by H. H. Fowler
“I’m sorry about that. Asia has been having a hard time with her father’s disappearance.”
“We all have,” Candi said, speaking up for the first time. Izaiah was in the room and she wanted to make her presence known. “But that doesn’t give Asia the right to be rude and insulting to our mother.”
“It’s alright, Candi,” Dana said. “I am over it. Asia did make a valid point about Detective Shelby not calling to tell us about the arrest.”
Izaiah replied, “I was on my way to the police station to see Detective Shelby. Do you want to accompany me?”
“I doubt we will be able to get an audience with Detective Shelby. Do you see the drama that is going on at that place?” Dana turned her attention back to the TV. “It is best we wait, although I don’t know how I can possibly listen to my own advice.”
In Izaiah’s eyes, it seemed like a wise thing to do. With nothing left to be said, he turned and strutted away with his long masculine strides. Candi locked stares on his well-formed buttocks, which she tried to do with little interest. But the powerful way Izaiah’s body moved always provoked Candi’s lust out of its hiding place – no matter how hard she pretended she wanted nothing to do with him.
When Candi finally tore her eyes away, Della was staring at her with a devilish smirk. A knowing look that told Candi this fifteen-year-old girl was nothing but a bag of tricks. Candi rolled her eyes as if to say she didn’t care if Della had caught her drooling over Izaiah. With a devilish smirk of her own, Candi stood to her feet and walked out of the room. Even the news of Ms. V’s arrest couldn’t sidetrack her from the perversion of her thoughts.
In Candi’s mind, her father was a dead man and three years had been enough time to get one’s mind adjusted to the fact. But she would never admit that to Asia, or to her mother.
****
Della caught up with Candi right before she mounted the stairs to go to her bedroom.
“I can help you get him, you know,” she said slyly. “I see the way you salivate when you look at him. It’s almost disgusting, but I understand. Izaiah is a real hottie.”
Candi gave Della a piercing stare. “What the hell are you talking about, little girl?”
“Are you gonna play stupid or are you gonna let me help you?”
“You’ve got some nerve to presume that I need your help with anything. No thanks, girly. I can mow my own lawn.”
Candi attempted to proceed up the stairs only to be hindered by Della’s powerful grip.
“I am not your usual fifteen year old,” she said.
Candi was quick to spit out a retort. “Well, judging by that purple monstrosity on your head, I had pretty much figured that out already. Now, please excuse me and let me go to my room. I was on my feet all day at work.”
“Before you go, I’ll let you in on a little secret,” Della whispered. “Give me something personal belonging to Izaiah and I will make him do anything you want. All it takes is a little “poof” of white magic. You’ll have Izaiah eating out of your hand. You would love that, wouldn’t you? To do whatever you want to do with that gorgeous hunk of meat.”
Candi yanked her arm away from Della, suddenly sensing a heavy presence of evil. “You stay away from me, you little witch! You wait until your father shows up. He needs to get you an exorcism right away!”
That made Della laugh. She watched Candi climb the stairs two steps at a time, probably frightened out of her wits. “I was only kidding!” she called after her. “When are you people gonna lighten up around here?”
Della ditched the laugh almost immediately, swiftly turning her head to the left. Her eyes landed squarely on Miss Rose, who apparently thought she was being inconspicuous.
“Now, how did I know that you were there,” Della said with an ominous slur. “Checking up on me again, eh?”
Eyes wide with shock, Miss Rose shuffled away in silence. It was the fastest her broad behind had ever moved. Della sat on the bottom step and enjoyed another good laugh. She was having a swell time at the Beauforts. If these fools only knew that she wasn’t going anywhere any time soon. She was strategically placed in their lives for a specific purpose and it had nothing to do with Dana giving her pointers on how to become more ladylike.
Chapter Fifteen
Anwar and Dallis arrived at the Bliss Haven International Airport early the following morning. They caught a taxi and would have enjoyed the feeling of being back home had the taxi driver not opened his mouth about the dramatic arrest of Ms. V. The news feeds couldn’t get enough of the story and neither could the taxi driver. He had a row of missing teeth and each time he made a strong point, a sprinkle of saliva would fly out of his mouth. Dallis was thankful they weren’t sitting in the front seat being showered with such infectious germs. Nevertheless, her curiosity to learn the full story had gotten the best of her. She wanted the taxi driver to talk.
“When did you say this woman was arrested?” Dallis inquired.
“Have you been hiding under a rock? It’s all over the blithering news. The arrest was made around six o’clock last evenin’. I can’t see how a pretty little t’ing could cause such an uproar.”
“What else was reported?”
“What do you mean what else? Do you need any better news than that? They didn’t find that preacher, if that’s what you’re askin’ about.”
“Are you aware that “preacher” that was kidnapped is my father?”
“Well holy smackeroos!” The taxi driver suddenly stomped his foot on the brakes, almost causing Anwar and Dallis to jerk out of the seat. “You puttin’ me on, aren’t you, darlin’ girl?”
