Poison Candy - Book 2: Behind Closed Doors Series

by H. H. Fowler

  But surprisingly, it was news to Ms. V that the police had a suspect in custody for Jorge’s murder. She claimed she had been busy doing other duties and hadn’t the opportunity to check the feeds. Plus, the clientele had been huge over the last several days. Trying to fulfil each of her client’s licentious desires was incredibly overwhelming. It was an underground world of ongoing activities. She did not have time to throw up her legs and watch the television like everyone else.

  “I am tiring of cleaning up your mess, Gregory,” she had said to him. “Couldn’t you at least handle a little domestic trouble? You are of the ninth dimension, but you are comporting like one of your gullible recruits. Stop acting as if you are wet behind the ears and show some backbone!”

  She slammed the phone down in Gregory’s ear. Each time that Viola spoke to him in such a manner it drove Gregory deeper and deeper into discontentment. It had become clear to him a long time ago that Viola did not really care about anyone but herself. She was an opportunist of the worst kind. Even now, it was hard for him to accept that he’d destroyed his marriage bed to enjoy a season of perversion with her. Gregory leaned back in his swivel chair and tried to let the quietude settle his mind. Something had to change because he could not see himself remaining loyal to that type of tyranny for much longer.

  His mind suddenly shifted gears as a replay of the fight between Asia and Candi came into his thoughts. Was he concerned about Asia and where she had run off to? Of course, but what more could he do to change Asia’s negative perception of him? And how could he get Candi to see that she had been wrong to meddle into her sister’s life when he had done exactly the same thing? Gregory sorely regretted the way everything had turned out, especially how Izaiah had been caught in the middle of this mess.

  To add fuel to the fire, his second oldest daughter, Dallis, was acting strange. She had been locked up in her room for almost a week. In spite of him trying to provoke her out of that room, she insisted that she was okay and that she simply needed some time to herself. That wasn’t like Dallis. But again, what could he do except respect Dallis’ wishes. Undoubtedly, he was experiencing turmoil all around because of the ungodly choices he had made in his past. With a heavy sigh, Gregory stood to his feet and ambled over to a bay window that was in the corner of his office. He looked out into the dark sky and wondered if his life could get any worse.

  “Are you a part of a secret organization?”

  The voice was just above a whisper, but it was loaded with raw emotion. There was no question that the voice belonged to Dana. He hadn’t heard her come in and he would like to believe her unobtrusive entry was a good sign. However, Gregory knew the odds of deceiving his wife at this stage in their marriage were stacked high against him. He didn’t have the energy to even try. He dropped his head as if he had been expecting to hear her say those words.

  He sensed her moving deeper into his office, but he couldn’t bring himself to turn around and face her.

  “I guess you’re going to keep your back turned to me?” Receiving no response, Dana eased down on the leather sofa that was in front of his desk. The soreness she felt in her back reminded her of her gunshot wound. “Fine. I will just sit here until you’re ready to talk.”

  “I don’t have an excuse for what I have done,” he told her. “What could I tell you that would take away the pain that I have caused you and this family?”

  “Look at me, Gregory! It’s the least that you can do.”

  “Why? What difference would it make?”

  “I want to look into the eyes of the bastard that ripped my heart out and fed it to the dogs. You owe me that respect.”

  Gregory felt as if his knees would give out on him. He held on to the wall for support and without preamble, launched into a story beginning with the day when they’d gotten married. He finally turned to face Dana, but was immediately overcome by the distraught look he saw in her eyes.

  “When I saw you coming down that aisle to take my hand in marriage, I thought you were the most gorgeous thing I’d ever laid my eyes upon. Your smile was full of confidence, as if you knew that the man you were about to marry would take care of you and would protect you and your children. I shared in your confidence because I loved you more than the world itself and I just knew that I would be there for you –’

  “I don’t want to hear about your walk down memory lane,” Dana said bitingly. “I want you to answer me directly. Are you a part of a secret organization?”

  “You’re not gonna make this easy for me, are you?”

