Circling Carousels (16 page)

Despite the surety of Mario’s displeasure, Jason married Sienna’s twin sister just one week before his brother’s return, and he took a massive chance in doing so. Mario had seen the engagement in the papers he was receiving overseas, but he didn’t expect for a moment that his brother would actually go ahead with the union. Jason wasn’t exactly known for his fidelity or his longevity in relationships, so this was a totally new move on his part. Normally, the marriage wouldn’t be able to take place because Crystal was so young, but without parents to give their consent, the courts ruled in favour of the joining of these two people, with a large sum of money passing hands to cinch the deal. Everything happened so quickly, but that was the way Jason planned it, for he knew his brother would oppose it should he await his return.

When Mario saw the newspaper the day after the wedding, he was furious with his brother. He knew who Crystal was, for he was given her years ago by Marcus himself, the payment for a long-standing debt. Mario found it appalling in so many ways. Not only had his brother married way beneath him, but he had also done it for the bright camera lights and for popularity. He had married a young woman of seventeen, twenty-four years his junior. Worse than that, he had joined his life with a girl his own brother had slept with repeatedly when she was only a little girl,
a girl he had been given, a girl he toyed with and then tossed aside into his lurid business and a life of hell. Mario realised Jason didn’t know about this part of Crystal’s past, and when he returned home, he would have to tell him because Crystal certainly would one day if he didn’t do it first.

This would seriously impact Jason’s serenity, but he deserved to know where his wife had come from and what his brother had been to her. It was a wonder she hadn’t already mentioned it, but then again, in a whirlwind romance, surrounded by the press and the glory of it all, she probably hadn’t taken into account the awful truth of her brother-in-law’s involvement in her life. Maybe she hadn’t put two and two together and realised what she was marrying into. Mario would like to say he didn’t want it to spoil their marriage, but in truth, he did want to see it dissolve and would do what needed to be done to avoid the future embarrassment she could bring to his dynasty.

When Mario Sawtell returned home, his brother was still on his honeymoon with his prostitute wife, and when Jason stepped off the plane, Mario was the first to greet them. Crystal gasped and then got a hold of her emotions, but Jason had noticed. It was obvious to the older brother that Crystal was unaware she had married the brother of the man who had tortured her in her younger years. She remained silent, but until Jason came to her that night after talking to Mario, she worried and pleaded with God to let her be forgiven for the past, so she could have a happy future.

Jason was angry with her. The honeymoon was both literally and figuratively over as he berated her. She tried to convince him that she didn’t know the name of the man who had harmed her back then and she hadn’t realised that he was her husband’s own brother.

Jason knew this would never do and that night, only one week after they married, the marriage was already in a state of ruins. In one conversation, his wife was turned into someone inexcusable as Jason was sure she had deliberately kept this from him, so strong was her desire to wed him anyway.

“Gold digger” was a term Mario had used, among others, and now in a fit of despair and rage, Jason phoned his lawyer
and set in motion the hearing and paperwork to dissolve their union. This would be disaster enough, and the media would be sure to have a field day with it, but it would be so much worse for his family should the whole truth of Crystal’s past come out. Jason realised that there had been a reason he had cleaned her up, courted her, and married her with such haste. He knew his brother would never allow such a thing if he were present, so without his advice Jason made a mistake that would haunt him until he made another mistake bigger than that one. He was sure to do so, and that is why Mario was always there to advise and take care of him. Jason just didn’t make good decisions.

As quickly as it began, it was over. Crystal was kept nicely, though, in a townhouse by the river, and although it looked like the Sawtells had been kind to her, in reality, she just became a higher-class prostitute with business men and socialites lining up to have their way with the previous Mrs. Jason Sawtell.

Chapter 23

M
arcus had been hung, drawn, and quartered, tarred and feathered, and shown to the world as the lowest of the low. Funnily enough, the media and hence the public had no idea of all his crimes, but they didn’t require any extra information: the deal was done. They had no idea of what he had done to Sienna, in stealing her childhood away, how he had all but destroyed Crystal’s life or how he had provided the drugs to control and eventually take Candice’s life. They had no idea that he had left a precious woman’s lifeless body in an alley rather than face the music. They did know that he had girls working for him as young as twelve and thirteen years of age and that he was the provider of illicit drugs to children in schoolyards and adults alike. They also knew that in his dark world, it was no effort at all for him to murder to get what he wanted or to settle debts. They were able to solidly attribute three killings directly to his name. In the court case, Marcus had been faced with so many charges that he didn’t have a leg to stand on. Having failed to secure him a deal, Marcus’s lawyer did his utmost to defend his client, but even he knew he couldn’t win against the clear-cut evidence against him.

In the television footage of the sentencing, Marcus hung his head in what seemed like sorrow, but he was only sorry he had been caught. It must have been a great relief to him when Sienna didn’t show at the court and even more so when Elsie didn’t testify either. There was no need for either of them to be there, and because no one knew of Sienna’s existence, it was never likely to happen. Elsie was able to make her statement, after more than ten years in his employ, without attending the sessions and she much preferred this option.

The organization Marcus had built over many years was officially disbanded, and all the workers questioned and set loose, if they were innocent, and those who were guiltily involved in the business were charged in later court appearances.

