Chapter 13 Lies Unraveled

I nodded and pressed 'play' on the next video. It was the one Mike had mentioned, where they talked briefly about their mom. It had come up after David complained about the cost of the medical bills from my hospitalization and therapy visits.

They had also gone over more invoices, and Scott said they would need to find a way to get access to more money. David reminded him that the trust fund and my investment portfolio were harder to access, as they required authentication codes in addition to passwords. He mentioned that he had a plan to get me to sign over one of the rental properties courtesy of his sleeping pills, and he would then mortgage it. Scott talked it through with him to work out the details, and assured David that he could falsify the mortgage documents for him again.

I showed up in the next video. Scott and David were talking about their condo mortgage plan, and Scott was complaining that the company he worked for had a new policy requiring that a secondary employee must be present at all mortgage signings, as they'd been sued by someone who claimed another broker had misled them on the terms of the contract they'd signed. David stopped midsentence and glanced out the window toward the driveway. He'd cursed and told Scott I was home early. They hurriedly put away the paperwork they'd been going over and were casually chatting about one of their cousins getting married by the time I had walked into the room. David had feigned surprise that I was home and had greeted me with his usual hug and quick kiss on the lips. I'd grabbed my laptop cord from my worktable, quickly explained that I'd forgotten it that morning and needed it to charge my laptop for an afternoon meeting, then dashed back out. David had watched the window, presumably to see me drive away again, then told Scott it was OK to talk again.

Scott had commented that I had looked particularly hot that day. "Shit, man, did youseeher ass in that skirt? I'd hit that." David had just laughed.

"No way, asshole. Lila wouldn't look twice at you or any other man. She would never think of cheating on me. It's not in her nature. She's just too damned sweet."

Scott had scoffed at that. "Too bad she can't say the same about you. Hey, the next time you give her sleeping pills, call me. I read somewhere that some people even have sex in their sleep on that shit. I'll take care of her for you since you're busy with Vanessa."

"Not happening, bro. Vanessa's a good fuck, but nobody compares to my wife in bed. I'm not giving that up. My sweet little Lila is wild, the best I've ever had by far," David had bragged.

"Then why are you fucking around with other women if your sexy-ass wife is such a great lay? That's just greedy, man," Scott asked.

David had just shrugged. "Lila's not always around, or in the mood. Besides, even if you have filet mignon every night, you still want a greasy burger once in a while."

Scott had hooted with laughter. "So, Vanessa is your greasy burger?" David had laughed hard at that one.

"Not greasy maybe, but she sure was a fucking mess when I got done with her last night. Let me shoot cum all over her face. Here, look".

David had tapped on his phone and turned it to show Scott. "What the fuck, man? I don't want to look at your jizz. She does have nice tits, though."

They went back to their mortgage fraud discussion, and David suggested having Vanessa pose as me. Scott had told him they would have to get her a fake ID since it has to be shown and told David he could get one for her. Before he left, he gave David a baggie of coke that he'd requested.

By the time that video ended, my skin was crawling, and I felt like I needed a hot shower and a gallon of bleach.

Most of the remaining videos were more of the same. Scott and David went over more fake invoices, discussed gambling and gaslighting me, shared disgusting stories about their sex lives, and often included Scott leaving David with a baggie of powder or pills.

The last three videos were shot while I was in Chicago caring for my mother, based on the date stamps and comments that were made. One of them featured David and Vanessa discussing falsifying expense reports followed by David fucking Vanessa over his desk. I looked away and James thoughtfully reached over and fast-forwarded through that part for me.

Another was recorded early in the morning, three days before my mother died, according to the date and time stamp. It showed David wearing nothing but a pair of sleep pants walking into the office, followed by Vanessa wearing my goddamned robe and carrying a mug of coffee.

They sat down and he got on his laptop to show her something, mentioning diverting funds from some account at work.Vanessa made a suggestion about getting more money the next time, but David cautioned her not to be greedy.

"Randall isn't as stupid as my wife, and we don't want him catching on that anything is wrong." Vanessa had complained that David had referred to me as his wife, and he had kissed her and apologized.

She pouted, then asked him when he was going to divorce me. He pulled up something else on his laptop, then showed it to her. "Look at this bank statement, baby. This is all for you." She squealed and threw her arms around his neck, dropping enthusiastic kisses all over his face. He had laughed.

"I told you, baby. That's why I stay with the bitch, so I can take care of my girl in style. I can't divorce her yet, you just need to be patient."

Vanessa had pouted again, and then gave a wicked smile." Fine, but you need to take me back upstairs and fuck me in her bed again, so I can imagine her smelling my perfume on the sheets when she gets home." David had just laughed and swooped her up in his arms to carry her out of the room.

The last video was just David and Scott again, three weeks after Mom's funeral.David was complaining that I was really depressed.