  “The nerve of you to ask that! You haven’t made things easy for me in this marriage – especially within the last three years.”

  “I thought you were willing to put all of that behind us.”

  “In case you’re just tuning in, Gregory, I got my memory back! Chazz showed up to my art gallery that day because he wanted to tell me everything about what you had done. How you paid him five thousand dollars to seduce me and set it up to catch us in the act. My God, Gregory! Your own wife? A divorce would have been more understandable, but this is the sickest thing I’ve ever experienced in my life! And who the hell is Ms. V? Is she the reason why you did this to me? To our marriage?”

  “I can’t change what I have done,” Gregory said regrettably. “When the church board came to me with the offer to move to Bliss Haven, I wasn’t aware that there was an underlying plot to pull me in.”

  “You had to have known that something was not right. You had a choice to refuse it and trust God to take care of us! Had you even prayed about this decision to move your family to Bliss Haven?”

  “Of course I prayed!”

  “I don’t believe you did.”

  “It was not that easy back then. We needed the money. When you got pregnant with Candi, I thought this was the right move –”

  “Why would you put your family in the hands of a secret organization? That’s what I don’t get. You might not have known at the beginning. I can accept that. But why stay a part of it? It must have been twenty years you have been keeping this a secret from me. Twenty years! I can’t even fathom how you’ve been able to hide it for so long. Is that the reason for the long meetings and the long hours you’ve spent away from your family? Is that the reason why men were always around you, entertaining them as if they were a bunch of giggly teenage girls?”

  Gregory bowed his head as his wife’s words sliced through his conscience like a surgeon’s scalpel. “For you and the girls’ safety, I can’t tell you anything about the organization or what it is that I do. But I can assure you that I am working on getting out.”

  “Fine time to tell me that!”

  “Listen to me, Dana…”

  “You owe me the truth! I have suffered in this marriage long enough and I deserve to know the truth!”

  Dana suddenly felt a sharp pain strike the back of her head. She winced and then tried to hide it. But Gregory had already noticed it. It sharply reminded him that his wife was still recovering from a serious gunshot wound.

  “Are you alright?” he asked her. “Maybe you should go back to bed. You are in no condition to be dealing with this now.”

  “Are you for real?” In spite of the intense throbbing sensation, Dana continued her rant. “You made me believe that it was my fault why our marriage was on the rocks. You set this thing up between me and Chazz and then blamed me for cheating! I can’t believe you want me to go to bed on that!”

  “Then I don’t know what else to say.”

  “Find the bloody words! Because it’s obvious that you enjoy what you do to have kept this hidden from me for so long. And what about Izaiah?”

  “What about him?”

  “Don’t play stupid with me, Gregory! You hired him to seduce me, too?”

  “I did not hire Izaiah to seduce you.”

  “How can I trust anything you say to me anymore? You’ve lied for practically our entire marriage.”

  “What’s the use of explaining myself when ever
ything I say aggravates you?”

  “You can’t say anything that will make me feel better! You are an evil man! An evil man!” Dana screamed and she kept screaming it over and over until it felt as if something plopped inside her head. Before Dana knew what was happening, she had fallen over to her side.

  Gregory ran over to her and tried to sit her up. Dana was groaning laboriously, as if holding on to her last breath. In fear, Gregory yelled for the maid, who was coincidentally right outside the hall.

  “Get Izaiah and tell him to start up the Wrangler. I need to take Dana to the hospital.”

  “Yes sir!” Miss Rose flew as fast as her stubby feet could carry her.

  Gregory pulled his cell phone from his waist to call Dana’s doctor. He wanted to make sure that he would be at the hospital waiting when they arrived. But there was a call already coming through. He was about to press ‘CANCEL’, but when he saw that it was Richard Shelby’s name, he changed his mind and answered it.

  “I hope this is important, Richard,” he said. “I can’t talk now. My wife is groaning in pain.”

  “I won’t waste your time,” the detective said grimly. “Just so you know, we have your daughter in custody.”

