Drama in the Church Saga (48 page)

Three hours later, Jonah and Caitlyn sat on the sofa in her hotel suite.

“Julian and I were in love.” This was the story Caitlyn had concocted in her mind. “As a matter of fact, I'm still in love with him. Julian started his career playing for the Seattle Supersonics. We met at a mixer that my uncle, who happens to own the team, threw for the entire basketball organization. We were hot and heavy from the start.” She stood up and walked over to the bar to pour herself a drink. “There was nothing tame, innocent or endearing about our courtship. From our first night together, we both knew we were meant to be together; except there was one problem.”

“Val?”

“Yes.” Caitlyn took a sip from her glass. “They were already engaged, but it wasn't going to last. They were having their share of problems. So we kept our relationship hidden from her, until the tabloids took a picture of us together in Aspen. Our picture was plastered on every newsstand in the country.

“Once our relationship was out in the open, Julian asked Val to move out of the house. When she moved out, I moved in. The morning I found out I was pregnant, Val came back to the house and physically attacked me.”

Jonah gave her a strange look.

“Yes, she pushed me to the ground, jumped on top of me and slammed my head into the floor until it bled.” Fake tears poured from her eyes. “I was terrified. Luckily, Julian had come home early and pulled her off me.”

“That sounds nothing like the Val I know,” Jonah replied.

“Then you really don't know her. My lawyers issued a restraining order against her a few months ago because she attacked me again! At the cemetery! That girl is crazy.”

Jonah couldn't believe they were talking about the same woman. “So what happened between you and Julian?”

“We were happy, but all that changed when the league found out he was using steroids during the regular season. Our life was turned upside down. He lost everything: his endorsements, his teammates turned against him, and there were rumors going around that the organization was trying to trade him. He was humiliated, and after the league temporarily suspended him, he fell into a depressed state.”

Caitlyn sat back down next to him. “Determined to stand by my man, I told him that my love for him couldn't be swayed. Then my uncle came by the house to let him know he had been traded to New York. He was furious, and that's when he turned on me. He thought I knew about the trade and accused me of deceiving him. I know he was just upset, but what he said hurt,” she cried. “He threw me out the house and moved back to the East Coast. I never saw him again. That's why he didn't know about the baby. I never got a chance to tell him, and he wouldn't take any of my calls. I wish I did get a chance to tell him because maybe, if I did, we could have been a family. I would have never given Hope away, and he would never have been on that plane.”

Caitlyn played the wounded actress well. The tears flowed freely. Everything she told Jonah was a lie, but he believed every word of it.

“I'm sorry. It sounds like you've been through a lot.”

“That's why I say you can't trust Val.” Caitlyn dried her tears with the back of her hand. “I suspect she had something to do with the NBA finding out about Julian's steroid use.”

“Why would she do that?” Jonah couldn't believe she would be that vengeful.

“Val was so angry when she left Seattle, I think she would have shot us both if someone had given her a pistol.” She sat up straight. “After Julian left Seattle, I moved back in with my parents. I overheard my uncle telling my father that the request to have Julian's urine tested came straight from the NBA offices in New York. It's rare that they would do something like that.

“Who else would tip off the NBA? I know it was her. That's why I say be careful. She is a very conniving person.”

Jonah had so many thoughts going through his mind. The biggest question he kept asking himself was, Why did Val keep her fiancé's identity a secret from him? He didn't want to believe that she was responsible for the downfall of her fiancé, but if she could ruin the man she loved, what would she do to him? Jonah wasn't sure what he should do. He had confided in her some personal aspects of his life.
Would she use that against me?
He needed time to think.

“Do you mind if I sleep here tonight?” Jonah looked like he was about to cry. “I mean, I'll sleep out here on the couch, but I don't think I want to go back to Val's tonight.”

“Sure, that's no problem. I'll go get you some extra blankets from out the bedroom.” On her way out of the room Caitlyn thought to herself,
Once again I win, and this time Val won't get a second chance to take what's rightfully mine.

 

 

Val felt rejuvenated after her visit with Olivia. Spending time with her cousin had always been therapeutic for her. She entered her house and called out for Jonah. It was quiet. “He must still be out with Hope.”

She kicked off her sneakers at the door and turned to her favorite channel, Lifetime. While watching television, she decided to take Olivia's advice and tell Jonah about her and Julian.

Lately, God had been speaking to her heart about being honest, but she kept pushing the Lord out of her head. Today, He put Olivia in her face to tell her what she already knew. It was time to come clean. She had waited long enough.
Besides, what's the worst that could happen?

Stretched out on her fluffy couch pillows, she drifted off to sleep.

When she awoke it was morning and the television was still on. The women from the sitcom
The Golden Girls
were gathered in their living room talking. She got up and turned the television off. “I must have been tired. I didn't even hear Jonah come in last night.”

