Disclaimers: This work is a work of fiction and is my property.
The story and characters are fictitious and any resemblance to anyone or any actual event is coincidental. There are three distinctly different main characters that will appear as the story progresses.
You should be legally allowed to read this type of material before continuing.
As it is based on an actual book, I had published a few years ago – free for your enjoyment – the story will not contain explicit material in all the chapters BUT don't fret, as it is more the exception than the rule.
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CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO James
He takes me to a hotel on Camp Drive and we enter the bar and sit down.
After both of us ordering a double Jack Daniels, on the rocks, we sit quietly and sip our drinks.
I turn to Mark. "Something is bothering me about all this. I can't understand why Daniel was so upset before the accident. He was annoyed at me, even mad, but it was over the top. I'm sure something must've set him off. I mean, just too uncharacteristically leave the hotel in the morning and then come back and explode like that. If only I knew what had happened or where he had gone. I know it won't bring him back, but I still have this nagging feeling in the pit off my stomach, that something's amiss."
Mark doesn't say anything and carries on drinking. Then after he finishes his glass, he turns to me. "Tell me exactly, what happened before the fatal accident. Start with the day prior."
I proceed to tell him about what had transpired the day before Daniel's death, leaving no details out, up and until he phoned me, as I went chasing after Daniel.
Remembering the last part is difficult but I manage to control myself. I'm tired of crying in any case.
"Hmmm. That does sound a bit off. Especially since he acted so emotional. Something must've triggered him off. Did he maybe speak to his parents again, or get a message from someone that upset him? Did anyone visit him at the hotel that you might not know about?"
I look at him. "I don't think so, but there is no way of checking. His phone was taken by the paramedics when they picked him up and all his personal belongings were given to his parents. I believe he must've had a pin on the phone, so I wouldn't be able to access it, if I even managed to get hold of it."
He stares intently in front of him and then looks at me. "But there may be a way. Look, I'll make some calls and you find out from the hotel if anyone had come to see him that you might not know about. It may help if we know where he went to that morning."
I finish my drink and we pay the tab and head out.
Mark drops me off at the hotel and promises to let me know, as soon as he finds out anything, and I tell him likewise.
I run into Ismail and ask him to find out if anyone has been to see Daniel the day before his death and to find out if he can possibly tell me where Daniel had gone that morning. He must've organised a cab because he had no car of his own.
Ismail gets back to me two hours later and tells me that no one had been to visit Daniel but that the cab had dropped Daniel off at a Pharmacy in Adderley Street. The driver had no idea why he went there. He went on further, to tell me that Daniel spent at least an hour in there before coming out and that he'd appeared upset.
I thank Ismail and call Paul to fetch me and we go to the pharmacy in question.
When we arrive, I can't figure out what he would do in a drugstore and when I ask the umpteenth person if they could possibly help me, using his profile picture on my phone to try and remind them of what he looks like, one Sister says that she had seen him that day but wouldn't tell me why.
When I plead with her and tell her that his dead and we are trying to find out what happened to him, she pulls me to one side. "Look, what I'm about to do is totally against the law, but I understand that you need closure and in fact there is nothing serious to report, except for the fact that he was here for an HIV test."
In shock, I look at her. "Whatever for?"
"That I'm afraid I can't say, respecting the dead and all. All I can say is that we couldn't get a definitive answer and I'd told him to come back in two weeks. He was such a scared but lovely young man, and I'm truly sorry for your loss. Was he your brother?"
"No. Not exactly."
It dawns on her and she smiles warmly. "I understand. Again, I'm truly sorry, sir."
I leave her there and get Paul to take me back to the hotel.
I call Mark and give him my feedback and he promises to let me know if he finds out anything.
The next day I hear my phone ring in the room, while I'm standing on the deck, enjoying the fresh air. I go inside and see it's Mark. I answer it.
"Hey there James. My connections at the Intelligence Department tells me that Daniel received a call from some number late that night. The day before he died. They were able to trace it to belonging to a Mrs Jo-Anne Byleveldt. I give you two guesses, as to who that woman is related to."
"Johan." I say dryly.
It's time to tell him the entire truth about Johan and I relate the story of the sexual abuse and eventual rape of Daniel.
"What the fuck?! Why didn't you guys tell me sooner. We could have done something about it!"
Regret grips my heart. "Daniel made me promise not to tell anyone. He felt humiliated and I had to respect his wishes."
He changes his tone. "Ok. What's done is done and there's no point in looking back at what should've been. I think it's time we go pay that criminal a visit. Don't you think so? I will get some of my friends in the Police Service to go with us. He must atone for what he has done to Daniel. But, what scares me the most is, if Daniel was the only one or if this is a larger problem. I'll keep in touch." And he disconnects the call.
I could hear in his voice he was seriously fucked-off.
My pulse starts racing and my back muscles stiffen. I feel the adrenalin slowly overtake me. Johan's responsible for setting the scene for Daniel's accident. Mark's right, it's time we go pay him a visit. I don't need the law involved. Instead, I want to fucking kill him with my own bare hands, shove a hot poker up his ass and see how he loves it.
Tears sting my eyes but it's not from grief, it's from rage.
My body's shaking from the anger and I can feel my heart battling to keep up with the fury consuming me.
Better calm down.
I lie back on my bed and take deep, slow, breaths and clear my mind. A headache starts forming in my temples. Probably from the unreleased tension and I get up and take two headache tablets before going back to lay on the bed.
After a while, I'm calm and just as well because Mark texts me, I'm on my way. Be ready.
I reply with an, Ok.
Forty-five minutes later, I'm waiting for him downstairs. I'm outside the hotel entrance door and jump into his car, as he pulls up in front of me. We speed off to join his old colleagues in Stellenbosch, still an hour away.
