Fade to Black (The Black Trilogy Book 1)

by MC Webb

  “Shh, shh, quiet now. You saved my life, and that makes you an angel.” I tried to smile, all the while listening for footsteps.

  Blood poured from my bottom. I pulled a blanket to me, to spare her the sight.

  “Momma, you’re bleeding,” she said.

  I kept the .357 in my hand, ready if Jean-Paul came to find us.

  “Listen to me very closely, baby,” I rubbed her arms to try and comfort her. “They are going to separate us. I’ll probably go to the hospital.” Not probably. I had to. I felt the blood continue to leak from my lower half and also from my face. “Don’t be afraid. Tell the policemen what happened. You did nothing wrong, understand?”

  She nodded looking confused and scared. I thought for only a second before I decided to tell her the truth.

  “Ellie, this is going to be hard, but I need you to understand. That man downstairs?” I was whispering now. “He’s not your father, baby.”

  I was crying now, thanking God that Jean-Paul had no claim to my child.

  “He’s not?” she asked innocently.

  I shook my head.

  “No baby, he’s not. You haven’t met your daddy yet, but you will.”

  I crossed my heart and smiled at her.

  “He’s a handsome man who is kind and loving.”

  She nodded in my hair. I felt dizzy and tried to hurry before I was swept away in the current. Adrenaline was leaving me, and I was beginning to sway. I put the gun on the nightstand and got a pen from the drawer. I took Ellie’s hand and began to write Roger’s numbers, office and cell, and then Nathan’s and Sheldon’s numbers.

  “You call them as soon as you can, or let one of the officers call, okay?” She might have said yes, but I slid to the floor then.

  “Mommy!” she said, scared.

  I touched her face. So much like Ryan. I wondered again why I hadn’t seen it.

  “I’m okay, baby. If he tries to come in, I want you to use the gun, okay?”

  She nodded. She knew, as I had at her age, how to use a gun. Living in the woods, it was a must.

  “I’m going to close my eyes for a moment, but don’t be scared. Everything will be okay.”

  I lay, trying to stay conscious, until I heard the police and ambulance coming in. Relief flooded me, as I was carried out on a gurney. Ellie rode to the hospital with me, and I gave over to sleeping, holding her hand, praying to God all would be all right.

  …

  I woke hours later to Roger pacing the room.

  “You didn’t sign up for all this, did you?” I said and tried to smile.

  He came, and sat beside my hospital bed. It was night, I noticed, as I glanced at the dark sky outside my hospital window.

  “You’re going to be okay,” Roger said in a whisper.

  Nathan was asleep in a chair, along with Ellie on his lap.

  “Is she okay?” I asked of Ellie.

  Roger glanced at her, then back at me.

  “More than okay,” he smiled. “She’s something, that girl. They have Jean-Paul. He had a few stitches and a head wound, but he’ll be in county lockup till tomorrow, then I’m hoping the big house by next week. Listen, we’ve got to talk.”

  Roger’s voice turned serious and dark. He lightly lifted a chair to scoot in closer to me. I tried to sit up but found it too big a movement just then. Roger raised my bed slightly. We glanced at the sleeping pair every few minutes, to make sure we were not overheard before Roger told me all he’d learned.

  “We were not able to find out much, but what we do know is not good Piper. Jean-Paul and his family ship people from South America into the States by way of various trucks and possibly ports. The individuals pay good money to lie flat in the upper parts of a truck’s bed, hid from anyone who doesn’t know the compartment is there. They only hauled maybe ten at a time, and only once a month. Jean-Paul oversaw this part of the operation, as did his father, Maurice, before he went missing a few years ago.”

  Roger glanced back at Ellie and then returned to me.

  “It’s rumored Maurice fled deep into Mexico, but no one is certain. This was a highly sophisticated operation. After Maurice disappeared, Jean-Paul was treated like a stepchild by his brother, and uncle.”

  I tried to shift to a more comfortable spot. I felt numb, and I noticed a sharp pain in my belly. Roger placed a hand on my shoulder to keep me from moving.

