Page 43 of Drowning in Lies

David followed his instructions exactly."Oh, you are a very good listener, David,"Liam praised him patronizingly, while bending to pick up the phone.David's hands clenched into fists at his sides, and his jaw tightened with the effort not to respond to Liam's tone.

"What do you want, man? You want money? Is that what this is? She doesn't have the guts to face me to ask for the money back, so she sends a thug with a gun to force it out of me?"He peered around Liam, looking up toward the house."Lila!"he called out, then yelled my name again a little louder when I didn't come back out to talk to him.

I could hear the faint chime of a cell phone, then Liam said,"I think that's your phone, David."He turned the phone around and spoke into the camera.

"Hang on just a second, Princess. I'm going to have to put my phone in my shirt pocket for a second while I check David's phone."He flipped the phone back toward David, then the video jostled around a little as Liam slid the phone into his pocket. The volume was slightly muffled and the video angle was a little off, but I could still make out everything.

"Hopefully, the camera can still record everything. I want to surprise Lila with the video so she can see everything for herself. I think she deserves the closure,"he kindly explained to David. He angled David's phone so that he could read the screen.

"Oh, it's your girlfriend. I'm sorry...I should be more specific. It's your girlfriend Vanessa,"he clarified.

I snorted and pressed the pause button, then looked at Liam sitting on the other end of the couch. He raised a brow at me and grinned, shrugging his shoulders.

"You're such a smartass," I told him with a chuckle, before turning my attention back to the phone screen. I hit play to continue watching.

"Oh my, she is really unhappy with you. She's demanding diamonds in exchange for going out with Lila today. Is Vanessa always this much of a greedy bitch? You do realize she's only with you for the money, right?"

David glowered at Liam, who just laughed at him."It would be rude not to respond to her message, so I'll take care of that for you."

The phone tucked into his shirt pocket caught glimpses of Liam holding the gun with one hand and trying to hold David's phone and text with the other. He read his message aloud while he typed, and I laughed as he asked David's opinion on which emoji to tack on at the end.

My husband didn't bother answering, but the clenched jaw and the vein bulging at the side of his neck made it obvious that he was furious at being taunted like that.

I paused the video as I realized something. "Liam, you aren't wearing gloves.Your fingerprints will be all over his phone!Did you wipe it down?What about on the boat, or -"

"Calm down, Princess," he interrupted me."First of all, I can't text with gloves on.Secondly, these prints aren't in the system anywhere."He waggled his fingers at me.

"You're looking at a man with nothing more than a single speeding ticket on his record.I'm a ghost as far as the cops are concerned.It's one reason the Boss likes me so much.And third, I did rub my shirt over the surface of the screen and along sides of the phone just a bit before I left it in the boat.That should smear my prints enough they would useless.If I'd wiped the phone completely, it would have been suspicious.Lastly, if for some reason the cops ever pull me in for prints and by some miracle they get matched with unknown prints on David's phone, his widow will be happy to tell them that I had been to the house the evening before and that she remembers that I used David's phone to look something up."He smiled at me, raising a brow as if asking for my agreement.

I sighed in relief. "Ok, yes, I can do that."

"Relax.They aren't going to check, and I did put gloves on before I touched the boat or the dock cleat."

I turned back to the phone in my hand and played the video again.

David's attention was caught by something behind Liam, and he craned his neck to try to see around him. I heard Liam tell him that it sounded like I was leaving now, if he wanted to take one last look at me. David stared off in the direction of the driveway, then dropped his head down onto his chest, before raising it to give Liam an imploring look.

"What the fuck, man?Just put the gun down. I can get you the money.In fact, I can get you the money and you can do whatever the hell you want with it. I'll deal with Lila!"he bargained.

Liam's voice was icy as he asked,"And just how exactly do you intend to deal with Lila?Planning to give her more sleeping pills?Planning to help Scott and Vanessa kill her like they've been plotting?"

David appeared momentarily rattled by that comment and then he shook his head."What are you talking about? They aren't plotting anything,"he said dismissively.

"Oh, yes, they most certainly are.They text each other a lot. Were you aware of that?"

David just shrugged, eyeing the gun as if he was trying to gauge whether to try to make a run for safety.

"I've seen the texts, David.The more important question is whether you have seen the texts,"Liam continued in a very calm soothing voice.

"I've been wondering, and I can't quite decide.Are you sharing Vanessa with your brother, or are theyjustfucking each other behind your back, hmm?"

David's jaw dropped, and he started to step forward, only to step back again as Liam raised his gun. I could see the barrel of it in the video.

"Now, don't be stupid David. Well, don't be even more stupid than you already have been.Did you know about their affair?"

David just glared at him, and Liam chuckled."By the look on your face, I'm going to assume that you did not. It's kind of ironic, isn't it.The woman you're cheating with, is cheating on you as well."Liam snickered a bit. "It's a shame, it truly is.You just can't trust anyone these days."

Liam continued his taunting."Perhaps she found out that you were cheating on her as well with...Marissa, was it? Or...maybe she just wasn't satisfied with what you have to offer."Liam motioned to David's crotch with the barrel of the gun, and David flinched.

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