Her Little Black Book

by Brenda Jackson

  Hollis forced a smile. “Several. But the main one is what reason did you have for shooting your husband?”

  Blair flinched. He could tell Hollis’s accusation was like a slap to the woman’s face. He watched her blanch before grabbing a nearby chair for support. Before she could bother responding—although Blair doubted that she would have been capable of doing so anyway—the younger woman, flanked by the other older woman, came to stand beside Barbara Andrews. Even the man who’d been standing by the window had moved beside the three women. It was the younger woman who spoke, getting right in Hollis’s face while doing so.

  “How dare you accuse my mother of something like that! What gives you the right to—?”

  “Facts that I’ve gathered, ma’am. That’s what gives me the right. Apparently it’s a fact that the two of them were having martial problems. And just who might you be?”

  “Courtney Andrews. And that man who is in surgery fighting for his life is my father, and I won’t allow you to throw your accusations at my mother instead of going out and doing your job and getting the person who is really responsible. And as far as my parents having marital problems, what married couple don’t have problems at one time or another. But wherever you got your information, they evidently forgot to mention that my parents were working out their problems and had just returned from spending two wonderful weeks together in Hawaii on what they considered a second honeymoon.”

  “Now isn’t that sweet,” Hollis sneered. “Or another way to look at it is that it’s really sick, since according to what we’ve learned, your father also paid the way for someone else to be with him while on this trip.”

  “What are you talking about, Detective?” the man asked.

  Hollis raised a dark brow and met Lake’s eyes. “And who are you?”

  “I’m a close friend of Courtney’s. Lake Masters. Now please tell us what you’re talking about.”

  Instead of answering Lake, Hollis turned his attention back to Barbara Andrews. “Do you know an Ashira Wilson?”

  Blair watched the woman’s brow crease in deep concentration as she tried to remember someone with that name. He suddenly felt a sense of uneasiness as he watched her. If the information Ashira Wilson had given Hollis earlier was true, then something wasn’t right.

  “No, I don’t know Ashira Wilson,” she finally said.

  Hollis smiled. “Ms. Wilson claims that you do know her. She also claims that the reason you shot your husband is because you found out that he had been having an affair with her and that he had the gall to also take her along to Hawaii with the two of you, and that he had put her in a suite on the other side of the same hotel. She alleges that you found out he was bedding the both of you—”

  Blair straightened from leaning on the wall when his gut instinct kicked in. All four persons had stunned looks on their faces, but the one who appeared to be more shocked than anyone was Barbara Andrews. Blair knew at that moment there was no way she had known what her husband had done. The look on her face was proof enough. She wasn’t that good an actress. Suddenly his heart went out to her, a woman who was finding out from Hollis in the most uncouth manner just what an asshole her husband really was. She had been disrespected as a wife in the worst way possible. Blair inhaled in deep anger. Ronald Andrews had a lot of balls. As far as he was concerned, the person who’d shot him should have gone for the lower part of his body, right below the belt, instead of the man’s chest.

  Refusing to let Hollis continue his brutish way of handling things, Blair quickly stepped forward. “That’s enough, Hollis. Dammit, she didn’t know. Just look at her. Dammit, it’s evident that she didn’t know.”

  Hollis shut his mouth while Barbara Andrews dropped to her knees and started crying out like a puppy who’d gotten kicked.

  Less than an hour later, Blair sat at a table in the hospital cafeteria, downing a cup of coffee. To get her to calm down, the doctors had to sedate Barbara Andrews. Being told that the man who claimed to love her had taken another woman on a trip meant to rebuild their marriage was a low blow to everyone who’d heard what Hollis had said. She hadn’t known about Ashira Wilson being in Hawaii. And if he were to believe that, he also believed she knew nothing about Ronald Andrews’s plans to ask for a divorce to marry the young woman. If what Wilson claimed about the divorce bit was true.

