Alpha Crusher: A BWWM Romance Novella

by Shani Greene-Dowdell

  “Joe!” I chuckled, gently touching his shoulder.

  He grinned at me but held back his laughter as if it would hurt to do so.

  The door opened, and Detectives Jones and Murray came in.

  “Hello, Miss McBride and Mr. Joe,” the detectives said.

  “Joe, this is Detective Jones and his partner, Detective Murray,” I introduced them.

  “Hello, detectives,” Joe spoke.

  “How did you know he was awake?” I asked the men who looked eager to question Joe.

  “We have our ways of finding out things,” Detective Murray replied.

  “Joe, tell the detectives everything you remember,” I said.

  "I perceived a foul smell, and I asked the other guys if they did also," Joe began. He coughed and continued, "But they all said no, so I decided to inspect the rooms to see if there was an electrical fault in any of the rooms."

  “Okay,” Detective Jones said.

  “I went into one of the rooms and almost choked on the smell of gas,” Joe said. “I was surprised because there was no way there could be gas on the site because we made it a rule that there shouldn’t be any flammables at the building sites including…” Joe coughed and winced as pain filled his eyes.

  “Joe, are you okay?” I asked.

  “Including what?” Detective Jones pressed.

  “Including lighter and cigarette,” Joe replied. “It was forbidden, and the workers were aware of this rule. I leaned over the window and saw a woman running toward a black car.”

  “A black car? A sedan?” I asked.

  “Yes, a black sedan,” Joe replied.

  “Is there a problem, Miss?” Detective Jones asked.

  “Rebecca was at my house yesterday, and she drove a black Sedan.”

  “Rebecca Rice?” Detective Murray asked.

  “Yes,” I replied.

  “Do you know Miss Rice?” Detective Murray asked Joe.

  “Yes, I know her, but I don’t think she was the person I saw,” Joe replied.

  “Why was she at your house?” Detective Murray asked me.

  “She came by to tell me something personal,” I said.

  “I thought you weren’t friends with her,” Detective Jones commented.

  “We aren’t. She came by uninvited,” I said. “She had something to tell me that doesn’t have anything to do with the fire.”

  “Is that right?” Detective Murray asked, raising a brow suspiciously.

  “Yes,” I said defensively.

  “Mr. Joe, what else did you notice the morning of the fire?” Detective Jones asked Joe. “Can you describe the woman you saw?”

  “She had long black hair, and I remember thinking she was hot,” Joe said. “When the gas exploded, the door closed and jammed, and I didn’t have the key with me.”

  “So you jumped,” Detective Jones concluded.

  “Yes, I had to,” Joe said and looked as if he were remembering that dreadful moment.

  “You didn’t see her face?” Detective Murray asked.

  “No, I didn’t. All I saw was the back of her,” Joe said.

  “We will invite Rebecca to the station and question her again,” Detective Jones said. “In the meantime, if you remember anything, be sure to give us a call.” Detective Murray handed Joe his card, and the two detectives left.

  Joe looked at me and grinned.

  “What is it?” I asked, placing my hands on my hips.

  “It’s you… there’s something different about you,” he observed me closely.

  “Hey, I’m still your boss,” I said. “Are you trying to hit on me, mister?”

  He grinned and shook his head. “Where’s Mr. Levine?”

  I felt butterflies in my stomach at the mention of Ward’s name. My mind flashed back to the last time he made love to me, and the way his hands felt on my breasts. I could still feel him all over me.

  “Aha… that’s it,” Joe said.

  “What?” I asked.

  “It’s him, isn’t it?” Joe asked. “You’re in love.”

  My heartbeat quickened. I had to meet with Maggie in about an hour, so I told Joe, "I have to go. Make sure you do whatever the doctors tell you. I'll bring you dinner later." And I left before he could ask any more questions about Ward.

  ***

  It took me an hour to get to the ranch. All the way there, I wondered if I was doing the right thing. Rebecca had told me Ward was trying to sabotage me. I knew who Rebecca was and what she was capable of, but did I know what Ward was capable of? I wanted to believe I knew him, but a girl could never be sure.

