Chapter 1
I had been waiting for this moment and this particular sound for the last three years, two months and seventeen days. It was finally happening. The sound of the prison door clanging shut behind me. Finally, I, Anne Bonnevie, 32 years old from Norway, walked through the prison gate and left Her Majesty’s Prison in Fox Hill, Nassau, The Bahamas for good.
I wore civilian clothes for the first time in a long while, and it felt good. The last time had been at my court case, where my former boss Dennis Hills, was telling lie after lie about me. How I had lured Brad, my coworker, up to my apartment and then killed him in a rage of jealousy. My boss had two security guards from Butcher’s Bay corroborate his twisted story. Brad, my ex-boss’s right-hand man, had acted on an order from our boss to kill me but decided on his own initiative to rape me first. I had fought for my life, and Brad ended up dead. Unfortunately, the jury believed my ex-boss and his corrupt witnesses over me.
I was very fortunate that the judge and the jury didn’t know about another guy, Jason, whom I had been forced to kill, only a few days after Brad. Jason was a fisherman from Cooperstown in Abaco. On our first encounter, he and his uncle had rescued me, after my boss left me stranded on an uninhabited island with no food and water. I was grateful for their rescue. But when Jason brought me back to Guana Cay in his boat, a trip I had paid him well for, he robbed me of a big chunk of ambergris I had found, worth at least $50,000.
On our next encounter a couple of weeks later, in an unfortunate coincidence, Jason returned with 3 more friends to the same island. They had no idea I was seeking shelter there, hiding from the police after killing Brad. Jason discovered me there and stalked me into the woods. This was happening while his three friends were partying and drinking on the beach, eating and trashing all my food and belongings.
Jason coldly told me he regretted not raping me the first time we met. This time he wielded a knife to make me comply. As pure luck would have it, I had a knife too. We fought, and I won. Jason succumbed from a stab wound to his gut.
But all that was behind me now. I was giddy with anticipation on my first day of freedom. I drew in a lungful of air as I walked toward the parking lot where Sylvia would be waiting. I spotted her immediately. She stepped out of the rental car and came running towards me. My best friend Sylvia had saved my life several times, and I had saved hers. We had been in prison together for the last three years and had shared a dormitory with six other women for two years. Sylvia had been released two weeks before me, so she was ahead of me in savouring the joy of freedom.
Her brother had flown in from San Fransisco to see her. He was probably at the hotel, enjoying his vacation in the Bahamas in a lounge chair by the pool or on the beach.
Sylvia and I hugged each other. “Finally. Now you are a free woman too,” she said.
“I cannot believe it! Both of us survived,” I said.
“Yes, it’s a miracle. I am so happy!” Her wide smile confirmed it.
I walked around the car to the passenger side and noted a parked red SUV with two men inside. They seemed to be looking at us, but I couldn’t see their faces through the tinted windows.
“We are staying at the Vacation Inn Hotel,” Sylvia said. “My brother has been doing well in his software business, so he sprung for separate rooms. That makes it easier for Traction and me to be together. But if you don’t want to stay at the Grand Hotel at Mel’s expense, you can stay in my room. I’ve got two twin beds. Traction can spend one night at home.”
“Thank you, Sylvia. I’m not sure Traction will think that’s such a great idea, but I would love to spend some time with you and your brother. Hopefully, Traction can join us too. At least until bedtime?” I said.
“He will join us later,” Sylvia said. “He’s fixing something on his boat today and didn’t know how long it would take. What would you like to do first?”
“Why don’t we just hang out by the pool at the hotel or stroll over to the Junkanoo Beach across the street? I have been dreaming about swimming and getting some tan on my paper-white body,” I said.
We drove through town and arrived at the hotel parking lot. Sylvia dug in her purse and handed me $1000.
“This is for you. The first payback from me,” she said.
“I can’t possibly take this money,” I protested.
“You paid for my defence. I think you can take this money without feeling bad. I borrowed it from my brother, and I’ll soon go home and work for him again. I owe you my freedom, Anne. If you hadn’t paid for my attorney, I might have ended up in prison for 10 years.”
“You saved my life, Sylvia! Of course, I wanted to help you when I had all that money.” I had won the money at the Casino at Atlantis. That and some gold coins from an old treasure had paid for Sylvia’s defence. My defence was paid for by Mel, my boyfriend. That had been an amazing gift, since he hardly knew me.
“I’ll go and see what my brother is up to. You probably have some shopping to do, now that you have money?”
