Chapter 20

Yet again, I wondered if Ellen still had a straight mind. It had been a question turning over and over again in my mind even as I travelled to the warehouse by the pier, but it was obvious now that she sorely underestimated me. I wasn’t sure if I should blame her –both May and Ellen had not been taught to wage war. It had been the men in the Lorrens family of their generation -their brothers –who had learnt to fight the Dals. Ellen’s conning skills were only meant for survival, not for war.

“This is the last leave I give to you, Ellen, for being family.” I announced evenly, though the anger in my heart was tightly kept hidden. Since young, my weakness had been family. Even if I hated Ellen, there was still the primal instinct within me to forgive Ellen’s stupidity. But it would extend only so far, so far to forgive her shooting me and attempting to kidnap Jon. She hadn’t hurt Jon, and for that I would offer forgiveness.

“You need to understand,” Ellen sneered, lounging comfortably in her ornate, vintage cushioned high-back chair that seemed out of place in the empty warehouse, “that we are the ones in power right now in this situation. I don’t have need for your leave, and neither do they.”

I took it as her final rejection. She never seemed to understand, in the months after I rejected her, that it had been me who had gone back against my word and protected her from Killian. I hadn’t exerted my influence to get the Killian away, but at least I had pleased them enough to turn a blind eye to Ellen’s and Archer’s offense done to them.

And she had never understood that I was the one behind the apparent silence of Killian.

“You need to understand,” I replied evenly, shucking my suit jacket off in a movement that would have been smooth if not for the bandage and the fact that my right arm was more or less out of commission. Ellen smiled a little at the sight of bandages hiding beneath my dress shirt. “That I am in power regardless of the situation that I find myself in.”

“Don’t be pathetic.” She laughs once mockingly. “I was already conning when you were just playing with Lego and toy cars.”

“Your sister used to think that too.” I offered a smile –simply to unnerve her. “That was until she was shown exactly how much in power I was.”

“Impossible.” Ellen declared angrily, as if unhappy that I would bring up May into the conversation. “You weren’t even in the con world.”

“You misunderstand.” I retorted evenly. “I was in the con world the moment I was born. My father spared no time. The moment I was taught to speak, I was taught to lie. The moment I learnt to walk, I learnt to run. The moment I learnt to open a door, I learnt to pick the lock. The moment I walk into a room, I am in power.”

“You have no power here.” Sneered Ellen in reply as she signaled for her henchmen –for the lack of better words –to watch the surrounding. She might pretend to hold power, but I knew that there was something within her that made her wary. My confidence wore on hers, and it made her doubt herself. “You gave up that power when you surrendered everything your gun and phone in return of letting Jon run free.”

“I admit.” I said honestly, walking over slowly till I stood before her. Beneath the perfectly made-up face and her well-maintained body figure, I saw an old woman of her fifties, afraid of being alone, afraid of her life now that her shield, her late husband, was gone. “I don’t have power now. But wait a few moments more, and my power returns.”

“Assuming you are not dead by then.”

“Assuming I am not dead.” I agreed. “Now, would you please explain what is it that you desire, now that you have me in your hands? To hurt me? I don’t think so, for you would have started by hurting Jon, then hurting me the moment I arrived. You think to play a mind game with me? I don’t think so, for I think you understand that I am above the need for that.”

Ellen pursed her lips in silence, as if trying to understand the fact that I was acting as if I was the one entirely in power now. Her plan to scare me and make me feel threatened hadn’t worked much, and she’d now come to regret letting go of Jon so quickly. Maybe she never expected me to be such a formidable enemy, such that I could turn her situation –in which she’d planned everything out –into my power, without any weapon but my mind games.

I didn’t have to turn around to know that her followers were giving each other doubtful looks, as if doubting their leader’s power. Ellen, in a situation as such, did her best to scrape back whatever power she could still gain from her temporary position of power.

“You’ve been familiar with the woman I saw at your place the other day.” Ellen declared. “I heard that she was your Plus-One at the Meet months ago.”

“Which you were uninvited, yes.” I put in with a little petty. Though, I would have to say my pettiness paid off, for Ellen’s face grew black with insult.

