by Ju Ephraime
“Yes. Good then, we’ll plan your time packing something exciting into every minute until you leave.”
“Great!”
“We have our own secluded, private beach. We’ll pack a picnic lunch on Friday so we can spend the day there.”
“Don’t spoil me too much because I won’t be able to leave.”
“That’s the idea,” he told her. “I’ll try my best to keep that in mind.” He reached across the table to give her a kiss.
She was indeed a beautiful woman. Sitting across from her, he could see how she would be a successful model. She had no idea how attractive she was. She took it all for granted. There were no superficial airs about her, as you’d expect from a model.
He’d always thought of models as being very self-centered and vain, but he’d since reversed that opinion. Gabrielle was so far removed from that description, it was laughable.
*****
They finished their meal and, as much as she was tempted to return to her room, she abandoned the idea, and instead walked hand in hand with Raymond to his car. She was expecting to see the rental vehicle he’d had the night before. She had forgotten he’d told her he would be getting his new car that day.
What a car. It suited him, quiet and powerful, keeping all its treasures hidden. Men, more often than not, bought their vehicles more for what was under the hood than the way it looked. It looked nice, but then all Jaguars looked good. It was when she sat in the vehicle she felt that this was no ordinary Jag. When he switched on the engine and took to the freeway, the power of the vehicle was phenomenal.
Had she not known the motor was on, she would have thought the engine was off. She couldn’t hear it, and when Raymond accelerated to climb the hill that led to Wolfe’s restaurant, the vehicle practically flew up the hill, going fifty miles per hour without showing any strain or hesitation.
The seat was plush, covered in soft cream-colored leather. The steering wheel and all the accessories were all glossy wood-grain, giving everything in the interior of the vehicle a sparkling new look.
It was equipped with a pop-up sunroof, which was controlled by a button on the steering wheel. The strong smell of new leather filled the car, competing with the now-familiar scent that Raymond wore. She loved to smell him. It wasn’t so much the scent he wore, but the natural scent of the man himself. It put her in mind of the outdoors—the elements and the very air she needed to breathe. She was definitely attracted to Raymond. Where this attraction would lead she dare not think. She dare not think beyond the now. She was petrified of him knowing the way her meeting him was orchestrated, even if she was only a pawn in the entire thing.
Speak of the devil… Her cell phone began to ring. Looking at the screen, she saw it was her brother. Pierre wasn’t her brother by blood, but her parents had adopted and raised him alongside her. They’d grown up like brother and sister, and she considered him her brother, but he was trouble and a headache to her. She loved him, but sometimes she wanted to disown him because he was always involved in one scheme or another.
It was because of one of his schemes she now found herself in Martinique. Although she did not regret meeting Raymond and his family, she just wished it could have been under different circumstances.
She knew what he was calling her for, and since she didn’t have any news different than she’d had the day before, she decided to ignore the call.
She noticed Raymond giving her a curious look, as if to ask why she wasn’t answering her phone. She pretended not to notice and settled back to enjoy the drive. Soon there was a ping from her phone notifying her that she had received a voice mail. Good, let him wait.
*****
Raymond was a bit disappointed that Gabrielle had not answered her phone. He was waiting to hear who’d be calling her because, so far, for a successful model, which he had no doubt she was, she had received very few, if any, phone calls. During the time he’d had her phone, he believed it only rang a couple of times. And since he couldn’t answer the phone, he had no idea who called her. What a quandary he was in. He believed he was developing feelings for her, and he knew nothing about her. He did know one thing. She seemed too good to be true.
“A penny for your thoughts?” he told her, giving her a quick glance.
“You don’t want to know what I was just thinking about,” she replied.
“I said I’d pay, so why would you think I wouldn’t be interested? I’m willing to pay, so humor me.”
“I can’t.”
“You can’t or won’t?” he asked.