Sienna watched the news and stayed in touch with the findings and then the sentencing, which was played over and over on the news bulletins. A great whoop of excitement came from both Elsie and her as they watched the demise of the man they had grown to hate with a passion. Three consecutive life sentences, the equivalent of many more years than he could ever serve in his lifetime, were handed down, with absolutely no chance of parole. Unbeknown to the women in his life, before the televised sections of the court case, he had murdered three men who tried to stand in his way. He had bribed police and high-ranking statesmen and judges and had single-handedly destroyed thousands of people’s lives with his drug dealing, child pornography, and prostitution businesses. The only sentence worse would have been the death penalty, and the judge felt this was too instantaneous for his heinous crimes. He would never be released.

In her heart of hearts, Sienna felt some sadness, for as a girl and then as a teenager, she developed pronounced feelings for the man. She now knew these feelings were made of desperation and loneliness and the need to feel loved, but she had felt them for a long time. She didn’t wish him the worst, just all the punishment he deserved.

Dearest Diary, I can’t imagine what it must be to be Marcus at this time. I hurt for him and how lonely he must be feeling,
but after what he did to me, to my whole family, he deserves everything he gets!

I think I loved him once. Even though I was so young and silly, I gave him my heart, so feel sad for him tonight! I hope he will think about everything he has done, I hope he’s sorry, and I hope one day I will feel better than I do right now.

I still care, but I don’t want him anywhere near me. It’s weird to feel two emotions like this, but I suppose loving him so long has messed up my heart. I need to mend, I suppose.

Sienna knew it was now entirely possible she would have to move from the home she had lived in since she was eight years old. She waited and waited for word that she must go, and it simply didn’t come. It was possible, Elsie said, that rather than rock the boat, Marcus had decided it was safer to leave her be and let her stay in the place she thought of as her home. Elsie found that her weekly wage, a very high wage indicative of the silence she was to keep, was still appearing in her bank account each week, and she figured this, too, was in order to let sleeping dogs lie. A clever choice on Marcus’s part—not that there could be more fitting a punishment than three life sentences and not that they could make things any worse than they were—but still it was a good choice he had made.

So Elsie stayed on as housekeeper and friend in the beautiful home, and in only a few months, she would take one of the rooms as her own and live there, her husband gone and her family long since grown up and moved away. She would no longer be lonely, and she would also be closer to Sienna, whom she loved as her own daughter, and she could help her to find and reclaim her sister.

As yet, none of them knew of the whereabouts of Crystal and what had befallen her, but when the news of Marcus hit the media, the news was everywhere, unavoidable and everywhere. They felt that Crystal would surely have seen it and would be thinking of her family and friends all the more. It caused the three women who were working to bring her home to swing into action in a huge way and regroup for another round of fighting for Crystal’s life.

Chapter 24

W
hile Crystal was the wife of a very rich and powerful industry leader, Bonnie knew she would have to lay lowand not say much, but now that the media was all over the sepa- ration and Mario had had his way, it was open slather again and Bonnie moved swiftly on with her plans.

She felt to strike while the iron was hot, and while both Jason and Mario were reeling from the newspaper articles, the unflattering pictures, and the constant paparazzi, she felt they would be embarrassed enough to allow her to take Crystal off their hands. Besides with the speed of the Sawtell-Carmody wedding and the even speedier annulment, Mario had more than likely never heard of her desire to purchase the tall leggy blonde. There was a slim chance that his brother had told him and that he blamed Bonnie for alerting him to the beautiful girl’s existence. Bonnie doubted he would want to add fuel to the fire of disgust burning in Mario’s heart, so she figured Crystal’s disappearance from their lives may be a welcome one. If she allowed too much time to elapse, the moment may be lost, so without warning or an appointment time, she arrived looking
her finest on Mario Sawtell’s doorstep. In an instant, she was joined by a security guard, and she announced herself and her business with Mr. Sawtell.

In Bonnie Leslie’s handbag was an obscenely large amount of cash, a down payment should Mario require some convincing and then on delivery of the goods she would give him whatever amount he still required after the initial deposit. Bonnie really meant business this time, and that’s why she came so well prepared. Included with the money was a receipt already written out for the amount with the details of further payment to be added in at Mario’s leisure. This could very well be her best chance, and she wasn’t going to waste the opportunity.

The Sawtell residence was unlike her own, as their family business was run from the streets and not from his home. His girls lived independently, although were carefully watched, and came in to his downstairs office only to check in each morning and then once a week to receive the pittance he referred to as fair payment. Compared with Bonnie, he undervalued his workers, and they repaid him by running away, finding protection in better employment, or by being purchased, just as Bonnie hoped to accomplish today with her chosen girl. Bonnie rarely prayed, but this morning she asked God at least a dozen times for help. By means of a small mobile phone, the security guard informed Mr. Sawtell Senior of his visitor. Having been given the all clear, Bonnie was escorted into the grand old home. It was decorated rather plainly, compared with her own, and Bonnie noted the predominance of testosterone-fuelled pictures and the general lack of excellent taste that her home had in abundance. Mario and Jason seemed to be quite enamoured by the naked female form, and there was little else in the way of art in the foyer and huge lounge area. Bonnie wasn’t sure whether to sit or stand to wait for this meeting, but she wanted to appear relaxed and friendly, so she made herself comfortable in one of the
maroon leather chairs.