What a Fool Believes (20 page)

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Authors: Carmen Green

BOOK: What a Fool Believes
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“Do you want anything?” he asked.
Tia already felt like she was coming apart. “Just you.”
“I'm yours.”
Tia didn't feel elegant or flirty or even sexy. She felt like a woman with power that couldn't be quantified.
In an instant, she was in his arms. Their bodies were as close as they could be, clothed. Byron remedied that by taking his off first. This was the second time she'd gotten to admire him as he stripped, unashamed of his nakedness.
When she began to take off her clothes, he knelt down, and on every uncovered body part, he placed lingering kisses. By the time Tia had gotten to her thong, she was nearly ready to climax, and he hadn't even touched her there.
She tried to pleasure him, but Byron was on a mission, and Tia was his subject. When his tongue finally did meet her G-spot, orgasms racked her body. Even hours later, his appetite for making love was insatiable.
Tia vowed to herself that she'd keep up with him, and when she was sure he'd had enough, she fell asleep in his arms.
 
Hours later Tia awoke to the strains of Najee, but no Byron. She found one of his shirts and pulled it on as she walked from room to room, admiring the beautiful pieces of bronze art that graced the shelves and glass tables.
His furniture was dark, but what caught Tia's eye was the artwork. There were vases and masks, African statues, and interesting framed tapestries.
His taste was exquisite.
“Byron?” she called and heard nothing. She retraced her steps and ended up at the front door. Peeking out, Tia saw her car, but not his.
She thought maybe he'd gone to the store.
Suddenly hungry, Tia looked for the food they'd forgotten about and found it in the refrigerator. She pulled it out and was about to heat it up when she saw the wine, a corkscrew, and a note.
Her heart tripped as she looked at his bold scrawl. Yet dread flowed over her like one of the dazzling climaxes Byron had elicited from her earlier.
Tia,
I've gone to stop A M group from getting into trouble. Please stay home. I'll be back soon, and we can resume where we left off. Love, Byron.
Tia's mouth fell open. She reread the note. Five times.
She quickly dialed his cell phone. “Where are you, Byron?”
“Stay in bed,” he ordered her.
“That's very sexist and domineering and bossy.”
“If I thought you'd listen, I'd say it nicer. But for the sake of giving you the benefit of the doubt, I'll say it differently. Please stay home and wait for me.”
Tia ignored her hunger pangs and scurried into the bedroom to get dressed. “I'm a reporter.”
“A meteorologist,” he countered. “You're not on the night beat. You report the weather. You can stay home and let me handle this, and everything will be fine.”
Tia thought of the promise she'd made to her anger management classmates. Along the way, she'd let Rachel down, and that's why they weren't friends anymore. Tia didn't want to shortchange another person she called friend.
“Byron, I can't. I have to see this through. If you hadn't left me, we could have done this together.”
“When are you going to grow up?” he asked, sounding exasperated. “I'm a cop, Tia, and this isn't a game. Someone could get hurt.”
“I know. That's why I have to be there. To be the voice of reason. Nothing bad will happen if I'm there.”
“Baby,” he said, “you don't have the power to predict the future.”
“You don't either, Byron. We're both taking a chance.”
“But I have a gun, and I'm authorized to use it.”
Just the thought of there being a shooting made Tia cringe.
“Nothing that serious will happen,” she said, slipping her feet into her shoes.
“You can't leave,” he told her as she hurried to her car, her purse over her shoulder.
“I'm already outside.”
“I have your car keys,” Byron said, sounding grim.
Tia stopped, momentarily stunned. “You really big sneak! Okay,” she said, palming the backup metal key. “You win. I'll be here when you get back. Your phone's ringing. I'd better go. Camilla Ryan. I'll let that roll over to your voice mail, okay?”
“That's my sister. Tell her I'm on an errand and will call her tomorrow. I'll see you in a little bit.”
“Okay,” she said, hanging up.
Tia hurried back to the front door to put the phone inside.
“Hello?”
“Oh. Hello. Is Byron there?”
“No. May I take a message?”
“Who is this?”
“Tia Amberson, a friend of Byron's, Camilla. I'm sorry, we haven't met, but I saw your name on the caller ID, and I was on the phone with your brother, and he said you were his sister.” Tia took a big breath. “Sorry for going on and on. Is there a message I can give him?”
“Just tell him I said thank you for the Prada, Gucci, and Coach purses, but I can't take any more. My husband is beginning to think Byron is buying them hot or something.”
Tia couldn't speak. “Do you have the green Baby Phat?”
