by Honey
“What the hell are you looking around for, huh? You ain’t going nowhere.” Jay squatted next to the chair on which Jill sat, strapped in by four leather belts. She grabbed a fistful of Jill’s hair and pulled her face toward her own. “I’ll let you go after I get the money. And you can forget about your big dance production, baby. I canceled it.”
Jill moaned and shook her head, her tears continuously flowing. The dim room was terribly hot. Sweat poured heavily through her leotards and long skirt. The air was so stale and dry that Jill thought she may pass out at any time. All she could think about was her son and Zach. It was he that had insisted, out of fear, that she remain behind in Jamaica. He had thought Jay would somehow harm her and the baby if they returned to Atlanta. Oh, how wrong he had been about everything. The FBI and local law enforcement believed Jay was still in the States. They had convinced Zach that Jay was somewhere in Florida. And her daily prank calls had only made matters worse, causing him to separate their family.
Now that Jay had found her, Jill feared for her life and those of her family members in Kingston. Jay hated them for no reason. Jill hoped they were okay. All she could do was pray for their safety, especially her baby’s. She envisioned him in her arms back home in Atlanta with Zach. The front door slammed shut at that moment, robbing Jill of her pleasant thoughts.
Nina stumbled into the house, breathing hard. There were a few bags of groceries in her arms. Her eyes bucked when she saw Jill strapped to the chair in the middle of the room. “What the fuck?” The bags slipped from her hold and crashed to the floor. Nina glared at Jay, in a panic. “What the hell have you done, Jay? Why is she here? Did you kidnap her?”
Jay rushed toward Nina with her palms held up. “Lower your voice and chill out, baby. It’s not what you think. I ain’t gonna kill her.”
“No, no, no, Jay! I am not gonna be a part of this madness! Jill is a celebrity in Jamaica right now. Her face is all over the place. She was on television last night, talking about the dance recital. I heard everybody talking about it in town. The police are probably looking for her right now. How long has she been here?”
Jay reached out to Nina, but Nina pulled away, shaking her head. Jay gave it another try and was rewarded with a hard slap across her face.
“Get away from me! You’re crazy as hell!” Nina started backing away. “You’re on your own. I’m outta here.” She found a duffel bag and started stuffing clothes and shoes inside of it.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going? We’re in this together.”
“No, Jay, we were in this together, until you went off and did this stupid shit! No, honey, you are now on your own.”
“Look, just relax for now. Wait until tomorrow, so I can go to the bank to get the money Jill collected for the show. Then we can hop on a boat to the Caymans and catch a flight from there to you know where.”
Nina started laughing, but she kept packing her things. It was a genuine laugh. Jill’s eyes moved slowly back and forth from Jay to Nina. Their relationship was unraveling, crumbling by the second. Jay appeared pissed and nervous, but Nina didn’t give a damn. It was now a matter of which woman had the stronger will to go through with her plans. Jill would bet her money on Nina.
Jay pulled out the gun. She’d used it to force Jill out of the dance studio and into a cab. This go-around, she pointed it at Nina to scare her into going along with her plan.
“Oh, so now you’re big badass Jay. You’re gonna shoot me? I don’t wanna be a part of this little kidnapping, and you pull out a gun?” Nina’s laughter returned. “You ain’t gonna shoot me, Jay.” She turned and started toward the door, her purse and duffel bag on her shoulder.
“Sit your ass down, Nina! You ain’t going nowhere!” Jay yelled, aiming the gun at her back. “You ain’t gonna leave me like . . .”
Nina spun around. The sudden movement caused the skirt of her polka-dot sundress to fan about her ankles. “I’m not gonna leave you like who? Venus? Jill? Humph. Just watch me.”
She left the house without any further drama.
