Sarah took the drink from Antonio and casually walked out onto the terrace, all the while thinking about what she would say to him. Sarah decided a direct approach would get her more information.
“Okay, Antonio, I am not one who beats about the bush, so I want a few answers. First of all, how do you know Joey Shay? And what has he to do with Interpol?”
“Sarah, how do you know of this Joey Shay? And why would you think he has anything to do with Interpol?”
“Antonio! I am not a stupid woman. My brother just called me with YOUR business card in his hand. He has been trying to reach you for the last three days at your New York number. Brandon Truvant, ring any bells? He is an attorney in San Francisco. And as for Joey Shay, he has been a family friend since I was in grade school; I have known him all my life. So, NOW ANTONIO, you tell me the truth, what is going on?”
“Sarah, please sit down. I’ll explain, but you have to keep this to yourself, and I will call your brother later today or in the morning. I was enjoying our time together and did not want anything to interrupt it. Please have a seat, my dear.”
“Have a seat indeed! Have you known all along he was my brother and Joey a family friend? All this romance and fun with you all a lie all part of your job, Antonio?” Sarah turns her back to Antonio and stares out at the ocean view, blinking back tears of anger and hurt.
“No, Sarah, not till this moment did I know you were the sister of Brandon nor did I know you were a friend of this Joey. I have not lied to you, I care for you and want to continue to see you after you leave Belize. You have to believe me, Sarah. This is not what you are thinking it is. At most, it is an unhappy coincidence. At best, maybe I can help your brother and friend to get out of the mess they have found themselves in. Joey is working for some rather unsavory characters, and your brother is his attorney so that makes him part of all this as well.”
Sarah still hadn’t looked at Antonio and sipped from her glass. She turned to glare at him in contempt for what she felt had been lies and using her all along to get to the others. “I am not sure I can believe anything you have to say, Antonio. And what about Cat? Is all this with Patrick a lie as well? Is she going to be devastated? Cat trusts no one. For her to trust Patrick is huge thing for her, and she is my best friend. How am I to tell her about all this and have her still feel safe and not betrayed?”
“Sarah, I am telling you the truth. You were never part of this, not at all. I care for you, Sarah; I want to see if we can have a life together. I have not wanted that in a very long time, you make me so very happy, my dear. I could never put you or Cat at risk for anything. I want to help and keep those close to you safe. Please, Sarah, you must believe me. Now that I know that it is your own brother and a family friend involved, I will do anything I can to protect them and you too. Sarah, the men that this friend of yours is involved with are international jewel thieves and forgers, they are not safe people to deal with. But I have been working on this case for nearly two years and know all of those involved well. I can help you and your friends and family, Sarah, and I will have to talk to Patrick and get him up to speed on what has happened here so that he can keep you and Cat safe when you return to San Francisco. I will have the FBI re-station him to his home there to watch out for you and keep an eye on the situation. Let me call them and invite them here where it is safe to talk all this over and to let Cat know what has happened.”
“Let Cat know what has happened? Antonio, WHAT HAS HAPPENED? What is going on? Are we in great danger? Oh my God! I have no idea who to trust or what to believe. What have you done? What will I have to do now?”
“Please, Sarah. All is the same as it was an hour ago. I love you and want you here. I want a life with you as I have said. I will do anything to prove I am telling you the truth. But please, we must tell Patrick and Cat about the men that broke into her home and stole her necklace—the men that your friend Joey is working for and your brother is also involved now through his long-time friend. We need to make sure everyone knows who the teams are and who can be trusted.”
“Trusted! Ha! What a thing for you to say to me now, after all this. I don’t know whom to trust, or if I want you to tell Cat what is happening. It could destroy her, after what happened before she came here. You have no idea what she has been through these last few months, Antonio.”
Antonio walked to Sarah’s side and put his arms around her and pulled her close. “Sarah, I will not let any harm come to you or to your friends and family. You have my promise on this. Please, let us go and talk to Patrick and Cat so we are all on the same page of this difficult situation.” Antonio kissed Sarah on the forehead.