  To get rid of Hollis for a while, Blair had sent him back to the university to follow up a new lead. The university had called. One of the students had come forward to say a woman driving a light-colored car had stopped him when he was leaving the campus earlier that day, to ask where the college professors normally parked. She had also asked if he knew whether Professor Andrews was teaching classes that day. The student would be taken downtown to headquarters to work with the police artist. Hopefully they would be able to come up with a composite sketch of the woman. The one thing Blair had found interesting was that according to the student, the woman was young, possibly in her middle twenties, which definitely wasn’t Barbara Andrews. Blair wondered if perhaps Ashira Wilson had pointed the finger at someone else to hide her own involvement.

  “Detective Blair?”

  He glanced up from sipping his coffee and looked into the face of Courtney Andrews, a younger version of her mother. Barbara was a very beautiful woman who hadn’t deserved what her husband had done, and Courtney didn’t deserve it either.

  He got to his feet. “Ms. Andrews, how’s your mother?” he asked, genuinely concerned.

  “She’s resting. Thanks for putting a stop to Detective Hollis’s heartless badgering,” she said, taking the chair across from him. “My mother honestly didn’t know what my father had done. She really thought their trip to Hawaii had been productive.”

  Blair nodded as he sat back down. For Ronald Andrews, it had been. He’d had two women at his beck and call. “It would really help if I got answers to a couple questions. And I prefer asking them than letting Hollis do it.”

  She nodded. “And I prefer that you do the asking, too.”

  “All right.” He pulled a pad out his jacket pocket. “I’m convinced your mother didn’t know about the affair in Hawaii. Were there others?”

  Courtney nodded sadly. “Yes, my father has a history of being unfaithful.”

  “Okay. Who was the most recent woman, other than Ashira Wilson, that your father was involved with?”

  “A woman by the name of Melissa Langley.”

  “Your mother knew about her?”

  “Not until Melissa decided to go public with their affair by calling my mother and informing her about it. Melissa also sent photos of them together in compromising positions just in case my mother didn’t believe her.”

  “Did your parents split because of it?”

  Courtney shook her head. “Yes, for a couple of months, but Mom took him back.”

  Blair continued to write on the pad, thinking a woman like Barbara Andrews should have been loved and pampered instead of being made a fool of. Andrews had taken advantage of his wife’s forgiving nature. “What else can you tell me about Melissa Langley?”

  “I can tell you that she claimed she was pregnant, but for a while Dad was saying the baby wasn’t his.”

  “Has the baby been born yet?” Blair asked.

  Courtney shrugged. “I’m not sure. She was due to deliver in a few months.”

  Blair lifted a brow. “Didn’t your father keep up with that sort of thing?”

  “No. For him it was out of sight, out of mind. Another child-care payment to work into his budget. I tried keeping in touch with the other two women who gave birth to my father’s children, but they moved away from Orlando and wouldn’t respond to my calls. It was evident they wanted no contact, just the monthly payments they were receiving.”

  Blair jotted down the information on the pad. He then asked a few more questions. The more he learned about Ronald Andrews, the more he disliked the man … and the more he admired Barbara Andrews. There were some who would call her a
fool for sticking by her husband after so many episodes of infidelity, but to Blair, her actions were that of a woman who loved her man—for better or for worse.

  Blair leaned back in his chair. “Can you think of anything else I need to know?”

  He watched her inhale deeply. “Yes, after what my father did to my mom,” she said softly, with tears fanning her eyes, “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forgive him.”

  A few hours later, Lake glanced across the kitchen table at Courtney. Somehow he had convinced her to let him take her home so she could rest. They had been at the hospital over eight hours. Ron Andrews had made it through surgery, but his condition was still critical.

  Everyone had convinced Courtney’s mom to go home for a while. She had been through enough. She had agreed to do so only when Courtney promised to remain at the hospital until she returned. Peggy had been there to drive Barbara home and had brought her back a few hours later. That had been when Lake convinced Courtney to go home for a while, as well. Neither woman would be doing Ron Andrews any good if they were to fall ill themselves.