She climbed the stairs and went straight to his bedroom. She knocked on the door. When he didn't answer, she knocked again, but still no answer. She slowly cracked open the door and called out his name. Stepping inside his bedroom, she saw that his bed hadn't been slept in.

The worst entered her mind. There was a lot of crime in Philadelphia. She prayed nothing happened to him. He could have been shot, robbed or mugged. Anything was possible living in the city.

She raced back down the stairs to find her cell phone. If he called and she didn't answer, she was sure he would have left a message. When she reached the kitchen, she heard the back door swing open. It was Jonah.

She ran and wrapped her arms around him. “I'm so glad you're all right. I was worried when I couldn't find you.”

Jonah gave her the cold shoulder and merely brushed past her. He started up the stairs.

Val followed. “Jonah, there is something really important I need to speak with you about.”

Jonah glanced over his shoulder and gave her an ugly look, but he didn't stop his stride.

“Jonah! I'm trying to talk to you.”

When he walked into his room he grabbed a handful of clothes and stuffed them in his duffel bag. Then he gathered his sneakers and work clothes.

“Jonah, what's going on? Why are you packing your things?” Val was confused.

“I can't live here any longer,” he shouted at her.

She stepped back. He was angry, but she had no idea why. “Jonah, what's wrong? You can talk to me about anything.”

“Why don't we talk about how you were engaged to Hope's biological father?” His unsuspecting words were hurled in her face.

How did he find out?
“Jonah, I was going to tell you, but—”

He charged toward her and pointed in her face. “If you were going to tell me, then why did I have to hear it from Caitlyn? Stop with the lies. What were you trying to do? Play me for a fool? Were you going to set me up and try to take my daughter from me? Tell me, what was the game?”

“Jonah, I,” she hesitated, “I wanted to tell you, but when we first met I was trying to erase all memories of Julian from my life. Then came the revelation about Hope's true paternity. It took me a few days to believe it was true.”

“That's why you left the courtroom in such a hurry that morning.”

Val confirmed his suspicions.

“And now. What's your excuse for not saying anything after all these weeks of being together? I've been confiding in you, trusting you, inviting you to spend time with me and my daughter.”

Val wanted to tell him that she was scared, but at the moment he didn't look like he would be sympathetic to her needs. She had never seen him this angry.

He raced back down the stairs.

Val stood in the middle of his bedroom, her heart beating out of control. An overwhelmingly frightening feeling took over her body. She knew that if she allowed Jonah to leave her house, she would never see him again. She chased after him.

“Where are you going?” she cried. “You can't leave me.”

“I'm going to go stay with Caitlyn.”

Val's face turned to horror.

“It looks like she's the only person who can be honest with me.”

Flashbacks of when Julian betrayed her to be with Caitlyn played out right before her eyes. “Jonah, I don't know what's going on, but I do know that she can not be trusted.”

“That's funny, because she said the same thing about you. Besides, she made me an offer I can't refuse. We already know that once the DNA results come back that Caitlyn is going to get full custody of Hope. So she has graciously invited me to move back to Seattle with her, so that I could be close to Hope. I'll be living with her.”

“Is that where you stayed last night?”

Jonah rolled his eyes. “Not that it's any of your business.” He stressed his words. “But if you must know, I did stay the night with her last night.” He picked up a few of Hope's toys from out of the living room.

She couldn't believe he had fallen for Caitlyn's tricks. Still in a daze, she heard a knock at the door.

When she answered, Caitlyn stood on her back step with a taunting smile on her lips.

“Hi! Is Jonah around?”

Caitlyn's innocent, sweet voice was a disguise. She tried to sound completely harmless, but Val was on to her. Val slammed the door in her face and walked away.

Jonah witnessed everything. He practically knocked over Val to open the door.

“Don't be mad with her.” he said to Val. “She just did what was right.”

Jonah apologized for Val's rude behavior. “It's okay.”

Then Caitlyn whispered, “I told you she was violent.” She took the bags he held in his hand. “I'll take these out to the car.”

“Okay! I'll just be a few more minutes. I need to double-check to make sure I have everything.” Jonah jogged back up the stairs.

When he did, Val caught up with Caitlyn out by the car.

“Whatever you're planning, it's not going to work.”

“It looks like it already did. This must feel like déjà vu to you, losing yet another man to me.” She pointed to herself. “Don't worry. This time you won't be getting him back.” She turned and walked away.

“That's what you think. Game on.”

Caitlyn and Jonah pulled off in the car. “Are you all right?” she asked.

“Yeah! I'm fine. I feel like I was living with the enemy. It's scary because I had no idea she could be so nasty.”

“Jonah, I think you made the right decision to get away from her. At any time she could have gotten Julian's family to come and take Hope away from you and there is nothing you could have done about it.” Caitlyn hit the gas pedal to beat the red light. “Thankfully, his family has no chance of taking her from me. From now on, you and I will be Hope's parents. Why don't we get married?”

