After Hours (9 page)

Fuck, he couldn’t let Zane find out that Jametria knew about this. He wouldn’t have a problem sending her off to prison with her uncle.

“Don’t tell me you believe him,” she laughed. “God, one time he told me he was a pirate and then a magician,” Jametria said, rolling her eyes. “He’s a very good story teller; without a doubt, I got my writing talent from him.”

 
“Honey, you know that we have a problem,” Forbes brought up.

“What kind of problem do we have, Mr. Huntington? Are you scared to meet my crazy relative? I promise you that his bark is worse than his bite.”

“Jametria, I’m not scared. I can’t wait to meet your family member; however, remember that you only had enough food to fix breakfast. So, are we going to the store after we eat?”

 Crossing his fingers behind his back, Forbes prayed that Jametria fell for the bait.

“Shit, you’re right,” she retorted, standing up. “We have to get some food in the house, but I don’t want to miss my uncle. I mean I know I fixed breakfast and everything, but I’m too excited to sit down and eat. I haven’t seen Uncle Wayne in years.”

“Jametria, don’t get in a panic. How about I stay here and wait for your uncle?” he suggested. “We can get to know each other while you’re gone?”

 “Are you sure about this? I mean…shouldn’t I be here to introduce the two of you? He’ll be surprised to have a strange man answering my front door.”

“Did you tell him about me?” Forbes asked, wondering how he was going to get Jametria to leave the house if this idea didn’t work.

Big bright brown eyes sparkled with love the second before Jametria stood on tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Baby, I love you so much! That’s a perfect idea. I can get the stuff for my famous three cheese broccoli and chicken casserole then for dessert I can fix my strawberry shortcake.”

He knew Jametria would never get the chance to fix that meal, but he would never forget hearing the words ‘I love you’ coming from her mouth. Yet, he couldn’t let that sway him from doing his job.

“Sweetheart, I promise I’ll be nice to your uncle when he gets here.” He couldn’t say the same for Zane and the rest of the men in the Bureau. “Why don’t you leave right now, so you can beat the afternoon traffic?”

“You’re right. I want to at least have the casserole started before my uncle shows up.” Jametria got up from the couch and grabbed her purse off the table. “I’ll try to get back as soon as I can,” she said, kissing him and then hurrying out the door, closing it softly behind her.

Jumping up from the couch, Forbes raced over to the window. He looked out and waited until Jametria was completely out of sight before he grabbed his cell phone out of his jean pocket. “What do you have for me?” Zane asked, picking up after the second ring.

“Wayne Collins is on his way to Jametria’s house. I found a way to get her to leave for an hour, so I advise you to get everyone over here ASAP.”

Ending the call, Forbes pushed his relationship with Jametria to the back of his mind and got into business mode. He couldn’t let his emotions for her cloud his judgment. He was just doing his job and hopefully, she wouldn’t hold it against him for
too
long.

Chapter Fifteen

“Oh, my God,” Jametria gasped as her car rounded the corner that led to her block.

Instantly, she noticed all of the dozen or so cars parked in front of her house, it was like a scene out of
Criminal Minds
. She stopped her car in the middle of the street and got out, racing towards her residence.

What had happened while she was gone to the store?

Fear lodged in Jametria’s throat and gripped her pounding heart as she got closer to her house. Did something happen to Forbes or her uncle while she wasn’t here? She wouldn’t be able to take it if either one of them had gotten hurt. She tried to rush past a man wearing a dark blue suit blocking her open front door, but he grabbed her by the arm.

 “Ma’am, where do you think you’re going?” he demanded loudly in her face.

“Let go of me,” she hissed, jerking her arm away. “This is my house and I have a right to know what’s going on here. Has something happened to my Uncle Wayne or Forbes?”

“You’re Jametria Collins,” the man wearing the suit said, looking her up and down. “You look younger in person than in your pictures,” he muttered so low that she almost didn’t hear him.

“What pictures are you talking about? Let me inside my house,” she demanded, shoving past him and hurrying inside before he could stop her. He’d better not touch her again, or he wasn’t going to like the outcome.

