“Calm down.”
“How can I calm down, Auntie Vic?”
“She said something about taking a trolley around town. I’m sure she’s just lost track of time.”
“Nefertiti wouldn’t just walk off. Is she wearing her veil?” He stalked across the parking lot.
“Yes, darling. I’m sure her cell just needs to be charged. Janice, Betty, Tiffany and Rachel are staying behind for another hour or so. Don’t worry. Nefertiti knows how to get home. I’m sure she just needed a little time to herself.”
“I don’t like this.” He opened the door to his Mercedes. “What does Uncle Nathan say?” He sat behind the driver’s seat and closed the door.
“Why do you think May and I have him with us? He doesn’t know a thing and don’t call him. He’s just getting over a bad spell. He thinks she’s on her way to the police station to meet you.”
He smacked the steering wheel. “Something feels out of place, Auntie Vic. Which trolley was she going to take?”
“I’m sorry, darling. I don’t know which one she took. You know they all go to the same places. I’m sure there is nothing to worry about. Dennis and Jay are dead. Butch is in jail. She isn’t in any danger or we wouldn’t have allowed her to leave without an escort. I wanted to let you know what was going on, just in case.”
He saw Marco heading for his Lexus. “You’re probably right, Auntie Vic. I’ll catch you later.” He disconnected, then hopped out of his car and jogged across the lot. “Marco!
“ ’Sup?” Marco did a brotha-man lean and bobbed his head. “I’m likin’ that Gamble cat. He had them runnin’, didn’t he?” He chuckled. “I feel like bein’ arrested so he can get my ass out.”
An older lady and gentleman passed by.
“Yeah, he’s good. He let them get their information, then took care of business the right way. But I need your help with something. My girl is missing.”
“Damn, we gettin’ thick as ticks. What happened to her?”
“She went to the Art Institute, got on a trolley, and now no one can locate her, and she isn’t answering her cell. If you could just ask your people to keep an eye out for her, I’d appreciate it.”
“Damn, dawg, yeah, ya know I got yo’back.”
Bruce spotted Shorewood comb his hands through his short salt and pepper hair as he exited the building. He spotted the two and approached.
“Great,” Bruce mumbled and nodded toward the detective.
“I hope you don’t think you’re getting away with this. Gamble only bought you a short reprieve.”
Marco sneered. “Don’t you have some jurisdiction red tape to untangle? We came in as upstanding citizens to help yo’non-authority havin’ ass out. You’d best step off before I sue for harassment.” Marco nodded toward Bruce. “I’ll make a few calls and get back to ya.”
“Thanks.” They shared a brotha-man hug, then they were on their way.
Dreams of Butch and Dennis tormented Nefertiti until she half woke. Her head was woozy and her vision blurred, but she could tell she was in a small room, lying on a twin bed. Sleep was quickly overtaking her, but she fought against it.
The last thing Nefertiti remembered was sharing a drink with Roy Dixon, Dennis and Butch. She shook her head slightly, and could swear her mind sloshed around. No that’s the dream. Dennis is dead and Butch is in jail. Only Roy is real.
She’d been surprised to see Roy board the trolley after she re-boarded at the Hancock Tower. They’d talked and laughed through a few stops, then gone to lunch. Yes, the Roy portion is real.
She closed her eyes and concentrated on sound. The tick tock of a clock echoed softly off the walls, and the local news played on the opposite side of the door. She could hear trees gently blowing in the wind, so she assumed a window was open. Chills went down her spine. I hope Butch doesn’t climb through the window. No, no, Butch is in jail.
Disoriented, she rolled to the edge of the bed and stared at the door. “Watt’s goin’ on?” she groggily whispered. Her tongue felt so heavy, she could barely speak. Come back to me, mind. Come back.
After a while, she finally remembered what happened after lunch. She hadn’t been feeling well. Roy’s rental was nearby, so he offered to give her a ride back to the Art Institute. Once in the car, she blacked out.
Am I here with Roy? She frowned and even her eyebrows felt heavy. Where is here?
