by Dara Girard
“There’s nothing to talk about. Do as I say or this marriage is over.”
Marie hurried to the apartment number left on her phone. She’d gotten a frantic call from one of the girls, but she wouldn’t explain what was wrong. She knocked on the door, hoping she could be heard over the loud rock music coming from down the hall.
A well-dressed woman answered.
Marie took a step back. “Ericka, what are you doing here? I must have the wrong number.”
Ericka opened the door wider. “No, I’ve been expecting you.”
Marie looked around the dimly lit room, but didn’t step inside. What was going on? Why was her friend here? “Where’s—”
“You’ll find out in a minute.”
She hesitated then entered. She stopped when she saw the girl who’d called her, Yvette Walker, sitting on the bed looking scared. But she wasn’t alone. Aaron sat next to her looking just as terrified.
Marie spun around to Ericka. “What’s going on here?”
“That’s what I need to find out,” another voice said. Marie turned and saw a tall, thin black man step out from another room.
“Ms. Payton, I’m sorry,” Yvette said.
“It’s okay.” But she wasn’t sure. Had Ericka come to intervene? What did this man want? He pointed to Yvette. “This one owes me and this one,” he nodded at Aaron, “ stole from
me.”
Marie swallowed. She knew Yvette had a substance abuse problem, but after four years in the trade that wasn’t unusual. However that didn’t explain why her brother was there. What would he be doing with a drug dealer?
“But I didn’t, I swear,” Aaron said.
The man emptied Aaron’s backpack and uncovered a packet of white powder. “Do you still want to argue?”
Aaron blinked quickly, stunned. “I don’t know how that got there.”
Marie adjusted her glasses, trying to look more confident than she felt. “How much does she owe you?”
“Three thousand.”
That much? Fortunately, she could easily cover it. “I’ll write you a check.”
He laughed, then looked at Ericka, who hadn’t moved, but her eyes continued to watch them. “A check? She’s adorable,” he said.
“I can go to the bank,” Marie corrected.
“That’s better.”
She nodded to the packet. “And you got that back so let’s just pretend—”
“Do I look like a kid to you? I don’t play make-believe and I don’t like thieves.”
“How much more do you want?’
“I don’t want your money. I want to know the best way to punish him. I thought he should work it off.”
“No, let me take the blame, he’s just getting his life started.”
“You’ll take his place?” Ericka said.
“Yes.”
“Even if it means your life?”
“Yes.”
“No, Marie,” Aaron said.
“Shut up.”
Ericka folded her arms. “You love your brother very much.”
“Yes,” Marie said, wondering why her friend suddenly seemed so cold and distant. She’d told her how proud she was of him and how well he was doing in his studies at the university. She hadn’t mentioned how miserable Aaron was or how worried they both were about their mother’s health, which had become fragile recently.
Ericka whispered something to the man, who nodded before saying, “You can all go. You have a week, I’ll contact you again.”
Marie looked at Ericka, relieved her friend had come to help them. She’d been worried for a moment. She ushered Yvette and Aaron into the hallway.
“I swear I didn’t do anything,” Aaron said.
“I’m so sorry,” Yvette said at the same time.
“We’ll talk about this later,” Marie said. At least she’d gotten her and Aaron away from that man—for now. She’d have to find out how her brother had gotten mixed up with him. Before she could ask the sullen figure beside her, her cell phone rang. She looked at the number then answered. “Clara, I can’t talk right now, but—”
“We’re in trouble,” Clara interrupted her.
“What?”
“The investment money is gone.”
Marie gripped the phone, her hands suddenly feeling clammy. “How?”
“It was all a sham. There was no building.”
Marie felt sick. She’d borrowed and used all her savings to get the building. Her finances had been stretched to the limit. Now she wouldn’t have the three thousand to pay Yvette’s debt. There had to be a mistake. She had to talk to Ericka.
Marie raced back to the room, relieved when the door easily opened when she tried the knob. Her heart crashed to her feet when she found the room empty and realized she’d been scammed.
“There seems to be concerns about your involvement with the incident about—”
“I was cleared,” Joscelyn interrupted, not wanting Dr. Swartz to bring up a long ago malpractice suit. Why was that being brought up now? She’d come to his office expecting good news about her promotion.
“Yes, we’ve had an anonymous contact,” he said, resting his hairy forearms on the desk. “New questions are coming to light.”
“Questions?”
“I’m sure they can be answered, but there are concerns about your business’s relationship with Sintex and a young man named Jason Redmon.”
“That incident has nothing to do with me.”
“You’re dating his brother now, correct?”
It was impossible. How could anyone make a connection between her and Jason’s case? She hadn’t meant for Jason to die. She’d hoped Jack would make sure Jason got a good scare. Instead the idiot had hired someone to take him out. At least it had given her a chance to get closer to Tytus. He was determined to find his brother’s killer and she’d help him find the perfect scapegoat. “My private life is none of your business or anyone’s.”
“Unfortunately, there seems to be information to the contrary.”
