I pull into my driveway, speeding all the way up it until I swerve out front –almost hitting the fountain in the courtyard. Today would be the day the cooks and the maid are off work, of course. Brandi was all by herself, and I left her to deal with fucking Laurel! I left her with Ambriel, and now there’s some creep in my house!
I jump out of the driver’s seat of the Volkswagen, not taking time to turn off the engine, and I dart up the stairwell that leads to the front door. We have been having a patrol car outside of our home every single night, but they would always leave during the day because I would be at work –and I was supposedly the one in danger. What if this creep is the one who was after me? What if he finds Brandi by herself? What if he realizes he was on the baby monitor –was it recording? I don’t even think about whether the guy has a weapon –I run straight into the mansion and flee up the stairs to the second story and to our room where I had told Brandi to hide in the closet.
When I reach the bedroom, I fling open one of the closets, and there is Brandi tucked away in a corner, Ambriel in her arms. Her face is covered in tears, and she is shaking. When I had opened the door, she had jumped fearfully. “It’s okay, it’s just me,” I say reassuringly, and she reaches a hand out to me. I pull her up; Ambriel is fast asleep. I kiss them both and wrap my arms around Brandi, my heartrate slowly started to subside.
We remain hidden in the bedroom which is where I told the 911 operator we would be, hoping that whoever is in our home –if they’re still here –doesn’t make it this far. My breathing starts to go back to normal when I hear police sirens outside. I glance out the window, and there is a small gathering of patrol cars. I see five policemen, their guns drawn, heading up to the mansion.
“Mr. and Mrs. Trial? This is the police. We’re coming in,” a voice calls out from the hall as the bedroom door slowly opens. An officer has his gun drawn. He nods when he sees us and waves us over.
I carry Ambriel’s oxygen tank that Brandi had drug into the closet with her. We follow the officer throughout home, and I notice for the first time that the place is completely ransacked. I hadn’t notice on my way through the house the first time since I had been entirely focused on finding Brandi and Ambriel. Anything that had once been glass –vases, mirrors, or glass doors on some of our cabinets –is shattered. Furniture is laying sideways, drawers are pulled open and tossed about, and it looks like someone took a bat to our walls. I imagine Brandi hiding in the closet with all that noise going on and how scared she must have been, and it pisses me the hell off.
We followed the officer out into the courtyard by the fountain, and another officer greets us, asks how we are doing, and then begins going through a series of questions. Brandi describes the man on the video, but she had not seen a face –unfortunately the monitor had not been recording. The police are swarming the mansion and the entire property, trying to see if the guy is still here.
Then suddenly they all start acting sketchy; they found something, but they don’t let me and Brandi in on what’s going on just yet. They just tell us to remain seated on the patio where they can keep us safe. I hope they are tackling the bastard in the back yard right now and he’s getting his ass hit by a Taser. We wait around for what feels like an hour when another patrol car pulls up along with some detectives in unmarked vehicles. Something went down, but I don’t know what.
I see Officer Carpenter, and he speaks with the on-scene officers for a moment, disappears into the backyard for a while, and then returns before speaking to us. “You two all right?” he asks.
“A little shaken up,” Brandi admits.
“What’s going on?” I ask, knowing that there is something we’re not being told.
“The on-scene officers found a body,” he said. “We’re not sure, but whoever was here probably dumped it.”
“Shit,” I say.
“It doesn’t look good. The guy was beat up pretty bad, but whoever was here dumped the body in your pool for a reason. If it’s not too much to ask, can you try to id the guy?” Officer Carpenter questioned.
My stomach churns slightly. I look at Brandi. “You stay here. If I don’t know the guy then you can see if you do, but there’s no reason for you to see this shit if you don’t have to.” She nods in agreement, and I follow Officer Carpenter into the backyard where our pool is set up.
They’re just now fishing the body out of the pool after having taken pictures for evidence as we are entering into the backyard. This is my fucking life now. They’re laying the body out on some plastic, and some crime scene detectives are taking some additional pictures. Nervously, I follow Officer Carpenter up to where the body is being laid out alongside the pool.
My stomach drops, and I instinctively reach out and grab Officer Carpenter’s shoulder. “Damn it,” I say. “It’s Caleb. My manager.”
The kids face is covered in bruises. His wrists are zip-tied behind his back, and his ankles are zip-tied as well. His clothes are torn, and it’s clear he put up a serious fight by his torn knuckles. “He fought back,” one of the detectives says. “If the pool didn’t wash it away, we might be able to get a DNA sample from his fingernails if he scratched at his attacker.”
“Good call,” Officer Carpenter says. He looks at me. “Thanks for helping. Sorry you had to see this. Let’s get you back to your wife.”
I linger. I had not known Caleb particularly well, but I was on my way to becoming a friend. He was a good kid, and he signed me and took a chance on me when no one else would. He was my manger –and not the way my old manager had once been. He cared about my career and about me. He was young and aspiring, and he helped me turn my career back around. And just like that, he’s dead, and whoever killed him was obviously trying to make a statement by dropping him off like this. What had his last moments been like? They had probably been fearful with flashes of sheer panic. What kind of person could do something like this? And why would they do it to a guy like Caleb?
