Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 126823 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 634(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126823 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 634(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
“We did. We do. I was so into Sean that I listened to Bale. He came to me with this idea of getting Sean something special for his birthday. He told me you despised them both and wouldn’t likely give either of us the spices and dates if you knew they were for Sean. He told me the ingredients were ordered from somewhere only you knew of.”
“And you believed him?”
Chelsey nodded. “I had no reason not to believe him. He’s always with Sean and they seem to be close friends. I understood you’re having a problem with Bale. He’s not a very nice man when it comes to women.”
“And that wasn’t another huge red flag for you?” Raine asked. “That Sean is Bale’s best friend, and he sits silently when Bale is degrading women? Or worse, he participates and encourages other young men to behave in the same way? You didn’t look at that and worry that he’d treat you as less than you are?”
Chelsey ducked her head. “I didn’t like some of the comments they made about me being ‘only a waitress.’ Implying I don’t have brains. They weren’t frequent comments but were said casually offhand and made me feel bad about myself. I made excuses for Sean when I shouldn’t have.” She looked directly at Shabina. “I get lonely, and there aren’t a lot of men with decent jobs who live here year-round. Sean is good-looking and smart. He’s funny. And he has a job that will last. I want a family and I’m getting older. I suppose that makes me look desperate, and I think I was feeling desperate.”
Shabina understood loneliness. She had felt isolated from her friends because she knew the experiences she’d had set her apart. But she’d let that happen. Her friends had reached out to her over and over, proving that they would be there for her. She also understood the desire to have a family.
“I’m sorry, Chelsey, I had no idea you were feeling so alone.”
“I didn’t talk to you about it. Vaughn even asked me several times if there was something wrong, but I felt silly telling him I wanted a family when he’s estranged from his. In any case, I decided to do what Bale asked, and I took the spices and dates. I did leave money and an explanation for you under the notepad in the second drawer below where the keys are. I thought you or Vaughn used that notepad to make lists of what you had to order, and you’d find it right away.”
Rainier immediately went into the kitchen to ensure the note and money were there. “Why didn’t you tell me this when I confronted you, Chelsey?” he asked as he returned and placed both items on the table.
“There had been a terrible fight between Sean and Bale when I gave the items to Sean. Bale was with him, and I expected Sean would be really happy, but he wasn’t. He was furious. He was angry with me and called me not-very-nice names. But he was worse with Bale. Much worse. He accused him of trying to embroil you in the murders and said he wasn’t going to plant evidence that would lead the cops to you.”
“Bale threatened me many times, and I knew he was trying to implicate me in the murders,” Shabina said. “I’m surprised they talked in front of you.”
“I’ve never seen either of them so angry. They scared me. Especially Bale. Sean also said Bale would blackmail me, and the moment it came out that the dates and spices were at a murder scene, I would go to the cops and say I took the items and gave them to Sean. That he would then be implicated.”
“At least he was smart enough to know if he did what Bale wanted him to do, he would ultimately take the fall when it came out that evidence had been planted,” Raine said.
“Sean kept yelling at me, asking if I would go to the cops if I realized he’d used the spices and dates to plant evidence against you at a murder scene. He was yelling. Bale was yelling. I was so scared, but I realized Sean wasn’t worried about you, or even me. He was worried about himself. I shouted back at him that I would go to the police, and they’d better not use the things I gave them to implicate you. Bale slapped me.” Chelsey cupped her left cheek as if remembering the way Bale had struck her. “He threatened me if I dared tell you or anyone else and kept saying his uncle would keep him out of trouble.”
“Bale hit you?” Rainier asked. “He slapped you in front of Sean, and Sean didn’t react? Weren’t you two dating?”
Chelsey nodded, and for the first time tears glittered in her eyes. “I knew I had to get out of there or things were going to get worse. But then Sean took the little jars I’d given him and threw them at Bale. They got into a terrible fistfight. I took off while they were on the ground.”