Chapter 9

The clock hands on the mantelpiece pointed to five minutes to nine, and they could hear the splashing sounds of the ocean and the distant honking of car horns.

"Killed?" She asked, chattering, "Wait a minute! Who said anything about Lance being killed?"

Darius regarded her with a half-smile.

"Let's rerun this whole thing, shall we? You told me you followed Lance to his apartment, right?"

Eva nodded.

"Then your husband came along," he continued. "Broke into the apartment of this guy and knocked him out cold. Then he came for you, you said some shitty words to him, this angered him, and he beats the hell of out you till you blacked out, and the only thing you could remember was finding yourself in your bed. Vince kept you under lock and key for two weeks before letting you out this morning as he leaves for Vegas."

"That's all!" she glared up at him, "That's all that I told you."

Darius nodded and smiled.

"You were under lock and key for two weeks right after all this happened. There was no way you could have known what had become of Lance. Something tells me he's as dead as a doornail."

Eva shook her head vehemently.

"You can't say that," She said, a bite in her voice. "Vince might have hurt him, but killing him, I don't think so."

"With all you've told me, I believe that terrible blow to the head might have killed that man."

Eva stared at him, angry lines on her face.

"Why would you think that? Vince only knocked him out; that's all to this story."

"Alright! I ask you again, where is Lance now?"

"I don't know," she answered. "He's probably with another woman as we speak."

Darius smiled at her, the way an older woman smiles at a younger woman who had said something stupid.

"And you believe what you've just said?" he asked.

Eva shrugged indifferently.

"There's nothing more to this story, don't push it, Darius."

"Here is my hunch on all this, suppose after dragging you home that day and locking you up, suppose Vince came back to that apartment and discovered that Lance was dead or let say he intentionally finished the man off, then he called the cops and settled it out with them. The whole case swept under the rug, and it all looks like a murder never took place."

"I don't think so. It's not easy to kill someone and yet call the cops about it," she said, "it sounds stupid even for a man like Vince to do.”

Darius chuckled.

"As I said, it's a hunch. But a crazy man like Vince would do anything to exonerate himself from any bad thing that would soil his image, and I can bet my last dollar on what I'm about to tell you right now. The reason why he locked you up inside the house for two weeks was for you not to find out about the death of Lance and to clear things up."

"But surely there must be someone who saw something or heard something that night, a kind of witness," she protested.

Darius sniggered as he lit a cigarette. He offered her one, but she declined.

"There's no witness, Eva," he went on. "The only witness to all this is Lance, who is probably dead. The cops have been bought. Case closed."

"But how?" She said, suddenly angry. "How would Vince be able to get away with something like this?"

"Let me let you in on something," he said as he exhaled the smoke. "Prima casino is one of the most famous casinos in Miami city, and your husband owns it."

Eva told him yes.

"Look! I'm a guy with my ears to the ground, and I know things that go on in this city. Every dirty cop and judges in Miami city comes to Prima casino to gamble. I heard the Chief of police also goes there too, and I heard he's a dirty, greedy man and a good friend of Vince. One way or the other, Vince would have mix himself with someone like the Chief of police, bought his loyalty with money, made it worth his while for visiting his casino, and also saved his sorry ass when he gambles away his money or when he runs into debt. In return, the Chief would give him a free license to run his casino as he wants, and who knows? Slips him the chance to get away with something as crude as murder and make it looks like an accident, and everything would all be about business. Nothing more. Nothing less."

"Are you saying someone like the Chief of police would know Vince committed murder and yet cover it up because of money?" Eva said, lifting her eyebrows in amusement.

He narrowed his eyes at her.

"I know these people, Eva most, especially the Chief of police. I've heard a lot of stories about him, and none of them is good. You'll be surprised what he could do for money. If any man could hide a crystal clear murder case, the chief would do it for any nickel."

