Intrigued: The Dark Christmases

by Arkadie, Z. L.

  I closed my eyes and floated my legs above water, trying to appear relaxed, even though deep down I was anxious.

  “Someone who doesn’t respect other people,” I said.

  “Everybody doesn’t deserve respect. Do you think mass murderers deserve respect?”

  I opened my eyes to look at her. “Do you think you deserve respect?”

  Gina jerked her head back. She opened her mouth then closed it.

  “All humans beings are born whole,” I said. “Then we have to survive our fucking parents. Right?”

  She snorted. “Or the swim coach.”

  I shook my head. “Yes, and him too.”

  We stared at each other for a long moment.

  “I can teach you how to be a better swimmer”—she smiled timidly—“if you like.”

  My face lit up. “Absolutely.”

  “Okay. First, let’s work on your kick,” she said.

  For a while, she showed me how to kick my legs like a mermaid’s tail. Then we worked on my arm strokes and head movements. Once we put them all together, I was gliding across the water like a pro. I was amazed at how good she was at teaching. Then I dove into the water from the opposite side of the swimming pool as a final exam, showing her how well I’d grasped her lesson.

  When I made it to the end of the pool, Gina shook her fists in delight. “You got it! That was perfect.”

  I lifted myself out of the water and hugged her. “Well, you were the perfect teacher.”

  We smiled at each other. Then William brought us drinks and lunch as we sat in the lounge chairs, watching the blue water gently ripple on the surface.

  I bit into my avocado and turkey sandwich. “Um.” I closed my eyes to relish it. “They have the best food at this haunted mansion.”

  She chuckled. “They always do. Bart is a great cook.”

  I noted that she’d been on the property many times before, since she said the food was “always” good and spoke the chef’s name as though she knew him well.

  “I’d be fifty pounds heavier in one month if I lived here. I would not hold back or watch a diet or anything. I would just eat it all. No shame in my game.”

  She tossed her head back and laughed. “They’re just showing off for the guest. Normally, they don’t eat so exquisitely. No one eats around here. Bryn is almost as skinny as the skeleton in my high school science classroom.”

  I laughed. Bryn was pretty thin. “She didn’t used to be so skinny. I mean, she was always slim, but now…”

  “She needs help. They think I’m fucked up. Ha!”

  I wanted details regarding why she thought Bryn was so messed up, but I knew if I asked, Gina would shut down, and that would be the end of our conversation.

  “I don’t think you’re fucked up,” I said instead. “You’re human.” Then I told her the story about my father and how many times he’d gone to prison and how my mom had been checked out since the day I was born. “I mean, I think I was born in northern California, but then we moved to somewhere in Texas, then Washington state. We ended up in Omaha, Nebraska, until I was in the tenth grade, and we moved to Pittsburgh. That’s where my mom got sick before she died.”

  “So you lost your mom?” Gina asked.

  I studied her watery eyes. It was clear that she had lost her mother too.

  I couldn’t let her sadness affect me, so I looked down at my thighs. “She was not that great.”

  “Neither was mine, but I still miss her.”

  I faced her with a tight smile. “Well, Pittsburgh is where my life changed for the best.”

  “How so?” she asked.

  I was happy she cared to know. “Well, my dad had warrants for his arrest in three states, so he changed our names and used fake report cards to get me enrolled in a top private school. But I think Principal Carlisle knew and took pity on me.”

  “Was your principal a he or a she?”

  “He was actually a he,” I said.

  She seemed conflicted by that revelation.

  “Like I said, some men are pigs, and some are not.”

  She went inward again. I recognized that place. It was the dark part of her soul where criticism and shame resided.

  “But really, I think you’re a great swim teacher.”

  Gina appeared conflicted as she studied my smile. “Thanks, but… You know what I am, right?” She kept her voice low.

  “I know what you are to Asher and Spencer, but that’s not who you are to the rest of the world. You know what?” I asked in a more enthusiastic tone. “I know a lot of people. Ever heard of Dan Folks?”

