Love's Deadly Masquerade

by The Author- Yani

  “What happened to you earlier?” he asked her.

  Vanessa fumbled. “Oh, I felt sick and needed to run to the bathroom,” she lied.

  “Oh. Are you feeling any better?”

  “Yeah. I just can’t believe what happened to Ms. Marcella.

  “Yeah… I can’t believe it either,” Derek said also as he shook his head in sorrow. “Did you get the note I left for you under your door?”

  “Yeah.” Vanesa’s face flushed again.

  “Well, I have to get back to work. Ms. Vera more than likely will want to discuss new security measures that she wants to implement. Call me tonight.”

  Vanessa nodded her head and watched Derek as he moved through the crowd to go back to work. She then thought of Marcella and caught a chill that made her tremble.

  “1, 2, Eric’s coming for you…” a voice sang in her head. She closed her eyes trying to block out the chilling tune as it continued in her head. As much as she wanted to tell herself that it wasn’t necessarily Eric who had killed Marcella, she knew it was a great possibility that it was. Instead of going to her room, she made her way over to Vera’s office. She tapped on the door lightly.

  “Come in,” Vera said loudly.

  Vanessa opened the door and peeped her head inside. “Is this a bad time?” she asked.

  Vera stared at her for a moment trying very hard not to be angry. A big part of her blamed Vanessa for what was transpiring. As a victim of domestic abuse and a woman who had traveled through the network just as Vanessa and many other women had, she understood how hard it was to leave her former life behind. Many times she wanted to give up and go back to her old life figuring it would be easier to deal with what was familiar to her instead of facing the unknown, but she stayed strong with the help of Marcella and other women, and made it through.

  “No, this isn’t a bad time. I actually was going to send for you. Come in and have a seat,” Vera said as she directed Vanessa to the chair on the other side of her desk.

  Vanessa sat down. The silence made her feel uncomfortable as she wondered what Vera was thinking at the moment. She looked around the office at the many photos that Vera had of herself and other women that more than likely received the same help that she was receiving. Framed certificates, diplomas and degrees adorned the wall. She found herself enthralled with the long navy blue velvet curtains to the huge windows behind Vera’s desk and the way they were wrapped with a fancy rope and pulled to the side slightly letting in a hint of sun-light. Though on that day, there was no sun-light. The gloomy clouds outside set the tone for all that had occurred; things that more than likely were occurring because of one phone call that Vanessa made.

  Vanessa decided that she would be the one to break the silence. “Ms. Vera, do you think what happened to Ms. Marcella was because of me?” she asked innocently.

  Vera sighed as she looked Vanessa over with a blank expression on her face. Her hand reached for a wooden case atop her desk and opened it. She pulled out a slim cigarette and then searched her drawer for her lighter. When she found it, she placed the cigarette between her lips and lit it. Vanessa watched the way her hand moved casually as though it were doing a dance. Vera softly sucked on the cigarette and closed her eyes, holding the smoke in before curving her lips to blow the smoke out of the corner of her mouth. Vanessa then noticed the large “No Smoking” sign above Vera’s head.

  As though she knew what Vanessa had just seen, Vera said blandly, “Yeah, I know. No smoking. But shit, an exception has to be made today.” She coughed slightly and cleared her throat. Vera debated briefly whether or not she should be nice with choosing her words, but then considered the serious nature of the current situation. “Do I think what happened to Marcella is because of you?” she asked back. “Absolutely. Without a shadow of a doubt, I believe her murder is because of you.”

  Vanessa lowered her eyes as Vera’s words stung her deeply. She suddenly felt even guiltier than she had felt when she found out that Arianna was dead. She felt lower than worm shit, a worthless moron who couldn’t follow simple rules. Vera noticed the look on her face and sighed deeply.

  “As I said to you before, I understand how hard this journey may be for you. I’ve been there. Many of us have been there. But I will not lie to you when answering your question. It won’t do you any good. It doesn’t do me any good or this program. And it sure as hell won’t do any good for Marcella and anyone else who has been or will be effected by your actions,” Vera said as her anger began to seep through.

