Chapter 13
Breakfast was quiet. Sometimes things were livelier when Junior was there, Rashawn had to admit that. “So, I'm surprised Junior didn't make here for breakfast,” Rashawn said, breaking the silence.
“Well, I think Nita is trying to lay low considering she asked me yesterday if Junior could stay the entire winter break,” Chance said.
“What?” both Reggie and Rashawn asked at the same time.
Chance looked at them. “And I haven't given her an answer yet, butâ”
“I'm leaving, Chance. Why would you tell her yes? I won't be here for the first few days.”
“And what difference does that make?” Chance retorted, not meaning to sound rude.
Rashawn dropped her fork loudly on her plate. “Well, excuse the hell outta me.”
“That's not what I meant ...”
“He's gonna be here all winter break? That's so not cool. I have plans,” Reggie griped.
“And what difference does that make?” Chance asked Reggie, this time the question having intended meaning.
“I don't care if he's here,” Rainey mumbled under her breath while picking around on her plate with her fork.
“Of course you don't,” Reggie said with a sneer.
“Why does everyone act like that toward me?” Rainey whined.
“Nobody is acting any kind of way,” Rashawn jumped in. “It's just I'm not going to be here and it's a lot of work for Daddy to have all you guys by himself.”
“Rashawn, that's not true. I do it all the time.”
“Yeah, Mommy, you're hardly ever here anymore,” Rainey said, her innocence showing.
“Yeah, Mommy,” Reggie added, without a drop of anything innocent showing anywhere.
“Look. I'm working hard toâ” Rashawn began, but quickly stopped speaking. Reggie's phone rang. “Shut that off at the table!” Reggie quickly grabbed the phone. It was a ruleâno phones at the table. At that open show of blatant disrespect, Rashawn stood from the table and gathered her plate and juice glass. The phone now vibrated against the glass Reggie had laid it next to. Rashawn held out her hand. Reluctantly, Reggie handed the phone over. She continued into the kitchen to set her plate in the sink after shoving the phone into her pocket. “Now, do whatever is it you people doâdecide whatever it is you need to decide. Since, you know, I'm not really a factor in your little family decisions.” She was pouting, but didn't care.
“Stop it, Rashawn. You're blowing things outta proportion,” Chance said without getting up to comfort her. She noticed that. He just sat there finishing his breakfast. “Nita just asked me to extend Junior's visit and I think I will. I mean, she could use the break, andâ”
“What?” That did it. Now Chance was defending Juanita. When he came in last night from taking Junior home he was acting funny. Of that Rashawn was sure. He didn't even give her a kiss, but instead went in and changed his shirt before dinner. All she noticed at the time was that Junior was not there. Maybe she should have noticed more.
Glancing at his watch, Chance stood. “Come on, guys, I'll drop you off on my way to work.”
“I thought we were riding in together. I'm leaving tomorrow. I had hoped we'd spend time together and ...” Rashawn went on. The kids gathered their books quickly and rushed toward the door. A ride to school was not a common thingâit only happened when she and Chance fought during breakfast. Okay, so it happened a lot.
“I'll swing by your office for lunch. How's that, baby?” he said before heading out the door, not waiting for an answer.
“Peachy,” she said aloud to herself looking at the messy table that she had only moments to clean. Just then, Reggie's cell phone went off in her pocket. She hesitated, but pulled it out enough to glance at the number. The number was blocked. Picking up the fancy gadget, she pushed talk and put it her to ear. “Hello?” she said.
There was only silence before the caller hung up. “Whatever! I don't care if nobody ever wants to talk to me again!” she yelled, shoving the phone in back into her pocket. She emptied the table quickly before she too found herself running out the door as if on fire. She was late.
Chapter 14
“My life depends on this being kept secret,” he said, rolling down his sleeve after securing the bandage.
Hap Washburn was a new surgeonâa hungry, eager one. Hap's girlfriend had died suddenly and he hadn't so much as mentioned it. He hadn't mentioned the money that Craven Michael had secured, eitherâmoney that Hap probably stole when he found out she was dead. Hap was hungry or, better yet, greedy. Roman could see it all over his face when he was attempting to explain why Craven not being in this plan was a “better idea, easier,” he had said. “Less complicated,” he had pointed out. Not an ounce of grief...
