After Hours (16 page)

When Forbes spoke to her again, his voice was tender, almost a murmur, “I’m good at my job; nothing is going to happen to me. Anyways, where I’m at, it’s after hours no one is around to see me. However, I need for you to promise me something.”

“What is the promise?”

“Promise me that you won’t ever make me wait that long to tell me that you love me. I thought I had lost you,” he admitted in her ear. “I wouldn’t have been able to go on without you in my life.”

“Were you going to just give up on me?” she questioned.

“Baby, you’re in my blood. There’s nothing that you could ever do that would make me give up on you.” The low and smooth sound of his voice made her think about their future and all the happiness it would entail.

“That’s good to hear. Is this case hard on you? Do you know how much longer you’ll be there?” Jametria understood that Forbes had to do his job, but she’d rather him be here in the penthouse with her. “I miss you so much.”

“Honey, I can’t tell you about my assignment. Just know that I’m thinking about you and when I go to sleep at night, you’re the woman in my dreams.”

“Have you been reading some of my romance books?”

“No…I haven’t why?” Forbes asked.

“It’s nothing, but you sound like one of the men from my novels. I thought maybe you were taking pointers from them or something,” she teased, savoring her time with Forbes.

“Jametria, everything I’m telling you is coming from my heart. I love you.”

“Forbes, I feel the same way. I can’t wait until you’re home.”

“I have to go, but can you do something for me first?”

“Ask away and I’ll try my best,” she replied.

“Can you call me something besides Forbes? Like sweetheart, baby, darling or an endearment that you’re fond of? I’m going to use it to help me get to sleep tonight.”

“Darling, I hope you have dreams filled with me, because I know when I close my eyes, you’re going to be in mine. I love you so much, baby.”

“Forever?”

“Forever and ever,” Jametria responded with all the love she had in her body and soul.

“I have to go,” Forbes groaned, “but I’ll call you again as soon as I get a chance. It’s against policy, but when Zane said you wanted to talk to me I decided to live a little dangerously.”

“Don’t you dare get yourself killed because of me,” Jametria begged. “When you come back to me, I want you all in one piece. Promise me.”

“I promise. I’ll try to call again when I get a place to do it. Goodnight, Jametria.”

“Good night, baby. I’m so happy you called me.”

The dial tone went dead in Jametria’s ear before she could utter another word to Forbes; however, she was on beyond ecstatic about her phone call. It put her in the mood to write.

Tossing the covers off her body, Jametria climbed out of bed and headed over to her laptop. She wasn’t seated two minutes before her fingers raced across the keyboard.

****

“I was really surprised when you called me. I haven’t heard from you in over six months. So, what’s wrong?” Neil questioned.

“Can’t I invite my estranged brother to lunch?” Tyra answered, already regretting her decision to see him.

“Of course you can. I’m just saying I was surprised to hear from you.”

“I’m trying here; but if you don’t want to I can leave.” She started to get up, but Neil waved her back down

“Tyra, the past is buried. How about we leave it there? Care to tell me about the real reason you called me and invited me to meet you?”

“Do you remember me telling you about my boss Paul a while back?” she asked.

Neil looked at her for a few minutes. “Yeah, you mentioned you were falling in love with him.”

“Well, he told me that he loved me today,” she blurted out, “but I can’t get involved with him.”

“I’ve never met Paul, but the way you talked about him the few times we met for lunch, he seemed like a man that you were falling for. Care to tell me why you don’t believe he loves you?” her brother asked.

“You know why I can’t do it,” Tyra said. “I can’t put everything into him the way mama did with daddy. I’m head over heels in love with Paul, but I can’t have him controlling me the way daddy did with mama. He practically forbade me from coming to see you today. I’m not used to that and I don’t want it in my life.”

“Are you saying Paul has control issues?”

“Not necessarily, but he can’t keep from getting jealous when I talk about other men. I’m not interested in anyone but him. Why can’t he see what is right in front of his face? I want to be with him but not if I have to tell him my every move.”

