Beyond Love Lies Deceit Read online

  Just as I step over the threshold his hand darts out and grabs my forearm, halting my movements. Leaning his face down just inches from my ear, when he speaks a chill runs through my entire body.

  “I know you are up to something. Whatever it is, I hope it’s worth it.” He lets go of my arm and steps back, allowing me to exit his office without another word.

  I jump slightly when the door slams shut behind me. It takes everything I have to make it into my office without collapsing. Shutting myself inside, I lock the door and immediately turn, sliding down the hard wood to the floor.

  Pulling my knees up to my chest, I drop my head down and try to calm the tremors that are running through my body. I have never been so terrified and yet, so emotionally devastated at the same time. It’s such a chilling combination. Knowing that not only is Luke onto me but that I also just sealed my fate where he is concerned.

  I can’t help but wonder how much time I have left. How much time do I have before Ryan starts getting suspicious? Better question; how much time do I have before Luke tells Ryan about our time in New York?

  One thing is clear; time is not on my side anymore.

  I need to make something happen and I need to do it now.

  Pulling to my feet, I quickly cross the space of my office, picking up the phone from the top of my desk before turning my attention to the key pad. With shaky fingers I enter his extension, waiting for his voice to come on the line.

  “Ryan Scott.” He answers, already knowing it’s me based on the fact that all the office phones have caller identification.

  “Ryan, it’s Allie. I was wondering if we could get together tonight.” I say, hearing the smile in his voice the moment he replies.

  “I would like nothing more.” He says.

  “Perfect. I will meet you at your place, say eight?” I suggest.

  “Eight sounds perfect.” His reply is instant.

  “I’ll see you then.”

  “I look forward to it.” His smooth response comes just moments before the line goes dead.

  Chapter

  Twenty-Two

  Samantha

  “Are you sure about this?” My next door neighbor Penny asks, clearly unsure as to why I would be here asking for a drug to render someone unconscious when we have spoken only once before and that’s when I paid her to pretend to be my internship boss.

  It’s no secret that Penny does not run with the best crowd and I know for a fact that her boyfriend Carson deals drugs out of her apartment. In the few months I have been here I have seen more than a little bit of shadiness going on across the hall, which is why I knew exactly where to come when I decided what had to be done.

  “I’m sure.” I say, crossing my arms in front of my chest as I watch her boyfriend Carson pace the living room, his phone attached to his ear.

  “Why do you need this again?” She asks, eyeing me curiously. “You don’t look like a user.”

  “It’s not for me.” I state dryly.

  “Obviously.” She rolls her eyes, taking a long drag off of her cigarette before smashing it down into the ashtray in front of her.

  “What are you planning?” She questions, like there is any way in hell I am going to tell her.

  “Let’s just say the less you know the better.” I reply, causing her to nod her greasy blonde haired head in approval.

  “I can respect that.” She says, pulling out yet another cigarette and lighting it, taking a long drag and then exhaling before continuing.

  “You don’t really fit in here.” She observes, gesturing to my business attire, having stopped here directly after work.

  “I’m not from here.” I shrug, turning my attention to Carson the moment he disconnects the call he’s on.

  “I’ll have it to you in two hours.” He holds out his hand, taking the three hundred dollars from my fingers the moment I extend it to him.

  “Thank you.” I stand, eager to escape my current company.

  Carson gives me a curious look, his shaved head and neck tattoo making him look a lot more intimidating than he probably would otherwise. Either way I don’t know these people and honestly I don’t want anything to do with them other than getting what I need.

  “You sure about this?” He asks just as I turn to leave.

  “About what?” I ask, turning back to face him.

  “Pretty little thing like you, you sure you want to get mixed up in whatever you’re planning?” He asks, taking the cigarette out of Penny’s hand before sucking a long drag from it.

  “Just make sure you have it to me by seven.” I say, choosing to ignore his comment as I quickly exit the apartment without a backwards glance.

  ****

  I arrive at Ryan’s just minutes before eight o’clock. Dressed in a skin tight black tube dress and killer heels, the moment he answers the door it’s clear to see the lust in his eyes. If I have done one thing right, it’s keeping Ryan hanging on for so long. I think the anticipation of having me has somewhat clouded his judgment which is definitely working in my favor at the moment.

  I waste no time stepping inside, laying a passionate kiss on his lips the moment the door latches closed behind me. He reciprocates, deepening the kiss as his hands grasp my hips pulling my body into his so that I can instantly feel the hardness of him against my stomach.

  “Let’s have a drink.” I break away from his mouth on a pant.

  “Okay.” He licks his lips, not able to keep his eyes off of my body as I shimmy my way into the kitchen to make us each a drink.

  “Where do you keep your scotch?” I ask after retrieving two crystal glasses from the cabinet.

  “There’s a bottle on the back counter.” He says, making his way into the living room where he proceeds to turn on some music; a light jazzy sound immediately flooding from the speakers that are wired throughout the entire apartment.

