Chapter 10
Willow went back to the cottage later that evening. Brandi was home early from work and wanted to spend some girl time, so she made time to hang out with her. Besides, Willow needed some girl time, too. She felt like Monica was upset with her after talking with Tommy, so they hadn’t spoken much.
It didn’t take long for her and Brandi to find their groove for the evening. They ordered Chinese food, popped the cork on a bottle of champagne, and kicked back on the couch for some scary movies and girl talk. However, what Willow thought would be a peaceful night of girl chat turned into something far more interesting.
“You invited someone?” The sound of the doorbell chiming interrupted their laughter.
“No,” Willow frowned. “Did you?”
Brandi didn’t invite anyone over and neither did Willow. But she was eager to know who was at the door. She thought it might’ve been Richy looking for a place to spend the night, but was surprised to see Mark standing on the other side when she opened the door.
“Mark? What are you doing here?”
“Hey, Willow.” He shrugged a little, seemingly confused as to why he was there himself. “Can we talk for a second? It’s about Charlie.”
She didn”t know why, but her heart started to thud in her chest. She felt this unfamiliar rhythm and got nervous for him all over again. Why did she care so much? That was the first question that popped into her head when he asked.
“Who’s this?”
Brandi came to the door to see who was there. When she laid eyes on Mark, Willow could tell right away that sparks were flying inside her head. Her eyes told it all. She looked so dreamy as she stared him up and down, her mouth nearly watering at the sight of him. Little did Brandi know that Mark was bad news, too.
“This is Mark,” Willow said. “Charlie’s brother. He wants to talk.”
“Okay,” she said. “Well, let him in. We can all talk.”
She pushed the door open wide enough for him to walk through. Willow closed it behind them as she walked him over to the sofa, offering him a glass of champagne and food along the way. Mark chuckled in an ever so charming way as he accepted the glass of champagne but declined the food, and Willow nearly gagged at the sight of them getting cozy so soon.
“What’s this about, Charlie?” she asked, lifting her own glass and retaking her seat. “Did you find him yet?”
“Not yet. I was wondering if you had? I got a call from Charlene about the meeting you two had?”
“Meeting?” Brandi chimed in. “You didn’t tell me you met someone.”
Willow didn’t tell Brandi she had met with Charlene because she didn”t want to be lectured by her. She had a bad habit of trying to choose Willow’s friends for her and they had already gotten into an argument about Monica, so Willow kept the meeting with Charlene to herself. If Brandi knew she was going to meet with her, she probably would have wanted to tag along, and that was too much for one night.
“Oh, yeah. It was a last minute thing and you were still at work anyway. It was nothing special.”
“Well, what did you guys talk about?” she asked. “Did you tell Sheriff Tommy about this? You know he’s been looking for her for a while now, right?”
Willow took a large gulp from her glass and shook her head. Mark being there made everything so awkward. She didn”t want to tell anybody anything in front of him.
“Oh my God, Willow,” Brandi said. “You can’t keep things like this out of the loop. These people are dangerous and wanted. Do you know how much trouble you could get into for not giving up information like this?”
“And this is exactly why I didn”t say anything,” Willow said. “I needed to talk to her first, and alone, to see if she would tell me anything useful about Charlie. It seems like me and Richy are the only people actually putting in any work to find him. I didn’t want Tommy scaring her off and ruining my chances of that completely. I’m going to tell him.”
The room turned quiet for a moment. Willow believed Brandi felt the tension in her voice and decided to drop the conversation and let her do things the way she wanted to do them. Until Willow realized she was only silent because she wanted to focus all of her attention on Mark.
“So, Mark, you said you’re Charlie’s brother?”
“Yeah,” he nodded. “I’m really out to find out where he is. Make sure he’s okay and not lying in a ditch somewhere. I know he’s done some unspeakable things that’s gotten him into some pretty big trouble, but still.”
Willow rolled her eyes so hard her head started to hurt. She didn’t trust Mark as far as she could throw him. And he was a big guy, so that wouldn’t have been pretty far. Brandi, on the other hand, hung onto his every word like he was her high school crush giving her a shot at a first date.
“When was the last time you saw him?” she asked. “Did he tell you he was leaving?”
“He never said a word.” Mark removed his jacket and draped it over the back of the couch, making himself more comfortable than Willow liked for him to be. “He just up and vanished. I haven”t heard a word from him in about two weeks now.”
“I take it you still haven”t gotten the money he owes you then, have you?”