Dallis looked at her husband with exasperation in her eyes. It was obvious she would not rest until she found out the fate of her father. Heart pumping with fear, she turned her attention back to the taxi driver, knowing her next set of words would get a rise out of her husband. But she didn’t care. The fact that Ms. V had been arrested proved that she wasn’t delusional when she said that she had glimpsed her father.
“Take me to the police station,” she instructed.
“That’s five miles back in the other direction,” the taxi driver told Dallis. “Your fare will increase by forty dollars.”
“I don’t care! Just take us there.”
“Okay…whatever you want. I was just lettin’ you know.”
Anwar touched his wife in a gentle manner. “Dallis, what are you doing?”
“I am going to see Detective Shelby.”
“At eight thirty in the morning? I’m sure he is swamped up to his neck already with all that is going on. I will take you later in the evening.”
“No, honey, I’m going now. Detective Shelby told me he would call as soon as there was a shift in the case. He didn’t keep his word.”
“And I will reiterate, maybe it’s because he is busy. I’m sure he will eventually get around to the family.”
“Why are you treating this so casually?” Dallis snapped. “This is my father we’re talking about!”
Anwar felt the tips of his ears heating with anger. Three years may have been enough time for Dallis to forget all of the evil things her father had done, but for Anwar, it was a challenge. Especially now that his wife was so eager to have Gregory become a part of their lives again. Deep down, Anwar didn’t believe that Gregory was really kidnapped anyway; he felt it was yet another one of Gregory’s ploys to escape the police. He and Ms. V had been lovers – something he knew Dallis hadn’t any clue about. It was quite possible to imagine that Gregory and Ms. V had rekindled their lust for each other and had spent the last three years living it up in all sorts of sordid pleasure.
The brief time that Anwar had been pulled into the secret world of the House of gods introduced him to an overabundance of perversion. He was being paid hundreds of dollars a night to have casual sex with celebrities. His dreams of financial freedom seemed to be off to a great start, no longer would he have to accept the impoverished life he’d been born into. But that was unt
il Ms. V introduced to him to Mustafa – a pudgy, disgusting-looking billionaire from Arabia. Anwar didn’t care how much money was being offered at that point, he was not sleeping with a dude to get ahead.
So, he became a rebel and he was relentlessly pursued by trained killers hired by Ms. V. But through God’s grace he escaped the very night the compound was destroyed by the Bliss Haven Police. How strange it had been for Ms. V and Gregory to have disappeared at the same time. Until proven otherwise, he would maintain that the kidnap was just a cover-up. That was one of the reasons he could not share in Dallis’ excitement about her father’s return.
In the back of his mind, Anwar had always felt that these people were going to come back for him and finish off the job themselves. Those anonymous texts that he had been receiving over the last several months could very well be connected to Gregory and his evil mistress. Who else could it be? He knew of no other person who was out to get him. But the Bliss Haven Police had better watch their backs. Because Ms. V’s arrest could be part of her and Gregory’s sick plan.
With the House of gods, one never knew what they were up against when contending with them. They were an extremely influential society who would stop at nothing to protect their own. About a mile into the drive toward the police station, Dallis decided to disrupt the silence between her and her husband. She knew he was upset and was probably trying to deal with it internally. She did not like having to decide whose side to be on whenever the subject of her father came up. Her heart was not made from stone.
Despite the horrible mistakes her father had made, she could not hold it against him. He may have gotten himself mixed up with the wrong people, but Dallis had heard from Izaiah how her father had been trying to clean up his act before he was kidnapped. Was she wrong for wanting to forgive her father? Someday, she hoped Anwar would see things from her perspective.
Dallis leaned into her husband’s chest for emotional support. “I am so sorry that we don’t see eye-to-eye on this situation with my father.”
“He is your father, Dallis. I can’t fault you for loving him.”
“Please don’t be upset. I need you more than ever at this point in my life.”
Anwar looked away through the window at the scenes swiftly passing in front of him. It took a whole lot for him to swallow his anger. Nevertheless, Dallis was his world and he would do anything to please her.
He kissed the top of her head and said in an affectionate tone, “I will always be here for you. That’s something you will never have to worry about.”
Chapter Sixteen
The chief inspector pulled Richard and Karissa into his office before they got the chance to drink their first cup of coffee. There was a sense of urgency surrounding the inspector and Richard could only assume that what was about to be revealed was a matter of life and death.
“The Coast Guard finally found the three men who had accompanied Ms. V on that sunken yacht,” the inspector began steadily. “However, there was no sign of Mr. Beaufort.”
Richard looked at the inspector as if he were speaking another language. “That’s impossible. Dallis said she saw her father. It was how we all got to this point of making a long, overdue arrest – because of what Dallis said she saw.”
“Maybe there is another explanation,” Karissa cut in.
Richard looked at his partner hopefully. “Like what?”
“As I was about to explain,” the inspector said, drawing the detectives’ attention back to himself. “Blood samples have been taken and sent to the lab.”
“Blood samples?” Richard queried.
“Yes. The Coast Guard found quite a bit of it on a patch of leaves while they were searching for survivors of the yacht accident.”
“Oh my word,” Karissa exclaimed. “Please tell me you’re not suggesting that the blood belonged to Bishop Beaufort. The man was corrupt, but I would hate to know he went out this way, after all this time of trying to find him.”
