Merritt Jacobi looked down at the latest edition of 'Celebrity skinz' with a heavy heart. The article had quoted parts of the autopsy report and went into great detail describing the murder of Brad Lowell. He was overwhelmed with worry and wondered how this had happened. His normal day to day life and everything he had done up until this point had been so far from the scandal that he may be facing.
He had worked very hard to build a good life for his family, and had raised his children with pride for themselves and their station in life. He adored his children; his two amazing daughters were the most beautiful and precious things in his life. He owned a gorgeous home, paid all of his bills on time, he had excellent credit and a new car—the only thing that ruined his perfect family was his wife. He had loved her so deeply for so long, but now that love was ruining him.
Candace Jacobi had never been satisfied with their upper middle class life. She hated their house because it was not a mansion. She hated their car because it was affordable. She even hated their children because they were not exactly like her, and had not been accepted into the elite private school that the richer mothers in their neighborhood sent their children to. But Candace had gone too far this time; she had cheated on him, and decided to run away with her rich new boy toy. So, Merritt sat back and watched her pack her bags, take all of her jewelry, and listen to their daughters crying their hearts out before leaving their lives like a stranger would.
He refused to let it crush him; he had two precious daughters to take care of. So the day that a tall, thin, strikingly beautiful woman walked into his veterinary office, with her little tea cup poodle, he was smitten to say the least. Since that first erotically electric and spontaneously sexual meeting, it had been one year of full service sex and free vet care for the miserable little mutt.
The new relationship had been going smoothly for the hard working veterinarian—until the night she had asked him for the animal euthanasia. He became immediately suspicious, asking her what she needed it for. Her answer to his question was to immediately drop to her knees, release his thick hungry cock, and suck him so deep into her throat he was sure the head of his dick was hitting her stomach. She sucked him off until his eyes did flips in his head, and his jellied knees dissolved. Needless to say his better judgment, which had been screaming for him to deny her, was silenced by his erotically induced oblivion. Before he knew it, he had given her a significant amount of the drug; more than enough to kill a man.
So months later when Merritt had first heard about the murder of Lana's fiancée, he was more shocked and hurt to find that she was engaged and had lied to him. It wasn't until later that he realized her fiancée had not just died, he had actually been murdered and even then the only thing that came to Merritt's mind was her betrayal and her lies.
Merritt realized as he read the magazine that there was no more over looking this case, there was no more trying to block Lana and her treachery out of his mind. This article explained the Murder of Brad Lowell with hard core facts. He had been given a lethal dose of the same medicine that Merritt used to euthanize the animals at his veterinary office. He knew in the pit of his soul that Lana was more involved than she claimed to be and it broke his heart. Than to make the whole situation even worse, Lana had gone and disappeared with out a trace, leaving only an apartment full of blood and a million questions. He knew he ha to go to the police, he had to tell them the truth and help in anyway he could. He was riddled with guilt as he realized he may have unknowingly participated in a mans death and he also knew it was just a matter of time before they traced it back to him.
He could not afford that right now, he had too much at stake. He had his children to think of, who would take care of them if something happened to him? His wife had candidly informed him that she wanted nothing to do with her former life and that included the children. He had to do something; he was too honest to sit back with this information and not do anything.
"Why Lana?" he softly cried dropping the magazine to the floor and dropping his head into his hands. He had such high hopes for the two of them, she had been so perfect for him and he knew in his heart she would have been a wonderful mother to his daughters. What a fool he had been! Well that foolishness had put his beloved family in jeopardy.
***
It was strangely surreal to be living in Aries Stark's beach house. She felt slightly out of sorts and fully out of her element. Even though Aries had sent specific instructions for her to make her self completely at home, she could not help but feel awkward and uncomfortable. She was at some remote location far from any form of civilization, in a mansion that everyone kept calling a beach house.
She felt isolated and out of touch with the world after only just a few days. She knew it had a lot to do with the fact that she was far from home and away from anyone she knew. She was thankful that she was able to talk to her friends though, at this time when she was so worried and so alone it was good to hear there voices. She just wished that Aries was here and safe right now, she was so worried about him.
The house itself also played a factor, making her realize juts how little she knew about Aries Stark. The man she knew didn't seem to fit in this house; Jack Smith never struck her as luxurious or posh. The place was like some swanky museum that dripped with expensive dark, eerie art in various strange shades. The house itself, although electrifyingly intimidating, was structurally absolutely breathtaking. Very close attention had been paid in the design and structure of the house, and she recognized Aries style immediately. The main things she found herself doing over the last few days included exploring every inch of the gorgeous home, and being very careful not to touch anything. Every piece of furniture, from the huge master bed that was covered in grey and white linens to the crystal drinking glasses, looked fragile and irreplaceable not to mention worth more than anything she had ever owned in her entire life. She realized quickly that she may very well be intimidated by this much wealth and she questioned the insecurities in herself.
