Love, Art, and Murder

The Muse

This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events, locales

or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

OceanofPDF.com
Love, art, and murder
Copyright © 2021 by Kenya Wright

All rights reserved.

This book or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever
without the express written permission of the publisher
except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Cover Art by Temys Designs

All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

First Printing, 2021
www.KenyaWrightBooks.com

OceanofPDF.com
 Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Elle
Chapter 2 Alvarez
Chapter 3 Elle
Chapter 4 Alvarez
Chapter 5 Elle
Chapter 6 Alvarez
Chapter 7 Elle
Chapter 8 Alvarez
Chapter 9 Elle
Chapter 10 Alvarez
Chapter 11 Elle
Chapter 12 Alvarez
Chapter 13 Elle
Chapter 14 Alvarez
Chapter 15 Elle
Chapter 16 Alvarez
Chapter 17 Elle
Chapter 18 Alvarez
Chapter 19 Elle
Chapter 20 Alvarez
Chapter 21 Elle
Chapter 22 Alvarez
Chapter 23 Elle
Chapter 24 Alvarez
Chapter 25 Elle
Chapter 26 Alvarez
Chapter 27 Elle
Chapter 28 Alvarez
Chapter 29 Elle
Epilogue Alvarez

OceanofPDF.com
 Prologue

We all came to watch her die.

We were distorted silhouettes against a moonlit sky like goblins or
ghosts who came out at night, when the moon was full and welcomed
wicked things to earth.
We surrounded her in a large circle, and she fluttered her eyelashes like
an injured butterfly wagging its broken wings in a last attempt to fly. And
similar to the insect falling to its demise, she lay on the wet ground in the
midst of a garden, dying among growing things—carrots and cabbage, grass
and fertile earth.
Stars glittered in the night. The moon glowed. A breeze kissed her flesh
for the last time. It was beautiful in a way that was immorally wrong.
And then her expression froze into a picture, one discarded among
forgotten things, except no one would ever forget her.
“I'll make sure they remember.” I took a strand of her hair.
Everyone nodded in silent agreement, and then one by one disappeared
into the castle’s dark shadows where night met blackened air and creepy
things whispered the most haunting words into the wind.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter 1
Elle

There had to be a corpse in the body bag. The sun shined in my eyes as
I peeked out of the taxicab’s back window for a better look. The driver
backed into the entrance of the huge castle’s grounds and parked next to the
ambulance, which improved my view. Is that a dead person on the gurney?
Although the bag was zipped all the way up, the black material bulged in
places where I assumed the head and feet would be, giving me the
impression that it was full.
Who died?
The cabbie shut the vehicle off. “Whoa. I wonder what’s going on
around here.”
“I’m wondering, too,” I said. “Doesn’t that look like a body bag?”
“Sure does. But you never know with these rich people. The more
money, the more secrets. Plus this family is Cuban rich. Trust me. I’m
Cuban myself. When we get rich, things get crazy.”
A fat EMT wearing headphones pushed the gurney into the ambulance,
slammed the door closed, and bobbed his head to his own rhythm while he
walked to the front. No police were around, which seemed odd.
“Regardless, I wouldn’t worry about any danger at this place.” The
driver hopped out, rushed to my side, and opened the door. “This is the
famous Castillo Castle. Surprisingly, I’ve never heard of any funny business
going on around here. I’m always dropping artists and musicians off in the
front, but you’re my first model.”
“Well, I’m not a supermodel or anything like that. I don’t do fashion
shows or magazine covers. I just model for artists.”
“Hey, a pretty lady is a pretty lady. Just take the compliment.”
“Thank you.” I handed him my cab fare and slung my bag onto my
shoulder. “And thanks again for that very interesting historical tour of
Miami.”
Laughing, he tucked the bills into his pocket. “Well, it was a long drive
from the airport to here, so I try to entertain my passengers whenever I can.
Besides, it’s not that many times I have such a beautiful woman in my cab,
especially one who knows every line from the movie Scarface.”
“Hey, that’s no real talent. I’ve just seen Scarface at least ten times like
any full-blooded American.”
The emergency vehicle sped off, rustling the gravel on the road and
taking the secret of the dead body off with it. I turned back to the opened
gates with the name Castillo written in cursive.
God, I hope this is a good idea. An ambulance leaving the site can’t be a
great sign for my first day of work.
“Can I get a picture with you to show my buddies?” He took out his cell
phone and pressed on the screen a few times. “Okay. I’d love some of you
in front of the gates.”
I held in my impatience. I’d already been nervous about moving to a
city without knowing anybody and starting this new job that could ruin or
heighten my already established career. The last thing I craved was a photo
shoot for a cab driver in front of my new employer’s residence.
 I straightened out my yellow sun dress and tried to make the wrinkled
material less rumpled by my legs. “I’ll do one or two, but then I really have
to go.”
“Okay. I understand. Then can I get them with your hair down? I’ll even
give you your money back for the cab fare.”
It was always the hair with most people. I had a simple, slim frame, pale
skin, and a reasonably cute face, but my hair was always my best quality.
The taxi ride from the airport cost close to a hundred dollars, money that I
needed to hold on to.
I drew in my sigh so I wouldn’t seem annoyed. “No problem.”
“You’re in Miami now. It’s no problemo.”
“No problemo.”
“Goodness. How old are you?” he asked. “I was taught to never ask, but
young ones like yourself never seem to mind.”
“Sadly, I’m passing that time in youth where women love to boldly yell
out their age, but I’m not there yet. I’m twenty-nine.” I unwound the long,
single braid that wrapped over and over, at the top, into a tight bun. Those
silky, black strands fell down in a wavy pattern past my knees and draped
my shoulders and back like a curtain.
“Ay Dios mio! Look at that hair. You were beautiful before, now you’re
hot!”
I cringed. “Thank you.”
He snapped a few more, handed me back my money, and then finally
put his cell phone away. I took the time to do a quick twist of my strands
and wrapped it all back into a haphazard bun.
 “Well, I wish you luck.” He shook my hand and headed back to his
vehicle. “You’ve got my card. Call me if you ever need a ride around the
city.”
“I will.” I walked through the iron gates and scanned the castle’s
grounds. The image of the body bag played in my head.
Should I worry about that?
I wasn’t even sure a dead person resided in the bag and there didn’t
seem to be a sign of danger or chaos anywhere I looked. No cops lingered
about. No firemen or news people roamed the span of thick grass that
leaned away from the cool wind. No one stepped around the white brick
walls as they soared several feet into the air and gripped unlit torches. Nosy
onlookers didn’t crowd near the huge moat which wrapped around the
entire property and glittered sparkling blue under the sun. Even the grounds
people, tending to the tons of multicolored lilies scattered everywhere,
didn’t stop their watering or weeding, nor peek around the many banyan
trees decorating the front. In fact, they all looked bored with indifferent
masks on their faces—no smiles or frowns, widened eyes of shock or
gaping mouths. They glued their gazes to their given tasks and kept their
hands busy.
Maybe it’s not even a dead body in there. And if it is, maybe it’s an old
employee for the family who died in his sleep. Either way, stop making
yourself nervous. Everything will be fine.
Yet, my fingers shook and my heartbeat sped up, probably more due to
the oncoming nervousness of beginning a new job than the mysterious
zipped body bag the EMT drove away with.
There’s nothing to be worried about. This is a new life, a new beginning.
The farther I walked down the black pebbled path to the castle the more
I came to the conclusion that maybe there was no great tragic mystery that
had occurred after all. Everything seemed business as usual, well,
everything except the skinny guy lounging on a branch high up in the
banyan tree several feet ahead of me. He was a small guy with that golden
complexion most Hispanic people possessed. Birds chirped near him as he
swung his legs and sang out the lyrics to John Lennon’s “Imagine.” Long
black hair hung past his shoulders. White highlights spread throughout the
strands, giving him more of a zebra print effect than stylish flair. He wore
blue jean overalls with paint drops splattered all over the material.
This has to be Hex.
Before accepting the nude model job, I’d researched the artist for hours
at the library’s computer and studied his Morbid Series, which was filled
with shattered sculptures and mixed media portraits of decaying men and
women.
Of course, I’d heard of him before. How could I not?
For many years, Hex had carried on a public feud with successful artist
—and my ex-boyfriend—Michael. Like two wizards wielding similar
magic on the opposite sides of the spectrum, they battled each other with
their art in galleries, did public rants about the other’s lack of vision in
television interviews, and even published academic essays on the other,
critiquing and questioning their collections. Where Hex portrayed darkness
and death, Michael exposed light and the joy of life. Due to that difference,
Michael had forbade me from viewing Hex’s collections. He didn’t want the
darkness to pollute my glow.
And still according to Michael, my light went out.
Hex continued singing, oblivious to me standing directly under the tree
branch. I guess I’ll wait until he’s done with this song. When Hex hit the
chorus, he closed his eyes and yelled the lines. Each note reached a shriek.
Each word more jumbled than the one before.
 “Who are you?” A deep voice sounded behind me.
“What?” I turned.
A man towered over me. He had muscular shoulders and brown eyes
that glittered back at me in the sunlight. He must’ve been a few years older
than me. He boasted the same golden complexion that Hex had, sported a
close cut hairstyle, and dressed in a dark blue suit complete with a gray tie
loosened at the neck. Due to his huge size, the clothes seemed more like a
costume on a powerfully built warrior than a business man. His face didn’t
go with the outfit either. It was molded with flawlessness in mind—high
cheek bones, full lips, broad pointed nose. Deep-set eyes under bushy
eyebrows were the only part of his face that showed off his masculinity.
He put his hand above his eyes, probably to block the sun. “Who are
you?”
“Umm.” I cleared my throat. Every once in a while, a man left me
speechless. I’d hoped Michael was my last one. I was wrong. “I-I was hired
for the modeling job—”
“By whom?” A wrinkle formed in the middle of his forehead and
altered his chiseled face.
“Mr. Hexahedron Castillo.” Pointing to the tree branch, I figured I
would use the artist’s full name, even though my research revealed that
many called him Hex for short. He’d been born by another name, but
legally changed it a year ago. “I applied for the summer position, sent my
portfolio, and he replied with an offer letter and an appointment to meet
with him today at this time.”
Hex continued to sing as we raised our voices to hear each other.
The man looked up at Hex and then returned his annoyed gaze to me.
“I’m not aware of any new hires and I manage that part of Hex’s business.”
 Too bad. I was promised a job. Without this position, I have nothing.
I placed my hands on my hips. “My understanding is that Mr. Castillo
offered me the nude model position for this summer.”
Hex quit singing and raised his finger in front of his face. “Correction. I
offered you an interview.”
“I’m sorry, but that can’t be right.” I dug my hands through my bag and
wrenched out the letter. “I have the letter with me. It says, ‘Dear Mrs. Elena
Richards, I’m offering you the honor to pose for my new works.’”
The big man stirred next to me and raised his gaze to Hex. “I thought I
told you that when you do any business moves, you’re to notify me. How
can I manage you if you don’t tell me about all of the things you’re doing?”
“Well, it seems I’ve made many mistakes today, Elena,” Hex said.
“I like people to call me Elle.”
Hex jumped down from the branch in one swift movement, telling me
that he spent a lot of his free time climbing trees. Once he landed on the
ground, he seized my hand and kissed the two middle fingers. “My
apologies. I was only offering you the opportunity to convince me that
you’re suited for this project, not a confirmation of employment.”
I stiffened. “So I don’t have the job?”
“You’ve passed the first round. Now you’ll have to pass the next two.
You’ll need to answer several questions to see how smart you are.”
“But you offered me a job.”
“Again, I offered you an opportunity for employment.” He wrapped his
fingers around mine and guided me forward. “Now let’s see if you’ve
earned the right to work for me.”
Earn the right to work for him? How dare he?
 I stopped in my place and loosed my fingers from his. “What do you
mean earn it? I’ve proven I can model through my portfolio. I came here for
work and to be a part of creating art, not participate in a bunch of riddles
and contests.”
“Then you’re trying to work for the wrong person.” The other man
unbuttoned the lower half of his suit jacket. “My brother can only function
with games. He knows no other method. By the way, I’m Alvarez.”
“Hello, Alvarez. Nice to meet you.” I stepped around him and glared at
Hex. “This isn’t fair. I’ve flown across the country to get here.”
And let’s not forget that I have no money to fly back and no one to ask
for help!
Hex shrugged. “This is my process. I don’t grab a model for her pretty
face or slender frame. That’s not my painting style. I don’t try to depict her
image. My goal is to illustrate her soul.”
Illustrate her soul? Really?
Tons of smart remarks and several curse words flooded my head. This
all has been a massive waste of time. I’d sold every item of jewelry I owned
to get traveling money from California to Florida. I’d even dumped my
credit cards so Michael couldn’t track my movements, cards that held huge
limits. This was supposed to be a new start, an unknown path to a bold
adventure. Instead, a blockade rose from the path in the form of Hex, and
there was no way around him.
They exchanged glances and Hex stepped back. I must have scared
them with my shocked expression. My mouth was wide open. Disgust
drenched my eyes. Both of my hands were balled into fists. Now I was
really more interested in the body bag from earlier. Had Hex driven his
prior model to suicide? Had his other models been as desperate as me?
Because surely anyone with another option would have fled the property
upon meeting him.
I leaned my weight on one foot. Hex quirked an eyebrow. I continued to
glare. “What are the questions?”
“Okay. Hold on.” Alvarez got between us. “Before we begin this . . .
interview, I need to know more about you.” He glanced at Hex over his
shoulder. “And you have to tell me about this new project.” He returned his
view to mine. “But first, what is your name and how did Hex find you?”
“I didn’t find her. She found me.” Hex held out his arms. “And I can’t
believe you don’t recognize her. She’s Michael’s Archangel. You are
looking at the only reason why Michael’s works were relative in the past ten
years.”
Alvarez studied my face. My stomach twisted in nervousness. I figured
Hex had realized who I was when I sent him my portfolio, but I didn’t think
he would bring it up so soon or that it would’ve been a big factor in him
hiring me. How naïve. I should have never applied. The last thing I wanted
was to be a pawn in Hex’s and Michael’s game of wits and war.
Alvarez inched back. “Dear God, you are Michael’s Archangel.”
“I’m not his anything anymore. I’m no longer employed by him.”
“Do you have this in writing?” Alvarez’s gaze traveled from my head to
my toes. “If you’re in contract with him and end up working for my brother
this would cause major complications.”
“We didn’t have a contract,” I lied. As far as I was concerned Michael’s
employment contract with me was null and void once he broke the
agreement to my heart. We didn’t have an official pact of love, at least not
one that was written in ink and preserved on paper. We promised each other
forever, that our bodies, souls, hearts, and possessions belonged to the other
for the rest of our lives. We swore to always forgive during the broken
moments of our love. And after ten years, he corrupted our promises with
lies, emotional abuse, and my shattered heart. Our heartfelt deal was now
done and I couldn’t care less if Michael liked my posing for Hex or not.
I just need to get the chance to pose and not have Michael find out while
I’m doing it. I won’t let him mess this up for me.
Alvarez pointed at me. “I’m going to need to verify this with Michael. If
you’re under contract with him, then it will keep any works produced by
Hex with you in them from being revealed until we have Michael’s
permission to use you.”
“I assure you I’m not working for him anymore.”
“Nevertheless, if you don’t have a contract, then I want Michael saying
that in writing. I’ll call him.”
“Why?” I forced myself not to bite my lip or show any of my nervous
habits. “I have the official documents where he releases me from working
with him. I just have to get my mother to send them. I don’t want Michael
contacted.”
“Why not?”
“We didn’t end on good terms.”
And Michael would do everything in his power to stop me from working
with Hex or anyone else.
Hex clapped. “Good, that bastard Michael never deserved you anyway.
He didn’t have any idea how to truly display your beauty. We don’t need
any official documents.”
“Yes. We do.” Alvarez formed his lips into a frown. “Until then, I don’t
want you working with her.”
 “Her name’s Elle and I’ll do what I like.” Hex headed over to me and
hooked his skinny arm under mine. “Now back to round two. What’s your
biggest talent outside of modeling?”
“Excuse me?” I struggled to keep up with Hex’s fast pace. For a small
guy, he had speed. The lilies around us blurred into a palette of morphed
spring colors. Alvarez speed-walked behind us and spouted out more legal
terms before finally giving up and blurting out a few Spanish words. I
recognized them as popular curse words used in many films.
“What’s something you’re good at?” Hex bumped my hip with his.
Instead of dragging me to the front double doors carved in mahogany, he
guided me around the huge castle. I would’ve loved a slower pace, to take
in the intricate details in gray stone or ask how they’d managed to build a
castle in the southern part of Miami. But I couldn’t. Hex was too fast and I
was too desperate to get this job.
What is my talent?
I burned ninety percent of the things I cooked, had many pets and plants
die on me from my own neglect, and failed most of the classes I took years
ago in high school, which is why I didn’t have my diploma. Once Michael’s
first painting of me surged to national success while we were only in our
senior year, we decided to drop out and use his royalties to live in
California. What the hell is my talent? All of my art sucked. My paintings
were abstract blobs of colors. My photographs held blurry images. I’d
dreamed of sculpting, but never did it. My singing caused most to escape
the room. My dancing triggered the same. The only thing I knew and loved
was movies.
“I’m a movie buff.”
“That’s not a talent.” Hex snorted and increased his pace. If we went
any faster, we would be jogging.
 “Knowing movies is definitely a talent.” Right? “If you say a movie line
from a reasonably popular movie, no matter how obscure the line is, I can
tell you where it came from.”
That slowed Hex down. I caught my breath while I could, checked over
my shoulder, and spotted Alvarez’s gaze planted directly on my behind. His
face reddened when he looked back up at me, and the unguarded part of me
heated, but I shook that sensation away. This position was about many
things. Starting up something new with a man so soon after the breaking of
my heart was not on my goals’ list.
“How obscure of a line can it be?” Hex stopped us right in front of a
small structure done in the same stone as the castle, but barely the size of a
two bedroom house. Huge glass windows flanked the front door. A brown
sign hung on the center of the opening that read, “Only authorized
personnel.”
“Well, the lines can’t be something so vague like ‘Hi.’ Almost every
movie has that. The line should be more than seven words and actually be
from a movie.”
He grinned. “And if I say a few lines, you can tell me the movie?”
“Most likely.”
“This is your talent?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. Here’s the deal. I say five movie lines. You get at least three
correct and I’ll pass you to the next round.”
This is so stupid, but what other choice do I have, but to play his
childish games?
“Okay.” Hex rubbed his hands together. “Let’s begin. Alvarez, can you
think of a movie line? Nothing’s coming to my head.”
 “I’m not going to be a part of this silly interview process.” Alvarez
crossed his big arms over his chest. The movement stretched the material of
his shirt as his biceps bulged. “And as I said before, even if you do decide
to hire her, we need—”
“We don’t need anything but my approval.” Hex lowered himself to the
ground and folded his legs into the Indian style sitting pose. “Oh! I’ve got
one. ‘With your blood, I’ll paint a clown.’”
Alvarez shifted his weight from side to side. I wasn’t sure if he was
nervous about the game or my possible violation of the contract. Either
way, he fidgeted with his fingers and dabbed at a tiny bead of sweat
forming on his forehead.
“Did I stump you already?” Hex asked me.
Not even close.
What made a movie buff different from others was the amount of
freakish details they chose to fill their heads with. The typical movie-goer
remembered the big lines, the ones that you could find on the film’s shirts
and posters, just a bunch of tag-lines used for promotion. A true movie buff
memorized the odd ones that said more about the story’s theme or
characters as well as reading up on the history and interesting tidbits in
creating the film. From that line alone, I realized that Hex didn’t go to the
movies much. He’d picked a classic gore film that had inspired almost all
horror directors of our generation. Scary movies now either redid similar
blood splatter scenes or attempted to revisit those with new concepts.
“No. You didn’t stump me. The line is from the horror movie The
Bedtime Killer. The murderer said it each time he killed a child.” I
should’ve left it there, but once I started with movies, I couldn’t stop. “The
main actor actually quit The Bedtime Killer in the middle of the movie
because his wife was pregnant and he couldn’t deal with all of the gory
scenes with kids. Another actor finished the scenes in the last thirty minutes
of the movie. In order to fix the fact that the actors playing the killer no
longer looked the same, the director had the new actor wearing a ridiculous
mask that’s supposed to be made out of his victims’ flesh, but really
appeared like a bad kindergarten craft project.”
Alvarez raised his eyebrows, but said nothing.
“You’re good.” Hex nodded his head. “That movie did so badly I didn’t
think more than fifty people throughout the US saw it.”
“I love bad horror and action films.”
“Don’t we all?” He grinned and then gestured to Alvarez. “Well, except
my brother. He hates horror movies and is scared of clowns, so he wouldn’t
have remembered the line.”
“I remembered and I’m not afraid of clowns. I just don’t appreciate
them around me.” Alvarez ceased his fidgeting. “Get on with the rest of the
questions.”
“Fine. You never like to have fun.” Hex brushed away a bug that landed
on his leg. “Since you love horror and action, I’ll say a movie in another
genre. ‘Your love is like a tower—’”
“‘Arching high above everyone around you and showering them in
forgiveness.’ That’s Finley’s line in After One Goodbye. FYI, the actor who
played Finley wrote and directed the film.” I exhausted all of my energy in
maintaining a neutral expression. A mocking smile begged to burst from
my face, but I remained calm. I still needed to get another quote correct.
Now that he knew I was good with movies, he would make the lines more
difficult.
Hex stared at the ground and tapped his finger on his knee the whole
time. It must’ve been five minutes before he finally looked up with a
wicked grin. “Okay. There’s no way you’re going to get this one. ‘I’m sorry,
mister. We can’t get you no help.’”
Hundreds of titles raced through my head. I’d seen the movie and heard
the line, but which one was it? The fact that the person said mister made me
think that the character who said it was young. My speculation didn’t
guarantee it, but it was worth a guess. The bad use of language with can’t
get no help symbolized that a decent amount of dialect was used in the
movie, most likely southern dialect.
I thought about all of the southern movies I’d watched and something
hit me. “You’re not saying the line correctly.”
“Yes, I am.”
“I can’t think of the line, but it sounds like another one. Those aren’t the
words.”
“Then you have the wrong movie.”
“Or you don’t know the actual quote.”
Hex huffed and glanced at Alvarez.
“Don’t look at me.” Alvarez shook his head. “You’re the one who
wanted to do this. Maybe you should stop playing so many games.”
“But do you know what line I’m talking about?” Hex asked.
“I have no idea.” Alvarez checked his watch. “Let’s make this quick. I
have an appointment in an hour about getting your works in the
Metropolitan Art Museum.”
“Then go.” Hex waved him away.
“I’m not going to let you do any major business moves, like hiring,
without my being around.”
“Maybe you should stop trying to be so controlling.”
 “Just finish your game.” Alvarez directed his attention to me. “And
additionally, if she can prove that you’ve said the movie quote wrong and
say the film’s title, then you get rid of the next round and hire her.”
I formed my lips into a huge smile. “I love that idea.”
“But that’s boring. I have a whole obstacle course behind the gallery.”
Hex rose from the ground. “What am I going to do with all of that stuff?”
“Let the kids from your art class this afternoon play on it.” Alvarez
checked his watch again. “Come on. She proves you wrong, she’s hired.
However, I still need those official documents.”
“Of course.” I’ll just have to forge some.
“Okay, fine.” Hex shook the grass and dirt off his overalls. “Prove that
I’m wrong.”
“Well. The movie is The Things We Can’t Forget.” I knew I was right
when Hex sucked his teeth. “The person who said the line was a kid, played
by the child actor Dale Cataway, who—”
“Just get on with it. How am I wrong?”
I giggled. “Well, when he says the line, he’s surrounded by his other
friends who are also kids. They’re looking down a deep well where this
man had climbed into it, to get the kids’ baseball. Earlier, all of the kids’
parents told them to not play baseball in this far off field, but they did it
anyway. So their only ball falls into the well. This wandering homeless guy
climbs an old ladder to get the ball. It broke under him as he tries to climb
back up and he falls deep into the well. He’s trapped down there. After a
while he screams and screams for them to get help, but the kids refuse
because they know their parents will punish them for playing in that field.
So the line is actually, ‘Sorry, mister. We ain’t gonna get you no help.’ In
the end, they leave him there to die.”
 “Let’s go. I would like to get a look at all of you.” Hex spun around and
stomped off to the door with the Only Authorized Personnel sign. I couldn’t
see his face, but I knew it wore a frown. Had he even wanted me to be his
model or did he just really enjoy playing games? I hoped for the latter as I
followed him into his art studio as Alvarez trailed behind me.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter 2
Alvarez

Can anything ever go right when I’m gone?

I returned to my family’s castle after a two-day business trip to discover
a dead girl slumped between the rows of cabbage and carrots in the back of
the vegetable garden. Gray tinted her skin. Rot radiated from her dirt-
smudged flesh. Those green eyes stared off in the distance. I didn’t know
how long she’d been gone, but it must’ve been a day at least. All of my
breakfast spilled out from my mouth and my appetite for the rest of the
week left with it. Thank God I’d volunteered myself to pick a few basil
leaves for the soup my grandma was making. I made Grandma sit down to
take a rest while I went to grab the herbs.
If not, she would’ve found the body and God only knows what she
would’ve done.
Probably strip the body for parts.
Lots of her spells required organs. The darker incantations involved
human ones. It’s not that she practiced dark arts, but something motivated
grandma in these last years to do stronger enchantments that apparently
needed human remains. I’d appeased her with weekly deliveries from the
morgue that carried boxes of hearts, livers, and lungs to her cottage beyond
the vegetables. Those visits made her happy, yet still she complained once a
month, explaining that she needed the organs as fresh as possible. For all I
knew, she would’ve gone to the garden, spotted the girl, rushed off to her
cottage for an ax, and been hacking at body limbs by the time I had the
good sense to go looking for her.
It was stupid of me to think I could leave for two days with nothing
major happening.
I called the police immediately and begged for them to give my family
some discretion due to our status in the community as well as reminded
them of the large sums I’d given to their charities. Several cop cars and
official vehicles came through the back entrance where Hex and our other
guests never went. Our property was massive. Not many people would have
known anything if not for the idiot ambulance driver that drove up to the
front. Grandma had said the girl’s name was Brenda. My grandma made an
effort to introduce herself to all of Hex’s models and artist friends who
stayed on the property with us. We gave any information we had to the
police. Once the cops took pictures, interviewed me, and grabbed
fingerprints and whatever their crew of men did with plastic gloves and
bags, they instructed the EMT to take the body and then they left.
I told that fat bastard to get his vehicle and drive to the back. Did he
listen to me? No. He just puts the girl on a cart and pushed her from the far
back of the property all the way to the entrance. What an idiot. How many
people saw? Surely, the servants and guests are gossiping by now.
Currently a police detective named Mr. White sat in my office, waiting
for me to discuss God only knows what. I shoved those thoughts away and
battled with focusing on the present problem, Hex and his hiring of yet
another new model. I followed them as we entered his art studio.
“Elle, this is where I do my work, which means this is where you’ll be
working for most of the summer.” Hex switched on the light.
A blue glow bathed the space. Elle took her time entering the room. Her
head moved from side to side as she drank in all of the wonders of my
brother’s imagination—transparent funeral caskets full of torn condom
wrappers, painted hypodermic needles dangling from a statue of Mary
mother of Jesus, bedazzled lighters stuck on paintings of child nurseries on
fire, mountainous sculptures of bodies rotting to the bone, holy crosses
dipped in blood, haunting murals done in oil that captivated most viewers’
eyes while taunting their ideas of immortality. Half of his works got him
locked up in jail for obscenity, banned from art galleries in certain
countries, and verbally brutalized by every art critic with more love for
religion than skill.
My brother’s curse was not that he said so many crude things with art. It
was that he had too many vulgar things to say, and most of it no one longed
to hear. Nevertheless, his stuff sold all over the world. In the end, no one
else could do what he did, and do it so well that you had to love it, even
though the deep crevices of your heart yearned to hate it so much.
Grandma always said, “Your brother and you carry curses. Each is
different. I know yours, Al, but I just can’t figure out what his is.”
Whereas Hex replied, “My penis is the curse I carry.”
And though a shadow fell across the kitchen that night, we laughed at
his joke and sipped our glasses of wine. Those were the good days, when
we lived in a tiny shack in the center of Key West with grandma’s garden,
Hex’s dreamy goal of ruling the world with his art, and my sweet memories
of being out to sea on US Naval ships as thousands of brilliant stars painted
the sky. If I knew what I realized now, would we ever have left? The more
we bought and spent, the harder my life became.
Who killed this girl and why did they do it on our property? Should I
even consider my family? No. I can’t. I . . . just can’t.
“Your art is amazing.” Elle stopped at a face that was the size of her
whole body and carved in black glass with dips of gray and white spots near
the eyes and nose. She extended her hand out to it but didn’t touch the
smooth surface, as if brushing the few inches of air in front of the piece was
enough to satisfy her need. “Why did you choose to carve such a dark-
shaded surface instead of forming it from a clear block of glass?”
“Because life isn’t clear.” Hex tied his black-and-white strands into a
big ponytail. “It’s polluted and murky.”
She rolled her eyes, but kept her face slanted enough so Hex didn’t
catch it. “How can someone who lives in a castle with a huge moat full of
koi surrounding it see life in such a sad way?”
“Life is not how I see it. Life simply is what it is. I just represent it the
best way I can.”
“I respectfully disagree.” Elle moved on to a watercolor of a gray
woman with bushy red hair like our mother. The woman yanked at those
bright crimson strands with her fingers and screamed at a pile of dead
bodies in front of her. Grandma and I hated this one, so for once Hex didn’t
reveal it to the world, yet hung the piece in his studio for only a select few
to see.
“Why do you disagree?” Hex leaned his head to the side.
“I don’t see life as so dark. There’s good and bad times. It’s what we
choose to see that determines our life.”
“That’s a shocker.”
“Why?” She turned to him.
“What about your very public, dysfunctional relationship with Michael,
Mr. Bright Light himself?”
She returned her attention to the works in front of her. Tension creased
the edges of her eyes. Her lips transformed from a sweet grin to a straight
line that wrapped tightly across her face. “I don’t see how my relationship
with Michael reflects on our conversation.”
“There are rumors that Michael threw his Archangel in the trash for
others to find and use as they want. I like to think of myself as a finder of
treasure and gold in the dumpster of life. If I’m such a dark viewer and I
spotted something inspiring in you, then what does that mean about your
life?”
Hmmm. I was wondering why Michael would release her from the
contract. Now I know. It ran deeper than art.
Anyone in the art world could recognize that face. If I hadn’t been so
busy with a dead girl and cops on my mind, I would’ve realized who she
was. In each of Michael’s paintings, those pouting lips craved to be sucked
on and kissed. Her eyes whispered promise of pleasure between cool sheets
on a hot night. Her pale skin looked so soft I’d been afraid to shake her
hand and damage those delicate fingers. And that hair. Even in a bun, it
made my length rise for a few seconds, before I calmed myself down.
Michael painted a whole series on just those strands—long luxurious ones,
blanketing her taut body in mystery and sensuality so much that any
average man would long to cut it off, just to see what lay beneath and sadly
to avoid the competition of so many men dreaming of running their fingers
through it.
I moved deeper in the shadows so I could get a view of Elle’s facial
response without her catching me watching her again. Earlier was absurd.
For one second, I slipped my gaze to her plump behind as any normal man
would do when walking behind an attractive woman. She caught me and
held no shame or disgust on her face, just a matter-of-fact response as she
turned back around.
Just another pervert looking at my butt, I bet she thought. She must be
used to people staring at her all the time.
 “Are you going to answer the question?” Hex pushed the topic some
more.
“I don’t have an answer for you.” She walked through a path of two
carved banyan trees. They connected to each other by the branches, so that
the top appeared more like a wooden bridge of leaves than linked trees. Hex
never admitted what the piece meant, but I knew the carving depicted our
relationship as brothers and even our whole family.
Hex and I had those same bonded banyans tattooed all over our backs,
two black trees standing next to each other, a strangling growth of roots
built upwards from the soil and bridging out to others while the branches
matured toward the ground. Like most banyans, the host tree that started it
all was close to death and uncertain of its future.
Those thoughts of the crumbling host tree brought me back to the
problem of the dead girl.
Did she kill this girl? Dear God. I hope not. I can’t take anymore. It
must’ve been someone else. It had to be.
The dead girl had been one of the many models for Hex. She’d just
completed the poses he needed and was due to leave the property tomorrow.
And instead, someone killed her.
“Besides, life is truly not at the forefront for me,” Hex continued.
“Death is my muse. It’s what inspires me.”
Months before all of this, I told him that inviting lots of people to our
castle would be dangerous. He said I worried too much. Grandma got
between us and threw her special cowrie shells onto the ground. A gray film
glazed over her eyes. Hex thought it was some funky trick Grandma knew
to make her magic appear real. I wasn’t so sure. He didn’t believe in her
religion. I just didn’t discount it. Regardless, Grandma peered at those
shells with murky eyes and prophesized that girls would die over and over
again. When I discovered the body this morning, she tossed me that
knowing look, the one that screamed, “I told you, boy. I told you, and now
the blood is on your hands.”
I have to deal with that police detective before the meeting with the
Metropolitan Art Museum. He’ll need to figure out where the girl’s from so
that her family can be notified and possibly paid for their loss. Not that this
could be paid off with money!
A loud and exasperated breath escaped my lips. Both Hex and Elle
turned to me. I covered my mouth with a fist and coughed. “So how much
longer is this going to take?”
“Why are you even here?” Hex grabbed a blue sheet from the shelf and
carried it to the stage. “You never care about the introductory phase with
my models, or really anything when it concerns the art process.”
“Well, now I do.”
“Why?”
Who would kill that poor, young girl?
“You keep hiring women and men and bringing them here.” I leaned on
the wall. “Their lives are in our care when they walk on these grounds.”
“What the hell are you talking about? We can afford them walking
around here, and I’m inspired by people and the things around me.”
I held up my hand. “I understand that, but we need to limit the models.”
Hex paused. “Why?”
I ignored the question and didn’t want to discuss this any further with
Elle around. “How many models are on the property now?”
“Three counting Elle.” Hex gestured for her to come to the stage. “Go
ahead and take off your clothes.”
 I choked on my own saliva. It was such an out of nowhere reaction that
even I was shocked as well as my brother, who laughed at me while I
struggled to get my breath. I never stood in the studio with him when he
created his works, especially the nude sessions.
By God, naked women represented the most heightened work of art. I
was a man after all, a mature one, but a man nonetheless. I could walk into
a room with a bare female laid on the stage and not drool or ogle. But there
were just so many minutes of staring at lush breasts adorned with erect
nipples and that plump flesh between a woman’s spread thighs before I
became aroused and embarrassed us both. I stayed far away from Hex’s
models and all the unclothed gatherings he had with them.
“Are you okay, Al?” Hex straightened out the sheet he’d laid across a
small mattress that stood in the middle of the stage. “If it would make you
more comfortable, I could have her wait to take off her clothes until after
you leave.”
Elle climbed up on the stage and made no move to glance my way as
she brought her fingers to the spaghetti straps on her shoulders.
“How long do you plan on having Elle here?” I averted my eyes while
she slipped off that lovely dress, the color of sunlight and sand right at the
instance of dawn. The color was so shocking against that pale skin, yet
blended flawlessly with her hair. I directed my gaze to the ground because
anywhere near her would be a problem that I didn’t need right now. I had
enough things to consider--like why a dead body was decomposing in a
garden ripe with vegetables and the possibility of another corpse coming
very soon.
How long had the dead girl been there and who the hell did it? Would
there be more? Are we all in danger? The police figured it was a lover’s
dispute or some freak accident until they lifted her dress. What did they see?
Why wouldn’t they tell me?
 “Did you hear me?” Hex waved both of his hands.
“What?” I asked through clenched teeth.
“I said she’ll be here to the end of summer at least.”
“Five months?” Fear rose in my core. “Absolutely not. That’s
ridiculous. You usually only have a model stay for a week or less.”
“A week with Michael’s Archangel? You’re insane.” He motioned to
her lovely form. “Do you see her?”
I risked a peek. Have mercy on my soul. She lay against the sheet with
shivering fingers and her gaze planted to the ceiling. There was no doubt in
my mind that she was nervous. Michael probably never shared her
modeling with any other artist. I know I wouldn’t have. She’s used to people
gawking at her, but not with no clothes on. Yet, with all that knowledge of
her discomfort, I couldn’t turn away. Her lips parted as if beckoning me to
come over and fill her mouth with a kiss. Her chest rose and fell as she took
deep breaths. Her breasts rode the waves. Those pink points on top of them
stiffened right before my eyes. Look away, Al. Look away. I rubbed my
mouth and headed toward the back door. If I allowed my gaze to travel
further down her body, I would be inching over to the stage and giving her
an awkward view of the erection growing within my pants.
I forced myself not to run off by taking a step at a time and doing my
best to control my breaths. “She stays no longer than a week.”
“That won’t do. I need her all summer. She’s my centerpiece in each
work.”
It won’t matter if she’s dead.
But then I couldn’t tell him that. He’d seen enough dead girls in his life.
I didn’t think he would be able to deal with anymore.
“She leaves after a week,” I said.
 A bang sounded from behind me. No doubt, Hex slinging a can of paint
to the ground or kicking a stack of canvases. “This is bullshit! Do I tell you
how to run your side of the business? No! I do my part! You do yours!”
“You can do whatever you need to do within a week.”
“I can’t! I need three months!” Another bang boomed. This one came
close to me.
“You can have two weeks.”
I’ll have to get tighter security. For all I know this death is unrelated to
us all. It could’ve been a lover’s spat or maybe she had enemies. But what
the hell did the cops see when they lifted her dress?
“I need more time.”
Hex and his models were always a constant headache. When they first
arrived, they spent every free moment trying to seduce Hex, which was an
impossible feat in itself. I’d never seen Hex with a woman or man in all of
the adult years we’d lived together. Sadly, I didn’t think I would see him
settling with anybody in the future. Once the models understood Hex was
no option for a love affair, they always stalked after me. I had no need for
models craving success or sexual partners hoping to get their greedy little
fingers on the family money, so I found my pleasures in discrete places that
catered to wealthy men like me.
Yet, models scurried around the property and left to do whatever they
desired with my servants. Some were even bold enough to invite outsiders
into the castle. Although Grandma reached barely five feet, she shut that
misbehavior down by yelling out a few chants and waving a dead rat in
their faces. Thankfully, the rat was a stuffed animal that just looked real.
No one else knew but the family.
“I need my model!”
 Of course he did.
“My new collection is due in the fall!”
No one understood that better than me. I exhausted as many resources
as I could so Hex could get it done. The fact always remained that his art
kept the whole family eating fine foods and living in a lavish setting.
Granted, grandma and I would’ve been happy in a small three bedroom
house at the edge of a tiny country town. Hex wouldn’t hear of it. All of his
childhood, he longed to live in a castle with a moat, so when the moment of
the house purchase came, he’d begged and I obliged.
“Why can’t I just have her here for the summer? What’s the big deal?”
Guilt tugged at my core. Too much death and blood flooded Hex’s
childhood. If I’d been around more. . .
Forget about it, just focus on the here and now.
“Al! Al! Are you even listening to me? Why are you just standing there
with your back to me?”
“Because I don’t communicate with grown men who scream and throw
things like spoiled children.”
Silence passed for a minute.
What is Elle’s reaction to all of this? She must think we’re crazy like all
the tabloids have said.
I would’ve turned around, but feared my eyes would linger. Plus, I
didn’t have the guts to face Hex with my deceit. With all the things I’d dealt
with in life, lying to my brother still teetered on difficult.
“Al?” Hex asked in a calm voice. “Why are you all of a sudden limiting
how long my models can stay here?”
 The best method was to stay as close to the truth as possible. If not, then
Hex would begin investigating. “I’m concerned with so many people being
on the property. There are other family members we have to consider.”
“Grandma?”
“No.”
Did that get your attention?
I didn’t say the name, but Hex didn’t need me to. We were a family of
only four. All the other relatives had either died, were killed, or still lived in
Cuba.
“Did anything happen?” Hex’s voice lowered.
“Not yet, but it doesn’t hurt to be safe.”
With the way this conversation is going, Elle will probably leave the
property herself.
It was in that moment, when she spoke, “I need this job to last as long
as it can.”
I glanced over my shoulder. She sat up with her legs crossed and
sprawled along the edge of the mattress. She looked professional in her
lady-like pose, but sexy all the same. A scorching heat spread across my
skin. She raised her arms and undid the bun on top of her head. “I’ll stay
out of trouble and far away from any of your family.”
Those luscious strands rained down on her skin. Both Hex and I gaped
at her. Our bodies froze into our positions. We were her puppets, ready to
do whatever she needed. Hex must’ve longed to mold her into the images
he created in his head as well as be inspired by the beauty before him.
While I craved to stroke that delicate skin and run my fingers through her
tresses as she moaned with hunger. I would grip a thick section of her hair
in my hands, wrap it around my fingers, and take her from behind. And she
would scream my name.
My pants strained with the weight of my stiff length. My mouth went
dry. My heart sped up at an erratic pace.
“Is there some way I can work for the whole summer?” She ran her
fingers through her hair and spread it out to cover her entire upper body like
a shirt. The movement should have calmed me down, but instead I yearned
for her body even more as she concealed it from me.
She has to know what she’s doing to us.
“Maybe you can stay the whole summer,” I blurted out.
I’ll have to see Madam Miriam tonight and have her schedule me with a
woman. One with long black hair and pale skin, who would let me call her
Elle.
“Then it’s settled. She stays all summer?” Hex didn’t turn my way as he
continued to gawk at her. “We can get more help with our relatives.”
In other words, we would hire more security and another nurse to help
with the twenty-four-hour shifts. I’d already planned to do that, but now
Hex would assume it was his idea and not have his curiosity teased.
“I’ll get on that right now.”’
“Thanks so much,” Elle said.
I’ll definitely call Miriam tonight. Maybe have her schedule me with
two lovely ladies with long black hair.
But I never got the chance to call Madam Miriam as screams sounded
from outside Hex’s studio.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter 3
Elle

Alvarez and Hex begged me to stay in the studio while the women
continued to scream. I spent several minutes alone, getting dressed and
putting my hair back up. A whole lot of commotion sounded beyond the
walls. Although I peeked through the window curtains, I didn’t get much
information.
Outside, a tiny old woman stood barefoot in the grass, spitting out
Spanish and wagging her hands up and down. She had that same tan
complexion like Hex and Alvarez and those beautiful brown eyes that both
men shared, too. Is this their mother, maybe? Wrinkles covered her cheeks.
Her silvery white hair fell to her shoulders. Next to Alvarez’s huge frame,
she looked tiny and was probably shorter than me.
However, what she didn’t have in height and width, she made up with
her voice and authority. Both men remained silent. Hex just stood by with
his hands in his coveralls and a distant look toward the castle. Alvarez
nodded at appropriate times and massaged the temples of his forehead. And
then she turned her gaze to the window I peered out of. My body tensed as
she watched me intently without blinking or looking away. The expression
on her face never shifted. I had no idea if she was mad, curious, or happy
with the fact that some stranger was staring at her from inside Hex’s studio.
She muttered one more thing and stomped my way. I fled from the
window. What else could I do? I had no idea what she would say to me.
Granted, from watching her talk to the guys, I didn’t think she was the type
to hold back her thoughts for the sake of manners.
“Where are you, little one?” The old woman’s voice flowed into the
space first, and then she arrived. I’d figured she was small, but realized that
she was even smaller. She headed my way with a wide smile that made her
wrinkled, tan cheeks rise. “I see a glow in you. It rushed out to me from the
window. I couldn’t ignore it.”
“Uh . . . thank you?”
“Let me get a good look at you, child. My eyes aren’t like they used to
be. My visions are clear, but everything else is filled with shadows.” She
got on her tip-toes and seized my face with cold hands. “What’s your
name?”
“Elle.” I bent over so that she wouldn’t have to remain on her toes, but I
still wasn’t sure where this was going.
“No. What’s your real name? You’re not an Elle.” She closed her eyes.
“I was born Elena.”
“Hmmm. I like Elle better, but yes, Elena is your name. Who calls you
Ellie? That word keeps being whispered around you. Ellie. Ellie. Ellie. The
person doesn’t stop saying it.”
I parted my lips in shock. “No one calls me that, not anymore.”
She sucked her teeth a few times. “No. No. You’re lying. Someone calls
you Ellie. A man. He’s saying it right now in drunken slurs. Ellie. Ellie.”
I swallowed in my nervousness. “My . . . ex-boyfriend used to call me
Ellie.”
“Well, he’s looking for you, and he doesn’t sound like he’s a sane one.”
She opened her eyes. Instead of those brown pupils among white, her entire
eyeballs had transformed to a gray film that brightened in front of me. I
shrieked and jerked back, but her hold on my face tightened. She shushed
me and whispered, “Don’t move or this will hurt the both of us. You don’t
want this kind of pain, girl.”
I shivered under those tiny fingers as they became colder. Power
radiated from her skin and vibrated against mine like one would experience
in a mounting heat wave or sitting on the hood of a car right as it started.
There was something there that I couldn’t touch or see, but slid against my
skin, nonetheless. I didn’t like it. Whatever it was, I trembled some more as
the cool sensation moved over my flesh.
“He’s looking for you. He’s turning up every stone to find you and each
time he doesn’t see you, he screams your name. This man isn’t nice. Is he?”
My lip quivered. “I don’t think you’re talking about the same person.
He isn’t—”
“He is a bad one.”
Hex and Alvarez entered the studio. She released me and blinked a few
times. The gray film disappeared and revealed those brown pupils from
before.
“Who is she talking about?” Hex asked. His confident demeanor from
earlier had shifted to a weird display of unease. He didn’t stand up straight
anymore. He had his shoulders hunched forward. Defeat creased near the
worried lines around his eyes.
“I don’t know.” My fingers shook. I hugged myself, protecting my body
from the cold around me and looked at her. “Who are you and why did your
eyes do that strange thing?”
Alvarez rubbed his whole face with his big hand. “Grandma, why don’t
you go back to your cottage and rest? I’ll take care of this.”
 She raised her hands in the air. “You take care of everything when I’m
right here to help.”
“I don’t need your help. I have everything under control.”
“You have nothing but black shadows and gray clouds all over this big
house. Bad things are in these walls! All of my fruit and vegetables rotted
just like that. Yesterday, there was a good crop coming. Now it’s all gray
and brown. Everything is dead. The earth has responded. The gods are
angry.”
He sighed. “Grandma—”
“No one listens to me. I said girls would die and here they go—”
Dead girls? There was a corpse in that body bag!
“First this girl and now my garden is gone. This is a sign that more dead
ones will come—”
“That’s enough.” Alvarez’s voice rose, but it seemed forced as if he’d
used it with his grandma as a final option. “You’re scaring Elle and
stressing out Hex. You and I can talk about this later.”
She formed her lips into a straight line and placed her closed fists on her
hips. “And will you give me the hearts to break the curse?”
Did she say hearts? Did she freaking say curse!?
I edged back.
“Yes, but only if you stop talking and go back to your cottage.” Alvarez
glared at her.
She shifted her scowl to a pleased smile. “You’re a good boy, such a
good one.” She faced me. “Nice meeting you, Elle. We’ll talk about the bad
man later. I have things for men like him, stuff to protect you. I can’t use
the herbs in my garden anymore. They’re tainted with evil now but—”
 Alvarez cleared his throat. “Please, Grandma.”
“Again nice to meet you, Elle.” She waved goodbye.
I could only bob my head as she left. When their grandma had shut the
door and her cheery whistles sounded beyond the walls, Alvarez directed
his gaze to me. “Who is this bad guy that she’s talking about?”
“What the hell happened to her eyes and why was there someone
screaming outside? And what does she mean vegetables are evil?”
“Answer my question first.”
“No. I don’t think so.” I held up a finger at him. “She said something
about dead girls, hearts, and a curse. And that stuff is evil. What is she
talking about?”
“My grandma is eccentric.”
“Her eyes did weird things. That’s more than eccentric. It’s scary.”
“It’s a trick she learned to do when she was a child. It helped her seem
more authentic when she would tell fortunes at carnivals and fairs.”
“Bullshit,” I blurted. “Her hands were cold and everything seemed
weird. I’ve never felt that way before. It was creepy.”
Alvarez raised his hand to stop my rant. “You’re avoiding my questions
while I’ve answered yours.”
“Answered mine?” I touched my chest. “Why are there dead girls? Was
that what the EMT was pushing out to the ambulance today? Am I in
danger or something?”
Hex snapped his attention to his brother. “What is she talking about?”
“Nothing,” Alvarez said through clenched teeth.
 I looked at Hex. “There was a body bag on a gurney that the EMT took
to his vehicle.”
“There wasn’t anything in it,” Alvarez said.
“I don’t believe you.”
“I don’t care. Now what man is my grandma talking about? She said
someone calls you Ellie and is looking for you.”
If he isn’t going to be truthful with me, then I won’t be with him.
“I don’t know who she’s talking about.” I crossed my arms over my
chest.
“Yes. You do.”
“Actually, this is just like these dead girls, I think. All some little fake
mystery that’s not true.”
“There are no dead girls. My grandma just thinks that there will be.”
“Excuse me?”
“She believes she sees visions and in one she saw dead girls.”
A cold shiver ran up my spine. “Do her visions usually come true?”
“Elle, this is a ridiculous conversation. You do know that there’s no
such thing as magic, right?” Alvarez tossed me a grin, but it seemed forced.
“You’re still not answering my question. Do her visions come true?” I
threw that question at Hex, since Alvarez refused to be straight with me.
Hex sighed. “Sometimes they come true. Sometimes they don’t, but she
doesn’t see you dying. She sees something else for you.”
“What?”
“She said something about you being the light for our darkness. I’m not
really sure what she meant.” Hex shrugged.
 Alvarez waved his hands. “We’re done discussing grandma and her
ridiculous visions. Let’s get this straight right now. There was no dead body
earlier, nor dead girl to come. Elle, you are safe here. I can guarantee it as
long as you’re honest with me.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” I raised one eyebrow.
“Who’s this guy that my grandma is talking about?”
“Why does it matter if you said that what your grandma sees is
ridiculous and not true?”
“She has a point, Al.” Hex tossed him a wicked grin. “And if there was
a dead person earlier, you’d better let me know.”
“No one died on this property!”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re lying.”
Alvarez took a step forward and stopped as if restraining himself. Hex
lowered down to the ground, folded his legs, and stuck his thumb into his
mouth.
Not a good sign.
A strange humming fled from his lips as he shut his eyes. With so many
odd things happening, I decided to grab my bags, figure out where I’d
placed the cab driver’s card, and call him to pick me up immediately. I had
no idea where I was going or who I could get to help me until the end of
summer, but this situation balanced on the edge of strange and dangerous. If
I continued with this job further, then something would be stripped from
me. Whether my sanity or my life, something would be ripped from my
core, and after being with Michael I didn’t think I had anything left inside
of me to live without.
So I left with determination in my steps. Alvarez’s gaze followed me,
but he didn’t attempt to stop me when I reached the door. “Where are you
going?”
“Somewhere less dangerous.”
He trailed behind me as I rushed through the studio. Hex’s strange
humming flowed out with us. I didn’t allow myself to even focus on the
reason why a grown man in coveralls would be sitting on the floor, sucking
his thumb, and buzzing out an incomprehensible tune. If I did, I would lose
it. I’d been dealt crazier things in life. Besides, the art world incited
madness everywhere an enthusiast looked. However, dead bodies, a seer
voodoo grandma, dark prophetic visions, and a bizarre responsive artist
were just too much for my head to contain. I could take two or less, but all
together was too much.
Now where will I go? I can’t go back home or to Dad’s. You counted on
that. Didn’t you, Michael, me not knowing where to go? Well, I won’t be
going back to you.
I bit my lip, picked up the bag I’d dropped outside of Hex’s studio, and
continued down the pebbled path outlined in lilies. Alvarez stayed a few
feet behind me with his hands resting in his pants’ pockets. A few of the
gardeners eyed me and whispered to the person next to them as they
continued to take care of the flowers. Once I got out of the gates, I would
pull out my phone and call the cab.
I glanced over my shoulder. “Are you making sure I’m leaving?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
“Meaning?”
“I’m not sure if I want you to leave or not.”
“That’s weird. Earlier, you seemed certain that I should only stay a
week and no more.”
“My grandma said you weren’t in any danger. I think she’s right.”
 “Why?” I rounded the corner and started up the path that headed to the
many banyan trees in the front of the castle. Sunlight peered through the
branches above us. Far off, I spotted their grandma with her hands raised as
she yelled foreign words at the sky. Brownish shrubs surrounded her feet. Is
that the rotting garden she’s talking about? It did look like it could’ve been
a garden weeks ago.
“Grandma said you’re our light and part of our salvation and that you’re
not in any danger.”
“You said her visions were ridiculous.”
“I didn’t want you or Hex to worry.”
“Well, too bad. I am.” I adjusted the strap on my shoulder. “Your
grandma said something about dead girls.”
“She saw them in a vision. Minutes ago while she was weeding her
vegetable garden, she had another vision where there was a dead girl. Then
she claims the whole garden rotted before her eyes. She screamed and
hurried to find me, which would have been fine if it was only me, but
instead you and Hex were around.”
I huffed. “Well, I’m glad I was or I would’ve never known that I was in
danger.”
“You’re not.”
I paused and glared at him. “How can you even say that because of
some vision your grandma had? And by the way, she scares me.”
“She scares most people.”
“Do you believe her?”
“About what? The garden?”
 “Well, that’s a good start. Did the garden look like it was rotting
before?”
He looked away for a second. “It seemed pretty normal earlier, but I
wasn’t exactly focused on how ripe the vegetables appeared.”
“You’re avoiding my question.”
He met my gaze. “I answered it to my best ability.”
“Whatever.”
“Stay.”
I raised my eyebrows. “What? Why do you want me to stay now?”
“Because there are no problems that will—”
He silenced as I raised my finger. “I don’t know how you usually do
things around here, but I like the truth.”
He pulled his hands out of his pockets and rubbed his face. I was
starting to think that he was either extremely stressed out or rubbing his
face was a nervous tell.
It could be both.
He let go of his face. “As you can see with Hex right now, he doesn’t
take tense situations very well.”
That’s an understatement.
Alvarez continued, “Hex has a collection due at the end of summer. He
should be focused on finishing it. We’ve already been paid. There can’t be
any delay or extensions. If you’re here, I think he’ll be able to keep his
mind focused on you. He seemed inspired earlier. After an hour with
himself, he’ll return to his creative mania and forget about this . . .
problem.”
 I tapped my foot. “So you’re saying you want me to stay here so that I
can keep your brother busy while you deal with dead girls?”
He moved his closed lips around like he was gritting his teeth. I almost
laughed, and would have, if the situation hadn’t been so serious. Here was a
man who wasn’t used to people calling him out on his crap. Sure, his
grandma probably resisted, but in the end it seemed like she did what he
asked. Hex appeared to break rules and whine like a child from that scene
earlier in the studio when he threw his paint brushes on the floor, but
Alvarez still held all the control over his brother.
“So?” I asked. “Am I right?”
Again, he rubbed his face. It was a wonder that his sculpted face never
sagged due to all the rubbing.
“Just tell me the truth.” I leaned my head to the side.
“No. There are not lots of dead women. Yes. I would like you to keep
my brother busy. You would still be modeling like before, but now with
everything happening around me, I don’t have time to focus on him. If
you’re here, he’ll be obsessed with the art, and in the end all the same
results will happen. Greatness will show in his collection. You’ll be paid
and everything will return to normal.”
I can’t believe I’m even considering this. But then, where the hell was I
going anyway with only five hundred dollars in my pocket?
Michael had emptied all of my bank accounts. I checked at the layover
in Dallas when I went to the ATM machine. It had been a risk to try and get
my money anyway. I wanted him to think I was leaving the States. An ATM
withdrawal in Dallas may have kept his search in the country. Either way, it
had all been for nothing. When I checked my balance, the screen said zero.
I yanked out all of my other debit cards and discovered the same thing.
Although I’d snuck out of the house at three in the morning while he slept
on top of his nude model in the studio, in less than four hours he’d
discovered my letter saying I was leaving and cleared all the money from
my accounts. I figured he would never take all the money I’d earned with
him and knew that he wouldn’t be that cruel. I was wrong and wouldn’t be
making those same mistakes again. When I got off the plane, I had ten
missed calls from him.
“Will you stay?” Alvarez pulled me back to reality and the present
problem at hand.
“Has there already been a dead girl on this property?”
He waited for one long silent and uncomfortable minute before he
answered, “Yes.”
“Do you know who killed her?”
“No. I found her near the garden. There’s a police detective assigned to
the case who’s waiting for me in my office to figure out who did it.”
“Did you know her?”
“No. I barely saw her around the grounds. Hex loves to invite many
writers, artists, and models here. He calls it a colony for creative thinkers. I
tend to keep my distance from his guests.”
“What did she do?”
Again, he hesitated before admitting, “She modeled for Hex and had
been done for a while. I’d checked her model schedule and realized that
she, along with several other models, were complete and just hanging out in
the castle for fun. My assistant notified them that it was time to leave and
booked them all flights for this morning. All of them left but her and a few
others who remained.”
“And now she’s dead.”
 “Yes, but I can guarantee you’ll be safe.”
“Why, because your grandma will be stewing hearts and doing black
magic in her rotting garden?”
He grimaced. “It’s not black magic and the hearts aren’t . . . just never
mind about all of that. I’m going to have a bodyguard follow you around.
He’ll keep his distance to not get my brother’s attention, but he’ll always be
around to protect you.”
I relaxed a little and didn’t think having a bodyguard around would be a
bad thing. There was Michael after all. I didn’t think he would come at me
with violence. He’d never physically hurt me, but then I’d thought that he
wouldn’t take all of my money and he did. What else would he do? I’d
picked working for Hex for a reason. Michael depended on my loyalty.
While he knew that his cheating and blatant disrespect of our relationship
had pushed me away, he probably figured I would drag myself back, like all
the other times, either due to my love for him or the fact that I couldn’t
survive financially without him. I always came back and hoped for a change
that never occurred.
Michael would never think that I would be bold enough to model for
anyone else, especially not his arch nemesis.
That’s what Michael called Hex all the time, his arch nemesis. Michael
avoided him as much as possible, so Hex’s castle would be the last place he
would look for me as long as Alvarez didn’t call.
“How much did my brother promise you?” Alvarez asked.
“Five thousand a month as well as my food and lodging paid for.”
“I’ll pay you ten thousand a month and give you a weekly allowance of
five hundred dollars.”
“And a bodyguard?”
 “Of course.”
“If someone else is killed and I’m scared, then I leave with whatever I
earned.”
“Understood.” He extended his hand out to me. “Do we have a deal?”
I gave him my hand. “I want the truth and no more lies.”
“No problem.” He wrapped his fingers around mine. His coarse skin
rubbed against the pads of my fingers and delivered a shock of heat that
drummed into me. My legs wobbled a little. My pattern of breathing
increased. Where his grandmother’s hands froze me cold, his melted my
core. The urge to tighten my hold surged within me. I’d never been that
warm before, not even when I lay on the beach in the direct rays of sunlight
or rested near the roar of a fireplace. I was comforted by his heat and didn’t
even know I’d been so cold. I heard an intake of breath from him as he
stared at our linked hands.
Did he feel the same thing I felt, this weird electric charge between us?
Was I imagining this, like his grandma’s weird eyes when she touched me?
“Who is the guy that my grandma saw in her vision?” He gazed into my
eyes and I looked away.
“That’s not something I would like to discuss.”
He traced his finger along the inner part of my wrist. I shivered in
response. This was so inappropriate on so many levels, but I relished his
touch anyway. It had been so long since anyone had placed their fingers on
my skin for more than just to pose me for a painting.
“Should I have two guards watching you?” He stopped moving his
finger, but didn’t release me.
“I don’t know.”
 “I don’t want you to be hurt.”
“This guy has already hurt me as much as he can. He can’t do any
more.”
He raised the right side of his lip into a sneer. “Is it Michael? Did he do
something to you?”
Rage blazed in his eyes. If I hadn’t seen it for myself and someone just
told me that Alvarez could look that angry, I would’ve thought they were
liars. Fury radiated from him. I let go of his hands and inched back. There
was no way I would tell him about how Michael treated me. I got the
feeling that if I did, then Alvarez would do something bad.
I forced an awkward smile. “You’re a protector type, huh?”
“At times.” He stared at my hand, the one he’d been holding. “I don’t
like it when someone hurts another. Now don’t lie, was it Michael?”
“No.” The lie came out so simple.
“Will you ever tell me who?”
“Maybe.”
“Let’s hope this guy is far away from me when you do.”