Eva sat on the settee, listening, shocked to silence. Every new revelation was like the peal of bells to her ears. She desperately wanted to believe him but his explanations sounded kind of lucid to her.

"I've got to show you something," Darius said, breaking into her thoughts.

Eva dragged her eyes to him and saw him got up from the settee and walked into the bedroom. A few minutes later, he returned to the room, clutching a newspaper in his hand. He thrusts it to her, and she reached out and collected it from him. She spread it open and stared at the caption in shock. Then she dragged her eyes to Darius's face.

"How?" she asked, staring at him with unblinking eyes.

So Darius had to explain to her about his meeting with John Roth at the Capri restaurant, how he believed the doctor she visited had revealed somethings to Carolyn Tender and how Roth had stopped the newspapers from being printed out. When he was done explaining, he saw her eyes misty with unshed tears, and looked so weak and vulnerable.

"You've done so much for me," she said.

He shrugged his shoulders.

"I will do more, Eva, that's if you'll give me a chance."

Eva drew in a long slow breath.

"I will, Darius."

Then she did something which shocked him. She got up from the settee, moved towards him, pulled his body to her, and kissed him fiercely on the lips.

*************

They were kissing now, their tongues dueling,

moaning sighs erupting from them as they held each other tightly. His kiss was hot and tender while hers were demanding and pulsating with all the pent-up feelings she had managed to keep away from him for a long time now.

"Eva!" Darius finally said. He pulled away from her, a grim expression on his face. "You've got to leave Vince."

"Why bring that up now? You taste so good!" She purred as she held him tightly, enjoying the comfort of his strong arms around her.

"We've got to find a way," he continued, his voice husky. "A way for you to leave him. Don't worry; I'll help you."

Eva moved away from him and sighed.

"It's not that easy."

"Why? Because you still love him?"

"No!" she said, almost screaming out. Her reaction startled Darius, and he stood there, staring at her.

"I don't love him!" She continued. "Every bones and vein in my body wants to leave him."

"Then what's stopping you?" He asked.

"Vince!" She said, staring at his face. "He won't let me go easily." There was something in her voice that sent a feeling of apprehension through him.

"Of course he will," he argued. "I'll get you a very good attorney, and you will file for a divorce. I know it wouldn't be easy, but nothing can be done."

She shook her head, stubbornly.

"It can't work. Vince is a madman. He won't agree to it."

"Why won't he?" he protested "Just tell me why! damn it!"

"Can't you see?" She shrilled out. "Vince has to agree with me on this. Without his agreement, all this is nothing. He won't give me a divorce. That's why it has to come from his heart that's he ready to leave me."

He regarded her thoughtfully.

"Your husband might seem tough, but for me, he's a weakling. Trust me, men that beat women always turned out to be cowards. You just have to find their soft spot to know how weak they are, and that's why you can still go ahead and file for this divorce if you want it."

"And go through the stress of all the paperwork?" she shook her head. "When it comes to divorce, you know it would be easier if both parties agreed to get divorced than only one of the party demanding for it."

Darius drew in a long slow breath.

"I've got an idea. What if you leave Miami for good? You could disappear and go live in the Cannes or Bahamas. You're a rich woman. Disappearing won't be a problem."

"That's not gonna work." she told him. "Vince would scorch heaven and hell to look for me."

"Eva!" he said exasperatedly. "You keep poking holes into every idea we've talked about. If you still want Vince, why don't you go ahead?"

"I should be angry about what you said just now, but I won't. You are jealous, so you've got to think the way you want to think. I don't love Vince, but it's not easy for me to leave him. Look at what the bastard did to Lance. He might be a weakling, but yet, his screws are loose! I need him to agree to give me a divorce. That's the only way this could work out for me."

Darius thought for a moment.

"What are we going to do now? I can't just sit by and do nothing while you are suffering?"

Eva stared at him for a long moment, and an idea dropped Into her shrewd mind.

