Pieces of Truth

Chapter 26

Lost

~ ~ ~

When I couldn’t find Josh at his loft, I headed to his place of work, Errol Investment Brokerage that was in a building uptown. I stood at the bottom of the huge skyscraper, wondering what I would say if I found him. How would I even begin to say I’m sorry. Would he really give me another chance? What if he shot me down? The possibilities pounded my brain, causing my hands to shake. I now understood the phrase, ‘you don’t know what you’ve lost until it’s gone,’ because all I felt was emptiness and decay inside from a death like loss that I had from running away from Josh. I had taken my light and pushed it into darkness, all because I didn’t believe in him, all because I didn’t give him a minute to explain.

I deserved this heartache. My poor choices had finally come full circle and I now had to deal with their consequences. I stared up into the sky at the enormous building, getting my courage together, preparing myself to go inside. I then saw a familiar face exiting the building and heading towards me.

And just like that, the Lappell is here to kick me when I’m down.

It almost felt too coincidental to see his face at this moment.

“Miss Rossi, what a pleasure to see you again.” Kyser Harkin came walking up to where I stood. He was the last person I wanted to see. His very presence irritated me and made my skin crawl. I was hoping I could brush him off quickly. I was on a mission to find Josh to spill out my soul in the hope he would give me another chance.

Kyser looked at me staring up at the building. “Are you looking for something?”

“Someone,” I corrected. “Josh. Do you know if he is at work today?” Hopefully I’d get some useful information from this unpleasant meeting. I could hope for at least that.

He watched me as I continued to gaze up at the building, avoiding his eyes.

“He isn’t in the office today. Why are you looking for him?”

Damn he was nosy too. “I just need to speak with him alright. It’s important.” Kyser watched me as I dug into my bag and retrieved a cell. My father had given me a spare one when I left his office, along with Josh’s number, but as much as I tried calling it, he didn’t pick up. I tried to call Josh again in front of the building, but with no luck.

Kyser snickered and then mumbled, “Impressive.”

“What?” I spat at him. Polite Norah was not present today. He was acting smug and I wasn’t about to play nice.

“You must want him pretty bad,” he said as I hit call yet again on my cell. My head swung to face Kyser. The way he said that told me he was trying to mess with my head. He knew something, if not everything about what was going on. A creepy grin formed on his mouth.

I tried to remind myself he had just helped me out, and that maybe I should be less abrasive towards him.

“I suppose I should be thanking you,” I said without a hint of thanks.

“For what?” he questioned.

“Getting that hit called off against Samuel Voltaggio.” I was trying hard to be nice, but the way he was looking at me made it hard to sound sincere.

“Oh, not necessary.”

What did he mean by that?

“What isn’t necessary, calling off that hit?” That’s what he sounded like he was saying, but I wasn’t sure why.

“No, thanking me. Not necessary.” His lips turned up again in a smug smile. He was trying to mess with me and I was letting him. I should have just left, walked off, and gone to find Josh, but I wanted to see if I could fight the fight. There was also a competitive side of me wanting to bust out. I had had enough of all things Lappell.

“Do you like playing games Mr. Harkin?” I asked with clear hostility in my voice. I wanted so badly to smack that stupid grin off his face.

“Only if they are worth playing Ms. Rossi. Although sometimes I think it’s more fun to watch.”

Oh, that was it for me. I decided enough was enough and tried to ignore his presence altogether. Talking to Kyser Harkin was a complete waste of my time, and you can’t play against someone who doesn’t fight fair. He was a player who just loved to use underhanded tactics to win. I looked off down the street, now thinking about where I should go next to try and find Josh.

“You don’t like me or the Lappell much do you Lenorah?” Kyser was trying to get my attention. I didn’t understand why our conversation was so stimulating.

My eyes squinted at him as he waited for me to respond. “I just don’t like what the Lappell do. I don’t like any of it.”

He raised his eyebrows. “And you know exactly what we do?”

I stared at him blankly, not knowing what to say. I didn’t like the way he spoke to me and the many implications he constantly made, but I couldn’t define an all-rounded Lappell activity that was accurate enough for a correct response. They threw lavish parties and had their hands in many businesses, but I knew they did a lot more than just that. I just couldn’t put the disturbing nature of them into the right words that would accurately describe it.

Kyser saw I couldn’t give him a answer, and took it upon himself to play some more. I felt like I was his favorite toy, a constant source of entertainment for his sick and twisted mind.

“Let me tell you about what the Lappell do.” He stood behind my back. It was a weird feeling of cold intimidation, yet he was trying to be soft as well. He was moving around me, like he was going to draw me in and whisper in my ears. He moved so his mouth was near my shoulder, his body almost hunched over me. I swallowed, unable to move. I was oddly captivated wanting to listen and terrified to run away at the same time.

“The Lappell...” he began, “are the shadows behind you. We are the whispers in your ears... and we are the dreams you have while you are still awake.” His voice was hypnotic, and I stood frozen, hanging on every eerie word. I was sucked in by what he was saying. It was like he was going to give me their deepest darkest secrets, even though he had revealed nothing at all. Was this the allure of the Lappell? He made them sound like spirits who could crawl under your skin and make you do anything they commanded. The way he spoke made me think that they were in every powerful corner of life, and maybe they were?

He then moved around in front of me and reached into his coat pocket, drawing out a tiny gold coin. He reached down and grabbed my hand, opening it up, and putting the tiny gold coin face down in the centre of my palm.

“The Lappell, Miss Rossi... Have the power to turn your fate, upside down. We. See. All.” He then very slowly spun the coin over so I could see the picture of an eye printed on the gold coin on the other side. He then closed my hand over the top of the coin and met my eyes.

“That’s what we do.”

I swallowed, feeling kind of shaken up. I felt like I just did a dance with the devil, and I was left unhinged and speechless. My soul now a little more black.

A limo pulled up at the curb and Kyser picked up his briefcase, readying himself to get in, but not before having one last word with me. I gulped again, trying to think of how I could possibly respond to that. But I only stood, very quiet and still, while Kyser gathered up his things.

“I’m sure Mr. Hollows will find you Lenorah. Oh, and keep the coin. Maybe it will bring you luck, whatever that may be.” He pat me on the shoulder like he was trying to comfort me, and then slithered off into his limo. I watched as his limo pulled away holding on to the Lappell coin tightly.

I think I just let the dark angel into my head.