Her Mistaken Dream

by Brenda Barrett

"Good," Deb said. "When I am done I will have mastered gourmet cooking."

  "Gourmet. I might not appreciate it." Todd forced himself to speak lightly. "You know I am a man of very simple tastes when it comes to food."

  Deb chuckled. "Wait until I introduce you to my new dishes; you might change your mind."

  Todd grunted.

  "Well, goodnight then," Deb said. "I am going to retire to my quarters and catch up on my daytime soaps."

  "Goodnight Debra Grant." Todd was unsettled and it spilled over into his voice. He didn't miss the concerned frown that Deb sent his way or when she shut the door.

  He thought about it. Debra Grant. She had never by any stretch of the imagination acted as if she was in love with him. Why did Caitlin have him thinking this way about his employees?

  He turned in his chair and stared out at the city lights. Deb had been with him for twelve years. He had inherited her from his mother's sister. His aunt had called him when he was in the midst of moving from his apartment into a house and had asked him if he could help out a young girl from the country.

  He remembered when Deb arrived in Kingston. She had been in awe at the buildings and the busyness of the place.

  Now you couldn't tell that she was not city born and bred. She had steadily built up an air of sophistication that was a far cry from the young country girl who had come to his place so many years ago.

  Deb was loyal and sweet and completely without avarice. After Rita's death she had encouraged him to pray more, turn to God for peace and solace, and he had done just that.

  He sighed.

  He didn't want to believe Caitlin about the two women in his life, but he had strong misgivings. He trusted that Caitlin would not be telling him tales but it was so hard to accept that either Deb or Marlene could be a murderer.

  Another thing that was bothering him was Caitlin's dreams. He clenched and unclenched his fingers.

  Whenever she spoke about her dreams it disturbed him. She had told him about her dreams coming true and it gave him a chill every time he thought about her dream guy.

  He didn't want to hear about her dreams about this dream guy but today when she said that she wished that her dreams could be made to order he had felt a cold chill.

  It had brought home to him that if Caitlin had a dream guy and her dreams always came true then he was on borrowed time as far as she was concerned.

  He got up and headed for his suite, but he didn't know if he would be able to sleep tonight. He had a lot of information to mull over and he was feeling a disquieting unease.

  Chapter Twenty

  Caitlin tossed and turned in her bed, unable to find a comfortable spot. Finally she got up from bed, tiptoed out of her room and just stood in the middle of the kitchen with a cup of hot milk in her hands.

  Who was it that said that milk helped one sleep? It wasn't helping her. She could hear all the night sounds in the apartment. She could even imagine hearing the ticking of a clock and yet that was impossible. They had a big digital clock in the middle of the living room.

  She glanced at it now, it was a minute after midnight. Great. She was going to be a wreck tomorrow and she hadn't even completed the article on Helen Benedict.

  She inhaled and then exhaled loudly. She imagined that she could hear Brigid moving in her bed and she wished that Brigid would wake up and keep her company. It was a selfish thought because Brigid had gotten in earlier that evening with a load of books and had looked shattered.

  But she needed to talk. Casey was a newly married woman, probably long retired to bed. Brigid was out of the picture. She called Hazel, not really expecting that she would pick up, but she did so almost on the second ring.

  "What are you doing up?" Caitlin asked, placing the cup of milk on the counter and heading to her room

  "I wasn't sleeping," Hazel said, clearing her throat. "I was watching episode after episode of Master Chef."

  "You and your chef shows," Caitlin chuckled. "How is the husband?"

  "He is on life support," Hazel replied. "I am supposed to make the call to let him go. The doctors said the ball is in my court. He named me in his will to be the person who does it but I really don't want to. His children and grandchildren are pretty awful to me; they are threatening to challenge me in court as his lawful wife. It's been a crazy couple of weeks."

  Caitlin cleared her throat. "Same here. Crazy." She brought Hazel up to speed and then said. "I am not sure who did it, Deb or Marlene."

