Ties That Bind

by Brenda Jackson

  Jenna nodded. She knew Leigh was talking about the news report that one hundred and twenty-five Cubans had been given approval to leave Cuba for America. Specifically, Miami, Florida. Most were criminals hand-picked by Castro’s men.

  “Sorry to call so late but Noah heard something that I thought I’d better prepare you for since it will probably make headlines tomorrow. I also plan to call Ellie tonight to make her aware of it as well, just in case she doesn’t know already.”

  Jenna placed her book aside. “What?”

  “It’s about Johnny.”

  A lump formed in Jenna’s throat. Johnny had been sentenced to die for the murder of a federal agent nearly fourteen years ago and was still on death row. They had exchanged a number of letters over the years and she had even gone to visit him several times, maintaining the close friendship they had shared in college. “What about Johnny?” she asked Leigh softly.

  “Since he doesn’t have any appeals left a date has been set for his execution.” Leigh’s voice was beginning to break when she added, “Unless some sort of miracle happens, Johnny will be put to death in sixty days.”

  Twenty-one

  Jenna’s fingers tightened around the glass of wine she held in her hand. “There has to be something that we can do. There has to be.”

  Leigh glanced across the room at Jenna. “Yeah, but what? Noah would step in and help Johnny if he were still practicing law, but he hasn’t handled a case in over five years.”

  Jenna nodded. She knew as city commissioner of Miami, Noah was strategically moving his future toward the political arena with plans of running for the United States Senate in a few years.

  Jenna, Leigh and Ellie were in New Orleans on their annual weeklong outing together. It was something they had started doing when Jenna returned from Paris, and they saw it as a way to strengthen the bond between them. So every year they selected a different place to go, leaving husbands and children at home.

  Leigh and Noah had two kids; thirteen-year-old Zachary, and ten-year-old Noelle. Ellie, the only one who had remained single, had gone back to school and had gotten a degree in education and was teaching at a school in Texas. Her daughter Johnnetta was fourteen. Of the three women, Ellie stayed in direct contact with Johnny the most, and had admitted that during the brief time she had lived in California during the sixties, things had begun developing between her and Johnny, but he had not let them get too serious because of his involvement with the Panthers.

  “I think there’s a way to help Johnny, Jenna, and if you think real hard I’m sure you know what it is,” Ellie said thoughtfully, after taking a sip of her wine.

  They all went silent. Yes, Jenna knew what it was, more specifically, who it was. Randolph Fuller. If anyone would be able to step in and fight for Johnny’s life with a good chance of winning, it would be him. “Why would he be willing to take on Johnny’s case? He’d only met him a few times when we were at Howard. Besides, I doubt Johnny’s family has the money to pay whatever retainer Randolph will require.”

  Leigh waved off her words. “Randolph would take that case in a heartbeat if you were to ask him.”

  Jenna shook her head. “Why would he?”

  “For you,” Ellie replied quietly.

  For a brief moment, Jenna hung her head and her shoulders stiffened a little. When she raised her head and gazed at her two friends, the look on her face was guarded, haunted. “There may have been a time when he would have done anything for me but that was over twelve years ago. That time is long past.”

  “He would do it for you now,” Leigh said softly.

  Jenna met Leigh’s gaze. “You don’t know that.”

  “Yes, I do and deep down you do, too. You and Randolph were very close at one time. The two of you shared something very special.”

  Jenna stood, pretending to stretch her legs when in fact she was trying to find temporary relief for an aching heart. “Like I said, Leigh, that was a long time ago.”

  “Yes, but there’s never a time that he doesn’t ask about you whenever I see him since he knows the two of us stay in touch. He used to ask about you even when he was married to Angela, which he isn’t anymore, thank God. From what I understand she turned out to be a slut of the worst kind. According to Noah, Randolph actually caught her in bed with a college kid, thirteen years younger than she was. And, over the years he hadn’t been the only one. There have been other men.”

