Desperation on Wildflower Island

by Michelle Files

  “What were you doing at my house?” Isabella asked her bluntly.

  Shrugging her shoulders, “Listening in on a really interesting conversation.”

  Lola stopped to see Isabella’s reaction. Isabella fiddled with her long blonde hair nervously.

  “What conversation?” She couldn’t believe that she took the bait, but she had to know.

  “Oh…it was all about secrets and lies, and something important that was stolen several years ago.” There was a lilt in Lola’s voice as she spoke to Isabella. She seemed to really be enjoying tormenting the girl.

  “What are you talking about? What was stolen?” Lola had definitely piqued Isabella’s curiosity. She was pretty sure that Lola was talking about her parents. She remembered seeing Lola walk around the side of their house and get on her bicycle just as Isabella was arriving home. That was the day her parents were fighting.

  “Well, I think I will hold onto that little bit of news until later.” She paused and looked Isabella in the eyes. “Now, back to why I am actually here talking to you,” Lola replied with a smile.

  The conversation that she heard between Jacob and Jeanette Hale would wait. No need to reveal everything she knew all at once. There would be plenty of time for that later.

  “Whatever, fine. What do you want?” Isabella asked her. She was annoyed at the entire conversation they were having and didn’t care that Lola knew it.

  “Are you the one that’s killing people?” Straight to the point. That was Lola’s way of dealing with people. It had worked for her entire life. She didn’t see any reason to do it any other way.

  “What? No. Don’t be stupid.” Isabella reacted defensively as she tried to walk around Lola. She wanted nothing more to do with the conversation.

  “You’re lying. You look guilty as hell. You know I saw you, right?” Lola was dead serious. She had seen what Isabella did and now wanted answers.

  Lola stuck her hands in her jean pockets, while waiting for a response from the girl. She had not succeeded in getting much of a reaction out of her. Isabella stood there, with no expression whatsoever on her face.

  “Saw what?” Isabella asked her.

  “That day in the cafe. You know the one, the day that boy, Eric, was poisoned? I saw you put something in his food when he was looking at the sharks,” Lola announced.

  Isabella was quick on her feet. “Poison? I thought he just choked on something? That’s what I heard.” Isabella stared her straight in the eyes when she said it. She wasn’t backing down.

  “You heard he died, right?”

  That got a reaction out of Isabella. But it wasn’t the reaction that Lola expected. It was a smile. A small one, yes, but definitely a smile. Lola couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

  “I heard that he was poisoned, by some type of plant probably. But I don’t know what kind,” Lola added.

  “How would I even know how to do that? Besides, there were a ton of people having lunch there that day. There’s no way I could have put something in his food. I was there with my mom. So, you don’t know what you’re talking about.” Isabella adjusted her backpack and folded her arms. It was her way of showing Lola that she wasn’t afraid of her accusations.

  Isabella had a much higher than average I.Q. Whenever anyone talked to her, they frequently remarked on how mature she sounded, not like a 10 year old at all. Most girls her age would have been afraid of Lola, with the way she looked and her confrontational demeanor. Not Isabella. She had learned a long time ago that if you stand up to people, most of them will back down. She realized that humans as a whole were afraid of confrontation.

  “I saw you do it while everyone was so focused on the dumb sharks for a few minutes. Even your mother was watching them. I stood there in the doorway and actually watched you put something in his food. You can’t deny it. I saw it!” Lola needed to make sure that Isabella understood that she wasn’t just bluffing. She was an eye witness.

  Lightning flashed in the distant sky. Both girls were so focused on their conversation that neither of them noticed.

  Isabella hesitated for just a second before responding. “If that’s true, then why didn’t you tell someone when it happened?”

  “At the time I thought maybe you were friends with Eric and were just playing a joke on him. Like maybe you were putting something spicy or foul tasting in his food. It never crossed my mind that you were trying to kill him. I mean, look at you, you’re just a little girl.” Lola looked at her from head to toe as she was speaking.

