by H. H. Fowler
“Well it is not enough,” Dallis snapped.
“I’m sorry, Dallis, I really am.”
Richard squeezed Dallis’ shoulders in a supportive manner and then hurried away to join Karissa. Tears filled Dallis’ eyes as she watched Detective Shelby disappear out of her view. It was at the same time that she felt the gentle embrace of her husband, hugging her from behind.
“Let’s go home,” he whispered in her ear. “I can’t handle seeing you fall apart like this.”
Dallis turned and buried her face in Anwar’s chest. Somehow, she sensed that after three years of agonizing over her father’s disappearance, something terrible had suddenly happened to him. She did not want to let go of Anwar, for fear of crumpling to the floor.
People always overdo the matter when they attempt deception.
– Charles Dudley Warner
Chapter Seventeen
While passing the foyer heading toward the kitchen, Miss Rose heard the doorbell ring. She shuffled backwards and pulled the front door open. To her confusion, her eyes connected with a large arrangement of yellow roses, which completely hid the face of the person holding them.
Sensing it was Montgomery wearing such expensive-looking shoes, Miss Rose put one hand to her side and then with some attitude, she spat, “A man ain’t brought me flowers in over forty years. I hope they are fuh me.”
Montgomery lowered the flowers and stared at the maid sheepishly. “I thought Mrs. Beaufort would have opened the door,” he said.
“Why would you think that? You know I only answer the door.”
“Well, I called Mrs. Beaufort and told her I was on my way.”
Miss Rose’s venomous scowl appeared in her eyes. She didn’t trust Della and she certainly didn’t trust her smooth-talking father, especially since it appeared that Montgomery was trying to take Gregory’s place as the man of the house. “Yuh should have showed up three days ago to take that no manners daughter of yours with you. Stay here and I will bring her down to the foyer.”
Montgomery pushed his foot inside to prevent Miss Rose from closing the door in his face. “You don’t understand. I came here to see Dana...er, Mrs. Beaufort. She is expecting me.”
“Do yuh watch the news?” Miss Rose fired at Montgomery. “Mrs. Beaufort is in no shape nor form to see anyone. She is preparin’ for her husband’s arrival, who will be walkin’ through this door any minute.”
Montgomery smirked at the maid’s conspicuous attempt to get rid of him, but she was no match for him. He drew his cell from his waistband and dialed Dana’s mobile number in the presence of the maid. He purposely raised his voice to make Dana assume that he was upset.
“Hello, beautiful. I came to pick up my daughter, but I am being hassled by your maid. I am terribly disappointed by her atrocious attitude! She refuses to let me in the house, even though I explained to her that you are expecting me. On top of that, she is badmouthing my daughter, calling her all sorts of unpleasant names. Now, Mrs. Beaufort, I am an extremely busy man, and I don’t appreciate having my time wasted…I don’t mean to lay this on you now, considering what’s going on with your husband’s case, but I did not come here to make trouble…”
As soon as Montgomery disconnected from Dana, Miss Rose forcefully shoved him out of the entryway and then slammed the door in his face – like she wanted to the first time. She moved her large frame hastily across the marble tiles, mumbling in her native language. Dana caught her in passing.
“Rose, what is going on between you and Mr. Black?”
Rose gripped Dana’s hand in desperation. “Take me serious, boss lady, more serious than you ever did in yuh life. I would never disrespect any of your guests you invite into this home, but that man standing outside that door came straight from the womb of hell! He and his daughter are on an assignment to corrupt your life and bring you to open shame. I sense evil every time I get in their presence. I beg you, my sweet boss lady, have nothin’ to do with that man and his no manners daughter!”
Rose waddled away before she gave Dana an opportunity to respond. But Dana was too rattled to respond anyway. For the twenty-odd years Rose had worked for the family, Dana had never seen her act so out of character. Even if she wanted to reprimand Rose, it would seem unreasonable. The tone of Rose’s voice hadn’t a shred of disrespect, just an abundance of concern. Flummoxed, Dana walked to the front door to let Montgomery in. He smiled and then handed her the arrangement of yellow roses.