“Yes, I’ll walk to town. I need some clothes and a phone.” My gaze fell on the red SUV that had followed us into the parking lot. Was it a coincidence? I feared not. “You need some clothes and some toiletries, at least. I’m in room 402 if you don’t see me by the pool. My brother’s in 404, next to mine. There’s a door between the rooms.”
“Thank you, Sylvia. I’ll be back before you know it.”
“Take all the time you want. There’s probably a lot you would enjoy looking at. Did you get your passport back?” She asked.
“Yes, and I have to be out of The Bahamas in four weeks,” I said.
“I got four weeks too, Sylvia said. “Now I only have two left.”
“Perhaps we are flagged in the system from now on? We might not be allowed back into The Bahamas again. Too bad if Mel and Toby are going to be here in Nassau. What did you find out about Mel and Toby, by the way?” I asked. “The phone in prison was out of order, and I haven’t spoken to Mel for a month. He said they would go to Turks and Caicos.”
“Yes. They left Nassau last week to be gone for a month. They’re doing some renovations on a hotel his family owns, so Mel had to be there to oversee the work. Toby and his new private teacher Sarah, went too. Mel said he had bought a ticket for you. I think you are leaving in two days.”
Sylvia smiled at me, and I could see she tried to be brave. Neither of us relished the day we had to say goodbye for good and live our separate lives, after all we had endured together.
As I strolled down Bay Street, I thought of my relationship with Mel. It never really got started, since after our first and last night together, I turned myself in and went to prison. Mel and Toby, his son, had visited me in prison once a month for 30 minutes, the only time I was allowed visitors.
I looked forward to seeing Mel and Toby again. I had missed them. On countless nights in prison, I had thought about my last night of freedom and how wonderful it had been to be with Mel. He had been doing his best to show me how much he loved me, in the hopes that a little of his love would rub over on me, so I would start loving myself, just a little. Mel had somehow convinced me we had a future together, even though for years I had felt I didn’t deserve to be happy.
I had stopped loving myself after the accident where I ran over and killed my two-year-old son, Peter. He was hiding under my SUV one morning when I was leaving for work. I was a police officer in the Norwegian police force. My husband at the time was supposed to watch Peter but didn’t. After Peter’s death, I didn’t want to live. I was in a deep, black hole of depression for over a year. But miraculously, I didn’t kill myself, despite the tremendous sorrow I felt. That was over seven years ago.
I was excited to start my new life with Mel and his son Toby, who now was 15. Mel’s family-owned hotels in different countries, and Mel and Toby travelled a great deal.
I hoped I would never hear from my ex-boss Dennis Hills again. He had caused havoc in my life. I didn’t believe he had unfinished business with me, so I thought I could feel safe.
At one point, I needed to go home to Norway to see my parents as well. I had left Norway three and a half years ago, and I know my parents were eager to see me. I had found my long-lost twin sister Cindy before I went to jail. I gave her our parents’ phone number, and she had promised to call them. I can only imagine how they felt when she called them after being lost to them for 24 years. She had been kidnapped at four when our family was on vacation in Spain.
It was pure luck that I managed to track her down and explain to her that our parents did not abandon her in an alley like the English couple that kidnapped her had told her. Later, when I spoke to my parents from prison, they told me she had visited them in Norway, and it had been the most wonderful experience they’ve ever had. They choked up when they thanked me for finding her.
I enjoyed my freedom with every breath I took. I bought a bikini, a pair of shorts, two T-shirts and a sundress at the straw market. At the pharmacy, I got some toiletries and a small duffel bag to carry my clothes in. I also stopped by a BTC store to get a new smartphone. I had fantasized about owning a phone again. On my way back to the hotel, I picked up three coffees from Starbucks.
When I reached Vacation Inn, I scanned the pool area for Sylvia and her brother, but they weren’t there. I checked the reception area and the breakfast lounge, but they weren’t there either. So I stepped into the elevator to take it to the 4th floor.
I found Sylvia’s door and knocked on it. The door was opened by a man from my past. My heart started racing. The Russian Vladimir, who had one arm when I saw him last, now sported two arms. One seemed to be bionic, with a black glove covering the hand. He wore a sleek dark blue suit as usual, and his one-inch long blond hair stood straight up. The sides of his head were shaved. His mean grey eyes were the same, and the narrow pinched mouth didn’t make him look particularly friendly.
I froze and almost dropped the tray of coffee. I gasped. “You?”
“Yes. Me. Come in, come in,” he beckoned with a heavy Russian accent. “We have been waiting for you.”
