Love, Lies & The D.A. (50 page)

“Are
you okay? Can I get you anything?”

“No
thanks,” she mutters.

We sit
in a long silence.

“Did
Micky and Maggie survive?” she suddenly asks.

That
was the last thing I expected to hear from her. I hesitate, not wanting to
upset her further, but I guess her returning to a normal life means her dealing
with the truth.

“No,
Babe, they didn’t.”

“I’m
so sorry. They attacked the men when they broke in. They were trying to protect
me.”

For
the first time, I allow myself to grieve over them. They’d been a part of my
life for the last twelve years, and they died trying to help the woman I love.

“I
know…” I eventually whisper.

“I’m
really sorry,” she repeats. I feel her tears trickle down my bare chest.

“It will
be okay,” I whisper. “It’s not your fault.”

I can
only imagine what she’s been through in the last twenty-four hours. Anger fills
me as I see the evidence of her trauma before me—the emotional scars, the
physical scars, and the heartbreak I hear in the few words she whispers.

With
each mark that captures my eye, that fucker’s face comes to mind. His face is
embedded in my memory. For the second time in days, I have crazy thoughts of
killing another human being. I feel like I want to use him as my punching bag.
I want to beat him to a pulp. I want him to pay for what he did to her.

A
gentle knock on the door grabs my attention.

“I
hope I didn’t wake you. I came to check on her,” Val whispers.

“She
was awake. She just drifted to sleep again.”

“Okay.”
She quickly checks the IV bag and needles taped to her wrist. After giving me
the thumbs up sign, she waves goodbye and exits the room.

I wake
the
following
morning to the sound of my phone vibrating. Jada is fast asleep beside me. I
answer the phone and quietly slip out of the room.

“Phillip.”

“Hey,
sorry to wake you, but it’s urgent. I need your help on this case. We need to
talk to Jada urgently.”

“She’s
trying to recover from this. She needs her rest. What is it?”

“Can I
come over?”

“Sure,
but I don’t want you upsetting her, and I’m not going to wake her. She’s been
through enough.”

“I’ll
be there soon.”

I’m
mentally and emotionally drained, and this is the last thing I want to deal
with. I’m due in court at eleven this morning, but I will have to get this case
adjourned. I know it’s early, but I have to handle this. I call Cooper to let
him know what’s happened and ask him to handle things at the office for the
day.

I
shower, and I’m ready in time for Phillip’s arrival. I’m glad to see Jada is
still fast asleep.

“I was
hoping you’d be able to help with this case,” Phillip says when he sees me.

“How?”

“It
looks like those guys were hired to kidnap Jada. It doesn’t look like their
employers know they have been busted.”

“So?”

“You
might still be getting that call asking for ransom.”

“And
you want me to go along with it so you can bust this guy?”

“Yes.”

“Do
you know when all this is supposed to go down? There’s no way in hell I’m
letting Jada be a part of this.”

“Be a
part of what?” Bobby asks, walking in.

“Getting
the assholes responsible for all this behind bars for good,” I reply.

“There
are more of them?” Bobby asks.

“Yes,”
Phillip replies. “The guys who had Jada were hired just to kidnap her. The
brain child behind this grand scheme is the one that will call to collect the
money.”

“Didn’t
he tell you who was responsible for this?” I ask.

“He
says he doesn’t know. We know this guy. His rap sheet is long. Apparently,
crime is his business. He claims he got a phone call with a timetable and was
paid half his money. He was supposed to get a call to tell him what to do
next.”

“So
what exactly was the job?”

“The
first half was to kidnap her and hold her for two to three days. He’d be called
with directions by the end of the third day. That’s tomorrow.”

“You
believe that story?” I ask.

“No.
But if it means using him to find the head honcho behind this, I’ll let him
think I do.”

“So
who gave him directions to beat her and abuse her?”

“I don’t
know. I need to talk to her to find out what exactly happened.”

“No
fucking way… Not right now,” I reply, rising to my feet.

“Jonathan,
time is against us,” Phillip laments.

“I don’t
give a fuck. You’ll have to find some other way. Jada is going to talk about
this and deal with it when she is ready and not one moment before.”

“This
is our opportunity to find out all the people behind this and get them behind
bars,” Bobby says.

“That
might be true, and I’ll help and cooperate with you all at the FBI all you want,
but this will traumatize Jada all over again, and I’ll be damned if I let that
happen.”

“You
have to let them talk to her,” Bobby says.

“You
wouldn’t say that if you saw what they did to her, or heard the sadness in her
voice, or listened to her shed tears.”

He
disagrees with me… I can tell. However, this time, I’m going to protect her,
even if it’s from her own-well-intentioned-brother.

“The
agents that rescued her think she was being tortured.”

“And
you expect me to let you all remind her of that? Sorry Phillip, but you’ll have
to find some other way. Use another female agent to pretend to be her, use me…
but not her.”

“You’re
making a mistake,” Bobby says sternly. “I’m not going to allow the assholes who
did this to my sister to escape with this,” he says, raising his voice.

“Bobby,
you think that’s what I want?” I shout. “My first priority is Jada, and her
health—physically, mentally, and emotionally. Everything else comes after.”

“She’s
my sister. I think I know what’s best for her,” he says, staring me in the
face.

“Really?
Well, you’ll have to get through me first before I let them near her.”

