“Good. I'll check in with them from time to time so they won't blow up our phone.”
Ramsey pulled out onto I-95 and headed south toward the coast. Four hours into the trip, he stopped so he could walk Target and Keilah could change Neariah's diaper. They also took this time to check in with family members and stretch their legs. After the brief stop they continued their journey, arriving in Isle of Palms, South Carolina, a little after dark. After quickly checking in and following the bellhop to the room th they were looking forward to a nice dinner and a warm bath. The view of the Atlantic Ocean from their hotel balcony was breathtaking, and it made Keilah long for the sandy beaches of Florida. She couldn't wait to get there.
After dinner in the hotel's restaurant the family returned to their room, where the couple unwound by playing with their daughter for a while before getting her ready for bed. While Keilah ran Neariah's bath, Ramsey put his jacket on and prepared to go downstairs get Neariah's playpen, which would act as her bed for the night.
Keilah laid Neariah's pajamas, lotion, and other baby items on the bed. She turned to her husband and asked, “Are you going to go ahead and walk Target while you're out?”
Target stood upon hearing his name and started wagging his tail. Ramsey patted him on the head and said, “No, I'll take him after I bring the playpen up.”
“Okay. Make sure you have your key, because we'll be in the bathroom.”
He kissed Neariah on her bare stomach, causing her to giggle. “Be back in a second, baby girl.”
Neariah's eyes followed her dad across the room until he disappeared out the door.
Downstairs Ramsey opened the hatch and slid the baby's playpen from in between a couple of suitcases. He closed the hatch and made sure their belongings were securely locked. He returned to the room just as Keilah was bringing his wet daughter out of the bathroom.
“Daddy!” she called out to him.
He tickled her foot before setting up the playpen, padding it with blankets so his daughter would be as comfortable as possible.
Keilah laid the baby on the bed and started drying her off. Target started whining at the door.
“I don't think Target can wait any longer,” Keilah observed.
Ramsey picked up his leash and said, “Come on, Target. Babe, do you need anything else while I'm out?”
She yawned and said, “Just you.”
He chuckled and said, “You'll probably be asleep by the time I get back.”
“No, I won't,” she said as she removed a pile of mail from her purse, which she had no time to open at home and started going through it. “I'll wait until you get back before I take my shower. Hurry back.”
He opened the door and said, “I will.”
It was a cold night, and being on the water made it feel even colder. He hoped Target would take care of business quickly so he could get back to their warm room. They walked along the property line of the hotel and enjoyed the sound of the ocean waves. The air smelled so clean and felt so crisp. Once his loyal pet was finished doing his business, he continued to sniff around as if he was tracking. He allowed Target to sniff around a little more, until a big gust of cold ocean air blew in his face.
“Target, it's cold out here. Let's go.”
Upon hearing his name, he dog started barking and jumping to try to get his owner to play.
“It's too cold out here to play,” he said as he began to walk back toward the hotel. They returned to the truck so he could get Neariah's doll off the backseat.
Seconds later Target stood still and began to growl.
“What's wrong, boy?”
The hair on Target's neck was up, and he continued to growl and bark viciously.
Ramsey closed the door to the truck and looked around the parking lot to see what could have Target in defensive mode. He pulled his Glock handgun out of his pocket and unhooked Target's leash. The dog was trained to attack on command, and if there was someone lurking around the parked vehicles, he wanted to make sure Target wasn't restrained if the need arose. Ramsey peeped around the side of his truck; he didn't see anyone, but Target did, so he had to move with caution. He turned to check the other side of the vehicle, and that was when Target lunged at someone in the shadows. It was hard for Ramsey to make out who it was, and he didn't want to shoot his own dog. He saw a flash of light, and then he heard Target whimper and fall to the pavement.
“Target!” he yelled as he aimed his gun at the dark figure and fired causing him or her to fall to the ground. As Ramsey knelt down to check on Target, the figure on the ground rose out of nowhere. Ramsey was hit by the strong electrical charge of a Taser. Ramsey fought to get up on his feet, but the Taser was too much for him and he fell to the ground. The figure walked over to him and kicked the gun out of arm's reach and then leaned down into his face.
