Trapped (5 page)

I knew what he was saying. All that I did, I did so that he would get his chance in the spotlight. This entire mess – my pregnancy, the possibility that Nottingham would have claims to the baby, my beating, Luke’s criminal charge – could have been avoided if I just would have called Nottingham’s bluff. Luke wouldn’t have had his chance, though. So, it was important that something positive could be salvaged from my actions.

“So, what’s on your mind?” I asked him.

“You, Dalilah. You’re on my mind. Don’t get me wrong, I’m really glad that you had a brainstorm about blackmailing that bastard into giving you what you want. But I really wish that there was something a bit more ironclad that we could use. Something that doesn’t have the possibility of backfiring on you.”

I got quiet. “I know. I realize that my hands aren’t clean. Or, at least, my hands won’t be clean if I do this. But do you have a better idea right now? Aside from us running for the rest of our lives?”

He put his hands behind his head. “No. No, I don’t. So, let’s try it. But you’re playing chess with the master, here. He always seems to be just one step ahead. That seems to be the pattern. He’s probably going to be one step ahead here as well. I, for one, am tired of always playing defense with this guy. I’m tired of us having to constantly figure out a way out of a trap that he has set. For once, I would like to put him on the run.”

“Me too. That’s why my plan is so beautiful. If it works, then he will be the one on the run, not us.”

“And if it doesn’t work?”

“I guess that we’ll have more to worry about than ever.”

Luke sighed. “I guess I have to put my trust in you and trust that you know what you’re doing here. But it just seems that, no matter what happens, we’re doing something underhanded. If I’m not using a fake badge to try to find out personal information about Nottingham, then you’re trying to do something clearly illegal – hacking – to possibly get information that might be damning. And you’re just speculating that Nottingham has done something wrong. He might be as clean as a whistle. But you’re going to break the law to find out. What’s wrong with this picture?”

I raised my eyebrow, halfway tempted to tell him that Nick literally killed a man, or made him commit suicide at any rate, to get Scotty out of a jam.
That
was underhanded and illegal. What I was planning to do was child’s play in comparison.

But I didn’t say anything about that. Bringing that up would just put fuel on the fire, which I really didn’t want to do.

“Again,” I said. “Do you have a better idea?”

Luke just frowned and shook his head. “No. Other than doing things above-board – hiring a lawyer and letting the chips fall where they may – I got nothing. So, let’s try it.”

I put my hand on his leg. He felt so far away at that moment, even though he was sitting right next to me. He absent-mindedly took my hand, and rubbed it while he sketched some more.

Finally, Liam knocked on the bedroom door. “Dalilah, Luke. Are you alive in there?”

I went to the door and opened it. “Hi, Liam. What’s up?”

“Well, I had my chef make some Eggs Benedict for the two of you. Not to mention French Toast and freshly squeezed orange juice. Needless to say, all of that was fed to the dogs.” Liam had two German Shorthaired Pointers that he had rescued from a nearby shelter. “At any rate, it’s now lunch time. What would you like? My chef can make anything at all.”

“I’m not really hungry,” I said, rubbing my stomach.

“Be that as it may, you need to eat. Especially in your condition. And what about Luke? What would he like?”

“Surprise me,” he said.

Liam just sighed. “Why do I have the feeling that the two of you are going to be a pain in my arse?” He shook his head, and headed down the stairs. “Meet me on the main terrace in a half hour. We’ll have lunch and I can catch up on exactly what is going on with you guys, and why, exactly, you’re here. I might be able to help.”

I had a feeling that Liam was right about that. He probably would be able to help us. He was a Gallagher, and, as such, he probably had above-average intelligence and above-average duplicity.

Luke, however, just rolled his eyes. I was getting the feeling that Luke really just wanted to go back home and face this entire situation above-board. He didn’t know Nottingham like I knew Nottingham, and Luke really didn’t know, in general, how men like Nottingham rolled. I did. I knew far too many people like Nottingham in my life – money-hungry, duplicitous, greedy, cruel – and I knew how little chance I would have against him if I didn’t have something in my arsenal to use when push came to shove. As it inevitably would.

In a half hour,
Luke and I made our way downstairs to Liam’s magnificent main terrace. It was a beautiful day, surprisingly warm for it being February, and the surroundings were very peaceful. I took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh air. I had almost forgotten what fresh air smelled like and what quiet sounded like. In that moment, I almost forgot my misgivings about Liam, and inwardly felt grateful that I was able to get away to such a place.

