Love's Deadly Masquerade

by The Author- Yani

  “Maybe if Marcella were still alive, we could decide what course of action to take. I will check with two of the other facilities to see if they have any space for her. If they do, I will put in a request for an emergency transfer,” Vera replied.

  “And if they don’t?”

  Vera shook her head before shrugging her shoulders. “I don’t know. My frustrated hands are tied.” She walked away from him and headed over to the elevators.

  Vanessa closed her eyes and pretended to be sleep before Derek turned towards her. He came back inside of her room and sat in a chair next to her trying to think of what he could do to help her. But how could he help her when as Vera said to him moments before, he knew nothing about her? They had spent countless hours on the phone talking and laughing, but outside of her favorite color, favorite food, books and movies that she liked, he really didn’t know that much about her. He decided at that moment that he would get to know her and he would start with asking her who was Vanessa.

  Derek ran his fingers through the soft curls to her bush, waking her up. He smiled down at her. “Hey, Sleepy Head. You gave me a scare earlier. Are you feeling any better?”

  Vanessa stretched in the hospital bed and nodded her head. “Yes, I’m okay. I wasn’t expecting you to still be here. Thanks for sticking around. Sorry for scaring you.”

  “It’s cool. As long as you’re okay now, that’s all that matters.” They fell silent for a moment as Derek pondered over how he was going to approach the subject of who Vanessa was. Finally, he decided not to beat around the bush with his questions.

  “Carmen isn’t your real name, is it… Vanessa?”

  Vanessa looked at him startled for a moment. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.

  “Please don’t lie to me, Carmen. I understand how the program works. I understand for various reasons that certain things have to be done to insure the safety of the women who come to the facility to receive help and I’m not mad at you for not telling me your real name, especially if changing it was a condition of the program. But in case you haven’t noticed, I like you, Carmen. I like you a lot. You’re a beautiful woman, inside and out. You’re smart, you’re funny and I can tell before whatever happened to you that brought you to this facility, you were ambitious. I can’t tell you when the last time I came across a woman that I was attracted to this strongly. I’m nervous like a teenage boy telling you this stuff. But I want you to know how I feel about you and I want you to know I’m here for you. But it’s not much I can do to help you if you don’t tell me what’s up,” Derek said to her.

  Vanessa eyes teared up and she took a deep breath before shaking her head. “You can’t help me,” she replied.

  “Why? Because whoever your ex was scares you that badly that you think nothing and no one can protect you?”

  Vanessa covered her face and cried quietly. The only thing that let Derek know she was crying was the occasional sniffs in between each breath she took. He tried to pull her arms away from her face but she resisted him. Finally he sat on the edge of her hospital bed and pulled her close to him.

  “Ms. Vera is looking to have you transferred someplace else and I don’t want to not have you in my life. Tell me who Vanessa is. Let me help you,” Derek said to her softly.

  “Tell him Vanna! Stop letting what Eric did to you keep you living in constant fear and unable to trust anyone who genuinely cares about your well-being. Let him in. He’s not like Eric. He cares about you and he wants to help you. Let him in!” Vanessa could hear the voice in her head which sounded very much like Arianna. Her heart ached for her best friend and she wished she had listened to Camille and Marcella and not made contact. Now Eric had possibly found her and it would only be a matter of time before he caught her someplace by herself and learned her… learned her real good and real hard.

  Vanessa took a deep breath and decided to heed the words of her best friend as they sounded off in her mind. She began to twirl her finger around the string to Derek’s hooded sweat shirt as she told him all about Vanessa and Eric; the match made in hell.

  Derek listened intently as Vanessa told him how she met Eric and how everything went from being blissful and sweet to a hellish nightmare. She never thought she would be able to tell anyone about the things he did to her; the beatings, the verbal assaults, the sexual abuse, being locked in the house for days at a time without food or a ways to contact anyone; the time he locked her in the basement, choked her and smothered her while raping her. All of the different ways he abused her to maintain his power and control over her, she told Derek. Lastly, she told him about Camille and Tre’ who were kind enough to put her in contact with Marcella and how that was what led to her leaving Eric and making her way to the facility.

