by H. H. Fowler
“Isn’t it obvious?” Candi said, gesturing to Izaiah. “Asia wants a harem of men to be at her beck and call.”
“You can’t help but to twist everything you say,” Asia told her sister. “You are such a drama queen. I can’t stand you…” she paused and glared her father crossly. “And I can’t stand you! You and Candi are so much alike, always meddling into people’s lives.”
“What are you talking about, Asia?” Gregory probed.
Asia pointed at Izaiah and yelled, “HIM! I can’t believe you hired someone to come between me and Jorge. But why am I surprised? It’s just like you to do something like that. I should have followed my instincts and confronted you about it.”
“Who told you that nonsense?”
“Don’t lie to me!” Asia hollered. “I am tired of fighting you and can never get the truth out of you. You won’t admit to killing Jorge. What makes me think that you would admit to hiring Izaiah to do your dirty work?” she then set her fiery glare on Izaiah. “I should have known that you had an ulterior motive for wanting to follow me around. You never cared anything about me and my pain. I feel so stupid for letting my guard down around you.”
“Asia, I had no ulterior motive,” Izaiah tried. “I genuinely wanted to be there for you.”
“Then you should have told me the truth!”
“The truth is I did not want to go along with it.”
“But you did!”
“This is not easy explaining this to you.”
“Because you can’t explain deception, Izaiah! This shows me what type of man you are.”
Izaiah felt like his world had suddenly shattered into a thousand pieces. Half an hour ago he was preparing the table for him and Asia to have supper. Now he was staring into the eyes of a woman who looked as if she had lost it all. How could he make Asia understand that he had never intended to deceive her?
“I’m so sorry for hurting you,” he said resignedly. “I never intended –”
“I want you out of my life, Izaiah! All of you! Because there’s nothing either of you can explain that will bring Jorge back! Stay the hell away from me!”
Asia turned her steps toward the road and hastened down the driveway. She didn’t have a clue to where she was going. She just needed to get away and make some sense of her life. A one way ticket to Canada seemed very appealing at the moment. She would leave and never look back. Bliss Haven had become nothing but a collage of sad memories.
Izaiah started to go after Asia, but Gregory restrained him. No words needed to be spoken. Izaiah knew Asia needed to be left alone, but he couldn’t help but be concerned about her safety.
“Well, someone had to tell Asia the truth,” Candi spat into the awkward silence. “It makes no sense keeping secrets from each other. You see what it does?”
She stumbled away and left the two men to lick their wounds.
Chapter Thirty
Gregory’s men threw Anwar toward Ms. V. They had struggled all the way from St. Elmo’s Valley to bring him. His resistance was almost more than they could handle. If they hadn’t threatened to shoot his parents in the face, they would have taken Anwar as dead a man. But Ms. V gave them specific instructions to deliver Anwar alive. She had plans for him and she alone would carry them out.
“Get up!” she barked. “I have been looking for you all over this island. Do you know what I do with rebels? I cut them into pieces and feed them to my dogs.” She came up behind Anwar and allowed her fingers to glide behind his neck. “But you are too gorgeous for me to simply get rid of you. I know just the right punishment that will humble your little defiant streak.”
The men grinned salaciously, but Anwar didn’t understand. He was too riled up to pay attention to the games they wanted to play. His mind was on his parents and the state he’d left them in. He could only imagine what they were going through. They hadn’t seen him in over three weeks, assuming that he had been killed. Their reunion hadn’t lasted more than an hour before he was being dragged away from them again.
Dallis’ last text to him had been equally alarming. She told him if he didn’t man up and tell the police who Jorge’s real murderer was, she was going to the police herself. She was afraid that he would be killed and that the murderer would never be caught. He had been planning to meet her at a web shop, but Gregory’s men were waiting for him at the front door.
“Hello, Mustafa? How are you doing, darling?” Ms. V said in her professional tone. “You will never guess who has arisen from the dead…yes, I do have him here in my suite…looking hot and sexy – just as you like your boys. I will have him sent up to your room shortly…do whatever you want, he’s yours for the night...buh-bye, darling.”
Ms. V tossed her head back and grinned when she saw the color had drained out of Anwar’s face.
****
According to a 2004 study, innocent people more than likely would waive their right to remain silent during an interrogation. The problem the detectives faced while they sat in front of Dallis wasn’t that she had enforced that right, but she simply couldn’t stop crying long enough to give a detailed statement. Up to this point, Richard still was not convinced that Dallis had killed Jorge. She couldn’t even tell the detectives certain details about the murder that had been kept from the public. She sat with her hands in her lap, her head hanging toward the floor. She had been in the interrogation room for almost seven hours now, but the detectives had had enough.
Karissa pushed a Styrofoam cup, half-filled with coffee in front of her. “Dallis,” she said in a tone that revealed her impatience. “We have just contacted your father and he’s making his way here as we speak.”
Dallis raised her head and pinned Karissa with a dubious look. The detectives could be bluffing, but she couldn’t be sure. “Why’d you do that? Don’t I have a right to say who I want visiting me?”