“Good shot, Stone, but I was expecting you to use deadly force.”
Ramsey couldn't believe his eyes when he looked up into Trenton's eyes.
“You son of a bitch,” Ramsey mumbled.
Trenton laughed. “It doesn't feel so good when someone blindsides you, huh?” He opened his jacket and showed Ramsey the bulletproof vest he was wearing.
Ramsey was paralyzed and knew that he was in extreme danger as Trenton rifled through his pockets and stole his hotel key. When he stood, he kicked Ramsey hard in the ribs and then said, “Now, this is what is going to happen. I'm going to take this doll up to your daughter, and once that fine-ass wife of yours puts the baby to bed, I'm going to make love to her whether she wants to or not. Oh, and speaking of your daughter, she's really sweet and was a good girl when we spent our little time together, even though she did cry a lot.”
Ramsey's eyes widened upon hearing that revelation. He was sure Andria was behind the kidnapping. Now to find out Trenton was the kidnapper enraged him even more, but there was nothing he could do about it at the moment.
“Yeah, it was me. I had your daughter, and I set your old girl up for it,” he said before laughing. “It doesn't look good for Andria, either. I heard on the news that she's been arrested, so it looks like she's going to be locked up for a while because of it too. That bougie bitch never liked me, and I didn't like her fake ass, either. She deserves to have her ass broke down a level or two. Jail is just what she needs. Besides, I had to let you know that you couldn't get away with jumping me.” He picked up Ramsey's gun and aimed it at him.
“Too bad you're going to commit suicide tonight and make Keilah a widow. She's going to need consoling, and I'll be there for her, just like I used to be. After tonight you won't be jacking anybody else in the bathroom and that little girl of yours will be calling me Daddy for the rest of her life.”
Ramsey fought with all his might to regain feeling in his body, but he was unsuccessful. Trenton placed his hand on the trigger, and the sound of the gunshot was deafening, causing Target to whine.
“You son of a bitch! Get away from my husband!” Keilah yelled as she pulled the trigger again, this time hitting Trenton in the head. He was dead before his body hit the pavement.
Keilah ran over to make sure the assailant was disabled, and when she looked down, she gasped when she saw that Trenton was the person who had been standing over her husband. She immediately dropped to the ground and tended to Ramsey, assuming that he had been shot.
“Baby, are you hit?” she asked as she caressed his face. She pulled out her cell and called 911 just as an employee at the hotel ran out after hearing the gunshots.
“Ma'am, are you injured?” he asked frantically.
“No, but my husband is, and so is my dog. Please, have someone check on my daughter. She's one year old, and she's upstairs sleeping in room four-twenty-four.”
The employee called someone in the hotel on his two-way radio, alerted them to what was going on, and requested that they send someone to the Stones' room to check on their baby.
“Ramsey, paramedics are on the way. Stay with me, babe,” Keilah said in a soothing voice as she checked his body for a bullet wound.
Another hotel employee came outside with blankets for Ramsey, his dog, and Trenton. He covered Ramsey with the blanket and asked the other hotel employee, “What happened?”
“I don't know. It looks like a possible robbery, but I'm not sure,” he answered.
Seconds later, three police cars and a couple of medical vans pulled into the parking lot with lights and sirens blasting. The paramedics examined Trenton and determined that he was deceased, so they covered his body completely with the blanket. Keilah stood as the paramedics examined her husband.
She turned to one of the hotel employees and asked, “Did someone check on my baby?”
“Yes, our female desk clerk is with her now.”
“Could you get her to wrap her in a blanket and bring her down? I'll also need my purse so I can go to the hospital with my husband.”
“Don't worry. We'll take care of it.”
A police officer approached Keilah, who was shivering in the elements, dressed only in sweatpants and a T-shirt. The officer asked her the usual questions, and then he began to ask her about the events that led up the shooting. She explained to the officer that Ramsey had gone out to walk their dog but hadn't returned. She had gotten an uneasy feeling and decided to come down to check on him and found the man, who she now realized was Trenton, standing over him with a gun. Had she been a moment longer, it would've been Ramsey's dead body lying on the cold pavement instead of Trenton's.
