A Tale of Deception

  THE THIRD DAY dawned clear, bright and hot. Nessa didn’t want to get out of bed. It was daunting to face another day of uncertainty, and fear of the unknown. Ann had been gone for so long. She just knew something horrible had happened to her.

  But, Karen encouraged her, and with her bubbly and affectionate nature made it easier for Nessa to get up and comply. She realized what a treasure this new nurse was.

  Emma prayed. She clung to Ann’s Bible and talked to God, pleading with Him and loving Him at the same time. Her mind told her to worry, but her heart told her it would be okay. She’d never experienced this type of conflict before. Through it all, she felt God was trying to comfort her.

  She kept in touch with Shelly, who was anxious and upset about her best friend. “I’m praying, Emma,” she told her, “I’m praying fervently.”

  At the morning meal, the conversation was kept on general subjects. No one wanted to talk about the elephant in the room, Ann’s disappearance.

  After the meal, Karen got out Jane Austen’s book again, and settled Nessa outside in her comfortable chair. Emma and Mrs. Bower followed, sitting quietly nearby, looking forward to the distraction, as well. The tension was wearing them all down.

  The day was going to be a hot one. It was already warm, but the cool morning breeze off the lake felt good. Dougal was cutting the lawn somewhere out on the estate, the sound of the machine whirring off in the distance was comforting, normal. Jamie was working in the rose garden, below. The sprinklers running near the house provided a fine mist, cooling the area.

  Karen sat next to Nessa, and started reading where she had left off the day before. Nessa closed her eyes and let her imagination take her to England, so long ago.

  Lunch came and went. The heat of the day became oppressive. Retiring to the cool of the house, Nessa went to her rooms to rest, while Emma and Mrs. Bower went to the family room, Emma to read, and Mrs. Bower to sit down at the desk and write her daughter. Dougal had come in to fix a leaking faucet, upstairs.

  During the afternoon, around 3:00, David Tillman came by to see how Nessa was doing.

  Everyone was hungry for news and gathered in the family room, to see if he could tell them something new. After letting the lawyer into the estate, Jamie followed with the pretense of helping his Da, but in truth he was also hoping to hear news about Ann. Faye brought coffee and stayed.

  “Have you heard anything new David?” Nessa asked.

  “Yes, some,” he told the room.

  “Peter Lawrence has disappeared, along with most of his wife’s jewelry and some of her money. Bonds and cash are missing from his company and his personal safe was cleaned out. Mr. Turner told me he has been traced to Florida, but has since disappeared. They’re out in force… “

  “Hi everyone, what are you doing in here?” Ann asked, walking through the door with a young girl.

  “Ann!” Jamie cried, hugging her, being the nearest to her, “Where’ve you been, girl! We’ve been sick with worry!”

  Emma was instantly beside her daughter, holding her, trying not to be hysterical.

  Everyone started talking at once. Ann stood stunned, but the young girl looked terrified.

  “Not all at once, I left a note, didn’t you get the note?” she asked the room, as the voices died down and the room became quiet.

  Nessa sat ashen and pale, trembling. Her soft response filled the room, “There was no note Ann. Nothing.”

  Ann took one look at Nessa and could see she was in trouble.

  Karen rushed to her side, putting a pill under her tongue, and holding her wrist, taking her pulse.

  “Who’s that?” Ann asked her mother softly. “Where’s Carla?”

  “Carla went missing the same night you did,” Emma said.

  “What?” Ann was disbelieving.

  Nessa’s color returned. “Do you want to go upstairs?” asked Karen.

  “No. Let me stay, please.”

  Looking up, she saw the young girl standing near Ann, with tears of fear on her face, “Ann… who’s that with you?”

  Ann turned to the girl and could see she was upset. Giving her a hug, she said, “It’s all right Meridah, something has happened here, but it has nothing to do with you. Don’t worry.”

  “Where’s Jamila?” the young girl asked shyly.

  “She’s away at camp for a week, with Marty,” Mrs. Bower answered quickly.

  “I think we all need to calm down, for Nessa’s sake,” David Tillman stated, then asked, “Ann. Are you okay?”

  “Yes, we’re fine. Just very tired,” she responded.

  “Meridah, isn’t that Jamila’s friend?” Nessa asked.

