Shadows of Love

by Crystal V. Rhodes

  CHAPTER 2

  Sin emerged from the bathroom where he had showered after their steamy encounter. Nedra had showered earlier. Dressed in one of the extra dress shirts he kept in his office, she was moving around the room gathering the items of clothing that had been unceremoniously flung to the floor.

  He flashed his wife a smile. “Preacher Lady, you’re something else.”

  “You’re right. I am.” She threw him a flirtatious wink as she stuffed mail that had spilled from her oversize purse back inside it.

  “Okay, don’t start,” Sin teased as he stepped into his pants. “You’re looking a little too sexy over there with my shirt on. You know how turned on I get when you’re wearing one of them.”

  Nedra knew very well. She couldn’t count how many he had stripped from her body.

  Sin sighed. “Unfortunately, we don’t have time for another round.”

  “You are totally insatiable.”

  “Especially when it comes to you.”

  Nedra wondered how she could love this man more. It was true that he was as stubborn as a mule and sometimes he could be irascible. Because she was an ordained minister, there were some people who found it hard to understand how she could be married to a man who had an ongoing struggle with faith in the Almighty. Nedra didn’t feel the need to explain, and she didn’t. Sinclair Reasoner was a doting husband and father, and she loved him madly. God had truly blessed her when this man came into her life.

  “Do you want me to call Ray and tell him what time we’ll pick him up?” Sin asked as Nedra slipped into the trench coat he held up for her.

  Tying the belt around her waist, Nedra plucked her cell phone from her coat pocket.

  “I’ll call.” She began dialing. “What do you think? We’ll pick him up about seven after we stop by our house and get our bags?”

  Sin nodded as they left his office and headed downstairs. He and Nedra were looking forward to this week. This break in their routine was needed in their busy lives.

  ****

  As he texted his wife, Ray Wilson relaxed in the back seat of Sin’s car. Ray had been on the Peninsula for several days conducting workshops at a conference. As a prominent entertainment attorney he was often asked to share his knowledge. He enjoyed doing so, but he was more than happy to get back to Marin County and to Bev. His wife was the founder of a highly successful investment firm, and pressing business in Los Angeles had kept her from coming to the Peninsula with him. He missed her terribly.

  “Bev’s back on the boat,” he reported happily to Sin and Nedra. “She says she can hardly wait for us to get there.”

  Sin scoffed. “Yeah, we’re sure she can’t wait for us to arrive.” He winked at Nedra and they shared a grin.

  Ray rolled his eyes at the insinuation, knowing that what Sin was thinking was true. “Despite your sarcasm, you two are more than welcomed to stay on the houseboat with us.”

  “We know that,” Nedra admitted. “Dana and James said the same thing about their place, but all of us need our privacy.” Sliding her sunglasses down on her nose, she looked over them at Ray. “All of us.”

  Ray nodded in deference. “I get the message.”

  Nedra cackled. “I thought you would.”

  Giving her a sideward glance, Sin shook his head. “Like I said, Preacher Lady, you’re something else. By the way, how are those clothes fitting under that jacket?”

  Stiffening, Nedra gave him the evil eye. She made him promise on his life that he’d never breathe a word about today’s debacle, but he hadn’t promised not to tease her about it. Silently she mouthed the words, “I’m going to get you,” to her husband. Sin didn’t look intimidated.

  Nedra’s cell phone rang. Her seventeen year old son, Trevor, was on the other end. He sounded excited. She put him on speaker phone to share the conversation with Sin.

  “Hey, Mama! Guess what? Aunt Darnell and Uncle Thad invited me and Gillian to their house in Aruba after this tour!”

  Trevor and his fourteen year old sister, Gillian, were working for their superstar relatives, actor Thad Stewart and his wife, Sin’s half sister, singer, Darnell Cameron. The couple was traveling abroad on a promotional tour. Trevor was serving as a production assistant and Gillian was providing childcare for their cousin, Nia. Their older brother, twenty-two year old, Colin, a recent graduate from Stanford University, was enjoying his summer traveling through Europe on a backpacking trip with friends. This meant that for the first time in their married lives, Nedra and Sin were alone without children at home. They missed them, but it was nice having the time together for as long as they could. They welcomed the invitation that had been extended to their kids.