  “So now you know who Vanessa was.”

  Derek swallowed past a knot of anger inside of him. Listening to the things that Vanessa told him not only made him angry, but they made him sick to his stomach. He had never met Eric before, but he swore if he’d ever crossed paths with him, he would give him the ass whipping of the century. He wanted to beat the bullshit out of him for being such a cowardly woman beater.

  “Did you know the woman that stopped you earlier?” he asked Vanessa.

  Vanessa shook her head. “I had never seen her before a day in my life.”

  “What was in the envelope? Vera looked at it and got the same expression on her face that you did.”

  “It was a picture of me laughing while I was having breakfast with you,” Vanessa replied. “Either Eric took the picture himself and had the girl give it to me, or he has someone following me. Either way, he knows where I am. Arianna’s dead, Marcella is dead. God knows who else or who might be next. And it’s my fault. It’s all on me. Maybe sending me somewhere else would be what’s best,” Vanessa said solemnly.

  “Don’t ever let me hear you say that again,” Derek replied. “What happened to your best friend and Marcella is not your fault. That’s all on him. But you can’t keep running from him, Carmen. He needs to be put away. He needs to be stopped.” He stroked the side of her face softly with his finger tips and then a thought came to him. “Does he know you’re pregnant?”

  Vanessa shook her head. “No. I had just found out the day I left. That’s mostly why I left him because I didn’t want to take a chance that he would hit me one day and cause me to lose the baby, or worse.”

  “Are you sure you didn’t leave anything behind that might have tipped him off about you being pregnant?”

  “Well, I took a home pregnancy test but I stuffed everything in the bottom of the trash can underneath a bunch of other trash.”

  “Assume he knows,” Derek said quickly. “Assume he knows and that’s the reason he’s looking for you. If he is controlling like you say he is, he will not like the idea of you keeping him from his child, especially if it turns out to be a boy, his name sake, his prodigy. And God forbid if there is another man in that child’s life playing the daddy role.”

  A doctor came into the room and Vanessa sat up.

  “Okay Ms. Thompson. We just wanted to monitor you to make sure everything was okay. Your blood pressure was up when you were first brought in but it seems to have gone back down to normal. You may want to take it easy, put your feet up.” The doctor then looked at Derek and smiled. “Are you the husband?”

  Derek looked at Vanessa and then looked back at the doctor. “No, we’re not married, but I’ll make sure she’s taken good care of.” He then rubbed her stomach and kissed her forehead. Vanessa smiled nervously.

  “Well, the nurse will be in with your discharge papers and you can head on home. Nice meeting you.” The doctor shook Derek’s hand. “Congratulations to you both and have a great evening.”

  Vanessa waved to the doctor and then sat up so she could put her shoes on. “Guess I better get ready to face the music with Ms. Vera.”

  “Come home with me,” Derek said nervously.

  Vanessa stopped what she was doing and look
ed up at Derek. “Huh?”

  “I want you to come stay with me. If you want to, no pressure. I just want to make sure you’re safe until this is over with,” he replied quickly.

  “You don’t have to do this.”

  “I want to.”

  Vanessa thought for a moment. She believed she should have declined the offer and go back to the facility, but she kept hearing Arianna saying for her to let him in. She shook her head giving in and said, “Okay. I’ll stay with you. You won’t get into trouble will you?”

  “No, I don’t think so. We’ll see though, won’t we?” Derek replied as he shrugged his shoulders. The nurse came in and went over Vanessa’s discharge instructions. She signed everything and then Derek took her down to his car. He drove her to the facility first to get as many of her things that she could carry. Derek talked to Vera while Vanessa bagged up her belongings.

  “This is not a good idea, Derek.” Vera said to him.

  “No disrespect Ms. Vera, but y’all were ready to throw a pregnant woman who is the victim of domestic abuse out into the streets because of one mistake she made instead of trying to come up with a contingency plan to put in place should it actually be her ex that’s coming after her. What I’m doing might be a bad idea to you, but compared to what y’all were going to do, it seems like a great idea to me,” Derek stood his ground firm, undeterred in his plans to look after Vanessa until everything was over.