The coroner examined Trenton's body and relayed to the police that he had on a bulletproof vest and had a stun gun and a nine-millimeter in his jacket pocket.
“Ma'am, do you know this man?” the officer asked.
With tears in her eyes she admitted that Trenton was her ex-fiancé and that she'd had a couple of altercations with him in recent months. The paramedics put Ramsey on a stretcher, while one of the police officers put Target in the backseat of his car.
“Mrs. Stone, we're going to take your husband to the hospital to have him checked out. It appears that he was hit with the stun gun and not shot. He should be fine in a little while, but we want to make sure.”
The hotel clerk brought a wide-eyed Neariah to her mother. She also brought Keilah her purse and her warm jacket.
“What about my dog?” she asked the police officer.
“It looks like he was hit with the stun gun too. I'm going to take him by the vet's office to make sure he's okay. What's his name?”
“His name is Target.”
Before climbing into the back of the medical van, she walked over to the police car and stroked Target's thick fur to calm him.
“I'll be back to get you, boy. I have to go see about Daddy first.”
The police officer closed the door to the police car and said, “I'll make sure he's taken care. Homicide detectives will go over to the hospital with you to further question you about everything that led up to tonight.”
“Contact this detective in D.C. He can tell you everything,” she said as she handed the detectives the business card belonging to one of the D.C. detectives before they all climbed in the back of the medical van.
Chapter Thirty
By the time the medical van carrying Ramsey arrived at the hospital, he had regained control of his body and mind. Keilah held his hand as the paramedic checked his vital signs.
“Mr. Stone, can you tell me what happened in the parking lot?” one of the detectives asked.
“It happened so fast. My dog started growling, so I knew he sensed somebody close, but I couldn't see anything. Target, my dog, is highly trained. He attacked the person, and that's when he was shot,” Ramsey reported.
Keilah rubbed Ramsey's arm and said, “Target's going to be okay, babe. It was a stun gun, not a gun.”
Ramsey closed his eyes, totally relieved that his loyal pet was not severely injured.
“Go on, Mr. Stone,” the detective urged him as he jotted down the information.
Ramsey took a breath and said, “After my dog fell to the ground, I shot the attacker and he fell. When I leaned down to check on my dog, I guess that's when I got hit. I remember him telling me he had set up my ex-girlfriend for my daughter's kidnapping and he was the one who had taken her. After that, I remember staring down the barrel of the gun and not being able to do anything to defend myself. He said he was going to kill me and rape my wife. When I heard a gunshot, I thought I was dead.”
The paramedics wheeled Ramsey into an examination room, where they told the doctor that Ramsey had been hit with a stun gun. As the doctor examined Ramsey, Keilah picked up the story of the attack.
“Babe, when you hadn't come back to the room, I got worried, so I put Neariah in the playpen and came looking for you. That's when I saw you on the ground and someone standing over you with a gun. I shot him, but he only stumbled backward. I saw him raise the gun again, and that's when I shot him in the head.”
“Mrs. Stone, you said this was your ex-fiancé. Have you felt threatened by him before?” the detective asked.
“Not to this degree,” she answered. “He has made recent sexual advances, but I never feared for my life or the lives of my family. We're headed to Florida. I had no idea he was following us.”
The detective turned to the doctor and asked, “How is he?”
“He looks fine. His vitals are normal, his color is good, and his motor skills are on point. His mental state and memory seem to be accurate. I say he can be discharged, but I recommend that you rest for a day before continuing your trip to Florida.”
Ramsey sat up on the side of the examination table and took Neariah in his arms. “I'm sure Charleston is a wonderful city, but I'm ready to get out of here, Doctor. My wife can drive while I rest.”
The doctor nodded. “That will be okay.”
Ramsey then turned to the detective and asked, “Will you need us here for anything else? I want to get my family out of here.”
“I think we have everything we need for now,” the detective replied. “My partner is in the process of contacting the detectives in D.C. Hopefully, they'll be able to tie up any loose ends so we can close our case. If we need you, I have your number and address to call upon you.”
