Love's Deadly Masquerade

by The Author- Yani

  “Yeah, she was dating him about three years ago and just like Vanessa, Tony was hired to find her when she left him. Then her body was found near Belfield Avenue.”

  “Jesus,” Tremaine mumbled.

  “Why can’t you just arrest this bastard now?” Camille asked. “That’s at least four dead people by his hand. You can’t arrest him?”

  “Everything is circumstantial, ma’am. We have no proof. Only the word of a known felon who is now dead, and a lot of coincidences. We can’t tie him to the video we have of Arianna’s abduction, we can’t tie him to Regina Smalls’ murder because he had an air tight alibi. This guy is good. But I promise you, I will do everything in my power to make sure he doesn’t get to Vanessa or hurt anyone else. You have my word on that.”

  Tremaine opened the front door and Felix stepped out. Coming up the walk-way to his own house was Eric. He briefly looked at Felix but didn’t pay him any mind. He waved to Tremaine and Camille casually and went inside of his house.

  “That was him,” Camille said in a low voice.

  Felix smiled and gave her the same warm embrace that he had given her earlier. “Good seeing you, Auntie.” He then shook Tremaine’s hand and gave him a strong hug. “Good seeing you, too Unk.”

  Tremaine looked at him confused at first but decided to play along. “Yeah, you gotta come watch an Eagles’ game with me in my man cave. Let Camille whip up some of her famous Jambalaya and Louisiana home fried chicken. Woo-Wee!” he said with a chuckle.

  “I definitely will, Unk. I definitely will.” Felix walked over to his car and drove away. Eric watched from his window for a little bit and then closed his blinds.

  19

  Every night since the day Derek had given Vanessa his phone number, they talked on the phone for hours. Most of the conversations were funny with Derek telling Vanessa stories of his child-hood and the kinds of trouble he would get into with his friends. Vanessa hadn’t laughed so hard in a long time. But whenever the conversations would shift to her and her childhood, Vanessa would find a reason to get off the phone abruptly, or change the subject. Derek liked Vanessa a lot and was becoming drawn to her more and more every day. But she was not making it easy for him to get to know her.

  Vanessa was standing in front of her mirror admiring her “baby bump” one morning. She’d just passed the sixth month milestone and was preparing for the homestretch, glowing all the while. She turned from one side to the other staring at her belly in a loving manner. Though she wanted the sex to be kept a secret until she delivered the baby, she had already picked out names. If she were to be blessed with a girl, Vanessa was going to name her after Arianna. Should it be a boy, she was going to name him after her father, Darryl Malik Lofton. Thinking of her father put her in a solemn mood. She was only fortunate enough to have him in her life until the age of sixteen. Vanessa had never learned the full story behind his death. She only knew that he was shot and killed outside of his car while coming home from work one night.

  Her father had been the first man to tell her he loved her, the only man to have tattooed her name across his chest, and the first man to show her how beautiful she was inside and out. Thinking of the day he stood behind her while she sat at her vanity in her bedroom trying on make-up that Arianna bought for her birthday, she could still hear his voice as he schooled her on her natural beauty.

  “Vanna, you have the kind of beauty that most women would kill for; pure, natural, undeniable. Why cover your beauty with make-up that’s only going to dull a light that already shines so bright without it. Love yourself as you are or no one else will. You’re already beautiful. You don’t need anything more than your smile.” And with those words, he kissed Vanessa on the top of her head and rubbed her neck gently.

  “I miss you, Daddy…” Vanessa said softly. She heard a knock at her door and jumped. “Who is it?” she asked.

  “Good morning, Carmen. It’s Derek. I was about to head out to Verna’s Diner for some breakfast. Would you like to join me?”

  Vanessa looked at herself in the mirror and suddenly felt insecure about her appearance. Her hair wasn’t done, and she was wearing a pair of sweat pants with a tank-top and Adidas flip flops. She couldn’t possibly let him see the way she looked.

  Derek knocked again. “Carmen, is this a bad time?”