  Jenna’s eyes widened in shocked surprise. “What?! You’ve never mentioned that to me before.”

  Leigh smiled wryly. “If you’ll recall, that was one of your sacred rules, Jen. You never wanted either of us to mention Randolph to you.”

  Jenna accepted the truth in Leigh’s words. She had felt not hearing Randolph’s name would ease her pain. Just like she had thought marrying Steven would also do the trick but it hadn’t. Steven had been her friend as well as her husband. He had known her heart belonged to another and had asked her to marry him anyway. They had had eight good years together and he had given her a beautiful little girl.

  “I’m sorry he had to go through that with Angela. He deserved better,” Jenna said angrily.

  “Yes. He deserved you, Jen.”

  Jenna shook her head sadly. “No, he deserved to be a full-time father to his child. I couldn’t take that away from him.”

  “Okay, I understood your reasoning back then but what about now?” Leigh asked as she watched Jenna pace the length of the hotel suite they shared. “Officially the two of you are unattached individuals. He’s single and so are you.”

  Jenna stopped pacing. “Yes, but twelve years have passed. We’re two different people. Other than a glimpse of him on television once, I haven’t actually seen him in all that time and there’s a chance—a damn good chance—he’s gotten over what we had and I’m just a faint memory to him. He’s a man of the world, in some ways he’s almost like a celebrity. A totally different type of woman probably appeals to him now.”

  “If you really think that, then you shouldn’t be afraid to see him … unless you still care for him, Jen,” Ellie said, gazing intently at her friend.

  Jenna opened her mouth to deny such a thing and then her composure wavered under her two friends’ speculative stares. “No matter how I feel I can’t go back there. I knew when I gave him up that I could never go back and I won’t. Haywood is my life now just like I’m sure his son is his.”

  She waited, knowing Leigh and Ellie probably had a lot to say. But they surprised her and didn’t say anything. “What if he won’t even see me?” she asked after she couldn’t stand their silence any longer.

  “He’ll see you,” Leigh said, taking a sip of her wine.

  Jenn nervously bit her bottom lip. “I’ll make it clear with Randolph from the very beginning that our meeting will be strictly business.”

  “Yes, you do that,” Ellie said, biting back a smile. “After twelve years that shouldn’t be a problem.”

  Jenna nodded, not seeing the silent look that passed between Ellie and Leigh. “And somehow I will pay him every penny he charges over what Johnny’s parents can afford. I should be able to do it without touching Haywood’s educational fund if he’s willing to work with me on some sort of payment plan.”

  “And I’ll do whatever I can to help financially as well,” Ellie said. “Johnny was there when I needed him and more than anything, I want to be there for him.”

  Leigh pushed herself out of the chair. “And of course you can count me in.” She came to stand in front of Jenna. “So have you decided to go see Randolph about handling Johnny’s case?”

  Jenna’s heart thundered in her chest at the thought of coming face-to-face with Randolph after twelve years. But like she’d said earlier, their meeting would be strictly business. “Yes, I’m going to go see him.”

  Twenty-two

  Waiting wasn’t an easy thing to do, Randolph concluded as he moved around his office. He checked his watch. He had ten minutes more to wait. Ten minutes be
fore he’d be seeing Jenna again.

  When he had checked his appointment book that morning he’d seen the name and had blinked a few times, thinking he must have been imagining things. But after calling Clara into his office to question the appointment, he discovered he wasn’t losing his mind after all. According to Clara, a Jenna Haywood Malone had called last week asking for an appointment. There was a case she wanted him to handle for her.

  What case? he’d asked himself numerous times since then. He had racked his brain for any possible clue as to what would bring her from Atlanta to see him, and from all indications she wanted to treat her visit strictly as a business matter. Did she actually believe that he could do that, considering what they’d once meant to each other?

  He checked his watch again. Eight minutes.

  Had she arrived early? Was she sitting out front in the lobby waiting for their scheduled appointment time? He picked up the phone and punched Clara’s extension.