Liam’s personal chef had prepared fried chicken for us, along with new potatoes with cheese, and a green salad. I eagerly dug into my food. I hadn’t realized until just that moment that I was famished. Luke did the same, and Liam looked at both of us, clearly amused.

“I knew you would be hungry,” he said, pouring a Mimosa for Luke and himself. I satisfied myself with some freshly squeezed orange juice. “Now, tell me exactly what’s going on. Your dad just told me that the two of you had run into a bit of a predicament in the States, but didn’t exactly say what.”

“Ugh,” I said. I didn’t much feel like talking about any of it. It was all just too stressful for me to even think about. “Well, let’s start from the very beginning. There’s this man named Nottingham….” I then launched into the whole sorry tale, from the time I met Nottingham until the present day. The entire story took me about an hour to tell, and Liam, for his part, listened quietly and really tried to absorb all of what was going on.

“Well, lass,” Liam finally said, after I finished the story. “Sounds like you got into a right jam with that bastard. What’s your next move?”

“Well,” I said, “I need to start some hacking into his computer. I don’t know the password, of course, and he changes it all the time. Like every day. But that’s not a problem for me. I know that I can get in past his security safeguards and try to figure if there is anything on there which would incriminate him and take a screen shot of it. I’m not even sure if there is anything on there, but that’s what I need to do.”

“Ah, blackmail,” Liam said. “One of the oldest and most tried and true way of getting what you want.” He seemed to tacitly approve of what I was about to do. “Well, good luck with all of that. Let me know if there’s anything at all that I can do to help you out.”

“I will,” I said.

At that, Liam went to work out in his gym.

Luke took my hand, and rubbed it thoughtfully. Then he sighed. “I really hope that this works, Dalilah. But what happens if he’s the one blackmailing you? What if you threaten to turn him in, and he decides that he’s going to go full-throttle on the custody issue if you don’t back off? Who’s going to blink first?”

“I’ve thought about that,” I said. “And I think that he will. His legal position with this child is far from settled. I think that he will know that, just from talking with his attorney. On the other hand, if I find on his computer what I’m hoping to find, then I will have a much more solid hand against him then he would with me. Therefore, I think that I will have the upper hand with him, if push comes to shove.”

“And what if Nottingham decides to do something even more drastic or devious? What then?”

“What do you think that he’ll do?”

“Oh, geez, that guy is capable of just about anything. Who knows? Maybe he’ll threaten your dad somehow.”

I drew a breath. I doubted that Nottingham had a way of threatening my father, but he might have a way of threatening Nick. Perhaps Nottingham also had a way of finding out what Nick did all those years ago. It took me a long time to find that video, because it was pretty well scrubbed from Nick’s computer. But I did find it. What if Nottingham had his own capabilities in that department?

“Well, I guess that’s just a risk that I have to take,” I said, but I started to feel uneasy again about my plan. The very last thing that I wanted to do was get Nick in trouble.

But, then again, it was a long shot that Nottingham could ever find out about that. He would have to be looking, and know what he was looking for and why.  I really thought that I would be safe.

I hoped and prayed that I would be, anyhow.

Chapter 7

That night, I got dolled up and went with Liam to the restaurant to meet the boys from the Pixxallators. They were already there, waiting for us, having already gotten ales and beers. Neil, for his part, came right up to me and put his arm around me. “Dalilah,” he said. “You can’t imagine how glad I am to see you tonight.”

I smiled, and put my hand out. “You too, Neil. Uh, let’s sit down.”

Liam ordered for everybody around the table, and sipped his scotch and got right down to business. “Okay, guys. I want you to sign with my label. I know that you have other prospects, so let’s talk terms here.”

Neil just kinda snickered, and put his hand on my shoulder. “Well, yes, yes we do have other offers. A lot of other offers. All the other labels have just talked about how they’re going to promote us, what kind of advance money they’re going to give us, how much creative control and all of that. I’m sure you’re going to do the same.” Then he raised an eyebrow and leered at me. “But you have something they don’t. And that’s a beautiful woman to sweeten the pot.”

I drew a breath. Neil had not yet done anything that would be considered inappropriate, as far as touching me. But he was staring hungrily at my breasts, and I could tell that he was just moments away from grabbing at them.