  “Um… just a second!” She fumbled around, picking at her curly bush and then frowned. “Aww man…!” she whined. She sulked over to the door and cracked it open. “Hi Derek,” she managed a smile. “Verna’s sounds great but I look a mess right now. I was too lazy to twist my hair last night and I’m not even dressed. Maybe some other time,” she said quickly.

  Derek looked her over. “You look beautiful to me. Your hair’s perfect and you look comfortable. That’s all that matters. Honestly, you could look like you just finished dumpster diving. Just being in your company is enough,” he said with a charming smile.

  Vanessa tried to suppress her blushing but was unsuccessful and that made Derek smile even more. She opened the door for him. “At least let me put some sneakers on instead of these flip flops. I’ll be ready in a minute.”

  Derek came in and stood by her desk. “Take your time.” Vanessa went into her bedroom and kicked off her flip-flops. She grabbed her New Balances from the small closet she had and slipped them on quickly. She then frowned at her appearance in the mirror and took the sneakers back off. She quickly pulled off her sweat pants and snatched a pair of faded blue jeans from her closet along with a peach and white colored top that fell from one shoulder.

  “Any plans for your day off?” she asked from her bedroom as she changed her clothes.

  “Nothing too special. Just enjoying the weather and seeing what the day brings me. What about you?” Derek asked back.

  Vanessa quickly slipped on a pair of hooped ear-rings and dabbed on a little perfume. “No, nothing planned. Was just going to get a good book to read and maybe watch a movie or something.”

  “Yeah? What are you reading?”

  “I was thinking of reading either Native Son, Black Boy, or The Spook Who Sat by the Door. I don’t know yet.”

  “I love Richard Wright’s work. He was very raw and authentic. Didn’t hold any punches either…” Derek trailed off when Vanessa came from her bedroom. Every thought that he had been thinking vanished as he stared at her. He had not come across a woman whose beauty was breath-taking in all of his life. He thought back to when he told himself that he would be satisfied being good friends with her and knew at that moment that merely being friends would not be enough. Derek wanted Vanessa as his woman, the number one priority in his life, and he was willing to do whatever was necessary to make that happen.

  Vanessa caught the way that Derek stared at her and looked away as the butterflies invaded her stomach. She tried to tell herself that it was the baby kicking and moving around, but a voice that sounded very much like Arianna told her otherwise.

  “Don’t fight it, Vanna. It’s been a while since a man genuinely looked at you with that kind of gaze. Embrace it. Don’t punish him for what Eric did to you. Let him in!”

  Vanessa grabbed her purse from the table with Derek’s gaze never leaving her. “I’m ready. Let me just grab my keys.”

  “You look beautiful,” Derek told her.

  Vanessa blushed again as she snatched her keys from the counter. “Thank you,” she smiled.

  Derek shook his head as though he was being snapped out of a trance. “I have the movie The Spook Who Sat by the Door. Have you ever seen it?”

  “No, but I wanted to. I remember my father telling me about it but we never got a chance to watch it together,” Vanessa replied as they left her small living quarters.

  “Why not?” Derek asked.

  Vanessa hesitated, still not sure if she wanted to talk about her past. She then shrugged her shoulders, “He was killed before we had the chance. I never really thought of watching it after that. But I was browsing some books on a website the other day
and I saw it and thought of him, so I bought it on Kindle.”

  “Oh, damn. I’m sorry to hear that,” Derek replied as he tweaked the alarm to his silver 2014 Nissan Pathfinder. He opened the door for her so she could get in and then jogged around to the other side. “Well, how about this; if you’re not doing anything later outside of enjoying a good book, do you like Shrimp Alfredo?”

  Vanessa smiled. “I love Shrimp Alfredo.”

  “Okay, well, you made me breakfast. How about I whip some up, bring it over with the movie, and we can watch it and buss a grub?”

  “You can cook?” Vanessa looked at him with a smirk.

  “Oh yes, a brother can burn. My momma taught me well.”

