The Secrets of Paradise Bay

by Devon Vaughn Archer

  Maybe he’ll think he’s better off getting rid of me and saving himself the cost of alimony and a property settlement.

  I can’t think that. No matter what, I know Trey would help me out of this mess if he could.

  “My husband has money, if that’s what you want.” Ivana told her abductor. “He’ll give you what you want. Please, don’t hurt me.” Any more than you already have by taking me against my will and proving yourself to be an asshole of the worst kind.

  Willie looked at Ivana with a crooked grin, but remained mute.

  Ivana wanted to knock that stupid, eerie smile off his face—as though he had conjured up something particularly devious in his plans for her—but she didn’t dare try. Not when he had a gun and seemed more than willing to pull the trigger if she gave him the slightest reason.

  “Just tell me what you want!” she demanded. Do I really want to know?

  Willie stared at her. “I want Clyde, for starters,” he said tersely.

  “Clyde?” Ivana was taken aback. What did he have to do with this?

  “Yeah, your bastard brother-in-law.”

  “Why do you want him?”

  Willie paused thoughtfully. “The asshole blinded me in one eye and stabbed me in the back at the same time.”

  Ivana’s mind raced, clouded by the alcohol, as she considered the problem with his eye that she’d noticed earlier. When her thoughts became clearer, the image of Clyde nearly beating a man to death and spending years in prison as a result finally registered.

  Willie Munroe. She remembered where she’d seen him—or a much younger version of him. There was a picture of him and Clyde when they were in high school in one of Clyde’s photo albums. A photo taken long before friends had turned into bitter enemies.

  Ivana swallowed the bile in her throat. If nothing else, she knew that Clyde had regretted what happened with Willie every day since and had tried to make up for it in his own way.

  But apparently that wasn’t enough for Willie. Not nearly.

  “If you think using me will get you Clyde, forget it,” she told him. “We have our own issues. He certainly won’t give a damn what happens to me.”

  “Is that right?” Willie asked coldly.

  “Trust me on that.” Ivana mused about her one-night stand with Clyde and her spilling the beans to Trey, giving his brother a reason to hate her just as much as she imagined Trey did.

  Willie gave Ivana the once-over. He tried to envision what issues there were between the attractive lady and Clyde. Maybe the dude had banged his brother’s wife once or twice. Or had tried to. He wouldn’t put anything past a man who’d spent years in the pen and needed to get his rocks off with anyone who happened to be around. And, if Willie read her right, Ivana might not have been an unwilling target.

  But that didn’t mean Clyde would turn his back on his damn brother when push came to shove, including trying to rescue Trey’s lovely wife. Willie suspected that Clyde would do just about anything to save the bitch.

  He was counting on it.

  “Let’s just see how little your bro-in-law cares about what happens to you,” Willie told his frightened captive.

  It was time to settle things between them once and for all.

  “We know all about Willie Munroe,” Detective Cordell told Trey over the phone.

  “Meaning what?” Trey had elected to fill the detective in on their suspicions, not wanting to wait ’til there was proof that Willie was behind Ivana’s disappearance.

  “Meaning the man’s been in and out of trouble all his life. He and a buddy of his are under investigation right now for several armed robberies.”

  Trey thought about the vandalism of his car dealership. So far, the case had gone nowhere. Was Willie behind it after all? If so, had Clyde known about it and chosen to keep it to himself?

  “Well, I think you may need to add kidnapping and assault,” Trey strongly suggested. He could only hope Willie wouldn’t do anything worse to Ivana, though his track record of violence suggested otherwise.

  “Maybe. But as far as we know no crime’s been committed involving Ivana,” Cordell pointed out. “You said yourself, and the bartender confirmed, that your wife apparently left the bar of her own free will. There’s no proof that she was kidnapped, much less assaulted.”

  Trey’s nostrils ballooned. “Dammit, Eric, we’re talking about my wife here! There’s no way she would have left her car at some bar and gone off with Willie—unless he forced her do it.”

