Déjà Vu (23 page)

A
ngelica pulled the sheer curtains back as she surveyed the hotel parking lot. An hour or two had passed since Jefferson left, leaving her in an upbeat mood. Although Edward had her money tied up in assets that she was unable to get her hands on, Hamilton’s death had left her better off than she had expected.

She turned toward the desk where her brother sat making sure that everything was in order. Legal minds thought that way, and Angelica was glad to have Edward in her corner. There was going to be a fight on her hands, though, when Hamilton’s other surviving relatives received the news that they weren’t going to get a damn thing. There were a couple of aunts and a host of cousins to contend with, and Angelica was sure they weren’t aware of the majority of Hamilton’s assets, which was why he passed them on to her for safekeeping. Hamilton’s mother’s sisters were well aware that she left him practically everything, and they would certainly be standing in the wings with their crusty hands out.

“Jefferson looked good,” Angelica said.

“Aged a little bit and I noticed the limp in his walk,” Edward retorted. “I hope you’re not thinking of playing with fire again, especially since you’re at a good place in your life to move on and get away from the hell that has been your past.”

“No, Edward, I was really thinking about Margo and how gra
cious she was to me when I first got out of prison. She probably won’t speak to me since I ran out on her generosity. It’s plain to see that Jefferson is still and always will be in love with her. I’m ashamed of all the mistakes I’ve made in my life. But I’m scared, Edward.”

Angelica put her arms around Edward’s neck and laid her head on his. “I’m afraid of Santiago. I’m afraid that he’s going to try and kill me. I haven’t told you this, but I haven’t slept a wink since I’ve left New York.”

Edward pulled Angelica’s arms from around his neck and made her sit down on the edge of the bed. “Sis, I love you. I’m not here to judge you on your past mistakes, but I’m going to help you move on to a new life with new aspirations. The Fayetteville police are informed about Santiago, and hopefully it will be only a matter of time before he is caught. Stop looking back and embrace the future. We need to get to the funeral home to finalize everything.”

“Thanks, sweetie. You’ve been a jewel. When all of this is over, I’d like to see Michael. I know he hates me, but I have to let him know that his sister is trying to start a brand-new life, even though I’ve had a painful start.”

“He’ll come around soon, Sis. Give him some time.”

“I am going back to New York when this is over,” Angelica said, changing the subject.

“Oh, the guy you met. Angelica, you can’t let a man rule your head. What about your brand-new start?”

“This is not ‘some guy’, Edward. He is caring and loving. If I were to be with someone for the rest of my life, it would be with Ari.”

“How do you know? Weren’t you living with Santiago?”

“Donna, Ari, Santiago…I’ve lived with everybody, Edward. I
bounced around like I was a carefree balloon with no home to call my own. Wherever I landed at a particular moment, I accepted it and went on with the program, giving little or no thought to tomorrow. My life has so many layers, and most of it, I’m sure, has been because of one bad decision after another.” Angelica looked up at her brother. “I’m going to get it straight one day.”

They both jumped when Angelica’s cell phone began to ring. Her fingers were shaking as she tried to retrieve it from her bag. She glanced at the number and smiled, hurriedly opening it up to retrieve the call.

“Hey, Ari,” Angelica said softly as if she was in a library full of people. “How are you doing?”

“Much better than yesterday. I wanted to hear your voice…to know that you’re all right.”

“My brother Edward is with me. He makes me feel safe. We’re getting ready to go to the funeral home to finalize the arrangements for Hamilton.” Angelica sighed. “All of this makes me numb, and I hate that you have to be in the middle of it.”

“I was lying here thinking about how un-dramatic my life was before I met you. Guess what?”

“What, Ari?”

“You added a little spice to my life. Not that I didn’t have fun hobnobbing with Donna’s bourgeois friends. Anyway, I wanted to tell you that the
New York Times
had a little article about Donna. It said they have a lead in her murder investigation, but they were not releasing any details yet.”

“My God,” Angelica said thoughtfully. “That’s good. I hope they catch the killer soon. Anything about Santiago?”

