Sense of Rumor (Mount Faith Series: Book 6) (20 page)

Cathlyn shrugged. "I am sure there is none for either me or Fred."

She saw them out and Natasha and Tony drove to the station. Natasha was deep in thought. "Who else could it be?" she asked Tony. "I am at my wits end trying to figure this one out."

"I would love to know too," Tony said. They headed to his office as soon as they arrived at the station and powered up the computers.

Natasha looked through Frederick Carr's computer first, going straight to his video files.

Tony did the same to Cathlyn's computer. There were no video files on Cathlyn's but quite a few on Fredericks. There were parties, bootleg movies, several clips of half naked girls, and there it was: the big uncut file with Arnella.

Natasha sat down hard on the chair behind her. "Eureka!" she squealed. "We have our guy. Our dear Frederick Carr is either some kind of a perv or he really really disliked Arnella."

She looked on the clock on the bare office walls. It was eight o'clock. "Just one week now to go for my wedding Tony. This is another check on my list."

"What are we to charge him with?" Tony asked.

"Failure to report a crime? The uncut video shows what was really happening here. Look at the ending." She pointed to the screen.

Arnella had stopped breathing. She was passed out cold and the guys were trying to revive her. David snarled, "Turn the camera off."

Jeff was looking frightened. "Destroy it. She's dead. Oh my God she's dead." The screen went blank.

Natasha said, "He didn't report it. He edited the thing and tried to torment Arnella with it by sending it to a gossip paper and then to a guy she liked. This man must have the brain of a ten year old boy."

"You are insulting ten year old boys," Tony said ruefully.

"I know." Natasha got up. "I am sorry. Throw the book at him. Find out where the original file is and get him to hand it over. Destroy all the copies. Give this guy hell."

"Wait a minute," Tony said, "You can't just leave now. He'll be here in no time with his guilty self. Don't you want to know the motive for this?"

Natasha shrugged and then sat down. "Okay, why not?"

*****

She didn't have long to wait. Frederick Carr burst into the station with his lawyer, a well-fed guy in pants that were too tight. He was trailing Frederick in a huff. An officer showed them to Tony's office, and he came through the door, a storm cloud over his face.

"How dare you take my computer without permission?"

Natasha laughed. "How dare you? That should be my question Mr. Carr. Read the man his rights Tony."

"Just hold on a minute," Frederick Carr said, suddenly frightened.

Tony got up. "You are really making our jobs easier for us. Frederick Carr, you are charged with failure to report a crime in the rape of Arnella Bancroft, and possession of bootleg copyrighted materials. You have the right to remain silent..."

Natasha smiled, mainly because Frederick Carr had come to a sputtering halt. His lawyer listened impatiently to the reading of the rights and muttered. "This is rubbish, Fred. I can straighten this up in no time."

Fred was nodding like a bobble doll, guilt weighing heavy on his face.

"Why did you do it?" Natasha asked, "I am simply asking. There is no need to have your lawyer tell you not to answer; we have the evidence on your machine."

"I don't know how it got there," Frederick said, "This is ridiculous."

"Who else uses your computer Mr. Carr?" Natasha asked. "Your daughter perhaps?"

"Leave her out of this," Frederick bellowed. "She had nothing to do with any of this. She is not friends with that slutty girl, Arnella, anymore."

"I know Tracy had nothing to do with this," Natasha said, " You see, I figured it out. All the times when the videos were sent, they were sent from Cherry Hill. She was up here, at Mount Faith. Why'd you hate Arnella so? She is a girl the same age as your daughter and you took painstaking time to edit these videos done by those boys and torment her with them and tried to spread it around the school? It must have really pained your heart when you found out that she did that picture that you were bidding on, that gorgeous picture reflecting her pain."

Natasha shook her head. "I hope you serve time for this. I've gotta go, Tony. Book him." She got up from the chair. At the least she knew that Frederick Carr would get a sleepover in jail because there was no processing after six.

*****

Arnella was in the Medical Library with Alric and his batch mates. They had roped her in as an interviewer in their mock up to the mini interview. She covered a large yawn with her hand. Twice Kim had pinched her to stay awake as she asked them question after question about ethical considerations. She listened to their responses and then argued with some of them. They were enjoying her refreshing take on the issues, when her phone rang.

"Mystery solved," Natasha said to Arnella. "Your video sender Easter Bunny is actually Frederick Carr, banker, family man, and currently in our jail overnight."

"I can't believe it." Arnella whispered. "Then again, it doesn't surprise me. He was really against me and Tracy being friends. They are very close. I don't even want to think of what she told him. It now makes sense that Alric was the only one, besides myself who got a copy of the video."

"That's right," Natasha said solemnly. "He was doing this to discredit you at the school, and with Alric, to please his daughter. Probably thought he would never get caught. The videos will be destroyed after the court case so that they will never haunt you again."

"Thank God," Arnella said, with feeling.

"Can you give me an alternate number for Vanley. He is going to be officiating in the wedding next week Sunday. I want to do a rehearsal on Saturday night."

"Sure," Arnella rolled off a number from the top of her head. "Thanks, Natasha," she said softly.

"You are more than welcome. You got your invite right? I am guessing your plus one is Alric."

"Yes. Definitely. Could be nobody else." Arnella hung up the phone and went back to the group, smiling. She hugged Alric around his neck and whispered. "I love you."

