Amy Atwell - Lying Eyes

“According to my Aunt Tatiana, he stole the gems from her.”

“Then we need to find him, so he can explain.”

“That’s why we’re here.” Iris sat in the padded chair facing the giant sevens on the slot machine. Finally she turned to Cory. “Was she really upset?”

With a sigh, Cory slumped into the chair beside her. “Look, we’re all trying to figure out what it means to be sisters. Now you’ve got these cousins, but Allie’s got no one but Papa and us.”

“What about you?” Iris stared down into her coffee. “I mean, according to that sheet the police gave us, none of us had any close family other than Cosmo.”

Cory regarded her as if trying to gauge whether or not she was worthy of trust.

Iris held her breath, afraid of what her sister might decide.

“What the hell,” Cory said on an exhalation. “Allie already knows, so I may as well tell you. But this is my problem. No one but me talks to Papa about it.”

“What?” Iris pushed aside any hurt at being left out of the loop. Apparently she was going to be let in on it now.

“My mother isn’t dead like that police report said. She’s very much alive.”

Cosmo slipped down the back service hallway. Midnight or noon, didn’t matter, this hallway was always the same, with its off-white walls and glaring overhead lights. Bare, utilitarian and, thankfully, devoid of people. Normally, he wouldn’t have bothered to avoid the security guards-most of the guys knew him as Iris’s father-but things were more dicey now that the police had released that APB on him.

He slipped the key into the door of Lying Eyes. Once inside, he turned to the alarm system, only to discover it hadn’t been set. Alerted, he peered around the dark workroom. Someone was here. “Iris?”

“She’s not here, you old trickster, you’re stuck with me. And I think you and I have a little unfinished business.”

The light over the worktable snapped on, momentarily blinding Cosmo with the unexpected brightness. When his vision cleared, he found Mickey silhouetted, his back to the light, a gun in his hand.

Three goddamn nights of this, and he was right back where he started-Mickey had the drop on him.

“If you came back for the stones, Iris has them for safekeeping.”

“I left her a note to tell her I would be back for them.”

“She found your note, but I think she wants to talk with you in person.”

I bet she does. Cosmo ran his tongue over his teeth while his mind raced with how to play this. “Mickey, you know the kind of people we’re dealing with. Help me get the stones back from Iris. Once I finish this transaction, I’ll explain everything to her.”

“No deal. Iris has decided they need to be returned to their rightful owner.”

Cosmo closed his eyes at the thought. “Oh, God, has she met them?”

“We’ve all met them. I hear Aunt Tatiana’s taken quite a shine to Edgar.”

His eyes snapped open again. “No! She can’t keep him. I mean, I need him. Where’s his collar?”

“Relax,” Mickey said with a chuckle. “Man, you don’t miss a trick, do you? Iris has the rabbit and his collar back at her place.”

“Then, you found the alexandrite?” Despite the dangers he still faced, Cosmo couldn’t ignore the disappointment. He’d really wanted to pull this one off.

“How could we miss it? Now we just need you to explain why you’ve led us all on this merry chase.”

Cosmo smiled ruefully. “It’s been fun, hasn’t it?”

“Fun?” The silhouette shook its head. “You really are warped.”

A sound from the hallway made Mickey switch off the lamp. The two of them strained to hear if someone were still outside.

“Did you relock the door?” Mickey asked in a whisper.

“No. I figured I’d be in and out.” Cosmo took a step backward. At this hour, anyone coming through that door was likely to have a gun, and Mickey was his best bet at survival.

“Your mom’s alive?” Iris asked Cory. “Are you sure?” Hell, maybe Cory was just as screwy as Allie was.

“Yeah, I’m sure. Allie and I just talked to her this morning. So, you see, you’ve got other family, and I’ve got other family, but Allie’s got no one except Papa. She’s worried sick about him, and she’s reaching out to us just in case he doesn’t come back.”

Iris could appreciate that, but she was still wrestling with the idea that one of Cosmo’s three wives was still alive. “Why’d the report say she was dead?”

Cory looked away. “I don’t know.” She spoke so quietly, Iris had to strain to hear her over the casino din. “Papa told me she died fifteen years ago. Five years later, I saw her in a store.”

“What did you do?”

“I was so shocked, I didn’t do anything. I thought maybe I was crazy at first, seeing things, you know? Papa never mentioned her, and she never contacted me. Then I got it-she’d left us, and Papa thought it was kinder to tell me she was dead than that she didn’t want me.”

Iris winced at the pain buried in her sister’s matter-of-fact explanation. “What does your mom say?”

“Today was the first time I talked to her, and only because I hoped she’d know where Papa was. I wouldn’t believe anything she says now, anyway. That’s why I want Papa back. He must know what happened, and I want him to tell me why she left.”

Iris could well believe that. “He’s a real piece of work, isn’t he?”

Cory turned on her, still adamant in her defense of the man they called father. “You’re pissed at him for leaving. Just remember, no matter how often he left, he always came back.”

Iris silently acknowledged that she wanted Cosmo to come back. She wanted answers, and now she understood she wasn’t the only one who had questions. “I’ve been selfish.”

“Damn straight,” Cory said. Then she smiled. “But we understand. Just cut Allie some slack, okay?”

“Yeah, sure.” Iris looked down the aisle and spied that long blond braid and the telltale black cargo capris and tank top. “Here she comes.”

“Wow, who’s the eye candy she’s got with her?”

With a groan, Iris recognized her cousin. “That’s Sergei, he’s-”

“She told me.” Cory stood up. “She sure knows how to attract men, doesn’t she?”

Allie’s eyes were bright with excitement as she approached. Sergei waved at them as he trailed her bouncy steps.

“Any signs of activity yet?” Allie looked back over her shoulder at the darkened interior of Lying Eyes.

“No,” Iris answered. “Where’d you pick him up?”

Sergei grinned. “Allie invited me to join her backstage for the show she works.”

That explained the spring in his step. A troupe of topless dancers would do that to a man.

He leaned forward as if to share a secret. “It has been a very eventful first day in America.”

“I’ll bet,” Iris said as Allie burst out laughing.

Cory shouldered forward. “Will someone introduce me, please?”

Sergei held out his hand. “With pleasure. Sergei Gorseyev.”

“Corazon Fortune. I’m Iris’s…” She trailed off and looked at Iris who rolled her eyes.

“Sergei’s not fooled. He knows Allie’s my half sister.” To Sergei, she added, “Cory’s my other half sister. And that’s another secret you get to keep.” With all the lies and secrets, she wondered if she’d ever be able to keep track of who knew what.

“Will my family ever get to learn how this came about, these half sisters?” Sergei’s pale eyes searched her face. He wasn’t invasive, just curious.

Iris smiled at her sisters, wanting for once to say the right thing. “We’re all looking for the real answer to that. For now, we just need to find our father.”