Roman was impressed, but on the other hand, he wasn't sure if he could trust such a desperate man. But if nothing else he'd shown his avaricious side, and Roman knew, with that, as long as he offered Hap what seemed like a little fame and notoriety, Hap would be loyal. “I understand that. My career depends on this being kept quiet as well.”
Apparently, the thought of a surgery like this one made his juices marinade, and being the only surgeon on the case made it all the juicer. Sure, this surgery was as illegal and unethical as hell, but if successful he would make medical history for sure. And for a black doctor, even in this day and age, making history was where it was at! He was down for this, as the young people often said. Roman enjoyed young people. He had enjoyed being youngâfor the most part. There were portions of his young life that he hated to remember; one part in particular was being raised with his half brother, Blain. He hated Blain like no other person on earth, and was glad when Rashawn Aims killed him. Sure, Blain was killed for something of which he was innocent, but no matter.
Roman had been trying for years to find a way to kill his brother. Maybe it was a violent way to get what he wanted, but violence was in his blood. How could he not be affected? He'd only known that way of life. As a boy, he'd watched his own father commit the most violent of crimes, just to get what he wantedâhis life back, taken from him through betrayal. His father was a genius and didn't deserve to be executed the way he was, not for killing a traitor. Call it revenge, call it a revisit; now Roman wanted only the same thing as his father. But he would not be treated as a common criminal in the end. For one, he was much too brilliant to be caught. His father allowed emotion to cloud his reason, but Roman had no such emotions. Roman's father was betrayed by a man who had claimed to be a servant of God. Roman had no weaknesses where God was concernedâmaybe because he felt rather godlike most of the time.
“So it seems Reggie was easy to persuade.”
“Persuade? What do you mean?” Roman asked.
“I'm thinking, all you had to do was offer him a chance to play ball for a bunch of ducks.” Both men chuckled at the funny sound of the team's name. “At just the promise of fame, he jumped at the chance.”
“What makes you think I had to trick him? He's my son; he should be more than ready to help me.”
“Right, letting you kill him in the name of science. If you think I'm just gonna believe that he went for that deal without a fight ... phhhst.” Hap snickered.
“It's all in how you approach people,” Roman said before bringing up Craven. Hap looked at him as if knowing what he was implying even before he said her name.
“Craven and I had our differences, but, yes, it was unfortunate what happened,” he said.
“Yes, it was. By the way, she didn't happen to mention anything about ... some extra money I'd given her? You know, before she ... died.” Roman emphasized the word.
“Extra money?”
“Yes, I had given her a bonus before I realized she had gone against my instructionsâbringing you on board without my permission.” Roman smiled wickedly. “I'm sure you knew about it. I'm sure she told you about it.”
“She didn't tell me about any money,” Hap fibbed. She'd promised some, but had not delivered yetânor told him she'd had it already. She claimed she hadn't gotten it yet from Roman.
Lying bitch
.
“That's too bad. Well, I guess she was faithful about keeping that little secretâit's just unfortunate that she didn't follow the rest of my instructions. Oh well, good thing she didn't die in any pain.”
“What?”
“I said,” Roman paused dramatically as if Hap really could not understand what he was saying, “I'm glad I didn't cause her any pain. Actually, she was quite ... relaxed,” Roman smiled wickedly, “by the time I gave her the injection.”
“You bastard!”
“So I've heard. But listen to me, Hap,” Roman said, as if tasting the name in his mouth and rolling the bitterness around. “Craven jeopardized my entire operation. She brought you on board without my approval, promising to pay you with my moneyâwhich is the only reason you're not dead. I figure I might as well use you. I've paid youâof course, it's up to you to find where she put your share. Anyway, just so you know, I hate when people don't follow instructions.”
Hap's face was covered with all sorts of mixed emotions now. Gone was his look of confidence. “She didn't give me anythâ”
“Save it,” Roman said. “You were a fool to trust a womanâespecially one who's willing to sleep with the boss. Now, about Reggie, I need you to make sure the plan goes as I have designed. You're not quite as seductive as Craven,” Roman said, smiling wickedly, “but surely you can find some way to get a young man to follow you to a cabin in the middle of nowhere.”
Hap stammered slightly before getting his question out. “Where will you be?”
“I've got some unfinished business to tend to before I join you all.”
“I thought you said you would be there before us,” Hap screeched. “I'm not in this to babysit!”