  Gregory’s heart took a leap. “Which one?”

  “Dallis. She has confessed to killing Jorge. I know she didn’t do it, but –”

  Gregory wanted to explode at the amount of pressure bearing down upon him. How could so many things go wrong in one night? That was his last straw. Good-bye Viola and good-bye to the House of gods. “Say no more, Richard. I will tell you everything you need to know. It was me who’d sent that anonymous email to you.”

  “Concerning the two murders?”

  “Yes, Richard. I will lead you to the people who killed Jorge Bentley and Chazz Brunswick.”

  If Richard was stunned by the revelation, it didn’t appear in his voice. “Where do you want me to meet you?”

  “At the hospital.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  “You bumbling idiots!” Ms. V spat at Gregory’s men. “What the hell are you being paid for if you are no use to me?”

  “We didn’t know that Dallis had turned herself in to the police,” one of the men replied. “We were busy doing other things for you.”

  “It’s too late to worry about that now. We need to get rid of Gregory before he meets with that detective. What if I hadn’t told you idiots to bug that home? The outcome would have been horrendous.” Ms. V looked at the men in disgust. “And whose dumb idea was it for all three of you to travel together, anyway? Didn’t common sense teach you anything about surveillance? One of you should always remain on Gregory’s property – just in case something like this happens. It’s gonna take us at least fifteen minutes to intercept these fools.”

  One of the men opened the door of the limo for Ms. V to get in. He then popped the trunk and pulled out a long duffle bag that carried two sniper rifles and the pistol that had killed Jorge. He tossed the bag to the men in the back seat and then plunged his mammoth body behind the steering wheel. In no time they had exited the secret gate and were eating up the miles on the two-lane highway.

  It was to their advantage that the Beaufort estate was not a long distance from where the secret organization was located, which was about six miles off the main road. So they would be able to see Gregory in the Jeep Wrangler the minute he passed. Further up, the limo driver pulled to the side of the road and killed the headlights. The rifles had been assembled and the pistol had been placed in Ms. V’s lap.

  “What’s going to become of that rebel from St. Elmo’s Valley?” one of the men asked Ms. V.

  “The hot and tempting Anwar? My young stallion will perform beautifully tonight,’ she grinned. “I’m certain Mustafa will get his money’s worth.”

  They all shared a dirty laugh, which gradually quelled into an uncomfortable silence.

  ****

  Gregory’s men had tied Anwar to the posts of Mustafa’s bed and then stuffed a sock into his mouth. They had left him to endure whatever perversion Mustafa deemed fit. Terror could be felt in every inch of Anwar’s body as he listened to Mustafa chant in his Arabian accent. He could smell the burning of massaging oils, which meant that this fat pervert was about to put his filthy hands on him.

  From what Anwar could see, the Arabian had taken off his clothes and had already guzzled a full bottle of red wine. Signs that something dangerous was about to go down. Anwar had always shown an ability to outwit any circumstance he was thrown into, but for the first time he felt as if he’d been shoved into a room with no windows and no doors. Mustafa was after his manhood, but he would be damned if he didn’t put up a fight. He butchered Ms. V in his mind for putting him into this loathsome position.

  “It’s that time, my handsome friend,” Mustafa cooed. “Are you relaxed?”

  Anwar began to squirm violently under Mustafa’s touch.

  “Be still. I’m not going to hurt you. I’ve waited so long to do this.”

  Mustafa’s words only magnified Anwar’s distress, but he was determined to fight to the bitter end. His constant thrashing about soon caused the sock to loosen in his mouth. He spat it out and began pleading to Mustafa’s conscience. His mother had always told him that a man’s conscience was the voice of God in his soul.

  “I am crazy in love with this girl,” he cried. “And someday I want to marry her. Please, don’t destroy our future. I won’t be able to live with myself if you do this to me. I know that I will kill myself.”

  Mustafa grinned. “You are a gorgeous boy. Why would you kill yourself? I will make you rich!”

