“Anyway,” Marcus said and closed the door. Once they were in the car and away, he asked, “What kinds of music do you like?”
“I don't care, you pick some place. I chose the restaurant.”
“Do you like Reggae?”
“Me like Reggae music, Mon,” Carmen replied, knowing that her West Indian accent was much better than her Stevie impression. “It make me won dance all night, ya know.”
“Good. I know a place,” Marcus said and drove Carmen to Dan Starks in Decatur and danced until they could hardly stand up. After which he took Carmen back to her hotel and saw her safely to her room.
“Good night, Marcus.” She kissed him on the cheek. “I enjoyed our day together.”
“I did, too. We'll have to do more of this.”
“I'm sure we will.” Carmen kissed him on the other cheek. “I'll call you tomorrow.”
Marcus watched, almost breathlessly, as Carmen unlocked her door and disappeared inside. He left there hoping that it was more than just a friendly kiss.
OLD LOVES
Although it was well past three in the morning when she kissed Marcus good night, Carmen was up at seven to begin her daily routine. While she put in her time on the tread mill, Carmen thought about her agenda for the day, and a lot about Marcus. When she got back to her room, Carmen picked up the remote and flipped on the television. She called room service to order breakfast. While she ate, Carmen watched the local news to catch the day’s weather report. It was over cast outside and it looked like it was going to rain.
The lead story was about the death of a FTC investigator, John Heard. He was found by his wife at his desk in his home office. His death was ruled a suicide after ingesting sleeping pills and vodka.
Maybe he found out something about his wife, too, Carmen thought.
She gave some thought to what Marcus had said about Frank and Suzanne Collins deaths being just what the police considered it, rough sex gone terribly wrong. Maybe she was looking for something that simply wasn't there. She would have to come to grips with the idea that exploring her sister’s lifestyle may be the only thing that would lead her and Marcus to the killer.
And what if it does lead me to the killer, what I'm I going to do then?
Carmen turned off the television and got in the shower.
First thing on her list was to call Roland to see if he still had Desireé's things. “Ferguson residence,” Melissa, the house keeper answered.
“Good morning, Melissa, this is Carmen Taylor. How are you?”
“I'm fine, Ms. Taylor. Mr. Ferguson said you were in town. Hold on a minute, he's right here,” she said and handed the phone to Roland.
“Good morning, Carmen. You just caught me walking out the door. I was on my way to the club.”
“Well, I don't want to keep you. I had a question, a request really.”
“What is it, Carmen?”
“This may sound like a strange request, but I was wondering if you still had any of my sister’s things?”
“I still have all her things. I just couldn't bring myself to go through them. Why do you ask?”
“I've been really feeling Dez since we talked yesterday, and I thought it might, you know.”
“You thought it might make you feel closer to Desireé. Carmen, I understand completely. You are more than welcome to come here anytime. Like I said, I'm on my way out, but I'll tell Melissa to let you have the run of the house.”
“Thank you, Roland, this really means a lot to me. There's one more thing. I was thinking about making a pictorial memorial to her, and I'd appreciate your input.”
“Of course, Carmen, I'd be honored, but I really do have to run. If you're still here around four, we can have dinner together and talk about it.”
“I was going to my parents tonight,” Carmen lied. “But we'll get together soon.”
With that out of the way, Carmen devoted her attention to finding Porsche Temple. To accomplish this she would have to find Denny Barnes. If anybody could find Porsche, it was Denny. He was her first real boyfriend, her first love. They met one afternoon while shopping at The Underground with her mother. Denny saw Carmen and tried to approach her, but Dominique ran him off. So Denny followed Carmen until she was out of her mother’s site and he slipped her his number. Carmen called him as soon as she got home. They were so very different. Carmen, a straight A student. Denny never went to school. Denny was well on his way to being a weed smoking, gun toting thug. He showed her a side of life she'd only heard about. He was a member of a gang, he smoked, he drank, but in spite of what Denny was, he was in love with Carmen, and she loved him.