Taj nodded. "The office hadn't even opened yet and Penelope came here crying. What she went through was eating her up. I think she would get closure with justice. I hope you find whoever did this to her and of course I hope that others will come forward if this is a serial rapist."
Natasha pushed around her entree and then nodded. " I agree with you and so does my Supe; that's why I am here as a student again."
Taj smiled. "That's nice. So I get to see more of you?"
Natasha nodded. "I have a new partner too. He is a rookie, as green as ever. I think I miss Harry."
Taj linked his fingers with hers. "It will be nice to have you around again. I have been here barely three months but I feel especially close to you."
Natasha nodded. "Same here."
"Remember I told you about my high school girlfriend, April?"
Natasha stiffened. She felt unaccountably jealous whenever Taj mentioned her. She was not the jealous type but whenever Taj mentioned April he had a softened look in his eyes for the girl, and she didn't trust it.
Taj released her fingers and sat back in his chair. She'll be spending three days up here at the guesthouse near campus.
"Isn’t she married?" Natasha asked sharply, "and has a son?"
"Yes." Taj nodded.
"Are they coming too?"
Taj shook his head. "No, she's coming for work. Apparently, she is responsible for selling some property near the university. She'll be here for a little while, it would be nice to catch up with her."
"Is her husband comfortable with that?" Natasha asked skeptically.
"I am sure he is," Taj said gently, he had his psychiatrist voice on. "It's her job you know, she's into real estate."
Natasha frowned. "You still have a thing for her."
"No!" Taj said explosively. "I don't."
"Yes you do," Natasha said warming up to her theory. "When you call her name you say it reverently…April." Natasha said breathlessly imitating him.
Taj shook his head.
"Then say it." Natasha challenged.
Taj grinned. "This is ridiculous!"
"Say it." Natasha looked at him, daring him to prove her wrong. "Go on."
Taj shrugged. "April." His voice caught at the end of the last vowel. He cleared his throat.
Natasha shook her head wonderingly. "She must be some girl. How was it between you two? Some epic romance."
Taj was feeling hot under his collar. "Natasha, I haven't committed a crime. I am your friend, remember? Why are you interrogating me like a murder suspect?"
"Because I may not be a psychiatrist and able to read people at the drop of a hat, but I am sensing a denial here. Why don't you be honest with yourself? You still have a thing for April."
Taj sighed. "I mentioned her coming because I wanted you to meet her. This jealousy charge is totally uncalled for. April is one of my oldest friends. We went to high school together."
"Yes, I remember," Natasha said waspishly. "Your high school sweetheart. That's so cute."
Taj looked at her beautiful features. She had her hair in a loose ponytail and she didn't have on a scrap of makeup. Her fair skin was flushed and her eyes were flashing sparks at him. She was eaten up with jealousy.
He smiled inwardly—and yet she didn't want to declare any deep feelings for him. She was biding her time, taking it slow but April seemed to be her Achilles heel. She looked as if she was ready for war.
He hadn't even realized that he had a certain inflection to his tone when he called April's name. He guessed some habits died hard and just a little piece of him would always love April.
Just last year, when he called her for her birthday, he remembered thinking that he would marry her at the drop of a hat if anything happened to her husband, Shemar. Of course, he had squelched that thought. He had castigated himself for even letting the thought drift into his mind.
He got up and kissed Natasha hard on her lips.
"Stop being jealous. I'm with you, aren't I? April is out of bounds…she's happily married."
Natasha looked him in the eyes and nodded reluctantly.
Chapter Five
Natasha had agreed to meet Tony at the school's music building. He was supposed to get all the names of the persons in Penelope Harris' orchestra class. They would isolate all the males in the group and interview them one by one.
Natasha met Tony in the orchestra director's office. The director was a wiry, birdlike man who constantly flapped his hands around and was remarkably fidgety, as though he had a problem with his nerves.
"His name is Dr. Hayles," Tony had whispered to Natasha when she entered the office and sat down across from him at his desk.
"I really am perturbed by this event." Dr. Hayles said, wiping his glasses for the fifth time since she sat down.
"Do you know any of the orchestra students who could have done this?" Natasha asked him softly, not wanting to spook him. He looked as if a loud noise would send him cowering under his desk in fear.
Hayles looked offended. "As I told the young man..."
"Detective Beaker." Tony said with clenched teeth. He kept reminding Dr. Hayles of his name but Dr. Hayles insisted on calling him the ‘young man.’
Dr. Hayles twitched nervously and cleared his throat. "As I told Detective Beaner."
"Beaker." Tony growled.
"Okay, what did you tell him?" Natasha asked impatiently. At the rate they were going, she wouldn't get an answer anytime soon.
"Nobody in my orchestral group would do such a thing. The night in question, of which you speak, there were only ladies practicing, except for Josh. He is the leader of the first violin section, and I assure you, he couldn't be a suspect. He is in a wheelchair!"
"What about you?" Natasha asked. "Where were you?"
Dr. Hayles looked at her, an expression of disbelief crossing his face. "You would think I would do such a thing?"
"I don't know you," Natasha said. "I have to ask. I am sorry if the question offends."
