by Tyora Moody
Brooke’s voice dipped so low Asia could barely hear her. Her own stomach started to churn, and Asia sensed movement from behind her.
They weren’t alone.
Asia spun around to see Payton Cannon stepping from Brooke’s office.
She turned back to Brooke who looked frozen in place. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you had a client.”
“Oh, I’m not a client.” Payton stepped forward. He held out his hand. “I’m her brother. Payton Cannon.”
Asia looked at the man’s hand. She reached for his hand, realizing she needed to keep her cool. “Nice to meet you. I met your father earlier at Adam’s memorial. Who knew I would meet your family today, Brooke?”
“I remember seeing you at the memorial.” Payton commented.
Asia nodded. “I don’t remember seeing you. Were you and Adam friends? I know he worked here at Cannon for a number of years.”
The corner of Payton’s mouth tugged as if his lip was trying to downturn away from the smile plastered on his face. “Adam and I were friends at one time. Long time ago. Shame to lose him so…violently. My dad thought the world of Adam.” Payton chuckled, “I think he would’ve preferred to have Adam as a son.”
Payton looked over at his sister. “I really stopped liking Adam when he rejected my sister. Look at her, she’s so beautiful and smart. Dad’s favorite. It devastated her when Adam married that woman.”
Asia felt like something crawled down her back and arms. For a moment, she felt as paralyzed as Brooke appeared. She remembered to breathe. “I’m sorry to hear that. Adam wasn’t liked by a lot of people. I apologize for disturbing you both. I’ll be in touch tomorrow, Brooke.”
Brooke’s eyes flickered towards her as if to say, “Get out now.”
Asia moved towards the door.
“I heard you were dropping the charges against the Warren guy. Why?”
She turned, thinking she really should’ve listened to Coleman. What exactly did I think I was going to accomplish again?
Asia prayed, Lord, help me get away from this psychopath.
She crossed her arms, “There wasn’t enough evidence. Your sister is Warren’s attorney. I’m sure she would agree.”
Payton stared. “I know Brooke would agree. She knew Warren didn’t kill Janie.”
Janie. Asia glanced over at Brooke whose face had become flushed. Brooke started to shake her head slowly as if to warn her brother to stop talking.
Asia continued praying. It occurred to her this man knew exactly what was going on and her trying to pretend ignorance may not work in her favor.
Payton stared at her directly. “Janie didn’t deserve to have her life taken like that. Warren knew she moved on to someone else and he wanted to stop her.”
Warren? Did he mean himself?
Asia concentrated on keeping her thoughts from affecting her face and her movements, which was not easy. She had no recollection of feeling this kind of fear before. It didn’t help that she wasn’t sure if Payton had moved closer or if he just seemed larger than he did a few minutes ago.
He smiled, his pearly white teeth perfect. The man looked more like an elite, Ivy League man than a hardened criminal who just got out of jail a few months ago. “Brooke, I think your friend here forgot to tell you something.”
Asia frowned, “What would that be, Mr. Cannon?”
He slipped his hand behind his back and pulled out a gun. “That you want me. Only one problem. I’m not going back to jail.”
Brooke barked, “No.” She held her hands up, “What are you doing?”
Asia shook her head. “I think you should listen to your sister. I came here to share my recommendations for one of her clients.”
He laughed. “And I just got a very frantic phone call from my parole officer. Apparently, the police are looking for me.”
Asia took a breath. “If you haven’t done anything, then you have nothing to fear.”
“We both know I’ve been busy.”
Brooke whimpered.
“Stop your whining, little sister.” Payton snapped. He waved the gun around. “I should have never been sent to prison. That guy they claimed I assaulted deserved what he got.”
Tears ran down Brooke’s face. “Why can’t you just go?”
“Go? I thought you missed your brother.” Payton drawled.
As the brother and sister talked, Asia inched her way backwards. She was less than ten feet from the door. But this man had shot two people point blank in the head.
Can I really make a run for it?
