Jamaica Dreaming (Caribbean Heat) (10 page)

“Huh.” Lori shot her a skeptical look. “You might be right, but, sometimes, there are some real horror stories in the news about these missing kids.”

“I know.” Julissa remembered what Carly had said at Devon House about Ananda Dean.

Lori looked ready to elaborate, but Julissa didn’t want to hear it. She was going to think positive. Most missing kids came back. Joyce would come back, too. She wouldn’t allow herself to imagine anything else.

“Hey.” Lori’s face brightened. “Mr. Chung was trying to reach you while you were in the studio. When he couldn’t get you, he called me.”

“I turned my cell off. Should I call him back?”

The younger woman shot her a sly look. “I don’t know. That’s up to you. He just wanted to know how things were going. He thought you’d have been finished with the taping. Oh, and he gave me the rest of the day off to take you anywhere you want to go.”

“Huh.” Julissa retrieved her Blackberry from the pocket in her bag and turned it back on.

They said their good–byes to Mr. Joseph and the Parchments who promised Julissa to call her on the number she wrote out for them on a scrap of paper if there was any update.

“I feel a bit bad leaving them,” Julissa said, glancing back at the family as she and Lori walked away.

“There’s nothing more you can do. Maybe if you were a cop or some kind of private eye, like in the movies.”

“When I was a kid I remember reading a story about a woman whose child went missing and she went around the world singing a song, hoping her daughter would hear her and come.”

“Did she?”

“I think so.” But, she couldn’t really remember. She hadn’t thought of that story in years.

“So? Is there someplace you want to go?” Lori asked, as they got back into the BMW.

“Port Royal.” Julissa didn’t even have to think about it. Ever since she’d read the brochure included in her packet about Kingston’s must–see sights she’d known she wanted to wander around the haunts of pirates like Henry Morgan, Anne Bonney and Mary Read.

“Really? You know it’s just mostly a fort, right?”

“I know. It all sank below the sea in 1692, but I still want to see what’s there.”

The drive out of Kingston didn’t take long and, soon, Julissa was wandering around Fort Charles. It was pretty impressive, but most of the rest of the buildings were crumbling, their dark red bricks looking as if a stiff breeze would send them cascading to the ground. Julissa asked Lori to snap a few pictures of her standing by a cannon or leaning against one of the more solid walls. Her favorite snapshot was one where she pretended to push over the Giddy House, a brick building that had a much greater lean than the tower of Pisa.

Later, they ate lunch at Gloria’s, sitting on the white plastic chairs and checking out the customers before wandering along the beach as Julissa looked for shells. They were walking back to the SUV when Julissa’s cell rang.

She checked the number as Lori looked at her curiously. Sebastian. A tingle ran up Julissa’s spine, completely mystifying her since she’d been so careful to explain to him just why nothing could happen between them. Never mind that she’d lain in bed for more than an hour last night, unable to sleep, playing and replaying their kiss until sleep finally claimed her.

“Hello.”

“Hi.”

“Lori told me it went well at TVJ.”

“Yes, yes, it did. Has it hit the news yet?”

“Don’t know, I’ve been in a meeting.”

Was it her imagination or did he sound nervous?

“Julissa.”

“Yes?” She glanced at Lori studiously scrutinizing the late afternoon sky. Her stomach tightened. Was he searching for a way to tell her he was going to cancel out on the horseraces? He’d gone out of his way to show her around because he was interested in her but, if he wasn’t going to get anywhere, why bother?

“I was wondering if you’d like to have dinner tonight.”

“What?”

“Nothing fancy. I thought I’d cook. I’m pretty good.”

“At your house, you mean?” She felt dazed and breathless and also happy, very happy.

“Yes, of course. Where are you now?”

“We’re still in Port Royal.”

“All right, tell Lori to drop you off at my house on her way back. I should be there in another ten minutes or so.”

“Okay, I will.”

Julissa ended the call and relayed Sebastian’s request to Lori.

“Huh,” Lori responded.

“‘Huh’? What does that mean?”

“You tell me. Why do you have such a wide dopey smile on your face? “

“Do I?” Julissa tried to erase it but the corners of her mouth rebelled. “I’m happy. I’m on vacation, I’m on a beautiful island, eating great food.”

“With a super fine and sexy guy after you, don’t forget that part.”

They laughed as they got back into the BMW.

“Julissa? He’s a good guy, you know,” Lori said, as she started the engine. “I mean, Mr. Chung. A great boss, too. And I’ve never seen him like this. Leaving the office at this hour is unheard of for him. Nine or ten is more like it.”

“You said he’s a good guy and a good boss.” Julissa was dying to know more about him but she wasn’t sure how much she could ask Lori, she
did
work for the man, after all. Loyalty would prevent her from being completely candid.

“He’s kind and he looks out for his workers. Two years ago, a hurricane did a lot of damage to Flax Hall but, instead of going straight to the estate, you know where he went first? To check on the workers and he used his own money to help fix back their houses.”

“Not many employers would go
that
far,” Julissa agreed, impressed.

“Every year he gives the top student in the village five hundred US. He’s not like a lot of rich people. He tries to help.” Her voice turned fierce. “I think you’re nice, too, but don’t hurt him, okay. Please. I know that’s an engagement ring you’re wearing and I know he must have seen it, too. It’s not like you’re trying to hide it.”

“Lori! I’d never try to keep something like that a secret. Sebastian knows all about my engagement. I haven’t made him any promises and I’m not hiding anything from him.”
Anything except my scars, emotional as well as physical.
“Actually, my fiancé wants to come to Jamaica.”

“Mr. Chung knows about him?” Lori sounded incredulous. “You know, he must think he can take you away from your guy.”

“Sebastian? No, no, I don’t think it’s that. He…” Julissa’s voice faltered.

