by Kenya Wright
“Ten years or so. Why?”
“You two seem pretty close.” I wanted to turn and see if there was a questioning expression with those words, but I left it alone. “It just seems like we’re close because we know each other’s habits, I guess. I see her every day.”
“And she’s only been your personal assistant?”
There we go. She thinks I’m sleeping with Reece. “Just my assistant, nothing else.”
“That’s surprising.”
“Why?” I asked.
“She’s beautiful.”
“A lot of women are beautiful, but that doesn’t mean I have to be with all of them.”
She snorted. “Michael would’ve disagreed with that statement.”
Is that what Michael did to push you away, sleep with lots of women?
“Then Michael is a fool, if he needs to sleep with every pretty woman he sees when he has the best woman of all right next to him.”
We said nothing else.
Darkness blanketed the area. All the lights on this side of the castle had been broken. Our maintenance people stood on ladders and were doing their best to replace them. The dead girl, Patricia, lay in the garden next to the rows of eggplants, the second body in the same garden this week.
Grandma was right about the land beginning to rot. Even in the dark, I could see the vegetables and even the land beyond the garden, appeared brown and spotted. The grass and vines crumbled under our feet like dead leaves. A stink radiated from the decomposing earth.
I called Grandma to let her know the rotting had spread, but she never answered the phone. I planned on rushing up there to check on her and Dayanara right after I saw Patricia’s body and talked to the police detective. Reece had called immediately and asked him to come as soon as he could.
When he’d seen the body and checked out the whole area, Reece would notify the media. The strongest headache of the day hammered against my skull. While the police were happy to keep the first corpse under hush, due to my sizeable donations to their commissioner, two dead bodies within a twenty-four hour period would force them to treat me like any other Dade County citizen. Two bodies couldn’t be ignored. They would have to undergo a serious investigation. And if they explored too deeply, they would probably discover Dayanara.
Four men stood around the garden. A foul scent drifted my way. I risked another inhale, covered my nose, and breathed out of my mouth. Blood. After this week, that coppery odor would be imprinted in my brain forever. I’d been smelling that wretched liquid all day.
Probably sensing the same thing, Elle covered her face with her hands. I hated that she was with me, and pissed that our time was halted to deal with more death. Now what? There was nothing I could explore with her. Another girl had died and if Elle had any sense she would leave. Not to mention the fact that I’d already put on my mental to-do list that Reece would have to book Elle a flight to wherever she wanted to go.
She can’t stay here.
Another guard came my way. “The body is in the center. I made sure to have my men keep a six foot distance and allow no one else here.”
I scanned the area. He’d done an excellent job. The only people out here were the guards, Elle, and myself.
I swallowed down my fear. “Okay. Show me where the body is.”
He guided me through. Elle continued. I stopped. “No. You’re not going.”
“I want to see if it is really Patricia.”
“Her friend confirmed it.”
“When I talked to Patricia, she said she didn’t have any more friends. This could be somebody else.”
“Looking at a dead person is not a fun experience. Trust me.”
“Of course, but I want to see. Whenever I’m really nervous or scared about something I just take it on, learn as much as I can, and eventually my fear is gone.”
“This isn’t a fear you’re going to have to learn to get over. This is some crazy person killing girls for no reason. I want you far away from this.”
“Lucky for me. You don’t get to tell me what to do.”
“You promised me you would stay behind.”
“I don’t always keep my promises.” She shrugged.
Her nonchalant gesture should have pissed me off or triggered the already fragile control of my temper to shatter, but it was Elle, with that soft skin and orange blossom fragrance, drowning out the stink of death. It was the one thing that gave me peace and allowed my mind to wander off to serene thoughts of her and me far away from this place. So I buckled under her beautiful gaze. “Come on. But if you need to get away or be sick, then tell me so I can help you.”
“Okay. Although I’m pretty good at taking care of myself.”
I glanced at her and seized her soft hand. “When I’m around, you shouldn’t have to take care of yourself. I’ll do it.”
“But then who’s going to take care of you?”
“Me.”
“At least that’s what you think, huh?”
“Meaning?”
“It looks like you’re taking care of everybody but yourself.”
“You’ve caught me during a rough week.”
“Sir,” the guard interrupted us. He touched the earpiece in his ear. “I’m receiving a message that Detective White is at the entrance gates and was called by you.”
“That’s true. Have your people let him onto the property and escorted to this area. We’ll wait for the detective before viewing the body.”
“Okay.” He nodded.
It must’ve taken twenty minutes for the investigator to finally appear. Detective White was a short black man who must’ve been barely five feet tall. He wore gray jogging pants with muddy sneakers and appeared as if he’d been disturbed in the middle of a nightly run. Even his bald head seemed wet with sweat.
“Thanks for coming so quickly.” I shook his hand.
“You’re my best client. I’m here when you need me.” He turned to Elle, paused as if waiting for me to introduce her, saw that I wasn’t, and moved on to the location of the body. “Do you know what the victim’s name was?”