“Jonathan,
I like you, but don’t force me to…”

“Force
me to do what?” I yell, glaring into his eyes.

He
stands up to face me. I am at least three inches taller. He stares at me. I
will not move out of the way. He must be out of his mind if he thinks I will
let him go wake Jada in that room.

“Both
of you, stop it.” Val appears, pulling Bobby away. “This has been stressful for
all of us. For both of you… you both need to calm down for a second and relax.
Jada wouldn’t want this, and right now, it’s the last thing she needs.”

“I’m
sorry about this,” says Phillip. “I thought this was urgent, that’s why I
suggested it.”

The
room goes quiet, and the air is tense. Right now, I’m angry—with the world,
with Phillip, with Bobby, with that asshole that put his hands on Jada, with
everybody.

Finally,
I blurt out, “I love that woman to death. I’d take a bullet for her. I failed
to protect her once before, I’m not going to do that again. Phillip, I’ll
participate and undergo any sting operation you want, but Jada’s going to talk
about this only when she is ready.”

Everyone
falls silent.

“I’m
going to check on her,” I continue. “When you’ve sorted it out with the rest of
your team and you figure out how you need me involved, call me.”

I
leave them alone and enter the bedroom. Jada sleeps. My head is about to burst.
It’s barely six in the morning, and I can’t believe all the shit that has gone
down in the first few hours of the day. I’ve probably slept a total of six
hours for the entire weekend, and this is the last thing I want to deal with
this early in the morning. I throw some ibuprofen down my throat and climb into
bed beside her.

A few
moments later, Val knocks on the door and enters. She smiles at me
sympathetically, but says nothing. Soon after checking on Jada and replacing an
IV bag, she leaves the room.

I
suppose Val’s right. It has been a rough weekend. I know both Bobby and I want
what’s best for Jada. Right now, we just have a difference of opinion as to
what that is.

I lay
my head back against the headboard and close my eyes.

It’s
noon and
I bring Jada some soup for lunch. Since waking an hour
ago, she still hasn’t said much, and she still hasn’t looked me in the eye. An
eye, might I add, that looks even worse than it did last night. She hasn’t been
to the bathroom, at least not in my presence. I’m not sure if she’s seen her
bruised and battered face.

Her
hands and wrists are swollen, probably from where the cuffs were. There are
rings around them.

A part
of me wants to know every detail that happened, and the other part of me is
afraid of what I’ll do if I were to find out.

I
place the tray on her lap. She says a soft thank you and picks up the spoon,
but her hands tremble terribly. I take the spoon away from her and feed her.
Not once during the five minutes of feeding her does she look my way.

I take
her hands in mine. I feel her rapid pulse.

“Sweetheart,
I want you to know I’m here for you. You just tell me what you need.”

She
nods but doesn’t look at me. Her tears fall over my wrists.

“Is
there anything else I can get you? Or do for you?”

She
shakes her head. I miss looking into her hazel beauties. I want to tilt her
head up so she looks at me, but I don’t want to push her because of my own
selfish reasons.

I can
see she’s going through this ordeal, and I want to take her pain away, but I
don’t know how. I feel helpless…

“You
don’t have to go through this alone. I’m here for you if you want to talk. So
are Bobby and Val.”

“I
know,” she answers quietly.

“Do
you want to be alone?”

“Can
you get me Val, please?” she asks.

“Sure.
Is that all?”

She
nods in reply.

Val
goes into the room after I call her. Bobby is nowhere to be found. I leave the
two women alone and walk out to the verandah to take in the view. The gloomy
weather from the day before continues, but I am grateful today that Jada is
home and safe.

My
phone vibrates.

“Phillip.”

“Hey.
We’ve set up a plan. We’re in the condo below. You think you can come down?”

“Sure.
I’ll be there in a while. Can you send an agent up?”

“Sure.”

“See
you in a minute.”

After
I end the call, Val walks out.

“You
okay?” she asks.

“Sure…
where’s Bobby?”

“He
went downstairs to the gym.”

“How’s
Jada?”

“She’s
coping. She has a bad headache; she’s lying down now. I gave her something for
the pain.”

“Phillip
needs me downstairs. He’s sending an agent up. Are you going to be okay alone
for a while?”

“Sure.”

“Can
you stay with Jada, please?”

“I
will.”

“If
you need me, I’m in the condo right below. I have my ce—”

“I
know. Go. We’ll be okay.” 

I walk
into
the room. There are possibly twenty or thirty agents present. I realize then
how much bigger this situation is than us. Phillip pulls me into a makeshift
office and tells me about the plan that they’ve concocted. It seems Jada’s
kidnapper has agreed to assist the FBI in their operations.

“So
what deal did you all promise this asshole that would make him choose to
cooperate?”

“It
looks like his brother was killed in Jada’s presence. He said they were
fighting, and his gun accidentally went off. We’ve taken a first degree murder
charge off if Jada corroborates what he says.”

“That’s
it?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll
do what you ask with regard to the case, but keep him away from me… and keep
him away from Jada.”

“We
wouldn’t be stupid enough to hold him here.”

“What
other charges do you have him on right now?”

“Kidnapping—”

“Make
that aggravated kidnapping.”

“Right.
Manslaughter, felony with a firearm, aiding and abetting.”

“You
can add aggravated battery to the list.”

“Did
she tell you?”

“No.
The evidence is all over her body. She’s black and blue all over. From head to
toe.”