  “Shut up. You’re lying.” Now that sounded more like the response of a 10 year old.

  “Oh my god, you are so delusional.” Lola rolled her eyes in disbelief.

  “You can’t prove anything. Move, I need to go home,” Isabella ordered, as she looked to each side of Lola, trying to figure out if she could get around her before Lola had a chance to react.

  “No. There’s more,” Lola said as she held up her palms toward Isabella. “You killed Beth too, didn’t you?”

  “I did not. That man, George, I think his name is, did it.” Isabella was eerily calm about Lola’s accusation.

  “You know he didn’t. I checked George out. Everyone likes him. He has never hurt anyone in his life and he didn’t even know your dad’s girlfriend. How do you explain that? How do you explain him pushing a woman that he has never met off a cliff, for no reason at all?” It was Lola’s turn to fold her arms over her chest.

  “I don’t know why he did it. All I know is that he did. I was there and I saw it, not you. And you can’t prove any different. Why would I push her off? She was always nice to me.”

  Though she said that Beth was always nice to her and she didn’t have any reason to kill her, the words came out bitterly. Her tone did not escape Lola’s notice.

  “Maybe because she was dating your father and you didn’t like it?” Lola offered as an explanation. It sounded like a pretty good one to her too.

  As they were talking, a trio of boys, about 12 years old, walked past them on the sidewalk. Lola and Isabella stopped arguing, but didn’t budge, never taking their eyes off each other. The boys barely noticed them, as they were talking excitedly about an upcoming football game they would be attending. They walked around the girls and continued on their way. Lola turned and watched them until they were out of earshot, before turning back to finish her discussion with Isabella.

  “I don’t care that he was dating her. It doesn’t matter to me.” Isabella looked down at her feet when she said that. It was painfully clear to Lola that Isabella didn’t believe her own words.

  “Yeah, right. And then there was that car accident in front of your house. I talked to the neighbor who saw you purposefully roll your bike in front of that car. He told me everything. He swears that you did it deliberately, and I believe him, even if the sheriff doesn’t. I know you are doing these things and I’m going to prove it.”

  Lola felt superior that she had something on Isabella. The fact that she was only a 10 year old girl didn’t matter. She was a killer and Lola was going to make sure everyone knew it. She just wasn’t sure how she was going to do that quite yet. There was no proof of any of it. She knew there were no cameras at any of the locations, she had already checked. She would figure out a way though.

  “You know what?” Isabella added. “I find it interesting that people started dying on the very day you showed up.”

  Lola thought about that for a moment, and the girl was right. Eric was poisoned only a few hours after she arrived on Wildflower Island. Would people actually think she was involved? She didn’t know Eric, or Beth either. They couldn’t possibly think she would try to kill a boy she had never met, on the very day that she arrived on the island, in a cafe full of people. No, that was ridiculous. On the other hand, Isabella knew all of the victims and was at every crime scene.

  “You are kidding me, right? I didn’t know Eric or Beth, or even that neighbor of yours that got run over. You were there when all of them
died. I find that very interesting. Don’t you?” Lola told her, not expecting an actual answer from the girl.

  At that moment it began to pour rain down on the girls and they both looked up at the sky instinctively. Before she had a chance to react, and while she was still looking up, Lola sensed something coming at her. It happened so fast that she didn’t have a chance to even unfold her arms and stop Isabella. The girl shoved her as hard as she could and knocked Lola off balance and into the road. Lola’s arms flailed wildly as she tried to keep from landing hard on the ground. She felt a sharp pain in her left wrist as she hit the unyielding street, finally landing flat on her back.

  Lola never saw the car, but heard the screech of the brakes on the wet pavement, and braced for the inevitable impact. With no time to get out of the way, she squeezed her eyes shut tight and tensed up her body, knowing it was the end of the line for her. She heard the squeal of the brakes and felt a sheet of rainwater splash over her from the tires of the car right before it hit her. Suddenly everything went eerily quiet…and the impact didn’t happen.