  “Relax,” he warned me. “I believe Maurice brought Jean-Paul to Tennessee to try and give his son a different life. I don’t think Maurice was aware of the extent of Jean-Paul’s evil ways.” Roger sounded almost sorry for Maurice. “They have a high-end brothel in Louisiana. This is where Jean-Paul stayed most of his life. The women there are mostly immigrants from South America, working off debt to bring their children here. They never work it off. Most die there. I was told that Maria was one of them and tried to escape. Instead of doing away with her, they made an example out of her. They gathered all the girls in a room and cut out Maria’s tongue. She nearly died from it. A few years later, Jean-Paul brought her to you, knowing she couldn’t speak.” Roger finished this with disgust, tossing a glance at Ellie and Nathan again.

  “She’s dead, Roger,” I said in a numb voice. I put the hurt away until I could deal with it. “Matthew,” I said, and my heart ached. “Roger, Jean-Paul killed my boyfriend, or caused the accident that did. I think he used to watch us, while we were together in the barn. Looking back now I think a lot of things that didn’t add up about his behavior.”

  This thought made me sick. Matthew and I were so in love, and so innocent. Our time together was the best of my life, and now it would forever be tainted with the thought of Jean-Paul watching from the shadows.

  “I’m afraid there’s nothing we can do about that, Piper.”

  I closed my eyes, and spoke quietly. I truly felt beaten, inside and out. We talked well into the night. I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving my home, but Roger insisted we come to stay with him in New York for a while.

  “You will have to testify. You can come home long enough to do that, and then return to New York, at least until he is put away. Agreed?”

  I reluctantly agreed. We made arrangements for someone to check on the house and horses. I was so thankful for Roger. I tried to convey this, but the words came out choked from my swollen lips. I reached up to wipe my eyes, and gasped from the pain. I felt a long line of sutures just under my right eye. Roger took my hand from my face.

  “You’ll heal,” he said, close to tears himself.

  “How bad?” I asked, now doing inventory on my body.

  Roger looked down at my feet as if talking to them would be easier.

  “There’s twenty staples in your scalp. Your elbow is broken. You have sixteen of the smallest sutures, placed by a skilled plastic surgeon under your eye there,” he said, indicating the place I had touched. “Your ribs are badly bruised, and you have some other bruising here and there, but the biggest concern was from…” Roger stopped and swallowed.

  “From the rape,” I finished for him, in a dead voice I was all too familiar with.

  Roger nodded sadly.

  “Risk of infection, but you’re on good medicines and strong antibiotics. We can continue your care in the city. Piper?” He said my name in a stern voice, to make sure I was listening. “This is a very bad guy we are dealing with. Do you understand?”

  I looked into his eyes, the same color as mine and my dad’s.

  “Yes, I understand.”

  Roger brought his face down to mine, speaking softly so only I could hear him. “There’s a very good possibility that Jean-Paul is responsible for murdering your friend Lana, and nearly killing Nathan.”

  I was stunned silent. That thought chilled me to the bone. Lana’s murderer had never been found.

  “Roger?” I said, desperate and terrified at the thought. “Does he know? About Ryan? About Ellie?”

  Roger looked down at me sadly.

  “I don’t know.” />
  chapter twenty-five

  We buried Maria in our family cemetery. Someday, I wanted to find her children, if I could, and let them know how sweet and wonderful their mother was. Nothing like the monster my mother had been.

  It was a quiet and private burial. I said good-bye to the lady who had cared for me and my daughter so lovingly. So kindly. I stood, leaning on a crutch for a long moment, and felt the breeze that carried the smells of the pines down to where I stood.

  I had suffered, but I would not allow anyone to call me a victim. Things had been done to me against my will and I, by the grace of God, still stood, even though I had been knocked down by people who were supposed to love me the most.

  I was brought up short by the knowledge that I had been murdered in different ways, but still I breathed. I swore by the trees and the sunlight I would not be knocked down again. I would rise from the ashes and be wiser, stronger, and live with all my heart. I placed a hand on Nana’s stone.

  “I screwed up, Nana, but if the Lord lets me, I’ll make it right.”