  "Who did what, tried to kill you or killed Rita?"

  "Both." Caitlin sighed.

  "You are taking this too lightly," Hazel said, alarm ringing in her voice. "I would take this to the police instantly."

  "Take what?" Caitlin asked. "I have no proof about any of this. I am speculating."

  "Pray and God will give you proof," Hazel said earnestly. "In the past you just got your dreams without asking. Ask God to show you who it is that has been trying to kill you."

  "I don't know," Caitlin said. "Even after that I still wouldn't have proof."

  After you get the dream, get whoever did it to confess or something," Hazel said. "You have the power; use it."

  "I have never thought of my dreams as a superpower," Caitlin murmured. "Some super power it is turning out to be."

  Hazel chuckled. "You are going to hang up the phone and then you are going to get down on your knees and then you are going to ask God to reveal to you what really happened. This is serious, Caity. There is a threat on your life and you can’t take this lightly."

  "I know," Caitlin said roughly. "I never asked God for a dream before."

  "Tonight's the night, girl," Hazel said cheerfully. "Bye, go pray."

  "No. Wait," Caitlin said. "I need to tell you something else."

  "You are suddenly filled with drama," Hazel retorted. "What is it?"

  "Helen Benedict," Caitlin said. "I think she is your mother."

  "Shut up!" Hazel exclaimed and then she started laughing. "If I were a Benedict I would not have grown up as an orphan at Magnolia House. Can you imagine the indignity of it?" Hazel asked. "The sheer ridiculousness. Me, a Benedict!"

  "The Benedicts would not have known about you. There is merit in what I am saying," Caitlin said, "just hear me out."

  "Go on." Hazel couldn't contain her mirth. She was laughing giddily, as if Caitlin had just told her the funniest of jokes.

  "Helen Benedict had a relationship with her gardener. Details are sketchy about the relationship, but the lady who was her caretaker, Ms. Judd, was the gardener's mother. She didn't want the Benedicts to find out that her son was with Helen, so she covered it up. Helen had a baby. Miss Judd said that the baby died but she looked so uncomfortable when she said it."

  "Interesting," Hazel said. "Fascinating stuff."

  "That child would be around twenty-two now."

  "Nice," Hazel said, disinterest dripping from her voice.

  "Your son resembles Nick Benedict," Caitlin said patiently. "It's a reasonable assumption to make that he looks like Nick because you two are related. Maybe you didn't have a relationship with a Benedict but you are one."

  There was silence on the other line.

  "Hazel?" Caitlin said after a long pause.

  "No," Hazel whispered. "No, no, no, this is too much."

  "Would you prefer if you had some affair with a Benedict instead? This is good news, if you ask me." Caitlin turned on her sidelight and pulled a picture of Sebastian that Hazel had given her from the side drawer. He was going to grow up to be one handsome dude. She looked at his features closely. He was more handsome than Nick Benedict, and that was saying a lot.

  "Do a DNA test and prove me wrong," Caitlin insisted. Hazel had gone silent again. "And then after that, if you are right and my theory is ridiculous, I give you permission to mock me all you want."

  "Okay. I will do the stupid test as soon as I come back to Jamaica," Hazel said lightly. "And when it is proven to be false I will mock you, yes, and I will also kn
ock you for putting false notions in my head."

  "Fine," Caitlin said.

  "Now go pray." Hazel sounded distracted, and Caitlin completely understood.

  *****

  When Caitlin hung up, she prayed as she had promised and asked God to reveal to her in a dream the person who was out to get her.

  She went to bed and forced herself to relax. The next thing she knew her alarm was going off. She had programmed a rooster to crow as her alarm. She got up groggily and turned it off.

  She hadn't dreamt a thing but at least she had gotten a good night’s sleep after talking to Hazel. She got ready for work, dressing in a gray power-suit with red accessories. Today felt like a day to look sophisticated. She was alive, she was in love.

  Brigid was in the kitchen sipping herbal tea and reading the news on her laptop.

