by Leanna Floyd
Chapter 36
It was only 10 A.M., but he was exhausted and unsure about what to do next. The sun blazed above him, more glorious than the paler version he was used to upstate, but he was too tired to enjoy it. Whatever he decided to do next, he needed some sleep before he could act, so he checked himself into a swanky hotel located in the heart of Miami’s hot spots off Ocean Drive. He wanted to go to Alicia’s house, but there was something inside of him that was very hesitant. The finality of it would be hard to swallow. He knew that it would be unbearable to see Alicia face-to-face, to have his image of her destroyed.
Just as he collapsed on the king-size bed in his small but beautifully furnished room, Jacob heard his phone. Alicia. Of course, she had no idea that he knew the truth. He had texted his faux-apology earlier that morning, and as far as she knew, everything was fine with their relationship. Probably calling to check on his “bad cold”.
“Hello,” he said, lowering his voice and trying to sound stuffed up.
“You poor baby! I’m so sorry you have a cold,” she said, sounding even happier and more upbeat than usual. “I’m actually working from home today. Charlie actually got out of bed and was trying to get that car you sent him to work. You are so thoughtful.”
“Well, I just want him to feel better and get past this. Somehow, I have a feeling he’s going to be just fine.”
“I appreciate that, babe, but we’re not out of the woods yet. We’ll see how he’s doing once chemo is done. I… I don’t want to hope for too much… only to be disappointed.”
“I know exactly what you mean,” he said. “Somehow it seems more painful when you’re caught off guard. When you don’t expect it.”
“Are you okay, Jacob?” she said. “You don’t sound like yourself.”
“Oh, I’ve never been more myself than I am right now. I’m just fine. How about you? Are you feeling more like yourself today? Maybe there’s something you want to tell me?”
“I think you’ve had too much cold medicine, babe,” she said and chuckled. “Get some sleep and I’ll check on you later. Gotta go. Love you!”
As much as he hated liars, he had just given Alicia an opportunity to come clean, and she ignored it. His future was clear. They would never have a relationship, but maybe at least he could have some closure. He was doing his best to keep his cool and play her game. There was no way that she was going to come out the winner in her sick and twisted little drama. She would not get away with hurting him like this. He would make certain of that.
In that moment an odd thought occurred to him: I wonder if this is how Zach Barton felt when Abby Winters was playing her little games with him. Did he feel the same kind of rage and pain that now eats at me? Was this what led Barton to take measures into his own hands?
His phone rang again and he almost dropped it, snapping him out of his monstrous fantasy. Brooke calling, probably to check on him after reading his text that morning. He let it go to voicemail because he knew if he talked to Brooke, he might tell her everything—that he was in Miami and that he was going to confront Alicia.
He had an idea. What if he tried to contact Alicia’s half-sister, Jasmine Diaz, and confront her about Alicia? He pulled out his laptop, logged on to Facebook Messenger, and sent Jasmine a message asking her to call him about an urgent matter. Ten minutes later, Jacob’s phone buzzed with a local number he didn’t recognize—Jasmine. Time to begin beating Alicia at her own game.
After exchanging pleasantries, Jacob told Jasmine that he was in town and wanted to surprise Alicia. He told her to keep his visit top secret because he had something important to discuss with her before Alicia knew he was in town. Obviously, he was hoping Jazz would assume he was there to propose to her half-sister. She agreed to meet him for dinner and gave him the name of a place not far from his hotel.
When he arrived at Versailles, the restaurant Jasmine had chosen, Jacob discovered it served Cuban-inspired cuisine, not French. And it was definitely a happening place, reminding him of similar trendy restaurants back in Tampa. The building was made of white bricks with scalloped green awnings and tall palm trees that hugged the sides. Clearly a hot spot for both visitors as well as locals, the atmosphere oozed a refined sense of tropical luxury, Cuban and Spanish-American in its décor and staff.
