Shadows of Love

by Crystal V. Rhodes

  Sin’s response was as honest as it could be. “I’ll do my best to be civil.” That was all she was getting from him.

  Hardman showed them to the room they would be occupying for the next few days. It was small, consisting of an ornately carved wooden desk, a chair and a sofa bed. Their host provided them with fresh linen, pillows, wash cloths and towels.

  “How the mighty have fallen,” Sin griped, falling heavily on the bed after unfolding it.

  “Him or us?” Nedra plopped down beside him.

  “Both.” Sin lay back on the bed. “Humph, this does feel a lot better than that slab of rock in the cabana.”

  “It’s sure a lot cooler in here.” Lying down beside him, Nedra closed her eyes, enjoying the breeze from the ceiling fan above them. “But there’s no net.” She scratched one of her many mosquito bites. “I hope we won’t be bug bait again.”

  Yawning, Sin closed his eyes. “If so the mosquitoes will be disappointed. I don’t think I have any blood left.”

  “Very funny,” Nedra mumbled sleepily.

  Those were the last words spoken between them, before they fell asleep.

  Hours later, a disoriented Nedra awakened to the familiar sound of the ocean tide and the unfamiliar whirling of the fan above her head. As the fog of sleep gradually cleared, she glanced to her right and saw her husband’s elongate body stretched across the bed. He was sleeping soundly. A thin ray of light, peeking through the closed curtains at the window, fell across his face.

  She knew what it took for him to swallow his pride and accept Hardman’s hospitality. He did it for her, and she couldn’t love him more. Placing a soft kiss on his cheek, she closed her eyes and slept.

  Awakening later, she took care not to awaken Sin as she left the room. Closing the door quietly behind her, she looked across the living room and saw Hardman sitting at the table on the patio. His back was to her. The screened patio door was open, and she could feel the breeze from the sea. Glancing at a clock on the wall, she saw that she and Sin had been asleep for hours.

  Sensing her presence, Hardman glanced over his shoulder. “Good afternoon.”

  “Good afternoon, “Nedra greeted cheerfully. “May I join you?”

  “Of course.”

  As she settled at the table, she noted that he was still dressed in the robe and pajamas he had been wearing when he greeted them at the front door. He didn’t look well.

  “How are you feeling today?” she ventured to ask. He couldn’t possibly feel worse than he looked.

  “I’m still kicking.”

  “Thank God for that.”

  Cocking his head, Hardman raised a brow. “I don’t believe in God.”

  Nedra didn’t react. “I’ve heard that before, but with much more conviction.”

  Hardman chuckled. “Oh really? So you know some other doubters?”

  “I do.” Looking him in the eye, Nedra said pointedly. “Your son.”

  CHAPTER 18

  When Sin awakened to find Nedra gone he hurried into the living room, not knowing what to expect when he opened the door. She was nowhere to be seen, but Hardman was standing in the kitchen behind the counter, sipping a glass of juice. Their eyes met. Sin offered no greeting.

  “Where is she?”

  “Taking a shower.”

  Glancing toward the bathroom, Sin expected to hear the sound of running water in a house this small. There was none.

  Hardman nodded in the direction of the patio door. “The shower is outside, to the right.”

  Sin could feel Hardman’s eyes on him as he crossed the room to go outside, and he didn’t like it. He knew he had promised Nedra that he would do his best to be polite, but he didn’t want this man looking at him, talking to him, breathing on him. He didn’t want him existing. Stepping through the patio door, he went to find his wife.

  As soon as Sin disappeared, Hardman exhaled. Every time he saw Sinclair Reasoner it was if his beloved Grandpa Joe had come back to life. Not only did he look like him, but he moved like him. Hardman wondered if he had the same, infectious smile. From the look of it that was something he might never see. Yet he understood Sinclair’s anger. His privacy had been violated, as had his peace of mind.