  He went over to Vanessa’s living quarters after his conversation with Vera and saw that Vanessa was waiting for him. He took the big, green bag that she had her belongings in and they walked to his car in silence.

  “Are you hungry?” Derek asked her.

  Vanessa chuckled. “You’re asking the fat pregnant girl if she’s hungry.”

  Derek chuckled with her. “You’re not fat, though. You’re carrying your pregnancy weight really well. I’ve seen chicks blow up into real cows.”

  Vanessa burst out laughing. “Lucky me, I guess. But no, I’m not really hungry. Just got a lot on my mind.”

  “You wanna talk?”

  She shook her head as she put her seatbelt on. “Not yet. I just need to sort out some of what’s going on in my head.” “You mean you want to know which voice you should listen to? How fast do you think Derek will drop your dumb ass when he realizes you’re nutty as a damn fruit cake? And if you think for one minute this nigga just wants to keep you safe, no strings attached, you really are dumber than I originally thought. Pregnant pussy is the safest pussy. He can hit that shit raw and not have to worry about you getting knocked up because you already are. Damn, you’re gullible as fuck…”

  “Oh my God, man!” Vanessa hissed out loud.

  “What, what’s wrong?” Derek asked as he glanced at her.

  Vanessa leaned forward in her seat and put her hands to her face, praying silently to herself that the voice in her head would shut up. She dug her nails into her hands hoping that would help. After a moment of feeling the painful, sharp sting of her nails digging into her hands, she sat back up and shook her head. “Nothing,” she replied flatly.

  “You sure?” Derek checked as he glanced at her again.

  Vanessa nodded her head without saying anything else.

  “1, 2… Eric’s coming for you…” Vanessa heard the voice in her head singing in a creepy, slow manner. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the seat, praying that he wasn’t coming for her. She prayed that the voices in her head would stop. She prayed for peace and most importantly, she prayed that nothing happened to anyone else, especially Derek.

  23

  Felix had the locks to his apartment changed and had a dead bolt lock added as well, to make it harder for anyone else to break in. He put in a request for some time off, using the break in as an excuse. After his request was approved, he took his computer over to his technician friend and made a call to another friend in forensics. She didn’t answer so he left her a voicemail.

  “Hey Tamika, this is Felix. I wanted to know if you were ever able to check the lab results on the DNA collected from Arianna Stone. I also wanted to know if you were able to get any information from Antonio Vasquez’s car wreck. I’m heading to Maryland to take care of some personal matters. Give me a call when you get this. Alright, Mami. Peace.”

  “You were right, Felix.” George said as Felix was disconnecting his call. “Someone planted a sonuva blip of a virus on this baby. The only way to get rid of this jawn is to wipe your entire drive. I hope you don’t have anything on here that you want or need.”

  “Nah,” Felix said as he shook his head. “Just some skin flicks I made with a big booty cutie I knew, but I can always make another one later.” George looked at Felix wide-eyed and Felix cracked a grin. “I’m just fucking with you. Ain’t nothing on there. Wipe that shit.”

  “You’re a funny guy,” George laughed. “How soon do you need this back?”

  “Take your time, no rush. Everything I need is on a thumb drive some place safe.” Felix’s phone rang and he was happy to see that it was Tamika from forensics. “Hey Mami, you get my message?”

  “Yeah Papi, I got it. You haven’t talked to your partner?”

  “Yeah, I ran into Michaels on my way from the precinct earlier. He left for vacation.”

  “It must’ve slipped his mind. I gave the reports to him. The first time DNA was pulled from Ms. Stones’ person, they found two different blood types; neither of them were hers. The first one was Antonio Vasquez’ and the second one we couldn’t determine. We’re still running it through the system in hopes that something will come up. But I gave it all to Michaels and he told me he would make sure you got everything.”

