Sweet Little Lies (17 page)

“Geneva?”

“What?”

“We’ve got a lot to talk about. Be at my office tomorrow at nine. Geneva?”

She turned to look at him and blinked, almost as if she’d forgotten he was sitting next to her. “Yeah. I’ll be there.”

She got out of the car, slamming the door shut behind her. He waited until she got into her own car and peeled out of the parking lot. Harvey gulped, overcome once more by that uneasy feeling, and was glad to drive off into the night, home to Hyde Park.

S
he had remembered there was a Wal-Mart in Niles and finished what she had started at Sears earlier that day, only now with much more purpose. She bought a few pairs of pants, some tops, and a package of underwear. She also picked up a box of hair dye, some cheap makeup, and a pair of low strength reading glasses. She checked into a motel by the hour in Rosemont and locked herself in the room. She looked at herself in the mirror for a few moments before she got to work.

Her hair fell just past her shoulders and was naturally light brown, though she had been getting faint blonde highlights for the past couple of years. These days, she modified her look slightly, although when she was modeling, she’d changed her look with the seasons. Sometimes, the change was so radical that people who saw her every day didn’t recognize her. Magazines loved that she kept her look fresh, which was one of the reasons she got such good bookings.

“Let’s see if we can work the magic again, Kel,” she murmured as she pulled the scissors she’d purchased out of her plastic shopping bag.

She drew her hair back into a ponytail and secured it with a rubber band. She took the scissors and, with some effort, managed to sever the ponytail from her head. Her hair was just below her ears now, in sort of a disheveled pageboy. She dropped the ponytail into the plastic shopping bag, planning to dispose of it in the morning before she left. She ripped open the box of jet-black hair dye and carefully mixed the activator with the black gel color. She squirted the liquid out of the plastic bottle and onto her head. Once her entire head was covered, she massaged the color into her hair before snapping a plastic shower cap over her head.

She turned on the hot water in the shower and eagerly stepped out of the outfit she’d been wearing for what seemed like years. She stuffed it in the same bag as her ponytail and jumped into the shower, relishing the warmth of the steaming spray as it washed away a day’s worth of grime, revelations, and fear; in a way, it felt like she was shedding a part of herself. She washed the dye out of her hair and then scrubbed her body clean.

Kelly got out of the shower and dried off, carefully wrapping a towel around her new hair color. She slathered herself with lotion and then put on a new pair of underwear, along with the sweatpants and t-shirt she’d just bought. She ran her fingers through her hair, frowning. Her hair hadn’t been this short since the early nineties. Oh, hell…it would grow back.

She pulled out the curling iron she’d bought and plugged it into the wall. She then switched on the motel blow dryer and blew her hair dry. When she was done, her hair jutted away from her face like she’d stuck her finger in the electric socket. Kelly smoothed down her distressed strands until they stuck out sideways. She touched her index finger to the barrel of the curling iron to see if it had heated up yet. Not quite. While she waited, she rummaged around in another shopping bag and found the glasses she’d purchased. She slipped them on and blinked several times to let her eyes adjust. She cocked her head to the side, looking at this new woman staring back at her. She took the glasses off and placed them on the counter.

She rubbed a little bit of pink lotion into her palm and worked it into her hair. Then using her fingers to section off pieces of hair, Kelly worked to curl her newly shorn ‘do. When she was done, her hair looked a little bit better. She raked her fingers through it to try and give it a little bit more style. She picked up the glasses and put them back on.

“Perfect,” she murmured.

She’d take care of the make-up tomorrow, which would complete the transformation. Kelly removed the glasses and set them down on the bathroom counter. She looked at the clock next to the bed. It was nine forty-five. She needed to watch the news to see if there were any updates she should know about. She flipped on the TV and channel-surfed while she waited for the ten o’clock news.

Finally, the opening for the Channel Seven news started, and she took a sharp inhale as she waited for any news about her.

She was the lead story.

“Another bizarre turn in the case of murdered attorney, Mark Monroe. Police continue to search for his wife, Kelly Ross, who is the prime suspect in the case. In a strange twist, a woman claiming to be Mark Monroe’s wife was arrested tonight for identity theft. Mel Hayes has been following this story and is live in Olympia Fields with the latest. Mel?”

