Until death, p.15
Until Death, page 15
Jenna followed Raina while Sloan and Levi brought up the rear.
Chapter 27
Gunnysacks and Cement Shoes
Jenna fidgeted while standing in the second floor hallway outside Miller’s partially open bedroom door. Raina could be heard talking to her brother, who sounded half-asleep and hungover.
“Son-of-a-bitch!” Miller cried out then stormed into the hallway while slipping into his tuxedo shirt. He still wore his tuxedo pants, possibly having passed out while getting undressed. He stood in his bare feet while hastily buttoning his shirt as Raina hurried after him with his shoes. He spun to face Raina, stopping her.
“I told you we should stop that unholy union,” he cried out and snatched his shoes from her. “No, you insisted we take the high road!”
Elana entered the hallway with Levi, who had told her what happened last night.
“We think it’s best to get Callie out of the house just until we’re sure Mr. Steele is behaving rationally,” Levi attempted to explain to the bedraggled woman, who was obviously hungover herself.
“Behaving rationally?” Miller exploded while glaring at Levi. “His bride was fucking another man on their wedding night! Why the hell should he be rational?” Miller’s look turned even more hostile while he gestured erratically in a fit of rage. “He needs to throw that slut to the curb; preferably from the second-story window!”
“I’m sure she has a reasonable explanation,” Elana announced seeming alarmed by Miller’s call to violence with his outburst. “We haven’t heard her side of it. And don’t call my sister a slut!”
“Reasonable explanation?” Miller continued his tirade. “There isn’t a ‘her’ side. She was caught in the act. She’s guilty!” He stood rigid and glared at Elana. “What’s her side? She felt sorry for poor Nole because he never got to fuck a bride?”
Elana lunged for Miller with anger. “I’ve had just about enough of you!”
Jenna caught the irate woman and kept her from reaching Miller. Miller didn’t help the situation by continuing his rant. Judging by the color of his face, he was about to escalate further.
“Good, because after my father annuls his marriage to your whore of a sister, we won’t have to see you ever again,” Miller launched back.
“No one said they’re getting a divorce,” Elana proclaimed while wiggling free from Jenna’s hold and attempted to compose herself.
“Are you insane?” Miller cried out while almost laughing psychotically. “She screwed another man on their wedding night! Do you honestly think he’s going to stay married to the little tramp?”
Keefe appeared in the hallway wearing only his pants, displaying his broad, muscular chest. “What the hell is going on out here?” he demanded.
Miller glared at the much larger man then looked back at Elana. “Collect your sister and get the hell out of this house,” he shouted.
“Will someone tell me what is going on?” Keefe again demanded while looking mildly intimidating.
“This house belongs to my sister and her husband; not you,” Elana shouted back. “We’ll leave when Otto and Callie tell us to and not before!”
Sloan entered the hallway from the master bedroom and seemed a little bewildered.
Elana saw the maid and hurried toward her. “I want to talk to my sister.”
“She’s not in her room,” Sloan remarked while looking puzzled. “Their bed wasn’t slept in.”
Miller snorted a sarcastic laugh. “She probably left with Nole.”
“Her wedding dress isn’t in there either,” Sloan reported with some confusion. “She didn’t bother to change, so she must have left last night right after the fight.”
“Maybe Otto came back, and they went someplace private to talk,” Elana suggested.
“I doubt that. Someone would have noticed the Ferrari returning,” Raina insisted then eyed the others. “She must have left with someone else. She may have thought what we were thinking and decided to stay away from my father until he’s had sufficient time to cool off.”
“Well, I’m not leaving until I hear from my sister,” Elana huffed then folded her arms across her chest in a mild temper tantrum before spinning on her heels and storming back into her room.
Keefe seemed surprised at how quickly she darted away and hurried after her into the room. He slammed the door shut behind him despite still being moderately clueless about what had happened.
“There’s no way Dad took her for a ride to talk,” Miller insisted and cleverly raised his brows. “Unless it was with a shotgun, gunnysack, and cement shoes.”
