Permanent Sunset

by C. Michele Dorsey

  “Oh relax, Ms. Salter. I’m just here to drop off Gavin with his things. Lisa has his jeep. She’s driving the children to the ferry.”

  Sabrina thought she detected resignation in Anneka’s voice.

  “Are the children leaving the island?” Sabrina asked.

  “Of course. You wouldn’t expect Gavin to let them stay on an island where there’s a murderer, would you?” Anneka said, now sounding more like the exasperating woman Sabrina had encountered before.

  “Lisa Keating isn’t leaving St. John, is she?” Sergeant Detree asked warily.

  “No, of course not. That dreadful detective made it clear none of us, except the children, can leave. Lisa’s mother had to fly down to rescue them. Those poor children will probably be traumatized for life by this experience,” Anneka said.

  Sabrina wondered if the three sisters even knew what had happened at Villa Nirvana. Lisa had been so adept at protecting them. She suspected they might suffer more ill effects from living with a man like their father.

  “Mrs. Lund, I know this has been a nightmare for you and your family, but if people would be a little more forthcoming, we’d have a better chance of solving the case,” Sergeant Detree said.

  “She’s right, Anneka. We all want this to be over and yet we’ve all hesitated to share information that might be helpful because we don’t want to be involved any more than we already are,” Sabrina added.

  Sabrina watched Anneka look from Lucy Detree to her and back. The wheels were turning.

  “Well, people can hardly be encouraged to talk freely when they’re spoken to in an accusatory tone by someone who has the authority to arrest them,” Anneka said.

  Sergeant Detree motioned to an empty stool at the counter where she and Sabrina had been sitting.

  “Come sit and have a conversation with me, Mrs. Lund. I need your help.”

  Anneka hesitated and then moved toward the stool.

  “Would you like a cold drink, Anneka?” Sabrina asked, reaching into the refrigerator for a couple of cold bottles of water.

  Anneka sat on the stool, placing her forehead on the palms of her hand as if she had a throbbing headache.

  “I know you told Detective Hodge you couldn’t be sure if it was your signature on the witness line of the document we showed you the other night, but I wonder if you’ve had time to reconsider. It’s no crime to witness a document, so I wouldn’t be concerned you’re going to implicate yourself in anything illegal.”

  Anneka sighed.

  “How would I know witnessing Elena’s signature would subject me to a police interrogation? I was simply in the kitchen at the same time she was.”

  “Here? You were here with Elena?” Sabrina asked, not able to stop herself.

  “Yes. Lisa and Gavin had described the villa and how beautifully it had been decorated for the wedding, I just wanted to peek at it myself. I wasn’t invited to the wedding, of course, although I should have been. I am Gavin’s mother and it was his half brother who was getting married.” Anneka started to take a sip of water. “Do you have a glass?”

  Sabrina slid off her stool and retrieved a glass from the cabinet for Anneka.

  “Mrs. Lund, when were you here?” Sergeant Detree asked.

  “It was well after the rehearsal dinner was over when I figured everyone would be in bed. I never heard the fight about the prenup. I just wanted to get a glimpse of the house and flowers.”

  Sabrina was surprised to feel a little sorry for Anneka, who sounded lonely and old.

  “Where in the house and on the grounds did you go and who did you see? Please, Mrs. Lund. This could be very important.” Sergeant Detree’s voice was gentle but firm.

  “I walked around the great room and the pool area and saw all the lovely gardenias. I couldn’t go to any of the bedrooms naturally, so I decided to check out the kitchen. I walked in and found Elena, fully dressed in her bridal gown, barefoot with a bottle of champagne in one hand and a fist full of papers in the other.”

  “Did you know Elena?” Sabrina asked, even though she knew she should let Lucy Detree ask the questions. She couldn’t stop herself.

  “I ran into her and Gavin once at a restaurant in Monterey and joined them for dinner. They were at a business conference. I was impressed with her. Smart girl, or so I thought,” Anneka said.

  “Did something make you change your mind?” Sergeant Detree asked.