  Lola laid there in the street for what felt like an eternity and all she could hear was the ping, ping, ping of raindrops landing on the metal hood of the car. After two or three seconds, she opened her eyes slowly to see the car less than a foot from her. She let out a deep breath of relief that she hadn’t realized she had been holding in. She turned to look at Isabella, but the girl had vanished. Lola’s eyes scanned the street in both directions, but Isabella was nowhere to be seen.

  Lola sat up and held her aching wrist close to her body as the driver got out of the car and ran to her. It was just a teenage girl and she was already crying hysterically by the time she reached Lola. In fact, Lola had to calm the girl down and told her she was all right. A couple of people who lived in nearby homes came out to investigate, but went back inside when they found that everyone was okay. They were a bit disappointed that it was nothing. There had been so much excitement on the sleepy little island lately, that they wanted something exciting to happen when they were around. Once both girls got their wits about them, the girl offered Lola a ride home, which she declined. She needed to be alone after what had just happened. Lola walked back to the Wildflower Inn, in the pouring rain, and the teenage driver shakily drove home.

  Before that moment, Lola had some serious doubts about Isabella. Could she have possibly been wrong about her? A little girl couldn’t be killing people, could she? But once she experienced the wrath of Isabella, a 10 year old that deliberately pushed her in front of an oncoming car, Lola knew for a fact that she was right. Isabella poisoned Eric, pushed Beth off a cliff, caused the car accident in front of her own house, and now tried to kill Lola. She began shaking, and even though she was in pain, she was nervously playing with the bracelet on her left wrist as she walked. Every time a car sped by her, Lola jumped. She couldn’t shake the fact from her mind that she had almost died. She needed to do something about Isabella. The girl was evil and Lola felt that it was her duty to alert someone. But who? Who would believe someone that looked the way she did, when making accusations about a sweet little girl that everyone knew and loved?

  Chapter 18

  “Well hello, sweetheart.”

  Catherine turned to see Sebastian walk over and give her a hug. She had been shopping in the boutique across the street from the Wildflower Inn and was lost in thought about her daughter, when his voice snapped her out of it.

  “Oh, hi. How are you?” She gave him a tentative hug.

  She was very surprised that he wasn’t trying to avoid her, like she was trying to do with him. She was still embarrassed about their fling from the other night when she was quite drunk. It was something she would never have done sober. She was not a ‘one night stand’ kind of girl.

  “I’m great,” Sebastian replied.

  She watched him as he slowly looked at her from head to toe, and back up again. When his eyes landed on her face, he could see the amusement in her eyes. She wasn’t mad. It wasn’t a lecherous sort of look he was giving her, more like an admiring sort of look. It was kind of cute actually. He amused her, as he stood there in his ‘island wear,’ which meant anything goes with flip flops.

  “You doing anything important right now?” he asked her in that exaggerated southern drawl of his. She highly doubted he was from the south, and was convinced it was just an act for the ladies. It obviously worked.

  “No, not really. Just browsing. Why?”

  “Then come across the street and have a drink with me. Just one.” He held up one finger as he spoke, then he took her hand and led her out the door of the boutique. She smiled to herself as she dutifully followed him across the street to the Wildflower Inn.

  Catherine and Sebastian spent the next two hours sitting and talking and actually getting to know each other. They were drinking, but not much. Catherine was determined not to get drunk. She had only finished one glass of wine in the two hours they had been there. She wanted to spend the time to see if Sebastian was actually someone she wanted to know. Maybe someone she wanted to date and have a relationship with. She had certainly done things incorrectly the first time they met. She knew better than to sleep with a man that she just met. Her mother had taught her better than that. But, alcohol had its own mind. It did what it wanted. She found that out the hard way and vowed never ever to do that again.

