at Samantha.

In the next minute they were on each other, making love on the foyer floor, then moving into the living room, then to the library, both of them feeling as though they hadnat seen each other in six months. In his exuberance, Mike began to bend Samas body into unnatural shapes, but she was so limber from years of aerobics cla.s.ses that she bent easily, her legs twisting about various parts of him with ease. They fell asleep on the floor of the breakfast room and woke in the wee hours, to feel bruised parts of each otheras bodies. Mike, yawning, said they ought to go to bed, but Samantha said that she just had to have a batha"a nook and cranny bath. Grinning, Mike picked her up and carried her up to the bathroom.

h.e.l.l, Samantha thought, was rehearsing with Ornette Johnson. Never in her life had she met such a bigot, and when she called him thata"after head told her for the fourth time in three hours that she was too white to sing the bluesa"a hush came over the room. According to Ornette, only white people could be bigots, and that idiocy sent Samantha into a rage.

When Mike entered the nursing home recreation room, he found Samantha standing on a chair shouting into Ornetteas handsome face while he yelled back at her. Maxie and Jubilee sat to one side, looking on with expressions of adoration.

aSo whoas winning?a Mike asked, taking a seat next to Maxie.

aIad say it was a draw, wouldnat you, Jube?a aA draw, yes. I think Ornetteas met his match.a Leaning forward, Mike quietly told them that he had arranged for a record producer to attend the night Ornette was going to play. aWho knows what will happen, but at least heall be heard.a Smiling and nodding, Jubilee nudged Maxie to tell her that Samantha had just called Ornette a racist and that they should watch the show the way the other residents of the nursing home were doing.

One morning, two days before the performance, Samantha threw up. aNerves,a she said as Mike handed her a washcloth. As head done before, Mike held her head while she heaved, then smiling mischievously, he suggested breakfast, which sent Sam back to the toilet.

By midmorning she felt better, ate some toast and juice, and took the vitamins Mike handed her. With a wicked grin, she said, aHowas the dancing coming?a It had taken her four days of badgering to get Mike to tell her what he was doing to prepare for his role of Michael Ransome. When head at last told her, head had such a look of martyrdom on his face that she couldnat help laughing. Mike was taking lessons in ballroom dancing.

At eleven Mike went with Sam to Maxieas, then waited outside for what turned out to be three hours while Maxie told Samantha everything she knew about that night in 1928. When Samantha came out, she was white-faced and drawn looking.

aFind out?a Mike asked, taking her hand.

aYes,a she answered. aMost of it, but not all.a Looking at Mike, her mouth was a hard line. aThat corrupt old man,a she said, and Mike knew she was referring to Doc. He also knew that Sam would have cursed, but there were no words to describe what she felt about the man.

Everything had gone so perfectly that there had to be something that went wrong, and it did. On the morning before the day of the performance, after Samantha had thrown up for the third time, Kane called and said that one of his sons was sick. He said it was nothing, but Samantha could hear the worry in his voice.

aBlairas with him and she says itas nothing to be concerned about, but I donat want to leave him. Could Mike get Dad or Frank to go with him toaa aTo get Doc?a Samantha finished for him.

aYes,a Kane said with a sigh, wishing Sam didnat know so much. aDad will know what to do.a After Samantha hung up, she called Mike into the library and told him what Kane had said.

aSure, Iall get Dad,a Mike said as he moved toward the door, but Sam put her body in front of it.

aI am going with you.a aHa, ha, ha, ha, ha,a Mikeas humorless voice said as he reached for the k.n.o.b.

Samantha put her hand over it. aMike, listen to me, it makes sense. I know what you and Frank have done, and donat even think of lying to me about it. Your brother thinks money can buy anything.a aFor Frank it usually does.a aI know that this time his money bought the guards at Docas place.a aIt wasnat too difficult since they havenat been paid in weeks. Doc holds them off with promises of big money coming in from Europe, but I think heas broke. Frank could find out nothing about any money coming in from anywhere.a aWho did he ask? His Wall Street friends?a aMoney is money everywhere. Frank asked in places you donat want to know about.a aSimple little Sam, too dumb to hear all the facts.a aDear little Sam whose life is in danger,a Mike shot back at her.

Calming, Samantha looked at him. aHow many of Docas guards were you able to bribe?a aMost of them. Okay, okay, eighty percent. There were three of them we couldnat get to and thereas the house staff, such as it is. Itas going to be dangerous getting in there.a He leaned toward her. aSamantha, those guards carry guns.a She took a deep breath. aMike, Iam small. I can go places you and your muscled brothers canat. I can climb fences and trees. What if you and your dad have to climb a fence? Who lifts whom? You can toss me over like a javelin if you need to.a aAnd land on your pretty head?a aDonat you dare patronize me!a Putting her hand on his chest, her face softened. aMike, you must take me. If there are any problems, Doc wonat kill me and I can protect you.a aAnd what makes you think heall stop at killing you? You know youare not his granddaughter.a aBecause now I know what happened to Half Handas money,a she said softly. aAnd if Doc hurts either of us, heall never see a penny of that money.a

32.