Ramsey stood and said, “Good. Can you give us a ride back to the vet so I can get my dog?”
The detective closed his notebook and said, “If the doctor said you can go, you can go. Sure, I'll give you a ride.”
Back at the hotel Ramsey and Keilah were finally able to settle into bed. Neariah was asleep before she was placed into the playpen, and Target slept quietly at the foot of their bed.
He pulled his wife closer to him and said, “You do know you saved my life tonight.”
She kissed his neck and said, “That's what I'm supposed to do. I can't believe that Trenton was the one who took Neariah. He must've gone off the deep end to do something so irrational, especially since he thought he could get away with killing you.”
“I guess,” Ramsey replied. “This gets Andria off the hook. She's lucky, because Trenton did a good job framing her. She could've ending up spending a long time in jail.”
“I don't want to talk about it anymore. I want to get to Florida and relax and enjoy life.”
“We'll get there, babe.”
The couple fell asleep and set off for Clearwater the next day. Once they arrived at the house, they quickly unpacked and started enjoying the warm Florida climate. The first thing they did was take a family walk on the beach. The temperature was in the low seventies, but with the blue skies and sun beaming down on them, it felt much warmer. The couple loved watching Neariah, who was excited about the waves rolling in toward them as she rode on her dad's shoulders.
“This is paradise, babe,” Keilah declared.
He put his arm around her shoulders and said, “I told you it was beautiful. I couldn't be happier right now.”
She looked up into his eyes and asked, “How are you feeling? Any numbness left over?”
“I'm good. I don't ever want to get hit with a Taser again. That's a helpless feeling.”
Keilah found the perfect spot and spread a blanket out on the warm sand and sat down. “You know I know how it feels. I think I was injured more from hitting the pavement than from the jolt itself.”
Ramsey placed Neariah on the blanket, took a seat next to Keilah, and let out a breath. “Yeah, the baby was my concern after making sure you were okay.”
She dug her toes in the cool sand in silence, reliving the pain of losing their child. “It stills hurts. You know?”
He caressed her knee and said, “I know, sweetheart, but we'll have more children.”
“Listen, Ramsey, I have something to tell you that you need to know. It's about what happened in South Carolina.”
“What is it?” he asked as he tickled Neariah's feet.
She hugged her knees and said, “Last night at the hotel, when you went out to walk Target, I was opening the mail. Inside one of the envelopes was a DVD. I put it in my laptop, and it was a sex video of you and Andria.”
“What?” he asked, startled by her news.
“There was a note that said something like, âNo matter what you think of me, just remember that I can have him anytime I want to, just like I'm having him now.' I was shocked and pissed, and I wanted to ask you about it.”
“Babe, I never made a tape with that woman!” he yelled, defending himself.
She nodded and said, “Yes, you did. You might not have known about it, but you did. Do you want to see it? I have it in my suitcase.”
“Hell no, I don't want to see it.”
Keilah looked over at her husband and asked, “Have you slept with Andria since we've been together?”
“No! And I can't believe you would think I have.”
“I have to ask, especially since Neil said the cottage where her credit card was found was rented in your name.”
He ran his hand over his head and said, “Keilah, don't let Andria's bullshit mess with your head. I stopped fooling with her when I started being intimate with you. You know neither Trenton nor Andria could accept us getting together, and as you see now, they will do anything to put a wedge between us. I love you and only you. I thought you knew that.”
“I do, but I had to ask. It was hard watching you with your hands on that woman.”
He pulled her into his arms and said, “That was a long time ago.”
“It still hurt to see it.”
Neariah picked up a seashell and handed it to her father.
“Thank you, Neariah.”
She hugged his neck and gave him a big kiss. Keilah admired the loving exchange between father and daughter and was finally snapped back to reality.
“I'm sorry, Ramsey. These are the moments I live for. I should've never brought it up.”
“No, I'm glad you did. There is no other woman for me, and I don't ever want you to question my love for you. Got it?” he said with a firm tone.
She smiled and said, “Got it.” She paused. “I wish I had my camera on me.”
