The Perfect Affair

by Lutishia Lovely

  Sherri reluctantly took her finger off of the dial and tossed the phone near Jacqueline’s feet. “All right, there’s the phone. Now, let go of my child.”

  Instead of letting go of Albany, Jacqueline pulled her flush against her chest, pointing the gun at Sherri. “Where is the boy?”

  Everything had happened so fast that Sherri hadn’t had the time to consider Aaron’s whereabouts. Did he have a chance to run away? Run and alert a neighbor? Sherri hoped so because knowing that Ms. Riley was out of town left her with few alternatives.

  Jacqueline cocked the trigger. “Where is he?”

  “I don’t know!” Sherri screamed, instinctively holding up her hands in front of her. “Aaron!” The same woman who just seconds ago had hoped her son was down the street seeking help now prayed to see his little chocolate head come around the corner.

  “Ten, nine, eight,” Jacqueline began, walking farther into the room and trying to keep her eye on Sherri, Miss Elaine, and the door. “Seven, six, five . . .”

  “Aaron, get in here!” Sherri gauged the distance between her and Jacqueline, and wondered whether if she lunged she could reach her before the lunatic got a shot off. In the split second she had to decide, she chose against a sudden move at this juncture. She’d never forgive herself if she somehow caused harm to her child.

  “Four, three, two . . .”

  “I’m here.” Aaron stood in the doorway, his hands raised above his small, lean frame.

  He seemed surprisingly calm, and in this moment Sherri realized just how much he resembled his father in both looks and demeanor. If Randall were here, Sherri thought. But he isn’t. Which means getting us out of this impossible mess is up to me!

  “Get over there.” Jacqueline sneered at Aaron, now aiming the gun at his close-cropped head. “Where is your phone?”

  “In my pocket,” Aaron answered.

  “Take it out. Slowly . . . ,” she added when he lowered his hand to reach into his pocket. “And don’t try anything heroic, young man. You’re not your father, so don’t do anything that will make me hurt you before it’s time.”

  Before it’s time? She’s going to kill my kids? Sherri wondered how Randall could have slept with this bitch and not have seen she was crazy.

  “Listen, Jacqueline, whatever you want, I’m sure we can work something out. Money, possessions, whatever it is. Just please don’t hurt my family.”

  “Family?” Jacqueline asked, as if she were chatting with an interview subject instead of the woman toward whom she was aiming a gun. “You and your family are the only things standing in the way of what I want.”

  “I tried talking to her.” Miss Elaine’s words were for Sherri, but her eyes never left the gun.

  “Shut up, old woman!”

  Without even thinking about it, Sherri took a step forward.

  Jacqueline’s focus went immediately from Miss Elaine back to Sherri, the gun aimed at her chest.

  Sherri stepped back. Her mind whirled. Her heart pounded. She had to save her family but had no idea how.

  “Sit on the couch, all of you.” She pushed Albany towards them. When no one else moved, Jacqueline shouted, “Now!”

  Miss Elaine hurried over to the couch. “Baby,” she said as she reached the couch and sat on the end, “you don’t have to do this. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. Randall doesn’t want this family. He and my daughter are getting a divorce.”

  Sherri barely stopped herself from looking at her mother like she’d lost her mind. Fortunately, she caught on immediately and began speaking as she too sat down on the edge of the cushion. “I’m surprised he hasn’t told you,” Sherri continued, trying to sound and act with a calmness she did not feel. “Why do you think I left and came down here to be with Mom? It’s because Randall kicked us all out of the house.”

  Jacqueline suddenly seemed uncertain for the first time since this madness began.

  “Call and ask him if you don’t believe me,” Sherri said, knowing that if Jacqueline took her eyes off of her for more than two seconds, it was about to go all the way down.

  “You’re lying,” Jacqueline said at last.

  “I only wish I were. If anyone had told me that Randall would divorce me, I would never have believed them. We tried to talk him out of it, but he says he has something with you that he doesn’t have with me.”

  “What’s that?” Jacqueline asked, as the arm holding the gun lowered ever so slightly.

