Lured into Lies by Melanie Martins
Chapter 38
Den Bosch, December 31, 2021
Petra Van Gatt
My period is two weeks late. Although I’ve never had regular periods, they’ve never been that late either. I throw the clean tampon away, and as I remain stuck in the guest bathroom at the Van Den Bosch’s, I feel tempted to call the lady’s maid and ask her to go and get me a pregnancy test. But I know she’ll immediately tell Julia, and that doesn’t sit well with me. Plus, something tells me I shouldn’t try it so soon. After my previous loss, I don’t want to fill my heart with futile hopes. The ringtone of my iPhone breaks through the walls of the bathroom, startling me. After seeing it’s Carice calling, though, I pick up the call with a bit of apprehension. “Yes?”
“Your mom sent me a voice message to my email,” Carice says. “To my email! Like, who does that? Something isn’t right…”
“What did she say?” I ask immediately, wondering why Mom didn’t do the same with me.
“She wished me a happy new year and told me she’ll be spending the rest of winter away, reflecting on her life and that she doesn’t want to be found.” Carice’s voice is rushed, and the frustration and anxiety in it quite palpable. “Tess was crying by the end of the message, her tone wasn’t confident or joyful, but rather alarming like she’s afraid.”
“But why didn’t she call you directly, then?” I ask, confused. “Did you try to reach her?”
“Of course, I tried. No answer. Her phone is still turned off. I don’t get why she wouldn’t talk to me. I sent her another email asking her to call me, but in vain. I’m her best friend, for fuck’s sake.” Carice heaves a long sigh in frustration while I remain processing everything she told me
“They don’t want her to be found,” I find myself saying. “If they sent it via email, it’s because they can use VPNs to mask the real location.”
“I think you are right. The police didn’t find any woman named Tess Hagen flying anywhere out of the Netherlands. They checked all her recent card statements, and she didn’t buy any ticket, or car rental, or vacation package, or hotel.” The more Carice speaks, the more my heartbeat keeps rising. “I truly believe she’s being held captive somewhere.”
“Fuck,” I breathe out, reality sinking into me. If that’s true, then Mom is really in danger. “I think it’s gonna get worse.”
“You think they’re gonna kill her?” Carice nearly gasps for air at the end of her question.
“Yes…” The word rolls off my tongue instinctively. “And they’ll find a way to make it seem like an accident.” Silent tears course down my cheeks; not really because of my mom, but because I know deep down that Alex might know the truth behind her disappearance. And just like with Jan, he prefers to live in a constant state of denial and lies in a failed attempt to protect our relationship. If I confront him again, he’ll know I’m still in contact with Carice, and it might put her in danger too. Cold chills spread through my body knowing I married a monster and I was too much in love with him to realize it. The way he handled Janette’s death should have been enough to make me want to stay away from him once and for all.
“Petra?” Carice’s voice pulls me back from my thoughts. “Petra, are you okay?”
“Did the police find anything against my in-laws?”
“Nothing. The police posed a few questions to their lawyers, and that was it.”
“No one answered directly to the police?”
“No, just their lawyers.” A silence filled with sadness ensues as Carice draws out a breath, her concerns matching mine. “I miss your mom so much.”
“Have they tried tracking her iPhone?” I ask, trying to find anything that could help us. “They should be able to track her location.”
“Unfortunately, her phone has been turned off since the fifth of December, and the last location they found was her house.”
“Maybe her phone is still in there.” If Mom was abducted, then that means they might have gone into her house, forced her to do that goodbye voice message there, and then took her away. I drag some precious air into my lungs as I picture those images. Closing my eyes, I focus on breathing to tame my growing pain and anger. “Carice, I’m gonna have to go, but please, don’t give up on her. I think if you follow my in-laws, you should find something.”
As I reach the terrace from where we’ll be watching the fireworks, I find Alex idly chatting with his Mom, Julia, and Sebastian.
“Some champagne, Miss?” a waiter asks, carrying a tray with flutes which are being distributed among the guests to cheer at midnight.
“No, thanks.” I glance quickly at my phone to check the time; only three minutes to go.
I try to put on a festive mood to match the evening and forget the call I just had with Carice, but as I look at my husband and my in-laws laughing and indulging themselves in champagne, I feel tempted to march over there and demand answers to my questions: where is my mom? What happened to her? While I don’t have any evidence against them, my instincts tell me they are all guilty, and the only reason they haven’t killed Mom yet is because they know that once I figure out the truth, I won’t take it lightly.
“Petra?” I hear Julia calling. As my eyes grace her, she gestures me to join them, her face glowing with a beautiful smile and a pair of diamond earrings. Damn. Incredible how the more you know someone, the more disappointing they become. I used to look at Julia and see a beautiful, kind woman, someone I admire and respect. Heck, even some sort of role model. But now… Now I only see a psycho hidden behind beautiful looks and a fake smile. I give her a quick nod of acknowledgement before heading toward them. “Are you okay?” Her sweet voice annoys me even more. “I was searching for you. The countdown is about to start.” I make the conscious effort to put on a pleasant expression to avoid any suspicion. “Oh, you need a drink.” She calls the waiter who carries the non-alcoholic drinks and gives me a cranberry juice.