Jonah stared at her strangely. “Let's do it. We'll get married, and then you can legally adopt Hope and we can be a family.” Jonah was hesitant to go along with Caitlyn's suggestion, but he spoke without thinking.

“Okay, let's do it.”

“Great. When I get back to the hotel, I'll call my lawyer and have him call the judge. The sooner Hope is in our custody, the sooner we can go back to Seattle.”

Frustrated, Colin sat with his head in his hands. He spent the past few hours combing through every religious book in his home library. There had to be one book that would tell him how to dispel the strong feelings of hate he experienced every time he ran into Baxter at the college. He rubbed his tired, red eyes and looked down at the concordance flipped open on his desk. His computer screen listed several scriptures that talked about hate.

He stared at the scripture and repeated it in his mind. “God, I've never had to pray for anyone who hated me because of the color of my skin.”

The question, Why? burned inside Colin's soul. Why did hate seep into his body and spread like the plague? It ran through his veins like a fresh, rolling stream. It was so strong that it frightened him.

Then Satan kept putting thoughts of revenge in his head. Images of Baxter being tied to a tree while Colin flogged him repeatedly with a bamboo whip flashed in his mind. He smiled when he envisioned Baxter crying out to the Most High God as he ripped open his flesh.

This evil was consuming him.

Colin picked up the phone to see how his friend was doing.

“The cancer came out of remission.” Olivia looked over her shoulder to check on her husband resting comfortably on the sofa. “We just came from the hospital, and of course they wanted to keep Dean overnight, but he refused.”

“Did the doctors say what happened?” Colin couldn't take any more bad news. “I thought they had it under control with the radiation and chemotherapy.”

“His body is not responding to the treatments. He waited too long. The joints of his arms and legs are swollen and in pain. He can barely walk. What scares me the most is his difficulty in breathing. Colin, he's getting sicker.” Olivia tried to hold back the tears. She didn't want to cry in front of Dean.

“Who's that you're talking to on the phone?” Dean heard his wife whispering. He hoped she wasn't talking about him to one of her friends.

“It's Colin.” She brought the phone closer to him. “Do you want to speak with him?”

He took the phone from her. “Hey, man, what's up?” Dean sounded tired.

“Man, I didn't mean to call and interrupt your rest,” Colin apologized.

“No. It's fine. This is just a minor setback. What's on your mind?”

Colin called to find out when was the last time Dean spoke with Judge West, but under the current circumstances, Colin decided not to worry his friend with something he could handle on his own.

“Man, I called to wish you a speedy recovery. I'm going to try and make it over there one day this week so you can cheat me in a game of chess.”

Dean laughed. “I look forward to it.”

Judge West knelt down beside his bunk with his hands cupped before him. He had repeated the same ritual for the past twenty years. Being locked away in a jail cell hadn't changed anything. He would still give thanks to the Lord, because whatever this trial and whatever the reason, he knew there was a purpose.

Two FBI agents walked toward his cell, both wearing dark blue suits with plain matching ties. Their wing-tipped shoes tapped hard against the concrete floor as they moved closer to West's cell.

One gentleman cleared his throat to acknowledge their arrival.

West didn't budge as he continued to pray.

The man cleared his throat again, except a little louder. Still no response from West.

He opened his mouth to bark at West, but the other agent stopped him and shook his head no. He was respectful of God and understood that every man deserves time to commune with God.

They waited until West lifted up from off his knees.

He turned to face his guests. “What can I do for you gentlemen?”

“We heard what you told your grandson and that preacher during that last time they came to visit. You were never given permission to release that much information. What you told them was confidential.”

“I'm tired of being a puppet for the federal government. I've done everything you've asked, and you couldn't even keep my family safe. I'm tired of it all. I'm going to reactivate my membership with the brotherhood.” Judge West picked up his Bible and shook it at the two agents. “If Christ willingly gave His life for me, I can't see how I wouldn't give up mine for my flesh and blood.” He pointed his finger at them. “I hope you're not here to change my mind because, if so, you're wasting your time.” The judge gave them a stern stare as if to dare them to say anything.

The tallest agent walked up to the cell and stuck his hand out to give West a handshake.

“Welcome back to the brotherhood.”

The judge gazed at his outstretched hand a moment. He looked into the agent's eyes. He should have known the brotherhood would send someone to make certain he was telling the truth.

“What's the matter, aren't you going to shake my hand?” A sly grin formed on the agent's face. “That's all right. I was told to expect your unfriendly demeanor.” He pulled his hand back. “Now that we know you're on board, when I get back to the office I'll make a few calls, and you'll be out of here in no time.”

The agents looked at one another and in soldier-like synchronization marched away.

“Wait a minute,” West screamed. “I have some questions for you.”

The agents ignored his cries and kept on stepping until they were outside the jail and back in their car.