Sinful Intentions

by Crystal Rhodes

  Gathering in the family room, the worried looks on everyone’s face said more than mere words. In dry-eyed shock, Nedra watched Sin move restlessly around the room as he reported Gillian’s disappearance to the police.

  “Yes, we’ve looked everywhere. We’ve even called the neighbors to see if she went to visit one of them without telling us. We’ve searched everywhere we can think of around here.”

  Nedra felt sick. How in the world could her baby be missing? She was only five years old! She never went anywhere by herself. Moving beyond the confines of their property took effort at best.

  To get to the street required a walk downhill along their long winding driveway. The street was a cul de sac occupied by very few houses, and all of the neighbors knew each other. Yet, anyone driving along would quickly recognize that this was an enclave of the wealthy. One of the spacious houses even belonged to a world-famous singer, who was presently on a world tour and who also happened to be Nedra’s cousin. Kidnappers stumbling on this well-concealed street need look no further for lucrative prey. Nedra pushed that thought from her mind, not wanting to think of such a possibility.

  They had checked with the occupants of every single house on the street, particularly Nedra’s cousin’s house, but no one had seen the pony-tailed little nymph with the winning smile. She would have had to pass all of those houses to get to the beach. Nedra wanted that to be the last place that she might have gone. She was much too vulnerable there—susceptible not only to strangers and predators, but to the ocean waves that could be friend or foe.

  “Maybe she decided that she wanted to go over to Sweet’s house,” Trevor suggested.

  “Oh surely she wouldn’t strike out walking to his house,” Sharon said dismissing such a notion. “He lives miles from here, and she wouldn’t have any idea how to get there.”

  Nedra and the boys exchanged knowing looks. It was obvious that as much as Aunt Sharon loved Gillian, she had no idea how determined Little Miss Dynamite could be when there was something she wanted to do. She had never done anything like this before, but that didn’t mean that there wouldn’t be a first time.

  Sin ended his call with the authorities. “The police are on the way,” he informed the others, then turned his attention to their snaggle-toothed daughter grinning at them from a sterling silver frame placed on a table. “They said that they might need the latest picture we have of her.”

  Nedra fought the moan that threatened to escape. A picture? For a milk carton? A bill insert? Would her baby’s picture be one of those tacked up on telephone poles? Billboards? She started to pray, blocking every negative thought running through her mind.

  “Call Sweet’s house, Dad.” Colin saw the terror in his mother’s eyes and wanted to distract his father before he noticed it.

  “Good idea.” With shaking fingers, Sin dialed the number. He was glad that someone was thinking.

  It seemed as though the telephone at the Plaine house rang forever. While he was waiting, he walked in back of the sofa on which Nedra was sitting and gently squeezed her shoulder. He bent and kissed her hair. There was an answer on the other end.

  “Hello, Brandon, Sin here. Gillian is missing. Is she over there?”

  Through the rush of repetitious prayer flowing through her head, Nedra heard Sin’s end of the conversation, and it was obvious that their child still had not been found.

  “Let me talk to Sweet,” Sin sighed. There was a slight pause. “Hi, Sweet. I need your help. When you saw Gillian at school today, did she say that she might be coming to visit you later today?”

  Everyone in the room watched him closely. Sin tried to keep his face blank and his emotions in control. “Oh, she didn’t. Well, did she say that she might be going somewhere else today?” His expression changed. “Oh, really.” He stopped pacing. “And where was she going to do that?” As he listened, his excitement visibly increased. “No, I don’t know where that is. Can you describe it?”

  The energy in the room shifted as Sin grabbed a pencil and notepad off a table and started scribbling. Every action was monitored.

  “Okay, thanks, buddy. Let me speak to your Daddy.” Sin was so excited he could hardly speak. His words were rushed when Brandon returned to the telephone.

  “Can you bring him over here? If we can’t find the place, then we may need him to take us there, but we’re going ahead and look anyway because time is of the essence.” Brandon answered in the affirmative, and Sin gave him his profound thanks.