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter 4
Alvarez

That can’t happen again. Whatever that was when I grabbed her hand,
it can’t happen.
Pain throbbed at the front of my head. I popped two aspirin in my
mouth, took the glass from my assistant’s hand, and swallowed it all down
as I climbed the stairs to my office. A long list of things to do ran in my
head.
“Okay. Catch me up on what you’ve done today.” Reece took the glass
back. Her blonde curls bounced with the speed of our pace. She opened her
mouth and panted a little, desperately trying to hold onto the glass, notepad
in her arms, and phone in her other hand. I stopped. “Am I walking too
fast?”
“Just a little.” She gasped.
I took the glass away from her and set it on the floor. Our cleaning staff
was on point with their tasks. I knew the glass would be there no more than
a minute or so. The head chief of cleaning ordered her servants to do four to
five patrols of the estate each hour.
“Remember. When I push you too far, you have to tell me.” I wiped the
little beads of sweat off her forehead with my hand and regretted it
immediately.
She blushed. “I’m sorry, sir.”
 I hated when she apologized. She never did anything wrong, and the
few times she made a mistake it was never really significant enough to
warrant a “sorry.” But that wasn’t really the biggest problem between us.
Last week, she left a voice mail message and declared in a stutter of
drunken slurring that she loved me. For all these years of us working
together, I would’ve never thought that would’ve happened. She wasn’t
ugly in any way. In fact, any man would’ve found her captivating. I just
didn’t feel that way about her, and if I had to be truly honest with myself,
she was just too damn good of a personal assistant to mess up with a sexual
relationship. Because that’s all it would’ve been, sex a few nights and then a
conclusion after a few weeks. I never had time for serious dating. My
family kept me busy and emotionally drained. I didn’t possess much to give
to anybody else, not time or love, not compassion nor the motivation for
anything more. I’d explained that to Reece the next morning in the most
uncomfortable meeting in our business relationship. Things had been
unsteady ever since.
I shouldn’t have touched her. Why in the hell did I do that? Because
she’s like a little sister at times and I would’ve wiped her head like that if
she was my sister.
“No, Reece. I’m sorry. That was entirely inappropriate of me just now.”
“I don’t mind that.” Again, the blush appeared.
Dang it.
I cleared my throat and started walking. “Okay. Let’s continue. You
were going to tell me about the earlier meeting.”
“When you didn’t show up an hour ago, I carried on the meeting with
Detective White for you. Was that okay?”
“Yes. Feel free to work with him on your own any time when I’m
caught up in other things. What did you discuss?”
 “I gave him the address for the morgue the body was taken to and all of
the model’s information. He’s walking around on the second level asking
the few artists left if they’ve seen anything.”
“He won’t tell them what happened, right?”
“No.” Reece pushed her glasses back up on the bridge of her nose. “I
made sure to tell him that discretion was necessary.”
“That’s good, but there’s going to be a point when you and I will have
to reveal a lot of my family’s private information to the police. That’s fine. I
just want our lawyers receiving the reports of what we say before the police
get it.” I made it to the second flight with that steady drumming in my head
and the scent of Elle on my hand. What type of fragrance did she wear? I
sniffed my fingers, and oranges and flowers came to my mind.
Orange blossoms, maybe. Were there any such things as orange
blossoms? It had to be that.
“I also booked flights for all of the remaining artists and writers on the
property. I notified Hex like you asked. He approved most and they will be
leaving in two days. There is a small group that will remain until the end of
the summer to help Hex finish his collection.”
“How small?”
“Twenty people.”
I would need even more guards to guarantee their safety. “That’s too
many. I’ll have to talk to Hex about getting rid of them. Put it on my to-do
list for this week.”
My assistant tried to hand me the sheet of paper of what she’d written
so far. I motioned for her to keep it. Reece had been efficient since the first
day I hired her ten years ago. There was no need to check her work
anymore. She was about the only person who listened to me and followed
every order accordingly.
“As to not cause any concern, I had the chefs create a big five course
meal and prepare a sort of goodbye party for tomorrow night. Hex heard
about what I planned and decided to go bigger with the celebration. Melody
has the staff decorating the dining area and main living room. Musicians
were invited as well as magicians.”
Musicians and Magicians?
I gritted my teeth. “So he’s excited?”
“Yes. You wouldn’t believe half of the things he wants me to get on this
list.”
Good. I couldn’t deal with him breaking down anymore.
“Did he go alone?”
“No. His new model left with him. Elle, I think.”
My brother roams Miami in a limo with a beautiful woman while I rush
around this gaudy property, trying to keep all of our heads above water.
“Is security following them both?”
“Yes. There are four guys. One is in the limo in front with the driver.
The other three are following them in cars and were told to blend in and not
scare Hex.”
“Good. Let me know when they return. Maybe I can sit down and have
a dinner with him or something. Do I have time in my schedule?”
“Actually, you and Hex are supposed to be at the opening for X-Lab
tonight.”
I hit my forehead. “Oh God. How could I forget that?”
 “Well, you did see a dead body today.”
“True, but Hex has been obsessed with this gallery for years.”
It must’ve taken Hex two to three years to get the investors interested in
the idea. Many of the people who helped with the production were edgy art
enthusiasts like himself. We found an old shoe factory in North Miami, had
the construction workers gut it, build on it more, and construct a massive
building that provided two levels with lots of space.
Hex dreamed that X-Lab would be the first art gallery in the United
States focused solely on performance, video, and installation art exhibits.
There would be no paintings, drawings, sculptures or any of the other
traditional works many anticipated in a typical gallery or museum. X-Lab
would present experimental works as well, things that were too
controversial or graphic for other curators. That fact pushed me on edge.
Once an artist became obsessed with a particular idea, social norms,
concepts of humanity, and ethics fell to the side.
We held an application approval process for the new artists who longed
for their works to be in the opening. The installation art deemed the easiest
to pick through. The artists submitted mini models of their work, which
tended to be small enough to put on my desk and analyze. The installation
genre consisted of three-dimensional works that were usually designed to
transform the perception of a space. Most of the applicants sought to use
natural elements to speak about global warming and recycling. Others
longed to create interactive installations where the audience acted on the
piece and/or the work responded to the audience’s activities. Picking the
installations served as the easiest part of the task.
Unlike the other artistic genres, which gave me a headache as I read
them. More than fifty percent of the video and performance ideas shocked
the crap out of me. The other fifty put me at unease. One female artist
sought to have a corner in the gallery where she could sit in a lawn chair
naked, hold a holy cross made of two dildos, and masturbate to it. She
claimed the performance would trigger the viewers to think about sex and
religion. Hex considered her a genius. I kept my words to myself and ripped
up the application. Some of the video artists involved a lot of shock in their
works—most did awkward things with razors and knives, some explored
sexuality in the most profane ways, and then the truly morbid studied the
notion of death by dissecting corpses with children’s toys. Hex and I battled
those days and compromised on allowing some of the less offensive to
trickle through.
“I should get down to X-Lab and make sure everything is on schedule.”
And not liable to get us locked up for presenting it.
Reece shook her head. “You already delegated a pretty efficient team for
that project. I’ve gone down there and confirmed that ninety-five percent of
the installations are set up. The video art works with no problem and all
people doing performances know what they are doing and where.”
“Thank you. What time is the opening again?”
“Eight.”
I checked my watch and realized I had a few hours. I’m not sure why
but I sniffed my hand again. “Is there such thing as an orange blossom? I’ve
heard of cherry ones.”
“Orange blossoms, sir?” She raised her blonde eyebrows.
“Do they exist?”
“Why, yes. They definitely are real. It’s our state flower.”
“So people make perfume out of it.”
“Sure. Lots of them. My mother used to add them to wedding bouquets
when she worked at a big florist in Ocala. On Valentine’s Day people would
mix them with rose arrangements since they’re believed to be an
aphrodisiac.”
“Get me some orange blossom candles for my office and bedroom.”
Without asking me why, Reece wrote it down. It was why I paid her so
much. She knew when to speak up and the right moment to keep her mouth
closed. I didn’t need her inquiries on why I longed for that fragrance. Not
that I had an answer myself. I just needed her to get the scent to my private
space as soon as she could because I didn’t plan on being around Elle
anymore, even though I craved to touch her skin again and inhale her sweet
perfume. Too much surged between us. It was sizzling and sparked
something inside of me. I could have wet my finger, stuck it into a wall
socket, and not gotten the shock I’d received from just one touch of Elle’s
hand.
Not again. She is here to keep Hex busy, not me. Elle will serve her
purpose this summer and then be gone. Besides, she has her own drama
trailing behind her.
Grandma envisioned a man after her, a bad one who called her Ellie. I’d
bet that bastard Michael was the guy. Who else could it be? I didn’t follow
his career, but everyone recognized his Archangel series. It must’ve been
twenty massive paintings of Elle nude, her hair flying high in the air and
separated like wings. I’d gotten a hard-on at the premiere. Galleries enjoyed
showcasing artists with a lot of drama. Displaying Michael and Hex’s
collections together, two artists who made it a point to publicly ridicule
each other, was a no brainer. The press went crazy. Critics, fans, and
enthusiasts packed the place. All compared their work throughout the night,
running from room to room. Michael’s stuff was on the west side of the
building, Hex on the east. By the end of the evening, hordes of baffled art
lovers congregated in the center of the building, unsure of which one was
the best.
 And now Michael’s Archangel will be modeling for Hex. When I notify
our publicist, she’ll have a happy orgasm in selling this. It will be the top
news in the art world for the whole summer.
The only question remained was would Michael be a problem. If he hurt
her, then it wouldn’t be wise for him to come here. It wasn’t that I had a
special feeling for her or anything. I just didn’t appreciate guys taking
advantage of women. That was all. Nothing more.
“Schedule a meeting with Hex’s publicist. I want her to know about Elle
posing for him. It may get us some more backers.”
“Should I put together a small media package, too, on the art collection
and what it will be about?” Reece scribbled the note.
“No.”
Hex remained hushed on what the subject matter of his collection would
be about. If I focused too much on that tiny predicament, then I would have
an aneurism. Anytime he kept his art secret, it meant that I would be pissed
at the reveal. Discovering the focus of his collection would have to be dealt
with soon, before he went too far with whatever he had planned.
Maybe I could ask Elle to tell me what they’re doing? No. I can’t hang
around her anymore. Besides, she’s already seen the crazy side of Hex,
Grandma, and me, and was ready to rush off. Having her spy on my brother
would probably not sit right with her.
“The limo will be here at 6:30 p.m. to pick Hex and you up.” Reece
interrupted my thoughts. “Your tuxedo is in your bedroom. Should I make
arrangements for Hex’s new model to come with us? I know Hex enjoys
showing his new models off when he can.”
“I don’t know.” I didn’t enjoy the anticipation bubbling in my chest
from the fact that I might see Elle again. It shouldn’t have even happened.
She was only a beautiful woman. I’d seen many in my life.
But none who gave me an electric surge.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter 5
Elle

My phone read thirty-five missed calls from Michael.

Will there be a certain point when my phone stops counting missed
calls?
Michael’s messages flooded the inbox to the point where I was sure no
one else could leave a message. Not that anyone else called me. I never
truly made friends with anybody and had chosen to stay to myself or
dedicate all of my time to Michael.
Not anymore.
I shut my phone off and leaned my head against the window as the
driver steered the limo toward South Beach. Hex sat silent in the far corner
with his thumb in his mouth and his face toward his door. He hadn’t said
anything the whole thirty minutes we’d been in the car.
“If I knew you weren’t going to talk, I would have never come.” It was
my tenth attempt at starting conversation. My patience evaporated on my
fifth try. Alvarez’s personal assistant, Reece, had organized this shopping
trip and explained that Hex would be throwing a goodbye party for all of
his friends. She’d handed me a credit card and told me to use it for my
clothes and his.
“So how many people are going to be at the party?” I shifted in my seat.
“Will it be a theme or simple dinner affair?”
 He removed his thumb. Small bubbles and saliva saturated the fat
finger. “Would you please shut up?”
“Excuse me?”
“Be quiet. You’ve been running your mouth the whole time.” He stuffed
his thumb back into his mouth and leaned his head against the back of the
seat.
“Well, I’m going to keep talking just on the principle that I don’t let
guys who still suck their thumbs like a baby tell me what to do.” I showed
him my middle finger.
“Is this how Michael taught you to be a model?” He didn’t even look
my way, figuring the fact that he’d brought up my ex-boyfriend’s name
would probably silence me. Hex was wrong. It only pissed me off.
“Do you realize how absurd your being rude to me is? The very fact that
your finger is lodged in your mouth negates any barb you have to sling at
me.”
“Have mercy. Now I know why Michael fired you.”
“He didn’t fire me. I left.”
That got his attention. He slid his thumb out an inch, yet the tip still
remained between his lips. “Why?”
“I didn’t like working for him anymore.”
“Why?”
“Your turn. Why have you been sitting in the car this whole time,
moping and suckling your finger like a newborn baby?”
“Did you really see a dead body leave the property?”
He’s still worried about the possibility of the dead girls. He should be.
 “I didn’t see a dead girl.” It wasn’t a lie. I hadn’t seen her, just the body
bag she lay in. “There shouldn’t be anything to worry about. Is that why
you’re worried? You’re scared you’re in danger?”
“No. Nothing would happen to me.” He pulled the thumb all the way
out of his mouth. “I just don’t want the killing to start again.”
My heart stopped. My stomach knitted in pain. “Killing? Again?”
Hex raked his fingers through his hair. “Forget what I just said. It’s
something that happened a long time ago. When I was young, a tragedy
happened around me. I can’t deal with too many people dying.”
My body relaxed. “What happened?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” He shoved that thumb back into his
mouth.
“Would you please stop with the freaking finger? It’s not only
disgusting, but it will ruin your teeth and the skin on your thumb. Not to
mention, I could go on and on about how ridiculous you look.”
“It’s how I soothe myself.”
“Goodness gracious. Why not get a freaking addiction that’s less
embarrassing?” I scooted over to the bar within the limo’s interior wall.
“Have a drink with me like an adult.”
“I don’t drink much and when I do, it’s hard to stop, so I don’t.”
“Instead, you just suck your thumb?” I rolled my eyes. “As if that’s the
most reasonable thing to do.”
He raised one eyebrow, opened his lips, and chuckled. “Are you ever
going to let my thumb sucking go?”
“No.” I yanked out two small wine glasses and a long bottle of white
wine. “In fact, I feel it’s my duty this summer to get you over that raunchy
habit.”
“Raunchy?”
“Disgusting. Absurd. Insane. Name it whatever you want. It’s not
normal.”
“What is?”
“Not sucking your thumb, for one.” I giggled.
A chuckle left his lips. I poured both of us a glass of wine and couldn’t
care less if Hex drank or not. Having him shift from thumb sucking to
alcohol might’ve been a bad idea, but at least he appeared less unusual. I
handed his glass to him. “So back to this party for tomorrow night, what are
we celebrating?”
“It’s more of a farewell.” He studied the glass and jiggled the gold
colored liquid. A little spilled out at the edges. “Al wants everybody off the
property to be safe. That makes me scared.”
“Why?”
“He thinks I can’t handle things so he’s always hiding stuff from me.”
“Well, you were just moping over there and sucking your thumb.”
“Stop bringing up my thumb sucking.”
“Never.” I sipped my wine. The sweet liquid slipped down my throat
with ease and reminded me of a sugary juice versus a typical white wine.
He watched me and then took a pathetic sample of his drink.
“So this is a goodbye party for best friends?” I asked.
“I wouldn’t say that. We’re more like colleagues.” His next sip was
bigger. “Every time I spot something inspiring on a television show,
magazine, or an event, I discover who the creator of this magical thing is
and then invite them to my place.”
 “Just like that?”
He took a gulp. “Just like that. I love enchanting people around me. I
love when so many creative people are under one roof. It’s like anything is
possible.”
Michael and Hex truly were as different as I’d guessed. My ex hated
other artists around him. The spotlight needed to be on him or a problem
arose.
“Sometimes I do fun things like bring out a huge canvas. Imagine one
that is bigger than the size of my studio. I drag it out to one of our gardens,
call everyone around it, and just have everybody fill it with color. I must
admit the result tends to be a mishmash of ideas and concepts, but none of
that ever matters.”
“None of it matters?” I finished my wine. With all the weird things that
had occurred around me today, a little liquid relaxation served as the perfect
tool to soothe me. “What do you do with the finished pieces?”
“Throw them away.”
“What?” I opened my mouth in shock. “It could be worth something
one day. You never know.”
“No.” He waved my declaration away. “None of that matters anyway.
It’s never the end result that I’m looking for. I don’t ever care what the
result will be from any of my crazy imaginations. I leave all of that stuff to
Al. It’s how I’m able to do what I do--because Al gathers all those pieces of
my artistic voyages and makes us money.”
“So let me get this straight.” I leaned forward. “When you and your
friends do art together you just throw it away because none of those works
matter?”
“None of any of the works matter. Neither their stuff nor mine.”
 “None of it?” I tossed him a mocking smirk. “I don’t believe you at all.”
“It’s the truth. For me, the paintings, pictures, sculptures or whatever
else I make is insignificant to the voyage I took to make them. It’s always
about the process and the experience I get from it. That’s why I do it all.”
“For the voyage? So there’s nothing that you’ve worked on with others
that you’ll present to the public?”
He waited for a few seconds and nodded. “There is one thing, but that
would be only if the public was ready.”
“You’re not sure we all are, huh?”
“No.” As if newly energized, he finished his wine, sat back in the car,
and wagged his arms around in elaborate circles and twists. “Anyway. With
every new collection, it’s like I’m living a new life. I get to embark on some
crazy adventures into theories and concepts that I would’ve never
considered before. I mean, it’s addictive. I get this one thing in my head,
just one thing, and it keeps me up all night. I turn into a madman, exploring
its origin, smelling and tasting the idea until I can touch the texture and lap
it up with my tongue and consume it whole. Surely, you must know how I
feel.”
I sat there and hadn’t moved since he’d begun talking. “I’ve never felt
that way before about anything.”
“Not even modeling?”
“Nothing.”
He frowned. “What about movies?”
“When I look at movies, it’s different. It’s almost like when you suck
your thumb. Movies soothe me. Anytime I’ve ever gotten sad or depressed,
I would get some ice cream or chips, a huge comfy blanket, and a bunch of
movies to just fall into another world for a while and not think of the things
going on around me. I started watching movies a lot when I was in my
teens.” I twirled the liquid in my glass, but made sure it didn’t spill out.
Hex gazed at me. His look seared into my skin. “What’s your passion?”
“I don’t know.”
“You have to know.”
“Actually, I don’t, but my goal is to find out.” Now that I’d left Michael
thousands of possibilities lay out in front of me. I planned to model for a
while, but not forever. I wasn’t even sure if I’d ever liked modeling to begin
with if it wasn’t for Michael convincing me to do it. “I guess my journey
now will be to find my passion.”
“You have to give yourself freely in order to receive that knowledge.
You can’t just be safe all the time. You’ll have to dive into the ocean of
obscurity with no destination in your head and just swim until you get
exhausted and drown.”
“But then I’ll be dead.”
“No.” He wagged his finger. “Then you’ll truly be alive.”
“Says the man who was just sucking his thumb a minute ago.”
“Yes. Says the man who was just sucking his thumb.” Hex clapped his
hands and rubbed them together. “I know what I want my collection to be
about.”
I held my hand up. “Hold on. You had no idea before?”
“No.”
“I thought you were working on the concept all year.”
“No. More like brainstorming and preparing for something to grab a
hold of me, but nothing hooked me until now.”
 “So what is it?”
“Do you promise not to tell my brother?”
“Really? Why would you hide it from him?”
“What I have planned, he may not like. I’ve pushed him before and
sometimes he threatens to leave. What I have planned will make him
consider those thoughts”
“It’s that bad?”
“Probably. If the art world had an ethics committee, I would probably
be pissing my pants about the collection.”
“You sound like you know exactly what you’re going to do.”
“Of course, I do. I just needed a name for it.”
“Okay. Fine. I swear I won’t tell your brother what the subject of your
collection will be.”
He extended his hand and wiggled his pink finger. “Let’s make this
official.”
“Oh my goodness.” I made sure the hand he offered wasn’t the one he
had in his mouth and latched my pinky onto his. “I swear.”
“The subject is sacrifice. As I’ve been going through the process, I
really wasn’t sure what this phenomenon would be, but I think sacrifice
would bring it all together.” He winked at me. “I had no idea where you
would fit into the collection. Michael made you an archangel. I considered
having you end the entire collection as the angel of death to metaphorically
welcome everyone to the gates of the afterlife. I’m not sure I like it. Instead,
I’ll follow your journey. You’ll sacrifice for me. And this way, we can go on
this voyage together.”
“I’ll sacrifice for you?”
 “Yes. You’re going to give up something to gain whatever it is you
need.”
This was the art world and Hex represented a true artist who saw the
world in many layers of reality, so thick that a layer could be yanked away
for a few seconds and analyzed like a book.
“Sacrifice.” I curled the word around my tongue and sucked in the bitter
taste of it. “Why sacrifice?”
“Because in order to truly be free you’ll have to surrender it all. You’ll
have to tear away all of the things that bind you to whatever is keeping you
back from your passion.” He looked out the window and off into the
distance. “I’ve been battling with something for a long time. I think it’s time
for me to stop being scared and see if I can discover who I truly am for
sure.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ll understand later.” He leaned his weight onto the door and
watched the landscape of Miami rush by.
The Castillo property was located far outside of Miami and surrounded
by tons of farmland. As we pushed into the hustle and bustle of South
Beach, fields of grass and crops transformed into small businesses. The
farther we ventured, those convenience stores changed to large towers that
stabbed the sky with their bright colors and sculpted edges. Bushy trees that
cuddled dark green leaves and lush fruit transformed into high palm trees
manicured at the top and decorated with tiny lights that one would put on a
Christmas tree.
Hex lowered the window and breathed in the air. “We should have a
theme for this party tomorrow. Something fun before we begin sacrificing
the day after.”
 “Okay. First of all, what are you talking about with us sacrificing? What
will we be giving up?”
“Everything.”
“I’m not giving up everything.”
“You don’t even know what I’m talking about.”
“Then what are you talking about?”
“Just follow me.”
I covered my eyes and held in a smart remark.
“I’m serious, Elle. Just follow me down the rabbit hole.”
“And what if at the end of the path, there’s a bunch of rabid human-
eating rabbits that are ready to attack us?”
“Then we’ll kill them all.”
“With your wet thumb and my talent for movie lines?”
“Yes.” He smiled so much that he exposed his teeth. “We’ll destroy
them with our special powers. Are you ready to go on this voyage with me?
It’s going to be more than modeling. This will be about the both of us
sacrificing it all to learn about ourselves.”
I buried my face in my hands. “You know, I liked you better when you
were quiet in the corner and sucking your thumb.”
“Well, it’s too late now.” He reached for the wine bottle, took a swig,
and set it back down. “I’ve got that word, sacrifice, drumming over and
over in my head like I’m a cocaine addicted drummer, banging at a hard
surface to just get a few seconds of freedom before he tilts over and takes a
snort. Sacrifice! Say it with me.”
“Sacrifice.”
 “Louder!” He put his head out the window and screamed, “Sacrifice!”
Uh oh. What did I start?
He jumped back into the car, his eyes wild with insanity. “Can I dress
you for tomorrow night’s party?”
“Uh—”
“I see you in feathers and diamonds as well as lots of white all around
you. I want to cover you in white.”
“I’ll have to approve this outfit first.”
“Fine.”
“And I get to dress you.”
He tilted his head to the side. “Interesting. Okay. Let’s do it. You dress
me and I dress you.”
“Sounds like a good plan.”
“And then the day after tomorrow.” He grabbed our wine glasses and
poured us both a drink. “Then we’ll sacrifice. But, we don’t have to think
about that now. Tonight, we’ll go to the opening of X-lab and tomorrow
night we’ll have a crazy party. I’ll have to call up Reece and get her to bring
in more entertainers and guests. Let’s do something huge.”
I grabbed my wine glass and tapped it against his in a gesture of cheers.
“Let’s do it.”
“Then the day after tomorrow’s huge party we’ll start our journey down
the rabbit hole.”
“Alrighty, let’s just make sure we take some of this wine with us.”
“What will you wear tonight?” Hex finished his glass in one swoop.
Whoa. Maybe I shouldn’t have started him with drinking.
 “What’s happening tonight again?” I asked.
He held his hands out to the side in a grand gesture. “Tonight is the huge
opening of my new art gallery X-Lab. Well, it’s not just mine. At least fifty
other artists, curators, and filthy rich bastards invested in this. X-Lab is
going to be amazing. It’s going to blow everyone in the art world’s mind.
I’m talking no one will have seen anything so awesome. There’s nothing
like this anywhere in the world. Only experimental stuff will be there—
performances, mind-boggling videos, and interactive installations.”
“Whoa. I love installations, especially the ones where you can climb in
and interact with them somehow. They’re like adult playgrounds for the
artfully inclined. They bring out the kid in me.”
“That’s the exact feeling I want people to experience and so much more
—joy, thrills, fear, pain, regret, triumph, hope, and anything else.” His eyes
glittered with excitement. “I can go on and on about this, but I’d rather just
let you see X-Lab for yourself.”
“Why haven’t you ever done installation art?”
He shrugged. “It’s difficult. My ideas are too big at times and in the end
Al wouldn’t be able to stomach them. However, for this new collection I’ve
been working on something. Maybe you’ll be able to help me out with it
later. It’s sort of installation art in its grandest sense, bigger than anyone has
ever imagined.”
“I’ve never been involved with any type of art besides different forms of
paintings, so this should be interesting. How far have you gotten with your
installation?”
“Pretty far.”
I waited for him to say more. “That’s it? Pretty far. Come on. Tell me
about the process. How does one even do an art installation?”
 “First you have to make a mini model of it to help you plan how it will
look and experiment with the size. Once you have the model then. . .” He
paused and shook his head. “You know what? It’s better if I just show you
everything later. For now let’s focus on tonight.”
“Your gallery opening?”
“Yes.” He grabbed my feet and slipped off my shoe. “I want to dress
you tonight, too.”
“Oh goodness. Should I be worried?”
“Definitely.”
“Well, if you dress me, then I’ll dress you. What’s the theme?” I relaxed
as he massaged the heel of my foot and didn’t even think to ask him why he
was doing it. Maybe the glasses of wine finally entered our scene.
“Theme?”
“It’s fun to have themes when you do events. My . . . ex-boyfriend and I
would come up with a theme and dress like it for an opening, just for fun.”
“Hmmm.” He kneaded his knuckles against the ball of my foot.
“Androgyny. That’s the theme. We’ll combine masculine and feminine
features into one look.”
“My goodness. I meant more like flowers or a particular color—”
“Too safe. Let’s go with androgyny.”

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter 6
Alvarez

Nothing went as scheduled. The shipment of Hex’s Zombie Series never

made it to the art museum in Paris. I exhausted close to two hours calling
around and searching for it, only to discover that the damn collection still
sat in our own warehouse in Florida. Then there was the police. They
questioned me longer than I appreciated, combed the property, scared the
servants, disturbed the flowers, and put Grandma on edge when they came
near her cottage. I ended up walking with them the majority of the time, just
so she wouldn’t jump outside and curse them.
Later I sat through several web conferences of companies hoping to get
Hex’s name on their products. One offered to create an entire line of
differently shaped paint brushes with his signature on the stick and the
bristles dyed in his hairstyle pattern of black and white. Other companies
constructed several demo products that looked more like trash than
profitable objects—Hex dolls, iPod covers done in his Morbid Series, fridge
magnets with my brother’s pictures and the ridiculous comments he made
to the press, a cartoon where he constantly saved the world with his art
while secretly promoting slyly placed consumer products, and the worst of
them all, glow in the dark underwear with images of his sculptures plastered
over the groin area. I only approved the paint brushes as well as the iPod
covers and said no to the rest.
While sitting on the phone for an auction of Hex’s paintings in Tokyo, I
reviewed the house budget for the month. We hired new servants for the
party tomorrow night and many more groundskeepers to save the rotting
earth. I cringed at the total cost for just one month of all of our living.
I’ll have to convince Hex to sell this stupid castle. It’s costing us a
fortune.
By the end of my meetings, I raced to my bedroom to shower and
change with no time for a nice shot of brandy or a large cup of coffee. I
ended up missing the limo ride with Elle, Hex, and Reece to the opening,
but thankfully had my own driver get me there a good thirty minutes before
the doors opened. It was important for me to see as much of everything as
possible before people walked in. Only God knows what Hex could have
snuck into the approval process without me noticing.
Once I arrived at X-Lab, the tension in my shoulders subsided an inch
or so while I browsed the interior of the gallery for the first time.
Not bad. Not bad at all.
White paint covered the large walls, high ceilings, and floors. This was
the perfect space for art. My footsteps echoed through the area. According
to the schedule my assistant Reece sent to my phone, all of the participators,
investors, and showcasing artists met on the third level in an intimate
reception before the gallery doors opened. I rounded the corner toward the
installations. They were all on the lower level.
The first art installation I approached consisted of thousands upon
thousands of colorful rope woven into circular patterns and attached by thin
wires that connected from the floor to the ceiling. The ropes formed into
sort of little swings that seemed to be held up by only the air, but a closer
look showed that thin wire was attached. There must’ve been thirty swings
hovering over me. A stack of ladders rested on the floor, probably for the
audience to set them up, climb to the swings, and enjoy.
 I glanced at the information card on the side wall. Pictures of people
swinging filled the card and nothing else. It didn’t seem shocking in any
way.
“The swings are pretty neat. Aren’t they?” That smooth feminine voice
sounded behind me. Elle’s voice.
I turned in her direction and was shocked at what I saw. She wore high
heels and a tuxedo similar to mine. Her hair was slicked all the way back
into one long braid hanging over her shoulder. Someone had drawn a tiny
mustache above her lips. She held a top hat in her right hand and a cane in
the other.
I cleared my throat. “You look enchanting.”
She winked at me. “Thanks, but I’m going more for androgynous.”
I allowed my gaze to comb over her body. Although the tuxedo had
tried its best, there could be no denying that a curvaceous body lay
underneath the material. The jacket and shirt molded against her breasts.
The pants showed off the slender curvature of her legs.
“What do you think?” she asked. “Did I hit the androgynous look right
on the mark?”
“No. You look like a beautiful woman with a tiny mustache on her
face.”
She grinned. “That sucks. What do you think would’ve helped? Was it
the heels? Maybe I could’ve worn some flat shoes.”
“No. You’re just as feminine as they come.”
“I’m not sure about that.” She headed over to the ladders. “You should
see Hex. Next to him, I look like a man.”
 Awesome. Hex is wearing a damn dress again. Hopefully, he’s figured
out how to walk in heels. Last time, he was in bed for a week due to that
sprained ankle.
“Have you tried the swings yet?” She pointed up to the closest ones.
“No.”
“Why not?” She took off her heels, kneeled down to the first ladder, and
tried to pick it up.
“I’ll hold it for you.” I took the ladder from her and put it up myself.
“Here, I’ll hold it while you climb up.”
She did. Her ponytail brushed against my arm, and as she rose I gained
an excellent view of her behind. No, sweetheart. There’s nothing
androgynous about you at all. You’re all woman right now. I removed my
attention from her and back to the ladder. “Be careful.”
“And if I don’t?” She hopped on the swing.
“Then you’ll be in trouble with my brother,” Hex said from behind me.
“Are you going to jump on a swing too, Al?”
“Of course not.” I remained near the ladder, just in case she lost her
balance or something weird happened with the swing. It had been made by
an artist, not an engineer. Who knew if it was truly sturdy enough? I
glanced over my shoulder at my brother. Hex wore a mini zebra print dress.
Ostrich feathers trimmed the hem and shoulders. Dear God. The heel on his
shoes must’ve reached at least six inches. I’d seen exotic dancers with less
heel than his. Pink lipstick painted his lips. Turquoise powder adored his
eyelids. Meanwhile, he wore his black and white hair the way he usually
did, hanging to his shoulders in mad scientist disarray.
“You look lovely as usual, Hex,” I said.
 “I try.” He wagged his eyebrows at me. “But stop trying to get me off
the point. Are you going up there or what?”
“No.”
“What do you mean no?” Elle opened her mouth in shock. “You’re not
going to climb on one of them, Alvarez? Where’s the fun in that?”
“I’m having fun watching you swing.”
She pumped her legs back and forth, gaining a nice rhythm as her swing
traveled through the air. “But this isn’t the main attraction. You need more
than one person to see the real effects. Didn’t you read the title, ‘It Takes
Two’?”
“It takes two for what?” I raised my eyebrows. “Hex, why don’t you get
on one?”
“Nope. I’ve already climbed most of the installations with Elle. Why
don’t you do this one? Elle has dragged me all over this level. At this rate, I
won’t get to see any of the video on the next level before everyone comes
in.” He pulled out his cell phone and checked it. “Hurry, Al. We don’t have
all day.”
“I’m not getting up there,” I protested.
“Come on.” She gestured to the lowest swing further away from her. “If
you’re afraid of heights then try that one.”
“I’m not afraid of heights.”
“Sure you aren’t.” She winked again.
“Show her you’re not afraid,” Hex egged me on. “Show her how brave
we Castillo men can be.”
“This is ridiculous.”
 “Come on! Come on! Come on!” They both chanted. Their voices
echoed in the tiny space.
It was in that moment that I realized both of them were drunk. What
else could it be? Although the scent of alcohol didn’t radiate from them and
they didn’t slur their words, I knew Hex only raised his voice when he was
mad or drunk, and surely Elle’s typical art gallery behavior wasn’t
screaming as loud as she could.
“Come on! Come on!” They continued to yell out encouragement. Their
voices filled the space and probably caught the attention of the reception
goers on the highest level. Elle’s fist punched the air. Hex clapped. I
groaned and waved my hands to quiet them. The movement only motivated
them to be louder.
“Okay. Okay.” I headed over to the low swing. “I’m getting on the damn
swing, just lower your voices.”
“Go. Go. Go.” Elle lowered her voice and did a somewhat quiet clap.
“Are you both drunk?” I headed up the ladder and propped myself on a
swing with no problem.
“Correction, dear brother.” Hex held one finger in the air. “We’re
exquisitely tipsy. There’s a difference. Drunkenness is done at a shady bar
in ugly clothing surrounded by the mundane while exquisite tipsiness is
performed in an art setting among geniuses.”
“Thanks so much for the distinction.” I rolled my eyes.
“Alvarez, you have to swing.” She continued to pump her legs back and
forth. The tuxedo material rippled along her body. Her long braid bounced
in the air. The small breeze that she created from her swinging carried her
perfume my way. “Come on. Swing with me, Alvarez.”
How could I not?
 I didn’t understand what was supposed to happen from our swinging,
but the need to make her happy bloomed in my chest and I couldn’t come
up with a rational reason for why I had to please her. I pumped my legs with
her rhythm until I traveled through the air just like her.
The lights in our area shut off. She giggled. I tensed and scanned the
darkness. Music sounded, a soft piano melody with a little girl’s voice
humming a haunting tune. Tiny lights materialized above us. They weren’t
in the ceiling. They simply hovered over us, hanging from some unseen
cord or wire. They glowed like stars and decorated Elle’s and my skin with
tiny dots of light.
“Oh my God. Look. That’s us.” Still swinging, Elle pointed to the wall
in front of us.
I directed my attention that way. “Oh. That is us.”
A small movie played on the wall’s surface. There must’ve been a
projector somewhere behind us. Elle stood behind me, exploring my body
with her gaze. I see I’m not the only one appreciating someone’s form. From
my peripheral, I noticed Elle covering her mouth as she blushed. To not
further embarrass her, I focused back on the film before us. At that moment
in the little film, I helped Elle up on the ladder and blatantly checked out
her rear. I coughed in my hand to give myself something else to do besides
cringe in horror. The whole time that strange humming filled the air.
“This is possibly the most interesting movie I’ve ever seen.” Hex
strolled to the center. His heels tapped on the floor.
On the wall, the rest of the earlier moments played out before us—Elle
swinging, Hex entering, both of them pressuring me to jump on the swing,
and then it clicked to darkness. The lights darkened. The humming
vanished. The gallery’s regular lights turned on.
 “That was awesome.” Elle slowed herself down, got off her swing, and
climbed down the ladder. “Let’s go to the installation with those huge clear
globes. I think we’re supposed to climb inside of them.”
“Al can go with you. I’m heading upstairs for the videos.” Hex twisted
his hips as he sashayed out of the space with no regard for my opinion on
the matter. I almost stopped him, but didn’t mind the fact that he left me
with a beautiful woman to finish perusing the gallery with. I’d planned on
doing it by myself as fast as I could before the ribbon cutting part of the
ceremony to open the doors for the first time. With Elle, I would take my
time and enjoy the moment.
“If you don’t feel like escorting me in my gallery adventures, I perfectly
understand.” Elle held her hands on her hips and stared at the invisible path
Hex had made when he’d abruptly left us to ourselves.
Does she not want to be alone with me or is she just giving me a polite
excuse to get out of babysitting her?
“I would love to escort you as long as you don’t mind being with an
unintelligent art enthusiast.” I extended my hand to her. She took it. That
same charge pushed through her flesh and warmed against mine. She
moved her face out of my view. I couldn’t see her reaction. Did she feel the
same thing I felt? What was this between us? Was it all my imagination or
something more?
Grandma claimed each heart entered the world with the ability to
connect to fifty others spread out all over the globe. It was our job to find
the perfect matches by focusing on little clues that the gods gave us.
When Grandma met my grandpa a tropical storm had battered against
the earth. She’d been a young teenager by herself sunbathing on
Guardalavaca Beach and then the storm came in. Rain dotted the fine white
sand. Ocean waves grew high until water flooded the area and rose to her
knees. She struggled to gather her things, stuff her mother would punish her
for losing—her father’s new radio, her great aunt’s ivory broach that she’d
snuck out of her mother’s jewelry box and pinned on the front of her swim
suit to appear grown and mature, and all the pesos she’d received from her
summer job as a maid. All of it floated on the waters and she ran around
frantically seizing them with her hair whipping across her face and sand
hitting her skin.
Grandpa appeared out of nowhere and scared Grandma so much she fell
back into the water and landed on her behind. Later, Grandpa confessed to
me he’d been following her for weeks due to spotting her at the beach once
before. Regardless, he raced to her, captured all of her things, picked her up,
and sprinted away with her and the items in his arms.
“The rain just stopped.” Grandma’s eyes always glittered when she said
those words. “As soon as he lifted me up, the rain just ceased to exist. The
clouds left. Blue skies came. The sun shone. The waters drifted back into
the ocean. It all happened as if he controlled the weather. And when I
looked at this lovely man who’d saved me from not just the storm, but my
mother’s tongue lashings, sparks flared between us. Real ones. And not just
regular magic, either. Something more. Something I could taste, feel, and
smell but just not define. That was the gods’ ways of giving me a clue. I
never left his arms after that.”
Elle released my hand and rubbed hers together as she bit her lip,
signaling to me that she had to have experienced the same electric reaction I
did. Right?
“So what do you mean you’re an unintelligent art enthusiast?” Elle left
the area and went to the entrance of the next installation’s area.
“Well, like this last installation. I have no idea what it was trying to say.
Swinging is better when it is more than one person?”
 “I think it was saying life is better, or maybe we all need someone else
from time to time.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Art isn’t about knowing
what it means. It’s about coming to some consensus in your mind or maybe
feeling something deeper or even being inspired. That’s at least what
someone told me long ago.”
“That’s pretty much what Hex says, although I would still like to know
what the artist intended.”
“Why?”
“I like answers to questions.”
“Do you usually get them?”
I studied the hand that had held hers. “Not as much as I would like.”
She blushed and looked at the installation in front of us. “Aren’t those
globes pretty?”
‘Globes’ wasn’t a good word for them. Maybe ‘massive car-sized
bubbles that hung around twenty feet in the air’ was a better way to
describe them. I had no idea what they were made of, perhaps plastic or
glass, but they connected to each other by clear bubbled paths bridging
between each one. I counted ten bubbles altogether. They appeared like
some futuristic city of clear livable spheres. Steps with hand rails started at
the ground and extended to the first opening.
“Let’s go.” She charged off to the nearest one, her ponytail bobbing
with the movement.
“Be careful.”
“How about you come with me to make sure I’m careful.” She wagged
her finger at me in a come hither gesture. “You promised.”
“I did?”
 “I think.” She climbed the steps. “I am exquisitely tipsy, after all. I can’t
be expected to remember everything this evening.”
“Yes.” I smiled. “This is true.”
“And Hex assigned you as my official escort.”
“And that is also true.” I trailed behind her and hoped there were no
more hidden cameras recording my sly observations of her behind. At the
opening of the first globe, as Elle coined them, a sign read, “No shoes
allowed.”
She slipped hers off and I followed suit. Stepping into the sphere was
like walking into an inflated plastic bag. It seemed impossible, yet nothing
ripped under our weight. We both wobbled a little with our first two steps.
Elle fell into my arms, spreading her softness and luscious scent all over
me. Energy burst through my chest. I gritted my teeth from the impact of
her and the current of stimulation rocking my body. What is this? Not
noticing the effect she was having on me, she laughed at her stumble and I
was intoxicated by it and chuckled with her.
She shook her head. “Perhaps I shouldn’t drink before exploring
installations like this one.”
“No. I’m sober and I’m having a hard time keeping my balance, too.”
A few more giggles fled those full lips and then she attempted to stand
again. “Okay. I think I’ve got it.”
I captured her right before she slipped. “How about we hold hands so
we can make sure neither one of us fall?”
“Okay. Maybe this is another one that requires people to work together.”
“Maybe.”
 And so we traveled around those clear spheres together, hand in hand,
slipping along the way and saving each other whenever we could. Each new
bubble provided a new experience. Some were hot, others cold. A few
smelled odd like trash and garbage, while the rest emitted pleasant aromas
—roses, strawberries, and baked bread. Noises sounded in each one—a
baby cried in the first, a woman laughed in the second, many voices sung in
a few, in the middle was a loud, seductive moaning, toward the end came
silence. The textures of the spheres also changed. A number of them held a
hard surface, then rough or smooth, yet flimsy and yielding at our weight in
others. And the shapes and sizes shifted back and forth. In the middle, we
were forced to crawl through them but by the end, we rose together, stood,
and walked away through the finish line where a sign proclaimed, “Isn’t life
wonderful.”
Elle formed her lips into a huge smile that displayed her beautiful teeth.
“It surely can be.”