Raina looked at her brother with surprise. “That’s a horrible thing to say, Miller,” she scolded.
“Yeah, but everyone was thinking it,” Jenna muttered in response.
Raina groaned at her friend then looked at Sloan. “Can you search the empty bedrooms? Maybe she wanted to avoid my father and found an empty room,” she announced. “I’ll help Levi search the staff wing rooms.”
§
After a brief search of the few unoccupied bedrooms on the second floor, Sloan knocked on Tia’s bedroom door. It was still early to be waking the guests, but Tia and Olivia were Callie’s friends, so she may have sought them out. When the bedroom door opened to reveal Jimmy Love, Sloan was briefly set back.
“Oh, uh, hey,” Sloan announced while staring at the slightly disheveled wedding planner in a flashy, satin oriental robe that only made it to his thighs. “I’m sorry to bother you. I thought this was Tia’s bedroom.”
“You got the right room, girl,” he announced then flashed a smile as he left the bedroom.
Sloan looked after him and watched him sashay across the hallway for his own bedroom. He headed into his own room without looking back. Sloan looked back to the open bedroom door and saw Tia approach the doorway. She wore her own satin robe that clung to her excessively wet body. She smiled and offered a tense laugh while running her fingers through her wet hair.
“This isn’t how it looks,” Tia announced and attempted to close her robe over her wet body.
Sloan held her hands up in the air, hid her grin, and shook her head. “I’m not here to judge you,” she announced, although it was obvious her mind was reeling at what she’d possibly just witnessed.
“We, uh, well,” Tia fumbled then seemed to give up, appeared embarrassed, and smiled at the maid. “Is there something you needed?”
“I was wondering if Callie spent the night with either you or Olivia,” Sloan announced then pointed to the nearby door. “Maybe I should check with Olivia.”
“You mean Jimmy Love was telling the truth?” Tia gasped. “He said he heard some gossip that Callie was caught in the library with that creepy guy from the party. Otto’s friend.”
“Yeah, that actually happened,” Sloan reported then held her breath. “I assume you haven’t seen her since.”
“No,” Tia replied as her eyes widened with concern. “You can’t find her?”
“We’re still looking,” Sloan replied. “I’m sure she’s around somewhere. We want to get her out of the house before Mr. Steele returns, so he’s properly cooled before they see each other. I’ll ask Olivia.”
“Ask Olivia what?” Olivia asked and appeared in the doorway behind Tia.
Sloan was momentarily stunned as she stared at Olivia, who wore a sexy nightgown. She then looked down the hall to Jimmy Love’s bedroom before looking back at the two young women.
“She’s obviously not here,” Sloan announced and gently cleared her throat while fumbling over herself. “I’ll check with the other guests.”
The two women noticed the way Sloan fidgeted while staring at them, exchanged looks, and then eyed the maid as they laughed nervously.
“No, no,” Olivia announced while appearing embarrassed at the situation. “You have the wrong idea. This isn’t how it looks.”
“Yeah, there was this monster spider in the bathroom,” Tia attempted to explain.
Sloan offered a smile and held up her hand. “Honestly,” she announced. “I’m just the maid. You don’t have to explain anything to me.”
§
Raina and Levi searched the staff wing bedrooms for Callie. Naturally, they started with Callie’s old bedroom then worked their way through the vacant bedrooms. There were ten decent sized junior suites in the staff wing, although only three were currently occupied. The eight-car garage had two large, one-bedroom apartments built above it, which Hanson occupied one while Titus had the other. The staff wing suites weren’t nearly as impressive and all had the same general layout as Dane’s bedroom. Each had a small living area within the bedroom and their own private baths. Raina and Levi checked the seven empty rooms as well but didn’t find Callie in any of them. If she hadn’t been in her old bedroom, it was doubtful she’d use one of the vacant ones. She’d undoubtedly go someplace familiar.
“She must have gone home with one of the other guests,” Raina reluctantly remarked as they headed toward the end of the staff wing. She then glanced at Levi. “When did you see her last?”