“I'm not asking you to. I'm asking you to do what Craven is no longer alive to do. I'll be there within a day or two ... no worries.”
“None of this sets well. Not at all. You act as though Craven's murder is not going to be noticed at all.”
“Well that's your problem, Hap, since you're the one who acted foolishly, not dotting all your âi's and crossing all your ât's. As far as anyone knows, you were the last person to see her alive, and her autopsy will show you were the last person to âvisit her'âcan't believe you had sex with her without a condom. Are you crazy?” Roman shook his head in disgust. “Me, on the other hand ... No one will ever know how deep our love went ...” Now Roman was laughing.
“What the hell do you mean?”
Allen Roman smacked his lips and shook his head. “You're the one who decided to rough her up and rape her within hours of her deathâwhich, at the moment, no one suspects is murder, but don't count on them being in the dark for long. I have reason to believe that your little tumble won't go unnoticed by forensics. However, if you do your job you won't go to jail for murder.”
Hap took in a full chest of air as if clearing his head of the information he'd just been given. “I don't intend to go to jail.”
“Then I guess you better watch your step,” Roman said, draping his jacket over his arm and heading for the door. Hap, as if suddenly realizing the full impact of what he'd gotten into, felt his blood chill, to an icy temperature.
Chapter 15
Back at the station, Ovan reviewed the morning's events as well as the court file he'd managed to get his hands on, among other things.
The file reviewed in detail the state's position on the civil and criminal cases involving the “get ass” epidemic. That was what they had named the date rape drug that Blain Tollome and his team of campus security cops peddled around the school. Many girls up and down the peninsula had been raped as a result of ingesting the drug. Juanita Duncan's name had come up in several instances, but one stood out: Yvette Furhman. She had been murdered after the discovery that she had become pregnant by one of security cops working for Blain Tollome. Notes from the therapist, Juanita Duncan, indicated that she suspected Allen Roman (who was addicted to the exotic island drug to alleviate pain he suffered due to bad kidneys and a failing liver) of murdering the young girl, although all evidence pointed to Blain Tollome. Juanita Duncan had been one of the University's therapists during that time, along with Allen Roman. “So they were colleagues.
Interesting,” Ovan mumbled.
Yes, this Dr. Duncan is probably a good place to go for some inside information on Roman,
Ovan thought.
Although the file did not connect the dots to Allen Roman as directly as he had first imagined it would, there was a lot of information concerning the hypno/psychotherapist Juanita Duncan that demanded his further, detailed investigation. That was his justification for borrowing the file that morning from the DA's office. It wasn't the “borrowing” of the file, however, that had him in a rush to leave. He also had found himself in a precarious situation with the deputy DA that made lingering around awkward.
That deputy DA was a hot blonde. Feisty and full of, apparently, pent-up, raging hormones. It always amazed him what a heightened yet underused libido would make a woman do. But there was no way he had intended to shag that woman.
It wasn't as if she wasn't lovely, the way she sat on the corner of her desk, crossing her legs so that he caught sight of plenty of thigh. But he truly had come there to work. Despite his reputation, he really was a serious agent.
Making up a story, he told her he was an attorney working a civil case dealing with one of the date rape victims, who now felt that because of this rape she couldn't have an orgasm in her married life. The DA seemed more than willing to help. “Anything for an orgasm,” she joked. Inappropriate though it was, Ovan read through the veneer and into the woman's true feelings.
“Well, they are very important to some people,” he said, glancing quickly through the pages of the file, realizing only then he'd hit a mother lode of information on Blain Tollome and the case surrounding the date rape drug. There was too much to memorize and much more than he'd have time to read there, in her presence. She was all but breaking a sweat as it was. So he skimmed for more connections to Allen Roman. She noticed his intensityâapparently it aroused her.
“I know my office is small, but do you mind if I close the door,” she said, bringing his attention back, pulling it away from the file. She'd pulled her long, blond mane from its tight bun and allowed it to fall freely around her shoulders. She also unbuttoned the top two buttons of her crisp white blouse.
Sex. What a phenomenon,
he thought, wondering what he had done or said to make this woman want it right at that particular moment. Within a moment or twoâallowing for the removal of panty hoseâshe was bent over her desk with her hand holding down the photo of her smiling husband and two kids. Ovan worked over her back side. She was hungry; he could tell because of the way she violently twisted her hips, hoping to find the spot that would offer release of her pent-up tension. Feeling her desperate need, he pulled from her. She turned to him, red-faced and highly agitated. “No. I didn't ... yet,” she began, out of breath and overheated. Ovan shushed her calmly.