  The ranch was busy when I arrived, but I was able to find someone who showed me where Mrs. Maggie Jimmy was. She was in the stable, feeding the horses. Looking at her, one wouldn't know she was the wife of a wealthy and powerful politician. She was casually dressed in work boots, a faded shirt, and pants. Her auburn hair was pulled into a ponytail, which made her look younger than her age.

  “Hello, Mrs. Jimmy,” I said.

  “Hi, Mira, what a pleasant surprise,” she said, “I would have hugged you, but I’m sweaty,”

  “It’s alright,” I said.

  She gave me a warm hug. “Shall we go inside the house?”

  “I’m sorry for coming here uninvited,” I said.

  “It’s okay. You are always welcome here. You are Ward’s girl, so we are family now,” she said warmly.

  “Thank you. Can I help you feed the horses?”

  She looked at me and laughed. “Honey, are you sure?”

  “Yes, one summer, my parents took me to a ranch camp, and I had a wonderful experience there,” I said.

  “Okay, first, let me introduce you.” She handed me a basket of fruits and took me to each stall and introduced me to the horses. Some of the horses let me pet them while some of them were not in a friendly mood. “You are doing a good job,” she said.

  “Thank you, Mrs. Jimmy,” I replied.

  “Oh, girl, just call me Maggie,” she insisted.

  “Thank you, Maggie.”

  “You are welcome,” she replied. “The horses love you, especially Grey and Rainbow.” She pointed to two old horses with an affectionate expression on her aging yet gracefully beautiful face.

  “That’s because I gave them two apples each,” I said.

  She chuckled. “What can I offer you? I have apple pie, lemonade…”

  “I’m fine, Maggie.”

  “How’s Ward? He hardly visits the ranch,” she said with a sad look in her eyes.

  “He’s fine. Maggie, I came here because of Ward,” I said.

  “Is something wrong?” she asked.

  “No, I just want to know more about him. He’s so mysterious.”

  "Well, Ward is headstrong, just like you," she said and laughed. “I’ve been married to a headstrong man for over forty years, so I know how it is. Thank you for giving my boy a chance; he’s a good man.”

  “I truly feel that he’s a good man, but sometimes, I don’t know who he is,” I said. “He doesn’t talk about himself, his family, or his feelings. I’m not close to my family, and I don’t like talking about myself either, but I want to know more about him.”

  She sighed and held out a carrot to Grey.

  “Ward had a turbulent childhood. He came to the ranch when he was twelve. I raised him as my son, and I love him dearly. But I can’t give you the answers you seek. You can trust him with your emotions, pains, and bare your heart to him. Talk to him about your fears, your past, and he will in return learn to trust you. That’s how I built a relationship with him.” She smiled at me genuinely. “I know you are in love with him, and believe me, he’s in love with you too. I have never seen Ward look at a woman the way he looks at you.”

  “Do you really think Ward is in love with me?”

  “Oh yeah!” Her face showed fine lines of wisdom and age. “Now, go have that talk with him.”

  “Thank you, Maggie.”

  She hugged me close to her
bosom.

  “Mira, you should give your parents a call too,” she advised. “There’s nothing more important than family.”

  “Maggie…I don’t know what to say to them.”

  "Your heart will know the words to say when the time comes," she said.

  “Thank you for this talk. I appreciate it,” I told her as I prepared to leave.

  “Just repay me by taking care of Ward.”

  I smiled. “I will,” I promised her and left the ranch feeling like I knew Ward a little better, but more importantly I knew I also needed to reach out to my own family.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Ward

  It was past 10 p.m., and no one had seen or heard from Mira since she left the hospital this morning. I called the detectives to inform them she was missing, and I called her secretary who hadn’t heard from her all day. I went to the police department and was told nothing could be done unless she had been missing for twenty-four hours. So I went to the hospital again, thinking she would have shown up, but she wasn’t there.