  The two men had met years ago as strangers, under the most extraordinary circumstances, with one of them knowing a secret about the other. Hardman had taken advantage of the situation when he visited his office and videotaped Sinclair’s family photos. At the time he hadn’t thought anymore about his actions because never, in his wildest dreams, would he have expected to see Sinclair Reasoner again. Now, he was being asked to be accountable for his actions that day and he wasn’t the kind of man who was used to explaining himself.

  Draining his glass, Hardman placed it in the sink. He was feeling pretty good today. For the first time since he returned home from the clinic, he felt like getting out of his pajamas. There really hadn’t been a reason to do so, until now. It appeared that the boring life he usually led on this idyllic island was getting a bit more exciting.

  ****

  Sin found the wooden structure that served as a shower. It was located on the side of the house. It was over six feet tall, constructed over a concrete slab. Nedra was stepping out of the shower as he approached. Wrapped in her robe, with a towel covering her freshly washed hair, she smiled at seeing him.

  “So, the sleeping prince finally awakens. How do you feel?”

  Sin stopped in front of her. “Grimy.”

  “This shower is glorious. I think you’ll enjoy it. I’ll go back inside and get you a change of clothes.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Would you like me to wash your back?”

  “No, that’s okay. I’ll shower alone.”

  Nedra’s eyes swept his face. “Oh really? So I’m going to be allowed to be in the house with Mr. Hardman by myself?”

  Sin gave a heavy sigh. People wonder where our daughter learned her skills in manipulation.

  “I think you’ll be safe for fifteen or twenty minutes,” he assured her. “At least you better be.”

  Nedra flashed a sad smile. “I know these last few days have been long ones and…”

  “Nedra, don’t,” he cut her short. “I just want to take a long, hot shower.”

  “Okay, you go ahead and do that. By the way, did you happen to see Mr. Hardman inside?”

  “Yes.” Sin said tersely, turning abruptly to look at the sea.

  She slipped her arms around his waist, placing her head against his back. “Did he say anything to you?”

  Sin tensed. “He told me where you were.”

  “Well he told me more than that.”

  Sin whipped around, nearly toppling Nedra. Griping her arms to steady her, he barked, “What did he say to you?”

  “He just told me that he was an atheist.”

  Sin relaxed. “No surprise there.”

  “And I told him you were practically one too before I got a hold of you.”

  “Great! Thanks for telling him my business.” Preparing for his shower, Sin started unbuttoning his shirt.

  “You’re welcomed,” she answered sweetly, determined not to let him rattle her. “Then I asked him how he had decided to come to this particular island to live.”

  “Sounds like you two are getting chummy.” He tossed his shirt across the shower enclosure.

  “He told me that this place is part of his heritage.”

  “Yeah! Sure!” Sin sniffed. “He’s Mexican. Does that guy know what the truth looks like?”

  Nedra began to towel dry her hair. “Actually, he might be telling the truth.”

  “Oh come on, Nedra. The man is delusional.” He started toward the shower.

  “I did a little research about this island before we came here and found out that there are a lot of Afro- Mexicans in this particular area…”

  “Afro-Mexicans?” Sin turned to her, looking skeptical. “What are you talking about?”

  “You’ve seen them everywher
e. A lot of the people here look like us.”

  “That’s true. So what?”

  “He knows about the history around here.”

  “I don’t care! I’m going to take my shower.” Sin started to move away. Nedra caught his arm and turned him to face her

  “You need to care. There’s a lot about the people here you need to know. They’re very interesting. By the way, I met Mrs. Ruiz today. She dropped by this morning to check on Mr. Hardman. She’s a nice lady.”

  “Nedra, what does all of this have to do with why we’re here?”

  “It’s relevant because it turns out that Mrs. Ruiz might be related to you.”

  ****

  It was after an especially good night on the town that Ham woke up with a headache that kept him confined to his hotel room for most of the day. He’d fulfilled a fantasy and slept with a set of twins last night, topped off by overindulging in the best bottle of Scotch he could remember drinking.

  As he lay in bed with his head pounding, he checked his cell phone. He’d missed a call from Russ. He didn’t like disappointing him, so Ham had given the Lamont Madison situation more thought and had come up with another scenario as to why the P.I. might have contacted Russ.

