Night of Seduction (45 page)

As if realizing
what he was doing, he stood up straight.
“
We got to
go.
”
He grabbed her hand and ran down the steps. Two of the
biggest men she had ever seen met them at the door.
“
The car is rolling.
”
One man said and
gave him a folder.

“Kiki
Simmons--Jake Turner, and Peace Newman.
”
The two men
stopped: shocked that he had told this stranger their real names.
Walking down the hallway he looked over his shoulder.
“
I don
’
t have time for
this,
”
he said and the two men walked double time to the
elevator. Reviewing the paper work in the file, he pulled out a
picture of a woman entering a house.
“
Who is
this?
”

“Tina Melton.
An IT specialist.
”

He looked at
the date on the picture.
“
When did we lose
inside surveillance?
”

“Friday.
”

He hit the man
in the chest with the picture.
“
When did she enter
the house?
”

The big man
looked at the picture and looked at the other big man. Kiki
didn
’
t have to see the picture to know the answer was
Friday.

“Why
wasn
’
t I told?
”
he asked as they
climbed off the elevator into an SUV that pulled off as soon as the
last set of feet was in, even though the door was still
open.

“You were in
Virginia at the time.
”

He put his head
down struggling to control his emotions.
“
You still do
your job regardless of where I am.
”
His cell
chimed.
“
Speak.
”

He listened as
Kiki sat back and watched him in action. At one time, she thought
she was a mover and shaker, but this man was in an entirely
different league. The two big men looked nervous as she smiled to
try to ease their anxiety. But it didn
’
t work, whatever
was breaking was not good. Ty hung up the cell phone, then pulled
his blackberry out to wait for something else to come through. When
it did he hit the ceiling of the SUV just as they reached the
airport. After checking through security, they boarded the plane
and were in the air en route to Virginia.

Once they were
in the air, Ty looked over at Kiki. Not once had she complained
about the sudden change of plans, or asked any questions, or even
if Siri was alright. He never answered her. Unbuckling his
seatbelt, he moved to sit in front of her. For a moment, the
emotions of the day played across his face. She unbuckled her
seatbelt and sat in his lap, she kissed his temple.
“
Whatever it is, you will handle it. Just take a breath. You
think better when oxygen is flowing through that beautiful brain of
yours.
”
She smiled sweetly.

Pulling her
close, he kissed her neck and hugged her tight.
“
Thank you
for being here.
”

“You
’
re
welcome.
”

“Siri was
rushed to the emergency room, unconscious. Eric and her mother are
there with her. But no word on her condition.
”

Kiki sat back
in her seat and stared at him.
“
What caused her to
lose consciousness?
’

He stared back
at her, realizing they were on opposite sides of the table on this.
She was Siri
’
s agent. He was
Siri
’
s attorney. There were certain things he could not
discuss with her.
“
I
can
’
t say.
”

“This is where
we are going to clash. You
’
re citing client
privilege?
”

He
nodded.
“
Client privilege.

“Whew.
”
She closed her eyes; certain she was
not going to like his reply.
“
Siri or
Eric?
”

“Both.
”
he sat forward.
“
However,
my brother
’
s best interests take
priority.
”

Eric and
Latoya

T
he emergency room was
quiet, a little too quiet for Eric. However, he remained calm as he
sat beside Kerri waiting for some kind of report on
Siri
’
s condition. It was four o
’
clock in the
morning and they had been there for almost two hours. Surely,
someone should have an answer by now. Reaching over he took
Kerri
’
s hand and kissed the back of it.
“
Have I
ever said thank you for giving birth to Siri?
”

Kerri looked
over at the young man that was sitting beside her more worried than
she was about her daughter. His hair hung to his shoulders and
covered the side of his face as he hung his head. She squeezed his
hand.
“
You know when you have active girls like mine
you
’
ll spend a good amount of time in emergency rooms with
broken bones or sprained ankles. The first few times you worry
because it takes them so damn long to tell you anything. After a
few visits you learn, before the doctors come out to talk to you
they are busy running every kind of test imaginable to ensure their
finding are correct. So you learn to have a little more patience.
You still worry, but you breathe a little
better.
”

Still looking
down at the floor with Kerri
’
s hand in his, Eric
smiled.
“
I don
’
t think you answered
my question, but your words were relaxing.
”

“Eric,
”
Ty called out as he walked towards
him with Kiki.
“
How is
she
—
any word yet?
”
Eric stood,
“
Nothing man.
”
He said shaking his head.