  “Okay, we’ll see. Don’t be bringing me no Chef Boy R Dee mess with some extra seasonings on it. I ain’t slow,” Vanessa joked. They laughed together.

  “Aww, she’s trying to play me. Nah, seriously. I can burn. You’ll see tonight,” Derek told her as he started the car and pulled out of his parking spot.

  “Okay, it’s a date,” Vanessa smiled again. And this time she was sure that it wasn’t just the baby moving around. The butterflies in her stomach danced to the beat of an unheard, melodious tune and Vanessa embraced the good feelings they left her with. She placed her hand on her stomach and smiled as she stared out of the window while Derek drove to Verna’s Diner.

  They talked and laughed while eating big breakfast platters of French toast, scrambled cheese eggs, home fries, sliced ham, coffee and orange juice. Vanessa had not been this comfortable in the company of a man in a long time. Talking to Derek was as easy as breathing. Vanessa was enjoying her time with him so much that she never noticed the man sitting two tables behind them watching her and discreetly taking pictures with his phone.

  After they were done eating, Derek cleared everything off of the table and paid for their meal. They began walking back to his car still engrossed in their conversation when a young woman walked over to them.

  “Excuse me, Vanessa?” the young woman asked.

  Vanessa froze as she stared at the woman, not recognizing her as someone she knew from back home. She shook her head and smiled nervously. “Excuse me?”

  “Your name is Vanessa, right?” the young lady asked in a matter of fact tone.

  “No, I’m sorry, you have me mistaken for someone else,” Vanessa replied as her heart raced.

  “No I don’t. Here,” she said as she put a small, manila envelope in Vanessa’s hand. “I was told to give this to you.” And as quickly as the woman approached her, she was gone.

  “That was odd. Did you know her?” Derek asked.

  “I have no idea who she was,” Vanessa mumbled as she peeked inside of the envelope. She froze as a lump of fear formed in her throat. Inside of the envelope was a photo of her standing near Derek at the diner and another photo of her sitting at the table, laughing. On the photo was a caption that read in red letters: See You Soon, V-Dot.

  “He found me…” she thought to herself.

  “1, 2… Eric’s coming for you…” the voice sang in her head.

  As hard as Vanessa was trying to keep a straight face, fear shook her body to the core. Derek noticed the sudden change in her.

  “What’s up, Carmen? You good?” he asked as he searched her face.

  “I need to get back to my room,” Vanessa said in a shaky voice as she looked around frantically. At that moment, everyone looked suspicious. Either Eric was there, or he had someone watching her. Vanessa was so frightened she wasn’t sure if she was going to wet herself or shit her pants, but the fear washed over her body and left her feeling mortified. “Take me back to my room, please. Take me back.”

  “Okay, calm down, Carmen. Just tell me what’s wrong.”

  “No, you don’t understand. I have to get out of here. I… I…” Vanessa put a hand to her mouth unable to keep herself from crying. She shook in terror as she lost control of her breathing and began to hyperventilate. She leaned into Derek as she struggled to catch her breath, Derek held onto her with one arm as he grabbed his phone from his pocket to dial 9-1-1.

  A bystander handed Derek a paper bag and just as he had done for her in Vera’s office when she learned of Arianna’s murder, he coached Vanessa through breathing with the paper bag and spoke to her in a soft voice to soothe her and calm her down. The world was spinning and Vanessa felt hot and dizzy as though she may vomit. Too many voices in her head, taunting, teasing, threatening, scaring her, warning her, chastising her. The world spun as though she were on a sadistic merry-go-round. As much as she wanted to focus on Derek’s voice and let the smell of his cologne help to calm her, her fear that Eric was close enough to get a picture of her and then give it to her through a messenger was too terrifying for her to focus on anything else. She gasped for breath, each one making her chest feel tighter and tighter, suddenly thinking back to some of the many times Eric choked her until she passed out. Those images flashed through her mind like a slideshow. She also thought of the time he put a pillow over her face while he ravaged her and she was positive, like during some of the many times he had choked her, that she was going to die. Everything around her began to go dark and she thought of the Looney Tunes cartoon where everything was swallowed up by a dark circle.

