Broken Serenade (35 page)

    “So… Mademoiselle Lili…
Is she truly my biological mother?”

    “Unfortunately, yes,” Clark answered unenthusiastically.

    Vivien sighed deeply.

    “Oh, God,” she
whispered sadly. “Of all the women in this world… Why she?”

    “Hey
, love! Look at the bright side of the story: You inherited her talent in music,” Timothy mentioned quickly in an attempt to raise her spirits. It pained him to see her depressed.

    “And some of her good looks,” Clark added
dreamily. “She’s lost weight, and I think she’s over-exercising lately. Her body is too muscular for my notion of sexy. But she used to be a real knockout. You remind me of her, Vivien, the way she looked in high school when I was so stupid to fall in love with her.” He paused and changed lines on the freeway. “Yep,” he concluded sighing deeply. “She is your mother, Vivien. Unfortunately, we can’t choose our biological parents. I kind of know the feeling.”    

    Afraid that Clark’s last remark may reopen the
Leigh’s family can of worms, Timothy pulled the discussion back to its initial track.

    “Clark, how in the world did it get here?
I understand that The Amazons and This World of Men are two antagonistic organizations. You people heard about each other, and now you spy on one another and eliminate important adversaries, is that it?”

    “Kind of...” Clark admitted reluctantly.

    “No, really! That sounds scary,” Timothy revolted. “And stupid! On this earth,
man
and
woman
were created to love each other and to procreate. It makes sense. They are equals. One can’t live without the other. The rivalry between sexes is unnatural.”

    “I agree with Tee. A war between men and
women - even a silent, cold war -shakes the equilibrium of life on this planet. It’s a threat to humanity,” Vivien added.

    “You guys are rare birds. You found love. You don’t compete
with each other. You rather complete each other perfectly. Life is simple for you two. You’re so damn enviable, even I can hardly stand you two together.”       

    “Don’
t worry, Clark,” Timothy laughed. “That only proves that, after all, you too are willing to love. And if you love, you’re human. If you’re human, you love. That’s the theorem of humanity and its true reciprocal.”

    “There are so many couples like us,” Vivien spoke optimistically.

    “And so very many unlike you,” Clark contradicted her.

   “Clark, you never told us… How did you learn about Lili?” Timothy asked.

    “The story is l
ong and complicated.” Clark sighed deeply.

    “We have time,” his brother encouraged him.

    There was a long moment of silence.

    “Father fell into a deep depression after the divorce. He felt useless, without hope and even without the desire to live without mother. His life seemed meaningless. A few m
eetings with a psychologist well known for his dedication to his work got him back on his feet, and it rehabilitated him miraculously. As father would later recall and tell everyone, that doctor suggested that he engaged in a men’s club, an organization that would promote and praise a man’s moral and physical qualities. He needed to break free from the carapace under which he had hidden himself. He needed to get beyond that state of insect to which the unhealthy relationship with our mother had reduced him. Father did more than just join a men’s club. He brought into existence his own organization. Your grandfather, Vivien, Carol’s husband, was one of its first members. Mr. Hopkins senior was our father’s best friend. Their friendship had started back in college. Through his effort and benevolence, the newly established organization acquired many members in the USA. After his sudden death, Carol took over his work. Given the fact that there were only men in our organization, father kept secret her involvement. We all knew that Mr. Hopkins had been replaced with a very trustworthy person in USA who would continue to provide useful information, funds, and members. But only father knew the true identity of that person.”

    “Do you
want to tell me that sweet little old granny was a spy? At her age?” Vivien asked incredulously. “It sounds rather like out of a movie or a book.”   

    “
You can imagine my surprise when I learned about it. But yes, she was,” Clark nodded, chuckling amused. “And I can tell you that she did an excellent job. Nobody could’ve done it better. The problem appeared when father started losing the battle with Alzheimer. I was too preoccupied with my own troubles, my own sentimental rubbish and divorce, to observe that in time. One day, his housekeeper called. She asked me to come right away. I found him in a powerful state of anguish. Imbued by paranoia, our old father was burning important documents in the fireplace. I had a very hard time convincing him to stop doing it. And it was already too late. ‘I have everything here’
,
he was yelling, pocking his head with his finger. ‘Everything is safe in here, in my mind
,
’ he was saying. But his mind was long gone. Forever. He never remembered the name of our link here in the USA. She continued to sent lists, documents, important dates, etcetera. We didn’t have her name, her address, anything. We couldn’t contact her in any way.”

    “So
you came to San Francisco this time to meet with this person, your American spy, is that right?” Timothy asked.

    “
Partially. The main reason I came here was the fact that your name popped up on a certain list from which people had already started to disappear.”

    “What you’re trying to say is that Lili has put me on a
hit list
?”

    “Exactly!”

    “So you came… for me?” Timothy asked timidly.

    “Are you surprised? You’re my brother!”

    “I didn’t imagine that you cared that much about me. I always felt frustrated that I cared so much about you, and you were only attracted to my money.”

    “You were wrong. I’m not good at kissing asses. And words don’t come easy to me when i
t’s about love… of any kind. To me, actions are more important than words. You were always by my side, even when I was wrong. It was my turn. So I came as fast as I could. Especially when I heard who was leading the Amazons.”

    “How did you find out it was Mademoiselle Lili?” Vivien inquired eagerly.