“The last time I saw Callie, she was chasing after Otto with her panties hanging from her white, satin shoes,” Levi announced with little emotion.
Raina cast a look at him. “That’s a colorful image you just painted,” she remarked.
He eyed her and raised his brows. “I’ll never forget that entire scene,” Levi informed her. “I mean, Nole’s ass was about as white as Callie’s wedding dress. He was like a jackrabbit going to town.” His eyes widened, and his hands were gesturing wildly. “It looked like he was humping a huge, white marshmallow. There was so much wedding dress and this lily-white, man’s ass in the middle of it.”
Raina stared at him with astonishment. “Can you stop?” she gasped, stunned by the details she didn’t want to hear.
Levi didn’t even look at her as he seemed to relive some horrifying trauma. “Nole’s pants were around his ankles,” he continued dramatically. “There was this loud slapping sound as he went at her while grunting like a demonic pig.”
She held her hand up in the air and turned her head away. “Levi, please!”
“I can’t help it,” Levi announced in his defense while becoming animated. “I walked in on my sister and her boyfriend once, and it scarred me for life!” He shook his head as they approached the employee’s lounge at the end of the hall. “To this day, I can’t date women my own size. I just keep seeing my sister with her toothpick of a boyfriend flattened like roadkill beneath her.”
Raina groaned, paused outside the employee’s lounge, and spun to face Levi. “Not one more word about anyone getting it on,” she threatened.
He nodded sympathetically and pretended to zip his lips. They entered the employee’s lounge, which consisted of a small kitchen and a living room with a large screen television. The living room looked like a cyclone had gone through. There were papers, take-out boxes, and soda cans everywhere. Oddly enough, the kitchen was spotless.
Raina shook her head. “Well, this looks like your room,” she muttered. “Doesn’t Dane complain?”
“Dane and Sloan don’t come back here much,” Levi informed her. “Sloan is either in her room or on the little patio out back. Dane spends most of his free time in his room or in the library.”
Raina shook her head and looked back into the staff wing corridor. “That’s the entire staff wing,” she remarked. “She must have gone home with someone else.”
“They’re going to get divorced, right?” Levi asked and seemed almost enthusiastic.
She eyed him with some surprise to his candor. “I’d assume so.”
“I feel bad for your father after seeing them doing the nasty in the library,” Levi remarked. “But I’m glad she’ll be out of our lives. She may have been a terrible maid, but she was an even worse lady of the house. She treated Dane like complete crap. I mean, you were mean toward him back in the day, but she was a total ogre. Honestly, I don’t know how he could take it from her day in and day out like that without killing her.”
Raina shifted uncomfortably as they headed back down the hall toward the main house and the kitchen. “I’m surprised Dane didn’t kill me back then,” she remarked while reflecting back. “We got into some pretty nasty fights.”
“Honestly, I think he just enjoyed tormenting you,” Levi informed her. “When you’d come home from college, he’d have Titus pick up yellow roses for your room. He even read your books while you were away.”
“Really?” Raina asked then eyed Levi with some surprise. “I thought he didn’t read any books by authors who weren’t dead.”
“Yeah, well, about that. Don’t ever say I said anything,” Levi announced. “But he’s not nearly as refined as he’d like everyone to think he is.”
“Huh?” she remarked then sank into thought. “That’s interesting.”
“I saw him without his shirt once,” Levi continued. “He has a shitload of scars. I don’t know what happened to him, but he must have gotten into quite a few scrapes.”
Raina reflected back to that morning when she saw him barely covered by the bedsheet. He did have several glaring scars.
“One time, after Callie dumped him for Hanson, Hanson started shit with Dane,” Levi informed her. “Dane got in Hanson’s face and ripped him a new one. The language! I learned a few new colorful phrases that day.”
Raina sank into thought then muttered, “How many men could pull a knife from their own leg?” She shivered at the thought.
Levi glanced at her with a bewildered look. “What’s that?”
She looked back at him, managed a smile, and shook her head. “Nothing.”
