Hello guys! Thank you so much for opening this chapter. There was a problem with the previous chapter (21); it published an unedited version to some people. My attention was called to it and it has been rectified.
So if you were reading chapter 21 and felt like hurling me through a window, I apologize 😅. It was a glitch. If you want to, you can go back to read it before proceeding to this chapter, I promise, the final, edited version is fun! Thank you!🤗😇
~
The silence that ensued was deafening. It was as if everyone was trying to decide if what Fiona had said was sensible or just blabber from a menopausal, old woman. They chose the latter.
"And so what?" Vivian screeched, angry. She seemed not to be able to swallow the fact that Fiona had stood up to her, for the first time in her life. "You're wasting my time." She added when Fiona didn't reply.
"She's wasting my time." Rodgers said.
"Can't you see it?"
"No, Fiona."
"Of course you can't Vivian you're a dimwit." Fiona snapped.
Vivian took threatening steps forward. "I will not have you speak to me in such a manner!"
Fiona looked up at Rodgers, ignoring Vivian. "If you are here with an arrest warrant for Devlin Gusev, then you would be arresting the wrong person because Devlin Gusev is dead. The man standing before you here is Leo. I believe I don't need to fill in the gap further."
"Son of a bitch." Campbell cursed bitterly, getting the drill.
Rodgers looked at Campbell. "What?"
"Honey, don't tell me you're listening to this insane woman?"
"To be honest Vivian, the only insane person here is you. You find it hard to grasp simple analogies."
"What is simple about the balderdash you are spewing?!" Vivian shouted. "He is Leo and not Devlin and so what? We all know that!"
Devlin smiled smugly from where he stood. Fiona was doing exceptionally well. He had totally envisioned this happening -- someone finding him, his arrest and all that. But he had thought to give his evidence before a grand jury and humiliate Rodgers but his mother had jumped the gun. Could he blame her though? She was a fast thinker and but he loved her for it. He especially loved the confusion it was causing.
"Devlin," Pamela whispered to him.
He looked at her and smiled. "Just watch."
"Why don't you explain what you mean?" Rodgers asked tightly.
"With all pleasure." She glanced at Devlin and Pamela before taking a deep breath. "You came here to arrest Devlin Gusev, not Leonid Chernyshevsky. Devlin Gusev is dead. He died and was buried in the United States, therefore arresting the man standing here is wrong. It will only be dismissed as a case of mistaken identity."
Rodgers' angry gaze flickered towards Devlin and Devlin winked at him. He balled his fists and faced Fiona. He looked scary, like a lion would to a lamb. But Fiona was no ordinary lamb. She was looking straight at him, unwavering, strong. Devlin had never felt more proud.
"And how are you certain of this claim? What proof do you have?" He leaned in and lowered his voice. "And trust me housekeeper, you will get your share of a jail cell if it turns out you're just wasting my time."
Fiona laughed. "Is that a threat?"
"Yes." He snapped. "Your proof?"
"It's simple. He is my son."
Rodgers reeled back in shock. He hadn't been expecting it. His mouth hanging open, he looked at Vivian for confirmation. Vivian wasn't looking at him though, she was regarding Fiona with malice. Then she turned to look at Devlin and seeing he registered no surprise, whispered, "You knew."
"Of course he knew." Fiona replied. "That was the first thing he said to me the moment he got here."
"Let him speak for himself!" Vivian snapped.
"No. I'd rather use my right to silence, thank you very much." Devlin said with a lazy drawl.
"Release him immediately." Fiona said to Rodgers who was still looking like he was struck by lightening. "Or I will call my lawyers and they will hit you and the whole precinct you represent with a staggering law suit."
Vivian laughed snidely. "You have no lawyers! You are a nobody. A mere servant."
"Oh, but I do, Vivian. I do have lawyers. I have the legal copy of his father's will. He willed everything, I mean, every single thing to me."
"What is she talking about?" Campbell asked.
"She's lying."
"Please, Vivian. Today's not the day." She turned to face Rodgers. "Why the hell is my son still in cuffs?"
Rodgers, as if regaining his senses, shook his head vehemently and said, "I will not release him."
"Don't try me, police officer."
"Detective." He corrected angrily.
"Don't try a real mother."
"And who's the fake mother?"