“I see I have suddenly become disliked around here,” he said. “But I can understand. People usually view me as a terrible father because of the actions of my daughter.”
Dana decided not to respond to that statement at the moment, mostly because she was still trying to get a feel for what really took place between Rose and Montgomery. She placed the roses on the table that was in the foyer and then gave Montgomery a measured look. “The flowers are beautiful,” she told him. “But I don’t know what they are for.”
“Oh. I heard of the arrest that had been made in your husband’s case. I simply wanted to come by and show my support.”
“I thought you said you came to pick up your daughter.”
Montgomery was quick to take the focus off of him. “So, the maid was right. My daughter has been causing a little trouble.”
“You seem surprised.”
“I’m more embarrassed that Della would act out so soon. She’s has only been here a few days and I’m already being barred from coming into your house.”
“Remember that little discussion we had before your daughter came here to stay,” Dana reminded Montgomery. “About her not having a consistent role model in her life?”
“Yes, I know Della can be a handful.”
Dana raised her voice up a notch. “It’s not Della’s attitude I’m having the real problem with, Mr. Black. It’s your evasiveness. You’ve been gone for three days and neither I nor your daughter have had any contact with you. No wonder she has been “acting out”. She needs the loving care and attention of a father, not to be thrown into a home with people she doesn’t know. So you should not blame Della’s actions on the way people view your parenting skills, if you have not sincerely been doing your part. I don’t think you have been entirely truthful with me.”
Montgomery turned away from Dana’s reprimanding gaze. “I cannot argue with that. Della has pretty much raised her own self. My company advises other companies how to run their businesses more efficiently. The majority of times, my partner and I work at the clients’ sites, which could be here in Bliss Haven – like we’re doing now or anywhere around the globe. So we travel a lot. Della has had to put up with that for most of her childhood years.”
“You said her mother died when she was four years old. So who’s kept her during those times when you had to travel?”
“A neighbor or a distant cousin or someone else who I trust,” Montgomery answered, returning his gaze to Dana’s. “But it has never been for more than two to three weeks at a time. A fairly new company in Bliss Haven offered us an extremely lucrative contract to help get their business on its feet – so to speak. The amount of time we agreed on was two years. And since it was the longest amount of time I’d stayed anywhere, I didn’t want to leave Della in the United States. So, here we are in Bliss Haven.”
“Where is your partner?”
“Back home in the United States, keeping control of things there. We go back and forth, visiting each other.”
Dana crossed her arms, still not entirely convinced of Montgomery’s explanation. “That’s where you were for those three days? Visiting your partner in the United States?”
Montgomery looked at Dana guiltily and replied, “Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you just tell me that,” she fired at him. “I have too much going on in my life at the moment to be running behind you. Your daughter needs you, Mr. Black and I need my husband!”
Montgomery raised his brows in a way that made Dana feel as if she were losing her mind.
“Don’t give me that look!”
“What look?”
“As if you think I am delusional. My husband will return…”
Dana’s voice cracked at the possibility of having to live without Gregory for the rest of her life. There was a lot of reporting going on in the news about the arrest of Ms. V and her men, but there weren’t any conclusive details about her husband’s whereabouts. Did he drown, as one station reported? Was he still alive when the Coast Guard caught up with Ms. V on that island? If so, how come they didn’t find him? Maybe he had been killed sometime after he was kidnapped. So many unanswered questions had Dana locked into a world of perpetual madness.
“I think it’s best we leave now,” Montgomery said when he saw Della walk into the foyer, her overnight bag dangling in her hand. He refocused his attention on Dana and with much warmth in his tone, he added, “I really didn’t mean to upset you. I am so sorry about your husband and what his disappearance is doing to you.” When Dana didn’t respond, Montgomery hastened his steps toward the front door, gesturing for Della to follow him. “I will take your advice and spend some time with Della while I give you some space to deal with what’s going on.”
