by Evie Nichole
She left her bags in the car. Someone could help her with them later. She entered the house from the back kitchen door and called out to Betty. She frowned when no one answered. The house was as quiet as a tomb. Surely there were preparations for dinner that needed tending to. She went into the library and sitting room before starting up the steps. She tossed her keys and purse onto her bed and went to Betty’s door, knocking lightly. When she didn’t have a response, she opened the door and peeked inside. The bathroom door was open, and the bed neatly made.
A soft twisting began in her stomach. Something wasn’t right. She had no real reason to think that. Selene was most likely asleep, and Betty may have gone out with Mary after all, but she was certain that wasn’t the case. She went to Barkley’s room and knocked. She knocked again, hard enough to hurt her knuckles. With no response the second time, she opened the door. The bed was unmade and the sheets rumpled. It looked like someone had kicked them towards the end of the bed. A silver laptop laid on the floor, still on, with a deep crack across its flickering screen. Ruth sucked in air, as she noticed something smeared on the bottom sheet. It was a droplet and a small smear of what looked like dried blood.
***
Barkley shook Tim’s hand then the hand of Paul Silas, yet another new business partner. The deal was finally closed, and by spring of the following year, there would be a game with his name attached to it for two different gaming platforms. His real dream was finally coming true.
“Let’s go celebrate!” Tim rumbled, with a slap to Barkley’s back.
“I’d like to, but I need to get back. We’re going to the Caymans tomorrow.”
Tim laughed out loud. “I hope this venture helps make me as rich as you.”
“I hope so too.” Barkley smiled. His cell phone began ringing in his pocket. He looked at the screen and felt a twinge of irritation as his mother’s face and cell phone number popped up on the screen.
“Yes, Mother? What do you need?” he said with a wink to Tim.
“Barkley…” Her voice was thin, the strain reaching out to Barkley, causing his smile to fade.
“What’s wrong?”
“When I came back from shopping…the house was so quiet.”
“Yeah, ok…where’s Selene?”
“I don’t know! She’s gone and so is Betty!” She swallowed. “And Barkley? It looks like there might have been a tussle of some sort.”
***
Selene’s neck was hurting, but it was minor compared to scalding pain racing around her head. Her brain struggled to awaken her, but her body refused to come all the way to the surface. She could feel her head lolling against her chest. One eye came open. She tried to move an arm to touch her face but wouldn’t move from behind her back.
Why are my hands behind my back?
A memory came into her mind, backwards at first. It was a memory of an acridly sweet substance. She saw white cloth. Her head came up, her eyes wide open. Robert. Robert had barged into her room and knocked her unconscious. Betty had let him do it. Correction. Betty had called him in to do it.
Selene tried to look around her surroundings. The room was dark, but there was a small light burning in a socket near to the floor. A nightlight. It was like something left on at night for children. The pool of light wasn’t large, but it looked like the floor was made of concrete. She dared a look upward. Her head and eyes ached with every movement. The ceiling was dark, but she could tell it was low. Where the nightlight was she could make out cross beams.
A basement. I’m in a basement.
Anger filled her, and she tried to stand, but her legs had been tied at the ankles in such a way that each ankle was tied to a leg of the chair, and her feet were just barely touching the ground. She wiggled her hips to make the chair move, but she was only able to scrape it along the floor less than an inch. She opened her mouth and began to yell. Her vocal chords only sending out a harsh grating noise at first.
“Hey!” She listened for footsteps, but heard none. “I know you hear me!”
A tear slid down Selene’s face when she the silence continued.
***
Barkley tore into his front drive, barely getting the car into park before he cut it off and left the vehicle with a definite slam of the door. There was a police cruiser there and another unmarked car. MJ was sitting on the front steps, his head in his hands. He looked up at Barkley with wide eyes.
“I’m going to kill whoever did this!”
MJ stood and made pacifying motions with his hands. “Don’t talk like that, boss.”
Barkley pushed past him and entered the house. Detective Jenkins was speaking with his mother at the dining room table. Jim had his arm around his wife, who was crying silently beside the kitchen door.
Barkley pinned the detective with an angry glare. “Still think she was accidently poisoned on a trek through the woods?”
Detective Jenkins stood and flipped a page in his little notebook, his face unreadable.
“I may have been hasty in that assessment.”
Barkley placed his hands on his hips. “Let’s get my part over with so you can go find her. I was in Beverly. I have witnesses. One is coming up the driveway right now. Anything else?”
Detective Jenkins shook his head, his stare long and hard on Barkley. “We’re going to do everything we can.”
“If you had of done that from the start she might still be here.”
Tim Stevens ran up the steps and entered the house, his face a mask of concern. “I called Sonya. I can stay as long as you need me, Barkley.”
Barkley nodded, his eyes still on the detective. “Here’s my first witness for my whereabouts.”
“Let’s go somewhere where we can talk.”
“Talk right here.”
Detective Jenkins pursed his lips. “There was a struggle. I’ve already called ahead to the hospital to get Selene was just released from to get her blood type so we can see if the blood belongs to her or her assailant.”
Ruth looked up, her eyes large and tear filled. She shook her head slowly with small movement.