  “I understand,” Vanessa replied.

  “No Carmen, I don’t think you do. You are now considered a liability and while I believe Marcella would never just dump you and let you find your own way, I have to consider the safety of every other person that helped you past through this network as well as the many other women who are in this facility.”

  Vanessa trembled as she feared what was about to be said next. “What happens to me now?”

  Vera took another slow drag on her cigarette, blowing the smoke out as she’d done previously. “I don’t know, Carmen. I’m going to talk it over with our security personnel after I get details on Marcella’s murder investigation. Depending on what we find will determine our course of action with you. But understand something, I will not jeopardize anyone else in this network because of your mistake. Are we clear?” Vera asked with a serious expression on her face.

  Vanessa nodded, unable to speak. She stood up and left the office so she could go back to her room. She began to worry about what she would do in the event that she had to leave the facility. Where would she go and who would help her.

  “1, 2, Eric’s coming for you…” the voice sang in her head again slowly.

  “Shut up!” Vanessa said out loud. She looked around to see if anyone had heard her and was grateful that the hallway was clear. “Please just leave me alone, Eric. Please…”

  18

  While working the murder investigation of Arianna and keeping tabs on Tony Vasquez’s murder investigation to see if the two of them could be tied together, Felix did further investigating outside of the work he and his partner were doing together. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust his partner, he just trusted his gut more than he trusted anyone else. His gut told him that what Vasquez told them about Eric Washington was true. He made copies of Tony’s records, specifically of the PI work he’d done for Eric. As he was going through the files, he came across Regina Smalls’ information.

  “Regina Smalls?” Felix said aloud as he sat at his work desk in his apartment. “Why does that name sound familiar?” He got on his home computer and did a quick search which led him to the news story of her body being found near the park on Belfield Avenue. He breezed through the articles and became very interested when he saw Eric Washington’s name mentioned.

  “I’m convinced he knows more about what happened to my baby than he (Washington) is letting on,” the mother of the 22 year old college student stated. “Regina was trying to leave him and now all of a sudden, she’s dead? My baby didn’t have any enemies and this wasn’t just some random act. I believe he knows something or he had something to do with it and one way or another, the truth will come out…”

  “Coincidence or naw?” Felix mumbled. He went back to Vasquez’s files and thumbed through them trying to remember the name of the young lady he said he was hired by Eric to find. “What was her name? Victoria, Valerie…? Shit,” Felix said as he scanned each paper. He finally came across the information. “Vanessa Lofton.”

  He pulled all of the papers out that Tony had on her and kicked his legs up on his desk. After reading through part of the file and seeing there wasn’t much information, he then decided to use the police network to see if he could find anything on her. Felix ran into the same brick wall that Tony had run into. There was no cell phone activity, and no bank account, credit card or ATM transactions in almost four months. In under an hour he was able to access her bank records and saw that the last debit card tran
saction was on April 7th at ShopRite in Cheltenham Mall. He then did a random Google search on Vanessa’s name. What came up caused him to sit up in his seat. He clicked on one of the articles and became very intrigued with what he was reading. Felix began to realize at that moment it was more to Eric and Vanessa than he imagined.

  “Well I’ll be damned…” Felix pulled the case file on Arianna to get the date of her murder which was on June 16th. He then remembered that Tony mentioned a phone call that had been made to Arianna which led to the night of her murder. It prompted him to have her phone records pulled.

  “What did you know, Arianna?” he asked the empty room. He thought back to how she kept trying to show him her hands, and the determined yet frantic look in her eyes and shook his head in frustration. Instead of going through the phone records, he decided to pull Vanessa’s last known address which was where Eric lived. He didn’t want to tip him off, so he decided he would speak with the neighbors instead. After all, if this was a matter of domestic violence which resulted in Vanessa leaving, he was betting that someone next door had heard something going on.