  “Rapport. He said that he can talk to you about anything. If he brings up anything about his work at home, I don’t have a clue.”

  A smile of satisfaction crept onto Jacqueline’s face. Sherri held her breath, watching her closely, waiting for a moment, a second, when she thought she could jump her and wrestle away the gun.

  The moment came immediately when a most unexpected yet welcome sound was heard in the distance: sirens.

  Caught totally off guard, Jacqueline turned her head toward the hallway leading to the door. That was all the distraction that Sherri needed. She leapt from the couch, her eyes glued to the gun. Jacqueline turned just as Sherri reached her and slammed into her, knocking them both to the floor. In the background she heard screaming but couldn’t tell if it was Albany, Aaron, her mother, or all of the above. She didn’t have time to look around or figure it out. She had bigger fish to fry.

  “Give it to me,” she growled, twisting her adversary’s wrist as she tried to knock the gun loose. She was on top of Jacqueline, and given Jacqueline’s height and lean build, would normally have been the weaker of the two. But there was a different kind of strength available to a mother bear trying to protect her cubs. The Incredible Hulk would have been no match for Sherri right about now.

  That didn’t mean that Jacqueline wasn’t going to try to give as good as she got. She rolled them over, trying to sit up and aim the gun at the same time. Sherri still had ahold of her wrist, and felt her fingernails breaking flesh.

  “Let go of the gun,” Jacqueline spat out between clenched teeth.

  “Get the gun, Mommy!” Albany cried.

  Aaron had other ideas. He ran up to Jacqueline, grabbed two large handfuls of her luscious thick hair and pulled with all his might. “Get off my mom!”

  It was the opening Sherri needed. She balled her hand into a fist and punched Jacqueline in her face, so hard that Jacqueline’s head snapped back. In that moment the gun popped out of her hand, landing a short distance away from where the women continued scuffling. “Let go, Aaron,” Sherri said as she delivered another blow. “I got this.”

  They rolled, and once again Sherri was on top. “Albany! Get the gun!” Her daughter jumped up like a rocket and picked up the weapon. “Give it to Mom,” Sherri said, huffing.

  “Give it to me, baby,” Miss Elaine implored.

  “Aww!”

  Jacqueline had taken the second that Sherri’s attention was diverted and bit her hand. Now Sherri was really pissed off. She grabbed handfuls of hair on both sides of Jacqueline’s head, wound the thick tresses around her hands and began to beat the woman’s head against Miss Elaine’s hardwood floor. “You crazy witch!” she began, slamming her head down with every phrase. “Randall told you to leave us alone. But your ass has a listening problem. You gonna learn today!”

  “Police! Open up!”

  Aaron jumped up and ran to the front door. Soon heavy footsteps sounded down the hall as four uniformed officers entered the living room. Two had drawn their guns. “Freeze!” one of them said, pointing his gun at Sherri.

  “She attacked me, Officer!” Jacqueline cried, scrambling up as another officer pulled Sherri away from her. “She just tried to kill me!”

  Everyone in there began talking at once.

  “She’s lying, Officer.”

  “She tried to kill us!”

  “This is my house, sir, and that woman shouldn’t be here.”

  And then a most unexpected voice, one that had everyone but the officer with his gun trained on
Sherri and Jacqueline turning to face its owner.

  “Don’t shoot, officer. That’s my wife!”

  “Daddy!” Albany shouted before she and Aaron ran into Randall’s arms.

  CHAPTER 54

  “Baby!” Randall rushed to Sherri’s side and snatched her up in his arms. The kids were right behind him. “Are you all right?” Sherri nodded, still breathing heavy and ready to fight. He turned to Albany. “You’re safe now, baby,” he said to Albany, kissing her forehead. “You’re safe, my man,” he said to Aaron, kissing him as well.

  Sherri was squeezing Randall tighter than he squeezed her. “Randall! She tried to hurt our babies, Randall. She almost killed my mom! Mom!”