"You know, this hunch of yours about Vince just gives me a bright idea."

"What idea?" He asked. "What's this idea all about?"

"Don't worry," Eva said huskily, noting the concern in his voice. "I have a plan. A little plan that would make Vince give me the divorce, but I've got to be indigenous about it." and she moved towards him.

Darius stiffened, his alert mind immediately suspicious.

"What plan are you talking about?" he asked, watching her face. "please tell me."

"It's a little plan," she said. "we'll talk about it later, but right now…" she moved closer to him.

He looked at her and saw that she was staring hard at him. The expression in her eyes set his heart thumping. There was no mistaking that expression; She wanted him.

"Make love to me!" she said breathlessly. "I need you to make love to me, Darius!"

She came to him and pressed her face against his, her soft hands sliding up his arms. He tried to say something, but her lips parted and covered his mouth, and it made blood rush to his loins. His fingers sank into the hard, firm flesh above her hips, and he thrusts his mouth into hers. They began to moan into each other's mouth, straining hard against themselves, and when the sexual hunger became so fierce, he picked her up and carried her to the bedroom.

Hastily, they took their clothes off, and they were in bed exploring each other. When he could stand it no longer, he rolled her over, and she twined her legs around his lean waist, and as he was about to plunge into her, he stiffened as if something had made him stop.

"What's wrong?" Eva asked. "Did I hurt you?"

"No!" He whispered, "Not at all!"

She was staring at him, an odd expression on her face, and her mind was in a whirl of thoughts. What made him stop? She thought, have I done something wrong?

Darius drew a long slow breath, and to her surprise, he rolled off her and sat at the edge of the bed. Then he got to his feet and walked naked towards his pants, lying on the tiled floor and picking it. He fumbled for a cigarette, lit it, and turned to Eva, who was still lying naked on the bed, a cold expression on her face.

"I'm so sorry, Eva," he said, "I can't go through with this!"

She regarded him for a moment noting the conflict of emotions on his face.

"Will you tell me what's wrong?" Her voice went shrill. She hates it when a man leaves her unsatiated.

He puffed angrily at the cigarette.

"Damn! I really can't explain this to you."

"I need to hear it, Darius!" She gritted out. "Be a man and spit it out!"

"You've got to understand something," he said, staring hard at her. "I have principles, Eva, and these principles mean a lot to me."

"Screw your principles and tell me what the hell is wrong with you."

He inhaled a lungful of smoke; then, he lets it out slowly. He knew the words he wanted to say to her would determine whether they would still be together or not, and yet he knew he had to tell her.

"I don't want to be like every other man in your life, Eva," he said. "Every other man who is only interested in your body for sex or the pleasure it could give him. You meant more to me than a quick roll in the hay. What I am trying to say is this: I'm in love with you, Eva and all I need is for you to love me back."

Eva stared hard at him, understanding creeping up her face.

"Let me get this straight; you are telling me because you are in love with me; that's why you can't make love to me, is that it?"

Darius drew in a long slow breath and nodded his head.

"My God!" she continued, "You are still interested in this love shit, right? acting like a fucking monk when we're supposed to be digging into each other right now." Her tone was full of hurt and irritation.

Darius looked at her sharply; then, he pounded his fist into the palm of his hand.

"I'm not a monk," he paused and went on, "I'm just a man who is so stupid to have gotten his heart stolen by a woman who doesn't give a shit about him."

"You are right, you big sissy!" Eva said, looking at him angrily. "I don't give a shit about you." and she got up from the bed, picked her clothes, which were scattered around the room, and began to dress.

"What are you doing?" he asked, alarmed. "Are you leaving?"

"Watch this!" she retorted, her face expressionless, her eyes suddenly hard. Finally, she dressed up. She picked up her handbag and moved towards the room door.

Darius rushed after her, grabbed her arms, and turned her around to face him.

