A Test of Love: Interracial Erotic Romance (Chasing Love) (30 page)

The answer had been there the whole time. I just had to open my eyes and really look at it all.

The one thing that the three deceased girlfriends had in common was pissing Dawn off. But that hadn’t been enough for me to suspect Dawn of killing. She didn’t get her hands dirty and barely lifted a finger to do anything herself. So it meant she needed a person who followed orders.

I remembered the night she introduced me to Wendy. I’d been shocked. Here was a girl that didn’t walk in our circles. Wendy’s eyes popped open at Willow Park’s luxurious grounds. She blushed and cheered with gifts that Dawn and I spoiled her with, and finally made herself at home when we asked Wendy to move in. Once I met her family, I knew for certain that she’d fought for everything she got in her life. Wendy’s dad seemed super-religious, discussing God in every sentence.

If someone commented on the wonderfully cut lawn, he’d yell, “God is good. He keeps the grass green.”

If another discussed wanting to go to the movies, he’d raise his hands. “Thank you, Jesus, for these walls, seating, and films. May the lord shine light on all of us as we enter this building.”

Yet, few times, I’d spied her father ogling Wendy’s behind or peeking at her cleavage. I hadn’t been sure if I imagined it or not and never knew how to bring it up to her. And then Wendy’s missing past made me weary about having her live with us. Dawn claimed the investigators couldn’t find anything on those missing years. Wendy declared she’d been a homeless runaway during that time. I didn’t buy it. Something told me that Dawn knew Wendy’s past and purposefully hid it from me. I’d had concerns about having Wendy move in with us, but when those two women got naked in my bed to sooth my nervousness, my concerns never came up again.

How long had they been working together? First, to control me; next, to manage Lucy and the rest?

Troy said that all the women who died had a friend. He figured it was the same one. I believed it was Wendy. While Dawn fought with the girls, Wendy spent hours drinking with them. Plus, it took Lucy several weeks to warm to someone.

Yes. It had to be Wendy, a sober woman pretending to be drunk and stupid.

I left Lucy’s room as she mumbled something to me. Past memories raced through my head. Little times when I’d caught Wendy in my apartment, drinking in my living room, claiming she was out of liquor in her place.

But you weren’t out of drinks, were you? That was you snooping, maybe even stealing tapes and figuring out the exact places in that fourth apartment where the cameras didn’t record?

I bumped into Viv. A bag hung on her shoulder. “Are you going somewhere?”

Troy appeared out of the hallway’s shadows. “Viv, get Lucy. I’ll talk to Chase.”

“Where the hell did you come from?” I watched Viv walk past me and enter Lucy’s room.

“We need to talk.” Troy grabbed my arm and guided me to my bathroom. “Shit isn’t safe here anymore. Get the plane to take all of you back to the states. You think you can get me a ticket back to Oshane? When is Sherman coming out?”

“Okay. Stop.” I snatched away my arm. “Why isn’t it safe? Why are you ordering me around like—”

“Benny killed Dawn.”

Silence.

Anything that had been on my tongue disappeared.
Dawn is dead.
I didn’t love her like Jasmine. There was no comparison, but she had some of my love, even though it leaned more toward the long-term friendship kind.
She’s dead.
I’d said death would be the answer, maybe, if things got out of hand, but. . .

“Where is her body?” I asked.

“Trust me when I say this. You don’t want to see it. Two guys are in her bedroom right now, wiping some of her up.”

A sort of numbness seeped into me. Dread and this cold numbness.

“Wiping her up?”

Troy nodded.

“I. . .I was just going to see if she had gotten Wendy to kill those women.”

“I think she did.”

“But. . .”

Now she’s dead.

Exhaling, I counted for a few seconds to calm myself down. “That wasn’t how she was supposed to die. It wasn’t supposed to end like this.”

“Benny doesn’t do jail and court systems.” Troy leaned in closer. “I think Wendy and Dawn killed those women. Just comfort yourself with the fact that they’ve taken other lives and maybe this is what they deserve.”

“But we don’t know that Dawn and Wendy did it for sure. We’re only guessing and speculating.”

“Do
you
think they worked together?” Troy asked.

“I could see Dawn convincing Wendy.”