  “Yes, she’s… ” Ann spoke.

  “Ann… Nessa…,” David Tillman interrupted. “I think we need to take this slowly. Ann, sit here with the girl. I’m calling Sidney and getting him over here to hear your story. Meanwhile, I’ll update you on what we know.”

  Ann sat on the couch with her mother and Meridah beside her.

  The child watched the proceeding with anxious concern.

  After his phone call to the FBI, he sat down near Nessa, and asked Ann, “The night you disappeared, so did Carla Sikes, the document you signed, along with all the money in the drawer. Do you know anything about it?”

  “No!” Ann responded, her heart stricken with the implications. “It was all in there when I left. The key is right here,” she said, fishing it out of her purse.

  “Nessa has a spare key,” David said. Thoughtfully he turned to Nessa. “Did Carla know about the spare key, Nessa?”

  “No, I don’t think so. Why would she ever be interested in… wait… once when she was helping me on with my jewelry, she asked me about the key. I told her it went to my husband’s desk. I didn’t think anything about it, because we weren’t using the study at the time,” she said remembering the incident. “You don’t think she could be involved… ” she never finished her thought.

  “Then there’s a possibility Carla could have gotten into the desk, as well,” her lawyer surmised.

  The sound of the house phone startled them all.

  Jamie picked it up. “Yes, certainly. I’ll be right there,” he said hanging up the phone.

  “It’s Mr. Turner at the gate. I’ll go let him in,” he said, rushing from the room.

  “I just called him! How’d he get here so quickly?” David Tillman said in surprise.

  They waited the few minutes it took for the men to return.

  Sidney Turner walked in and spotted Ann right away. “Are you all right Mrs. Henderson?” he asked.

  “It seems everyone has been concerned for me, when it wasn’t necessary,” she explained. “I left a note on the desk, but it seems to have vanished.”

  “I just called,” David interrupted again, asking the agent, “How did you get here so fast?”

  “I got a call from our office telling me that a passenger with the name of Ann Henderson had just arrived from Jordan, on this afternoon’s flight. I was already headed here to check it out, when I got your message,” he replied.

  Turning to Ann, he sat down and requested. “Now Mrs. Henderson, why don’t you start with the night you left the house,” he asked, as he set his tape recorder on the table next to him. “You don’t mind if I record this, do you?”

  “Of course not,” she replied, a little scared with what the little machine implied. That she might be in trouble until proven otherwise.

  “I was working in the study, when the phone rang. It was Mr. Razeen Jaffer, from Jordon. He told me Bayan had contacted him right after Jamila left to be with her grandmother. I could tell he was trying to find the words to tell me something, so I waited patiently. He then said Bayan had told him the most incredible story, which he has since verified, discretely of course,” Ann told the room.

  Then she turned to Nessa, and said softly, “Bayan was pregnant when Neilan died.”

  Nessa’s eye widened in surprise, David reached over and squeezed her arm, a
s Karen watched her patient.

  “Meridah’s your grandchild too and Jamila’s sister,” Ann told her in a gentle voice.

  “But how? Why were they kept separate?” Nessa wanted to know. “Did you know?” she asked the worried child on the couch.

  Meridah shook her head no.

  “She’s only found out a few days ago. She’s having a hard time adjusting to it all, Nessa. Let me continue, it may help in understanding it all.”

  “It seems when Bayan went home with Jamila, her father took her pregnancy rather hard. He immediately arranged a marriage for her with Musad Basha, a man whom the Sheikh had chosen for her in the first place. Luckily for Bayan, Musad loved her, and was willing to marry her. It was agreed the child would be given his name, and when she was five years old, he’d send her to the same school as Jamila.”

  “But, by the time she was old enough, Meridah looked and acted so much like an Arab child that Bayan wanted to keep her. Her husband was willing, but her father was not. He wouldn’t allow any room for scandal in the family. But, he did grant her permission to write the child, since she had a Muslim name.”

  “In this way, Bayan was able to follow the lives of both of her children. She always inquired about Jamila and the children’s growing friendship. With as much happiness as a mother can have, separated from her children, she was content reading about them, and knew they were safe and together.”