Chapter Eighteen
When Montgomery had driven about a mile from the Beaufort estate, he pulled over into an inconspicuous spot. He looked at Della, who was in the passenger seat typing away on her Samsung S5. She was really into the social networks. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, you name it and she would be able to detail the latest software updates.
“How many times do I have to warn you about being on those networks so much?” he chided her. “These sites help the police track people down.”
“You worry too much, Monty. I’m not even using my real name.”
“And you’re being so flippant about something I am not comfortable with.”
Della lowered the android from her face and looked at Montgomery. “I don’t complain when you’re spending all that time with Dana, do I?”
Montgomery thought of a retort that would put Della in her place, but instead, his lips relaxed into a licentious grin. He reached over and thrust his tongue through Della’s mouth.
“I miss that fiery side of you,” he said, his voice husky with lust. It was quite apparent that sex was the only thing he was thinking about at that moment. “Let’s do it right here.”
Della grinned. “Right here?”
“Yes, I want you now.”
Della cocked her head and stared at her husband of five months. He was gorgeous the day she met him and he was even more gorgeous now. But she was more interested in finding out what he and Dana were discussing behind her back.
“You like her a lot, don’t you?”
“Who?”
“Donald Duck,” Della said sarcastically. “Come on, Monty, you know what I’m getting at.”
Montgomery sighed and thought how good his wife was at killing a mood. “You know we are only doing what the organization is paying us to do. Don’t get sidetracked by your emotions.”
“I see the way you stare at her,” Della pouted. “You used to give me that same look when we first met. You were only supposed to seduce her for the cameras; not fall in love with her.”
“You are talking crazy.”
“Am I? What were you two discussing when I walked in. Things looked pretty serious between you two.”
“I was only following the script. Dana wanted to know where I was for those three days I was gone.”
“What did you tell her?”
“Quit it, Della. Why did you agree to do this, knowing you didn’t have the heart to follow through?”
“Two million dollars is a lot of money. I would be stupid to turn it down, especially considering how we could put it to use.” Della bowed her head toward her lap and began to play with her phone. “Maybe you prefer an older woman. You and Dana are almost the same age. I am only twenty-two, with no experience being as prim and as refined as her.”
“You have no need to be insecure. You know that I love you and only you. Dana can’t stand my guts anyway. She’s too strung out on that idiot husband of hers, who might already be dead.”
Montgomery watched as Della’s sad eyes came alive with mirth. He could only guess his words had finally resonated with her. Della’s purple Mohawk, piercings and tattoos were simply put in place as part of the deception, but Montgomery was beginning to warm up to the transformation. As he recalled, Della was usually laid-back and a bit dull in her appearance when she didn’t have a gig to perform. Almost two years ago they’d met in Mexico – at one of the House of gods underground locations. Della had just been recruited into the organization and was being used to satisfy the sexual cravings of about a dozen men a week.
That evening when Della came into his room, dressed in fishnet stockings and six-inch stilettoes, Montgomery sensed immediately that she was a bit uncomfortable. Her innocence had been totally destroyed, but he could still see a frightened little girl behind all of the heavy make-up. She was only doing the gigs to make money. Needless to say he was completely enamored with her. They began to talk – first about the easy stuff and then about the difficult struggles of her life, being raised in a single-parent home with no money. She was a fashion design student who had migrated to Mexico on a partial scholarship. He then told her about his boring bachelor life, employed as a BMW Executive. And that he lived in Mexico six months out of a year.
They ended up having passionate sex that night, but it was not simply for bodily gratification. They had connected on a deeper level and soon Montgomery was requesting to see her exclusively. When Ms. V approached him about the plan to marry Gregory’s wife, he and Della were already making plans to get engaged. Of course, Ms. V threw a fit. Clients weren’t allowed to marry the prostitutes. Montgomery and Della were determined to do anything to become husband and wife.
