by H. B. Rae
***
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 they were one of the crime families in the area, but they were never caught. They were smart and some of the people they would bring into the fold were those they could use to 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 John. 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 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 John.”
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 say it back? He didn’t feel as though he loved her though. He wondered what he should be doing, but he didn’t think he had to do anything.
Closing the files, he wondered if he needed to make a meeting with William Gemangini to see if he would be of any assistance. He knew he had been friends with Castro and he truthfully seemed to be more of a suspect as well. As he was reading over the files, he had known Daniella and from what he was aware of he had only heard of Lorraine and per his conversation with Jason he had known Kathleen, but he did not believe it was on a romantic level.
Shutting his eyes for a moment, he still didn’t know the significance in cutting out their tongues. He was curious to know if it was possible it was a way of silencing the dead. Maybe they were attempting to speak out about a crime that had been committed – whatever it was he 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 that way he would be able to keep working with Sheila. He realized he needed to make a phone call.
He listened as it rang on and on then 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 John calling again. I am having issues right now and I am not too sure how to handle this.”
“What issues are you having?”
John was not sure what he should tell him, but then he remembered this was Rodney after all. He could trust him with everything and anything. “As you know I am 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 Sheila off of my mind. I was hoping to have more feelings towards her that would cancel out all of my feelings for Sheila, but it isn’t working. Sheila seems to be upset with me 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 he 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. 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 the moment I get it.”
“I can do that.”
He heard as the line disconnected and John 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 than what he was planning on doing was going to change everything.
***
Sheila had barely spoken to him and now they were walking down hallways that all had metal doors. None of them had handles. They automatically opened by someone who was somewhere else. John had never thought he would be able to see what it was like in a prison before this and he could not help but want to get out. He could also tell Sheila was 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 and he gestured for them to go in first. “If you need anything I will be right outside the door and we have cameras in there as well.”
John 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 he also seemed to have not been able to get any sleep.
“Mr. Castro,” John began. “My name is John Watson and this is my,”
“I am his assistant Sheila,” 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 as such.”
“I thought you were the one who walked out of their lives?”
“No. 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 the same way my father did to me and my mom, but she went ahead and she banished me from their lives. She took out a restraining order and she made sure I could not 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 with me because of how fat my wallet was, but I really didn’t give two shits because she was gorgeous and we had a great time, even if it lasted for a moment. She made me happy.”
“Until you met Angela, is that right?”
“I knew Angela. She was my accountant and she was an angel sent straight from heaven. We were not in a serious relationship at first. I will admit 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 life-style. 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 getting ill and she didn’t know how much longer she would be living. If she hadn’t brought them back in the area then they would be without any family somewhere in Maine.
“Felicia and Wyatt were living with me for a while after that, until they were accepted to 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 she was depressed. I couldn’t help but feel as if she was paranoid, but I wrote it off as if it was nothing because she was taking medicine that could make her that way.”
“Wasn’t Kathleen murdered before Lorraine?”
“Yes, but she wasn’t found until after. Whoever had murdered her had transported her body to a more secluded location. It was out near the marsh by the house I grew up in and it’s too dangerous for people to be walking out in. They found my hair at the scene and they said my motive for killing her was because she would expose our affair to Angela, but Angela knew I had slept with her before. That wasn’t something I could not deal with.”
“And what about Daniella?”
“My only motive for killing her would be so I can get custody of my children, which was something I could not have regardless. Those girls ended up in the system and not even the Gemangini family would take them in. I was never too sure why, but if she had not taken away my custodial rights I would have been there for them.”
“Why did Teresa think you were responsible for her mother’s death?”
“I suppose they painted me as a monster the entire time they were growing up. Look, I know I can’t win this even if I wanted to have an appeal. I am the one percent the entire nation wanted to see locked up because if I walked they would all think it was because I paid off the right people.”
John nodded and he understood what was going on. He looked Castro dead in the eyes, “Why did Angela leave you?”
“She thinks I am a murderer. If I was her I would have left too. I’m not a good person, but I am not a murderer and I would do anything to make sure they know I’m not that person.”
“You seem paranoid, is there a reason behind it?”
Castro leaned forward and he spoke very softly, “The real killer is out there and I know they are counting down my days. They are in control of when I meet my maker.”
“Is there something we should know?”
“That you should get out of this while you have the chance. I mean, I do not know what brought you into this but you best see your way out. This is not something anyone wants to get tangled up with.”