Ramsey pulled his cell out of his pocket and said, “Here. Use my cell. I want a beach picture with my beautiful daughter, and then I want one with all three of us.”
Keilah took a picture of the two most important people in her life, and then they took a picture of the three of them together before returning to the house for an early dinner. Once inside the house, she took the DVD in question and broke it into several pieces and tossed it in the trash.
Â
In D.C. Andria was fuming that she had had to spend those horrible hours in jail with people she called uncivilized and ignorant. While in jail, she was accosted by a couple of women, who cornered her in the cell and basically felt her up. If her father hadn't got her out when he did, she probably would've been sexually assaulted, and for what? When she got home, she soaked in the tub for over an hour to get the stench off her body. She needed peace and serenity, and surrounding herself with scented candles and soft music while she relaxed in the tub always did the trick.
But this time instead of soothing her, the act of soaking in the tub brought out emotions that she had been holding in for a while. It was here that she broke down crying when she realized how close she had come to really going to jail because of Ramsey and how little he thought of her after they had shared such a strong intimate relationship. Maybe she did need some serious therapy to get over him, because she couldn't get him off her mind. A change of scenery was what she needed most, so maybe she should join Rico in Cabo San Lucas and have some fun, she thought. It had been a while since she'd laughed or even felt like herselfâall because she'd been obsessed over Ramsey Stoneâand nothing brought that fact home more than when she got a text from Rico telling her to put her TV on CNN. Andria quickly reached for the remote and turned to CNN.
“Charleston, South Carolina, police have identified the body of the man killed at a coastal resort as that of Trenton Daniels, a university professor and a national bestselling author from the D.C. area, who has also been named as a suspect in the kidnapping of one-year-old Neariah Stone. Authorities said the shooting was the result of a domestic dispute and stalking a woman from a prior relationship. No charges have been filed against Keilah Stone, a wealthy D.C. businesswoman, since it was determined that the shooting was in self-defense.”
Andria couldn't believe her ears as she sat up in the suds. She quickly dialed Rico's number and said, “Are you hearing this shit? What the hell?”
“Your nemesis bust a cap in that dude that set you up for that kidnapping,” he said with a chuckle. “I would say it's poetic justice. She did you a favor.”
“A man is dead, Rico. He was hurting over losing Keilah as much as I was hurting over Ramsey. People do stupid things when they're in pain.”
“You can't be feeling sorry for him, Andy. He almost sent your prim and proper ass to the pen. You need to send her a thank-you card.”
“The only thank-you card she's going to get from me is the one you mailed for me.”
“What was in that envelope, anyway?” he asked.
“Oh, nothing much,” she revealed with a giggle. “It was just a little video souvenir of me and her husband pleasuring each other.”
“You're ignorant, Andy.”
“I know, but that's what she gets. I had to bring her down a notch or two while she's walking around all high and mighty.”
“Andy! Ramsey married the woman he wanted, and it wasn't you. Let it go!” he yelled. “Get your ass on a plane and come on down here to Cabo so you can party with me. I guarantee you'll forget about Ramsey as soon as you see this beautiful water and get a few drinks in you.”
“Since it looks like the charges are going to be dropped against me, I guess I can get out of this city for a while. I'll see you as soon as I can get a flight out.”
“Call me back with the details so I'll know when to meet you at the airport.”
“Will do,” Andria replied before climbing out of the tub.
Â
Two days later, Andria met with her attorney and the district attorney to get the news that the kidnapping charges against her had been dismissed since Trenton had confessed to Neariah's kidnapping. She climbed into her car and headed back to her condo so she could get her suitcase and head for the airport for her flight to Cabo San Lucas. When she entered her condo, she walked into her bedroom to get a scarf out of the closet and the bedroom door slammed closed, startling her.
“What the hell are you doing here?” she yelled.
Ramsey walked over to her and grabbed her by the neck. He pushed her against the wall and held a gun to her head and said, “If you do one more thing to contact me or anyone in my family, especially my wife, I will make sure you don't see the light of another day. Do you understand me, Andria?”