“We don’t know if the blood belongs to Mr. Beaufort,” the inspector said. “We have nothing to compare it to as yet. Ms. V claimed the blood came from a wound on her face, which we all know could be far from the truth.”
“So what do you want us to do?” Richard asked, attempting to read the inspector’s mind. “We were told to hold off on the interrogation until law enforcement arrives from the United States.”
“They won’t be here until late this afternoon. In the meanwhile, I want you and Karissa to put some pressure on Ms. V and her men. Get them to tell you anything they know about Mr. Beaufort. Next, get a subpoena to have Mr. Beaufort’s medical records handed over to us from the hospital. There’s a slim chance that Mr. Beaufort’s records contain blood samples from previous visits, but I say do it anyway.”
“Getting results that way could take a while,” Karissa said. “We could get DNA samples from one of the bishop’s daughters, which is a much easier route.”
“Eventually, the Beaufort family will have to be informed of what is going on with their family member,” the inspector said. “But in light of the arrest made yesterday and the sensitivity surrounding it, I would rather we do as much as we can to find Mr. Beaufort before resorting to such measures.”
“We’ve spent three years trying to find the bishop,” Karissa said. “Do you think that his family would be any more distraught if we told them the truth about what’s going on now?”
“There is a clear difference that you fail to understand, detective,” the inspector said. “Having hope that Mr. Beaufort is still alive is better than not having hope at all. We could completely dash this family’s hope. A team of eight Coast Guard members were left on that deserted island, searching for other clues that may suggest that Mr. Beaufort was there. They may find additional clues or they may not, but it is my decision to tell you how to proceed with this case.”
Richard let out a deep sigh, but not loud enough for the inspector to hear. “I am convinced that Gregory was with Ms. V and her men on that island. You made the right call to interrogate them. Because only they can tell us the exact location where Gregory is.”
The inspector’s response was hindered by a respectful knock on the door. It was the inspector’s middle-age secretary who knew better than to disturb her boss while he was in a meeting, but she figured what she had to say was important.
“Excuse me, sir, Mrs. Dallis Daxon and her husband are here to see Detective Shelby. She said that he has been expecting them. What orders should I give?”
“Let them know he will join them shortly,” the inspector said. “We’re pretty much done here.”
As the secretary was leaving, Richard stood to his feet. Karissa immediately followed suit.
The inspector peered at Richard beneath his glasses. “One more thing, detective. This island has been in an uproar ever since this case was opened three years ago, especially now that a prominent bishop is still “technically” missing. And furthermore, the media is already spinning the story that the bishop may have drowned and that we are trying to keep quiet about it. I know they would pay top dollar to get their cameras into our interrogation rooms to actually get the truth. Do I need to make myself any clearer than that?”
Richard gave his superior a tight smile and replied, “We will go about this as discreetly as we can, sir. We understand the repercussions.”
****
Richard greeted Dallis and her husband in the hall, but not without putting on an air of impatience. “Welcome back from your honeymoon,” he told them. “I can’t stay and talk with you guys right now. I am extremely busy at the moment.”
Dallis didn’t care how busy Detective Shelby was. She wanted answers. “You promised me that you would call if there was an update in the case.”
“I’m sorry, but the process is not as straightforward as that. Please wait at home with the rest of your family and I will come by soon and have a talk with you all.”
Karissa walked ahead, while Dallis fell in behind Richard’s strides. �
��At least tell me that my father is still alive.”
Richard continued walking, knowing he would not be able to shake Dallis from his trail unless he gave her the answers she sought. But he could at least try. He was on his way to interrogate Ms. V and her men. He did not have time to become entangled with any explanations that would not satisfy Dallis anyway.
“Detective!” Dallis yelled. “I hate to appear like a spoiled brat, but don’t forget it was because of me that the police were able to make an arrest! It was me who saw my father, who was probably being detained in that car against his will. Don’t you think you owe me a little bit of your time to explain to me what is going on?”
Richard stopped in his tracks. Dallis had uncharacteristically pulled out the guilt card. He turned to face her, his expression now softened to that of a caring grandfather. “I don’t mean to make this any more difficult than it already is, but you have to understand the position we are in. We are sworn to confidentiality. I can’t divulge information that hasn’t thoroughly been vetted. It puts my career at risk and the reputation of the entire Bliss Haven Police Department.”
“But I am not asking you for a lot of information,” Dallis pressed. “All I need for you to tell me is this: Is my father still alive? I don’t care what the media is saying. I am his daughter and I think I have a right to know the truth. Come on, Detective, it’s the only way I can get some kind of closure to this nightmare.”
Richard pulled Dallis to the side, ensuring their conversation was not within earshot of those passing. “Truthfully, we don’t know where your father is.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means exactly what I said. The Coast Guard was not able to find him on the island where Ms. V and her men had escaped. They are still on the island searching for clues, but I’m sad to say, I am not entirely optimistic.”
“Why would you say that? You do know something, don’t you?”
“I’m sorry, Dallis, but that is all that I can tell you at the moment.”