  “Did she tell you where she was going?”

  “No,” Joe said. “Have you tried to call her?”

  “I have, and she’s not answering,” I said, upset that I wasn’t by her side to keep her safe. “God, please keep her safe… I can’t lose her,” I said.

  “You love her, Mr. Levine?” Joe asked with a sheepish look on his face.

  “She means the world to me, Joe. I don’t just love her, I’m in love with her,” I said. “And call me Ward. We’re past the Mr. Levine stage.” I cracked a small smile.

  “Ward, she’ll be fine. She’s a tough cookie,” Joe said.

  “You said you saw the person who tried to burn down the building?” I asked, searching for a shred of light on what was going on.

  “Yes, it was a hot female. Wait… I just remembered something! She drove into the mall opposite the building site. Maybe we can check their camera, and I can identify her.”

  “Let me get Detective Jones on the phone, so you can tell him that.” I called the detectives and passed the phone to Joe. He handed the phone to me when they were done talking.

  “Detective Jones said they will go to the mall tomorrow. I hope they catch that criminal. They tried to take Mira down and almost killed me.”

  “Yeah, I hope they catch them, especially for what they did to you,” I said and sank down into the chair next to Joe’s bed. “Man, where could she be? I’m about to go crazy.” I stood up and started pacing. I just couldn’t be still without knowing where Mira was. “I’m going to drive to her house again to see if she’s back.”

  As I headed to the door, the fragrance of Mira’s perfume wafted into the room and assailed my senses. When I saw her walking toward me, I ran to her and embraced her.

  “Mira! Where were you? Why didn’t you tell anyone where you were going?” I said.

  She placed her finger on my lips to silence me.

  “Ward, I love you. I’m in love with you,” she said softly.

  “I’m in love with you, Mira McBride,” I said. I closed my eyes to breathe in the moment. I thought I had lost her, and I was going crazy.

  "We need to talk, Ward," she said, pulling me toward the door.

  “Yes, we do,” I followed closely behind her. “Bye Joe,” I said as he smiled at Mira and me as we left his room.

  “See you two tomorrow,” he said.

  “I’ll be back to check on you bright and early,” Mira told him, and we left.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Mira

  "Rebecca came to see me. She told me you tried to ruin her," I spat it out like an accusation though it was meant to be a question.

  Ward sat on the sofa beside me and exhaled sharply. “She’s crazy. She came here again and tried to manipulate me, but I sent her away. I’ve been trying to tell you she came back, but I couldn’t get in touch with you."

  "In so many words, she said you are trying to sabotage me, so that you can take over my company," I said, this time more humbly.

  Ward looked visibly upset. He looked into my eyes and said, "That woman will say anything to get what she wants. When Joe told me he worked at M&M, I researched the company and discovered it’s one of the successful and credible construction firms in the state. I’d heard about it and knew you guys were doing well, but after my research, I wanted to buy it.”

  “I would never sell my company,” I said in a sharp tone.

  “I know that now, but I’m telling you what I was thinking when I first met you. When I discovered you owned the company, I wanted to seduce you. Then, I got to know you, and you are different than any woman I’ve ever met. That’s why I decided to hire you to build an office duplex for me at a low price. I thought I could make you build the office cheaper than other contractors would. But you made me pay double what I intended to pay.” He chuckled, obviously remembering the hard bargain I drove during negotiations. “You are nobody’s pushover. And the time we’ve spent together has been priceless. You are a special woman Mira, and I love you.”

  "I won’t lie and say Rebecca didn’t plant a seed of uncertainty, but deep down, I know you wouldn’t do the things she suggested. Thanks for telling me the truth.”

  “I will always be honest with you, Mira,” he said, moving closer to me. “Now, where were you today? I thought something had happened to you.”

  “Ward, I went to the ranch to see your aunt,” I admitted. “Then, I called my brothers and my parents. They are in town because my older brother, Brandon, is about to propose to his fiancé this weekend.”