She coerced her lead-weighted arms and legs not to give out on her as she crawled across the wood floor to the window and pulled herself up along the wall. Over the tree line, she saw clouds pass over the moon. She listened closely and heard a stream. She scanned the area on the other side of the barred window. This is familiar. Dizzy, she returned to the bed before she fell.
This is one of the cabins on Bruce’s property. Thoughts jumbled, she lay back.
“Boose,” she called weakly. “Boose.”
The door creaked open. “Hello, Tee.”
“Woy,” she slurred through her shock. “Why ahm here? Where’s Boose?”
“I need you to drink this.” He set a glass on the nightstand and helped her sit up.
Her mind was more sluggish than jumbled, but her faculties were quickly returning. She could clearly see he wore latex gloves, and he had a wild anxiety in his eyes. “Ahm not thirsty. Ahm tired.” She half-closed her eyes and pretended the drugs he’d obviously given her were still in full effect. “Butch is in the jungle,” she said to confuse him. “You stay here with me ’til Boose comes.”
He mouthed a curse and set the glass on the nightstand. “Tee.” He shook her. “Don’t go to sleep. You need to drink this so your stomach won’t hurt. Remember your stomach was hurting you? This will make you feel better.”
“Tell Boose that Butch is in the jungle, so he can come save us. Don’t go in the jungle, Woy.” She had no idea why Roy was trying to harm her, and at the moment, she didn’t care. She did know she had to get help. Her body still felt heavy, but her mind was working quadruple time.
He chewed on his inner jaw for a few moments and nervously rubbed his hands on his lap. “I’ll protect you from Butch, but you need to drink this first.”
“No! He’ll hurt you.” She traced her facial scars with the tips of her fingers. “He’s afraid of Boose. Call Boose.”
Damn, she’s too out of it!
Roy drew in a deep breath, then released it slowly. He’d been trying to figure out how to separate Tee from Bruce for days so he could punish them for stealing his inheritance and, most importantly, for ruining his relationship with Catherine. He’d followed the group to the Art Institute and bided his time. When she took a trolley ride, he’d known that was his chance.
She rolled over on the bed and said something else about Butch in the jungle. He glanced at his watch. He had only two hours before he had to be at the airport, but he couldn’t leave her like this. This was one plan he had no choice but to follow through on.
“Tee, I’ll call Bruce if you drink this for me. I don’t want you getting sick again.” He held the glass of arsenic-laced apple juice out to her.
“You call Boose?”
“After your medication.”
She groaned, and her eyes rolled back into her head. “Okay, ah’ll drink after you call Boose.”
You definitely need to say no to drugs. Instead of going in circles with her, he decided a call to Bruce might help his cause. If she talked half as crazy to Bruce, her suicide by way of poisoning would look more authentic.
He smiled. After speaking with several guests at the party, he’d learned that Nathan Townes had just been released from a private institution. Though everyone insisted he wasn’t crazy, Roy knew different. Only crazy people were committed, and insanity ran in families. Bruce would suffer the remainder of his days once the love of his life committed suicide, and the authorities would think she was just as crazy as her father.
He rushed over to the window. “Oh no. It’s Butch!”
She covered her head with the
blanket. “Ah tol’ you,” she slurred, “he’s in the jungle.” She inhaled deeply. “Get… away from window.”
His grin increased as he returned to her side. “You’re right. We should call Bruce. But you can’t tell him I’m here.”
She pulled up the blanket and peeked over the rim. “Why?”
“Because he doesn’t like me,” he said innocently. “He won’t come if he knows I’m here.”
The way she stared at him made him think he’d gone overboard.
“Ah tol’ him ta stop being mean ta people,” she mumbled. “Don’t worry, ah won’t let him hurt you.”
“Then you won’t tell him I’m here.”
“’Course not.” She closed her eyes. “Ahm tired.”
“First we make this call, then you promise to drink the medicine to keep your stomach from hurting.”
“Butch is in the jungle.”
He pulled out his phone and dialed to block his number, then dialed Bruce’s number. “Remember, you can’t say I’m with you. Only tell him about Butch.”
