False Pretenses - Kathy Herman [64]
“That is just great! I hope you told him you’re not paying him a nickel! That he’s got the wrong person!”
Zoe felt sick. Was she going to throw up? “I tried.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“He held me at knifepoint and told me to get the money by the time the banks close on Monday or he’d kill me. And if I went to the cops or told anyone else who did, he’d know. And he’d carve me like a totem pole and then kill me. He cut my cheek to prove he was serious.”
Pierce’s face went from flushed to ashen.
“I would never have had the courage to confront my deception unless I was forced.” Zoe put her hand over her mouth and willed away the nausea. “I’m not half as worried Shapiro’s going to kill me as I am that this is going to kill us—our marriage.”
“What marriage? It’s all a lie!” His voice bounced off the walls. “You’re the one who killed us, Zoe! You just took away everything I believed about you! What do you want from me? You broke my heart and stole my future.…” Pierce bit his fist, his chin quivering. Finally he lowered his voice and said, “You’re not considering trying to come up with the hundred thousand?”
“No. He’s probably planning to kill me either way. Vanessa convinced me that I have to go to Jude with this. It’s my only chance to stay alive.”
“Vanessa knows about Shapiro?”
“She saw me when I came in this evening. I was sweaty and bloody and my clothes were torn. She thought I’d been raped. If I hadn’t told her what was going on, she would’ve gone downstairs and gotten you. That wasn’t the right time.”
“And this is?” Pierce got up and flung his pillow into the door. “I can’t believe what a dupe I’ve been.”
Zoe winced. Had she ever seen him so mad? “I wouldn’t blame you if you hate me right now. But I need you to help me figure out how to talk to Jude without Shapiro finding out.”
“Oh, so now you decide to involve me in your life. Well, guess what? If Shapiro is watching you like he said, there’s no way we can go to Jude without the guy knowing. He’s probably listening in to our phone calls. For all I know, he’s got our room bugged.” Pierce picked up a hardback book from the nightstand and slammed it on the floor.
“Calm down,” she said. “You can hate me later. Right now, we need to think.”
“Why bother? We’re dead, Zoe! There’s no way out of this! Once Shapiro knows you’ve gone to the sheriff, he’s going to come for us, whether it’s tomorrow or the next day or the next! Drug dealers are thugs. They get even.”
“Have a little faith that Jude might catch him. If I give him the hundred thousand, he will kill me for sure. And you, too, since you’ve seen him and heard his voice.”
Pierce flopped on the bed and lay flat on his back, his eyes closed, his fists clenched, tears trickling down the sides of his face.
Zoe’s heart sank. The only other time she had seen him cry was when his grandfather died. “You have every right to be furious with me for deceiving you. But you have to believe I never meant to hurt you. I just didn’t want to lose you.”
“And how did that work for you, Zoe?”
His sarcasm was biting. Was he trying to say she had lost him? Was he just speaking out of anger? Or was he too devastated by her betrayal to ever recover? Did she dare allow herself to give in to the fear and sorrow?
“Pierce. I love you. That’s not something I can fake. In your heart, you know it’s the truth. I don’t want anything to happen to you. Or me. Before we’re both too depressed to think straight, we need to decide what to do.”
CHAPTER 20
Vanessa lay in Ethan’s arms, praying, aware that it had been almost five minutes since she had heard any shouting or door slamming coming from Zoe and Pierce’s apartment.
Lord, help them get through this. Don’t let it destroy their marriage.
“Ethan, are you awake?” she whispered.
“I keep dozing off. Is it still quiet over there?”
“Yes, for about five minutes now. Do you think we should knock on the door and let them know we’re here, in case they need us?”
Ethan stroked her hair. “No. Zoe knows that. We don’t know whether or not she told Pierce about your earlier