* * *
She’s in Kingston, Jamaica. Those four words haunted Zach like a ghost. From the moment Agent Wooten had identified Jay’s location, Zach’s stomach had been tied in knots. He had been paralyzed for a few seconds, literally, before he had pulled himself together. Jill, the baby, and his in-laws’ safety was more important than anything else. The FBI had assured Zach that they would be under the protection of the Kingston police at all times until Jay was arrested. That had given him a bit of relief, but he wouldn’t be fully at peace until he heard Jill’s voice and knew that she and Zach Junior were okay. He hadn’t been able to reach her by phone, because she was practicing with her students for the recital.
Jay’s statement about someone snatching Jill and making her disappear had been playing over and over in Zach’s head. Looking back on it, he had realized it was meant to be a threat or a warning. They were now back on the island together. Only this time, they were enemies and not lovers. If they happened to run into each other, their reunion would be anything but pleasant.
Zach had had only a limited amount of time to change his travel plans and call Dex to fill him in. He’d been able to secure a late evening nonstop flight to Jamaica online, but the rest of his duties had fallen into Dex’s lap. Dex was going to call Aunt Jackie, Wallace, and Venus to tell them that Jay was in Kingston and that Zach was on his way there. Dex was also the FBI’s contact person in Zach’s absence. All information on the case would be reported directly to him. Dex would know the exact moment Jay was captured or killed.
“Would you care for something to drink, sir?”
Zach looked up at the older woman and tried to smile. He was surprised to meet an airline attendant with such a matronly appearance. She could’ve easily been someone’s grandmother. “Water please,” he said. “Hold the ice, ma’am. A bottle will be fine.”
The attendant placed the bottle of water on Zach’s tray, and he thanked her before she eased down the aisle with her beverage cart.
As had been the cycle since he’d learned where Jay was, Zach began to struggle with the guilt of leaving Jill and Zachary Junior in Jamaica. Anger followed. Jay had managed to outsmart the law enforcement agencies in Georgia and Florida and the federal government. Either the trained officers, deputies, and agents were stupid, or his sister was a genius. Zach wondered how she had fled the country so easily without their knowledge. The whole situation was a mystery, surreal even.
The last update Zach had received before boarding the plane was that Jill had left Zachary Junior with Faye and had taken a cab to Royal Rhythms. She was to meet her students there. With only two days to go before the show, they were supposed to have a full dress rehearsal, with props, lighting, and the whole nine yards. All Zach could do was hope and pray that the Kingston police were doing their job and keeping her safe. Once he arrived, he would take over from there.
* * *
“Don’t fret, sweetheart. Leo would never hurt ya. You must trust Leo, eh? Come, my dear.”
Nina looked around as she entered the small wooden house high above the ocean. It was surrounded by lots of fruit and palm trees and bushes. There wasn’t another house close by for over a mile. Once she walked fully into the faintly lit room, she felt the cool breeze of a ceiling fan. She looked up at the rotating blades and inhaled. Leo removed the duffel bag from her shoulder and placed it on a folding chair.
“Sit, my dear,” he said, motioning to a brown sofa across the room. It was facing an old floor-model television. An episode of The Cosby Show was on. “Have a seat, Nina,” Leo offered again. “Let Leo serve ya sometin’ to eat and drink.”
Nina nodded and walked across the room. She lowered her full hips to the sofa. It was a sturdy piece of furniture, unlike that crap she’d been sitting on in the house down the hill. Her thoughts drifted back to that hellhole. She hoped Jay hadn’t harmed Jill and would set her free, like she’d promised. Surely by now Ji
ll’s family had reported her disappearance to the police. Every inch of the island would be searched until they found her. Jay was smart and manipulative, but she wasn’t the type that functioned well alone. All her allies were gone, which meant she was going to slip up soon.
“Here ya are, my dear.” Leo had returned from the kitchen, carrying a plate and a glass. He handed them to Nina.
“Thank you. You’re too kind.”
Nina ate a delicious meal of spicy oxtails over rice, steamed cabbage, and fried plantains. She washed it all down with cold pineapple juice. It tasted freshly drawn from the fruit. Leo removed the plate from Nina’s lap and took it to the kitchen. When he returned, he turned off the television, sat in a folding chair across from her, and smiled.