Bruce checked his cell phone for the umpteenth time to ensure it was still charged. As with the other times, it was fully charged. He paced about his room. Victoria and May had taken Nathan out to stall until Nefertiti was found. He yanked his shirtsleeve up and looked at his watch. It was nearing ten and still no word. Marco’s men had come up with nothing. Silas had called in a few favors, yet still no leads.
Visions of Nefertiti when she first entered the hospital emergency room after the attack filled his mind. Mr. Wilson had called Victoria to inform them what had happened. Bruce didn’t usually answer the house phone, but on this particular occasion, he had been home alone and was drawn to answer.
As on that night, he knelt. Please, God, save my beauty. Help me find her.
The sound of his cell phone startled him. The caller ID said unknown. He never answered “Unknown” or “Private,” but, as on the night of her attack, a force he believed was God told him to answer.
“Hello.”
“Boose…”
She sounded drunk, but he didn’t care. He was overjoyed to hear anything. His already accelerated heart rate raced at warp speed. “Nefertiti! Baby, where are you?”
“Wait… Wait… Lemme talk. Come to the jungle and make love to me in the hut,” she said slowly. “Butch is in the jungle. Ah need water ninja.”
She made absolutely no sense until she mentioned water ninja. No matter how drunk she might be, he knew there was no way she’d mix up her being the water ninja and him being the fire ninja.
“I love you, baby.”
“Come make love to me in the hut in the jungle.” She disconnected.
“Shit!” He lay flat on the floor and thought. She’d obviously been speaking in code, but he was so upset, he wasn’t sure he could decipher what she meant. Making love in the jungle. He stared at the ceiling. Making love in the jungle. In a hut.
If he could find Nefertiti, he’d make love to her wherever and whenever she wanted. The thought of their lovemaking at the creek came to him. That’s it! He hopped up and ran out of the room.
What had she said… He tore down the hallway to the back stairwell. At the creek he’d been so hot he could hardly comprehend what she’d said. He’d just called security and told them to stay away from the creek, but she was still embarrassed. How about we move out of this jungle into the huts? she’d asked.
Nefertiti wanted to scratch Roy’s eyes out, but unfortunately, her body was still sluggish. She just prayed Bruce understood what she was telling him.
He held the glass to her lips. “Drink up.”
She lay back in bed. “Whew, that was good.”
“But you didn’t…” He shook his head. “Shit!” He slammed the glass on the nightstand and stormed out of the room.
Nefertiti couldn’t help but rejoice silently at his reaction. She stretched her arm across her body for the glass. It felt like sixteen pounds instead of sixteen ounces of liquid. She struggled to pour a little on the front of her shirt, then poured the rest under the spread on the wall side of the bed. She would have poured it on the floor, but she was afraid he might check there.
Roy rushed from his rental to the cabin with a nine millimeter he’d procured a few days ago. He hadn’t planned on using the gun, but bought it just in case. Poisoning was easy, but shooting… A chill went down his spine. I don’t have a choice.
He stared at the gun. The trigger was nothing out of the ordinary, but pulling it… I don’t have a choice. Bruce and Nefertiti had ruined his family, and now it was time to destroy theirs. He marched about the living area with a renewed hate. This is all their fault. Why couldn’t she just drink the apple juice? He was livid that they were making him actually pull the trigger.
“Woy!”
He held the gun behind his back and entered the bedroom. “I need you to try and sit up.”
She tugged on the front of her shirt. “I messssssed.” She held the glass out.
“That’s all right.” Finally, something’s going right. “It looks like you drank most of it.” He took the glass with one hand and kept the other behind his back. He only saw one spot on the front of her shirt. “Wow, you were thirsty.”
She lay back. “My tummy hurts.”
“Get some rest and the pain will go away.” Elated his plan would work, he hummed as he left her room. He made sure there were no signs of his presence, turned off the lights, then headed out the door for his rental car. He had a plane to catch.
As he stepped across the threshold, a large beast leapt out of the darkness toward him. Terrorized, he automatically pulled the gun up and shot before he realized the beast wasn’t a beast at all, but Bruce.