  Would she? Even if it were to get back at him or if she suddenly saw herself as worthless, Trey was sure Ivana had more self-respect than that. He doubted the same could be said for Willie Munroe.

  “You said that Munroe and your brother have some history,” Cordell said. “Care to elaborate?”

  Trey looked over at Clyde, who was driving and dutifully doing his brotherly part to try and rescue Ivana from harm’s way. Though Trey hated having to dig up the past, he didn’t feel he had any choice. They needed to have the police on their side now and not after all was said and done.

  “Willie Munroe has held a grudge against Clyde ever since they got into a fight nearly a decade ago.”

  Clyde flinched and looked at Trey, who met his gaze unapologetically.

  “Is that right?” hummed Cordell. “Tell me more . . .”

  Clyde listened as his life was being probed and dissected. He didn’t blame Trey for laying all his cards out on the table to try and get Ivana back safe and sound. Clyde would have done the same had it been Stefani in harm’s way.

  Only his brother didn’t know the full story. Maybe it was time he did.

  Five minutes later, Trey was off the phone. “So what are the cops going to do?” Clyde asked skeptically.

  “Eric says they have a make on Munroe’s car and know where’s he’s staying,” Trey answered. “They’re supposed to send a squad car over there to see if he’s keeping Ivana against her will.”

  “You don’t sound very optimistic.”

  Trey eyed him. “The police have a way of dragging their feet,” he said wearily. “The truth is, with no witnesses or proof of a crime, Eric can only do so much at this point. Meaning we’re pretty much left on our own to track Ivana and that asshole who took her down.”

  Clyde shared his sentiments. “To hell with the cops. We’ll be at Willie’s apartment in no time flat.”

  “Then what?” Trey asked. “What if he’s armed, since we’re not? I sure as hell don’t want to be at a disadvantage or allow that animal to harm one hair on Ivana’s head or body.”

  Clyde would not put it past Willie to have a piece—or more than one—and a willingness to use it if he had to. Being a crazed and revenge-minded drug addict only made matters worse.

  I won’t tell Trey how concerned I am about that.

  “We’ll just deal with things when we get there and trust that two of us will have the advantage over one man,” Clyde said, assuming Willie had taken Ivana by himself.

  “He can’t possibly think he’ll get away with this,” Trey voiced tensely.

  “Willie thinks he can get away with anything,” Clyde offered. “He definitely thought that ten years ago.”

  Trey tilted his head. “What are you talking about?”

  Clyde kept his eyes on the road before saying tonelessly, “I’m talking about the night I was arrested,” he uttered painfully. “Willie had gotten high and set his sights on looting your house and taking you down if you got in his way. I tried to reason with him, but there was no reasoning with the man.” He sighed, realizing how hard it was to divulge the truth even after all these years, going against the side of him that had wanted to bury it forever. “I hated you for everything you had that I didn’t. But you were still my brother. I couldn’t let Willie take away what you’d worked so hard for. We got into a fight when Willie tried to go through me. I took my fair share from him and gave back more. I think you know the rest of the story.”

  Trey’s eyes bulged in di
sbelief. “You’re telling me that you damn near killed the man and went to prison just to protect my property?”

  Clyde hated to admit it, but the cat was out of the bag. “Yeah, that’s what I’m saying.”

  “I didn’t need my little brother to protect me from the big bad wolf!” Trey told him flatly.

  Clyde wasn’t so sure about that, but went along with it. “I know it was dumb, stupid, whatever you want to call it. Guess at the time I thought I was doing the right thing. It just got out of hand.” He chewed on his lower lip and looked at Trey with some relief. “So now you know the secret I’ve been carrying with me all these years.”

  “Why didn’t you just come clean back then?” Trey asked. “None of what happened as a result was necessary.”

  Clyde shrugged. “Guess I was just trying to be a man and be responsible for what I did,” he said. “Or maybe I figured it wouldn’t matter to you one way or the other, given the bad blood between us.”

