Jamaica Dreaming (Caribbean Heat) (3 page)

“Careful. That’s my future wife you’re talking about.”

Sebastian had said it laughingly, but Benjamin must have heard the warning timbre in his voice because there was another pause before his friend retorted, “it’s your funeral, brother. You call the shots.”

“I will,” Sebastian had replied. He’d signed off on every single one of her demands and now, here she was. In Jamaica. At Devon House. Mere steps away from him.

“Sebastian?”

“Yes.” He turned and smiled at Carly. The chairwoman of the fundraising committee was a tall, aristocratic woman with close–cropped grey hair. Anytime he and Julissa got married, Carly would deserve a front–row seat at their nuptials. Without her, it was doubtful he’d have found a good reason to bring Julissa to the island.

“Julissa Morgan is here. She arrived a few minutes ago. Lori just introduced her to me, but she forgot something and had to go back to the car. Would you like me to take you to meet Miss Morgan?”

“Yes.”
Oh, yes
. He was ready now, though the air seemed to have suddenly thinned and he was having trouble breathing.

Carly led him through the crowd as he tried to quell his rising excitement. At last. He’d waited a long time to meet this woman and it was finally happening.

People nodded and smiled at him as he strode past in Carly’s wake but Sebastian barely acknowledged them. He was too busy concentrating on slowing his breathing, on making sure nothing about him betrayed his excitement. Over Carly’s shoulder, he caught glimpses of Julissa in conversation with Commissioner of Police, Jude Williams, and Leonora Haight, head of Child Advocates. Winston Joseph, the man who actually ran the Ananda Alert system, was also part of the group.

“I’m sorry to break in.” Carly insinuated herself into the group. “But, Julissa, I’d like you to meet Sebastian Chung, the man who’s almost single–handedly bankrolling our little fundraising efforts. Sebastian, Julissa.” She beamed from one to the other.

Julissa looked up, and up. LinkedIn had said nothing about his height and his picture had not even hinted at it. She, herself, was five six yet she had to tip her head back to look into dark brown eyes which were fringed by the glossiest lashes she’d ever seen on a grown man. He’d grown his hair since he took his profile picture. Tonight, he wore it loose in a jagged style that enhanced his chiseled features.

“I’m delighted to meet you,” he said in a deep voice as smooth as rum on the rocks. His hand engulfed hers.

Julissa smiled and stammered a response. He was overwhelming, so tall, but there was something else as well. She felt the firm imprint of his fingers long after he released her hand.

“Sebastian made all of this happen,” Carly said, waving her arm to indicate the crowd. “I have to confess that I’d never heard of you, but he played me your CD, your only one?” Julissa nodded. “And, your voice was just delightful. We knew you’d be perfect. Not so big a star the event would lose its focus, but not completely unknown, either. Sebastian made sure the radio stations played your songs and now, look at the turnout, bigger than I’d expected.”

“At US$100 per ticket, I think we’ll have made at least $30,000 tonight,” Leonora Haight said, scanning the crowd. “Maybe even more.”

“Oh, definitely more,” the Commissioner rumbled in his deep bass. “We’ve got about 400 people here, I’d say. It’s a good turnout.”

“And all of it will go to Ananda Alert,” Leonora said. She smiled at Sebastian over the rim of her champagne flute. “It’s so very good of Chung Enterprises to underwrite everything.”

Julissa’s eyes widened. The man wasn’t just covering her costs, he was covering the costs for the champagne, the venue, everything.

“Is $30,000 about what you were hoping to raise this evening?” she asked, suddenly worried that maybe the turnout wasn’t good enough, that she’d let him down by not being the kind of draw he’d probably hoped for.

“Honey,” Carly answered. “It’s actually better than we were expecting in this economy, and with so many other charities in need.”

The Commissioner nodded. “Even US$10,000 would allow us to buy some critical communications equipment, but what we really need is to add at least a couple more officers to the team, full–time.”

“The government has said they’ll match whatever we raise this month, and our goal is US$100,000 in total, so I think it’s doable,” Carly explained. “From what we raise, alone, we should be able to cover the additional salaries and the government’s funds can go to updating the equipment, and addressing related needs.”

