Chapter 5 || Maevelline

Philippines, 2007

IT took five hours for Maeve to reach her destination.  After Maeve's plane touched down in Iloilo International Airport, she immediately went to the parking lot where her rented car was waiting. Her ride to the west coast of Iloilo was smooth and silent. She missed having this trip alone when she was still young.

Isla de Bello was literally a beautiful island. The first time Maeve saw this island was when she and Paul looked for a land to invest on and she was immediately captivated by the luscious treasure it had.

By time Maeve was riding the boat to reach the island, the summer sky was already the color of the coals. The sky was dotted with stars, however. It stretched from one end to the other and they seemed boundless. Beautiful. Captivating. She could see the Northern Star which seemed to guide the crew of the boat she was in. The moon hung at their left side in a blaring yellow light, full and huge.

Maeve glanced at her Rolex watch wrapped around her left pulse; it was already eight twenty-two in the evening. The boat stopped at the shore of a white beach. The crew went off first before they helped her get off of the boat. The beach house was located just beyond the coconut trees that lined along the shore of the island.

Once she was settled in, the crew and the boat went off again and back into the crowded city.

Maeve stood right at the step of the beach house. It was not as big as the other houses, but it was just what Maevelline Lawrence needed at the moment.

There was a light from inside the house and Maeve knew that Shekinah was inside.

"Shekinah," Maeve called as she knocked on the door.

There was no answer.

The layout and the structure of the house was well planned. Her architect was famous globally  and those who worked with the engineer she chose was reliable.

The main entrance, living room and the study was at the front of the house. Upstairs would be the bedrooms and her library. The kitchen, and dining room were located at the back which then leads to a garden and a pond.

Shekinah would probably be in the kitchen.

Maeve tried the doorknob and it was indeed open. She let herself in and looked around.

The main entrance hallway was spotless. Shekinah was probably cleaning after Maeve told her that she'll arrive tonight. She could smell something burning, however. It was like someone was supposedly cooking and left it to burn in the stove.

Walking towards the kitchen, Maeve noticed that the living room was a mess. The coffee table and couches were upturned but there were no hint of theft as the drawers and other furniture were still in place.

Maeve stopped dead, listening as her pulse beat faster and louder. Was there a thief? she asked herself. She had heard a small faint noise from the kitchen, a groaning sound. Shekinah!

Pushing away her fear, she went to the kitchen. Her senses became alert, knowing that there was a trouble. Apparently, someone got into the house beside Shekinah and herself. A burglar, judging by the mess in the living room.

As Maeve stepped into the kitchen, she froze. There stood a man wearing jeans, black shirt and a bonnet that covered his face. There was knapsack set on top of the counter, filled with things that was surely valuable things from the beach house. On his feet was Shekinah, grunting as blood was pooling around her semi-conscious body.

Maege screamed at the top of her lungs. Her eyes were wide, absorbing every detail of the terrifying scene before her. She was horrified at the sight of the man, holding a knife that he surely got from this kitchen and Shekinah who was trying to stand.

"Run, Madame!" Shekinah rasped and Maeve didn't wait for another second.

Her feet raced toward the front door. She wasn't able to hear the man sprinting after her. The only thing she could think was to get to Richard, Shekinah's husband. She was at the door of the main entrance when her hair was pulled harshly. She screamed once again but swallowed it with a gasp and a grunt when she felt an excruciating pain from her back.

Then another. And another.

Maeve went down to the ground with a thud as her legs gave in. Her body was sprawling between the door and the living room. The man had released her hair and hurried out of the house.

No... Maeve thought. This can't be... This can't be ending like this... Not now.

~O~O~O~

RICHARD CORDOVA just arrived at his and Shekinah's home at eight forty-five in the evening. Shekinah had told him that Maevelline will be staying at the beach house and they will be cooking her favorite local dish for dinner.

As he put down the groceries on the table, his phone rang from the living room. The old man picked it up and was surprised that it was Allison, Maeve's secretary.

"Ms. Kendric!" Richard greeted warmly. "How've you been?"

"Been doing well, Uncle Richie. Had Miss Maeve arrive in Isla de Bello yet?"

Richard walked to the window where the light from Maevelline Lawrence's beach house was located. "Shekinah was at her house right now, preparing for dinner. Have you tried to contact her through the house's telephone?"

"I did for the last thirty minutes but there was no answer. I was instructed to call her by the house's number since she will be leaving her personal phone here. I figured either she or Shekinah would answer by eight or past that. There's something I need to speak with her and it's an urgent matter. I don't understand why nobody's answering."

While Allison was talking at the end of the line, Richard was already walking towards the Lawrence beach house. This area was a private property and so there would be no tourist or locals coming in and out.

Personal security personnel on both land and sea were roaming every once in a while to ensure that nobody, other than the Cordova family and the Lawrences, enter the vicinity but most of the time they were at their security posts a few kilometers away.

"I'll check them out. I'll call you once I get hold of them," Richard ended the call and put the phone inside his jean's pocket. He walked briskly towards the front door where the living room was blaring with light.

He furrowed his eyebrows when he saw one of Maeve's luggage just outside the door. A strong sense of foreboding assaulted him and there was an unexpected sense of dread in his heart as he reached the knob of the front door and deliberately opened it.

He flung open the door and instantly he saw a body sprawled on the floor. With blood pooling around it.

~O~O~O~

MAEVE felt like she was floating in space.

She felt nothing, as if she was in a great void. Her body felt weightless.

She tried to open her eyes but she could not. She didn't know where she was at the moment. And as she slowly became aware of her surroundings, her body felt heavy and unable to move.

Then came the voices. There was a smooth voice of a woman saying something. Three stabs on the back. One that got right too close to the heart.

And then, Maeve heard a voice of a man speaking to the woman. It was like a song filling the air. Musical. Familiar.

"Was there any other complications, Dr. Cua?" the man asked.

"She lost a lot of blood," the woman replied. "Good thing, Mr. Cordova rushed her and his wife to the local hospital before being transported here. But I won't mislead you all. Both of them are in a very serious condition right now."

"I can see that," the same man agreed.

Maeve forced herself to lift her eyelids even just a crack and she succeeded. Blinking, she moved her eyes from side to side.

She became aware of the people present around her. There was a child in the corner, holding a pink teddy bear... Annika. Beside her was a woman with calm demeanor... probably Farrah Russell.

Then the rest were men. They were all standing, and surrounding her bed. These predators in nature seemed to be in a ceasefire. All of them were very focused solely on Maeve Lawrence.

Her first husband. Her current. Her young lover. Her sons, Azarias and Allen.

She closed her eyes tightly. She didn't want to see them right now. She didn't want to deal with them at all.

Mark. Bernie. Where were they? She wanted Mark and Bernie. They should have been here instead of these men around her. Those two were always here for her. Trying to save her. Numerous times in her life, they saved her.

She needed to live. There were still many things to do. Many things to fix. Many things to put right.