Rachel staggered, a ringing started in her head, loud and annoying like the buzz of a bee. Her mind was in denial of what she just heard but looking at the solemn faces she knew she had heard right. Ben was…no she didn’t want to think it. It wasn’t possible. Surely she would have heard something. Ben was well-known as a producer so his death shouldn’t go unmentioned. Besides that, it just didn’t seem plausible to Rachel that her friend would be dead.
“Miss Rivers you might want to sit down.”
“I can’t,” she heard herself say but it didn’t sound like those words came from her. The ringing sound in her head would not stop. Mabel came out of the kitchen wondering what was happening. She was taken aback by the uniformed people in the living room but when she saw the ash pallor of Rachel’s skin that worry flew out the window and she hurried to her sister’s side.
“What now?” Mabel asked Eileen with accusation in her eyes. “Haven’t my sister suffered enough already?”
“We are sorry but we had to bring the news to you. What we are here for today is a matter of great importance.”
“Ben is dead,” Rachel said in a soft voice looking up at Mabel. Mabel muttered a curse. She didn’t know Ben much but Rachel spoke highly of him. With her hands around her sister, she led her to a chair. Rachel clasped her hand to her mouth.
“Who killed him?”
“We were hoping you would tell us that. We know you were one of the last few people to talk to Ben and we were hoping…”
“That I would be the killer?!” Rachel asked angrily.
“That you would tell us who might be the killer. Miss Rivers, you have to know that we are on your side. During your last call with Ben did he mention anything unusual?”
Rachel was in distress wondering how everything had suddenly gone South. First Nate now this! Ben! She wanted to shut down and not think anymore but she knew she had to for Ben’s sake, for his family. Her eyes stung with tears but she thought hard about it. “H-he said something about a rumor going around the network. Then a couple of days ago my agent told me he was planning to leave the network when the Allen Brothers were paying him 70% shares to stay on the network.”
“Where is your agent now?”
Rachel knew a moment’s panic as she reached for her phone praying Larry was okay. A message flashed across her screen sent 2 minutes ago. It was Larry. It read ‘I’m on my way to Ermernia. I have bad news.’
“He’s on his way here.”
“We will have agents making sure he’s okay. I’m sure you already know what we are going to say. This is a messy situation and every indication points to the fact that the Allen Brothers are involved in Ben’s death but there’s also something else you should know.”
“Whatever you say now will not surprise me,” Rachel responded. She was feeling hollow inside. It seemed as if the bad luck cloud hanging over her head since she saw Jacob and Gabby fucking was still in with her, pouring its acidic rain on her life.
“Your husband might be involved too.”
It just kept coming, each blow harder than the next.
Kary spoke for the first time. “It might seem far-fetched but we have reasons to believe he is involved. This is where we need you. We want you hot on his trail. Jacob Henderson has been under our radar for a while now, we need to nail him but we can’t do it without proof. He’s a slippery bastard. At age eighteen he was linked with a criminal gang but somehow his name was cleared and while the rest of the gang is serving time currently, we had nothing on Jacob so we let him go.”
“I’m sorry, Jacob? The same Jacob Henderson? The one I married in college?”
Eileen regarded her with pity. “Yes, that Jacob. It’s hard to believe but we have reasons to suspect he started afresh when he met you, laid low during your years of marriage until the nasty issue between you two. We presume he’s back into the dirty game but we can’t just go up and arrest him without heavy, undeniable proof. That’s where we need you.”
“I’m sorry I can’t help you,” Rachel said fearing she already knew where this was going. Mabel squeezed her shoulder to show her support. “I cut ties with Jacob after he cheated on me.”
“You’ve been on our radar, Rachel, we know you had contact with his lawyer days ago. Your divorce isn’t finalized yet, it won’t ever be – at least not with Jacob’s refusal to give further comments about your separation.”
Rachel glared at Eileen, the woman knew so much more than she was saying but she wouldn’t be pulled into another mess, not when she was just beginning her healing process.
“We can assure you of your safety, all you need to do is trail him, find out what he is into and his associates and you’ll always communicate with us. We have all the devices you need to communicate and keep you safe. See this as working undercover.”
“Okay that’s enough, I see where this is going with all that mission impossible stuff but look I’m a journalist, not an undercover cop. If you have been keeping tabs on me you will know that I just left a messy entanglement and I’m trying to put my life back together…”
“But wouldn’t you like to see justice served?”
“Justice,” Rachel yelled, “will only be served if you can undo these past months and give me back everything I’ve lost. Everything!”
The tears were brimming in her eyes again. This time she didn’t blink them back. Why bother? Ben was dead and the husband she once praised to the highest skies as the epitome of virtue just might be involved – to what extent? She didn’t know. Now she was supposed to be instrumental in his getting arrested? She didn’t even want to look him in the face especially now that she knew that all their time together had been a lie. How had she not seen this side of him? She didn’t want to look at Mabel knowing that though Mabel would show her sympathy she would still have that ‘I told you look' in her eyes. It was obvious in her lack of reaction that Mabel had probably suspected what the GHIA were telling her before now.
“I understand how you feel but…”
“I need time to think about this.”
“We don’t have all the time in the world…”
“I SAID I NEED TIME!”
This time Eileen stood up and the men with her did the same. There was sympathy in her eyes. “You have today and tomorrow to decide. Think about Ben, for his sake, we must bring Jacob and his accomplices to justice.”
Rachel didn’t stand up to walk them out the door, Mabel did the honors. When Mabel came back she found Rachel hiccuping, choking on her sobs on the floor. Rachel turned desolate brown eyes to her elder sister.
“It was all a lie,” she sobbed. “Everything. What a fool I have been.”