  The room was thick with anticipation when he hung up. Sin addressed everyone.

  “She told Sweet that she was going to their special place to pray for Trevor.”

  “Where is it?” Nedra asked eagerly.

  Sin looked at her steadily, mentally willing her not to panic at what he was about to say. “It’s on the beach, near where you and Carla took the children on a picnic a few months ago. There’s a rock arch where he says God is supposed to be.” He paused expectantly.

  Nedra’s mind raced. Her little girl was on that wide expanse of beach somewhere, alone. Yet, she couldn’t have gotten that far. Where in the world was there a rock arch? If Carla, Sweet and the twins had been with her, chances were that she should be able to pinpoint the spot the boy was describing. Their family walked that beach nearly everyday. She knew nearly every grain of sand, every rock and crevice. Where could she be? Where? Her mind zeroed in on the last place that they…

  “I know where she is!” Jumping up from her seat, Nedra headed for the front door, followed by the rest of the family. Sin turned to Sharon.

  “We’ll need someone to stay here for the police and for Brandon and Sweet when they arrive.”

  Sharon agreed to stay at the house. The rest of the family piled into the car and headed at top speed for the beach.

  * * *

  “God, this is Gillian calling! Are you listening?” The little girl’s pint-sized voice competed with the roar of the waves beating against the aged rock formations, but the power of the sea didn’t deter her effort to be heard.

  She was so proud of herself. She had walked all of the way down the driveway to the street, down to the beach and found this place all by herself. She didn’t even have to stop a grown-up and ask which way to go. She just kept walking and found it. Even Sweet probably couldn’t do that, and he was six years old!

  The tide had been lower when she climbed out on the rocks to stand underneath the arch, but it was higher now, so God had to answer her quick so she could get back on the sand.

  “Hey, God! I’m praying to you about my brother,” she hollered as loudly as she could. “His name is Trevor Johnson Reasoner. You know him. He goes to your church on Sundays. I need you to tell that man—I don’t know his name, but you do—to leave my brother alone!”

  She thought for a moment. There must be more that she could ask for in this prayer, and she wasn’t sure that God really heard her. It was so noisy around here. The ocean spray splattered her round, brown legs and wet her leather sneakers. The sun was setting, and the day was rapidly growing chillier. Dressed in seersucker shorts, with a thin cotton T-shirt trimmed in seersucker that matched her shorts, her outfit wasn’t practical for the cooling temperature, and she was beginning to feel the effects. Goose bumps appeared on her arms and legs.

  Gillian shivered. It was time to go home, but she had one more thing to ask before she climbed back down the rocks.

  “Okay, God, if you hear me give me a sign. And don’t forget; when you get rid of this man, don’t let him come back.” She paused to make sure she had covered everything. “Oh yeah, and make sure that me and my brothers stay with Mommy and Daddy forever.” She started to turn, then remembered. With her arms outstretched, she closed her eyes and raised her face to the setting sun.

  “Thank you, God. In Jesus’ name, Amen!” It felt good standing like this with her eyes closed. She could feel the wind whipping around her. She could hear the sea gulls, and the call of seal lions at play in the distance.
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  “Gillian.”

  Wow! She actually could hear her Daddy’s voice when she stood like this!

  “Gillian, baby!”

  And Mommy’s, too! This was great!

  Sin moved cautiously toward his little girl who stood precariously on the edge of the rocks in a small cavern. The water was rapidly rising. He didn’t want to startle her. She might slip on the wet rocks and tumble into the ocean below. He moved closer.

  “Gillian, turn around slowly, sweetheart. Daddy’s coming out to get you.”

  Gillian opened her eyes. Was her Daddy really here? She craned her neck to see if it was true and looked into her father’s face. She grinned, happy to see him.

  “Hi, Daddy! How did you find my special place?”

  He was so glad to see that grin of hers that his fear and anger was nearly forgotten. He moved closer.

  “Stay where you are, puddin’. Let me come to you.”

