A Melody for James (Christian Suspense)

by Hallee Bridgeman

  "Rikard, of course. You killed my Rikard," Ginger said.

  Melody put a hand to her head, thoroughly confused. "What does Richard Johnson have to do with anything?"

  "Darling, Rikard and I were lovers for years. Long before he even met you. Who do you think you caught him with on your wedding day?"

  Melody gasped.

  "Oh, come on. If you had continued to be a little traditional Christian prude … so predictable … you'd have been none the wiser. Who knew you had some intuition?"

  "It was you? That morning, it was you?"

  "Oh, don't act so surprised. The whole time you were in England, I worried you'd seen me or you'd figure it out. But you were just as stupid and naive as I always thought you were." Ginger quit waving the gun around and pointed it directly at Melody. "You were nothing more than a means to an end for us. We needed your money. Daddy here was a little spread out at the time, and you had all those billions just sitting in the bank."

  Morgan said, "Ginger this is insane. Stop this."

  "Oh. Morgan. Right. Let me explain. Shut your mouth or I'll shoot you in the face. Okay?" Gone was any impression of the ditsy Ginger they knew. Her face looked different — intelligent, calculating, and hard.

  Melody thought she might be sick. Her head swam and she started praying. Please God, help me.

  Then she spoke, "I don't understand. He stalked me and threatened me for months. Why was Richard — Rikard — going to kill me?"

  "You sure do ask a lot of questions." David finally spoke, crushing Melody's hopes that he might put an end to this insanity. "Ginger and I left you most of those roses. How do you think Rikard could have gotten that close? You really are a little dumb, Mel. Dumb like your dad and self-centered like your mom."

  Ginger snickered and David continued. "You wanted to dump Patterson Records. But if you die under contract, the label gets all the revenue from your dedication album, and you couldn't sell yourself to anyone else. I'd have made a mint in licensed memorial junk. Fans love that kind of thing. Your house in Nashville? Think Graceland east. So we hired Rikard to take care of it. He was motivated after all."

  "What does James have to do with any of this?" Melody asked, feeling very strongly that she needed to stall for time, hoping James had checked the message she sent him.

  God, I know you brought me and James together, but I can't believe it was to take someone else away from him. Give me wisdom and help me in this situation.

  Ginger answered, "James has been on the edge of a revolutionary breakthrough for a couple of years now. Its potential value when it goes IPO makes your father's fortune look like a maid's pittance. Rikard was hired by a former Soviet block country to steal Montgomery's technology and make it to the market before he did. When he came to the States and started establishing a base here, he met me. We fell in love, and he decided to betray his employers. He charmed Angela Montgomery into bringing him on as an intern, but she immediately fired him. Not before he was able to plant bugs and hack the computers. Then he just waited, pulling their daily builds off the backup system and replicating it."

  She looked at her father. "Daddy tried to invest in his firm as soon as we realized Rikard couldn't steal the technology from him, but James was too stuck up to sell any private shares. Now he's one of the biggest and brightest minds in the industry, and we're floundering in the background, suffering from a decade of poor investments we've made," Ginger said. She sneered at Morgan. "No thanks to that useless first husband of yours and his so-called investment advice."

  Morgan covered her mouth, her eyes wide with shock.

  "No more questions. Class dismissed. We're going to reproduce a little scene for James. We don't need to kill him. All we need to do is kill you two. That should send him and his partner over the edge. At the very least, it should make them vulnerable enough to sell their little company," Ginger said. She waved the gun at the door. "Walk downstairs, please."

  They didn't move. She said, "We can drag your corpses, but I just had these nails done. You get to live a little longer if you go downstairs on your own. Think of it as a little treat."

  Morgan looked at Ginger, starting to get her equilibrium back. "What happened to you, Ginger?"

  "Nothing, Morgan sweetheart. I just don't have to act like your brainless lapdog anymore."