  “How long did they invite you to stay?” Sin asked, trying not to sound too ecstatic.

  “Oh, hi, Dad! They want us to stay all summer if we want! Right up until school starts.”

  Calculating the months they would have alone, Sin and Nedra grinned at each other happily.

  “Sounds great!” said Nedra. “We’ll call and talk to Darnell and Thad to settle the particulars, but you know you have to pay your own way while you’re there, right? No asking them for money.”

  “I’m working. I’ve got money.” Trevor sounded insulted.

  In the background his sister could be heard demanding to speak on the telephone. There was a brief exchange of words between the siblings before Trevor resumed speaking.

  “Brace yourself,” he warned his parents. “Gillian wants to speak with you.”

  In the back seat, Ray sat up expectantly, ready to be entertained. Gillian Reasoner was never boring. The kid had more angles than most con men. He wondered what she was up to now.

  There was another flurry of words between Trevor and Gillian and then her young voice filled the car’s interior.

  “Hi, Mama. Hi, Daddy. How are you doing?”

  Her parents returned her greeting, all the time bracing for what was coming next. They didn’t have to wait long.

  “You know it’s awful nice of Aunt Darnell and Uncle Thad to invite us to Aruba, but it’s not like we haven’t been there before. So, I was thinking that I could go to Hawaii instead and spend some time with Sweet and his family.”

  “As opposed to being with your own family?” Nedra challenged. “I don’t think so.”

  “But Sweet is my best friend and he asked me to come!” Gillian wailed. “We need to spend some time together!”

  “The two of you can see each other when you get back to school in Carmel, like you do every day.”

  Gillian wasn’t taking no for an answer. “I can get Uncle Gerald to come get me in his plane and fly me there. I’ll pay for his gas.”

  Ray stifled a laugh. Sin shook his head in amusement. Nedra looked skyward. Only their daughter would come up with something like that.

  “Gillian, your mother said no Hawaii,” Sin used his sternest voice. “You can go to Aruba with Darnell and Thad.”

  “But Daddy…”

  “But Daddy, nothing,” Nedra interjected. “You’re going to Aruba.” She wasn’t about to give her an alternative, like coming home. She and Sin were going to enjoy this time alone to the hilt!

  There was a brief silence on the other end of the line. That meant Gillian was thinking, which was never a good sign.

  “Daddy, am I on speaker phone?”

  “Yes you are.”

  “Could you take me off of it so I can talk to you privately?”

  “No. I’m driving. We’ll be talking to your aunt and uncle. Meanwhile, I hope you’re enjoying yourself!”

  “We love you,” her parents assured her before disconnecting

  Ray pumped his hand in the air. “All right, Sinclair! You’re getting better at this, man.” Everybody in the family knew that Sin was the weak link when it came to giving in to his children, especially his daughter.

  “I’m proud of you, baby.” Nedra leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “Of course she’s going to regroup and come at you a differe
nt way. Just be ready and be strong,” she ribbed.

  “Let’s all pray.” Ray bowed his headed mockingly, eliciting laughter from the couple.

  “I’m telling you, the kid doesn’t have a clue about how lucky she is,” Nedra complained. “Aruba or Hawaii? How many people would kill to have her dilemma?”

  “That’s the truth.” Ray repositioned himself so that he could rest his feet on the plush back seat. He had grown up in Detroit, the only child of a widowed mother who made ends meet and could have never afforded the luxuries the children he knew took for granted. “When I was her age I didn’t know those two places existed.”

  He shifted again and his feet knocked Nedra’s unzipped purse onto the car mat. The contents spilled out.

  “Oh, great! Sorry, Nedra.” Unbuckling his seat belt, Ray bent to retrieve her belongings.

  Nedra shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. I shouldn’t have thrown my purse back there in the first place. Give it to me. I’ll put it up here with me.”