  She narrowed an eye. “Of course I have.”

  “He has swim programs for kids all across the country. I can see if he has a spot for you as a coach. I can set that up. Not pressuring you, but if you choose, I’ll make it happen.”

  She watched me as though she were determining my credibility. “What do you want in return?”

  It was time to be honest. “I’m not going to lie. I came out here with an agenda. I’m doing all this research for Bryn’s book, and I thought I could learn something from you that the boys won’t reveal to me. But I feel like we’ve connected. You’ve given me a great afternoon”—I held up my sandwich—“the chef’s given me this, and that’s all I need.” I took a bite and relished the taste as I chewed.

  “Well…” She got a tad bit more comfortable in her chair. That was a good sign. “There’s not much to the Christmases other than that they’re rich. The men like fucking prostitutes. I mean, Jasper doesn’t. We tried it once, and that was it.”

  Do not frown, I told myself as I felt a slight bit of hurt. Plus, I wondered how often he had tried to sleep with prostitutes.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “He just couldn’t get it up.”

  I worked like hell not to expose my surprise on my face. He’d been fucking me at every turn.

  “Everyone knows he can’t keep it up,” she said. “That’s why he’s a miserable asshole. But Asher is like the Energizer Bunny, and Spencer—he’s one of those guys who has to degrade women to get off. You know, whip, hit, strangle, bite… He’s a sick asshole, so I wouldn’t go there if I were you.”

  Wow. She was singing now, and thank goodness she’d chosen to. “What I learned about sick behavior is that it’s passed down.”

  “Oh, yes.” She nodded emphatically. “The old man is the sickest of them all.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She sat up straight. I could see her mind working behind her eyes, trying to assess if it was safe to go a step further. After a moment, she checked over her shoulder then inclined her body closer to me. “I’m twenty-three, which makes me too old for that old man.”

  “Well, how old does he like them?”

  Suddenly, she rubbed her eyes as she groaned loudly. “You know what? I can’t coach kids. I’m damaged goods.”

  My expression cradled her emphatically. “No, you’re not, Gina. You’re a survivor. And this moment is all that matters, and the next and the next. We learn from our past, but we don’t let it fucking haunt us and deter us. Got it?” I watched her intensely. I wanted her to know how much I meant what I said.

  She swallowed then nodded.

  “And I will never take back my offer,” I said. “Absolutely never.”

  Gina smiled pensively then looked down and scratched her thigh. I wondered what she was thinking and was about to ask when she said, “They are hiding lots of secrets, though.” She searched past me then looked over her shoulder. “I think it has something to do with Amelia. I don’t think she was ever married to him.”

  “Why not?” I asked.

  She swung her legs around to sit on the edge of the lounge chair, facing me. “Randolph’s like a rich guy who spends all his time feeding his fucking addictions. Jasper’s the one who keeps the money flowing. But I don’t think he knows his father like he thinks he does.”

  “Well, what doesn’t he know?” I asked, keeping
my excitement under wraps. I was hoping she would reveal the one secret that would make the rest of my investigation much easier.

  She checked over both shoulders again then brought her mouth close to my ear and whispered, “I can’t tell you. But it’s bad, very bad.”

  I put my mouth to her ear. “How bad is it?”

  She leaned back and shook her head. “I’ve already said too much.”

  Silence fell between us for a moment, but since I had her talking, my curiosity wanted to be fed some more. So I asked where she was from and more about her parents. Our stories weren’t that dissimilar. She was from a trailer park in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Her mother would go from one man to another, all of whom would abuse the both of them. Then one day, she escaped her hellhole when she started working for an online call-girl service. Randolph Christmas solicited her services when he’d come to town on business.

  “He kept me around longer than he normally kept girls because I reminded him of his favorite actress.”

  “Marilyn Monroe,” I guessed.

  “Bingo,” she said. “Then one day, he couldn’t get it up for me anymore, so I started fucking his sons and business associates.” Her tone was so frank.