  "I can't believe you just pretended to be my friend all these years," Morgan said. "We've been too close, shared too much." She fisted her hands and started to step toward her, but Melody grabbed her arm.

  "Daddy coached me very well, dear. He knew you'd be useful in the future, as useful as your dad was to him. I was taught early to never show my true nature," Ginger said with a laugh. She stopped laughing and pointed the gun again. "Now move it."

  They were directed downstairs where they were instructed to kneel in the middle of the floor of the front room. "The gas is in the trunk of my car, Daddy. Go and get that, and I'll take care of things in here," Ginger said. While David went outside, Ginger walked up to Morgan and put the gun to the back of her head, cocking it. "If you only would have just done what you were told and gone with Rikard without a fight, we wouldn't be here today, Melody. All this is entirely your fault."

  Where are you, James? Melody thought to herself.

  She bowed her head and closed her eyes, holding Morgan to her. "Father God," she prayed aloud, "I love You. Morgan loves You. God, we ask that You take our husbands into Your loving arms —"

  "Oh do shut up," Ginger ordered. "You shut up right now and just watch what I do to your sister. You can thank God I'm killing her first. I'm tempted to just tie her up and burn her to death while you watch," Ginger said. "You have to see what you've done."

  Anger mixed with adrenaline suddenly surged through her system, and Melody stood, hoping she'd move the gun away from Morgan. "I haven't done anything," she screamed at Ginger, taking a step toward her. "If your father wouldn't act like some surly, condescending know-it-all losing patience with a disobedient child to absolutely everyone he does business with, then maybe you wouldn't be floundering."

  Ginger pointed the gun at Melody. In the corner of her eye, Melody saw the front door behind Ginger's back slowly opening. "Don't you try to put this on, Daddy. He's not the one who's done anything wrong."

  Suarez slipped into the room, his gun drawn and pointed at Ginger's back. Thank you, God. Thank You. From the other side, Melody saw Roberts slowly coming from one of the rooms in the back. She knew she had to keep Ginger's attention on her. "Of course he is. The only reason we're even here today is because your Daddy doesn't know how to run his own businesses. This isn't some need for vengeance. It's just a way to take out the competition," Melody screamed back.

  "Drop the gun, Ginger," Suarez ordered from behind her.

  She whipped around and pointed the pistol at Suarez. "What are you doing here, John?"

  "Put the gun down slowly and step away from it or I will kill you," he said. "If I don't, I promise you my partner will. I think you know I mean it."

  Morgan looked behind Melody, then surged to her feet and ran in that direction. Ginger heard the movement and whipped back around, pointing her gun at Morgan's back. Melody stepped over to block Morgan, and the pistol was suddenly trained on her again.

  "Give it up, Ginger." James' voice had an immediate calming effect on Melody. James was here, now. Everything would be okay.

  Ginger looked trapped. Her breathing came more rapidly, and the hand that held the gun shook until Melody thought she might accidentally drop it. Eyes wide, glance darting from one police officer to the other, she finally let the gun drop to the floor.

  Suarez kept his gun on her as he approached her, then kicked her pistol out of the way.

  Ginger stared up at him with eyes full of hate. "I should have made you shoot me. I don't want to live."

  Suarez took her by the arm and spun her around, directing her to the wall. While Roberts kept Ginger's face centered in his gun sights, Suarez produced handcuffs fro
m somewhere and cuffed her wrists tight behind her back. Then he unholstered his sidearm again and held it low while keeping his left hand on her cuffs. A gymnast of Ginger's flexibility could jump-rope cuffs to her front with little effort. He watched as Roberts scooped up her weapon from the floor. That accomplished, Suarez very gently brushed her cheek with his fingertips and a sad smile, "Can't die now. You have to live."