  “But, when Jamila was taken away, Bayan grieved for Meridah and couldn’t bear the girls to be separated. If she couldn’t be with them, she desperately wanted them to stay together. She talked it over with her husband who had mixed feelings about the matter. He didn’t want to offend the Sheikh, yet he wanted his wonderful wife happy, as well. He had two beautiful children of his own now, and wanted his family life to be a happy one.”

  “Razeen told me Bayan and Musad didn’t want to talk this over with her father, for fear a decision would be made which couldn’t be taken back. That Meridah’s fate would forever be sealed from her sister, the only family she has ever known.”

  “Musad applied for a passport and papers for his adopted child. When they were ready, and the Sheikh had flown out of Amman on business, they took the opportunity to contact Razeen.”

  “The night I got the call, there wasn’t any time to decide what to do. I was convinced, if we were to get Meridah out of Jordan, it had to be as soon as possible, before anyone could change their minds, or interfere.”

  “Razeen had booked connecting flights there and back, almost nonstop. He would get Meridah from the school, using the letter from Musad, and take her to the airport. They’d be waiting for me when I landed.”

  “I grabbed my passport, purse and dashed out of here after writing a quick note, leaving it on the desk. I’ve been on an airplane for almost three days, there and back. I even left my cell behind, in my hurry.”

  “I’m so sorry to have worried everybody, I can’t imagine what happened to my message,” she ended.

  Nessa looked at Meridah, “Come here child,” she asked kindly.

  Meridah got off the couch. She was still dressed in her native dress, with her scarf wrapped around her beautiful face.

  Approaching the old woman in the chair, she allowed the elderly lady to hold her hand. “You are welcome in this house Meridah, and I’ll do my best to see that you and Jamila are always together.”

  That brought the first real smile from the girl.

  Nessa stated, “There are rooms right next to Jamila’s. We’ll get them ready as soon as we can. Where is her luggage, Ann?”

  “Out in the car - there’s just the one suitcase - she hardly has anything,” Ann told her friend and employer.

  Still looking scared and timid in this new place, Faye and Mrs. Bower took her up to her sister’s room, while Ann stayed behind - the FBI still had questions for her.

  Nessa smiled at Ann and said, “I’m so glad your back and safe, Ann. And thank you for going to get Meridah. I don’t think I could have taken a custody battle with her grandfather. I can hardly handle the gift of another member of my family,” she said smiling happily. “I can’t believe it… two grandchildren, how wonderful.”

  Nessa turned to her nurse, trembling and colorless, “Karen, would you help me to my room? I’m so tired. I don’t think I can take any more excitement today.”

  Karen was about to leave for the wheelchair, when Jamie said, “I’ll get it. You stay here with Nessa.”

  Karen was soon wheeling Nessa out and up to her rooms. Giving the head of the house a sleeping draught, she put her to bed and stayed by her side.

  Ann talked with Mr. Turner for a while longer, finding out about Peter Lawrence and what had happened at the estate. The mystery about Carla still remained. They had no idea why she had left, and adding that fact to the bizarre events of the embezzlement, it seemed such an odd coincidence she had left the same night as the document and money. But, there wasn’t a shred of proof she was involved with Peter Lawrence in any way. The FBI was still looking into it.

  “We’ll be in touch Mrs. Henderson. Keep us informed about your whereabouts, please,” the agent requested.

  “I will Mr. Turner,” she responded, and then she said, “I think I’ll try and reach the girls at camp. I want to see how they’re doing and I would assume Jamila will want to come back, now that Meridah is here. Marty can stay the rest of the week or come back with Jamila, whatever she wants to do.”

  Going across the hall, she looked up the number for the camp at her desk and called, leaving a message for Marty or Jamila to call her back. Returning to the family room, she waited.

  Mr. Tillman and Sidney Turner continued talking about Peter Lawrence and what could be done to protect Nessa’s interests, when the phone rang in the family room, about ten minutes later.

  Ann answered, “Hello, Drummond Hall.”

  “Hi Mommy, isn’t Jamila coming?” Marty asked, just like that.

  “What do you mean, sweetie, she left here three days ago, to surprise you, she should be there with you!” Ann said as fear started to grip her heart, turning as pale and ashen as Nessa had been.