“Mr. Chung usually gets what he wants. Your fiancé better watch out.”

Was that it, Julissa wondered. Did Sebastian think he could win her away from Earle? Somebody as confident and handsome as Sebastian Chung probably wasn’t used to being told ‘no’ by anybody. With his looks, charm, and wealth, her rejection must have come as something of a surprise to him, but she wasn’t some bone to be fought over by a pair of dogs. She frowned. She didn’t like that analogy. Okay, she wasn’t some trophy to be won in a competition. She was a woman who’d already promised herself to another.

After they passed the cement factory, Lori took a different route, one that led through neighborhoods of small crowded houses. A knot of children in green and khaki uniforms waved at the BMW as it passed. Julissa waved back.

“I hope there’s good news about Joyce soon,” she said, glumly.

“I had a friend who ran away once,” Lori responded. “Her mother used to beat her.”

“Was she, I mean, she wasn’t killed or anything, was she?”

“No, she went to stay with her aunt in Portmore so she was fine but, for months, nobody in the village knew where she was.”

“You’re saying maybe Joyce will be okay, too.”

“I’m saying maybe something was going on at home we don’t know about. Some of these stepfathers are dangerous.”

“In what way?” Mr. Parchment hadn’t seemed like he could hurt a fly.

“They think because they’re contributing money to the household, they should be the ones to break a girl’s virginity.”

“No!” Julissa recoiled in horror.

“Not all. Maybe not Mr. Parchment, but that’s how some of them think.”

They drove on in silence while Julissa contemplated this. Mr. Parchment had seemed like a nice man and truly broken up about Joyce’s disappearance but, if Joyce really
had
run away, was he the reason why? Julissa didn’t know much more about pedophiles than what she’d read on the news, but what always struck her was how ordinary most of them seemed. It was quite easy to understand why their neighbors and even their families never suspected their dirty secret.

Lori made a left turn at the next junction.

“Look there,” she said, pointing at the statue of Bob Marley clutching his guitar.

“That’s the National Stadium behind him.”

Julissa craned her head out of the window. The reggae legend was an inescapable presence on the island. She snapped a picture.

“Lori, could you take me to the hotel first? And, then, drop me off? Or I could take a taxi or something?”

“Why?”

Julissa felt embarrassed. “I’d just like to freshen up. I’ve been out all day.”

“Since he already knows you have a man and you’re off limits, why do you need to look good for him?”

It was an excellent question. “I didn’t say I wanted to make myself look good,” Julissa replied, frostily. “I said ‘freshen up.’ I’d like to have a bath. I feel hot and sticky.”

“Oh, okay, sure.” Julissa shot her a suspicious look but Lori’s expression was carefully neutral. “I can take you and bring you back. No problem.”

“Are you sure?”

“Sure.” Lori smiled at her. “Better let him know we’re going to run a bit late, though.”

Julissa pulled up his number and dialed. Sebastian assured her he’d be delighted to see her however she chose to come, freshened or not, which made Julissa laugh.

“So, what are
your
plans for tonight?” Julissa asked Lori after ending the call.

“Not much. I’m just going to catch up on some reading back at my apartment.”

Her reply suddenly made Julissa feel guilty. Here the younger woman had been showing her around and making her feel right at home on the island and she knew very little about her.

“What else do you do when you’re not at work?”

“Well, that’s mostly it. I’ll be at UWI from September studying hotel management so I’m trying to get a jump on classes by studying some of the freshman textbooks.”

Julissa remembered that UWI, pronounced UWee, was what the islanders called the University of the West Indies, the regional university with campuses on the three biggest English–speaking Caribbean islands. “I’m impressed.”

“I’m trying to improve my Spanish, too, so I’ve got that Rosetta program. Mr. Chung bought it for me. He says the more foreign languages I know, the better. Once I can write an essay in Spanish, he’ll buy me the French program.”

“How will he know if your essay makes sense?”

“He’s fluent in Spanish, French, German, and Mandarin.”

“Wow.” Clearly, there was a lot more for Julissa to learn about Sebastian Chung. “Then, when you have your degree, what will you do?”

“Continue working for Chung Enterprises. Hopefully, one day soon, I’ll be the youngest executive the company’s ever had.”

She grinned and Julissa grinned back at her. “Even if you’re not the youngest, I’m sure you’ll be the best.” The girl had a vivacious personality that should take her far in any job she chose. “So, you don’t have a boyfriend then?”

“I talk to a couple guys but nothing serious. I want to get my education out of the way first.”

“Good thinking.”

Minutes later, they turned into an area that was becoming familiar to Julissa, and then they began the climb into the hills surrounding her hotel. In her villa, Julissa hurriedly bathed, threw on a green silk dress and applied her make–up. The last thing she did after spritzing herself with perfume was to throw her phone on the bed. No, she wasn’t planning to seduce or be seduced by Mr. Chung, but neither did she want any interruptions. It would be just like Deej or Earle to call while she was there, and then grill her for details when she told them she couldn’t speak to them at the moment. If she left it behind and either of them called, she’d be able to tell them she hadn’t put her phone in her clutch when she went out and that would be the honest truth.

By the time Lori drove Julissa up into Beverly Hills, the sun was setting casting a golden glow over the sprawling mansions glimpsed through the trees.

“So this is where the rich people live,” Julissa said. While she’d seen some nice houses in the few days she’d been in Jamaica none of them could compare to the huge houses half–hidden behind tall walls. Apprehension twisted her stomach. Did Sebastian live in one of those mini–palaces? She wasn’t sure what she thought about people who flaunted their wealth quite so flamboyantly.

“He bought this house after his divorce. It’s real nice. He has the staff over every New Year’s and he puts on a little fireworks show and gives us all our red envelopes with our bonuses.”