Alric looked at her warmly. "I love you too, Nella, every bit of you."

The End

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Here's a Look at the Next Book in the Series:

A Younger Man

"If anyone knows of any reason these two should not be married, speak now or forever hold your peace."

The place was silent, except for the rustling of the wind on the red and white streamers that were pinned to each chair and a seagull squawking in the distance. Vanley Bancroft grinned with the bride and groom in front of him, who were not concerned about the possibility of any objection coming from the audience. They only had eyes for each other.

"Taj Jackson and Natasha Rowe, I now declare you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride, sir."

Taj lowered his head to Natasha and kissed her thoroughly, a kiss which went on an on, and had their one hundred and twenty guests laughing and clapping.

Vanley breathed a sigh of relief. It was over: his first wedding as an officiating minister. He had not made a blunder, and he was happy. He had made a terrible blunder at his first funeral. Even now, he shuddered to think of it. He kept on calling the deceased Anita Parkinson when the name was Agnes Bertrand.

One lady had taken him aside after the funeral and asked curiously if Anita Parkinson wasn't the VP of Academic Affairs at Mount Faith. Vanley had been shocked to his core. His obsession with Anita had gotten so bad that he had been calling her name in a funeral service, of all things!

Today, he had taken extra precautions. He had tried not to think about Anita, which was hard because she was a guest at the wedding, sitting at the back in a flirty blue dress and a blue hat that she was constantly holding down because of the breeze. He had registered all these details and knew every time she raised one of her hands to keep the hat down. Her nails were painted a pretty coral blue. He even knew every time she swallowed in the last half hour. When Taj and Natasha walked to the end of the gazebo with a saxophone rendition of John Legend's song "Stay With You" playing in the background, Vanley gave Pastor Peterson a parting handshake and stepped down from the gazebo. He zeroed in on Anita, but she was engaged in animated conversation with his cousin, Kylie, and her husband, Gareth.

He walked to the side of the lawn instead and gazed toward the sea. It was a beautiful spot for a wedding; Taj and Natasha had chosen well. The venue was called Lovers Leap and had a legend attached to it. Two slave
lovers from the 18th century fled to the edge of the large steep cliff while being chased by the plantation owner. Rather than face being caught and separated, the pair chose to end their lives by jumping together. In previous years, when Vanley had heard the story, he had scoffed at their drastic action, but today, with the cool December breeze swirling around and the romantic ambience of the wedding, and his unshakeable obsession with Anita, he could see how a couple would rather die than be separated.

"You did well today."

Vanley swiveled around and saw that it was her. She had taken off the hat, and her hair, which she kept in a sleek bob, was swinging toward her face. She had a heart shaped face and the biggest, sultriest brown eyes this side of Jamaica.

"Thank you," he smiled.

He always smiled when she was around. Usually, he felt like a bumbling idiot and would blurt out something totally inappropriate.

Last time it was, "Marry me, Anita." Today, he straightened his spine and kept his mouth shut.

Her response last time was to laugh at him. "You are too young for me, Vanley."

He was tired of her keeping him at arms length. Fifteen years was not that big a deal...

Mount Faith Series

Saving Face (Mount Faith Series- Book 1)
- Mount Faith University drama begins with a dead president and several suspects including the president in waiting Ryan Bancroft.

Tatter
ed Tiara  (Mount Faith Series-Book 2)
-  Micah Bancroft is targeted by femme fatale Deidra Durkheim. There are also several rape cases to be solved.

Private
Dancer (Mount Faith Series- Book 3)
- Adrian Bancroft was gutted when he returned to Jamaica and found out that his first and only love Cathy Taylor was a stripper and was literally owned by the menacing drug lord, Nanjo Jones.

Goodbye Lonely (Mount Faith Series- Book 4)
- Kylie Bancroft was shy and had to resort to going to confidence classes. How could she win the love of Gareth Beecher, her faculty adviser, a man with a jealous ex-wife in his past and a current mystery surrounding a hand found in his garden?

Practice Run (Mount Faith Series- Book 5)
- Marcus Bancroft had many reasons to avoid Mount Faith but Deidra Durkheim was not one of them. Unfortunately, on one of his visits he was the victim of a deliberate hit and run.

Sense of Rumor (Mount Faith Series- Book 6)
- Arnella Bancroft was the wild, passionate Bancroft, the creative loner who didn't mind living dangerously; but when a terrible thing happened to her at her friend Tracy's party, it changed her. She found that courting rumors can be devastating and that only the truth could set her free.

The Three Rivers Series

Private Sins (Three Rivers Series-Book 1)
- Kelly, the first lady at Three Rivers Church was pregnant for the first elder of her church. Could she keep the secret from her husband and pretend that all was well?

Loving Mr. Wright (Three Rivers Series- Book 2)
- Erica saw one last opportunity to ditch her single life when Caleb Wright appeared in her town. He was perfect for her, but what was he hiding?

Unholy Matrimony (Three Rivers Series- Book 3)
- Phoebe had a problem, she was poor and unhappy. Her solution to marry a rich man was derailed along the way with her feelings for Charles Black, the poor guy next door.

If It Ain't Broke (Three Rivers Series- Book 4)
- Chris Donahue wanted a place in his child's life. Pinky Black just wanted his love. She also wanted him to forget his obsession with Kelly and love her. That shouldn't be so hard? Should it?

Contemporary Romance/Drama