  I raised my head to the heavens, and prayed silently for strength. For guidance. For forgiveness. For comfort. For Ryan to be healthy and accepting of Ellie.

  “And Daddy, if you can hear me, I miss you something awful.”

  I laid a rock at each of my loved ones’ gravestones, saying a prayer to receive each of their strengths. I wanted Daddy’s pure love of life, Nana’s accepting mind and thoughtful spirit, Papaw’s incredible strength and knowledge, Maria’s kindness. I said a prayer for my dead baby and turned to join my waiting family. I would begin again with a song in my heart.

  “I might be down, but I ain’t out,” I said to Papaw’s stone, as I walked away. I swear, when it was at my back, as I turned to go, I could almost hear him say through the breeze, “Atta girl, Piper.”

  …

  The city of New York was a little overwhelming when compared to my country home. I’d never leave Cosby. It was in my blood, but it was a nice change. Roger spoiled Ellie rotten. While he worked, Ellie and I would walk the streets to do some window-shopping, and we would eat something new every afternoon. We loved the mix of different cultures and religions.

  Ellie was right at home in this city. It both made me sad and excited me to think how fast she was growing and how she was showing an interest in a life I never had. Roger talked me into allowing him to enroll Ellie in a school of arts.

  After only a month she went from playing Chopsticks on the piano to much more complex forms of music. I was so proud. Sheldon and his girls visited, as did Nathan. I got to spend time with Josh, who couldn’t tell me who he was guarding. He laughed when I tried to guess.

  “Donald Trump? Liza Minnelli? One of the Olsen twins?”

  He would shake his head, smiling.

  “I couldn’t tell you if I wanted to. I love you, but give it up.”

  Josh and Matthew were so different when we were younger, but now we were entering our thirties, I saw pieces of Matthew in Josh—the mannerisms I loved so much, the knit in the eyebrows.

  “I still miss him, Josh,” I admitted to him.

  Josh wrapped me up in his big arms.

  “Me too, Piper. Me too.”

  We shared the loss of a kind and gentle spirit. I figured we always would.

  I had to go home and testify against Jean-Paul a few months later. The police had botched some evidence which caused some charges to be tossed out of court. He was sentenced to two years in prison. His lawyer pled him down to lesser charges, and since he had scratches and marks on him from me and Maria, Jean-Paul pretty much got away with murder claiming that Maria had fallen down the steps and must’ve broken her neck then.

  I found out we were never married as Jean Paul did everything to stay off of any legal documents. We were never legally married. I hated the thought of my old pastor taking a bribe, but he was dead and gone now, so there was no use in holding a grudge against the dead, because they could care less about our problems anyway.

  I was ready to return home. I loved the big city, but I wanted my mountains. Ellie begged and pleaded to stay.

  “But Mom, in Europe all kids go away to school,” she whined.

  I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving her. A report from the prison holding Jean-Paul changed my mind instantly. Jean-Paul had corresponded with some of his relatives and was going to try and have Ellie taken from me and sent to live with his family. I was horrified. It scared me to the point of agreeing to whatever kept her most safe. It hurt me deeply to admit she was safest away from me. Jean-Paul was told of Ellie’s paternity, or his lawyers were. Not who her real father was, but that he was for certain, not her father.

  Ryan’s identity, though important and inevitable, would be a secret until he was well. Roger and I had plans to help Ryan, but we would need Sheldon, Josh and Nathan in on it—them, along with a good doctor.

  I was frightened of what would happen next. I felt I would be keeping Ellie safer by separating myself from her. She would remain in New York, and with a heavy heart, I agreed to go home alone.

  “You know how to use your video chat, so it will be like talking from the kitchen to the grand room,” Ellie said, far wiser than her age. Ellie was born with wisdom and acceptance, just like Nana.

  “I guess so,” I said, trying not to make her sad.

  Heavy hearted, I returned to my Cosby home. I would visit every couple of weeks, and Ellie would come home for long weekends and holidays, if her schedule permitted it.