  "Hey," she said brightly. "I have a zillion things to do today, so I am making an early start."

  "Good," Caitlin responded. "I have some theories to share with you but I am going to have to be quick."

  By the time she had brought Brigid up to speed on Hazel, Brigid was bobbing her head eagerly.

  "It makes sense! She'll do the test?"

  "Yup," Caitlin said.

  "I hope she's really Helen's child; that would be so cool." Brigid put her tea cup in the sink and then grabbed her bags and books. "I will be home late this evening again. By the way, you look great. What's going on today?"

  "Nothing." Caitlin grinned. "Just felt like dressing up. I am feeling happyish."

  "Good," Brigid said and headed out the door. "Be safe today, okay?"

  "Yes ma'am." Caitlin opened the fridge door; she was in the mood for a smoothie. She took her time to prepare it and also took her time to head out of the house.

  When she stepped through the front door she saw a black town car parked at the outside. The back window wound down slowly and Todd peered out.

  "Good morning, Miss Denvers."

  "Todd!" Caitlin grinned and walked down the steps. "What's going on?"

  "In light of the recent threats on your life I thought I should personally chauffeur you around."

  "It's going to look odd, me arriving at work with you." Caitlin stood at the window. She was dithering whether to go into the car or not.

  "I don't care about that," Todd said, "but I care very much about you, so humor me and come inside."

  Caitlin looked at him thoughtfully. "At this hour I guess only the security guard will know who dropped me to work."

  Todd smiled at her. "Come on in."

  They chatted for a while and Caitlin realized that she liked this. She liked going to work with him, hearing his ideas, sharing with him about his day, and getting a glimpse into his morning routine.

  "Want to play tennis with me later?" Todd asked. "And then dinner?"

  Caitlin nodded and then paused. "What about Marlene and Deb?"

  "They are being closely monitored," Todd said, grimacing. "It pains me to have that done, you know?"

  "I know." Caitlin nodded. "I am sorry."

  "No need to be. You are my number one priority. Pick you up at five." Todd leaned in closer and kissed her thoroughly. They had reached the building and his driver had stopped, patiently waiting.

  Caitlin pulled away and cleared her throat. "Now I am all flustered."

  "Have a good day, Caitlin," Todd said huskily.

  "You too," Caitlin replied, her voice a little shaky.

  She got out of the car and found that her hands were trembling a little but she had a huge smile on her face.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Two weeks later, Caitlin had not gotten a dream or even the whisper of one. She was enjoying her time with Todd though. She lay in her bed looking at the ceiling with a ridiculously big grin on her face.

  The grin was automatic when she thought of Todd. They spent every day together. The more time she spent with him, the more ashamed she felt for thinking that he had killed his wife.

  At the core of his personality Todd was a giver; it shone out of him. He was kind to strangers and friends alike. No longer did she question why Rita's friends still spoke to him.

  She turned in her bed and plumped her pillows. She loved him. Not a fleeting crush feeling but love. That dream about him was not a mistake. He was the guy.

  And it wasn't only because of his generosity or his romantic streak. He really knew how to treat a woman. She was now well-acquainted with how the wealthy lived. Dinner at exclusive places she didn’t know existed. Helicopter rides for fun, jet skiing in the placid waters of Portland, roses and chocolates delivered to her at work and home.

  Todd was somebody she could laugh with and talk to. Some days she felt as if she had known him forever.

  The only fly in her ointment, the only source of discontentment, was that neither Deb nor Marlene had shown their hand.

  She was even beginning to doubt that it was either of them. Whoever it was that had made an attempt on her life had gone into hiding. There had been no more threatening texts messages to her phone or attempts on her life.

  Whoever was toying with her was very good at playing the waiting game. They were probably theorizing that she couldn't be under twenty-four hour security cover forever. If it was either Deb or Marlene, surely they both knew that Todd was seeing her.