"You can't just leave me!" He said, a pleading look in his eyes. "You can't imagine what I've been through for the past two weeks. It has been hell for me. Only the thought of seeing you kept me going. I love you, Eva! I do. Please, you've got to understand that."

Eva regarded him for a moment, and she felt sorry for him. She knew there was a part of her who wanted him, yet she knew she could not give in to that part. That bastard, Vince. He had caused all these, she thought. He had made her despise anything that as to do with love.

Darius was still looking down at her now; the expectation is written all over his face.

"You've fallen in love with the wrong woman," She said, and she jerked her hand free, "Tell me, what did it matter that you love me? When I can't even love you back. Look at me! My love life is a total wreck. I found a man who sparked my soul, foolishly got married to him, and later found out he's a woman beater. I thought I was in love with him, but when I got to the other side of love, I mean that side that makes me cry, sad, depressed, or gets me really off the edge, I was surprised to see the way love crumbles easily. Maybe I might love again in the future, but for now, my husband had crumbled any feelings of love I might ever have for any man."

She opened the door, look back and saw he was struggling with his tears, felt a lump rise in her throat, and ran quickly down the lounge, down the stairs to the streets where she had parked her car.

****************

The American Airlines touched down at the Miami International airport In Miami city at 8: P.M. the following evening. It had been a long flight, but Vince had not minded it. His plan to erect another casino in Las Vegas was already underway, and in a few months, the casino would be completed. He felt a surge of excitement as the wheels of the aircraft lightly kissed the ground. When the aircraft had landed and the exit doors were opened, a blast of hot, humid air surged into the aircraft. Vince smiled. He was beginning to feel Miami's heat. He stepped out of the plane and walked across the tarmac and into the airport building. He joined the long queue, passed through the various control points with little delay, and then found his Bentley waiting for him outside the building.

On sighting him, A tall, lean man wearing a white uniform stepped out of the Bentley and moved towards him.

"Your car is ready, sir!" the uniformed man said, thrusting the car keys to him.

Vince thanked him, collected the car keys, moved around the car, and slid under the steering wheels. He thumbed the starter, moved the car into the early evening traffic, and headed towards Miami Beach. He thought of nothing except the casino during the drive home, which he was planning to build in Vegas. His casino would be a hit in the city of sin, he thought. The plan was in motion now. With the money he was making from the Prima casino, completing the casino in Las Vegas would not be a problem. He had often dreamt of owning a casino in Vegas, and the dream was about to come into reality. He drummed his fingers lightly on steering and hummed under his breath as he drove home. One hour later, he was at the gate of the villa. He rang the bell, and the electric gate swung open. He drove up the driveway and then parked the car in the garage. Then he stepped out of the car and moved towards the front door.

He thumbed the bell push waited for a moment, but nothing happened. He rang the doorbell again. Still hearing nothing, his mind became busy with thoughts. What's keeping her? he asked himself. She had never kept him waiting like this before. He had not felt a sickening fear since the day he left for Vegas course through his body as he rang the doorbell again. Still, there was no answer. His blood turned cold, and he had a sudden presentiment that she was in a kind of trouble.

He regarded the door for a moment and noticed something odd.

The door was slightly ajar.

On an impulse, he pushed the door, and the door gave way. What the fuck? The door should have been bolted from the inside and not opened as if someone had deliberately left it like that.

His mind was alive with alarm as he stood staring at the front door. Something was wrong, and he could feel the hair on the nape of his neck bristling. The half-open door and the dead quietness of the whole house sent a tingle of apprehension through him. There was only one possible explanation for this, he thought. A burglar was inside the house, and who knows? The burglar might be holding a gun to Eva's head or a jagged knife to her throat. Convinced that an intruder was in the house, Vince turned around and breaks into a run, covering the twenty yards to the garage. He opened one of his car doors and rifled the safe. He brought out a handgun and closed the car door quietly to alert the intruder. Then he ran back to the front door, pushed it open gently, and peered inside.