Fiona did an about turn and walked up to where Vivian stood. "You're not a mother at all Vivian. You let Bartholomew repeatedly rape Lilian. Is that what a mother does?"
"You shut up, servant!" Campbell said with a growl.
Vivian and Fiona stared at each other for one long minute. "You know nothing." Vivian finally said. "My life is not your business."
"Of course it isn't. That's why I have to look out for my business which is my son."
"Fill in the blanks for me here, Mrs. Campbell. Your late husband was nutting you and your servant? That man was wild."
"That is a rather mundane description." Pamela whispered.
"Fiona got pregnant for my husband years ago. So as to avoid a scandal, I graciously --"
Fiona snorted.
"-- decided to take the baby as mine. Something I have come to regret. And that doesn't take into account the fact that I let her feed and care for him."
"I never asked you to take my baby away. You wanted to protect your reputation."
"I saved you and your bastard child from a lifetime of poverty and humiliation!"
"Bastard child? That's my husband you're taking about!" Pamela said.
"Shut up!"
"She will not!" Fiona shouted back.
Campbell moved forward. "Ladies! Ladies. Let's all simmer down, shall we? Better yet, who wants a drink?"
Ignoring him, Fiona looked at Rodgers. "Give me one valid reason why you can't let my son go. I have his birth certificate and on it is his real name."
"And I have his wedding certificate. A proof that he is still Devlin Gusev. And besides, how do you explain his wife?" He looked directly at Pamela, then back at Fiona. "How do you explain her relationship with this Leonid which happens to just be a doppelganger of the wanted criminal? Coincidence? I don't think so. Do you Mrs. Gusev?"
"You mean Mrs. Chernyshevsky?" Pamela asked smoothly. She laced her arms around Devlin's.
Rodgers, Vivian and Campbell gave her a look of disbelief while Fiona smiled complacently. Then Vivian scoffed and laughed.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures indeed. I was the only Mrs. Chernyshevsky. That name died with Hugh because he had no brothers and his father was an only child too. So you are an imposter!"
"No, ma'am I'm not, and no ma'am, that name is not dead. I and Leo got married on the day of your son's engagement." Pamela graciously walked forward and put out her hand so they would all see the ring on her finger. "We got a priest, Fiona was the witness and I have the certificate." Then she looked at Rodgers. "Now, detective, let my husband, Leonid Chernyshevsky go. Right this minute or we'll have to make good on our word of that law suit and trust me we have the resources for it because he is the heir to all Chernyshevsky estate, home and abroad. Do not play with me."
~
Cain swore loudly and bitterly and hurled his whiskey glass across his hotel wall. It went crashing and shattered. He stood and picked another and filled it to the brim. He took a sip of the amber liquid and grimaced.
He had gone and come back empty handed. How the hell had that happened? He'd had everything planned out and so had thought he'd had the son of a bitch. He had not counted on meeting the woman who claimed to be Gusev's real mother.
The Campbells were stupid. Had they sorted the mess in their home, all he would've had to do was breeze in and breeze out with Gusev in cuffs and straight to jail.
Not that he had anything personal against Devlin Gusev, he just hated to see criminals free. Gusev had proved to be the most evasive criminal, escaping just by a hair's breadth. Cain had taken it as a challenge. Besides, it would earn him a promotion and bring him into the spotlight as a hero, someone the young ones should emulate.
Besides all these, he had a thing for Pamela. She was sexy. She was beautiful. He wanted her in his bed, wanted to grope her breasts and fuck her. The thought of that made his groin swell.
He imagined grabbing her head and kissing her, he imagined chocking her while he buried himself deep inside her. He imagined her lips on him, he imagined her stroking him from root to tip, playing with his balls, pleasing him. Whether she wanted it or not, he would have his way.
His phone rang jarring him out of his thoughts. He was in a foul mood and so God help whomever was calling. He answered it and put it over his ears.
"What?"
"Bad time?"
"I don't have the time for bullshit, Tucker. What do you want?"
"Easy, tiger. You seem cheesed off. What happened?"
"That son of a bitch got away. He slipped right through my fingers." Cain stood and paced the width of the room.
"How? I had everything sorted to the last detail."
"You think I don't know that?" He picked up the glass and swallowed the remaining liquid in one shot. It tasted brackish and bitter, but not as bitter as failure. "We had a warrant for Devlin Gusev but here he is Leonid Chernyshevsky."
