by A. C. Arthur
“She was gone and that was good for you and Adriana. And now, as it turns out it was good for DNM,” Savian said.
Parker ran a hand down the back of his head. “I don’t see her killing anybody,” he told Savian. “She’s not usually vindictive, that’s why I wasn’t totally buying that she was involved in leaking those pictures of me and Adriana. Jaydon’s more the type to simply deal with the problem immediately, instead of letting it marinate and then striking. You take a swing at her and she swings back, then she walks away the victor.”
“Except with you, the second time around,” Savian continued. “Think about it, man. She wants you back, you say no. You start seeing Adriana and then you let her know that it’s serious and that if she doesn’t like it she can walk. You took the first swing, she took the second by getting Giovanni to put those pictures out there. He cracks at the party and starts talking about bringing you and Adriana down a notch, she has to silence him before he implicates her.”
“No,” Parker said again. “She’s not a killer. And she certainly wouldn’t kill over me. I think it’s whoever was in that truck with her.”
“The person in the truck never went into the house, only Jaydon did,” Savian quietly pointed out.
“So she killed Giovanni and then she was going to let you take the fall,” Adriana said as she stepped into the room. “That bitch!”
“Baby,” Parker said immediately going to stand in front of Adriana who was dressed in her robe and fluffy slippers. “I told you to stay upstairs and that I’d fill you in when I came up.”
“You weren’t going to tell me this, Parker. Not all of it,” she said, then moved around him to come stand in front of Savian.
“We need to find her and find out why she did this,” Adriana told him.
Savian had stood then, catching the slight shake of his brother’s head as he warned him not to discuss this with his fiancé. It was cool, he would respect Parker’s need to protect her from this messy situation. In that moment his brother reminded him of their father and whatever he was so intent on protecting their mother from.
“Don’t worry,” Savian told Adriana. “I’m going to look into finding her.”
In addition to seeing the make and model of the SUV Jaydon had driven off in, Savian had also seen the New York license plate. He planned to have that traced at the first opportunity. For now, it was late and his mind was whirling with the things that had happened in the last couple of hours. He needed to go home and regroup.
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” he said to Parker as he continued moving towards the door.
“I want to know as soon as Jenise has things settled with the prosecutor,” Parker said following behind him.
Savian nodded. “You’ll know the moment I know.”
“I’ll meet you in your office,” Parker told him after Savian had opened the door.
“Right,” he replied, because he’d expected nothing less. Dion and Sean would most likely be there too as they all discussed what it meant now that Jaydon was involved with the murder, instead of him. “I’ll be in early.”
“So will I,” Parker told him.
“Goodnight, Adriana. Don’t worry about this, we’re going to take care of it,” Savian told his soon-to-be sister-in-law as he noted the worry already forming in her eyes.
“I know you will,” Adriana said, leaning into Parker as he’d wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Jenise did a great job. We all owe her a lot.”
Savian gave her a stilted smile before he turned to walk down the driveway to where he’d parked. Jenise had done a good job. It was what he’d paid her for, but Savian wasn’t blind enough not to see that it had been much more. He may not have wanted to openly admit that to Adriana and Parker, but he knew.
Dammit, he knew.
#
“Rubin’s going to have to do better with his investigating,” Manuel Cruz commented.
Jenise was at the State Attorney’s office by eleven a.m. on Monday morning. She’d been sitting here with Manuel, watching as he viewed the videos and her motion to dismiss, for the last forty-five minutes.
“These videos definitely shoot holes in his case,” he continued, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his desk.
“So do we need to schedule a time to argue the motion in front of a judge, or would you like to respond right now?” she asked him.
Manuel smiled, his slightly crooked teeth a bright contrast to his raven black hair. He was a tall, slim man, in his mid-thirties she surmised. He’d been a prosecutor for three years after working in a private law practice for a couple years right out of law school. She’d done her research on him, just as she suspected he had on her. Lawyers loved to do their research.
“Tenacious and beautiful,” was his response. “I’m scared of you, Ms. Langley.”
“No need to be,” Jenise replied. “It’s simple. My client could not have committed the murder if he was seen leaving the house three hours before said murder occurred. And you have proof of another person being at the house closer to the time of the murder. Two, other people, I might add.”
“Do you know who the driver of the SUV is?” Manuel asked.
Jenise shook her head. “No, I don’t. But the woman was Jaydon Donovan.”
“Your client’s ex-sister-in-law,” he continued with an arch of his brow.
“Yes. She apparently resigned from her position at Donovan Management Network the night of the murder. She attended the same event that Giovanni and the Donovan family did. I’m sure Savian and Parker would be able to give statements to that effect, but only after the charges are dismissed against my client,” Jenise told him.
Manuel chuckled and drummed his fingers on his desk blotter. Jenise had given him a copy of the disc with the entire twenty-four hours of footage. She’d also given him a copy of the fingerprint analysis report that confirmed Savian’s prints weren’t found on the letter that Detective Rubin had used to obtain the arrest warrant for Savian. She’d already stopped at the clerk’s office and filed her motion, so the only thing she waited for now, was Manuel’s decision.