  “Yes, Mr. Fuller?”

  “Has Jen—I mean Mrs. Malone arrived yet?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Thanks.” He was as jumpy as a schoolboy about to go on his first date with the most popular girl at school. He sat behind his desk and looked at the report of a case that had just been delivered. A few minutes later, he shoved it aside. He was interested in only one thing. What Jenna could possibly want with him? He definitely knew what he wanted with her. It was what he’d always wanted. To love her forever. He again considered it absurd that she thought things could be strictly business between them. He would play it cool, let her set the pace, and even go so far as to let her lay down whatever ground rules she thought she needed to put in place. But then as smoothly as whipped cream, he would ease back into her life as well as her heart. Then he would set her straight as to how things would be between them. There was probably a chance she wouldn’t like it. But he wasn’t going to give her a choice.

  Fourteen years ago they had spent a week together at Glendale Shores during spring break. It was during that time they had pledged their love for each other as well as bound their lives together. He had explained to her the significance of making a commitment over his great-grandmother’s Bible and what it meant. It seemed she had somehow forgotten.

  Randolph drew in a long deep breath. And in his own way he was going to make her remember. He had no intentions of letting her disappear from his life again.

  Jenna swallowed the nervousness she felt in her stomach. “Good morning. I’m here to see Mr. Fuller.”

  Clara Bradley peered through the glasses that sat perched on her nose. “Jenna Malone?”

  “Yes.”

  “Please have a seat and I’ll let Mr. Fuller know that you’re here.”

  Clara watched the woman cross the room to take a seat. She was pretty, she thought. Very pretty. And for some reason Mr. Fuller was anxious to meet with her. He had called twice asking if she had arrived yet. Clara’s ever-observant eyes had noticed the young woman wasn’t wearing a ring, which meant she wasn’t married. Umm, interesting. Clara racked her brain to figure out where she knew the name. Ahh, she remembered. Mr. Fuller had a special folder on Jenna Malone in his confidential files. Those were files he personally handled himself. Only once or twice had he given her the key to the locked cabinet to put something away. Now her curiosity was piqued. Evidently Mrs. Malone was someone Mr. Fuller knew. Could she be someone he cared about as well?

  Clara hoped so. His ex-wife was a monumental pain, a real witch if ever there was one, and determined to remain a permanent fixture in his life whether he wanted her to or not. Clara thought Angela Fuller’s obsession with Mr. Fuller wasn’t healthy. There were times when she wondered if the woman didn’t have a few screws loose. Already she had called that morning, but as he had instructed she had not put her through and had taken a message.

  The phone rang. Mr. Fuller was calling again. Clara picked up, immediately knowing what question he would ask. “Yes, Mr. Fuller, she’s here.” After a brief pause she concluded the conversation by saying, “All right, sir.”

  After hanging up the phone Clara stood as she glanced across the room at the young woman. “Mrs. Malone, Mr. Fuller will see you now.

  When Jenna entered Randolph’s office he was standing across the room at the window with his back to her. His secretary smiled before leaving, quietly closing the door behind her. And as if the click of the door was his cue, he slowly turned around and his dark eyes held her transfixed.

  Jenna’s breath caught in her throat. Even from across the room Randolph’s presence filled the office. He seemed taller, more muscular and if possible, better looking than he had been on television. If only Carol could see him in the flesh she would know that drooling wasn’t good enough for Randolph Devin Fuller. He deserved the full slobbering effect.

  This was the man to whom she had given her virginity at eighteen when he had branded her as his. He was the man who had been both her dreams and her reality. The man her heart had been conditioned to love forever. A man who had touched and tasted every part of her, and had introduced her to passion of the most prolific and steamiest kind. A man who could turn her on with just a look … like he was doing now.

