The Playboy's Assassin

A Shocking Announcement : Vanessa.

I yawned and stretched as I got off the bed. I couldn’t remember when last I’d slept so soundly or felt so relaxed. I glanced at the bed. It was empty. Enrique was not in the room. I checked the bathroom and he wasn’t there either. I was disappointed. I didn’t know what I expected but after last night, I had thought I’d wake up in bed with him. It didn’t matter anyway. Whatever happened between us last night was not happening again. I had been feeling down and just needed a distraction.

And now that distraction had ended and I was back to feeling depressed. I remembered what day it was today and what importance it held in this town and my life. This year, I had thought it would feel different but it didn’t. The ache I always felt on this day was still there and it encompassed every inch of my soul. I stepped into the shower and took my bath. Then I got dressed in a black alter dress and went downstairs.

Enrique was in the restaurant having breakfast. He looked up at my arrival and smiled.

“Hi,” he said. I didn’t reply. Instead, I sat down and poured myself a glass of lemonade and took one of his slices of bacon 

“Are we back to you ignoring me now?”

“You did push me into a river and I couldn’t swim.”

“I didn’t know you couldn’t swim.” He bent to whisper. “With all your skillset I didn’t think you wouldn’t know how to do something as basic as swimming.”

I narrowed my eyes at him and grabbed his plate of food. How’s that for something basic?

“Really?” he asked incredulously.

“Yes, really.”

“Well fine then. You can have it. In fact, you can have everything.” He pushed his plate of toast towards me and his cup of coffee.

“Thank you.” I gave him a tight smile.

“By the way, I’m no longer available for any tryst you might have in mind. You can’t attack me again like you did yesterday either.”

“Well, you didn’t seem to mind when you were groaning and moaning underneath me.” I heard movement behind me but I didn’t turn to check who it was. “I believe your exact words were 'Don't stop, Scarlett. Yeah, ride me like a horse.” He looked mortified and I had to bite my lip to prevent myself from laughing.

A choked gasp sounded behind me. “Hello, Harrison,” I greeted without looking back.

He cleared his throat and moved beside me. “I was going to ask what you’d like to be served but I can see you’ve already settled that between yourselves.” He looked down at my plate of food.

“Today is the town’s annual fair, I hope you two would be joining us. We’re expecting quite a turnout this year.” He smiled. As usual, he was dressed in another mismatch of clothing. He wore a burgundy velvet jacket with brown corduroy pants and black and white striped shoes. “A lot of people bought the tickets to the town fair online,” he said, looking pointedly at Enrique.

“That would be me. I’ve been making videos of the island and posting them n my account from the library. The librarian let me borrow her laptop.” He looked smug as he picked up his cup of coffee and took a sip.

“That was quite thoughtful of you. We even had a few guests book in yesterday morning. I had them assigned to the room next to yours.” He frowned. “Strangely, they haven’t been down for breakfast yet.”

Enrique almost choked on his coffee and I stifled a laugh. We had made so much noise yesterday, the poor people probably didn’t get enough sleep.

“What’s the matter?” Harrison asked.

“It’s nothing.” Enrique cleared his throat.

Harrison was about to leave then he turned and faced me. “Lest I forget, I did some digging in our records and I came across your name, Miss Scarlett. You only signed it with your initials S.R, but I never forget a face. It took me a while to recollect but it’s you. I’m certain of it. You come here every year during the fair to mourn the loss of our great whale. You didn’t come last year though.”

Enrique looked at me questioningly. “I was held up at work,” I said.

“Ha! It’s nice to have you back.” He smiled. I said nothing. When he realized I wasn’t going to say anything else, he straightened and fixed his jacket. “Well, I’d better be off now.” He walked away, his shoes making a clapping sound as he went.

“Well that was downright scandalous,” Enrique said, referring to my earlier comment about yesterday. “You knew he was behind you, didn’t you? And you seized the opportunity to embarrass us both with that little quip.” I took a bite out of his toast and didn’t reply him. I didn’t feel like saying anything anymore. My mood was already ruined.

“Why didn’t you tell me that you knew the island and you’d been here before when I told you about the place?”

“It didn’t matter. You were right. It was a great place to keep a low profile.”

“Why do you come here every year?”

“It’s none of your business.” I glared at him.