  “It’s good that you talked to your family,” he said with a smile. “Are you going to be there for the proposal?”

  “Yes, my brother invited me. He said he was going to call me this week, but who knows if that’s true? Everyone else already knew about it,” I said sadly.

  “The most important thing is that you two talked,” Ward said.

  “Yeah, but it makes me feel like shit to know he was about to have this big engagement party, and, had I not called him, I wouldn’t have known. And he’s right here in New York,” I said, forcing back the hot tears that threatened to sting my eyes.

  “Mira, from now on, I don’t want you to ever feel like you’re alone. If no one else is here for you, I’m here, baby.”

  “Thank you, Ward.”

  “And who knows? Today could be the beginning of a new start for you and your family. Just try to keep the communication lines open with them and see what happens.”

  “I will. It felt so good talking to them. It was like old times. We just all let our careers, misunderstandings, and egos get in the way of our relationship… at least, that’s what Mom said.”

  “I could see that happening with you,” Ward said and laughed.

  “Oh, you can, huh? Well, you have a pretty big ego yourself, Mr. Levine!”

  “Oh, baby. I like it when you call me Mr. Levine. I think you should go back to that.”

  I laughed. “I bet you do.”

  “You said you went to the ranch today. What made you go there?”

  “I wanted to know more about you, so I had to talk to the woman closest to you,” I said.

  “Oh, so this is some type of women teaming up against the men thing? All you had to do was ask me what you wanted to know.”

  “What happened to your birth mother?” I asked, and his smile disappeared without a trace.

  "Neither of my parents wanted to be parents. When my mother got pregnant, they decided to get married for my sake. They quarreled all the time, and they never showed me love. My father was hardly ever at home, and my mother was either busy planning a soiree or attending one. They divorced when I was twelve, and I had to live at the ranch. During the divorce proceeding, the judge wanted to know which of them would take custody of me, and they both pointed at each other. My mother said my father should have me. My father bluntly refused to take custody of me."

  “Oh, Ward. I’m sorry.”

 
“Aunt Maggie spoke up and said she would take me, so I had to go live on the ranch. Thank God, she’s a wonderful woman. She’s been so good to me. But I couldn’t stand seeing my parents when they came around. I couldn’t bear being treated like a stranger by my own parents, so I left the ranch when I was eighteen.”

  “Where are they now?” I asked.

  “My mother has remarried. She married a wealthy Russian politician, and they live in London. She sends a postcard every year, but I never read them. My father died in a car accident when I was nineteen. He willed his properties to me, but I haven’t touched a dime of the money. His lawyers called me the first night you were here asking what I’d like to do with my inheritance, but I have told them and my uncle that I don’t want it.”

  So that was the call he took while the doctor was fixing my hand a few months ago, the call that made him look like he’d seen a ghost.

  "I'm sorry, Ward," I said, touching his shoulder. "Your parents don’t know what they missed out on. You’re a good man, and it's their loss they didn't love and care for you as they should.”

  “As far as I’m concerned, they are both dead to me. I don’t want to have anything to do with my mother any more than she wants anything to do with me,” he said, and his voice rang with finality.

  “Ward, you have to forgive them to be free of the way they treated you."

  “I’ll never forgive them, but I’m free, Mira. Having you to talk to about it makes me feel better.” He paused, and I could see his mind shifting gears. “Now, tell me more about your family. How did your parents stay together for so many years?”

  “There was a time when they were so much in love, or so it seemed to me,” I said. “My dad used to play jazz music, and my mom and I would dance and sing along. I never saw my parents argue. Dad used to make dinner while mom and I would cuddle up on the couch. My brothers were close to each other, so they were often together playing video games or talking about girls,” I chuckled and my lips curved into a smile. “My brothers used to bully me until I stood up to them, and they started to respect me.”

  “Putting tough guys in their place since you were a little girl, huh? I’m not surprised,” he said with a look of amazement dancing across his strong cheekbones.