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter 7
Elle

We checked out only two more installations before Alvarez’s pretty

assistant snatched him away from me and marched him toward the opening
ceremony. And what a ceremony. I learned that whenever Hex involved
himself in an event, big things happened.
Everyone stood outside the gallery. A big red ribbon and bow covered
the front double doors. Police closed the streets in front for about five
blocks east and west as the North Miami Senior High marching band
stomped through the streets. Teens from all races performed like it was the
biggest event of their life. Emerald green and vanilla white uniforms
decorated them as they blew through their instruments, swinging them from
side to side with the upbeat tune. Thirty or so teenage girls dressed in pink
leotards and white knee-length boots danced in front of the band as they
made their way past the gallery. The girls held glittering fans in both hands
and strutted to the beat in a rhythm I could never mimic.
The band rocked the streets. And just when the partying crowd of
gallery-goers thought it was time to open the doors, then came the drag
queens. Huge wigs sat on almost all of their heads. Flamboyant make-up
adorned their faces. The song “It’s Raining Men” blasted in the background.
They strutted through the streets in magnificent costumes. My favorite
outfits were the band of drag queen butterflies with shimmering wings that
fanned out behind their backs.
 I checked Alvarez’s area to catch the expression on his face. He seemed
so tight and wound up at times. I wondered if his brother’s gatherings ever
loosened him up. Alvarez stood at least twenty feet away from me, by the
ribbon-adorned door with the rest of the owners and near all of the press.
Instead of spying Alvarez’s look of horror or excitement at the drag queen
parade, I spotted him watching me. Oh. He averted his eyes when he
noticed my own gaze on him.
Look away, Elle.
My heartbeat increased more than it should have. I may have flirted a
little. I was single after all, and he was handsome and fun to be around, but
nothing else could come out of it. Alvarez avoided looking at me and I
returned my view to the streets. The good thing about him was that he never
brought up those awkward moments. The swing installation had caught us
both drinking in each other’s physical forms, but once Hex left us alone
Alvarez never mentioned it. His silence signaled to me that although he
enjoyed glancing at my behind, he wasn’t interested in anything more than
a friendship.
Good. Me neither.
“I can’t believe Hex is still having this event,” a man whispered behind
me to some other person I couldn’t see.
“Well, who knows if the rumors are really true,” the mystery person
replied in a deep voice that could’ve only belonged to a man.
“Why would anybody create something as crazy as gossip about
murder? I mean, it’s one thing to say that Hex is sleeping with some weird
model or that he’s stolen art concepts from another artist, but why would
someone make up the fact that a murder happened on his property?”
“People are jealous.”
“Not that jealous.”
 “Well, I for one choose not to believe this. There was nothing in the
news about it.”
“My sources said it happened today.”
“Sure it did.”
“Why would they lie?”
“Why would they tell the truth?”
“Really, Gordon? Are you going to spend all of your life being skeptical
about what people say?”
“When a murder is involved, I will be.”
“I just don’t know. I mean, I received an invitation to Hex’s Bon Voyage
Gala tomorrow night. I won’t go if people aren’t going to be safe.”
“You’ll go regardless. No one, especially not you, would ever miss a
party done by Hex.”
“I have plans.”
“No. You don’t.”
“I may go to just stop by and say hi.”
“You’ll go and get drunk as always and right at midnight you’ll take off
your pants and run around the dance floor like an amusing fool. We’ll laugh
and take a picture to post on Facebook tomorrow, and then I’ll take you
home where we will have the best sex of our life, eat a tub of butter pecan
ice cream, and fall asleep as we watch an Audrey Hepburn movie.”
“I’m tired of Audrey Hepburn.”
“You’re never tired of her.”
“Fine. I’ll cancel my plans, but only to make sure you’re safe at this
party.”
 “I’m honored.”
Although a tiny chill ran up my spine, I smiled at the couple’s
conversation and chose to not think of the murdered girl for too long, but
instead sink myself back into the fabulous moment ahead of me.
Once the drag queens passed, a few floats done like the most famous
paintings rolled by—Salvador Dali’s The Persistence of Memory, Frida
Kahlo’s Diego on My Mind, and my most favorite, Pablo Picasso’s Three
Musicians. Gourmet food trucks served as the finale. They parked in their
prospective areas in front of the gallery and welcomed many over with
claims of free wine and appetizer samples. Somewhere among the mob of
eating and drinking spectators, a short man made a quick speech and Hex,
along with Alvarez, cut the ribbon to open the doors. I jumped out of the
way as people barreled in wearing excited faces. The gallery ranked high on
my list of the most amazing experiences ever.
Someone tapped me on my back.
“Hey.” A woman with short red hair and green eyes stepped around me
and shook my hand. She wore a sea green dress with little white flowers
embroidered at the bottom and the sweetest perfume that reminded me of
oatmeal cookies being baked on a summer’s afternoon. “You’re Hex’s new
model. Right? I’m Patricia, one of the poets who live on the property.”
“Oh, hi. My name is Elle.”
“And aren’t you the infamous Archangel, too?” she asked.
I’d been afraid of people noticing me, which was why I had remained in
the background and refused to stand in the front with Hex. I let out an
awkward laugh. “Well, no one calls me Archangel anymore and I no longer
work with Michael, so I’m trying to stay away from that name.”
She did a big show of twisting an imaginary key to the side of her
closed lips, pulling it out, and throwing it away. “Then I shall never say a
word of Michael or of you being an archangel again.”
“Awesome.”
Not having much else to say to each other, we stood there for several
uncomfortable seconds.
“I’m sorry. Hex told everyone around the castle to introduce themselves
to you. It seems you’re the newest addition to his collection. It was a shock
to us all that you would be coming,” Patricia said. “I’m probably the first
one to get to you and that’s mainly because I broke up with my boyfriend a
good month ago and pretty much have been ostracized from my little social
group here in Miami. It’s all of his friends. I wasn’t even going to come to
the opening, but that castle is so depressing. Would you mind if I kind of
hung out with you for a little bit? I figure you may not know anybody here
either, since you’ve been standing out here by yourself for so long. I tend to
go on and on and on when I’m nervous. I just don’t—”
I held up my hand. “I really only know Alvarez and Hex. I would love
to hang out with you.”
She gave me her hand again and shook it. “So then we’re friends?”
“So it seems.” I saw several thick lines of scarred flesh on her wrists.
She noticed me studying them. “Sorry. Those are my life lines.”
“Life lines?”
“It’s what people in my group call slit wrists when they’re healed. Life
lines.”
I considered asking why, but wasn’t sure if I wanted to know. What type
of people did she hang around with?
She pointed to the art gallery. “Have you already been inside?”
“Yes. I’ve checked the first level. It’s full of installations.”
 Patricia grimaced. “I’ve had enough of art installations for the rest of
my life.”
Wow. That was a pretty big reaction.
“In fact,” she continued, “let’s bypass the first level all together. Did
you check out the other gallery levels?”
“No, not yet.”
“Then I guess we’re hanging out together?” She hooked her arm around
mine as if I’d already answered yes.
“Um . . . sure.”
It took us no time to maneuver around the crowds of gawking people,
climb the stairs, and enter the second level. Up there, many large screens of
different shapes hung on the wall, playing spectacular works. Some viewing
areas provided chairs for enthusiasts to sit in while they watched. The video
art in the back showed in small dark rooms. Patricia and I went into those
first, since there was less of a crowd.
“Holy cow! That scared the crap out of me.” Patricia fanned herself as
we left one of the last viewings.
“Yeah. I think it’s supposed to explore the idea of death.”
“Aren’t they all doing that in some way?”
“I wouldn’t say that.”
“You should.”
“What about the video of all the men dancing in different parts of the
city? That one was about movement and space.”
“Yes, but I could easily argue that the promotion of people to get up and
move is sort of a motivation for everyone to try and live as much as they
can before they die.”
 Alrighty.
I held in a small laugh. “Or it could be argued that you’re a bit morbid.”
“Life is morbid. I just write poems about it.”
“Now you sound like Hex.”
“I’ve been around him too long.”
We chuckled together and headed to the stairs.
“So most of your poems are about death?” I asked when the metal door
slammed behind us.
“Pretty much. I write sad love poems, ones that analyze the death of
love. I know all about that.” She formed her lips into a frown. “My heart is
a black spot within my core. A sheet of dark paper for men to write their
experiences on, crumble up, shoot into a trash can, and move on. I love, so
that I can experience and write about it. That’s what my mentor told me to
do. Experience love and then when you’re broken in two, write about it.”
“Hmmm. It sounds like a good plan.” I guess.
“Yeah. Until my mentor broke my heart, too.” She paused at the top of
the staircase and gazed at the empty wall. Whatever she studied, it wasn’t
the wall; it was some distant love between her and her mentor. With my
heart newly destroyed, I understood and gave her time to reflect. I wasn’t as
torn as her. I’d been ready to leave Michael for some time. When he finally
presented his cheating right in front of me, there hadn’t been anything
inside of me for him to break. The act just motivated me to get going faster.
After a minute, Patricia sighed. “Better yet. Let’s get a drink before we
go to the third level. Do you feel like a glass of wine or something?”
I’d been consuming lots of water due to my early samplings of wine and
descent into exquisite tipsiness, but Patricia’s sad state shifted my giddy
mood back to semi-broken heartedness. Miami and Hex proved to be just
what I needed to get over Michael. They kept my mind busy as my heart
healed, but I never underestimated the quick power of alcohol whenever I
was reminded of him. “I wouldn’t mind a little sip of something.”
“Do you smoke, too?” she asked.
“No. I hate cigarettes.”
“Well, I’m not talking about cigarettes. I’m talking about Mother
Earth’s herb.”
“Oh. I’m not really into smoking. I’m pretty much a wine girl and that’s
it, but I have no problem with keeping you company.”
“Great. Company is just what I need.” She dabbed at the corner of her
eye. “A lot has happened this week.”
Because she seemed like she needed to talk to somebody, I asked,
“What happened?”
“A whole lot, but the most important was that I lost a good friend. Her
name was Brenda. She was a video artist Hex invited six months ago. I
didn’t even know her before then, but once we met, we clicked instantly.”
Is Brenda the girl who died earlier today?
“When did she pass away?” I asked.
“Today. This morning, to be exact.” She slipped out a tiny metal
container with a silver dragon painted on the black surface. We arrived at
the double doors. She clicked the box open, once we passed people as well
as rows of food trucks and parked cars. Tiny joints lay in the container.
Continuing to guide me away from the people, she pulled one of the joints
out, took her lighter from the side and lit it. Once we approached an empty
block, she placed it between her lips. “I probably shouldn’t talk too much
about Brenda. It’s not even common knowledge, but you’re working with
Hex now so you’re going to be a part of the inside group.”
Brenda has to be the girl that passed away on Hex’s grounds.
“I’m sorry to ask you this, and I hope I’m not being insensitive, but was
Brenda found on Hex’s property this morning?”
Patricia snapped her attention to me. “How did you know?”
“I happened to be coming onto the property when the ambulance was
leaving.”
“Lucky you.” She snorted. “Your first day of work and you’re greeted
by death. Welcome to Hex’s realm.”
“I guess.” I took a few more steps before asking, “How do you think
your friend died?”
“The way most people do. From a broken heart.”
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing.” She dabbed at her eyes. “I don’t want to talk about it
anymore.”
Silence passed between us. We strolled down the empty street as she
smoked her joint with the casualness of a person sucking on an expensive
cigarette. The earthy scent of marijuana drifted my way. Traveling through
the neighborhood was like walking within a world full of jumbled
paintings. Elaborate murals decorated the surrounding buildings’ walls.
Even the sidewalks boasted graffiti art or little mini paintings. A big metal
sculpture or two beautified each corner.
“You’re not worried about the cops stopping you while you smoke?” I
asked.
 “The streets are empty and we’re in Wynwood Design District. If there
are cops here, they’re just making sure unwanteds aren’t in the area to
bother the rich, artsy people.”
“Unwanteds?”
“This district is close to the impoverished area barely a block or two
away. The cops are here to keep everyone separated.” She blew out a long
wave of smoke. “It pretty much sucks. A poor kid couldn’t stray onto these
blocks and look at art without being harassed by the police for why he or
she is here.”
“That isn’t right. I was poor in a way and art surely benefited me, even
though I’m not an artist myself.”
“The great thing about Hex is that he contacted the schools near the area
and designed a special program where poor kids who are interested in art
can actually come to his castle for classes, as well as come to X-lab for art
presentations. I think it’s all free, too, but I’m not sure.”
“That’s amazing. I wish I could do something like that. Maybe when I
have the money or power to do it.”
“You’re even better. You’re a muse. You inspire the creative to imagine
something great and you stimulate the dull and unoriginals’ minds to think
outside of the box.”
I laughed. “That’s really nice to say, but I don’t think I’ve truly done all
of that.”
“Well,” she took a hit from her joint. “I guess we’ll see if you do it
while you stay at Castillo Castle. Brenda modeled, too.”
“Did she do a lot of modeling for Hex?”
“No. Not really.” She inhaled smoke, paused in the middle of the
sidewalk, and took great care putting out the joint on the rough surface.
“She more or less helped Hex with video work, taught him about cameras. I
used to sit around and watch them. It was a lot of fun. They bought tons of
tiny mini cameras that were barely two inches big. Brenda loved it. Those
days were probably the only time I saw her smile.”
“She didn’t smile a lot?”
“No.” Patricia placed the unfinished joint back in her little tin with the
silver dragon and dropped it in her pocket book. “She was sad a great
amount of time. It’s her story so I won’t tell you why, but she had things to
deal with like all of us, I guess.”
Patricia raised her head and stared at the stars glittering above us. “But
it’s no big deal anymore. I’ll bet she’s smiling at us now. When she did
smile, it was such a beautiful sight. She had the most perfect teeth. Yeah.
She’s grinning at us all now and probably laughing her ass off as she
watches the big show.”
Al righty.
Tension built in my shoulders. The night shifted from enjoyable to out
of the ordinary all at once. That appeared to be the theme of life around Hex
—interesting to strange, appealing to peculiar.
Patricia finished with star gazing and turned to me. “Are you ready to
head to the bar, get some wine, and then drink in all of the great
performance art on the last level?”
“Yes. That sounds like a great idea.”

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter 8
Alvarez

The gallery opening proved to be a success and didn’t end until three in
the morning. By a little after four, I returned to the castle, went straight to
my office, signed a few more contracts, and ended up falling asleep right in
my chair. With a stiff neck and sore shoulders, I woke up in pure
embarrassment, got in a quick shower, changed, and rushed downstairs for
an even quicker lunch where my assistant, Reece found me stuffing newly
made cheese empanadas into my mouth.
Reece practically dragged me out of the kitchen. “We need to discuss a
serious matter, sir.”
“Okay. Go ahead.” I spotted Elle through the window, wandering next
to a woman with red hair. Today, Elle wore almond colored pants that
formed around her thighs and hung below her waist. A thin, white material
wrapped around her breasts. All of that luscious black hair draped her
shoulders and fell past her behind as it waved in the breeze. I almost tapped
on the window to get her attention.
For what, to say hi like a bumbling idiot? What did I expect, that a few
minutes in an art museum would form some sort of connection?
Reece talked to me about whatever emergency was happening, but my
attention remained on Elle while she walked with the women toward the
garden.
 “. . . but Mrs. Greer promised that it won’t happen again. I’ve called a
locksmith to fix the attic door and—”
“What?” I stopped ogling Elle and directed my attention to Reece.
“Mrs. Greer said what?”
“Well, the night before last the doorknob and lock were broken on the
entrance to the attic, but she confirmed that no one entered or left last
night.”
Dear god.
I ran trembling fingers through my hair. “How could she confirm it?”
“Mrs. Greer had security look at the cameras outside the attic door.
They reported that no one walked in or out of that level.”
The attic door is messed with and a girl is killed, all in the same
evening. That can’t be simple coincidence.
“Get a guard for the door.” Instead of heading to my office, I took the
last flight of stairs to the attic.
“That’s a total of twenty new guards on the property, sir.”
“That’s fine. I would rather overdo it than have another person die.
Make sure this party is monitored as well. No one can attend but the guests
who lived here. I also want them watched as much as possible. For all we
know, one of them killed the girl and we’re throwing the sicko a
celebration.”
She scribbled it all down. A beep sounded from her hip. “That’s the
reminder for the meeting with Metropolitan Art Museum. I rescheduled it
for four. We have fifteen minutes.”
“You go ahead. I have to check on something.” I left her right there. The
rest of the people who ventured this way did so out of duty and
responsibility. Our maids didn’t clean the space daily like the rest of the
castle. Only the one maid who had been in service with us for years could
clean this section. Security did nightly patrols of the door outside of the
attic. I didn’t inform them of why, they simply did what they were told. Hex
never made it up here. He couldn’t deal with it. Grandma did out of a sense
of duty and knew that no one else would, no one else cared.
Did you hurt that girl?
I approached the door. A guard stood next to a man in a blue uniform as
he stayed on his knees and fidgeted with the door. This must be the
locksmith. I studied the area. Scrape marks trimmed the edges of the metal
hinges. They hadn’t been there when I visited last time. When had I last
come up here? Last month, or longer?
“Does it look like someone broke out of this door, or was someone
trying to break in?” I asked the locksmith.
“It looks like someone kept slamming things against the door.” He
pointed to the hinges. “You see how the nails are sticking forward like that?
That means the door was being pushed from the inside. The door knob had
that same problem. In my opinion, I don’t think anyone was breaking in. It
looks like someone was trying to break out.”
“And you checked the security tape on the cameras out here?” I asked
the guard.
“Yes sir. Although. . .”
“What?”
The guard shifted from side to side and looked around. “All the cameras
up here shut off after ten at night.”
“Excuse me?”
 The guard rubbed his hands together. “I’m sorry, sir. I wasn’t going to
say anything about it. In fact, I was asked not to say anything since the
cameras are now fixed to record all the time, but I heard that a young girl
died yesterday and that she was around both of my sisters’ ages. I didn’t
feel right about lying.”
“Who’s in charge of the cameras?”
“Mr. Brewster.”
“Okay.” Today will be Mr. Brewster’s last day of work. “Consider
yourself promoted to his position. Who else knew about this?”
“Just me, his wife, and him. We’re the only ones allowed up here.”
“His wife?” I scrunched my face up in confusion.
“Mrs. Greer. She uses her maiden name.”
So they can work here together without me knowing that they were
married.
They’d both come with a lot of credentials and recommendations from
very trusted associates. I would’ve probably hired them regardless and
understood their need to be together. The positions were practically twenty-
four/seven. Grandma relieved her at times, but Mrs. Greer pretty much
lived, slept, and ate up here. She would’ve wanted to see her husband every
now and then, maybe even have a few late night visits. She had a big
bedroom in the attic and didn’t think it was a big deal to have her husband
slip by whenever everyone else was asleep.
It probably wouldn’t have been a big deal to me, either. I would’ve just
gotten another person up here. Why hadn’t I listened to Grandma?
She’d said that two nurses and three guards should be up there to relieve
each other. I assured her it would happen, but I never had the time to do the
hiring. Grandma volunteered to hire people herself. No way. I imagined
Santeros with paint on their faces and bone necklaces flanking the door.
There was no way Grandma could be in charge of such a delicate task. My
assistant had offered, too. She’d been standing next to my grandma while
we argued about it. Reece knew who lived in the attic and understood that
the person’s presence served as a major migraine for my battered skull.
I’ll have to hire new nurses and guards upon the hour. Mrs. Greer’s and
Mr. Brewster’s need for conjugal visits may very well have caused the
young girl’s death.
“Excuse me. I’m going inside.”
The locksmith pulled the door back. I entered. Little mirrors in the
shape of stars hung from the ceiling. Sunlight bounced off them and
reflected onto the black paint on the walls. It was like stepping into space.
On the right wall, strips of various types of wallpaper were tacked onto the
smooth surface. Wherever I traveled or met someone on business, I made
sure to get a strip of pretty wallpaper from a local store. Dayanara relished
the different textures and colors. Every now and then I’d give her a basket
full of chocolates and sour candies, maybe a bottle of lovely smelling
perfume, or even an expensive doll dressed in silky ribbons. She never
opened or explored those gifts. It was always the strips of wallpaper that
she rushed to with open shivering hands.
Yes. I’ll have to replace Mrs. Greer tonight.
Mrs. Greer lay asleep on the gray couch in the far back of the space.
Ragged snores escaped her opened mouth. The television played a game
show. The host screamed, “And now we have the final round. Are you
ready to bet it all?”
The audience cheered.
I headed to Dayanara’s door. The knob turned with no problem. Anger
boomed in my chest. I’d ordered Mrs. Greer to keep the door locked at all
times. Dayanara could have fled with no problem if security and the
locksmith weren’t here.
Maybe I’ll let Reece hire a temporary nurse. I can’t handle that and all
the other things that have been thrown to the side today.
I opened the door. Shadows broke out and cast darkness everywhere.
“I’ll bet it all, Jim!” One of the contestants said.
“Are you sure?” the host asked.
“Yes! I bet it all!”
People clapped. A coppery scent filled the air. My heart raced as I slid
my hand across the wall and searched for the light switch. No windows
were in this room, so when the lights were off; only the black of night
remained. The rough edges of concrete blocks scraped against my skin.
Dayanara never allowed me to decorate her bedroom. In there, she only
wanted the hard concrete bricks and cement cracks to look back at her.
“Okay. He’s going to bet it all.” Some upbeat jingle played and then the
television went hushed for a few seconds. Where the hell is the light switch?
I would have called out her name, but I didn’t want to wake her if she was
asleep.
“You get three guesses to name this animal,” the game show host
explained.
“I’m ready.”
“The suricata suricatta has been known to kill their mother’s, sister’s,
and daughter’s offspring. Scientists have reported infanticidal raids from
this species as well.”
“Jim, my first guess will be a mongoose.”
A beep came.
 “The judges say you need to be clearer. This species is from the
mongoose family.”
“Then it must be a meerkat, Jim.”
Horns blew. People roared with applause.
I found the light and flipped it on. The room illuminated with white
light. Cold seeped into my skin until I was nothing but a block of ice.
Dayanara sat on the floor in a pool of blood with a doll in her hands. Her
long legs lay in the sticky substance. Red liquid slicked back her already
crimson and gray strands. Sores dotted her forehead as if she’d tried to stab
her eyes out. She blinked and swayed a little. A paint brush lay on the floor
drenched in green paint and red liquid. She must’ve used the end of the
brush on herself. I ran to her, wrenched the doll away, and checked her
hands. A large hole in her wrist spit out warm blood.
“Mrs. Greer! Wake up and get a doctor. Now! Call nine-one-one.”
“Don’t.” Dayanara’s voice came out in a hoarse whisper. “Let me die.”
I tensed as the wound gurgled a tiny stream of blood onto my hands.
Would it be that simple? To let her die, right here? Maybe all the
problems would be solved.
“I can’t.” I yanked off my suit jacket and wrapped my sleeve tightly
around the wound. “Mrs. Greer! Damn you! Wake up!”
Dayanara tried to pull her arm away, but she was too weak. “Just let me
go.”
That warm liquid stained my pants and stuck to my knees as I kneeled
in the puddle. “And then how will I survive it? If I let that happen?”
“You always survive.” Her eyelids fluttered as she fell back. “But no
one else will when he returns.”
 “Who?”
“Snyder, my love. Snyder is coming.”
“He’s dead. He’s long gone.” I glanced over my shoulder. “Mrs. Greer!”
“It doesn’t matter that he’s gone. He figured out a way to come back.”
Stomping boomed behind me.
“Oh my god!” Mrs. Greer screamed and collapsed in the doorway.
***
Two hours later, I paced in the living room. Blood soiled my clothes and
smeared across my shoes. The day got worse and worse. Yesterday morning
began with a dead girl. Today seemed to end with another almost dead
woman. If I saw any more blood today, I would sink into myself and not
come out. Then what would happen to everyone? Then what will become of
Grandma and Hex? The host tree could die among the thick roots and
strong branches of a banyan, but nothing else could rot, because then it
would all be for nothing. I couldn’t let that happen, so I stomped back and
forth, muddied with dry red liquid and stress that dripped from every pore
on my body.
How much could I deal with today, without breaking down like all the
rest?
The door opened. I paused and caught of view of Grandma lighting a
bushel of green herbs and singing a chant. The earthy scent drifted out of
the opening as Dr. Rosenberg left and closed a passed out Dayanara and
chanting Grandma into the room.
“What’s my grandma doing?”
“A purity spell to cleanse the room of bad spirits.”
“Will the smoke bother Dayanara?”
 “She’s out cold with the stuff I injected her with. She won’t wake up
until tomorrow.”
“Thank you for coming so quickly.”
“Don’t thank me, just take my advice.”
I raked my fingers through my hair. “Not this again.”
“Dayanara should be in a mental facility where people can treat these
things.” Dr. Rosenberg yanked off his plastic gloves, stained with
Dayanara’s blood, and slung them in the trash can. “There’s nothing here
that will help her.”
“And a facility will? We’ve tried her being away. It didn’t work.”
He walked over to the kitchenette I’d had built in the attic and washed
his hands. “She wasn’t the reason it didn’t work. Your grandma Needa’s
constant group séances in front of the facility is what got her kicked out.”
“Well . . . it still didn’t do anything for the situation.”
“Every time I visit her, this gets worse.”
“I only call you when things are bad.”
Dr. Rosenberg sighed. “What does Needa say?”
“My grandma has nothing to do with where Dayanara will go or stay.”
“Then I give up.” He turned the faucet off, wiped his wet fingers with a
towel, and headed out of the space. “I’ll send my bill to Reece.”
“Good.” I trailed behind him and didn’t say any more as I turned off to
my own floor and made it to my bedroom. A shower couldn’t be held off
any more. Clanking, banging, and booming sounded from the level below.
It must’ve been the crew who showed up to decorate, cook, and fill the
castle with incessant noise for the festivities being held tonight. Sometime
between X-Lab’s opening and this morning, Hex had decided to hold an
even bigger event than the party he’d intended.
I entered my room and drew back the curtains to see what all the noise
was outside. “What the fuck?”
Men dressed in glittery wings and sequin coated leotards stepped
around the yard on tall stilts. Others loaded boxes out of a big gray truck
and marched into the castle. What’s in those? On the side, a man stacked
long poles attached to what looked like fireworks. A woman rode an
elephant through the gate.
Dear God. I’m trying to avoid a murderer from killing the people I love,
as I try to stop the people I love from killing themselves, and Hex is putting
on a bloody circus!
I shut the curtain and took off my clothes, button by button, with each
one that I loosened a pounding headache hammered at my skull. No pain
killer would fix it. The headache had been birthed long ago, in the moment
I realized my family would always need me and that there was nothing I
could do about it.
I’d tried to get free, but things became worse.
As soon as I turned eighteen I left for the navy. I started boot camp the
day after graduation, so ready to get away from everyone that I raced into
training without even a bag of clothes. Guilt hit me at times, but I could
always swallow it down back, always push it to the back of my mind and
think about something else.
God, those were the days.
I turned out to be an excellent sailor. I dealt with any of the abuse that
the recruit division commanders threw my way. By the end of boot camp,
I’d graduated with a promotion and they recommended me to one of the
best aircraft carriers traveling the sea, the USS Constellation. Sea duty
lasted for three to six months. We sailed off to the Gulf Coast, under the
dark blue sky that glittered with so many stars. I spent hours upon hours
lying on the deck and staring at them with a huge smile on my face. The sea
air tickled my nose. The waves rocked me to sleep at night and during the
day they kept a steady rhythm of movement to push me along my way. The
surrounding waters soothed me. It went on and on, never ending or
breaking apart until land approached, and even then the presence of the sea
remained.
And the women at port.
I met hundreds of them—exotic ones with bronze silky flesh and thick
hair that kept me busy thinking about them as I worked on the ships,
daydreaming about when I would see those beautiful faces again. I’d made
love to so many pretty ladies that my brothers at sea nicknamed me lover
boy.
And then the letter came. My chief petty officer called me into his office
to read it to me. After he finished, he gave me the option to separate from
service due to family emergency, with the possibility of returning later if I
could still pass the necessary standards.
What else could I do but say yes? For god’s sake, the cops had pulled
Hex out of bodies upon bodies of dead women.
A knock came from the door and pulled me from my memories.
“Yes?”
“It’s me, sir. Can I come in?” Reece asked.
I grabbed my robe from the edge of the bed and put it on. “Go ahead.”
She entered with a big box in her hands. “I’m sorry about what
happened. I’ll have a new nurse and security in place upon the hour.”
 “Thank you. What’s that?” I pointed to the box she set on my mahogany
nightstand.
“Those orange blossom candles you asked for yesterday. Do you want
me to light them?”
“By all means, yes.”
“How many?”
I glanced at the candles in the box and thought about all of the insane
things that had happened in the past few days. “All of them.”
“Okay,” she called back as I went into my bathroom and closed the
door. “How is Dayanara doing?”
“As fine as can be expected.”
“Did she say anything?”
“No. Well . . . nothing that made any sense.”
“What did she say?” Reece asked.
“Nothing. Go ahead and take off for the night. If anything else crazy
happens, I’ll contact you.”
There was no way I would repeat Dayanara’s words.
“Snyder is coming,” Dayanara had said as blood leaked all over her.
“Snyder found a way to come back from the dead.”
Well good for Snyder and me. Maybe this time I’ll get a chance to kill
him like I’ve done in my dreams.
In the bathroom, I rubbed my eyes and laughed out loud at the absurdity
of Snyder’s return.
He’s just a bag of bones rotting in the ground while I walk the earth
cleaning up his messes.
 The image of a bloodied, fifteen year old Hex flashed in my head. I’d
picked him up from the hospital three days after the navy honorably
discharged me. Shadows had soaked the cold room. Hex was nothing more
than bones in loose hanging skin. His eyes had lost the joy that had swum in
them when I’d given him a hug and left for the navy. His fingers trembled
any time he moved. He didn’t talk for a month, just sucked his thumb and
cried. Grandma took a flight from Cuba and moved in with me to help Hex
come back to himself.
Then one day at the breakfast table, Hex turned to me, took his thumb
out of his mouth, and cried, “I didn’t save them like I promised.”
His psychiatrist was the one who’d encouraged Hex to paint, to put all
of his pain and grief into his art. Two years later an old rich woman spotted
his work at a local festival near our house in Key West. She spent the rest of
her weeks searching for the artist. When she discovered it was Hex and
arrived at our house, all of our lives changed.
That sweet fragrance of orange blossoms infused every air molecule in
the bathroom.
How long have I been standing here?
Still dirty and in my robe, I opened the bathroom door to see if Reece
was still in there. She’d left so long ago the dozens of candles had melted
down an inch or two. I must’ve been standing there for a huge amount of
time, thinking about those dreary days.
“That’s Elle’s scent.” I inhaled the aroma some more and got into the
shower.
Warm water caressed my skin. Bubbles and earthy soap lathered and
washed away the spots of blood that had seeped through my shirt and pants.
Yet, my whole mind concentrated on Elle’s smell. I closed my eyes and
imagined another day, one that could never come. A moment far off in time
where dead girls didn’t sprout up in gardens and a deranged woman didn’t
sneak away with a paint brush during her scheduled art time and stab
herself in the wrist, just to be free of life and all the mounting remorse
inside her heart.
The fragrance of orange blossoms was so thick the sensual aroma
seeped into my flesh and filled my chest.
I sank into lovely visions of Elle and journeyed to a starry night, in a
distant land, where Elle stood before me naked, begging me to stroke my
fingers through her hair and capture her mouth with mine.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter 9
Elle

My dreams always began this way.

I ran fast, so fast my feet swelled with pain and my legs wobbled in
exhaustion. Cold rain battered my face and dripped into my eyes.
Once I arrived at Michael’s house, I didn’t take the time to grab a rock
and sling it at his window. I just climbed the tree and hoped I wouldn’t slip.
The jagged bark dug into my skin. The bottom of my sneakers barely
gripped the tree, but somehow I made it to the top in no time. As if he
sensed me near, Michael appeared at the window and tugged it open. It was
always that way. I never had to call or warn him I was coming, he just knew
and welcomed me in.
“Did your dad hit you again?” Michael seized my hands and helped me
balance as I climbed over the ledge and into his arms. “That bastard better
not have hurt you.”
“H-he didn’t.” I battled with catching my breath. “B-but he came home
drunk so I just left like you said I should.”
“Good.” He held me for a few minutes before letting me go. “My
parents are gone tonight. If I’d known, I would’ve picked you up. I didn’t
know until I got home and saw the letter on the table.”
“Where are they?”
 “Another medical convention.” He shut the window. “Are you cold?
Take off those wet clothes. I’ll get you a blanket.”
“No.” I wrenched my shirt up and yanked it over my head. “I don’t
want anything except you next to me.”
I’d dampened his Spiderman shirt. A few raindrops spotted his dark
blue boxers. He remained still, as if one wrong move would make me
change my mind. It had happened before, we would start and I would stop
us.
Tonight, I longed for him to be inside of me and could think of nothing
else.
Whenever he touched me, my thoughts of Mom going off with some guy
and my dad drunkenly trying to raise me all vanished. I needed that tonight,
to get away and fly free as all the sadness sank below my floating body.
“Are you sure, Ellie?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know if this is a good idea. You’re upset.”
“You don’t want me?” I stopped unbuttoning the top of my pants.
He seized my waist, and pressed his lips against mine. “I want you more
than anything else.”
“Then show me.”
We undressed together, our hands brushing against skin as they pulled
and towed away fabric. Falling onto his small bed, we kissed until our
mouths puffed into swollen lips and our tongues tangled and slid wet paths
between us. He kissed me everywhere and I shuddered with each flick of his
tongue against forbidden places.
“Delilah, I love you,” he whispered into my ear.
 I flinched. “What?”
“I love you, Delilah.”
“Why are you calling me that? Who’s Delilah?” I pushed him away and
fell off the bed, but no floor met my body. I continued to fall through the air,
my hair unraveled, rising high above my head.
“Fly!” Michael yelled from far up in his bed. “You’ve got to fly if you
want to save yourself!”
“I can’t!” I screamed in horror, kicking my legs and flapping my hands
to find something in the darkness to hold onto. Nothing existed but night
and wind. “I can’t see! Help me!”
“You have no light!” Michael called back.
“Help!” Tears spilled from my eyes as I thrashed my legs in the air.
“Help!”
“Fly!”
“I can’t.”
“Where are your wings?”
I woke up with a shriek, covered in sweat, gripping my pillow. A man
barreled into my room and wielded a gun. I screamed again and dove to the
floor.
“Oh! I’m sorry.” He put the gun down. The whole time he moved his
head from side to side and checked the room. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I
heard you scream and just wanted to make sure no one was in here or
upsetting you.”
“No. I’m fine.” I shielded myself with a pillow and stood up. My gown
was made of thin material. With a quick glimpse, the guard would be able
to make out my nipples and possibly the dark hair between my legs. “I had
a bad dream.”
“That’s fine.” He bent down, did a quick check under the bed, opened
the closet door, closed it, and backed out of the room. “I just want to make
sure you’re okay.”
“I’m okay. Thanks so much.” Before he could leave, I called out,
“What’s your name?”
“Mr. Castillo asked us not to spend too much time talking to you. I’d
better not exchange names or anything.” He crossed through the doorway
and shut the door behind him.
I checked my phone. The screen said I had forty missed calls from
Michael.
I’m going to have to talk to him eventually.
The dream rushed back at me as I sat down on my bed. Lots of the
things in it had actually happened. I’d run to Michael’s house, just a young
and confused girl, looking for someone to love her. Michael represented my
salvation in school. When others picked on my ripped and dirt-smudged
clothes, he complimented me on them. When most laughed at my scraggly
strands cut in no particular style, he begged me to allow him to run his
fingers through them. He made me feel pretty and loved. It was only natural
that I’d ask him to be my first.
Once he entered me, he’d left something inside my core that wouldn’t
let go. It attached us to each other; a thick rope of chains and elaborate
locks that bound us together forever.
The first time we had sex, he did call me another name. It wasn’t
Delilah. It was some other girl’s name. He did that a lot, even later in our
relationship. It took me a while to realize that he actually pretended to not
know my name during sex intentionally. It was all a game for him, how fast
could he piss me off, how quickly would I return to beg for more.
But the first time he called me someone else, I pretended to not hear
him and dreamed that those words he whispered as he moved in and out of
me dripped with honey and adoration. It wasn’t like we were in a
relationship together, so I didn’t stop or call him out on it.
But his blurting out another’s name while he took my virginity
should’ve been a huge sign to run away.
God, I wish I could run back to that girl, stop her in the rain, and turn
her around.
Once Michael got his hooks into people, he dragged them around
forever. I had no idea if he ever loved me or simply enjoyed controlling me.
One would hope that a person didn’t only thrive off evil and other’s pain.
My mom used to say that no one was purely bad, that everyone had some
good in them. I dealt with Michael for over ten years and still couldn’t be
sure. What part was real? What part was him just setting up another move
in his game?
The morning after I lost my virginity, I woke up to him painting me.
“Don’t move, Ellie.” He slid his paintbrush against the canvas in front
of him. “You look like an angel with the sun shining on your skin like that,
and all that beautiful hair spread out like huge wings. Don’t ever cut your
hair. Promise me.”
“Okay.”
“Don’t ever change. Always be my angel.”
“Okay, Michael.”
I tried, but I was only human. Anytime he gave, he took away. When he
finished the painting, he drove me home and didn’t talk to me in school or
call for two weeks. I’d cried myself to sleep and walked around my school’s
hallways like a zombie. Heavy bags lay under my eyes from lack of sleep.
By then Mom had drove off to Vegas with her new love to get married. Dad
drowned himself in a pit of depression. I’d had to change the sofa cushions
from Dad pissing on himself as he slept. I had no other family or friends to
talk to, and considered running away or simply taking my own life. I was a
vessel of hormones, rejection, and confusion just trying my best to step
along the minefield of life and not get blown away.
The third Monday after I lost my virginity, Michael approached me with
a canvas wrapped in brown paper. “Happy birthday.”
“It’s not my birthday.” I shut my locker and walked away.
“Why are you so mad?”
“I’m not.”
He captured my arm and pulled me back. “Yes, you are.”
I stared at the ground. “What do you want, Michael?”
“To give you your present.” He attempted to hand it to me.
“I don’t want it.” I stepped around him and picked up my pace.
“Fuck, Ellie. You’re really mad?” He hurried and got to my side.
“Please, just look at my painting. It’s of you. I’ve been working on it
nonstop. That’s why I didn’t get a chance to speak to you these past weeks.”
I sighed. “But you did get a chance to talk to Stacey Jenkins, who
bragged about how you took her to the movies and to some really nice
restaurant up by Parkin’s Way.”
“Okay. That’s only because I’d already promised to take her, way before
anything happened between us—”
 “Then what about Vicky?” I pushed through the double doors and
headed toward the parking lot where all the buses lined up.
“Vicky?”
“Vicky. The one with the dad who owns the gas station that you’re
always talking about has the best watermelon candy, even though it’s the
same candy sticks that are shipped to every store.”
“Oh shit, Victoria.”
“Bye, Michael.” I walked on the other side of a tree in order to avoid the
appearance of us strolling together like a couple. I had enough people
gossiping about my mom and dad. I didn’t need the rumor mill producing
stories about Michael and me.
“Can we talk, please?”
“No.” A line had already formed as my bus pulled up to the corner.
“My teacher says this portrait is the best thing he’s ever seen.”
“Congratulations.”
“Look at it.”
I stopped and faced him. “No. I will not look at it. I’m trying to get to
my bus. Life doesn’t stop for you. It keeps on going. You didn’t feel the
need to talk to me after you shared the most important moment of my life,
so you don’t get to come up and grab my attention whenever you want to.
Go fuck yourself, Michael!”
I mentally patted myself on the back. I’d practiced that speech over and
over in my head, imagining what I would say if he ever spoke to me again.
I did it. I told him and didn’t vomit.
“How are you doing with saving up for a car?” He raced up and jumped
in front of me. I moved to the side. He blocked me. I stepped to the other.
He grabbed my waist. “How much do you have now?”
“None of your business.”
“How much?”
“Not enough.”
“I can make it that you had more than enough by graduation.”
Back then a car meant I could load up and drive out of town. Where I
was going, I never really knew. How I was getting there, with no money for
gas, never crossed my mind. For me a car meant freedom, so I’d saved for
two years, working the night shift at Park and Eat Diner.
“I can make sure you have enough to get the blue Mustang you’re
always looking at in the dealership near your house. I could get you the
money by graduation.” He held his hand up to his chest. “I swear on
everything.”
“Graduation is in six months. How can you do that?”
“This guy who owns the art gallery that I take classes at is offering me a
huge commission if I paint more angels. I need you.”
“Why?” I raised my eyebrows. “Why wouldn’t you just paint other
girls?”
He shrugged. I sucked my teeth. “You did. Didn’t you? You painted
other girls, right?”
“No. I would never paint anybody else.”
I walked off. Thankfully, people were still getting on the bus. Michael
caught my wrist again and stopped me. “Okay. Okay. I painted other girls.
The guy didn’t like them. He only liked the one I did of you, so I painted
another angel from your sophomore class picture in the yearbook. He loved
it. He said there was something about you that made me move the brush just
right with a need to capture the shadows and curves in such a way that it
became euphoric. He said you’re my muse, that you inspire me.”
I checked to see only a few people left to get on the bus. “I don’t know
what you’re talking about. Just leave me alone.”
“He’s going to give me twenty thousand dollars to paint more paintings
of you. I’ll split it with you halfway.”
“Why split the money? What are you getting out of it?”
“Fame. He has a lot of pull in the art world. I make him happy and I’ll
start my career.”
At seventeen, I saw ten thousand dollars as a way to take care of me for
a year. “Fine. I’ll model for you, but nothing else. Don’t even think of us
ever having sex again, Michael.”
“Fine. I won’t even try.” The muscle in his jaw twitched.
And that was how it all began. For whatever reason, the art dealer was
right. When Michael painted me, he trapped all that was beautiful in the
world and placed it on the canvas. His art wasn’t amazing because of my
face, body, or even my hair that he loved to form into wings. His art
ensnared every emotion in the viewer’s heart and twisted it over and over
inside of them, until all the viewer could do was laugh or cry, celebrate his
life or yearn for more.
When he painted the last one, the dealer handed us both our part of the
money and then offered us a chance at another commission. He wanted
Michael and me to fly to Paris with him and live in this big artists’ retreat,
so that the country could give Michael inspiration and help him create even
more masterpieces with me in them. We’d happily agreed. I had no reason
not to. Although Michael flirted with me, he never violated his promise. He
kept his hands to himself.
 But Paris changed everything.
Other artists offered me their business cards, gave me presents, and out
and out begged me to work with them. Most said it was a matter of time
before Michael’s talent would fade away. I ignored the others, stayed loyal
to him, and soothed him in his darkest moments. I loved him even more by
then, but wouldn’t admit it to myself. It was inevitable that we would make
love under a cloudless night full of stars and drunk on red wine.
He finished his oil series of me wrapped in the colors of Paris—
blushing pinks of blooming roses that lay in front of shops, turquoise-
streaked blue skies intoxicated with vanilla clouds, crimson red wines, the
grays of stone streets that breathed with history and life, tan puffy croissants
dripping with butter, and all the violets of love.
Because for me, love was never this hot red color or a faint smear of
burgundy.
Love for most people mingled with the glow of rubies and scarlet silks
worn by women on the corners of Paris selling their bodies for fame,
fortune, or just enough money to get shelter for the night. And love was the
color of cherries ripe in the spring. Most of all, love resembled all the colors
of red found when one opened up a person’s chest and analyzed their heart.
But for me, love was always violet, never red. Because all hearts had a tint
of blue. All relationships dimmed under the assault of clouded tears and
darkened memories, the black of pain and the rage of cobalt skies, signaling
a storm was approaching.
At times, Michael’s love glowed with passionate reds, but most of the
time he loved me in the shades of purple so drenched with blues that when
we made love, I had no idea if I cried out in pain or pleasure.
In the dream, he asked me where my wings were.
 You cut them off. You bastard. But this time I won’t be falling like you
figured. I won’t need you to throw me a rope or push over a long ladder.
Because I don’t want to reach you anymore. I just want to fall and be free.
A knock boomed at the door.
“Yes?” I called out.
“What’s taking you so long?” Hex giggled. “The party has started. The
servers have already handed out the hors d’oeuvres and the wine is getting
warm.”
“Sorry. I decided to take a nap, since I had that long flight from
California. I’m up now. I’ll be down soon.”
“Fabulous. Don’t forget to wear that dress I bought you.”
“Are you wearing what I bought you?” I smirked.
“Of course, my love.” The last two words came out in a slur.
“Are you drinking?”
“Of course, my love.”
“Well, save me some wine.”
“I’ll do my best.” His footsteps changed from clear to distant.
What would Michael say to my being here? Would he laugh at me or be
angry at my disloyalty? It doesn’t matter anymore. For once in my life, the
things I do from now on won’t be about him, but about me.
I rushed off to the shower. A giddy sensation bounced around inside me.
I would be having my second night of drinking and eating whatever I
desired. Michael forbade me from drinking alcohol the moment we became
a couple in Paris. He’d said it made skin blotchy, was bad on the liver, and
muddied my breath.
 It was the first thing he’d forbidden me to do, but it sure as hell wasn’t
the last.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter 10
Alvarez

“Go!” Grandma shoved at my stomach. It was almost comical, this tiny

woman with gray curls bobbing around as she moved her head and spouted
out nasty curses in Spanish. “You’ve been up here all night. The doctor said
she’s fine. All the blood is cleaned up. That nice girl, Reece, got you a new
nurse and guard. Go!”
I sighed. “I just want to check on Dayanara and make sure—”
“Go!”
“I did leave. I took a shower like you ordered me to do when you first
showed up and now I’m back.” I gestured to my black pants and white linen
shirt.
“But did you eat or visit your brother at his big party? Even I’ve gone
down there to show my face to his friends.”
“They don’t know me.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“I actually prefer your company over them.”
“Then you’re more lost than I thought. Go!” She hit my chest.
“Dayanara is asleep. The spirits have left her alone for tonight. Just in case
they return I’m here to ward them off. No one needs you up here.”
“Why don’t you go and I’ll take over.”
 “This is my problem.”
“How is this your problem?”
“Just leave and why did you get rid of Mrs. Greer?”
“Because her and her husband allowed the door to be messed up and
turned the cameras off.”
“So what?”
“Someone died last night, or did you forget?”
Grandma hit my chest with a book. “Don’t talk to me like that and just
because the door was damaged doesn’t mean people should get fired.”
“I’m not going over this with you.”
“I don’t like that you fired that nice couple.”
“You knew they were married?”
“Of course. I made them a nice little anniversary charm last year. Reece
and I gave them a big cake.”
“I don’t remember this.”
“You only remember money and business mumbo jumbo. Now go and
have fun at your brother’s party. They’re all having such a nice time down
there. I’ll make sure Dayanara doesn’t get out.”
“But—”
“Oh, be quiet. I’m staying here. I have a new book.” She displayed a
cover draped with two half-naked men in leather pants, cowboy hats, and
layers of muscle that impressed even me. The title read, The Cowboy’s
Trail.
I frowned. “I don’t think cowboys wrangle in leather pants.”
“I don’t read these novels for their authenticity.”
 That response served as enough motivation to get me racing away from
the room. I didn’t even want to let my mind wonder why Grandma
devoured male-male erotic romances. “Call me if you need—”
“I’m not calling you. I’ll call my gods. You’re busier than them.” The
door slammed behind me. My newly hired guard nodded at me as I left the
high level and made my way downstairs to my room. We kept the top levels
dark at night. Although the cameras throughout the house had night vision,
I planned on having the lights on from now on. The tension in my shoulders
built until my muscles knotted in pain.
I paused for a minute.
Why did Grandma say she would make sure Dayanara doesn’t get out?
Did she say that? I turned to head back up to the attic, but stopped when I
realized that asking Grandma would be a waste of time. If she wanted me to
know something she would simply say it. If she didn’t, then I would have to
figure it out on my own.
Did Dayanara get out last night? No. There’s no way. Why would
Dayanara come back to the house, if she had gotten free?
That didn’t make any sense. If she’d snuck by everyone and found her
freedom, she would have continued out the gates and to wherever she had
hoped to go. Where would a deranged woman want to run to? She’d asked
me to let her die. Her guilt rode her mind every day. All those deaths she’d
stood by and allowed in the past, and now the very thought of her living
safe in a grand castle messed with her mind. I couldn’t just sit there and
watch her die. It wasn’t in my make-up to stand by as her blood streamed to
the floor.
Not that life wouldn’t have been easier if she was gone.
I hated to admit it. My own guilt gnawed at my soul. To let her free
would be to release a menace onto society. To let her die would be to rip the
foundation of our family’s sanity apart.
Feminine laughter flowed from further downstairs. It tickled my senses
and woke up my body.
“Stop it. You’re cracking me up.” That amused womanly sound soared
up to me, again.
I’d heard the other artists, writers, and models around this property from
time to time. None of the women in that group giggled like that, as if this
was the first time they’d laughed in many years. Elle. It had to be her
downstairs, laughing in front of whoever entertained her at the moment.
Who was it?
No one who deserved her attention or had earned her time. I doubted it
was even Hex making those beautiful noises rush out of her lips. My
brother possessed many talents, but entertaining others ranked low on the
list. Hex was the type to sit back and demand others to perform.
“No. No more jokes,” Elle pleaded. “I can barely stop giggling.”
Before I realized it, I’d passed my bedroom and stood on the last step,
leaning my head to the side and straining to catch the male voice near her.
“Let’s go outside so I can show you.” The man’s voice echoed in the
hallway between the dining area and main sitting room.
“There’s no such thing as gold lightning bugs and orange glittering
pixies that hide under mushroom tops from garden trolls.” She’d stopped
laughing, yet amusement still adorned each word. “You have an overactive
imagination.”
“Do I?”
“Yes.”
I crept closer.
 “I hope not, sweet Elle,” the buffoon said.
Sweet Elle? Who was this corny bastard? Had he stumbled out of a bad
romance movie, those ones where the males wore tights and the women
dressed in those gowns that pushed their breasts up just right, but hid their
hips and legs? Sweet Elle? How did he already know she was so sweet?
“Please, sweet Elle. Please don’t tell me I just have an overactive
imagination.”
“Why not?” she asked the idiot.
“Because then I would be imagining this perfect angel in front of me
and I don’t want this to be a dream. Are you just a hallucination, sweet
Elle?”
Again, that laugh fled her lips. My headache returned. I stormed down
the last step and toward the hallway, with no idea of what I was about to do
or why.
And then I saw her.
She stood there, a blaze of white light in the darkness. Strips of
colorless fabric wrapped around that slender body and hugged each curve
and bend of soft flesh. It was a strapless gown, just smooth skin across slim
shoulders and the swell of cleavage that made me lick my lips. The dress’s
fabric shined bright, but seemed dull in comparison to her as she flashed the
unworthy prick a captivating smile. Diamonds hung from her ears. A
strawberry color stained those full lips. That beautiful hair sat in a
complicated up-do of some sorts, with little braids and curls, adorned with
tiny white feathers. I had no idea how she managed to get all those silky
strands in an elegant order, but I yearned to undo each braid and tug loose
every curl.
The foolish guy leaned on the wall in front of her. He made huge
gestures as he talked. His words were clutter, once I focused on her. She
giggled and the tops of her breasts jiggled. It was all too much for me. I
groaned like a madman and garnered both of their attention.
“Who’s over there?” The guy looked my way.
I wondered how I appeared, standing in the hallway with closed fists
and my teeth digging into my bottom lip.
“Alvarez?” She leaned her head to the side. “Is something wrong?”
I just stood there with lots of words on my tongue, but none appropriate
for the moment.
“Can he talk?” The bastard chuckled. “Or maybe I’m not the only one
fantasizing about fantastical creatures under the moonlight.”
If he says something else to her, I’ll escort him out of here and it won’t
be a gentlemanly gesture.
This time Elle didn’t respond with amusement. She handed him her
glass of wine and strolled my way. “Alvarez?”
That orange blossom perfume hit me as she approached. The lit candles
in my room did their best to imitate her scent, but had failed. Her actual
fragrance was intoxicating. I couldn’t get enough and wondered how her
skin would taste with one lick. Would it be sweet as the juice from ripe
oranges?
“Is everything okay?” Elle asked.
“Yes.”
A foot rested between us, and all I longed to do was close the distance
and touch her skin.
This is madness.
“Are you really sure everything is okay?” she whispered.
 “Yes.” I licked my lips. She parted her mouth, and had to know what
was on my mind. With the hunger pounding in my groin, there was no way
I was doing a good job of hiding it. Too much occurred today. Too many
damn mysteries and problems, unexpected conflicts and disrupted needs. I
hadn’t had time to truly sit and think about the dead girl, Elle’s position as
Hex’s model, this new collection he was hiding, or even Dayanara’s
attempted suicide. I’d rushed through each wound and problem, slapping a
quick fix bandage on it without every truly cooling down.
Now, I stood in front of her, unraveling right before her eyes, without
any possibility of discovering the end of my rope to put me back together
again. I drowned in so many sensations. Yet one feeling sang louder than all
the others.
Desire.
Dear god, I should have called Madam Miriam for those girls. This
night won’t end well if Elle’s not in my arms.
“Something’s wrong.” She moved closer to me and kept her voice
down. “You’re not acting like you were last night.”
Interesting.
“How did I act before?” I quirked my eyebrows.
She hesitated for a second and then simply replied, “Like a man in
control.”
“Hey, buddy.” The guy rubbed his hands and sauntered over to us. “Get
your own magic dream goddess. This one’s taken.”
Tension thickened in the silence. I think I was supposed to laugh at his
failed attempt of a joke. Instead, I glared at him like a madman.
Elle, being the nice person she was, plastered on a strained smile.
“Edward, I should talk to Alvarez about something. Is it okay if I talk with
you later?”
He glanced at me, got the silent threat that I pushed out to him, and
edged back. “Sure. After I get a drink, I’ll be outside by the dance floor,
hoping to get a dance with you.”
You won’t be dancing with her tonight.
She watched him walk off and then faced me. “Has there been another
dead girl?”
“No.”
“Then what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“There has to be. You’re acting strange.”
“You’ve only known me for two days. How can you be so sure?”
She opened her mouth and closed it. “Well . . . if you’re okay, then I
guess I’ll see you later.”
She moved past me and I captured her arm. Raising her eyebrows, she
gazed at my hand on her and then looked back at me. “Yes?”
“Can we dance together?”
A shocked expression spread on her face. Her cool demeanor melted
right before my eyes. “Dance?”
An electric charge surged between us, stronger than before. She
shuddered under my fingers. It made me crazy to feel that reaction. There
was something that bridged between us, if we were willing to explore it.
Something told me that electric yearning, that unexplained allure would be
right there, something thick and intense that neither one of us would survive
if we followed all the possibilities. All this in my head from just one touch?
The stop signs danced in my brain. They said let her go and turn around,
run upstairs to your room or at least rush off to Madam Miriam’s discreet
house of pleasure. But it was too late. I craved Elle, and she stood there
warm and right in front of me.
I’d been in control all day. Tonight, I relinquished it for another day.
“I want to dance with you.” I slipped my fingers down that soft arm and
heard an intake of breath. It thrilled me even more to realize that my caress
made her crazy. I seized her hand and guided her toward the front patio
where Hex held his dances.
I should stop this, but I won’t.
Our fingers threaded together. It was such an odd thing to do with a
person I hadn’t even known two nights before, but I walked with her fingers
locked against mine. “I’m sure you’ve been hearing this all night, but you
are enchanting.”
A red tint spread across her cheeks. “Thank you.”
“Who was the guy you were talking to?”
“Oh, that was Edward. He’s one of your brother’s friends, I guess.
According to him, he does pretty things with glass.”
“Interesting.” He would be the first person on the plane tomorrow
afternoon. I just had to check with Reece to make sure it happened.
“Have you already been outside?”
“No.”
“Oh.” She widened her smile. “Well then, let me be your tour guide for
the festivities.”
She unlatched her fingers from mine. I gritted my teeth and said nothing
else, once she hooked her slim arm under mine. “We’re going to take the
longest route possible to the dance floor.”
 “Why the longest route?”
“Because it’s the most scenic.” She winked at me.
Violin music carried on the cool breeze when I opened the door. Strings
of white paper lanterns hovered over the area and bathed the space in a
magical glow. Dancing couples packed the floor. Dressed in a ruby gown, a
slender woman with red hair and a dragon tattooed along her neck sang a
slow song about holding on to her first love.
The singer grinned. “And I won’t let go. I’ll never let you be free.”
Tables lined the floor full of silver bowls with pink sauces and brown
soups. Several roasted pigs stuffed with apples rested on glass platters at the
center of the tables, and all around the meat was tray after tray of steaming
vegetables, crisp white rice, and stacks of bread dripping in butter and
embellished with garlic. The food’s aroma taunted my stomach, but still it
wasn’t as enticing as Elle’s perfume and not enough to drag me away from
her.
“You ensnared me in your love.” The woman spun around and swayed
her hips to the violin’s melody. “You’ve captured me.”
“What’s the name of the fragrance you’re wearing?” I asked.
“Sakura. It’s one I used to import from Japan.”
The singer shook her head. “I don’t have any control, no power to be
free.”
“Why did you used to import it?” I asked. “Have you stopped?”
“Yes. I’m on a budget now. It costs several thousand dollars per bottle.”
The singer touched her chest. “You’ve ensnared my heart and love. You
captured me.”
 “I’m not on a budget,” I said. “I’ll have a case delivered to your room
by the end of the week.”
That shocked expression reappeared on Elle’s face. “You don’t have to.”
“I know.”
“Then thank you.” She pulled me to the side where a man in a silver
costume stood. Multi-colored glitter covered his face. “Oh, look at this.
He’s so funny.”
The man juggled sharp knives with little bells at the end. There were
five of them. Each time the knives flipped over, they rang out a little
melody. He hummed and stuck his tongue out when it seemed that he was
close to dropping them, and then after a minute or so he slung them all in
the air at once.
“Oh my god.” Elle covered her mouth. “Watch this.”
The knives soared high into the sky. The man whistled, catching my
attention. I turned back to him for a quick second, to see a tiny gray bird fly
out of his mouth. A little rope with several bells trailed behind the bird as it
flew away and rang that same song the knives had made.
“How did you do that?” I scanned the sky for the knives. They had
disappeared. “Where did they all go? How did you get the bird in your
mouth?”
The silver man with the glittered face shrugged and walked off to a new
couple.
“Wait a minute, how did you do that?”
Elle tapped my shoulder. “You might as well give up. He’s not going to
tell you. What would be the fun in that?”
“But it’s insane.”
 “Doesn’t matter. It’s his secret to tell and it doesn’t look like he wants
you to know.”
Someone tapped my arm. “A drink, sir?”
A woman in a huge gown twirled my way with a small tray attached to
her waist. She looked like a character from one of those period films Hex
loved to watch, with the huge wig that rose a foot high in white curls. Her
face was powdered and painted, her dress an elaborate design of crushed
velvet bows and satin. And that tray remained connected to her waist as if it
had been built into the dress. Several glasses of sparkling champagne sat on
it.
How did she not fall in this dress or spill any of these glasses?
“A drink, sir?” the woman repeated.
“No, thank you.”
Elle dragged me forward. “Let’s check out some more.”
It must’ve taken Elle a good hour to show me everything. She was like a
little kid at a carnival. She pointed to the flamingos strutting next to the
small pond with hundreds of pink glowing candles on top of lily pads.
Three elephants carried tiny ladies in clear leotards that left little to the
imagination. The creatures wore huge hats with big ostrich feathers at the
end. On the right, men in black drawstring pants shot flames out of their
mouths and swung blazing shapes around their bodies. On the left, a man in
a tuxedo showed the onlookers his huge saw and pointed to the beautiful
woman in the box in front of him as he prepared to show the audience that
he could magically cut her in half without bringing her any harm.
“Isn’t this incredible?” Elle asked.
“Oh yes.”
 “You’re probably just saying that. You’ve probably been to tons of
parties like this.”
“I don’t usually go to Hex’s gatherings, but I can assure you that this is
the biggest party he’s ever thrown.”
“If you’ve never gone, how do you know this is the biggest one?”
“Because I always pay the bills.”
“Good point.” She pulled me forward. “Oh wait. I have to show you the
clowns up ahead.”
I tensed. “No thank you. We should go dance.”
“It’ll be real quick. These are the coolest clowns I’ve ever seen.”
I stopped in the grassy path and refused to go any farther. “I don’t really
like clowns.”
“No?” She quirked her eyebrows.
“They’re just not my thing.” I risked a look in the direction where she’d
pointed. A clown walked on stilts far ahead. I cringed.
She chuckled. “Oh my God. Hex was right! You’re afraid of clowns?”
“It’s not that I’m afraid of them. I just choose not to be around them.”
“That’s it?”
“Yes.”
“So if I call a clown over here, then what will happen?”
“I’ll probably scream like a little girl, punch him in the face, and run
away.”
She covered her face and did her best to stop her laughter, but it spilled
out of her just the same.
 “Fine. Laugh at me if you want, but it’s not nice to laugh at somebody
who has coulrophobia. It’s a serious thing to be afraid of clowns. Not that
I’m afraid of them.”
“Of course not. You just choose to not be around them.”
“Exactly.”
She waved her hands and still giggled. “I know . . . it’s just. You’re just
so big and. . . .” She laughed even louder.
“You’re a mean one, Elle.” I smirked and guided her away from the
wretched monsters in colorful wigs. “Wait until I find the things you’re
afraid of. I bet I’ll have a good laugh, too.”
We took our time moving through the crowd and headed toward the
dance floor. Minutes passed. We talked about the movies we liked and some
of our favorite actors. For once in a long time, I had no worry on my mind
or task to complete. For once, I relaxed and enjoyed the moment before me
—a beautiful party under glittering stars with a captivating woman next to
me.
“Should I make sure there aren’t any clowns on the dance floor?” she
asked.
“Very funny.”
As soon as we reached the dance floor, I gathered her in my arms. Her
body stiffened for a few seconds and then molded against mine. I battled
with the groan that dared to leave my mouth. Pillowy breasts pressed into
my chest as she rested her small arms on my shoulder. I had to focus all of
my energy on keeping my hands at the center of her back and not letting
them slip down to the curve of her behind.
She directed her gaze to me as she lifted her head and formed her lips
into an amused smile.
 “What are you thinking about?” she asked.
“Why?”
“Your expression is unreadable.”
“That may be a good thing.”
“It’s not,” she said. “For me, it is. I like to know what the man I’m with
is thinking.”
I leaned forward so my mouth not too obviously brushed against her ear.
“And I’m the man you’re with?”
“Well. . . I am dancing with you.”
No. You had it right the first time. Have mercy on the guy who tries to
cut into this dance, or any other dance, tonight.
“You’re still not answering my question.” She blushed.
“What was it?”
“What is on your mind, Alvarez?”
I loved the way my name curled over her tongue. How would it sound
when she moaned my name? And she would, there was no other option this
evening. Every muscle in my body wound into knots of need and her
presence had triggered it. I craved her. From one hand shake, I was thirsty
for more. From the time we spent together at X-lab and even this evening, I
could think of nothing else but her.
“I’m wondering what’s on your mind because you’re just looking at me
really weird.”
“Weird?” I twirled her around and then brought her back to me. “How
do I look weird to you?”
 “Maybe not weird, but you have a different expression from when we
hung out together in X-lab.”
“That’s because a lot has changed since last night. Something’s been on
my mind all day, even with the craziness around me. Something’s been
deep in my thoughts and swimming through my head.”
“What?” She leaned away with a questioning look on her face.
“You. All day I’ve been thinking about you.”

