Drama in the Church Saga (10 page)

A sharp pain pierced Olivia's heart. She knew that something was not right. She ran out of the office to hurry home. Danyelle thanked the lady for her time and followed Olivia out the door.

They arrived home to find their home in disarray; chairs were knocked over, clothes were thrown everywhere. Olivia walked into her bedroom to look for Bryant and the baby. All his clothes were gone and so were the baby's. Danyelle walked in behind her.

“They're gone. He took my baby and left,” Olivia cried.

“Don't worry. We'll find them.”

“How?” Olivia screamed. “I don't know where to begin to look. I don't know any of his friends. I've never met any of his family.”

“You never asked?”

“Of course I questioned him about his past and his family. He told me he didn't have any family. He said that the baby and I were all the family he had. Now he's taken off with my baby and I don't even know why or where.”

Olivia cried while Danyelle hugged her sister. Olivia felt closer to her sister than she ever had. Growing up they had never been close, but when a crisis arose, they were there for one another.

“I think Bryant is the one who set this whole thing up,” Danyelle told her. “Who would call the cops and tell them that we had drugs in the apartment? I knew there was something strange about him. Every time we got high together he never spoke a word. He got unusually quiet like he was plotting something.”

“You really think Bryant is responsible for sending us to jail? But why? Why would he do this?” She wiped a few tears from her eyes. “I need to call the police to report the baby missing.” Olivia went into the kitchen and grabbed the cordless phone off the wall.

“I'm going to look around and see if Bryant left anything behind,” Danyelle said as she walked back into Olivia's bedroom.

It wasn't long before a uniformed officer, along with the same detective who had arrested them a few days prior, showed up at their apartment.

“Hello Ms. Benson,” the detective uttered when Olivia answered the door.

She was surprised to see him.

“I heard the call come in over the radio and I was in the neighborhood. I wanted to come by and see if there was anything I could do to help. I hope you don't mind?” He smiled back at Olivia.

“No, it's fine. Please come in.”

While the uniformed officer sat on the couch and asked Olivia a series of questions, the detective looked around the apartment at photos of Bryant and the baby.

“Can we have this photo?” The detective pointed to a photo of Bryant holding the baby in the park.

“Sure.” Olivia replied.

The detective handed the photo to the officer and the officer got up from off the couch.

“Ma'am, I'm done with my report. I'm going to knock on a few of your neighbors' doors and see if anyone heard or saw anything,” the officer told Olivia.

“MacKenzie, I'm going to look around here,” the detective informed the officer.

“So, Bryant is the baby's father?”

“Yes.”

“The same guy I interviewed down at the station and said that the drugs belong to you?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think he set this up?”

“My sister does.”

“What do you think?” he asked.

“I don't want to believe Bryant would do this, but I don't have any choice.”

“Why would he want to falsely accuse you of selling drugs?” the detective asked.

“I don't know,” Olivia responded.

“If this was a setup, I promise that I will get to the bottom of it, but I have to be honest with you.” Olivia braced herself for the worst, “Bryant has got a huge lead ahead of us. He's probably been gone since the night you were arrested. He could be anywhere in the country. The longer he's gone with the child, the harder it's going to be for us to find him.”

Olivia's eyes turned sad.

“As soon as I get back to the station I'm going to contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited children. I'm going to transmit all of Bryce's information and hopefully they can help. They have a whole lot of resources that we don't have. So if Bryant left the state, at least we can alert other police agencies throughout the country.”

“Detective Collins, do you think you're going to find my baby?”

“I'm not sure, but I sure hope so.” He handed her a card. “Here is the name of a guy who has had a lot of success in finding missing children. A lot of parents invest in hiring private detectives because it's good to have someone looking for your child who can devote their full undivided attention.

Don't think I'm going to stop looking for Bryce, but the Philadelphia Police Department can't put its full manpower on one case.”

“Thanks, Detective.”

Olivia stared at the card. It read “Desmond Murray, Private Investigator.”

 

 

Payce sat inside his car and stared at First Nazareth Church. He knew he couldn't sit in the car all morning long, Tressie was expecting him. He promised her that he'd attend Sunday services with her this week, but he wasn't ready to face Reverend Kane.

After seeing Reverend Kane at The Dollhouse, he would never be able to look at her again without being reminded of that night. The woman whose curves nicely filled out that black, leather, cat-woman outfit was not the same woman he met wearing a pastor's robe a few weeks ago. If she approached him, he wouldn't know what to say. He wished he had never gone out with Darshon that night.

Payce got out of the car and walked up the church steps. He placed his hand on the doorknob and quickly let go before opening the door. The courage he had built up inside of him a few minutes before quickly deflated out of him like air from a flat tire.

He stood outside the church wishing he could turn around and go back home, but he couldn't. For three weeks straight he had made up excuses why he couldn't attend services with Tressie. Once he ran out of excuses, he had no choice but to go. He looked at his watch. It was getting late.

He opened the church doors and stepped inside the vestibule. The ushers immediately opened the doors and allowed him to enter. Inside the sanctuary Reverend Simms prayed over a woman. He held his hand over her head. “Lord, fill the emptiness left in Sister Monroe's heart from the loss of her husband,” he shouted.

Payce looked around and found Tressie sitting in the last pew. He slid into the seat next to her and gently caressed her hand. As Pastor Simms prayed, Payce looked around the church for Reverend Kane. She wasn't in the pulpit.
Perhaps she missed service today
, he thought. A moment later, Reverend Kane rose from out of one of the pews. Payce watched her walk over to Pastor Simms and also laid hands on Sister Monroe's head. Suddenly Reverend Kane's eyes darted in Payce's direction and he quickly bowed his head.
I hope she didn't see me
. After prayer concluded, Payce hoped that the remainder of the service would go quickly.