“A little of both,” she admitted
He had to concede defeat and leave it at that. His gut told him she was hiding something, and until he was proven wrong, he would listen to his gut. It had never led him wrong yet. This didn’t take away from the fact that, regardless of what his gut told him, his body and his heart wanted her—wanted her like he’d never wanted anything or anyone before.
He prayed he wasn’t going down the same path as his brothers. He’d made enough fun of them being besotted by women who apparently preferred their home country over them. Even if, in the end, it had all worked out, for a while there, it’d been touch and go for both of them. Now he might be going down that same road if what his heart was telling him was true. What a mess! He glanced at her again, sitting beside him so calm and beautiful. He felt like a heel, doubting her.
He’d taken his eyes off the road for a split second to look across as her. That was when he felt his car being pushed forward. The impact was so hard it knocked him off his seat, while pushing his car off the road.
At first, he didn’t know what had hit him, but he kept pressing down on the brakes, trying to stop the vehicle from going over the cliff, but the vehicle would not stop. Instead, it began to shake as the anti-lock mechanism took over, trying to stop the forward movement of the vehicle. He’d closed his eyes, bracing for the impact, when the car leaped over the cliff to drop front first straight down into the swampy mangrove on the side of the mountain. Two more miles and they would have landed in the ocean.
The vehicle came to a stop on its side, and he immediately checked to see if Gabrielle was all right. She appeared to be unconscious. There was an open gash on the side of her head, next to her temple. Thank God they had both been wearing their seatbelts.
Reaching for his cell phone, he called 112, the emergency number, to report the accident. He was surprised to learn that the emergency crew was already on their way. He didn’t want to move too much and dislodge the vehicle from where it had come to rest. He needed to see if Gabrielle was hurt anywhere else, but he didn’t see other injuries.
“Gabrielle, Gabrielle!” He tried calling her name to see if she could hear him, but there was no response from her.
He hoped the emergency crew would get there soon. The mangrove was notorious for all kinds of animals, including snakes. He didn’t have anything against the highly venomous lancehead snake, but he would prefer it if he didn’t encounter one now. Knobby roots rose out of the water, like so many broken fingers, branches reaching like arms, all gnarly and misshapen, and moss hung from them like curtains. The water pooled dark and forbidding around the vehicle.
The silence in the mangrove was unnerving. Just when he was taking out his phone to call Wolfe, he heard the sound of activity above them, and he saw a rescuer rappelling down the mountain to them. He was never so glad to see another human being.
He was worried about Gabrielle; she was still out cold. The rescuer wasted no time tying a rope around her waist, which he attached to the one he was wearing. Lifting her out of the car, he held her against him like a mother would hold an infant. He then signaled to the team on the road above him, and they began hauling them up.
Raymond sat there, feeling at a loss for words. He had never been involved in a car accident before. He didn’t know what had happened and how they had gotten off the road. He only knew he couldn’t stop the vehicle after the impact. It was as if the vehicle was being
pushed forward. He didn’t see how that was possible, but that’s the only explanation he had for why he couldn’t stop the car from going over the cliff.
The rescuer was back for him. After the rope was tied around his waist, he expected to be lifted under his own steam, but he wasn’t able to move. His left foot was trapped under the brake pedal. So his rescuer had a more complicated job than he’d had with Gabrielle.
“How is Gabrielle doing?” he asked the rescuer.
“She was taken to Hôpital des Trois Îlets, which is the closest one around here. You’ll be able to see her as soon as we can get your foot free.”
Another rescuer was rappelling down with a power saw.
“Sir, we’ll get you out of here, but we’ll have to saw through the metal to release the brake pedal off your foot.”
He tried not to dwell on what they had to do to get him out. He thought instead of his new car. This was his beautiful Jag, less than a day old. What cruelty! All kidding aside, he was grateful to be alive and even more thankful Gabrielle might be okay. He was chomping at the bit to get to her. He hoped she was all right. He didn’t think he could stand it if anything were to happen to her.