  “It was never so bad that I’d want you to go to prison for something that obviously had extenuating circumstances,” Trey insisted. “Mama went to her grave thinking you simply did a hotheaded thing, damn the consequences.”

  “Hey, I screwed up,” Clyde conceded, wishing he hadn’t let his mother down, or Trey. “I wanted to tell you many times, but pride got in the way. I was an angry person back then. Angry that you seemed to get all the breaks. Angry that I paid the price for standing in Willie’s way, while he got away with it scot-free. Angry that it seemed like me against the world and there was nothing I could do but suck it all up. I didn’t want to hear you preaching to me about what I should and shouldn’t have done, making me feel even worse.” He drew in a deep breath. “I know now that I went about it the wrong way. I’m sorry, man. I never wanted this to come full circle, with Willie still carrying the vendetta all these years later, affecting you and Ivana.”

  “I’m sorry too,” Trey said emotionally. “You put yourself out there for me, and deserved a hell of a lot more than you got in return. I just wish we had communicated more back then. Maybe a lot of things could have turned out differently all the way around.”

  Clyde agreed, but couldn’t bring himself to say it. “Or maybe it would’ve turned out exactly the same—me getting in over my head and you having to deal with the mess I left behind.”

  Trey could hardly believe what Clyde had just divulged to him. Everything he thought he knew about his brother’s reckless behavior and selfishness had been wrong. It made Trey feel guilty that he hadn’t seen what had been staring him in the face all along. Clyde had loved him even when he thought the love wasn’t being returned, which only widened the divide between them.

  Trey could sense that Clyde was still bitter after all these years—and understandably so, under the circumstances. He had gone to prison as the black sheep of the family while Trey had ridden the white horse to success and fortune. Now he realized there was much more gray area between them than on the surface. Neither was perfect or guiltless when it came to making poor or life-altering choices.

  In many ways we would always be in competition, Trey thought, even if on a subconscious level. He supposed a part of him had always suspected Clyde had taken one on the chin for him. Perhaps this was why he had tried to make things right when Clyde was released from prison. Only it seemed to have backfired, leaving them both shattered and uncertain of where to go from here.

  I have to try and patch things up between us, even if the issues run deep and the waters remain murky at best.

  But first, I need to do right by my wife, and that’s no easy task, especially since I don’t even know for sure where the hell she is. Or what condition she’s in mentally and physically.

  Trey remained resolute not to lose Ivana, not if he were given another opportunity to make their lives count for something other than mistrust, betrayal, and regrets.

  He looked at Clyde. “Whatever has happened between us, let’s just focus on finding Ivana right now. After that, we can figure out where we are and hopefully resolve our differences and get back to being real brothers just like Mama wanted.”

  “Yeah, that sounds good to me,” Clyde said.

  Trey felt that was at least a start on the long road to recovery.

  Having a chance to put the past behind them was more than Clyde could have expected at this point as they neared Willie’s apartment complex. Only hours ago he thought he’d lost Trey for good, along with a big part of himself, while bearing much of the burden for that. Now they had a window of opportunity to patch things up. Maybe they could still have the type of rock-solid relationship between brothers that he’d always dreamed of, but never believed was possible. Trey seemed more than willing to meet him halfway now that the cards were all out on the table.

  Clyde knew that any such possibility of a happy ending hung in the balance, so long as Ivana remained missing and presumably in grave danger at the vengeful hands of Willie Munroe.

  Chapter Forty

  Stefani pressed the bell at the gate, and was allowed onto the Lancaster estate. It was the first time she had gone to Trey and Ivana’s beautiful home alone; the house where Clyde had his surprising tryst with Ivana, resulting in an understandable falling-out between the brothers.

  Truthfully, Stefani wasn’t quite sure what she was doing there. Or if she would be welcomed were Ivana home instead of apparently off with another man. Stefani’s uncle seemed uncertain if Ivana had been abducted, or went willingly with the man from the tavern.