Kiki went to
Kerri.
“
Hello Mrs. Kendrick,
”
she hugged
her.
“
Can I get you some coffee or
anything?
”

“No, thank you.
I
’
m fine. We
’
re just
waiting.
”

“What
happened?
”
Kiki asked looking at both, Eric and
Kerri. Eric looked to Ty, who shook his head indicating no, to his
unasked question.
“
Look, professional
differences aside,
”
Kiki stated,
“
we are talking
about someone I consider a friend. All I want to know is what
happened to her. She didn
’
t just wake up in the
middle of the night and fall out. So what
happened?
”

“A loud voice
awakened me around two or three this morning.
”
Kerri
explained.
“
When I got up, I
realized it was Siri sounding very upset talking to someone on the
phone. As I walked through the door, she fell, hitting the back of
her head on the footboard of her bed. There was no bleeding or
anything, but I couldn
’
t wake her up.
That
’
s when I called the ambulance.
”

“I was on the
telephone with her,
”
Eric added.
“
She was so
upset, devastated. I tried to calm her down, but then she
couldn
’
t talk. It was as if she was gasping for air.
That
’
s when I jumped in the car and drove over. The
emergency personnel were there when I arrived bringing her out.
We
’
ve been here ever since.
”

“Sounds like
she was hyperventilating, but why? What would upset her to that
point?
”

Ty
interrupted.
“
Eric, we need to
talk.
”
Walking a distance down the hallway, Ty looked
over his shoulder. He could see Kiki, the woman that had just
turned his world upside down a few hours ago was not happy. Pulling
out his blackberry, he turned his back to Kerri and Kiki and looked
at Eric.
“
A second picture was sent to your computer about
an hour ago.
”
He displayed the picture and the
demand.

Eric looked at
the display.
“
Whew,
”
he sighed.
“
Pay
it.
”

Ty shook his
head.
“
No. If you pay this it will not stop. This is
Latoya. She wants to destroy you and Jason. Even if we pay this,
she will still expose these photographs.
”

Eric looked
back at Kerri and Kiki, then looked Ty up and down. Then he looked
him in the eyes.
“
If that was Kiki in
those pictures what would you do?
”

“Post them
proudly on every billboard I could find. There is nothing shameful
about a man and a woman expressing their love for each
other.
”

“If posting
them meant losing the woman you love, would you still do
it?
”

Ty looked down
the hallway at Kiki and shook his head.
“
I
don
’
t know.
”

“You
don
’
t know, but that
’
s what
you
’
re asking me to do?
”
Eric calmly
replied.
“
I can
’
t take that
chance.
”
Just then a doctor walked over to Kerri. Eric and
Ty walked back over.

“Mrs.
Kendrick
’
s there
’
s a few things.
Nothing major, no broken bones, heart
’
s good, lungs are
good. So nothing major, however, we had a little bit of a hiccup.
We ran some blood tests which show that she
’
s pregnant which
complicated our next steps. We ensured she was well protected and
ran x-rays and a CT scan that revealed that she suffered a slight
concussion from a blow to the back of her head, probably occurred
during the fall. There is some swelling on the brain, but with a
few days rest, no stressful situations, she should be as good as
new.
”

“Did you say
she
’
s pregnant?
”
Eric
asked.

The doctor
looked at him and then back to Kerri.
“
It
’
s alright,
he
’
s her fianc
é
.
”

While Eric did not blink at the statement,
Ty and Kiki looked surprised.

“Yes, not very
far along, I would say maybe a few weeks not a month. But her
gynecologist could give a better diagnosis on
that.
”

“Is she
awake?
”
Eric asked.
“
Can I see
her?
”

“She has not
regained consciousness. We
’
ll be moving her to a
room. You
’
ll be able to see her then.
”
The
doctor touched Eric
’
s shoulder.
“
She
’
s going to be fine
and congratulations,
”
then walked away.

For a good
minute or two, no one said anything. They all just stood there
shocked. Then Ty turned to Eric and smiled.
“
You
’
re going to be a
daddy.
”

“In every
tragedy, there is a silver lining,
”
Kiki
smiled.

Kerri sat down
and exhaled.
“
Nana was
right.
”
She shook her head and began laughing.
“
Nana told us at the restaurant after the wedding that Siri
was pregnant.
”