“Girrrl, that's my favorite! How'd you know? Oh boy. I don't think we're supposed to be talking.”
“He's been buying my purses off eBay,” Tia whispered. “How many?” she asked Camilla.
“Thirteen.”
“Oh my goodness.” Tia covered her mouth, calculating the hefty total of all the purses. She'd hired an attorney with that money.
Love, Byron.
His handsome handwriting wove through her mind and down into her chest. Tia knew she had to hurry.
“I think my brother has some very strong feelings for you.”
“I do, too. Camilla, do you mind if I hang up now? I need to go and ... get him.”
“Please do, sister.”
The words wrapped Tia's heart just a little tighter. If she survived this night, she and Byron had some serious talking to do. “Bye, Camilla.”
Byron's phone began to ring as she put it in the house. She saw that it was him but didn't stop to answer it. She had a promise to fulfill.
Chapter Twenty-two
Byron trudged over the last rise in the Georgia clay, moving quickly toward the screaming. A group of women crowded around a fire, a seated figure in the center.
He
was screaming.
Byron approached with extreme caution.
The women had champagne flutes in their hands, drinking and chatting as if the man weren't there.
Ginger was dressed in a black leather dress, a long skirt fanned out like a cape around her legs. She giggled with the other women and, for the first time, seemed tapped in to the real world.
“Oh no! Officer Official is here. He's here to ruin our fun. How'd you know we were here?” Peggy asked, staring at Byron.
“I've got my sources.”
“Tia ratted us out! I can't believe her,” Ann Marie said from the crowd that had assembled behind Pebbles.
“Tia didn't tell me anything,” Byron said calmly, as he put himself between the man and the women.
The ladies didn't know he'd been shadowing them online for quite some time, waiting for them to disclose the time and date of their revenge. Once he found out, he planned every move—up until now. Having Tia at his house, immobilized, was like icing on the cake.
They'd gotten Gary good. His chest bare, he smelled sickly sweet. He'd been tied to the chair, his legs wrapped in heavy duct tape, his arms and chest bound around the top of the chair. A tie had been used as a blindfold, so he couldn't see.
“Tia wouldn't do that,” Pebbles agreed. “But I wouldn't put it past him to have read her e-mails.”
“I
did
read the e-mails, but not because Tia let me.” Byron cleared his throat. “She did exactly what you all asked her to do, and that was to keep me occupied.”
“She couldn't be that great if you're here,” Betty said.
“That's not nice,” Ginger said, frowning.
“My accomplice was Fred,” Byron said.
The scared man emerged from the darkness, shaking in his shiny new tennis shoes. “Ladies, don't hate me. I thought you all were going to commit a crime. I'm duty-bound to notify the authorities if that happens. I was the antagonizing voice in the e-mails.”
“That was you, Fred?” Ginger asked, smiling.
“Y-yes.” He tried so hard not to stammer. Byron was proud of him.
“You did a good job of scaring everybody.” Ginger's compliment seemed to make Fred stand taller. “Right, girls? Byron?”
The other women in the class nodded their heads.
Buoyed by their support, Fred pulled a folder from beneath his jacket. “The good news is that you all didn't do anything against the law. The even better news is ...” Fred hesitated, and Byron thought the FAMU marching band was going to stomp out. Fred smiled like he'd been skewered. “You all passed the class!”
Cheers went up, and the women linked arms and danced around the fire. More champagne was poured, and Peggy even gave Byron a plastic champagne flute. “Yours is ginger ale, like mine.” She lifted her flute and walked away.
“Will someone pay attention to me?” Gary whined.
“Shut up, Gary!” Ginger ran from her circle of friends and squeezed his jaw until all they could hear was a high-pitched squeal.
“You came here because you thought you were going to have sex with me and other women. As far as I'm concerned, you're lucky to have both your balls. You keep talking, and we can change that.”
The entire group watched in stunned silence as the usually timid woman dragged her nails lightly around Gary's chest, shoulders, and back.
He bounced and groaned as if his seat were getting hot. “More, more,” he whined.
“You two are sick,” Pebbles said, disgusted.
Ginger stopped, took a deep breath, and exhaled audibly. “Not really. You'll see.”
“What are you going to do to us? Are we under arrest?” Pebbles asked Byron.
All of the women stared at Bryon with wide, scared eyes.
The law dictated that he take them in and, at a minimum, get statements.
But after all they'd been through, Byron would use his better judgment.
“Congratulations, ladies,” he said quietly. “Go home. The night is over.”
Despite his last instructions, they rushed him, covering him with grateful hugs. Byron bent down and accepted each one.