  Catherine found Sebastian to be a lot of fun. He was cute. He was charming. He was funny. The three prerequisites required in a man. Money? Power? Connections? She didn’t care about all that, as long as he had a job and could support himself. He didn’t need to be rich. He needed to be a nice person, and treat her right.

  When Sebastian got up to use the men’s room, the bartender, Cecily, quickly made her way to their table and sat down. Catherine thought that was strange behavior from an employee of the inn and a woman she barely knew.

  “Hi. Sorry for pouncing on you like this, but I need to talk to you before Sebastian gets back.” Cecily was leaning toward her, whispering. She flung her long hair back behind her as she spoke.

  “Um, okay. Why are you whispering?” Catherine instinctively leaned forward also.

  “It’s a small town and people talk.” Cecily looked around the room guiltily. “Anyway, it’s about Sebastian. Please be careful with that one. I’ve known him for a long time and he has quite the reputation around town. He likes the ladies, if you know what I mean?” Cecily sat back in her chair with her eyebrows raised, like she had just delivered the most unbelievable news.

  “Yeah, I get it. I know what you mean. Look, I’m only here for a short time anyway. He’s fun. We are just hanging out, that’s all. I’m not stepping on any toes here, am I?” Catherine thought that perhaps Cecily was just a jealous lover that was trying to warn her off.

  “What? Oh, god no.” Cecily scrunched up her face and shook her head back and forth for emphasis. “I don’t want him. I just want to make sure you know what you are getting yourself into, that’s all.”

  “I see.”

  Catherine didn’t quite believe her. It seemed that Cecily was going out of her way to keep them apart. She didn’t know Catherine and had no reason not to just leave them be. He was Catherine’s mistake to make and really none of the bartender’s business. Catherine didn’t say anything else though. She didn’t quite know what she had gotten in the middle of, but felt she should be careful. Perhaps they should meet somewhere else next time. If there was a next time.

  Cecily looked toward the men’s room. “Oh, here he comes. Gotta go.” She jumped up and nodded to Sebastian as she passed him on her way back to the bar.

  “What was that all about?” he asked Catherine as he sat back down.

  “Oh, nothing really. She just wanted to warn me about all of your women,” Catherine laughed. She didn’t know Cecily and felt she owed her no loyalty. Besides, Cecily didn’t technically ask her not to say anything.

  “That’s not really a secret around the island. I dat
e a lot. So what? I’m single. Is that a problem for you?”

  Sebastian didn’t see any reason to lie about it. Or apologize about it. Or to even try to hide it. It was who he was. If she didn’t like it, then there would be someone else that didn’t mind. However, he really liked this one. She was fun to be around, and was quite easy on the eyes. And even better, though they barely knew each other, she didn’t seem to be the clingy type. He liked that.

  Just as they were getting back to their fun evening together, in he walked. Catherine saw him immediately and gasped. Sebastian turned to see what had surprised her. Donald Sharpe was a big man. At six feet, six inches tall, and close to 300 pounds, he was a formidable man and took up most of the doorway as he entered the bar.

  “Do you know him?” Sebastian asked her, tilting his head toward the door.

  “Yes. That’s my ex-husband.”

  “Is he going to be trouble?”

  “He might.”

  “Maybe we should leave,” Sebastian suggested, pulling out his wallet and throwing some cash down.

  As Sebastian stood up and reached for Catherine’s hand, Donald walked up to their table.

  “Hi Cathy.”

  “Donny,” she replied.

  Sebastian sat back down. He had a bad feeling.

  “You are looking as beautiful as ever. Time has been really good to you.”

  Catherine didn’t respond. She just looked at Sebastian with an apologetic look to her face. She knew their fun evening had just come to an end.

  “Who’s your friend?” Donald asked, as he put his hand on Sebastian’s shoulder. It was meant to be an aggressive gesture and Sebastian grimaced inwardly to himself.

  “This is my friend, Sebastian. Sebastian, this is Donny.”

  “Donald,” he told Sebastian. “She’s the only one that gets to call me Donny.”