“Blood?” Barkley asked, angling his head to the side as if he hadn’t heard correctly.
“The bed she was in,” the detective began. “There’s a little bit of blood there. I have the forensics unit on the way.”
Barkley took a staggering step and sat down hard on the floor. “You didn’t tell me that, Mother.”
“One other thing,” Detective Jenkins said, as he crouched beside Barkley. “The last thing Selene was looking at on a laptop was a website for the county about deeds and things. Did you know that she was researching that?”
“Yes, I asked her to continue with her research. She had been looking at stuff concerning this house and land.”
The detective looked at Barkley with a mild amount of compassion. “Were you aware that your father-in-law owns every scrap of land surrounding your property?”
***
Selene saw light come down a wooden staircase that she wasn’t even aware was that close to her. The stairs creaked under the weight of someone heavy coming down the stairs. There were more footsteps and the light vanished as the door leading to the upstairs was closed. Selene listened to the cadence of footfall. There were three people coming. Once she heard wheezing, she knew for sure who one of them was.
A light came on over her head, and she closed her eyes, wincing at the sudden brightness. Once she was able to allow her eyes to adjust, she saw Robert dragging a chair from across the basement and placing it behind Lucas. He lowered his bulk onto the chair and positioned his cane in front of himself, his meaty hands gripping the crystal topper. Betty stood behind him with a hand on his shoulder.
“Hello, Selene,” Lucas said, red faced, but pleasantly voiced.
“Why am I here?” she demanded.
“You’re here because you failed to deliver what I needed.”
“Which was what? Barkley’s head on a platter?”
He took
a handkerchief from his front pocket and dabbed at his face. Selene wondered if he slept in a suit because he was too fat to keep putting on and removing clothes every day.
“You failed to give me a way to get my family’s property back.”
Selene twisted her hands, fighting against the ropes that bound her. “How was Barkley sitting in jail for your daughter’s disappearance going to give you that property? That was what you wanted, yes?”
Lucas laughed, causing Betty and Robert to look at him nervously. “Jail? No, that was never the real outcome I wanted. I wanted a distraction only, and you served that purpose very well.” He lifted a meaty shoulder. “I didn’t expect you to be quite so ingenious because of your nosey nature. Of course, that was MJ’s fault. He should have never taken you to that spot in the woods and told you those things.”
Selene pinned Betty with a hard glare. “Did you poison me on purpose?”
“I did what I thought was necessary.”
“Which was what?” Selene spat.
“The bread you had was meant for Barkley. There was just enough dried Death Cap to kill him. Unfortunately, you were looking into things, getting too close to the truth for comfort. I had in intervene.”
“But…why? Barkley takes care of you better than his own mother. Why would you do that to him? And why would you risk getting caught?”
Betty laughed, her red and gray curls bouncing lightly. “I would have never been caught! Mary actually made the bread. I simply took an opportunity to drop a small amount of the dried bits into the batter of one loaf.” She shrugged unapologetically. “Barkley loves that bread. He usually eats one little loaf in one sitting. It would have been simple.”
“Where did the bread go? No one else at it.”
“I told a lie,” she said flatly. “I told Mary that since you and Barkley were going out that we better just freeze it. I told her that Barkley himself asked for them to be frozen. After you ate your piece, I kept my fingers crossed and disposed of the rest of the loaf. A little fire can do wonders for evidence.”
“So, with me out of the way, how would you have accomplished your master plan, Lucas?”
“Another woman, perhaps, or another attempt with the Death Caps. There are ways.”
“None of this makes sense. Why even have me involved? You didn’t even know me!”
“I needed plans A, B, and C,” he responded blandly. “You were the only female PI listed in the phone book. I had an associate watch you for a day or two, and when he reported that you were not only drop dead gorgeous, but single too, I knew I had the right person.”
“Are you still hoping that Barkley was involved with Sarah’s disappearance?”
Lucas laughed again; this time Betty joined him, but Robert only looked at them; deep concern etched in his eyes.
“Heavens no. Sarah’s dead.”
“No.” Robert breathed. His eyes became large and frantic. “No!” He moved away from them so he could see them both. “This wasn’t part of the deal! You promised! You promised that I would finally have her back!”
“We needed you, Robert; it was that simple,” Betty replied. “If things had of gone wrong today, your being in the house would have been far easier to explain than one of Lucas’s associates.”
Robert shook, his long fingers jerking involuntarily. “You told me that you had found her. That you would give her to me if I helped with this.”
Selene watched the scene play out, a small amount of sympathy developing for Robert. He really had loved Sarah. Suddenly the accomplice was becoming a victim, too.
“Even if she was alive, I wouldn’t just hand my daughter over to a butler!”
“You won’t get away with this!” Robert shrieked and darted towards the stairs. He made it up three steps before Betty pulled a revolver from her back pants pocket and fired. Selene jumped involuntarily as the sound reverberated through the basement. She watched with her mouth open as Robert’s body jerked, his spine arched, and he then fell backwards, the exit wound of the shot a gaping hole in his forehead. It had seemed to go in slow motion. An overly acted part in an old western or noir film.