“Oh, shit,” one of the detectives says as he is pulling back some of Caleb’s shirt. “Look at this.”
Officer Carpenter goes to look, and I can’t help myself; I follow. I cringe when I see words carved into Caleb’s chest –the knife that likely carved the words still sticking in his side. It reads: Ur Next Trial!
81
I hate funerals, and this one is especially painful. It’s all so familiar. Caleb had been so young –just like Gabe. The atmosphere at a funeral is already sad enough without the added comments from everyone about how the deceased had so much more life to live. I can’t stand to even be here.
“Talk about Déjà vu,” Marty grumbles as though he had just read my mind. I am standing with him, Tyler, and Bobby. The women had all stayed home –they had come to the viewing yesterday, but I felt the need to come to the actual funeral. He had been my manager, after all, even if we had not been particularly close. The guys had tagged along too.
“Don’t talk about that now, man,” Tyler practically hisses.
I’m disgusted. The lab reports came back; Caleb had died from drowning. He had suffered through it all –the beating, the cuts, the stab wound in his gut, and then whoever did this to him topped it off by tossing him into my pool and then trashing my house. He had drowned tied up, bleeding out –probably struggling and scared out of his mind. It is almost too much like the way Gabe had died –trapped in my car, trying his hardest to escape the seatbelt that had him held in place while the son of a bitch came closer and closer before finally putting a bullet in his head. It wasn’t right to have to have to die like that –to have to feel scared and desperate. To have to struggle and fight until the very end. It makes me sick, and it makes me want to enact revenge for them both.
I think about the guy sitting in a prison cell who killed Gabe, and I swear –even though I never would –I start contemplating going after the bastard and blowing his brains out while he’s sitting cozy in his cell. Now there’s some guy out there who got Caleb too, and if I ran into the guy into the st
reets, I don’t know what I’d do to him. Probably take out my frustration from both of these murders on him.
“This is so messed up,” Bobby says. “I mean, he was practically a kid, you know?”
“We know,” I say; this is way too familiar for us. Its Bobby’s first time dealing with some messed up stuff like this. Familiarity does not make it any easier, though.
Caleb’s casket is being lowered into the grave, but the four of us are still standing a little ways back –far enough to give his family some space. “All right,” Marty says. “I’m going to say it if no one else is. They carved a damn warning into the kid’s chest. Whoever hired that guy to kill Gabe probably hired whoever killed Caleb, or hell, the head honcho might have even taken care of Caleb himself. You’re the connection, Jonathan. Some asshole has it in for you, and I bet I fucking know who it is. You’re all thinking the same thing: Donte. Who else has it in for Jonathan this bad? He must have been the one to go after Jonathan originally.”
“But why would he have wanted to kill me?” Jonathan asked. “Especially back then. He had beat me in a match –and Gabe had been killed before we had our run-in in the locker room. Other than just being a competitor, I don’t see why he would want me dead –at least not back then anyways. Now we have beef because of Brandi, but that wouldn’t connect him to Gabe’s murder.”
“Didn’t you call him about what you found in Donte’s locker?” Tyler suddenly piped up.
I frown. “Yeah, I did.”
“You don’t think Donte found out, do you?” Bobby asked.
“It’s possible,” I say. “You guys think Donte would really kill Caleb?”
“He’s a creep. And if you were about to ruin his career, threatening you makes sense. Caleb never got a chance to report Donte’s sabotage to the proper authorities,” Tyler said.
I feel myself sifting my stance. “I suppose that makes sense. I should let the police know that I had called Caleb about what I found in Donte’s locker. I didn’t even think about that. It’s a possible lead, I suppose. But I still don’t think Donte had anything to do with Gabe. I mean, it would be so random…” I pause.
They notice.
“What are you thinking, Jonathan?” Bobby asks.
I don’t want to say. Donte and I didn’t have beef until after Gabe had been murdered. So why would he have sent someone to kill me then? If Gabe and Caleb’s murders were connected –Donte just didn’t make sense as a culprit. Unless there was something going on I wasn’t aware of that made Donte hate me. What if Brandi and Donte had been together before we split? My throat becomes dry. What if what Vivian had said was true –that Brandi had been cheating on me? And what if it had been with Donte? And Donte had wanted to get rid of me?
“I got to go,” I say suddenly, and I start walking. I head straight to my car. I’ve got to talk to Officer Carpenter. I head straight down to the station, and thankfully the guy is there. He pulls me into his office, and he asks me about funeral. I just cringe and say, “He was practically a kid. How do you think it went?”
Officer Carpenter nods and sits across from me at his desk. “What’s gotten you all riled up, Trial?”
“I have a theory,” I say. “I mean, I’m no detective, but I have my suspicions.”