“Good evening,” a well–dressed, stern–looking couple interrupted her, joining the group. After being introduced to Julissa, the man began to loudly question the Commissioner about a recent spate of burglaries in their neighborhood.

“Is everything at Strawberry Hill to your satisfaction?” Sebastian asked, drawing Julissa away. What he really wanted to know was if she was really all right. She looked fine, damned fine, but she might still be feeling the after effects of her accident. He wanted to tell her that if she had any problems, any at all, she shouldn’t hesitate to ask for anything she needed. He held back, though, she might wonder why he was being so insistent about it.

“Everything’s wonderful. The hotel is beautiful, so quiet. I love it. I told Lori so. That it’s owned by the man who helped Bob Marley become a superstar is awesome. I love Marley’s music.”

“Good, I’m glad to hear that.” She’d mentioned that in one of her interviews and he hadn’t forgotten.

Sebastian smiled and Julissa felt an answering thrill, deep in her stomach. What was this? It was a long time since she’d responded to a man like how she was responding to Sebastian Chung. She shot what she hoped was a discreet look at his left hand. No ring. She did her best to quell the excitement that fluttered in her stomach. A lot of men didn’t wear their wedding rings but it didn’t mean they weren’t married. Perhaps he had a live–in companion. As drop–dead gorgeous as he was, he couldn’t possibly be single. Julissa gave an inward sigh. What on earth was she thinking?
She
was taken. She curled her fingers into the palm of her hand wondering if he’d noticed her engagement ring though, come to think of it, he’d never once glanced at her hand as some men did when they first met her.

“So I owe my presence here to you,” she said, as lightly as she could manage. She found the scent of his cologne, spicy with earthy undertones, intoxicating.

His eyes crinkled at the corners as his smile deepened. “Does that bother you?”

“No. I’m just curious. Why me?”

He looked away from her. A nerve twitched at his temple. It was a question he’d asked of himself often enough. Why her? Why this particular woman with her smooth coffee–colored skin and flashing eyes? He hadn’t found an answer. All he knew was she’d filled his eyes and his heart from the moment he saw her.

“I heard you and figured you’d be great for this type of event,” he said, an expression she couldn’t read darkening his eyes.

Julissa had the nagging feeling there was more to it than that, but why should there be? Musicians got gigs in this way all the time.

“How are you liking what you’ve seen of Jamaica so far?” he asked, leading her to a slight rise from which they could look at the people milling about on the lawn. Her perfume, notes of jasmine, ylang–ylang and other heady scents, wafted to his nose on the evening air and Sebastian felt a warm tingling sensation spreading through his body. It was happening. Julissa was here. He wondered if she could sense his exhilaration.

“It’s beautiful, but I haven’t seen very much of it,” she replied.  “I was tired from the trip and then I had a practice session with Troy yesterday evening. He’s very good. Did you find him, too?”

“He’s one of our best musicians so he came instantly to mind when we put this together.”

“Julissa. Yoohoo.” Carly had broken through the crowd and was waving a manila folder at her.

“I think you’re up,” Sebastian said.

“I think I am.”

“I’m really looking forward to this.”

Julissa wondered suddenly if they’d met before. Something about how he talked to her made it seem as if he knew her, but she’d never have forgotten somebody as striking as him.

As she walked away to meet Carly, Julissa glanced over her shoulder at the tall Chinese–Jamaican. He nodded and gave her a thumbs up.

Carly grabbed her arm. “I’m just going to give a brief introduction, talk about the reason we’re here and then you’re on, all right? We’re not formal, at all.”

“Suits me.”

Ahead of them on the low platform that served as the stage, Troy Evans was already seated at the piano. He greeted Julissa with a smile and a nod as Carly seized the mike.

“Good evening, everyone,” Carly said, raising her voice slightly to be heard over the chatter. The voices faded. “Thank you all so much for coming. Tonight we’re here for an important cause.” Carly began to speak about the Ananda Alert system, about the 11 year–old murder victim, Ananda Dean, after whom the system was named and about the problem of missing children on the island.