“How the—?” Roy stopped abruptly when Bruce fell onto the wood porch. “Oh shit, oh shit!” Panic gripped him. “What the hell were you thinking jumping out like that?” He couldn’t make his hands stop shaking. “Why did you make me shoot you?”
Bruce moaned and curled into a ball.
Roy bent over to examine Bruce closer. “How am I going to cover this up? It’ll look like a double murder instead of a suicide.” He hated Bruce even more for putting him in this situation. “Everything would have worked out fine if you ha—” A crashing pain just about split Roy’s head in two. Red filled his mind’s eye, then was replaced by darkness.
“Oh my God, Bruce!” Nefertiti stepped over Roy, tossed the cast iron skillet to the side and knelt to Bruce. “Oh, God, please let it not be as bad as it looks.” The waist of his shirt was soaked with blood. She pushed her worry and fear to the side as best she could. This was no time to have a breakdown.
Tears fell as she gently lifted his arm from his waist so she could get a better view of the damage.
“Get his gun, baby…”
She didn’t care about the gun. After the way she’d walloped Roy, she knew he wouldn’t be a danger to anyone for a long time and then some. But to make Bruce happy, she retrieved the gun.
“I’m too drugged to drive,” she mumbled as she searched Bruce’s waistband for his cell phone, which was covered in blood. “I’ve got to stop this bleeding. Bruce! Talk to me!” He didn’t answer. When she’d heard the shot, an adrenaline surge had pushed her out of bed and into the action, but the effects were quickly wearing off. She scrolled through to Silas’s number.
“Bruce has been shot!” She was afraid to move Bruce. He’d fainted soon after telling her to get the gun. “I’ve got to stop the bleeding.”
“What? Nefertiti? Nefertiti, is that you?”
“You have to send the ambulance to the cabins across the creek. Bruce has been shot.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“Let me get this straight,” Nathan raged as he paced about the hospital waiting room. “My baby was missing, and you didn’t think I needed to be informed immediately!” He thumped himself in the chest. “I am not some sort of mental invalid.”
Victoria and May shot knowing glances at each other, then
each took one of Nathan’s arms. “Calm yourself,” May cooed. “There’s no sense in getting yourself all riled up.”
Nefertiti watched from a lounge chair in the corner of the room. The tan imitation leather and antiseptic smell did nothing to help comfort her. She didn’t have the energy to help calm Nathan. She didn’t think he needed calming anyway. The reason he’d boiled over last time was because he’d bottled up his feelings.
“That son-of-a-bitch drugged my baby girl and shot my boy, and you expect me to calm down.” He jerked his arm away and stalked toward the window. “Someone puh-leez tell me he’s in this hospital.”
“This is exactly why we didn’t tell you, Nathan.” May slowly approached him. “You’re just getting over a bad spell.”
“Oh, you ain’t seen nothing yet! Wait until I get my hands around Roy’s neck.”
“Nathan!”
“What?” he snapped.
Nefertiti did her best to tune out her folks. As long as her father was venting, everything would be fine. She closed her hospital gown tighter, as if the light material would hold out the cold of the room and chair. Eyes closed, she prayed for Bruce. To see him bleeding to death was yet another thing her “better off” eyes could have done without. She was afraid to leave his side, so had taken off her shirt and used it to apply pressure to his abdominal wound in hopes of stopping the blood.
By the time Silas arrived, she’d smeared blood on her face from wiping her tears away. Thinking back, she didn’t know why she didn’t just allow them to fall. Silas had a time pulling her away from Bruce, but he’d managed. She held out her hands. Dried blood was under her nails and in the crevices of her amber and diamond floral ring.
“Stop this now, Nathan. You’re upsetting the baby.” May rushed to Nefertiti and embraced her. “It’s all right, sweetie.” She rocked her gently. “Everything will be all right.”
“I can’t lose him, Mama.” Nefertiti choked on the thought. “I can’t.”
Nathan knelt in front of her. “Oh no, baby.” He stroked her hair behind her ear. “Bruce is a strong man. He’ll pull through. You have to believe.”
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