“Do you truthfully think Castro snapped and killed those women?”
“He could have snapped, but I doubt that he did. I strongly believe someone else had the means and opportunity, and I believe it’s someone who had an agenda against him.”
“But wait a minute,” he said, as he was thinking about this. “How does Castro have a connection to Kathleen, you know, other than you?”
“As I have already told you, she was not faithful and had betrayed me. He was sleeping with her, too; but he hadn’t known I was with her. In fact, I’m not sure there was a guy around at the time who didn’t sleep with Kathleen, but that isn’t the point. You see, Castro was married,” he said. “It wasn’t a big wedding, it was something they just did quietly, at the court house.”
“Who was he married to?”
“Her name was Angela Edwards, and they had been married for only a year before everything went public. I talked to him about Kathleen once, and he assured me that he hadn’t slept with Kathleen in a while. He said he had broken it off with her, because he had wanted to be faithful to his wife.” She ended up divorcing him, though, and since he hadn’t gotten a prenuptial agreement, that bitch took a lot from him.
“So what were his motives for all of them? Would you be able to walk me through all of this,” David asked, intrigued.
Jason began to tell him everything.
Chapter 12
Emily was waiting for David in the sitting room, and by now was talking to Mrs. Geerdes as if she had known her all of her life. He had always wondered how women were able to do that. Sometimes they were the best of friends before they even spoke a word, and other times they had already drawn a conclusion that the other was an outright bitch. Whatever the case, he knew they were beyond strange, and generally beyond his understanding.
When she saw him, she got up and walked over. “I hope you were able to get all the information that was needed,” she said.
“I did, thank you.”
Mrs. Geerdes opened the door for them and they walked out to the rental car. It was a Prius, and surely not David’s choice in a vehicle, but Emily thought it was a good idea. He wanted to tell her what his true feelings toward it were, but he refrained. They got in and he started the car.
Once they were pulling away, Emily spoke, “So, Boss, did you learn anything of interest?”
“I surely did, and what about yourself?”
“She doesn’t know too much about anything to be honest. There was nothing she was able to tell me that I didn’t already know, but I have a feeling she was playing me for a fool.”
“Did she happen to give you a first name?”
“No. We mostly talked about—well, it is nothing important to be truthful.”
“Why do I get the sense that you are hiding something from me?”
Emily shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe your perception is a little off, it has been a long week for the both of us.”
“I see. Well, do you think that instead of doing a web-chat we can actually go and see Castro?”
“Let me make a phone call and see if we they would approve such a visit. Don’t be surprised if they shoot us down though.”
David looked at her and he wondered what she was hiding. He knew she was upset with him, but she shouldn’t be. He had apologized for making them late to board the plane, but they did make it. While he was driving down the road, he wondered what was on her mind. He needed to know and he felt as though he should be apologizing for a lot more.
“Are you hungry?”
“I could eat,” she finally said.
###
They found a diner about three blocks away and he couldn’t help but notice how much better Doubles was than this. His father kept his diner maintained—impeccably really, but here things were in mediocre condition at best. He even felt as if he couldn’t quite trust whether or not the dishes his food was being served on were actually cleaned thoroughly.
He was looking at his plate of fries and felt as if he was going to be sick. He realized Emily was on her tablet. She appeared to be monitoring something and looked up at him.
“I still haven’t heard anything back about going to see him today. It is still possible they won’t allow it. We don’t have any real reason to actually go there, but they were fine doing the web-chat.”
David shook his head. “It would be so much easier to see him in person. We can actually read his emotional reaction to certain things.”
“Like you are any good at that,” she said, as she began to eat a fry.
Looking at Emily, he wasn’t too sure where any of this was coming from. He finally found his voice. “What is the matter with you? You aren’t ever like this.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know how to describe it,” he admitted. “But the normal you doesn’t let anything get to her, and here you are letting everything seem to bother you. Obviously, there is something on your mind, but for whatever reason you don’t seem to be comfortable talking to me.”
“You are my superior, not my friend. If something is bothering me I can deal with it on my own. That was something I was taught to do and that is something won’t be changing any time soon.”
“Emily,” he said, as he reached an open hand to her. She moved away from him and he moved back. “There is something affecting our working relationship and I will do anything I can to fix it.”
“Boss, after this case I don’t think I want to work with you anymore.”
David sat there unsure of what to do, and he just watched her. There was something he should say—there had to be some way to fix this, but he was at a loss for words as always. He realized by him not saying something he had just lost whatever he and Emily had shared before today.
“Why? I thought this is the type of work you wanted to get into.”
“I thought it was, and now that I am working with you on this, I think I want to do something else with my life. Thank you for this opportunity though.”
“Why do I get this feeling there is something else you aren’t telling me?”
“If something was truly upsetting me I would tell you, but I’m fine. My mind is a little preoccupied at the moment, but nothing on my mind concerns you.”