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter 11
Elle

Me?
That wasn’t what I thought Alvarez would say. Sure, we’d had fun
together. Sure, an attraction streamed between us. That couldn’t be denied.
My skin charged when he touched me, even with the tiniest gestures.
Holding my hand. A finger brushing my arm. My flesh tingled with each
friendly contact of his skin to mine.
But that was where it had to end.
I’d loved for ten long years, where pain had mingled with kisses and
Michael’s hugs suffocated me so much that I wasn’t sure I could wriggle
away enough to gasp for air. It was purple love, ugly and endearing,
passionate and bruising like the tiny plum marks one left from sucking on a
lover’s neck. After loving like that, one needed a break, a vacation from the
intensity of it all.
I needed to catch my breath and take a time out with myself.
“Did I say something wrong?” Alvarez searched my face with his gaze.
Confusion lit in his expression and made those brown eyes glow in the
moonlight. I risked a peek at those long eyelashes, not realizing they were
so feminine on such a hard and masculine face. How odd that his carved
looks hinted at softness in such subtle places.
“Elle, answer me. Please.”
 By then, we’d stopped moving. Everyone else danced around us,
twirling and twisting with the new song, some melody of love accompanied
by trumpets and a saxophone that slipped in during the most rhythmic
times.
“I don’t know what to say.” I moved my arms away from him. “I’ve just
gotten out of a relationship. I don’t know what your answer meant, but I’m
not interested in doing anything more than being . . . whatever this is.
Friends, I guess.”
His confident expression faltered. “I understand.”
Did he really?
He stepped away from me and rubbed his eyes. “I should go upstairs.”
“No.” The word rushed out of my mouth without my own doing, but I
agreed just the same. “I’m having fun with you.”
“Yeah, but this has turned awkward too quickly.”
“It doesn’t have to be.” I bit my bottom lip and his gaze shifted there.
Drunk women bumped into me and stumbled away in the direction of the
bar. When I looked their way, I spotted a flash of red hair and figured it was
Patricia.
We’d spent a lot of time together today, hanging out and packing her
things, although she hadn’t really packed much. She gave most of her
belongings to me and others in rooms near her,—favorite poetry books, a
few paintings from friends, jewelry, and other little knick-knacks. In the
end, she’d barely filled one suitcase.
“Why are you giving everything away?” I’d asked.
“You can’t take it all with you, right?”
“You certainly can.” I laughed.
 I should say hi to Patricia once Alvarez and I are done. And what are
we doing?
I turned to Alvarez as he gazed at me with a neutral expression fastened
to his face.
And then the lanterns went out. Darkness blanketed the whole area. The
music ceased. A few people screamed.
“Calm down! Calm down! It will only be dark for a little while.” Hex’s
voice rose over us in the darkness. The crowd hushed. “I just wanted to give
you all my final gift tonight. Every last one of you has aroused my creative
juices. Lots of beautiful journeys have come from just a few minutes of me
being in your presence. So look to the sky! Turn your heads up for the main
event.”
Darkness blanketed all of us. I could barely see anything around me,
just silhouettes of moving people in the moonlight. Alvarez placed his hand
on the center of my back and whispered in my ear. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. It’s just your brother puts on quite a show.”
“You have no idea.” He pulled me into him so that the curve of my
behind pressed into his front. “I would just like you near me while it’s dark
to make sure you’re okay.”
“Just in case murderous clowns come around?”
“I’m keeping count of all your jokes until the day you’ll get this same
humor turned back on you.”
“I’ll be waiting for that day. Until then, let the jokes continue.”
“Are you looking to the sky, everybody?” Hex shouted.
“Yes!” We all screamed back.
 “Good.” Hex laughed. “Tonight I want to paint the sky with color.
Ladies and gentlemen, check out my interpretation of fireworks.”
Color exploded in the air. Sound boomed right after it. Fluorescent
sparks of blue scissored through the sky. Blinding pinks crashed against
gold sparkles. White flashed with the crash of glowing hearts and violet
bright smiley faces that stuck out a candy apple red tongue.
“Holy shit!” I laughed.
“My words exactly.”
Then the sky went black. Singing began in a light voice.
“When tomorrow bleeds through darkened skies.”
A piano flowed with the notes.
“You and I will be alive, in this memory of you and me.”
Red globes rose in the sky, paused at the center, and burst ten times
bigger than they were, raining down turquoise, silver, and emerald
glimmering drops. They filled the air and painted the darkness with the
most beautiful glowing portrait I’d ever seen—flaming orange fire flowers
that blossomed with twinkling petals, thousands of copper glints that looked
like a school of shiny fish swimming in a black sea, and even more blazing
colors and surprises zipped through the air.
The lanterns’ light came on, yet the fireworks continued. I could finally
see Hex on the stage, complete in his top hat and white tuxedo suit with
tails.
“Although the date isn’t here,” Hex spread his arms out, “Happy New
Year!”
Silver confetti rained down from the lamps. Everyone cheered. I
shrieked with glee and raised my hands to catch a few. So many sprinkled
down on me. Their slick material was smooth against my skin. Horns blew.
People clapped. Others hooted with laughter. I turned to see Alvarez
watching me with a huge smile on his face in the rain of glittery papers. My
chest warmed. That odd sensation tingled across my skin. I didn’t even
know he was capable of forming his lips into such a big display of joy.
Confetti lay in his hair and on his shoulders as it continued to pour on us.
“Dance everybody! Dance!” Hex yelled.
“This is awesome!” I danced as the drums beat an upbeat tempo.
Alvarez moved with me.
Others joined and then more and more fell into the energy of the
moment. Alvarez and I danced together. We bobbed our heads and swung
our hips. We twisted and bent, looped around others in spiraling movements
and rubbed against each other when the beat decreased to a steady pound
and the seductive groan of a feminine voice saturated the air.
“Take me. When the moon is full and the water’s calm. Take me.”
He drew me into him like earlier. My body pressed against his hard,
muscular chest. I could feel his heartbeat through the thin material of my
dress. It pounded faster than the rhythm of the song that played all around
us.
“And when I’m there, never let me go.”
He leaned forward and pressed his lips into mine. I should have stopped
it and left the floor, but I didn’t. I couldn’t. Instead, I liquefied in his arms. I
was on fire from the power vibrating around us. When he dipped his tongue
between my lips, I lost my balance and he seized my hips and kept me up,
molding into him, with no opportunity to get free from his arms and taut
frame.
“Take me. Under a waterfall of clear blue.”
 He had me, and I didn’t want to escape.
“Take me in the rain. Just take me with you.”
I groaned as his tongue explored my mouth some more, flicking its wet
tip against mine and sucking on my bottom lip.
Oh, this is so good.
Desire coursed through my veins and sizzled my skin so that I swayed
off balance, ready to collapse at any minute. If I’d thought Michael
devoured me with his love, then I was certain Alvarez would consume me.
There would be nothing of me left. Already, I could feel the intensity of him
pulsate all the way through to my core. It rattled my senses.
I was a blank canvas, and he an artist. He painted me with seduction and
I glittered back at him with my own images of lust decorating my face. He
created more inside of me and I responded with groans that I tried to keep
locked away in my mouth, but shoved through my lips just the same. He
slipped his hands down my back and seized the curve of my bottom,
squeezing and cuddling the soft flesh. A fire burst between my legs, so
molten hot, I gasped from the heat.
He moved his lips from mine and ambushed my ear and neck. I arched
my back in defeat. There was no fight in me when it came to pleasure. I
yearned for it too much, and there it was all over my skin in moist laps of
his tongue and nibbling of hard teeth.
“Can I take you upstairs to my room?” he whispered. As if to not give
me too much time to think about it, he assaulted me with sweet and long
sugary kisses all over the tops of my cleavage. My nipples pebbled at his
attention. My breasts begged to be released right there on the dance floor in
front of everyone.
“Come with me.” He clutched my behind some more. “God, I’ve got to
have you tonight. Please.”
 But before I could answer, someone screamed.
It wasn’t the type of shrill sound that one could hear at a party where
someone let out a loud yell of enjoyment. It wasn’t a cry of excitement. It
sounded like fear. The noise cut through the air and delivered cold shivers
up my spine.
The person screamed again.
The music stopped. Chaos ensued as people scanned the bustling crowd.
Oblivious to the commotion, Alvarez tightened his hold on me. “Let’s
go. I don’t even want to know what is happening. For once I’m going to let
someone else deal with it.”
“She’s dead!” A woman in a teal satin gown pushed her way onto the
dance floor. Blood dripped from her hands. “Patricia’s dead! Somebody
help me!”
“What?” I opened my mouth in shock. “Patricia?”
Alvarez released me and rushed to the woman with bloody hands. “Who
died?”
I went over to them.
“Patricia, my friend.” She sobbed and wiped those bloody hands on her
dress. “She said she was going to the bathroom for a minute and would be
right back. She was gone for a long time. I went off to go find her. I saw her
purse near the garden by the east entrance and bent over to pick it up. That’s
when I saw her. She was stiff and . . . dead.”
Four huge men dressed all in black barreled onto the floor. They stood
by Alvarez and searched the area with their gazes, skittering past every face
on the dance floor with suspicion. Alvarez signaled for one of them to take
the girl somewhere. For the rest of the guards, he took them to the side and
spouted out orders that I could barely make out due to the noisy crowd
around me.
This isn’t some fluke occurrence at a party. Another girl was killed by
the same person who killed the other. It had to be, because if not, then there
were two killers around the property, which was even worse.
Alvarez took out his phone, tapped in some numbers, and continued to
spit out more orders. Guards appeared out of the shadows of trees and
bushes. They’d been hidden well. There must’ve been fifty that chose to
reveal their hiding spots.
How many more guards are out here?
They escorted people off the dance floor, disbanded the musicians,
gestured for all the amazing performers to pick up their equipment and
leave, as well as crowded around Hex on the stage. I glanced over my
shoulder. Three of my own guards stood behind with their gazes locked on
me. One of the three was the guy who had burst through my room before.
“Thank you so much for coming, but due to serious events I must say
that the party is over.” The woman I knew as Reece and Alvarez’s personal
assistant held the microphone and waved her hands in the air to get
everyone’s attention. “Please grab your items and go directly to the front
gates so the valet can return your car. There are party bags that will be
handed out at each exit. If you are a guest for tonight, please take out your
identification in order to gain access back into the house.”
Alvarez closed his phone, marched off, and combed his fingers through
his hair.
I hurried his way. “Wait a minute, Alvarez.”
He didn’t stop.
“Alvarez.” I grabbed the back of his shirt. “What’s going on?”
 “Someone else died.”
“I got that. I think I know her. But who did it?”
He spun around and glared at me. “How would I know? I’ve been with
you most of the night. I’m trying to handle this one problem at a time. First
I need to find out who this girl was and why was she over by the garden and
—”
“I’m going with you. The girl said Patricia. I know what Patricia looks
like.”
“No. I can get someone else to identify her. You’ll only distract me.”
“No. I won’t.”
“You’re distracting me now.” He shook his head. “Stay with your
guards.”
“You don’t get to order me around. If some sick person is hurting
people around me, I want the direct line of information at the time it’s
given. And if I don’t feel safe, I’m leaving. And if I know the person who
was killed, then I—”
He stepped my way and formed his lips into an angry line. “What
you’re going to do is have the guards escort you back to your room.”
“No.”
He closed his eyes and rubbed his head. “Okay. I’m sorry. I’ve been curt
and bossy. It’s just that my plan tonight was to be with you, in any capacity.
Now I’m going to look at the second dead girl for this week. Not to
mention, I’ve had several complications come up today. I’m just tired of
this.”
“I understand.”
 “So you’ll go back with your guards so that I won’t have to worry about
your safety?”
“No. I’m coming with you.”
“Damn it. You’re worse than Hex.” His phone rang. He didn’t answer.
“Do you even have time to go back and forth with me?” I asked.
“Because that’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to follow you wherever
you go because I want to know exactly what’s happening here and how
dangerous things truly are.”
“My men can stop you.”
“Your men will get kneed in the balls and if they touch me without my
permission you’ll have a lawsuit on your hands. Not to mention my whole
body is under a special insurance claim for modeling. You’ll have two sets
of lawyers coming at you in different directions if a tiny little mark is put on
my skin. If you think you’re busy now, then you have no idea how difficult
life can be if you’ve pissed me off.”
“You’re bullshitting me.”
I was, but he didn’t need to know that. “Do you have time to tell if I’m
bullshitting you?”
His phone rang again. He checked the screen and said something in
Spanish under his breath. “You stay far behind me and with your guards.
They go wherever you go. When I’m talking to the cops or investigator, you
stay behind. When I look at the poor girl’s body, I don’t want you over there
and messing up the area.”
“Why?”
“There could be clues or something.”
“Fine.”
He stormed off, and I did my best to follow.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter 12
Alvarez

The second dead woman was named Patricia.

I’d questioned the poor woman who found her best friend’s corpse.
Reece wrote most of the information down just in case I couldn’t remember
it all. Thank god for Reece. I’d given her the night off and instead of going
to do something for herself, she’d stayed around the castle and monitored
the party, and made sure the performers did what they were supposed to as
well as completing any tasks that would need to be done later this week. As
soon as I started talking with the dead girl’s friend, Reece appeared by my
side and helped me through the process.
For some reason, an awkward tension stretched around us. Elle and
Reece exchanged a few odd glances at each other. When I finally had the
time to introduce them, there were no handshakes or warm hellos, just a
curt nod and a knowing smirk. On that basis alone, I gave Reece the task of
making sure everybody left. It was the first time she’d glared at me in all
the years she’d been my personal assistant.
“How long has Reece worked for you?” Elle asked as we walked to
view the body. She wore my jacket. I’d had one of my men grab it from my
bedroom. Sure, he could’ve simply gotten a jacket or sweater from her
room, but then I would’ve never gotten her sweet scent into my clothes.
“Ten years or so. Why?”
 “You two seem pretty close.” I wanted to turn and see if there was a
questioning expression with those words, but I left it alone. “It just seems
like we’re close because we know each other’s habits, I guess. I see her
every day.”
“And she’s only been your personal assistant?”
There we go. She thinks I’m sleeping with Reece. “Just my assistant,
nothing else.”
“That’s surprising.”
“Why?” I asked.
“She’s beautiful.”
“A lot of women are beautiful, but that doesn’t mean I have to be with
all of them.”
She snorted. “Michael would’ve disagreed with that statement.”
Is that what Michael did to push you away, sleep with lots of women?
“Then Michael is a fool, if he needs to sleep with every pretty woman
he sees when he has the best woman of all right next to him.”
We said nothing else.
Darkness blanketed the area. All the lights on this side of the castle had
been broken. Our maintenance people stood on ladders and were doing their
best to replace them. The dead girl, Patricia, lay in the garden next to the
rows of eggplants, the second body in the same garden this week.
Grandma was right about the land beginning to rot. Even in the dark, I
could see the vegetables and even the land beyond the garden, appeared
brown and spotted. The grass and vines crumbled under our feet like dead
leaves. A stink radiated from the decomposing earth.
 I called Grandma to let her know the rotting had spread, but she never
answered the phone. I planned on rushing up there to check on her and
Dayanara right after I saw Patricia’s body and talked to the police detective.
Reece had called immediately and asked him to come as soon as he could.
When he’d seen the body and checked out the whole area, Reece would
notify the media. The strongest headache of the day hammered against my
skull. While the police were happy to keep the first corpse under hush, due
to my sizeable donations to their commissioner, two dead bodies within a
twenty-four hour period would force them to treat me like any other Dade
County citizen. Two bodies couldn’t be ignored. They would have to
undergo a serious investigation. And if they explored too deeply, they
would probably discover Dayanara.
Four men stood around the garden. A foul scent drifted my way. I risked
another inhale, covered my nose, and breathed out of my mouth. Blood.
After this week, that coppery odor would be imprinted in my brain forever.
I’d been smelling that wretched liquid all day.
Probably sensing the same thing, Elle covered her face with her hands. I
hated that she was with me, and pissed that our time was halted to deal with
more death. Now what? There was nothing I could explore with her.
Another girl had died and if Elle had any sense she would leave. Not to
mention the fact that I’d already put on my mental to-do list that Reece
would have to book Elle a flight to wherever she wanted to go.
She can’t stay here.
Another guard came my way. “The body is in the center. I made sure to
have my men keep a six foot distance and allow no one else here.”
I scanned the area. He’d done an excellent job. The only people out here
were the guards, Elle, and myself.
I swallowed down my fear. “Okay. Show me where the body is.”
 He guided me through. Elle continued. I stopped. “No. You’re not
going.”
“I want to see if it is really Patricia.”
“Her friend confirmed it.”
“When I talked to Patricia, she said she didn’t have any more friends.
This could be somebody else.”
“Looking at a dead person is not a fun experience. Trust me.”
“Of course, but I want to see. Whenever I’m really nervous or scared
about something I just take it on, learn as much as I can, and eventually my
fear is gone.”
“This isn’t a fear you’re going to have to learn to get over. This is some
crazy person killing girls for no reason. I want you far away from this.”
“Lucky for me. You don’t get to tell me what to do.”
“You promised me you would stay behind.”
“I don’t always keep my promises.” She shrugged.
Her nonchalant gesture should have pissed me off or triggered the
already fragile control of my temper to shatter, but it was Elle, with that soft
skin and orange blossom fragrance, drowning out the stink of death. It was
the one thing that gave me peace and allowed my mind to wander off to
serene thoughts of her and me far away from this place. So I buckled under
her beautiful gaze. “Come on. But if you need to get away or be sick, then
tell me so I can help you.”
“Okay. Although I’m pretty good at taking care of myself.”
I glanced at her and seized her soft hand. “When I’m around, you
shouldn’t have to take care of yourself. I’ll do it.”
“But then who’s going to take care of you?”
 “Me.”
“At least that’s what you think, huh?”
“Meaning?”
“It looks like you’re taking care of everybody but yourself.”
“You’ve caught me during a rough week.”
“Sir,” the guard interrupted us. He touched the earpiece in his ear. “I’m
receiving a message that Detective White is at the entrance gates and was
called by you.”
“That’s true. Have your people let him onto the property and escorted to
this area. We’ll wait for the detective before viewing the body.”
“Okay.” He nodded.
It must’ve taken twenty minutes for the investigator to finally appear.
Detective White was a short black man who must’ve been barely five feet
tall. He wore gray jogging pants with muddy sneakers and appeared as if
he’d been disturbed in the middle of a nightly run. Even his bald head
seemed wet with sweat.
“Thanks for coming so quickly.” I shook his hand.
“You’re my best client. I’m here when you need me.” He turned to Elle,
paused as if waiting for me to introduce her, saw that I wasn’t, and moved
on to the location of the body. “Do you know what the victim’s name was?”
“Patricia Jones. Her friend found the body. Patricia was a poet from
Toronto, Canada. Hex fell in love with several of her poetry books and
invited her to the states. She’d been here for three months where she wrote
and published a poetry book that had several of Hex’s illustrations in it.
This is all from her friend so you’ll need to verify the information with my
brother. She’d been with the group of people that I informed would have to
leave tomorrow. The party tonight was a nice way to send them off.”
Detective White bobbed his head, the whole time searching the
shadowed garden with his eyes. “I told your assistant the reason girls are
being killed and dumped here is because the security cameras don’t pick it
up back here. It’s pretty much your only blind spot for the cameras. Did you
know that?”
I sighed. “Yes. This is my grandma’s garden. I like her to maintain some
of her privacy.”
He leaned his head to the side. “Is that all? I’m going to need all the
information I can get because the killer appears to know more than me.
From what I’ve gathered, you’re a thorough man. Everything you do has a
precise reason for why it’s done. A blind spot like this would never happen
with you in charge unless there was more going on. Why do you like to give
your grandmother privacy?” He gestured to Elle. “Perhaps, you want to
discuss this in private.”
“No. That’s unnecessary.” I combed my fingers through my hair. “My
grandma practices an old type of belief. It’s one that’s outlawed in most
countries that deal with the religion. It’s corazón muerto. It means dead
heart. A lot of the vegetables and herbs in this garden are for her
enchantments and spells. She also . . . does sacrifices out here.”
“Animal ones?”
“Yes. For anything else I have deliveries made. I’ll show you the reports
and have you talk to that source. Regardless, this is why I don’t have the
cameras recording her. My assistant will give you everything and discuss
those sacrifices with you further. I would like to change the questioning
back to the matter of the dead girls.”
 Elle knew Grandma was a bit off, but she’d had no idea how deep the
craziness went. I didn’t plan on having Elle remain here much longer, but I
did intend on trying to see her again. If that was at all possible, I didn’t want
the taint of my grandma and her playing with dead human parts to be a
problem.
Detective White got the hint and moved on. “Who else knows about the
blind spot?”
“My director of security. I just fired him today, but I have all of his
information.”
“Why did you fire him?”
“He turned a camera off in the attic where his wife worked as a nurse.”
Reece had explained Dayanara to Detective White before, along with the
huge predicament of why I kept her in the attic. He understood the fragility
of the situation. This was a topic he knew not to bring up around anyone but
Reece and me. “My assistant can explain more about that later.”
“Can I go up to Dayanara’s room and check it out, make sure no one has
left?”
“Of course.”
A wrinkle formed in Elle’s forehead as confusion etched the outline of
her eyes. She had to wonder why a nurse was in the attic or what the
significance of it was, but being the wise woman that she was, she remained
quiet and listened, taking it all in to decipher later.
“Okay. So your director of security knew about the blind spot. Who
else?” Detective White asked. “I’ll need every name. Just because they
know doesn’t mean they’re suspects, but they very well could have told
someone about it. Especially with the strangeness of why there was a blind
spot. News about a famous artist’s grandmother doing sacrifices in a garden
could be that one interesting thing a drunken guy tells a girl at a party to
impress her.”
“Okay. Besides the director of security, Reece of course knew. Grandma
and Hex. The person who installed the cameras may have known that one
didn’t aim in this direction. I can’t think of anyone else.”
“If anyone else comes to mind, please let me know. Do you think your
grandma or Hex would’ve told anybody?”
“Not my grandma, but Hex may have let it slip, though the possibility is
low. He likes to talk about himself, not anybody else.”
“Okay.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Are you going to look at the
body with me or would you like to stay here?”
“I’m coming.”
“Me too. I’m Elle, by the way.” Elle grabbed my hand with shaking
fingers. I didn’t want her to come along, but as I’d learned tonight, there
was nothing I could do if she made her mind up.
“How much am I able to say around Miss Elle?” Detective White asked.
“I’ll let you know when I want you to stop so we don’t upset her, but
don’t think you have to guard too many details.”
He pulled out gloves from his jogging pants’ pockets and put them on as
we walked through the rows of herbs and rounded to where the eggplants
began. A purse blinked on and off with light. Lots of tiny little rainbow
lights covered it.
No wonder Patricia’s friend found the body. The pocket book looks like
a damn Christmas tree.
“So I see why Patricia’s friend would’ve found the body, but how did
she know to come out here?” Elle gripped the side of her dress with her free
hand and lifted the bottom up while she walked with us. I kept my hold on
her other hand so if she tripped or anything, I could prevent her fall.
“One of your men found a few discarded joints about twelve or so feet
from here in that direction.” Detective White pointed toward the pond near
the back gate. “I discovered on several security tapes that a lot of the artists
snuck over there to smoke in the evening. Additionally, both girls were
killed late at night. The first one had marijuana in her system and I guess
came from the pond when the killer surprised her. I’m thinking whoever
this person is, they know about the smoking happening out there.”
“Patricia did smoke a joint last night when I met her at the art gallery
opening,” Elle added.
“They’re not supposed to have drugs on the property, so they must’ve
figured out that no cameras were in that area and smoked over there.” I
formed my lips into a frown.
“My thinking exactly.” Detective White stopped by the body. Elle
gasped. I cringed at the sight.
“I’ll have someone patrolling that region from now on.”
Poor Patricia lay on the ground. Thank god for the light not working.
The surrounding trees near the garden blocked out most of the moonlight.
Shadows concealed most of the gore. I had to squint to truly see all of her.
Her dress was torn at the bottom. Dirt smudged the fabric and her skin.
Leaves sprawled over her face. Blood saturated her hair and made it appear
redder than its original color. Her heels were missing; her panties wrapped
haphazardly down her ankles.
“Oh my god. That’s Patricia. Is he raping them, too?” Elle let go of my
hand and held her chest. I put my arm around her waist. She leaned her
trembling body into me.
I’ll have to make this quick. She’s already shaken up.
 “I know you got to view the first body yesterday,” I said. “Is he raping
them?”
“No. It’s something worse.” Detective White took out a tiny pen
flashlight, kneeled in front of Patricia, grabbed the end of her gown, and
lifted it up so only he could see what was under. “Yes. This is our guy. It
has to be.”
“How do you know?” Elle pressed the side of her shivering body
against me as if she was having difficulty standing up.
Detective White looked at me. I nodded for him to go ahead and answer.
“Because this victim is also missing her vagina.”
I heard an intake of breath from Elle. “He’s cutting out the women’s
vaginas?”
“Yes. It’s a clean cut with not a lot of blood. This person has experience
working with bodies, maybe medical experience. The oddest part of all of
this is that the first woman appeared to die before the killer cut her. I’m not
so sure. From what the coroner told me, the person stabbed them in the
heart after the girl was dead and then cut the vagina away. I don’t know
where he or she may take it after that. I did a search around the grounds and
couldn’t find it. I’m thinking the person takes it back to their home like a
souvenir.”
Elle shut her eyes. “I’m going to go. You’re right, Alvarez. This was a
bad idea.”
“Okay. I’ll walk you back.”
“No. You should stay here and listen to whatever else you need to.”
I glanced at poor Patricia and then turned back to Elle. “Trust me. I
would rather walk you back to your room than stay here. Detective White,
do you need me for anything else?”
 “No. I’ll probably be here until early in the morning. Reece is compiling
a list of all the guests. I’m going to call in more men to help on this case.”
“No problem. I’ll notify my assistant.”
Detective White rose.
I guided Elle away from the garden. The closer we got to the house, the
more shuffling of people leaving came to my ears. Hex had invited many. It
would be chaos until all of their contact information was put down and they
left the property. My phone rang. I checked the screen. Reece’s name
glowed.
I stopped and let go of Elle. “Hold on. Let me get this real quick.” I
placed the phone to my ear. “Hello?”
“Sir?” Reece asked.
“Go ahead.”
“Several guards found Needa and Dayanara on the northern section of
the moat.”
“Are they sure it was my grandma?”
“Oh yes. They were both covered in blood, but Needa threatened them
with a curse if they wouldn’t let her go.”
“They’re covered in blood?” My stomach churned with unease.
Who’s blood? Patricia’s?
“Needa said she took Dayanara out to do a healing spell and that the
blood was from a pig she slaughtered early this afternoon. I made sure the
guards released her and got them both cleaned up. Dayanara is back in the
attic. Needa is heading to her cottage.”
“No. Have my grandma stay inside the castle tonight. Let her know I
ordered it and need to talk to her.” Why the hell had she taken Dayanara out
of her room and where did she get this pig to slaughter? “If my grandma
refuses to stay in the room made up for her, just call me and I’ll deal with
her.”
“Okay.” She paused for a second. It was unlike her. I waited for her to
say something else. Finally, a small sigh traveled over the line. “Were you
able to view the body?”
“Yes. Detective White will provide you with a report as soon as he can.”
I waited for another few silent seconds.
“And will I be getting a flight for Hex’s new model. . . Elle?”
I didn’t like to think about Elle having to leave, but I was certain she
would want to. The urge to protect her raged inside of me. I wanted her safe
and far away from this psycho. “Yes, but not at this moment. Let me talk
with her and I’ll let you know.”
“Will you be talking to her about this tonight?” An eerie edge laced
each word. Reece never asked questions like that. She did whatever I asked
and then continued onto the next duty.
“Yes. I’ll be talking with her about that tonight.”
“Should I also book you an appointment with Madam Miriam?” Her
voice lowered to a whisper. It sounded like she was going to cry.
“I can handle those appointments if necessary.” I turned away from Elle
so she couldn’t hear the conversation. “Reece, is there something you want
to talk to me about? You sound sad.”
“I-I . . . never mind. I shouldn’t, but. . .”
“Go ahead.”
“I just don’t think this Elle is the right person for you. I saw you both
together at the party tonight, dancing and I just didn’t see. . . I just don’t
think she’s good for you.”
“Okay. I think we should discuss this in further detail tomorrow. Right
now is not a good time for me.” I didn’t want to fire Reece. She was my
rock in a storm, but her confession of having feelings for me was making
our business relationship difficult. I didn’t relish the idea of her watching
Elle and I dance and knew it had hurt her to watch it. I never spent time
with any woman, not in all of the years of me knowing her.
“Okay...”
“Goodnight, Reece.” I wasn’t excited about this talk with Reece, or the
one I had to have with grandma about her damn spells and where she’d
found so much blood.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter 13
Elle

Not much passed between us as we approached the stairs. What else

could we say after seeing such a horrific scene like that? Although my
guards walked four feet behind me, icicles of terror sliced throughout my
body. I’d never seen a dead person before, and hoped I would never have to
see one again.
I should’ve let go of his hand. I was a strong woman, right? I’d been
through rough things by myself and survived. Yet Alvarez’s presence gave
me a sense of safety, more than the bodyguards or even the tons of guards
that now surrounded the perimeter of the castle, and much more than all of
the cops that combed the property for clues and traces of the killer. Just
being next to Alvarez decreased my booming heart to a steady beat and
enveloped my mind with him, instead of the images of the cold corpse
carved out between her legs.
I gulped down my fear. He probably had hundreds of things to do right
now, most of them more important than spending time with a scared
woman. “That looked like a pretty intense phone conversation between you
and your assistant. That was her, right?”
“It was.” Tension crept over Alvarez’s face. “I have a bunch of things to
do and she somewhat, well, without intending to do it, presented a new
problem I don’t want to deal with.”
 “I see.” I let go of his hand, but he seized it again. “I should let you go
deal with all those problems.”
“I would rather not.”
“But do you have to?”
“Yeah.” He stared at the first step on the stairwell. “However, I’m
starting to learn that no matter how quickly or slowly I solve a situation,
another one comes right up to take its place. It’s like battling a forest fire
with nothing but a worn out hose.”
“That sucks.”
“Pretty much.” He closed his eyes for a minute. “Would you like to
have a drink with me? I promise not to keep you up too much longer.”
“A drink is exactly what I need. Maybe even several drinks. I think the
question I should offer you is, would you mind me getting so sloshed that
you have to carry me upstairs?”
“That actually sounds like fun after what we’ve seen tonight.”
“Then direct me toward the bar.”
“Let’s go to my office.” He guided me upstairs and toward the east
wing, one of the few places I hadn’t seen when one of the servants carried
my bags to my room and gave me a short tour.
The person who decorated the castle did so with vibrant earthy tones.
Most of the rooms were filled with grassy greens, light coffee browns, clay
reds, sandy shades, and flaming oranges. There was also a strong Cuban
influence—captivating paintings draped the walls depicting men pounding
hour glass drums as curvy women danced in brightly colored gowns. Others
portrayed people eating exotic foods among bustling cafes where women of
many shades sat as the center of attention and men surrounded them
strumming a guitar or handing them roses.
 “All of these works are really romantic,” I said.
“We’re Cuban.”
I snorted. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Romance runs through our blood.” He paused at walnut double doors
and opened them. My guards remained in the hallway. Alvarez gestured to a
dark brown leather couch along the opposite wall and went over to a bar in
the corner. “What would you like to drink? Wine, something mixed, or
really strong?”
“I’m usually a white wine drinker, but I think the night calls for
something strong, just not too much for a light-weight like me.”
His space represented my idea of him—striking, yet a controlled quiet
with a secret edge. Rich walnut wood dominated the room. A tan color
coated the walls. Thick, beige carpet covered the floors. Heaps of papers
stacked on his desk, but not in a clutter. They all had their place, their own
organized category to rest in. Unlike the other rooms we’d passed, there
were no paintings in here, just pictures of his family, but none of himself. In
fact, there were tons of framed pictures on shelves or at the edge of his desk
with a young Hex and less wrinkled grandma, not one of him.
Where are all the pictures of him? Does he not like taking them?
The only thing in the room that seemed out of place was the stack of
new, bright orange candles resting in the center of his desk.
“I’ll make you one of my specialties.” He pulled out two short glasses.
“When I was in the navy I would make this drink and some of my buddies
called it Al’s W.H.L.”
“What does that mean?”
“What happened last night? After someone drinks it they always asked
everyone the next day what happened.”
 A happy giggle fled from my lips. It felt so good to just lean into the
smooth leather of his couch and truly be taken away by something as simple
as a funny story. “Well, I would like a double W.H.L. and should I ask you
what is in it?”
“I’m sorry, but only I know the true ingredients of W.H.L. I promised
myself I will die with that secret.” He kept his back to me as he picked up
many different bottles and poured the contents into two glasses.
“So serious.” I grinned. “Since you won’t tell me what’s in this mind
erasing drink, maybe you can return to your earlier theory about romance
running through your blood.”
“All Cuban men,” he corrected.
“And what about the Cuban women?”
“I don’t know. I’m a man and can only tell you about my experiences.”
“And apparently you’re full of romance.”
“It’s how I was born. It’s how all of our men are born.” He carried a
glass to me full of ice cubes and dark liquid. “My grandpa told me that
Cuban men are born with an extra heart, one to live with and the other to
give to the special lady in their life. But until we find the special one, we’re
to fill that extra heart with love, encouragement, compassion, and all the
things our special lady may need. We’re to spend our lives filling it, in
anticipation for that day.”
I took the glass from him, but was suspicious about taking a sip. “And
where is your extra heart?”
“Right here.” He touched his chest. “It’s practically bursting at the
seam.”
“Why haven’t you given it away to anybody?”
 “I’ve been putting off looking for her.”
“I don’t believe that. You’re good looking. You’ve never been married
or anything?”
He paused for a few seconds. “Well. . . I was married for a short time,
but it didn’t go well. She was. . . mentally unstable.”
“Oh.” An awkward silence settled between us. “What happened?”
“We separated, in a way. We’re no longer together and legally divorced,
but I still take care of her when I can.”
“And you haven’t fallen in love again?”
“No. Hex and my grandma keep me busy. I’m hoping that after this
collection comes out at the end of the summer, things will die down and I’ll
have the time to hire more assistants.”
“And then you’ll have time to search for that someone to give your
extra heart to, right?”
His gaze hit my face and spread warmth all over my skin. “I may not
need to search at all, but I do believe I’ll have to figure out a way to
convince her I’m worthy. Now stop stalling and try W.H.L.”
I cringed, but went ahead and took a sip. A licorice flavor hit my taste
buds and then a burn came and heated my mouth and throat. I coughed few
times. “Goodness gracious. No wonder no one can remember anything the
next day. I think after I drink half of this I won’t even remember what
happened this month.”
“That might be a good thing.”
“You have no idea.” I giggled and against my better judgment
swallowed down some more of the wretched liquid.
 “What happened to you this month?” He sat down next to me. In that
moment, I got a whiff of his woodsy cologne, something I’d noticed during
our dancing.
“I’d rather not talk about it. In fact, let’s only talk about fun things.” I
held my glass next to his and did a cheers. “To only talking about things
that make us laugh.”
“That’s just what the doctor ordered.”
“Now back to this claim of Cuban men and romance.”
He turned his body on the couch so that his huge frame faced me. “I’m
starting to think you don’t believe me.”
“I don’t. I’ve never heard about any human race having more than one
heart.”
“It’s a secret among my people.”
I tossed him a skeptical look. “Sure it is.”
“You don’t know anything about my culture, so how can you decide if
it’s not true? I think you should just believe everything I’m saying.”
I opened my mouth in mock shock. “I know things about the Cuban
culture.”
It was his turn to throw me a skeptical look. “Name one song.”
I twisted my lips to the side and considered it for a minute.
“Guantanamera?”
He laughed. “Well, it is one of the best known Cuban songs out there.
But fine, I’ll prove my point with that. Do you know what it means?”
“No.” I took another sip. With each swallow, W.H.L. was getting easier
and easier to take.
 “The song is based on a poem by Jose Marti about his fascination with
this beautiful girl. Guantanamera means girl from Guantanamo. It was
actually one of the many poems my grandpa made Hex and I memorize.”
“Do you still know it?”
“Of course.”
“Tell me some of it.”
He formed his lips into a smile.

“I am a truthful man
from where the palm tree grows.
And before dying I want
to let out the verses of my soul.”
The tension and stress in my shoulders dissipated into a soothing wave
of calm. It could’ve been due to the W.H.L. working its magic on my
muscles, the relaxing company of Alvarez, or even the simple passion in the
poem, but for once this month I was content with just staying where I was
and never leaving.

“My verse is light green

and it is flaming red.
My verse is a wounded stag
who seeks refuge on the mountain.”
Alvarez tucked a stray strand behind my ear. The easy gesture delivered
sizzling sparks across my skin.

“I grow a white rose

in July just as in January,
for the honest friend
who gives me his open hand.”
 I risked a few more sips before setting my glass on the coffee table in
front of me.

“Then in the song, of course,

the singer would sing,
‘girl from Guantanamo,
oh that peasant from Guantanamo.”
I grinned. “Sing it to me, please.”
“If you promise to sing to me.”
I wagged my finger from side to side. “My singing brings howling dogs
to the window. Trust me when I say this, you don’t need me singing
anything tonight.”
He set his almost full glass on the table.
“You’ve barely had any of it.” I pointed to the glass.
“I’ve found that talking to you has calmed me enough. I don’t need it.”
“Or are you trying to get me drunk so that you can take advantage of
me?”
“I don’t need liquor to do the things I want to do to you tonight. What I
need is peace around this property and the time to do it.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Oh really? You just need time and peace? Not
for me to be a willing party?”
“You’re willing.”
“I never said that.”
“Your lips did.”
As if he’d touched them again, my mouth remembered the kiss from the
dance floor and tingled with a wish that he’d press against them again.
“That was a Happy New Year’s kiss, nothing more.”
“Even though today isn’t New Year’s day?”
“Exactly.”
“So that was my last kiss?”
“Yes.” The word came out as a whisper. I hoped it was the truth, even
though an ache rose in my chest for him to touch me. There couldn’t be
anything between us. For the past six months, I’d been reading self-help
books to learn how to be happier in life. Granted, the biggest thing that had
been blocking my happiness was my relationship with Michael. In one of
them, they discussed many different personality traits. One in particular
dealt with how the person was afraid to be alone and always sought
happiness and pleasure through the people around them. Women like this
always needed a man with them and could only be happy around them.
Was I like that? The question banged in my skull over and over. Was I
that sad little woman who stuck to her man like a leech or a parasite sucking
out all of the joy from the host? When Michael wasn’t around, I’d sat there
in our condo, waiting for him to come back. I’d turned into this dependent
little waif, craving his return each time he left and waiting like a loyal dog
panting at the door to welcome her master home.
At that realization, I immediately began the book’s exercises—writing a
journal, exploring hobbies and things I might like, contemplating what my
future goals were outside of my relationships, and spending time away from
Michael to learn how to enjoy my own company. A change slowly seeped
into my life and relationship. Michael was on edge with this new change.
When I went out on my own to poetry readings or similar events, Michael
accused me of cheating. When I wrote in my journal, he read it, hoping to
discover who my lover was.
 And then instead of hiding his cheating, he paraded his lovers in front of
me.
“What’s wrong?” Alvarez brought my thoughts back to him. “Your
expression did this drastic change, from happy to pissed. In fact, whoever is
on your mind, I’m worried for them. They may not be safe around you.”
That made me laugh. “That’s a very good guess.”
“Who were you thinking about?”
“No one important.”
“I’ll bet it was someone who broke your heart.”
“That’s your second good guess for the evening.” I clapped my hands.
“And he’s the reason why I won’t be getting any more kisses.”
“And now you’ve won the grand prize.” I couldn’t kiss him anymore.
This voyage was about finding myself and being able to love and enjoy life
without the presence of a man next to me. I didn’t want to be a lonely little
leech. I yearned to be a free bird, soaring through the sky with a destination
set in her mind.
“What is my grand prize?” he asked.
“I’ll need time to think about what I can give you.”
“I have many suggestions.”
“I’ll bet you do.”

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter 14
Alvarez

She needed time to think about what she could give me, but I didn’t
need it. Her presence alone had made my year. So close, her scent drew me
in. It was difficult not to touch or lick her skin. No. Licking would not be a
good thing right now, especially when she was so adamant about not giving
me a kiss.
But she will give me a kiss before the night is over with.
I could see it all over her face and in the delicate lines of her mouth, that
she craved me as much as I did her. She just needed time. My list of things
to do crashed in my head, and on that list I remembered that getting Elle a
plane ticket away from here was on it. Did she still want to leave? Was it
selfish of me to need her to stay in such a dangerous situation?
Yes. It was. I’ll have to help her leave if she wants to.
Wherever she went, she would only be a plane ride away. And I would
keep someone monitoring her movements, making sure she was safe and
some place where I could visit her again. Because I would go see her,
wherever she decided to go off to. I would deal with this sick bastard who
decided to cut beautiful girls’ bodies on my property. There were also
hundreds of other things to do, but I’d already planned on those things
being pushed aside.
Fuck everything else after this killer is found. I want her.
 And I couldn’t just have her as a friend or lover, not even dating would
be enough anymore. In this little time of her sitting on my couch in my
office and wearing my jacket, things changed. She’s cast light into my dark
little life. Grandma said she would, that Elle would brighten up the whole
family with her presence. At the time, I’d thought Grandma was making
things up, but now I wasn’t so sure.
Elle was a glowing light in my darkness.
I hadn’t been able to put my finger on it before, but it was always there,
shining this grand bright light and illuminating the entire space around her.
That light was what the electric sensation was about when I touched her
hand for the first time. That light was where the surge in my groin came
from, each time I heard her laugh or saw her face or for god’s sake
witnessed those beautiful strands spilled across her bare flesh.
In two days, she altered the course of my plans for my life. Before Hex,
Grandma, and Dayanara crowded my skull, a constant thumping of duties
and dreaded messes to clean. They were all I thought of. When there was
time to think of myself, I rushed off to a new play in downtown Miami,
maybe caught a quick meal, and spent the rest of my evenings drinking and
sleeping with women offered by Madam Miriam. Her and her women didn’t
see me as the brother of the most famous artist or even a path to an easier
life. They just saw me as a part of their job, and for once I could sit back
and let someone else take care of me.
“Will Hex still need a model?” she asked. “Do you think he’ll still want
to create after another girl was killed?”
“I don’t know, but I’m sure he will. Art isn’t a means for income when
it comes to Hex. He would do it if he was trapped on an island by himself
or the richest man in the world. For him, art is like breathing. He just has to
do it.”
 “Oh.”
“Why did you ask? Are you thinking about leaving?” I hated the
sadness that decorated each word. “I know our agreement was that if things
seemed unsafe, you would leave.”
She took off my jacket and exposed her bare arms and shoulders. The
hungry man in me fought with my gentlemanly side and urged us to just
seize the curve of her neck with our teeth and suck and lick to our hearts’
content. It was a tough battle, but I kept the both of us at bay, on the other
side of the couch.
“I won’t lie to you, Alvarez. When I saw the body in the garden, I
wanted a plane out of here tonight.”
“You can still have one if you need it. I don’t ever want you to be afraid
under my roof.” I gestured to the men outside in the hallway. “You have
four men watching you and I just assigned another three to stay off in the
distance and monitor anybody who may be looking at you in a threatening
way. If something happened to you, it would crush me.”
“That’s the type of man you are, it seems. You like to take care of
people. I think if anybody got hurt on your watch it would crush you.”
“That’s a fair assessment, but you’re on a higher level of priority when
it comes to anyone else. If you get hurt, it would defeat me.”
She opened her mouth with a shocked expression. “Why?”
“We don’t know each other well at all, but damned if I don’t long to get
to know you in any way possible.”
She shook her head and began to say something, but I stopped her. “We
can talk about more of that later, when things are less stressful. For now, let
me know how you feel about continuing to model for Hex. If you need to
leave, I’ll have my assistant take care of all of the details. I’ll just require
one promise.”
“Oh, really? And what’s the promise?”
“Wherever you go, let me come and visit you there, as a good friend.
An amigo.”
A few minutes passed before she said anything. Her face was a
transparent screen of her emotions. I could spot them all. She liked that I
planned on seeing her again. The pleased emotion was in the upturn of her
full lips and the glittering amusement in her eyes. But there was fear too. I
hated that. What did she fear, that I would break her heart or that she wasn’t
ready for another relationship? Someone had torn her heart to pieces. That
was the next thing I saw, he’d made her scared to try again and had her
second-guessing every move when it came to dealing with the opposite sex.
“Just a friend?” she finally asked.
“Just my little, beautiful amiga. Of course. We have lots of time for our
friendship to develop into anything else.”
“I’m not interested in anything else right now.”
But her face didn’t say that and neither did her body language. She
leaned toward me probably without even knowing it, the tops of those
breasts riding her chest as it rose and fell. Her gaze had traveled across my
arms and chest while we talked. And the few times when she figured I
wasn’t looking, her gaze lingered toward where my length rested on one
thigh, hoping he could feel the warm wetness of her one night in the very
near future.
“I’m a very patient man.”
“Is that another thing you received from being a Cuban man?” she
joked.
 “No. That’s from assuming the role of mother hen to a crazy artist who
uses his talent to shock people. You get patience when dealing with a
spoiled man.”
“Where is your mother, by the way?”
My face went hard. My mood shifted to alarm. My shoulders tensed. I
formed my hands into fists. I cursed myself when I realized that I did it, and
that she noticed, too.
“I’m sorry.” She raised her eyebrows. “Did I say something wrong?”
“No. I just don’t like talking about my parents. She’s gone now, and so
is my father.”
“Did you lose them when you were young?”
“My dad died when I was ten. He was in the navy, too. It was some
freak fire on an aircraft carrier that took him and several others.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“No problem. I’ve had years to get over it.” I tilted over and grabbed
my W.H.L. By now melted ice cubes watered it down. I swallowed the
whole thing in less than a minute. “Hex and I have different dads. We’re
five years apart.”
“I did a little homework before applying for Hex’s modeling job and
read that he was twenty-eight, so you’re thirty-three?”
“Yes. You did your homework well.” Unease ran through me. “What
else did you find out about us?”
“There really isn’t much on your family at all.”
Which was exactly how I liked it.
“So your father passed away, but is Hex’s father still alive?”
 The line of muscle in my jaw twitched. “My step-dad is also gone.”
She probably caught something in what I’d said because she leaned her
head to the side and formed her lips into a straight line. “You didn’t like
your step-dad?”
“He was an evil bastard. When I turned eighteen and graduated high
school, I couldn’t wait to get out of his house. I would’ve done anything.
I’d applied to every military service available, and I complied a huge
notebook of alternatives from being a cattle-ranch hand to selling my body,
just to get enough money to save and fly off somewhere.”
She covered her mouth to hide her chuckling. “I understand exactly how
you feel. My father was a bastard too. He drank a lot and wasn’t exactly a
nice guy when he did. Sometimes he hit me, but to be somewhat fair it
wasn’t all the time.”
I wondered if he was alive and close enough to pay the abusive son of a
bitch a visit.
“I dreamed about getting away too,” she admitted.
“How did you get free?”
“That series of Michael’s, the one where he painted me as several
angels. That’s what got him and me out of our crappy little town.”
“And it’s why everyone calls you Archangel. I remember reading the
article in Times magazine. Hex was in it, too.” I raised my hands in the air.
“Two young wonders stirring up the art world, Michael the painter of angels
and Hex the illustrator of death.”
“Oh God.” She hit her forehead. “I do remember that article. It’s how all
of that ridiculous feuding between them began. At least I think so. I know
Michael was not happy to share the spotlight with Hex.”
“And neither was Hex to share it with Michael.”
 She kicked off her shoes, and I couldn’t fight the urge to grab the foot
closest to me, so I did. I lifted that tiny little foot, covered in silky
stockings, and placed it in my lap. So full of W.H.L., she didn’t stop me.
Instead, she laid back and closed her eyes as I ran my fingers along the
bottom of her foot and tried my best to knead away the tension that horrid
sight in the garden must have built all over her body.
“How did your mom and step-dad pass away?” she whispered.
I massaged my way to the top of one foot. A small whimper left her
mouth. I made a quick mental note to remember that spot as I continued my
way up to her toes. “I would rather not discuss that. What I want to know is
if I can have a nice date with you sometime in the future. Whether you’re
here or somewhere else, I would like to take you out.”
“I’m not—”
“What if we make it a competition?”
“Competition?” She kept her eyes closed, but gave me a big smile.
“Yes. If I can stump you on a movie line, then I get to take you on a
date.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Anything is possible.”
“How many movies have you seen this year?”
“I don’t know. Maybe ten or so.”
She laughed. “I can’t even count them all for this year. I go to the
Cannes film festival and even Sundance every year and any other one I
have time for. If I can’t make it, I get the movies delivered to me. I hit up
most movie premieres in the states. I watch at least a movie a night at home.
During my free days I can’t even count how many I watch. It would be
unfair for you to compete with me.”
“If you’re so confident, then it shouldn’t be a big deal. If I stump you on
a movie, then you give me a date.”
She shrugged. “Fine. I’ll even be nice about it and give you as many
tries as you like. My only limit is that if it’s foreign then it has to have had
English subtitles.”
I shook my head at her ego. Granted, it seemed like she had a right to be
confident. “How long have you been watching movies like this?”
“My dad owned a video rental store when I was younger, one of those
now nonexistent little mom and pop spots. There will probably be a model
of one in a museum right next to the dinosaur bones soon. Either way, I
would drop by my dad’s store after school, grab two new videotapes, and
take them home. I watched them as I did my homework. Every now and
then I snuck a third movie in, if dad was drunk enough.”
“Lift your other leg up.”
As she did, her dress slid down and revealed more than she would’ve
been happy to. Her silk stockings extended over most of her leg and
stopped at the center of her thighs, where a white garter belt held them up.
My hands itched to touch it, but the gentleman in me grabbed the end of her
dress and slipped it back down.
She opened her eyes and blushed. “Oh my god! Thanks.”
“No problem. Now back to our agreement. I stump you in as many tries
as I can, and you give me a date.”
“Fine. Additionally, I want to let you know ahead of time, that you are
still a smart person. Don’t let your failure in this competition make you feel
defeated.”
 I smirked. “You’re a naughty one.”
“I try.”
For two minutes, I scanned my mind of all the movies I’d ever watched,
figuring the older ones were more likely to stump her than the new ones.
“Okay. I’ve got it. ‘You’ve ate all of the M&M’s out of the cookies! Now
what will we do?’”
“I’m going to pretend like you didn’t just say a line from a famous
Christmas movie that is played over thirty times throughout the day every
holiday season.” She flexed her toes. “That was Dear Santa, by the way.”
“Okay. Don’t rub it in.” I pinched the side of her foot.
She shrieked. “I would stay away from all holiday movies.”
“Fine.” I was glad she couldn’t see my frown. Holiday movies were the
ones I actually remembered. I considered the few that my mom used to
watch. “Okay. I got it. ‘There’s a chariot on the mountain top—’”
“‘With Angels sprinkled all about and my lover’s name on the tip of my
tongue. Oh baby, I’m gonna find me one.’ That’s The Villager’s Daughters.
I’m really good with musicals so I would stray from those, too.” She had
the audacity to wink at me.
“Damn you. You are good,” I muttered.
“That’s pretty much the only thing I am good at it.”
“That can’t be true.”
“Well, I think it is for now, but no worries. That’s exactly what I’m
trying to change about myself. After modeling for Hex, I plan on figuring
out other things I like. I hope to have a huge magnificent list of all my
pleasures.”
And I hope to be on that list, too.
OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter 15
Elle