She hated when people used mealy-mouse words. Why couldn’t he come to the point and tell her what he knew? But she couldn’t be direct either. Feigning innocence had become an art for her. “What information?”
He held out a file. “Perhaps you should read this,” he said.
Joscelyn stared at a file she thought had disappeared for good, but seemed to have risen from the dead.
52
Catherine watched Joscelyn enter the ballroom with Tytus on her arm, looking as if she held the world in her hand. Fortunately, Catherine knew it was all a façade. But she knew she’d have to do a lot more damage to get her to crack. She had Marie scrambling to save her brother, Yvette and her business; Lorna was trying to save her marriage and way of life, and Joscelyn’s chance of being the head of her department was looking like a distant dream as she dealt with the legal issue surrounding the embezzlement case, but Catherine knew her eldest stepsister would need a stronger push to send her over the edge.
She’d had no desire to attend the fundraiser for the hospital, but she had to if she wanted to put the second part of her plan into play. She waited for Joscelyn to be distracted and Tytus moved to the side to talk to other guests. It had only been two weeks since she’d spoken to him in Jason’s apartment, but it felt like ages. He said he wanted to work together, and now she could use him. Catherine quickly checked her reflection, then approached him.
“Hello,” she said.
He turned. “You’ve ignored my calls and texts.”
“I’ve been busy.”
“And you’re not busy anymore?”
“No,” she said, glancing to the side to see if Joscelyn was paying attention to them. Just as she hoped, her sister’s gaze had focused in on them. Catherine smiled up at Tytus, then brushed something from his cheek.
He grabbed her wrist. “What was that?”
She shivered, wishing his touch didn’t always affect her so strongly. “You had something on your c
heek,” she said, keeping her smile in place so that her sister could misinterpret his gesture.
Tytus narrowed his eyes. “Don’t make me part of your game.”
“You don’t like playing games?” Catherine asked, struggling to keep her smile in place.
“Not when I’m the toy.”
“I’d never toy with you.” She glanced at Joscelyn. “Please let me go.”
He glanced at Joscelyn, then returned his gaze to her. “No,” he said, then covered her mouth with his.
For a moment the world stopped and just as suddenly started spinning again. She stared up at him, wondering if she’d just imagined it all, but his heated gaze told her it had all been very real. She bit her lip, panicked. He shouldn’t have kissed her, no matter how briefly. He’d raised the stakes higher than she’d planned to. “You shouldn’t have done that.”
“Why not?”
She glanced at Joscelyn and saw the cool mask in place, but knew not to be fooled. Her sister was boiling. She’d made an enemy. But so had he.
His gaze searched her face. “What aren’t you telling me?”
So much. How could she protect him now? “Go to her now and tell her that I made you kiss me.”
He raised a brow. “And why would I do that?”
Because she’s more dangerous than you realize. “She cares about you.”
“I can’t help that.”
“And you care about her.”
He shrugged. “We’re not exclusive.” He narrowed his gaze. “But you didn’t answer my question.”
“Please go to her.”
“You’re trembling. Tell me—”
“I’ll explain later.”
He shook his head. “No, you’ll explain now,” he said, then led her outside the ballroom. Once they were alone in the hallway, he said, “What has gotten you so frightened?”
“I wish you hadn’t kissed me. What did you do that for?”
“What do you want to ignore more—my question or how I feel about you?”
Both. “You don’t know me.”
“You’re making that very hard. What are you keeping back or should I ask Joscelyn?” He turned.
She grabbed his arm. “No,” she said, quickly releasing him when he faced her. She took a step back as if she’d just happened upon a lion.
“What is it between you two?” he asked, his compelling eyes holding her still.
“Your brother met with her.”
“So what?”
“I believe that Joscelyn is responsible for what happened to him.”
The corner of his mouth kicked up in a cynical smirk. “You think Joscelyn’s a killer? Impossible.”
No, it’s not. You don’t know her as well as I do. She’s capable of anything. “She may—”
“She didn’t kill my brother.”
“How do you know? She—”
“She couldn’t have.”
“Why not?”
“Because she spent that night with me.”
His words hit her like shards of ice. He was her alibi! She had meant to tell him what she’d discovered about Joscelyn, but now knew that would be useless. She didn’t know why the thought of Joscelyn being with Tytus made her heart sink. She knew they were close, but hadn’t thought they’d become intimate. She looked at him through new eyes, seeing a stranger.
What kind of man was this? How could he sleep with one woman and kiss another? He’d been toying with her about his dream of the bed, of his feelings for the woman in the past. She’d learned there were few people she could trust, and she was glad she hadn’t completely trusted him and knew she never would. Her heart bled a little, but her steely resolve helped to fuse it close, wrapping her heart in iron. She had no claim on him now, or ever.
He was in bed with the enemy and that made him an enemy too.
“But I haven’t been with her since—”
“It doesn’t matter,” Catherine said, wishing that were true. Wishing the iron around her heart didn’t melt a bit. She wanted to hate him or feel neutral, but she couldn’t. Her emotions weren’t important, it was defeating Joscelyn. “There are a few things you don’t know—”
“Can I join or is this a private party?” Joscelyn said, approaching them.
