“Quaysar? Quest?” she tried again. Again, she received silence as her answer. Sighing her disappointment, she debated on leaving.
“Price for admission is a kiss.”
Catrina turned, hearing the voice sound from the depths of the room. Propping both hands on her slender hips, she grinned. “That’s a price I don’t mind paying.” She laughed seeing Quest emerging from the shadows. They shared a hug and Catrina paid her price by smacking a kiss to her elder twin’s jawbone.
Quest, like his brother, always enjoyed visits from his mother. If it was true that laughter was the best medicine, Catrina Ramsey had a storage tank full of the stuff. That day however, she wasn’t there for comic relief as she quickly informed her son when he questioned her visit.
“I’ve noticed you’ve been down lately,” she slipped her hand through the crook of Quest’s arm.
He laughed shortly and bowed his head. “How could you tell that when we’ve hardly seen each other over the last few weeks?”
“And I don’t like being shut out,” Catrina argued, with a quick toss of her head. The move sent clipped silver-gray locks bouncing around her beautiful face.
Quest ran a hand across the back of his neck. “Ma-”
“Who is she?”
The soft question caught Quest off guard and he hesitated.
Catrina noticed and her mahogany brown eyes widened expectantly.
“Aren’t you sick of hearing about our women problems?” Quest inquired, folding his arms across his navy short-sleeved crew neck shirt.
Catrina’s expression was serenity personified. “I never tire of it, because those problems are always so interesting,” she was unable to contain her laughter then.
“So happy we can amuse you.”
“Oh baby,” Catrina soothed, stepping closer to pat his chest. “I just know something’s different. True, we haven’t seen much of each other lately, but when we have, I’ve noticed something about you that concerns me.”
Quest looked down into his mother’s upturned face. At first, his misty gray gaze revealed nothing, but slowly his resolve began to crumble. “It’s very confusing, Ma,” he admitted with a shake of his head. “I’ve never met anyone like Mick.”
Catrina eased one hand into a side pocket in her cream flair-legged pants. “Mick? Sounds spunky,” she noted with a sly smile.
“Short for Michaela. Michaela Sellars,” he explained.
“What a beautiful name,” Catrina went to perch on the back of a sofa. “Sounds sort of familiar.”
“She was here to write that book we all said no to,” Quest stretched out on the sofa as well. “She agreed not to write it, but she’s spoken with Johnelle Black and the woman’s convinced her to at least get on board with a new investigation into Sera’s death.”
“I see,” Catrina sighed, a part of her praying this new investigation would actually be a good thing. “So where do things stand between the two of you now?”
“Nowhere,” Quest frowned as he recalled the scene in his office two days ago. “She’s left Seattle.”
“And you just let her go?” Catrina snapped suddenly, turning to glare at her son from her perch on the sofa.
Quest watched his mother with a look of total exasperation. “Ma, didn’t you just hear what I told you? She’s going to dig up all that old mess.”
“Maybe she will,” Catrina predicted with a shrug. “But I don’t think that’s why you didn’t stop her from leaving.”
Something flickered in Quest’s deep set eyes and he looked away. “Ma, I admit it. I don’t have a clue what to do. I sure as the devil don’t know what to say to her.”
“How about I love you?”
“Love?”
“Don’t you?”
The simple question sent realization rolling in like a tidal wave. Quest pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes. “Ma, I’m in trouble,” he groaned.
“And I’m so happy for you!” Catrina laughed.
“I don’t even know what to make of my own feelings much less hers,” he pushed himself up on the sofa, “she’s so closed off sometimes. She gets this faraway look in her eyes and I know there’s a lot of pain fueling that look.”
“Is it from a past love?” Catrina asked.
Quest shook his head slowly. “I can’t say. How in the world did she get under my skin so fast? I don’t really know a thing about her.”
‘Catrina leaned over to pat his cheek. “Maybe it’s time you found out.”