I stumbled toward the stairs. The soft carpet pressed against my feet.
Alvarez held my hand, probably so I wouldn’t fall face forward. In his other
hand, he gripped my shoes. “You don’t have to walk me all the way to my
room.” I pointed behind me. “I do have all of my security. I’m probably one
of the most protected people on the property tonight besides Hex. As crazy
as it seems, I’m starting to feel pretty safe.”
“That’s probably the second W.H.L. you begged me to make working
wonders on your brain. It makes you feel courageous.”
“So are you saying I’m not safe?”
We climbed the stairs. He’d attempted to carry me to my bedroom, but I
refused. His massaging of my feet already stirred my senses.
“No. I just want to know the answer when you’ve had time to really
think about it in the morning.”
“I promise. I’ll tell you.” My words came out in a slur. Everything
seemed slower than normal around me, but besides that I felt somewhat
able to not make of a fool of myself in front of Alvarez.
“I don’t want you here if you’re scared.”
“Okay.” I’d thought about leaving much earlier, when he talked on the
phone with his assistant. So many different emotions had flashed over his
face, and when he put his back to me and whispered to her, a little jealousy
pinged in my gut. It seemed so intimate. I didn’t like it. When he turned
around and appeared more stressed than aroused, relief rushed through me.
Whatever they’d whispered about on the phone was not loving or intimate
in the least. It had stressed him out. That fact triggered a protective instinct
in me. I wanted to take care of him and wash all of that anxiety away.
The time we spent in his office didn’t help anything, either. It confused
me. I was starting to like him more than I thought I would. He attracted me
of course, that couldn’t be denied, but many men did. It could’ve been the
power and the commanding control exuding from him. One of my books
put in my head that I had daddy issues and picked men who oozed
authority. If that was true, then Alvarez would’ve been high on my list. He
reminded me of my dad, before my mom left and the drinking started. Dad
had to control everything—always dipping his interests to everyone else’s,
never truly having time for himself, too busy with solving Mom’s, mine, the
store’s, and everybody elses problems. When Mom left and the video store
lost too much business, he ended up being the one who lost all control. He
was a mental tornado, spinning round and round and damaging everything
in his path with his hatred for life.
“Do you really feel safe?” Alvarez asked me as we arrived at the level I
was staying on.
That question dripped with many more unstated thoughts. One was that
he must’ve assumed I was going to leave. I’d even said that I would if I
feared for my life. The memory of Patricia, dead, rushed into my head. I
shook it away and focused on better and calming thoughts, like the hard
texture of Alvarez’s fingers as he held my hand.
“I feel safe for now.” I did have four guards watching my every move.
That alone kept me calm. Plus, I planned on being around a large group of
people all the time and not wandering around the castle grounds by myself.
It seemed that both girls had been killed when no one was around and late
at night where the cameras couldn’t see.
If I left, where in the hell would I go? Not to see Dad.
I knew Alvarez would give me a little money and send me on my way,
if necessary, but the sad fact remained that I really didn’t have anywhere to
go. And my goal wouldn’t happen. I longed to show Michael that all the
things that he’d said about me weren’t true. I was going to prove him
wrong.
“You’ve lost your light, Ellie. You’re not an inspiration to me or anyone
else.” He didn’t even stop having sex with the girl as he spat those words at
me. I’d caught him in his studio giving it to his new model. He didn’t even
think to stop when I burst in or even to not further insult me with his words.
“See what you make me do, my sweet Ellie. You force me to go to others to
get inspired and the whole time you’re enjoying my riches.”
“No.” I threw one of his failed mini sculptures at him. It missed his
head and crashed to the floor. The girl shrieked. She’d been hiding herself
the whole time. I couldn’t see her face, not that it even mattered. “You’re a
drunk and a crappy painter who is finally realizing that the gossip in the art
world is true, that you’re a talentless hack. You would’ve been nothing
without me!”
He laughed and grabbed the wine bottle next to him. “Close the door.
We’ll talk about this when I’m done.”
“Fuck you!” Every part of me yearned to throw more things at him.
I’ll bet Michael had hoped I would throw more things at his head. I
finally understood him after all these years. My trying to be a better me
scared him. I saw improving myself as a benefit to us both. He considered it
a threat. So he paraded his women around, called me names, and claimed I
was the reason for his loss of enjoying art. But I finally knew that he was
wrong.
“Have fun with her, Michael, because soon she’ll realize you’re nothing
special.” I slammed the door and headed to the bedroom where my packed
bags lay in the closet. I’d been waiting for months to get full access to my
bank accounts. No matter how discreetly I tried, Michael’s lawyers wouldn’t
allow it without his permission. I’d stupidly allowed him to put all of the
accounts in his name. “Well, I’m done waiting. I’ll figure out the money
thing later.”
Right as I got to my bedroom door, Michael screamed, “Don’t do
anything too drastic, Ellie. You know you can’t live without me!”
“You’re wrong!”
I turned to Alvarez. “I’m going to stay.”
I would finish this job with Hex and show the world that I was still a
good model, one who could work with any artist. Then I would continue to
build my portfolio and eventually make a name for myself that was separate
from Michael. If things worked out, I wouldn’t miss that hard earned money
I’d saved in my bank accounts. I would save my own. Michael had opened
those accounts for me, and like a fool I’d sat back and allowed it. That was
something I would never do again.
From now on, I’ll handle my own money and career.
“The minute I think it is unsafe for you in any way, I’m going to fly you
out of here.” Alvarez guided me to my bedroom.
Feeling riled up by my thoughts of Michael, I shook my head at
Alvarez. “I’m sorry, but you don’t get to make that decision for me. I will
let you know if I need to be flown out of here.”
 An odd sound left his lips that almost resembled a growl. “You and that
mouth of yours. You won’t just let me take care of you.”
“I’m not a child.”
“That doesn’t mean you don’t need my help.”
“I don’t need a protector. I need a good friend who understands that I
don’t like to be coddled and protected like a delicate flower. I know a
couple of fighting moves.”
He laughed. “What did you say?”
We arrived at the door.
“I took a few tae kwon do classes a few years ago.” I slashed at the air
in front of him. Instead of flinching, he laughed some more.
“Why did you stop?” He grabbed my hand and landed a peck on the
fingertips.
“Michael ended it after I sprained my hand. He said if it had been worse
I wouldn’t have been able to model for him.” It was always the modeling
with Michael when he needed an excuse to limit my movements. That was
the way he controlled me.
Not anymore.
“Hmmm. Did Michael do things like that a lot?”
“At times.”
“You were together?”
I leaned back on the wall next to my closed bedroom door. One of the
guards opened my room and went inside to make sure everything was safe.
At least that was what I assumed. Alvarez made me aware of that before we
left his office. They would be with me from now on, and before I entered a
room, they would go in to check it out. Additionally, one would be near my
window, two flanking my half opened door, and the fourth checking on me
upon the hour until I woke up.
“Yes. While Michael and I were in a relationship, he tended to manage
my life.”
“And now you’re not in a relationship with him?”
“Exactly.”
“And you’re not interested in anything else right now, due to Michael.”
“Yes. I need time to figure out who I am and what I want. I can’t get
into anything too deep right now.”
“Hmmm.” He placed his hands on the space above my head. “That may
be difficult for me to deal with, if you’re certain you’re going to stay.
Besides, I plan on buffing up on movies in the next couple of days. We’ll be
going on many dates very soon.”
I grinned. “There’s no way you’ll stump me. Plus, friends don’t date so
I’m sure you’ll be able to just be friends with me.”
“Friends?” He quirked his eyebrows.
“Yes. We’re amigos,” I proudly stated. “That does mean friends in
Spanish. Right?”
“Kind of. Remember. Cuban men are romantic. When we say friend it
means friends that dance together and go to nice little restaurants with
candles on the center of the table.”
“I didn’t hear that in my Spanish class during high school. Besides, that
sounds like it’s verging toward a date.”
“And you don’t date your friends?”
“No.”
 “I’m not sure if I’m enjoying your concept of friends.” His phone rang.
He dug his hand into his pocket and turned it off.
“Am I keeping you from something?”
“Everything,” he whispered.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. That’s half the reason I’m certain I want to be more than
friends. You, mi amiga, end up keeping my mind only on you whenever
you’re around. I’m starting to like that very much.”
My heart beat faster.
He checked his watch. “For example, even though it’s now close to five
in the morning and I have at least five difficult things to do right now due to
this new death, all I can think of doing right at the moment is finishing that
kiss we had on the dance floor. Is that weird?”
I forced myself to not lick my lips. “No. That’s not weird.”
“Did you enjoy our friendly kiss, mi amiga?”
“Ha,” I snorted. “That was not a friendly kiss.”
“No?” He leaned close to me, so near my nipples stiffened at the
thought of him touching me. “Then what type of kiss was it, amiga?”
“Something more than I can put words or labels to.”
“Then how did it make you feel?” He brushed his lips against mine, but
didn’t press them in for a kiss.
You’re such a tease.
I arched a little his way, knowing I shouldn’t. If I was going to demand
that we be only friends, I would have to actually mean it with my body as
well as my words. Yet there was that magnetic pull of pleasure, tugging me
forward and energizing my flesh with need.
“What’s wrong? You don’t want to answer my question?” In a bold
move, he dipped down to my neck and nibbled the sensitive area. I moaned
softly, but knew he heard it when a groan escaped his mouth. “How did my
kiss make you feel, Elle?”
I turned to see if the guards were watching, but he captured my chin and
brought my view back to him. “Answer me, please.”
“It made me feel. . . good.”
“Just good?” He nipped at my bottom lip. “I doubt that.”
“Why?”
“Because that kiss tonight made me hungry, and when you leaned away
that same greedy little hunger showed all over your face.”
“You’re lying.”
“I want to kiss you again, mi amiga.”
I giggled. “I don’t think amigos should convince each
other to do things they shouldn’t. You’re such a bad influence.”
“And you’re a little tease.” He seized my lips and took his time, gently
nudging them open with his tongue, until I couldn’t help but part them and
suck on that wet length myself. He was a master at kissing. My knees
buckled under his pressure. Desire mounted within my chest.
God. How silly I must look, telling him I only want to be friends while
relishing in his mouth on mine.
It was clear he could kiss better than anyone I’d ever experienced. What
else could he do with so much swift, panty-wetting perfection? How would
it feel for him to touch me even more in those intimate places where only
Michael had caressed? Michael’s face hit my brain, and just like that I
stopped the kiss. It was the best way to gain control of the situation.
Michael had done enough damage. I didn’t need another man, so
passionate, coming into my life and stealing my heart, not until I was ready
to be stronger in situations like this.
Alvarez leaned away. “What’s going through your mind?”
“I’m thinking I’m not that good at pushing your advances away.”
“That’s a great thing.”
“Actually, it’s not. I want to be more assertive and—”
“Trust me. You’re definitely assertive. You practically forced me to do
everything you wanted outside tonight, and you threatened me, too. I can
still feel the stab wounds in my back from you saying you would have a
team of lawyers fighting me.”
“Oh, stop it.”
“It’s the truth.”
“Well.” I bit my lip. “I can’t jump into another situation with another
man.”
“Then let’s not jump. Let’s take tiny little steps and see where that takes
us. I for one don’t have the time for a relationship. I never even considered
dating anyone until I met you yesterday.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“It’s true.” He tried to kiss me again, but I avoided those skilled lips.
“How long has it been since you’ve dated someone?”
“Over ten years.”
Hadn’t he said that he’d known Reece for the same amount of time?
 “So you stopped dating when you hired your assistant?”
“No. I stopped dating when Hex became a huge artist and my time
became so absorbed in dealing with his fame and keeping him out of jail.
My grandma presents her own special problems, plus there’s. . .”
“There’s what?”
“Nothing. All I’m trying to say is that with all that I had around me, I
pretty much kept my. . . dating to one night stands or other things that were
close to that.”
“Other things? You’re being very vague.”
“What I do in my off time isn’t the most endearing or gentlemanly thing
about me. I would rather not look bad in your eyes. My point is that I never
even considered anything more with a woman until I spent time around you
today.”
“That can’t be true. With all the models that Hex invites, there had to be
someone who caught your eye.”
“I usually stay away from Hex’s models and artsy friends. As you’ve
seen tonight, I had no idea what the poor woman’s name was that died.
With such tight security on the property, I pretty much spend my time
absorbing myself in business and then leaving Hex to his friends. Most of
the time I avoid them.”
The guard who’d gone in my room earlier now stood in the hallway
with an awkward look on his face.
“Is everything okay in there?” Alvarez asked.
“Yes, sir. I checked the whole area. No one is in her room and there was
no sign that a person came in there when she left.” He pointed to the small
camera hanging from the ceiling. “This one has been pointed on her room
all night. I’ve been told that no person, not even a maid, entered her room.”
 “Thank you. That’ll be all.”
The guard nodded and didn’t leave the hallway, but gave us a wide berth
of space.
Alvarez looked at me. A sly smile crossed his face. “Can I walk you
into your room?”
I tried not to laugh, but it came out just the same. “No, sir. As my guard
informed us both, my room is secure. I won’t need your protection.”
I would need someone to help me stop his lips or my need to have them
on me.
He leaned his head to the side. “Are you sure about that?”
“Definitely.” I ducked under his arms and walked into my bedroom.
“Goodnight, Alvarez.”
“Will we be hanging out tomorrow, as friends of course, just amigos?”
“You have a lot on your plate. Do you even have the time?”
“I’ll make it.”
“I guess so then. I do want to know any new details about these deaths
—”
“No. I have the police dealing with that. When I see you tomorrow for
our date, I want it to have nothing to do with that.”
“Date?”
“Sorry. A gathering among two amigos.”
I sighed. “Alvarez, I’m serious. I know I don’t seem that way when I’m
allowing you to put your tongue down my throat—”
“Which I appreciate, by the way.”
 “Stop it.” I blushed. “I just think we shouldn’t plan on anything coming
out of this. We should just decide to have fun with no weird strings attached
or any plans for anything more than hanging out.”
“And a few kisses?”
I looked away. “Maybe.”
“So spending time together and the possibility of a kiss?”
“Yes.” He’s ridiculous. “Just two friends hanging out who may or may
not kiss. Nothing else.”
“I’m okay with that.”
“Good.”
“This will be an interesting summer.” He inhaled and closed his eyes for
a few seconds before opening them. “That perfume is amazing. I’m still
going to have a box of it sent to your room.”
“You don’t need to.”
“But I will.”
Instead of spending time with him, if I definitely stay, I’ll spend the rest
of the time avoiding him. This property is so huge; I’ll bet I could do it.
As if he could read my thoughts, he tried to stump me for the last time
that night. “Okay. I’ve got it. ‘Take a chance on me, baby. Give me the
opportunity to show you that I’m your future, and he’s your past. Run off
with me, Lacy.’”
“You know I recognize that. It’s probably the most famous line in the
world. Even if I wasn’t from America and had just learned English in the
past five years, I would know that line. It’s from New York to New York. The
top-grossing movie in the history of the film industry.”
He revealed a wicked smile. “Maybe I’m just really that bad at this.”
“Or maybe you’re trying to tell me something.”
“Maybe.”
“Goodnight, Alvarez.” I closed the door behind me.
“Goodnight, my new friend,” he said from the outside.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter 16
Alvarez

One more thing and I’ll go to sleep, just one more thing. I checked my
watch. Two in the afternoon. Finishing that goddamn list had taken all this
time?
I hadn’t slept after saying goodnight to Elle. I went to my office with
the goal of getting a few things done before finishing the evening.
“Needa will be here in two minutes.” Reece rushed through my door
with two coffees in her hand. “Hex refused to come. He said that he was hit
with inspiration this morning and must paint immediately. He’s invited
models over.”
“More models.” That was all we needed. More people coming here to
die.
“They’re only temporary and here for an hour. Hex assured me he
would only photograph them with Elle and then have them leave. How are
you holding up?”
“I’m fine. I don’t need the coffee.” I waved away the cup she tried to
give me. “I’m going to sleep after this. Anything else from Detective
White?”
“Nothing yet. He’s going to be here during the meeting with Needa. He
sounded like he had something serious to discuss.”
“That’s fine.”
 He knew all about Dayanara, had fingerprinted her just in case he found
a weapon or something that would have connected her to the murdered
girls. I couldn’t even consider what I would do if Dayanara was the person
killing them. It wasn’t impossible, however. She’d killed before. What if
things I’d seen in movies were true, that when a person took a life, they
became addicted to that power of controlling another’s humanity?
What the hell am I thinking? Dayanara couldn’t do anything like that.
This is why I should’ve gone to sleep hours ago.
Reece grabbed the papers I’d signed and stacked them in her briefcase
to take wherever they needed to go. Every few steps she glanced at the
many lit candles throughout the space and frowned. After leaving Elle, I’d
lit them all. That orange blossom fragrance drenched my office and served
as the only thing keeping me awake. Elle’s scent gave me an adrenaline
rush with just one inhale. I had no problem getting things done with her
smell to push me forward—because the more crap I got off my to-do list,
the more time we would spend on our date.
And there would be a date. Fifty books filled with various movie quotes
leaned on the wall behind my chair. Reece had grabbed them from
bookstores all over Miami. Apparently, nonfiction books for movie lovers
were big business. They crowded the bookstores. Whenever I got a few
moments to myself, I browsed lines, searching for the most unwatched and
unpopular movie in there.
“Ay Dios mio! It smells like someone is cooking honey fruit soup in
here.” Grandma waved her book in front of her as if fanning away the scent
from my office. “What type of candles are these?”
“Orange blossoms.”
“Since when do you like orange blossoms?”
“Since a few days ago. How’s Dayanara?”
 “She’s fine.” Grandma sat down and averted her eyes, signaling to me
that she knew she was in trouble.
“Why in the hell did you take her out of her room, sneak her outside of
the damn castle to the moat, and cover the both of you in blood?”
“Don’t you curse at me!” She pointed her wrinkled finger my way.
“I’m sorry, but let’s return to you breaking all of our rules and then after
we finish that conversation, let’s go to the source of your blood.”
“Those were your rules, not mine. I just decided to listen to them for a
while.”
I rubbed my forehead. “Grandma—”
“I let you handle this, but now you need to step aside and let my gods
handle it. Two women have died.”
“I’m aware of that.”
“And they’re cut up!”
“I’m aware of that also. Wait a minute. How do you know they’re cut
up?”
Her expression faltered for a minute and then she quickly looked away.
“How would I not? It’s all over the news, I think, and everybody has been
whispering about it. The cook is scared. The maids are jumping around
every time someone walks by them. We won’t have anybody here to clean
this ridiculous castle by the end of the week.”
“Where did you get the blood, Grandma?”
“Why? Do you think I killed those girls and took their blood?” She
wagged her book at the candles. “Did these smelly candles mess with your
brain?”
 “You’re done with taking blood from anybody else. You do it again and
I send you back to Cuba.”
“Send me back to Cuba? I go back when I decide.” She jumped up and
slammed the book on my desk. My coffee tipped over. Reece, who’d been
standing in the corner, rushed over and cleaned the mess up.
And then a continuous line of fast Spanish fled out of Grandma’s
mouth. I spoke Spanish decently, but couldn’t write or read it well, to
Grandma’s dismay. My step-dad had hated when we used it in the house, so
it didn’t occur. By the time Hex was born, we never spoke it unless my
relatives came to visit and my step-dad wasn’t in the house. Hex didn’t
know much, but I was pretty good at understanding Spanish when people
spoke it around me, except when Grandma was truly pissed. Her thick
accent glazed each word and made it almost incomprehensible. However, I
understood that; one, she would curse me with something pretty nasty if I
ever talked to her like that again; and two, she would never hurt poor little
girls who didn’t do anything to anybody.
When she finally finished and calmed down, I knitted my fingers
together. “I’ll still need to know where you got the blood from and for you
to stop getting it from there.”
“I have a new contact and I won’t stop.”
“Who is your new contact?” I asked through clenched teeth.
“None of your business.”
“Grandma, we agreed that if you’re going to stay with us you’ll let me
get you your items. I don’t know who this supplier is or where they are
getting the blood. If something came up with this being black market or
illegal in any way—”
“I’m a good judge of character.”
 “Doesn’t matter.”
Detective White stepped in, holding a large manila envelope in his
hands. His presence quieted our arguing. It was one thing to have it out in
front of Reece, who’d been with me for long enough to be privy to these
disputes, but our family didn’t air our business in front of strangers.
“Detective White, this is my grandma, Needa Castillo,” I said. “Come
on in, please.”
“I’m leaving.” Grandma inched away from the detective and headed for
the door. “You come talk to me when you have more sense and these
candles aren’t messing with your head.”
“Grandma, I’m not done talking to you!” I called after her, but her only
response was to slam the door after she walked out. Detective White’s
attention rested on the closed door as if some clue was in that heated
gesture, some final piece left to the puzzle. Reece finished getting up all the
coffee, tossed the wet rag in a bag, and left. I sighed and looked up at
Detective White. “Please tell me you have some good news.”
“I have news, but I’m not sure if it’s good.” He glanced at the door
again. “In fact, you may want to discuss this without your assistant in the
room.”
“Okay. Do me a favor and press the button on the door to lock it. She’ll
realize that I want privacy and wait until I open it again.”
He did and then sat down in the seat Grandma had been in earlier. “How
long has Reece been working for you?”
I wasn’t expecting that question.
“Around ten years. Why? Is she a suspect?”
“I’m afraid she is, and I have even worse news. I believe your
grandmother and brother may be suspects, too.”
 Defeated, I collapsed back into my chair unable to maintain any
semblance of good posture with so much weight being slung onto my
shoulders. “I’m going to need you to explain yourself.”
“How far do you want to be privy to this investigation, Mr. Castillo? My
supervisor told me to treat this situation delicately and that your family
should get the treatment we reserve for. . . let’s say ones with political
and/or powerful connections. The further I go with my investigations the
trickier it may be.”
“What are you saying?”
“I have no doubt that one of those people I just named had something to
do with it. You won’t like it and I would rather know now what your actions
will be if I try to go after them.”
“If you’re hinting at me stopping this investigation because people I
care about are involved, then let me answer you right now, and there won’t
be any need to return to this again. I want to know who killed those women.
The most important thing to me is it to stop the deaths right now. I’m not
the type of man who uses his connections to cover deaths or injuries my
family may have caused. Do we understand each other?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Why are you looking at my family and assistant instead of the other
men who were on this property?”
“Because Dayanara Castillo is directly connected to both murders.”
I froze into a block of ice right before his eyes. “How do you know
this?”
“Last night when I was questioning people on the grounds, I happened
to see your assistant arguing with your grandma as she helped her down the
stairs. It looked like they were coming from where Mrs. Dayanara Castillo
lives.”
“What were they arguing about?”
“It was in Spanish. I’m not sure.” He must’ve noticed my shocked
expression. “Is something wrong, sir?”
“I had no idea Reece could speak Spanish.” It was reasonable to assume
anybody in Miami knew how to speak it. Spanish was practically the first
language of the city, but Reece had never informed me of this during the
interview, on her resume, or at any point of working with me.
Why didn’t she tell me that, and what could she be fighting with
Grandma about?
“I waited for your assistant and grandma to leave, and then ventured up
to Dayanara Castillo’s area. A bin of soiled items rested in front of the door,
probably to be picked up by a cleaning service, but what struck me as odd
was that these items smelled like blood. When I opened the bag, I
confirmed that it was so.”
So caught up with Elle, I’d forgotten to tell Detective White about my
grandma and Dayanara’s bloody field trip last night. Maybe that was a good
thing.
“I tried to call you, but your phone was off.” Detective White stirred in
his seat. The next information didn’t seem like it would be good. In fact, the
more he talked the more my body switched into defense mode. “I had the
clothes tested.”
“That was a smart decision,” I said. “What did you find from these
tests?”
“Human blood saturated both your grandma’s and Dayanara’s clothes.
However, on Dayanara’s clothes, and I assume this is her shirt and pants
due to how short your grandma is, the test showed the victim’s blood from
last night was near the bottom of her sleeves and around the knees of her
pants.”
I sat there speechless. There had always been a tiny hint of worry in my
mind that Dayanara was somehow involved. But I wasn’t ready for the
realization to hit me like this.
“There’s more.” The investigator pulled out large photos from the
manila envelope in his lap. “When the two girls were killed, not much
activity happened with other people on the grounds. But on both nights,
those three people I mentioned earlier--your assistant, grandmother, and
brother--were active in the area near the garden where the first body was
found. Although for the second victim, your brother was on stage. Some of
the times were so close I’m certain at least two knew that the first body was
there before you spotted it.”
“That can’t be true.” I shook my head. “Why would they let me find it?”
“I’m not sure, sir.” He placed five photographs in front of me. “The
coroner stated that the first girl was killed somewhere during the time of
three to five in the morning. This is her walking to the pond where I’d told
you many people smoked marijuana. As you can see, the time says four
thirty in the morning.”
The girl held a flashlight and seemed to be in a hurry to meet someone.
Why would she walk off by herself like that so late at night, if not to
meet someone she trusted? She must’ve known the killer or expected to
meet someone else and the wrong person met her first.
“This is Dayanara Castillo at three in the morning on the same night.”
Detective White pointed to the picture on the right. Dayanara walked the
grounds like a ghost. Her white gown flowed to the ground and glowed in
the moonlight. Her long brown hair rode the wind. Her eyes looked crazed.
Her hands held a large knife.
Dear God. Where the hell did she get a knife?
“There were many photos of her roaming the property with the knife,
but this was the closest I could find with her near the kill time. The closer
we get to five in the morning, the less I can find her within the camera’s
view, which tells me she was in that blind spot.” He placed another photo to
the front. “I have your assistant running out of the house at five in the
morning. She headed straight to the blind spot. Like Dayanara, she is
missing after five in the morning. When she returns, she’s with a bloodied
Dayanara.”
He tapped the photo. On it, Reece guided Dayanara to the back of the
house. Crimson liquid stained the entire front of Dayanara’s gown.
I looked at Detective White. “Where’s the knife that Dayanara had
earlier?”
“I’m not sure. I only see it in the earlier footage. Once your assistant has
her, it’s gone.” He brought the last two photos to the front. “And then we
have these. It seemed that this time around, four to five in the morning was
pretty busy for all of them. Your grandmother did her best to remain in the
shadows. I almost didn’t catch her. She wore all black and walked around
many trees, but right here I spotted her heading toward her garden. Can you
make her out?”
“Yes.” My mouth went dry. My fingers trembled.
“She doesn’t show up on the cameras again until six in the morning,
where she is fully dressed in new clothes and meeting you at the front
steps.”
“I’d just arrived back from a business trip. She always meets me at the
steps when I return, but she never told me she’d been up all night walking
around the property. In fact, she shoved me toward the kitchen so that she
could make my favorite soup. I offered to get her some herbs from the
garden, went out there, and that’s when I discovered the first victim.”
You knew a dead girl was out there, didn’t you, Grandma? Why didn’t
you tell me?
“This is the last photo. Your brother left the back of his studio at four
forty-five in the morning. It is unclear where he went. There appears to be
more blind spots near your brother and grandmother’s living spaces. I
would like to have cameras placed there without them knowing it.”
Unease sat in the pit of my stomach, but I nodded that his idea was
okay. A week ago I would’ve never considered uniting with a stranger to
spy on my family, but then a week ago no innocent girls had died under my
watch.
“The only footage of your brother I find is him later in the day, around
nine in the morning, where it appears he’s singing in a tree.”
“He does that when he’s nervous.”
“What do you think he was nervous about?”
“I’m not sure, but I plan to find out. In fact, I plan to find out why all of
them--Reece, Grandma, Dayanara, and Hex--were running around the
grounds early in the morning while a young girl was killed.”
“I would like access to your brother’s studio, Grandmother’s cottage,
and assistant’s rooms, as well as Dayanara Castillo’s living quarters.”
“You have my permission, but if there is one thing I know about my
family, it’s this: if they know you’re coming to look, they’ll hide it all. I’ll
need to have them away for something else while I allow you the time to
search. However, for Dayanara’s quarters I would like to be there. I can’t
have her transported now.”
 “I understand.”
I yanked out my top drawer, opened my small lock box, and pulled out
several keys. “I keep extra keys for my assistant’s living quarters. She’s on
the third level in the west wing. That whole area is hers. If you unlock the
main hallway you’ll have access to all of her rooms.”
“When should I try there?”
“She’ll be the easiest to keep busy. I’ll have her leave now. Hold on.” I
pressed the speakerphone button and dialed her number.
“Hello?” she asked after the first ring. “I saw the door was locked so I
ran down to the kitchen to grab us some food.”
Why didn’t you tell me Dayanara had gotten out of her living quarters
the night the first girl was killed? What are you hiding and why?
“Breakfast for me won’t be necessary.”
“Is everything okay, sir?”
“I’m just exhausted. I’m going to sleep. However, I need you to go to
my Orlando office. The original signed contracts to the CTS deal are there.
This is too delicate for someone else to handle. It has to be you.”
“You want me to fly to Orlando to get them?”
“Yes. When will you be able to leave?”
Her exasperated breath traveled over the phone to me. “I can leave in
less than an hour. Will I be taking your private jet?”
“Of course.”
Once the call finished, I returned my attention to Detective White. “I
suggest you begin your search of Reece’s living area around five. That will
give you plenty of time.”
 “And the others?”
“Have you had any sleep, Detective White?”
An embarrassed expression crossed his dark face. “Not yet, but neither
have you, it seems.”
“Well then, let’s get some sleep and meet tomorrow morning to search
Dayanara’s area. Unless you happen to find the murder weapon in my
assistant’s space.” I’d meant the statement to be a joke, but with the photo
of Reece walking back with a bloodied Dayanara lying right on front of my
desk, neither of us laughed.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter 17
Elle

Alvarez’s drink W.H.L. hadn’t worked at all.

I knew exactly what happened last night. The feel of Alvarez’s lips
dominated my thoughts and disturbed all the goals I’d set before me this
summer. I barely slept. Hex thought he woke me up with his artist mania,
but I’d been lying in bed with my hands on my thighs and thoughts dancing
in my mind of maybe touching myself to the memory of Alvarez’s body
pressed against mine in the hallway. I couldn’t stop thinking about him once
I dressed and went down to breakfast. His witty explanations of Cuban men
played in my head like a romantic comedy set in an exotic place. Hope
flowed within me that I would spot him on my stroll to Hex’s studio.
Disappointment arrived next, when I didn’t see him.
How ridiculous that I’m anticipating seeing a man I’ve only known for
two days.
The time with Alvarez played in my mind over and over as I took off
my clothes, put on my slippers and robe, and left the dressing area to climb
Hex’s stage for a modeling session.
“Cuban men are born with two hearts, one for them, the other to give to
their special lady.”
Alvarez crowded my head.
“Do you need any coffee?” Hex asked.
 “I’m fine.” I counted eight chairs on the stage. “Will you have other
models here today?”
“Yes.” Hex scurried around his studio. His black and white hair flopped
around as he moved through the space like a madman. Since knocking on
my door this morning, he’d been going on non-stop about his first painting
in the series and how it would be the one to start it all. I nodded at
appropriate times. In the few moments I feigned listening, Alvarez popped
into my head.
What am I going to do about him? Why can’t I be strong enough to be
on my own? At the first sight of an attractive man who’s nice to me, I’m
already swooning like a romantic idiot.
“. . . and the color should be enough to see you all but in the most
delicate manner.” Hex hurried to the light switches and toyed with them.
The left side of the room went dark, then the right. Next he turned them all
on, and continued to flip them back and forth, trying to figure the mood he
wanted for the painting.
After five minutes of blinking lights, I had enough and raised my hands
in the air. “Hex! Just relax.”
“I only have the temporary models for barely an hour. The fact that I
even have them is a shock to me. I’d put in a request months ago.”
“I thought you said you didn’t even know what the subject of your
collection was going to be until we sat in the limo and you yelled out
sacrifice.”
“No. I always knew what it would be. I just never had a word for it. All
I had was the feeling, and then you gave me the word. By the way, have you
figured out what you’re going to sacrifice?”
Sex, maybe. Then I’ll have a stronger reason to block Alvarez’s offering
to be amigos.
 “No, Hex. I haven’t really thought of anything.”
“What do you want in life?”
“To be happy.”
Hex laughed. “Maybe you should shoot for something smaller.”
I thought about that for a minute. The past ten years with Michael raced
through my head. “I want to be different than the woman I’ve been before. I
want to be strong, confident, and sure of what I want out of life--and if not
sure, prepared to figure it out.”
Hex clapped his hands. “Damn, the gods have really been working their
magic today. This session may be just what you need.”
“Okay.” I twisted my lips in confusion, but didn’t ask anything else.
“I don’t know how to help you be all those things you just said, but
these models may know. However, I have a simple fix for being different.”
“What?”
“Cut your hair. Die it. Change your style of clothes. Listen to music
you’ve never considered. Eat things you never in your life would’ve
sampled years ago. Just act different. Just stop being you.”
“That simple?”
“Yes.” He nodded.
The door opened. Eight women took their time entering the studio.
Whispers carried in the space as they talked amongst themselves and drank
in the amazing art Hex had lying around. The first thing I noticed was that
they had no hair. No matter their race, height, or width, smooth, shiny heads
met my eyes.
Why don’t they have any hair?
 “Thank you so much, ladies, for accepting my invitation.” Hex pointed
to a table of refreshments. “If you find yourself hungry or thirsty, there are
food and drinks over here. There’s a dressing room on the far right. I made
sure my maid put out several robes and slippers for you all to wear. Are
there any questions?”
The tallest one, with dark chocolate skin, shook his hand. “Will we be
naked the whole hour?” she asked.
“Possibly. I’m going to be taking photographs and then later painting
the image that I like. Because I only get such a short time with you all, I’m
probably going to use all of the time I have snapping a lot of photos. Is that
okay?”
Everyone nodded. One by one, they went into the dressing room,
changed into their robes, and came to sit next to me on the stage. For some
reason, their bald heads made me uneasy. It wasn’t that they weren’t still
beautiful. Many were even captivating. Without the hair to distract the
viewer’s eyes from the face, I could see the enchanting detail of high cheek
bones, pointed little noses, and bright eyes that glittered when one of them
focused on me for a few seconds. Yet, their presence put me on edge. Hex
never explained what the session would be about, just that it dealt with his
theme of sacrifice.
What did they sacrifice and how does it compare to me?
“Elle, go ahead and let down your hair, and everybody go ahead and
take off your robes. Feel free to hand them to me.” He walked around and
gathered them.
I undid my bun, but with stiff, nervous fingers. What was I supposed to
do, flaunt my long hair to them? The strands fell down over my shoulders,
down my back, and continued behind the stool I sat on.
 “How beautiful! How long have you been growing your hair?” a woman
on my right asked.
I turned to answer and froze. My lips remained parted. No words left
them, just a silent gasp of shock. They didn’t have breasts. None of them.
Nothing but scarred tissue decorated their chests. I checked the women on
my right and even behind me. Each of their happy faces seemed to shift to
pitied expressions, as if they’d just realized that I never knew they didn’t
have breasts.
They’re cancer survivors. Hex has me modeling with cancer survivors?
Why? What is this picture supposed to say with me in between them?
I hadn’t survived anything. These women should have been the center
of the painting, not me. I cleared my throat and walked over to where Hex
tinkered with his big camera. “We need to talk.”
“About what?” he asked.
“The damn picture.” I did my best to keep my voice low, but the rage
inside of me was rising each second until I thought I would blow and
scream. “What is this painting supposed to say? Are you trying to say that
I’m better than them, or that they’re better than me?”
“No.” He didn’t even have the respect to turn away from the buttons on
his camera. “I’m trying to make the viewer think.”
“About what?” I asked through clenched teeth.
“When you saw Michael’s first painting of you, the glorious Archangel,
what did you see?”
“A naked girl with long hair made to look like wings.”
“That’s what I saw, too. Granted, I thought you were beautiful, but what
was the big deal?” He turned a screw on the side of his camera. “What was
the whole point? Yet the art world clapped and cheered, claiming it was the
masterpiece of our time, when in the end it was just a pretty girl with a nice
rack and good length of hair.”
“So then, I’m right. The point of this painting is to say, ‘Hey. She’s no
big deal.’”
Hex sighed. “Look at them and tell me what you see.”
I directed my attention to the women on the stage. They’d been
whispering to each other again and gesturing to us. From here, it appeared
like we tickled them. Their faces showed beautiful smiles boasting
magnificent teeth. Their skin gleamed in the perfect lighting. Even their
scarred flesh seemed to hold its own intricate designs, as crazy as it seemed.
Luscious curves still decorated their hips and the swell between their legs.
They were striking and endearing like a tribe of taunting sirens on top of a
cliff in the middle of the sea. I gazed at them for longer than I should have,
just exploring their bodies and faces.
They sat on that stage with a boldness I’d never been able to muster in
all of my years of modeling, and even more breathtakingly, they sat there
united. I had no idea if they’d even known each other before this day, but
their strength bonded them together. Their battle scars from that horrific
disease revealed them as warriors, and they didn’t shy away from it. Instead
they kept their heads high, shoulders raised, and their gazes set on Hex and
me, as if daring us to say they weren’t the most physically powerful and
magnificent beings we’d ever set our eyes on.
“What do you see, Elle?”
“Beauty.”
“What else?”
“Strength, survivors, unity. I could go on and on.”
“That’s what I want my viewers to see.”
 I hugged my arms around my own breasts, as if to conceal them. “Why
the hell do you want me in the picture? They definitely don’t need me.”
“Do you want me to be honest or lie?” He looked into my eyes.
“Honest.”
“You’re the reason people will stop and look at the picture. I doubt
they’ll even notice the women around you at first, but when they do, they’ll
study and compare. You’re the anchor in normalcy for the close-minded so
they won’t run out of the room screaming. But once they take the time to
truly give the other women a chance, you’ll probably be forgotten.”
“That’s pretty harsh.”
He returned to his camera. “You asked for the truth.”
Fine. He has a point.
I took the time to really think his words over. How bad would it be to
lose my identity in a sea of something bigger than me? I formed my lips
into a smile. “If I had to choose a group of women to be lost to, it would be
them. They inspire me to be more.”
“That’s the point.” He pressed something. A click sounded. “Okay. The
clock is ticking. Are you done being a diva?”
“Oh, be quiet. I wasn’t being a diva.” I hurried back to my seat.
“Is everything okay?” one of the women asked when I sat down.
“Definitely.”
Hex took pictures and encouraged us to talk the entire time. I couldn’t
help it, but I asked the women about their lives. Some of them had battled
cancer for many years and during the process they’d lost their jobs,
connections with friends, family ties, and a few had broken marriages. Yet,
they’d survived the cancer and all the other problems.
 “Life is an expedition through triumphs, pain, and unexpected
occurrences,” the darkest woman admitted. “I don’t have time to cry about
what I’ve been through when I’ve been given another chance at life. Before
the doctor told me I had cancer, I was just drifting along in my unhappy
little marriage and walking through life like a zombie. The diagnosis
changed all of that.”
A few of the other women nodded in agreement.
“All I can tell you is to live your life the best way you can. Enjoy
yourself when you can, cry if you need to, love when you have the
opportunity, and run fast when the situation calls for it.” She clapped her
hands and laughed, which motivated Hex to snap his camera like a
deranged lunatic.
“Hex!” Alvarez’s voice vibrated through the walls. He must’ve been
right outside. His footsteps stomped our way. The door opened. He marched
his bulky frame through the door. “I’ve been calling you all day and not
once have you answered the phone. We need to talk.”
“What do you want, Al?”
Alvarez didn’t respond. I glanced at him. Alvarez’s gaze fell on me as
he opened his mouth. It seemed he lost the original goals he intended on
reaching before entering the studio. His gaze dropped to my breasts. They
woke up under his attention. A shiver of desire flowed through me. There
was need pooling through his eyes--unadulterated, wild need that I wasn’t
even sure I could take care of. That electric sensation sparked between us.
There could be no denying it. I’ll bet even the women who sat on the stage
spotted it.
“Al, whatever you’re doing, stop it.” Hex’s camera flashed as he took a
few more. “You’re making Elle blush.”
“No. He’s not,” I said.
 “Yes. He is.” Hex put down the camera and frowned. “I’m busy, Al.
We’ll have to talk later. You’re disturbing my session.”
“This can’t wait until later.” Alvarez let his gaze linger on my face for a
few more seconds before moving his attention away. I released a breath I
had no idea I’d been holding.
The dark-skinned woman from earlier nudged my arm. “Are you two
dating?”
“No,” I whispered.
“That’s not what it looks like to me,” another woman giggled in the
back.
Alvarez crossed his arms across his chest. “Hex, you have time to talk.
What I have to ask you is bigger and more important than art.”
“Nothing is bigger than art.”
Alvarez moved closer to where I sat, but didn’t look my way. “What I
have to say is bigger than most things.”
“I only have these models for twenty more minutes. I’ll talk to you
then.” Hex kneeled right in front of me and took more pictures. “Damn it,
Al. Leave the room. All of my models are blushing like damn school girls
and Elle looks aroused.”
“I do not.” I tucked some of my hair behind my ear. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Your nipples weren’t all perky and erect before and now they are. This
isn’t a Playboy shoot. It’s an art studio.”
“I know what it is.” I rolled my eyes.
“Stop yelling at her like that.” Alvarez did his best to avoid gazing my
way, but I could’ve sworn he peeked at my very stiff nipples as they tried
their best to get his attention. “This can’t be put off. We have things to
discuss.”
“I’m busy!” Hex kicked the vase in front of him. All of the women
around me gasped or jumped. “I only have one rule and that’s leave me the
fuck alone when I’m creating my art!”
“Calm down, Hex.” Although Alvarez said it in a low voice, he didn’t
appear calm either. All of a sudden, rage shadowed his features. In fact,
they both seemed ready to go for blows. This wasn’t the Alvarez who had
kissed me goodnight or recited poetry to me in his office. This man was
tired and pissed at somebody.
What happened to Alvarez since he left me last night to have him so
wound up?
“Get out of my studio!” Hex kicked another can.
“This is crazy.” The woman behind me rose and put on her robe. The
others followed suit.
“Now look what you’ve done.” Hex pointed to the stage. “You ended
my session before it was time. Do I bother you when you’re working?”
“Yes. All of the time with your exploits and ignorant little bouts with art
critics.” Alvarez got in front of Hex and towered over him. “Since your
session is over, we have time to talk.”
“I’m not talking to you.”
“Oh yes, you are.”
I slipped on my robe and closed it. “Maybe you both should calm down
before talking.”
“What the hell do you want to talk about anyway?” Hex set his camera
down hard on the desk.
 Alvarez gestured to me. “Let’s talk about this outside. Instead of
arguing in front of Elle.”
“Oh, now that you’ve ruined my session, you want to decide not only
when we talk but where it will be. Fuck you, Al!” Hex left the studio,
slamming the door behind him.
“What? Fuck me.” Alvarez stormed that way, opened the door, and
rushed after him. “I’ve been up all day dealing with this crap that you’ve
created for us! I said don’t invite models here to stay overnight. I said have
them come for a short period and then leave, that it would be a hassle and
too much for us to handle. What did you say? ‘Oh, I’ll take care of it all,
bro.’ Well, that was bullshit because I’m the one dealing with it!”
“No one asked you to deal with it!”
I rushed to put on my slippers and dashed out after them.
“No one asked me to get involved, but there are dead girls on our
property. Am I supposed to just sit back and relax?” Alvarez formed his
hands into fists.
“No. You’re supposed to leave me alone while I’m doing my art. Have
some respect.”
“Respect? You’ve ignored my calls!”
The sunlight hit me as I ran outside. They’d made some good ground
and were near the garden where Patricia had lain dead on the ground. Now,
the soil had been covered and no evidence existed that there had ever been
someone there.
Flipping away his shoes and pulling off his socks, Hex ran to a tree and
began to climb it. He latched his hands onto the trunk, jumped up so his feet
planted to the sides, and raced up. I would’ve stood back and been
impressed by his speed, if not for Alvarez running to him, snatching at his
foot, and trying to pull him back down. Terror stabbed through my chest. If
they continued, they would hurt each other.
“Get off me!” Hex kicked at Alvarez.
“Get down! You don’t get to run off this time.”
“Alvarez!” I hit his back and got his attention after three hits. “Calm
down. You’re going to hurt Hex if you keep on grabbing him like that.”
He glanced over his shoulder at me and let go. “I was trying to stop the
idiot from getting all the way up into the tree.”
I shrugged. “Well, it’s too late for that. He’s up there and if you had
captured his leg, he might have lost his balance and fallen.”
“Then maybe that would be one less problem,” he muttered.
“You don’t mean that.”
Hex made it to the highest branch he could without breaking it, and then
from there he swung his little body to another tree.
Holy cow. He could give Tarzan a run for his money.
“Fine. He’s gone. I’ll deal with Grandma and then return to him.”
Alvarez rubbed both of his eyelids and blinked. Little red lines crept along
the whites of his eyes. He yawned and slumped against the tree. I took in
his clothes. He wore the same outfit from last night, black pants, white linen
shirt, and black shoes. Except wrinkles and small stains covered them.
“Have you gotten any sleep?” I asked. “You look exhausted.”
“I am.”
“Then go to sleep.”
He checked his watch. “I just have one more thing to do.”
“How many times have you said that today?”
 He formed his lips into a sort of half smile. “I’ve been saying that since
I left you at your bedroom.”
I wagged my finger. “You’re a naughty boy, Alvarez.”
Another yawn left his lips. “I’m just swamped with things to do, and
these two murders aren’t helping my sanity. I probably couldn’t sleep if I
wanted to. I’m discovering too much about the people I care about.”
“What does that mean?”
He let out a long sigh. “Nothing.”
“It sounds like more than nothing.”
“I’ve got it handled.” He got up and walked away. “We’ll talk later,
when things are less complicated.”
Disappointment plunged deep into my chest. Flirty, romantic Alvarez
was gone. A grumpy and extremely tired ogre had taken his place.
I did the best I could in my flip-flops and caught up with him. “Get
some sleep.”
“I can’t.”
“I’ll bet you could.”
“I doubt it.”
“Come on.” I hooked my arm through his and unsuccessfully tried to
tighten the belt on my robe so it wouldn’t open.
He stopped and stared down at me. “What are you doing?”
“I’m taking you somewhere else.”
“But I have to—”
“Talk to your grandma. I understand.” I tugged at his arm, but he
refused to move. “You’re not in the brightest mood right now. You’re just
going to get in an argument with her like you did with Hex. Yesterday, you
had nothing but patience for Hex. Today, you’re yelling, chasing, and trying
to pull him out of a tree. Go to sleep.”
“And if I don’t?” He raised one eyebrow at me, but I could see all over
his face that I’d won the battle. He peered in the direction of his grandma’s
cottage and blew out air. “Maybe you’re right. I’ve already argued with her
today. She’s hiding something with Hex. They’ll be stubborn even more
than usual. I’ll need my strength to deal with them.”
“Good. Let’s go.”
“And where are you taking me, little bossy woman?”
“I’m not little and we’re going to your bed.”
He smirked and let his gaze travel toward my exposed cleavage. “And
what will we be doing when we get there?”
“Get your mind out of the gutter, please. I’ll just be tucking you in.”
He did a big show of whining. “It’s not nice to tease me. I may not go
anywhere now.”
“Yes. Actually, it is. And for your information, we’re going to climb up
these stairs, march to your bedroom, and then I’m shoving you into bed so
you can stop barreling around the property like a big bear, scaring people
away.”
To my surprise, he didn’t fight me anymore. It took us ten minutes to
get through the house and up the stairs to his room, another ten for him to
take a quick shower and then lay down in bed. I should’ve left and gone
back to my room, but I made an excuse that I had to make sure he actually
stayed in bed.
Goodness. I thought he was big, but not this big.
 He only wore pajama pants and rows of hard muscle layered his entire
upper body. I had no idea how he was able to get to the gym, but knew he
definitely figured out a way. Somehow he convinced me to lie down next to
him. It hadn’t been a hard sell. He promised he would be a gentleman and
only wanted for me to be the last thing he saw before going to sleep. Maybe
it was the dread that lathered his voice from earlier. Something had
happened to change his chipper mood from last night. He’d aged in a
couple hours. So I remained there long after the time I should have left.
“You’re beautiful.” His deep voice drummed through my body as he
rested under the covers.
“Stop flattering me and go to sleep.”
“Will this be a repeat act of kindness from you? Can I expect to have
you near me like this every time I need to get some sleep?”
I fought the grin that tried to appear on my face.
“Fine. Don’t answer me. But I should get points for being a good boy.
My hands yearn to touch you everywhere.” That statement set me on fire. I
closed my eyes to hide the heat he’d incited. It wasn’t lost that I only had a
robe on and nothing else, but neither one of us said anything about it. I
opened my eyes and met his gaze.
Quiet minutes passed.
He still didn’t fall sleep. We just stared at each other like shy little high
schoolers lying alone for the first time. We spoke our attraction with our
eyes—sly peeks that we hoped the other didn’t see, but did anyway,
flirtatious winks, and the seductive flutter of our eyelids.
“You don’t have to lie so far away from me.” He rolled over to his side
so that I could make out his entire frame. His bed was a huge king size. At
least three feet lay between us. “I’m available to be an extra pillow if
necessary.”
 “Just go to sleep,” I murmured and closed my eyes, vowing to only rest
them for a few seconds.
“I see I’m not the only one who’s exhausted.”
“Your brother got me out of bed pretty early.”
“Did you have a hangover?”
“No.”
“Good. I watered down W.H.L. You didn’t get the full tonic.”
“No wonder.” I stretched my legs, got under his comfy blanket, and
sank deeper into the pillow.
“Why no wonder?”
“Because I can’t get your kiss off my mind.” I drifted away and then the
ice cold reality of shock hit me. Did I just say that out loud? I opened my
eyes.
Alvarez stared at me with a wide smile on his face. “Oh really, mi
amiga?”
“Go to sleep.”
“But—”
“I’m not even going to discuss what I just said.”
“Then we’ll discuss it on our date.”
“If you can stump me.”
“Baby, I’m already stumping you.”
My heart sped up, but somehow I was able to calm down enough to fall
into a deep sleep, as a peaceful string of unasked questions bridged between
us.
OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter 18
Alvarez

I had the most beautiful dream.