Once we get there, and they follow us to the estate, we both sit in silence. In a way, I'm looking forward to grabbing that evil son-of-a-bitch but am also afraid I may lose it and kill him with my bare hands.
And, as if Mark knows what I'm thinking, he says to me, while gripping the steering wheel with his knuckles, white from the force of it, but still staring intently at the road. "When we get there let the Police and I handle it. Stay in the car until I call you. You understand?"
I want to protest but reluctantly agree., "If you say so."
"I do!"
We arrive at the estate and the security guard gives us a bit of grief but when he sees the Police car pull up behind us he lets us in. We drive up to the manor and the guy named Koos is waiting for us on the steps.
Security must've alerted him to our arrival.
"Can I help you guys?" I hear him ask when Mark and the two policemen approach him. We had stopped right in front of the steps as Mark and the Police didn't even bother to park in the designated area.
We are looking for Johan Byleveldt.
Koos looks at them and me in the car and shrugs his shoulders. "Beats me. We haven't seen him in days. He just disappeared a few days ago. Has he done something wrong?"
Mark snaps at him. "Wrong?! You have no idea, do you?".
Koos shakes his head.
The Police take him inside and ask him a few questions about what he knows of Johan and Daniel's working relationship, while Mark comes over to talk to me.
"I'm sorry my friend. This is going to take longer than I thought possible. We will have to trace him first and he can be anywhere."
I nod.
Mark join the cops again and after they're done with Koos, they all appear and say a polite farewell to him. He seems to have really no idea of what truly transpired between Johan and Daniel.
We leave the estate, dejected and with pent-up frustration. My head's throbbing and my neck muscles are in spasm. I need to fuck or work-out. The latter is probably a better option.
Mark drops me off at the hotel and I go up to my room. I can't stay here any longer and this doing nothing is not helping me either. It's time to admit my vacation is truly over.
Time to go home.
I change into a pair of gym shorts and a wife-beater and head for the hotel gym.
After I finished my rigorous work-out and have taken a long hot shower, I feel better and sit down on my bed and grab my laptop. Online, I manage to get a flight for tomorrow and then send my mom an e-mail.
I go downstairs to thank the staff for their wonderful service and inform them that I'll be checking out early, tomorrow morning.
They are sorry to see me leave but understand and so, while I'm packing later on, I know it's the right decision to leave.
I phone Mark.
"Hey James. I haven't found anything out as yet. None of his family have even seen him in days and we've put a notice out for the Police to have a look out for a man of his description. I'll let you know as soon as we do."
I let him finish. "Hey, to you too. I'm actually calling to tell you that I'll be going back home tomorrow. Please keep me updated and if you need me to return to testify, once you catch the fucking asshole, I'll be back in a flash. I can't sit waiting around anymore."
"I understand. I'll keep you posted. I can mail or Skype you, in any case. I have your details on your business card. Safe trip and I hope I'll see you soon, under different circumstances. Besides everything, I think we could really be good friends and I already consider you as one."
Something occurs to me. "Thank you and I feel the same way. But, I just realized that you have been helping me sort this mess out and yet you haven't asked me for any payment. I don't mean to offend you but have to ask if I owe you anything for all your trouble."
He pauses but then replies, "No need. This I did because I wanted to be there for you. It stopped being a job ages ago. You owe me nothing but your continued friendship."
"Deal! And thanks again for everything you've done. You've been a great help."
"Don't mention it. Now get yourself organized and head home. I'll keep you posted. Safe journey, my friend."
"Thank you, Mark." And I disconnect the call.
I continue packing and, as I'm about to put back the Charles Dickens novel on the shelf, the book I never got to finish, a folded sheet of paper falls out onto the floor. I reach down and pick it up.
It's a letter written in, what I recognize as, Daniel's handwriting.
My heart stops and I cease to breathe, as I read it.
"I've tried many times to find the courage to say how much I love you but am afraid that you'll be leaving me for some reason or another. I'm really in a bad place but I have to put into words how I feel, even if it scares me.
Now maybe I will destroy this letter once things are sorted and maybe I won't. But, if we end up apart, I want you to know what I'm really feeling.
I remember the first day we met and you helped me up from the sand. I knew instantly that you were the one. When I found out that you were an American on holiday, I was so disappointed. How can I fall for a guy who was leaving so soon?
But then I thought that life is too short and we can still have a magical time, which would mean so much to us both, even if we were to part, eventually.
When you punched Johan, I was actually more in love with you than anything else. My ego was hurt but someone standing up for me wasn't something I was used to and that's why I snapped at you.
You also stopped me from killing him and even though he had raped me, you took me in and didn't judge me. Finally, when you asked me out on a date, I was a nervous wreck. The butterflies in my stomach wouldn't calm down and our first night together was fucking awesome.
The time at the beach was the last nail in the coffin and I knew you were not just someone I was falling for big time but a soulmate.
But, then you told me you loved me and I'm not ready to say it back to you. I don't feel that I have anything to offer you except my body and I'm not that kind of person.
You are already taking care of me and though these last few days have been very awkward, especially because of me, I can see your love for me every minute of every day. I catch you staring at me when you think I'm not paying any attention and you make me feel special, appreciated, trusted, desired, and protected. I just need to sort out my stuff and find some direction, because I would rather love you as my own man, than a kept one. I hope you understand?
So, even if I can't say it back to you, I love you more than you'll ever know. You are my hero.
Whether we can work things out or not, I just want you to know that, and that no matter what happens, I will always love you.
Your Sunshine, Daniel."
I scrunch the letter up tight, into my chest, with such force that it hurts. Letting out a loud groan, I collapse onto the floor and sob for Daniel the last time.