  Felix fell silent as his heart raced in his chest. Why wouldn’t his partner give the information to him especially seeing that the case was being closed? “What about Vasquez’s car. Do you have anything on that?” he asked calmly.

  “I gave it all to Michaels. He told me to give him the copies too so he could get them over to you and to the Lieutenant,” Tamika replied.

  “Alright, thanks Mami.”

  “Maybe he left them on your desk before he left,” Tamika suggested.

  “Maybe, I’ma holla at you later.” Felix disconnected the phone and called over to a friend of his at the precinct that he knew was at work. “Yo Bill, what’s up?”

  “Ahh nothing much. Just in here doing a bunch of dumb-ass paperwork. They still got me on desk duty because of my shoulder. Bullshit if you ask me,” Bill replied.

  “Yeah, how about that. Listen, do me a favor. Check my desk and see if anything from forensics was left on there.” Felix waited patiently for Bill to come back to the phone. He didn’t want to believe he had a dirty partner. They had been partners for more than five years and Felix trusted him with his life. He prayed the file was on his desk and Michaels had been so preoccupied with going on vacation that he forgot to tell him. Bill came back to the phone.

  “Nope, nothing from forensics, buddy. Was somebody supposed to leave you something?”

  “No, I guess I got my wires crossed. Thanks.” Felix hung up the phone. “Sonuva bitch,” he mumbled.

  “What’s wrong?” George asked.

  Felix didn’t respond as his mind was racing over the recent turn of events. How could he have had this partner for so long and missed the signs of him being a dirty cop.

  “Maybe he’s not a dirty cop but knows Eric from somewhere and is just trying to cover for him while he gets to the bottom of it… he could be working separate angles just like me…” Felix thought to himself. But the smarter part of him knew better. Giving Michaels that kind of benefit of the doubt could cause him to make a critical mistake that could cost him his life, and he was not about to let that happen.

  “Wipe that drive,” he instructed George as he pointed at him with his phone while moving towards the door. “This shit just got real. Is it any way you can trace that virus to see where the information would have gone if it had been obtain
ed? Does that make sense?” Felix frowned as he had a thought that maybe he was hanging around George too much.

  “I understand what you’re asking. I could try. But the virus is kinda like “God’s Eye” from the movie Furious 7. I mean, they can’t see you wherever you are in the world, but every key stroke you make, every icon you clink on, every site you visit, every email you open, it’s opening some-where else and someone can see what you’re seeing,” George explained.

  “So you could track it?” Felix asked.

  “I could try. But chances are, the virus is so intricate that it will intercept any counter attacks against it, freeze your system and force you to keep starting over. The time it would take me to hack that virus, flip it and track it back to whoever it’s linked to, you’ll be wishing me a happy new year,” George smirked.

  “Fuck… I ain’t got that kinda time. Alright, wipe the shit. I’ve gotta go. Call me if you come up with anything.” Felix walked over to George’s door and then stopped. He then backed up and pulled his keys out of his pocket. “If anything happens to me, you take this key and unlock my safety deposit box at Wells Fargo bank up on Germantown Avenue. Take everything in there to the 22nd district and ask for Jamal Williams and Dante Smith. Give everything to them.”

  “You don’t want me to give it to your lieutenant or captain?” George asked as he took the key.

  “No. Only those two.”

  “What do I tell them?” George asked.

  Felix hesitated for a moment. “If I don’t want you to give it to my lieutenant or captain and I’m trusting you with this key over my partner, I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

  George frowned as he thought over what Felix said and then his eyes became wide once he realized why the request was being made. Felix shook his hand firmly and then left so he could make his way to Maryland, hoping that he wasn’t too late.

  24

  Vanessa laid on the couch half-asleep after eating a batch of Derek’s shrimp Alfredo with buttered rolls and string beans. It was the best home-cooked meal that she had outside of her own cooking since the last time she had dinner with her mother more than a year prior. If Derek had not been in her site, she was tempted to run her finger across the plate and lick the sauce. She offered to wash the dishes since he had done all of the cooking and wouldn’t let her help, but he insisted she have a seat and relax after the long day she’d had.