“I can’t believe you’re leaving your man to have breakfast with your friends,” Jade said as Kandace slid into the car.
“I’m just going to the resort to tell you guys good-bye,” Kandace said with a smile.
“What if we want to stay and play in the snow?” Jade joked.
“Yeah right. I’m sure after one night away from Jaden you’re ready to get back to Charlotte as soon as you finish your coffee.”
Jade laughed. “You know me so well. I’m sure Alicia and Serena are going to complain about how I spent last night talking and texting James. But the pictures he sent of my baby sleeping were so cute.”
“I bet,” Kandace said. “Motherhood looks good on you.”
“You think so? All right, tell me the truth. Are you really serious about Solomon?”
“I-I don’t know. Maybe it’s because of what we’ve been through but I feel this real connection with him and I believe we can be happy together,” Kandace said with a slight smile on her lips.
“What about his reputation and the fact that he lives in New York? How can a relationship work with you two?”
“Let’s see, he has a private jet. And anything worth having is worth working for,” Kandace said. “So I’m going to make him work for me.”
“That’s what I’m talking about,” Jade said. “But seriously, are you sure that you can trust this guy?”
“Did you ask all these questions about James before you married him?”
“Are you thinking about marrying this guy?”
“No, silly. But come on, I thought you would understand our unconventional relationship.”
Jade shrugged as she headed down the street. “I just don’t want to see you hurt, and honestly, I was hoping for a reunion with you and Devon.”
“That was never going to happen,” Kandace said. “Once bitten, twice shy.”
“But he’s changed and I know he wants you. I can’t tell you how many times he’s asked when you’re coming back,” Jade said as they pulled into the parking lot of the resort.
“Why is he worried about me now? And, Jade, I hope you weren’t encouraging that mess.”
Jade threw her hands up after putting her car in park. “I plead the fifth.”
Kandace hopped out of the car. “So, that means yes. What were you thinking? I don’t want to be with a cheater.”
“But you’re falling in love with an international playboy,” Jade pointed out as she followed Kandace in to the lobby. “Makes a lot of sense.”
“Jade, let me handle my love life on my own. I stood up for you and James when Serena and Alicia told the man to stay away from you.”
She nodded. “Okay, you did. But…never mind.”
“No, say it.”
“This guy has a lot more baggage than James came with, and I can’t help but wonder if you’re not in over your head,” she said, her voice filled with concern. “However, you’re a grown woman and whatever you decide to do, I have your back.”
“That’s good to know, because I really believe I’m falling in love with him. And he told me the same thing last night. Before you ask, he’s not on the heavy pain medication anymore.”
Jade laughed. “I wasn’t even thinking that. But it’s good to know.”
They headed in to the resort café where Serena and Alicia had already started eating breakfast.
“Wow, thanks for waiting,” Kandace said.
“The aromas in here were so amazing and Jade drives so slow,” Alicia said in between bites of her homemade banana nut muffin.
“Yes,” Serena said as she took a sip of her latte. “She is slow.”
“Oh, shut up,” Jade said as she swiped a piece of Serena’s blueberry muffin.
The four friends ate breakfast and to Kandace’s surprise, neither Serena or Alicia said anything about her relationship with Solomon.
“I guess we’d better check out and head back to Charlotte,” Alicia said after the women finished eating. “Looks like everything is under control here.”
“Great, because I really miss my baby,” Jade said as she sipped a glass of milk. “And I don’t appreciate you guys drinking all of this coffee around me.”
“No one told you to turn your body into a milk factory,” Serena said as she polished off her second latte. “Let’s get our bags and go.”
Kandace froze in her seat. She didn’t want to enter the lobby or ride up in the elevator to the floors with the suites. The reminders of the shooting would be too fresh. Were there still bullet holes? Calm down. The hotel staff has probably patched everything up and there’s no sign of the horror that happened in that suite, she thought as she slowly rose from her seat.
Alicia saw the look on Kandace’s face and nodded toward Serena and Jade. “You know what, I think I want more coffee,” she said. “You want to join me, Kandace?”
“Sure, I’ll even buy,” Kandace said as she walked over to the counter.
Solomon smiled as the nurse removed his IV, but his happiness was short lived. A moment later Detective Myer entered his room.
“Mr. Crawford, you’re looking well,” the detective said.
“Yeah, I feel like a million bucks. What did I do to receive a visit from New York’s finest?”
“Well, we’re working this investigation with the Avery County officials since we all have serious cases involving the suspect,” he said. “We have Chelsea dead to rights on the murder of her aunt and Danny Jones. Right now, she’s facing attempted murder charges in this jurisdiction and she’s a person of interest in the murder of the housekeeper.”
“So, what do you want from me?” Solomon asked.
“Do I need to leave? I was going to give Mr. Crawford a sponge bath,” the nurse said as she unplugged the IV machine.
“That can wait,” Solomon said as he pushed the button to raise his bed.
The detective nodded. “Yeah, I don’t want to see that much of him.”
The nurse smiled and left the room. Solomon turned to Myer. “So, again, what do you want from me?”
“I need a statement. You feel up to it?”