Mark’s eyes shot over to Willow as if he wanted to tell her to shut her mouth. He was so busy hitting it off with Brandi that he didn’t want her to know he was in on Charlie’s scheme. Willow had no real proof of whether he was, but she felt it in her gut. She knew he was in on it. If Charlene was, so was he. It only made sense.
“No.” He cleared his throat. “I was able to get him some pretty big contracts with some high placed businessmen, so it’s only right he pays me. I don”t know anything about all that other stuff he has going on.”
Willow could smell the lies coming from his pores. It made her sick to her stomach to even listen to him talk. He tried to play it off as if he was some innocent bystander who had no idea what Charlie was doing in front of Brandi, but Willow knew better. She knew the money he was owed came from him having a hand in covering things up the same way Charlene did.
“Sure,” Willow said. “Look, I’m not sure what to believe anymore. After talking to Charlene, it’s hard to believe that you weren’t in on this too. I mean, you’re his brother, she’s his sister. You guys worked together, whatever that means. She says Charlie owes her money, too, but it’s for a hell of a different reason than you claim he owes you. There’s so much BS going on here. I don’t know what to think. If all you wanted to do was ask if I”d heard from Charlie, you could have called or texted. But instead, you show up. That seems a little odd to me.”
There was a flair in his eyes that made him look angry at Willow. Brandi overlooked it because she was too stuck on how good looking he was, but Willow didn”t miss a single beat from him. Everything about him screamed guilty. Everything. From the way he wore his hair, to the way he smirked at her when Brandi wasn’t looking.
“I’m not your enemy here, Willow.” He smirked again. “If anything, I”m a team player who wants to make things right. For everyone. You. Charlene. The victims. Everyone. But I also have to look out for myself. I just want to talk to Charlie. Ask him why he did the things he’s done. Most importantly, I want to know that he’s okay. Even though he did some terrible things, he still deserves to be in good health and safe. That’s all.”
“And why would I keep things a secret if I did know where he was?” Willow spat. “I’m the one married to a criminal.”
“I don’t know,” Mark shrugged. “Maybe he got into your ear again. I mean, you spent years with him and claim to never know a thing. Charlie’s great at sweet talking and persuading people to do what he wants them to do. You cared about him enough to marry him. Who’s to say you don’t still care enough to help figure this out?”
She wanted to vomit. She couldn’t believe Mark actually barged into her personal space and was accusing her of trying to help Charlie. He was the one helping him. Him and their sister. All of it was their plan. Willow couldn’t prove anything, but she knew it deep down inside. Mark only came to pay her a visit so he could make sure she wasn”t hiding Charlie, or the money.
“You’ve got some nerve,” Willow chuckled. “You really came here to accuse me of the things you’ve been doing all along? You may not know where Charlie is now, but you knew what he was doing. You and Charlene knew about this all along. I can’t prove it, but when I do, believe me, all of you are gonna go down.”
“Willow?”
Brandi looked surprised at her. She wanted to quiet Willow down because she wanted to feel Mark out for herself and a slither of her had hoped that he wasn’t the monster Willow knew he was, but Willow didn”t buy into him at all. Not for a split second. He may have had Brandi fooled, but not Willow.
“Those are some pretty large accusations there.” He set his empty glass down on the coffee table and stood to his feet. “I hope you know what you’re doing here. Hopefully Charlie hasn’t gotten you more mixed up than we know. Otherwise, you’ll be the one going down with him. I came here hoping we’d be able to work together on this thing, but it seems like you’ve already got your mind made up about me. So, I guess I”ll get out of your hair. Sorry to bother you.”
“Yeah,” Willow scoffed again. “That’d be the best thing you’ve probably ever done for anyone in your life.”
“Oh my God! Willow!”
Brandi jumped to her feet to see Mark out while Willow refilled her glass and plopped down on the couch. He had ruined her mood for the evening. And so had Brandi. Willow couldn’t believe how in awe Brandi was over some strange man. A man who had obvious ties to Charlie and could have easily been in on things with him.
“Okay! What was that about?” Brandi came inside after seeing Mark to his car. “Why did you flip out on him like that?”
“The same reason you’re all hot for him,” Willow shot back. “You don’t know that guy, Brandi. You can’t just fall head over heels for every hot guy you see and forget all about getting to know what kind of man he is. Mark is dangerous. I know he is. I can feel it.”
Brandi took a seat next to Willow to hear her out. She was surprised Brandi did that instead of allowing things to go so far left that they got into another argument. Willow appreciated her for that.
“Okay,” she said. “Then let”s figure him out too. Maybe if we can find some dirt on him, we might be able to get closer to finding Charlie.”