Again, Quest’s expression clouded. “The way things happened before...it’s probably too late. She’s so damn tough. I don’t know.”
“Are you afraid she won’t be completely open with you?”
“I honestly don’t know, Ma,” Quest said, so frustrated he bolted from the sofa. “I can’t even begin to figure her out. I think if she answered every last question, I’d lay out for her, I’d still be starved to know more.”
The firm admission only increased Catrina’s delight. She couldn’t believe he was so uneasy over this woman, when he’d known so many. Yes, she thought, her baby was definitely in love.
***
Savannah, Georgia
Michaela arrived in the city on a mission. She was there to meet with Jamilla Stokes and Harriet Forman, former classmates of the Ramseys and Sera Black. When Mick left the airport, however, she was stunned having never visited the beautiful Southern city. Evidence of its rich culture was everywhere. Mick spent her time strolling the quaint shops, enjoying lunch at a Creole cafe, and taking in the myriad of sights. She told herself not to get caught up in the beauty of another city, remembering what had just happened.
She knew of course, that she was safe on that count. She’d never have to worry over losing her heart to another man. Quest Ramsey, she believed, had effectively spoiled her for any other and she hadn’t even slept with him...yet.
Would there be a yet? she wondered. Not if her career had anything to say about it. She recalled the scene in his office where she’d prayed for him to stop her from leaving. But then what? Would she really have been able to give up the investigation had he asked? Did she love him that much or was it plain old sexual frustration for a molasses dark god with the broadest shoulders and the most entrancing eyes, whose every manner and movement practically shrieked the promise of erotic fulfilment?
“Mmm,” Mick grunted with a quick shake of her head. She warned herself how easily thoughts of Quest could send her into a fit of sensual delight.
“Taxi!” she called to a passing car.
~~~
Jamilla Stokes was a middle school principal/guidance counselor/school nurse/janitor. She had her finger on the pulse of almost every aspect of Littleton Secondary School. When Mick arrived, she was certain the woman would have little or no time to speak with her. She was mistaken.
No sooner had the front desk receptionist announced Mick than Jamilla waltzed out into the main office to greet her. In the next moment, she was chastising two boys, putting a band-aid on the arm of another, and delegating a cleaning chore to one of the hall monitors.
“You’re amazing,” Mick watched in astonishment as the woman performed the tasks with ease.
“And after hearing complaints all day, compliments are like music to my years,” Jamilla hugged herself as she and Mick strolled to her office. “I should’ve followed my head and gone into politics, but I followed my heart instead and became a teacher,” she confessed.
“Well, being a principal gives you the opportunity to dabble in both, doesn’t it?” Mick probed.
“You know, I’ve never thought of it like that,” Jamilla said, a brighter gleam appearing in her dark brown eyes.
“I suppose this all correlates to your high school days on the student council.”
Jamilla threw her head back and laughed. “Lord, I haven’t thought about that in years,” she said, folding her arms across the money-green blazer of her pantsuit.
Mick smoothed her black, pleated skirt benea
th her as she took a seat in one of the chairs before Jamilla’s desk. “If I’ve done my homework correctly, Sera Black was your treasurer.”
“She was a damn good one too,” Jamilla swore, the expression on her honey-toned face a cross between sadness and pride. “She proved a lot of people wrong. Especially since no one thought she could handle the job.”
Mick recrossed her legs. “And why was that?”
Jamilla’s gaze drifted off into the distance. “Sera was so sweet, not really timid but she had a soft heart and she wore it right on her sleeve.”
“Mmm,” Mick nodded. “Those sorts of people are often liked, usually misunderstood and quite frequently taken advantage of.”
Jamilla grinned. “You’re so right. But Sera didn’t think like that. She trusted everyone.”
“Including the Ramseys.”
“The Ramseys,” Jamilla repeated, rolling her eyes to the ceiling in a dreamy manner. “They were the finest. I wonder if they’re still that gorgeous?”