Despite the heaters spread all around the terrace, it’s still freezing, but no one seems to mind as they start counting down for the new year. Then, at three seconds to go, I notice a little something rising up in the sky, and once everyone screams cheerfully Happy New Year, the first fireworks explode in a thousand colors.
“Happy New Year, my dear sister.” Julia takes me into her arms and gives me a deep hug. “I’m so happy for you to be part of the family,” she whispers in my ear, like it’s some sort of excuse for her to do what she’s doing to my mom. Sorry girl, it’s not because I married you brother that you can just go and kidnap my mom. Maybe I should remind her of that. After she releases me, Margaret does the same, followed by Sebastian. And as everyone gives me a hug and wishes me happy new year, I want to bury all the negative feelings I have for them, but I can’t. I want to look at my in-laws just like before, but my perspective on them has been changing and getting worse after each new call with Carice. “Thanks,” I manage to pull off.
Then comes my husband, and as he pulls me against him and kisses my lips, I want to claim his mouth and beat him at the same time. “Happy New Year, little Petra.” Oh, little Petra… he knows I have a soft spot for that nickname… he fucking knows it, and I hate him for exploiting that weakness of mine.
* * *
While everyone is now partying on the dance floor under the beat of the DJ, I remain alone by the terrace, my elbows resting on the balustrade. The waiter was kind enough to place a heater right beside me, so I have been staying here alone and enjoying the quiet beauty of the night. I hear a few steps approaching, and after turning my head to check, I find Alex, hands in his pockets, walking in my direction.
“Are you okay?” he asks, breaking the silence that fills the space between us, before stopping beside me. “You’ve been quite distant the whole evening.”
Yeah, when you and your family are hiding the truth from me, it’s kinda hard to fake it. The answer is on the tip of my tongue, but I can’t tell him that. They can’t know I’m still in touch with Carice, or they might do the same to her.
“Um, I was just wondering why Mom never returned my calls,” I tell him instead.
“And you spent the whole evening thinking about that?” he asks, rather annoyed. “After everything she did to us, you are still wasting your mental energy on her?”
“I know, it’s stupid. I shouldn’t care,” I say for the sake of avoiding another argument. “But it’s also understandable that she was worried, given your past.”
He doesn’t seem convinced. “Petra, your mom did everything she could to tear us apart. Don’t you get that?”
“Does that give you permission to kill her though?” I snap, my eyes glaring at him.
Alex frowns in confusion at my question. “What are you talking about? I already told you a thousand times; I don’t know where she is.”
“And I’ve got the feeling you are lying once more,” I blurt out at him.
Alex lets out a sigh before running a hand on his hair as he considers me. “Why would I be lying?”
“To protect yourself. Just like you did with Jan,” I tell him simply. “Speaking of which, how can you look at him in the eye and never feel any shame or guilt for what you have done?”
“I told you, it was an accident,” he says nonchalantly. “I did what I had to. I won’t be ruminating over my past, since I can’t change it.” Shaking my head at his robotic answer, I turn away, looking to the gardens instead. “Hey…” Alex takes my hands that are resting on the balustrade and puts them on each of his shoulders, forcing me to turn and face him in the eye. Then he holds me by the waistline and says, “I’m sorry that your mom has been ignoring you and not returning your calls. But I’ve got nothing to do with it.” Despite his charming and soothing voice, I’m not sold. Maybe he’s just trying to manipulate me. And that is the problem with lies; one lie is enough to question all truths. It creates walls between us, and it becomes harder and harder to tear them down.
“How am I supposed to trust you?” I ask him, my eyes on his. “After all the lies…”
“Do you have any evidence that goes against what I’m saying?”
“No, I don’t…”
“So, why wouldn’t you trust me on this? I don’t know where your mom is.”
Despite searching for the truth in his gaze, I’m torn between believing him or not. Yes, I have no evidence to prove that Alex is involved in my mom’s disappearance, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t privy to it.
“So, why don’t you help me to find her?” I keep asking.
Alex exhales loudly at my insistence, looking away for an instant. “Because I don’t care about her,” he retorts. Well, now he sounds quite honest. “I don’t care if she is in Japan or in Thailand living like a monk and having an existential crisis because her daughter married someone she doesn’t like.” He seems sincere, but who knows for sure? One of his hands go up to stroke my cheek, and the gesture feels so familiar and so ridiculously good that I’m ashamed to admit it. “I care about you, and that’s all.” A blooming heat spreads through me at his words because those last ones are truly sincere; they were said from the bottom of his heart, and I felt it. My lips part slightly, and I lean into him, bringing them to his for a kiss. Alex holds me against him, and my heart starts racing at the touch of his delicious lips on mine. His love has always been given with conviction and an open heart, and I know that no matter the issues we have with my mom, what he feels for me has always been true.
Alex breaks our kiss, and as we look at each other, he asks, “You know how much I love you, right?”
His question brings a smile to my lips while my heart keeps pounding loudly in my chest. “That I know.”