Another Reason To Walk Away

Another victim. Another story. Another reason to walk away.

I called Bentley immediately after leaving Silvia’s home. He said he had already heard because her parents called him, pointing fingers. They felt he was the one to blame because she worked for him, and honestly, I felt the same way.

It made sense. She talked to me about what she knew, which wasn’t much, but he didn’t know that.

My immediate thoughts were that Bentley had eyes on every single one of his employees, so he knew that I had talked to her, and he wanted to silence her before she said too much.

He swore he didn’t. He swore he was nowhere near Silvia’s home or had anyone else take care of his dirty work. I wanted to believe him so badly. I wanted to trust him. But my decision shifted from one side to the other.

“You have to know something,” I said. “There’s no way two people who are tied to your club lose their lives so close to each other and you don’t know a thing about it. Why? Huh? Why Silvia? Were you afraid she would tell the world something you don’t want us to know?”

“I didn’t kill Silvia!” He shouted at me for the first time ever, and it was the first time that I was actually afraid of him. “I don’t know why you don’t believe me or why you’re constantly back and forth with your feelings, but if this is how you’re going to be, I'm done. I’m not playing these games with you, Justine.”

He was so angry. His voice sounded terrifying. It made me realize just how dangerous life could get with him. And what made it worse was that it happened at the flip of a switch. One minute he was sweet. One minute he was as sour as a warhead.

“Ahh, there it is,” I slowly nodded. “That kill switch that you tried so desperately to hide. Did Silvia make you angry about something? Did Ivy? It’s gotten back to me that your company wanted to buy her out before she was murdered. Did you kill her because she wouldn’t sell?”

“What?” he scoffed. “What the hell are you even talking about? Why would I kill someone just because they don’t want to sell their business? Ivy was behind on her mortgage, and I tried to give her an out. That’s it. Sure, she had a spot that would've been a great startup for something better, but I didn't push her into selling. She refused to sell, and I still helped her out. There was no reason for me to kill her.”

I pushed hard for a confession from him, but he never changed his stance. His voice didn’t crack with fear or defeat. He didn’t stutter or stumble over a single word. His tone and story remained the same throughout our entire phone call, leaving me stuck on the fence of what to believe.

“How come you didn’t tell me she was dead the minute you found out?” I asked. “I went over to interview her again, and her entire family was there. Her family’s positive that you’re the reason she’s dead. They said they warned her not to work for you and that they’re coming after you with everything they got.”

“I didn’t know you talked to her in the first place,” he said coldly. “How could I know something like that? I’m not following you twenty-four seven. Don't be so full of yourself.”

He was right. There was no way he could have known that I talked to Silvia. Unless she told him. The only people who knew were Silvia, myself, and Rodger. Yet and still, I blamed Bentley and demanded he tell me the truth.

“Why do her parents hate you so much?” I asked. “Was there something going on between you two? Is that why this happened to her?”

“There was nothing going on between Silvia and me. She worked for me, and that’s all. She’s not even my type.” He spoke defensively. “I treated her like a younger sister. Her parents wanted a different life for her, and she wanted what I had to give more. They wanted her to go to art school and live up to their standard as artists themselves. But she was drawn to me and mine. She still went to school and still created. It just wasn’t what they wanted, and they felt like I stole her from them. Which isn’t the truth. Silvia made her own decisions. I’m nobody’s babysitter.”

Everything he said made sense.

It was believable, and Silvia’s attitude toward him backed his explanation. She respected him. She wanted to be around him. She enjoyed it.

It was clear that Bentley was disgusted with me for not believing him. It was even more clear when he hung up the phone in my ear. I started to ask him more questions about his relationship with Silvia, and he told me to talk to his lawyer. Right before disconnecting our call.

Feeling at a loss, I sat at my desk trying to see where Silvia and Ivy’s cases might cross paths, and there were two crossroads in my sight. Bentley. And Rodger.

Silvia did say that Rodger looked familiar to her, and Marcia told me a story about her friend who had a terrible experience with him. Not to mention, I was almost certain that he was the one who leaked information about me to the press. Which led me back to believing that Bentley was telling the truth.

“Knock, knock.” Tina entered my office just as I rested my head on my desk.

“Hey, Tina,” I sighed. “What’s up?”

“We’ve got another one. A girl who worked at Club Lure. Toni’s making everyone hit the streets to collect as much information as possible before any of the other stations get their hands on it.”

Toni, the CEO of Westlake News, was bad news herself. She was a boss. A shark. A narcissist who thought she ran the world. And even though she loved giving everyone at the station a hard time, I always felt like she had it out for me the most because of who my parents were.

“Yeah,” I sighed again. “Silvia. Rodger and I talked to her a few days ago. I just got off the phone with Bentley about it, and I really hate to say this. I hope I'm not making a mistake, but I don't think he’s involved with any of this. As badly as everyone wants him to be, I just don’t see it.”

Tina’s eyebrows furrowed, and her face contorted with judgment. She couldn't believe that I was siding with the devil of Westlake. She couldn’t believe that I was giving him a pass. Me of all people. The one person who was adamant from the very beginning that he was guilty.

“Justine, are you serious?” she asked. “There’s no way you actually believe that. I mean, who else would do this? Ivy refused to sell to his company, and Silvia worked for him. That’s a connection right there already. The only thing left to do is figure out what either of them knew so that we can end this. Don’t be fooled by his good looks and charm. Rodger’s already been telling the entire station about the gifts he bought you.”