  “Well, here she was, a little drunk on champagne in her wedding gown and barefoot the night before her wedding, and she wants me to witness her signature on a prenup. She said she was thrilled she didn’t have to go down to the media room to ask Lisa or Heather.”

  Heather was in the media room with Lisa? Why hadn’t anyone mentioned that before? Was Heather becoming a bit of a sphinx?

  “What did you tell her?” Sabrina asked, although she already was sure she knew the answer.

  “Not to sign the damn thing, that’s what I told her. No prenup is ever drafted to benefit the person marrying into wealth. That’s why I didn’t sign one when I married Jack and that’s why I didn’t get shafted in my divorce.” Anneka sounded feisty again.

  “What did Elena say?” Sergeant Detree asked.

  “That she knew what I was saying was usually true, but in this instance, the prenup was to her benefit. I asked her a few more times if she was sure she wanted to sign it. She kept saying yes, so I witnessed her signature and watched her fold the prenup and place it in a sheet protector. Then, for some unknown reason, she placed it in the refrigerator. It was kind of crazy. I couldn’t wait to get out of there. And then . . .” Anneka shook her head and took a sip of water from her glass.

  Sabrina and Sergeant Detree looked at each. Anneka was about to reveal something even weirder.

  “And then, what, Mrs. Lund?” Sergeant Detree said, almost cooing.

  “And then on my way off the property, I saw a couple sitting on a kayak totally naked, just a few yards off shore.”

  “Can you describe them in more detail?” Sabrina asked.

  “They were fat.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Sabrina stayed to finish washing the dishes after Lucy Detree left. Anneka and Gavin departed a little later, leaving Sabrina alone with her thoughts. Henry was coming to Villa Nirvana shortly to help her change beds and run the vacuum. Gavin would be staying at the house after he returned Anneka to the Westin.

  The monotony of washing dish after dish was comforting to Sabrina. Although there was a dishwasher, it would take so many loads to do all the plates, Sabrina would have to stay at Villa Nirvana for hours. There was something toxic about the villa, and Sabrina couldn’t wait to leave.

  “Inside.”

  Sabrina knew it was Henry calling out to let her know he had arrived. She went to greet him in the great room, ushering him into the kitchen where she handed him a dishtowel.

  “Here, dry while I fill you in,” she said.

  She reported all the information she had compiled since the morning, starting with Heather denying the necklace was in her pocket.

  “That’s bizarre, especially since she knows you did the laundry,” Henry said.

  “But it’s the skinny-dippers I need to tell you about. I think they may have killed Elena.”

  Sabrina described what she had learned from Lucy Detree about the floating red hibiscus.

  “Definitely not Elena’s,” Henry agreed.

  “But wait until you hear what Anneka had to say,” Sabrina recounted Anneka’s tale of cautioning Elena and then witnessing her signature on the prenup.

  “The bombshell came when Anneka claimed to have seen two fat naked people sitting on a kayak by Ditleff Beach, just a short way off shore.”

  “Holy shit. But why would a couple of nutty skinny-dippers want to kill Elena?”

  Sabrina’s cell phone began playing “Locked Away.”

  “You need a new ring tone. That song is so uncool,” Henry said. She knew he loved to tease her and, if she w
as honest, she enjoyed it, particularly at a moment like this when she needed to feel like there was some normalcy left in her life.

  The sound of Neil’s voice soothed her even more.

  “Salty, we’re back. Can you come and get us at the dock? We need to find somewhere we can talk and regroup. Somewhere private. And Sean needs to be there.”

  Sabrina was encouraged by the anticipation she could hear in Neil’s voice. Where could they meet that was private? Not her place if that reporter was still stalking her. Certainly not Bar None. Henry’s gated condominium community seemed like the best option. Besides, Girlfriend was there.

  “How about Henry’s?” Henry gave her a quizzical glance.

  Sabrina got off the phone and explained that he should go and pick up Neil and David while she went to find Sean so they could meet at Henry’s condo.

  “Whatever Neil and David learned, they want to share where we’ll have some privacy. You’re the only one in our circle who’s got that, my dear.”

