C
hapter
6
Sarah, Amanda, Vera, and Johnny were now at the hotel
in
Malibu Beach where they would spend the weekend. They had dinner at the restaurant on site. Prior to dinner being served, Vera excused herself to use the ladies room. Sarah decided she might as well go too.
Amanda said,
“Johnny.
While we
’
re alone
, there’s something we need to discuss.”
“What could we possibly have in common
?
”
“I recall
a
rumor that you and my sister S
a
rah went out on a couple of dates while in co
l
lege. Please tell me that never happened.”
“No Amanda. It’s the truth.”
“So explain to me how
you
agreed to go on
a weekend
getaway with your wife and a past girlfriend?”
“Let’s keep that to ourselves. Vera does
n’t
have to know that Sarah and I dated.
I
t was Vera’s idea
to
get away
this w
eekend. She felt Sarah needed to have fun and to get her mind off Jared.
After all Vera is my wife and Sarah is merely an old acquaintance.”
“Sure Johnny. But you are still wrong.”
On Saturday
,
after spending time relaxing around the beach, they all went to Los
Angeles where they
partied
late into the night.
The next morning
,
Vera had a severe han
g
over. Johnny tried to get her to go downstairs with him for breakfast. She decided to sleep in late
.
While
in
the restaurant, he phoned Sarah
. “Good morning Sarah. Don’t tell me you are sleeping in late too like my wife
Vera.”
“No, Mr. Johnny Davis
,
I have been up
for some time now
.”
Johnny replied, “I figured you and your si
s
ter would be out and about
.
”
“
My sister
left a few minutes ago to jog
on the beach.
She
won
’
t be back
for awhile.
You
should
come up and keep me company.”
After a brief silence he
accepted her offer.
“I’ll come up for a little while. Let me get my breakfast to go. I think it
’s
ready
.”
After hearing Johnny’s faint knock, Sarah opened the door
and then
beckoned him to e
n
ter. The room was dark except for the sunlight
which
crept through the curtains covering the bay windows. After locking the door behind him, like magnets, they were drawn to each other. A tight hug progressed to include a long
emotionally charged kiss. Moments later S
a
rah lifted her dress methodically over her head exposing her
bare
radiant light tone skin.
She s
prawled out
over the
bed; h
er body was co
m
pletely bare except for a diamond studded s
e
quined choker necklace. Johnny joined her as their bodies meshed. Suddenly forbidden p
a
s
sion
consumed them as
a
wild fire devouring a forest. The embers from their sexual ecstasy burned for a couple of hours then smoldered. The fire was almost rekindled when there was a frantic knock a
t the door
. They lay quiet u
n
til whoever it was decided to leave. They the
o
rized it must have been Vera since the do not disturb sign was displayed.
Johnny cleaned himself up
and then
wolfed down
his brea
k
fast
.
As he was leaving, he saw Amanda wal
k
ing down the hall. She said, “Does your wife know that you were visiting my sister?”
In a whispering voice he said, “Keep your voice down. She’s down the hall in our room. I paid Sarah a friendly visit.” Lifting his voice back to normal he said, “How was your jog on the beach?”
“It was fine.
After my jog,
I sat downstairs in the lobby
chatting on the phone
with my f
i
ancé
Dam
ien
back home in San Francisco.”
“Congratulations on your engagement.”
Vera had a look of relief when Johnny r
e
turned to their room. “Honey
,
I’ve been wo
r
ried sick about you. After finally getting out of bed, I went downstairs to the restaurant
,
o
r
dered breakfast
,
and ate alone.”
“I’m sorry
baby. I didn’t mean to worry you. After Breakfast
,
I went walking along the beach.”
“I understand Johnny. You didn’t do an
y
thing wrong. I stopped by Sarah and her si
s
ter’s room
, however,
no one answered. I guess I’m the only one that slept in late.”
Down the way,
Sarah and her sister
were putting on their swimwear
,
when Sarah
’s cell phone rang.
“Hi Sa
rah, t
his is Brisband. How are you?”
“I am doing fine. I’m relaxing
in
Malibu Beach with my sister and some friends. How is the man with all the money?”
“
Y
ou are not doing too bad yourself. I
’
m d
o
ing find. The reason for my call is to inform you of the tentative date for work to co
m
mence on
the
government
contract
.
Right now, the expected start date is about six months away.”
Later in the day
,
Vera and Johnny joined Sarah and her sister Amanda in a game of beach volleyball. Sarah was dressed in her stringed bikini that highlighted her
nice fi
g
ure
. Johnny was
having
trouble keeping his eyes off her. The night before Vera had o
b
served how he look
ed at
Sarah and now
his staring was even more obvious.
As they walked back to the hotel,
she was steaming with utter disgust
.
“What’s wrong Vera?”
“I am upset at how you have been eyeing Sarah
!
And they way you were gawking at her while we were playi
ng volleyball, is just p
a
thetic!
”
“She is only here because you felt sorry for her and thought she needed some time to r
e
lax. And now you are being unjustly jealous.”