“Trust me, they are,” Mick confirmed. “At least the twins and their cousin Taurus are. I haven’t met the others,” she added.
“Hmph, the twins,” A soft smile captured Jamilla’s lips. “They conquered so easily and could betray a girl so smoothly, she never knew she was being made a fool of. They always got what they wanted, when they wanted it and how they wanted it.”
“And they wanted Sera?” Mick leaned forward a bit on the cushioned chair.
Jamilla shrugged and went to rearrange the potted plants lining the sill behind her desk. “I honestly don’t know. I don’t think Sera had any female friends she felt close enough to confide in.”
“Could she have been interested in any of the cousins?” Mick left the chair.
“My guess is that she was interested in one of the twins. She practically swooned when either one was in the room. All us girls did,” Jamilla admitted.
“And you say the other cousins are just as gorgeous,” Mick probed, grinning slyly when a devilish sparkle appeared in Jamilla’s eyes.
“Oh honey, yes! But with them...the danger they exuded was so blatant. They were outright bad boys and if you wanted to keep your panties on and your virginity intact, you stayed away from them.” Jamilla slapped her hands to her sides and perched on the windowsill. “With Quest and Quaysar, you couldn’t see the danger until you got too close and then it was too late. They had you and you were an all too willing captive.”
Mick’s eyes narrowed. “You sound like you’re speaking from experience.”
Jamilla shook her head. “Simply relaying the experiences of others. I’ve always been a bad girl and I went right to the baddest.”
“Which was?”
“Fernando Ramsey. The only cousin who’d done time in juvenile hall.”
Mick blinked. Clearly the Ramseys did carry secrets and consisted of some pretty dangerous characters. She couldn’t help but wonder what secrets Quest may have harbored. The thought brought her back to Sera Black.
“Johnelle Black doesn’t believe it was suicide,” she told Jamilla.
“Hmph,” the woman grunted. “No Michaela, Sera didn’t commit suicide. She was raped before she was tossed out that window.”
CHAPTER TEN
Because they were Ramseys, Jamilla Stokes said when Mick had asked why and how something so terrible could happen to Sera Black and no one be brought to justice or, at the very least, investigated.
After all, this was the South, Mick pointed out. The Ramseys were still black, and didn’t the good southern law-abiding mindset demand that any opportunity to toss a black man behind bars be taken advantage of? Jamilla’s response was simple and Mick grimaced that she’d allowed herself to be so senseless as to not come up with the answer on her own.
“They’re rich-obscenely rich, have been for years. What you call old money,” Jamilla had stated simply and coolly.
Of course in Savannah that meant everything. High society cotillions, luncheons...no one was going to touch the Ramsey youth. Their parents may have given them a good talking-to, maybe something a tad harsher, but no handcuffs or jail time. Jamilla made a point to mention that even the juvenile delinquent Fernando Ramsey had often received little more than a slap on the wrist. Sadly, Fernando committed one of his indiscretions during an election year. The voters were getting testy about teen criminals going unpunished. As a result, the DA begged Fernando’s father to help him set an example. With at least the appearance of the Ramseys being treated like everyone else, the DA secured a victory in the election. Unfortunately, there never seemed to be enough to force Fernando to straighten his act and his next offense resulted in a bit of jail time.
Mick looked up from rereading her notes in time to see Harriett Forman approaching her in the hotel lobby.
“Ms. Sellars, forgive my being late. It’s been one of those days.”
“No problem,” Mick assured the petite thirty-three year old who was also a former high school classmate of the Ramseys. “It’s a pleasure to be speaking with you,” she added.
“You wanted to talk about Sera?” Harriett asked, her close-set brown eyes dimming with slight sadness. “You know this is where the, um, accident occurred?” she took a moment to look around the elegant interior of her family’s hotel.
Mick followed suit, taking in the airy gracefulness of the Forman. “It’s a lovely place,” she complimented, taking in the historic murals, tall windows and high ceilings.