  Silence fell again.

  I picked at a loose string on the hem of my bikini bottom. “Randolph Christmas in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I wonder what he was doing there.”

  Gina rose to her feet and stood over me.

  I looked up at her.

  “He stayed at my apartment a lot, but on most occasions…” Then she whispered an address in my ear before strolling off.

  I took note of it in my head.

  I sat at the pool for a while to think. I was on the precipice of something big. I had been there before in the case of the Howsleys. All it had taken was one radical element to give me the key I needed to unlock their vault of secrets. I believed Gina had just handed me the key. Jasper would be watching me like a hawk. I couldn’t leave, go to Chattanooga, and come back. I needed to ask someone I could trust to do it, and I knew exactly who to call. My cell phone was still in my bedroom, so I got up quickly, went into the changing room to put on my clothes, and hurried back to get the ball rolling.

  Chapter Twelve

  When I returned to my room, I encountered Spencer Christmas lying on top of my bed. His shirt was off, his athletic pants were on, and he had an erection the size of a ripe cucumber.

  I recalled what Gina had told me regarding the way he liked it. From the beginning, I had played into his hands by being shocked and put off by his vulgarity. My previous reactions were why I was standing there, staring at his humongous erection.

  So I steadied my breaths and went right into full-control mode before slamming the door. His eyes widened with awareness. Good, Holly. Very good.

  I took off my coat and threw it on the bed beside him. “I assume you’re here to give me what I need.”

  He was smirking naughtily again and pointing two fingers at his dick. “You can just sit on it. It’s ready for you.”

  “The problem is…” I strolled to the side of the bed and stood over him as I took off my shirt. His eyes grew wide, and his Adam’s apple bobbed at the sight of my tits in my bra. I twisted my shirt until it was in the form of a rope. “I’m going to need your hands behind your back so you won’t touch me. No licking. No biting. I fuck you and not the other way around.”

  It was such a relief to see the cucumber start to deflate. My taking charge was working.

  Spencer sat up. “What do you mean by no biting?”

  “You strike me as someone who likes to bite.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Who told you that?”

  “You think I haven’t run into guys like you before?” I asked, even though I’d never run into guys like him.

  He was now off my bed and on his feet. “You’re crazy.”

  I yanked my rolled-up shirt at both ends. “You don’t want to play?”

  He snorted dismissively and started walking toward the doorway.

  “Or do you have something else to get off your chest?”

  Spencer faced me. Goodness, he was almost as handsome as Jasper. “Like what?”

  I sat on the foot of the bed and crossed my legs. “There once was a boy who liked to take his anger out on everyone in the world, including himself and not the person that made him that way.”

  He folded his arms. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

  The fact that he didn’t walk out of the room said he was intrigued. He was no longer nursing a hard-on either. That was good.

  “As I said, I know what kind of guys like it rough, and usually, that’s because they’ve been disempowered somehow.”

  He opened his mouth to speak, but I raised a hand.

  “Wait. Hear me out.” I waited a few beats, giving him a chance to tell me to go to hell if that was what he wanted.

  “I’m listening,” he said.

  I wanted to smile, but I didn’t. Then we were interrupted by the sound of the door swinging open, and I sprang to my feet.

  “Spencer, what are you doing in here?” Jasper roared.

  Spencer jumped and turned to see Jasper filling the frame of the door. The way Jasper glowered at me had worked better before our last sex session.

  “Let’s go, Spence,” he said.

  Spencer kept his eyes cast down as he walked out of the room. Now it was just Jasper and me engaged in a stare-off. His eyes veered down to my bra then the shirt in my hands before landing on my face. His expression was unreadable. Heat covered my face. I’d never felt so embarrassed. He closed the door, leaving me standing there.

  I sighed with relief as my butt fell on the foot of the bed. Maybe I had gone too far. What if Spencer had called my bluff? I wouldn’t have slept with him, but if he was as rough as Gina had described, then I probably wouldn’t have been able to get him to stop. Perhaps Jasper had saved my day.