When she looked up at him, he kissed her passionately and lovingly, and she returned his kiss in kind. She then pulled away from him with tears in her eyes. “Fine, we can go or they can come here and talk. I suppose that here is likely a better thing. At least the phones will not be bugged, nor would there be murderers in the hallways, and maybe we all will be safe for our last night here together.” Sarah picked up her cell phone to call Cat, but just as she did, it rang. “Hello. Oh, hi Cat, was just going to call you. Can you and Patrick come over to the villa? Antonio and I wanted to have just a quiet dinner. You know, just the four of us our last night here and all, we thought it would be nice, cozy, and quiet, and we can talk too. How about it?”
“Ummm, that was what we were thinking as well, we will have the hotel fix a meal and we will bring it with us. You guys get the wine and the appetizers and we will see you in about ninety minutes. How’s that sound?”
“Just wonderful, Cat, can’t wait to see you guys. We have a lot to talk about before you and I leave tomorrow night.”
“Okay, see you soon.” Cat hangs up the phone and looks pointedly at Patrick.
“Cat, what’s up? You look like there is some kind of problem?” he asked.
“I have no idea, Patrick, but I know Sarah well enough to know that something is not right or she has something upsetting on her mind. She sounded, I don’t know, sort of hollow in the phone. We had better get the food and get over to the Villa as soon as we can and find out what is going on. I am sure there is something she is not telling me. And I want to talk to her about staying here for at least two more days till I find out what is up with Brandon too.”
“I have to agree with you. I have known Antonio for a long time and he is on to something with his jewelry forgers, of that I am certain. We need to go and ask him pointblank if he thinks they have anything to do with your missing necklace and the break-in at your home. I have not been involved in this case for very long and do not know all the details yet. We were going to go over them after you and Sarah had gone home, but that was before I wanted you to stay. If he does think you two are in some kind of danger, I’ll go back to San Francisco with you and we can all stay at my home there. It is like a fortress, has great security, and no one could get in without one of us knowing about it.”
“I’ll call concierge and order the meal for four to-go and then we can shower and get ready to leave.”
“Sounds good to me, Cat, but first there is something I need to do. Come over here.”
Cat walked across the room to where Patrick was standing, holding out his hand for her. She took his hand and the two of them went out onto the balcony overlooking the white sand, blue water, and a spectacular sunset. Patrick took Cat in his arms and held her tightly, whispering to her. “Cat, you mean the world to me. No matter what happens with this situation, I will protect you and all those you care for as well. Please do not worry. You are a beautiful woman both inside and out. I love you, Cat.”
“I love you too, Patrick. I feel safer and more relaxed now than I have ever felt before, I am so grateful for you here with me and that we happened to meet in such a lovely place. I’ll never forget my first time in Belize, the view of the ocean from your room, and how I feel right now.”
Turning Cat toward him, Patrick kissed her, holding her close. Neither of them wanted
the moment to end, but knew that they needed to walk into the suite to shower and leave for the villa on the outskirts of town to meet up with Sarah and Antonio.
Chapter Fifteen
The abduction
Back stateside, Joey was frantic. Brandon was supposed to meet him the night before and never showed up. It was completely unlike Brandon to miss a meeting—any meeting, especially one with a good friend. Unable to reach him by phone, Joey decided to go to Brandon’s office.
When he arrived, he found the front door unlocked and walked in. “Hey, Brandon. What’s up, man? You forget we were supposed to have dinner, or are you just avoiding me? It’s not like you to stand up a friend and not answer his calls . . . Brandon?” Not hearing any response, Joey went to open the inner office door and finds it ajar. He pushed it open and stepped inside. “Brandon . . . you here?” All Joey could see was a mess of papers strewn about the office, the phone off the hook, and when he walked in further, something caught his attention to his left. Just as he turned to see what it was, something hard hit the back of his head.