“You’re both mad,” Selene whispered, her eyes still on Robert’s body.
“I’ll tell you what’s mad,” Lucas said angrily. “Mad is a perfectly upstanding white man, laying down with a dirty Negro and having children! Then giving all his worldly possessions to her!”
“Love is love, Lucas. It doesn’t understand skin color, and that was technically before your time!”
“That land and that home belongs to my family! Land isn’t something you just give away. It should stay within family.”
Selene shook her throbbing head. “You have plenty of money and property, I’m sure. What does it matter?”
“It matters because I promised my father on his death bed that I would make this wrong right before I left the earth.”
“You better hurry then, you don’t seem like you have much time left.”
Betty came from behind Lucas once again and slapped Selene across the face with the back of her hand. Selene’s head rolled to the side.
“Watch your mouth!” Betty hissed, turning to go back to Lucas.
Selene straightened her head, ignoring the trickle of blood she felt coming from the corner of her mouth.
“What’s in it for you, Betty? Why are you doing this?”
“I’m Lucas’s woman. I do what he needs of me.”
Selene cringed as Lucas raised a meaty hand and patted Betty’s hand which had returned to his shoulder.
“Who took the picture of Robert and Sarah in bed?”
Betty’s eyes registered surprise for a brief moment before she shut the emotion down.
“I didn’t realize you had snooped that much.”
“Yeah, I did.”
“I found them once cuddled up in a far corner of the patio. They didn’t think anyone was going to be home for a long time. Barkley had been like a son to me, and I couldn’t believe their affair was going on right under his nose. I started following them. The picture was the result of impeccable timing.” She smiled. “That was one of several. Every time I needed to blackmail him a little, I just discreetly handed him another. I’m shocked he kept one.”
“He had many pictures of her. I think he may have loved her very much.” Selene pointed her statement at Lucas, taking no pleasure in his momentary discomfort. “So, the animosity between you two was because you were blackmailing him. Why didn’t he tell Barkley the truth?”
“That was the beautiful part. Sarah was conflicted. She didn’t know for sure if she wanted to leave Barkley. All that money, you know. He was waiting it out. The months of her missing he was also waiting, waiting to see if she would come back.”
“Why am I still alive? Why haven’t you killed me yet?” Selene asked angrily.
“You may still be useful,” Lucas replied and adjusted his weight from hip to hip.
“You don’t have alibis. I’m sure the police have already been called.”
“Of course, we have alibis. I came down sick; I am a sick man, you know, and Betty came to offer ministrations. It will be the moment that our own affair will come to light. Barkley will no longer have to speculate.”
Selene shook her head in astonishment. “It’s too weak. You’ll never get away with it.”
Lucas and Betty laughed. “We fooled the police before; we can do it again.”
Selene licked her lips. “So, how did you do it? How did you take Sarah?”
“Simple,” Betty replied. “I overheard Robert and Sarah discussing running away together. It was my lucky day, really. I convinced her that I was finally on their side. I told her I would help her, but not to speak a word of it to Robert yet. She was so gullible.”
“The next day, I put her in my car and drove her to the Virginia house. I lured her to that very spot MJ took you to.” She laid her head to the side. “I had her look down the well, I told her a ghost lived down there. She had
laughed but looked anyway. The last words from her pretty, cheating mouth was, ‘When is Robert getting here?’” Betty looked at her nails as if she were just telling any average story. Perhaps a story about how she stole a parking spot at the grocery store, or how she had a little disagreement with a friend. “It was easy to kick her over at that point.” She held her leg out. “I twisted my knee a little when I did it. It’s never really healed right since.”
Lucas’s face was red, and there was obvious discomfort in hearing it all over again. Selene couldn’t imagine him having never heard it before, but the frightening thing was how he just took it in and didn’t seem to overly care.
“How could you be ok with this, Lucas? She was your daughter.”
“She was a foolish girl who never appreciated what she had! She didn’t appreciate Barkley and all of his wealth, and she certainly didn’t appreciate her father!”
Lucas stood and moved towards the steps, Betty close to his heel.
“One more question.” Selene waited as Lucas repositioned his weight against the cane. “Did Sarah know of your plan to try and take the land and house back when you pushed Barkley into buying it?”
“No. I once told her the story, but didn’t tell her where the property was. She didn’t even know the story was about her own family.” He scowled deeply. “She thought the forbidden love portion of the story was romantic. Maybe she was already screwing Robert by then. Who knows?”
Selene listened to them ascend the steps, grateful that they at least left the light on for her. She fought off tears. Tears wouldn’t help her. She needed to figure out a way to get out of the chair and call the police. She needed to get back to Barkley.
***
Barkley paced a circuit of his downstairs, which took him exactly six minutes to complete. He knew because he had timed it. Twice. His steps started in the dining room, going to the laundry room, then to the bathroom, around the sitting room, around the library, and back into the foyer, returning once again to the dining room. He thought about lengthening the circuit, by going into the kitchen and the walk in pantry, but Mary and Jim were taking solace in there. He wouldn’t dare go upstairs to his room. Not yet. Not until she had been returned to him.