    “Carol wasn’t just smart. She was also very resourceful. She sent us Lili’s fingerprints. On a coffee cup. We already had them in London’s police database. They were the perfect match of Miss Lauren’s fingerprints. Or I should call her Mademoiselle Lili, as I found her fifteen years ago when I came to your wedding, Timmy. Lili was a patient of the same psychologist father went to. The doctor was found dead, shortly after Lili’s escape from the sanatorium. At that time, I was a dreaming young boy, and I was crazy in love with her. I had heard rumors about her bisexuality, but I didn’t care. Knowing that, I felt even more attracted to her. I was obsessed with her for a while; I was stalking her almost… I followed her the evening before the doctor’s death, and I watched her as she was leaving his house. I called the police, and I told them about it. Nothing happened. Later, I discovered that the specific time I had given them had not corresponded with the approximate hour of the doctor’s death. I still believe she killed the guy. But you see, I was convinced that she had killed Nadine too. And after tonight’s events… I take that thought with a grain of salt,” Clark declared sighing.  

    His words remained floating in the air as a
n unspoken threat. Was there another killer lurking in the shadows?  Was he or she walking comfortably among them? Their minds could have created the perfect chorus of thoughts, but they all kept silent until they got to Vivien’s car.

CHAPTER 30

   
“
S
he’s got the best lawyers money can buy. We can’t corner her with anything solid,” detective Art Leonard said, disappointed. “Nick, I want you to dig deep and find me something. I want you to identify all her friends, old and new, any person that ever made contact with this Miss Lauren, Mademoiselle Lili, The Queen, or whatever you like to call her,” he asked officer Alberman. “If she doesn’t do it, then she has someone doing the dirty job for her. Given all that money she’s got, she doesn’t need to soil her hands. Galina and her Russian companion are small-crime pawns. They’re out of the picture. Also, LaFontain is not the killer, despite her enthusiasm to serve her Queen. We know that, even though we were not capable to get our hands on that old fox.”   

   
“This woman worked for the architect. She knows all the tricks, all the secret exits and entrances of that mansion. She recovered from Miss Hopkins’ blow just in time. When she heard us, she took off quickly through the secret exit in the hallway. She’s gone! Still nowhere to be found,” Alberman sighed, crestfallen.

    His cellular phone played joyfully the latest hip-hop tune, and the young
police officer hurried to answer.

    “Yes, man! I
…I remember, of course,” he stuttered.

   
Leonard watched his partner’s face turn red. Alberman thanked and hung up.

    “We have a perfect DNA for the yellow scarf killings,” the young police officer announced
with a perplexed expression all over his features.

    “How come? Who? The only suspects
we got were already eliminated by the DNA results we received yesterday.”

    “Mr. Leonard, sir
.” Alberman always called him
sir
in times like this. “Miss Hopkins called a few days ago. She wanted to talk to you… She had something for you… I gave it to the lab.”

    “If it were for me, how come did it get
into your hands? Did she give it to you?”

    “No
, sir.” Alberman went all to pieces. “Sir, I can explain.”

   “That’s what I’m waiting for.”

    “
I was in the neighborhood. I got to her house…”

    “Get over that, for Christ sake! How the hell did you get the
thingy
?” 

    “The piece of evidence… yeah
… well…When she had an unguarded moment, I… I took it, sir. As simple as that. I picked it up from her kitchen counter, and I stuffed it into my pocket. Look, sir,” he exploded with impatience. “We’ve got to talk to Miss Hopkins ASAP. She might be in danger.”

*                                           *                                        *

    “God! You can’t imagine how much I hate to say this, but I actually miss my secretary terribly,” Timothy declared, visibly stressed. “Could you make the coffee?” he asked Clark.

    “I will certainly try, if you ask me nicely,” Clark consented
, not very enthusiastically. “Where is the coffee?”

    “If you
start with questions, then I better give that up too,” Timothy snapped.

    His phone rang.
He answered immediately. Vivien was calling. His face suddenly brightened up.

    “Vee, what are you up to, my love? I miss you.”

    They had spent the last two days together, making plans for the future.

    “I miss you too, honey. We haven’t seen each other for… two hours and seven minutes. That’s such a long time,” she laughed happily. “I’m at my house,” she announced. “In fact, I’m getting ready to leave right now. I found a message on my answering machine. It was left by someone from the office of grandmother’s doctor. I don’t have the slightest idea how they got my home phone number. It appears that she has forgotten something there at her last visit. They felt indebted to call me and try to give it back. They haven’t specified what that was.”

    “Vee, do you think is wise to leave the house all by yourself?
Lili was just released on bail this morning. I can come with you, if you wait for me a little.”

    “Tee, darling, I can’t stay locked up in the house all day long and look at the walls just because Mademoiselle Lili hates me. Actually, you are her number one goal,” she was quick to remind him. “And today you went to work, didn’t you?”

    “Only to arrange a few things and prepare for a long vacation,” he said defensively.

    “The doctor is a man,” Vivien tr
ied to calm him down. “As you’ve seen, Mademoiselle Lili employs only women.”

    “A man? Is he young?”

    “Tee, I don’t know, honey. I’ve never met him before. But I promise you that, in one hour, I’ll be done with this, and then I’ll pick you up at the office, and we can have lunch together. Moreover, I am disposed to put my secretarial abilities at your service all afternoon long. How does it sound?”

    “OK, baby,” he said reluctantly. “
That sounds wonderful. But, please, be careful. I wish you would wait for me. I can come right now.”

    “Tee,
don’t let paranoia torment you, darling,” she interrupted him.