“She shot me. End of statement. I’m trying to put all of this behind me and Kandace,” Solomon said.
“I’m going to need her statement too. Here’s what I don’t understand. How could you hire her and not know that Carmen De La Croix was an assumed identity?”
Solomon rubbed his eyes. “Her references checked out. What more could I have done? Maybe I acted hastily because I wanted to show up my brother. Carmen was my first big hire after taking over the business.”
Myer shrugged. “I guess I can understand that. She’s not talking and I was hoping you could give me some insight into how I could get her to talk. She seems to think you two had a relationship, and I know your reputation of being a ladies man.”
“Wait a minute,” Solomon said. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Were you involved with her? Did you spur her on?”
Solomon cocked his head to the side and rolled his eyes at Myer. “I thought Carmen, Chelsea, or whoever she is, was my friend. We hung out, we worked together, but this goes back farther than her coming to work with me.”
“What do you mean?” Myer asked as he pulled out his notebook.
“Few years ago, I was getting married,” he said, then pursed his lips when he saw the look of disbelief on the detective’s face. “Look, I wasn’t always the ladies man you think I am. Anyway, things fell apart and this waitress helped to get me out of the reception hall.”
“Chelsea?”
“Yeah. I had no idea she was so disturbed.”
Myer scribbled in his notebook. “Wow, I can’t believe Mr. Page Six was going to get married.”
“Hey, what else do you need from me?” Solomon asked.
“I think that’s it,” he said. “The district attorney will be contacting you when the trial comes up.”
“Knock, knock,” Kandace said as she walked into the room. S
he looked from Detective Myer to Solomon. “What’s going on? She didn’t escape, did she?”
“No, ma’am,” Detective Myer said. “I’m just collecting statements.”
Kandace released a sigh of relief and walked over to Solomon’s bed. “Good,” she said.
“I do need to get your statement,” the detective said.
Kandace’s face blanched. “Can we do this later?”
“Well, I kind of need to wrap up this part of the case,” Myer said. “I only have a few questions.”
Solomon took note of the pained look on Kandace’s face and waved the detective off. “Can you give us a minute?” he asked as he rose from the bed and took Kandace in his arms.
“Sure.”
When they were alone in the room, Solomon lifted Kandace’s chin. “Babe, what’s wrong? You’re shivering.”
“I just don’t want to think about that night. Why do we need to say anything?” she asked as she held on to Solomon.
“It’s just part of the police investigation. They need all the information they can get to make sure they can put Carmen away,” he said in a reassuring tone. He ran his finger down her cheek. “You don’t have to be afraid, Kandace.”
“I just want this to end,” she said. “Had I known the detective was here, I might not have shipped my friends back to Charlotte.”
“Your girls might have gotten you arrested,” Solomon said with a low chuckle. “I’m here and it’s going to be all right, okay?”
She nodded. “Then I guess I’d better get the detective.”
“You don’t have to go right this minute. Let me do this first,” he said as he captured her lips and kissed her with a soft, but intense passion. Kandace lost herself in his kiss and forgot about the detective waiting outside the door or the fact that they were in a hospital room.
“Ahem,” Myer said when he walked into Solomon’s room. “Sorry to interrupt. Miss Davis, are you ready to give your statement?”
Kandace turned and faced the detective. “Yes,” she said. Solomon stroked her shoulder as Detective Myer began his inquiry.
“Miss Davis, what happened when Chelsea came to the suite you were staying in?”
Kandace closed her eyes, going back to the moments she’d prayed she’d forget one day.
Kandace had lain back on the bed waiting for Solomon to return from his business downstairs. Her body had still tingled from the aftershocks of their lovemaking and she couldn’t wait for his return. Just as she had been about to shrug out of her robe, she heard the suite door open.
“Solomon,” she’d called out. “That was quick.” Kandace had hopped off the bed and headed for the door with her robe open. “I was thinking that…It’s you!” Kandace had quickly closed her robe when Carmen had pointed her gun in Kandace’s face.
“So that’s how you did it, you bitch? You parade around naked and let Solomon have his way with you? You’re not the first woman he’s done this with. You’re nothing.”
“Carmen, wh-what are you doing here?” Kandace had asked as she tried to back away from Carmen.
“I could kill you right now, shoot you and let you die. No one would give a damn because Solomon loves me. He only lusts after you like all men lust after sluts,” Carmen had spat. She’d closed the space between her and Kandace, grabbing her face with her cold hands. “You know you’re nothing but a slut. A damned slut who doesn’t have much more than her looks to offer. Solomon will grow tired of you, just like he did with every other woman. Every other woman but me. He needs me and he loves me.” Carmen had pushed Kandace in the corner and pointed the gun at her chest. “Tell me, what am I going to have to do to get you to leave Solomon alone?”
“Shouldn’t that be his choice?” Kandace had asked before thinking.
Carmen had slammed Kandace’s head into the wall. “Shut up, bitch. Solomon is my man. He’s mine and I’m not going to let you have him.”
Carmen had backed away from her, but kept the gun trained on her chest. “He’s my man and you’re not going to keep him away from me!”
“And then,” Kandace said, “Solomon burst into the suite.”