I swam in that orange blossom scent.
Elle floated around me in a light blue dress that merged with the breeze.
Her hair flew in its own direction. She didn’t need wings. She just glided in
front of me. I checked my feet to see how I was even up there in the sky with
her. I stood on a building, some discarded structure in a deserted city far
away.
I almost asked her why we were up there, but with one look at her in
that dress as she rode the current of air, nothing else mattered to me.
“Come here, Mami.”
“Now it’s, Mami? What happened to amiga?”
“You’ve been upgraded.”
She laughed. I inched closer to her, but wasn’t close enough.
“Come here, please,” I begged.
“Why should I come?”
“Because I long to hold you.”
“Hmmm.” She floated back, which dragged a deep growl from my
chest. “Maybe you should come to me.”
“But I can’t fly.”
 “How do you know?”
I shifted my view past the ledge and toward the ground that extended
miles and miles below us. “I would fall.”
“Just let go.”
“But. . .”
She flew away, and I screamed.
“Alvarez.” Small hands pressed soft skin against my chest. “Are you
okay?”
Waking up, I opened my eyes and Elle hovered above me. Her hair
hung around her opened robe. Some of it rested on my chest. Those two
mounds of curvy breasts revealed themselves, not completely but enough to
see a hint of pink areola near the robe’s opening.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
I lifted my head and captured those parted lips with mine. Instead of
pushing me away or telling me no, she melted her body into me. Her supple
flesh smoothed against my chest. Goddamn it. I’ll never leave this bed.
Anticipation boomed in my core. I rolled Elle onto her back and let my
tongue travel around her mouth. Each time I dipped, she sucked. Every time
I captured her bottom lip, she took over in seizing mine. Every cell in my
body flared and readied itself for combustion.
“Voy a hacerte mía.” I licked the outline of her jaw, nibbled along the
inside of her neck, and opened her robe to fully expose those luscious
mounds. “Y cuando eres mía, no voy a dejar ir.”
“What are you saying to me?” She gasped as I slid my hands over her
naked breasts. That sleek skin guided me to a nipple that stiffened under my
fingertips. That’s right, Mami. You want this as much as I need it. My length
rose in my pants and pushed against the material. Gently, little by little, I
twisted the little hard nipple between my fingers. Beautiful sounds ripped
from her throat. She arched her back in response and I thought I’d bust out
of my pants right there.
“Voy a hacerte mía.”
She grabbed my chin and forced my view from her perfect breasts to her
enchanting face. “What are you saying?”
“It doesn’t matter because what I’m saying will come true.” I flicked
my thumb against her nipple. She moaned and I did it again. My erection
was hard and unyielding. If I didn’t put it inside of her, I would go crazy.
She moved my hand away. “Tell me what you’re saying or I won’t let
you touch me anymore.”
I licked my lips. “I said that I’m going to make you mine. And when
you’re mine, I’ll never let you go.”
I devoured those lips before she could protest. It was time she knew
there was no more going back. In barely three days she’d managed to snare
my heart. It was time for her to pay the consequences with my tongue deep
between her thighs, never letting her catch her breath or think for longer
than a second.
My phone rang.
“Maldita sea!”
She giggled. “And what did you say just now?”
“Damn it.” I grabbed my ringing phone and shut it off without looking
at who called.
“It’s rude to speak in a foreign language around someone who doesn’t
understand.”
 “It’s rude to not take off your robe when you’re sleeping with a love-
struck man. It’s torturous, in fact.”
“Love-struck?” She tossed me a skeptical look.
My other phone rang. Only my family had the number to the second
phone and they were only supposed to use it for emergencies.
“You have two phones?” Elle asked.
“Sadly.”
Who the hell is calling and what in god’s name do they want?
I paused for a second. The earlier worries of the day crashed into me—
deaths and bloodied clothes, my family and the lies they were keeping from
me. The phone rang again like a sadistic dictator shoving me back in line to
conform with the rest of the troops.
“You should answer it.” She ran her fingers through my hair.
That subtle gesture made me tremble against her. “Forget the phone.”
Someone turned the doorknob and then jiggled it. The door was locked,
so they knocked.
Goddamn it.
“Yes?” I called out.
“Why is this door locked?” Grandma’s voice passed through the door
with irritation.
“I’m busy.”
“You’re never busy.”
“What do you need?” My erection disappeared at the thought of my
grandma directly outside.
“The guard won’t let me up to see Dayanara.”
 Elle raised her eyebrows as if to ask me who that person was. I couldn’t
risk going into that situation right now. Enough craziness existed around us.
I couldn’t load any more on her. And to be truthful, I feared she would hear
the story, throw her hands up in the air, and leave.
“Hold on, Grandma. I’ll be outside to talk about this more. Give me one
minute.” I jumped up, grabbed my robe hanging off the side of the chair,
and put it on as I rushed to the door. Thankfully, Elle remained on the bed
without asking any questions and tightened her robe to conceal those
beautiful breasts.
Just an hour or so for me to do what I would like. That’s all I need. They
can’t just give me one goddamn hour?
Outside in the hallway, I shut the door behind me and guided Grandma
to my office. “Why do you need to see Dayanara?”
She took in my disheveled hair and ruffled attire. “You were asleep?”
“Yes. I didn’t go to sleep last night so I took an afternoon nap.”
“Well, it’s nighttime now.”
“You didn’t answer my question. Why do you need to see her?”
“Why do I have to give you a reason? When did all of this start? I go
upstairs and the guard says no one is allowed up there without talking to
you first.”
“I want her guests limited.”
“Why?”
“Things are happening around me that I’m not aware of, so until
everyone decides to tell me what’s going on, there will be new rules to
follow.”
“You’re aware of everything!”
 I stopped and faced her. “Were you walking around the grounds the
nights both girls died?”
She held her hand to her chest and opened her mouth in shock. “Why
would an old woman like me be outside so late at night? I can barely stay
awake more than five hours or so a day without falling asleep in my chair as
I knit.”
“Knit?”
She placed her hands on her hips. “I knit.”
I walked off and muttered, “Knowing you, you’re probably knitting
intestines together.”
“I heard that!”
To my surprise, Detective White stood outside my office door. A neutral
mask wrapped around his face—distant eyes and mouth shut but not turned
up or down at the corners. Two large boxes rested next to his feet. He was
supposed to search Reece’s living quarters.
Did he find something?
I hoped not. For all those years I’d known her, I would never have
considered her as someone who harmed people for no reason. In fact, none
of my family could’ve had anything to do with these girls’ murders.
But they knew something. Of that I’m sure. They’re hiding something
from me.
Detective White spotted Grandma storming behind me. “I have some
news, but this should be spoken of in private.”
“Fine with me.” Grandma jumped her little frame between us. “You just
tell that lug head of a guard that I am allowed to see Dayanara. If I’m not,
then I’ll have to deal with it in my way. You don’t want that and the gods
don’t either.”
“No curses or itch charms or whatever else you’re thinking.” I pointed
at her. “We have some things to talk about first. How about we meet for
dinner in your cottage? I’ll have the staff make us something nice. We talk
and then I’ll give you access.”
“Dinner? I don’t have time for—”
“Grandma, please. Dinner in an hour and I’ll take you up to Dayanara
myself.”
“In one hour. Fine.” She marched off with her hands clenched into fists.
I opened my door. “Let’s talk in my office. Have you finished searching
Reece’s quarters?”
“Yes. That’s what we need to talk about. I’m more than certain she was
directly involved in these deaths.”
I should’ve changed out of the robe, but I knew if I went back into that
room with Elle, I would never leave. These murders needed my attention.
Detective White followed me into my office. Knots formed in my stomach.
“Why do you think Reece is connected to these murders?”
“In her extra room, she has a closet with the inside covered in clear
plastic. Although she did a good job at cleaning, my men found traces of
blood, skin, and hair. We were unable to link the blood samples to the two
victims, but the hair was another story. My men discovered tiny hairs that
belonged to both women, as well as others who came up as missing in the
Miami-Dade county police database.”
I could barely make it to my chair. When I did, I collapsed into it. “Are
you sure Reece would’ve known this was there? Perhaps she had nothing to
do. . .”
 I trailed off. Always a professional, Detective White had the good sense
to let me come to the reasonable conclusion on my own. How could Reece
not know that blood and skin was in her closet? Sure, it was the one in the
extra room, but there would’ve been a smell. And no one else had the
ability to enter the quarters but her, me, and a few servants. While a maid or
servant could’ve placed the items in there, when, why, and how? There was
always that possibility, but the probability of Reece being innocent sank
down to slim.
I blew out a long breath. “What do we do?”
“Nothing. I’ve already notified forensics and have them handling it.”
“Will they need access to the property?”
“Yes. At least her room. They’ve already checked the grounds.
However, Mr. Castillo, I believe your assistant did not act alone. If she ran
out that night, as the video shows, and killed the first woman, then I’m left
wondering how she ran into— ”
“Dayanara.” I rose from my seat. “Please don’t tell me you think she
involved Dayanara in some way.”
“Dayanara did have traces of the first victim’s blood on her clothes, and
with her involvement in the past murders ten years ago, I believe we should
at least consider the possibility she is connected to this.”
“She wasn’t involved in those murders.” The words came out with the
stubbornness of a child. All the evidence pointed to her involvement, but
she’d been released on an insanity diagnosis. Once Hex sold his first
painting, he demanded I get a legal team to release her from the hospital.
And now what? Did I release a murderer?
“What do you need from me in order to decide if Dayanara is connected
or not?” I asked.
 “I think we should search Dayanara’s living area now, while your
assistant is still gone. Once we’ve done that, I think I can truly decide on
my next steps.”
“Okay.” I made my way around the desk. “Let’s go.”
Minutes ago, I’d been on top of Elle tasting her skin and fondling her
soft flesh. For a few seconds I’d sampled heaven, only to be dragged back
into hell.
It took us barely fifteen minutes to get upstairs.
The new nurse greeted us at the door with a smile. “Mrs. Castillo has
not gone to sleep yet. She is in her room playing with her dolls.”
“Thank you. This is Detective White. He’s with me today to make sure
the room is taken care of. We’ll be looking around her bedroom and
possibly the rest of this area.”
“Is something wrong, sir?”
“No. This is unrelated to you or your performance.” My answer seemed
to please her. She went to the kitchen and stirred a pot with red bubbling
liquid inside. “She’s been quiet all day and did not want to leave the room.
Does she usually talk?”
Well, she had a busy night, with being covered in blood and dragged
around the property.
“At times she will say a few things, but the majority of the time she will
remain quiet.” I led Detective White to Dayanara’s bedroom door. I noticed
that someone had tacked a cross to the wall above her doorway. It was made
of cornhusks and a tiny doll no longer than an inch lay at the center of it.
Grandma’s protection charm. I scanned the room and identified more spots
where she’d nailed shimmering beads of different colors. Symbols covered
their shiny surfaces. Smeared ash coated the window frames.
 More of Grandma’s enchantments.
I opened the bathroom to check if she’d put something there, knowing
deep down inside that she had. She did. Hundreds of chicken feet dangled
from the ceiling. I recalled a memory of when I was nine years old and
visiting Grandma in Cuba and how she’d said, “Chicken feet scare away the
dirty souls that try to creep up through the toilet. Always look before you
sit, Alvarez. You just never know.”
I didn’t do anything in that bathroom the rest of the time I was there.
During that trip, Mom spanked my bottom so many times for peeing outside
that the plane ride home was beyond uncomfortable.
I glanced at the new nurse over my shoulder. She whistled as she poured
chopped onions into the large pot as if no strange things hung around her.
The women must know Grandma somehow.
I should’ve known. Reece said that she had picked a nurse from a health
staffing company, but there is no way she did. She must’ve let Grandma
pick. There’s no way a woman not practicing corazón muerto would be able
to walk around this place without being scared out of their mind.
Detective White drank in the view as I did. I’m sure after all his years
investigating murders and situations for the rich, not much surprised him.
However, I was sure my family would test that theory one day.
“Her room is right here.” I opened the door.
Dayanara sat in the corner with five dolls in front of her. All of their
heads were missing, as usual. She didn’t stop what she was doing or look up
at me. Gray hair dotted her temples. A few laugh lines had set in around her
lips. It hurt me to realize that she was aging as she lived up in an attic with
headless dolls, a stranger nursing her, and walls covered in tattered strips of
wallpaper. Detective White stepped in, and I closed the door.
 “Dayanara. This is Detective White. He’s going to look around for a
little bit while you and I talk. Is that okay?”
She just petted her dolls’ bodies. Scratches decorated her fingers. They
looked fresh and barely healed, like she’d just received them last night.
I dug my hand into my pocket and pulled out a strip of yellow wallpaper
as bright as the sun. It shone in the hanging light bulb. “I’ve brought you a
gift. It’s your favorite color.”
She hummed, but didn’t look up. I came closer to her while Detective
White walked around tapping the wooden panels a few times and shining
his flashlight into the cracks between the planks.
“I’m going to place the wallpaper right next to you.” I set it down by
her feet.
She tensed and waited until I left to pick it up.
“Do you like it?”
For the first time that evening she shifted her gaze from the dolls to me.
“He’s still going to come.”
My nerves flared on edge. It was never a good thing when she talked so
clearly. “Who is going to come?”
She returned to humming. It was such a soft jingle, light and melodious,
but as I sat in the bare room with the light bulb swinging back and forth and
Detective White looking for evidence of two murders, the humming shoved
me over the edge. “Who is going to come, Dayanara?”
She rocked in place and held the yellow paper close to her chest. “Who
else would cut those girls that way? Who else?”
“Mr. Castillo, I think we have something here. It’s hollow in this area
and there is a weird smell coming from here.” Detective White knocked in
the corner of the room. “Do I have your permission to undo these planks?”
“Go ahead.”
Dayanara hummed, stopped, and whispered, “Mama was right. I should
have never buried him. He was supposed to burn like all the rest. I didn’t
say the words.”
Wood cracked behind me. Detective White had pulled out some weird
metal tool and had part of the board lifted. The room filled with the odor of
rotten food and the smell of a decaying bird left in the middle of the street. I
covered my nose with my arm and breathed out of my mouth.
Detective White peered in and jumped back. “Oh Mother Mary, you
don’t want to see this.”
“What is it?”
“The two girls’ missing vaginas.”

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter 19
Elle

I went back to my bedroom, realizing Alvarez would probably not be

returning any time soon. When he told me he didn’t have time to search for
his true love, I’d figured it was a line or some BS excuse. But it was true.
He really didn’t have the time. Managing his family had kept him up all day
and dragged him out of bed in our moment of passion, a moment I was
happy to be interrupted.
Just like him, I didn’t have time for love. I needed to focus on why I
was here, not love or another man’s arms to take my mind off Michael.
How easy it had been to lay in Alvarez’s bed, sleep next to him, and wake
up to his lips and fingertips all over me.
A week of Michael and I being separated hasn’t even passed and I’m
already with another man. Just like those self-help books said, I have a
dependent personality.
I bathed for an hour and considered all of the things I needed to do.
Running out on Michael was only the first step, modeling for Hex the
second. After I washed, I gazed into the mirror.
“Change who you are,” Hex had said.
I opened the medicine cabinet, searched for scissors, and found a sharp
pair. “Okay, Hex. I told you I would follow you down the rabbit hole. I
hope you’re not mad about my hair.”
 I snipped for a good hour. Half way into cutting I realized I should have
gone to an actual beautician. Once my strands had run well past my behind,
now they barely touched my shoulders and were unevenly layered in the
back. It looked almost like I’d meant it to be cut that way, almost hip, or
maybe I was just telling myself that.
Now what? Maybe I should figure out if I even want to be a model or do
something else.
I could either decide to keep modeling or find some new career that
made me content. After that I held no other plans in my head. I just yearned
to be happy like everybody else.
One book I’d read insisted that in order for people to be truly happy
they should go after their dreams. The test was simple. Person A made
wooden trains for a living and enjoyed doing it. Was he living his dream?
Was he truly happy? One day person A woke up and discovered he’d won
the lottery. Person A was now a millionaire. Would he still make the
wooden trains or kick those scraps away and do something else? If he
would still sit down and make the trains, then he was living his dream.
Would I still model if I didn’t need the money?
I wasn’t so sure. I enjoyed art, but loved movies more. I appreciated the
fact that I could make a living off sitting on my behind while others created
around me, but didn’t see myself ever longing to do it for years to come.
So what do I want to do? Something with movies, maybe? What does
that even mean, something with movies? I can’t act or direct.
I spent the next hour researching jobs on my phone. I browsed most that
dealt with the movie industry. The only occupation that sent thrills through
my body was movie critic. I don’t know. It was one of the hardest
occupations to get into, at least to make a living off it. Additionally, no
college solely dedicated their academics to film criticism, but on the other
hand, there were many colleges that provided film studies. College? Could I
go to college? I’d never been. In fact, I hadn’t been inside of a classroom in
ten years. The very idea of dealing with math problems scared me.
I would probably be the oldest person there, that weirdo old girl in all
the college movies, serving as the butt of every joke in comedies and the
person who usually died first in the horrors.
I was twenty-nine years old with no sure path I wanted to take. Didn’t
people know what they wanted in life by now? Had all those years with
Michael, nurturing his career and dreams, sucked away my only
opportunity for finding what I love?
Someone knocked on the door. “Elle?”
“Alvarez?”
“Yes.” His voice sounded low and sad.
“Is everything okay?” I put my phone down, jumped from my bed, and
opened the door.
Alvarez tilted his head forward so I couldn’t see his eyes. The darkness
of the hallway shielded half of his face. His crumpled shirt hung open at the
top and he held a bottle of opened wine in his hand. My guards gave him a
large amount of space, as if to not aggravate him.
“It seems that every time I run to you, I’m sinking in a pit of poisonous
stew and drowning.” The stink of alcohol drifted my way with each word.
“One day I want to come to you in a happy mood.”
“Why are you so down?”
“My investigator discovered who the killer was and. . .” He took a swig
from the bottle. “Both of the people are close to me.”
“Oh my god.” I embraced him. “Who were the people?”
 “It doesn’t matter.” He studied me for a minute. “Damn, you’re
beautiful without all of that hair in the way. Who cut it for you?”
“I did.”
“I didn’t know you could do hair.”
“Me neither.” I paused for a few seconds. “Who were the two people
involved?”
He wrapped his arms around my waist and leaned his head on my
shoulder. “Do you feel like going somewhere with me? Anywhere? I just
have to get off this property for a while. I can have a car take us wherever
you want to go.”
How could I say no? He slumped his shoulders forward and rested most
of his weight on me. The guards exchanged worried glances with each
other. Alvarez was in a low place. If I was in his position, he would do all
he could to take care of me. That was just the type of guy he was.
But who took care of Alvarez?
I ran my fingers through his hair. Those silky strands slipped against my
skin. “I would love to spend some time with you. Let’s go.”
An hour later, we rode in the limo with the sun roof down and the
moonlight spilling through. I’d changed into a simple white sun dress and
he’d stumbled back to his bedroom to sling on some jeans and a gray t-shirt
with the word “navy” in black. I made him leave his phone in his room so
no one would disturb him the rest of the evening. In the limo, the wind
traveled through our opened windows and blew through our hair as we
sipped wine. Low jazz played in the background. It was full of a sensual
saxophone and entwined with a steady bass. In front of our feet lay a big
picnic basket of pastries filled with meats and cheeses. His chef had
prepared the package for our ride. Chocolate and honeyed desserts sat in
smaller containers on the sides, but I could barely motivate myself to even
open the sweets after gorging on the rest.
“Taste this one.” He slipped a flaky bite of pastry between my lips. It
melted on my tongue and revealed a strong flavor of cheese that I couldn’t
guess.
“That’s delicious. What type of cheese was that?”
“I have no idea. I just know it’s good.” He popped one in his own mouth
and leaned toward the basket. “Would you like some more?”
“No.” I waved him away. “I’m not hungry at all. You’ve been stuffing
me with delicious things since we sat in here.”
“You have to be a little hungry. We’re going to a restaurant that has the
best seafood on South Beach.”
“No. Thanks. I’m nowhere near hungry with the wine and all those
yummy bites in the basket. I would just be happy to see South Beach.”
“Fine.” He leaned back in his seat. A huge grin spread across his face.
“I knew being with you would be a great idea. No matter what is around
me, your presence shoves it all out of my head. All the horror and dread that
I see, as soon as you’re near I forget about it all.”
I shook my head and giggled. “I wish I could take the credit, but that’s
the wine, Alvarez. Not me.”
He centered his gaze on me. “Trust me. It’s all you.”
The limo carried us forward. Like a boat among a sea of cars, it rocked
us on the waves of the road and stopped every now and then to reveal the
sights of Miami—exotic women draped in bright printed dresses, gorgeous
men in khakis and flip-flops, palm trees dancing in the wind, the staccato
hum of a distant salsa song coming from a faraway café, and on and on. I
battled with so many luring sights that at many times, I forced myself to
focus on the inside of our limo in order to anchor my excitement to one
calming focus.
Another jazz tune filled the silence in the vehicle. The whole time
Alvarez kept a foot of distance between us, except for his hands, which
twirled my short hair over and over around his fingers. After several
encouraging minutes of moonlight and jazz, I risked disturbing the mood.
“Are you going to tell me what happened earlier today?”
“I don’t want to.”
“Why not?”
“Because it makes me sad.”
“Who was involved? It makes me nervous that you said it was someone
near you. It wasn’t Hex, right?”
“No. It was my assistant.”
“Oh.” I hadn’t expected that at all. “I got the impression that it was
more than one person because you said that they were people close to you.
Who was the other one?”
He made himself a drink. I’d been counting how many glasses he
swallowed down since we got into the limo. This was his fourth glass of
wine. At this rate, I would have to ask the guards to carry him to his room.
“I might as well tell you now, before you hear it on the news.” He set
the bottle of wine down. “At this moment, the cops should be at the castle
arresting my assistant Reece and my mother Dayanara Castillo for the
murder of two girls.”
“Your mother? I thought you told me your mother was gone?”
He took a sip of his wine. “As far as I’m concerned she’s been gone for
over ten years now. Her mind snapped under extreme pressure and she’s
never returned. I tried to put her in a mental facility a few times, but my
grandma and Hex couldn’t deal with the separation. The end result was me
having to place her in the upstairs area of the castle. That way she would
still be close to my family, but far enough to not hurt anybody else.”
“But she did?”
“Yes.” He gulped some of his wine. “Not many people even knew she
lived on the property, only a few of the servants, her nurse, and her guards.”
“But if she had guards around her, how did she get free to kill those
women?”
“My security director and Dayanara’s nurse were a married couple who
snuck moments together early in the morning when most people slept. The
director would turn off the camera and go to the living area where they did
whatever they did while Dayanara escaped. The police detective and I are
still unsure of how she left her quarters, but we assume Reece helped.”
“How are you sure Reece and your mother were even involved?”
“My investigator found blood drops and hair matching both victims in
Reece’s living quarters, and then the victim’s. . . body parts were uncovered
in Dayanara’s room, with me right there.” He finished the glass and reached
for the wine bottle with trembling fingers.
“No. Don’t drink anymore.” I took his glass out of his hand and moved
his other one away from the bottle. “I know you went through a whole lot,
but you don’t want to start drowning yourself in liquor. You’ll find that it’s
easy to do, but by the time you realize it could start to be a problem, you’re
already over that cliff.”
My father sleeping on the couch in urine-soaked clothes flashed in my
mind. Life had battered him with hard moment after hard moment. Each
time bad situations slammed and shoved him to the floor, he reached for a
bottle. I didn’t want that to happen to Alvarez. “Come here.”
 He scooted my way and sank into my open arms.
“Let’s not talk about any of this stuff anymore.” I rubbed his back. “I’m
just so sorry you had to deal with all of that or even see what you saw
tonight.”
“At least this is all over, finally.”
“Yes.”
The limo stopped. I peered out the window. A sign greeted my eyes
with the words Ocean Drive. A voice sounded over the intercom. “Mr.
Castillo, we’re approaching a traffic jam and will be five minutes late for
the reservations. I will call ahead to notify them.”
Letting go of me, Alvarez pressed a button next to him. “Go ahead and
cancel the reservations. I would like to take my lovely date for a walk
around Ocean Drive. I’ll have security call you with our pick up location
when we’re done.”
“Okay, sir.”
Alvarez hit his forehead. “I’m sorry. I didn’t even ask you if strolling
the drive was something you would like to do. I’m so used to being by
myself and doing whatever I want.”
“No.” Anticipation surged through me. “Let’s go out there and have fun.
No stress. No family problems. Only us and South Beach.”
“I love that.” He pressed his lips against mine and drew me into a long,
succulent kiss that didn’t stop until the driver opened the door to let us out.
It didn’t matter how many drinks Alvarez had devoured. He still possessed
that one thing that triggered a scorching heat inside of my core. Everything
warmed so badly that when I stepped out, my legs tingled and I swayed
back.
“Are you okay?” Alvarez held me to him until I could get my balance.
 “I’m fine.”
“Then welcome to Miami.”
Ocean Drive resembled a carnival of pleasure, one that propped up all
desires and hung price tags on each need.
The canopies looked like tents and came in various shades. Crystal
chandeliers hung from their centers in different shapes and sizes—
teardrops, bulbs, cones, squares, and triangles. They glowed in bright tones
from blushing pink to orange, ginger to violet, and draped the chatting
patrons with light. The aroma of grilled fish and simmering sauces saturated
the tents. And in the pathway of the carnival, people performed. Half-naked
men and women strummed guitars, shook maracas, pounded on hourglass
shaped drums, and sang out Spanish lyrics about love, revolution, and sex
cloaked in metaphors of blossoming buds and erect sugarcane sticks.
The audience breathed it in. Men and women lounged at the tables in
swimsuits or evening wear. Some clanked their drinks together. Others
stared at the people who walked by.
“We’ve extended happy hour until nine.” One hostess blocked our way
with ample cleavage. She tossed her blonde hair over her shoulders and
winked at Alvarez. “You should really try us. I guarantee you’ll have an
awesome time.”
“No thank you.” Alvarez guided me around her.
“Drinks are two for one and all entrees are half off tonight.” Another
hostess from the restaurant farther down tapped my arm. I waved her away.
Chatter rose in the air and merged with piano music from high-end
restaurants and salsa-infused techno songs from bars. And the sales pitches
continued on and on, until we passed all of the main restaurants and entered
the section with hotel lounges. Next came department stores full of
mannequins that boasted double D wooden breasts and the tiniest shorts I’d
ever seen. With every four or five blocks of business, a different faceless
guy of any color loitered within the shadows and whispered, “Kush.”
“Mary Jane.”
“Sativa.”
“Cannabis.”
“No. Thank you.” Alvarez tightened his grip on my hand as we strolled
on. “What do you feel like doing? We can go to a nice lounge and relax
with wine and conversation or we could run off to dance at—”
“I’m a horrible dancer.”
“All you have to do is follow.”
“I would have to do more than that.”
“Never. You’re with a Cuban man.”
“Oh goodness. I know. You all have romance in your blood.”
“Well, yes, but I was going to say that we also come out of the womb
dancing.”
“Impressive. Romance in the blood, an extra heart to give to a true love,
and natural dancing ability. I wish I was born a Cuban man.”
“No, Mami. You don’t need to be born one because you’re with one of
the best. Let me show you.” In that moment he got in front of me and seized
my waist with his left hand and my hand with his right. He twirled me
around on the busy sidewalk. People spread out to give us space, laughing
and clapping the whole time. The sound of a trumpet rose around us. What
the hell? I looked around and saw a one-handed man blowing through his
trumpet right next to us.
“We have an audience.” I tried to move my hand and cover my face.
 Alvarez kept me moving and twisting to the trumpet’s rhythm. “Yes,
Mami. Just like that. Look at those hips. You’re a natural.”
“And you’re insane.” I laughed, but couldn’t help to add my own moves
with his.
More people formed around us. Other couples jumped in with their own
dancing. At one point the couple on our right bumped into us a few times
until we were more in the crowd with clapping people than on our self-
made dance floor on the sidewalk.
“I think this is our cue to leave.” Alvarez panted and dabbed at the
sweat on his forehead.
“I agree.” I could barely catch my own breath.
“We need to cool off.” He lifted me up in his arms.
A shriek left my lips. “Alvarez?”
“Relax. We’re going to the beach.” He ran across the street with me in
his arms, dashing through cars that still sat in a traffic jam.
Sidewalk shifted to chilly sand and beach grass that leaned to the side
when the wind blew by. There were no lights there. Only the moon guided
our path. A few couples strolled toward the darkened sands and waves of
water reflecting the diamonds of the sky. A cool breeze skittered across my
skin and combed through my hair.
“It’s beautiful out here.” I lay my head on his shoulder and relished in
the thickness of his muscular arms around me. “If I lived here, I would
come up to this beach every night and just stare at the dark sky and ocean.”
On the beach, the city’s booming beat and electric pounding dissipated
into the breeze. The ocean’s waves swallowed all of the noise, bright lights,
and fast-paced partying. There was no competition. Peace settled down on
us with each step. I glanced over Alvarez’s shoulders. South Beach
transformed into a silhouette of faraway shapes and tiny people. And within
the shadows I spotted a few guards scattered around us. I couldn’t make out
any of their faces, just that they stood at the beach entrances and rerouted
the few strolling couples to another end.
Alvarez slipped my sandals off my feet and lowered me. “How are you
feeling?”
“Better than I’ve ever felt before.”
A breeze swished by and lifted my sundress to my knees. Sand gathered
between my toes. My steps sank into the grainy soil. I left a trail of
footprints behind. Salt thickened the air. I inhaled and tasted the bite of it on
my tongue. “God. This is just amazing. Every beach is different. I’ve seen
so many in California and all over the world, but one can never get tired of
soft white sand and cool clear water glittering with diamonds.”
“Diamonds?”
“All of those beautiful stars reflecting in the water.” I continued to raise
my dress and walked to the water.
Surprisingly, the water was warm. The liquid swarmed around my feet
and taunted me to move further, and so I did. A thrill stirred my senses.
How long had it been since I’d laughed or danced like that? How long had
it been since I spent time with a man who didn’t play mental games, flirt
with other women around me, or cause chaos within his path?
Never. I’d never been with any other man besides Michael.
Alvarez rolled the bottom of his pants up and stepped into the ocean
with me. Moonlight gleamed in his eyes and bathed his tan complexion in a
taunting glow. The breeze ruffled his shirt and formed the material around
his muscular chest with each fast current.
 “You look so beautiful out here. If I was an artist, this is what I would
paint.” He touched my hair as it writhed and twisted in the wind. “How did
I get so lucky to meet you?” He moved closer to me. “What god or goddess
should I thank?”
“Maybe I should be the one thanking somebody.”
“No, Mami.” He captured my lips, right there as we stood in the ocean
with diamonds sparkling around us.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter 20
Alvarez

Tonight she’ll be mine.

I promised myself that once these murders were solved I would go after
her. Discovering Reece and Dayanara as the culprits shook me up and
shoved me off the edge of normalcy. Earlier, I’d sat in my office and drank,
not desiring to pour my sadness all over Elle.
But I couldn’t stay away from her. I couldn’t not be next to her when she
sat somewhere in my castle.
When I arrived at her door with the weight of the entire world on my
shoulders, she drew me into her arms and knocked all of my stress away.
She comforted and spent time with me when she didn’t have to. She didn’t
know me at all, had no idea who I was or what I intended for her, whether
passion or pain. But her heart pushed her forward, that beautiful heart I
wanted for myself. So when the moment came to kiss her as we stood in the
water at the beach, I seized it like a desperate man. I was a mad one on the
edge of insanity and she was the tonic I needed.
Moaning, she melted into my arms and molded her body against mine
as if giving me permission to take whatever I yearned for.
And I will. I can’t think of anything else.
The ocean waves crashed against us. That cool water rose up to our
knees. All was forgotten in those sweet kisses—lips gliding against lips,
wet tongues twisting and exploring, hungry hands and taunting fingers.
Fireworks of lust and need exploded inside of me. My jeans stuck to my
legs, but I couldn’t care less. I moved us further into the ocean. Her dress
painted her wet body, yet she followed me deeper into the waters as they
reached well above both of our hips.
Greedy tremors of desire shook me. I had to be careful, and take my
time, kiss by kiss, because what formed inside my chest and turned over
and over until it was a huge hot orb expanding and building, would be too
much for her to handle. It was too much for me to even contain, but I had
to. Elle deserved patience and someone who could wait as long as she
needed before trying to taste every part of her.
She giggled. “All the times I’ve lived near a beach. I’ve never just
walked in like this and gotten all wet.”
“We can take your clothes off, if you would like.” I’d meant it as a joke
right before diving in for another sample of that welcoming mouth, but she
surprised me.
“I’ll take mine off if you take yours off.”
I stiffened against her. “Are you sure you’re ready for that?”
“Why? Are you telling me that as a Cuban man you have something
else to offer when your clothes are off? You already claim to have an extra
heart, do you have something else that’s extra?” She signaled to my crotch.
“No. One is enough.” I nipped at her neck. Little drops of salt water met
my tongue. “Now back to our clothes. I must warn you. If I take off my
clothes and yours are off too, I can’t guarantee I’ll behave myself.”
She didn’t shy away or avert her eyes. Instead, she met my gaze with a
confident one that made me hard inside of my pants. “Alvarez, I’m hoping
you won’t behave yourself.”
 Shedding my clothes took no time. I swore I heard a few rips come from
my shirt and jeans as I wrenched them off. She laughed when I fell back
into the water with one leg entangled in some weird knot of fabric. My butt
hit the sandy floor. Water soared over my head and swallowed me whole.
Salt water rushed into my nostrils. I should’ve felt shame or embarrassment.
I didn’t. I was with my lady.
A comforting sensation washed over me as my head and body immersed
in salty water. Holding my breath, I opened my eyes in the ocean.
Moonlight seeped through the water. A mermaid with lush black hair, pale
skin, and a wondrous white tail of shimmering pearls swam to me. She
lifted me up. “Are you okay?”
“I didn’t know mermaids were real.”
Elle hit my chest. “Oh stop it. Did you lose your clothes?”
“Yes. My shirt and jeans are probably floating their way to Cuba by
now.”
She turned her head from side to side. “No. They’re probably around
here somewhere. Do you want me to help you find them?”
“No.” I pulled her to me. “I want you to lose your clothes, too.”
I slid her straps down over her shoulders and kissed the wet skin. Her
hair slicked back and showed off that incredible face. I paused for a second
to really take her all in. “You have an amazing face. I think all of that
beautiful hair hid it from everyone. I feel lucky to see it.”
A red tint rushed over her cheeks. “Thank you.”
Inch by inch, I pulled her dress down. The soaked material dragged
away from her skin. The more the dress revealed, the more she backed up
and moved deeper into the water. We were far away from the shoreline.
Waves reached over her shoulders and the middle of my chest.
 “You don’t want me to see your body?” I whispered. In the water, I
continued to pull the dress down her hips and glide my fingertips along the
edge of her panty line.
She gasped at the touch. “I don’t want anyone else to see me. I know it
sounds so weird, since I’ve been on thousands of paintings in the nude, but
when it is an intimate moment like this, I get nervous.”
Still gripping her dress, I tugged Elle forward. “No one’s around. Our
guards cleared this part of the beach.”
“Can they do that?”
“You see how big they are? Would you argue with them?”
“No.”
“Don’t ever be nervous with me.”
The dress fell to the ocean floor. She pulled off her bra and stepped out
of her panties, not caring where those undergarments would float away to. I
couldn’t care less, either. If necessary, we could have the guards buy some
clothes while we swam in the water. All I understood was that I yearned to
be next to, inside, and against her. I longed to consume and make her mine
in any way possible.
“Mi amor, un día vas a ser mi esposa.” I brought her into my arms. Her
hard nipples pressed against my chest. Her heartbeat boomed so fast and
loud I could feel and hear it all around me.
“That’s not fair,” she whispered.
Battling with myself to take my time, I explored her body with my
hands. “What’s not fair?”
She bit her lips and groaned, “You’re saying things I don’t understand.
Although, I must admit those words sound so sexy coming out of your
mouth.”
“A continuación, voy a hablar en español cuando hago el amor.” I lifted
her up and she wrapped those long legs around my waist. My length rested
under her and begged me to push it inside of her, but I ignored his pleas.
“Stop that.” She laid her arms on my shoulders. “Tell me what you’re
saying.”
“Which time?”
“Both.”
“Promise me you won’t run off in fear.”
“I won’t,” she promised.
“The first thing I said was. . . my love, I’ll make you my wife.”
She parted her lips.
“No running.”
“I-I’m not.” She trembled in my arms.
What’s on your mind, mi amor?
“The second thing I said was. . . that I would speak Spanish the whole
time I make love to you.” I heard her intake breath. “What’s on your mind,
Mami?”
She shook her head. “This. . . whatever this is can’t be more than just
the summer or—”
“No limits.”
“There has to be limits.”
“Why?”
“Because. . .”
 “You don’t even know why. You just know that you have to protect
yourself and guard your heart.” I stroked her back.
“Yes, but you’re talking about marriage and earlier when we were in
bed together you said that you would make me yours. That’s too much.”
“Are you sure about that?” I ran my fingertips across her soft behind.
The water stirred around us. “No limits between us.”
“There has to be some.”
“Why?”
“I don’t want to lose myself. It’s happened before.”
“Then let me lose myself in you.” I lapped at the beads of water on her
nipples. A loud moan fled from her lips, urging me to suck that hard point
into my mouth and flick my tongue across the tip. I moved my face between
her moist cleavage and licked some more.
Maldito, she feels so good. I’ve got to have her.
I trapped her other nipple in my mouth. Her legs shivered against my
waist with each lick. I stopped and looked into her eyes. “Don’t over think
this, Mami. It’s too special. Promise me?”
“I can’t.”
I dug my hand between our bodies and caressed her between those soft
thighs. “You can.”
Her whole body trembled against me. I toyed with that velvety flesh
some more, needing to see her face as she let go for me, just pushed down
all of those barriers around her and accepted everything I had to give her.
“Oh god.” Those two words vibrated from her lips. I traced poetic lines
with my fingertips, little messages that she could read on nights when I was
not next to her and she lay in the bed, wet and alone. She shrieked in
pleasure at my words and statements teasing her body. With my fingers, I
outlined our future, every step, each milestone, all the years we would
celebrate between us. It was a book I placed between the softest place on
earth.
By the end of my finger writing, my fingertips were slick with her. I
could tell the difference between ocean water and her arousal, and I loved
it.
“Stay right there.” I drew in as much oxygen as I could, lowered into
the water, put her legs on my shoulders, and sucked on all the places I wrote
on, everywhere there was a letter that needed a dot or slash, any spot that
yearned for extra attention. She squirmed against my mouth, swishing water
and bubbles around my face.
Fuck. I wish I could breathe under water, but I have to stop.
Coming up for air, I rose with her sitting on my shoulders and her hands
holding the back of my head. Water streamed down our bodies. I looked up
at her. She was a shuddering mass of panting that echoed across the ocean’s
surface. “Oh. . . my. . . goodness.”
I drew in more air and took us back under the water. I didn’t waste any
time, drinking to my heart’s content. Pressure pushed against my lungs. I
twirled my tongue, as fast as I could, coating my tongue with her. We rose
again.
She looked down at me like she’d just seen me for the first time. I
lapped at her center once again so she could see me do it. She blinked her
eyes as if unsure of how to respond.
“I’ve been waiting for you for a very long time.” I raised her off my
shoulders, lowered her to me, and guided her legs around my waist. “Why
did you take so long to come to me?”
“If I knew you were here, I would’ve come so much sooner.”
 “Yeah?” I displayed a wicked grin.
“God, yes.”
“Then no limits?”
She swallowed. “No limits.”
“Can I make love to you, mi amor?”
“Please.”
In no time, I entered her. It took no effort or light from the moon above
us to figure out where to push and pull. I’d learned her body in those few
moments of writing my thoughts on her and she was so ready for me. I slid
inside her precious area, which was so yielding to my thrusts yet
immediately formed around my length whenever I had to pull away.
Dear god!
I bit my bottom lip to control my speed. With her, I had to take my time.
She was more than anybody else and ten times more than that. But I was
already so close and barely inside of her for a minute. A little squeak left
her mouth and transformed into a humming tune of sensual moans that
throbbed throughout my flesh. If it could be put to song, I would’ve done it
right there. But instead I listened intently, just to burn the memory into my
brain for another day when life didn’t feel this good and my mind needed to
remember the sound of love.
“You’re going to ruin me,” I groaned and sped up more than I should
have, but I couldn’t help it. All of my concentration dove to my length and
the suctioning of velvety pleasure around it.
“Oh, don’t stop,” she begged. “Please, don’t stop.”
“Never, mi amor.” Driving harder into her with liquid movements, I
held her body close to mine, just to keep her from falling back as she
writhed against me, winding those hips and taking my breath away. Waves
crashed against us. But the sound couldn’t drown out the loud noises that
left our lips.
“Yes!” She dug her nails into my shoulders. Pain gnawed at them. I had
no time to move those hands away while we screamed, making love and
rubbing against each other.
The whole time the moon watched us. Wet flesh splashed against wet
flesh. Our motions disturbed the sea. I couldn’t get enough of her. Each of
my strokes pushed deeper than I’d gone before. Rumbling low noises mixed
with screams. Nails bit into skin. Vibrations of lust merged with greedy
strokes that seemed to never be satisfied.
Until the moment when our gazes met and the world crashed around us
in a blurred shade of darkness. We fused together into one moving body.
Explosive. Just like those marvelous fireworks from Hex’s party. We
disintegrated into hot sparks and throat-burning groans, wet orgasms and
satiated flesh. We filled the night air with light and shone brighter than all
those millions of glittering stars watching us from the sky.
The waves slammed into each other, jealous of our sex. The clouds
separated to give the sky a better look. We hypnotized the moon.
Then we stopped to rest, asked the guards to get us clothes, and did it all
again.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter 21
Elle

Our time at South Beach would forever be engraved in my mind. We’d

made love until my legs went numb and my body ached in the most
sensitive of places. Afterward, the guards brought us back towels and
clothes, mainly shorts and shirts that read, “What happens in South Beach
stays in South Beach.”
I hope not.
After we dressed, we lay together on the towels and talked about
everything. Alvarez’s fears didn’t stop at clowns. Kittens freaked him out.
Not cats, but kittens. He talked about a time during his teen years when Hex
laid little kittens on his bed, woke Alvarez up, and laughed as Alvarez
jumped to the other side of the room and screamed. I confessed to him my
panic of too much texture on natural things—rocky surfaces in strange
unusual patterns, bumpy mold, bulbous layers on odd plants, roots shaped
into weird contours. When I found things like that and looked too long, I
would be close to vomiting.
We also discussed our dreams.
“How happy are you with your life?” I leaned my head on his hard
chest.
“I think I’m happy.”
 “You think you are? Here’s a test. If you had billions and billions of
dollars, would you still manage Hex’s career?”
“Hell no. I would sail in a huge boat, one of those big ones with a
bedroom, living room, and kitchenette. I would have a staff sailing and
taking care of it. I wouldn’t even have a house or condo on land. I would
just sail forever, stopping at ocean-side cities throughout the world and
learning about each different culture. Would you sail with me?”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe is not an option, mi amor. Not after what we did.” He took me
again on the sand, and I had no strength or desire to stop him.
Hours later, I relaxed in Alvarez’s arms the whole ride back to Castillo
Castle. The limo hummed a mellow tune. Alvarez kept his side of the
window down and stared out of it as the fast South Beach life and brightly
lit buildings transformed into suburban homes and spread out farms. The
limo driver took his time getting us home. A gentle breeze came through
the window, stroked my skin, and coaxed me to sleep.
When we arrived, Alvarez gently nudged me awake. “I didn’t want to
disturb you, but I plan on carrying you to my bedroom. Do you
disapprove?”
I yawned. “No. Not tonight.”
“Not tonight.” He chuckled to himself.
“What’s so funny?”
“I need you in my bed every night. We might as well move your stuff to
my room.”
“And will we be getting married next week, conceiving our child next
month, and searching for a house to live in together soon after?”
 “I like that timeline.”
I hit his chest. “Alvarez, that’s not funny.”
He kissed me. “So you need space and for us to take our time?”
“Yes.”
“But tonight you’ll lay next to me?”
I hid my smile. “Yes.”
“And tomorrow night?”
“We’ll discuss it when it comes.”
“No. Let’s talk about it now.”
But we never got a chance to discuss it, because when we stepped out of
the car a bonfire greeted our eyes. An earthy scent filled the air, reminding
me of marijuana and other herbs. Nude people drenched in crimson red
liquid danced around the flames. They chanted foreign words and held
bottles in their hands. There must’ve been twenty of them. Every few steps
they took, they sipped from the bottles and spit the liquid into the air,
rustling the flames and causing sparks to shoot out.
Alvarez put me down. “Dear God! What is Grandma doing?”
I squinted my eyes and realized that there was a short woman with gray
hair among the crowd chanting and spitting liquid, too. “Oh goodness. That
is your grandma right there.”
Alvarez released my hand and stormed her way. “Grandma! What are
you doing? Who are all of these people?”
She stepped away from the circling line as everyone else continued to
chant and spit. “You! How dare you have that sweet girl Reece arrested?
And how dare you let those people take my daughter out of her home in
handcuffs?”
 “No. First you explain what this is.” Alvarez pointed to the bonfire and
people. “Then we’ll talk about why the cops took Reece and Dayanara for
questioning.”
“Questioning? They didn’t do anything.”
“There was evidence that they were involved.” Alvarez pulled off his
shirt and tried to hand it to his nude and bloodied grandma.
“What evidence? There’s no evidence.” She snatched the shirt from his
hands and flung it on the ground.
“Who are these people out here and what in God’s name are they
doing?”
“What evidence?” She rung her closed fists in the air. “How dare you
take my daughter off without telling me? That’s my daughter!”
“I’m done talking to you, until you stop screaming at me and put some
clothes on.”
Hard, thick Spanish exploded out of his grandma’s mouth. She jerked
her hands around and stabbed the air with her long fingernails. The people
never stopped circling. They continued to move around the massive fire. I
looked to the house. Servants peeked out of the windows at the entertaining
site of nude chanting as well as Alvarez and his grandma’s arguing.
“Welcome to my world,” Hex said behind me.
I almost jumped. “Do they do this all the time?”
“My brother and grandma’s arguing, or her fellow witches rebuking the
family curse?”
“I was talking about the arguing, but I think I would rather hear about
this family curse.”
 Alvarez and his grandma moved toward her cottage--or more likely,
Alvarez guided her that way as she continued to scream at him in words I
couldn’t understand.
“You two have been gone for a long time. Where did you go?” Hex
raised his eyebrows.
“To the beach. Alvarez was upset about his mom and assistant.”
“He shouldn’t have been. They didn’t do it.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Our family is cursed.”
“How?”
“How much has Al told you about our mom--or who he likes to now
call Dayanara?”
“He hasn’t said much.”
Sticking his thumb in his mouth, Hex gestured to his studio. “Then let’s
go over there. I’m sure you’ll want a drink after I tell you this.”
We walked toward his studio, putting the fire and craziness behind us.
“My mom was always crazy. Al tries to convince me that it was my dad
who made her that way, but it’s not true. I think that maybe Al’s father kept
our mother’s mental episodes away from him. Once Al’s dad died, she lost
it, and started practicing corazón muerto, but she didn’t have my grandma
in the states to guide her on the right way to serve their gods. Instead, she
spent her free time around the wrong practitioners, evil ones. My dad
belonged to that group, and later they married.”
We arrived at the door. He held it open for me.
“Okay, so this curse has something to do with your mother and father?”
I asked.
 “Yes. My dad feared death. I mean everybody does, but he was obsessed
with the possibility that no afterlife would be there for him. That it would
all just end with darkness. So he searched for spells to make him immortal.”
“That’s insane. There’s nothing out there that can make you immortal.”
“Anything is possible, Elle. Anything. If enough is sacrificed.” Hex
stepped over to a small black cabinet behind his biggest sculptures, opened
it to reveal a few bottles of red wine, and pulled them out. “Forgive me.
We’ll have to drink these from paper cups. Like I said, I usually don’t drink
a lot because it’s hard for me to stop once I start.”
“Cups are fine.”
He grabbed two from the sink, filled them, and handed mine to me. “My
father found one spell that involved killing many people.”
“Excuse me?” I froze right there with my cup right next to my lips. “Are
you telling me that your father killed a lot of people?”
“Yes. My mom and dad did it together.” He moved my cup to my lips.
“You may want to drink for the rest of the stuff I have to tell you.”
“Good idea.” I took a huge gulp.
“When Al was home, they hadn’t even found the spell yet. Not that Dad
would have done it around him. Al and Dad argued all the time. Al thought
he was an evil bastard. Dad just never accepted Al as his own kid. Plus, he
beat him and Mom whenever Al did anything wrong. For whatever reason,
Dad never touched me. Once Al got older, bigger, and way taller than Dad,
the beatings stopped, but there was always this huge tension in the house
whenever they argued, like if they were to go after each other, one of them
wouldn’t be alive in the end.”
“You really think it was that bad?”
 “Al or Dad would have killed each other if they’d had the chance. I
have no doubt about that.” Hex poured some more wine in my cup, even
though I wasn’t finished. “So once Al left for the navy, things changed a
whole lot. Dad found a curse to make him immortal and it was all he talked
about to my mom. I would sneak and put my head next to their bedroom to
listen to their conversations. The spell called for several sacrifices to their
gods. Donalito is kind of the head god. He is the creator of the universe
where all of the other gods and goddesses live. So my dad tells my mom
that Donalito demanded ten female hearts on a night of a full moon in order
to gift them with immortality. So a good year after Al left my dad and mom
searched the city, kidnapped ten different women, young and old. And when
the full moon came, they killed them all one by one in front of me, right
under the moonlight.”
“Ten?” The wine went down hard. My fingers trembled at the very
thought of someone killing that many people so brutally. “They killed ten
people?”
“Yes. My dad did most of it. Once he started my mom tried to stop him
several times, but he locked her up in the bathroom.”
“But she helped him kidnap them?”
“Yeah.” He poured himself another glass. “But when it came down to
the actual killing part she couldn’t do it. And she hated the fact that he
wanted me to witness the spell so that one day I could do it for myself. She
hated having me involved in anyway.”
I finished my cup. “Could you pour me another one?”
“Sure.” He did. That time he filled my cup all the way to the rim.
“When they first kidnapped the women, I would sneak them food and
water. Dad kept them locked in this big metal shed behind the house. We
lived far out in the Redlands where our closest neighbor was several miles
away and nothing but farmland could hear their screams. At the back of the
shed was a crack that was big enough to fit my hand through. Every day I
would spend hours sawing at that crack and trying to make it bigger so they
could escape.”
“Oh my god.”
“I would bring them water and food, just slip whatever I could and then
start the sawing again. It was so scary. Dad worked as a truck driver for a
beer distributor. Since I went to school all day, I would only have an hour or
so to saw that crack before he came home.”
“Did your mom know you were doing it?”
“Yes. At least I think so. She had to know. She was sitting in the house
while I did it. But she never said anything to me or Dad. By then she was no
longer sleeping or speaking in comprehensible sentences. Dad didn’t want
anyone to know how bad Mom was so when my grandma or Al called, I
said Mom was sick and just talked to them myself. To keep me quiet about
it to my school officials, Dad said he would kill Mom. I never doubted him
and did what I was told.”
“Except when it came to trying to free the girls?”
“Yes. If they got free, I figured I would leave the saw there so he would
think that one of them gotten it somehow and did it themselves. It wasn’t a
foolproof plan, but it was the best I had at sixteen. But I never got to save
them.”
My heart broke for Hex. His eyes watered and he turned away from me.
“Dad killed them all that night, right in front of me. And when he was done,
he made me drag their dead bodies into the shed one by one. When I
dragged the last body into the shed, someone pushed me forward and
locked me in. I thought it was Dad at the time, but later the cops told Al it
was my mom. She’d broken the bathroom window, climbed out of it, got a
gun, and snuck outside.”
“She killed him?”
“Yes. That’s why Al calls her Dayanara. It means husband slayer in
Spanish.”
“That’s a really sick thing to call her, with everything that’s happened
and all of what you’ve been through.”
“Al is not the sanest man, either. He and Grandma use the name to
honor her, but it just sends her further down the crazy path. Like I said, she
isn’t that sane either. None of us are, which brings me to the curse.
“When Mom killed Dad she didn’t bind the spell to the earth. She didn’t
do anything, but walk back into the house and call the cops.”
“She left you inside the shed?” I asked.
“Yes. The cops freed me. But that’s not what’s important. When doing
any complex magic one must open the door to the gods and close the door
when they are done. It’s hard to explain, but I’ll try my best.” He set his cup
down. “In corazón muerto the person uses the four elements to open the
lines of communication to the gods. Burning herbs that the particular god
likes would take care of the elements fire and earth. Liquor is spit into the
flames, which represents water and the smoke from the fire serves as the
element of air.”
“That’s what your grandma and friends are doing outside now, with the
huge bonfire and spitting the liquid into it?”
“Yes. The blood covering them is there to protect them from the gods’
power. Sacrificial blood is armor for them.”
“I don’t understand why that would protect them.”
 “It’s one of the first laws. When the protective shields of our world are
pulled down so that humans can talk to the gods, they run the risk of having
a god pull them back into their existence. However, Donalito created the
universe for only the gods and the earth for only the humans. He only
allows communication between the two when it is in a way to honor him.
Sacrificial blood is an honor to him, and therefore the gods can’t touch
anyone who gives respect to Donalito.”
“Alrighty. I’m going to need another cup.”
“I told you.” He poured me some more and did the same for himself.
“That night Dad used the first woman’s blood as the sacrificial armor
and then opened the lines of communication with the elements. The gods
came through to see my dad’s honoring of Donalito with all the deaths of
the women. Grandma says many of them would have been jealous that
Donalito got so many sacrifices.”
“But isn’t Donalito sort of the head god? At least that’s what it sounds
like, since he made the universe.”
“No. There isn’t truly a head god in this religion. Donalito was just
lucky enough to invent a place for all of them to live as well as form the
earth and grow humans for their entertainment. It was just the nature of his
power that makes him so important to practitioners of the religion. He’s sort
of the operator for all communications, but in no way is he the most
powerful.”
“If they’re so powerful, why would they even want to communicate
with us?”
“Gods can do anything but live on earth and experience the things that
humans do. They’re a bit envious of us at times. When we talk to them,
they’re able to slide inside of our bodies and experience our memories for
themselves. Once they do this, they tend to grant the human a wish.
Grandma says the trick is to get your wish and then close the line of
communication so that the god doesn’t try to suck up all of your memories
and experiences, because the drain would kill the average human.”
“So that night, your mom didn’t close the lines of communication and
something may have gotten through?”
“Exactly.”
“What do you think about all of this?”
“That they’re all crazy and that there weren’t any gods there that night. I
was there. It was only bad things and evil. But according to Grandma, when
Mom killed Dad, she never closed the lines of communication. She was
supposed to say some sort of chant, pour the liquor over the fire and other
things. But she didn’t, and some of the gods remained on earth for a while.
Grandma says Donalito had to come down and bring them back, and due to
that, he cursed our family.”
I tossed him a skeptical glance. “Cursed your family?”
“Everywhere we move the earth turns gray and barren. Cancer has hit
and taken out ten women in my family, mainly aunts and cousins. Grandma
does huge sacrifices to Donalito so that we’ll be back in his favor, but every
year Donalito does something new and it always comes in ten. Even worse,
Grandma isn’t sure Dad’s spirit ever truly left our realm. With the gods
walking about on earth around his spirit, she thinks Dad may have made a
bargain with the gods to remain, some sort of promise to do their bidding.”
“So you believe this?”
“I don’t know. When Grandma sees things, they come true. She saw the
deaths of these girls. Al said it wouldn’t happen. He hid the first girl from
me. The one he saw right before you came to work for me. Brenda was a
good friend of mine. I painted her many times and she helped me learn
about video cameras. Al had Reece tell me she flew away. I even emailed
her to see how she was, but never heard anything back.”
Instead of acknowledging that I’d hid it too, I sipped my drink.
“For Patricia, Al told me she died from some weird asthma attack. Deep
down inside I knew it was bullshit, but I chose to believe it so that I could
do my art the next morning. However, once Reece and Mom were carted off
by the cops, I was confused and ran to his office to ask what happened. I
didn’t find Al. Instead, I found three dead girls strung from the ceiling.”
I held my hand to my chest. “Three girls were killed tonight? Do you
think Reece did—”
“No. There was no way Reece could’ve done it. She flew off
somewhere to get a file for Al. This was the gods.”
I shook my head. “The gods? Come on, Hex. This is ridiculous.
Somebody is out here killing girls. This isn’t the gods. This is some sicko
hurting people.”
“I’m not so sure. There was a message written under the girls’ bodies in
blood. It said, ‘Hello, son. I’m back.’”