  “Shh, baby, calm down.” Miss Elaine came back through the screen door, having watched the police car that held a handcuffed Jacqueline until it turned the corner and was out of sight. With what she’d just witnessed from this Jacqueline character, she wanted to be sure the woman was gone. “It’s okay. Everything is okay now.”

  Randall ran a nervous hand over his close-cropped hair. He grabbed Sherri again in a tight embrace. “That woman has serious mental issues,” he whispered into her ear. “You are not going to believe what I found out!”

  Everyone became quiet when they heard the front door open. Two officers walked in. “Are you all right, ma’am?” the older one asked Sherri. She nodded. “Are you well enough to make a statement? It won’t be necessary to come down to the station. We can take it right here.”

  Sherri began walking over to the couch in her mother’s living room. The gravity of what had almost happened suddenly overwhelmed her and her knees buckled. Randall was immediately at her side. Once he’d settled her on the couch he looked at the younger officer and jerked his head, gesturing for them to talk away from the family.

  “Is there any way we can do this tomorrow?” he asked, once they were out of earshot. “My family has been through a lot.”

  “I understand, Dr. Atwater. But the longer we wait to take the statement, the more they might forget. It won’t take long, we promise. We’ll talk with your wife, your mother-in-law, and the children, and then be on our way.”

  “No. You will not talk to my children. They’re traumatized enough as it is.”

  The older officer, who’d heard Randall’s last statement, walked up to join them. “I agree with Dr. Atwater,” he said, giving Randall a compassionate pat on the back. “If it’s okay with you, sir, we’ll have their questioning done by a child psychologist. We can set up an appointment a couple days from now.”

  Randall nodded. He and the officers walked back to the living room. They spoke first with Miss Elaine and then, while she entertained the children, they took Sherri’s statement. After the officers had spent another thirty minutes or so documenting the crime scene, Randall turned to walk them to their patrol car.

  “Wait,” Sherri said as they prepared to leave. “How did you even know to come here? I didn’t think the 9-1-1 call went through.”

  “We got a call from a young man named Hunter.” All eyes turned to Aaron.

  “I hit him up on FaceTime before she made me come out here,” he said with a tiny smirk of satisfaction on his face. “My boy took it from there.”

  Randall followed the officers out. When he came back inside, he went over to Sherri and her mother on the couch, holding each other tightly. He sat down on the other side of Miss Elaine and hugged her as well. “You all right, Mom?”

  Miss Elaine looked over at Albany and Aaron, who were staring at her intently. “I will be,” she said at last. “We all are going to be just fine.”

  That night, Randall, his family, and Miss Elaine left her home and stayed in a hotel. The memories of what had taken place in the house were too raw for any of them to want to stay there. After getting Miss Elaine and her grandchildren settled down in the bedroom of the suite, Randall and Sherri lay in the sleeper sofa in the living room, talking in whispered tones.

  “You’re not going to believe what the private investigator told me, baby. It’s right out of a movie script.”

  “Are you serious? After what I dealt with tonight, I’ll believe anything.”

  “She had an entire surveillance network set up in our house.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She got into our house somehow, or hired someone to get in. As soon as we get back, I’ll have it swept, but according to the investigator we’ll find at least seven cameras hidden throughout our house. She had TV screens showing different rooms, including our bedroom.”

  “What?”

  “Yes, and listening devices as well. That’s how she found out about everything: my schedule, your outings, Mom Elaine needing in-home care. He found a whole network set up in her room at Phillip’s house: computers, monitors, and other devices. He’s seized her phone, which he believes will contain a mountain of evidence. Along with all of the electronics, he said he found wigs and other types of disguises. The investigator said it was one of the most elaborate setups he’d ever seen.”

  Sherri sat up against the headboard, pulling the sheet around her. She stared straight ahead and after a moment, her whole body began shaking.

  Randall immediately sat up and wrapped his arms around her. “It’s okay now, baby. We’re safe.”

  “Are we?” Sherri asked, turning to him. “Can we be sure that they are going to charge that woman and lock her up where she belongs?” They were both quiet a moment, neither completely sure that this would be the case. Suddenly, Sherri grabbed Randall’s arm and squeezed.