He could not help but feel the tension between them. He flagged down the waiter and asked for the check. David wasn’t too sure what was going to happen next.
Chapter 13
Olivia was waking up and she looked at the clock on the bedside table. She couldn’t believe she had slept for seven hours. She didn’t even remember falling asleep. As she was sitting up in bed she noticed Marissa sitting in a chair reading a novel, from the looks of it. She looked up at her.
“It is about time you woke up,” she smiled softly. “Is everything alright? Are you feeling okay?”
It took her a minute to process everything that was going on in her mind, and she thought about how she was feeling. She was not too sure what was going on. She spoke, “I—I’m not too sure. I suppose I’m a little confused, but I guess there is just a lot going on right now.”
Marissa got up and walked over towards her. “You’ve been under a lot of stress and you probably needed the sleep. You know what you need? Coffee. You go ahead and get showered, and I can go out and grab us something.”
Removing the covers, she got up and looked at her sister. “Have you heard anything new from our investigator?”
“No, for now he does not seem to be getting anywhere. Those reviews about how phenomenal he is must have been false. He keeps disappearing, and whenever I ask him what is going on he doesn’t have an answer for me. Maybe you should just stop utilizing the services he claims to be giving you and start working this on your own.”
“I don’t even know where to start. There is just so much going on, and if Castro is behind this maybe he is sending someone out here to take care of us. Maybe he is afraid we know something else.”
“Well, he is in jail and we don’t know anything else about him. Maybe there is something from James’ past that caught up with him. Or, I hate to say this, but sis, have you considered the possibility that maybe he is with someone else?”
“Oh really,” she asked sharply. “He would seriously disappear from my life, on our anniversary, without an explanation. I don’t think he would actually do something like that.”
“Did you really know him though Olivia? Your relationship with him sprung out of nowhere. You had been left in the street for dead and he happened to save you. What if they left you in the streets knowing he would go out there to save you—and that the two of you would form a bond because of it? Maybe all of this has been a set up to get the two of you together, and you see how well it worked. Maybe that is why he didn’t change his name. He wanted you to be found.”
Olivia couldn’t help but feel doubt. No, James would never do that to her. They had been so attached to one another, and yet here she was alone with no idea where he was. Not even people from the police station wanted to help. Was it possible that he just didn’t want to deal with her anymore? Is it possible he had just been playing her? She didn’t want to believe this could be true. She had given him her heart, and she didn’t want any of this to be true. She loved him and she could not admit to herself that he could ever do such a thing. She had to have known him better than that.
###
Morning had come too soon for his taste, but he was awake and sipping his coffee. He was reading over his newly printed files and wanted to know more about the Gemangini family. He was reading through everything he was able to find about them. On paper this family looked well respected, but the more he began to dig, the more he realized that they were one of the crime families in the area, but they had never been caught. They were smart and some of the people they would bring into the fold were those they could use to take the fall for their own crimes.
As he was continuing to read, he heard his phone start to ring. He didn’t like having it on and he wasn’t accustomed to it. He reached for it and saw it was Nancy calling. He didn’t want to talk to her, but he knew if he ignored her she would pitch a fit and he wasn’t ready to deal with that.
“Hello?” he said.
“Hey David. I was just wondering when you were planning on coming back to town. I wanted to make plans with you.”
“I should be back by this evening. We were able to get a meeting scheduled with someone out here that I need to speak with. Once we are done I will let you know and we can go ahead and plan for an evening together.”
“That sounds wonderful,” she said, but she didn’t sound as if she was done talking. “I love you David.”
He didn’t know how to respond, and then he heard a click. Looking at his phone he saw she had disconnected and he wondered why. He wondered if there was something he needed to do. Should he have said it back? He didn’t feel as though he loved her. He wondered what he should be doing, but he didn’t think he necessarily had to do anything.
Closing the files, he wondered if he needed to schedule a meeting with William Gemangini to see if he would be of any assistance. He knew he had been friends with Castro, and truthfully, he seemed to be more of a suspect as well. As David was reading over the files, it was clear that William Gemangini had known Daniella. Based on what was known so far, William had only heard of Lorraine, and per the information from Jason, he had known Kathleen, but perhaps not on a romantic level.
Shutting his eyes for a moment, he still didn’t know the significance of cutting out their tongues. He was curious to know if it was considered a way of silencing the dead. Maybe they were attempting to speak out about a crime that had been committed—whatever it was, David wasn’t too sure about it. He wanted to have these answers, but at the same time he wanted to drag this out a bit longer so he would be able to keep working with Emily. He realized he needed to make a phone call.
He listened as it rang on and on, until he heard a familiar voice on the other end of the line. “Rodney Link speaking, who do I have the pleasure of talking with today?”
