FORTY-FIVE
Hilton Head, South Carolina
15:00 HOURS
Sela Coscarelli was nonplussed and couldn’t believe her predicament. When the day began, she wouldn’t have believed that by nightfall she would be held captive. The men who had brought her to the palatial estate, while very courteous, had provided her no information whatsoever. The root of the problem was most assuredly centered on Jarrod and Ryan. The call she had received from Jarrod confirmed this premise. For whatever reason, these men were using her for leverage against something the cousins were involved in. Considering their volatile past, it wasn’t a difficult stretch to imagine that they had finally crossed someone bent on taking revenge for their actions.
Why these men considered her vital to their goals was still a mystery. Sela mentally replayed each of the salient facts she and Sarah had discussed the past several days, but couldn’t discern why she was being held or how she figured in. All things considered, it did appear that someone other than the cousins was behind her dilemma. What has all this got to do with me? Sela wondered.
She looked around the room and was astounded by her opulent accommodations. She had been whisked from the airplane to a car and driven to these confines with a hood covering her head. From the pungent scent of the salt air, she figured she was close to a coastal community on the Atlantic Ocean but she had no idea of her exact location. While the bars covering the windows and a locked door prevented her free movement, her confinement was really very nice, much nicer, in fact, than her own home in Maryland. There was a four-poster bed with a canopy in the bedroom, a full Jacuzzi in the bathroom, a fully stocked bar and refrigerator, and the sitting area was decorated with contemporary original paintings and King Louis XV furniture. The big screen plasma TV that graced the center of one wall in the great room was the only thing that appeared ostentatious; a smaller unit would have better fit the size of the room.
Sela went into the bedroom, kicked off her shoes, and plopped down on the comfy king-sized bed, totally bewildered by her circumstances. She had no way to communicate, no clothes, no toiletry items, no reading material. She was already bored with her situation, but, surprisingly, she didn’t feel scared. What in the world is going on?
She had only been lying on the bed a few moments when there was a gentle knock on the door.
“Dr. Coscarelli?” called a female voice through the door. “May I come in?”
“There’s no way for me to stop you,” Sela replied irritably, getting up from the bed.
Angelina Navarro cautiously opened the door and shyly entered the room. “We’ll be okay,” she said coolly to Sully Metusack, who was standing guard outside. “Now, don’t you bother us…this is girl talk,” she added with a wink, shutting the door in his face.
She turned toward Sela and cut the distance between them, offering her outstretched hand. “I’m Angelina, Dr. Coscarelli. Do you mind if I call you Sela?” she asked politely.
“Suit yourself; like most people, I like the sound of my name… but especially coming from friends. Are you friend or foe?” Sela asked, unsure about the meaning of this woman’s presence.
Sela was immediately struck by Angelina’s beauty. Her lustrous black hair perfectly framed her exotic face. She wasn’t wearing much makeup but the little she wore accentuated her bronze skin, making her emerald-green eyes especially striking. She wore a loose blouse that strained to minimize her well-endowed breasts, but there was no disguising her exceptionally long, trim legs. Sela couldn’t remember ever being in the presence of a woman of such exquisite beauty.
“I’m here to offer you my friendship and to make your stay with us as comfortable as possible,” Angelina replied. “I think it’s positively ghastly what they’re doing to you,” she emphasized, “but of course you understand…I have no authority here. I’ve been asked to look after you and make sure all your needs are met. So, how can I help you?” she asked pleasantly, a warm smile on her face.
“First, you can tell me what’s going on…why am I here? What do they want with me?” Sela asked, accepting the sincerity of Angelina’s offer.
“Oh, honey, they don’t tell me that stuff. Believe me…I’d share it with you if I could. But you should realize that I’m not privy to all the decisions made here. I merely work for the man in charge. I take care of his companionship needs, if you catch my drift,” she said with a twinkle in her eye. “I’m sure a woman of your upbringing disapproves of my profession, but I’m really not a bad person, so please don’t judge me too harshly,” she said apologetically.
“Miss Navarro, I…”
“Please, Sela, call me Angel or Angelina…I insist,” she smoothly interrupted.
“Okay, Angel,” Sela continued, “I’m not about to judge you. What you do with your life is of no concern to me. I just want to know why they’ve involved me in this business between my sister’s ex-husband and his cousin, Dr. Conrad. Do you know anything about that?”
“Honestly, honey, I don’t know what’s going on here. It has something to do with Dr. Conrad’s invention…they need him to make it work somewhere. But when I heard they kidnapped you when he didn’t cooperate, I demanded that Alastair let me take care of your needs.” She added, “oopsie” coquettishly covering her mouth in mock disguise for the slip of her tongue.
“Who’s Alastair?”
“Oh, my bad. I’m not supposed to use his name. So you just forget that little slip, okay, sweetie?” she said with an impish grin.
Angelina suddenly changed her demeanor, a sadness replacing her abbreviated playfulness. “Anyway, these dumb lugs don’t know how to treat a lady…and I won’t stand for anyone mistreating you. I’ve heard about your reputation for helping disabled kids, and I’m ashamed they’re interfering with that. You see, I have a twelve year old nephew that’s stricken with muscular dystrophy and it breaks my heart to see what he’s going through. Please forgive me, Miss Sela.”
“You don’t need my forgiveness, Angel…unless you’re a party to this. So if you really are sincere and want to help me, you’ve got to feed me information,” Sela replied, getting the sense there was more to this young woman than first meets the eye. She skillfully played the airhead role, but she was much deeper than that.
“I can’t just disappear from the university without checking in. There are people depending on me…kids in the hospital at Johns Hopkins. My research is nearing a breakthrough,” Sela gushed, leveraging off Angela’s sensibility. “When will they let me return to work?”
“Oh, Sela, I wish I could give you assurances, but really, honey, I don’t know anything. But I promise you…I’ll do my best to make sure no one messes with my girl. We’re friends, right?” she cajoled.
“You seem like a good person, Angel. And I’m in no position to refuse your help. Of course we’re friends. Now if you could sneak me information, we might be able to figure out what’s going on and save people from getting hurt. Will you do that for me?”
“Okay, honey, let me see what I can find out. But in the mean-time…you look like a size five,” she said, sizing her up. “Shall I bring some clothes and bathroom articles? And pleeeease…let me fix your face and hair. You’re such a pretty woman, but you hide it. I know… let me give you a makeover. What have you got to lose?” she asked excitedly, running her fingers through Sela’s hair.
“From where I stand I’ve a great deal to lose if you don’t help me, Angel. I’ll tell you what…you can give me a makeover, or whatever you call it, but I need information to go along with it. Do you think you could bring me a laptop so I can check on my research? That would be awesome,” she said, lightly touching Angel’s forearm.
“This is going to be such fun,” Angel replied, giving her a warm hug. “I haven’t had a girlfriend in such a long time. Trust me…I’ll take care of everything. I don’t know about a laptop,” she paused, frowning, “but I’ll figure out something. In the meantime there are lots of goodies in the fridge. And don’t hesitate to ask Sully about anything you need…alright?”