“No, but I recognized him as being at Donna’s apartment on the night that she was killed.”

“Are you sure, Ari? When did you realize it?”

“The day he and his goons kidnapped me from in front of the apartments, one of the guys threw me in the back seat with your Santiago. Mean son-of-a-gun. I got a good look at his face when he was questioning me about your whereabouts, and it clicked.”

“You’ve got to tell the police, Ari. They need to know as soon as possible.”

“They know; I’m their lead in the case. If I didn’t tell you, an undercover cop has been monitoring my room in the event Santiago should decide to show up. I doubt that he will because he was obsessed with finding you. He probably thinks I’m dead, especially since I haven’t returned to the house.”

“I’m glad you’re doing better. Be sure to let me know if you hear anything, and I’ll let you know if anything transpires on this end. I love you,” Angelica whispered.

“Why are you whispering? You don’t want big brother to know that you might have a thing for me?”

Angelica laughed. “I told him that I might return to New York when this is all over—and not because I left my things. I’m sure Santiago has thrown them out in the trash.”

“Well, I hope you do. I’ll talk to you later.” And the line was dead.

Angelica flipped the phone down and turned to look into Edward’s inquiring eyes.

“You’ve got it bad, huh?” Edward asked.

“He’s the best thing that has happened to me in a long time. But Edward, he said he recognized Santiago as being at Donna’s house the night she was murdered, and he has told the police.”

“I only hope the cops are out there doing their job.”

“My nerves are shot,” Angelica said, throwing her hands in the air. “I need a drink, if I’m going to get through Hamilton’s funeral
and have to deal with a murderous lunatic who’s walking around free when he should have been locked up a long time ago. I can’t believe the feds were never able to find him.”

“We don’t know where Santiago has been. I’m surprised that he showed his face to you.”

“Vengeance. I believe it has always been a part of his plan to get rid of me, Jefferson, and Hamilton when he thought no one was looking or no one cared.” Angelica slumped in the nearest chair and sighed.

Rescuing her from her thoughts, Edward sat next to her on the arm of the chair, took her hand and rubbed it. “It’s going to be over soon. You can bet your bottom dollar on that.”

Angelica smiled at Edward. “I hope you’re right. Now let’s go so we can get this over with. I don’t want to be around Hamilton’s folks longer than I have to.”

“I’m with you, Little Sis.”

T
he steady stream of hot water temporarily soothed the guilt that consumed Margo. Her mind raced to her fling with Malik, hoping the suds from the body wash would erase her infidelity. She convinced herself that running to Malik’s doorstep was done in the heat of the moment—a sincere need to have the ears of a friend help her understand why Jefferson had a need to see Angelica. Instead, she found herself succumbing to the source that had plagued many of her dreams—a fantasy come true. And while she had enjoyed all of Malik’s attention, her mind was on Jefferson.

Stretching her neck upward, the water ran down and eased the tension there. A smile passed over her face as she thought of Jefferson. Everything was right with their lovemaking, and Margo wished she could erase the few hours beforehand that now made her feel dirty and guilty. Many of her friends said she was an idiot for taking him back, but she loved some Jefferson Myles. He was her man, and she was going to love him until the day she died.

Shame was driving her crazy. How was she going to tell Malik that it was over before it started? Tears welled up in her eyes. She had to put an end to this and soon. After today, she knew that Malik would be relentless in his pursuit of her, and the last thing she needed was for Jefferson to find out that she was no better than him.

“Oh, God, what have I gotten myself into?” she sobbed.

Just then, the door to the bathroom flew open. “Are you all right, Margo?” Jefferson asked. “I thought I heard you crying.”

“Were you listening at the door?”

“No, but you were loud enough to be heard throughout the whole house. That’s why I came in.”

“It’s okay, baby. I was crying tears of joy.”

Glad that she was on the other side of the frosted glass of the shower door, Margo wiped her eyes with her hands. The last thing she wanted was for Jefferson to know what had been running through her head and that she was feeling guilty over having sex with his best friend. She turned the shower off, but didn’t come out. Before she could offer up another explanation, Jefferson opened the door to the shower, walked in with his clothes on and kissed her.