Everything looked perfectly normal, and nothing seems out of the ordinary, but he was not fooled. Stealthy, he moved inside the house and passed the foyer, gripping the gun tightly in his hairy hands, and his eyes widen in shock when he got to the living room and saw Eva sitting on the settee. She was wearing a pair of black slacks and a magenta-colored sweater. Her hair was disheveled, her eyes were bloodshot, and she was holding a glass of whisky in her hand, and from the look of things, it seemed to him she had been drinking for too long. She looked up as he came into the room, and if she was frightened by the sight of the gun in his hand, she did not show it.

He drew in a long slow breath of relief. He had been worried for nothing. Seeing her was enough to reassure him; nothing was amiss. He shoved the gun down the waistband of his trousers and pointed his finger at her.

"What the hell is up?" He said horridly. "What happened while I was away?"

The cold look she shot him made him flinched back.

"You bastard!" she seethed out. "How could you?"

Vince was taken aback. There was a terror in her eyes that frightened him.

"What's all this, woman?" he asked with frustrated rage.

Eva gave a hard barking laugh, and its horrifying sound scared him the more.

"You cold psychopath!" she shrilled. "You killed Lance that night."

Vince stared at her, bewildered, then his mouth turned dry. He wasn't to know that Eva had only accused him based on what she had heard from Darius, and she was putting up an act to see whether he would deny the accusation or not.

"Eva!" he said calmly. "Lance is not dead."

"You liar!" Eva shrilled, enjoying the look on his face. "You killed Lance, be a man, and admit it."

He could not utter a word. He believed she had to find out about the death of Lance Morgan, and that's the only reason why she was accusing him. She was saying something now, and he turned his mind away from his wandering thoughts.

"You sonofabitch!" She continued. "You killed a man, and you still got the guts to travel to Vegas."

"Prove it!" He protested hotly. "Prove it, damn you!"

"Alright!" she replied. "I am gonna prove it." and so, Eva gave d him a blow-by-blow account of all she had heard from Darius, and she was careful not to let Vince think it was someone else who had done all this thinking for her. When she was done, she saw a wicked glint came into his eye. All her account about the heinous crime he had desperately tried to hide had been thoroughly sifted out by his wife, who had seemed dim-witted to him in the past.

"This is incredible," he growled. "Someone has been doing a lot of hard thinking lately. Who did you talk to while I was away? I am very sure a murder case isn't your turf, so tell me, who told you all this? one of your lovers? A witness?"

"None of your bloody business, Vince! If you think you can get away with this, then you are wrong. I am going to the police. I am telling them everything. You must pay for what you did." she only said as a throwaway.

He felt an icy chill start-up his spine. The look in her eyes told him this is for real. This bitch meant every word she had said. His fear was forgotten; he moved towards her and grabbed her arms savagely. Then he yelled into her face.

"You dumb bitch! The bastard who's feeding you all kinds of shit forgot to tell you this, but I'll tell you. The law has been bought, and Lance is a dead man who nobody will miss. Do you see it? I can't go to prison because I buried this case before I left for Vegas. I dusted my tracks well, and the murder can never be traced to me. You tell the cops anything, it would be your sorry ass in the electric chair, and you know what that means, you'll be fried to death."

Eva shook herself free and stared at him, stunned, her mind busy with thoughts. So Darius hunch about what her husband did had to pay off after all. Vince had killed Lance. She had first doubted that he was capable of murder, but now, she knew what he could do, and that's why she was preparing for all this. She had no intention of going to the police. They won't do anything to him but the press, the press! That's what she was going to use to throw a scare into him.

"You see?" he continued. "I'm revered in Miami. You can't do shit!"

"Alright! Forget the cops! what about the press? What if I talked to Harold Stone, Miami's crime ace reporter? I am sure a man like that would love to hear what I am going to tell him."

