Chapter 4
“You’re here to arrest me?”
The detectives from Tallahassee had been quiet all week, aside from following her around Sanibel. So, when they showed up at her door bright and early the morning after she talked to Tommy, Willow thought they had what they needed to take her in.
“Not yet,” the lead detective spoke. “We want to ask you a few questions. It’s about a guy named Mark.”
Hearing Mark”s name made her shiver. He was bad news. Willow knew it from the moment she laid eyes on him. The way the detectives looked standing outside her door told her they knew it too.
“Come inside.” She said.
It was the first time she was actually eager to hear what they had to say. She knew it had to be important if they wanted to talk about Mark and not Charlie, or what her involvement was with the money he was hiding.
“Have you had any recent contact with Mark?” he asked. “We finally got a background check on the guy and he’s into some pretty dangerous stuff. Turns out, he’s the reason Charlie’s hiding out as hard as he is.”
“Yeah.” Willow frowned trying to understand. “He came here a couple of nights ago to ask if I knew where Charlie was.”
“Here in Sanibel?”
The detectives looked surprised. She was more surprised than they were to learn that her suspicions of Mark were true. She wondered why Charlie was so afraid of him. Other than hiding because he wasn’t able to pay Mark what he owed.
“Yes,” she said. “I saw him twice and he’s called me a couple of times. Is he involved with this? I had my suspicions, but I don”t have any solid proof. He says Charlie owes him a lot of money for work he helped him with. I’m guessing that work was helping Charlie get over on these women he married?”
“Oh, it gets a lot deeper than that.” The quiet detective, Detective Paul Ryan, opened a file folder and handed it to her. “Take a look for yourself.”
Willow took the folder. The first thing that jumped out at her was the fact that he wasn’t Charlie’s real brother. He was his accomplice, in more than just his crimes against women. Mark had a wrap sheet that went as far back as his teenage years, since before he ever met Charlie.
“Wow,” she said as she read on. “Carjacking. Burglary, kidnapping, tampering with a witness. This guy is really a terrible man.”
“He is,” Paul said. “We got word from Sheriff Tommy that you had a break-in the night before. We think it might’ve been him. He’s got the background for it.”
Willow was so dead set on it being Charlene that she’d forgotten all about Mark. He was just as adamant as Charlene was about getting his hands on the money, so it was possible.
“He might have,” she said. “When he came here the other night, he was asking a lot of questions about where Charlie could be hiding and almost badgering me about knowing where he is. He looked evil. Like, really evil.”
“Do you know where he is now?” the lead detective asked.
“No. I haven”t heard from him since. I’ll bet he’s not too far, though. He’s really hellbent on finding out where Charlie is.”
The detectives sat with her for over an hour, explaining to her how dangerous of a guy Mark was and how sleazy of a guy Charlie was. They were both scum. Charlene too. The difference between her and them was that she was basically threatened into helping them.
Her turn for the worse came when she wasn’t compensated for all the lies and coverups she put in place for them. Willow could see how that would make anyone angry, but she could have gone to the police. At the same time, Willow guessed she would have blown her own cover and got sent to jail too.
“Well, detectives, if I hear from either of them, I”ll be sure to let you know. Sheriff Tommy is on the hunt for Charlene now, so… maybe if he finds her, she’ll give up more information. I couldn’t get anything out of her when I went to meet her a few nights ago.”
“Huh?” Paul looked confused. “You met with Charlene?”
Willow immediately felt like she had said too much. If they didn’t have anything on her then, she thought they would surely have something on her after her slip up.
“I snuck out the back,” she said, feeling like if she wasn’t honest with them now, they might arrest her. “I know it was wrong of me to do, but I just had to see if she would tell me something. Anything. You guys aren’t telling me much. You’re just asking me questions and trying to paint me as the bad guy. So, I did what I had to do.”
They both stared at her for a moment, then looked at each other. Before she knew it, they were both chuckling and shaking their heads at her.
“You’re good,” the lead detective spoke. “After some careful consideration, we don’t think you knew a thing about what your husband had going on. It’s a wonder how you were so blind all this time, but hey, it happens. Next time, though, it’ll be wise of you to let us tag along. You don’t know what these people are capable of. It’d be a shame if something happened to you.”
When they left, Willow started to freak out. It was probably Mark who broke into the cottage. It made perfect sense. When he showed up the night Brandi fell in love with him, he was very weird. His eyes were scoping out every nook and cranny. Then, he waited until the perfect time to execute his plan—while Willow was at the parade and the detectives were following her around.
“That sneaky snake! He got me good with that one. But he won’t get me next time.”
The entire afternoon, Willow thought about a master plan. She wanted not only Charlie to pay for what he’d done, but Mark and Charlene too. She thought maybe Mark had used Charlie as a pawn the way Charlie used women. He sure seemed like the type.
What can I do? How can I catch him? There has to be a way for me to play their game the same way. Maybe I can use Charlene as a pawn, the way she tried to use me. She wants the money, right? Surely she knows there’s no real way for her to get the money and live a happy and free life though. That’s why she’s trying so hard to get it. So she can flee and never be heard from again.
Willow thought about how to find the money herself and use that as bait. But she was afraid. She didn’t want to stumble upon it accidentally and have Mark jump from the shadows the minute she got her hands on it. She didn’t even know where to begin looking.
What would Charlie do? She’d known him for five years, but it was still as if she had no idea who he was. Willow knew what he liked, what he didn’t like, where he claimed to work. She knew a lot of superficial details about him, but nothing too personal. Not about the real him, anyway.
What if he’s hiding the money in plain sight? She thought to herself. What if it’s been hiding inside our home or somewhere we used to go? If it had been inside our home, though, Mark might have found it by now. Unless he hasn’t checked because he thinks that’s the last place it would be. I thought the same thing, but what if it is?
She was so deep in thought that she didn”t hear the doorbell ringing. It wasn’t until Tommy walked himself into the kitchen where she was that she realized someone was at the door.
“Oh my god!” She jumped and lunged for the first kitchen knife she saw on the counter. “What are you doing here!?”
“I’ve been ringing the doorbell and knocking for the last three minutes. Are you okay?” he frowned and slowly removed the knife from her hands. “You didn’t hear me? I even called your name a few times.”
“No.” She sighed. “Sorry. I’m under a lot of pressure today.”
Tommy gave her a very caring look as he placed both hands on her shoulders. His touch was comforting and warm.
“Is everything okay?” he asked. “Are you just nervous about the outcome?”
“Very nervous,” she said. “The detectives visited me this morning to ask about Mark. Turns out, he’s not really Charlie’s brother. He’s some dangerous guy who, apparently, has been the brains behind all of this.”
Tommy sighed and walked away to have a seat at the table. Willow didn’t know why at the time, but it was as if he knew Mark. When she got that feeling, it reminded her that he knew Charlie, and she had to ask him what had happened between them.
“I did some snooping on your Facebook,” she said. “You and Greg were friends?”
He sighed again and lowered his head. Willow knew the answer already but wanted to hear it from him.
“So?” she said. “What happened between you guys?”