  Maybe he was working for the Feds trying to trap Russ into a confession because they had discovered some sort of evidence. Was it possible that some of Moody Lake’s remains had turned up where he was executed? After all, Russ had given an interview after Moody’s fake drowning in which he stated that he had talked to Moody in person before he died. If the authorities found his bones in California when Moody was suppose to have died in Hawaii that would prove that Russ had lied, It was a long shot, but it was a possibility the bones had been discovered.

  Since he was in the Bay Area, maybe it would be a good idea to see if he could find the place where the body was left to see if it had been disturbed. It wouldn’t hurt. At least he could put Russ’ mind at ease about that.

  Having made the decision, Ham closed his eyes and tried to sleep away the effects of last night’s pleasures. San Francisco was quite a place.

  CHAPTER 19

  By the time Nedra emerged from their makeshift bedroom ready for the day, Hardman was sitting in the living room dressed in white slacks and a t-shirt. It looked as though he was waiting for her.

  “Glad to see you dressed,” she told him.

  He dipped his head in acknowledgement and flashed a warm smile. “You look nice.”

  “Yes, she does.” The hard edge in Sin’s voice couldn’t be ignored. He opened the screen door to the patio and stepped inside the house. A towel was draped around his neck. Although shirtless, he wore a pair of billowy cotton pants and had flip flops on his feet.

  Sin’s gaze shifted from Hardman to Nedra, in her bright orange ankle length dress, accented by a pair of sandals. Her hair was brushed back from her face and even without makeup, she was lovely. While he could appreciate Hardman’s good taste in women, at this moment, he certainly didn’t want him complimenting his wife.

  Knowing that her husband was spoiling for a fight, Nedra quickly intervened. “Don’t you love that outdoor shower, babe?” She turned to Hardman before Sin could respond. “When we vacationed in Martha’s Vineyard, we rented a house with an outdoor shower. The kids were wild about it.”

  Hardman perked up. “You have three children.”

  Sin threw him a malicious glare. “You know damn well how many kids we have. You took a video of their pictures!” He stomped to their bedroom and slammed the door. No way was he going to listen to Nedra tell that man about their kids!

  Ignoring her husband’s rudeness, she proceeded to tell Hardman about each child. He listened attentively.

  “Colin recently graduated from Stanford University, with honors. He has a degree in engineering, and will be attending MIT to earn his Masters degree. He’s traveling through Europe with friends this summer.”

  “Sounds like a very intelligent young man.”

  “He’s brilliant!” Nedra gushed proudly. “All our kids are. Trevor is a creative genius. He can draw and paint, as well as play several musical instruments— piano, violin and the guitar. On top of that, he writes music. He’s into old school soul, right now.”

  “Old school?” Hardman gave a pleased smile.

  “Yes, he’s got quite a record collection. He’s a high school senior, and he and his friends have a band called High Expectations. They play dances and weddings. The teenage girls think he’s amazing, and so do I.”

  “And your daughter, she’s doing well?” Hardman tried not to appear too eager when asking questions, but he was well aware of the exploits of their youngest child through the media. A few years ago she had become the heroine in a daring abduction plot.

  “Aw, the infamous, Gillian.” Nedra shook her head as she thought about her audacious daughter. “She’s fourteen years old and as bold as ever. There’s no end to the schemes she comes up with to get what she wants. Right now she and Trevor are working for their Uncle Thad and Aunt Darnell, traveling with them on tour.”

  His eyes brightened. “Darnell’s on tour? Is her daughter with her?”

  Nedra was about to answer when Sin came charging into the living room. It was clear that he had heard their conversation through the paper thin walls. Now fully dressed, he was visibly upset.

  “Don’t you dare tell him about Darnell and Nia! He hasn’t earned the right to hear anything about them.” He turned to Hardman. “After all, you said that you were just a fan of Darnell Cameron, nothing more. All fans need to know about her is whether or not they’re going to get a good performance at one of her concerts.”