Normally, this was just the kind of place that Jacob loved to be around, a place where everyone who was anyone hung out. Jacob ordered a guarapo, a slightly sweet iced beverage made by squeezing fresh sugar cane; the taste was pure and satisfying. As he sat waiting for Jasmine to arrive, he decided he had nothing to lose by telling her the truth. If Alicia were as deceptive and manipulative as Jacob suspected, then Jasmine would not be surprised by his revelation.
Sitting outside on the patio, he saw a gorgeous brunette approaching. The woman had an imperial walk, and she appeared to have a slight hop in her step as she moved towards him. She had long flowing locks of butterscotch ringlets that sprinkled against her bronze skin. Her eyes were golden brown, warm, and inviting.
His heart sank and he rubbed his eyes, unable to believe what he was seeing—who he was seeing? Alicia? Oh, my god! My mind must be playing tricks on me, he thought. I must be hallucinating. How can this be? This woman looks exactly like the pictures of Alicia I have grown accustomed to seeing online. Confused, he nonetheless felt a short-lived sense of relief. Maybe the girl of his dreams did exist.
The woman smiled, all dazzling white teeth, and extended her hand. “Jacob?” she said with her eyes fixed on him.
He tried to speak, to nod, but felt speechless, paralyzed.
“Jacob, it’s me, Jasmine.” When he didn’t respond, her eyes narrowed in on his face, and she looked at him through the corner of her eye as she hastily scanned the restaurant for someone else who fit Jacob’s description. She felt a sudden rush of embarrassment, and her cheeks were flushed with color over the thought of mistaking the man for Jacob.
“Jasmine?” Jacob said, standing up as if he suddenly recognized her. “I’m sorry—I was a million miles away with my mind on work. It’s so great to finally meet you.”
“I’m so happy to finally meet you, too!” she said in a relieved exclamation. “Alicia has told me so much about you. It’s so nice to have a real face to put to the voice over the phone. Your pictures don’t do you justice.”
Jacob was totally freaked out. He couldn’t help but wonder, Is she in on this, too? Is this some kind of sick joke? He pushed away the thoughts that were barging in on him and leaned in to kiss Jasmine on each cheek. She smelled sweet, like a cherry blossom in spring, and her skin was warm to his touch.
“Please, sit down,” he said, pulling out her chair.
“Thank you,” she said, “what a gentleman. Alicia won’t know what to do with being treated so well.”
Jacob reseated himself and signaled for their waiter, who came right over and took their drink order. He couldn’t take his eyes off the beautiful woman across from him. But then it began to dawn on him—Alicia had used pictures of Jasmine for her own. All those great shots that Jacob thought were Alicia were actually her half-sister. He felt slow for not instantly realizing this and wondered if Jasmine were aware, or even complicit, in the ruse.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” she said. “You seem… preoccupied. And I have to admit, you look different than I expected. The picture I saw must have been an old one.”
“Yeah, I could say the same thing about you!” he blurted before he could stop himself.
Jasmine raised an eyebrow, baffled by his comment. “Really?” she said. “How did you think I would look? Alicia told me she had showed you my picture before. But maybe she was afraid to—she’s pretty insecure about her looks. But you probably know that—you’ve certainly seen her enough times, I’m sure.”
He couldn’t stop himself from laughing, thinking it might be easier than expected to win Jasmine to his side. If there were already tension between the sisters, then he would have an easier time getting
Jasmine to align with him and tell him the truth, once and for all, about Alicia. Their drinks came just then, and they tasted their guarapos, savoring the sweetness.
Finally, he just came out with it: “Are you aware Alicia has been showing me pictures of you and telling me they were pictures of her?”
“What?” Jasmine looked as confused as he had felt when he first saw her. “Why would she do that? I’m not tracking…”
“You’ve never looked at Alicia’s Facebook page or her Snapchat shots?”
“Well, it’s been a while,” Jasmine said. “I work for a government defense agency, and I’m currently on a project that limits my online abilities for personal use—you know, all the paranoia about foreign hackers.”
Before she could say another word, Jacob pulled out his phone, made sure he had Wi-Fi, and pulled up some evidence. “These are all of you, right?” He thrust his phone screen right in front of Jasmine’s face.