 “Forbes, Uncle Wayne where are you?” Jametria yelled, hurrying through the house with the man at her heels. Not seeing them downstairs, she cut through the living room and raced upstairs.

“Ms. Collins, stop right there,” the man yelled after her. “You can’t go up there. Come back here!”

Ignoring the man behind her, she kept moving in the direction that she heard the voices coming from. She could make out the sound of Forbes and her Uncle Wayne yelling at each other. What in the hell was going on inside of her house? Why were all of these people here?

****

Standing across the room with his back resting against a table, Forbes stared at the handcuffed man sitting in a chair a few feet in front of him. He couldn’t believe after almost twenty years on the run. Wayne Collins had finally been caught.

It felt good to be a part of this bust. Zane had been right about Jametria being the link to finally capturing Wayne Collins. He had tried to sneak into Dallas to see his niece before leaving the country, but it hadn’t worked. They had him and he would be spending his time in a jail cell instead of relaxing on a sunny beach.

“Stop staring at me you son of a bitch,” Wayne yelled at him. “I swear if I wasn’t handcuffed. I would show you who’s boss. Hell, does my niece, Jametria, even know who you really are?” Wayne Collins questioned. “What do you think she’s going to do when she finds out you used her to get to me?”

 “Mr. Collins, you need to keep your mouth shut,” Forbes snapped. “You’re a criminal and deserve to get brought to justice. You have been robbing banks for years, it’s past time your ass got arrested.”

 “Was part of your cover to make my sweet and innocent niece fall in love with you?” Wayne demanded. “I hope you know she’ll hate you for this. Jametria will never say another word to you when she finds out the truth.”

“Shut up!” he hollered. “Jametria will understand that I was only doing my job. I know she loves me and I love her. We’ll get through this, but I don’t have to discuss my relationship with her to you.”

“I would have to disagree, Agent Huntington, because you’re here in my face. I can say anything I want to you and you have to take it. I do have a question for you. How did you get Jametria to leave so you could arrest me?”

Forbes hated that he was allowing Wayne to get under his skin but it couldn’t be helped. Jametria’s uncle knew all the right buttons to push and it was pissing him off. However, he wasn’t going to allow Wayne Collins to ruin what he knew Jametria felt for him.

“I sent her to the store after something,” he answered. “I loved her enough that I didn’t want her to be here when this all went down. By the time she eventually gets back home, thankfully, all of my men will be cleared out and then I can tell her what happened. Plus, you won’t be around to fill her head with lies about me. I know that she loves you, but she loves me more and will understand.”

A smug look suddenly came over Wayne’s face. “You think so? You really believe Jametria will overlook the lies you fed her only to get closer to me?”

“I know that she will,” Forbes replied, confident. “Jametria is in love with me.”

****

“Mr. Huntington, you don’t know as much as you think you do,” a soft yet furious voice yelled behind him.

Forbes quickly spun around and he stumbled back as Jametria’s slap almost knocked him to the ground. “You lying son of bitch.” She lunged at him again, but Zane grabbed her, yanking her arms behind her back.

“Ms. Collins, you’re under arrest for hitting a federal agent.”

“I don’t care. Let me go so I can hit him again. He’s a lying bastard. I know that light tap didn’t hurt his sorry ass,” she hissed, twisting her arms as she tried to get free.

Shaking off the ringing in his ears, Forbes watched Jametria struggle against Zane’s stronger hold. “Let her go. I’m not going to press charges.” He glared at his boss because of the way he was handling Jametria. She was upset, but she wasn’t any danger to him.

“I can’t do that,” Zane answered, staring at him.

 “I said let her go. I know Jametria isn’t going to hit me again,” Forbes muttered, rubbing his stinging cheek. “I deserved the slap anyway.”

“I’ll hit you again as soon as this jerk let’s go of my arms,” she threatened.

“No, you won’t,” Forbes stated, moving to stand in front of her. He saw the brave image she was trying to put on; however, he saw the hurt in her eyes.

Big brown eyes glistened with unshed tears as Jametria stared back at him before jerking her head away. “I hate you,” she whispered under her breath, but he still heard the soft spoken words and they hurt more than the slap.

