King snorted. "Everybody is dangerous once pushed too far, and I am not sure what you are going to do."
"I am not going to push anybody," Regina said airily, resting back in the settee.
"I've worked for your father for years. I respect him. He is a good lawyer and I am sure if he knew what you were up to he would give you this advice. Don't trust nobody. I would tell you to mind your own business but that bit of advice is already redundant. You are here now. Don't forget that curiosity killed the cat."
Regina rolled her eyes. "But satisfaction brought it back."
King chuckled. "Haven't heard that rejoinder for a while." He got up and headed to the front door. "So what are you going to do with the info?"
"Go to church." Regina followed him. "What else?"
"It's unusual for someone to go to church and have a detective check out the church board first."
Regina shrugged. "I have my reasons."
King looked at her closely and then shook his head. "I am going to take my own advice and mind my own business."
"Good." Regina nodded.
He opened the door and saw that Lynette Skinner was opening the gate with a bright smile on her face.
"I would be careful with this one too," King murmured before heading down the walkway.
"Bye," Regina called after him. "Thanks."
King waved, not bothering to look back at her. He got in his car and drove away.
"Who's he?" Lynette asked, coming up the walkway. "Husband?"
"No." Regina shook her head. King looked old enough to be her father. He had a grandfatherly air about him which made the people around him feel comfortable enough to spill their guts. Lyn must need glasses.
"Sorry," Lyn said, watching Regina frown. "Your dad then?"
"No!" Regina walked into the house. It was a ranch style three-bedroom house that was set on a large lot of land with several mango and guinep trees at the back and several varieties of flowers at the front. The lawn was almost completely brown from the drought.
Lynette walked behind Regina. "Sorry for questioning you. It is none of my business."
"That's right," Regina said abruptly, heading for what looked like the largest bedroom. It had a queen-sized bed in the middle of the room with a mosquito mesh covering it.
"Am I going to have to contend with mosquitoes?" she asked, shuddering at the thought.
"No, no," Lynette said quickly, "all the windows have screens and the doors too. The occasional mosquito may come in but there is nothing to worry about."
"Where's the AC?" Regina asked, looking around.
Lynette pointed to the ceiling fan, which was directly over the bed. "Trust me, it gets very cool up here in the nights. You won't need AC."
"This is going to be some summer." Regina looked around the simply furnished room and sighed. There was a bed, two side tables with brass lamps. There was also a sofa that matched the lamps, and a built-in closet with a long mirror in the center and a writing desk with a drawer on one end. A key was in the drawer lock with a spare hanging from it. So the drawer could be locked. Good, that would come in handy for her files.
"Do you want to see the rest of the place?" Lyn asked eagerly.
"No, not yet," Regina said, heading for the en suite bathroom. She opened the door and was relieved to see that it was modern looking and done in the palest green shade.
"Do you want me to help you unpack?"
"No thanks," Regina said, heading for the hall. She was careful not to leave the files out, especially with the mega-curious Lynette watching her every move with eager-eyed anticipation.
"Okay then, I'll start preparing lunch. How does stewed chicken in lots of pepper and yam and bananas sound?"
"Like I died and came to rural heaven." Regina grinned. "That sounds good."
"And there are snacks in the cupboards. I got a whole case of peanut milk and lots of biscuits. It's part of our service here."
"Thanks Lynette." Regina threw over her shoulders. "I am allergic to peanuts and milk. I am more allergic to peanuts though, so none of that ever, at all."
"No problem," Lynette said. "I know all about food allergies. Remember, you can call me Lyn."
"Yes, I will do so." Regina scooped up her files. She was going to look through them as soon as she could and then she would formulate a plan.
****
Regina slept fitfully in the early morning hours after running through King's detailed files. The more she read on each person the more she was looking forward to meeting them to see what they were really like at church.
Some of the information in the files was troubling and King had given his conclusions about some of the goings-on in the people’s lives and she was inclined to believe him.
He was right, things in Primrose Hill were not as they seemed. Now she knew why King cautioned her to be careful. She had opened Pandora's box.
She got up groggily after hitting the snooze button on her alarm more than twice. She knew that Ashley ran through the hills for exercise every morning, according to King's report. Ashley had always been a gym junky. Regina should have known that she was still into her exercising.
Regina groaned and rubbed her leg. She hated morning exercise. It reminded her of her time in the football squad, where they would train for some insane hours to build stamina. She waited for her knee to stop its usual early morning spasms and then she stretched.
She hastily pulled on her walking outfit and went outside. It was light out though it was just five-thirty. It was surprisingly chilly too. She could see her breath in the morning air. The flowers in the front lawn were laden with dewdrops. It was pretty, she had to grudgingly admit, and she went back inside for her camera and looked once more at Ashley's regular walking route that King had drawn for her. She had to pass this house. Unless she went around to the steeper Mango Hill.
He had said that she walked alone and Regina was banking on that being so this morning.
She went back outside and snapped a picture of the foggy front lawn. When the sun made an appearance she would capture the dew on the flowers.
She walked through the gate and stretched, waiting for Ashley.
"Hey, Regina Tharwick!"
