Chapter 10
“Oh my God, this place is beautiful!”
“You think so? I bought it as a getaway for myself. My dad thinks it”s dangerous in America for me, but I love this island. It’s beautiful.”
Monica invited Willow back to her vacation home after lunch to talk more about Charlie. Apparently she liked her. Willow had been worried she wouldn’t like her at all after finding out Charlie and her were still married. Of course Willow assured her a divorce was on the horizon and was eager to get him out of her life. And Monica encouraged that wholeheartedly.
After Monica gave Willow a tour of her home, she took Willow out to the backyard where her pool was. There was a full bar and tiki set up, which Willow fell in love with right away. Willow always said that if she ever had enough money to turn her backyard into something, it would be a tiki hut.
“I’m so jealous right now,” she teased. “My favorite place in the world is the tiki hut bar near the beach. This is so perfect. Wow.”
“You like this?” she laughed. “My dad always says it”s too over the top for a home. But I love it. I think it’s perfect too. Especially when I have friends over.”
“Does your dad come here often?”
When she spoke about her dad, Willow got nervous. There was no real reason for her to be nervous because she hadn”t done anything wrong to either of them. Willow just felt like Charlie put her in a real bad position. The fear of the movies and shows she watched about the cartel and people being tortured to find the people who wronged them got to her head.
“Not too much now that he’s older. He hates it when I come here alone. I guess he fears I”ll run into someone like Christoff again.”
“Oh, yeah, I understand what he means then,” she said. “He just wants to keep you safe.”
She called for her own personal wait staff to whip them up some margaritas and mango salsa tacos for lunch.
My goodness, these are delicious.
Willow took another glorious bite.
Monica was the perfect host to have a fun and relaxed day with. Willow didn’t expect for them to bond as quickly as they did, but she guessed she should have expected it since they had so much in common.
“Did you have any kids with him?”
Her question sucked all of the air from her lungs and made Willow choke on her margarita.
“No.” Willow coughed and shook her head as fast as she could. “I used to want children, but I”m so glad I didn”t have any. He always told me we weren’t ready for children. I guess that’s one good thing I can say about him.”
“Same for me,” she said. “I wanted babies with him. But now, I wish he were never even a factor in my life. If I could go back in time and tell him to kiss dust, I would do it without a second thought.”
When she thought about how badly she wanted children with Charlie, it made her sick to her stomach. How could she have ever even thought about bearing the children of a guy like him? Granted, she didn”t know what kind of guy he was before, but it still made her angry with herself.
“What will you do if you see him again?” she asked. “I mean, it’s why you come back as much as you do.”
Monica nodded her head. She was deep in thought about what she would do. It showed in the way she chewed her taco and glanced off into thin air.
“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “Maybe I”ll have Malcolm over there tear him to shreds? Maybe I”ll set him up and have the police take him to prison. I’ve thought about what I would do so many times, I don’t even know anymore. I do want him to pay for what he’s done, though. Not only to me, but everyone else he’s done something wrong to.”
Willow wanted the same. For sure. The night her accounts were frozen, she found herself wishing the worst for him. He deserved it. In all of her years, she had never wished bad on anyone. No matter what they did to her. But Charlie…she wanted him to feel every bit of his wrongdoings.
“How many women have there been? Do you know?”
“From what I hear from the detectives back home in Spain, many. Some of these women are daughters and sisters of some very important men. Christoff has built a dangerous life for himself and if he doesn’t come forward soon to turn himself in, I fear something worse will happen to him. Maybe that’s why I come back so much. I would hate to see something worse happen to him.”
“Oh, wow. I didn”t know that. I only found out about you because I”ve been digging up old articles. It’s crazy to think that I married this man and I have no idea who he truly is.”
Monica and Willow talked all afternoon. It was a good talk too. They laughed, cried, and shared experiences of their lives that had nothing to do with Charlie. They even planned to get together again to figure out how to catch him.
By the time Willow got home that night, she was worn out from not getting much sleep the night before. It was worth it, though. She had had a great time with Monica. Hearing about her life with the man she married was interesting, but it was for a good cause.
They both needed to hear each other out so they could start to heal and get their own closure from the situation. It was more personal for Monica because she had lost a lot of money dealing with Charlie. For Willow, it was only personal because her freedom was on the line.
“What are you doing here?”