“Don’t worry about me acting jealous
!
You should start acting grownup and respecting me
!
That’s all I have to say
!
Now let’s end this conversation
!
”
The night before Amanda returned to San Francisco, she sat up late talking with Sarah. “
Have anybody ever accused you of having
something
to do with Jared’s disappearance? I know how insensitive people can be at times.”
“
Y
ou should listen to yourself
,
Amanda.
I
am
your sister. You have known me your whole life. I am appalled you would
even
fix your mouth to
ask me that question! I am ho
p
ing he is still alive. Why are you trying to bring me down?” Tears started flo
wi
ng from Sarah eyes.
“
I love Jared. I love Jared. You know that
I love Jared
. Don’t ever ask me a question like that again.”
“Calm down sis. I know you would never do anything wrong
.
However, people in general sometime
s
think the worst.
”
“I walked the streets when he first disa
p
peared handing out flyers with his picture
.
I’m
offering a quarter million dollar award to whoever can find him. I am thinking about
upping
that to a half million dollars if it will bring some
one
forth to inform me of his whereabouts. He is still alive, isn’t he
,
Ama
n
da.”
“Of course Sarah
,
we have to continue to b
e
lieve he is still alive. I didn’t intend to upset you. I’m sorry
. O
kay?”
Sarah
continued to cry profusely as she held
her
hands to her face.
The weekend i
n Malibu beach concluded
,
S
arah was
again
hard at work
.
Near
midweek
,
s
he placed a phone call to Vera. “Hi Vera, this is Sarah.”
“Oh, hi Sarah, I was just leaving.”
“
S
orry
,
I caught you at an inopportune time.
”
“Don’t worry about it. I
have an appoin
t
ment with my hairdresser
.
However, y
ou will need to talk quick.
So Sarah, why are you cal
l
ing me in the middle of the day?”
“I
would like to let you know
that your hu
s
band is the greatest
.
” She paused from spea
k
ing for a moment. “Okay let me get serious.
I called to see if you have made a decision whether or not to work with me on
the
missing
persons fundraiser.
”
“Sarah, I would love to work with you on the fundraiser.”
“Good. I will give you a call
next week
when I’m
back in Dallas.
Three other women
have agreed to v
olunteer
t
heir time as well. I will call a meeting for us to meet.”
“I would like to host the meeting at my house.”
“That would be ideal.”
“Well Sarah, I have to leave. I
will let
Joh
n
ny
know
you asked about him.
”
“Yeah honey, you do that. See you later.”
“Bye.”
After
she
wrapped
up her phone convers
a
tion with Vera, she met with Chris. “Come on in Sarah. Have a seat. I have put together a team of men to
start restoring some of the rear bedrooms.”
“Great.
Were you able to order the
various amenities
to highlight the
ballroom and ba
n
quet facilities?”
“The only hold up is with the two oversized chandeliers
.
”
“I still want Gus Willem to be the foreman
on
the project.
”
“Yes. I know
,
Sarah.
”
“Well.
Did
he
agree to o
ur terms?
“Yes.
He
’ll
be on the job with the crew on Monday.”
Chapter 7
In
Dallas, local newspaper
s
reported in their
headline
s the finding of a de
composed
b
ody
in a c
ar.
The news story w
ent on to say workers dredging and cleaning
a
large retention pond on the outskirts of the city
made the gruesome discovery.
Crime scene investigators specula
t
ed the severely burned body appeared to have been there for months. They also surmised it would be weeks before
they would have a
full coroner report
on the corpse.
Two weeks later, Sarah rings the doorbell at the Davis’ home,
Johnny answer
s t
he door. Vera had
excused herself to freshen up and to change her attire. “Where is your wife?”
“Vera is taking a shower. Come on in. How have you been
Sarah
?”
“I am fine. I’m here for a meeting. I want to make sure Vera has everything in place before the other committee women arrive.”
Briefly, t
hey stood staring at each other
.
The next moment she found herself being held
pa
s
sionately
by Vera’s husband
.
She moaned sweetly and lowly as they engaged in a f
rantic kiss.
When their mouths finally parted she said, “No Johnny. You said we are through.
We can’t do this anymore.” After
relinquis
h
ing his hold
, she took a seat on the nearby plush leather couch.
“Make yourself comfortable. Feel free to watch television. I am going to check on Vera.”
A few minutes later Johnny re
turned.
“Vera said she’ll be out
in a moment
.”
“Okay.”
He puts a hand on her shoulder, “You take care. I am going to leave the house to you
women.”
Sarah
batted her eyes
while holding
her
head in a flirtatious pose. He returned the lus
t
ful look.
Approximately five minutes after Johnny left Vera emerged from her bedroom.
“Hi Sarah, I wasn’t expecting you to arrive so early.”
“Yes. I know.”
“I have a suggestion that I want to run pass you, if it’s all right. I don’t want you to feel I’m trying to take control.”
“I’m open for suggestions.”