“Andrea, this story has more twists and turns than a soap opera. Earlier this morning, a woman calling herself Geneva Monroe, a resident of Olympia Fields, held a press conference announcing that she’d been married to Mark Monroe for the past ten years and that she planned to sue Kelly Ross for the wrongful death of Mark Monroe. And earlier this evening, police arrested Geneva Monroe for identity theft and attempting to use a stolen credit card.”

Kelly leaned close to the TV, fascinated. A small smile began to form on her lips.

The story shifted to a shot of Geneva being led out of the police station by her attorney. The voiceover described how she’d been dining at a local restaurant with friends, but when the waiter ran the credit card, it came up as reported stolen earlier that day by Mrs. Monroe. Police were working under the assumption that Kelly Ross cancelled the credit card. Geneva was trying to cover up her face, and her attorney was trying to get her into his car. Just then, Kelly’s picture flashed on the screen.

“Police believe Kelly Ross killed her husband after finding out about his marriage. According to police, she was spotted Saturday at the Sunshine Inn in River North, and there are also reports that she picked up a three thousand dollar wire transfer from a currency exchange on Washington and was actually chased by police onto a northbound Red Line train this afternoon in the Loop. Later, a cab driver gave her a ride to a garage on Jackson, but she got away before he could stop her. Police say although she has eluded them thus far, it won’t be long before they catch up with her.”

The male blond detective who was on TV the other day was talking.

“We feel it is only a matter of time before we find Kelly Ross. She’s made some stupid mistakes. We know that in time she will slip up, and when she does, we’ll be there. We consider her to be an extremely dangerous individual, and dangerous individuals don’t stay hidden for long.”

Kelly had to laugh at the guy’s dramatic posturing. He was trying to get a rise out of her.

“Dangerous individual,” she snorted. “Give me a break.”

“Reporting live from Olympia Fields, I’m Mel Hayes. Andrea, back to you.”

Kelly shut off the TV, her heart racing. The picture they’d shown was the same one they’d shown on the Saturday news, and with her makeover, and what she would do in the morning, she would look nothing like that. She leaned back and sighed. She just needed to get through tonight. She thought back on Geneva’s arrest and couldn’t help but smile.

“Score one for the bitch,” she said.

I
t had been a long and excruciating day, and he was drained. Hanson was glad to get home to Lakeview, sit out on his deck, and just be still for a few moments. He was guzzling a beer and thinking about Kelly Ross. As much as he hated to admit it, Shelia Stevens was right; she was no dummy. He had to give her credit for managing to get Geneva arrested. When Visa had been contacted, they said a woman had called earlier that day claiming she’d been the victim of identity theft and had closed the account. He was supposed to have the tape tomorrow, and he’d bring her parents in to give him a positive voice ID, though he knew it couldn’t be anyone but her.

The remainder of Geneva Monroe’s credit cards had been confiscated, and similar calls to each credit card company revealed Kelly had done the same thing for all of them. The trace of Mark Monroe’s cell phone showed she’d been making sporadic phone calls since Sunday, with a flurry this morning.

He couldn’t believe she had slipped away yet again. He’d reamed that uniform out but good when he caught up to him and had wanted to strangle that currency exchange worker over her blasé attitude when he questioned her. The cab driver who had picked her up had tried to catch her, but he had a fare hop into his cab right after and wasn’t able to stop her.

So once again, she’d gotten away.

She had been lucky so far in dodging his grasp. But what he absolutely hated was that he knew a lot of it wasn’t luck; Kelly Ross had outfoxed him, managing to stay just one step ahead of his pursuit, fleeing just as she felt his breath on the back of her neck. Hanson took another chug of his beer as he watched the lights of the city twinkle in front of him.

He had to figure out what the hell she would do next and be there when she did it.

G
eneva hit the snooze button on the alarm before rolling over to doze for a few more minutes. She hadn’t gotten much sleep, her grief over Mark co-mingling with her hatred of Kelly and the shit she’d pulled. Nobody messed with her, least of all that bitch. No, she’d bought herself a world of hurt when she’d tried to screw with her, and now she’d get way worse than what Geneva had originally planned.