It could have been her wishful thinking, but Asia heard police sirens in the distance. She looked at Payton. “Do you really think it’s wise to stay around here?”
He pointed the gun at her, “You’re right. I should really get out of here and take you with me. Or better yet, just get rid of you. Sister, you can clean this one up.”
Brooke screamed, “No.”
Asia held her hands up in front of her.
Lord, take me to you.
Chapter 22
Wednesday, November 30 at 7:01 p.m.
Asia’s body slammed onto the floor. She wasn’t sure if she was hit, but felt something crash into her ribs. She laid still hearing sirens so close they had to be outside the offices.
Asia looked down to see that Brooke had fallen across her. She whispered, “Brooke.” The woman’s eyes stared at her for an instant and then life seemed to fade away.
Asia knew that bullet was really for her. She looked up. Payton stared out the window, blue lights bounced off his face. He glanced down where his sister lay. There was a brief look of remorse, but it disappeared as he turned his attention to Asia.
He raised the gun.
Asia closed her eyes, praying in earnest.
The door behind her burst open and she heard shouting from what seemed like all directions. She held her hands over her head at the sound of gunfire, bracing her body to be hit at any moment.
Someone moved the weight of Brooke’s body off her. “Asia, are you hurt?”
Was that Coleman’s voice? She opened her eyes. Her voice seemed stuck in her throat.
“Let’s get you out of here.” Coleman pulled her to her feet. She stumbled forward, but he caught her and held her close.
She turned her head and saw Brooke on the floor, a bloody gash in her crisp white shirt. There were no signs of life.
Payton had slipped down the secretary’s desk to the floor with a gunshot wound to his head.
She asked, “Who shot him?”
“Don’t worry about that. Let’s get you checked out.” Coleman took off her blood-soaked coat and placed his coat around her before leading her outside.
Asia stood outside for a while before an ambulance arrived. “I’m fine,” she insisted.
Coleman rubbed her arm, “We can go into all the details later. Let them check you out.”
Asia lay in the hospital bed surrounded by her mother, Toni and Jo. “I’m fine; I told you. Just bruising and…” Asia held up her shaky hands. “My nerves are shot.”
Her mother grabbed her hands. “I’m so glad God protected you. You…” she looked around at all her girls. “All of you have managed to scare me to pieces now.”
Toni smiled and rubbed her mom’s arm. “We can’t fight crime, Mom, without running into evil.”
Jo nodded. “So sorry about Brooke Cannon.”
“Me too. I don’t know why she threw herself in front of me. That bullet was meant for me.”
There was a knock at the door. Asia looked up to see Isaac. “Detective Coleman?”
“Sorry to interrupt, I can come back.”
Toni spoke, “Oh no. Please come in, Detective. We’ll leave.”
Asia saw her sisters share a wink as they led their mom outside into the hospital hallway.
Coleman smiled, “You have a great family.”
“Thanks, I really needed to see their faces. So, what have you got for me?”
“Basicall
y, your instincts were on target about Adam’s past. He probably found out Payton had been released and was responsible for Janice’s death. He may have even known Payton would eventually come after him.”
Asia shook his head. “Why didn’t Adam warn me sooner?”
Coleman shrugged. “Maybe he was trying to figure out what to do. We checked his deliveries and Locklear received a package that Monday before he died. We think the notebook was delivered to him posthumously by Janice. He was still her lawyer.”
“So, Payton had probably returned to torturing Janice. I wish she would have told someone. How did Payton know or did he know about the notebook?”
“We think Locklear may have said too much to Brooke. Remember the argument that Monday night? Brooke may have given Payton some ammunition. This links back to him.”
“You know, I think in the end Brooke really wanted to do the right thing. She was torn between helping her brother, but she knew he was a monster too. I think Adam’s death hit her hard. When I went to talk to her that first time she even hinted to me that Adam had hidden something away.”
“She was supposedly in love with the guy. She could have saved us a lot of trouble once she knew what her brother had done though. I mean was she really going to defend Lawrence Warren knowing he was innocent?”