“I know,” he whispered.
Changing his condomâhe always carried twoâhe instructed her to turn back toward the desk and squat. Following her down the floor, Ovan entered her slowly while reaching around her waist, using his middle finger to plow through her thick pubic hair until he found her magic button. It was ready and waiting, pulsating like mad and nearly too hot to touch. Gently he stroked it, calming it, making love to it manually while stoking her inner fire with his hardened manhood. It was a technique he knew well, and used often on desperate housewives. Within moments her knuckles whitened from the grip she had on her desk's edge, while she gave into what was probably the best orgasm she'd ever had in her life, if not her first “real” one. Deep guttural moans escaped her lips as he slowly moved his hips in a circular motion, while stimulating her clit, which grew slippery with her juices. From the outside of her, while rubbing gently on deeper inner lips, he could feel himself stroking inside her and he knew he was hitting the right spots. “Tighten yourself around me,” he whispered in her ear, feeling her muscle contracting instantly. With that, her vagina began to convulse while her mound grew and her lower lips swelled with sexual fever. His hands were soon drenched in her fluids as she came repeatedly, spreading her knees wide to take him all in, gasping for air as she did. Her belly sucked in tight as he now grabbed at her mound, using the palm of his hand and fingers to create suction.
“Oh my God,” she breathed, “I've never ... you're so ...”
“I know,” he whispered in her ear, nibbling lightly on her lobe.
There was a knock on the door, but she only opened and closed her mouth, too weak to answer, which was fine by Ovan as he was in no position to receive guests. He was concentrating on her pleasure. Her smile grew broad with her lips flinching every now and then as he would hit new spotsâpossibly ones she never knew she had.
Just watching her ecstasy was exciting to him, and, accepting that she was satisfied, he thrust deep into her core, finally coming.
He pulled from her, then carefully removed the soggy condom and tossed it into the trash. He slid back into his pants and, without her noticing, eased the file inside his coat, which he threw over his arm while she lingered prostrate in front of her desk, hanging on to the edge of it. If anyone were to see her now, they would surely think she was drunk. “Pull yourself together, love. You've got work to do,” he said into her ear as he bent over. She nodded slowly with her eyes closed, licking her lips as if having just enjoyed something delicious.
He tiptoed out, making sure the coast was clear before relocking her door and making his way to his car. He was whipped, but he knew he still had plenty of work to do today. Reaching his car, he realized he'd not had a moment to wash his hands. Taking a sniff, he smiled at the memory.
His mind left the pleasant memory and came back to the smelly precinct. “Juanita. Why does that name sound so familiar?” He flipped through more pages in the file. He'd have to drop by and pay her a visit later, since his visit to Ms. Ams-Davis's home was stymied by that crazy woman running into the back of his car that morning. That woman who hit his car ... She was crazy, true, but cute enough to eat, or at least lick on a bit. Ovan allowed a wicked smile to curve his lips, as was his unconscious mannerism when thinking about sexâwhich was all the time! He'd had breakfast with the DA, and thinking of the woman who hit his car had him ready for an afternoon snack.
Lawrence noticed his expression. “I have no idea,” he mumbled. He was showing continued annoyance at Ovan Dominguez's presence at his desk again today. He'd made it clear yesterday that even though his partner, Jim Beem, was on vacation, his seat was not “empty.”
“No problem. I'll standâagain,” Ovan had responded this morning, and even now he had been doing just that for at least an hour.
“Well, I need to get to her office and speak with her.”
“What about? Rashawn Ams?” Lawrence asked. Ovan was surprised that Lawrence had been curious enough to actually give glance through the file and remember any part of it.
“Yes. Your file, as I mentioned, was disappointingly limited. The DA's file, needless to say, filled in many gaps. I knew there was a stronger connection between her and Allen Roman. Sure, she's connected to Blain Tollomeâwhich was not my ambition here. I'm on the trail of Allen Roman. Did you know he's ill? Kidney problems. He's not on dialysisâtoo easy to trace I suppose.”
“But he'd have to be treating himself somehow,” Lawrence added.
“My thoughts exactly. He is a doctor of sorts . . .”