She gasped and her eyes widened. “Oh my god, I simply cannot believe this! That little bitch! This is over-the-top even for her.”
“So, you had no idea?”
“Oh, she used to post pictures of me I didn’t like—you know, as a prank,” Jasmine explained. “But to my knowledge, she’s never tried to use my pictures for herself.” Then her mouth flew open again, and she said, “So, you thought I was Alicia when I walked up, right? That’s why you were acting so weird?”
He nodded and smiled, “Exactly.”
“We have a lot to talk about,” she said. “A lot.”
Chapter 37
Thursday morning Brooke slept in, grateful for the rare opportunity when she could do so guilt-free. In her dreams, she had been looking for Jacob, searching his condo, and then the courthouse, and then walking up and down the beach hoping to spot him, but he was nowhere to be found. She knew it was just her anxiety expressing itself, fueled by her love of him, but it still left her feeling uneasy.
Nonetheless, as she lingered in her pajamas with a second cup of coffee, it was good not to have to rush to campus and felt like a true holiday. Outside wisps of clouds seemed to be dissolving across a blue sky, and after checking the temperature outside, which was an unseasonably warm 89 degrees, she decided to go for a run before showering and starting the pie baking.
Torn between driving to the beach and staying close to home for her run, she chose the latter for the sake of time and safety. The streets and sidewalks seemed mostly deserted, but she did pass a few other runners and people walking their dogs. Everyone seemed especially pleasant, smiling or even wishing her a happy Thanksgiving. As she finished her last mile, Brooke was pleased with herself and knew it would be easier to enjoy the sumptuous meal that afternoon.
Despite her good mood, however, she remained worried about Jacob. Still no word from him since last weekend when Jack Reynolds had revealed the truth about Alicia Gonzalez. Jacob had not been in a good place when she left him on Sunday, and it troubled her that he hadn’t called all week. His only communication had been the brief text on Monday informing her that he was going to Pensacola to visit his grandmother.
Brooke still wasn’t sure she believed him, but maybe he really did just need some time away.
As she downed a bottle of water, she decided to call Jacob one more time, using the holiday as her excuse. It went straight to voicemail: “This is Jacob—I’m in court or otherwise unavailable, so leave a message, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”
“Hey, Sweetie,” she said in her most upbeat voice, “Happy Thanksgiving!” Then she was unsure of what else to say but felt silly leaving such a short message. “Just thinking of you and hoping you’re okay. I am definitely thankful for you and for our friendship. I hope you know how much I care about you. So, eat a lot today, and if you get a chance, give me a call, okay? Love you. Bye.”
Well, at least she’d tried. Leaving her message reminded her to call her mother as well, something she wasn’t all that excited about doing. Their fifteen-minute exchange was pleasant enough before Brooke used her baking as the excuse to end the call. She turned on the oven to preheat and headed for the shower, mentally going over the recipe to make sure she had all the ingredients.
Her heart wasn’t in it, though.
She still couldn’t get Jacob out of her thoughts.
The rest of the holiday floated along at a leisurely, gentle pace. Kevin had shown up at her apartment around noon, bringing two bottles of wine for the festivities at Dr. Gregory’s. They had watched the rest of the Macy’s parade on TV while she mashed pumpkin and added sugar and spices for the filling of her pies. She was surprised at how easy it had become to be around Kevin; they truly seemed comfortable being together.
And that had carried over to the holiday meal at Dr. and Mrs. Gregory’s home.
Brooke had counted a dozen guests, including herself and Kevin, who enjoyed the platters of turkey and bowls of stuffing, along with all the fixings—mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green beans, cranberry salad, and homemade bread. And dessert was over the top with seemingly every one of her favorite treats—pecan pie, coconut cake, a chocolate soufflé, along with her own pumpkin pie. The wine flowed as freely as the conversation, and everyone, including Kevin, seemed to have a wonderful time.
She and Dr. Gregory had managed to have a quick chat in his study, going over her testimony at the trial as well as his update on the Surfside Killer case.