  From the security of the sandy beach, Nedra and the boys watched Sin maneuver the rocky crevices, moving toward the little girl as the cresting waters lapped at her feet.

  Nedra had been so relieved to see her that she had sent up a prayer of thanks that had been carried by the wind across the beach for all to hear. Now Sin had to get her off those rocks without incident. When he did, then she could breathe easier, so she watched with relief as he eased up to their child and gently lifted her in his arms.

  Gillian’s small arms wrapped around her father’s neck, and her feet encircled his waist. She clung to him happily as he carried her across the rocks and on to the sand. Placing her in Nedra’s grateful arms, he walked away toward the car.

  “Hi, Mommy,” Gillian greeted her innocently, as if going to the beach alone was a normal activity for any five-year-old.

  Nedra hugged her so tightly that Gillian complained. Both of her brothers made sure that they got kisses and hugs as well.

  Sin walked to the car on shaky legs. His emotions were close to the edge. His baby girl could have drowned! She hadn’t realized how much danger she had been in perched on the edge of that slippery rock formation. One misstep would have sent her tumbling into the swirling tide, battering the ancient rock formation, and he doubted if he could have saved her. The thought shook him to his core. He had walked on ahead of his family to gather himself, so that they wouldn’t see the tears of relief glistening in his eyes.

  Slipping into the driver’s seat, he gripped the steering wheel in an effort to keep his hands steady. By the time Nedra and the children reached the car he had gained some semblance of control. She placed Gillian’s sturdy frame in the built-in child seat between her brothers. The little girl hated the seat. It was a constant reminder of how small she was for her age. She pouted as Colin buckled her in.

  “I can do it myself,” she informed him testily, pushing his hand away. “I’m not a baby!”

  “And you’re not a grown-up either, young lady,” Sin admonished as he looked at her through the rearview mirror. “Don’t you ever do anything like that again. You are never to go off alone. Do you hear me?” The timbre in his voice left no room for debate. Wide-eyed, Gillian nodded.

  Nedra shared her husband’s conflict of emotions, a mixture of relief and anger. She turned to Gillian. Her tone was just as stern.

  “You scared us to death, Gillian. You know that you’re never to go off by yourself. Anything could have happened to you.”

  The child began to nip at her bottom lip as it dawned on her that she had made her parents unhappy. Tears welled in her eyes. The pride she had taken at her show of independence was beginning to wane.

  “I wasn’t scared,” she reassured them in a small, watery voice.

  “Well we were,” her father said. “You’ll have to be punished for this because it can’t happen again.”

  Gillian’s mouth fell open in surprise. Punished? “But I was praying to God! I’m in trouble for praying?”

  Colin stopped a snicker at his sister’s unique defense, but his parents weren’t amused, and he knew that they were right. Anything could have happened to his baby sister.

  “You know good and well that we’re not going to punish you because you were praying,” said Nedra. “And I would suggest that you don’t say anything else, because it might get you into even bigger trouble.”

  “I’m sorry.” Gillian sniffed as a tear rolled down her dusty, brown cheek.

  By the time they got back home, Brandon Plaine’s car was parked in front of their house. Nedra had called ahead to report to Sharon that they had found Gillian, so they were surprised to find the authorities still there.

  “I suppose that they’ve got to make a report,” said Nedra in response to her children’s inquiries.

  Gillian welled up again, afraid that she would be arrested. Picking her up, Sin reassured her that wasn’t the case.

  The little girl was the center of attention as everyone inside happily greeted her and expressed their relief that she was safe. The officers stood silently by watching the reunion. Sin thanked them for their swift response to their desperate call.

  He knew both of the patrolmen. The Carmel police department wasn’t that large. The department enjoyed a working relationship with the foundation that Sin had funded; a great deal of the referrals came from them. In addition, the financial generosity of the Reasoners toward many of the charitable activities sponsored by the police department had earned the family respect on all levels.

  “I can’t tell you how scared we were when we made that call,” Sin explained to the officers. “So all I can do is apologize for getting you out here on a false alarm.”