“I’ll dismiss the charges,” he said after a few more moments. “But I want to talk to the Donovans. All of them because something’s definitely going on at their company if people are resigning and killing co-workers.”
Jenise agreed, but she wasn’t about to tell him that. “I’d be happy to coordinate those meetings. Have your secretary call my office once your order of dismissal has been filed and we’ll get moving on that.”
She was already standing up, reaching for her briefcase as she spoke.
“It was certainly a pleasure seeing you again,” Manuel said as he too stood, coming around his desk quickly.
He was in front of her before Jenise could make her way to the door. “Same here,” she said with a smile. “Much nicer meeting you here than in the courtroom.”
He smiled at that remark.
“Thanks, Manuel. I’ll be in touch when you’ve taken care of all the paperwork.” She made a move toward the door.
Manuel stepped with her, blocking her departure.
“I was thinking that it might be nice if the next time I see you it were in a more casual setting. Like maybe dinner and dancing. You look like you enjoy dancing,” he said.
Jenise wasn’t sure if his remark had come as a result of the four-inch heeled natural colored slingbacks she was wearing with her peach colored full-skirted dress and beige jacket, or if that was simply his pick-up line of choice. She wasn’t impressed by either.
“Actually, I think it’s best if we keep things between us on a professional level,” she replied with a cordial smile.
This time when she moved toward the door and Manuel did not act as if he were going to let her pass, Jenise raised a brow.
“Why is that? Because I’m not a Donovan?” he asked, saying the name with an exaggerated tone that irritated her instantly.
“I’m not really into names,” was her re
sponse.
“Right, I see. So you don’t want to go out with the lowly state prosecutor, because you’d rather sneak around with a client that’s accused of murder.”
“He didn’t kill anyone,” Jenise replied before she thought better of saying anything. Manuel gave her a knowing look, but Jenise didn’t give a damn.
“Let’s be clear, counselor,” she said with as much agitation as she was feeling at this very moment. “I wouldn’t go out with you if I’d been celibate for the last year. Petty and jealous men that are prone to believing everything they see or hear from the tabloids, don’t interest me at all. Now, as I said before, I’ll wait to receive my copy of the order of dismissal. If you want to speak with my clients, then call my secretary.”
She pushed past him this time until she made it to the door and exited his office. She didn’t breathe easily until she was safe behind the wheel of her car. Then she let her forehead fall forward onto the steering wheel and sighed heavily. So much for nobody knowing about her ethical slip-up. Not only had every member of Savian’s family figured out they were sleeping together, but apparently the prosecutor had as well.
The really funny thing about everyone now knowing about her and Savian, was that it came at a time when she was beginning to think that whatever they’d been doing together was over.
Savian had come and gone so quickly last night she hadn’t a moment to process the entire conversation. To be honest, she hadn’t wanted to process it. Savian had lied to her. No, that wasn’t totally true. He’d done what she asked, when really she’d wanted him to do what was right. Why hadn’t he told her about going to Morelli’s that night? Not as his attorney, but as his girlfriend, or at the very least his trusted lover. Because she wasn’t either, had been the startlingly clear answer. She was nothing more to Savian than his attorney, and his sex partner.
Three months ago that title worked just fine for Jenise. She had no idea when that had changed for her and really she was a bit disappointed that she was going back on what had been the safest route for her to deal with relationships with men in a very long time. After what happened in law school, she hadn’t wanted to worry about trusting someone to be loyal and committed to her. She enjoyed sex and the occasional company of a man on a casual basis, so she’d adopted the friends with benefits lifestyle and to her way of thinking had perfected it to suit her needs. Then Savian came along and whether he’d wanted to or not, he’d shattered everything she thought she’d wanted.
Damn him.
Because he didn’t want the same thing. Friends with benefits was still working for him, or maybe it wasn’t since he’d given her the silent treatment all weekend. Jenise just wasn’t sure what was going on between them and really, she was tired of thinking about it, at least for today. Right now all she owed Savian Donovan was the good news she’d just obtained. With that thought in mind she reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out her cell phone. This was so unprofessional, but hell, she was on a roll in that department so why stop now.
She typed in these simple words: Prosecutor will dismiss the charges. Will let you know when everything is final.
Hitting send, Jenise tossed the phone over to her passenger seat and then grabbed her keys to start the car. She needed to celebrate and for her that meant shopping. She headed to the mall and vowed not to give Savian or their so-called relationship another thought. At least for the rest of the day.
Chapter 9
It was almost five o’clock, thank the heavens. Jenise could not wait to be finished with the work day. She’d had one emergent issue after another, including a difficult insurance company that refused to pay her clients what they deserved as a result of the hospital’s obvious negligence. The one highlight of the day had been when she’d received, via fax, the signed and date-stamped order dismissing the charges against Savian. She’d scanned the document immediately and sent it to his private email account, feeling a sense of relief and triumph after it was done.