  She wanted to feel guilty for having such thoughts when Steven had only been dead fourteen months, but for some reason she couldn’t. Randolph had always held a special place in her heart and Steven had known it and accepted it. That didn’t mean she hadn’t loved her husband, because she had. She had loved him but had not been in love with him. But she knew that the man staring at her from across the room with guarded eyes had branded her heart for a lifetime.

  Randolph drew in a deep breath as all his concentration centered on Jenna. He had not forgotten how beautiful she was. He just hadn’t counted on her being even more beautiful. The passing of twelve years hadn’t taken their toll on her features. In fact there was a lot about her that reminded him of the eighteen-year-old woman he’d immediately fallen in love with at Howard University. The only thing the passing of time had done was give her a serene quality of maturity and sophistication.

  She was the woman who’d taken his breath away that night he’d seen her for the first time in the yard. The woman who had given herself to him without reservation and in such a way that made his body tremble to remember it. The woman who had loved him enough to put aside her hurt and forgive him when she had found him in bed with another woman and trusted him enough to know he had not betrayed her. She was the woman who had helped him through the pain of having to say good-bye to his brother.

  And the woman who truly believed she had been doing the right thing when she had disappeared from his life.

  As he continued looking at her, he felt the attraction. It was even stronger than it had been the night they’d met. Stronger, and in his particular situation, more volatile and explosive. Knowing they couldn’t spend the remainder of the day staring at each other, he crossed the room to her slowly, wanting her to feel his approach. He wanted her to be fully aware of him, not as the young man of twenty-two that she had last seen, but as the thirty-five-year-old man she was now seeing. A man who had changed in age and matured in looks but whose wants and desires had basically remained the same.

  He still wanted and desired her.

  Instead of pulling her into his arms and kissing her like he wanted to do, he stuck out his hand for a formal handshake and said, “Jenna, it’s good seeing you again.”

  The pleasure of touching Randolph’s hand was so intense, Jenna quickly pulled away as every nerve ending in her body became a mass of sensations. If Randolph had felt them, he did a good job of not letting her know it. “It’s good seeing you again, too, Randolph,” she managed to say.

  Jenna thought she was losing it. She had wanted things to be strictly business between them, but now that they were, she was bothered that he didn’t appear to be flustered the way she was. It annoyed her that she obviously was still attracted to him when he didn’t seem to be the least bit attracted
to her. She had only imagined the desire she’d thought she’d seen in his gaze when she’d first entered the room.

  “Would you care to have a seat and tell me how I can help you?”

  “Yes, thanks,” she said, taking the seat he offered as she fumbled with the straps on her purse. She suddenly felt more nervous than ever before since she wasn’t used to seeing him this cool, this reserved. She waited until he had taken the seat behind his desk before she began.

  “It’s about Johnny Lane.”

  He lifted a brow. “Your friend from Howard? The one who was involved in that raid with the Oakland Police and FBI agents at the Black Panthers headquarters in ’sixty-seven?”

  “Yes. And if you recall he was given the death penalty for killing a federal agent.”

  Randolph nodded as he stared at her. “Yes, I remember that.”

  Jenna drew in a deep shuddering breath before continuing. “He was sentenced to die nearly fourteen years ago. A judge has now set a date for his execution and it’s supposed to be carried out in the end of January.” She paused for a second. “The reason I’m here, Randolph, is to hire you to take on Johnny’s case.”

  He looked pensive for a moment and Jenna held her breath, wondering if he would turn her down outright. After all, he was a well-known attorney and chances were he already had cases lined up to work on.

  “You still believe he’s innocent and that the FBI framed him?”

  “He said that they did.”

  “And that’s good enough for you?”

  Jenna met his gaze. “Yes, that’s good enough for me.”

  After a brief second, he nodded. “All right, then it’s good enough for me, as well.”

  Jenna swallowed the lump in her throat. “You’ll do it? You’ll actually take the case?”

  “Yes,” he said, reaching for the calendar on his desk. “Did you think for one minute otherwise, Jenna?”