“We are in this because someone is missing and we think it is related to what happened here. We need to eliminate this as a possibility.”
“Who is it, maybe I could help.”
“I doubt you’d would want to once you know who is involved.”
“How about you tell me and we will see if you are right about that.”
“Teresa married a man named James Shapiro and he went missing. She came to us wanting to know if we could find him.”
“You will not be able to find him. Whoever took him would have killed him.”
“And why would you assume that?”
“James was on my side the entire time, but he kept that on the down low. He was looking to find the man responsible for all of this and if they found out what he was up to they would do anything in their power to get the information out of him; and even if he didn’t speak they would still kill him regardless. These people are very resourceful.”
“Do you have any idea who is behind this?”
“I won’t be able to say anymore, other than the fact that I thought I could trust everyone in my inner circle; obviously someone who was close to me was the one who betrayed me.”
John nodded. “Thank you for your time. It has been a pleasure meeting you.”
“Wait,” he said as they were getting up to leave. “I know they probably would not want to hear this, but I love them and if they ever need answers they can always find them, if they know where to look that is.”
Sheila took a step forward and she spoke. “Do you know a Natalie Granger?”
“I knew a Natalie Hartman when I was younger, but she died in a car accident with her family. So to answer your question in short, no I don’t know her.”
“Again, thank you for your time.”
They knocked on the door and were being escorted out of the prison, and yet John still felt as if he was missing a large piece of this puzzle. The next person he needed to speak with was William Gemangini.
Chapter 14
She had been watching the news as if something was flashing across it with all the answers she was waiting for, but nothing was there that told her if James had been found. Whether he was dead or alive, but as the hours continued to pass she couldn’t help but feel that he was gone. She didn’t want to believe it, but her sister was attempting to convince her that she had been used. Of course she was torn between both scenarios. In the one he had used her, and that would mean he was still alive. She didn’t want him to be dead. But if he was dead, that meant that whoever was responsible was still lingering. Olivia was beginning to wonder if Carlisle Castro was really involved or if she had been wrong about this the entire time.
She turned off the television and walked over towards the small sitting area and peered out the window. There had to have been something she was missing and she needed to know what it was. If she had been more cautious she would have been able to figure this out from the start. She knew there was only one place she needed to go for answers.
Finally, she knew where she needed to go and she couldn’t tell Marissa. Hell, she didn’t have to tell anyone anything. She knew the only person she could trust at this point was herself. She was walking out the door and was in such deep thought, she didn’t even check to make sure that the door was shut.
***
It was late afternoon, she had finished with all of her tasks that day and pulled up to the motel. Her phone was balanced between her ear and shoulder and she was listening intently.
“I understand,” she said forcefully. “Please don’t treat me as though I do not understand any of this.”
“I don’t think you understand this Samantha,” she heard him say. “That investigator was poking around today and it is very possible they can figure this out.”
“I can promise you they will not get the chance to do anything about it. But I will need your help with this.”
“Of course, but you know how to relay the messages that are needed for this.”
“Yes, I know.”
She hung up the line. She didn’t like being treated as if she was inferior. She wondered if it was because of who her father was or if it was just because she was a woman. Whatever the case, she didn’t like being treated like this. She had been the mastermind behind this past operation and so far everything was working out fine. She approached the door to the motel and it was wide open.
Stepping inside cautiously, she looked around and noticed her sister was missing. She wondered where Olivia was. She took out her second phone and called her, but it went straight to voice mail. Her heart was sinking. She knew something was wrong. This wasn’t something she had anticipated.
***
They were back in Primer now and Sheila was still refusing to speak to him. He had attempted to strike up a conversation with her and her only response was that she would provide him all the information on his desk. He knew there was something between them. He wanted to fix it and he knew he was probably not going to be able to do so. He arrived back at the office and saw that there was an envelope underneath the door.
Picking it up, he shut the door and he locked it behind him. Walking into his office, he left his door unlocked and sat down at his desk and eyed it suspiciously. There was no return address and he wondered who and where it had come from.
Opening it up, he saw there was a DVD inside. He looked around cautiously, making sure no one else was there. He then looked to his desktop computer that he had not used very often. He wasn’t too sure what his password was, but after a few min
utes he was at his main screen. He saw that it was beginning to load and was watching the screen in horror. The screen flashed the text “Only one will live”. Then it transitioned to a picture of Nancy and Sheila.
To Be Continued. . . . .
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H. B. Rae