“Yeah, man. And the first murder was done with sleeping pills, nice and clean. Dawn had control of almost everything when it came to the other women’s lives. Did she ever talk to their doctors?” Troy asked.

I stared at Dawn’s bedroom door.

She’s really dead.

Troy snapped his fingers in front of my face. “Could Dawn have told your doctor to up the first girl’s sleeping pill prescription?”

“Sure. Yesterday, I would’ve said that Dawn had the control, but would never do that.”

“Now you know that she would?”

“Yes.”

“Wendy also had access to that smoothie.”

Benny killed Dawn so bad, they’re wiping her remains up?

“You hear me?” Troy said. “The smoothie that Lucy took to the first dead girl, well, Wendy sat next to the blender as Lucy made it. I figure Wendy dropped more pills in. Now you have this Vicky chick, doped up on already a high prescription, she drank brandy earlier with Wendy, and then had a pill blended smoothie. That could put her to sleep for a long time.”

I barely broke down what Troy was saying. “Where is Benny now?”

“He’s still in Dawn’s room. He showered and changed. I think he’s overseeing the cleaning process, making sure there’s nothing that can connect him to Dawn’s murder. We don’t have much time.”

“For what?”

“To get everyone the fuck out of here.”

“I’m not running from Benny out of my own home.”

“Hamburger meat.” Troy’s bottom lip quivered.

“Excuse me?”

“Hamburger meat. That’s what Dawn looked like when Benny finished with her. Bits of flesh. Cracked bones, and hamburger meat. Now Benny won’t kill Viv or Jazz, and maybe not me, but he’s waiting to get you. He just killed a white woman from a high-powered family and another high-powered family’s home. Your spot, man. That means he’s only thinking about getting rid of the threat to Jazz. That’s the only thing on his mind. Maybe he’s being rational. Maybe the fuck not. You really got the balls to roll dice on your life, man?”

Hamburger meat.
My stomach grumbled at the thought. Even worse, other scenarios came to my head.
Oh, my God. How will I deal with Dawn’s family?

Troy shoved my chest. I almost lost my balance. “What was that for?”

“You’re sinking.”

“What?”

“You look like you’re about to fucking lose it.”

“I’m pretty damn close. A woman I’ve known all my life, since I was a kid, was brutally murdered.”

“Don’t forget. She was a murderer too.”

“We still don’t know that for sure. That was the point, to know for certain.”

“Benny doesn’t need facts. He’ll kill them all. I’m getting Viv to take Lucy with her.”

“And Wendy?” I quirked my eyebrows.

“She deals with Benny.”

I closed my eyes and rubbed them. “I can’t let that happen.”

“Wendy did it. I wasn’t sure about Dawn. I’m still not, but Wendy was all over it. I’m just not sure how she killed the last two. In order for someone to knock the radio into the pool they had to know the exact location of cameras and which way they pointed.”

I gritted my teeth. “Wendy knew that. She’d been in my monitoring room many times before, sometimes without my even being there. She would’ve known the camera positions better than me. Even Dawn didn’t have that sort of access. It’s just that I didn’t put much into it since Wendy was always so drunk and. . .”

“Useless and ditzy-acting. Yeah. She did that a lot in all of the footage, acting like a bratty airhead.”

Two men marched out of Dawn’s bedrooms with full black plastic bags in their hands. Both had on plastic gloves and white masks over their noses and mouths. The chemical odor of bleach radiated from their scarred skin. One of them had a jagged scar going from his neck to his ear.

Troy and I didn’t say anything until they headed down the stairs. Viv and Lucy stepped out next. She tossed me a worried look. “Take care of Jasmine, please.”

“I will,” I said. “And go out the front. If I know Benny’s men, they’re only using the back entrance.”

Troy glanced at Viv’s behind for a minute and then returned to me. “Time is running out. We save Lucy and leave Wendy. Are you okay with that? Because once we leave her, it’s final.”

“I think Wendy did it, but I’m not comfortable with Benny being the last person she deals with before leaving this earth.”

“What are you saying?”

“I don’t know. I just think—”

“There’s no thinking about it, man. Either you know for sure or not, but in the end. If you want her alive, you get her out of here now.” Troy checked behind him and then whispered, “Only problem is that if Wendy is the killer then Jazz may not safely make it back to the states. The person who killed those three girls got off free. Instead of taking your money and counting her luck, she went after Jazz in the alley. This person isn’t sane.”