  He wasn't hiding it. He was even letting it be known in the office. Howard was looking at her knowingly these days and just in case there was somebody who hadn't gotten the message that he was interested in her, he had sent her a large bouquet with a tag on it and had signed his name. She figured she was the topic of interest for many of the conversations going on at Lux.

  She closed her eyes. Maybe tonight would be the night. She said that every night but still there was no dream.

  *****

  Caitlin was standing in the middle of a large kitchen with dark wood and glass everywhere. It looked like one of Lux Caribbean's kitchen features. It was gorgeous with its extensive use of glass. She leaned on the island, which was made of white granite. She could see her reflection in the countertop.

  When Deb came around the corner of the kitchen she looked spaced out and disturbed. She had what looked like a basket of apples. She placed it on one of the work areas and inspected the fruit thoroughly.

  "Apple pie. I was going to make apple pie."

  "Talking to yourself again?" Marlene came around the corner. Her hair was shorter than Caitlin remembered it being, and she looked bigger.

  Deb spun around and looked at her fearfully before schooling her features into indifference. "Leave me alone, Marlene. Ignore me."

  "Well, I can't do that, can I?" Marlene said waspishly. "I have to make sure that you keep your big mouth shut about what you saw last night. You are the only witness. The police will soon come back here. They have Todd at the station for questioning. You need to get your story right."

  "Leave me alone," Deb said harshly.

  "Oh, stop it. You are glad that I killed her," Marlene snorted. "You watched me as I did it because you have always wanted her out of the way so that you can play wife to Todd."

  "I didn't watch you, you murderer," Deb growled. "I can’t condone murder. I came in the kitchen just when you were plunging that knife into Rita. You make me sick. That image will stay with me forever. Rita had her moments and she was mean and bad-tempered but she was a person. Who are you to take the life of a person? You can't give life; you shouldn't take it."

  "And yet you didn't tell the police what you saw. I wonder why that was?" Marlene asked snidely.

  "I told them there was an intruder," Deb said defensively. "It was dark. I wasn't sure it was you at first. You just confirmed it. And then Todd came down the stairs, he stumbled past me and straight into Rita, and there was blood everywhere...you are sick."

  "No, Rita was sick. She needed to be put down. She was making him unhappy," Marlene snapped. "I should have gotten rid of her before they got married."

  Deb visibly shuddered
.

  Marlene walked around the island and stood before Deb. "Just remember two things. If you talk about this to anyone, I kill your family in the country. Your little poverty-stricken country bumpkin family would have no idea what hit them. I would start with your niece, the one you are so close to, the one whom I think is not really your niece but your own child."

  Deb gasped fearfully.

  "Yes, I know a thing or two about you, Debra Grant." Marlene snarled. "Next thing, if you ever start a relationship with Todd…if you so much as look at him too hard now that he is single, I'll kill you too. And if you for one minute doubt that I am telling the truth just remember Rita. Todd is mine and no woman will come between me and him again. Got that?"

  Deb nodded.

  "Well," Marlene smiled, "since that is all cleared up, let's pretend that this conversation never happened, huh?"

  Deb nodded again.

  "He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life." Marlene walked out of the kitchen as briskly as she had walked in and Deb slumped at the counter. Her hands were trembling. She tucked them together to stop the trembling.

  *****

  Caitlin woke up, her heart racing. It was Marlene! Marlene was obsessed with Todd! She would even murder to get him.

  She got up and looked at her clock. It was seven o'clock in the morning.

  She jumped out of bed and got ready in record time. She was in such a hurry she almost knocked down Brigid.

  "Whoa!" Brigid said easily. "What's up?"

  "I know who did it. I dreamt it!" Caitlin said feverishly. "So here is what I am going to do. I am going to tell Todd this morning. Oh no, I have a meeting scheduled for eight! I am going to be late. The third issue goes out tomorrow. Oh man."

  "What are you going on about?" Brigid asked, sipping her tea and looking over at Caitlin, who was frantically flying from her room to the living room.

  "I know who killed Rita and I know who is trying to kill me," Caitlin said breathlessly.