  Camille was in her garden tending to her bushes when Felix pulled up in his black two-door 2012 Monte Carlo. Camille glanced up from her work and dusted her hands off as she wondered who it could be.

  “How are you today ma’am?” Felix greeted her with a warm smile.

  Camille looked at him suspiciously. She had noticed the flow of traffic coming in and out of Eric’s house, guys that she had never seen before in the six years that he had that house as well as a few women. With Marcella’s and Arianna’s recent murders, she was on high alert when it came to Eric.

  “Can I help you?” Camille asked timidly.

  Felix noticed her paranoid manner and decided to turn his back on Eric’s house in the event he was peeping out of his window and watching them. “I’m a detective working on the murder investigation of Arianna Stone and your neighbor is a person of interest. I was hoping that maybe you could tell me about a young lady who used to live here named Vanessa,” he said in a low voice.

  “I said he had something to do with it. I knew it, I knew it. My husband and I have been saying it for weeks ever since we saw the story on the news.”

  “If your husband is home and it’s alright with him, can we have this conversation inside? I think you understand why that request is being made.”

  Camille thought for a moment and then nodded her head. She took her gardening gloves off and suddenly hugged Felix tightly before exclaiming, “Oh Junior! I’m so glad you decided to stop by! I haven’t seen you since Susie Mae’s wedding!”

  Felix hesitated a moment but then hugged her back. “I know it’s been a while, Auntie…”

  Camille showed him inside of the house and called for her husband who had just gotten in from work. She closed and locked the front door while they waited for him.

  “Woman, your voice is loud enough to be an alarm clock for the dead. What is it, now?” Tremaine joked as he pulled a shirt over his head while coming down the steps. He stopped when he saw Felix.

  “This is a detective that’s looking into the murder of Vanessa’s friend. Remember we were saying how we thought Eric had something to do with it because of the strange people that kept coming in and out the house since Vanessa left? Well, Felix says he’s a person of interest and wants our help,” Camille explained. She was more enthused than her husband who still looked at Felix suspiciously.

  “Can I see a badge or something? Pardon my suspicion, but it’s been a lot of weird stuff going on lately,” Tremaine asked.

  “Absolutely, I completely understand. I would have shown your wife outside but if Eric were watching from his window, I didn’t want him to know you were talking to cops,” Felix explained.

  “Yeah, cause you don’t much look like a cop, honestly,” Tremaine replied as he looked over the badge. When he was satisfied, he shook Felix’s hand and offered him a seat. Camille went to the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee and grabbed some blueberry muffins that she had just baked earlier as well. “How can we help you?”

  “Well, this is just a hunch that I’m going off of. The department is playing this too straight and narrow. I was the detective on the scene when we discovered Ms. Stone and I was really hoping that she pulled through and could give us some information as to who hurt her. The first suspect that we came across from a video in the area where Ms. Stone was taken from her car is who led us to Eric,” Felix explained.

  “How so?” Tremaine asked.

  “Well, he told me he had been hired by Eric to locate a young woman named Vanessa. During his search, he stated that Vanessa contacted Arianna but didn’t say where she was. So Tony began trailing her at Eric’s suggestion and that’s what led to the night of her murder.”

  “Wait, Vanessa called Arianna? When?” Camille asked as she brought the tray in with the muffins and coffee along with cream and sugar. The aroma teased Felix’s nose and awakened a hunger inside of him.

  “Thanks,” he said as he reached for a muffin. “I haven’t had a chance to go through Arianna’s phone records to get an idea of when Vanessa called her but I’m betting it was about a week or two before the murder.”

  “Damn it, I told her and I’m sure Marcella told her that under no circumstances could she contact anyone. This is the very reason why they stress the “no contact” rule!” Camille said. She became emotional as she sat down at the table with Felix and Tremaine. Marcella had been a good friend of hers for almost twenty years. She was there for her when “Sistahs on the Move” was first started after the murder of her daughter, Octavia. Blood couldn’t make them any closer.