“Ow. Ow!” Gary complained. “Can somebody scratch me? These bugs are eating me alive.”
Ginger and the rest of the ladies turned and took one last look at Gary. Mosquitoes covered him, feeding on his blood.
“See. I told you,” Ginger whispered to the group.
“You're not crazy,” Pebbles responded as they started toward the hill. “You're certifiable.”
“And rich,” Ginger laughed. “Good riddance, Gary.”
Byron waited until the last car had pulled off before he looked at Gary Kelston.
“Officer, are you still here?”
“Yes, Mr. Kelston. I'm still here.”
“Untie me, you nimrod. That bitch isn't going to get away with this. I'm going to blow every one of them to bits.” This guy was a first-class jerk.
“Sir, calling me names isn't going to get you out of here any faster. In fact, after you get medical assistance, you'll be arrested and booked.”
Byron dialed his cell phone and gave their location as Gary shouted obscenities.
“Arrested for what?” he demanded when Byron wouldn't take the bait of his anger.
“Making terroristic threats.”
“I didn't do any such thing! You're one of them, sissy boy. The only man in their class,” he shouted derisively. “They should've slapped a skirt on you and called you Sally. Get these bugs off of me!”
Byron looked into the cloudless sky. The rain had passed, leaving the air clear and fresh. Byron lifted his cell phone. “Cancel the EMTs,” he said.
“What the hell are you doing?”
Byron snapped the phone closed. “You want to insult me, Kelston? Then your help goes right out the window. Good night. I'll pick up what the bugs leave tomorrow.”
“No! No! You can't leave me here. I have a right to your help. Just like I have a right to teach my wife who's boss.”
“My jurisdiction ended twenty yards ago, at the top of this dirt hill,” said Byron.
“I'm sorry, okay? Damn. You act as if I'm not a civilian in distress. She thinks that document she made me sign is valid, but I did it under duress. Therefore, I'm still entitled to her money.”
“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right ...”
“I'm not under arrest. Why are you reading me my rights?” Gary said, wiggling and bouncing in his chair.
“As I said, anything you say could be used against you in a court of law.”
“To hell with that. I didn't create this situation, but I'm damn sure going to finish it. Ah! Ah! Ahhh!” Gary yelped as bugs devoured him. As Byron struggled to see what more was happening, he realized Gary didn't have any bottoms on, and his privates had been smeared with honey and whipped cream. It was like a mosquito convention was in town.
Byron gave the women ten points for originality. The rescue squad from Ladder Company 15 arrived, along with the paramedics and a police squad car.
This was going to be funny for a long time.
“I need to scratch. I need to scratch,” Gary blubbered. “Please scratch me.”
Byron just shook his head. This was hilarious.
“The rescue squad is on its way down. It'll be just a minute more.”
“Please scratch my nipples. I beg of you,” Gary whined.
“Dude, you'd be better off asking God to kill you. Now, you should be quiet before they get into your mouth.”
Gary's mouth clamped closed just as a commotion ensued behind Byron.
Byron hoped and prayed it wasn't what he thought, but when he turned around, all he could do was shake his head.
An officer had Tia by the arm and was escorting her through the damp earth toward him.
Byron stepped back as the paramedics had a good laugh. One even took a picture before they began to attend to Gary.
“Officer Rivers, do you know this woman?” the uniformed cop asked.
“No, he doesn't,” Tia answered.
“Yes, she's my—”
“I'm a reporter, and I'm covering a story,” Tia answered.
“She's my girlfriend,” said Byron.
“You do or don't know him?” the officer asked Tia.
“I do know Byron.”
“In that case, you both need to come down to the station, make a statement, and be questioned by the captain before this is a done deal. Do you know the victim?” the officer asked Tia.
Byron looked at Tia, sending her a silent warning, but she seemed hell-bent on doing things her way.
“Indirectly,” Tia answered.
Gary was being driven by on a stretcher and saw Tia. “She's one of those angry women who did this to me. I want her arrested.”
Tia put her hands behind her back. She knew the drill.
“I have the right to remain silent ...” she began.
Byron snagged her arm. “She was at my house, in my bed. And that's where she's going. I'll make all the statements that need to be made. Tia, let's go.”
Byron escorted Tia to her car, then gave her the key to his house. “The way I left you is the way I hope you'll be when I get home.”
She looked up and smiled at him. “Definitely, with one addition.”
Byron leaned his forearms on the roof. “What's that?”
“I'm going to pick up some honey.”
He rapped on the roof of the car with his knuckles. That was a hell of a good idea. “Affirmative. See you in a couple hours.”

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