*****
After a great deal of sawing and maneuvering, his foot was finally free. He was not in a lot of pain, but the rescuers still didn’t allow him to climb up the rope alone. He was strapped onto the leaner of the two guys, and they were hauled up together. As they got to the road, they were separated, and he was taken to the emergency vehicle, and in no time, they were speeding on to the hospital. He was taken to the same hospital as Gabrielle.
The little he could see of Gabrielle showed her to be attached to several tubes. Why did the paramedic have to always give you that glucose fluid? It’s as if it’s the answer to everything. He tried hobbling over to check on her, but they wanted him to stay put until he’d had an X-ray. Also, according to the nurses, he might be suffering from shock. What shock? He was aware of everything that had happened from the moment they went over the cliff.
He knew the police followed the ambulance to the hospital. He supposed they’d have to interview the both of them. He knew his car was totaled. Oh, well, he couldn’t say he had grown attached to it. He hadn’t owned it that long. He hoped he could get a replacement right away.
He had a slight discomfort in his left foot, but it wasn’t unbearable. He was certain they would find there were no broken bones once they did the X-ray. He’d had broken bones before, and this did not feel like a break, not even a sprain. It could be just a light bruising of the muscle.
Waiting for them to take the X-ray, he called Wolfe to let him know what had happened. Just as he’d hung up, after trying to stem the flow of rapid questions, they came to get him for his X-ray. As he’d suspected, it was only a slight bruising of the muscles from being caught underneath the pedal.
They bandaged the foot, gave him some aspirin, and he was free to go. He was walking out of the ER when he heard his name being called. It sounded like Gabrielle’s voice, but he didn’t want to build his hopes up. Turning toward the sound, he was surprised to see her sitting on the edge of the ER bed.
“How are you feeling, ma chérie?”
“Hmmm, now let’s see. I hurt here.” She touched her forehead. “Here.” She touched her mouth. “And here.” She touched her heart.
“I’ll make it all better for you,” he said, kissing her on all the areas she’d touched on her body. “What else can I do to make you feel better?”
“Take me home?”
“Have they released you? You gave me quite a scare. You weren’t responding when I tried to talk to you.”
“They want to keep me overnight for observation. I hate hospitals. You always end up getting out with more than you went in with. There're too many viruses. I’ll chance it returning to the hotel.”
“Let me talk to the doctors.”
As it turned out, Gabrielle was given an all-clear to leave. When he asked the hospital why she had been unconscious for so long, he was told she had banged her head on the door of the vehicle. According to the emergency room doctor, it could have been much worse had she not been wearing her seatbelt. They were both very lucky, but his car, not so.
“Can you walk, or do I need to get you a wheelchair?”
“I can walk, but the police need to talk with both of us.”
“I’d forgotten about them completely. I’m really no use to them unless they have a report from an eyewitness. I have no idea who or what hit us. I know we were hit from behind, but that’s all I know. Did you see anything?” he asked her.
“No, I was enjoying the drive and the next thing I recall was you fighting to control the vehicle, which was shaking and vibrating something terrible. Was something wrong with the car?”
“No, somebody rear-ended us and propelled the vehicle forward. The reason it was shaking was because the anti-lock brakes came on. That could explain why we didn’t go over the cliff with greater force. I kept my foot on the brakes, even while the vehicle was being pushed from the force of the impact. Unless it was a hit and run, the police should have something to tell us very soon. Here they come now.”
“I can’t get over how close we came to dying. We could’ve been killed, Raymond. I only just met you. I don’t want to even contemplate losing you so soon.”
“You aren’t losing me. Nowhere near. I have a hard head.”
“No kidding.”
The two police officers, a man and a woman, walked up to them. The woman pulled up a chair to sit next to her in the ER, but the man took Raymond into a private room.
He didn’t see the need to separate them. They really knew nothing, separate or together. The whole thing had happened so quickly it was like a blur. One moment they were enjoying the drive, and the next they were pushed off the cliff. What else could he tell them?