  “A blee, a blee, a blee, that’s all, folks!” she heard Porky Pig say as her eyes fluttered. Before they shut, she was positive she saw Eric in the crowd of people that had begun to gather around, and then everything went black.

  20

  Felix was in a great mood. He was able to locate the woman in Maryland whose phone was used to make the phone call to Arianna, and was prepared to take a short vacation to go down there to meet with her so she could lead him to Vanessa. He decided to keep the information that he was coming across to himself until he was sure he could gather concrete evidence to not only have Eric arrested, but get him convicted as well.

  Felix was not happy with the way the investigation was going with Antonio Vasquez. It was taking far too long for information to come back on his car to determine if it had been tampered with or if it just so happened to be a freak accident at a time when he was in a position to help solve Arianna’s murder. Every time he called the lab for an update, he was told that they were backed up and hadn’t gotten any conclusive information back yet. He decided he would reach out to a good friend of his that went to high-school with him and worked in forensics, figuring maybe he could get the information, if there was any, faster by going through her.

  He was whistling as he twirled his keys around his finger while walking past his Lieutenant’s office when his name was called.

  “Felix,” his lieutenant called to him. He waved Felix into his office.

  “Yes, Lieutenant O’Neil.”

  The lieutenant grabbed a file that was on the desk and tossed it at Felix. “When you’re assigned a case, you work the case with your partner, following protocol, and any and all information that leads to a break in the case of any kind should be reported to me. Isn’t that typically how things operate around here?” the lieutenant asked.

  Felix could tell by the expression on O’Neil’s face that he was not pleased. “Yes, pretty much that’s…”

  O’Neil cut him off and raised his voice, “Not pretty much, very much, Felix. I don’t like my officers tip-toeing around behind my back, going off on solo missions like some got damn vigilante. There are no awards, promotions or accolades given to cops who disregard the protocols put in place when working an investigation. Are we clear?”

  “Crystal-clear,” Felix replied. His jaw tightened as he struggled hard to bite his tongue.

  “Now, Antonio Vasquez’s death is being seen as an accident. There is no case with that. The only connection that accident has to the murder investigation with Arianna Stone is the fact that he is more than likely the responsible party for her murder. Therefore, the case is closed.” O’Neil took the case file back from Felix and sat it on another table behind him.

&nbs
p; “Wait a minute, what?” Felix asked with wide eyes. “What do you mean cased closed? We don’t know for sure if Vasquez was behind Arianna’s murder. Didn’t you see the tape? There’s another party involved.”

  “We have the word of a repeated offender who has a history of shady business dealings. His blood was under her nails. Regardless what the tape shows, forensic shows she had a struggle with Vasquez and as a result of that struggle, a young woman is dead.”

  “But what about what he mentioned as far as being hired to locate Vanessa Lofton. I checked on some of the things he had in his file and spoke with some people who verified that Vanessa made contact with Arianna after she was helped by Marcella Jackson. They also confirmed that this young lady was being abused by Eric Washington. Now Arianna and Marcella Jackson are dead? Come on, Lieutenant! No way can you look at that as a big coincidence. Not to mention another woman, Regina Smalls was also killed. Did you know Vasquez was hired three years ago by Washington to locate her as well? She was killed three days after Vasquez gave her location to him.”

  “Okay, let’s say it’s not a coincidence. Who are your sources outside of some files that Vasquez could have cooked up to save his own ass? What valid proof do you have that can bring life back to this case?” O’Neil asked as he played with a pen in his hand.

  Felix hesitated for a moment. “They requested to not be included in this investigation, so as of now, they’re just anonymous sourced that I have. But seeing the body trail, can you too much blame them?”

  “Unless you can get them to come forward with any and all information that they have, I’m afraid there’s nothing more I can do other than close this case.”

  “But Lieutenant,” Felix tried to protest.

  “You’ve been reassigned to the Jeweler’s Row robberies. All the information that you need is in your inbox. I suggest you get caught up.”