  Lake could just imagine what emotions Courtney was feeling toward her father right now. Hell, he could just imagine what Barbara’s feelings were, as well. But it seemed both had put their hurt and pain aside to be by the side of a man who truly didn’t deserve their loyalty. He found such a thing admirable, especially coming from Barbara. What Ron Andrews had pulled in Hawaii, the disrespect he’d done to his wife, was incomprehensible to Lake.

  And it hadn’t helped matters when Ashira Wilson had shown up at the hospital, causing a scene. The young woman had hurled her accusations at Courtney after finding out Barbara had left to go home. In a way, it had been a blessing that Barbara hadn’t been there. Talk about drama. The woman, as far as Lake was concerned—in hoochie-mama style—had painted a vivid picture of just what her relationship with Ron Andrews entailed. And she was determined to make sure Barbara rotted in hell for taking her lover away.

  “Do you want any more coffee?” he asked Courtney. She had been quiet since he’d brought her home. She had taken a shower and changed clothes, but refused to lie down as he’d suggested. It was morning, a new day, and he knew she would be spending most of it at the hospital like her mother.

  She tried assuring him with a smile. “No, I’m fine.”

  He knew she wasn’t fine. She was hurting, and he wanted to make her feel better. He stood and walked around the table, and before she could say anything, he swooped her up into his arms and carried her into the bedroom. He placed her on the bed and then joined her there, just to hold her. She didn’t need anything else from him right now. The only thing she needed was to know he was there with her, he was holding her in his arms, protecting her as best he could, and loving her with all his heart.

  All his heart.

  He inhaled sharply. Grey had been right. Everyone comes with drama, but how much you were willing to tolerate depended on how much that person meant to you. He knew at that moment that Courtney was his everything. He wanted to marry her, give her his babies, treat her a hell of a lot better than her father had treated her mother.

  The one thing Courtney had shared with him on the drive from the hospital was that her mother would remain with her father until it was known his condition was out of danger; then she could see Barbara finally breaking ties and getting a divorce. Courtney strongly believed whatever love Barbara Andrews had had for her husband was destroyed the moment Detective Hollis revealed just what he’d done.

  “I love you, Lake.” This was the first time she’d said the words to him, although she had felt it in her heart.

  He stared down at Courtney. “And I love you, too, sweetheart,” he whispered, saying them for the first time, as well. “I’m sorry about what you and your mother are going through.”

  “Yes,” she said softly. “I’m sorry, too. Especially for Mom. She loved him so much. But no woman deserves to be treated like he has treated her, and what he pulled in Hawaii, taking that woman with them, exposing my mother to heaven knows what each time he slept with her, was thoughtless, heartless, inconsiderate, and unforgivable. I truly don’t think Mom will forgive him this time.”

  Lake pulled her closer to his arms and then leaned down and kissed her. When he released her lips, he said softly, “You’re tired. Go ahead and take a nap, and when you wake up, we’ll go back to the hospital.”

  Courtney nodded and cuddled closer to Lake. And he knew that he would love and protect her for the rest of his life.

  25

  A Week Later

  Although Ron Andrews hadn’t regained consciousness, the doctors felt his condition was improving every day. After glancing across the room at her husband, who was sleeping soundly in the hospital bed, Barbara stood to stretch her legs. Courtney and Sonya had left to go bring her something for lunch.

  She walked over to the window and glanced out. Ron would be getting better, and she was glad of that. However, as she had told Courtney that morning, she did not intend to wait until he fully recovered. She had already met with an attorney to end their marriage. She was here now out of loyalty he truly didn’t deserve, and she wouldn’t waste another day of her life loving a man who had done nothing during the last thirty years but treat her like crap. He had continued to do so because she had let him, but all that would be coming to an end. Courtney had agreed with her decision.

  “Mrs. Andrews?”