“Patricia Jones. Her friend found the body. Patricia was a poet from Toronto, Canada. Hex fell in love with several of her poetry books and invited her to the states. She’d been here for three months where she wrote and published a poetry book that had several of Hex’s illustrations in it. This is all from her friend so you’ll need to verify the information with my brother. She’d been with the group of people that I informed would have to leave tomorrow. The party tonight was a nice way to send them off.”
Detective White bobbed his head, the whole time searching the shadowed garden with his eyes. “I told your assistant the reason girls are being killed and dumped here is because the security cameras don’t pick it up back here. It’s pretty much your only blind spot for the cameras. Did you know that?”
I sighed. “Yes. This is my grandma’s garden. I like her to maintain some of her privacy.”
He leaned his head to the side. “Is that all? I’m going to need all the information I can get because the killer appears to know more than me. From what I’ve gathered, you’re a thorough man. Everything you do has a precise reason for why it’s done. A blind spot like this would never happen with you in charge unless there was more going on. Why do you like to give your grandmother privacy?” He gestured to Elle. “Perhaps, you want to discuss this in private.”
“No. That’s unnecessary.” I combed my fingers through my hair. “My grandma practices an old type of belief. It’s one that’s outlawed in most countries that deal with the religion. It’s corazón muerto. It means dead heart. A lot of the vegetables and herbs in this garden are for her enchantments and spells. She also . . . does sacrifices out here.”
“Animal ones?”
“Yes. For anything else I have deliveries made. I’ll show you the reports and have you talk to that source. Regardless, this is why I don’t have the cameras recording her. My assistant will give you everything and di
scuss those sacrifices with you further. I would like to change the questioning back to the matter of the dead girls.”
Elle knew Grandma was a bit off, but she’d had no idea how deep the craziness went. I didn’t plan on having Elle remain here much longer, but I did intend on trying to see her again. If that was at all possible, I didn’t want the taint of my grandma and her playing with dead human parts to be a problem.
Detective White got the hint and moved on. “Who else knows about the blind spot?”
“My director of security. I just fired him today, but I have all of his information.”
“Why did you fire him?”
“He turned a camera off in the attic where his wife worked as a nurse.” Reece had explained Dayanara to Detective White before, along with the huge predicament of why I kept her in the attic. He understood the fragility of the situation. This was a topic he knew not to bring up around anyone but Reece and me. “My assistant can explain more about that later.”
“Can I go up to Dayanara’s room and check it out, make sure no one has left?”
“Of course.”
A wrinkle formed in Elle’s forehead as confusion etched the outline of her eyes. She had to wonder why a nurse was in the attic or what the significance of it was, but being the wise woman that she was, she remained quiet and listened, taking it all in to decipher later.
“Okay. So your director of security knew about the blind spot. Who else?” Detective White asked. “I’ll need every name. Just because they know doesn’t mean they’re suspects, but they very well could have told someone about it. Especially with the strangeness of why there was a blind spot. News about a famous artist’s grandmother doing sacrifices in a garden could be that one interesting thing a drunken guy tells a girl at a party to impress her.”
“Okay. Besides the director of security, Reece of course knew. Grandma and Hex. The person who installed the cameras may have known that one didn’t aim in this direction. I can’t think of anyone else.”
“If anyone else comes to mind, please let me know. Do you think your grandma or Hex would’ve told anybody?”
“Not my grandma, but Hex may have let it slip, though the possibility is low. He likes to talk about himself, not anybody else.”
“Okay.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Are you going to look at the body with me or would you like to stay here?”
“I’m coming.”
“Me too. I’m Elle, by the way.” Elle grabbed my hand with shaking fingers. I didn’t want her to come along, but as I’d learned tonight, there was nothing I could do if she made her mind up.
“How much am I able to say around Miss Elle?” Detective White asked.
“I’ll let you know when I want you to stop so we don’t upset her, but don’t think you have to guard too many details.”
He pulled out gloves from his jogging pants’ pockets and put them on as we walked through the rows of herbs and rounded to where the eggplants began. A purse blinked on and off with light. Lots of tiny little rainbow lights covered it.
No wonder Patricia’s friend found the body. The pocket book looks like a damn Christmas tree.
“So I see why Patricia’s friend would’ve found the body, but how did she know to come out here?” Elle gripped the side of her dress with her free hand and lifted the bottom up while she walked with us. I kept my hold on her other hand so if she tripped or anything, I could prevent her fall.
“One of your men found a few discarded joints about twelve or so feet from here in that direction.” Detective White pointed toward the pond near the back gate. “I discovered on several security tapes that a lot of the artists snuck over there to smoke in the evening. Additionally, both girls were killed late at night. The first one had marijuana in her system and I guess came from the pond when the killer surprised her. I’m thinking whoever this person is, they know about the smoking happening out there.”
“Patricia did smoke a joint last night when I met her at the art gallery opening,” Elle added.
“They’re not supposed to have drugs on the property, so they must’ve figured out that no cameras were in that area and smoked over there.” I formed my lips into a frown.
“My thinking exactly.” Detective White stopped by the body. Elle gasped. I cringed at the sight.