T hey had to go over the wall.

When they hid their vehicle in the trees, under cover of darkness, and went to the gate to find that it was locked, Samanthaas first reaction was to turn around and go back to the city. According to Mike, Frank had bribed the men guarding the gate and it wasnat supposed to be locked.

aWe donat have time for you to turn coward now,a Mike said. He was afraid for her, true, but head had a lifetime of experience of living with his older brother: If Frank said the gate was going to be open, then it wasa"they were probably at the wrong gate.

At the far back of the walled property was a tree with a st.u.r.dy branch hanging over the tall brick wall. Climbing the tree first, Mike then helped Samantha up behind him. After throwing a few small packages of very fragrant meat onto the uncut lawn to ascertain whether the dogs were penned as they were supposed to be, he lowered Samantha to the ground. Lifting her hands above her head, lacing her fingers, she made a handle for her body, then Mike stretched out on the tree branch, slowly lowered her to the ground, then jumped down behind her.

aRun,a he ordered and took off, Samantha on his heels.

As promised, the side door to the house was unlocked, and there were little night-lights on so they could see their way around furniture. Mike noticed that in a few places there were tables missing and places where chairs should have been.

When they sneaked past the kitchen, they heard voices, even though it was after midnight now and the house should have been asleep. Holding their breaths, they tiptoed past whoever was in the kitchen and went up the stairs.

One of the stairs creaked when Samantha stepped on it. Seconds later, a guard appeared, looking up the darkened stairs, but Mikeas quick thinking saved them, for he practically threw her up the two remaining stairs where she crouched behind a sideboard, while Mike pressed himself into a doorway.

aYouare getting nervous in your old age,a they heard a man say.

aThereas something going on tonight, I can feel it,a answered another voice. aYou think the old manas all right?a aI think heall outlive us all,a was the answer, and the voice held no love for its employer.

When the men walked away, Samantha let out her pent-up breath and followed Mike when he motioned her to follow him. He seemed to have memorized the floor plan, because he knew where to go and which door to open.

Sitting up in bed, Doc was waiting for them. He wasnat sleeping, he wasnat reading, he was merely waiting. Fully dressed, on top of the covers, he didnat so much as blink in surprise when they entered.

aI heard you on the stairs,a he said to Mike. aYou would never have made a cat burglar.a aI leave thievery to you,a Mike answered, then c.o.c.ked his head at the man. aYouare going with us.a aI had planned to. I want to see this party you have planned for me. Itas been many years since anyone went to such trouble for my benefit, and I wouldnat miss it for the world.a aWhat do you know about us?a Samantha hissed at him.

When he turned to her, for a moment, Samanthaas blood seemed to grow cold, for in this dim light, he didnat look like a pathetic, crippled old man but like a young, heartless gangster, a man who cared for no one and nothing.

aI did not live as long as I have by not knowing what goes on around me. I know that you have bribed most of my guards into leaving doors unlocked and penning up the dogs.a He gave a nasty grin. aI relocked the front gate. I didnat want you to have it too easy, and in seven minutes I will have the dogs released.a At those words Samantha thought she and Mike should leave, and quickly, as she didnat want a wild run with snarling dogs nipping at their heels. This seemed to be Mikeas idea too, but before he left the room, he scooped Docas frail body into his arms, then took the stairs down two at a time, Samantha right behind him. By the time the two drowsy men in the kitchen looked up the stairs, the three of them were on their way out of the house.

Mike ran so fast Samantha could hardly keep up with him, but the idea of a pack of dogs coming after them, as well as a few men with guns, put wings on her feet. She had no idea where Mike was going, but she followed him as though her life depended on ita"which it probably did.

When Mike stopped abruptly, she slammed into the back of him, but he didnat so much as waver on his feet. A narrow gate was in front of him. When Samantha, with a nervous backward glance, pulled on it, she found it latched with a lock with a big dial.

aWhatas the combination?a Mike asked the man in his arms.

Doc just grinned.

aIf the dogs come, Iall throw you to them first.a aYoung man,a Doc said, sounding as though he were on a throne instead of being kidnapped, ayou are the type whoad guard a manas life with his own.a Samantha thought that whatever else Doc was, he was an excellent judge of character, for she knew without a doubt that Mike was incapable of doing something as vile as throwing an ancient old man to a pack of dogs.

aWhat do we do?a Samantha whispered, scared half to death of what was coming.