To make matters worse, the entire place was washed in grey, leaving no room for any other color in the whole apartment. She stood in the enormous living room looking out of the wall-sized window at the beautiful scenery out back. The beach was magnificent, all the flowers, the colors, the smells. The smells alone could intoxicate her like nothing else, except maybe Aries. The air smelled like fresh spring water with a blend of lilacs and roses, and other assorted flowers infused. The smell of the foliage as it warmed under the sun melted through her senses leaving her to coo and sigh. The pale turquoise water was clear and inviting, the ivory sand warm below her feet and between her toes. If only the rest of the cool, creepy mansion made her feel like this.
Then as the final stunner, to her extreme torture and absolute displeasure, she was not allowed to go outside for very long and under no circumstances should she swim in the water. Rip had explained that even though they were over an hour away from civilization, she could still be spotted. At this point the paparazzi had no idea who she was, but a stranger making a ruckus in a secluded section would draw the attention of the media; and even though they could not recognize her yet, they would recognize Rip immediately. So instead she stood in the living room looking out of the huge window at the exotic and partially untouchable beach. The room she stood in such a vivid contrast to the colorful oasis outside. It was cold and expensive and dripping with luxury, from the monstrously oversized charcoal grey Italian leather furniture set to the huge deep grey and silvery shaded rug that covered over half of the deep granite shaded stone floor.
Above all, it was the kitchen that gave her the oddest impression; there was something distant and vacant, but undeniably electric about the oversized room that looked like it belonged in a 5 star restaurant. All at once this kitchen gave her a feeling of a long lost home she never knew and a sickening feeling of dread and gloom. The actual kitchen was a modern marvel of the newest technology, every thing was state of the art, the silver double sided refrigerator was stocked full of all different types of food, the black and charcoal floor, the small silver circular table with two matching chairs, the black onyx inlayed marble coffee tables. The walls were the palest of grays meshed together to create a pattern she had never really seen before. She had never seen so many different spices in one place at the same time! Despite all of the expensive equipment and high priced decor, the kitchen screamed for some life. She fought herself to not go outside and pick some flowers and throw them all over the room.
This mansion was amazing despite the depressing decor, Aries had everything a person could ever want at his immediate disposal, he was a lucky man, why had he just left it all?
***
Rip smiled at the little old woman with the booming voice. She was a tiny little thing who stood sort of crooked; her frail body in complete opposition with her powerful, slightly accented, voice. The jet black hair that looked odd against the semi-translucent skin of the senior citizen, the fire red lipstick, and the retro fitted gown gave her the appearance of an old 1950's pin up girl, who had not been treated well by father time. She was direct and abrasive, but she was also informative, and Rip could not help but smile as he followed up the stairs behind her maintaining her ever so slow pace.
"Julio never paid his rent on time," She grumbled as she led Rip to apartment number three, "But he was quiet." She pursed her red painted lips.
"When did he leave?" He stood back as the sweet little old woman opened the apartment door.
"He left very early yesterday morning; he still owes me two hundred dollars. That's why he snuck away." She stood back allowing him to enter, "I already checked, he left nothing of value." She shook her head and snarled, her lips curling up enough for Rip to see the lipstick on her teeth. "Lock up when you're done." She turned her rickety little body around and slowly descended back down the stairs, her bones crackling with each step.
Rip walked into the small apartment, the door closing behind him and casting more dark shadows in the gloomy and dim room. He looked around the mess as he took out his hand held cassette recorder and his cell phone.
"Small studio apartment, the whole room is ransacked, papers and clothing strung all across the floor." He used the camera on his cell phone to take a picture of the room. Rip was careful when it came to evidence and investigation; he liked to document everything, just in case he was over loaded with information and possibly forget or over look something. He walked over to the little kitchen to the upper right corner of the room. "He hasn't been gone long." he said looking down at the plate of eggs, bacon and toast. "His breakfast is still slightly fresh." he walked over to the left corner of the room seeing the mattress on the floor. Rip looked down at clock laying face up on the floor than smiled to himself. In his haste Julio had unplugged the clock and the hands had stopped moving. "The unplugged alarm clock on the floor stopped at 1:30 in the morning." he took a picture of the clock.
One would think that one would stick around when one was possibly involved in two separate, albeit somehow connected murders, but this particular pool boy had vanished with out a trace
Was he surprised? No, not really, he had almost expected as much. With all the press exposure Julio had to know that something was going to come back to him. Besides, Julio was no longer a legal citizen of America, so the option of leaving the country was the safest bet for a criminal looking to escape. Seems his green card had expired last year. Rip had come over with all intentions of exploiting this fact and using this information as leverage to get him to spill his guts about everything he knew about the case and little Miss missing Lana Lutz. Rip had been ready for a shake down and was disappointed that the man had just silently disappeared.