No. Hell, no. I can’t let anything happen to Jasmine.

“You’re right. I can’t be focused on Wendy’s safety. I need to be concerned about Jasmine.” I considered it some more.

So you killed them, Wendy?

Everything pointed to Wendy with some possible direction coming from Dawn. Wendy had to be the buddy on the phone that the three dead girls called when Dawn pissed them off. And while she buddied up to them, she figured out the best ways to kill them. Even the night Jasmine was shot, I couldn’t see Dawn pulling the trigger. It wasn’t her style, but she would’ve given the gun to Wendy for safekeeping and maybe even re-mention that Jasmine and I was at the Lan, that evening.

My bedroom door opened. Jasmine came out, freshly showered, and dressed. Something metal stuck up from her pockets. I reached for it. “What’s this?”

“A pocket knife. Just in case I have to stab one of them.” She looked from side to side. “What’s going on? I see Lucy had a breakdown.”

“She’s better,” I said.

“And Benny is in a great mood. I could hear him singing while I showered.” Jasmine stopped smiling when Troy flinched. “What’s going on?”

Jasmine can’t be out here, not until Wendy has been dealt with.

“Do me a favor,
tesoro
. Could you pack some things for you and me? We’re leaving tonight.”

“You have a staff for that. I’m not packing anything. So what’s really going on?” She came out into the hallway.

“Nothing is going on,” I said.

She wagged her finger. “You asked me to pack because you’re trying to get rid of me, so let me ask you again. What’s going on?”

Damn you,
tesoro.
Now is not the time to challenge me.

A little bit of rage built in my chest. I was on edge, scared for Jasmine, me, and everyone else. Too many things would occur within the next hour. Someone would die. Others would run. Benny would need to be dealt with later.
Hamburger meat?
He was even crazier than I thought. I knew Jasmine loved him, but I couldn’t let an enemy like that walk around this earth.
Benny is going to have to be taken care of.
I had to remain calm, not let anyone see me tremble.

“We’ll talk about this later.” I refused to let myself get mad with everything that had been going on. I needed her out of the hallway and away from whatever would be going down.

“Why later?” She sucked her teeth and turned to Troy. “What’s going on?”

“Don’t look at me.” Troy checked Dawn’s bedroom door. “Talk to your man.”

She got ready to turn back to me, but stopped once a whistling Benny came out into the hallway. Troy inched back, which I think set Jasmine off guard. Since knowing her brother, I’d never truly seen him back down. In fact, I’d begun to idolize him. He’d been strong the whole time he stayed with us, and extremely resourceful. If it hadn’t been for Troy, I probably would’ve never realized Wendy and Dawn were the guilty parties.

She exchanged glances with me and lowered her voice. “What’s wrong with Troy?”

Benny paused in front of us. “Lots of whispering out here.” He scanned the area as if someone was hiding in a corner. “What are we planning?”

Hamburger meat. You smash a woman into an unidentifiable pulp in my house and then turn around and ask why I’m whispering in my own hallway.

“Don’t worry about what we’re planning. When are you leaving?” I asked through clenched teeth.

“After I’m done dealing with
your
problem.”

“You’re done now.”

He tilted my way. “Chase, my boy. I’ve only just begun.”

Jasmine got between us. “What did you begin, Benny?”

He simply whistled. Hot bile rose in my throat. I had to focus hard not to swallow or vomit. How long the whistling lasted, I had no idea. He belted a tune with his lips. A haunting one. Too low for whistling. Too slow to be taken humorously. Jasmine stood in front of him with an open mouth as Benny shifted his whistling to humming and took his time looking at each of our faces. My heart no longer beat. I had no idea how I remained alive. Benny had already unnerved me, now after what he’d done to Dawn and how insane he appeared in the hallway, I just needed to get distance between us.

“Benny?” Jasmine said in between his humming. “Benny?”

This is ridiculous. We have to get her out of here.

I touched Jasmine’s arm to guide her back to our bedroom. Staring at Benny, she shrugged away from me. “Benny, are you okay?”

His whistling transformed into laughter. “I’m better than I’ve been in a very long time.”

Second by second, Jasmine’s chest rose and fell at a faster pace than when she’d first came into the hallway. “Why are you acting so weird?”