Harold Stone! Vince thought. The man was an expert at reporting crime news or gossips. He covered scandal, society gossips as well as crimes, and he had a vast audience. Harold would rather blow his brains out than lose a good crime story. If Eva talked to such a man, the whole world would know he killed Lance Morgan.

"You dare talk to Harold about this?" he blundered out. "Harold Stone will ruin me, Eva."

"That's your problem and not mine!" she retorted, looking at him with cold dislike.

"Think about it. Suppose I lock you up in this house for good, tell me? how'll you able to talk to that man?"

Eva threw back her head and laughed hard.

"You are always talking trash, Vince. Locking me up is a bad idea. People will start asking questions; for instance, my godfather would want to know where I am, and perhaps, he might start asking lots of questions. Lots of it! I'm sure you know what I mean."

Vince regarded her for a moment. Of course, he knew what she meant by lots of questions. Suppose a man like John Roth, who happens to be a very powerful and influential man in Miami, starts asking questions about his goddaughter's whereabouts. In that case, everybody in Miami will raise an eyebrow. It was just as well to let sleeping dog lie.

Vince pulled himself together.

"You're quite a woman," he said feebly. "Okay, what do you want?"

"What gave you the impression that I want something?"

"Eva! let's get it over it! We both know you want something! You know it yourself! So tell! What's that thing that will make you keep your mouth shut."

Eva regarded him for a moment, and she forced back a smile. The slick bastard! He had figured out there was a catch to all her threat. Well, her plan had worked out. She could feel it. This was the moment she had been waiting for. It was now or never.

"I want a divorce, Vince." She said softly. "A divorce! clean and easy."

Vince's face fell. He knew it! All her yarn about going to the cops was bluff. This was where she was heading. She had fixed him in! This bitch had him right where she wanted him to be, and he hadn't thought that this could be a trap.

"A…divorce!" he stammered. "My God! Are you so desperate you would try to blackmail your own husband?"

Eva nodded her head. The blank look on his face told her he knew there was no way he could talk her out of this. He had no choice but to give her what she asked for. But Vince did something which shocked her. He moved towards her, to take her in his arms, but she was prepared for him. Her soft arms flew around him, and as he started to hug her, she drew back her right hand, and she clawed his face with her long fingernails. Vince yelled in pain.

"Pervert!" she shouted. "You think your sleazy charms would still work on me?"

"Christ!" he growled. "How could you hate me so much like this?"

"That's a question you'd have to answer for yourself, stupid," she howled.

He touched his face with a fingertip where he felt a burning sensation, and he put it to his mouth and tasted his blood. She had scratched his face out. Don't worry about it, he told himself, you'll fix her for this. She holds the card now, so don't worry about it.

"Give me a month," he said, a murderous rage on his face. "Just a month, and we’ll begin the divorce process."

She looked at him suspiciously.

"What do you need a month for?"

"Since I am not going to be your husband anymore, I've got to prepare myself for a long-time breakup."

Eva regarded him dubiously.

"I don't believe you. For all I know, you might be planning to stall time. In that crazy head of yours, you might be thinking of ways to delay the divorce."

"Eva! listen! I don't need to delay anything. I can't let you blackmail me. All I am asking for is just a month, and after that, you and I are done! I promise you; it would be as if we've never met before. We'll go our separate ways."

Eva thought for a moment and drew in a long, slow breath.

"Alright! I will give you a month, and if I see that you want to try something stupid or act as a smart monkey, I'll squeal murder to Harold Stone. What did I say I will do?" she asked, mocking him.

"You said you would squeal murder to Harold Stone," Vince mumbled, looking at her coldly as he saw the look of intense satisfaction that came into her eyes.

"Good," she said, smiling at him. "You've gone to understand, this is the only way this could work out. I don't…"

But Vince was half-listening to what she was saying. A sudden wicked idea was already growing in his mind. I'll fix you, he thought. Eva! Prepare to be fixed!