Harriett sighed, her expression clouding her round face. “Yeah, Ramsey money has made a lot of dreams come true in this town..”
“So you were paid off?” Mick watched Harriett nod.
“They told my father they’d give him a five-star hotel if he kept his mouth shut. They made good on their promise and he made good on his.”
Mick pulled her notebook from the burgundy Coach tote she carried. “Do you know everyone who came to the party?” she asked, her pen poised to write.
“Yeah, pretty much all the guys. The cousins and a few of their friends. There weren’t many guys there,” Harriett folded her arms across the square bodice of her periwinkle-blue dress. “They intentionally let the girls outnumber them. There were only a few boys I’d never seen before.”
Mick also produced a packet from her tote. She’d given a similar one to Jamilla Stokes at the close of their meeting. “These are photos and news articles that covered the story. If you'd just go through them a few times, let me know if anything sparks more memories.”
Harriet smiled, already peering into the ten-by-thirteen tan envelope. “No problem. I hope your investigation will finally give us some answers.”
“So do I Harriet. So do I,” Mick said.
***
“Q?”
Quest focused on his brother and fixed him with an irritated look. “What?”
“What do you think?”
“About what?”
“About what I asked you.”
“You didn’t ask me anything.”
Quaysar groaned, the muscle working feverishly along his jaw. He’d tried to give his brother space, knowing he missed Michaela. But this quiet, closed-off demeanor of his had even worn thin on Quay’s easygoing persona.
“You know you’re being a stubborn, brooding jackass,” he blurted, his gaze unwavering when Quest’s eyes snapped to his face. “You’re letting a great lady, not to mention a sexy, as hell dimepiece slip right through your fingers. And everybody always called you the smart one,” he added with a soft snort.
A second later, Quest rose from the chair and turned the round table upside down between him and his twin.
Quay only raised a brow. “Finally a reaction.”
Quest’s chest heaved and he closed his eyes for a moment to give his temper a chance to cool. Finally,he looked down on Quay who was still seated. “Leave this alone,” he breathed, “I’ve asked you before and I don’t want to take this out on you, but you know I would and I’d damn well enjoy it.”
; Quay acknowledged the threat, knowing his brother would show no hesitation in carrying it out. Still undaunted, he stood and was about to walk past Quest when he leaned close instead. “You love her,” he said near Quest’s ear. “I can see it when her name is mentioned and every time you’re in a room with her. You can barely concentrate, you can’t focus on another damn thing besides her. Go after her, hmm? Before you go completely out of your mind.”
Quay moved on, leaving Quest to stand there. After a second or three, Quest’s shoulders slumped as though the anger and tension were leaving him.
“And offer her what?” he asked in the softest tone and then turned to meet his twin’s dark stare. “And offer her what, Quay?” he spread his hands in a helpless manner. “A family with so many secrets, that-”
“Damn Q, when are you gonna get it?” Quay snapped, “it’s time to think about you for a minute. You been the protector too long and it’s time for the rest of us to face our deeds and deal with ‘em. You deal with findin’ some happiness, man. You deserve it.”
Quest massaged the back of his neck. “She may not talk to me,” he admitted feeling heated, even beneath the short-sleeved gray linen shirt he wore. “I damn well couldn’t blame her.”
Quay grinned, instantly igniting his deep right dimple. “Damn, does Mick know how much power she has over your ass? You’re Quest Ramsey. You know how to persuade all the ladies.”
Quest returned his brother’s grin. “I’ve never persuaded a woman like her.”
Quay closed the distance between them. “That’s because you’re not only attracted to Mick, you love her. You’re a lucky man to have found that and you’d be a stone idiot to let it go without a fight.”
Quest watched his brother closely, considering his sage advice. Remaining true to form, Quay shed his serious demeanor and erupted in a roar of infectious laughter. Quest joined in, pulling his brother into a tight hug.
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