“You have confessed to murder, “Karissa replied dryly. “You shouldn’t have the right to even be sitting in that chair without handcuffs.”
Richard chimed in, “Dallis, I have known you and your family for at least ten years. You are the more levelheaded one out of your sisters. So forgive me if I find it hard to believe that you are responsible for Jorge’s murder. Asia had actually witnessed the killing and had reported seeing a black limo fleeing the scene. Where were you when all of this was taking place?”
“Asia doesn’t know what she is talking about. I killed Jorge Bentley.”
“How did you approach him?”
“We went through this before,” Dallis said annoyed. “I shot him.”
“Where?”
“Does it matter? I killed Jorge. I am the one responsible!”
Karissa let out a sigh. They weren’t getting anywhere. “Are you covering for your father? Is he the one who killed Jorge Bentley?”
“My father didn’t do it!”
“Then, who did?”
“I killed Jorge! Why don’t you people believe me?”
“You can’t even tell us what type of gun was used or how many times Jorge had been shot. Furthermore, we checked your whereabouts that afternoon and it was confirmed that you were at the hospital, visiting your mother. We have cameras to prove it!”
Dallis began to fidget and the tears began to roll again. She couldn’t stop thinking about the text Anwar had sent her. He had told her that he had fallen in love with her. But his proceeding words had frightened her out of her wits. I think your room has been bugged. Be careful of what you say. I am okay for now. Thanks for helping me out… The idea of her room being bugged was too close for comfort. Maybe Anwar was leading her on, trying to provoke her to silence. But it didn’t work.
She didn’t know who to trust from that point on. Her father became suspicious in her eyes, because Asia kept going on and on that he was responsible for Jorge’s murder. Had he hired someone to bug her room? But why would he do something like that? It was so confusing to think that her father, a prominent bishop on the island would be guilty of some und
erhanded plot to get rid of the boy her sister loved. Maybe it was the reason why Anwar was hesitant to tell her who killed Jorge, because he knew that her father was involved somehow. The thought had sent Dallis into a prolonged state of disbelief.
This whole idea about a secret organization and men chasing after her were scenes cut straight from a movie. But did she dare tell the detectives about Anwar and everything he had revealed to her? Suppose it backfired on her? She believed she’d been chased by the same black limo whose occupants had supposedly killed Jorge. That meant they knew where to find her. The detectives had been questioning her for over seven hours and several times she almost broke down and spilled her guts. But fear of losing her family and not knowing the outcome of the situation kept her holding back some of the information.
After reading that alarming text from Anwar, she immediately jumped into survival mode. She responded to his text, telling him to meet her at a web shop that was just outside of Crystal Bay or else she would follow through with going to the police on her own. Her plan had been that they would explain to the police everything that was going on, which would simultaneously clear Anwar’s name as a suspect in the Jorge Bentley murder case. Dallis saw it as a win-win situation. She also figured it was safer to meet with Anwar at a location that was always flowing with customers. Whoever it was that was after them would probably think twice about spraying bullets in a crowded area.
Of course, Anwar unwillingly agreed. But when Anwar hadn’t shown up after being almost an hour in the web shop, and hadn’t confirmed his coming through text, she freaked. Things quickly dwindled into a state of precariousness after that point. She hadn’t planned on turning herself in to the police as the one responsible for Jorge’s murder, but she also hadn’t been thinking clearly that afternoon. Ever since she had been chased from St. Elmo’s Valley by that black limo, she was constantly asking all of the ‘what ifs’.
What if Anwar had been killed for real this time? What if the murderer came after her and then went after her family? What if this killing spree never ended? That was when she decided to contact Richard by email for fear her cell phone might have been bugged, too. He was a good friend of the family and she felt as if she could trust him. Her thinking was if the police had her in custody, the murderer would be appeased and would not come after her or her family. And if Anwar was somehow still alive, he would be let go to live his life. But she hadn’t really thought things through after that. And it was evident by the way this female detective was shouting at her.
“Confess the truth, young lady!” Karissa was saying. “Do you know how many years you’re looking at behind bars? Your freedom will forever be taken away and you will die an old lonely woman.”
Dallis steeled herself against Karissa’s words and asked a question she knew would put a frown on the detectives’ face. “Will my arrest be made public?”
“Why should that concern you?”
“I just want to know,” Dallis said.
Karissa shared an incredulous look with Richard. She was about to blow off some more steam on Dallis, but Richard stepped in just in time. They had been bluffing when they told Dallis that they had contacted her father, but Richard knew at some point that he would have to call Gregory and let him know what was going on.
“I think that’s enough for this evening,” he said to his partner. “Take her to a cell. I will decide what to do with her when I wrap up here.”
On the heels of Richard’s directive, the door of the investigation room swung open. A young officer stuck his head in, looking perturbed. “Sir, there is a situation on the outside regarding the case. I think you should come and have a look.”
Richard could hear the commotion in the hall. A woman was screaming that something terrible had happened to her son.
“I will be out shortly,” he told the officer. He turned his attention to Karissa. “Take Miss Beaufort with you and give her some blankets. Those cells are very cold.”