  Ray stuffed the contents back inside the large leather bag and handed it to her. He started to get comfortable again when he spotted an envelope on the floor.

  “Ooops, here’s something else.” Picking it up, he glanced at the address. “Oh, this is for you, Sin. Special Delivery.” Ray handed it to Nedra.

  “Hmm, I must have picked this up by accident in the office.” She studied the return address. “Where in the world is this?” She read the name and address.

  “I was trying to figure that out,” Sin replied. “I opened it earlier. See what’s inside.”

  Nedra withdrew a folded piece of notebook paper. Two photographs fell from it into her lap. Picking them up, she examined the first one closely.

  “Oh my goodness! Sin, this looks like you.”

  “Really?” Taking his eyes off the road briefly, he glanced her way. “Doing what?”

  “Wellllll, posing,” Nedra drawled. “But this picture looks old.” She turned it over and read the handwriting on the back. “This isn’t your name, and the year on this is way before either one of us was born. What in the world?” She held up the photo for Ray to see. “Look at this. Doesn’t he look just like Sin?”

  Taking the black and white photo from her, Ray examined it closely. The man staring back at him was very handsome. He was tall, dark and well-dressed in an expensive suit that fit him well. Unlike most of the photos that Ray had seen from that era, this man was smiling, and he did look like Sinclair Reasoner, from the finely chiseled cheekbones to the deep cleft in his chin.

  “The resemblance is amazing,” he marveled, turning the photo over to read the writing on the back. “But who is Joe?”

  “That’s what I was…” Nedra didn’t finish her sentence. Glimpsing at the second photo, she froze.

  “Sin, stop the car.” Her voice quivered. “Pull it over now!”

  CHAPTER 3

  Ray leaned over the seat to peer at the photo that Nedra held out for Sin to see. It was a shot of the personal family photographs that Sin kept on a side table in his office. The name of his company, Bayland Imports, was displayed on the wall above the table.

  “That looks like a still shot of a video.” Ray was confused.

  “Whoever took this had to have been inside your office,” she told Sin.

  Taking the photo from her he studied it. “Why would anyone take a picture of a video?” He was as perplexed as they were. “Let me see that letter, hon.”

  Written in pen on a piece of notebook paper, it was in English and consisted of a few paragraphs. Nedra and Ray waited patiently as Sin read it, providing them with bits and pieces of its content as he did so.

  “It’s from a woman named Rosa Ruiz who lives on an island. Some nurse at a clinic is writing it for her because the woman doesn’t speak or write English. It seems that Mrs. Ruiz works as a housekeeper for a man named Thomas Hardman.” Pausing, Sin frowned. “Hmm, Hardman…Hardman, where have I heard that name before?”

  “Maybe he’s a former client of yours?” Nedra suggested.

  Sin thought hard, but the name evaded him. “I don’t recall working with anybody by that name.” He resumed reading. “The nurse traced me down on the internet for Mrs. Ruiz through the name of my company on the wall.” He started to read directly from the letter. ‘I see that the man in one of the pictures on the table looks like the man in the picture I found in Mr. Hardman’s things. Can you tell me if this man works for you? If so, please ask him if he’s a relative of Mr. Hardman.”

  “She doesn’t know that picture on the table is of you,” Nedra concluded.

  “No, she wouldn’t since I don’t have my photo on the company website.” He returned to the letter. “She says: Mr. Hardman is really sick in the clinic here and may die. If the man in the picture is someone who needs to know this, please tell him. She signs it, and there’s a telephone number here. It’s for a café on the island where I can leave a message for her if I call.”

  “She doesn’t have a phone?” Nedra was surprised.

  Sin shrugged. “Guess not.” He looked at the return address on the envelope again. “This place is in Mexico, maybe the island’s remote. I know I’ve never heard of it.”

  Taking the photo of the stranger from Ray, Sin studied it intently. Undeniably, the man did resemble him. The man named Joe was facing the camera, leaning against a wall with this arms and legs crossed. A rakish smile was frozen on his face.