  The party started in three hours. I didn’t know if I wanted to stick around for the full five days I’d promised Bryn, especially when I kept having awkward moments with two of her brothers.

  First, I needed to follow up on that Chattanooga tip. Since I was stuck in Newport, Rhode Island, I needed to contact someone who would be motivated enough to take a plane, train, or automobile to Chattanooga stat.

  I listened to the line ring twice before a woman’s voice answered. “Hello?”

  Two days before Christmas, I’d totally expected the call to go to voice mail.

  “Kylie, it’s me, Holly Henderson.”

  She sneezed. “I know. I saw your name before I answered. What’s going on?” She sounded stuffy but eager to hear what I had to say.

  “The Christmases.” I took care to keep my voice low.

  “Oh, the evil Vlads. What about them?”

  “I’m actually spending Christmas with them.”

  “Get out of here,” she said. I couldn’t see her, but I knew she had piped up quite a bit after hearing that.

  “Yeah. Bryn hired me to do some deep investigation of her family. She’s actually writing their memoirs.”

  Kylie scoffed. “I doubt it’ll tell the whole truth.”

  “You never know,” I said.

  “I know,” she strongly claimed. “And is Jasper Christmas okay with her little book?”

  I groaned a little, thinking about how much Jasper wasn’t with the program. “No, he’s not.”

  “I didn’t think he would be,” she said. “You know, there’s a reason no one else has picked up where I left off. Actually, you’re the first person that’s ever called me to inquire about what I may have found on them. I mean, I presume that’s why you’re calling.”

  I flexed my eyebrows. “You presume right. And would you care to share?”

  “I can’t.”

  I jerked my head. “Is it because of Jasper Christmas?”

  “I’m not allowed to say.”

  That would be a yes. “Did it have anything to do with your deal with t
he coroner’s office?”

  She paused. “I’m not allowed to say.”

  Again, that was another yes. “Did your investigation of the family ever take you to Chattanooga?”

  “Chattanooga? What’s in Chattanooga?”

  That was a no.

  “And by the way, if you’re in their house, asking me these questions, then I’m going to hang up.”

  My gaze rolled around the room. I wouldn’t put it past Jasper to be watching or listening to me. Damn, she had a point.

  “Can I call you back?” I asked.

  “I’ll be waiting.”

  My phone went silent.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The garage door was locked. It wasn’t a mystery who’d done it. To make sure I wasn’t misassigning blame, I walked over and pressed the button to open the center garage door, and it rolled up. My instincts had served me right when I bypassed telling William that I was heading to my car. There was no doubt he would’ve reported back to Jasper that I was leaving. Suddenly, all the sex I’d had with Jasper felt like a humongous mistake. He was definitely trying to fuck me into compliance. But then Gina had said he couldn’t get it up for her. He’d had no problem cramming his rock-solid erection inside of me. I wished I knew what the hell was going on with him. Was he a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?

  Regardless, I had to stay levelheaded and figure out what to do next. I pulled my coat tighter as I eyed the line of catering trucks parked alongside the driveway at the back of the house. The snow and gray sky seemed to add a greater chill to the cold. But I couldn’t go in. The next lead I needed to follow up on was the one given to me by Crystal Preacher. I had to talk to her mother.

  I focused on the workers going in and out of the kitchen through a special entrance. If only I could sneak off the property in the back of one of those trucks. Of course, that wouldn’t have been feasible. The caterers would wonder who in the hell I was and why I had to sneak away from the estate. Not good.

  So my first mission was to escape the property without being seen. I walked behind the garage then past a private forest of winter-bare trees. I remained among the sticks as I moved toward the perimeter of the property. My fingers were freezing, and I began to question my sanity when I finally caught sight of the white fence. I ran toward the barrier and easily climbed over. It wasn’t the first time I’d had to do something like that in the line of getting the story.