"I was here waiting for Josh's mother to pick him up. They have a special vehicle for him."
Natasha nodded. "What time did she arrive?"
"At eight-fifteen," Dr. Hayles said incredulously. "I can't believe I am being questioned about rape, and with Penelope, of all the young girls in the world!"
"Why'd you say that?" Natasha asked.
"Well she's..." Hayles' eyelid twitched. "She's pompous and snobbish and believe me, I deal with snobbish people all the time. She acts as if she owns people."
Natasha's eyebrows rose curiously. "Really?"
"Yes," Dr. Hayles said expansively. "I think Penelope believes she is the queen and the rest of the world her subjects. I know that rape is an act of aggression, but maybe she ticked off the wrong guy who has aggression issues and he wanted to teach her a lesson."
Natasha nodded. "You said that a little bit too smugly, but thank you for the insight."
She left the office with Tony and looked around the front lawn. They silently traced a path down the road from the music building, almost half a mile to the ornamental gardens. The gardens looked so tranquil and peaceful in the light of day. They walked right to the spot where the incident took place and looked up at the hidden camera.
"If only he didn't have on that hoodie." Tony said, looking around.
Natasha murmured. "We need some leads to catch this guy."
"We already have clues," Tony said drawing out his notebook. "What Dr. Hayles said was a clue. If the victim acted a certain way, probably she refused a guy some attention and he took it out on her aggressively…you know, to teach her a lesson, to humiliate her, or to degrade her. It might not even be something she said to him directly. As well as she may have just been his type."
Natasha nodded contemplatively. "We are looking for a guy who hates rejection and probably has mommy issues and who wants women to be subjected to him."
Tony nodded. "Or someone who is uncomfortable with women bossing him around. Maybe, he is frus
trated and just wants to teach all women a lesson."
Natasha frowned. "That could be anyone."
"Not me," Tony said feelingly. "Not all men want to teach women a lesson. I like a strong sassy woman who knows what she wants…somebody like my mother. No wilting violet for me."
Natasha smiled. "Good for you Tony. So what's our next move?"
"We wait, or use you as bait," Tony said. "Are you up for it?"
"Definitely," Natasha growled. "I would love to teach the rapist a lesson of my own."
***
Micah was trying to decipher a purchase order when Charlene Binkley walked into his office. She had on thick farmer's gloves and a box of produce in her hands.
"Micah, these are from our aquaponics greenhouse. The cafeteria ordered loads of them but we have much more to sell. I hope your supermarket can handle them."
Micah dropped his pen. "What about protocol, Charlene? You call me first and ask if I want them in the supermarket."
Charlene placed the box on the floor.
"I know protocol but I had five boxes of very fine romaine lettuce passing by the campus supermarket. Why should I go all the way to the Agri Department to call you to ask if you want them? They are perishable you know." She grinned at him. "Besides you always take them."
Micah frowned. "I don't like the feeling that you guys in Agri think I am a push over."
Charlene giggled. "Maybe, because you are."
She dusted off her jeans and sat down in the chair across from him.
"How are things going?"
"Fine," Micah said grumpily. "Today is not my day though."
Charlene laughed. "How long now have I known you?"
"A year?" Micah asked.
Charlene laughed. "A whole year and every time I visit this office you look put upon…harassed…beat down."
"Well my father was the vice president and a micro-managing fiend but I was never so grumpy until a certain female became obsessed with me."
Micah looked at her appreciatively. She was tall and slim. She always dressed in baggy clothes and had on her ever-present gloves. Charlene was obsessed with farming and always smelled earthy with a faint whiff of soil. Micah decided that he liked earthy. She was his type of girl. She wasn't pretty and she wasn't ugly either. She had expressive eyes and a wide mouth that always seemed to be ready to smile, but couldn't recall seeing Charlene without a hat. He had no idea how her hair looked and she never wore makeup. He found her low-key approach to dressing and life appealing.
She was smiling at his statement, a little tilt to her lips, which invited him to smile too.
"My stepsister giving you trouble?" Charlene asked.
"Your stepsister!" Micah exclaimed. "You are related to Deidra?"
"Yup." Charlene said laughing. "Please don't hold it against me."
Micah shook his head. "She is something else."
Charlene nodded and then stared at Micah seriously. "I know she is, and I find her throwing herself at you appalling, but please, have some patience with her. Deidra isn't a bad girl or even wild. She is just, how would you put it… not able to handle emotions in a healthy way."
Micah nodded doubtfully. "That's a very nice way of putting it."
Charlene grinned. "She is her father's only child you know?"
"Doesn't everybody know that?" Micah sighed. "She is spoilt rotten by the senator."
"Only with material things," Charlene shrugged. "But his time and attention, Deidra did not grow up with that. Maybe if you knew a little bit about her history, you would find her easier to deal with."
"I don't want to have to deal with her," Micah said. "I don't like her!"
Charlene shook her head. "I think you can help her though. Deidra seems to genuinely like you. I have never seen her so taken with someone before."
"Help her?" Micah shook his head. "Strangle her is more like it. She has decided that I am going to be her next plaything."