  Retrieving the scotch, I pour each of us a quarter of a glass before adding a couple of ice cubes to chill the drink. Making sure Ryan is not looking, the moment I see that he is messing with the fireplace, his back to me, I pull the small pill from my bust and break apart the capsule, pouring the contents into Ryan’s glass before swirling the liquid with my finger to make sure there is no trace of the substance.

  Jumping slightly when Ryan appears behind me, grinding himself into my backside, I quickly turn and push the drink into his hand.

  “To us.” I say, holding up my own glass.

  “To us.” He agrees, clinking his glass lightly with mine before draining the contents.

  I do the same, even though I hate scotch.

  Taking his empty glass from his hand, I turn and set both his and mine on the kitchen island before turning back towards him. Kicking off my heels, I immediately reach for him, my hands going into his hair as I pull him down into another passionate kiss.

  According to the research I have done on Sinfixphor, I only have about ten minutes before his consciousness starts to fade and his memory will be compromised so I have to act fast.

  Backing him towards the living room, the moment we reach the couch he collapses onto it pulling me down with him. Straddling his lap, I allow him to slide the material of my dress down, revealing my black lace bra. He sucks in a sharp breath, his mouth immediately finding my skin as he nips and sucks at my flesh.

  I egg him on, moan and grind myself down onto his crotch, trying to make my performance as believable as possible. Grabbing me by the backside, Ryan lifts me up and deposits me down onto the couch, his body coming down on mine within seconds.

  His hands are everywhere, my chest, my thighs and then even more. It takes everything I have to allow him to push the material of my panties aside. Everything in me is telling me to stop this, to stop him, but I know I can’t.

  I close my eyes, preparing for the moment that his fingers will enter me but that moment never comes. Ryan mutters something causing my eyes to flip to his face.

  “Ryan?” I question, knowing the drug I put in his
drink must be starting to take effect.

  His body relaxes down on mine, his full weight making it nearly impossible to breath beneath him.

  “Ryan?” I question again, feeling his body go completely limp above me.

  Knowing it’s now or never, I immediately begin trying to push Ryan off of me. When I had planned this out I had not anticipated that when he passed out it would be on top of me. Then again, I didn’t really plan this out for long.

  Having realized that sleeping with him was not something I thought I could stomach, especially given how I felt last night when I thought just that was about to happen, I immediately started looking into alternatives, which is how I came up with the plan to drug him.

  It took less than two hours for Carson to come through and that’s when this plan truly came to life. So basically I have had about two hours to map this out in my head which given what I am doing is not that much plan time. I am truly winging it here.

  Finally managing to slide out from under Ryan, it takes me another few moments to get him rolled over onto his back. Working open the front of his pants, I manage to get the material over his hips before sliding them down his legs and depositing them on the floor.

  According to Carson he should be out for at least two hours but I still know I need to work quickly. I can’t risk the drug wearing off early and being discovered.

  I move to his boxers next, knowing the scene has to be believable. I need Ryan to wake up thinking that what we started before he passed out actually came to fruition. I need him to believe that we slept together even if the details will be foggy.

  Sliding his boxers off feels like a violation somehow and I can’t help but look away as I do it, not able to take advantage of another person in this manner, even if it is Ryan Scott. Next is his shirt, which proves more difficult to remove than I anticipated.

  By the time I finally have him naked I am completely exhausted. I don’t think I realized how difficult it would be to maneuver someone of Ryan’s size given how little I am myself.

  Now to set the scene...

  Fixing my dress, I quickly slide out of my panties, tucking the material in the couch cushion next to Ryan, making sure they are positioned in a way that he will find them and assume that I couldn’t locate them before I slipped off after he fell asleep.

  Crossing the space to the kitchen, I grab the bottle of scotch, rinsing his cup out with it to ensure no traces of the drug are left behind. I then leave a small amount in the bottom of one cup and leave the other empty, draining the remainder of the bottle into the sink wanting Ryan to believe we drank the entire thing.

  Crossing back to where Ryan is passed out on the couch, I set down the two glasses on the coffee table and then tip the empty scotch bottle on its side. Grabbing Ryan’s shirt from the floor, I toss it a few feet from the couch before kicking his pants off to the side, making it appear as though the clothing had been removed and thrown haphazardly in the heat of the moment.

  Taking a deep breath I look around the space. Once I am certain that everything looks in place, I set off up the stairs, determined to search every inch of this apartment if that’s what it takes. Ryan Scott is a shady man and therefore is bound to have hidden demons. I intend to find them and expose him once and for all for the man he truly is.

  I start in his bedroom, knowing this is typically where most people store personal items. Unfortunately for me, it becomes apparently clear that Ryan is not a man that keeps many things lying around. I search his entire bedroom and mange to find not one thing.

  Moving onto the guest rooms, I search each one top to bottom finding very little of anything outside of bedding and room décor. Fearing I made a huge mistake, I decide to check the last room on the second floor before I call it.

