Captured Lies by Maggie Thom Page A

alone.
Best of luck.”
    His eyes never wavered from her
face but he stayed silent.
    Her whole life she’d been told
what to do – do this, don’t do that. He wasn’t telling her anything. He was
leaving the decision up to her. But he was also letting her know he wouldn’t
leave her alone. Not until they’d talked.
    She had no idea how long they
stood there but at some point she gave in and sat down. He ordered her a drink.
    “Do you always get what you
want?”
    He shrugged and then downed half
his beer. “I need you to just listen. I want to show you some things.” He put
up his hand like a traffic cop.
    Bailey snapped her mouth closed.
    “Would you like to order now?”
The young waitress set down Bailey’s drink.
    “No thanks.” Bailey tried to
smile but wasn't sure it came across as anything more than a grimace.
    “Not now.” Guy, however, was able
to give the server his full wattage grin.
    “All right. Just wave when you’re
ready.” The waitress turned away.
    “Have you eaten?”
    “No.” Bailey gulped down a
healthy swig of her beer. She was tempted to swipe her arm across her mouth
just to see his reaction.
    “I’m paying for the meal.”
    “Well in that case…” She waved at
the waitress who was only a few tables away. When the server came, Bailey said,
“I’ll have anything that has lobster in it.” She knew she was being a bitch but
she didn’t seem to be able to stop herself. Everyone seemed to want something
from her.
    The waitress rattled off three
dishes and Bailey chose the most expensive one. Guy ordered a steak sandwich.
    She settled back and sipped her
beer. For some reason she couldn’t seem to take her eyes off the cleft in his
chin. It was really kind of cute and added to the macho, rugged guy thing.
    “Here’s what I know–”
    “What?”
    “That picture I gave you is your
real great grandma, on your mom’s side. Her name was Catherine Caspian. Here’s
a better picture of her.”
    Bailey stared. Her eyes opened
wide. Except for the wavy hair, it was her face. The flat forehead, high
defined cheekbones, rounded chin, bumpy nose. Bailey traced her finger over the
features. This was her. How come she’d never seen this before? What the hell
had her mother been hiding from her? And why? She really wanted to know who all
these people were that were showing up in her life wanting to know things that
just couldn’t be true.
    Her hands shook. “What color were
her eyes?” It was impossible to know from the black and white picture.
    “Glacial green. The same as the
glacially fed lakes in the mountains. They have a distinct green-blue hue to
them.”
    Bailey’s head snapped up.
    “Like yours.”
    He held her gaze. She stared at
him for a long time.
    “I don’t understand.”
    “I know.”
    She looked at the picture again.
The eyes were full of mischief. She’d been a young girl defying the rules. I
would have liked to have met you. Her head snapped up. “Okay. I want some
answers. No more tap dancing. This is me. So I’m related to her. Where are the
rest of my relatives? Why now? They wanted nothing to do with my mother for
thirty years, so why now?”
    “How much do you know about your
mother’s family? Or your father’s?”
    “None of your business. I want to
know what you know. You’re the one who came looking for me. Now talk.”
    He guzzled the rest of his beer
and then set it down with a plunk. He signaled the waitress for two more.
Bailey downed her drink. She toyed with the label, carefully peeling it off the
bottle. The new drinks were set down in front of them. They reached for them at
the same time.
    “Your great-grandmother is dead.”
    She tilted her head and lifted
her eyes skyward, blowing out an exasperated breath.
    “All right. Rather obvious.” He
rested his elbows on the table. “Your grandmother is still alive, though.”
    “Really?” She leaned forward her
stomach pressed into the table.
    “Yeah.” He studied the label of
his