Читать книгу The Seventeen - Joel Arcanjo - Страница 13

Chapter 4

He hadn’t aged a day since college. His style had changed somewhat though. He now had flowing brown hair, parted just off-centre, which fell nearly to his shoulders. He had kept that playful glint in his light blue eyes. He had lost the five-o’clock shadow look in favor of a more clean-cut image. Bella remembered that he had played rugby at college, but you wouldn’t know it to look at his face. He was tall, lean and elegant in a masculine way. He had always had class, but the suit he was wearing brought it out in him.

He was a fine specimen, to say the least. They had been together for two years in college. Two of the best years of her life. For the entirety of the first year she had no idea who he really was: a young billionaire who stood to inherit an empire. She just knew him as Lex Archer. Kind, supportive and wildly entertaining. They’d had a fiercely passionate relationship but it had an expiration date. Knowing that made their time together even more special. The relationship had never truly ended. One day they were in love, the next, they were apart. She was going home to Columbia Law School for the final part of her degree and he was staying in London to take over the London branch of his father’s empire. But here he was in New York. In a police station, for murder. The detective left the room, quietly shutting the door behind him.

“Le...Lex,” she stuttered. “Wow. It’s been seven years. Since college, right?”

“It’s university, Belle. Not college, you know I used to hate when you said that. But yeah something like that.”

He still called her Belle. A nickname that a few of her friends called her. It had always sounded best coming from his lips. Maybe it was his English accent or maybe it was the intensity he had always said it with. Either way, it still sounded good.

“When did you get back to New York?”

“I stayed in London for four years. But the New York branch was struggling so Dad called me back so I could take over operations here. He travels a lot so he needs someone full time here. I was the least nauseating choice for him.” He smiled.

She didn’t ask the question that was on her mind. Instead she asked, “What kind of trouble are you in, Lex?”

He ignored the question. “You started your own firm, right? Tell me about it,” he said, as he leant forward and rested his chin on his clasped hands.

“Yes, but so far I’ve had nothing but drunks who want me to work for free.”

“Too bad. But on the up side, now you’ve got me!” he said as if being summoned to the NYPD Headquarters to meet with a suspected murderer was an attractive prospect. Even if it was him.

“Yeah, so about that. What have you gotten yourself into?”

“Will you relax, I’ll get to that. Let’s catch up first. Where are you living?”

“A small place in Brooklyn. It’s got a kitchthroom, Lex.”

His face contorted in disgust. “What the hell is that?”

“Bathroom in the kitchen. But on the upside, the view is phenomenal.” Lex chuckled politely. Bella carried on. “But it’s not that bad. I have some money saved up, I’ll be OK.”

Lex shook his head, “Not having that Belle. I’m gonna get you one of the suites in my dad’s building. He’ll be happy to help. I’ll pay for it myself.”

“Woah, I didn’t mean—”

“I know you didn’t, but we have history and what kind of a friend would I be if I heard a story with the word kitchthroom in and didn’t do anything about it?” He chortled.

“No, thank you Lex. There’s no way...”

He leant in a little closer, “Look, let’s skip this whole thing. You need a nicer place to stay, I have one. It’s really that simple.” He beamed at her, his light blue eyes glistening.

“We haven’t seen each other in seven years. How can you just offer me a place to live? You don’t know me like that anymore. I might’ve changed. I could be a killer now.”

Lex cleared his throat. “Apparently that’s me. And to answer your question. People don’t really change. They just adapt to their current situation and become a more refined version of the person they always were. Which means, I still know you.”

“People do change. I’ve changed.”

“Oh really. How? Because all I see is the same work-orientated girl with the same dreams of changing the world one case at a time. But your hair is different. I like it. Makes you look... studious.” He grinned.

“I have responsibilities now. Bills to pay. A firm to keep afloat.”

“Look, it’s very simple Belle. I have a place to stay that has a separate kitchen and bathroom. Do you want it?”

“If you’re sure Lex,” she said, blushing slightly. She hated taking handouts but this was the lifeline she had been looking for.

He leant back and waved away the question. “Of course. It’s done.”

There was silence for a few seconds, then Bella remembered why she was there.

“Why did you ask for me anyway?”

“The truth is, offering you this place is a little selfish on my part. You being close by will make things a lot easier. I need your help Belle. No other lawyer will believe me. I got myself into a little something you see.”