When Joey came to, his head was aching and blood trickled from his mouth from where he hit the chair when he collapsed. He realized that Brandon was missing; his office and all his files had been ransacked. Trying to focus and get his bearings, Joey hauled himself up into Brandon’s chair, picked up the phone, checked for a dial tone, and called 911.
“911. What’s the nature of your emergency please?”
“I need to report a robbery, break-in, and missing person. And I was hit on the head. I am at 22306 North Shore Drive. Can you send someone right away?”
“Police are on the way, sir. Remain calm and stay on the line. Have the intruders left or are they still present?”
“No one is here that I am aware of, and my friend is missing.”
“Help should be there momentarily, sir. Please stay on the line with me till they arrive.”
Just then Joey hears some commotion in the outer office. “Police, we are coming in.”
“Thank you, operator. They have arrived, I’m hanging up now.”
“Hello, Police, where are you?”
“I’m here in the back office.”
As the officers approach Joey, they notice all the disarray around the room. One of the officers goes over to where Joey is behind the desk.
“Are you okay, sir? What happened?”
“I was supposed to meet Brandon—this is his office—last night. We are good friends, and he never showed up. I couldn’t reach him by phone either; it’s very weird for him to miss a meeting and not answer his phone.” Joey stopped to rub his head and wipe the blood from is lip. “Anyway, when I couldn’t reach him, I came here this morning to see what was going on. I found the office in this mess, and as I walked into this back office, someone hit me over the head.”
“How long ago did you arrive here, sir?”
“What time is it now?”
“It is 12:30 in the afternoon, sir.”
“Oh my God, I have been out for over two hours. I must have been hit harder than I had thought I was. I arrived at 9:45 this morning. But you have to find Brandon, he’s missing. No one has seen him since yesterday morning when I left him at court at eight a.m.”
Just then, the paramedics arrived on the scene and wanted to take Joey to the local hospital to get checked out for a concussion and stitch up his lip from the gash he got. But the police were still questioning him and asked them to wait. “Joey Shay, that is you?”
“Yes, I am friends with Brandon Truvant. We’ve known each other since grade school. He’s my attorney and my best friend. You really need to find him and whoever did this to his office and hit me over the head. Officers, please. His life could be in danger.”
“We will do our best to find out what is going on here, sir. Thank you, and please stay available for us to get back to you.”
Joey went on to explain what he knew about why Brandon might be in trouble, and the paramedics insisted on taking him to the hospital. The officers took all the information and told Joey to be available if they needed to talk to him further. Then he was placed in an ambulance and taken to the local hospital.
Chapter Sixteen
Confusion and Denial
After some hours had passed and he was all stitched and given clearance to leave the hospital, Joey got a cab back to Brandon’s office to pick up his car. He found that the office has been secured by the police and was locked. Once he was back in his car, he found his cell phone and looked for Sarah’s phone number. He dialed and hoping she answered.
“Hello?”
“Sarah, hi. It’s Joey, I need to talk to you.”
“Joey, where are you, and why are you calling me? Is Brandon with you?”
“Ummm . . . Sarah, you see . . . that is why I am calling—”
Sarah cuts Joey off mid sentence. “Joey, where’s Brandon? What happened? I know all about your little jewelry situation, and if you got Brandon in any trouble—”
“Sarah, listen to me. Brandon is missing. I was knocked out at his office this morning. I called the police. I think I’m in danger and don’t want to go home and—”
“Missing? What do you mean, missing? What have you done, Joey?”
“I don’t know. I had no idea who I was working for, Sarah. Really, honestly, I didn’t know till that guy from Interpol came to see me. I didn’t know, just thought it was a job I could make a few bucks at, Sarah. I would not have ever put you or Brandon in any danger on purpose. You have to know that, Sarah!”
“I need to find Brandon. I’m coming home, you better be there when I get there, Joey! And Joey, I am brining people to help with me. You know where I keep my spare keys to our ocean condo, do you remember?”