Wet from head to toe, Margo kissed him back, glad to be in his embrace. She wanted to believe that everything was back on track, that their life together was on the mend, and they would not be touched again by the ugly forces on the outside. They embraced until Jefferson left, overcome by the steam.

“I love you, Margo, and always will. I’m going to go and meet Angelica and Edward at the funeral home, and I’ll be right back when I’m done. I’m going to fix dinner for you tonight. So get pretty; I won’t be long.” He blew her a kiss and was gone.

Margo walked out of the shower, grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her. Wet hair and all, she walked into her bedroom, lay down on the bed and drifted off to sleep. Dreams began to invade her subconscious: she naked in Malik’s bed, deep in the passion of lust, and he partaking of her body as if it was his last supper. Then the dream switched to her and Jefferson: she giving
him what she wanted him to have; and then wanting to give him more, except that the twinge of guilt edged its way in, cutting off the emotion that no longer let her be free. She smiled, though, as her mind revisited Jefferson making love to her. He was ravenous and greedy, devouring her body with joy.

Deep in her subconscious, she heard a phone ringing, angry that it sought to disturb her. She needed this time to rest, to relax her mind and shake her head out of the confused state it was in. Jumping this time, she sat up. Her cell phone was ringing, and it might be Jefferson.

Without looking at the caller ID, she answered, “Jefferson?”

“Jefferson? This is Malik, Margo. You haven’t forgotten already how special our day was, have you?”

“Malik…oh, I’m sorry. I had dozed off, and I guess the phone startled me.”

“How do you feel? I know how I feel—on top of the world. If I was with you now, I’d make love to you again.”

Margo listened in horror. What was she going to say to Malik? There were no magic words she could summon that would put an end to the catastrophe she had created. Courage to deal with it at this moment was lost on her, so she would have to do her best to keep Malik at bay until the right moment presented itself.

“I can’t talk right now, Malik. Jefferson is in the other room, and I don’t want to risk him overhearing me.”

“Have you decided when you’re going to tell him?”

“Tell him what?”

“Margo, what’s wrong with you? We agreed that Jefferson needs to know how we feel about each other. It’s only a matter of time before he knows for sure because, at this moment, I don’t want to be without you.”

“We’re moving too fast, Malik. I can’t just up and tell him out of the blue.”

“I’ll be there with you when you tell him. There is no way I’d let you do it by yourself. He might get violent.”

“Okay, let’s talk about it later. I need to get off the phone.”

“Can I see you tomorrow? You can come over to the house.”

“Tomorrow is not good. I’ve got houses to show all afternoon.”

“In the morning?”

“I’ve got a business meeting.”

“Margo, if it wasn’t for what happened between us this afternoon, I’d think you were trying to avoid me.”

“No, Malik,” she lied. “Tipping out on Jefferson was new to me. Vengeance isn’t in my blood.”

“You were tipping out on a no-good adulterer who still can’t keep his thing in his pants.”

“So what does that make me—a good adulterer? Malik, you’re not making sense.”

“What I’m trying to say is that Jefferson has hurt you time and time again. Even though he told you he was a different person, he’s still up to his old game. He hasn’t changed. He wants you to think that way because he has nothing left but you. If you weren’t there for him, his sorry ass would be out on the streets. I can’t believe he and I were once best friends.”

“What if Jefferson didn’t meet Angelica for what I thought?”

“You said yourself, you saw them go into the hotel. How much more convincing do you need? Look, sweetheart, I know that today was different and new for you because you’ve been a good and virtuous woman all of your life, but today was special in every way and we could have many more days like this. You would never have to worry about me cheating on you, ever.”

Margo sighed into the phone. “I feel…this was not right.” She wanted to say she felt dirty.

“The first time is always the hardest, but I promise that your second time, third, and on down the line will be nothing but ecstasy. I’ll let you go now. I’ll call you tomorrow. Sweet dreams.”

Margo shut the phone without saying goodbye. The right moment might never come but, for certain, she had to put an end to this nightmare sooner rather than later.