“It’s one of the most disturbing cases I’ve ever worked,” Dr. G said. “The killer is obviously fixated on a certain kind of woman—all the victims are similar in appearance and body type.”
“Is there a pattern with where the bodies have been found? I mean, besides on beaches?” Brooke asked.
“Not that we can tell. The locations zigzag the state, back and forth from one coast to the other. The killer obviously knows Florida, and which beaches are deserted this time of year. I actually met someone on the team who specializes in forensic geography, if you can believe that.”
“Fascinating,” she said. “Did you happen to meet Kevin when you were down in Miami? He was down there embedded with the FBI team, writing about it for a future exclusive.”
“No, I’m afraid I didn’t,” Dr. Gregory had said. “I was around a number of FBI agents, but today was the first time I ever met Kevin.”
“Hmm, that’s odd.”
“Still, I have to say,” added Brooke’s mentor, “I like him. You two seem quite comfortable around each other.”
“Early days,” she said. “But for what it’s worth, I like him, too.”
As the glorious sunny day faded into the autumn twilight, guests had started to leave. She and Kevin had stayed to help with the dishes and cleanup, but most of it was already under control, thanks to Mr. Gregory’s niece, a grad student in Gainesville, who was visiting for the holiday.
Although it seemed much later, when they finally said their thank yous and goodbyes to the Gregorys, it was only eight o’clock. Brooke was prepared to invite Kevin back to her apartment for a nightcap, but he beat her to it by suggesting they watch a movie at his place. Eager to see where he lived, she couldn’t resist. While he cued up the original Miracle on 34th Street, she grabbed a bottle of wine in his surprisingly clean and well-organized kitchen.
Early the next morning, she found herself lying in Kevin’s bed with him gently snoring beside her. It had been a long time since she had chosen to be this physical with someone, let alone fall asleep in his bed, and she really hadn’t intended it to happen that night with Kevin. But one thing led to another, and it seemed like an inevitable ending to a nearly perfect day. She didn’t regret it, but still it was hard not to wonder where their relationship was headed.
She hated to admit it, but she still wrestled with her feelings for Jacob. With Alicia finally out of the way, shouldn’t she be telling Jacob about her feelings for him? Wasn’t this the opportunity she had been hoping for? But still, it didn’t seem right. On the heels of discovering the trut
h about his online love, he seemed too fragile and depressed. Brooke was afraid that if she told Jacob how much she loved him now, he would think she was just trying to console him.
Kevin complicated things. Plus, she was a little pissed that Jacob had not even bothered to text her with a quick “Happy Thanksgiving”. Maybe she was having second thoughts about what she had once felt for Jacob. Whatever it was, she found herself staring at the ceiling in Kevin’s tiny bedroom, wondering if she would wake him if she got up and made herself a cup of tea.
Deciding to risk it, she slowly crept out of bed, grateful to find a bathrobe on the back of his closet door. She tiptoed into the hallway and pulled his door shut. After a quick stop in the bathroom where, yes, she peeked in his medicine cabinet and looked in a couple of drawers, she was shocked by how neat he was for a bachelor, once again.
Cold medicine, allergy pills, razors, Band-Aids, cologne, beard oil, combs—everything had a place.
Brooke filled the electric kettle and, while waiting for it to boil, noticed a doorway across from the bathroom, which she presumed was the second bedroom he used as his office. Peeking in, she flipped on a floor lamp and realized that the room was something of a catchall, with a computer desk in one corner and the washer-dryer against the other wall. That was when she noticed an opened suitcase overflowing with clothes on the floor. A bloodstained shirt was spilling out of it.
Chapter 38
“So, you won’t tell her you’ve talked to me?” Jacob said.
He and Jasmine had finished their meal at Versailles, with neither one having much appetite. He had picked at his snapper, served whole and stuffed with herbs and lemon, and Jasmine barely touched her salad niçoise with grilled shrimp. An open-air patio to their right sparkled with miniature white lights along the sculptured boxwood hedges. It was a lovely place—especially with a beautiful woman sitting across from him, but the focus of their conversation obscured his pleasure. Alicia—just the thought of her name sent a jolt of pain through him.