“Yes, Sarah, I remember. Why?”
“Because I want you to go there and wait for me to get back. I’ll be there in a day or two. Don’t leave there, don’t go anywhere else, just go and stay at the condo. And Joey, keep your cell phone charged and on, I’ll be calling you again very soon.”
“Okay, Sarah, I’ll go there. See you soon. And Sarah . . . please be safe and get home okay, we need to find your brother and soon.”
“I’ll be okay, Joey. I have help with me. We will talk when I get there, okay? Just you stay out of trouble till I arrive, can you manage that?”
“Yes, I’ll do my best, Sarah. Bye.”
“Goodbye, Joey.”
After her conversation with Joey, Sarah went to inform Antonio of the current situation and called Cat to see when she and Patrick would arrive at the villa. But as she dialed Cat’s number, the front door opened and the two of them entered the villa.
“Hello, everyone, food has arrived. Don’t look so glum, I am sure it will be great.”
Patrick noticed the serious looks on the faces of his good friend and Sarah. Realizing something must be wrong, he took the food to the kitchen and motioned for Antonio to follow him, leaving the girls alone in the living room.
“Okay, Antonio. What’s going on? You look terrible. Has something happened in your investigation that you want to talk about?”
“Patrick, we need to go back to San Francisco right away. Joey just called Sarah and told her that her brother Brandon is missing. Sarah sent him to their family’s ocean condo to wait for us to arrive. But I am not sure he will be safe at any property owned by Sarah or Cat at this point. And we need to find out where they are holding Brandon and why.”
“Antonio, can this Joey be trusted? I can send him to my home in Nob Hill. I have staff there I trust who can let him in. What do you think?”
“Well, my friend, I think that is a wise idea. Joey is not a bad character. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people. And now his friend is missing and others are in danger as well. I suspect you can have Sarah call his cell and instruct him what to do. How much does Cat know about all this?”
“I have not told her much yet, but I suppose we need to bring both the women
up to speed on what we know and what is going on at Interpol and the FBI in regards to this jewel ring. I’ll give Sarah all the information she will need for Joey to get into the house and have him take some of her things there with him as well. We will all need to stay there until this is over with. Will you be coming back with us or staying here?”
“In light of the situation, I can be of more help there with you trying to find Brandon and get him back safely. So I’ll accompany the three of you back to San Francisco tomorrow. Let’s go and talk to the girls.”
As the two men go back to discuss the current situation with the women, Patrick overheard Sarah telling Cat about Brandon’s disappearance. Just as he is about to interrupt them, Sarah’s cell rang.
“Hello, Joey. I told you I’d call you soon, and—”
“Sarah, just listen to me—”
“Joey, why are you whispering? Where are you, did you go to the condo?”
“Yes, that is why I am whispering. I am outside the condo in the garden.”
“Well, why aren’t you inside? You can’t be seen, and—”
“Sarah, hush and just listen to me please. Those thugs I work for are holding Brandon at your condo. I can’t go inside so I am calling to let you know that from what I can see Brandon is okay. He’s sitting on the sofa and there are three of them inside, one at the door and one on the phone and the other sitting with Brandon.”
“Well, call the police and get him out of there, Joey! Don’t just stand there while he is being held captive!”
Patrick walks over to hear what is being said. “Sarah, please give me the phone and tell Joey it’s okay to talk to me. Now Sarah, please.”
“Ah! Okay. Ummm . . . Joey, I am going to put Patrick on the line. He’s okay to talk to about all this. You need to listen to him, he is with the FBI. Joey, do you hear me?”
“Okay. Okay, Sarah, put him on quickly. I don’t want to hang here too long.”
“Joey, this is Patrick, you need to do exactly what I tell you and you need to trust me to keep all of you safe, can you do that?”
Catrina And The Duchess` Necklace (Catrina Series PART-1) Page 6