“Tell him that,” Neil interjected. “He’ll understand if he really does love you. But first you have to realize that he isn’t dad. Our mom wasn’t as strong as you are, she allowed him to rule her. You won’t let that happen to you. I believe if she had stood up to him once it would have stopped him. But, I believe dad was a little jealous of mom too.”

“What?” Tyra said. “Why would you think he was jealous of her?”

“Our mother was beautiful, intelligent and successful working at the college as a professor. She had a very important job that she loved, but I think it made him felt left out. Dad always wanted to own his own business, but ended up working for our grandfather his entire life.”

“I never thought about Daddy being jealous of mama,” she admitted.

“You were too young to remember them fighting, but I do. It was always about how he wanted more out of life. She told him to go for it, but dad never did. I think he was scared to fail. Don’t let that be you. If you love Paul then tell him and let him love you back.”

“How can you be so sure?”

 “Tyra, Paul isn’t Dad. You can’t live in fear of the unknown, if Paul wants to give you the world, then let him do it.”

“I just don’t know,” Tyra admitted, softly.

 “I know I haven’t been the best brother to you over the years, but don’t let our childhood stand in the way of your happiness now. Go find Paul and tell him how you feel. I’m betting he’ll be more than eager to prove his love.”

 “He might not do what you think he will,” she said with skepticism in her voice.

“I’m a man. We love to show the woman in our life how much we care about her, especially the one we want to make our wife.”

Neil’s words were starting to make her believe. Paul did care enough about her to help her work through her problems. Grabbing her purse, she stood up and a small smile touched her mouth when she met her brother’s hazel eyes.

“Thank you for your help.” Tyra spun away from the table and hurried from the coffee shop. She had to find Paul, so she could tell him how much she truly loved and wanted to be with only him.

Chapter Twenty Five

“How is everything going? Have you spotted any trespassers?” Hudson’s voice came through the tiny earpiece stuck in his ear. “I don’t want anyone stopping this drug buy, it will be worth millions for you. You will be a very rich man in a matter of hours. Just think about it, you will be able to buy anything you want without a second thought.”

Forbes stood at the side of the building and scanned the area looking for any signs of hidden agents hiding on the roof of the nearby warehouses. He spotted two over at the far left but quickly turned his head so not to draw attention to them.

“No boss, I’m not seeing anything. Surely, no one is dumb enough to try anything today, not with me around, I hope you know, I won’t think twice about putting a bullet in them,” he stated back in the mouthpiece.

“You would be surprised at how there are always a few greedy individuals who think they can steal my drugs and take me out. Remember, I told you there is always someone willing to push you over the cliff to take your spot. Luckily, I’ve a few cops on my side that I pay under the table to watch my back. I don’t think we’ll have any problem today when the heroin arrives. They want their cut as much as we do,” Hudson said, surprising him.

 He swallowed down a curse. “I didn’t know you had some cops on our side. Fuck man…You’re a lot smarter than I thought you were. I’m very
impressed
. When do I get to meet these guys and just how deeply do your connections run?” He could only envision the smug look that passed over Hudson’s face.

This guy really had a God complex.

 “Oh, I have several friends in high places,” Hudson bragged, “but we can’t talk about it now. I still need to do a few more things before they show up with the merchandise. I can’t let them get the upper hand on me. I haven’t gotten where I am without being well-prepared.”

“I understand,” Forbes answered.

 “I knew you would. Don’t forget to turn the channel to a lower station. I want to continue to talk to you but without other people listening in,” Hudson said. “There are some things you need to hear and they don’t.”

“I’ll do it. Also, I’m going to take a walk around the grounds since you have Calvin with you. I don’t want any hiding out here that we don’t know about.”

“Good plan. Let me know instantly if you find something out of sorts.” A static sound echoed in his ear as Hudson changed his radio to a different frequency.

I’m not going to tell you a damn thing you bastard. All I want to do is throw your ass in jail and toss away the key, he thought.