“Kaylen, is that not her name?” Ellen continued, as if knowing that her upcoming request would throw me off kilter. In truth, though I hadn’t shown an inkling of it yet, she had already thrown me off track. Kaylen, though now an upcoming question amongst the con-world after the Meet on the cruise and the mess of our ‘jumping overboard’, was still a topic hidden beneath other talks about more lucrative whispers of heists and cons on the street. It would not be a surprise to assume that Kaylen meant something to me, but the fact that Ellen was willing to use something so uncertain threw me off-guard.

Yet again, I wondered if she was still thinking straight.

Ellen withdrew my personal phone from the cache of confiscated goods -which included many phones and my gun -and scrolled through the contacts till she found her desired number. There were a million numbers in there she could abuse –presidents and powerhouses of many countries. A simple call from this number could get her many things. Power, money, a life of luxury. But Ellen was now past that, as she hit call and went for loudspeakers.

“Tell her, Elxa. Tell her everything. Tell her that you are a top-class conman, and that you have been conning her right from the start. Every moment with her was a lie.” Ellen leaned forward, leaving the phone between us as if she knew I wouldn’t try anything stupid.

“And if I say no?” I ventured to ask, still keeping my tone casual for I would not let Ellen benefit from the knowledge of how much her request bothered me. Even if I knew I was doomed from the moment those words left her lips, I wouldn’t show her my reaction to it. It might be petty of me, it might be childish of me, but I would refuse to let her be satisfied with my blustering, my begging not to be put through this.

“Then I will tell her myself, and I will send one of my friends here after Jon. It will not be hard for us to find an address under the name Kaylen in Miami alone.” Ellen smiled, seemingly victorious to have found her weapon. The ringing tone continued, and it was the first time I ever wished that the phone wouldn’t make a connection.

But it did.

“Mr. Elxa! Are you okay? Where are you now?” Her sweet voice was strange through the mechanical sound emanated by the phone, but I could still recognize her.

“Kaylen.” I greeted seriously back in reply, making sure that my voice was even, my tone controlled. “There are things I need to tell you.”

“It can wait. Just tell me, are you okay?” She asked worriedly, and I tried not to betray the warmth in my heart as I watched Ellen’s smile grew wider. Did she know the signs of weaknesses from me? There were simply signs of tension that I would never be able to erase or tame anyway.

“I am fine. But promise me that you will listen.” I replied in the usual no-nonsense tone of voice. I would have asked about Jon, but I didn’t dare to, for fear of confirming to Ellen that he was there with Kaylen. It would be better for Ellen to assume that Jon had either not reached Kaylen’s, or hadn’t made for her apartment at all.

“I-I promise, Mr. Elxa.” Kaylen’s reply was painfully quick, and I prayed quietly to May and Jed for forgiveness.

“Kaylen, I am a liar.” I said, holding Ellen’s delighted eye contact. Sardonic joy danced behind the green eyes as a gasp came from the phone, but I didn’t leave for Kaylen to put anything more. Since I had started, there was no point stopping.

“I am a liar.” I repeated. “I am no businessman. My real profession is conning. I con people for a living; have done that for my entire life since young. I don’t con because of my situation, no. Conning is a part of me, and has been a part of me since I learnt to walk and talk. I am a conman right down to my bones, and right now, I am a member on a council of top conmen and women who rule over the entire world of cons.”

“M-M-Mr. Elxa…” Kaylen tried to put in, whispering, but I cut her off quickly, my words coming faster and faster as my mind rushed to catch up with my lips.

“No, don’t say anything. Listen to me. I was conning you right from the start. Our meeting was accidental, but my bumping into you on the train was not. You stumbled, but I bumped into you and stole your wallet and keys. When you left the station, I followed you. I watched you get robbed. I don’t know why I did it, but I chased after the robber. I lied about losing him. I got him and I got your belongings back. They are in a safe hidden in my bedroom closet. The password is hidden under the table lamp. I’ve been lying to you right from the start. I don’t do business by trading. I steal art and I forge them. I trade information for money, I lie and cheat. I love what I do. I love deceit. I love conning, and you have been only part of my elaborate scheme. I didn’t expect you to get through to Jon, but somehow you did. But that is only all the need I have for you.”

The silence through the phone was almost too heavy for my heart to bear, but I schooled my expression a blank as I stared straight at Ellen, her smile growing into an outright grin when I took a deep breath. Was I truly showing signs of cracking, or was she reveling in the thought of Kaylen hurting? Was her true target me or Kaylen?