  I’m not here to pass judgment or condemn anything Ivana has done, even if I would’ve taken a different direction had I been in her position in life.

  Stefani feared for Clyde’s safety, not wanting to see past mistakes come back to haunt him today. If this Willie was as frightening and vindictive as Clyde indicated, then he couldn’t be taken lightly.

  They could be entering a tinderbox, ready to ignite. The last thing she wanted was to see Clyde caught in the line of fire, jeopardizing their future that suddenly seemed so promising if not for this situation.

  Stefani drove up to the house. She had no idea if he and Trey would ever resolve their differences, but was somehow guardedly optimistic that were they to get through this latest crisis, it was entirely possible.

  She wanted to find some way to lend her support beyond spiritually, figuring it was better to reach out and see where it got her than to just wait around going crazy with worry.

  So I’m here. What do I do now? Guess I won’t know ’til I go inside.

  Stefani knocked on the door, actually hoping she would come face-to-face with Ivana, ending the suspense of her disappearance. Instead, it was the housekeeper, Emily, who answered.

  “Nice to see you again,” she said.

  “You too.” Stefani forced a smile.

  “If you’re looking for Clyde—”

  “I’m not,” Stefani clarified politely. “I know he’s with Trey, looking for Ivana. I just wanted to come by to see if there was anything I could do to help.”

  “How nice of you,” Emily said, inviting her in. “There’s not much either of us can do for now but wait and see.”

  Stefani frowned. I was afraid she’d say that. “I guess we can always pray that everything works out.” Hope she doesn’t have anything against the power of prayer.

  “That we can do,” Emily agreed. “Would you like some coffee, tea, lemonade, Coke, or—”

  “Coffee sounds good.”

  “Okay, then I’ll have a cup too.”

  Stefani followed her toward the kitchen. “Where’s Francine?” She hoped it wasn’t a dumb question, considering that neither employee lived at the house and, as such, probably came and left at different hours of the day.

  “Oh, she’s spending time with her daughter who’s visiting. I told Francine that it wasn’t necessary for us both to be here right now taking up space, even though there’s a lot of it.”

  Stefani watched as Emily got two ceramic mugs out of the cupbo
ard. “Has Ivana ever just gone off like this before?” she asked curiously.

  Emily looked up. “Not really. She and Trey have had their spats—some more serious than others—but this time I guess it sent her right over the edge.”

  Stefani tried to put herself in Ivana’s shoes in getting something that weighty off her chest, only to have Trey turn on her, even if it was a natural reaction under the circumstances.

  “Sorry to hear that.”

  Emily shrugged. “It happens. I’m sure once Ivana is back home and into rehab, she and Trey can get some counseling and they’ll be just fine.”

  Stefani wondered if it could ever be that simple. Was counseling truly the cure-all for troubled marriages? Or any relationship?

  They sat in the breakfast nook, and Stefani found herself briefly admiring the yellow floral wallpaper before meeting Emily’s eyes.

  “I heard that you and Clyde are becoming pretty close.”

  Stefani colored. “Yes, we are.”

  Emily beamed. “I’m happy for you. From what I’ve heard, Clyde’s had a hard life and it’s time he got a second chance to get it right.”

  Stefani wondered if she knew about Clyde’s one-night stand with Ivana. If so, maybe Emily understood that things happened sometimes, but shouldn’t ruin one’s life forever. Including Ivana’s.

  “I agree. Clyde’s a good man and he’s really trying hard to make everything in his life work.”

  “Well, with a good woman in his life, I’m sure it can happen.” Emily said.

  Stefani felt the same way. The good woman in her was perfectly happy doing right by her man and being supportive when he needed her to be. Now was such a time.

  Ivana’s cell phone rang. She reached into her purse, only to have Willie poke her hard in the shoulder with the barrel of his gun, causing her to wince.

  “Let it ring!” he commanded in a sharp tone. “No reason to spoil the fun before it begins.”