“Nina, ya must tell Leo all about yer troubles. The first day Leo set eyes on ya, he knew there was sumtin’ special about ya. Nina is too pretty and nice of a woman to live in that old house. Who are ya hidin’ from, and why?”
Nina lowered her eyes to stare at her hands. She contemplated what, if anything, she should tell Leo. What if she told him the truth about her life before moving to Jamaica, and he turned her in to the police? She looked up to search Leo’s sun-kissed face. He had honest eyes, and he had always been sweet to her. There were times he could’ve taken advantage of her while she was high off his gunja and rum, but he hadn’t. Nina took a deep, cleansing breath before she told Leo her story.
Chapter Sixty-five
Roy was the first person to arrive at the airport. Zach had asked him to pick him up. Time had not allowed Zach to go into very many details of why he was coming earlier than expected. The only thing he had confided in Roy was that Jay was in Jamaica, and Jill could be in danger.
Now, with Orville standing by his side, having been transported to the airport by the police, Roy was nervous as hell. All six men standing near the door from whence Zach would emerge once his flight landed were suffering from anxiety. The four police officers, including the chief, were deeply concerned about Jill. No one had seen her since one o’clock that afternoon. It was now ten minutes past midnight. A cabdriver by the name of Ian McBride had dropped her off at Royal Rhythms, as he had done every day for the past two weeks. He and other cabbies had voluntarily organized a search for Jill all across the island, while her family waited patiently for her to be found.
* * *
Zach’s heart dropped when he noticed Roy, Orville, and the four police officers standing at the gate. Each man wore a somber expression on his face. That wasn’t a good sign. Zach’s feet and legs were heavy as steel as he ran in their direction.
“Where is Jill?”
The police chief extended his hand to Zach. “Mr. King, I am—”
“Where are my wife and son?” Zach shouted, ignoring the police chief. He walked past the chief to stand directly in front of Roy and Orville. “Take me to Jill and Zachary Junior now.”
Roy cleared his throat. “Zachary, that is not possible. We don’t know where Jill is at the moment. But the police and volunteers are searching the entire island for her as we speak. Your son is fine, though. He is with his grandmother and the rest of the family, safe at a hotel. They’re all under the protection of the police.”
“Mr. King, I am Chief Phillip Bess. I’m sorry for your wife’s disappearance. We’re committed to finding Mrs. King alive as soon as possible. If you would allow us to follow you to the hotel where your son is, we’d like to discuss some things with you, sir. Right this way, Mr. King.”
Zach retrieved his single piece of luggage and walked to Roy’s van in a trance. He heard his friend and his father-in-law talking during the drive to the hotel, but none of their words registered. All he could think about was Jill and how scared she must be. What was Jay doing to her? Had she hurt her? Had she raped her? These thoughts brought out Zach’s rage.
The chief had said he and the other officers were committed to finding Jill. That would be the best-case scenario, but Zach was prepared for the worst. He reached for his suitcase and rummaged through it. He found his gun case and ammunition. If the authorities found Jill and rescued her from Jay, they would arrest her. She would be extradited back to the States and thrown in prison for a very long time. But if Zach got to them first, things would turn out altogether different. To ensure that Jay would never harm another human being, he was going to blow her brains out if given the opportunity.
* * *
Nina waited nervously inside Leo’s house while he went into town. He had gone to the police with a solid plan to have Jay arrested in a way that would not affect Nina. After Nina had talked half the night, disclosing the most personal details about her life, Leo had promised to fix everything and would not allow Jay to hurt her or anyone else again. Nina believed Leo, for some reason. Those honest eyes of his, and the way he’d treated her from day one, had shattered all her doubts. Her heart had told her Leo was a man of his word.
Nina had heard Leo showering in the outdoor stall bright and early that morning. He had built it himself. And it had hot water. Last night Nina had enjoyed her first warm shower since arriving in Jamaica, thanks to the kindness of a stranger. It was the same stranger who had shaved his beard and dressed in a black suit and tie to go into town. He had one purpose in mind. Leo was going to lead the police to the house where Jay was holding Jill. He’d told Nina not to worry about being arrested, because he was going to make sure that never happened.