Slipping around the building, he strolled slowly in the direction of the old buildings at the far left of the property away from the warehouse. He couldn’t chance anyone sneaking up on him while he took care of business. The openness of the area gave him free reign to watch for any unwanted guests trying to surprise him.

Pausing by the door, he knocked twice and waited for it to open. Seconds later, it cracked open. “You’re late,” Zane pointed out as if he didn’t already know that.

“Sorry, I was talking to Hudson and I’m glad that I did. Do you know that he has some of the local police in his pocket?”

“Shit, did he give you any names? I can’t believe how deep this guy’s reach is. I’m beginning to see why none of his charges has stuck before. I bet he even has friends in the DA’s office.”

“He trusts me with a lot, but he’s still keeping a lot of stuff from me. I’m pretty sure after I pass this test things will start looking better for me. I only wished I knew what it was going to be. I hate being left out in the dark like this.”

“I know. We aren’t going to have enough time to prepare for anything if he doesn’t give you something to go on. Hopefully, he doesn’t want you to do something to illegal like commit murder.”

Several possibilities of what Hudson might require of him had raced through his brain the last couple of days, but he wasn’t sure about any of them. Hudson was a chameleon. Forbes never knew what going on in that asshole’s mind.

“Do you have any plans set up to have me follow or to intervene if Hudson has something sinister up his sleeve?”

“We can’t set any in place until we have more information. Hell, we can’t even arrest him today because we need more information on the people he has in his pockets. Just remember to stick to his side like glue,” Zane told him. “Keep your wits about you and everything should be fine. Now take this.”

Forbes felt something shoving into the center of his chest. He grabbed the sheet of paper and cell phone out of Zane’s hand. “What is this?” he asked, slipping them into his back pocket.

“That is the new number and phone you need to use to get in touch with me,” Zane replied. “Just make sure you dial in the code before you dial my cell phone.”

Concern raced through Forbes’ body. The last time he used that old cell phone was to call Jametria. “Why am I getting a new number and phone from you? Was the other one not safe?”

“Someone was trying to trace your calls, but we aren’t sure if it was coming from Hudson’s property or not, because they stopped before we could find the correct location. We don’t want your cover blown yet so I got you a new cell phone.”

“I don’t want my cover blown either. I promised Jametria that I’d come back to her.” The words slipped out and instantly Forbes recognized his mistake. Zane was going to be up in arms that he called Jametria on his cell phone.

“Please tell me that you didn’t call Ms. Collins on your old phone?” His boss’s voice barked through the crack in the door. “We don’t have the time or manpower to be protecting her if Hudson finds out about her. Your stupid phone call could have placed her in a lot of danger.”

Forbes thought his heart literally stopped beating at the thought of Jametria being placed in any form of danger because of him. He had missed her and needed to hear her voice for a few minutes. “Zane, you have to check on her and make sure she’s safe,” he pleaded.

“I can’t do that.”

“Yes you can and you know it. I know that if it was Africa you would have been there the next day checking on her. Jametria is important to me. You should feel the need to protect her as much as I do. Shit man, we have been friends for over ten years. Can you do this for me?”

He spun around and faced Zane, not caring if anyone from in the warehouse saw him. “I’ll leave tonight and not come back if you don’t do it. You know I’m not kidding with you.”

Although he didn’t answer at first, Zane’s face spoke for him. His boss wasn’t going to take any more demands from him after this. It was a good thing that he was retiring after this case or he might not have a job waiting for him.

“I have told you more than once not to threaten me.” Zane’s voice carried a unique tone that would have most men scared, but he wasn’t.

 “Zane, I’m not threatening you. I only suggested that you check on Jametria for me. Can you do that for me?” he asked again, and this time his voice was friendlier.

“I know that if I don’t check you’ll go crazy with worry, so I’ll do it,” his boss finally agreed. “Now get back to that drug buy and get on Hudson’s good side. We’re going to need a lot on him, because he has excellent lawyers. We can’t let him get off on a technically.”

“Hudson isn’t about to slip through the cracks again. It’s going to give me get pleasure to bring him down.”