  She turned to find Detective Blair standing in the doorway. She smiled over at him. The man had been kind. Every day he had dropped by to see how she was doing and to let her know how the investigation was going. She knew she owed him a bit of gratitude. He had believed her when she’d said that she had not been the one to shoot Ron. His partner, Detective Hollis, would have had her locked up in jail by now, since he’d been fully convinced that she had.

  She crossed the room to him. “Detective Blair. How are you?”

  “Fine. Is there somewhere we can talk privately?”

  She nodded. “How about the coffee shop? I was about to leave and go downstairs and get a cup.”

  “I feel the need for a cup myself.”

  Together they began walking toward the bank of elevators. “I understand your husband’s condition is improving,” he said, glancing over at her.

  Without looking at him, she said, “Yes. As you saw, he’s still hooked up to various machines, but the doctors are confident that he’s doing better each day. He’s a very lucky man.”

  “In more ways than one, Mrs. Andrews. There are probably a lot of women who went through what you have, discovering what you did, who would not have come back, regardless of how severe their husband’s condition. You are a remarkably loyal woman.”

  She stopped walking when they reached the elevators. She looked at him then. “I used to be,” she said in a low voice. “But every one has a tolerance level, and mine has reached its limit. It had to be my decision to make. My daughter or sister couldn’t make it for me. And I’ve made that decision. Several of them, in fact.”

  Blair didn’t have to wonder what those decisions were, and he couldn’t blame her too much. Ronald Andrews would be losing his wife at a time when he would need her the most.

  Moments later, they were sitting across from each other in the coffee shop. And not for the first time, he thought she was a beautiful woman. Sophisticated. Graceful. Classy and stylish. He had met Ashira Wilson, as well as Melissa Langley. Neither had a classy or stylish bone in their bodies. Both were young, immature, and foolish and thought the best way to get the things they wanted in life was with the use of their bodies. Personally, if he’d been given a choice, he would have chosen Barbara Andrews over them, hands down. Andrews hadn’t realized what a jewel he had, he hadn’t appreciated it. It would definitely be his loss.

  “You said you had something to talk to me about, Detective.”

  “Yes,” he said, looking at her, almost falling victim to the darkness of her eyes. Eyes he thought wer
e simply beautiful. Hell, he even thought she had beautiful hands. His gaze moved to the one holding the coffee cup up to her lips. Mmm, beautiful lips, too. At that moment he decided she was someone he would like to know further. Later, when all this was over, he would contact her again, and it wouldn’t be a business call.

  He shifted in his seat and cleared his throat. “I wanted to be the one to tell you that we have arrested the person responsible for shooting your husband.”

  He watched her beautiful eyes widen. He watched as her beautiful hands placed the coffee cup aside. He then watched those beautiful lips move. “Who?” she asked in an almost whisper.

  “Melissa Langley. She had lost their baby and tried calling Mr. Andrews to let him know, and he went off on her before she had a chance to tell him. Got ugly with her. Said some mean things. She felt distraught, bitter, and hateful. The reason she had exposed their affair to you was because he was dropping her for Ashira Wilson. Instead of you reacting like she had expected you to do, you did just the opposite and remained married. And then, somehow she found out that Andrews was also seeing Ashira, her replacement. That only made matters worse, and losing the baby was the icing on the cake.”

  He paused for a moment and said, “Just so you know, her attorney is trying to work on an insanity plea, and in this case, she just might get it.”

  Barbara really didn’t surprise him when she smiled and said, “And I hope in this case she does.”

  Sonya smiled over at Courtney as they headed back toward the hospital. Traffic wasn’t so bad, which she appreciated. She hated being stalled in traffic. “So, I see that you and Lake are truly together now”

  Courtney glanced over at her and returned her smile. “Yes, and I know what he feels toward me is the real thing. He’s been just wonderful these past couple of weeks, especially with what’s happening with Dad. He’s truly special.”