  “She’s not here! I’ve been waiting for her all day,” Marty said, picking up the fear in her mother’s voice.

  The room went silent. David Tillman and Sidney Turner looked at each other.

  “Just a minute love, stay on the phone, don’t hang up.” Putting her hand over the mouthpiece, she said, “Jamila’s missing… she never arrived at the camp.”

  “Let me have the phone, Mrs. Henderson,” the agent demanded.

  “Hello, Marty? This is a friend of your mother’s. Is there a counselor or teacher I can talk to, who’s in the room with you?”

  “Mrs. Humphrey’s here,” Marty told him.

  “Good, put her on the phone, please… and Marty? I want you to stay right there, okay?”

  “K… ” The child responded. He could hear her asking Mrs. Humphrey to talk to the man on the phone.

  “Yes, this is Mrs. Humphrey, what can I do for you?” she asked.

  “Mrs. Humphrey, I’m an FBI agent. My name is Sidney Turner. I’m concerned for Marty and Jamila Drummond’s welfare. Please don’t show any alarm to the child, if you can help it. She sounds scared enough as it is. But, can you tell me who the head of the camp is, I need to talk to them as soon as possible,” he told her.

  The woman on the phone stifled a gasp, as she said, “I’m the camp director, Mr. Turner.”

  “Have you seen or heard from Jamila Drummond at all?” he asked.

  “No, we were expecting her this morning, but thought maybe she had decided not to come,” the woman sounded downcast.

  “Please keep Marty with you. We’re not sure what’s going on Mrs. Humphrey, but we don’t want to risk the child.”

  “Absolutely, she’ll stay with me,” the woman said stoically.

  “Do you know her mother, Mrs. Henderson by sight?” he asked.

  “No, I’m afraid I d
on’t remember her,” the director stated. “There are so many parents, so many children… ”

  “I understand, but I’d like to pick up Marty as soon as possible,” the agent told her.

  He was about to suggest that Ann would be there in a couple of hours, when Mrs. Humphrey stated. “My assistant is quite capable of handling the camp alone, Mr. Turner. I’d like to get Marty’s things and bring her home myself. Would that be alright?”

  “Do you know where the estate is?”

  “No, but I can find it and Marty will be home within a few hours, if I have anything to say about it,” the woman offered.

  “I’ll put Marty’s mother on the phone, she can give you directions. Please be careful Mrs. Humphrey. I don’t think anyone’s in danger, but I wish to be cautious at this point,” he informed her.

  “She won’t go to anyone else, until I get her home,” she said firmly.

  “Fine,” he said, as he handed the phone to Ann, telling her, “She’s bringing Marty home. It’ll be the quickest way to get her here.”

  Ann talked to Mrs. Humphrey and then Marty. Everything was arranged, but she couldn’t believe the frightening events unfolding around her.

  Hanging up, she turned to the men in the room and asked in distress, “What’s going on? Who’d want to harm Jamila?”

  David responded, “Sidney’s on his cell now, Ann, putting out an APB for Jamila. They’ll check the hospitals and all the other places she could be. We’ll find her. See if you can find her license plate number, for him.”

  Ann ran from the room and was back a few minutes later with the information.

  “David, we can’t let Nessa know about this, it would kill her… literally,” Ann fought back the fear for her friend, as well as for the future of the sisters.

  “Her grandfather wouldn’t have changed his mind and taken her, would he?” she asked, trying to come up with some reason for the missing girl.

  “No. I don’t think he would handle it that way. He has too much pride. Would she have run away, to be with Meridah?” Mr. Tillman asked.

  “I don’t think so. She was so happy here, and Meridah would have said something if they were planning on running away together. She’d never have agreed to come here, if she knew Jamila was coming to her. No, there wasn’t any sign of resistance from Meridah, just fear of the unknown when I saw her at the airport,” Ann mused.

  “Let the nurse know what’s going on. She’ll need to keep Nessa sedated, maybe even in the hospital, if she thinks it’s necessary. We’ve got to do our best to resolve this as quickly and as painlessly as we can.

  But, I have a horrible feeling that Peter Lawrence or even Carla may have had something to do with this,” he said gravely.

  Emma sat in the corner watching, praying to the God she was beginning to trust.

 

  Loss Of A Poor Man