  “But that means David gets to see where I live and the place is a sight,” Henry moaned.

  “Henry, your place is so neat, it makes me nervous. Besides, Ten Villas’ reputation and real estate license are at stake. And don’t forget, you were one of the last people to see Elena alive. It’s more important for us to strategize than to worry about our love lives at the moment.”

  Sabrina reached Sean on his cell phone and offered to drive him to Henry’s condo since he didn’t know the way, but Sean said he’d find it and meet her there. She reached Henry’s within ten minutes and was surprised when Sean pulled up right behind her at the latched gate. She hit the code on the number pad, pointing to Sean where he should park.

  “I hope Neil learned something in San Juan,” Sean said as Sabrina opened the door to the condo with her own key. She hoped so too, for everyone’s sake, but particularly for Sean, whose face was beginning to look gaunt.

  They were greeted at the door by Henry and Girlfriend, whose tail wagged at a rate close to a hummingbird’s wings. Sabrina bent to let her beloved pet nuzzle her, enjoying the few seconds of uncomplicated comfort before hearing whatever news Neil had for them.

  Henry gave Sean a handshake and ushered them into his sleek black-and-white living room. Neil rose from a white leather chair, while a tiny gray-haired woman remained seated on the edge of the oversized black leather couch. She was wearing a faded yellow sundress and had a white mohair throw wrapped around her shoulders, the same one Sabrina always tucked under because Henry kept the temperature so low.

  “Where’s David?” Sabrina whispered to Henry.

  “He thought I might be uncomfortable having him in my home, so he took a cab back to Gibney,” Henry said. Sabrina nodded, thinking “Operation Whatever It Takes” was off to a fine start.

  “Sean, David and I were able to find more information for you after Sabrina told me about Elena’s friend at the caserio. Some of it may be difficult for you to hear. Please let me introduce Elena’s mother, Carmen Perez Pagan,” Neil said.

  Sean looked over at the small woman on the couch and then back to Neil.

  “Pagan? I don’t understand.” Sean’s expression was anguished. Had he reached his capacity for torment? She remembered a time in her life when she thought she could bear no more pain, but when it kept coming, somehow her capacity for it grew.

  “Please, have a seat,” Henry said, motioning Sean to the empty seat next to Mrs. Pagan, who remained at the edge of the couch, staring at Sean.

  Sean sat down, nodding to Mrs. Pagan, who offered him the barest shadow of a smile.

  “It would be better if Carmen told you the story.” Neil returned to his chair. Sabrina and Henry sat on the empty love seat opposite the couch.

  “I am sorry to meet you like this. I never thought it would turn out this way. I only wanted a better life for my daughter. And now she is dead after all. I think God must be punishing me for my lies.” Carmen reached for a tissue from the box Henry slid in front of her on the glass coffee table.

  “Tell me. Please,” Sean said, grabbing a tissue of his own. Sabrina wondered if Sean had ever cried as a grown man before Elena’s death. So many men suppressed their tears. So did some women. She was one of them.

  “My daughter’s name is, was, Angelica Pagan Perez. She was my only child. I had to have an emergency surgery when she was born and so there could be no others. Her father left us to move to New York when Angelica was still a baby. We were very poor like everyone else who lived at the caserio,” Carmen twisted the tissue in her hand.

  “Angelica? Angel,” Sean said, sinking back into the couch.

  Henry slipped off the loveseat, stepping over to the coffee table, where Sabrina noticed for the first time that a chilled bottle of Chardonnay sat next to six wine glasses. He silently poured the wine into a glass, sliding one over to Carmen, then another over to Sean. Sabrina loved Henry for knowing exactly when and how to comfort people.

  Carmen accepted the wine and took a small sip.

  “Gracias,” she said to Henry.

  “I worked at a hotel cleaning rooms. Angelica was a good girl, never getting in trouble. She worked so hard in school because she said she hated living in the caserio where there were drugs and bad things always happening everywhere around us. Gangs would fight with each other. Everyone seemed to have a gun or a knife. It wasn’t safe for a young girl to go anywhere alone, even in the daytime.” Carmen’s eyes gazed off into the distance, as if she were back in the caserio.