“Mad scientist from what I've heard.”
“Ahhh, you've been listening.” Ovan smiled. Lawrence reluctantly returned the nicety, but shook his head as if to say “But that still doesn't make us friends.”
“My partner has led me to believe that Mr. Roman is in need of a transplant. That leads me to think he's looking for a donor on his ownâwilling or notâand a doctor to perform the surgery ... legally or not.”
“Exactly, why would a man like that want to wait in line like everybody else?”
Ovan looked sincerely at Lawrence. “I'm trying not to alarm Ms. Ams, although after reading the report I stoleâI mean, borrowed from the DA's office, I do believe that Roman isn't far from her doorstep.”
Lawrence smirked at what seemed to be a wild, off-the-wall and far-stretched connection between Rashawn Ams and Allen Roman. “And why would that be? She have a kidney he might want?”
“As a matter of fact, yes. She's got his son.”
Lawrence couldn't help but reach for the file Ovan hadâthe “borrowed” one he'd refused to touch earlier, claiming that he wanted no part of such ill-gained information. “I thought of just bogarting over there earlier but changed my mind entirelyâthat's definitely not the way to do this,” Ovan admitted.
“But what you're really saying is that you still have no proof that this Roman cat is really alive, and didn't want to get stuff started for no reason.”
“Oh, I know he's alive. Remember, I'm the one who tried to apprehend him yesterday evening, but nooo, your over-eager beavers stopped me.”
Lawrence rolled his eyes.
“He's taunting me, you know ... begging for me to enter his game,” Ovan said, pointing his finger at Lawrence, who now had his head buried in the file.
“The game?”
“Yes, international cat and mouse. He's leaving trails, everywhere he goes, like breadcrumbs the size of dead bodies ... dead doctors, two so far: one in Jamaica, one in London, both dying of heart attacks after dealing with him. There's plenty of proof that he's up to something maniacal beyond just murder.
“Right, right ... maybe,” Lawrence mumbled, not really listening.
“I'm just waiting to hear back concerning Craven Michaels's autopsy, but if what I suspect is true and there's a connection between how these surgeons died and what Roman is up to ... Sure, they all had heart attacks, I get that, but I'm saying if those heart attacks were ...”
“Were not natural ...”
“Exactly! That's my thought. Then I just need to know what they did to cheese him off. I know what you're thinking, that I can't prove to you that Allen Roman is even aliveâbut he is. I chased him, nearly had him my clutches.”
Lawrence again sighed and swooned at Ovan's dramatic speech.
“Fine, disbeliever, you're just going to have to trust me. Oh, I know what you're thinking: âWell, Ovan, how is he
killing
people who are having heart attacks, aren't the heart attacks killing them?' “Do the math.” Ovan went on.
“Take Craven, for example. I really don't think a healthy woman of thirty-five is gonna just drop dead that way. And trust me, she was pretty healthy, if you know what I'm saying.” Ovan snickered wickedly without saying what would probably either come out wrong or be taken wrong. He didn't know Lawrence well enough to let him in on everything that rolled around in his mind that was even slightly off police work. He'd even avoided fully disclosing how he got the file from the office of the DA.
But apparently Lawrence had caught on, slapping his head in disgust. “You and my partner! What's with the view you two have of women? Just because a woman has a nice body or fat ass, that doesn't mean healthy in the biological sense. It doesn't mean anythingâ”
Ovan held up his hand to stop Lawrence's diatribe before it got too far. “Trust me, it was more than a fat ass that told me that about Craven,” he said, allowing his sexually charged chauvinistic attitude to come through now. “I know healthy when I ...” Suddenly his mind clicked and his finger snapped. “Juanita! Yes. The fat-assed woman who ran into the back of my car this morning! Yes ...”
“Excuse me?” Lawrence said, trying to follow his thought pattern. Jim often jumped around too when following a hunch.
“She hit me.”
“With her car?”
“I was snooping about in the Ams's 'hood,' ” he said, “trying to decide on my approach, when all of a suddenâbloody hell! Half naked belly dancer rammed me from behind. Feisty little gypsy. Damned sexy as hell, too.” Ovan reached into his pocket, hoping her card would appear. No such luck. “Damn, that's right. I gave her my card so that she could call my partner with the charges to her car. Maravel is so much better at paperwork than I am,” he rambled.