“She may have thought her skills would keep him out of jail.” Asia sighed. “Hey, by the way, I heard you got in the shot that took out Payton.”
Coleman looked at her, “Just doing my job.” He bowed his head. “I couldn’t let him take you out, Counselor. We just got to know each other.”
For the first time in several hours, Asia smiled. “I look forward to getting to know you better too, Detective.”
Epilogue
Ten weeks later, February 14, 6:30 pm
Asia looked at herself in the mirror. She turned from side-to-side to ensure her close-fitting red dress fit smoothly. Spanx was her friend tonight thanks to many months of not working out.
It had been a brutal few months in the aftermath of Payton and Brooke’s death. Preston Cannon briefly made an appearance on camera, but had since become a bit of a recluse with the loss of both of his adult children.
Asia took some much-needed time from work. Though she was back now, she still had trouble sleeping at night. Jo told her she was suffering from PTSD and should talk to someone. For now, Asia chose to make a commitment to Sunday service and started attending Wednesday night bible study with her mom. She was grateful to have her life and wanted more than her career to be her sole purpose for getting up in the morning.
She leaned over and applied the red lipstick to her lips. Tonight, instead of her usual ponytail, she let her long hair lay across her shoulders. It was a special occasion. She may be turning forty this year, but she had every intention of living outside her work.
The doorbell rang. Asia grabbed one more look at herself before heading towards the front door. She opened the door and grinned.
Isaac Coleman stood with a dozen red roses in his hand. “I hope this is appropriate.” He offered her the bouquet.
She smiled. “I don’t even remember the last time I received roses. These are very special. Let me put them in water before we go. Come on in.”
Isaac followed her into the living room. “Feel free to have a seat.”
He nodded, but turned his attention to the paintings on the wall.
Asia grabbed a vase from under the cabinet and filled it with water. She placed the vase on the counter and observed Isaac from the kitchen. Her hands were shaky as she arranged the roses inside the vase. She still wanted to pinch herself that she was actually doing this.
It was their third date and it just happened to be Valentine’s Day. The first time Isaac asked her out was New Year’s Eve. At the time, she’d told him she needed to see what her family was planning. Her mom, Jo and Toni fixed that and told her to bring him. So, she invited him and Imani to her parent’s home. Her nerves were about to burst that night and tonight wasn’t any easier.
She liked him. Really liked him. Her and Imani got along. She was thankful and prayed her thanks to God. Still in the back of her mind, she was scared.
Asia walked over to Isaac. He turned and she felt his eyes assessing her outfit.
“You look beautiful.”
“Thank you.”
“Are these paintings supposed to be you?”
She laughed. “Sort of. Toni called these the Diva series and I believe I was her inspiration.”
“Well, I’m honored you would give me a chance.”
Asia blinked, “What? Why wouldn’t I?”
“I’m a single dad with a teenage daughter. My life is complicated.”
“I don’t think I have room to talk, Detective. I’ve completely missed out on life. Right now, I really want to live and share that experience with someone else. I can’t think of anyone better.”
Isaac returned a smile that warmed her heart. “Shall we?”
“Sure, let’s go.”
Before they reached the door, he asked, “Do you mind?”
Asia inquired, “What?”
Isaac leaned in and placed his arm around her waist. He lifted her chin and kissed her lightly on the cheek. “Happy Valentine’s Day. I hope we have many more of these together.”
Asia exclaimed, “I do too.”
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Thank you for reading the Reed Family Box Set: Volume 1. Please consider leaving a review online.
In this volume, you met the Reed sisters. Be on the lookout for the Reed brothers’ stories, Faithful Heart and Wounded Heart in 2020.
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About the Author
Tyora Moody writes romantic suspense and mysteries with sassy women sleuths. When Tyora isn’t working for a literary client, she enjoys reading, spending time with family, binge-watching crime shows, catching a movie on the big screen, and traveling. To contact Tyora about book club discussions, visit her online at TyoraMoody.com.