“Hey Rod, this is David calling again. I am having some trouble and I’m not too sure how to handle it.”
“What issues are you having?”
David wasn’t sure what he should tell him, but then he remembered this was Rodney after all. He could trust him with anything. “As you know, I’ve been dating Nancy,” he began slowly. “And she is wonderful and all, but I am just conflicted about everything.”
“Why? According to her the two of you seem to be hitting it off rather well.”
“I want to be honest, I agreed to date her because I wanted to get Emily off of my mind. I was hoping to have more feelings towards her, and that it would cancel out my feelings for Emily, but it isn’t working. Emily seems to be upset with me now and I don’t want her to be. Also, I don’t want to tell Nancy about this because I feel that we could have a future together.”
Rodney was silent for a moment and David had to double check that he was still on the line. “You know what? We should grab a drink when you get back and then we can talk about this further. This is the sort of conversation we need to have in person.”
“I agree with you there. When I get the chance to leave here, I will surely give you a call.”
“Great,” he said. “If I don’t answer, just leave a message and I’ll call you as soon as I get it.”
“I can do that.”
He heard as the line disconnected, and David knew he had probably made a decision about what he was feeling. Now he needed to go ahead and put everything to the test. He was not in a relationship with Nancy was he? If he was, then what he was planning on doing was going to change everything.
###
Emily had barely spoken to him, and now they were walking down hallways that all had metal doors… and none of them had handles. They were automatically opened by someone in a control room somewhere else. David had never thought he would be able to see what it was actually like in a prison, but now that he had he could not help but want to get out. He could also tell that Emily was feeling uncomfortable at the moment as well. The hallways seemed to be getting narrower as they continued on, and he wondered if she was holding up alright.
“Here we are,” the guard said, as they reached the last faded blue door. They heard as it buzzed unlocked, and he gestured for them to go in first. “If you need anything, I will be right outside the door, plus we have cameras in there as well.”
David was not too sure how he felt about cameras monitoring their interaction, but he nodded. He knew he was not going to be able to change anything about that. As they both stepped in, they saw Carlisle Castro sitting there. He appeared to be paranoid, and it also seemed as if he’d not been getting adequate sleep.
“Mr. Castro,” David began. “My name is David Orlando, and this is my—,”
“I am his assistant, Emily,” she said, formally introducing herself. “We are here to talk to you about the murders of Kathleen, Lorraine, and Daniella.”
“I am not stupid,” he said harshly. “There is no other reason for you to be here. So please, can you do me a favor and just cut to the chase as to why this is coming up again.”
“We know they convicted you with the help of your daughters.”
“Ha! They are no daughters of mine! Their mother made sure they knew nothing about me and she wanted it to remain that way.”
“I thought you were the one who walked out of their lives?”
“No. That’s not true. I told Daniella I could not be with her because of the choices she was making, but I was going to stay around for my children. I was not going to leave them behind in the same way as my father did to me and my mother, but Daniella, she went ahead and banished me from their lives. She took out a restraining order and made sure I couldn’t be around my daughters. Hell, I had already lost two other children because Lorraine didn’t want me around.”
“And what about Kathleen?”
“Kathleen was someone I had a fling with. I knew she was on with me because of the size of my wallet, but I really didn’t give two shits because she was gorgeous and we had a great time, even if it only lasted for a moment. She made me happy.”
“Until you met Angela, is that right?”
“I knew Angela. She was my accountant and an angel sent straight from heaven. We were not in a serious relationship at first. I will admit that having money had its props. I got to be with a lot of different women and I pretty much could choose anyone I wanted. I was sleeping with Kathleen until I found out she was with Jason. I stopped and realized I was too old for that lifestyle. I just wanted to settle down and maybe have a family—a family I wanted. A family that would not just up and leave me the way they all seemed to do.”
“Did you want any of them dead?”
“Me, no, not at all. However they made me appear to be some sort of monster, didn’t they? Telling me my motive to kill Lorraine was because she rejected me. You know what, at least I got to see Felicia and Wyatt. Maybe not in person, but I knew they were growing up right. Lorraine was wanting to move to Boston so they would be closer to me while they were going to high school. Not many people knew this, but Lorraine was very ill and didn’t know how much longer she would be living. If she hadn’t brought them back into the area they wouldn’t be in Maine somewhere without any family.
“Felicia and Wyatt were living with me for a while after that, until they were accepted into school. I paid for them to go to college and I was attempting to forge a relationship with them. They knew who I was; they knew I was their father, and they didn’t even attempt to question that. After Lorraine died, I didn’t even know how to react, but I assure you I wasn’t the one that murdered her. I did see her that afternoon though. She had stopped by and we had gotten to talking. She was in a bad place and was really depressed. I couldn’t help but feel as if she was paranoid, but I wrote it off as nothing because she was taking really strong medicine that could make her that way.”
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