Bon Bini Beach: A Thriller Read online

  She allowed the tirade to pass and without faltering asked, “So?”

  “So, my men are going to search for your friend. I hope they find her fast, but I can’t give you any guarantees. One hundred and twenty dollars per day. You pay in advance.” He put his hand out toward her.

  Dominique ignored his stretched-out hand, but locked eyes with him. “One hundred dollars, which I will pay you right now.”

  Clearly agitated, the man pulled his hand back. Thought for a moment and took a deep breath and put out his hand again. “Agreed. You can pay Pepe here. You’ll hear from me when I know something.”

  She shook his hand and gave the hundred dollars to the muscled man.

  The fat man’s attention quickly shifted back to the two giggling women, who he pressed closer against him.

  Dominique walked out with Leroy.

  Once they were inside the taxi, Leroy lashed out at her: “Have you lost your mind? Do you know who that is?”

  She looked at him calmly. “I sure do, that’s Fernandes. He is Aruba. And he’s going to help us find Lilian.”

  41

  Dominique was scared. Since Leroy had dropped her off at the house, she had probably looked at her phone a hundred times to see if there was a message from Lilian. Or maybe from Fernandes? Now it was late afternoon, and still nothing. Only a text message from Stephanie, who’d asked her to call her father. That was probably about those two men at the door. She decided to postpone that phone call.

  She decided to postpone calling Lilian’s parents as well.

  What if she suddenly turned up? she asked herself. Then she would cause them to panic for no reason at all.

  She had tried to alter her mood with swimming and watching TV, but nothing helped. She couldn’t stand it anymore.

  In Lilian’s stuff, she had found the business card from Leandro, the cab driver who had brought them to Oranjestad once. Because she didn’t feel like driving with Leroy again, she called Leandro to come and pick her up.

  She was already waiting for him at the security gate when the taxi came. Leandro, with his dashing mustache and bald head, got out, greeted Harry, and gallantly opened the rear door for Dominique.

  “To Oranjestad,” she said after situating herself. “This time, straight to the tourist area.”

  He looked at her in his rearview mirror. “No problem, miss.”

  “Oh, and Leandro?”

  “Yes?”

  “Do you know who Fernandes is?

  Obviously shocked, he turned around, which made the car swerve on the winding road and almost hit a giant cactus.

  “Fernandes? You mean Enrique Fernandes?”

  “I mean a big fat man who pretends as if this whole island is his and who has his own body guard.”

  His eyes darted back and forth between the road and his rearview mirror. “Yes, of course I know Fernandes. Why?”

  “I went to see him today.”

  “To see Fernandes?” he asked incredulously.

  “Yes—didn’t I just say that? I have a problem, and he is going to help me resolve it. Do you think he can?”

  “Fernandes. Ha!” He made a concerned hand gesture. “When Fernandes helps resolve a problem you have a whole new problem: that would be Fernandes himself!”

  She stared out the window silently while the car entered the main road from the winding little road.

  “But let’s say I needed information about a certain person,” she continued. “Is Fernandes the right guy to go to?”

  “Information?” His eyes stayed fixed on the road. “Fernandes knows a lot of people here. And he also knows exactly where to get something, if he doesn’t already have himself. For information, he is the right guy. But, he is also very expensive, that’s for sure.”

  “Thanks, that’s all I need to know.”

  This time, when he helped her out of the car, at one of the little squares near the boulevard, she gave him an extra big tip.

  “Thank you, miss, thank you!” he said excitedly. “Maybe I can come and get you again later tonight?”

  Dominique hadn’t thought about that yet. “I’ll call you.”

  “Do you have any idea what time that will be?” he asked, a frown on his face.

  But she had already turned her back to him.

  Slightly indecisive, Dominique passed through the hordes of tourists. She had successfully escaped the house, but she had not made any plans as to what she would do in the city. It was still hot, but she wasn’t hungry. She sat down on a terrace and ordered a cup of coffee.

  Pensively, she watched all the joy around her. She really didn’t know anyone in Oranjestad, except for the group of Americans and Canadians. They all worked in hotels and had told her that they usually weren’t free to go out until later in the evening.

  After she finished her coffee, she began walking aimlessly through the city, hoping to catch a glimpse of Lilian somewhere. But no matter how hard she searched, she was nowhere to be found. It had started getting dark. Exhausted, she decided to go sit down somewhere and order a glass of wine.

  She realized it was of no use. If she waited any longer to call Lilian’s parents, or her own father, they would all, rightfully so, be very angry with her.

  She had her phone in her hand when she changed her mind. She looked up the number for Snellen in her contacts, where she had put it this morning.

  After she was transferred, he answered. “Snellen.”

  “Hello, Mr. Snellen, this is Dominique Werner. I wanted to ask you if there was any news about my friend.”

  “Miss Werner, good that you are calling now. I was just reviewing the preliminary findings from my investigation team.”

  “And?”

  “My men have done a detailed inquiry at the Enlightenment Hotel and have asked for the security camera footage. They are looking at it right now.”

  “Okay.”

  “They also did an initial search on Enlightenment Island. There, they found your friend’s cell phone.”