  Ginger's eyebrows lowered and she stared at him suspiciously. "First, you have to stand trial." Suarez explained. "So does your father. You have to live so that justice can be served. And you have to live for the entirety of what I expect at the very least will be a life sentence behind bars. And baby-cakes, we can continue to discuss it, but I am required to inform you that … you have the right to remain silent …"

  As detective Suarez continued to inform the suspect of her rights, James turned Melody around and pulled her into his arms. "What took you so long?" she asked him against his chest. James just laughed and hugged her tighter, which was good because her knees were suddenly shaking so hard she didn't think she could stand up on her own. She turned her head and watched as Kurt led Morgan out the door.

  "Where's David?" she asked James.

  "Roberts detained him outside. He's handcuffed in the trunk of their car. They didn't want him to yell or something and alert Ginger." He framed Melody's face with his hands. "You okay?"

  It all suddenly swamped her and she felt her eyes well up with tears. "I'm a little confused, but I'm not hurt."

  James kissed her and pulled her back to him. "We'll sort it all out."

  ¯¯¯¯

  ONE MONTH LATER

  MELODY finished the phone call with Hal and pushed herself out of the chair by the chess set. She crossed the room and sat down next to James. He sat with his head reclined all the way back against the headrest of the couch staring up at the ceiling. Melody knew by the look on his face that he was lost in thought and she knew that because of the way his brain worked, his way of thinking was radically different than hers. Where she would completely lose herself to emotion and open up the creative side of her mind and let it pour out of her until she felt empty, he would stand in the middle of his orderly library of perfect recollection and go through volume after volume of information, connecting the dots. They'd spent a month coping with everything that had happened, and doing it in their own ways. The only time they came together about it was in prayer, and as they prayed for each other and prayed thanksgiving to God, Melody had some insight to the way her husband's mind worked. But now, she thought maybe it was time to talk about it.

  "Penny for your thoughts?" She offered.

  "Hmmm? What?" James looked at her then grinned. "Sorry. I'm very distracted." That hadn't been abnormal in the last month. James had given his research and development team a piece of paper he'd found in one of Angela's journals, and they'd made more progress in the data warehousing project in the short time since than they had in the previous four years. James had started splitting his time between Albany and Atlanta almost equally.

  Melody was gone for most of the weeks, anyway. The two of them had spent more time in the last three weeks apart than they had together. She felt resigned to that being their life during her tour schedule and was curious about how much that bothered her.

  She gently said, "Did you want to talk about something?"

  James sighed a little sigh. "Yes, I did. I do. But I don't know if I am ready to talk about it. I'm thinking about how to talk about it with you. That's why I'm distracted."

  Melody turned her body toward him. This was obviously something very serious. "James, you're making me a little nervous. Can you just start the conversation maybe?"

  James studied her for a heartbeat and then reached out to touch her arm. "Oh, baby. It's nothing bad. At least, I don't think it is."

  "What is it? You're killing me, here."

  "Well, about the Jaguar …"

  "Oh, for Pete's sake, James. I told you I'd buy you a new car one day. You said we had to go car shopping together. Is that what this is about?"

  He grinned and somehow it didn't reassure her very much. "Not exactly. See, I don't want you to buy me a new car."

  Now she was completely confused. "You're sitting here for most of the morning thinking about how to tell me this?"

  "I was thinking I'd rather you bought me a mini-van."

  "Why do you want a mini-van?" What in the world?

  "Well, I don't particularly like mini-vans. They aren't nearly as sporty as my Jag was. But they are a lot more practical when you're starting a family."

  "Oh." Melody said. Then, "Oooooooooooooh."

  "Yeah, so, I was thinking we should talk about that," he said. "Is this a good time? Would you be willing to pray about it with me?"

  "James, with my career, I don't know if I can take the time off right now." A baby. His baby. Her baby. Their baby. A boy or a girl, she didn't care and she suddenly didn't want anything more in the entire world.

  "Well, yeah, I know. So I was thinking more along the lines of adopting. You know, the home where Kurt and I grew up …" He didn't finish the sentence. It would have been rude to continue speaking while his wife was kissing him so passionately.