  “I don’t want your money. I want my manhood to remain intact. I’m pleading with you, Mustafa. There are at least a dozen boys who are into this kind of stuff. You could pick any one of them you want.”

  Mustafa rested his hand on Anwar’s thighs. “But I don’t want other boys. I want you.”

  Anwar flinched. “Please Mustafa. I am begging you. Don’t do this to me. Do you have any children?”

  “Yes. I have one daughter. She will be thirteen at the end of this month.”

  “Then put yourself in her shoes. Suppose she was begging a six-foot, three-hundred-pound pervert not to rape her. He could easily overpower her and do things to her that could scar her for the rest of her life. She might even end up dead. Would you want that for your daughter?”

  For the first time since he’d been tied up, Anwar saw a flicker of contemplation in Mustafa’s eyes. Anwar went in for the kill. “What if you could have done something to stop it, but you just watched her die a slow, agonizing death. Would you be able to live with yourself? I’m hoping you still have a conscious.”

  With a heavy sigh, the fat beast pushed up from the bed and walked away. Anwar heard him moving around bottles in the refrigerator and could only assume that he was looking for another bottle of wine to drink. About ten minutes later, Mustafa came back and stood over him. He leaned over and began to untie the ropes that Anwar’s limbs had been fastened to.

  “You can go,” he said with obvious disappointment. “Viola is going to kill me for letting you get away, but you are not happy. But you made me think. I would not want my daughter to go through that.” He twisted his thick lips into a sad grin. “But I know you were talking about me. Am I really that bad?”

  Anwar didn’t waste time trying to bend a conversation with Mustafa. He jumped up and grabbed his clothes from the floor. In less than sixty seconds, he had gotten dressed and was running out of Mustafa’s room as if the ground beneath him was caving in.

  ****

  “Well, there goes Gregory,” one of the men said. “I’ll cut him off at the first traffic stop.”

  “No,” Ms. V answered sharply. “Let me handle this my way.”

  The limo pulled out behind Gregory and kept a comfortable distance. They would be passing a rest area two miles up. Ms. V punched in Gregory’s phone number and waited for him to answer.

  “I will
call you back in half an hour,” he told her, his voice a little above a whisper. “I’m taking my wife to the hospital.”

  “I know,” she purred. “Listen to my instructions or else Dallis will be the first to pay for your rebellion. I understand she turned herself in to the police for Jorge’s murder.”

  “I swear I will hunt you down and strangle you if you lay one finger on my daughter!”

  “Watch it there, cowboy,” Ms. V giggled. “You almost sound as if you’re serious. But you are no match for me. I know you are going to meet with that detective to expose me and everything the organization has made you. How stupid to think that I will let you get away with it. Obey my instructions or Dallis is dead. You know that I have an army of young, virile men who are eager to do my bidding.”

  Gregory sighed angrily into the phone. “As if I have a choice.”

  “You make no trouble, there will be none,” Ms. V scolded. “Now, listen to my instructions…”

  ****

  Izaiah looked through the rearview mirror and tried to determine what was going on with Gregory in the back seat. Dana was propped against his chest, but hadn’t fully come around. She was still groaning and Izaiah feared if they didn’t get Dana to the hospital as soon as possible, they could lose her. But Izaiah couldn’t help but wonder who Gregory was talking to on the phone. He couldn’t make out what Gregory was saying, but he could see that the exchange was incredibly intense.

  As he usually did when uncertainty presented itself, Izaiah whispered a quick prayer of God’s protection over everything that concerned him and the Beaufort family. He then refocused his eyes on the road to attend to the situation at hand. The only feeling worse than this, at the moment, is not knowing where Asia has run off to. He had called her cell repeatedly, but he doubted she had carried it with her when she walked away into the street. He couldn’t believe how things had turned out between them, but he could do nothing except have faith that Asia would eventually come around and forgive him.

  “Izaiah, there is a rest area coming up half a mile to your right,” Gregory said, hanging up the phone. “Turn in to it. I need to purchase something.”