Julissa listened, stunned. The information in the packet she’d gotten from the lawyers had only given dry information about Ananda Alert, when it started and what it did. It had mentioned that it was named after the little girl but had glossed over the facts of how she died. Carly clearly thought people needed to be reminded.

“Ananda was abused,” Carly said, her eyes flashing as she looked out over the crowd. Julissa’s heart turned over. What that child must have suffered! She could tell by some people’s horrified expressions that they hadn’t known these details.

“Ananda was dragged into a gully and buried in a shallow grave,” Carly continued. “When she was found, her body was so badly decomposed no–one could identify her. Ananda captured this nation’s heart but she’s not the only child to go missing or the only child to fall into the hands of a monster. Every year, hundreds of children go missing. Some are runaways who return home in time, it is true but some never come back and nothing is ever heard of them.

“Whatever future they may have had is lost. Whatever talents and skills they may have brought to Jamaica is gone. We need the Ananda Alert system to work properly. As soon as a child goes missing we need to get the word out across the whole island. We need to protect them from the monsters who would harm them. We need the cellphone providers to send text messages out, we need taxi operators and vendors to know so they can be on the look–out. Jamaica, we need to work together to save our children.”

People clapped and whistled. “Let’s work together for the children.” Carly’s tone changed. “Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, I’m happy to present to you, Julissa Morgan, all the way from the Windy City, Chicago.” Julissa smiled and waved as people turned their attention to her. A little girl in a white dress and white sandals decorated with huge white flowers peeped at her from behind her mother.

Julissa took a few deep breaths and probed her emotions but she felt fine, no hint of an attack. A few chilly butterflies fluttered around in her stomach, but no more than usual before a performance. It was going to be all right, she was going to be all right.

“Julissa won the Chicago Music Award for Best New Entertainer in 2004 and followed that up in 2007 and 2010 with the award for Best Jazz Entertainer,” Carly continued, reading now from a small index card in her hand. Julissa wondered if there was anything on it about The Event. “Her 2010 album,
Comes the Dawn
, received five stars from
Downbeat Magazine
and attracted high reviews. Julissa has sung at music festivals throughout the United States and in Cape Town, South Africa, Florence, Italy and Quito, Ecuador. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Julissa Morgan, accompanied by our very own, Troy Evans.”

Julissa ignored the butterflies, smiled and stepped forward. She waved to the crowd, this time in wide arcs of both arms, taking pleasure in being able to move like that. Three months ago, the mess of scars that ran from under her right breast almost to her navel would have made it impossible.

“You’ve already got them in the palm of your hand,” Carly whispered to Julissa before stepping off the stage.

Julissa was entering her zone. In the zone, she felt more alive, her senses more aware and alert, raw almost, as if her entire body was a musical instrument tuning up for the coming performance. As she took the mike, her gaze wandered over the crowd and encountered dark eyes fixed intently on her. Sebastian. He inclined his head slightly. More butterflies took wing in her belly. She tore her gaze away from him, hoping he had not noticed her discomfiture. A light sheen of perspiration beaded her forehead. No attacks, please, God, she prayed silently.

“How unnu doing?” she called out. Someone whistled. “Everything irie?” she asked. “You know me come fi bruk down the house.” She’d asked Lori to coach her in the island dialect, on what to say to reach her audience and in how to say it. Most people were grinning, enjoying it but a few were stone–faced. She hoped she hadn’t somehow offended them.

“Another round of applause for Troy, please.” She winked at the pianist. “I want you to know this man is amazing. We just met yesterday but he got my style immediately.” The crowd whistled. Troy grinned and gave her a mock salute.

“You know, people.” Her expression turned serious. “Tonight is about children, the children of your beautiful island, our ‘Black Gold,’ our ‘Angelitos Negros.’ Tonight is about doing what we can to protect them. We’ve got to get real about that because what happened to Ananda, well.” She stopped, closed her eyes, steadied herself and raised a hand in the air. “Every child should be safe from the monsters among us.”