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter 22
Alvarez

“It said, ‘Hello, son. I’m back.’” Grandma came out of the kitchen fully
dressed. “There’s no way Reece could’ve done that. And neither Dayanara,
she had that sneaky investigator watching her the whole time. So who did
it?”
Three women were killed tonight? I’ll have to call their families and
notify them.
I rubbed my temples. “I don’t know who did it, Grandma.”
“Donalito did it! That’s who! I told you he would not stop, and even
worse he’s allowed that sick man to come back and terrorize us.”
I sighed. “You think Snyder has returned as some powerful evil spirit?”
“Don’t you dare talk to me like that, like I’m some crazy woman who
doesn’t know what she’s talking about. If you don’t believe me, then look at
the security video. I saw it and your Detective White saw it, too. He almost
messed his pants, he was so scared. Those girls’ bodies slid into the room
on their own and rose into the air by themselves. No one else was around.”
“I’ll have to see this for myself.”
“And then will you get me the hearts?”
For fuck’s sake! It always comes back to body parts.
“I’ll make a call to the coroner.”
 “I need them fresh!”
“Yes, Grandma.”
“That’s the only way to appease Donalito until I find something to deal
with Snyder’s return. You know Dayanara tried to tell me.” Grandma
moved around the kitchen fast, grabbing pots and putting them back where
they were as well as opening the fridge and then closing it. Her hands shook
the whole time as she moved her gaze from side to side. “Dayanara kept
mumbling that he was coming, but I wouldn’t listen. Once again I ignored
my sweet daughter. I’m always ignoring her and then so many die from my
mistakes. I have the vision, but never get the visions in time to do anything
about it.”
“Grandma, calm down.”
“Five girls now.” She took spoons out and laid them in stacks on top of
each other. “Five girls. There will be five more innocent little girls who
haven’t even lived half as much as my life. That’s not right, Al. That’s
wrong and unfair.”
“Grandma, come here.”
She shifted to laying forks in weird little piles. “Everywhere we go, the
soil dies right under our feet. Our poor family is smaller and smaller. Our
women are either sterile or dying from illness. What Snyder and Dayanara
did was wrong, and now we all have to pay for it.”
I went to my grandma, stopped her fork-piling, turned her around, and
wrapped my arms around her small frame. “Grandma, this isn’t your fault.
This is no one’s fault. In fact, this isn’t the gods. This is some crazy person
on our property, trying to hurt us.”
“If only that were true.”
“It is.”
 “No. Five more will die. I already saw that tonight. It’s why I called in
more support. They’ll be here to help me spread more well-wishes to the
gods. We think we’ve found a spell that can lift the curse. I’ll need the
hearts and other things.”
“I’m not comfortable with more people being on this property. I need
fewer—”
“I won’t be ignored anymore. Besides, you’re busy. I can smell orange
blossoms all over you.” She leaned back and looked into my eyes. “I knew
something was odd when my oldest grandson bought a bunch of candles
and lit them, when he’s never lit or enjoyed a candle in his life. You got
those candles because of that new girl, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but let’s not get off topic—”
“You like her?”
“Yes. Maybe even more.”
“She’s the light in your darkness,” Grandma said.
“Yes. She is.”
“There’s a bad man coming for her. Do you know that?”
I tensed. There were times when I pretended to ignore my grandma’s
visions and then there were moments when I listened wholeheartedly. In the
end, I never disregarded what she said. I didn’t practice this weird religion
of hers, but it could never be denied that when Grandma claimed something
was going to happen, it tended to be a fifty-fifty chance that it would.
“When you first saw her you said that a bad man was coming. Do you still
see him?”
“Give me the hand you’ve touched her with tonight.” She extended
hers.
 I’d touched Elle everywhere and with almost every part of me, but I
didn’t tell Grandma that. I offered my right hand to her. “Here.”
That white film spread over her eyes and concealed her brown pupils.
Humming left her lips. A cold thickness seeped into me like tiny icicles
digging into my skin. “Oh yes. Ellie, he’s screaming. Ellie. Ellie. Over and
over again.”
“What does he look like?”
“He has black hair like yours but longer. He’s white and wild. He’s
painting right now. I see her on the canvas.”
Painting? It has to be Michael.
“He’s coming for her. There’s a news clipping next to his paintbrushes.
He keeps looking at it and then drinking more of this brown liquid. It must
be whiskey. Wait.” She held my hand tighter. “Yes. He’s coming. The
article is some announcement about Hex and his new collection. Why
would he be reading that?”
She released my hand. The humming ended. Those brown pupils
reappeared.
I raked my fingers through my hair. “I had Reece ask our publicist to
mention Hex would be using Elle as a model for his new collection. It’s
supposed to get us more investors.”
“So this Elle is popular?”
“Yes. Do you remember the artist Hex punched outside of the art gallery
in Las Vegas?”
“No. You know I don’t follow Hex’s exploits, but the guy Hex punched
is the bad man?”
“Yes. I think so.”
 “Why would he be coming for her?”
“They used to be together.”
“Did he know she was working with Hex? In my vision, it doesn’t seem
like it.”
“I’ll have to ask her.” I turned around to leave.
Those hours at the beach with Elle cost me even more grief. I’ll have
tons of things to do now.
“And when will you get Reece out of jail and bring Dayanara home?”
Grandma called out to me.
“I’ll give the police this new information. They were called, right?”
“Yes, but they said they weren’t going to release either one of them.”
Good. I’m still not sure Reece didn’t figure out a way to kill the girls
and put them in the office. It’s better to let them work on it.
“Are you listening to me?” Grandma tapped my back. “Reece and
Dayanara didn’t do it.”
I turned around. “I’m still not sure Reece wasn’t involved in some way.
There was evidence in her apartment.”
Grandma raised her hands in the air. “What evidence? No way. What are
you talking about?”
“Traces of the two victims’ blood and hair were in her closet and—”
“She held the body parts for me in her apartment. I asked her to. If I
kept them in my cottage you would have found them.”
“What?” I asked through clenched teeth. “What do you mean she kept
their body parts in her apartment?”
 “I found the first two women before anybody else, but I knew if I
handled it you wouldn’t believe me. You wouldn’t take me seriously.”
I held both hands to my head. “You saw both girls?”
“Yes. When the first girl was killed, you were gone away on that
business trip. What else could I do? I called Reece, but first I took certain
parts. The most important one for women. The womb. It can bring a direct
line to the gods. It births spirits into the world and sends them away. When I
can send these innocent women’s spirits back, I’ll have their wombs to—”
“You cut their vaginas for a spell?” My hands were now closed fists of
tension.
Grandma nodded like I was a crazy person. “But you’re missing the
point.”
“I’m missing the point?”
“Stop yelling. I gave their wombs and my plastic gloves to Reece. She
kept them somewhere in her apartment. Later we decided to put them in a
small metal cooler in Dayanara’s room.”
My legs wobbled a little. I had to stumble to her small kitchen and
collapse into a chair. “This night just keeps getting more interesting. You
found a dead girl and instead of calling the police you think, ‘Oh. Let me
cut out her vagina first. Then I’ll call for help!’”
“Al—”
“Then you let me discover her the next day, as if that is something I
needed to see in my life. Why in God’s name would you not tell me about
this?”
“You wouldn’t take me seriously.” She returned to her counter and
began stacking butter knives. “Only Reece would help.”
 “And Reece doesn’t tell me about this at all. Why would she work with
you?”
“That is her reason to tell.”
I jumped up from my chair. “Why the hell did she work with you?”
“For the gods’ sake, stop yelling at me.”
“I’ll send you back to Cuba tonight. I’m done with this entire situation.
You’ve gone too far. If I’d known about this information, Reece would not
be in jail, perhaps we would even know who is actually killing these
women. All this time we’ve been thinking some crazy serial killer is
walking around the property cutting up girls and it’s you and your goddamn
spell preparations.”
“Snyder is—”
“That’s enough! Why did Reece work with you and hide these things
from me?”
Grandma stared at the ground. “She asked me to make a love charm, a
powerful one, something that would make you fall in love with her. I told
her I would.”
Poor Reece.
I didn’t know much about grandma’s religion, but upon returning to find
a mentally destroyed Hex in the hospital due to some sick spell my step dad
and mom started, I read several books on corazón muerto. There were three
things that weren’t possible to gain from magic. The gods simply did not
possess the power to make someone immortal, all powerful, or have another
fall in love with someone else. It was the basic don’ts for attempting magic.
The fact that my step-dad had searched for years to discover some sick
enchantment of immortality banned in all countries practicing corazón
muerto exemplified how crazy and fake he was. The fact that Grandma had
agreed to make Reece a potion or whatever to have me fall in love with her
showed how desperate Grandma had become.
“Why would you lie to Reece like that?” I asked.
“I thought you liked her and were just being too stubborn. I figured this
would be a simple solution.”
“A simple solution? By telling someone you would get me to fall in
love with them, all they have to do is hide a few vaginas for you?”
She shifted her activities to putting up all of the utensils again, one by
one. “Reece also supplied my blood to me. The blood I used to talk to the
gods with Dayanara on the night of the second girl’s death. Reece brought
the blood to me. I covered Dayanara and myself in it. When I ran to my
cottage to get the rest of the items, that’s when I stumbled upon the other
girl in my garden.”
“But you didn’t say anything?”
“No. I had Dayanara outside and covered in blood. I had to cut this new
girl’s vagina with Dayanara next me. I was already busy. Then Reece and I
saw you on the dance floor with Elle. I couldn’t disturb you with the
problem. Your face that night was magical. I’d never seen you so captivated
before.”
“So you decided to let someone else find the dead girl?”
“No.” Grandma waved my comment away. “No one was supposed to
find her. I was going to take Dayanara back upstairs after we finished the
spell, but then that poor dead girl’s friend discovered her body. Everyone
ran and jumped around, screaming. Reece and I decided to just let you
know I was out there with Dayanara because there was no way I would be
able to sneak both of us by everyone, with all that blood over us.”
 “You’re done, Grandma. I’m serious. No more doing things behind my
back. All of these things you and Reece did complicated everything else. If
I’d known about you cutting the body parts and having Reece store them,
she would not be in jail right now and maybe those three women from
today would still be alive—”
Grandma stabbed the air with her finger. “Don’t you dare blame their
deaths on me.”
“End these ridiculous activities behind my back. End it now. Women
have died. The wrong people are being blamed due to me being kept in the
dark. I won’t have this anymore.”
Grandma finished putting the items away. “I came to the states to help
you, and never do you ask for my help. Things are happening that you can’t
deal with and you never seek my guidance. What am I supposed to do? I sat
back once long ago and let that evil man come near my daughter and
grandson. I won’t let more evil come around you. No more.”
Am I being too hard on her? No one could have anticipated these
deaths.
Grandma would do what she wanted whether I allowed it or not. She
was a grown women who’d raised ten kids with just the tiny amount of
money Grandpa had given her. And when he was off working two jobs, she
stayed home cleaning, cooking, helping with homework, healing, and doing
all the millions of things one parent did with ten kids of many ages. Who
was I to tell her she couldn’t do something after all she’d achieved? Who
was I to spend my time trying to stop her from saving her daughter when
she thought she could?
“Okay, Grandma. This is our deal. I’ll seek your counsel more and help
you get rid of this curse, but I won’t do anything illegal. In the meantime,
you notify me of everything, and I mean everything. You don’t work behind
the scene with anyone. If there is anything odd happening, you let me know.
No more sneaking around.”
“No more.”
“And whatever items you need, write it down and leave it on my desk.”
“Will Reece still be your assistant?”
“No. This situation and her feelings for me have damaged our working
relationship. She was my assistant, not yours. I didn’t pay her to run around
at night mishandling body parts so you could get me to fall in love with
her.”
Grandma formed her lips into a frown. “That is not right. She’s a sweet
girl.”
“I’ll give her a nice severance package, something that will take care of
her until she finds another job, but it will be too uncomfortable if she
remains my assistant.”
“And what will you do about the bad man coming to see Elle? I have
protective charms. I have things that could help her.”
I almost said no and to let me handle it, but then I wouldn’t be making
good on what I’d just promised. “Okay. Go ahead and make the protective
charms. I’ll tell her about them and give it to her later.”
Grandma transformed her frown into a huge smile. “Thank you.”
“I’ll see you later. For now, let me talk to the detective and notify him of
the entire situation. We’ll need to tell the police as much as we can. I’ll
make sure my legal team is informed first so they can tell us what we can
withhold in order to protect you and Reece.”
“Okay.” She stopped my walking out with a big hug to my back. “I
know you work hard. You are our foundation, but make sure you get help
from others.”
“I will.” I held the hand she had around my stomach. “I promise you. I
will.”
“And no more lying to Hex. He knows about the first two girls now.”
“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath. “I didn’t want him to have to deal
with this.”
“It’s too late, and he’s stronger than you give him credit for.”
“Mr. Stewson, the head of housekeeping, said that he’s still wetting the
bed.”
“Well, give him time.” She let me go and patted my back. “But he won’t
get stronger if we don’t treat him like he’s strong.”
I sighed. “Okay. No more lying to him.”
“And I’ll give you the list of items I’ll need to stop this curse. I’ve tried
giving many tributes to Donalito. I believe that my new tribute on the next
full moon may be stronger than all the others. I think this time it will work.
We have three weeks for the next night.”
“Well, hopefully women aren’t still being killed in three weeks.”

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter 23
Elle

I went to sleep last night with only my confused thoughts to keep me

company. Alvarez never came by my bedroom. Surely, he had things to do,
many things. Around six in the morning, the bustling crowd of nude and
bloody people went away. When I woke up in the afternoon, I wasted no
time grabbing my one suitcase and filling my items into it.
What else could I do, but leave? Too many things were happening.
More girls had died, and for what? A curse. A serial killer, or according to
Hex, both. This was too much for anyone to handle. Yet guilt remained
lodged in my gut and Alvarez’s name was written all over it. He’d been so
good to me the whole time I stayed here. He not only showed me what real
love felt like, he accepted me for who I was. But I just couldn’t remain in a
dangerous situation. Sure, I had four bodyguards. Sure, cops and
investigators combed the property. But still, the thought of more dead
women around me chilled my bones and sprouted goose bumps on my
flesh.
Hex had discovered three girls strung up in Alvarez’s office. Three.
Had they all died together or did the sick killer do it one by one? Who
was doing it, a servant, cook, guard—or even worse, one of Alvarez’s
family members?
I couldn’t even think about it for too long. It would make me go crazy
and I was already jumping around like a lunatic at every little sound. I had
to get out of here, go off somewhere that was safer. Maybe even visit my
old hometown, if necessary.
A knock sounded at my door and I jumped.
Calm down. I have security guards in the hall. No one is going to get
me.
“Yes?” I zipped up my suitcase.
“It’s me, Alvarez.”
This was going to be the worst part of the day. I didn’t know how I was
going to explain to Alvarez that I had to leave because his life, family, and
history scared the crap out of me. We’d shared such a magical evening, but
it hadn’t been enough to make me ignore the obvious severity of the days to
come.
I placed my hands behind my back and squeezed them together. “Come
in.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t come by last night. I had a lot to do and then. . .” His
gaze turned to my luggage and now bare bedroom. “You’re leaving?”
“I think I should.”
He kept a neutral expression on his face and gave me no indication of
what emotions moved behind his eyes.
Say something, dang it. So I won’t feel so uncomfortable about this.
I cleared my throat. “Hex told me about the other three girls dying and. .
. about what happened to him when he was younger.”
“He told you about my mother and Snyder?”
“Yes. And he said something about a curse and that his step-dad was
returning from the dead or something—”
 Alvarez nodded and backed out of my room. “Okay. Just let the guards
know when you want to leave. You can use my private plane. If you need to
go anywhere in the US it will be no problem. If the destination is overseas
then my pilots will need more notice, but just a few hours. You should
probably tell Hex goodbye and let him know you won’t be modeling for
him or that—”
“Alvarez…”
“Please say goodbye to Hex, but don’t let Hex try to make you feel
guilty about this. He’ll be okay. As far as payment for your time here, that
is no problem, just send me a—”
“Alvarez?” I walked to him. “Stop.”
“Stop?”
“Yes. You’re upset.”
“Of course I’m upset.” He averted his gaze. “You’re leaving. After last
night, it’s hard to say goodbye without hurting inside. Do I understand why
you’re leaving? Of course. Do I like it? No. But I have to keep pushing on
and take care of the situation.”
“No. You don’t.”
“Yes. I do.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“Can you?” Our gazes met. “My grandma says Michael is looking for
you and that he’s not a good man.”
“You told me to ignore your grandma’s visions.”
“Well, now I’m telling you to listen to them. Is this true?”
“I don’t know. The last time I saw Michael he was in his studio having
sex with his new model. We argued and I left.”
 “You left without saying goodbye?”
“Obviously.” I turned away from him and checked the room. This
conversation was making me nervous and shoving me on edge. I didn’t
want my last words with Alvarez to involve Michael.
“Did Michael let you out of your modeling contract with him?” Alvarez
asked.
So he was worried about the art that Hex had done of me, instead of
anything else? Here I thought Alvarez worried about my well-being.
Instead, he wanted to know if Hex could still use the painting he’d done of
me.
“Don’t worry.” I picked up my bag and placed it on the floor. “Hex will
be able to use the painting he’s doing of me and the women yesterday.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“I don’t want to talk about Michael. I would rather say goodbye to you,
a meaningful goodbye where we hug and promise that we’ll see each other
again.”
“Will we?” He dug his hands into his pants pockets.
“Yes.”
“Grandma says Michael is looking for you. I need you to explain what
she’s talking about.”
“No. You don’t. That’s my business.”
“Not anymore.” He stepped closer to me. “Are you out of the contract
with Michael? And I don’t want to hear about how Hex can use the stuff
that you’re in.”
“I’m still bound to the contract with Michael.” I raised my hand before
he could say how pissed he was for lying to him earlier. “However, there is
a clause in the contract that says if he doesn’t have me in a work-in-
progress and I’m involved in another artist’s project for at least thirty days,
then I’m allowed to continue that project.”
“So your plan was to tell him you were working with Hex after thirty
days?”
“No. My plan was for him to find out whenever the collection was
released. I planned on working other jobs by then. I had my lawyers
researching ways to cancel the contract, but they’ve been lackluster in
trying to solve it. In the end, they’re really Michael’s lawyers and will be
more loyal to him.”
“I’ll have my own team look into it.”
“I don’t need you to do that.”
“Too bad. It’s going to happen. Not only will it affect you, but this will
deal with my brother, too. You should have told me the truth from the
beginning.”
I blew out a long breath. “I didn’t think you would’ve let me work for
Hex if I told you. Plus, Michael wouldn’t even find out until the end. He
doesn’t even know now.”
“He does.”
I scrunched my face up in confusion. “What?”
“My grandma’s visions show him screaming out the name Ellie over
and over and staring at a newspaper announcement I had my publicist do to
reveal that Hex and you are working together on a new collection.”
My heartbeat boomed at an erratic pace in my chest. “There was an
announcement?”
“Yes. It was posted yesterday morning.”
 “And in your grandma’s visions she saw him looking at the article and
yelling Ellie?”
“Yes.”
“Maybe your grandma knows that he calls me that and perhaps she
figured out that—”
“There’s no use trying to convince yourself that my grandma’s visions
are wrong or even why she is having them. That’s not the point. What’s
important is that you’re possibly in danger. She said he was drinking the
whole time he screamed your name and painted you on his canvas. That
doesn’t sound like a sane man to me.”
He wasn’t, but not as bad as what Alvarez would be thinking. Michael
just liked to swim in depression and mind games. It wasn’t that he missed
me because he loved me. Michael cried for me because he needed another
person to blame and hurt. If I was gone, then who would he point to as the
reason for his failures? Who would take the blame?
“He won’t hurt me.”
“Guards are going to stay with you wherever you go.”
I shook my head. “First of all, I would appreciate it if you asked me
instead of ordered me.”
“I care about you. I want you safe.”
“I understand, but it’s my choice to make whether I will have guards
with me or not.”
He took his hands out of his pockets and rubbed his temples. “Will
you?”
“Maybe. I’ll have one for a few days, but I can’t keep them the whole
time.”
 “Why not?”
“Because I’m not your responsibility. You have enough going on.”
“And what if I want you to be my responsibility?” He stopped rubbing
his forehead and moved closer to me. Bags rested under his eyes. His shirt
appeared rumpled and slept in. Although, knowing Alvarez, he probably
hadn’t slept at all.
“You’re busy right now. Maybe you should take some time to finish all
of the things you have on your plate first, before you begin adding me to the
mix.”
“What does that mean?”
I swallowed down my nervousness. It had been one of the biggest things
I’d considered last night after hearing Hex’s news. Alvarez dealt with
mountains of duties and stressful situations when it came to his family,
things that no one should have to deal with. But after being with him and
truly learning about the type of person Alvarez was, I understood that his
family was a labor of love for him. I just didn’t know where I would stand
in such a busy situation. With all of my baggage and personal insecurities
that I still had not conquered, would I be more of a hindrance than an
escape?
And there was the fact that although Michael didn’t truly love me, he
would be a new difficulty for Alvarez. I didn’t know if Alvarez’s grandma’s
visions were true or not, but if they were, then this would be awful news.
Michael would come here and try to win me back, whether through fake
chivalry or threats. Alvarez would attempt to step in as the knight in shining
armor because that was just the type of guy he was. I would add even more
to his plate than his family.
“I just think that we may have jumped into this situation without truly
thinking about whether we should.” I couldn’t look Alvarez in his face and
see his heart break. “I’m not saying we shouldn’t date or whatever. I just
believe I have a whole lot of stuff I need to deal with. And frankly, you do,
too.”
“I don’t like this conversation.” He came in closer, until barely a foot
remained between us. “I don’t like what you’re saying or how you’re saying
it. If you believe you’re unsafe and need to leave this property, then that’s
fine. I’ll help you remain protected. If you need help with Michael, then I’ll
be there for you, but putting a pause to what we’ve begun isn’t going to
happen. You’re the one good thing that’s happened to me this week. Fuck it.
These past years. I won’t put a pause on this.”
“But—”
He stopped my counterargument with a kiss. “There’s no buts about
this. I want to give you my extra heart. Take it. Don’t overanalyze my life.
Don’t try to make things easier for me. I need you more than I need them.
In the end, if it’s you or them, I’ll take you and leave them as well as all of
this other stuff behind me.”
“Stop that. Don’t talk about them like that. I know how much you love
them.”
“It’s true.” He captured me by my waist and pulled me against him. “I
love them. Until meeting you, they were all I had. And I know it sounds
wrong that after only a few days of knowing you, I would leave them all
behind, but it’s the truth. The past few days have taught me something. It
showed me that I’ve been letting life pass me by. Every day it’s something
new with my family. No matter how many fires I put out, another comes to
take its place. You can leave, if you want to. I understand. I need to know
you’re safe as well, but you can’t leave what we have. You can’t.”
I buried my face in his shoulders. “I need time to think about this.”
 “Why? What time do you need? I didn’t propose. I didn’t ask for a
commitment.”
“But you are asking for something more than I can give you right now.”
He stiffened against me. “I just don’t want you to think we need space
or time away from this.”
“What is this between us?”
“Everything,” he whispered.
“Alvarez, I can’t give you everything right now. Michael broke me. He
made me second-guess who I am and in that process I forgot myself. I left
her behind. My coming here was about learning about me and finding out
who I am.”
“That’s not what you said last night,” Alvarez said through clenched
teeth. “You told me no limits.”
An exasperated sigh escaped my lips. “Well, in the light of everything
around us from the new murders to Michael searching for me, I think we
need some limits.”
He released me. “If this was a movie, would it be one of those stupid
unrequited romances where the couple decides to not be together on the
basis of simple things that could be changed?”
“No. It’s the type of romance where the heroine is broken and the hero
is chained to other things. It’s not unrequited love. It’s just not possible. In a
few days or weeks or even months it will be possible. Right now, I need
space and time to reflect on me while you need to save your life and
family.”
He formed his hands into fists. “Is that your final say on that?”
 I directed my attention to my bag. “Yes. I would like to leave here this
evening and we can stay in contact through email, but I would rather you
not come and visit me for a few days or so. Take care of this and let me deal
with Michael.”
Several uncomfortable minutes passed.
“Then fine.” He turned away from me and left the room. “Goodbye,
Elle.”

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter 24
Alvarez

I dove into my work and swam through piles of duties and did my best
to keep my mind off Elle. I had a meeting with Detective White about the
murders. Something had to be done. Things had gotten out of hand. Too
many died and still only unexplained peculiarities existed. As grandma
suggested, I looked at the video.
The screen flashed off and on a few times before clearing to reveal three
dead bodies sliding through the hallway toward my office by themselves.
The tape switched to the camera in my office where the dead girls glided
into the room, rose in the air, and then hung from the ceiling.
“What do you think this is?” I asked Detective White, who stood next to
the open window and lit his third cigarette.
Please don’t tell me you think it’s an evil spirit, too.
“When my men cut the girls down, they found dozens of fish wires
attached to the victims’ shoulders, necks, and arms. Further analysis of your
office showed there was a contraption over here.” Detective White headed
over to the area behind my desk. “There was a box nailed to the floor that
worked by remote control. The wire was attached to the box. Someone
worked the remote to have the girls move on their own. It wasn’t meant to
be done in front of actual people as they walked by. So close, anybody
could’ve realized that the girls were attached to wires--that is, if they could
get over the initial shock of dead bodies moving in front of them.”
 “So someone wants us to think there is big magic happening around
us?”
“Exactly.” He returned to the window and took a puff of his cigarette.
“This person has access to the security room. The entire recording area was
in disarray. There were tapes that didn’t record new footage and just
replayed the same feed over and over. Therefore the guards watching the
cameras never noticed anything strange. During that time, the killer must’ve
carried the bodies to the area, hooked them up, set the box in your office,
and fixed the cameras to return back to normal. Whoever did this took
serious time learning the camera process, the servants’ schedule--and I’m
not just talking about the girls who passed away. This person learned all of
their schedules so they can move through the house unnoticed. I can’t find
any unusual people walking the hallways. Everything seems in order.”
It wasn’t what I wanted to hear. I needed answers. No one else could
die, not here. I couldn’t deal with being the cause of another person’s death
due to not finding this killer.
“Who do you think could’ve done this?”
Detective White flicked his cigarette’s ash out the window. “I’ve been
going through scenarios all night. No one was in the house doing anything
suspicious.”
I didn’t want to ask, but I did. “Earlier, you thought my brother and
grandma may have had something to do with this mess, along with
Dayanara and Reece. Have they been canceled out as suspects?”
“Pretty much. Your brother painted the entire time before the girls
moved in the house as well as once they were found. Your grandma argued
with the police officers outside the house about Reece and Dayanara being
arrested.”
 “Wait a minute. The girls’ deaths occurred while the cops were in front
of the castle?”
“Yes. The police and I were outside the entire time.”
Dear God. This guy is getting ballsy. If he can do this while cops are
near, what will he do when they’re not around? How much further will they
go?
“What do you think I should do now?” I asked.
“I would suggest evacuating the property and going somewhere else.
Unless you’re unable to?”
“No. We can definitely leave. Is there any good news to this situation?”
“Well, these three victims were not cut in anyway. The killer for some
reason didn’t cut their vaginas.”
“Oh god. I forgot to tell you. My grandma cut the first two victim’s
vaginas.”
“Excuse me?”
“Yes. She did it for a spell to allow the women’s spirits to have peace or
something. I’ll have her explain it to you.”
The short man pulled out his notebook and wrote several things on it.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you this sooner. What else do you have on this
case?”
“There are other parts about this situation.” He put the notebook away,
slung the cigarette in his finished coffee, and waved smoke out the window.
“I have other questions in my head about the victims. I’ve been putting
together a report of all the women. I gave one to the detective in charge, but
as you’ve asked me, I also placed one on your desk.”
 “Is there anything similar about these women? Any person they all dealt
with?”
“Well, the obvious person is Hex. He invited them all to the property. I
am still unclear on the reason why they were guests here.” He walked over
to my desk and picked up a thick stack of papers.
“He usually invites them to work on some project that pops up in his
head,” I said. “My brother tends to start projects and drop them, then the
next month or so get excited about something else and invites more people.
Meanwhile the earlier guests are hanging around the property waiting to
begin.”
“Maybe if I knew the name of the projects and what the goals were, this
could help me and the police somehow.”
“I’ll have you interview him sometime today. I would like to be
present.”
“That sounds good.” He raised the stack of papers in the air. “Either
way, this is the report on the victims.”
I didn’t relish the idea of reading about the lives of dead girls for the
rest of the day. Especially with Elle leaving. My plane was scheduled to
carry her away in five hours. Ideas popped into my head—a surprise dinner
for her before she left, a small gift to say goodbye, a sappy letter about how
we would be good together and to beg her not to wait on us.
“Were there other similarities with these girls? I don’t have time to read
the report tonight.”
“Well. . . I’ve found that when investigating murders no little
coincidences should be overlooked. These women shared a doctor.
However, I’ve discovered that basically all people living in the castle went
to this same doctor.”
 “Dr. Rosenberg?”
“Yes.”
“He treats anybody here and has a small office in the west wing. With a
staff as big as mine and the types of parties Hex enjoys having, I like to
keep a medical person on the property. Additionally, Dayanara presents her
own medical needs.”
“Well, I’ll need to interview him also. The police already have him
down on the list of people to talk to. He prescribed all five women the same
sleeping pill. It was discovered in all of the victims’ stomachs. The official
coroner report states that all five victims died from a sleeping pill.”
I sat up in shock. “What? Sleeping pills?”
“Yes. The first victim, Brenda, was stabbed in the heart, but she was
stabbed after the murder. The sleeping pill is what actually killed her. The
second girl, Patricia, ingested the same thing. The police believe that these
three girls will have the same pill in their stomachs, too, which leads us to
the doctor who prescribed the pills to the girls.”
“I doubt the doctor was involved.”
“I don’t doubt anything anymore. And if this doctor treated Dayanara,
then he had access to her. Perhaps he would know the schedule of the
servants.”
“Maybe. He treated the servants also, and my grandma told me that
many have befriended him.”
“Then he’s someone I will look into further.”
“Are there other similarities with these women?” I asked.
“I’m not sure, but they all have troubled pasts in some way.”
 “Hex is drawn to imperfect people with battered upbringings. It’s a sort
of camaraderie for him to know that he’s not the only one who was dealt a
wicked hand. What did these women go through?”
“Brenda, the first victim, was born a twin. When she was seven, she lost
her twin sister in an accident. The two girls bathed together. Their parents
didn’t monitor them and were in another part of the house. The police
reports say the two girls were play fighting and the twin sister slipped
backwards and banged her head against the edge of the tub. Brenda jumped
out of the tub and ran to get her parents, not realizing that her sister would
be unconscious, slide into the water, and drown.”
“Dear God.” I rose from my chair to fix a drink.
“Brenda never truly got over it. Before modeling she was a video artist
who didn’t do well. However, a lot of her videos related to death and loss.
When I dug further into her family history I noticed that her parents
divorced a year after her sister’s death. It seems Brenda left the house at
fifteen to travel with a rock band, and didn’t have any true contact with her
mother. In fact, I’m still having trouble notifying any of Brenda’s relatives.”
“So none of her family are aware she is even gone?”
“None.”
“What about the second victim?”
Detective White flipped a few pages. “The second victim’s name is
Patricia. Both parents were psychiatrists. What I could grab from her
medical records was that she had some bouts with depression and anxiety.
She was engaged to one of the writers here, a Mr. Winslow. He was her
mentor when she was twelve and continued to assist her with her poetry.
There were rumors that he might’ve molested her when she was young, but
no charges were ever raised by the parents. Apparently, the art world is a
pot ripe for gossip. Once she turned eighteen, her relationship with Mr.
Winslow went public. The whole time he was married. It seems until this
year, he’d separated from his wife and lived at this property with Patricia as
counsel in whatever project Hex invited them for. Once you decided that
everyone would need to leave, things changed between them. Patricia’s
friend, the one who found her in the garden, told me in an interview that
Patricia discovered a day before that Mr. Winslow would be utilizing your
offer to everyone for a plane ticket to anywhere and that he would use the
flight to return to his wife. Witnesses saw Patricia drinking all night and
yelling at Mr. Winslow the few times she managed to come near him.”
I poured a glass and returned to my chair. “And these three women?”
“A calligrapher, watercolor painter, and video installation artist. Again,
all three had difficulty sleeping like the others. There’s not really any clear
depression like the first two victims, but I found some interesting facts. The
calligrapher, Broseli, was diagnosed with a rare form of bowel cancer three
years ago. There has been no indication that she is healed from it. She did
have several visits from her own private doctor while she remained here, as
well as kept a private nurse with her.”
I finished my drink, not really sure how much of this I could listen to.
The less I knew about the victims, the easier it would be to somehow forget
them, I hoped.
“A simple internet search of the watercolor artist, Trudy, brought up
results that she’d attempted suicide three times. Once she tried to paint a
picture during her last suicide attempt. She hung from the ceiling by her
neck and colored. Her assistant discovered her before it was too late.”
Hex has more than invited people with sad histories, he welcomed crazy
people to our home. What other insane person did he invite, someone who
enjoys killing?
 I stifled my groan of annoyance and asked, “What about the video
installation artist?”
“She is the oddest one. Her name is a symbol, one that looks like an
upside-down triangle. I can’t find any records of her existing anywhere. The
police took her fingerprints and scanned them. Nothing has come up in any
of their databases.”
“Isn’t that impossible?”
“In this day and age, most people are fingerprinted. I searched her room
and couldn’t find a passport or any form of identification. I’m not even sure
how she arrived here. There is no record of her coming in on a plane, bus,
or train around the time the director of cleaning said she came. I’m
considering the possibility that she came here by boat and have my men
checking boat yards. They’ll be asking around and showing her picture.”
As always, conversations with Detective White presented more
questions than answers. “Do you need more men working with you on
this?”
“Yes. My mind is boggled. I need to have my eyes and ears in many
places at once. Having a larger team can do that for me.”
“Add as many men as you need and send the bill when you’ve
finished.” I got up from my chair and went to grab another drink, telling
myself it was the last one, but deep down inside knowing it would be a part
of many drinks for the evening.
“Okay. When do you think will be the earliest I can talk to your brother
and grandmother?”
I twirled the bitter brown liquor in my glass. “You can go ahead and talk
to my grandma in her cottage now. Let’s plan to meet with my brother
tomorrow afternoon. I have to interview new personal assistants soon.”
 And perhaps spend the next five hours trying to convince Elle to have
more faith in us.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter 25
Elle

“Hex?” I entered his studio. With the dim lighting, shadows danced on
the walls as I moved through the space. “Hex?”
He didn’t answer. Although my guards stood outside and one flanked
the doorway to Hex’s studio, a chill ran through me. The week’s events had
frazzled my nerves and shoved me over the edge of normalcy. Everything
came out suspicious. Every distorted shape of light or twinkle past my eyes
caused me to jump or shake. Yet saying goodbye to Hex was the last thing
on my list before I left.
Whether he knew it or not, he’d changed my life and how I looked at
myself and art. That simple session with the cancer survivors had changed
my outlook on everything. They were beautiful women, not beautiful due to
their hair, faces, or bodies, but lovely because they exuded it from every
pore. They captivated everyone around them with their strength, spirit, and
examples of survival. That was art. The paintings Michael had done of me
were only pitiful attempts to capture life’s beauty. What Hex created
trapped life into a solid image and forced the viewer to explore the layers of
our world much deeper.
I wonder what else Hex would have taught me if I’d continued modeling
for him.
I browsed his amazing works for the last time, hoping he would come
back soon and seizing the opportunity to check out some of his works from
his new collection.
Did he finish the painting of the women and me?
I walked through the maze of sculptures and scattered canvases full of
forgotten obsessions, tip-toeing over fallen paintbrushes and oil soaked
rags. The perfume of paint filled the air just like it would in Michael’s
studio when he was in the middle of creating his huge images of me. I
inhaled the aroma and followed the scented trail to an opened door in the
far back of the studio. The last time I sat in this area with Hex, the door had
remained closed.
Maybe the painting is in here.
I entered. Bright lights hung from the high ceiling. The whole room was
more organized than Hex’s studio. Art stuff packed the shelves.
Paintbrushes lay in their particular jars as well as many paints, fabrics,
colorful layers of paper, copper wires, clear cords, long tubes of glitter,
nails, planks of wood in various grades, and even more.
Is this his supply room, or is all of this stuff going to be used in his new
collection?
The first thing that caught my eye was Michael’s most famous painting
of me. Michael’s Archangel. It hung on the far wall in the back. My image
floated above lavender clouds that puffed around the edges. I hovered in the
center, my hair flapping out in soft, brown wings that took over most of the
picture. Some of the strands wrapped around my body, but not all of it.
There were peeks of nipple and flesh to tease the viewer. The coolest part of
the painting for me was my actual strands of hair that Michael had
embossed the painting with to give it texture. Hex has the original? Holy
shit. He must’ve paid an awful lot to purchase it. An empty canvas of
similar size rested to the right of Michael’s Archangel. Buckets of black,
red, and silver feathers sat in front of it.
 I stepped farther into the room. Metal served as the floor. My footsteps
sounded on the hard surface. In the center of the room stood a huge table at
least six feet long and four feet wide. It reminded me of those movies where
a character who loved trains would have a big table with a full model of a
town on it. Hex’s table was similar, but instead of a train and tracks, a mini
model of the castle and its property decorated the entire surface. A circular
moat with real water surrounded the outer stone wall and massive castle
inside of it. I leaned in closer. Tiny herbs served as the grass and bushes
throughout the property. I caught the scents of rosemary and mint, but
figured more were used in the depiction. Trees sprouted throughout the
area. From what I remembered, all the trees and bushes looked exactly
where they should be. Numbered tags hung on each tree.
Why is he numbering the trees? He does climb them a lot. Does this
have anything to do with the collection? Is this model a part of it?
For some reason, I didn’t like the tremors of fear rushing through my
veins as I took in the model even more. An electronic display with several
green, white, and black buttons lay on the table. I couldn’t figure out what
the display was for, maybe some sort of remote control or even a tiny
computer screen, maybe. Miniature people lay in a box on the edge of the
model. There were ten of them and all were women. Glancing over my
shoulder to make sure Hex hadn’t walked in, I hurried to the box, looked in
it, and picked up a few. None were recognizable. Sure, they had detailed
features carved into the molded plastic and wore little clothes, but I didn’t
know any of them, except maybe one. I put the others down and seized the
tiny woman with red hair and a sparkling sea green dress with tiny white
flowers painted on the fabric.
Patricia. It has to be her. This was the dress she wore the night of X-
Lab’s opening. Why would he have a model of her?
 I searched through the box and didn’t see me, Alvarez, or their grandma
in it. Ten little models of women. Last night Hex told me the story of how
his father and mother kidnapped ten women and killed them all. Was ten
just a coincidental number or did it mean things I didn’t want to think
about? I set the box back down. That time, I took more care in how I
walked around the room, tip-toeing so Hex wouldn’t be alerted that
someone had been in this area, listening every few seconds for any
movement around me.
Ten models. Ten women, and one of the female models in the box is
Patricia? That’s not a good coincidence, but it doesn’t mean Hex has
anything to do with the murders. Maybe he is somehow reenacting the
murders as a sort of art therapy. This could be therapeutic. But then why
did he number the trees?
I touched the cool stone of the tiny walls and castle. All of it took time.
There was no way Hex threw the model together in twenty-four hours.
Maybe if he’d had help, but still I wasn’t so sure.
I have to tell Alvarez about this.
Turning around in a slow circle, I tried to memorize everything else in
the room. My attention caught on a large jar on the top shelf in the corner of
the room. If I hadn’t been attempting to see everything in the space, I
probably never would’ve even found it. But there the jar sat, at the top of
the shelf, and inside floated a small tan penis connected to a scrotum.
Screams ripped from my throat and burned everything in its path. I
raced out of there without looking at where I was going and bumped my leg
on the end of a table. It didn’t matter. I limped out as fast as I could. All of
my guards barreled into the studio.
“What’s wrong?” One held a gun. Another talked into his cell phone.
 “I have to talk to Alvarez immediately. It might be nothing at all.” The
cut penis in the jar flashed in my head. “But just in case, I have to talk to
him right now.”
The guards exchanged glances, but followed me as I rushed out of the
studio.
“Everything okay?” Hex’s voice sounded from the tree nearest the
studio’s opening.
I held my shaking hand over my eyes to shield the sun and looked up in
that direction. “What are you doing up there?”
“Why were you screaming in my studio?” He hopped down from the
tree. “How long have you been in there?”
“I-I just went in there to say goodbye.”
“Goodbye?” He came close.
“Mr. Castillo, we need you to keep your distance from her, please.” My
largest guard got between us.
Hex laughed and tucked a few of his black and white strands behind his
ear. “What? Why? What’s going on?”
“I need to talk to your brother.” I didn’t wait for an answer. Instead, I
hurried along to the castle.
“What’s going on?” Hex called back.
I glanced over my shoulder to see him following me and my pack of
guards.
“Elle, why are you saying goodbye?” Hex asked. “We’re not done with
the collection yet.”
“I think it’s too unsafe here.” I swung the front door open and headed to
the center staircase. A few maids vacuumed the thick carpet near the
entrance.
“But you’ll be fine. You’re not in any danger.”
“How do you know that?”
Do I even want to know how you know that? Are you involved with these
crazy murders, Hex?
He’d tried to sell me on the whole incident being paranormal. Was that
what he hoped for? His grandma was surely convinced. Not me. Not when a
model of a dead girl lay in his box. I didn’t know what the other four girls
looked like, but I’ll bet they were in the box, too.
Or maybe you’re over thinking this all? Patricia and Hex were good
friends who worked together on projects. It could’ve just been a project. But
then how would he explain the severed penis? Was that art too? Whose
penis was it? Why would someone have that in their room, especially when
the killer carved out the dead girls’ vaginas?
I climbed the stairs. Footsteps pounded behind as the guards and Hex
tumbled along after me.
“Where are you going?” Hex asked.
“To talk to your brother.”
“About what?”
“None of your business.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“It doesn’t matter.” I rounded the corner on the second flight and
marched toward Alvarez’s office, praying he was in there.
“Wait, Elle. Hold on.” Hex attempted to grab my arm. I jumped out of
his reach. The guards grabbed him. He struggled to wrestle his skinny arms
away from them. “Get off me! Are you all crazy?”
 “Hex, just let me talk to your brother.”
“About what?”
“Why does it matter?”
“Because you were screaming in my studio. That’s why. So whatever
you have to say it’s about the stuff in there. Am I wrong?”
I paused and crossed my arms over my chest. “What would be in there
to make me scream?”
“I don’t know.”
I met his nervous gaze with a confident one. “Well, then you have
nothing to worry about.”
“Fuck you, Elle.”
“Fuck me? Really?” I held my hands out and turned around to leave.
“Wait! Please, don’t tell him. Please, Elle.”
The two guards continued to hold Hex, but it seemed they relaxed their
grasp on him.
“What?” I faced him.
“You have your guards right here.” He gestured with his head at each
guard, since his arms were in their grasp. “Let’s go back to my studio so I
can explain it all.”
“Explain what?”
“Don’t act stupid. I know you went in the other room. That’s the only
thing that would have made you freak out.”
“Why don’t you explain it to Alvarez?”
“He won’t understand. He’ll try to stop it before it’s done. I can’t let that
happen. I won’t let people die for nothing. They believed they died for
something. I won’t take it away from them.”
I stepped his way. “Hex, what are you talking about?”
“Just give me some time.”
“What do you mean?”
“Wait until it’s done.”
“What?!”
He closed his mouth.
“Hex?”
Alvarez’s door opened. He directed his gaze to me and then to Hex.
“What’s going on out here? It sounds like you’re arguing.”
I looked at Hex, waiting for him to step in and make sense of all the
things he’d babbled. I didn’t understand what he wanted from me, besides
to be silent on what I’d discovered in his studio, but I couldn’t. Not when
women died around us. If any of that stuff was directly linked to the
murders, then someone had to know. And what the hell would he need a jar
full of a penis in his room for? What would he use that for? Whose penis
was it?
“Elle? Hex? What’s going on?” Alvarez stepped out and came close to
me, filling my space with his scent and reminding me why I’d been
avoiding him these past hours.
Now is not the time to be thinking about Alvarez and how much I’m
going to miss him. Just tell him.
“Can we talk in your office?” I asked.
The short black man known as his investigator Detective White stepped
out of Alvarez’s office behind him.
 “Please, Elle.” Hex shook his head over and over. “Please, don’t.”
“Don’t what?” Alvarez leaned his head to the side.
I swallowed my fear. “Hex has a severed penis in his studio along with
tiny dolls that I think are of the girls who died. I’m not sure about all of
that. I just know one of the dolls looks just like Patricia.”
Alvarez snapped his attention to Hex. “What the fuck, a severed penis?
What is Elle talking about?”
Hex glanced at Detective White, climbed out of the guards’ arms, and
leaned on the wall. “You won’t understand until next week.”
“Why?”
Hex didn’t respond, so Alvarez turned to me.
“In this back room in his studio, there was a whole model of the
property, the castle, trees, moat, everything. And on the trees there were
numbers. I don’t know if any of this is related to the murders but when I
saw the penis it scared me since the dead girls were cut up like that.”
“What? Wait a minute!” Hex scrunched his face up into confusion. “The
girls were cut? No one told me that.”
“Get back on topic,” Alvarez said. “What is all of this stuff in your
studio?”
Hex combed his shaking fingers through his black and white hair. “It’s
for my new art collection.”
“A severed penis?” Alvarez asked.
“Yes.”
“And a model of our property with tiny depictions of the victims,”
Alvarez asked through clenched teeth. Blood vessels bulged along his
temples. He looked like he was about to explode.
 “Yes. It’s all part of my collection.” Hex turned to the investigator.
“Why did Elle say someone cut the women’s vaginas? Did that really
happen?”
“I want Detective White to look in your studio and you will do the
interview with him right now. No more stalling. You need to tell him
everything.”
“I won’t and you agreed years ago that my studio is always off limits
—”
“Not when people die it’s not!” Alvarez roared.
Hex, Detective White, and I took a step back.
“No one goes in my studio.” Hex stuffed his mouth with his thumb. “I
mean it.”
“Or what, Hex?”
“I-I don’t know.” Hex’s eyes watered like he was about to cry.
For whatever reason, my heart broke at the sight. Alvarez appeared like
a deranged man ready to destroy anything in his path while Hex seemed to
be near the moment where he dropped to the ground and balled up into a
crying baby.
This is my fault.
“Okay. Let’s figure out a way to handle this.” I held my hand up. “Hex,
maybe you can just explain everything to your brother.”
“He’ll end it.”
“Then maybe you can explain it all to Detective White.”
“No,” Hex mumbled around his wet thumb. “I’ll explain it to you.
Maybe you’ll understand and get Al to not be a dickhead and stop it all.”
 “Me? I don’t know if I could.” I touched my chest. “I mean. . . I barely
understand what I say and—”
“Please, Elle.”
Everyone looked at me, except Alvarez who continued to glare at Hex.
Alvarez was a man pushed over the cliff into a sea of pure madness. I didn’t
know what had happened to him in the last twenty-four hours, but he’d had
enough. I had to step in. I did it to save Hex, but more to take care of
Alvarez, someone who was slowly becoming an important person in my
life, even though I didn’t think I was ready for everything he could give me.
“Okay. I’m willing to sit down and talk to Hex about whatever the stuff
in his studio means.”
Alvarez shook his head. “No. I don’t want you involved. You leave
today and get away from this craziness.”
I wagged my finger at him. “I’ve already told you before that you don’t
get to tell me what to do. I’m going to talk to Hex about this and then report
back to you.”
“Unless you think you should wait,” Hex added.
“I doubt it. If this has anything to do with the murders, then I don’t
think I would wait.”
“You might.”
“This is stupid.” Alvarez stomped Hex’s way. “I don’t want Elle
involved. Tell me now.”
I seized Alvarez’s arm before he could move any closer to Hex. “Stop.
You’re scaring him.”
“He should be scared. He may have ruined the investigation and—”
Hex waved his hands. “I didn’t cut anybody’s vaginas.”
 “But you did the rest?” Alvarez raised his eyebrows.
“What? No. I-I. . .” Hex turned to me as if I could save him, when I was
really hoping to hear the answer myself.
A skinny blonde woman walked down the hallway towards us. We all
became quiet.
“Yes, Vivian.” Alvarez turned to her. “How can I help you?”
“There’s a man downstairs who refuses to leave the front door unless a
woman named Ellie comes out.”
“Oh my God. That’s Michael.” I covered my mouth.
“Take him to our study,” Alvarez ordered.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter 26
Alvarez

I stormed down the stairs. Elle and Hex trailed behind me.
Michael came right on time, right when I wanted to shove my fist into
the center of a person’s face. It was like magic. With grandma cutting
vaginas out of dead women and whatever Hex had done to destroy the
crime scenes, I was fed up with it all. Everything. Part of me tried to calm
my anger down and take each problem one step at a time. The other part
screamed to run off with Elle and leave them all behind. I had a decent bank
account. It didn’t reach the size of Hex’s savings of course, but it would tide
Elle and me over, if necessary.
And then Michael stormed onto my family’s property demanding to see
his Ellie.
Well, she’s not your Ellie anymore, Michael. She’s my Elle, and if you
touch or try to hurt her again I’ll have my grandma ruin you.
I laughed at the thought of Grandma splashing him with one of her
stinky spells. Someone tapped my shoulder. I figured it was Elle. That
luscious fragrance drifted near me the whole time I stomped down the
stairs.
“Alvarez? Are you listening to me?” she asked.
“No. I already told you I want to talk to him.”
“I can do it by myself. You have other things to worry about.”
 “I thought you were going to have a discussion with Hex, the possible
murder suspect.” I glanced over my shoulder and noticed Hex flinch.
“Don’t say that,” Elle said.
“Sorry. I don’t have any patience today. It all left once my grandma told
me she was the one cutting out women’s vaginas for stupid spells and then
you informed me that we didn’t have a future together. And finally Hex has
God only knows what in the studio and keeping that guilty expression on
his face each time I ask him about it.”
“I didn’t say we didn’t have a future. I just needed to not start anything
with you now.”
I rounded the corner to the other flight of stairs. “Well, my patience is
gone and Michael is the exact person I should see right now.”
“Why?”
“Because I love you, Elle. And I love Hex, and my grandma, but I can’t
put my hands on any of you in order to get you all to do what I want, but I
surely can—”
“No. You can’t.”
“If he says something remotely disrespectful or hurtful to you, I’m
going to choke him.”
She grabbed my arm. “Alvarez, please stop.”
I paused and glared at her.
“I don’t want you fighting him or anybody else. It’s barbaric and stupid.
You both are grown men and I can deal with my problems on my own.”
“Then I’ll be there for support.” I headed down the last flight of stairs.
“I don’t need support.”
 “Well, you have it anyway.”
We made it to the end of the stairs. Elle had no idea where the study was
so she was forced to follow me to the east wing. In no time, all three of us
entered the space together.
Michael sat in the huge leather chair in the far back under a painting of
a couple making love in a dimly lit forest. In the image, tigers peeked their
heads up through the grass to witness the scene.
The few times I’d seen Michael from gallery showings or on television
interviews, he appeared bigger. In that moment, he looked thin and weak.
His black hair stood in a mess of waves over his head. His wrinkled clothes
hung off his skinny frame. Without saying anything to me or Hex, Michael
directed all of his attention to Elle.
“Ellie.” The word came out of Michael’s mouth in a pained whisper. His
fingers shook as he held a cup of violet liquid in his hands. “Ellie.”
“Michael, what are you doing here?’ Elle stepped in front of us. I got up
next to her, scared to give her too much space away from me. Did I think
she would leave with him? I wasn’t sure. I just knew I wouldn’t let her go
with him or anyone else. I couldn’t. Regardless of what Michael had to say,
I would make sure he left alone. Regardless of what Hex had to say about
the stuff in his studio or even whatever occurred with these murders, Elle
would not leave this castle alone.
I’m leaving with her whether she wants me to or not, whether there are
hundreds of things here to finish. I’m going wherever she goes.
Michael rose from his chair and finished whatever was in his cup. “Can
we talk by ourselves?”
“No,” Hex and I said in unison. We exchanged weird glances, but
continued to keep our stance in front of Michael.
 Elle cleared her throat and got everyone’s attention. “Michael, just say
whatever you have to say and then leave.”
“You cut your hair.” He frowned. “Why?”
“I didn’t need it.”
“I liked it long.”
“I like it short.” She combed her fingers through her hair with pure
defiance swimming through her eyes. “What do you want? Surely you
didn’t come here to talk about hair.”
He gazed at her with watery eyes on the verge of tears. “Come back to
me, please. I’m so sorry.”
“Sorry for what?” Elle asked.
“For everything.”
“Like what?”
Michael dug his hands into his pants pockets. “For the times I insulted
you.”
She placed her hands on her hips. “That’s it?”
He slumped his shoulders forward in defeat. “I’m sorry for all the
women and blame. The mean things I used to say to you. The terrible
games I played with your head. All those times I left you alone crying into
your pillow. And most of all I’m sorry for telling you that your light was
gone. You’re not the reason I haven’t been inspired. I am.”
Elle nodded her head. “Thank you. I just wanted to finally hear you say
sorry for something. Now please leave.”
Michael changed his expression from apologetic to angry within
seconds. It was the oddest thing. In one moment, his lips mimicked a frown
and he stared at the ground. In the next, he lifted the right side of his lips
into a sneer, clenched his fingers into fists, and practically snarled at Elle.
“I’m not going anywhere unless you’re next to me.” Michael scowled at
her. “You had your little fun while we were separated. I don’t even want to
know what you’ve been doing here, but now you get your shit and come
with me!”
Elle shook her head. “I knew you couldn’t be apologetic for longer than
a few seconds. Either way, the answer to your question is no.”
“It wasn’t a question, you bloody crazy woman! Get your—”
“No.” Elle dropped her hands from her hips. “We’re done. I already told
you in my letter. I don’t want to see, hear, or be near you again. I’m done
modeling for you and as far as being your girlfriend again, that will never
happen.”
“And so you will model for the enemy? Is that mature? Is that the right
thing to do? You’re better than this, Ellie.”
“What I do is none of your business anymore.”
A mocking smile broke out on my face. I couldn’t help it.
“You think you can do anything you want?” Michael asked. “That’s not
what my contract says.”
Elle’s confident face faltered. “You don’t have any works in progress. I
have every right to work with someone else when—”
“I’m given the chance to match whatever price you’re being paid,” he
finished. “And believe me right now, I’ll match whatever price they come
up with. I’ll break the bank to have you back in my house. I’ll get loans and
put up mortgages on the houses. Get your bags and come on.”
 “You’ll never be able to match this price. I guarantee it.” I crossed my
arms over my chest.
“Who are you?” he asked me.
“I’m Hex’s manager and Elle’s new boyfriend,” I replied and dared him
to react.
Elle cleared her throat. “And it doesn’t matter, Michael. I’m not going
to go back and forth with you on contract details when the fact of the matter
is, I don’t want to be with you. You don’t have to get loans or try to match a
price. I quit. I no longer want to be your model.”
“If you quit, you still don’t get to model. There’s a two year non-
compete clause in the contract. If you quit, you can’t model for two years.
What will you do, Ellie? Do you even know how to read?”
“Fuck you.” She spat the words at him. Hex looked back at me with a
worried expression on his face.
“I’ll be fine whether I can model or not,” she said.
“Where will you go?” Michael asked.
“She’ll be with me.” I tossed him a smile that said say something I don’t
like and I’ll beat your face to a pulp.
“You’ve barely been away from me for a week and have already spread
your legs? You dirty little whore.” Instead of Michael stomping my way, he
headed to Elle and raised his fist.
Whore? I don’t think so.
I charged for him. Hex met my pace. We both crashed into Michael
before he even realized what happened.
Elle shrieked. “Guys! Wait! He wasn’t going to hit me.”
 It was already too late. Hex and I wrestled him to the ground. Michael
screamed as we shoved him on his back and kept him down. His shirt tore
in the front. Hex got a smack in. I wrapped my hands around Michael’s
neck, doing my best to not give in to the urge to choke him to death as Hex
smacked him some more.
“Alvarez! Hex!” Elle hit my back. “Let him go. He wasn’t going to hit
me.”
“Then what was he going to do?” I asked through clenched teeth.
“Get in my face and try to bully me, but he wouldn’t put his hands on
me.”
I gazed into Michael’s eyes and tightened my hold on his neck to make
sure he understood how serious I was. “In my family, if we see a man
getting in a woman’s face and yelling, the guy would be lucky to have his
balls by the end of the hour. Do you like your balls, Michael? My grandma
can slice them off in two seconds, so clean you’ll think your balls were
never there to begin with. Would you like to meet her?”
He shook his trembling head. “Let me go.”
“No.”
“Please.”
“Don’t ever get in Elle’s face again.” I loosened my grip. “And get the
fuck off my property.”
“And don’t call Elle names either.” Hex smacked him. “You talentless
hack.”
“I have talent. You’re the one who tried to steal her so you can milk off
my fame, you devil painter.” We let him go, and Michael flipped his middle
finger at Hex as he struggled to get away from us.
 “I didn’t have to steal her. She contacted me.” Hex let him go
completely. “And if you think you’re going to stop my painting of her and
any other works from coming out, then I’ll see you in court. Meanwhile, I’ll
tell the media how you’re scared to have me release my work of your model
because you know it will surpass all the ones you’ve already done of Elle.
That is the truth, right? You’re scared I painted her better.”
Michael came closer to Elle, too close for my comfort. I grabbed him by
the arms.
He looked at me. “What? I won’t touch her and no, Hex. I just don’t
want to share her, you psycho. Knowing you, Hex, you probably
surrounded her with bloody skulls and corpses.” Michael turned to me.
“Can you please let me go? I won’t yell at Ellie again.”
“Say sorry to her.” I shook him a little, glanced at Elle, and caught her
giggling under her hand.
He sucked his teeth. “Sorry, Ellie.”
I released him. “Elle stays here with us for as long as she likes.”
“No.” Michael straightened his shirt.
“You have a contract that binds her when it comes to modeling, but you
don’t have any contract over her heart. Pick up your dignity and go home.”
“No.” Michael glared at Elle. “Hell no. Our love has lasted ten damn
years. That’s too much to let go. We belong together. We complete each
other.”
And then black liquid spilled out of Michael’s mouth. Shrieking, he
extended his hands, as if grabbing for air.
“Michael?” Elle attempted to rush over to him.
 I seized her before she could touch him. “No. Don’t. The spell might
transfer over to you.”
“Spell?” she screeched.
“It looks like Michael did get to meet Grandma after all.” Hex leaned
against the wall and laughed.
“What’s happening to me?” Michael swayed, stumbled back, and fell to
the floor as his eyes rolled in their sockets and revealed only the whites.
I held Elle closer to me as she shivered. “Hex, call Grandma and tell her
to get back in here. Knowing her, she’s hiding or something. Find out what
she gave him.”
When in the hell did she get in here to give it to him? She must’ve seen
him heading to the castle somehow and got to him first.
Hex laughed. “Are we sure it was Grandma? Maybe it’s all of the crap
he’s full of slowly dripping out.”
“Not funny. He could be seriously hurt.” I looked at Elle.
She shook her head. “What kind of spell is it?”
“I have no idea.” I shrugged my shoulders. “But he’s fine. Grandma
would never kill anybody.”
At least that’s what I try to tell myself.
“What the hell happened?” Elle asked. “He was talking and now black
stuff is. . . oh my God.”
Michael groaned and rolled back and forth. “Oh God! The pain! Help
me!”
Hex pulled out his phone and went into the hall.
 I let go of Elle, walked over to Michael, and kneeled by him. “What
happened when you got here? Did you talk to anybody?”
“The maids.” Michael’s lips quivered. He blinked his eyes as he hugged
himself. “Oh God. The pain. It’s like fire in my stomach.”
“You only talked to maids?” I asked.
“Yes. A young one and an old woman.”
“Old woman?” I raised my eyebrows, knowing that all of our staff was
in their early twenties or thirties. “Did she have gray hair and was really
short?”
“Yes. The nice one. She gave me the punch.” Drool leaked out of
Michael’s mouth as he screeched. “Fuck! What was in that punch?”
Only Grandma knows.
Michael’s body shook, riding erratic spasms. Ignoring my warning, Elle
got on his other side and held his hand until the shaking stopped and
Michael seemed to drift off to sleep. “What can we do for him?”
“Nothing. Grandma has to fix it,” I said. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” She waved my apology away. “You didn’t do anything. If
anything, you’ve been nothing but defending me the whole time.”
“You’ve been here for less than a week and have seen a dead girl, a
séance with people dressed in blood, whatever was in Hex’s studio, and
your ex-boyfriend drugged. This is a regular week for me, but you must be
ready to race out of here on the next plane.”
She formed her lips into a smile. “You’re forgetting that I saw some of
the most amazing art installations in the world, hung out at a marvelous
party with magicians, circus performers, awesome jazz band, and mind-
blowing fireworks. Hex inspired me the one time we painted and made me
rethink what life meant to me. Don’t forget I met a spectacular man with
two hearts and the need to give me one of them. This week has changed my
life.”
I almost sighed, but instead I held it in. “A man with two hearts, huh?”
“Yes. I think he said he was Cuban.”
“Possibly. I’ve heard they have two of them.” I directed my gaze to the
floor. “And what are you going to do with the man’s extra heart?”
“He didn’t give it to me yet.”
“Trust me. He did.”
She bit her bottom lip. “I—”
I should have let her finish, but I just couldn’t hear her back out of our
relationship. “I don’t want a break or time out. I don’t need time to handle
this stuff here. I don’t want you to leave without me or fix whatever you
need to fix without me. I have to be with you. If that means getting on the
plane with you tonight and leaving all of this behind, I will.”
“I can’t ask you to do that.”
“Who said you asked?” I touched my chest. “Not me. I’ve made my
decision. It’s you.”
She opened her lips and then shut them as if unsure of what else to say.
“I love you, Elle.”
She looked down at the sleeping Michael. “You can’t love me already.”
“If I’m not in love, then I’m halfway there. It’s unavoidable now, like a
hurricane spinning my way and there’s nowhere to run or hide. And you
know what? I don’t give a damn if the hurricane carries me off to
destruction.”
 She grinned. “My love is like a hurricane?”
“Your love is bigger. I can’t even comprehend it.”
The door opened behind us.
“Hex! Let me go! I won’t fix him! He’s a bad man,” Grandma yelled as
Hex pulled her small body into the room. “He wants to take her away from
here and that would hurt Alvarez. I protect what’s mine.”
I jumped up. “Hex, go ahead and let her go. Grandma, what did you do?
Black goo leaked out of his mouth, and then he shook for a while and
passed out.”
Grandma huffed and rolled her eyes. “Is he taking her?”
“We didn’t get to that.”
“Then when he wakes up and decides to be a good man, I’ll give him
the antidote.”
“You’ll give it to him regardless,” I demanded.
“Wait a minute.” Hex raised his hand. “Maybe he could sign a contract
releasing Elle from her work with him.”
I waved him away. “You’d better be joking. We’re not going to bully a
man into this.”
“Why not?” Hex shrugged. “He’s bullying Elle into not modeling. Why
not seize the opportunity?”
I looked at Elle. “I can’t believe I’m even asking this, but what do you
think?”
She faced Grandma. “Will whatever you gave him kill him?”
“Of course not. I’m no killer. I just gave him a basic potion. Whenever
he’s being mean, it hurts him. It was supposed to take a while to work, but
he’s so bad it probably triggered the magic inside of him.”
I rubbed my eyes. “Go get the antidote. This is ridiculous.”
“Even if I did make it, which I would have to do,” Grandma said. “It
would take two days to process. I figured he would stay here and in that
time we could convince him—”
“Stay here?” Rage bubbled inside me. “I thought I told you to consult
me before you did drastic things.”
“Well, who knew this man was coming when he did? I had to be quick
and act fast. He stays. I’ll make the antidote and will give it to him when he
signs whatever contract Hex was talking about.”
Dear God. Will this craziness ever end?
“You’ll give him the antidote regardless.” I gritted my teeth.
Hex raised his hand again. “Maybe we should vote. I say yes to only
giving him the antidote if he signs our special contract.”
I waved his ridiculous idea away. “We’re not voting. This is a man’s life
we’re talking about, we can’t just—”
Grandma raised her hand. “I vote yes, too.”
Elle raised hers and displayed a weak smile. “Sorry, Alvarez. I vote yes
also. He’ll hold that damn contract over my head for years. For now, all I
have is modeling. If he wants to play dirty with me, then I’ll play dirty
back. I back Grandma in this decision.”
My grandma smiled.
“You’re outvoted, Al.” Hex clapped his hands.
“I’m not outvoted. I said we don’t get to vote.”
 “We should take him upstairs to one of the guest rooms,” Grandma
suggested, as if I hadn’t said anything.
“Wait a minute—”
“Okay. When will he wake up?” Elle asked Grandma, completely
ignoring me.
“He’ll probably sleep for several hours,” Grandma said. “The vomiting
and diarrhea will begin soon after. I gave him some nasty stuff, but at least
his system will be nice and clean after these days.”
God help me.
“Okay.” Elle walked over to Michael’s sleeping body. “Let’s get some
servants to take him to a room and have one of the guards watch over him.
Grandma, do you have all the ingredients for the antidote?”
“Yes. Even the human lungs.”
Elle paused for a minute as if waiting for Grandma to say she was
joking, realized that wouldn’t happen, and moved onto Hex. “Okay.
Grandma, you make the antidote. Meanwhile, Hex, we need to talk.”
“Do we?” He leaned his head to the side and stuffed his thumb in his
mouth.
“Yes. I don’t think you killed anybody, but I do believe you know
what’s been going on with everything. When I was talking to Alvarez just
now I thought of something.”
“What?”
“You love art installations.”
Hex tensed. It was a subtle movement from him that only someone like
me, who’d been around him for years, would have noticed.
 “So what? Everyone knows I love art installations. That’s not a big
deal.” Hex continued to suck on his thumb.
“When we were in the limo, you told me there was an installation in
your collection. Where is it?” she asked.
Hex didn’t say anything.
“Are these deaths connected to the installation?” She smiled, but no one
else in the room even dared to see the brightness in the situation. Whatever
Elle had on her mind I couldn’t even comprehend. Grandma and I looked
from Hex to each other with confused expressions on our faces.
“Okay, Hex. Let’s talk.” Elle gestured to the door. “In fact, let’s go to
your studio so you can show it to me.”
“Will you tell my brother everything?” Hex asked.
“Of course she will,” I replied.
Elle shook her head no. “I’ll have to make that decision once I know
everything. I’m not promising anything now.”
What? My own lady has teamed up with my family?
“Okay.” Hex took his thumb out of his mouth. “Let’s go.”
“I’m coming, too.” I trailed behind them.
Elle stopped me with her hand on my chest. “No. It’s only going to be
Hex, me, and my guards. If he doesn’t want you to know, then I won’t make
him.”
“But—”
“No. You told me something that touched my heart today. You said you
would leave with me and give it all up just for my love.” She leaned in and
kissed me. “Now, let me show you how much I care for you, by helping you
out with this crazy load you call a family.”
 I seized her waist. “I don’t need your help.”
“Oh, be quiet, Alvarez, and make sure my spelled ex-boyfriend makes it
up to the guest room without vomiting all over your expensive carpet.”