  “There’s no need to raise your voice,” Nedra said calmly. “I think we both get your point.”

  Hardman seemed unruffled by Sin’s verbal assault. “But, he’s right. After all, I’m just some guy living on a remote island, extending my hospitality to fellow African Americans.”

  Taking his words as a silent cue, Nedra asked smoothly, “And why do you say that, Mr. Hardman?”

  “Please, I’ve asked you to call me Thomas.”

  “All right then, Thomas, I still want to know why our being African American is significant. Is that the reason you’ve been so generous sharing your home?”

  “Perhaps. As you must have noticed, this island is inhabited by quite a number of people of African descent.”

  Rolling his eyes, Sin knew that he was being set up. He wasn’t sure if he had assisted them by his rash decision to confront Hardman, or whether Nedra had conspired with the man to deliver the information they wanted to impart, but this performance was being put on for his benefit.

  To show his contempt for the effort, he left the room ending up on the patio in one of the chairs facing the ocean. Whether by accident or design, he failed to close the glass door, leaving the screen as the only barrier between him and the ongoing conversation as Hardman continued talking.

  “When I was a kid, my Grandpa Joe…”

  “The man in the picture?” Nedra interrupted.

  Hardman ignored the question. “He said that my great-grandparents told him that hundreds of years ago, a Spanish slave ship wrecked off the coast around here and some of the slaves escaped and hid in the mountains.”

  “That sounds like my ancestors!” Nedra’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “They were called maroons. Don’t tell me your family is descended from maroons too!”

  Hardman smiled at her enthusiastic reaction. “Runaway slaves here were called Cimarrons. The ones from that ship fled to the highlands, eventually making their way to this area.”

  “How long did slavery exist in this country?”

  “Spanish slavers took blacks from Africa to colonial Mexico long before the first slaves arrived in Jamestown, Virginia.”

  “Oh, wow! I didn’t know that.”

  “Not too many people do. But my grandfather knew his family’s history as far back as 1792. His great-great-great grandfather was an Afro-Mexi
can…”

  “A Cimarron?”

  “Yes, but my family was free because they took their freedom.”

  “Mine too,” Nedra declared passionately. “And they sent anyone who tried to enslave them again to hell!”

  Hardman chuckled. “Sounds like our ancestors had a lot in common.”

  “It does,” she agreed with a nod. “Do you know when slavery ended in Mexico?”

  “By1792 slavery was nearly non-existent here.”

  “So, tell me more about your family and this Afro-Mexican heritage.”

  “Well, Grandpa’s great-great-great grandfather married a Mexican woman. They had four children. Two of them stayed in Mexico. One moved to America and the other one moved to Jamaica where he married and had a family. I’m from that branch of the family. My grandfather was an only child and he and his wife, Alma, had one child. Their daughter, Marian, was my mother.”

  “And your real name is Cameron Baker.”

  The voice came from the patio. Nedra and Thomas turned to see Sin in the doorway. His eyes were hard. His voice was granite.

  “Why don’t you stop beating around the bush and start telling the truth? My wife and I have come too far and have gone through too much to get here. We know who you are, even if you won’t admit it.” He stepped inside the house.

  Nedra’s eyes darted from Sin’s defiant expression to Hardman’s stoic one. She wanted to intervene, but knew that this was a pivotal moment that was needed and long overdue.

  “Let me tell you what I know about you.” Walking over to Hardman, Sin stood over him. “I know that as a teenager, you ended up living with an aunt in Ohio, where you stayed for a while and attended the local high school. That’s where you met my mother, Karen Reasoner. Who, I have no doubt, you don’t remember. But I won’t dwell on that.” Continuing to hold his eyes, Sin took a seat across from Hardman. “You left Ohio after your aunt died, disappeared for a while and in your early twenties turned up in Chicago as Colton Cameron. You had changed your name legally when you were eighteen years old.” Sin gave him a twisted smile. I bet Hardman is wondering how I got that bit of information. Let him wonder.