She spun around, almost losing her balance. It was a man's voice; he had a hoodie covering his head and was in a dark blue tracksuit. He pushed his hand toward her and grinned.
"Hi, I am Josiah Coke."
"Huh?" Regina was taken aback. How did he know her?
Coincidentally his file was the very last one that she read. She knew all about his job in Kingston and why he was mysteriously back in Primrose Hill.
She looked suspiciously at his grinning face.
"Sorry. I am a fan," he said hastily, "from back in your football days."
"Oh." Regina smiled, "those days are long gone."
"I know," Josiah nodded. "The good old days."
"You are too young to be talking about good old anything," Regina laughed.
"I am not that young." Josiah grinned, flirting with her. "I am twenty-seven."
Regina winced. Was he really flirting with me?
"So you are here for vacation?" Josiah pushed his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels, obviously ready for a long conversation.
God, no! Regina exclaimed in her head but she turned to him and stretched. "You could call it that. It is good to get away from the rat race sometimes. And you, you live here?"
"Yes, for the time being." Josiah shrugged. "My father has a farm. It's a large operation. I help him out."
Regina nodded, trying to stop herself from looking disinterested. She knew all about Conroy Coke's farm and his hydro system and how he was the biggest supplier of vegetables this side of the island. Even in the drought he was doing extremely well. Maybe she knew too much. Besides, she wanted Josiah to disappear. She wanted to talk to Ashley alone, without an audience.
She glanced at her watch. It was six o'clock on the dot. "I don't want to keep you from
your workout then." She nodded to Josiah.
He looked disappointed. "Okay." He prepared to head up the hill and then he turned back and looked at her.
"We have a Bible seminar at our church every night for the next three weeks. Why don't you come over tonight?"
Regina grimaced. Every night for three weeks? How time consuming! But then again, after reading the files last night maybe the people at the church really needed the studies, especially the Kincaids.
"Well, okay then," she said to Josiah, needing him to be on his way. "I'll be there."
"Cool." He grinned at her and waved, running up the hill with effortless ease. He was in good shape.
Regina looked at him enviously, Since her knee injury and the last couple of years of partying, she would be panting like crazy before she even took three steps.
She walked slowly down the hill, snapping pictures of the colorful bougainvilleas that were lining the walls of most of the houses on the stretch.
She was previewing one of her pictures on the digital camera when she heard Ashley's stricken squeal behind her.
"Regina!" She turned around slowly and smiled at her.
"Hi Ashley, you are a sight for sore eyes."
She watched as Ashley took in great gulps of air, her body held stiff with indignation.
"What on earth are you doing here?" Her voice trembled a bit and Regina's smile got wider.
"I am here to rescue you from this place." Regina watched as Ashley rubbed her clammy hands down the side of her tight-fitting tracksuit.
"I don't need rescuing. Leave me alone," Ashley said, pointing at her. "Just forget that you ever knew me. Give me a break. Please. I am begging you!"
Tears formed at the corners of her eyes and she stomped past Regina, her thick curls bouncing behind her neck.
"Ashley," Regina picked up speed and her knees protested. "You have to talk to me, at least."
"No. I am not interested in what you have to say. Just leave." Ashley walked even faster and Regina half-ran, half-walked to keep up.
A farmer was heading up the hill, a bunch of green bananas on his head; he had a cutlass over his shoulder and a dog loping beside him. He called to Ashley, and that slowed her down a bit, giving Regina time to catch up.
"Will you listen to me?" she panted when she was almost at Ashley's shoulder. "This place is crazy rural; what can you like about here?"
"I am here with my husband and that's good enough for me," Ashley said through gritted teeth. "Nobody can know about my past association with you. Got that?"
Regina chuckled. "Still playing hide and seek with your past?"
"No." Ashley sighed. "I tell my husband everything."
"Really!" Regina exclaimed. "That's lovely for you. Does he tell you everything?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ashley snarled.
Regina inched away from her. Ashley looked mad enough to do her some bodily harm.
"It means," Regina said slyly, "that everybody has secrets, even your saintly Ruel. Doesn't it strike you as odd that he jumped to marry you barely two months after his previous wife died? You would be surprised to know that some of your so-called secrets pale in comparison to what some of your church brethren are up to."
"What?" Ashley squinted at Regina. "What are you talking about?"
"I had them investigated. Not everyone obviously, just the really key ones, like your church matriarch, Norma Kincaid, and her husband, Owen. That nurse woman Honey Allen and the Cokes, Josiah and Conroy. And your husband—his secret was a shocker. I don't think this guy Ruel can even walk in Brandon's pristine shoes...Not that I liked Brandon but still. How could a pastor be worse than his parishioners? Wait, you do call them parishioners, don't you?"
Ashley glanced at Regina sharply. "Have you lost your mind? Shut up this minute. You are a liar and a destroyer! Everything you touch is destroyed."
"A destroyer," Regina snorted. "Please, that's not bad compared to some of the folks you have been rubbing shoulders with up here."
Ashley gave her one last furious look and started jogging.
"Ashley seriously, you are acting so childish." Regina started to walk faster to keep up with her. "We need to talk. You can't just ignore me."