“I’ll have someone patrolling that region from now on.”
Poor Patricia lay on the ground. Thank god for the light not working. The surrounding trees near the garden blocked out most of the moonlight. Shadows concealed most of the gore. I had to squint to truly see all of her. Her dress was torn at the bottom. Dirt smudged the fabric and her skin. Leaves sprawled over her face. Blood saturated her hair and made it appear redder than its original color. Her heels were missing; her panties wrapped haphazardly down her ankles.
“Oh my god. That’s Patricia. Is he raping them, too?” Elle let go of my hand and held her chest. I put my arm around her waist. She leaned her trembling body into me.
I’ll have to make this quick. She’s already shaken up.
“I know you got to view the first body yesterday,” I said. “Is he raping them?”
“No. It’s something worse.” Detective White took out a tiny pen flashlight, kneeled in front of Patricia, grabbed the end of her gown, and lifted it up so only he could see what was under. “Yes. This is our guy. It has to be.”
“How do you know?” Elle pressed the side of her shivering body against me as if she was having difficulty standing up.
Detective White looked at me. I nodded for him to go ahead and answer.
“Because this victim is also missing her vagina.”
I heard an intake of breath from Elle. “He’s cutting out the women’s vaginas?”
“Yes. It’s a clean cut with not a lot of blood. This person has experience working with bodies, maybe medical experience. The oddest part of all of this is that the first woman appeared to die before the killer cut her. I’m not so sure. From what the coroner told me, the person stabbed them in the heart after the girl was dead and then cut the vagina away. I don’t know where he or she may take it after that. I did a search around the grounds and couldn’t find it. I’m thinking the person takes it back to their home like a souvenir.”
Elle shut her eyes. “I’m going to go. You’re right, Alvarez. This was a bad idea.”
“Okay. I’ll walk you back.”
“No. You should stay here and listen to whatever else you need to.”
I glanced at poor Patricia and then turned back to Elle. “Trust me. I would rather walk you back to your room than stay here. Detective White, do you need me for anything else?”
“No. I’ll probably be here until early in the morning. Reece is compiling a list of all the guests. I’m going to call in more men to help on this case.”
“No problem. I’ll notify my assistant.”
Detective White rose.
I guided Elle away from the garden. The closer we got to the house, the more shuffling of people leaving came to my ears. Hex had invited many. It would be chaos until all of their contact information was put down and they left the property. My phone rang. I checked the screen. Reece’s name glowed.
I stopped and let go of Elle. “Hold on. Let me get this real quick.” I placed the phone to my ear. “Hello?”
“Sir?” Reece asked.
“Go ahead.”
“Several guards found Needa and Dayanara on the northern section of the moat.”
“Are they sure it was my grandma?”
“Oh yes. They were both covered in blood, but Needa threatened them with a curse if they wouldn’t let her go.”
“They’re covered in blood?” My stomach churned with unease.
Who’s blood? Patricia’s?
“Needa said she took Dayanara out to do a healing spell and that the blood was from a pig she slaughtered early this afternoon. I made sure the guards released her and got them both cleaned up. Dayanara is back in the attic. Needa is heading to her co
ttage.”
“No. Have my grandma stay inside the castle tonight. Let her know I ordered it and need to talk to her.” Why the hell had she taken Dayanara out of her room and where did she get this pig to slaughter? “If my grandma refuses to stay in the room made up for her, just call me and I’ll deal with her.”
“Okay.” She paused for a second. It was unlike her. I waited for her to say something else. Finally, a small sigh traveled over the line. “Were you able to view the body?”
“Yes. Detective White will provide you with a report as soon as he can.” I waited for another few silent seconds.
“And will I be getting a flight for Hex’s new model. . . Elle?”
I didn’t like to think about Elle having to leave, but I was certain she would want to. The urge to protect her raged inside of me. I wanted her safe and far away from this psycho. “Yes, but not at this moment. Let me talk with her and I’ll let you know.”
“Will you be talking to her about this tonight?” An eerie edge laced each word. Reece never asked questions like that. She did whatever I asked and then continued onto the next duty.
“Yes. I’ll be talking with her about that tonight.”
“Should I also book you an appointment with Madam Miriam?” Her voice lowered to a whisper. It sounded like she was going to cry.
“I can handle those appointments if necessary.” I turned away from Elle so she couldn’t hear the conversation. “Reece, is there something you want to talk to me about? You sound sad.”
“I-I . . . never mind. I shouldn’t, but. . .”
“Go ahead.”
“I just don’t think this Elle is the right person for you. I saw you both together at the party tonight, dancing and I just didn’t see. . . I just don’t think she’s good for you.”
“Okay. I think we should discuss this in further detail tomorrow. Right now is not a good time for me.” I didn’t want to fire Reece. She was my rock in a storm, but her confession of having feelings for me was making our business relationship difficult. I didn’t relish the idea of her watching Elle and I dance and knew it had hurt her to watch it. I never spent time with any woman, not in all of the years of me knowing her.