  “What, baby?”

  “She’s been in our house.” The weight of this realization hit Sherri square in the chest, and she was so upset that she threw back the covers and jumped out of bed. “She’s been in our house,” she said, her voice rising. She looked over her shoulder at the closed bedroom door and brought her voice back down. “That’s how she knew about what kind of bed we had. That’s how the panties got in my lingerie drawer. She was in our house, Randall, maybe even while we were there. Maybe when we were asleep!”

  This possibility shook Randall as well. “I wish I could disagree with you, baby, but it’s the only thing that makes sense.” He looked at her, raw emotion showing in his eyes. “Sherri, I’m so sorry I put our family at risk. If I’d had any idea that she was a raving lunatic instead of an award-winning freelance writer, I would never have offered to split cab fare. In fact,” his eyes narrowed and his face twisted into a frown. “I now find it suspect that she arrived at the same time I did, and sidled up behind me. Don’t you?”

  “I wouldn’t put anything past her,” Sherri acknowledged. “No doubt that woman is one of the most calculating creatures that ever walked this planet.”

  “I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure she isn’t able to do this to anyone else: write to the judge, talk to the lawyers. She crossed the line by trying to hurt my family. I’m going to make sure she stays in prison for a very long time.”

  EPILOGUE

  Three months later

  The driver turned off the narrow two-lane road into an entryway guarded by a tall, wrought iron fence. Atop the fence were two diamond-shaped plaques bearing the words “Château Sherri,” and beneath this was a huge red bow.

  Sherri’s hand went to her heart as she turned to her husband. “Honey,” she whispered as her eyes filled with tears. “I can’t believe you did this. It’s so beautiful.”

  Randall grabbed her hand and placed it to his lips. “You’re worth this and so much more, baby. Plus, you haven’t seen anything yet.”

  “I sure don’t see nothing,” Albany pouted, mad that she’d lost Internet access several miles back.

  “Yeah, where’s the house?” Aaron asked.

  Miss Elaine sat forward and looked at the kids. “Both of you be quiet and enjoy this beautiful scenery. Don’t you see your parents trying to have a romantic moment?”

  “Ugh!” Aaron scrunched up his face and turned away from his parents.

>   Albany chuckled. “How do you think you got here, fool!”

  “OK, Albany,” Sherri admonished, too happy and excited to put much chagrin in her voice. “That’s enough.”

  Randall opened the gate with his remote, and the car passed through the private archway. The quaint, paved lane was framed by tall, leafy trees. It was just days before Thanksgiving, but here on their private Bahamian island, everything was vibrant and green. As they drove along the winding road, some of the branches hung over the lane, creating a canopy so magical that the typical bickering between siblings totally ceased. Everyone was quiet, taking in the hilly countryside, beautifully landscaped with seasonal flowers and blooming trees. As they rounded a curve, Sherri gasped. Before her lay a fairy tale: a beautiful, tan, castle-style home with turrets and balconies, every tree surrounding it boasting white mini-bulbs. The setting looked like a fairy tale in wonderland.

  “Oh my goodness!” She turned to Randall. “Is this really mine?”

  Randall laughed, intoxicated with the happiness that shone in her eyes. “All yours, baby. Château Sherri.”

  Sherri unabashedly wiped tears from her eyes. She had always loved the Bahamas but for a long time had joked about wanting a château in France. Her husband had done the impossible and given her the best of both worlds. A château on the island, with an unobstructed view of blue water and white sands below.

  This was the gift that Randall had been working so hard to give her, something she had always wanted.This was the secret. Looking at what seemed to be a dream right before her very eyes made her even more sad that she had doubted him, justification or no.

  “I’m sorry, baby,” she said, fresh tears forming in her eyes. “If I’d known that you were doing all this . . .”

  Randall reached over and gave Sherri’s thigh a loving squeeze. “We’re not going to talk about that, remember? Family, where did we say we were going to leave the events of the past?”

  “In the past,” Albany dutifully responded.