He was no longer charged with murder and while it would probably take a few days for the press to really back off in that regard, she knew it would be a weight lifted from his parents’ shoulders as well. That made her think of Ms. Carolyn and the conversation they’d shared before Jenise had left their Thanksgiving dinner celebration. The woman really believed that Jenise was the right woman for Savian. For a moment, Jenise had believed the same thing. That moment had since come and gone.
With an exasperated sigh, Jenise began putting papers into their coordinating files in an attempt to clean off her desk. If there was one thing she hated, it was coming into work in the morning to see a junky desk. It made her feel like she wasn’t accomplishing anything. This way, with everything all nice and tidy, even if she did still have a million loose ends to tie up on at least ten cases, her desk would give the impression that she was on top of everything.
She’d just stacked the last of the files on the corner of her desk where Gwen would come in to take them to be re-filed, when the phone buzzed.
“Yes?” she called through the intercom to Gwen.
“Ah, there’s a driver standing out here. He says he’s come to pick you up,” the secretary said skeptically.
“I didn’t call for a driver,” Jenise replied. “My car’s in the garage.”
“That’s what I thought, but he sure is standing his fine self, right here at my desk, giving me a seriously professional look as he waits for you to come out.”
Normally Jenise would have smiled at Gwen’s reference to the man’s looks. Gwen was known to flirt outrageously. Funny how Gwen never made any comments about Savian. It was even stranger that Jenise hadn’t thought of that until this very moment.
“I’ll be out in five minutes,” she told her and then stood to finish tidying her office.
She’d worked at her conference table earlier today so there were papers and pens over there. She picked all of them up, putting them where they belonged. Then she circled back to her desk to turn off her computer and grab her briefcase and purse. She wasn’t taking any work home with her tonight because she planned to warm up the delicious beef stew she had left over from last night and enjoy both versions of Miracle on 34th Street before going to bed. Jenise was almost to the door of her office when another sound stopped her. She looked back towards her desk and frowned at her cell phone still sitting there, plugged into the charger where she’d placed it after lunch.
Jenise crossed the room once more, on feet that were tired from breaking in the new knee-length gray suede boots she’d purchased on her impromptu celebratory shopping spree two days ago. She grabbed the phone and the charger and was about to stuff them both in her purse when she remembered it had just chimed. Taking a quick look at the screen she saw that she had a text message. It was from Savian and it simply said: Thank you.
He was finally replying to her sending that dismissal order to him. She was just about to smile, then she remembered this was the first time she’d heard from him since he’d all but run out of her apartment Sunday night when she showed him the new videos. With a sigh, Jenise dropped the phone and charger into her bag and headed once more for the door. Tonight was all about her and the holidays. She was determined that Christmas was going to go much better than Thanksgiving had, and that would start with putting thoughts of Savian Donovan out of her mind once and for all.
On her way down the hall, she could hear Gwen talking to this so-called driver. The man had a deep voice that probably went along with his ‘fine self’ as Gwen had put it. Now, that did make Jenise smile. Gwen had no shame in her game when it came to men. She was on the hunt for one and she was bound and determined to find him. Jenise was shaking her head with that thought as she made her way into the lobby of her office.
“Hello,” she said interrupting the man who was currently leaning over the front mantel of Gwen’s desk.
“Oh, ah, good afternoon,” he said, immediately straightening so that he stood tall and at full attention.
Sh
e had to admit that he was fine with his clean shaven face and deep mocha toned skin. That didn’t mean she was getting into a car with him.
“I believe you may have come to the wrong address,” Jenise told him. “I did not call any car service.”
“My instructions are clear, Ms. Langley,” he told her as he reached into the inside pocket of his black jacket and pulled out a slip of paper.
Jenise stepped closer to him and took the paper. She read it, but couldn’t believe what she was reading.
“Who would instruct you to come here and pick me up?” she asked, still skeptical.
“All I can tell you is that if we do not hurry, we will be late,” he said. “Oh and I almost forgot, these are for you.”
He turned around and picked up a large bouquet of flowers, handing them to Jenise. Gwen squealed. “They’re so beautiful!”
Jenise smiled because they were, but that did not stop her curiosity from brimming. Who in the world would send her flowers and a car service? Oh, no she thought as she began opening the card that had been tucked inside the bouquet. It had better not be Manuel Cruz. She’d told that fool, in no uncertain terms, that she was definitely not interested in him. Now, she figured she’d have to really make her position known by going to his boss and telling him the guy was beginning to harass her. But no, as she read the card she realized it wasn’t Manuel.
Come with me if you really want to see the magic of Christmas. SD
No, her mind screamed. This wasn’t Savian’s doing. He did not do romantic gestures such as flowers or surprises. Well, okay, he had done surprises when he’d bought her that nightgown and those Christmas decorations and showed up at her apartment unannounced. But that was before whatever had happened to spook him and whatever had changed her mind about what she wanted from him. They’d both decided to go in a different direction these last couple of days. So what was this and why now?