I shot a look at Liam, and he looked non-plussed by Neil’s obvious overtures. Finally, he just said “Dalilah isn’t included in the package, of course. I’m not a pimp. But I can give you favorable terms. I’ve done a bit of research, and I know that you’re being pursued by EMI, Sony, Universal and Warner Music Group. You’re also being pursued by quite a few independent labels as well. I know that they’re offering you, and I know that you’re close to signing with EMI. I’m prepared to offer you everything that EMI is offering you, plus a great deal more creative control.” Liam then launched into the terms that he was willing to give the boys, and Derrick, Nate and Simon looked impressed. Neil, however, didn’t.

“No go, mate,” Neil finally said. “You’ll have to do better than that. You have to throw Dalilah in, just for one night. One night with her, and I’m ready to sign with you. Otherwise, I’m going with EMI. And I’m the leader of this band, and what I say goes.”

“Well, that’s too bad,” I said to Neil. “I’m not a part of the deal, and I never will be. I really don’t even know why I came to this dinner, to be honest. I certainly didn’t come here to be treated like a piece of sirloin steak.”

“Well then, the deal is off,” Neil said. “Not that we even had a deal at all, but I’m ending the negotiations right this very minute.”

Liam sighed. “You want to play hardball, mate? I’m giving you much more favorable terms than any of the other labels, not to mention complete creative control. I’m taking a risk in doing that too, because, quite frankly, I think that you blokes need some kind of guidance in that department if you want to make it huge. You’re going to throw that all away because you can’t have a night with a pregnant lady?” Liam just shook his head. “You go right ahead, then. But you’re going to regret it.”

“Wait,” Neil said, turning to me. “You’re pregnant?”

“I am,” I said. “I’m a few months along.”

Neil looked like somebody had just bit him hard. “Oh, I’m sorry,” he said, suddenly looking like the silly boy that he was. “I meant no disrespect.” Then he turned to Liam, and, to my utmost relief, he said “Sorry, mate, for saying all that. The negotiations are back on.”

“I thought so,” Liam said. “Now, let’s get on the same page.”

At that, Liam and the boys started talking about all the terms that each of them were willing to accept. I held my breath, hoping that Neil wasn’t going to change his mind about having me as a stipulation to signing. I was also grateful that, when push came to shove, Liam went to bat for me. I was really afraid that Liam would try to push me into a situation that I just couldn’t accept, and then punish me for not accepting.

By the end of the evening, the boys had ended up signing a contract with Gallagher records. “You won’t regret this,” he said to the group. “You’re going to be huge.”

Neil smiled, and looked at me. “Oh, lass, you’re missing out. You could have told all your friends that you had wild monkey sex with me before I became famous. Alas, it’s not to be.”

I nodded my head, thinking, secretly, that I wasn’t missing out on much. I had the world’s greatest lover, Luke, and that was really all that I was thinking about.

On the way back to Liam’s place,
we had a long drive ahead of us, because the restaurant was about forty-five minutes away from Liam’s Surrey home. Liam hummed softly and then said “sorry about all that mess, Dalilah. About Neil, I mean. He was a little blunt. I wasn’t expecting that, to be honest. Of course, then again, drunk people are prone to say what’s on their mind, aren’t they?”

“You might say that.”

“Well, you handled yourself really well. Luke would be proud. At any rate, thanks for coming along with me.”

“I’m not sure what good I did, but you’re welcome.”

“So,” Liam said. “What can I do to help you out some? I know that there must be something that I can do.”

“You’re doing a ton just letting us stay with you and allowing us to decompress. I really couldn’t ask for more. But I will tell you that Luke is a musician and a song-writer, although his art takes precedent in his life. Maybe he could play some of his songs for you?”

“Of course,” he said. “I’ll listen to them. But no promises. If they aren’t any good, then I’m not going to do anything with them. But if they’re good, then I might be able to sell them to some of the groups that are already signed to my label.”

“That’s all I can ask,” I said.

We finally pulled into the driveway. The light was on in my room. I was looking forward to just being with Luke, and finally getting a chance to relax just a little bit. Being with the boys that night made me realize how much I craved being with Luke. There wasn’t any way that I would jeopardize what I had with him, which was the main reason why what Neil was proposing was way off-limits. I would have left Liam’s house if he tried to push the issue with me.

Of that, I was sure.