  Because the second floor hall is open to the main floor below, it allows me to verify that Ryan is still out on my way to the last room. When I reach the door I am surprised to find it locked. Fiddling with the nob, I end up using a pin from my hair to pick the lock open. Lucky for me it is nothing but a standard bedroom door lock and proves rather easy to open.

  Pushing my way inside, I close the door quietly behind me before flipping on the light. The moment I turn I realize that this must be Ryan’s home office. There is a small conference table in the center of the large room, a dark mahogany desk sitting along the back wall, and shelf after shelf filled with manila folders, all of which appear to have several documents in each of them.

  I know immediately that it will take me hours to sift through all the information in this room so I opt to check places that he is more likely to hide stuff he doesn’t want someone finding. I search through a black filing cabinet next to the desk first, finding mainly ScoTech client documents and other various work related items.

  Turning my attention to his desk, I search through each drawer, feeling my frustration grow with each one I open and close empty handed. Sliding down onto the floor, I check the last drawer on the bottom before I finally decide that this is useless. There’s nothing here.

  But just as I start to get up, I catch sight of something out of the corner of my eye and immediately turn my attention to underneath the desk. Upon closer inspection I find that there is a secret compartment under the main slab of wood that is locked.

  Remembering the small ring of keys I found in the top drawer of the desk, I immediately retrieve them, sliding back under the desk. There are at least twenty keys on the ring and it’s very possible that none of them will open this drawer but I am determined to try every last one just in case.

  When I slide the second to last key into the key hole and turn, I can’t contain my excitement when the lock clicks free. Sliding the drawer, it detaches completely from the desk so that I am able to set it in my lap in order to search through the contents.

  There isn’t much inside; a monogramed money clip, a handful of pictures, and a printout of ScoTech’s 2014 earnings which appear to have been in the hundred millions. Flipping through the photographs, each one of Ryan with different a woman, I come to stop on the only picture that does not contain Ryan’s face.

  It’s of a young girl probably around the same age as I am now. She has blonde hair and striking green eyes, a large smile displayed across her pretty face. Something about her is so familiar and yet, I can’t pinpoint where I may have seen her before.

  Setting her picture to the side, I quickly realize there is another compartment underneath. Sliding my nail along the edge, I am able to pry the top section off revealing the hidden section below.

  The second compartment is completely empty with the exception of one item; a single flash drive. Having no idea what the flash drive may contain, I know that Ryan would not have gone through the trouble of hiding it if it didn’t have something on it he didn’t want anyone to find.

  Reassembling the drawer, I quickly slide it back into the track underneath the desk, locking it before dropping the keys back into the top drawer. I have no idea if what I have found amounts to anything but I know that my time is running out. If I plan to get out of here before Ryan comes to then I need to get a move on.

  Accepting that this is all I can get for now, I quickly make sure everything is back in place before shutting off the light and backing out of the office, locking the door on my way out.

  Heading back downstairs as quietly as possible, I breathe out a deep sigh of relief when I see Ryan is still passed out on the couch, his breathing even and deep.

  Crossing to the kitchen, I locate a piece of paper and a pen from one of the drawers. Scribbling a quick note...

  Thank you for an incredible night.

  I’ll call you later.

  XO

  -Allie

  Leaving the paper on the kitchen island, I quickly retrieve my heels and my purse before slipping out into the hallway, the picture of the mystery girl and the flash drive still clutched firmly in my hand.

  Chapter

  Twenty-Three

  Samantha

&n
bsp; Finally safe in the confines of my own apartment, I collapse down in the middle of my mattress and pull my laptop into my lap, sliding the flash drive into the port. Opening the file, I scan each document, trying to decipher exactly what each one is.

  Starting with the picture files, I open the first, immediately recognizing the young girl whose photo I took from Ryan’s when I retrieved the flash drive. Clicking to the next photo, it’s a picture of the same girl and a much younger looking Ryan studying in what looks like a park, clearly taken by another party.

  Flipping to the next not expecting to find anything much different than the first two, I immediately freeze when the smiling face of my brother comes into view, next to him the same blonde girl.

  Suddenly the realization hits me. I’ve seen this picture before. That is why this girl looks so familiar because I have seen her before just not in a way that I could remember upon first sight.

  This is one of the pictures that were with Sean’s belongings that my parent’s packed up when they cleared out his room in New York. I remember it so clearly because I remember looking at the picture and thinking how happy he seemed, which in turn made his death even harder to accept.

  Why would Ryan have this?

  Clicking on the first file, it is an old scan of a college article written by a student that was published in their version of a newspaper. The article is dated April 8, 2008 which is exactly one month prior to the accident that took Sean’s life.

  Reading on, I can’t help the tears that immediately blur my vision at the article’s content. The bright smiling young girl from the previous pictures now the center of a tragic piece.

  Drug Overdose Rocks College Campus

  Sarah Hassell, 19, was found dead of an overdose in her dorm room on campus early Monday morning. According to reports, Hassell had spent the evening with friends and returned to her dorm sometime after one o’clock in the morning. Her roommate found her non responsive around nine a.m. the next day, immediately calling 911. Paramedics pronounced her dead upon arrival.