“You have been lied to, Kaylen. You are just a little pawn I’ve been moving around on the board, just a tool in my plans. Your use have worn out. I don’t need you anymore, and I don’t need to lie to you anymore. Take your belongings from my apartment, and leave. But I am a man of my word. The money I have paid for you to look after Jon, they are yours –only if you accept the use of blood money.”

It was for the best. Though with every word, a slice appeared on my bleeding heart, I refused to let them show. It was for the best that I told Kaylen the truth on such circumstances. I was forced to, and this was no better situation for me to say the truth and hang up. I knew it hurt Kaylen to hear everything, but it didn’t matter the situation in which it were said. Only the truth mattered when it came to Kaylen Hurst.

“So… everything was a lie?” Her voice was shaky, somewhere between anger and hurt. I might have schooled my expression nicely to show a blank for Ellen, but my fists clenched without my control, my fingernails digging deep into skin.

“Everything was a lie.” I confirmed. “You are now officially fired.”

Ellen grinned, and hung up.

“Well, that wasn’t so hard after all, was it, hmm?” She taunted, eyes tagging quickly on my clenched fists, then back to my blank expression. Perhaps it was too blank that it was too obvious an effort of me trying to hide my feelings?

“Barely worth any effort.” I forced my tone to be indifferent, trying to show that nothing of the previous phone conversation had bothered me a single bit, though inside, I was beginning to crumble. This was unfair; for Kaylen. I could only imagine the turmoil running through her at the moment. The hurt, the shock, the anger and sting of betrayal. Ever since my employing of her, she had been reliant on both Jon and I to be in her life. I had taken her away from her old life, and given her a life with Jon and me.

And now, I was telling her to scram.

“Now, do you have anything more? More bridges to burn? Perhaps you want to incite another con war with your hold over me. How about I call Danaus? Orson?” I purposefully made my suggestion strong and confident. Pretending to be powerful was usually not a problem for me, but at the moment, as my heart struggled to come to terms with the fact that I had hurt the one woman I had come to love and care for, I couldn’t pretend to be the almighty Elxa Dal.

“Next, FBI.” She said, still with her wide grin.

“FBI?” I repeated. “Even if you want me thrown in jail, you do realize that you will land yourself behind bars too.”

“I have my protection and contacts.” Ellen waved my question away quickly, taking out her phone this time. “I want to hear you confessing to your crimes, Elxa. I want to hear you confessing, the FBI rushing to track this phone and finding you.”

“You want to throw a member on The Circle to jail.” I stated blandly, finally understanding.

Ellen was thinking straight. Straighter than I thought her to be capable of, in fact. Her attacking me; her obviously pissing me off and putting me in my place by using Jon, then having me burn my bridges with Kaylen. Her ruse was all just a large elaborate scam.

She wanted to get on The Circle.

Once I confessed and got convicted of jail-time, I would be kicked off The Circle, for I would no longer be a top-notched con artist. Ellen, who the con world would already have known to be waging war against me by now, considering the fresh news of her shooting me, would come up to The Circle and try to claim herself a seat, by presenting evidence of her outsmarting me and putting me in my place. If those matters failed to claim her a place, then she would use Kaylen –who she must have known to have gotten into Hayden’s good books since the cruise –to force her way in.

The ultimate goal was my power. My seat on The Circle.

She was smart; this cunning woman who sat before me. She had relied initially on my self-confidence, and the fact that she was family for me to protect her. After when it was clear that I was not going to help her, she used Jon and the views of the con world to work in her favor. All she needed was for me to be removed from her sights, and she would be free for the seat on The Circle.

But she seemed to forget; she was dealing with a member on The Circle.

On cue, my phone rang in her hand, filling the silent warehouse with my ringtone of classical Beethoven.

“Seems like Hayden’s calling.” I observed, peering over at the screen. “You might want to pick it up.”

Ellen’s green eyes narrowed on me, as if trying to figure out the ploy, trying to figure out if she should pick up the call. The need to bow down to somebody bigger than her came in the way as she finally picked up the call, putting it on loudspeaker.

“Elxa.” I greeted normally, the way I would to his usual calls.

“Honestly, you need to change your ringtone more often. I’ve been listening to that same Beethoven song for years.” Hayden’s casual, conversational voice drifted through the phone, slightly distorted by the mechanics of the phone.