When the woman saw Richard coming toward her, she left her husband’s embrace to meet him.
“Mrs. Daxon!” Richard exclaimed. “I wasn’t expecting to see you.”
“My son is alive!” she blurted out and then began rambling. “He came home after three weeks...but he has vanished again...these big muscular men showed up at our house and threatened us at gunpoint...please, I’m begging you, help us get our son back!”
“Are you certain your son is alive?”
“He was up until those bastards dragged him away from us,” Mr. Daxon answered, bringing his strides next to his wife. The look of sheer dread was reflected in his stance. “I don’t know what is going on in this island, but Anwar is a good boy who stays out trouble –”
“Are you Anwar’s parents?” Dallis butted in. She had overheard their conversation with Richard while in passing.
Mrs. Daxon looked up and gave Dallis a look of suspicion. “Who wants to know?”
Dallis felt a spark of hoping igniting inside of her. Maybe it wasn’t too late for Anwar after all. She fought to keep her tears in her eyes, but looking at the distraught expressions on the faces of Anwar’s parents, made her want to weep along with them. She could see they really loved him. “I’m Dallis Beaufort,” she said, knowing her next set of words would not be received well, especially by the detectives. “Your son had been secretly hiding out in my bedroom up until yesterday.”
Karissa gasped. “Oh my heavens! That explains it all! She has been aiding and abetting a criminal all this time!”
“My son is no criminal!” Mrs. Daxon fired furiously. “Those men who dragged him out of our home are the criminals! We need to find our son; otherwise, he might never return this time around.”
Richard walked over to Dallis and gave her a warm stare. His tone was gentle, but firm enough to invoke action. He also realized at this point that Dallis was helplessly in love with Anwar Daxon. Now it made sense to him why she had confessed to Jorge’s murder. “Dallis, it is imperative that you tell me the truth about everything you know because we are quickly running out of time. Anwar’s life could be on the line.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Dana woke in the middle of the night with a sharp pain at the back of her head. So severe was the throbbing that she could barely keep her eyes open. She felt the bed for Gregory because the last thing she remembered was being in his arms before she had fallen to sleep. Dana had been sleeping so comfortably that she didn’t hear when Rose came into the room to tell Gregory that Asia and Candi were attacking the youth minister. Dana may not have had any idea of the drama that transpired just two hours prior to her waking up, but she certainly was not prepared for the drama that was about to kick in.
“Don’t forget that the failure in our marriage is your fault. Had you kept your legs shut from the gardener, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
She eased up and looked around the room as if someone was speaking to her. All went quiet for a few seconds, then she heard words that sounded a lot like her voice, mixed with a clutter of other voices:
“Why would you go to such lengths to impress another man? It is beyond me. You revel in the company of these boys and neglect me. Am I to think that you are sleeping with them, too?”
“It wasn’t your fault, Mrs. Beaufort…your husband is a monster.”
“Because you are a slut! You’re only getting what you deserve.”
“But it has been three years. This is not a marriage, especially if he can’t find it in his heart to forgive you.”
The voices were buzzing in her head with overlapping snippets of conversation. It created an echoing effect. She squeezed the sides of her head and screamed. The throbbing was just as intense. After an entire month, could she be getting her memory back or was she losing her mind? The assault continued, one conversation after the other – right up to the last word she’d spoken to Chazz right before they were sprayed with bullets that had almost taken her life.
“It was Gregory’s idea to set y
ou up and I was paid to go along with it.”
“Paid to do what?”
“To seduce you, Mrs. Beaufort…your husband paid me to have sex with you and then plotted to catch us in the act.”
“You waited three years to tell me this nonsense? Get out of here before I call the police!”
“It’s the truth…Gregory wired five thousand dollars to my bank account; I couldn’t even spend the money. The guilt was killing me because by that time I had ended up falling in love with you.”
“Stop it!”
“Listen to me, Dana. Your husband is not who you think he is. There are things you need to know that are going on in Bliss Haven. Gregory knows everything about it. There is a secret organization, located just outside of Crystal Bay. Every filthy thing that you can imagine goes on there. Perversion at its worst. And I’m sad to say that it was Gregory who recruited me and introduced me to a woman named Ms. V…”
Miss Rose burst into Dana’s room, eyes bulging with terror.
“I swear on my mudda’s grave,” she cried. “One of you is gonna kill me with cardiac arrest with all of this screamin’…” She paused in her tirade when she saw Dana swing her feet to the floor. “Boss lady, please tell me yuh not tryin’ to get out of that bed? The doctor said –”
Dana turned her bloodshot eyes on the maid and roared, “Get out of my way, Rose!”
****
Gregory was on the phone with Ms. V in his office, trying to find out who it was that had turned themselves in for Jorge’s murder. His men were nowhere in sight and it was really beginning to bother Gregory. They had been hired to protect his property, but they spent more time with Viola than he spent at the church. Was it even necessary that they hang around his home? All they did was make trouble. He was thinking very seriously about getting the men transferred out of his lair and handling his own security. Those bastards worked for the witch anyway.