Chapter 28
The Happy Couple
It was noon, and no one at the mansion had heard from either Otto or Callie. Dane was on the portable kitchen phone while Levi and Sloan stood around him and listened to the conversation. Miller, Jenna, and Raina hurried into the kitchen through the main door as Dane hung up the phone. They approached the staff near the counter.
“We saw the Ferrari pull up,” Miller announced. “It’s heading for the garage.”
“Yes, I’ve just been told. That was Titus on the phone,” Dane informed them. “Mr. Steele appears to be alone in the Ferrari. Callie isn’t with him.”
Thundering footfalls were heard on the back stairs, indicating someone was running down them. Elana and Keefe entered the kitchen and looked around with concern.
“We saw the Ferrari pull up. Is she with him?” Elana demanded.
“Titus didn’t think so,” Dane reported.
Miller was about to head for the outer kitchen door when it opened to reveal a disheveled looking Otto still in his tuxedo from the wedding. Everyone stared at him uncertain what to say. He saw their looks, frowned with exhaustion, and headed for the back stairs.
“I know, I shouldn’t have taken off like that,” Otto informed them. “You can take turns yelling at me after I shower.”
“Where’s Callie?” Elana demanded, stopping Otto in his tracks.
Otto turned before the stairs and looked at her with surprise by the question. Anger quickly replaced his surprise. “I don’t really care,” he announced then looked at Dane and attempted to regain his composure. “Could I get some coffee upstairs?”
“Certainly, Sir.”
“I’ll take it up,” Miller immediately volunteered. “My father and I need some time alone.”
Elana wasn’t about to let it go, and she didn’t care what sort of mood Otto was in. “So you haven’t seen Callie since last night?” she again demanded and kept him from heading up the stairs.
“No, and I suspect that’s a good thing,” Otto snapped back while glaring at her. “Wasn’t she in the ‘honeymoon suite’ with Nole or maybe one of my other friends?”
Elana became irritated and attempted to hide her embarrassment.
“She’s not in the house,” Raina gently informed him.
“Good,” Otto scoffed. “Saves me the trouble of throwing her out.” He then smirked at Elana. “Try Nole’s bed.” Otto headed up the stairs without another word.
Elana turned to face the others with a look of rage. “So that’s it?” she blurted out. “No one cares that something could have happened to her last night?”
There was an odd silence from the others. Miller smirked and shrugged, which infuriated Elana even more.
Raina turned to Dane and released a sigh. “Why don’t you call Nole’s house?” she suggested. “Maybe she did leave with him.”
Dane nodded and picked up the phone.
Raina then looked at Sloan. “Would you check the other guest bedrooms? I don’t care if you have to wake the others. Maybe she bunked with someone else.” Raina then looked back at Elana. “You could call some of her other friends from the reception. Maybe she went home with one of them.”
Elana nodded while removing her cell phone and motioned for Keefe to follow her. They headed out the back kitchen door for the terrace.
Raina then turned to Levi. “Can you call Titus and Hanson at the garage and ask them to check the grounds for Callie?” she suggested. “Jenna and I will search this level, Miller can take the attic, and Levi and Dane can search the basement.”
“Not me,” Miller announced with little concern. “I’m taking coffee to Dad. He needs me.” His eyes then narrowed. “Callie can go to hell.”
As Miller headed for the coffeepot, Dane hung up the phone.
“Mr. Oaks isn’t answering,” Dane informed Raina. “Should I send Titus to his house?”
“Yes, that’s a good idea,” Raina replied then frowned. “I think it’s possible she’s with him, which could be why he’s not answering.”
“I’ll search the basement by myself,” Dane informed her. “Levi can take the attic, but I suspect she more than likely got drunk and passed out somewhere on the grounds.”
“If that’s the case, she shouldn’t be too hard to spot in her wedding dress,” Raina muttered.
§
An hour later, Raina and Jenna walked onto the terrace after having searched the entire first floor of the mansion. Neither had any luck locating the missing bride. They looked toward the garage and saw Titus and Hanson as the two men headed toward the house.