"She doesn't do anything but mope around the house and cry. She only gets out of bed to go to work, then goes back in to lay down when she gets home. She's like a damned ghost around here.She isn't eating, she barely talks to me, and forget about sex.She hasn't let me near her since her mom fell the first time. She needs to go back on those anti-depressants or something."

Scott had chuckled. "Maybe that'll work in your favor. She gets depressed, offs herself, and you inherit everything."

David seemed to get pissed off and shoved his shoulder. "What the fuck's wrong with you?"

Scott rubbed his shoulder and turned a glare at David. "Me?" Scott had asked. "You're the one cheating on her and stealing from her for years, man.You're the one drugging her up and making her go crazy."

David flipped him off. "Just shut up, Scott.It's not like you're innocent in all this.It was your fucking idea, remember?"

"Hey, don't blame me, asshole!I told you to help yourself to a little extra.Not my fault you got greedy," Scott told him with a shrug, which seemed to piss David off even more.

"Really?I wouldn't have had to be so greedy if you hadn't bled me dry with your 'consulting fees' all these years."

Scott laughed. "You think I'm sticking my neck out for free on this shit, man?You're my brother, and I love ya, but I'm not risking prison time for anything less than what you're paying me."

David just shook his head. "Yeah, what-the-fuck-ever. Just don't talk about Lila like that again. I was in love with her, you know that, and believe it or not, I still care about her. I don't want her dead."

Scott immediately shot back, "No, you just want her money."

David gave him a dirty look and flipped him off again. They went on to talk about trying to get their hands on the money from the sale of my mom's house and the rest of the inheritance once her will was probated.The video ended a few minutes later, with David telling Scott he had to go, or he would be late meeting Marissa.

"Who the fuck is Marissa?" Scott asked in confusion.

"The blonde with the mile-long legs from the casino the other night," David had said with a cocky grin.

"You're hooking up with her again? I thought that was a one-time thing." David shrugged.

"Yeah, well, Vanessa's been out of town on that project for Randall for a few days, and Lila sure the fuck isn't putting out right now.So, Marissa it is."

Scott handed David another baggie of powder and told him to have fun with his leggy blonde. "I expect all the dirty details tomorrow, bro," he said as he walked out, and the video went dark.

There was silence in the room as the video ended. I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind of all the disturbing images and heartbreaking words I'd heard for the last hour or so.

Chris put his arms on both of my shoulders and gently squeezed."You gonna be OK, honey?"Sherry leaned over and put her arm around me and whispered, "I'm so sorry, Lila. I hope he's burning in hell right now."

I nodded and laid my head on her shoulder for a minute before straightening and looking at the two detectives. "So, what do you need from me now?" I asked quietly.

James spoke first."I made some notes as I listened to these again and picked up on a few more things that I didn't catch before.I'd like to go over it with Mike and see what he picked up, too, before we ask you anything else.Quite frankly, Lila, I hate that we had to ask you to watch that, and I'd like to minimize any other questions we have for you."

"James, I'm gonna suggest that we hold off on Lila meeting with Andy until tomorrow afternoon," Mike said.He turned to me. "Andy is the forensic accountant you were going to meet with this afternoon."Looking back at James, he continued, "I think he may be able to help us piece together some of this if we give him time to look through everything."

Before James could respond, Chris spoke up. "I think that's an excellent idea.I'm not comfortable with putting Lila through any more stress today anyway."

James agreed, and a new meeting was set with Andy, James, and Mike at the police station tomorrow at 2:00 pm.

As we cleaned up the lunch things and got ready to leave, I mentioned that I planned to take my car back when we left.Sherry was concerned about me being too upset to drive, so Chris volunteered to drive my car back to their house, while I rode with Sherry. Once we got back to their place, I told them I was going to go lay down for a while.

"I need some time alone to try to decompress after everything I've seen and heard today," I said, heading toward the stairs.

"OK, honey. Why don't we order Chinese for dinner around 7:00, and you rest until then. You want your usual?"

"Yes, that sounds good. Thanks, Sher."

I took a nice long shower, needing to scrub the lingering feeling of filth from my skin. After toweling off and drying my hair, I slipped on an oversized T-shirt and a pair of yoga pants, then laid down on the bed. As I reached over to plug my phone into the charger, I realized I had a voicemail from my boss, who was calling to check on me. She had just returned to the town after being on vacation and the office secretary had just told her about David. I sent her a quick text letting her know I was OK and would call her tomorrow.

I curled up in the middle of the bed and hugged the extra pillow, trying to relax my mind. I eventually dozed off, only to have fitful dreams of Vanessa and David living in my house while I was locked outside, looking through the window at them.

It was a relief to wake up when Chris knocked quietly to let me know that dinner had just been delivered.