For a moment, Mike looked at Doc, who was staring at them as though highly amused by all of this, then Mike turned to Sam. aTry 5a"12a"28,a he said. It took Samantha a moment to realize that Mike had given her the date of the ma.s.sacre, the date Maxie had run away.

With shaking hands, Samantha turned the round dial on the lock. When the combination didnat work, she looked at Mike in helpless terror.

aTry it again,a he said, sounding as though they had all the time in the world.

The second time the lock opened, and they hurried through, with Sam taking a few seconds to relock the gate, hoping to hinder dogs and men who might pursue them.

They ran to the little truck that waited under the trees for them. Nearly a week ago Raine had called his older brother, Kit, and asked his advice about a very fast car, stipulating that the car had to have room for four people, one of them not well. According to all of the Montgomerys and the Taggerts, Kit was second only to his mother in knowing more about cars than anyone else in the world.

To the astonishment of them all, Kit drove down from Maine in a little black GMC truck called a Syclone. According to Kit, there had been only a very few of the trucks made in 1990 before the government took them off the market because they were much too fast (0 to 30 in 1.4 seconds). The only road-legal vehicles in the world faster than the Syclone were a Porsche 959 and a four-hundred-thousand-dollar Ferrari, both of which Kit owned, but they were two-pa.s.senger sports cars.

Kit had been intrigued by what was going on and had stayed to help. After outfitting his truck with a camper sh.e.l.l, he helped Blair equip it with an oxygen tank and the accoutrements of an ambulance.

Now, Blair was waiting for them inside the camper sh.e.l.l, ready to take Doc and see that he lived through what might turn out to be a very rough ride. As Mike put Doc inside the sh.e.l.l and strapped him to the bed, Samantha slipped behind the driveras seat. When Mike ran to the front of the vehicle, he told Sam to get over to the pa.s.senger side.

aIam driving,a she said.

aLike h.e.l.l you are,a Mike answered and started to push her into the other bucket seat, but Samantha was strapped inside her seat belt and didnat move so easily.

aMike, I can drive! I drove in Santa Fe for four years and never had so much as a fender bender.a She offered this explanation in the same tone that one would say, I won the Indianapolis 500 three years in a row, except that Samanthaas words made no sense.

It was at that moment that the first shot rang out and Mike, disgusted, knew that he had no time to argue with Samantha. Jumping on the side of the truck, just inside her open door, he commanded her to drive.

And drive she did. There were three cars heading straight for them, big, heavy American cars, and Samantha maneuvered around them as though she were riding the dodge aem cars at the state fair, pa.s.sing them by quarter inches, but never so much as sc.r.a.ping the paint on Kitas precious, rare truck.

When she was past the three cars, she slammed on the brakes and ordered Mike to get inside. Without a word of protest, he rolled across the hood of the truck and dove into the pa.s.senger side, slamming the door after him and fastening his seat belt.

As Samantha started to drive again, he looked at her with new respect and not a little awe. For just a second, she turned her head and grinned at him. aIf you think that was something, you should try a four-way stop in Sante Fe. No rules apply; itas whoever is the most macho goes first, and I learned to never give in.a For Mike it was a ride in h.e.l.l. With the three cars pursuing them on the freeway back into the city, Samantha wove in and out of traffic as though she were an animated shuttle on a tapestry loom. The little truck was not only sickeningly fast, but it was also highly maneuverable, whatas more it was four-wheel drive, real four-wheel in which all four wheels are independently driven, which meant that the truck could probably climb greased telephone poles. When Samantha saw an opening in the fence, she made a sharp right and ran up the very steep side of the embankment and suddenly changed freeways. Unfortunately, the truck had the road clearance of a BMW, which is to say that it had none at all, so they sc.r.a.ped bottom all the way up the hill, but when theyad made it to the top, they had lost their pursuers.

When they reached Maxieas nursing home, they had none of Docas men behind thema"but they did have three police cars.

Getting out of the truck, Mike found that he was shaking. Nothing head ever done in his life, not kidnapping a man and being nearly attacked by killer dogs or anything else, had frightened him as much as Samanthaas driving. She, however, seemed perfectly calm as she ran up the stairs into the nursing home, leaving Blair and Mike to deal with the police, who would be shown the now-sleeping figure of Doc and told their drive through h.e.l.l was a medical emergency.

As she ran into her grandmotheras room, Samantha knew Maxie would be awake and waiting for her, for shead known what Mike and Sam had planned to do tonight.

aItas done,a Samantha said as she climbed into bed with her grandmother.

Maxie put her arms around Samantha. aThen heas here,a she said softly.

aYes,a Samantha whispered, and in another minute she was asleep.