“You never seemed to complain before.” I replied evenly, watching Ellen’s face slowly draw into a frown. Did she suspect me of giving some sort of a clue or hint to Hayden? There was no question that I was a known ally to Hayden and his sister on The Circle.

“Well, that was before I heard it in the warehouse.” Hayden replied easily, as Ellen’s shocked eyes pinned quickly on me.

“In the warehouse?” I feigned ignorance, but Hayden replied a happy, “Yup.”

Anything more that I could reply was taken away by the sound of fights happening outside. Inside the warehouse, Ellen’s followers looked at each other in wariness, then raised their guns.

“Oops, you might want to keep the line on hold for a short while, Elxa.” Hayden’s clear voice came through, and the sound of fights was amplified in the echoing emptiness of the warehouse.

Ellen jumped to her feet in shock, realization running through her as shock colored deep in her green eyes. Shouting orders to her followers, they rushed to the door of the warehouse.

A second later, a loud boom and crash sounded. Ellen screamed in shock, and I spun around.

Hayden got out from the SUV, which appeared surprisingly only slightly battered after running through the wooden doors of the warehouse, with a wide grin. Tapping his Bluetooth headset, he disconnected the call as he brushed down imaginary dust from his casual suit. Jeremy alighted from the other side, and helped his darling conwoman out of the car.

“Hope I didn’t keep you waiting for too long!” Hayden raised a hand of greeting, pocketing his wireless headset, grinning stupidly.

“A little too long.” I nodded in acknowledgment to Jeremy and Hayley, then turned back to Ellen, who was beginning to back away.

“Ellen.” I called pleasantly. “Did you not want to stay and hear me confess to the Bureau of my crimes?”

“H-How can you! How can you call them here? I’ll have Jon killed!” She screeched, still backing away. The fear was heavy in her eyes.

“Ah, but I don’t think you can do that in jail, can you? You see; I have a copy of the files that I sent to the Miami Dade Police Department just an hour ago here. Right here… I have a receipt of your purchase of illegal firearms, and here another paper trail of a heist you carried out in England. Oh, do I have to mention the video footage of your break-in to the jeweler in Paris?” Hayley replied easily, waving a blue thumb drive even as she delicately picked her way with her high-heels over the slightly wet ground of the warehouse.

“B-But it’s impossible! I deleted the footage!”

“You forget, darling.” Hayley’s smile was in itself something that could give her enemies nightmares about. “That you have been dealing with Elxa Dal. Everything I have here, he gave to me with the instructions to pass to the police when he called for it.”

Ellen’s shocked green eyes turned to me, incredulousy in her face. “You didn’t.”

“Unfortunately, Ellen, I did.” I replied honestly. “You can wait for the police to come now, or we have a better solution at hand.”

“No!” She screeched again, and turned into a blind run. She didn’t run for the only exit/entrance of the warehouse though. No, she ran to a crate left at the side.

And then the barrel of a gun was staring at me again.

“We’ve come to this again.” Ellen sneered, reveling in the fake power that she now found herself as she clicked the safety off. “I won’t miss again.”

“I sure won’t.” A new voice intruded, and I calmly watched as the barrel of another pistol rest on Ellen’s temple.

With her gun still trained point blank over my heart, she slowly turned to the new intruder, the disbelief and extreme fear bleeding into her face. The effect was amazing, and I silently patted myself on the back for my ability to draw such an expression on her face.

“We have been hunting you for very long, Ms. Lorrens.” Matthew Killian grinned with the mad force of a serial killer. “I must thank Elxa for contacting us this time. I never expected a man to give up his family relative, but Elxa is a conman above being your nephew, I guess.”

“We can work things out, Matthew…” Ellen’s voice seemed to suddenly have lost its strength.

“We can.” I replied evenly. This had been the situation I had planned so far beforehand, the situation I had prepared myself for. “If you will listen and leave the con world, then I will let you leave quietly. If you refuse, then you must pay for what you and Archer did.”

It was a simple choice for a woman like her.

Her eyes turned back to me, as if shocked and disgusted that I would be willing to give her up to a serial killer. But it had never bothered her at all; to use her nephew Jon against me. So what was the point of me trying to protect her? She’d made it clear that she didn’t cherish our relationship anyway. Blood was thicker than water, but this time, her poison of her mind was thicker than the both of them combined.

“If I must die, then I take you with me!” She screamed, with sudden conviction.

There were gunshots.

And then blinding pain.

And then, nothing.