“I was just sharing memories about Jason,” Catherine said, not surprised that Joscelyn had made an appearance. She’d expected her sooner.
Joscelyn wrapped an arm around Tytus’s arm. “I know you’re heartbroken because you lost one brother, but don’t expect to get the other.”
A cold and callous remark. Her stepsister so wanted to hurt her that she didn’t notice how Tytus flinched or the expression of pain that briefly crossed his face. “You sound jealous,” Catherine said. “Don’t you trust your man?”
Tytus pulled his arm away. “I’m nobody’s—”
“I’m a very jealous woman,” Joscelyn said in a cool tone.
Catherine winked at her. “That’s good to know.” She turned.
“Don’t mess with me, Ms. Williams.”
Catherine walked away, unable to stop a smile. I already have.
53
“What were you two talking about?” Joscelyn demanded once Evelyn was out of hearing.
“She told you,” Tytus said, watching Evelyn return to the ballroom. “Jason.”
Joscelyn studied his face for a long moment. “But she bothers you.”
“Yes.” She bothered him more and more every day. And now he wondered if she was more connected to his brother’s murder than she let on. She seemed determined to use him to get at Joscelyn. He didn’t like being used. His brother was a true innocent, but Evelyn definitely wasn’t and she was starting to make him angry. No, he was already angry. “She’s not all that she seems.”
“What makes you say that?”
“I know I’ve met her before.”
“I had that same feeling.”
He looked at her curious. “Where do you think you’ve met her?”
“I don’t know.”
He rested his hands on his hips. “I do,” he said in a grave tone.
Joscelyn’s tone sharpened. “Where?”
“A long time ago in England, but her name wasn’t Evelyn.”
“It was something else? What?”
“She was just called Epic.”
Joscelyn frowned. “That’s strange.”
“It was a stage name. She worked with two other people. They seemed shady but she was the real thing.”
“What did she do?”
“She read dreams.”
She read dreams!
Joscelyn sat in her Jacuzzi as the soft sound of a string quarter came through the speakers. She had to be calm and rational. She scooped up water and watched it slip through her fingers. She hadn’t been able to convince Tytus to spend the night with her again. He’d been a magnificent lover and she was eager to repeat their time together, but he kept turning her down. At first she’d blamed his brother’s death and that was understandable, but now she was growing impatient. They were perfect for each other and it was time that he saw that.
She read dreams.
Joscelyn briefly closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Evelyn was trying to anger her, but it wouldn’t work. She’d underestimated Tytus. Joscelyn remembered the look of annoyance on his face when Evelyn left. He may have kissed her, but the moment had been fleeting and meaningless. She’d chosen him for a reason and although he didn’t know why, Joscelyn was beginning to suspect the reason.
Was she…? She hadn’t thought of her in so long and didn’t want to say her name. She was supposed to have disappeared from their lives for good.
But there was something very familiar about Evelyn that she couldn’t deny, but after all these years, how had she managed to escape and set herself up so well? She wasn’t that bright. A scheme like this would take cunning that her stepsister hadn’t possessed. It could just be a coincidence.
But she wouldn’t leave anything to chance, sh
e had to find out more. If what she suspected was true, she could understand why their lives seemed suddenly under attack. Lorna’s marriage had broken up, Marie’s business was on the brink of financial ruin and she’d asked for an emergency loan of three thousand dollars, not telling her what the money was for, when Marie had hardly spoken to her for years. She hadn’t gone to her mother for the loan because of their mother’s declining health.
Joscelyn ran her hand over the surface of the water. She had to find out if her suspicions were correct. She could let Evelyn know about their mother’s health and see how it affected her. Her stepsister always had a soft spot for their mother and that would give her the upper hand.
“This is very generous of you,” Vera said when Joscelyn arrived in Vera’s office and handed her a check to support the charity Vera supported. She looked at the large amount then back up at the younger woman. “What made you decide to help us?”
Joscelyn took a seat in front of her. “Evelyn told me about it.”
“Evelyn didn’t tell me that she knew you, but then again, I don’t know all of her friends.”
And I’m certainly not one of them. “Yes, well, she told me all about you.”
“Oh she’s been such a blessing to me and her father.”
“Is it true that you found her after searching for many years?”
“Yes, it’s no secret. Although she’s only been in our life for a few years, it feels as if I’ve known her all my life.”
“But do you know much about her life before?”
Vera put the check away in a drawer. “She doesn’t like to talk about her past. Especially Catherine.”
Joscelyn froze. No, it couldn’t be. “Who?”
“Catherine. Her dear friend. They met in England and were together for at least three years. Everyone in the village thought they were sisters because they looked so much alike.”
They looked alike? Her name was Catherine? Catherine!!
“How did she meet this Catherine?” she asked, her fingers tensed in her lap.
“The women she worked for found her. She told Evelyn that she’d run away, saying she’d been enslaved for years. Can you imagine such a thing still exists?”