"So what? Get another warrant."
"If it was that simple you think I wouldn't have by now, Stupid? You don't know how hard it was to get this one and getting another would be pushing my limits and I hate to stick my neck out."
"Well, I don't think his claims will hold up in court. It's too feeble."
"I wouldn't have let him go if I hadn't considered that. You're pissing me off. Get off my phone."
"Wait! I'm only trying to find solutions for you."
"Why? Last I checked we weren't very friendly."
"You weren't friendly to me. But then, you aren't friendly to anyone."
"Thanks for reminding me."
"No matter what, I am sure there are holes in his claim. Something is definitely not right. All you need to do is sit down and calmly think it through."
Tucker was making sense. But he wasn't going to admit that. "I don't have that time. Why did you call?"
"One of the guys on whom you planted evidence which led to his arrest --"
"Are you fucking stupid? What if someone heard you?"
"I'm alone."
Cain hated the nonchalance in Tucker's voice but could he blame him? He was only being that way because he had the distance to protect him. It was easy for Tucker to hide behind a phone and annoy him and he was annoyed enough as it was, so he decided to let it go.
"Continue."
"He died."
"Good riddance." Cain said without missing a beat.
"To him or to me?"
"Tucker I swear if you keep making stupid jokes I shove a stick into your asshole and slowly pull it out then I will cut off your balls and -"
"I have information about your ex girlfriend." He hurriedly said.
Cain breathed. "Don't tell me she's going about causing trouble. I have enough on my plate as it is."
"She's in cohorts with Detective Art."
"Doesn't surprise me. I saw it coming."
"And she's staying at a safe house. I think he wants to use her as a witness."
Cain laughed. "I knew it would lead to this. I'm not bothered though. I have plans for her. I'll fucking kill her."
"K - kill?" Tucker stuttered. "Don't go that far, just take her child. That will force her into submission."
"Hmm. Who would have thought your brains could work sometimes? You're smart."
He laughed. "Knew I liked you. So when are you going to do it?"
"I guess we'll see."
"When?"
"When what?"
"When will we see?"
"You stupid asshole. I thought I told you I'm not in the mood for your stupid jokes?"
"This is really serious Cain. You know how tenacious Art is. He'll bring you down in one fell swoop before you can blink, and you know how tough jail can be for cops, especially one as dirty as you --"
"Shut up, I get your point. Why the fuck do you even care?"
"If you go down, I go down too. I love you but I love myself more."
"I'll catch the return flight tomorrow."
"Oh shit."
"What?"
"It's Art. He's looking right at me. Blisters he's walking towards me!" Tucker released a gust of breath. "Thank God he just walked past me. But he smiled at me and that made me almost wet my pants."
"You stupid idiot. Why will one ugly man make you that riled?"
"I'm sorry but Art is a hell of a guy. He's strong and wily. If he grabs my neck, my eyes will pop right out."
"Well too bad his strength was on vacation when I was having a field day with his daughter."
"What do you mean?"
"Take a message to Art for me will you? Tell him I enjoyed fucking his daughter."
"What? I -- I can't say that. But wait, she let you do that? You both were in a relationship?"
"No Idiot. I forced her."
"You mean rape." He said quietly.
He smiled. "Art doesn't know. He thinks he's won but I'm sure it haunts him that he failed his daughter."
"Oh, right. Well, uh, goodbye."
The line died.
Rodgers leaned back in his seat. Yes, he was still pissed about loosing the chance to throw Gusev in jail but anytime he remembered the rainy night he and his two friends happened upon Art's daughter, it made him smile.
Many a time he had resisted the urge to tell Art to his face that he and his friends had been the ones who'd broken his daughter's virginity and he hadn't been there to stop them. So much for his super power.
Cain laughed, then sobered. His two friends were dead. They had somehow confessed to raping Art's daughter and before they could rat him out, he'd them taken out. It had been very risky but he'd succeeded in silencing them forever.
No matter how many times he failed, he always found a way to be on the winning wagon, and just as his loyal friend had suggested, he would carefully think his plan through and through.
Without a shadow of doubt, he would be able to throw Devlin Gusev or Leonid Chernyshevsky -- whatever name the coward choose to hide behind -- in jail for the rest of his miserable life.
~
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