  The ruddy faced, older officer cleared his throat. “We’re just glad that everything worked out well, Mr. Reasoner.” He paused and looked at his younger partner, then took a deep breath. “But, I’m sorry to say that’s not the only reason that we’re here to see you.”

  The look in his eye warned Sin exactly what his next words would be. As a youngster he had heard them too many times.

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Reasoner, but we’ve been asked to inform you that you are under arrest for assault and battery.” With that he read him his rights.

  Chapter 22

  “I feel like I’m in the middle of a war, Mama, and I’m losing.” Nedra drew a ragged breath, feeling as haggard as she sounded.

  She had taken the opportunity of the early morning quiet for a walk on their property and a talk with her mother. In the middle of the chaos surrounding Gillian’s recovery and Sin’s arrest yesterday, Marva had called. Nedra had promised that she would call her back when things settled down.

  Everything had happened so quickly. Colin had tried to intervene physically when his father was arrested. Brandon had to forcefully restrain him. The younger children were hysterical, and Nedra was incensed. Sin calmed everyone down and went with the officers peacefully.

  Accompanied by Brandon, Nedra had followed them to the station. They had just stepped into the building when Winston Duncan appeared out of nowhere. He informed the officers that Sin was his client and demanded his immediate release.

  Both Sin and Nedra were shocked to see him, but neither denied his claim as counsel. They had been unable to reach Donovan, and Brandon had put a call into Sash to meet them at the station to act as counsel. She had been on her way, but Winston beat her to it. Sin was in and out of the police station in an hour.

  After Sin was released on bail, Winston explained that he had been in the Peninsula on his way to see Sharon when he received a frantic call from her on his cell phone. She had asked if he knew of an attorney nearby who could go to the station and help Sin. He had been only blocks from the police station and had appointed himself Sin’s counselor immediately. However, he hadn’t informed her of his actions, and he asked that they not tell her. Confused by his request, they nevertheless, agreed and Winston had disappeared into the night.

  Recounting yesterday’s events to Marva, she felt drained. “Gillian and Trevor were so upset by their f
ather’s arrest that when he came home they wouldn’t let him out of their sight. We let them sleep with us last night.” Nedra ignored her mother’s grunt of disapproval. She had warned her daughter never to allow the children in her marriage bed. However, it was advice that both she and Sin had ignored that evening. She fought back tears as she remembered how traumatized her children had been at seeing their father being led away by the authorities. Thank God the officers hadn’t restrained him with handcuffs.

  “Trevor is blaming himself for everything,” Nedra related, as she recalled the devastation on the little boy’s face. “And Colin is wound so tight I’m scared that he’s going to explode. You know how he feels about his father.”

  “What does your lawyer have to say about this?” asked Marva.

  “Donovan says he’s hopeful. He’s approached Jamison’s attorney with the attempt at extortion that he made toward me.” She had shared that information with her mother earlier. “He’s trying to strike up some sort of deal for the charges to be dropped, or he’s going to take his complaint to the court.”

  “Good,” Marva said emphatically, as she heard the tears in her daughter’s voice. They went straight to her heart. “You know that I can get a boat to the main island and a flight out of here tonight if you want me to.”

  Nedra wiped her watery eyes. She was in conflict. She needed her mother, but she knew that if present she would see the strain in her relationship with her husband.

  “No, Mama, you stay where you are. We’ll get through this. I know we will. I just wanted to keep you updated, and I also needed to vent a little. I feel better just talking to you.”

  On the other end, Marva smiled, pleased by her words. “Things will turn around for you and Sinclair. I know they will. Faith does not fail, daughter. Don’t ever forget that.”

  They spoke for a few minutes more before saying goodbye. Nedra continued walking the grounds past the windswept cypress trees, the fragrant flowers and foliage. She walked to the grassy bluff and looked down at the tranquil Pacific Ocean below. The scene was idyllic. From here the whole world looked perfect and at peace.