“Where are you, Leo?” Nina whispered into the cool late morning air. Then she stood and peeked out the window, for the one hundredth time it seemed.
Leo’s house was small, but it was tidy and homey. It smelled of bleach and coconut. A candle bearing the sweet fruit’s scent stayed lit most of the time. Leo believed it kept the evil spirits away. If anyone could attest to that, it was surely him. He had explained that when he’d lived in the lower lands of Kingston with his wife, Thelma, and their two daughters, he had practiced a lot of rituals his grandfather had taught him as a young boy. The old man had Dominican ancestry. The milk of the coconut and other fruits and herbs were believed to have healing and protective powers. One of the few days in Leo’s life that he didn’t have a single coconut product in his home was the same day a powerful hurricane had swept his entire family away.
Nina’s recollection of that tragic story from the night before faded from her mind when she heard footsteps on the front porch. She held her breath and watched the doorknob turn slowly. The sight of Leo entering the house allowed her to breathe again.
“Gather yer things, my dear. Leo must take ya somewhere safe for a few days. My friend will take very good care of ya. Leo will see ya daily, but ya cannot be in this house right now. No worries, now. Nina trusts Leo, eh?”
“Yes, I trust you. I don’t have a choice. But I don’t know your friend.”
Leo took Nina by both her hands and squeezed them. The sincerity of his smile and his honest eyes assured her she had nothing to worry about.
“I’ll pack my things,” she told him.
* * *
Jill was weak from hunger and thirst. Jay hadn’t fed her or given her anything to drink since the night before. The afternoon sun was now shining brightly through the dusty windowpane. The curry chicken and peas and rice had been warm and tasty. Jill figured Jay had bought it from a restaurant or a friend had prepared it. Regardless of where it had come from, Jill had eaten it like a ravenous animal, with the gun aimed at the back of her head. Then Jay had applied fresh strips of duct tape to her mouth and had led her outside to pee like a dog. Jill had been tired after that. She’d fallen into a restless sleep in the chair. But now she was wide awake, afraid, and starving again.
The hills above Kingston, with their peace and raw beauty, used to be a fun place for Jill and her friends when they were children. But as she sat bound against her will, she knew she’d never view these hills the same way again, if she survived. Jay’s behavior was highly irrational, and she had that gun. If the police didn’t find
Jill soon, anything could happen to her.
* * *
“What did that man just say to you, Roy?” Zach looked back over his shoulder at the young dude who had approached them. He had spoken quickly to Roy and Orville and then had run away in the opposite direction. As Zach watched, he vanished, as if by magic, in the crowded straw market, where they’d been searching for Jill since sunrise. They each had a picture of her and the flyer advertising the recital.
Roy kept walking. He ignored Zach’s question. Orville did too.
“Roy, what did the guy say?” Zach repeated. “Does he know where Jill is?”
“Zachary, the young man has a suspicion. That is all. I will call Chief Bess and tell him what he said.”
Zach pulled Roy’s arm to stop him from walking. Orville stopped as well. Zach would not be ignored. Suspicion or not, he wanted to know what the young guy had told them about Jill.
“Zachary,” Orville said, “he thinks he saw a woman who looks like Jillian on the beach in Negril. I don’t believe him, because he wanted money before he told us anything. Let us report it to the chief, like Roy said. The police will go to the beach to search for Jillian there.”
When they reached the van, Roy took out his cell phone to submit the report to Chief Bess. He was about to dial the number when the phone rang. Orville’s phone began to ring too. Both men answered their phones immediately. Zach could tell by the animation in their voices that something significant had happened. Either Jill had been found or someone knew where she was.
“We must go to the police station at once,” Roy said.
“Is Jill there?” Zach asked.
Orville placed his arm on his son-in-law’s shoulder. “No, but the chief knows where she’s being kept. Your sister kidnapped her. A man has seen Jillian, and he told the police where they can find her. We must go and wait at the station. They will bring her to us there.”