  “Her cell phone?” Dominique asked, shocked.

  A few people at nearby tables looked up at her, but she didn’t even notice.

  That’s why Lilian hasn’t called or texted, she realized quickly. She’d lost her cell phone! But at the same time she realized Lilian was joined at the hip to her cell phone. She would notice that it was missing right away.

  “Correct, her cell phone. We have it here now, and we’re checking it.”

  “And Lilian?”

  She scared herself when she heard the fear in her voice.

  “Unfortunately, there is no news on her yet. We’ve blocked off the section on the beach where we found her phone and forensics is inspecting the area. But that could take a while.”

  Because Dominique was still processing the information she didn’t answer.

  “Are you still there?”

  “Yes, sorry. Thank you. Will you let me know the moment you find out anything else?”

  “Of course. Good evening.”

  Without responding, she disconnected the call. Stunned, she stared at her own phone.

  They found Lilian’s phone without a trace of her. What was she supposed to think about that? She shivered and forced herself not to give in to her fear. But she really needed to face the fact that something bad might have happened. Something very bad.

  She ordered another white wine and tried to decide what she should do now. She couldn’t get around it any longer; she had to call Lilian’s parents. Those poor people! They were going to have heart attacks. And they might be very angry with her for waiting so long before calling.

  42

  It was evening now; she paid the bill and got up to leave. Only then did she realize that she had not eaten and that the white wine had hit her hard on an empty stomach. Did she have three, or four? A bit unsteady, she made her way through all the tables and out onto the sidewalk. She looked around, a little unsure of herself.

  She should really just go back to the house, but
she also dreaded going there—she would have to place that horrible phone call. She’d much rather talk to someone. It would be a real relief to get it all off her chest.

  She knew Dave and the others would finish work around eleven o’clock. Then they would all head to their favorite place, La Mamba. But maybe they were already there now? Or maybe just one of them would be there!

  To be sure, she decided to go and have a look. But the wine had seriously influenced her coordination. The square where she stood seemed familiar. But how did she get to La Mamba from here again? She looked at the various side streets and walked down one of them, only to turn around again because she couldn’t decide.

  Next to her, a friendly voice asked, “Can I help you perhaps?”

  She looked gratefully at the person who had addressed her in her native language. It was a blond young man with sunglasses on, a white jacket, and a cap worn backward.

  “I want to go to La Mamba,” she said and heard that her voice had become incomprehensible from all the wine.

  “La Mamba? Oh, I go there often!” He gave her a big smile. “I’ll walk you there. My name is Felix by the way.”

  “Oh, Felix, that’s very kind of you,” she answered, slurring her speech. “My name is Do.”

  “All right, Do. Let’s go then!”

  He held out his arm to her, but when he realized how unsteady her step was, he put his arm around her shoulder.

  Together, they walked through one of the streets that ran parallel to the boulevard and that connected the two squares. Dominique was no longer paying attention to her surroundings and was willingly allowing herself to be led, even when Felix pushed her into an alley, saying they were taking a short cut.

  The alley was barely lit. It only had lights at the beginning and at the next street, about thirty yards farther.

  There were garbage containers to the left and to the right. A few rats escaped from one of them as they passed.

  Halfway down the alley, Felix stopped. Before Dominique could ask why he stopped, he roughly shoved her against the hard brick wall. He pressed his lips against hers and shoved his tongue in her mouth.

  She didn’t know how to react. Only when his hand slipped under her T-shirt, pushed up her bikini top, and grabbed her breast, did she begin to resist.

  She wasn’t able to scream, and he was much stronger than her. While he kept pressing her against the wall and pulled her head back by her hair with one hand, he reached into her shorts and made his way to her bikini bottoms with his other hand. Even though she tried to fight him off, his hand continued sliding down farther.

  The moment she felt his fingers between her legs, she bit down on his tongue with all her might.

  He groaned in agony and punched her in her stomach hard, which made her double over in pain. But when he let go of her hair to reach for his throbbing tongue, she used the opportunity to run away, still bent over from the pain in her stomach.

  She didn’t get far. She tripped and landed in something wet with her knees. In the twilight she saw that she had landed on the rotting carcass of a dead dog.

  Dominique let out a long and piercing scream.

  Felix walked up to her and hit her in the face twice with his open hand. She stopped screaming instantly. She sobbed quietly, and, still on her knees, she slid away from the dead dog.

  “You’re a real bitch, you know that?” he said hoarsely and started to unbutton his pants. “But I know how to handle broads like you.”

  Suddenly, his body made a strange forward motion. Startled, he looked around, just in time to see a fist headed right for his face. He was hit straight on and fell backward against the wall. Panicked, he got up. Howling in anger, he ran to the other end of the alley, where he turned his head quickly to look back. Dominique could see he was bleeding from his nose and mouth.

  “Hey, are you all right? I heard you scream. Jesus, I think I got here just in time.”

  Dazed and confused, Dominique looked up at a young man dressed in an orange shirt. It took her a few seconds before she could place where she knew his face from. He was the guy with dark hair and sunglasses who had been drinking beer on the terrace with his soccer-loving friends when she and Lilian and had just arrived in Aruba.