“But it is. Nobody comes to this place. It has some great sites and it’s a pretty cool place but before now, I didn’t want to step foot on this island. Yet you find a reason to come back every year and I’m guessing it’s not for the scenery.”

“You and I aren’t exactly friends so you can keep your mouth shut and mind your own business.” I pushed his plate of food back to him and walked away.

ENRIQUE.

I watched her back as she stormed away and folded my arms on my chest. She was hiding something from me and I had a feeling it was something huge. Maybe it was one of her stash houses or her agency’s headquarters was here. That seemed unlikely. They would’ve stormed this place and I’d have been dead the moment I got here. Her connection to this place was deeper than that and maybe even sentimental. Now that I thought about it, it was all starting to make sense. She had been acting differently the moment we got here. Her hostility towards me had been less. I remembered how nervous she’d been at the river. And she had been smoking. I had never seen her smoke before. The sad look on her face as she looked out at the water. Maybe she’d lost someone there. There were so many questions in my head but not one answer. I couldn’t go ask her. In the mood she was in, she might just shoot me.

If I wanted to know anything about her connection to this place, I needed to know what happened today. I knew the white whale had died in a boating accident today eleven years ago and the town mourned its loss and held a fair in its honour every year on this day but that was all. And then it clicked. The boating accident. People had been on the boat and they had all died. She must’ve had a connection to one of them. I drank the last of my coffee and got up. All the answers I needed were at the library. I just had to check their archives.

The town was bustling with activity. Everyone was heading towards the town square for the fair. I entered the library. It was emptier than the other times I’d been here. At least then there were two or three people in there but now it was eerily silent. The only soul in sight was the librarian and even she was already packing up.

“Enrique.” She smiled upon seeing me. “What are you doing here? I thought you’d be at the town square already joining in the festivities. I must tell you, we weren’t expecting such a turnout this year. You’ve really been such a blessing. At least now our island can start getting back to the way it was.”

“That’s part of the reason I came. I need to do some research on the history of the fair to promote it on my page. Precisely the boating accident.”

She chewed her lip for a moment. “I’m not really supposed to be here today because of the fair. I just had to log a few books in quickly.”

“I know but I won’t take up your time. Think of the island, Mrs Coleridge and the tourists and all the publicity this could afford you. All you have to do is keep the library open for five more minutes.” I smiled my most charming smile and just like that, she was putty in my hands. She blushed and adjusted her glasses.

“Well, I suppose I do have a few minutes to spare. Come with me.” She led me to a computer and turned it on. Then she typed in the boating accident of 2009. “Everything you need is on this file. All the newspaper clippings and pictures. I’ll give you ten minutes max.”

“Thank you, Mrs Coleridge. You’re a sweetheart.” She blushed again and turned on her heels. According to the articles, the accident had occurred at the river Scarlett had taken me to. There had been four people on board the boat. A family of three and the pilot. Three people had died that day but the child had survived with injuries. The girl’s name was Vanessa Hastings. I scrolled further down and there was a picture of the girl. The picture was old and a bit grainy on the screen but the girl’s features were a bit clear. She had red hair packed in a ponytail, green eyes and a small face with a smattering of freckles on her cheeks. Her smile was wide, showing off her missing tooth. She looked cute. She also looked a bit like Scarlett but that was all. There was no mention of a cousin or any other family member.

Maybe she was related to the pilot. I scrolled down but there was nothing about the pilot other than his name was Archibald Finch and he was a native of the island. There was a picture of the white whale. It was pure white and looked like a whale but was the size of a dolphin. I guess I saw why a lot of people came here to see it now. I rested my back on the chair and sighed. I was back to where I started. Nothing led to Scarlett and I was no closer to knowing the reason why I was being targeted or the person who had ordered the kill. The whole trip had been a waste.

My phone rang in my pocket and I took it out. It ended before I could pick it. It was an unknown number. I checked my call records to see I had a missed call from Diego from hours ago. How had I not noticed my phone ringing? We just kept missing each other. The phone started to ring again and I picked the call.

“Hello? Am I speaking to Enrique Capone?” A gruff voice asked.

“Yes, this is he.”

“I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for weeks now but you’re a hard man to find. I’m Giuseppe Verdi, your grandfather’s lawyer. I’m calling about the reading of his will.”

“Will? Why would you be calling about a will? What happened to my grandpa?”

“You didn’t know? Your grandfather is dead. He died a few weeks ago and I need all the family members to be present in Italy to read the will.”