Chapter Twelve
Just as she’d thought, she really didn’t have much to add to what they already knew. It so happened they had several eyewitness accounts, but everyone reported the driver not stopping after their vehicle went over the cliff.
One female driver had taken a picture of the vehicle with her cell phone, but the number on the plate was too blurry to read. What they could see, however, was that it was a white SUV. Beyond that, they had nothing.
This was definitely a hit and run. It could have been a tourist or anyone. The fact that the other driver didn’t stick around made this thing quite suspect.
How were the police going to locate the white SUV that had hit them? White SUVs were a dime a dozen on the island, so it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Her interview was over in no time. Raymond’s took longer. She was sitting there wanting to be anywhere but in this ER when she heard a couple of nurses whistling, creating a commotion. She began walking toward the nurses’ station to see what was going on, and who should she see striding up the corridor—Wolfe and Foxx. God, even she had to fan herself. It was a sight to see these two together. They were both wearing sunglasses that hid their eyes, the only true difference about them. So it was like seeing double, but they took it all in stride.
Foxx was on her first. He hugged and kissed her in welcome, kissing both cheeks before releasing her. “How's Raymond doing? Is he all right?”
“He is. He’s in there with the police,” she told him.
Wolfe just stood there watching her. Then he moved forward and greeted her in the same manner as Foxx.
“How are you doing, Gabrielle?”
“I’m doing fine, Wolfe. I hit my head on the car door, but I’ve been cleared to leave. Both Raymond and I were, as a matter of fact.”
He raised a black eyebrow. “You want to tell me what happened?”
Gabrielle frowned at him. “I don’t honestly know, Wolfe. I’ve told the officer all I could remember, which is almost nothing.”
“Come, let’s get a cup of coffee while we wait for Raymond.”
Taking her ar
m, he led her to the waiting area, where there was a vending machine and a coffee dispenser. Foxx took the seat on the other side. She had seen Foxx go into the room were Raymond had been talking with the policemen, evidently, there was not much going on in there because he had now taken the favored position, next to Wolfe.
Wolfe asked her again, “Would you like a cup of coffee, Gabrielle? It will make you feel better.”
Before she could answer, Foxx got up and went to the vending machine to get her the coffee.
“You take it black, right?” he asked her, handing her the cup.
Thinking to pay for the coffee, she couldn’t locate her bag. She wondered where it was. She couldn’t remember seeing either it or her cellphone since she arrived at the hospital. Maybe Raymond knew.
“Do you know anyone here in Martinique, Gabrielle?” Wolfe asked her out of the blue. Where did that come from?
“No, I don’t,” she was able to answer truthfully.
“Why did you come here? Why have you stayed?” Foxx asked her.
“When do you intend to leave? Why aren’t you leaving today?” Wolfe wanted to know.
The questions continued that way with Wolfe asking her one question, and before she could respond, Foxx would follow up with one of his own. It was the most unnerving experience.
“I sense there’s something you're not telling us. Tell me. We are trying to figure out why someone would try to run Raymond off the road. This has never happened before, so if you know something, it’s best to tell us now. I can help, but you have to come clean with me,” Wolfe continued.
“There’s nothing to come clean about, Wolfe. I came here to meet your brother to get my coat from him, and I decided to stay for a few days. There’s no ulterior motive there. I don’t know anyone here, and it’s my first time visiting Martinique. What happened to us was unfortunate, but I too almost died. Have you thought about that?”
“I’m sorry, Gabrielle,” Foxx chimed in, “but we won’t be happy if someone is trying to harm any member of our family. It’s just not done. And I do apologize if Wolfe’s questions make you uncomfortable, but these questions need to be asked. We’ll find the person who pushed Raymond’s car over the cliff, and we don’t want to find you were somehow involved. You were both lucky you weren’t killed.”