  THE END

  ¯¯¯¯

  READERS' GUIDE SUGGESTED MENU

  SUGGESTED luncheon menu to enjoy when hosting a group discussion surrounding A Melody for James, part 1 of the Song of Suspense series.

  Those who follow my Hallee the Homemaker website know that one thing I am passionate about in life is selecting, cooking, and savoring good whole real food. A special luncheon just goes hand in hand with hospitality and ministry.

  For those planning a discussion group surrounding this book, I offer some humble suggestions to help your special luncheon talk come off as a success.

  For their first date in four years, James cooks Melody a home-cooked meal consisting of salad, bread, pasta with red sauce, and cheesecake. Here you will find recipes to recreate that meal, which is sure to please and certain to enhance your discussion and time of friendship and fellowship.

  ¯¯¯¯

  The Salad:

  Crunchy Chopped Salad with Creamy Dijon Vinaigrette Dressing

  Melody jokes that salad is one of the only things she can "cook" because it doesn't require applying heat, so therefore she cannot burn it. Here is a super easy salad that perfectly compliments a meal with a red sauce.

  FOR THE SALAD:

  5 cups fresh baby spring greens mix

  1 large tomato

  2 radishes

  1 carrot

  2 scallions

  1/2 of a large cucumber

  FOR THE DRESSING:

  1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

  1 TBS red wine vinegar

  1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

  1/4 tsp honey

  1 tsp salt (Kosher or sea salt is best)

  1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

  1 TBS minced shallot

  Wash the greens.

  Dice the tomato.

  Slice the radishes, carrots, cucumber, and scallions.

  Finely mince the shallot

  Toss the lettuce mix with the tomato, radishes, carrots, cucumber, and scallions.

  Wisk all of the ingredients for the dressing together until it thickens. Drizzle over the mixed salad when ready to serve. Toss to coat all of the vegetables.

  ¯¯¯¯

  The Red Sauce:

  Turkey Sausage Spaghetti Sauce

  Melody misses James' red sauce as much as she misses him when he's gone to Japan. She decides she'll ask him to make a big batch and freeze some the next time he has an extended trip. This is such a tasty pork free sauce! It really goes well with whole grain pasta. It is exactly the right amount of spicy and exactly the right amount of rich and thick.

  about 1 lbs Turkey sausage

  2 Tbs olive oil

  1 medium onion, chopped

  3 cloves garlic, finely diced

  2 cans (or 1
large can) organic stewed tomatoes, with the juice and

  3 small cans organic tomato sauce

  – OR –

  about a 16 oz (4-6) garden fresh tomatoes, stewed

  1/2 tablespoon salt, kosher or sea salt is best

  1 teaspoon black pepper

  2 tablespoons brown sugar or honey

  1 tablespoon dried oregano

  1 tablespoon dried parsley

  2 teaspoons dried basil

  1 teaspoon dried sage

  1 bay leaf

  1 small can organic tomato paste

  Remove the turkey sausage from its skin.

  Chop the onion.

  Dice the garlic.

  In a large pot, heat the 2 TBS olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the turkey sausage. When it's brown, add the onion. Cook until tender.

  Add the garlic. Cook about 5 minutes longer.

  Add 2 cans (or 1 large can) diced tomatoes tomatoes, with the juice.

  Add 3 small cans tomato sauce and 1 small can tomato paste. Stir in 1/2 tablespoon salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 2 tablespoons brown sugar or honey, 1 tablespoon dried oregano, 1 tablespoon dried parsley, 2 teaspoons dried basil, 1 teaspoon dried sage, 1 bay leaf.

  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for at least 1 hour, stirring regularly. The longer it simmers, the more the spices have a chance to infuse the sauce. After about an hour, taste it and see if it needs more sugar, or more salt, or a touch more oregano. Let your tongue guide you. Add a little bit at a time, give it a few minutes to blend in with the flavors, then taste it again. (A good way to taste is to dip a bit of bread in it.)