Behaving like a true opportunist, Ms. V quickly capitalized on their desperation and offered them an extremely lucrative contract. By that time, Gregory had been a captive for two years and Ms. V had had it with his stiff mouth and stubborn attitude. She figured the only way to break Gregory’s will was to go against her promise to leave his family alone. She would destroy each family member, beginning with his wife. If she tortured Gregory with a pornographic video of Dana and her new man, moving on with her life, surely it would shatter Gregory’s hope to shreds.
So Montgomery and Della made a deal with the devil. They reasoned: How bad could it be to deceive a family for a couple of months and then move on to enjoy their marriage? Two million dollars was a lot of money.
“What a preposterous idea… to marry,” Ms. V had spat at them. “But I can think of an excellent reason to employ you as husband and wife.”
“Whatever it is, we will do it,” Della replied.
“Don’t be too hasty, little girl. You don’t even know what I am requiring of you.” Ms. V showed them that priggish grin she usually wore right before she released her deadly venom. “Montgomery, you are a car salesman, correct?”
“A BMW Executive –”
“Same concept,” Ms. V interrupted. “In this tightly regulated economy, the money you used to make has been sliced in half. You don’t have to confirm it, because I am well aware of these things. An initiation into the organization offers both of you a plethora of benefits that are beyond your wildest dreams. But I need to test your level of commitment. We have had far too many renegades in the past and so the organization has slightly adjusted the way business is run.”
“Just tell us what you want us to do,” Montgomery pushed. “I love Della and I intend to marry her very soon.”
“I’m sure sex with her is not as riveting as it is with me,” Ms. V smirked. “And you’re not rushing off to marry me. Relax. I am getting to the good part soon enough.”
Della looked at Montgomery questioningly, feeling a little wounded over Ms. V’s admission. But she quickly dismissed whatever she felt. Montgomery was
her ticket to a better life and she dare not jeopardize it simply because he’d been seduced by the queen of perversion. She had learned that was part of Ms. V’s job – to sexually assess anyone who entered through the secrets doors of the organization. But Della wondered how long Ms. V would be able to sacrifice her body in such a way, considering she was a year from fifty.
“Now that I have your undivided attention,” Ms. V continued, “here is what I’m offering – in its simplest form. Two million dollars to destroy Gregory’s family. That money will go a long way in your new life together. The organization will pay you half now in increments of 250,000 and then the full balance when the job is completed.”
Montgomery stared at Ms. V, unsure if she was done explaining. “That’s it?”
Ms. V grinned. “Nothing is that simple in life, but it is simple enough. These are your instructions, but you two will figure out how to execute them on your own. I am only concerned about results. Montgomery, your job is to woo Dana with your good looks and charm, getting her to trust you. Seduce her into having sex and then record it for my perusal. It’s been two years since we’ve held her husband captive. I doubt Dana is still pining away for him. She has been known to have a soft spot for younger men. Apply enough pressure and she will fall for your charms with ease.”
“Della, your job is to work your way into the Beaufort’s home and into their lives. Make the lives of Gregory’s daughters a living hell. Sow discord between them and their relationships with men. I want you to focus specifically on Anwar Daxon. He should have been dead by now. It was because of him that our operation was destroyed in Bliss Haven. Make sure he never marries Dallis Beaufort.”
“Spend a little time on Izaiah Cahoon. He is purported to be an honest and upright preacher – something Gregory never was. I want you to bring Mr. Cahoon to an open shame. It will break Gregory’s heart to know that his little protégé has sinful proclivities just like the rest of us.” Ms. V scrunched up her nose and then concluded with a heavy dose of hatred, “I want them all to pay for Gregory’s decision to defy me! Then and only then, will I cut off Gregory’s neck while he stares at his wife making out with another man!”