  “Carmen still lives there, Sean. In the same apartment. It’s still a rough neighborhood, although much of it has been torn down,” Neil said, pouring a glass of wine and handing it to Sabrina. Sabrina’s hands shook a little as she took a sip. She wondered what Sean must be feeling.

  “Angelica was determined she would get good grades and apply for a scholarship to college, but we both knew there wasn’t much chance of that. Our schools are so bad, even with good grades, it is hard to advance. Still, she kept working hard to get straight A’s and tried some sports she thought might help with getting her into a college. But she was tiny, you know, like me, and sports weren’t her strength.” Carmen turned her body toward Sean.

  “She couldn’t even play miniature golf well,” Sean said, chuckling softly and turning to face Carmen, who smiled back.

  “Her best friend was a classmate who also lived in the caserio. Elena lived in a high-rise with her parents and brother and sisters. It was always noisy and crowded at Elena’s home, so they would study here together. Besides, two of Elena’s brothers were in gangs, and Elena didn’t feel safe because the gangs were always fighting. Killing each other.”

  “I can’t imagine,” Sabrina said, transported mentally back to Allerton, a working-class seaside town south of Boston where she grew up feeling underprivileged at best. Maybe it hadn’t been as bad as she thought.

  “The day of the explosion, Elena was supposed to come to our apartment to work on a school project and sleep over. They were in the ninth grade and had to compile information about each of the American states. Elena was late, so Angelica began without her. I still remember she was explaining to me that Albany was the capital of New York, not New York City as I thought. See, I was learning from my fourteen-year-old girl. That was when we felt the explosion. The whole building shook, even though it happened at the other end of the projects. We heard sirens and more explosions. There was smoke everywhere. We had to leave our own building. I thought we were at war. I guess we were,” Carmen said, taking the last sip of the white wine.

  “How did Angelica become Elena?” Sean asked. His eyes were brimming with tears. Sabrina was surprised to find hers were as well.

  “Everyone was evacuated. They opened the schools for us to go to. The American Red Cross brought blankets and cots. We learned everyone in Elena’s building had died.” Carmen nodded when Henry offered to refill her glass.

  “We checked the records, Sean. The entire building imploded after a
cannonball of fire engulfed it. There were no survivors. It was impossible to identify the remains. They’d been incinerated, almost like they were cremated. There was total chaos. The only survivors were the few fortunate people who weren’t home when the explosion occurred,” Neil added.

  “There were a number of adults who were working second shift, but most children were at home because it was after school. While Angelica and I were staying at a school, the Red Cross announced that there was a program for the children orphaned by the disaster. Younger children were being placed with extended family, if they had any, or with foster families. High school kids without surviving family were being offered placement at a Catholic residential academy in New Orleans.” Carmen dabbed the corner of her eyes with a tissue.

  “Angelica saw her opportunity to get out of the caserio and to get an education,” Sabrina said without thinking. Now she got it. Sean’s Elena was a daring, scrappy survivor—a fourteen-year-old girl who had grabbed a chance for a new life out of the embers of someone else’s tragedy. Wouldn’t she have done the same if she could have escaped Allerton?

  “Yes. She begged me. ‘Please, Mama, please.’ It felt crazy to let my young daughter go out into the world alone like that, but I have to admit, I saw how it could work. I walked her to the church where they had instructed the high school students to go to be considered. I told her I would wait outside in case they said no or figured out she wasn’t Elena. She laughed and told me they would never guess otherwise. I waited outside of that church until dark, hoping she would come back to me. It was the last time I ever saw her.” Carmen wept, covering her face with her hands. Sean reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder, while the tears streamed down his own face.

  “But surely, you heard from her, didn’t you?” Henry asked. He couldn’t comprehend families like Sabrina’s and Elena’s. He had grown up “normal.”

  “No, she never did. Carmen had agreed never to try to contact Angelica until after she was safely out of school and educated. Angelica promised to reach out when she finished school. Carmen kept her promise. Angelica didn’t keep hers,” Neil said.