Chapter 46
FORTY-SIX
I haven’t really known what it’s like to be famous until I drive out of the Boswells’ estate.
Now, I realize why there are two gates to drive through at the entrance and bodyguards.
I believed this to be a little bizarre but now I understand how it’s used for crowd control.
I sit in my truck in no man’s land with people moving behind the second gate like ants, all trying to get into a pot of honey.
As the gate swings open, people rush at me.
Paparazzi press the cameras against my windows and bright flashes go off in my face.
I’m terrified. Everyone is talking at once, yelling questions at me as if I know what’s happening.
Their faces contort like gargoyles coming out of the night.
Bright spots flash in my eyes as I try to make my way through the crowd without hitting anyone.
I drive slowly until they give up and drop back.
I don’t go straight to my parents’ house.
I weave through the back roads until I’m sure no one is following.
When I’m safely through the gate and into the six-car garage, I sit for a while trembling.
I can’t imagine how the Boswells live like that. It must be like living in a fishbowl.
I use my key to get inside and find my parents still eating dinner in the dining room. I’ve been trying to decide what I should say to them to explain why I want a blood test. Can I trust my parents with the truth? No, I don’t believe I can.
“Alani.” Willow smiles at me. “Sit down, we’re just having coffee. I have a splendid cheeseboard. Do help yourself.”
“What happened at the Boswells’?” Sam raises one eyebrow. “I caught the tail end of the news this morning. Did someone go missing?”
I sit down and help myself to coffee. Not that I feel like drinking any, I just need something to do with my hands.
Willow places a plate in front of me and pushes the cheeseboard in my direction.
I select a few pieces of cheese, some of the nuts and dried fruit.
I turn my attention to Sam. “Honestly, I don’t know what happened.
I was at the party on board the yacht last night and I believe someone slipped something into my drink.
I became dizzy. Everything moved in and out of focus.
I ended up falling into the hot tub and if Lucas hadn’t been there to help me, I would have probably drowned. ”
“Dear Lord! Did anything else happen to you?” Willow looks at me anxiously. “Nobody harmed you, did they?”
I shake my head. “Not that I’m aware. Lucas as you know is a recovering addict and was very concerned about my condition.
He took me to his cabin and we sat drinking coffee most of the night.
I eventually grabbed a couple of hours’ sleep this afternoon but then we heard the news about Isabelle’s PA, Allison, going missing and I decided to come and see you.
It’s a long story but a body was found on the beach and then later the cops came and told us they suspected homicide.
They returned with a search warrant and took swabs for DNA samples.
Apparently, Allison scratched her attacker.
” I swallow the bile creeping up the back of my throat.
“The problem is I can’t account for the time between when I spilled my drink, which was probably around eleven, and when Lucas found me at two.
There’s no time frame for when Allison went missing as yet but I need to know if I was drugged and the name of the substance. I don’t want to be accused of murder.”
“The DNA sample will clear you but if you want me to take a blood test and have it analyzed for date rape drugs, I can do that no problem at all.” Sam stands.
“I’ll grab what I need.” He checks his watch.
“I can take it to an urgent test facility and get the results back within hours. The only problem is that most date rape drugs leave your system in eight hours or so. To make sure, I’ll need a urine sample as well. ” He dashes from the room.
It surprises me when Willow accompanies Sam when he leaves to take the tests to the laboratory.
As I walk to my room, I wonder if she is afraid to be in the house alone with me?
I know they say they have no concerns about me being the daughter of a psychopath, but likely recent events have changed their minds.
I find what I need and go to Willow’s computer to make more copies of mine and Jenny’s files.
I place one copy of Jenny’s files inside my pocket and head back downstairs.
I’ve always known the combination to my parents’ safe, and after sliding all the flash drives into an envelope with my name on the front, I go down to Sam’s study and add them to the piles of items inside.
I take time to scan the room. The idea that someone is watching me all the time flits into my brain.
There are no cameras, and the room has remained much the same since I was a child.
Even the smell is the same. The comforting odor of Sam’s aftershave and old books lingers like an afterthought.
The overstuffed office chair with its squeaky wheels is like an old friend, as is the huge old mahogany desk.
Built in England during Victorian times and shipped to America by Sam after he’d seen it in an auction not long after he’d purchased this house, it dominates the room.
I can recall hiding under it when I was very small.
They are good memories and something I clung to for many years.
I inhale the familiar smell. In truth Sam and Willow have always been there for me.
I wonder if they’ll accept my apology—I was young and headstrong but they didn’t deserve my contempt.
I must make peace between us before it’s too late.