“Not just something. Murder, Lex,” she pointed out.

“Oh, they told you that, did they?” he asked, scratching the back of his neck with his left arm nervously.

“Yeah, of course they did. What’s going on?”

“It’s all a mix up, that’s all. I fired an employee because she was stealing company files and handing them over to our biggest rivals NanoCorp. Things got quite heated. I was furious that she would betray the company like that and she showed no remorse which made me even angrier. I may have said something along the lines of, ‘if this information gets out, you’re dead’. I’m not proud of it, but it happened.”

“They can’t arrest you for that!” she protested.

“Wait. It gets worse,” he said solemnly.

“Oh God...”

“One day later we find that she stole information on another six projects that are in the pipeline. Two days after my rather embarrassing outburst, the girl is found dead at her house. The information she stole is gone and my DNA is somehow everywhere. That brings us to today.” He smiled nervously.

“Let me get this straight. Your employee steals information on seven company projects. You find out. You fire her, then threaten to kill her. Two days later she’s found dead with your DNA all over her. Did I get it about right?”

“Yeah, that’s about the size of it,” he said simply.

“So I know they tell us at law school to never ask this, but did you kill her?” she asked, trying not to stare him in the eyes.

“No, I didn’t kill her. How could you ask me that?” He looked genuinely shocked that she had asked.

“I’m sorry. Just wanted to make sure.”

“OK, you made sure, now help me out of this mess!” he pleaded.

She paused for a second. “So the girl was found today?”

“As far as I know,” he replied.

“But was she killed today?”

“All I know is what I overheard the ginger apeman say to another cop. Something about TOD, whatever that means, then a time. Seven o’clock two days ago. Then he said that I didn’t have an alibi for the murder. Does that help?”

“TOD means time of death. She was killed at seven two days ago. Do you have an alibi?”

“Officially, no. They must have somehow got access to all my official appointments for the day to figure that out though. God knows how they did it,” he said, looking bemused.

“It’s called a warrant. Your DNA was all over the crime scene. That’s probable cause. You’re telling me you’ve never watched any cop shows?”

He just stared at her with a blank expression on his face.

She flapped a hand at him. “Never mind. So you don’t have an alibi then?”

“I never said that. What I said was I don’t have an official alibi.”

“Well, what the hell does that mean?”

A broad grin broke out across his face. “It means I’ve got an alibi.”

She let out sigh. That would make things much easier. She whipped out her notepad and asked, “Who and where?”

“That’s the thing. I’d rather not give you that information,” he said, scratching his neck again.

She just stared at him for a while. Then raised her voice a little. “You asked for my help. If I’m going to be your lawyer you’ve got to be honest with me Lex. If this person can get you off this, you have to tell me who they are. No judgement.”

He looked to be weighing up his options in his head. Don’t tell and go to prison or tell and go home. The obvious won out. “OK. My guy Sammie was taking care of me. It had been a while and it had been a stressful week. It was exactly what I needed as well. Afterwards I felt great.”

Bella’s face contorted for a moment before she controlled herself. “What is the name of your...male escort?”

“My what?” Then the realization of what he had said dawned on him. “No, no Sammie is my manicurist! I was getting a manicure! God, how could you even think...?”

Bella could tell she was going red. Her cheeks were filling with blood fast. How embarrassing. But what happened next was out of her control. She began to giggle. Quietly at first, then louder. Not finding time between bouts of laughter for taking in air was always a problem for her. The whole time Lex was saying, “You promised me there was no judgement.” By the end she was gasping for air. Her eyes watering and her cheeks hurting from smiling.

Lex continued. “Let me get this straight. Me going to a male prostitute is less funny than me getting a manicure?”

That nearly set her off again but she controlled it. “I’m sorry about that. No judgement at all. Can I have his details please?”

“A manicure isn’t just for females you know. Males do it too. I mean for God’s sake it’s got the word MAN in!” he protested.

“Yeah. No judgement. Things have obviously changed since we were together,” she joked. “The name, Lex?” she said, making a kind of whirlwind action with her hand in an attempt to hurry him up.

He gave her the name. She wrote it down and got up to leave. Then a question came to her which she felt she had to ask before she did anything else.

“If you didn’t go see her that night, how is you DNA all over the crime scene?”

He looked up at her, genuine pain in his eyes. “Someone’s setting me up, Belle.”