“You no good bastard,” Wayne yelled at him from across the room. “Leave Jametria alone.”

“Zane, will you take care of Mr. Collins so I can speak to his niece alone?”

His boss looked at Jametria then Wayne before he let her go of her arms and took her uncle from the room.

“Jametria let me explain.” The words were out of his mouth as soon as they were alone. The longer he waited to justify his actions the
harder
it would be to make Jametria to listen to him.

“Agent Huntington, I don’t want you to clarify anything to me,” she said, turning away from him.

Forbes wrapped his hand around Jametria’s wrist. “Sweetheart, don’t leave. We need to talk.” He hated the pleading sound of his voice, but he had to make her listen.

“Please let go of my arm,” she hissed, giving it a hard jerk.

“No.” Forbes let go of her arm and then eased past Jametria’s body, blocking her only way out. He couldn’t permit her leave until they talked.

“Are you holding me here to question me about my uncle?”

“Your uncle isn’t the reason I wanted you to stay and you know it,” Forbes replied. “I want to know how much damage I have caused to our relationship.”

“Relationship,” Jametria snickered, facing him. “I was a means to an end for you. You only faked a relationship with me to get closer to my uncle. How do I even know if Forbes Huntington is your real name?”

“It is.”

“Do you think I’m actually going to believe a word that comes out of your deceitful mouth?”

This was his worst nightmare come true. The woman he loved was looking at him like she hated the sight of him. “I’m not lying to you, Baby. I’m in love with you.”

Jametria gave him a watery smile as tears filled her eyes. “No. You don’t love me because if you had you would have told me the truth weeks ago.”

“I was doing my job. Your Uncle Wayne is a bank robber and he had to be apprehended.”

He was sick of defending his actions. The only thing that pained him was Jametria got hurt in the process.

“You’re right. You did what was right for you and now I’m going to do the same thing,” Jametria said. “I’m ending things between us. None of it was real anyway, so the both of us should be able to go back to our old lives without any problems.” Brushing past him, Jametria hurried out the door before he got a chance to stop her.

“I’m not giving up on us!” Forbes yelled after her. “You mean too much to me.”

He hurried out the bedroom door and around the corner then down the steps, shoving Zane out of his way. He got outside just in time to see Jametria climb into her car and speed off. He started after her until an iron grip closed over his upper arm.

“You don’t have time to go after her. You’re needed back at the office to fill out the report then I need you in the room when I talk with Mr. Collins.”

“Zane, you can do all of that without me. I’m not going to lose her.” Forbes tried to loosen his boss’s grip but it wasn’t working.

“Don’t make me fire you on the spot. You never did one thing by the book when it came to this case, but damn it to hell, you’re going to follow orders this time!”

He couldn’t argue with Zane. “Shit, I hate this,” he growled tossing his head back. “I’ll finish up what you want me to then I’m taking a leave of absence until I get her back in my life. I refuse to let this ruin what we have.”

“You’re really in love with her?” Zane let go of his arm and stepped back.

“Jametria is the woman I have been searching for, and I know deep down, if I have the chance, I can get her back. I just need the time to make her understand she can’t throw away what we shared.”

Chapter Sixteen

“Oh, my God, this is so beautiful,” Tyra gushed, picking up the ring box, staring at eight carat diamond ring. “Are you sure about this? I mean this will be a huge step for you”

“I know that I’m in love and can’t imagine not spending another moment without…”

“You’re going to have to spend it without Tyra, because I’m not going to allow you to marry her. She’s mine and I don’t share,” a loud voice said, interrupting them.

The ring was ripped out of her hand and flung back on the table. “Tyra, I won’t let you marry this guy. What’s wrong with you? We have one fight and you’re willing to jump into another guy’s arms,” Paul accused, squatting down next to her chair. “You meant the world to me and I’ll fight to the end for you.”

 “Did you follow me?” Tyra demanded, leaning back away from Paul. She wasn’t expecting to see him here. What was going on with him lately? He wasn’t acting like himself.

“Yes I did,” he admitted. “Hell, if I hadn’t you would be engaged to another guy right now. Who is this loser? Why in the fuck does he think he can marry you? Have you been seeing him behind my back?”