Sheriff Tommy was waiting in the driveway when Willow arrived. He had this serious look on his face like he was there to take her to jail or something. At first, she was worried, but she knew that couldn’t be because the detectives from Tallahassee hadn’t said a word to her at all that day. In fact, they stopped tailing her when she went to lunch with Monica.
“I hear you got some mail today,” he said. “Was it from Charlie?”
Willow scoffed and folded her arms as she glared at him. She didn’t think her mail was any of his business, but she knew what he was doing. He was there to taunt her and try to paint her as a bad woman.
“Why would it be from him?” Sarcasm and annoyance filled her voice.
“I don’t know. Maybe he’s sending you something that’ll help him keep hiding? Maybe you know exactly where he is and you’re just not saying anything. Could be many reasons, ma’am.”
“And why would I want to help him? He ruined my life. Lied and scammed me into marrying him, and you think I”d really want to help him out? Wow. I don”t know how you ever got a job as the sheriff.”
He chuckled a little, unphased by Willow’s insult. Guys like Sheriff Tommy were tricky to deal with. Sure, he was handsome and charming when he wanted to be, but he was also cruel and mean.
“What was in the package, Mrs. Shorts? It’s best to just come clean now and save us both the time and the trouble of dragging this thing out. If you know where he is, or if he’s got you afraid to come forward, I can work with that. But if you don’t tell me the truth, I won”t be able to help you in the long run.”
“Help me in the long run?” Willow laughed and shifted her weight to one foot. “Is this how actual police work is done? What, do you come over late at night and scare everyone into some sort of false confession? I’ve said time and time again, I have no idea where Charlie is. It seems like me, and Richy, a child, have been the only ones doing any real investigating. It’s really sad the way you guys treat innocent people.”
Willow got ready to walk past him and go inside for the evening, but he stepped into her path. She wasn’t fearful of him at all because the detectives were sitting back out at their post. However, she was highly annoyed with him.
“Should I get a warrant for the package?” he asked.
“If that’s what you feel you have to do.” She shot back quickly. “So, unless you have one for my arrest right now, I think it”ll be wise for you to let me go inside.”
He gave Willow a long, cold glare before he finally stepped aside and let her walk away. He didn’t leave right away, though. He watched Willow go inside and shut the door before he walked over to the detective”s cruiser.
Willow watched from the living room window as they talked. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she was sure he wanted to know if they knew anything about her package. It frightened her a little because she figured they would all think the money came from Charlie and his scams. But it didn’t. It was her hard earned savings, which she was sure they wouldn’t believe.
Richy called Willow before bed that night. He wanted to know how her meeting with Monica went, while all she wanted to do was get some sleep. Even though she knew she wouldn”t be able to sleep that night. Her mind was too full of thoughts about possibly going to jail for something she had no involvement in.
“It was fun,” she said. “We talked about her life with Charlie. She knows him as Christoff, some big time celebrity lawyer. His family is from Greece.”
“Greece?” Richy laughed like she was a comedian or something. “Are you serious?”
“Super serious.” Willow couldn’t help but laugh, too. It was funny when she thought about it. “That guy is a real con man. I could tell she really cared about him, too. She said her father is still upset about all the money he stole from her and is still looking for him.” In more ways than one, Monica let it be known that her family would possibly be the “worst thing that ever happened to him”.
Willow could tell Monica didn’t want that to be the case, but it was a possibility. Monica might even still care for him in some way. Willow hoped she didn’t because of what he’d done to her, but a woman’s heart outweighed her logic most times. That was the only thing Willow was guilty of.
“Does she know any of the other women he did this to?” Richy asked.
“She knows of them. I’m not sure if she’s ever invited them over to her vacation home or had lunch with them. But she knows them.”
“She invited you to her house!?”
“Yep.” She nodded proudly. “She even had lunch made for us and invited me to come back. Maybe she’s lonely?”
“Yeah right!” Richy scoffed. “Maybe she’s trying to butter you up so she can have her family kidnap you until Charlie comes back around. You better be careful with this. She looks sweet and innocent, but one million dollars is a lot of money to lose. You’re still married to the guy who robbed her, so she might not be so trustworthy.”
Willow wanted to believe Monica was just a woman who needed some company and because they had so much in common, but at the end of the day, she couldn’t be sure.