Charlene shrugged. "Uncle Edward is not a very good role model where relationships are concerned. He's been married five times. His first wife died in a freak boat accident and my mother was wife number two. He got married to my Mom and they got divorced after two years. They had a torrid marriage and argued non-stop about everything. It was tiring for me and I was just nine when they divorced.
Wife number three was Marcia. She was also a politician…a senator for the opposing party. I think he married her because his mistress decided that she no longer wanted his four-year-old daughter around and he thought she needed a mother figure.
"Deidra's mother was a mistress?"
"Yup. The one and only Tabitha. She is colorful and lovable and so un-mother-like it would make you cringe.
Anyway, Marcia didn't last long after the marriage and she took her son James and moved out barely a year after the society wedding. You must have heard of it?"
Micah shook his head. "No. I don't keep up with society people."
Charlene giggled. "I don't know why I asked. Anyway, after that marriage broke down. Uncle Edward sent Deidra to live with us for a while. He took her back when wife number four, Hortense, decided that she wanted the family to be together. She had a son, Timothy, and thought that she could manage Deidra along with Timothy. Boy, was she wrong. Deidra was willful, brattish, and rebellious against Hortense.
Hortense wanted to send her to boarding school to escape her but by that Deidra was tired of moving house and being thrown around."
Charlene cleared her throat.
"Needless to say, Hortense gave up. Deidra hounded and nagged her and completely derailed the marriage. I think that was the first time she got a taste of what it meant to have power over her father's decision-making process."
Micah nodded. "I see."
"Do you really?" Charlene asked.
"Yes," Micah said. "She has been manipulating people to get her own way from she was a babe."
"Ah, Micah, I wished that you saw something else," Charlene said. "The poor girl is starved of love. I might be the only one in this hodge-podge family of ours that really loves and understands Deidra."
"Stop selling her to me," Micah said. "She is crazy and trying to blackmail me."
"Blackmail." Charlene frowned. "How?"
"Forget it," Micah said trying to suppress the tiny kernel of sympathy he felt when he heard about Deidra's upbringing. He had no time to be feeling sorry for poor little rich girls. His upbringing wasn't stellar either, though he grew up in a two-parent family.
Charlene shook her head.
"Try to understand her Micah. You don't have to love her. Just try to understand. I am going back to the lab. I have a project due."
She got up.
Micah swung in his chair and thought about Deidra. All he saw in his mind's eye was her pout. He needed to see her in a different light. He had plans of finalizing the purchase of the old house that he lived in by the end of the week and then he was going to renovate it, room by room.
Maybe he could see what Deidra was capable of when faced with some hard work for a change. He smiled at the thought, and for once, anticipating her coming to see him. He wanted to see if she could get her dainty little beauty queen hands dirty.
Chapter Six
Taj was on tenterhooks for most of the day. He couldn't recall feeling so anxious about anything in recent mind. April was stopping by. It was Wednesday evening and though he had seen her last year summer and they were just friends now, a little kernel of anxiety was still making itself felt within him.
He was happy he told Natasha to come over an hour later. At least he could get an hour alone with April. He could mask whatever reaction he may be feeling toward her by the time Natasha came by with her eagle eyes and unfounded suspicions. It wasn't that he was still in love with April. It was just that his heart remembered how he felt about her in the past.
He tidied up his already neat house and then relaxed in his settee, picking up one of the school's newsletters.
On the front, it
said: Students Protest New Dress Code Enforcement. Under the main headline was: There is A Rapist on Campus, Beware!
He settled down to read the two articles when his doorbell sounded. He shot up agilely and almost ran to the door, eagerly dragging it open before April could press it again.
"Tajy," she said, her smile wide. "What a nice house they provided for you up here. No wonder you can't find the time to come and visit us in Mandeville."
Taj stepped back from the door, his eyes drinking in April. She was in a navy blue suit, which managed to look both somber and sexy at the same time. She was an instructor at her husband's gym these days, he reminded himself, and it showed. April looked super fit and toned.
"Aren't you going to invite me in?" she laughed at him as he dragged his eyes from her body. "Or are you going to ogle me all day?"
"Er...sorry," Taj said stepping aside for her to pass. "It always gives me a jolt when I see you."
"You are not looking too bad yourself." April said walking into his living room and sprawling out in his settee.
"Last week you said you were going to update me on all that was happening in your life, remember?"
Taj nodded. "It's a long story." He sat across from her.
"I have..." April looked at her watch quickly, "three hours. Then I have a meeting with the owner who wants us to sell his property…so you've got time."
"How've you been?" Taj asked hoping that his look of interest was appropriately friendly and not lustful. He had squashed all of that from his thoughts, he reminded himself. If Natasha hadn't insisted that he still had feelings for April, he wouldn't be thinking this way. He had moved on!
"Nothing new," April said. "Kai is hyper-active as usual. Last month he almost broke his hand jumping off the wall that borders the property, pretending to be superman. Shemar is great. The gym is doing well. He's thinking of expanding to Montego Bay. There is a location near the new real estate branch office that would make an expansion worthwhile."
Tattered Tiara (The Bancrofts: Book 2) Page 4