  Turning the photo over, Sin read the name aloud. “Joe. Who are you?”

  Sin continued to study the picture of the man who was a reflection of himself. His mother had died of a drug overdose when he was ten years old, leaving him alone and at the mercy of the foster care system. He had escaped that circus and raised himself. As far as he knew he had no family, but when he was a child that didn’t stop him from looking into the faces of countless strangers with the hope of finding someone to whom he might belong—someone who looked even the slightest bit like him. His efforts had proven to be fruitless daydreams then, but now here he was holding in his hand a mirror image of himself. Was it a coincidence? Perhaps it was some kind of mistake?

  Nedra could almost see the wheels turning in her husband’s head. She, more than anyone, was well aware of the loneliness and despair of his childhood. Years ago, when he stumbled upon the extraordinary fact that he had a half sister, she knew how much it meant to him. Nedra had shared his tears of joy at the discovery and watched with pride at the blossoming relationship between Darnell and Sinclair as they grew closer every day as siblings.

  Despite the fact that her husband questioned her conclusion, Nedra had no doubt whatsoever that divine intervention had played a part in that miracle and in her life with Sinclair. As unlikely as they might be as a couple—she being a woman of faith and he being, at best, an agnostic—they had each other’s backs.

  “What do you think?’ she queried.

  For reasons he couldn’t explain, Sin felt apprehensive. “I’m not sure. It’s obvious that whoever this Thomas Hardman is, either he, or somebody who knows him, has been in my office.” Pausing, he fingered the photograph in his hand. “As for this guy, Joe, I don’t know what to think about him.”

  “They say that everyone has a twin,” Ray offered, settling back in his seat. “Looks like you’ve found yours.”

  “But who is Hardman?” Nedra frowned at the photo she was holding. “It’s unsettling knowing that some stranger was in your office taking pictures of our family, especially after what happened with the abduction of the kids and…”

  “Hey wait!” The mention of that terrible time in their lives when their daughter and niece were kidnapped jolted Sin’s memory. “There was a man that I met…”

  “Before they were taken?” Nedra wondered.

  “Shortly after. That was when you and the kids were in Stillwaters and I was back on the Peninsula taking care of some business.”

  She nodded. “I remember.”

  So did Ray. It was a frightening and
chaotic time for every member of the family. A lot had happened then—an awful lot. He sat up with renewed interest as Sin tried to remember the fuzzy details of the meeting.

  “There was this man… He found my jacket and came to my office to return it.”

  “You think it was this Hardman guy?” Nedra mentally willed her husband to recall the person bold enough to come to his office and take a photo.

  Sin slapped a hand against his forehead in frustration. “Oh man! Was that his name? I remember he was well dressed…”

  “You would remember that,” Nedra teased.

  “Amen to that!” Ray agreed. Sin was a clothes horse and always looked as though he stepped off a fashion runway.

  “Shut up, Ray,” Sin growled drolly.

  “You know, guys, if we want to solve the mystery of this Hardman fellow we’ve got a private investigator in the family who can get the deed done,” Nedra reminded them. Her cousin, Dana Mansfield, was married to James Starr, the owner of one of the fastest growing security companies in the nation.

  Sin nodded. “I didn’t think about that.”

  At the mention of a private investigator, Ray started to get an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. “What did this guy who came to your office look like?”

  “I don’t recall. Maybe he was medium brown skinned, maybe darker.”

  “Well hopefully you can identify him in a police lineup,” Nedra snapped, incensed by this invasion of her husband’s privacy. She waved the photograph she was holding in the air. “Isn’t there some sort of law against things like this? We’ve had enough with strangers invading our lives.”

  “No lie about that.” Sin placed the letter back in the envelope, but continued to stare at the photo of the man named Joe.

  Strangers invading our lives. Nedra’s words resonated with Ray as his thoughts drifted back to a time after the abduction that had brought him and other family members, to a small house in Los Angeles. Inside they found a man who was a suspect in the kidnapping of the children. He had been beaten so