Detective Myer stopped writing and looked up at Kandace, who seemed to be reliving the terrifying night.
“Is that all that happened?” the detective asked.
Kandace’s eyes grew wide. “What more do you want me to say? Do you know how scared I was as I stood there with that gun in my face?” Kandace’s voice rose as she spoke. Solomon stroked her back softly.
“Calm down, babe. It’s all right. She’s gone now. Detective Myer, I think you have enough,” Solomon said.
“Yes, I do. Thanks, Miss Davis. Your statement is going to go a long way in convicting her in North Carolina and New York.”
Kandace fell into Solomon’s embrace as she cried silently. Neither of them noticed when Detective Myer left the room.
CHAPTER 26
Later that afternoon, Solomon was released from the hospital and he and Kandace headed back to the resort. When the car that the resort sent to the hospital to pick them up arrived at the resort, he could feel Kandace tense up. The driver got out of the car to open Solomon’s door.
“You want to go home?” he asked her when she gripped his hand tightly.
“You don’t think I should go in there and face my fears?” she asked as she looked up at the building.
“I think you should do whatever you feel comfortable with. I can have a porter bring your things down and we can head to Charlotte right now.”
“We?” Kandace asked. “What do you mean, ‘we’? You have to recover from your gunshot wound.”
“I can get quality health care anywhere. And the doctor referred me to the clinic the Carolina Panthers and other NFL teams use to help me heal my shoulder. Guess where this place is?”
“OrthoCarolina?” Kandace said, remembering Jade’s brother-in-law, Maurice, having to go there after the football season ended to deal with an injury.
“That’s the place,” he said. “But if you feel like you have to go in here and prove something to yourself, then I’m standing right beside you.”
She took another glance at the entrance of the resort. “Okay,” she said. “I’m a big girl, I can do this.”
Solomon got out of the car first, then he stood aside as Kandace slowly climbed out. He wrapped his good arm around her waist and led her inside the resort.
“Good morning, Mr. Crawford. Glad to see you back,” the front desk clerk said.
Solomon smiled and nodded at her as he and Kandace headed for the elevator. “Are you all right?” Solomon asked as they stepped on the elevator cart.
Kandace took a deep breath and squeezed Solomon’s hand. “I’m fine,” she said. “So far, anyway.”
“That’s good. Remember, I’m right here for you.” The elevator doors opened on the eighth floor and Kandace took another breath.
She could almost hear the officers and the gunshots as they walked to the door of the suite. Kandace’s knees felt as if they were going to buckle underneath her. But she pressed on and walked in to the suite behind Solomon. Kandace half expected to see bloodstains on the floor, but she had to remind herself that nothing happened in Solomon’s suite. Still, the specter of Carmen’s insane actions floated around Kandace’s mind and in every shadow at the resort. Blinking, she tried to clear her mind of the morbid thoughts.
Solomon tried to pull his garment bag from the closet, but he caught a sharp pain in his shoulder. “Damn,” he muttered, bringing Kandace out of her thoughts. She turned to him and crossed over to the closet.
“You have a staff that can do this for you,” she said as she lifted the bag out of the closet and tossed it on the bed.
“You know me. I had to see if I could do it myself first,” he said as he sat down and expelled a breath. “That really hurt.”
“I’m sure it did,” she said, thumping him on the forehead. “Knucklehead.”
“Hey, I already said I was in p
ain and you cause me more,” Solomon joked. “That’s just wrong.”
Kandace winked at him as she picked up the phone and called the front desk. “Want me to kiss it and make it better?” she asked as the phone rang.
“Then let me tell you what else hurts,” he replied with a wily smile.
Slowly, Kandace found herself relaxing in the room. Her mind recalled all of the things she and Solomon did during her vacation—the kissing, the flirting, the lovemaking—things that far outweighed the terrifying moments when Carmen held that gun on her.
Kandace hung up the phone after making arrangements for the staff to come and take their things downstairs. “I have to tell you, my living situation in Charlotte doesn’t come with a staff or a lot of space,” she said, thinking about the two-bedroom town house she’d been renting since moving to North Carolina.
“You’re there, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then that is all I need to get on the road to recovery. Just make sure you keep your girl Serena away from me.”
“I think she should be back in Atlanta by the time we get to Charlotte,” Kandace said, remembering the cryptic conversation she and Serena had when she’d first arrived at Carolina Serenity.
“Good. She’s scary.”
“No, she isn’t. To know her is to love her,” Kandace said with a laugh.
“I’ll take your word for it,” he said. Moments later there was a knock at the door and members of the resort’s porter staff entered and began taking the couple’s luggage downstairs.
“You can’t drive, can you?” Kandace asked.
Solomon shook his head. “Doctors orders.”
“Good thing I have a driver’s license and a car,” she said as he rose to his feet.
“Well, your driving isn’t the only thing I need you for,” he said. “But you’re going to have to take it easy on me when you get me into bed.”
“What did the doctor order about your other activities?” she asked.
Solomon wrapped his good arm around her waist. “I don’t always follow doctor’s orders,” he said before kissing her with a smoldering passion that caused her legs to quake.
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