“Juan?” Stefanie looked at her with shock. “And you?”
Bella laughed. “It’s not what you think. Not really. Yes, we hooked up a couple of times and that’s it. This was all it took to have him wrapped around my little finger,” she said satisfyingly, lifting up her pinkie to make her point. “It’s primarily a business arrangement. He’shelped me take care of some problems…and he’s got his own agenda. So there you have it.”
Stefanie was beginning to feel a little queasy, but thought it must have been an unsettled stomach with what she’d just been told. She peered at Bella and asked point-blank, “So you and Juan poisoned Jasmine, too?”
Bella sighed. “She asked way too many questions and became a liability. Beyond that, Jasmine’s death was another way to point the finger at the Braison Family as being responsible for poisonous deaths across two generations—”
“This is crazy,” Stefanie said, unable to keep the thought to herself. “You’ll never get away with it…”
“Don’t be too sure about that,” Bella boasted confidently. “Everything’s going according to plan—”
What’s that supposed to mean?Stefanie wondered. How could Bella truly believe she would be able to keep her deadly secrets? “If you’re expecting me to keep this to myself—I can’t do that. Campbell needs to know what you and Juan have been doing…”
Bella chuckled. “I’m afraid he won’t find out from you, Stefanie… You see, unfortunately, you’ve become a liability, too. If only you hadn’t fortuitously come upon Mia on Founder’s Day, you and I could have maintained a wonderful and lasting friendship. But you did find her—and in the process, came into Campbell’s orbit—putting a real damper on our camaraderie. I knew it was only a matter of time before it would come to an end. That time is now…”
As if on cue, Stefanie found herself feeling even sicker, shaky and starting to perspire. She leveled her eyes at Bella and demanded, “What have you done to me?” Theanswer came to her before a response came from her unexpected new adversary.
Fluttering her lashes, Bella answered cruelly, “I took the liberty of spicing your herbal tea with enough fentanyl laced with carfentanil powder—and even some fentanyl liquid put in for good measure—so you’d die from an overdose. Like Mia and Jasmine—as well as Lynda from back in the day—you’ll show up naked in Reston Hills Park as another victim of the Braison Family…”
Stefanie tried to get to her feet, intent upon leaving the house, but fell back onto the sectional as dizziness overcame her. She tried to remove the cell phone from her jeans, but Bella beat her to the punch, grabbing it first.
“Sorry, can’t let you warn Campbell,” she hissed. “It would ruin everything…”
Just then, Stefanie heard a door slam shut and footsteps coming their way. Moments later, she watched as Juan Barrientos entered the den.
Bella narrowed her eyes at him. “What took you so long?”
“Had to be creative in getting out of the compound without too many questions being asked,” he explained. “Sorry.”
Bella’s nostrils flared. “Anyway, you’re here now.”
Juan regarded Stefanie and asked, “She give you any problems?”
“None that I couldn’t handle,” Bella responded succinctly.
Stefanie, who found herself even struggling to speak, forced out words anyhow. “Ca-Campbell is ne-never going to buy that I OD’d on fentanyl—no matter h-how you try to frame it,” she stammered.
Bella laughed and bragged, “I can be very persuasive when I want to be with Juan’s help. He’ll plant some of your clothing—even your cell phone—and fentanyl powder and liquid at Kenneth Braison’s ranch house…and I’ll insist that it be thoroughly searched. When the evidence is found, Kenneth will be arrested for your murder and, undoubtedly, Mia’s and Jasmine’s, too. I’ll get what I want in protecting my family’s legacy and Juan will assume the leadership role in the Braison Family. It’s a win-win. But not for you, Stefanie, I’m sorry to say.”
“I don’t think you are!” Stefanie spat out, furrowing her brow while peering at Bella. “Neither of you!”
She glared at Juan, who grinned at her maliciously and said, “You’re right—not sorry at all. It is what it is.” He gazed at Bella. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Okay,” she uttered unfeelingly.
Stefanie, her heart racing wildly, life flashing before her eyes, tried getting to her feet again as the effects of the poison given to her spread like cancer throughout her entire body. But before she could even contemplate her next move, in what seemed to be a truly hopeless situation—one in which Campbell was likely none the wiser and, as such, unable to come to her aid in time—Stefanie passed out.
* * *
CAMPBELL STILL FELT UNSETTLED, even after they got Judge Ellen Ramiscal to sign a warrant for Juan Barrientos. They had more than enough probable cause to believe that he had purchased the deadly fentanyl mixed with carfentanil—from drug dealer Luther Valdez—that ended up inside of Mia O’Dell and Jasmine Roxburgh, killing them both. Moreover, Mia was seen getting into Barrientos’sVolvo XC60 SUV, shortly before her estimated time of death.
The man killed her, intentional or not, Campbell told himself as he headed toward the Braison Family property. That meant that he had to have given Jasmine the lethal drug combo, too. So was this the work of a serial killer who was intentionally getting rid of cult members who had become expendable? Or did Barrientos have another purpose in mind for the OD poisonings made to resemble the fatal poisoning of Lynda Boxleitner?
Was he acting alone? Or in concert with another member of the Braison Family, if not Kenneth Braison?
Somehow, it didn’t figure that Kenneth would direct the execution of two of his likely faithful followers—going against his declaration of a drug-free, peaceful environment—by causing two of them to overdose to death on fentanyl. That would be bad for the business of trying to keep current members and recruit new ones, if they stood a good chance of dying by joining the cult. Why jeopardize what Braison might have thought was a good thing going by throwing caution to the wind?
Campbell sat on that thought for a moment, before rejecting the notion that Kenneth was in on this. Much less, condoning it. No, the greater likelihood was that Barrientos was operating outside of Kenneth’s knowledge.
