Page 5 of The Beachside Cafe 6
Jaymee agreed.
On the coffee table in front of the couch was a bowl filled with odds and ends. She rummaged through it with one hand until she came up on a pair of nail clippers.
She used the clippers to cut the twine and then ripped the paper from around the box. It wasn’t very large but she was still surprised to see just an envelope with her name written on it and small box that looked like it contained probably jewelry and a DVD in a clear plastic cover.
Jaymee glanced at Cameron before opening the envelope and pulling out the letter.
“Dear Jaymee,” she read aloud. “My name is Captain John Hastings. I am the American ambassador living in Puerto Rico. This information that has been sent to you was at the request of Doug Lent, whom I believe was your husband before his disappearance and subsequent murder. I actually had the pleasure of meeting Doug at several business conventions and thought highly of him. It is unfortunate what happened to him at the end and I believe it to be a great honor to be asked to send along these effects to you. The DVD is something of a will Doug had made. He was in fear for his life for I’d say about six months before the event that took his life.”
Jaymee stopped. She looked over at the DVD, wondering if she even cared what Doug had in his will. She moved her eyes to Cameron, who looked thoughtful and very reserved. He shook his head.
“If you’re wondering what to do from here, don’t look at me,” he said. “This directly affects you. You have to make your own decisions here. But I’m here in case you want to bounce your ideas off me.”
“Do you think I should watch the DVD or let my lawyer handle it?”
Cameron shook his head. “I don’t know. What do you want to do?”
Jaymee had to think about it. She hadn’t seen her ex-husband’s face in at least six months. She’d taken all his pictures down and tried to erase the damage that happened to Cheyenne as a result of what Doug chose to do.
She sighed heavily, her eyes going back to the letter.
“If you choose to accept the terms of the will, I will be following up with documents. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. I have enclosed an extra envelope in the bottom of the package for you to send back your reply. Much obliged. Captain John Hastings.”
“Interesting,” Cameron said with a nod. He was studying her closely and she knew why. “What are you going to do?” he asked quietly.
Jaymee’s heart was beating so hard it was starting to make her short of breath. She closed her eyes and consciously slowed down her breathing.
FOUR
Jaymee only took a few seconds to decide what she wanted to do. She wouldn’t be able to bear it if she didn’t watch it. She had to know what he had to say. What he was planning on doing with all the money he was making.
“Should I get Cheyenne?”
“Where is she?” Cameron asked.
Jaymee felt a touch of disappointment. “She’s in a meeting. One of those important ones, you know. I can’t get her out of that.”
“So do you want to watch it now or wait?”
Jaymee knew she wasn’t going to be able to wait. She shook her head, taking the DVD from the box, standing up and setting the box to the side. She walked to the DVD player under the massive flatscreen television mounted to the wall.
She put the DVD in and stepped back to see what was on it. The moment Doug’s face came on the screen, Jaymee reacted. She cringed and moved backwards to sit on the couch next to Cameron again. The large size of the screen made Doug appear to be a giant. It sent an unhappy feeling through Jaymee. She reached over and took Cameron’s hand. He squeezed it and nodded at her just as Doug started talking.
“Hello, Jaymee. I don’t know if you’re watching this with Cheyenne. What I have to say is important and I need you to hear it. I’d rather Cheyenne not be there but if she is, well, she will hear what I have to say as well.”
Jaymee glanced at Cameron, who gave her a look of encouragement.
“I’ve been doing some things that aren’t exactly legal and could get me in a lot of trouble with some really bad people. What I’m doing can get me in trouble with some of the good people, too, unfortunately.” A look of regret came to his face. Jaymee drew her eyebrows together in confusion. Was this a confession video instead of a will?
“Jaymee. I know I haven’t been the best husband for you. That’s something I’ll always regret. I asked my friend John to keep this until after I died. So if you’re watching it, I’m gone. I don’t know how I’m going to go out, but I have a feeling it will all trace back to IDL. That’s Intersectional Dynamics Laboratories. You remember when I worked there, right? I know you do. We went to a lot of company picnics and had people over all the time. Well, they aren’t a very good company, once you delve down into what they’re really doing. I was only running numbers. I should never have found out what was really going on there. Once I did find out…” He paused and looked away from the camera. He sat back in his chair, revealing more of his surroundings and Jaymee realized he was in his home office, right there in the house.
Thinking about Doug recording that video in a room just yards away from her made her skin crawl. Cameron must have noticed her reaction because he squeezed her hand. She bumped him lightly with her shoulder but kept her eyes on the screen.
She surmised the video had been made in the last year. He looked almost exactly like he did on the day he disappeared.
“Well, I’ll be honest,” he continued, “I didn’t leave. I found out what kind of experiments they were doing and I stayed on, taking their money, taking the paycheck when I should have spoken out. I should have said something and stopped what they were doing. But I didn’t. I decided to make some money off the people who were the worst in the company. So I started blackmailing them.”
Again, Doug stopped. He no longer looked regretful. He looked as guilty as Jaymee had ever seen him. He sat forward again, this time, dropping his head to his hands for a moment and then leaning to rest his arms on the desk in front of him in the small space between the laptop keyboard and the edge of the desk.
