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pushed me in silence. I had to admit that this place, wherever it was, was beautiful. He pushed me onto the beach, and I looked at the deep bl ue water. Parts of the water were actually deep green, instead of blue. It seemed to be, however, one of those touristy places. Meaning, there were many extremely dark-skinned Africans who worked in the shops that lined the streets that were just beyond the white sandy beach. But the visitors were very well-heeled. I saw many luxury cars, such as Bentleys and Lamborghinis, driving the streets, and the men and women were well-groomed and mainly white. I surmised that I was somewhere in the Caribbean, on one of the Afro-Caribbean islands, from the looks of it.
    I felt a little bit better. A bit more oriented to space, if not to time.
    These touristy Third-World countries always astounded me. The extreme poverty of the locals, contrasted with the glittering wealth of the visitors, was something that never seemed right to me, in any way, shape or form. It was the extreme version of wealth inequality. It always seemed to me that everybody should share in the good fortune of the top hotels and resorts, not just the wealthy people who built them.
    Mr. Lucas was still talking to me. “Now, Scotty, I know that you’re worried about your mother and your brother. I could help out with that, if we were married.”
    I turned around and looked at him, wondering what he was talking about.
    “Your mother needs intensive treatment. In-patient treatment. That’s her only hope. I know that she doesn’t have the money for that, but I do. And, just think, if she got better, then she can take proper care of your brother, and you won’t have to worry about that, either.”
    I just stared at him. “Well, that’s true, but I don’t trust you. I don’t think that you would be as good as your word, even if I married you.” I couldn’t believe that I was actually thinking about doing that, but, at the same time, if Mr. Lucas would actually take care of my mother, it would be worth it. Deep down, that was what I always wanted – my mother to be well. I wanted to stop worrying about her all the time. I wanted her to be a mother to Aaron, and, of course, a mother to me. Mr. Lucas appeared to be offering this to me.
    But I didn’t say anything to him. I simply turned back around, and put my head back on the chair. I blocked out what he was saying to me, because I no longer wanted to hear any of it. I felt so hopeless, so helpless, so down at that moment. I couldn’t ever imagine spending my life with Mr. Lucas, and I thought that I would kill myself if it ever came to that.
    And, just like that, I had an idea.

Chapter 12
    Nick
    Seven PM had finally arrived, and Ryan and I made our way to Nora’s to meet with Elle. She was already there, and she stood up to wave us to her table.
    She was dressed in something slinky and sexy, unlike earlier today, when she was in a smart suit. Her dress was red and low-cut, and her blonde hair was free-flowing. She was drinking a dirty martini, and she sipped it suggestively.
    As we sat down, she handed us two menus to look at. We looked at it, and decided what to get.
    I hated these preliminaries. I wanted to get down to it, so that I could get on a plane and find Scotty, wherever she was in the world. Ryan had already told me that we could fly to wherever in his plane, so we’d be able to leave as soon as we got some information.
    After we ordered, Ryan got down to business. “So, let’s talk about our partnership.”
    Elle had other things in mind. “Yes, let’s. Of course, we don’t have to be all business, do we?” she asked, as she took one of her olives and put it in her mouth while staring at Ryan.
    Ryan looked uncomfortable. I nudged him under the table. “Uh, I have to use the restroom. I need to wash my hands.”
    Ryan immediately got my gist. “Oh, me too. Uh, I’ll be right back.”
    Then the two of us got up to make our way to the bathroom. Once