Ashley jammed the earphones that she had dangling around her shoulders back in her ears and picked up speed. Regina tried to keep up with her but she was having difficulty drawing air into her lungs.
She stopped trying when they reached the flat part of the hill.
"I will be here all summer!" Regina shouted to her retreating back. "You can't avoid me! And let me tell you, if you don't leave this place with me I am exposing all secrets. And when I do you'll have to leave anyway!"
Chapter Four
Ashley ran up Mango Grove, the steepest hill in the district. It was her nemesis hill. She could only go halfway up normally but this morning her feet had wings. The sound of Regina's voice, If you don't leave this place with me I am exposing all secrets, gave her the fuel to run over the hill and home.
When she reached her veranda she collapsed on the front steps, spent. Her legs felt like jelly and she battled to draw air into her lungs.
She had a problem. It was foolish thinking that after not seeing Regina again for the past two weeks that she had somehow vanished, never to return. She had prayed about it and was silently rejoicing that she had gotten rid of her Regina problem, but she couldn't have been more wrong.
She sprawled on the floor of the veranda panting, her head whirring with thoughts of how to escape the fallout that she knew was coming with Regina's presence here. She was going to get it. She knew it. And now was the worst time to have to deal with Regina, especially because Jorja was going to be around. She had just resolved that she would be the best role model she could be to the girl, and now this.
Jorja had only just arrived last night and she was one unhappy girl. She had barely greeted Ashley, had run to hug her daddy and had collapsed into his arms and into an extended crying jag that had gotten on Ashley's last nerve. Ashley resolved that she needed to be patient; she needed to remember that the girl had lost her mother a few short months ago and was living in uncertain times right now.
She had extended an olive branch and offered to help Jorja unpack but she had gotten an intense look of hatred. So intense in fact that it had given her nightmares that night.
Jorja had with that one look declared outright war. It was not hard to see that the household was going to be a battlefield in the near future.
Ashley pulled in one shuddering breath to steady herself; she could not stand this drama right now. She would make a valiant effort to try to have a relationship with Jorja but if that failed she didn't know what she was going to do.
"That was a loud sigh," Ruel said behind her gently. "What's wrong?"
Ashley swung her head around to look at him. He was still in his robe and slippers, a cup of tea in his hand.
"Nothing. Everything." She struggled to a seating position and leaned her head on one of the posts. "You wouldn't believe who I just met on the hill."
Ruel yawned and came to sit beside her. "I can't imagine who at this time of the morning. Farmer Townsend?"
"I did see him," Ashley said hoarsely. "But I also saw Regina. She's back."
"Ah." Ruel stiffened. "How do you know this?"
"I saw her this morning." Ashley sighed. "Near where old Mrs. Skinner has her vacation rental home. So I figure that is where she is staying."
Ruel clutched his cup tighter and didn't say a word.
Ashley sighed in the silence.
"It is better not to have these kinds of situations, isn't it?" Ruel finally said, glancing at her. "It is better to live righteously and uprightly in the first place and things like this will not happen."
Ashley felt her lower lip trembling. "You are right. I had a past that I am not proud of, and yes, it is coming back to haunt me. You saying this is not helping. Regina will make it difficult for not just me, but your minist
ry as well."
Ruel sighed. "Sorry. I am sorry. I didn't mean to come across as judgmental."
"So what are we going to do?" Ashley asked helplessly.
"Tell me about her," Ruel said, leaning on the opposite post and looking at Ashley.
"Like what?" Ashley asked defensively. "I already told you. She is an evil troll who I mistakenly had a relationship with back when I was a younger, much worse version of myself."
"I mean who is she? Does she have family? What makes her tick? That kind of thing." Ruel sipped his tea. "It may give me some insight into understanding her and this obsession she has with you."
"Her name is Regina Tharwick," Ashley said, slumping even further on the post. "She is thirty-five years old, the only adopted child of Paul and Elizabeth Tharwick. Paul is a lawyer and Elizabeth a scientist. They couldn't have children so they adopted Regina when she was a baby. They divorced years ago. They both tried to make up for the separation and Regina was caught between two parents who wanted to please her more than they should, so they created a monster. Regina's real mother was a mental patient or something like that."
Ruel frowned. "Really?"
"Yes." Ashley nodded. "Regina found out in college that her biological mother was mentally unstable and it depressed her for days."
"I can understand that," Ruel said sympathetically. "At least she didn't grow up with her. It can be draining on a person."
Ashley grunted. "I am past the sympathy place for Regina."
"Could she have inherited her birth mother’s mental instability?" Ruel asked, concerned.
"Not that I know of," Ashley shrugged, "unless you want to call an unhealthy fixation on me mentally unstable."
"So what does she do?" Ruel put down his mug beside him and clasped his hand.
"She did journalism in college, made the national senior football team…played with them for years. Five years ago she was working at her father's law firm. I don't know anything about her lately and I don't care to know."
Ruel nodded. "But she keeps coming back to you."
"Like a particularly bad virus," Ashley murmured, hitting her head against the post not very gently. It hurt to do it but it was also helping the pressure in her head, like a sweet kind of pain.
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