  He leaned over and carefully helped her get up. “Do you remember me? I’m Niels, from Zwolle. We met a few days ago.”

  “Yes, I remember. I … thank you. I was so scared! That bastard wanted to …”

  “Shhh, it’s okay.” He patted her on her back. “Are you all right?”

  She let him go, took a few quick steps toward the wall, and vomited heavily. After she’d pretty much emptied out all the contents of her stomach, she wiped her mouth and turned around with apologetic grimace on her face.

  “I am now. Thanks.”

  “Did he hurt you?”

  “A little bit. And I fell. On a dead dog.” She looked in horror at the dead animal, about five feet away from her, and then at her knees, which were covered in gunk.

  “Come on,” he said. “Let’s go fix you up. My friends are at the same place, right around the corner. I was just headed there.”

  Walking slowly out of the alley, he took her with him.

  Dominique felt wrecked, exhausted, and still nauseous.

  She took Leandro’s business card from her pocket and asked Niels, “Would you mind calling this taxi for me? I feel far too miserable to go to the bar now.”

  “Are you sure? Maybe a drink would do you some good?”

  She smiled faintly. “I’ll have that drink at home. After taking a warm bath.”

  Niels nodded in agreement and kept supporting her while he grabbed his phone with his free hand and dialed the number on the card.

  He waited with her until Leandro came, and he carefully helped her into the taxi.

  43

  When the taxi stopped at the security gate, Do saw that it was unmanned.

  Leandro honked the horn twice, but Harry was nowhere in sight, so Leandro got out and lifted the bar up himself.

  They drove inside.

  “The fat guy probably went to get something to eat,” Leandro said.

  Dominique barely responded. She just wanted to get into a warm bath and head to bed as quickly as possible.

  When they arrived at the house, they quickly saw why Harry hadn’t been at his post—he stood across from two men in the driveway with his gun drawn. One of the men had his gun aimed at Harry’s head.

  Dominique recognized the two men: it was Fernandes and Pepe. Quickly, she jumped out of the taxi.

  “Harry, it’s okay!” she called out.

  Without taking his eyes off the two men, he answered: “No, it’s not okay. Do you know who these guys are?”

  “Yes, I know these two men. They are here to see me. Sorry that I didn’t let you know.”

  It looked as if Harry was disappointed that he couldn’t take care of the two men. Reluctantly, he dropped his rifle. He turned his broad back to them and walked away. In passing, he said to Dominique, “Be careful with those guys. I’d rather not have them on the property. They’re nothing but trouble.”

  Dominique apologized to Harry again. She paid Leandro and asked the two men to walk with her to the back of the house, where they’d be out of sight.

  Fernandes looked at the pool and into the garage. He nodded in appreciation. “Nice!”

  “Thanks,” she said and stayed on the veranda with her arms folded. Intuitively, she felt she had to be clear about her boundaries with this man. She purposely didn’t invite them in.

  “Do you have any news about my friend?”

  “What happened to you?” Fernandes asked.

  “Nothing.”

  “Don’t lie to me. You’re covered in bruises and scrapes. Your clothes are ripped, and you smell like an open sewer. Who did this to you?”

  Dominique sighed deeply. She didn’t want to tell them, but she needed to get it off her chest. Even if it was to this man, whom she didn’t trust f
or a second. “I had a little too much to drink. So some guy, who I thought was trying to help me, assaulted and hit me. It was pure luck that a guy that I know came to my rescue, or otherwise he would have raped me.”

  Fernandes exchanged a quick glance with Pepe, who stood at an angle right behind him. “Who is this guy?”

  “I don’t know him. He said his name was Felix.”

  “American or Dutch?”

  “Dutch, I think. He spoke Dutch, anyway.”

  “What does he look like?”

  Dominique described the guy best she could. Afterward, Fernandes gave Pepe a knowing look, and he nodded.

  “We’ll take care of him,” the fat man said. “He won’t get away with this unpunished.”

  “But that’s not really necessary!”

  He waved away her protests. “This is my city, miss. I take it as a personal insult when a lowlife like that attacks one of my good customers.”

  He got to the point right away. “Do you have the money?”

  Dominique raised her eyebrows in surprise. “I already paid you this afternoon, didn’t I?”

  He sniffed ominously. “That was for today. My men hit the road immediately. But if you want them again tomorrow, you’ll have to pay in advance.”

  After what she’d just been through, Dominique was in no mood to go into a heavy discussion with this power-hungry man. But, she also didn’t want to be a pushover. She had taken out money from the ATM earlier that evening, but she wasn’t planning on just handing it over.

  “Okay, so if you’ve been on it all day, what did you find out?” she asked. Despite her misery, she felt a little bit of her old flair come back.

  “The four of you went to Enlightenment Island,” Fernandes explained with a slightly bored tone as if he was reciting a shopping list. “You, your friend, and the two Americans. You left first with one of the Americans. According to my sources, your friend stayed on the island with the other American. Later, the American left alone on the boat.”

  Dominique was impressed, but didn’t want to show it. So she answered in an equally bored tone. “I could have told you all of that myself. Don’t you have anything better?”