  Nathan returned home with me. He, Sheldon, Roger, and I conspired to try and help Ryan, as Ellie stayed at school with Beatrice and the girls as they split their time between London and New York. It was not going to be easy. I wanted Ryan to know of his child, and how wonderful she was. But I wanted him to be healthy when he did learn of it.

  Ryan was scheduled to be off for a few weeks. Sheldon would bring him to Cosby in hopes of getting him clean and sober. I reluctantly agreed to this, fearing Ryan would hate me for tricking him. I also feared seeing him after all the time that had passed. I thought of him, but would not allow the thought of being with him to take root.

  I was still the dirty, diseased girl Daniel had ruined so long ago. Roger wanted me to prepare the house for a long absence, in case Jean-Paul was released early from prison, a possibility that made my blood boil. I set out for home, with my brother in tow. He surprised me two days later by saying he wanted to bring his girlfriend home, at least until after Halloween.

  I knew Nathan was popular with women; most musicians are, but after Lana he was careful with who he was with, fearful he would relapse. I admired his strength and gladly agreed to meet this mystery woman.

  When his girlfriend arrived, I was overjoyed. She was a tall, dark-skinned black woman, with a whip-like tongue and a huge, kind heart. She was exactly what Nana would have picked for Nathan. Her name was Deedra, but, “Everybody calls me Dee Dee,” she told me.

  She came with leopard-print luggage and a baby English bulldog that Nathan called Dixie, his “pride and joy.” I often came to the kitchen to find Nathan singing to Dixie while cooking. Dixie would watch him with droopy eyes, waiting for falling crumbs from her master. I loved her. She slept with me most nights, and I felt safer with her.

  I was counting down the days till Ryan came. I was a nervous wreck when that day finally came. I decided to be as normal as I could, choosing my jeans and T-shirt for the day. I didn’t want to give the impression I was dressing for him.

  No matter how I felt about him eons ago, and I still had little butterflies in my stomach when I thought of him, there was no way a man of his popularity and money would go for a country bumpkin from Cosby, Tennessee. And even if he did, I could never let him into my messed up world.

  Still, when I heard Sheldon yell, “We’re here!” from the front door, I quickly checked the mirror, to make sure I was neat and as pretty as I could be.

  The scar on my right cheek was a shiny, thin line and was on to
p of the one I already had from climbing a tree with Josh when we were little. It was only noticeable in bright light.

  I made my way out of my room in a daze. Would he remember me? Had he ever thought about me? Who was I kidding? Ryan Knox dated supermodels, at least four to five different ones every year.

  I was the girl with the tragic past and the psycho non-husband who tried to kill me, even if at that moment, I felt like the girl on the beach. I had to steady my breathing as I made my way downstairs.

  chapter twenty-six

  Ryan ~

  I was in the middle of some hick town, because my best friend talked me into it. I didn’t want to be anywhere, especially not at an old farmhouse in a place that doesn’t register on most maps.

  I had to admit though, as I took in the place, it was nice. It was three, maybe four stories, on several hundred acres of breathtakingly beautiful land. There were woods as far as the eyes could see. The mountaintops looked like they were covered in thick white smoke. Hence “smoky” mountains, I thought with a snort.

  I was with Josh and Sheldon. Nathan and Dee Dee were there already, with Nathan’s sister, whom I’d never met.

  “If this girl asks for an autograph, I’m out of here,” I said to Josh.

  He shot me a look of disgust.

  “Dude, get over it. Piper’s not like that.”

  Yeah, right, I thought. In the end, they were all “like that.” We got bags from the car and climbed the porch stairs in front. There were pumpkins and scarecrows here and there. Even in my bad mood, I felt instantly welcome.

  “What kind of name is Piper anyway?” I said wrinkling my nose.

  Sheldon looked back at me, dead serious, and said, “It’s an angel’s name.” Then he smiled and added, “You’ll see,” and followed Josh through the door.

  At the entryway, Sheldon shouted, “We’re here!” tossing down bags and taking off his shoes, revealing his big toe poking through a hole in his sock.

  “You got more money than a Saudi sheikh and you can’t buy decent socks?” Josh teased him.