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter 27
Elle

“The first time we talked about your art collection it was in the limo
ride to go shopping. Do you remember that?” I opened the door to Hex’s
studio.
Still with the thumb in his mouth, he walked through and nodded.
“You told me about installation art and how when an artist starts the
process they first create a mini-model of the whole installation.”
My guards shut the main doors behind us.
“When I saw the mini-model today, it never occurred to me that it could
be a model for installation art. I was just on edge and nervous about
everything.”
Hex walked into the studio. “What did you think?”
“Nothing clicked. I just got crazy jittery, especially when I saw the tiny
figurine of Patricia.”
“How did you recognize her?”
“We hung out during the art gallery opening. She actually wore that
same pretty sea green and white flower dress.”
“It was her favorite.” He took his time guiding me to the back room. “I
want the guards to be out here while I explain everything to you.”
“That’s fine.”
 “Then afterward, I want you to give me a chance to convince you not to
tell Al until it’s all done.”
If it’s what I think it is, then you’ll need a lot more than words to
convince me.
“Okay, Hex.”
The room was just how I’d left it. I studied the model on the table again.
“So this is your art installation?”
“Yes.” He took his thumb out and placed the figurines of the women
back into the box they’d been in. “I made this model three months ago.”
“And the little figures of the dead women?” I asked.
“They’re not all dead yet.”
That response delivered chills up my spine.
“But yes, once everyone decided their part in the installation, that’s
when I created the tiny figures. The women picked their outfits and
everything.”
I was still confused, but I kept a neutral mask on my face so he wouldn’t
backtrack or try to get out of telling me.
“How many people are involved in this installation?”
“At least thirty.”
“What is it about?”
“I wasn’t a hundred percent sure at the time, not until you and I talked
in the limo and I came up with sacrifice. But when we all discussed this
installation we pictured a place out in the open, surrounded by nature. We
wanted it to be interactive, but involve video footage.” Hex touched one of
the numbers in the trees. “Brenda taught me all about cameras, how to work
them, where to place them for better lighting, how to create extra emotion.
She was an amazing teacher. Toward the end I thought she would’ve opted
out of sacrificing herself, but she did it with no hesitation.”
Fear bubbled in my chest. “So these five women who died actually
committed suicide?”
“In a way. We agreed to make it as painless as possible. There would be
no guns, knives, or anything to suggest violence. We needed the focus to be
on the art of death, the beauty of it.”
I cringed. “The beauty of it?”
“Yes. In all of my works I explore death, and in many of my friends’
works too, whether poetry, calligraphy, water colors, video art, etc. We’re
all portraying the concept of death and the enchanting wonder of it.”
“Why?” My voice came out as a whisper. My legs wobbled as if I’d just
picked up a box full of heavy weights and tried to hold it for hours.
“Artists always create to answer a question, even if they don’t know
they are doing it. Death is the most mysterious question in life. Why not
explore it?”
I raked my shivering fingers through my hair. “Okay. Let me get this
straight. You created this huge elaborate video art installation around the
castle to explore death?”
“Yes. And we wanted to make it interactive on many layers. As the
deaths are happening each night, we’re videotaping the human reaction to it
all. We’re even studying how nature reacts to death. Is there a change with a
tree when a woman dies under it? Do more leaves fall? Does the earth rot?
Or is it all a continuation of life? So far, I believe nature has subtle reactions
to the loss of life. I swear to God the trees seemed to lean toward Brenda
when she passed away. The whole moment was eerie.”
“You were there?”
 “We all were the first night. She was scared to die alone. She took the
sleeping pills. Laid in the garden in the one area where my brother’s
security cameras didn’t monitor, but where all of our video cameras were
positioned. Brenda didn’t want us to talk or make any sound. She just asked
us to stand around her in a circle and looked down at her face; just give her
the image of the only people who loved her, smiling down at her as she
died. And that’s what we did. Under the moonlight and hidden in the
shadows, we watched her die.”
Oh my god.
I rested my hand on my chest. My heartbeat pounded beneath my
breasts.
“She’d been trying to kill herself for years, but never had the heart to go
through with it. Like some of the others, she just wanted to end life, get it
over with and see the other side. We talked about what could be there
waiting for us. I mentioned Grandma’s gods being on the other side. Some
spoke about their beliefs of life after death. Others spoke of colorless
worlds where you could fill in color and paint all day, never getting tired or
needing to eat. Brenda didn’t care about any of that. She just wanted to see
her twin sister, a girl who had died when she was a kid. Brenda kept saying
she felt like half of her being had been cut out, never to be replaced. She
claimed to walk around the earth as an empty shell of a woman.”
“So she was killing herself to see her sister again?”
“Yes.”
Patricia’s scarred wrist flashed in my head. She’d said that her group of
friends called her healed wrists life lines. At the time I’d found it odd that
people would nickname such a tragic thing, but now I understood why. This
bunch was not only crazy, they were all suicidal in some way.
 As if hearing my thoughts, Hex lifted the figurine of Patricia. “Patricia
slit her wrists after the first time her mentor had sex with her. She was ten.
No one believed he’d done it. Her parents, being psychologists, chalked it
up to all types of mental illnesses, but the truth. He remained her mentor
and continued to touch her inappropriately. By the time she turned of age,
she was in love with him. It killed her inside. She was simply using death as
an escape.” Hex set the figurine back in the box.
“Her mentor was on the property, right? Did he know what she was
going to do?”
“He was here, but he never knew she would kill herself.”
Hex pulled out three more figurines of women I didn’t recognize. “This
is Broseli. She was dying of cancer. The doctors gave her less than a month
to live. She chose to die her way. Trudy is right here. Five years ago, she
lost her whole family in a plane crash as they were flying to one of her
events. I mean everybody--parents, husband, kids, and an aunt. They were
on her private plane when it happened. She never got over it.”
“And the last one?”
“I don’t know why she did it. She never told me much about her life. I’d
invited her for some of her famous video art collections. You’ll never hear
of them. They were all banned in pretty much any country that matters.”
“Why?”
“She killed animals in most and—”
“I don’t want to hear anymore.” I sighed. “Okay. So you have five more
mini-dolls in the box. That means five more women are going to kill
themselves?”
“Yes. Which is why I don’t want Al knowing about this. He’ll want to
stop it.”
 “Of course he would. This is wrong.”
“How is it wrong?”
“If someone says they want to kill themselves, you don’t say cool, let’s
make it art. How can I help you do it? You try to get them help. You pray
for them or—”
“All of that has been done. I’m giving them what they want.”
“No, you’re not. You’re doing this for yourself.”
“No. I’m not.”
“You are.” I pointed at him. “If any art gallery shows this--and that’s a
big if--it will be huge. This will go down in history. Art schools will discuss
it, whether in a good or bad way, they’ll study it. Psychologists will
probably jump on this, and any other social scientists. You and your group
will be famous.”
He grinned. “Well, I did think of that. We all did, in fact.”
“This isn’t funny, Hex. You’re letting people kill themselves for art.”
“I don’t see the problem if they want to do it.”
How can I get through to him? How can I stop those other five women
from dying?
“You’re acting just like your dad, but in a different way,” I said. “You’re
killing women for immortality. Your name will be out there forever in the
art world. In the end, that’s all it is.”
“Their names will be there, too.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. People will wonder about the women for probably
the first ten or twenty years, but after a while the ones who died will be
insignificant to the one who presented it all. The genius artist who got them
all together will be known and remembered.”
 “No.” He shook his head and put his thumb back in his mouth. “You’re
wrong.”
“Who are the other five girls?”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want them to kill themselves. I don’t want the police to
exhaust even more of their time to this freaking case when they have real
cases out there to solve. I don’t want everyone on this property, especially
the women, to walk around scared out of their mind, wondering if a serial
killer is standing next to them. And I don’t want Alvarez to continue to
overwork himself to save more women. This is wrong.”
“So you’re going to tell Alvarez?”
“How can I not?”
He got in front of the tiny electronic display I’d seen earlier with all the
multicolored buttons. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
He pressed the red button on the right.
The metal floor under me opened up. I fell through, screaming the
whole time. Hex dropped along with me. The button must have controlled
the entire floor. I crashed into the ground. Dirt rose all around me. I
coughed as it got into my mouth. Pain licked up my whole body. I didn’t
think I broke anything, but I was sure I would be sore for a while.
Something crashed above us. I looked up to see the metal floors slam
together.
“No!” I rushed up to a standing position and tried to jump up to stop the
floors. It was too late of course. Darkness filled the space. I limped around
and extended my hands to see if I could touch anything in the dark.
 “Elle, are you okay?” Hex asked.
“Where the hell are we? Where are you?”
“Hold on. There’s a light switch around here. Just give me a minute to
find it.” A boom sounded, and then another. Finally the light turned on to
reveal a thumb-sucking Hex with a few dots of blood dripping from his
forehead. The whole area was gray metal around a dirt ground. “Okay.
There is a sliding door here on the right for the main facilities. I have to
check my forehead. . .”
He swayed and tripped over his own feet. The back of his head
slammed into the wall. “Oh God!”
I ran to him. “Hex? Are you okay, you crazy bastard?”
“I fell on my head. . . I think. . . I banged it at least. . . Fuck, that hurts!”
I grabbed the sides of his face. “Where are we? How can I get you
help?”
“I’m fine.” His eyes rolled to the back of his head before coming back
forward. “I just. . . need a minute to rest.”
“You don’t know that. You might have a concussion or even worse. Is
there a phone down here or a way to get in touch with someone to get
help?”
“The door. The silver one over there.” He pointed up to the ceiling and
let his head fall back, which told me he was barely with me. “Don’t tell Al.
We only have a little bit more time. Don’t say anything.”
“I won’t say anything. I promise, just stay with me.” I laid him down
and raced to the wall, sliding my hands over the cool, smooth surface to see
if there was a hidden door like Hex had said. When I got to the second
corner, rough edges pressed against my fingertips. The wall clicked. The
door opened a few inches. I pulled at the edges, straining with all my might,
until it opened completely.
A big room appeared, packed with ten TV screens on the wall, an
electronic control display, two chairs, a shelf with canned goods and boxed
items, several stacks of bottled water, as well as a few bottles of wine.
I stepped inside and glanced over my shoulder at Hex. “What is this
room?”
“This was just in case. . . Al found out.” Hex rolled over to his side. His
chest rose and fell as if he’d been running for miles. “My plan was to run to
my private room near the studio and get Al to chase me in there. Then I
would press the button, we would all fall in here and remain until
everything was over.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“I was hoping to never use the plan. . . but it sounded reasonable at the
time.”
“Can we even breathe down here?”
“Yes. It’s an old bomb shelter.”
“And these cameras and screens? Are they taping everything above us?”
I limped over to the other side of the electronic display. It looked like it had
a phone next to it.
“Yes. The feeds are coming from all of my mini cameras in the trees.
Sometimes I come down to check on them. There’s a ladder next to the
same way we came in, but you were too busy falling to see it.”
I turned and noticed him dragging himself my way. “Can we climb up
the ladder?”
“It can be accessed from the studio.”
 “I don’t understand.”
“Just trust me on this.”
“You have me trapped in an old bomb shelter with cameras waiting to
record five future suicides, excuse me if I don’t feel like trusting you right
now.” I picked up the phone. It was one of the old phones with the big
receiver that people held to their ears.
“That phone doesn’t work.” Hex took his time standing up and then did
some sort of odd hop, walking to the first chair before collapsing into it. “I
planned for Al and me to be down here until the last person dies. That’s
why there’s all this food and water down here. The phone isn’t programmed
to work until tomorrow evening.”
“The women are going to commit suicide tonight?”
“Yes. All five.”
“My guards will know that we dropped down here. It’s the most logical
conclusion. They watched us go into the room. They’ll search the ceiling
and all the walls around it. Plus, with the loud noise they’ll know something
opened up.”
“I’m fine with that. Without the code or knowing what buttons to pick,
they’ll have to wrench the floor up. It will take hours.” He checked his
watch, then leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “Gloria and the others
will be hiding behind the trees near the garden soon. When it gets dark, I
have the security cameras showing an old feed to the guards. Gloria and
them will take the pills, walk out to the garden, and wait to slowly die.”

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter 28
Alvarez

“Then there was this big crashing sound.” Elle’s guard did frantic hand
movements as he described what happened. “We ran into the room right as
the floor was closing. We could hear her screaming. I tried to keep it open,
but I didn’t know how to do it and then it just snapped back together.”
It took everything in me to not strangle the guard and make him pay for
whatever Hex had done. What the fuck, Hex? What the hell have you done?
Three maintenance men hammered and drilled away at the metal floor. I
called the police and more handymen to deal with the trap door. Somewhere
Elle lay under the floor, scared out of her mind, while my brother,
motivated by whatever stupid, idiotic thing that incited him to have the trap
door built in the first place, stood with an air of bloated confidence.
I’m going to kill him.
The guard hung his head low. “We tried our best.”
I held up my hand. “I understand. Just go outside and wait for the cops.”
I headed outside of the studio to where Detective White and Grandma
studied the mini model of the castle we’d discovered inside Hex’s private
room. “Have you come up with anything?”
“I already touched the room and the model. The spirits say Hex and Elle
are under the floor, but we already knew that.” Grandma trailed her fingers
across the area where her garden lay. “Elle has to be safe with him. Hex
didn’t kill these women. Not my grandson. I know what’s in his heart. It’s
good things, except when his art takes him over, and then he turns into a
madman, but there’s no evil in him. If he did it, then it’s something to do
with his art. Something foul inspired him and he went with it.”
“Do you believe that art really had something to do with these
murders?” Detective White kneeled down by the first set of tiny trees with
numbers on them. “What type of art did your brother do?”
“He did anything that came to him. Anything that inspired him, he went
with it,” I said.
“What was his collection about this summer?”
“He wouldn’t tell me. All I know is that recently he was obsessed with. .
.” I paused and stared at the model again. “Video art and interactive
installations.”
Fuck. Why hadn’t I realized it the first time I looked at this little model?
This is just like the models applicants submitted when they tried to get Hex’s
and my approval to showcase their work in X-lab.
“This is his model for an installation art piece.” I glanced at the
numbered trees. There were twenty that surrounded the garden, separated it
from the studio, and also lined the castle.
There are way more around the real castle. So why did he choose to
only number twenty of them?
I looked up. “Detective White, do me a favor and count the trees near
the studio right now.”
He did. “Five.”
“Run over to the garden and tell me how many are on the west side of
it.”
 Detective White scurried away. Being such a short man, he still had a
serious speed about him. When he returned, he barely huffed and puffed as
he held up five more fingers.
“This model doesn’t show the exact number of trees, but the few he
chose to show exactly match the real ones. There are five in front of the
studio in the model and there are five out here.” I pointed to the big ones
that Hex loved to climb. “Fuck. Hex climbs these trees all the time. These
are the ones he’s always in.”
“He climbs trees?” Detective White raised one eyebrow. “That’s why
he’s always disappearing in the night recordings. I see him leave the studio
and disappear off in the trees. He’s traveling above ground.”
“Yes.”
“But Hex didn’t kill those girls.” Grandma shook her head and picked
up one of the figurines. “My grandson would never do that.”
“But he had something to do with them dying, and it involves this
installation art piece. And if he hid Elle and himself away then it means he
didn’t want her to tell me what was going on. And that means that whatever
it is, I not only wouldn’t like it, but I had a chance to stop it.”
“So more girls are going to die just like my visions?” Grandma sighed.
“Yes.” I gestured for one of grandma’s guards to come over to me. “See
if you can get any of the men to climb these trees. I thought all this time he
would just climb up and sing, but I was wrong. He’s doing something up
there or there would be no reason why he’s numbering these trees. In fact,
run inside the castle and have the staff bring out some ladders and
volunteers to check these trees out.”
It took close to twenty minutes to get enough volunteers to stand by
each tree numbered on the model and go up. Most said they didn’t see
anything. It was Detective White who took the longest in his tree, snapping
pictures with his phone, touching the bark, branches, and leaves, until
finally he whistled and pulled something away. We all gathered around the
ladder in anticipation of what he found.
“Your brother has cameras in the trees.” Detective White held a circular
ball in his hand as he climbed down. It was barely the size of a tangerine.
“There is a tiny camera in here. He’s taping everywhere near the garden.”
The damn garden, and everything around it, is the installation piece.
“The deaths are part of his collection.” I rubbed my eyes with shaking
hands.
“And now we know what project the artists he invited to his property
were working on.” Detective White handed me the ball.
“Ay Dios mio.” Grandma shook her head. “So Snyder isn’t coming
back?”
“Well. . . there is that silver lining. We don’t have an evil ghost haunting
and killing people on the property.” I handed the camera back to Detective
White. “You told me that some of these women committed suicide, right?”
“Yes. At least three of the five. Another one was diagnosed with
cancer.”
“Which meant she could’ve known she was dying and decided to kill
herself,” I guessed. “So that gives us four people who may have been
willing to commit suicide. They were artists who hung around Hex, which
means they’re probably not fully sane and have an abnormal dedication to
the creation of art.”
Detective White nodded. “I do remember one of the three recent victims
attempted suicide long ago. While she hung by her neck, she tried to paint
everything she saw. That’s an abnormal dedication for sure.”
 I rubbed my eyes. “This is too much for me. We need a list of the
remaining artists that Hex has here. Grandma, could you call Reece? She
would know where everything is. Knowing her, she has all the names
memorized. Once we get these people, we need to find them and make sure
there is a sort of suicide watch on them. It shouldn’t be too difficult.”
“There’s no need to call Reece. I know who they all are. Since everyone
else left I made it my job to know everyone’s name who stayed. Hex has
them all on the second level of the east wing. There’s only seventeen of
them left.”
“Grandma, have the servants round them all up and keep them in the
sitting area below. Nobody else is killing themselves on our property.”
“We should have people guarding all the areas where Hex has cameras,”
Detective White offered. “Plus, it is anywhere there are cameras. The last
three suicides happened inside the house and ended in your office.”
“Yeah.” I clenched my hands into fists. “I’ll have to remember to thank
Hex for that.”
“Now that we may have an idea of what your brother is planning, do
you think you can anticipate his next moves?” Detective White asked.
“I would be a fool to say a confident yes, but I could try. I’ll just need
time to think about this.”
“In the meantime, I’m having the penis in the jar analyzed to see who it
could belong too.”
Grandma and I exchanged glances.
“What?” The detective looked at both of us.
Grandma handled it before I had to. “It is probably Hex’s penis. He’s
always saying he’s cursed by it.”
 “Why did he think he was cursed?”
Grandma and I shrugged.
“Let’s start with rounding everyone up and questioning them.” I walked
away from the damn model that had played a part in the most horrific thing
my brother had ever done in his life.
Why would you allow them to die, and right here around us all? Did you
know I would find the first girl? Did you even care, or was it just the art to
you, the creation process that fueled your madness?
And it was madness, all of it. Part of me hoped I was wrong with my
guess, that Hex wasn’t a part of this, but deep inside I knew I was either
correct or very close. Hex and his damn suicidal artists were involved in
stirring up our lives, wasting the police’s time, and shoving the fear of God
into everyone on the property. And what was it all for, art?
What the hell was his muse? Death, heartache, or chaos? If one more
person dies, I’m done with him.
It hurt to even think the last statement. It killed me to have that thought
in my heart, but the urge to leave him thrummed through me all the same.
Guilt pulsed through my veins, but I knocked it all away. How many years
had I spent, trying to make up for what my mother and stepfather had done
to him? How much of my energy did I exhaust in these years so that I can
forgive myself for leaving Hex by himself with that mad pair?
If you’re behind this, Hex, then we’re even. I owe you nothing else.
It took thirty minutes to gather Hex’s remaining artists and only one
minute to realize that five women were missing. With tight-lipped, neutral
expressions, they held hands with each other as if they were hippies who
were part of a peaceful movement to eradicate discrimination. They all
wore black boots, jogging pants, and huge watches on their wrists. When I
looked at the surface of the watches, I saw that none of them had hands to
tell the time. How symbolic. Time doesn’t matter to you all. None of them
met my gaze, none dared. Perhaps they noticed the rage on my face or the
dare in my eyes for one of them to say the wrong thing. I longed to punch
the men and scream at the women.
You just let five of your friends die!
“So no one knows where they are?” I paced back in forth in front of the
depraved co-conspirators. They knew exactly where the women were. They
knew it and stood right there refusing to sit down or say anything more than
yes or no.
You trained them well, Hex.
“If these women die,” Detective White took over, “then all of you are
accomplices to murder.”
One shrugged. The rest looked away.
My temper left me. “Is the art really that important?”
“Calm down, Al.” Grandma carried a tray of fruit punch with cut out
pieces of cheese and sliced deli meat on a wooden plate. Anytime in the
past I would have taken the tray away and escorted her back to her cottage.
Grandma holding food wasn’t a good combination. Even when I was a
young kid and stayed with her during the summers, her guests never ate or
drink from her house. At parties, the treats remained on the table untouched.
“Is anybody thirsty or hungry?” She gave them a warm smile that
chilled me.
“No, thank you,” they all said one by one.
Hex prepared for Grandma, too?
“Are you sure?” She walked in front of them again.
They shook their heads.
 Detective White exhaled. “Then we’re going to have to take everybody
down for questioning.”
They left with no hesitation or dispute, departed from the castle, and
took their time getting in police cars. Detective White took them away.
Thankfully, he left more of his men just in case I needed them. Although
now that we knew these deaths were suicides rather than a deranged serial
killer, the guards and White’s men relaxed. Many chatted about sports.
Others leaned on trees smoking their cigarettes or glancing every few
minutes at their phones. This had turned into a vacation for them, where for
me I’d been shoved into a pool of insanity with no option of swimming
through the murky liquid.
Where would the last women kill themselves?
I considered where the others had died. Two committed suicide in
Grandma’s garden.
Why? Was it the easiest place to have them do it, or were you trying to
tell us something? Does this installation have something to do with us,
Hex?
The third group must’ve attached themselves to wires or Hex had done
it himself. Once they died, the wires carried them throughout the castle
where they ended in my office. I’d barely ever left my office until Elle
came. He probably saw me run off with her and figured it was the best time
to put them in there. So you put the dead girls in a place where you knew
Grandma and I would discover them? Why? Why did we have to find them?
I guess the answer is, who else could’ve found them? Most of his artists
were part of the whole charade. The rest were maybe distractions. Or
maybe I was focused on the wrong thing. Perhaps, he needed his family to
discover the bodies. Why? One thing Hex loved to stress about was how
important life was, how we all needed to take it seriously and not waste our
lives away doing tedious tasks. If I went with his thinking, then I
completely understood why he would have the three girls in my office. He
figured I worked too hard and didn’t spend enough time enjoying my life.
Meanwhile, Grandma had been obsessed with lifting the curse from our
family ever since we started taking care of Hex. She’d never dated or talked
to her friends. It was all about the curse and keeping the evil spirits away
from Dayanara.
You wanted us to see death. Look it right in the eye and realize that life
was precious.
I concentrated on my theory of Hex wanting the family to find the dead
women.
“What are you thinking about?” Grandma set the tray of food on the
table.
“Dayanara.” I almost grabbed one of the cubes of cheese. “Did you put
something in the food?”
“Just a little truth serum.”
I placed my hand in my pocket. “Then throw that stuff away. I don’t
need anyone else being sick around here.”
“Speaking of the bad man, did he wake up?”
“I don’t know or care.”
“Why are you thinking about Dayanara?”
“I think Hex wanted us to find the dead women. He wanted you, me,
and Dayanara to see them and somehow come to the conclusion that we
should value our lives.”
Grandma snorted. “We value our lives.”
“We value the family and keeping all of our heads above water, but we
don’t value it the way Hex wants us to. We don’t take the time to breathe it
all in.”
Grandma rolled her eyes. “He could have just said so. Instead he puts
dead girls in my garden.”
At the mention of her garden, I considered the fact that it had rotted.
“Why was your garden destroyed? Do you really think it was the gods?”
“No.” She waved me away. “I spilled chemicals all over the area. It’s
bad luck to grow fruits and vegetables where someone died on the soil. It
needs to be burned and prayed over before the soil is fit to bear fruit again.”
“So you figured you could kill two birds with one stone?”
“Yes. Burn everything with my liquids. Tell you and Hex the gods did it
so you both would finally listen to me for once.”
“Do you realize that your meddling had us running around on a goose
chase?”
She raised her hands in the air. “Don’t blame me. I didn’t tell women to
kill themselves here. I only work with the cards I’m dealt. Besides, all of
this discussion started because you were thinking about Dayanara.”
“Yes. I think Hex was going to have the last five women be discovered
by Dayanara. Granted, she isn’t there right now, but he could have never
guessed that part. Plus, he figured out a way to mess with the security
cameras before. I’m sure he could’ve done something to Dayanara’s
cameras.” I headed for the staircase. “Could you have some guards rush
upstairs for me?”
“Al, I’m coming too.”
“Fine, but come with the guards, and don’t forget to get rid of that
poisoned cheese and meat.”
“It’s not poisoned. It—”
 “Needs to go in the trash.” I raced up the first flight of stairs, heading to
the attic floor where I hoped to find five women still alive.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter 29
Elle

We watched it all unfold on Hex’s cameras. Alvarez figured everything

out and each time he came closer to a clue, Hex beamed with pride. It all
would’ve been so adorable and breathtaking if not for me being trapped in a
smelly metal room and Alvarez rushing to the attic where, on the third
television screen, five women lay on the floor. The women had gone up
there an hour earlier, right when Hex had walked me back to the studio to
talk. The whole time Hex knew they would be heading to the attic while we
strolled in the opposite direction. A month ago, Hex had gotten one of his
video artists a security job where he managed the cameras. They’d been
jamming and messing with them for the past hour.
I’d watched the girls die, one by one. They lay next to each other,
murmuring nothing, not words or a last prayer. They just gave each other a
knowing look and minute by minute life left them. Hex watched with an
unnerving fascination. It was like he was addicted to it. He even went as far
as zooming the cameras in to each of their eyes.
That was the worst part.
I couldn’t look away. The humane part of me said, close your own eyes,
turn around, and give these women peace. The darker side kept my gaze on
the women, searching for death to make its appearance known.
It reminded me of when I was a teenager and my cousin had a baby. I
watched her a few times when my cousin worked. I remember looking into
the tiny girl’s eyes and seeing God curved around her pupils. Innocence and
purity flickered within the child’s irises.
“This must be what it feels like to see God,” I’d said out loud to the
child and she smiled, probably seeing God all around her and confirming
the truth for us both.
That was the only time in my life I’d witnessed the true power of God.
Until the moment I watched these girls die. I could see the essence of
themselves slip away, but it wasn’t horrific. It was. . . hauntingly beautiful.
Peaceful, even.
I didn’t like that I found their deaths enchanting.
How sick did that make me?
“When Alvarez walks into my mother’s old bedroom to find the bodies,
then the locks in this room should work as well as the phone.” Hex’s words
interrupted my thoughts as he grabbed a water bottle with his name written
on the surface and drank it. We’d found some pain medicine and since then
he’d stopped complaining about his hurts. However, I was certain he’d
broken something. “My man in the video room will turn on the operating
system down here to make everything work.”
“So what if Alvarez was the one trapped in here, then when would the
guy have pressed the button?”
“Whenever anybody found the girls.”
“But you did want your family to discover the bodies, right?”
“Yes. Just like Alvarez said. They needed to be shocked into living.
What better way to shock them, but with a corpse?”
“There are hundreds of ways to shock people, but I doubt you would
have had it any other way.”
 “Exactly.” He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.
“Who’s penis is in the jar?”
That question snapped his eyes back open. “Mine. Why?”
“Why?” I almost laughed at the absurdity of him being shocked that I
asked. “Because it’s a penis in a jar!”
“You’re still upset.”
“Oh yes. You’ve trapped me for at least an hour in some metal room
that smells like sweat and stupidity. You had me watch women die.”
“You didn’t have to watch. I didn’t force you. Your curiosity did.”
“Nevertheless, I hate you.”
“That’s fine.” He closed his eyes again as he rested his feet on the
electronic panel. “I, for one, am happy I met you. Michael never captured
your true beauty. He thought you were full breasts and long hair. He never
discovered the true person within you. I did. Didn’t I affect your life in
some good ways? I can’t be that bad of a person.”
“No, you’re not, but everything good you’ve done will be pretty much
forgotten because of this craziness.”
“None of it will be forgotten. It hurt that you told me I was just like my
dad. He killed women for immortality. But in the end. What you said was
true, and even better, I got my immortality. I took it, and my art will teach
my lessons to the world, things that people will be dissecting and analyzing
for years to come, until some other mad genius thinks of something even
better. Either way, my project will be the mad genius’s muse. Somewhere a
little kid will open a magazine about my installation or walk into a museum
where my exhibit will be and it will capture his heart. It will twist his mind
so hard all of the things he thought he knew will seep out, and in its place
will be space for his truths of life because in the end, that’s what it is. His
truths. My truths. Your truths. We all see life in our own way, not one way.
But his truths will spark more. That’s what all of us believed when we
decided to do this installation. We hoped to inspire the next philosopher or
leader of a country.”
“And did you realize that you would go to jail?”
“We won’t.”
“You will. There is no defense for willingly letting people die.”
He turned his face to me and opened his eyes. “Elle, you still didn’t
guess it, did you? Do you think we all got together to watch ten women die?
Do you think I would involve myself in something and not put my own
actions where my mouth is?”
I tensed and sat up in my chair. “What are you talking about?”
“You asked about the jar and the penis inside. It’s mine like I told you.
You want to hear about the collection?”
“I want to know what you mean about putting your actions where your
mouth is.”
“How about I tell you about my collection, and then it will all click.” He
cleared his throat. “My whole collection will be presented at X-lab. I didn’t
think any other gallery would have the balls to show this, so I started my
own gallery. Your painting with the cancer victims starts the whole
collection. It’ll be the first thing the viewers see when they walk into X-lab.
I have precise instructions for everything. A whole forest will be on the
second level. It will be a maze of high walls within dim lighting and the
walls’ surface will be TV screens. Videos of the women’s deaths and the
world’s reactions will play as the viewer walks through the maze. Step by
step they’ll go through our journey. There will be four paths through the
maze, but each one will lead to the center where my penis will be resting in
the jar. No matter where the person walks, all paths will lead to that jar. I
considered my body to be the centerpiece, just a fully preserved corpse in a
glass box, staring at the viewer as they walk into the center. Everyone said
it would be too much. I thought it would be unique and—”
“Hex, wait. What do you mean, your corpse?” My hands shook.
“I’ll be gone in fifteen minutes tops, Elle. Let me tell you everything.
No one else wanted to talk before they died. I always said I would talk if
there was someone around to listen. I like talking and interacting. I think
that would be good to do right before I die.”
I jumped up and went to him. “No. Hell no. You’re not dying right now,
are you? No—”
“Do you know how important this is for me? I’ve always wanted to die.
Always. But then Al left the navy and rushed to take care of me, and
Grandma flew to the states with her chants of strength and hope. So I stayed
for these years for them, so it all wouldn’t be a waste, but I always wanted
to go to the other side. It’s peaceful over there.”
“You don’t know what it is. H-how would you know? Hex, please don’t
do this.” My movements were quick and jittery as I paced next to him. “Did
you take something? Okay, wait. What did you take? We still should have
time.”
“We don’t have time and even if we did, I don’t want to be saved.” He
formed his lips into a wicked grin. “Ever since I saw the first woman die by
my father’s hands I yearned to go, too. I was done with this reality we call
Earth. Done. If this world allows an innocent woman to be destroyed for the
simple fact that she was unlucky enough to be caught by my dad, then I
didn’t want any part here. I want to go somewhere else. I’ve just been a
mummy the whole time.”
“Mummy?”
 “A walking dead person. Unlike my friends, I was never bold enough to
try to kill myself, but I prayed for it just the same. No one ever grabbed me.
I never drowned when I swam, got kidnapped or mugged, hit by a car, slain
in a boating or plane accident, poisoned, electrocuted. Why was I so lucky?
I figured the gods had a duty for me to say something important to the
world and then once I did it, I could go off with them. I would be taken. So
I painted. I created things. My work became famous, and then I waited to
die. Surely, my art pieces were enough to earn my death. But it wasn’t.”
“Hex, this is insane.” Tears fell from my eyes. “Okay. Wait. You don’t
have to do this. I think we could make you throw the sleeping pills up.
That’s what you took, right? It would be easy to make you vomit—”
“Sierra.”
“What?”
“Sierra.”
“Who is Sierra?”
“Sierra was the first girl my father killed. Sierra. She was beautiful.” He
formed his lips into a huge smile. “The first thing I saw was her eye through
the tiny hole in the back of the shed. I knew she would be enchanting just
from spotting one eye, and I was right. Once I finally saw Sierra’s face I
was captivated.”
“Hex, listen to me. We need to focus on—”
“I fell in love with Sierra based on one eye. My grandpa says we have
two hearts.”
“I know about the two hearts thing.” I tried to get him back on the topic
of saving himself, but he ignored me.
“I gave Sierra my heart when I saw that one eye peek out of the shed. I
tried to save her and the other women. Not only because it was the right
thing to do, but because I longed to see Sierra’s face. The whole time I
sawed that opening in the back of the shed and thought of how appealing
that eye was and how I had to make sure everyone else could see it. It was
the bluest eye I’d ever seen. Blue like cold diamonds floating on a
Caribbean sea. Blue like the skies over heaven.”
“Enough about the eye! W-what did you take? Don’t tell me there isn’t
—”
“I loved Sierra. There had been no one else in my life. I would dream
about her late at night in my house and think about her in school, counting
the moments until I could rush home and free her and all the rest. I was
going to save them. I was going to keep them alive, and then one day after I
figured out a way to stop my father for good, I would find Sierra with the
bluest eyes.”
He’s not going to stop this. He’s really going to kill himself.
Tears continued to spill from my eyes. My vision blurred. I turned to the
television screen. Alvarez walked in and spotted the dead women.
Something clicked in the room that Hex and I sat in. It had to be the door,
which meant the phones probably worked too. I could call the cops and get
Hex some help. I ran to the phone.
“My dad killed Sierra first.” Hex grabbed my attention. “He stood her in
front of him, but let her face me. She was naked and crying in front of me. I
got an erection. Of all the things that could have happened. I got a damn
erection, and then he killed her. One cut to the neck. One stab to her heart.
One slice to her lower abdomen where her insides spilled out onto the
bloody ground before her. He destroyed her, dropped her body like it was
nothing more than a sack of potatoes, picked up the next girl, and did the
same with the enthusiasm of a bored factory worker executing a menial task
he’d done hundreds of times before. Why would I want to walk in a reality
where something like that happens?”
 I picked up the phone, heard a dial tone, and dialed what I hoped to be
Alvarez’s number. When I was preparing to leave earlier that day, I’d put
his number into my cell phone and stared at it like a love-lost teenager,
hoping the pattern of numbers held some clue about what to do when it
came to us.
“That was the last time I got an erection, when Sierra was killed. That’s
why I thought it would be fitting for my penis to be the center of the
collection,” Hex said. “I’d cut it off years ago. The moment I got my first
big check, I’m talking six figures, I jumped on an airplane, told Al I was
going on vacation, headed over to a private hospital in Mexico, and had my
penis surgically removed. It was the best thing I’d done.”
“Hello?” Alvarez’s voice came over the line.
My body relaxed a little. “Get a nurse, EMT, and police. The door
should be open in the studio where we are trapped, but Hex took some
sleeping pills. He’s trying to kill himself. I think they all are.”
“Who?” Alvarez sounded like he was running. I looked at the camera.
He was no longer in the room and now raced down the stairs, wagging his
hands at servants walking by.
“All of the artists a part of this installation. They are all going to kill
themselves.”
“How is Hex?” Alvarez asked.
“He’s talking about what his dad did to those women and going on
about how he always wanted to die.”
“No.” Alvarez’s voice sounded sad and worried. “Please don’t leave
him. Please.”
“I won’t. I’m staying right here.” I kept the phone to my ear and walked
over to Hex. The old phone’s cord extended and allowed me to make it to
him without disconnecting the call. I grabbed Hex’s hand and held it. “Hex,
everything will be okay.”
“Of course it will. I’ll bet there’s love on the other side.”
“There’s love on this side, too.”
“Not much.”
I wiped away my tears. “Don’t say that.”
“Stop crying. You should be happy for me. Don’t let my last image of
this world be tears on your face. I love to see you smile.”
I forced myself to smile for him.
“Now that’s beautiful. Turn up and smile for the collection. There’s a
camera right there.” Hex pointed to the ceiling with his free hand. “Show
them there’s hope.”
“Show who?”
“The future viewers. The ones who will see this collection after I’m
gone. Show the young mad genius that will be inspired by it all. Show him
there’s hope.”
I turned toward the camera and managed to keep my weak smile on my
face.
“I have a whole segment dedicated to you. My angel of death. The final
floor will end with your video footage. I have images of you coming onto
the property. The taxi cab driver who took pictures of you at the gate, that’s
my video guy. He’s talented. He tried acting, but failed at it.”
“What? The one who took pictures of me on his phone?”
“Yes. That picture is what the viewers will see on the third level, the
pretty angel in the sunshine dress with long, flowing hair. I have film of you
walking onto the property as I sing in the trees, scenes of you talking about
movies, all of your dancing at my party, the kiss you had with my brother,
your lovemaking at the beach.”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s dark of course. My guy had a mini camera. All you can see are two
distant images in the moonlight, but looking at it you just know something
magical is happening.”
“You taped it all?”
“Everything. Your whole time here will be on the third level.”
“Why?”
“Because you know how to live, Elle. Whatever Michael did to you
made you strong and want to strive for more. When you came here you
lived like your life depended on it. That’s what I want the viewers to see
last, the hope and the desire to move on after despair. My friends and I
didn’t know how to show it. We never learned how to move on, but you did.
I’m glad you came. I had no idea what your place would be with us, but you
completed the whole collection.”
And then Hex closed his eyes and died right there.

OceanofPDF.com
 Epilogue
Alvarez

My yacht journeyed through dark waters with only the moon to guide
its path. I had a small staff steering and managing the vessel. I lay on my
back, listening to the sound of waves splashing against themselves, within
the stillness that one can only get in the middle of the ocean.
Thousands of stars glittered in the sky. They twinkled at me. It hurt to
witness their mysterious beauty when the cost to see them had been so high.
Of course, I didn’t pay the price. Hex did. But still, I felt the loss deep
inside of me.
Nothing hurts like the death of a loved one. I was angry, in pain, and
numb to many things. The fact that the stars had dragged me out of my
lower deck bedroom and kept my attention for these peaceful moments
could only be due to the sweet medicine lying in my bed below.
Elle.
The day my brother took his life, I found her holding him. Tears
decorated her face. She held his body so tightly it took my prying hands to
get her to release him. The ambulance arrived soon after. I didn’t watch
them load Hex’s body. I was busying holding my Grandma and Elle in my
arms, keeping them close to me, just to make sure that they were okay, that
I wouldn’t lose anymore.
The next morning the family’s lawyer handed over Hex’s will. For some
reason, Hex had placed Reece in charge of executing all of his instructions.
Perhaps he knew Grandma and I would be a wreck. Either way, Reece took
control without any bitterness to my firing her earlier or all that had
occurred between us. The first thing she did was place Dayanara in a mental
facility. Next, Reece notified all of the artists’ families about their suicides.
Like Elle guessed, every artist on the project, except for Elle, had killed
themselves. Most died in the police station. One passed away in the security
video room in the center of the castle.
Reece appointed a lawyer for Grandma. She anticipated Grandma
having legal trouble once the collection was presented to the world.
Although the videos didn’t show Grandma cutting the dead women’s
vaginas, it did capture her admittance to me. And once news hit, Reece was
right. Miami-Dade County pressed charges, as well as Elle’s ex-boyfriend,
Michael, filing a complaint that she’d poisoned him. Grandma’s legal team
was good. So far they’d settled with Michael and the first two victims’
families. But there would be more cases to come. I had no doubt about that,
but I chose not to think of those things anymore.
Grandma didn’t see her imprisonment in her visions.
“State of Florida vs. Mrs. Needa Castillo. Idiotas!” Grandma laughed.
“They forgot to put my gods in the case title. What is the state of Florida
against my gods? Nothing.”
“I still want you to work with your lawyers,” I begged on the phone
earlier tonight.
“Yes. Yes. I told them everything. The woman said something about
religious freedoms or something. She thinks we’ll win. I know we will. I
see things, you know.”
“I know, Grandma.”
“You know what I saw just this morning when I weeded my garden?”
“What?”
 “I’m back in Cuba in this house I’ve never seen before. It’s next to a
beach, but I can’t tell you which one. I’m sitting in a chair with a violet
blanket on my legs and lilies on my lap. And guess who are sitting all
around me, Al.”
“Who?”
“My great grandchildren. Lots of them. They’re listening to me and
laughing, but I don’t know what I’m telling them. I strain my ears each time
I see this vision, but still all I hear is their laughter.”
“Great grandchildren? “Dear God. She’s already started.
“There’s so many, Al. You wouldn’t believe it.”
I rubbed my eyes. “How much is many?”
“Five. Three boys and two girls. I don’t see their names, but I imagine
the first girl’s name would be Needa.”
I rolled my eyes. “Is this what your gods say?”
“Don’t be so smart. This is what I say. Your first daughter is named
Needa.”
“Of course.” I grinned. “I love you, Grandma.”
“I love you, too. And stop worrying about the case. My gods say I’ll be
in Cuba with many great grandchildren. I don’t see bars.”
And so I stopped worrying.
I left all other decisions to Reece, especially when it came to that damn
collection. In his will, Hex named it An Exodus in Sacrifice. A lot happened
once the will and events of the suicides hit the public. The media claimed
Hex and his project members were a cult. Religious factions raised the
possibilities that the video could be depicting Satanism through cleverly
placed symbolism. Others argued this was why the art community needed
an official ethics committee that regulated artists. The art world responded
in an uproar about the freedom of speech and expression. The city of Miami
called for X-lab to not show the collection. People stood outside of the art
gallery with banners and signs protesting the opening for this evening.
Meanwhile, X-lab was set to be packed for its second event. There was
a six-month waiting list for tickets. When the tickets went up on our site for
the Exodus, it was sold out in a matter of minutes. A move was in
production for the whole affair. Several singers wrote songs about it. Even
crazier, some white rapper emerged calling himself Hex the artist of death
and wearing an odd striped wig in his videos. Everybody wanted to
interview Elle, Grandma, and me. It seemed that people yearned to see
death, whereas I for one had had enough. Which was why I lay on my yacht
miles away from the opening. My days of management died with my
brother. My enthusiasm in art withered away, too.
You want me to live, Hex? Then fine, I’ll live. Just give me time to fill
the void you left. Just give me time.
Footsteps sounded behind me. The sweet scent of orange blossoms
drifted my way. My love’s seductive voice came next. “How are you
doing?”
“Fine.”
Elle lay down next to me, placed her head on my chest, and combed her
fingers through my hair. “Do you regret not being at the opening?”
“No. This is where I need to be, holding you and gazing up at the stars.”
“Is Grandma going?”
“No. She’s packing to go back to Cuba. She just wanted to finish
restoring her garden so it wouldn’t breed bad spirits.” And probably
preparing to knit baby tops and whatever else great grandmas make for five
great grandchildren.
 “Did you tell her I said hi?”
“Of course.” My skin tingled as her fingertips massaged my scalp.
“We have to be more careful when we make love and start using
condoms soon. I’m running out of birth control pills. I doubt I’ll have any
left by the time we get to. . . where are we going again?”
I laughed. It came out bold and rose high above the ocean.
“What’s so funny?”
“Grandma saw visions of great grandchildren.”
She raised her eyebrows. “You told me that Hex and you are her only
grandchildren. Where are all these children coming from?”
I winked. “Do you know how to change diapers and make bottles?”
She cleared her throat. “How many did she see?”
“Five.”
“Five?” she screeched. “That’s a lot. Thank goodness you said she’s
only fifty percent right. I don’t know if I’m ready for five kids.”
I drank her image in, those sensual eyes, full lips, soft skin, and that
face that captured me before I even realized I was trapped. “How many are
you ready for?”
She opened her mouth in shock. “I-I have no idea.”
“Hmmm.”
“What does ‘hmmm’ mean?”
“Nothing.”
“Yeah, right.” She smirked. “How many are you ready for?”
“Twenty at least.”
 She tapped my chest. “Twenty? You’re insane. I can prepare myself for
one or two, but anything more and I may lose it.”
“We would get you help, of course. Two nannies at least, a maid, cook
—”
“Masseuse, too,” she added.
“Of course. We could have a whole team dedicated to making mommy
happy.”
“Oh my God. You’re already calling me a mommy.”
I licked my lips. “I’m already thinking of the moments of conception.”
She shook her head. “Slow down. We’re already eloping to only God
knows where to get married. Why won’t you tell me where we’re going?”
“Because it’s a surprise, but you’ll love it.”
“How do you know?”
“There will be tons of films there.”
“Oh, really? Is it the Cannes film festival? There’s no way we’re
heading to France, right?”
I tried my best to keep a straight face, but I couldn’t do it. She brought
the laughter out of me. “God, you’re hard to surprise. I had no idea you had
all the dates of film festivals memorized.”
“Of course I do.”
“You should do something with this talent you have.”
“That’s the plan. I have a pretty full bank account now. I’m considering
getting into the industry somehow, maybe film critic or starting an indie
production company.”
 I closed my eyes and let the boat rock me while I held my Elle. Hex had
left a decent portion of his estate to Elle, making her financially
independent and able to quit modeling for good.
“I figure I’ve seen so many movies,” she said. “I could probably help
make some good ones.”
“You could. What would you make?”
“Something empowering for women.”
“And they’ll be nude, of course?”
She pinched my side.
“I’m sorry.” I chuckled. “They’ll have clothes on.”
“Yes. And they’ll be doing something bold and inspiring. Maybe I could
do a documentary. If I did, I would want to do something on Grandma.”
“Dear God. We don’t need her in front of any more cameras, hacking
away at corpses and chanting about her gods.”
“Stop that.”
For the rest of the night, we laughed in each other’s arms as the yacht
pushed us forward to an unknown future that Hex had somehow painted for
me.
Back in Miami, hundreds of people would be stepping into X-Lab to
witness the death of a group of people who believed in their art so much
they’d died for it. Many would find it inspiring. Others would think it was
crazy. But I knew my brother the best of all. He loved many things. He’d
made it his life to show the world something so powerful, the image would
be ingrained in their minds for years after they’ve seen it. He believed in the
ability to influence others so much he’d bet his soul in the claim.
 And I imagine him high above me in some distant reality, checking in
on me every now and then as he paints and creates more masterpieces.
Rest in peace, dear brother.

For more KW MYSTERY:

OceanofPDF.com
Now available in ebook and audio.

Missing Hearts
OceanofPDF.com
If you’re looking for a romance with rich guys battling for one woman
and so many twists your head spins, check out Billionaire Games.

Billionaire Games
OceanofPDF.com
 My steamy French Mafia Romance series.

The Butcher and the Violinist.

Rhapsody
Sonata
OceanofPDF.com
Have you tried the LION and MOUSE series?

OceanofPDF.com
 If you haven’t read

When the Smoke Clears

A hot firefighter interracial romance, you should!

OceanofPDF.com
For more steamy Romance, check out REDEMPTION

OceanofPDF.com