  “Wait, you knew Marcella Jackson as well?” Felix asked.

  “Yes, yes we did,” Camille replied as she wiped the tears from her eyes. Her husband held her hand.

  “It looks like I came to the right place, then. Connect the dots for me, please. I need to put this thing together more than anything right now. The look in Arianna’s eyes when she was showing me her hands haunts me every night. I have to do something,” Felix said. Tremaine could see the sorrow in his eyes and nodded at his wife, giving her the okay to talk.

  Camille began to tell everything about what they heard and the things they saw over at Eric’s house with Vanessa; her loud screams when Eric would beat her, the yelling and cursing from him, how Vanessa would try to hide her bruises behind make-up and sun-glasses.

  “Finally one night back in April, I just couldn’t take it anymore. He beat the hell out of her. I don’t know why, not that it would matter if I did. But I just couldn’t stand to see her endure anymore of his abuse. After talking it over with my husband and getting him to agree with me, we decided to talk with her and put her in contact with Marcella with the hopes of getting her some help while getting her away from Eric.”

  “So he was beating her?” Felix double checked.

  “He was beating the hell out of that girl,” Tremaine said.

  “Yes he was. Anyways, she was leery about talking to Tre’, I’m guessing she was afraid of what Eric would do to her if he caught them talking. So my husband suggested I try. That’s when I told her about Marcella and convinced her to leave Eric. But I told her she could not make contact. She didn’t listen and now Arianna and Marcy are dead.”

  Tremaine put his arm around his wife to console her. “I don’t know if that will be enough or if what we told you will be of any help. But beyond what we heard through the walls and being the ones that helped her get away from him through Marcella, there’s not much more we can tell you. I will ask though, seeing as though people are being killed, we’d like to stay out of this. We don’t want our names or anything to be a part of this investigation. Because before I let that bastard bring harm to me and my wife, I’ll put that sonuva bitch down like the rabid dog he is.”

  Felix could tell by the look on Tremaine’s face that he was dead serious. “You have my word, sir. As I said, this is just a little digging th
at I’m doing on my own to see if the murders of Arianna, Marcella and Tony can be tied together.”

  “Tony?” Tremaine asked. “You mean the little Rican looking guy? He’s dead, too?”

  “You knew him?” Felix asked.

  “Well not personally, but I’ve seen him around. He was around a lot after Vanessa left. I never knew what the deal was with him, he just always seemed iffy, like he had a coke problem in the past or something,” Tremaine replied as he shook his head.

  “He was in an accident on I-76. His car went over the over-pass, crashed and he was killed.”

  “You’re talking about that big accident that happened last month! That was him!” Camille exclaimed. Felix nodded his head.

  “By the way you were talking, I understand the importance of discretion with the program that Vanessa entered. But if Eric is tracking her and if he is the one behind these murders all so he can find her, it would be in her best interest if we found her before he does. Do you know where she is?” Felix asked them.

  They both shook their heads. “Marcella had seven different destination sites with at least twenty pit-stops in between. She could be as close as D.C or as far as California. We really don’t know. The only thing I can suggest is to track her through the call she made to Arianna. That’s more than likely what Eric is doing,” Camille told him.

  Felix thought about what she said and made a mental note to check Arianna’s phone records when he got back home. He stood up and shook both of their hands. “Thank you for your time and your help. I really appreciate it. Hopefully I can solve this and put Mr. Washington where he belongs. The muffin was delicious, by the way.”

  “You’re very welcome,” Tremaine replied as he and his wife walked Felix to the door.

  Felix thought of something and stopped. “Have you ever heard of or remember Eric dating a woman named Regina Smalls?” he asked.

  “We would probably need to see a picture of her. He’s had so many different women coming in and out of that house. Vanessa and maybe one other woman three years ago were the only long term relationships we can recall him having,” Camille told Felix.