“I thought maybe having a local golf tou
r
nament would be a great idea. We could a
d
vertise for sponsors to pay a hefty entrance fee to enter local dignitaries.”
“That’s a great idea. Why couldn’t I have thought of it? We’ll see if the other ladies will have any ideas before voting on how to pr
o
ceed.”
Vera changed the subject of conversation, “You must be really crushed after hearing the most recent news. I know they haven’t co
n
firmed the body found as being Jared, but the news has to be disturbing.”
“Oh! No! Oh! No! I have only been in town for less than a day. I didn’t know. No one cared enough to call me to let me know.” She wiped tears from her eyes.
“Are you going to be okay?”
“Yes. I’m just a little overwhelmed.”
Vera and Sarah eventually adjourned to the dining room. “Excuse me
,
Sarah dear, I’m g
o
ing to get the hors d’oeuvre
s
so I can
situate
them neatly
on the buffet.”
“Let me help you.”
The other women finally arrived. The mee
t
ing was called to order. They agreed to have a golf tournament and to name it in honor of Jared.
At the conclusion of the meeting,
Sarah
informed the ladies they will meet again
the
following
month. Vera was put in charge
of
collecting information on golf courses suitable to hold the tournament.
The next morning, Sarah knocked on the door to Lucinda’s house. She looked through the peephole, opened
the
door
,
and
then
gree
t
ed Sarah. “What a surprise. I didn’t know you’d be back in town today.”
“I flew in yesterday to set up a fundraiser.
I plan to be here until the end of the week to conduct other business. H
ow have you been?”
“I’m Fine.” She paused from speaking
b
e
fore stating
,
“
I’ve been thinking about going to college to be an attorney.”
“
That’s great Lucinda.
You should really consider calling Vincent James. He could pe
r
haps guide you in making the right decision toward a law school.”
“Wasn’t he the attorney that you introduced to me at the celebratory ball?”
“Yes.”
“I had to keep reminding him that I’m ma
r
ried.
To make matters worse, after he found my earrings
,
you had him call me.
”
“Sarah. You have Vincent all wrong.
He may be able to get you in
to an entry
level pos
i
tion with the law fir
m where he works.” She
scribbled
his phone number down. After tea
r
ing the sheet from the note pad, she hand
ed
it to Sarah. “
T
ake this number, give Vincent a call.”
“
Oh gee t
hanks
,
I will need to think about it. I still don’t know if I should call him.”
“
By the way, Lucinda,
I found out last night at the meeting that a body has been found l
o
cally.
Y
ou must have known about this
,
ho
w
ever,
you didn’t bother to call me. Why?”
“I didn’t want
you
to worry
. The identity of the body hasn’t been determined.
” Lucinda notice
d
a few teardrops underneath Sarah
’s
eyes. “I’m sorry
Sarah.
I should have told you no matter the
circumstances
.”
“Damn right
,
you should have!”
At the end of the week, Sarah was back in Los Angeles. Sarah visited the
c
astle. It was still being lived in while being renovated. She was greeted by the Butler and was escorted back to where the men were working in the rear of the house.
She briefly spoke with the working crew. On her way back out, she n
o
ticed Woodrow in the dining area.
“Hi
.
Woodrow.”
“Hi
.
Sarah.”
“You and the Mrs. will not recognize this room after we gut several adjacent rooms to enlarge it into the huge dining and banquet f
a
cility we outlined in our contract.”
Sarah reached out toward Woodrow. He stood for a moment before
taking hold of her
outstretched soft manicured hands
. He pulled her close, they embraced, a second later, they engaged in a long kiss.
Eventually,
Sarah sa
id
, “
Woody, we
have got to stop this right now
.
Suppose your wife walks in on us. She would probably have a heart attack. If that happen
s
we will have to watch her die and then call the paramed
ics.” Woodrow complied immediately to her request.
Shortly thereafter, Bridget entered the room. “She said, “
H
ow are my favorite two
p
eople?”
Woodrow stated, “We are fine.”
Sarah interjected, “I stopped in to check on my crew. Gus
Willem has everything under control. I am going to be on my way.”
Dan
iel Burks called
R
a
chelle
to
inform her
of the
news. “A decomposed body has been found here in Dallas.
”
Rachelle remained silent for a moment then spoke, “Lord, I hope it is not my son.”
“Ms. Rachelle, I am going to keep searching for him. The
C
oroner’s
R
eport, when it is r
e
leased, will let us know if it is Jared. Either way I intend to find the responsible party.”
She followed his remarks by saying, “
Al
t
hough
Dennis Summerfield has been elimina
t
ed as a suspect by the local authorities,
I
’
m
still not convinced he
wasn’t in
volved.”
“So you think he remained distraught after he
f
ought
with Jared
and then hired
someone to do his dirty work.
”
“It seems plausible. However, if he is guilty, his wife probably is connected in some way with the demise of my son.”
“I’m going to continue to check all leads.”
“You keep doing what you can and I’ll keep praying for my son.”