“Hey, sweetheart,” Tressie greeted Payce after church services ended. “I'm glad you made it.” She kissed him lightly on the lips.

“So am I.” He grabbed his coat in a hurry to leave. “I'm going outside to heat up the car. I'll wait for you out there.”

“Payce, I know you're ready to go, but I need to speak with Danyelle about the Sunday school class she's going to teach for me. Can you wait for me? I won't be long.” She quickly walked away.

Payce sat quietly, trying to make himself invisible to everyone around him.

Minutes later, he heard her voice behind him. “Hello, Payce.”

He turned around in the pew. “Hey, Reverend Kane.” He turned back around.

“How are you doing?” she asked.

“Good,” he replied, hoping that his one-word answers would be a subtle hint that he didn't want to be bothered.

She sat down next to Payce in the pew. “Payce, I need to talk with you about what you saw a few weeks ago.”

“Reverend Kane, I would like to pretend that didn't even happen,” he whispered. “What you do is your business. You won't have to worry about me saying anything to anybody because my lips are sealed.”

“Well, I'm glad to hear that, but I figured you wouldn't say anything to anyone about where you saw me because then you would have to explain what you were doing there. But that is not the only thing I want to speak to you about. How about we meet for lunch tomorrow?”

“Reverend Kane, I'm awfully busy. I have a new job and I'm trying to stay focused. I don't know if I'll be able to make it,” Payce explained.

“Payce, I just want to talk. I have an offer that might be of interest to you. I just want to run it by you.”

“I doubt I'll be interested.”

“Payce.” She grabbed his hand lovingly. “Please, can you just come to hear me out? It's not going to hurt to hear what I have to offer.”

Her sincere and loving tone changed his mind, “Where do you want to meet?”

“There's a place called Caribou Café on Walnut Street. I'll be waiting for you at noon.”

Someone called her name from across the room. “See you then,” she said and strolled away.

“Payce, I'm ready,” Tressie announced from behind him.

A minute too late
, Payce thought to himself.

The following day Payce walked into the lunch eatery prepared to cut his meeting with the reverend short.

“Hi,” Payce said to the hostess, “I'm looking for a woman in her early thirties. She might have a reservation under . . .”

“Reverend Kane?” she asked.

“Yeah, that's her,” he replied.

“She's waiting for you. Follow me, please.”

Payce trailed the hostess to a booth in the corner of the restaurant. She placed two menus on the table. “A waitress will be over shortly to take your order,” she informed them and walked away.

“Glad to see you could make it,” Reverend Kane remarked.

Payce removed his coat and took a seat. “Reverend, what's up? You wanted me here. Now I'm here. What do you want to talk about?”

“First, I want to thank you for not telling your father about my extra-curricular activities. I think that if my secret ever got out it could do nothing but hurt the church.”

“Then why do you do it?” he asked.

“It's not my choice to be gay. I'm naturally attracted to women just like you are.”

“I don't care that you're gay. I want to know why you work at The Dollhouse.”

“I started going there because it was a discreet place to meet other people like myself. It allows me to hide my real identity. When I work at The Dollhouse, Sandy Kane emerges and Reverend Kane suppresses herself.” She pointed to herself. “After I started working there, a few customers began asking for me by name. I brought in a lot of revenue, so the owner asked if I would be interested in working full time. Being a minister, I saw a conflict of interest and I confessed to her about who I actually was. That's how we came up with the idea of me wearing a mask to keep my identity concealed just in case someone came in who knew me. Plus, she thought I could act out some of the women's fantasies of making love to Catwoman.”

“But you took the mask off.”

“I know. That was the first time I've ever done that. It instinctively felt right to expose my identity at that moment.”

“Maybe you should think about revealing yourself to more than your customers.”

“Maybe you're right,” she replied.

A waitress came over and placed a glass of water in front of each of them. “Are you ready to order?” she asked.

“Yes,” the reverend replied. “I'll have the chicken salad. What about you, Payce?”

“Nothing for me,” he replied.

The waitress retrieved both menus and walked away.

“Payce, the reason I asked you here is because I'm aware of your past. And I've experienced firsthand how hard it is for someone who is just getting out of jail to get a job.”

“You've been locked up?” he asked.

“No, but I had a nephew who did time in New Jersey. He was locked up in Trenton State for ten years. When he got out he had a hard time finding a decent job. That is why I wanted to make you a job offer.”

“Thanks, but I have a job.”

“I heard you got a job parking cars down at the Westin Hotel, but is that enough to support yourself, not to mention your girlfriend? Wouldn't you like to take her out and buy her nice things? Trust me; working at The Dollhouse would eliminate a lot of financial problems.”

“The Dollhouse!” he shouted. “That lesbian joint!”

“Would you keep your voice down?”

He looked around to see if anyone was looking. “What am I supposed to do at a lesbian spa? Watch y'all eat each other out?”

“Would you listen to me?” she whispered. “That place is making thousands of dollars every night. There has not been a night that I haven't left there with at least two thousand dollars.”

“What does that have to do with me?” he asked.

“The place is making so much money that now they're thinking about expanding.”

“I'm not giving no man a massage,” Payce thundered.

“And I wouldn't ask you to. Have you ever heard of the term ‘swing couples'?”

Payce shook his head no.

“It's when married couples or anyone in a committed relationship has sex with someone outside their relationship. You have sex with their partner while the spouse or mate watches.”