She heard her son stirring in the kitchen and closed her eyes. He’d get his own bowl of cereal and get himself together to go to school. He’d been sound asleep when she got home last night, and she realized she hadn’t talked to him since Sunday.

Truth be told, Geneva didn’t know what her son was doing half the time. He was so strange, always with his nose in a book. He must have gotten that from his daddy, because she for damn sure hated to read. Geneva couldn’t relate to him at all, so mostly, she just let him be. She lay in bed for a few more minutes before she finally swung her legs around to the side of the bed and struggled to the bathroom to get herself ready to go to Harvey Jackson’s office. She had a feeling it would be a long day.

B
ill Hanson had called Candice and Harry Ross quite early and asked them to come down to the police station to ID Kelly’s voice from the Visa tape. The Ross family had watched the news last night in disbelief over all the things that had happened yesterday. Their daughter, Stacy, had arrived late Monday night, and the trio now sat nervously waiting for Hanson to come out and talk to them. He was on his own now, as Didi had been pulled to help the FBI out with a cold case she’d worked on a few years ago. His CO told him the department was working to free up another detective for him, which irked Hanson. Temporary partners always seemed to make him think he would’ve been better off working solo.

“Mr. and Mrs. Ross?” Hanson extended his hand to the couple. “We met yesterday.” Candice, Harry, and Stacy took turns shaking his hand. “Follow me,” he said, motioning for everyone to come with him. He led them to an interrogation room where a tape player was set up.

“We believe this is Kelly’s voice on the tape, but we need you to positively identify it for us.”

Candice nodded. “Yes, let’s just get this over with.”

Hanson hit “Play,” and it was a few seconds before the audio kicked in. Almost immediately, Harry waved his hand, indicating Hanson could stop the tape.

“That’s her, that’s Kelly.” He paused. “You were pretty brazen to go on TV and say my daughter has made some stupid mistakes. If she’s so stupid, how come you haven’t caught her?”

Hanson didn’t flinch. “We are watching all the airports, bus, train stations, and rental car agencies and are following up every viable lead. We
do
feel it’s a matter of time before we find her.”

Stacy shot him a disbelieving look and laughed. “Do you really think Kelly is dumb enough to try and leave town? I mean anyone with the balls to pull this off—”

“Stacy!” Candice interrupted, shocked at her daughter’s language.

Stacy looked at her mom, exasperated. “Oh, Mom, please. I mean seriously, Kelly’s very smart, and it seems to me the last thing she’d try and do would be to leave town, because she knows you’re looking for her.”

Hanson smiled. “Ms. Ross, you’d be surprised what people do when they are in the situation your sister is in.”

“You won’t…you won’t hurt her, will you? When you find her?” Candice asked. “Just, please…tell us you won’t hurt her. She really isn’t a dangerous person, I don’t care what happened with her and Mark.”

“We will do everything we can to ensure a peaceful resolution to this matter, Mrs. Ross.”

“What about Mark’s body?” Stacy piped in. “Don’t you need someone to take the body?”

“Well, his younger brother came down from Indianapolis late Sunday and did that for us. He’s still trying to decide how he wants to handle arrangements.”

“Could we…well, could we call him and maybe we can help him…” Candice’s voice trailed off.

“Sure, we’ll get you his number. I have to ask again, though, has Kelly tried to contact any of you in any way?”

Candice shook her head. “No. Kelly wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t want to involve us in this.”

“Alright. I have to repeat—if she tries to contact you, please let us know. Aiding and abetting a fugitive is a felony.”

“We understand, Detective Hanson. May we go now?” Harry asked.

Hanson gestured toward the door, and the three of them stood and filed out of the room. He headed out to his desk and found a manila envelope with his name scrawled across the front. He ripped it open and pulled out the sheaf of papers inside.

“Background on Geneva Monroe,” he murmured to himself. He sat down and leaned back in his chair, wondering what, if anything, Kelly Monroe knew about her.

He snorted to himself, leafing through the pages. “She probably doesn’t care much beyond the fact that her husband was married to her while he was married to Geneva.”