I lay it all out for him. I tell him how Brandi started seeing Donte after we split and that I suspect that there was a slight chance the relationship might have been going on longer than that, but I’m not sure. I tell him that if Donte wanted to be with Brandi that would explain why he would want to target me. I tell him about the drugs I had found in Donte’s locker and everything that I had planned to accuse him of and how I had told Caleb all about it the day before he had been killed. When I am finished talking, Officer Carpenter gives me a simple nod. “Look, Trial,” he says, “I get it. You’re upset, and you’re looking to blame someone. You’ll have to excuse me if I am a little hesitant to take your rival in for questioning. You do have a match coming up against him in a few weeks, right? And you got your ass handed to you twice. Someone from the outside looking in could easily say it sounds like you’re trying to frame Donte for all of this to keep yourself from getting humiliated in the ring again.”
I quickly become defensive. “That’s not it at all!”
“Relax. I’m just making an observation. I’ll look into Donte, don’t worry. Just don’t start jumping to conclusions, all right?” he says as he stands up.
“Fine,” I gripe and head out. I don’t have time to think about all this right now anyways. The marathon is in two days.
82
Holy fucking shit! There are so many people here! My head is spinning. The event has the gym completely packed –every single one of the rooms are being used by one of the trainers for the free self-defense courses. The volunteers are running around like crazy selling merchandise, bringing people smoothies from the smoothie bar, and providing water. That’s just inside –the outside is a mad house! The parking lot is full of cars and carnival rides and bake stands and healthy food trucks.
There’s a presentation going on every half hour out on the lawn about the Battered Women’s Home. I have forty minutes to get ready for my little speech at the podium with Alex in front of this giant crowd to get the marathon itself started. I cannot believe how well this event is turning out. I’m standing at the gym’s entrance, clipboard in hand, spouting off orders to some of the volunteers. I’m starting to get a little winded when I see Brandi walking up towards me from the parking lot, pushing a baby stroller. I smile. “Jonathan, this is amazing!” she calls out to me, as she is walking up to stand beside me.
I smile. “Thanks, Brandi.”
“I can’t believe you put all of this together,” she says and gives me a kiss on the cheek. She embarrassingly looks down and says, “I owe you an apology. I can’t believe I’ve been giving you such a hard time about wanting you to quit this place –especially before an event like this. I swear, the entire city came out for this run!”
I smile. “Thanks, baby.”
Ambriel is finally off of her oxygen tube, but she still has the little monitor strapped to her foot; we got a portable one for her. “I’m so proud of you, Jonathan,” Brandi says, smiling; I can tell that she really means it.
“Thanks,” I say and bend down to kiss Ambriel on her forehead. “You should take her inside. It’s going to start getting pretty hot out soon. You can sit in on one of the self-defense classes and watch if you like. Both Marty and Tyler are inside teaching and their third class of the day is just getting started. They’ll be running the marathon, though, so you might want to try to catch them before it gets started if you want to say hi. Same with Marianna and Amy –they’re running too. Marianna’s teaching a class too along with the other fighters from the gym.”
“I’m so impressed, Jonathan, really,” Brandi says and pushes the stroller inside. “I’m going to grab me one of those smoothies everyone is raving about and then go say hi the guys.”
“Bobby is working with the volunteers behind the smoothie bar,” I say.
“I love him, you know that? He is so sweet. Not that I don’t love your other friends, but he’s got a heart of gold,” she says.
“You just think he’s a softie because he’s not a boxer. Keep in mind he’s a former DA. He’s got tougher skin than you’d think,” I say, mostly joking. Bobby really is a softie. He was the bozo who came up with the whole dressing up as Disney Prince’s for Mary’s birthday.
Speak of the devil. “Jonathan!” I hear two familiar voices call out just as Brandi is leaving me to head inside.
I smile. Gabe’s parents and his sister Mary came out for the event. “Well look who’s here!” I say excitedly, and Mary comes running up to me and jumps up into my arms.
“Hey, Jonathan!” she cries and gives me this big hug. “Mom and Dad said you did all of this by yourself!”
I laugh. “Not completely by myself, but I did a lot of it. I couldn’t have done it all without the
volunteers. What are you guys doing here?”
“Well, we’re running the marathon,” Gabe’s father said. “Mary insisted that we do it together.”
I smile at Mary. “Oh, so you’re running too?” I notice she’s already got her number pinned to her shirt.
“Yup!” she says as I am putting her down.
“Well good for you!” I say, and I pat her on top of the head.
“Mom, can I get one of those smoothies?” she asks. Her mom laughs, gives me a hug, and follows her daughter inside. Gabe’s father shakes my hand and pats me on the back, telling me I did a good job at putting everything together before chasing after his wife and daughter.
I check my watch. I have time to do a walk around before the speech. I head inside, and my phone buzzes. I check it, and I have a weird text message that reads: What do you know? I don’t recognize the number, so I ignore it and don’t think much of it. I go check in on all the classes: Britany, LaWanda, Katie, Marty, Tyler, Marianna, and Laurel are all teaching classes, so I start doing my rounds. I can see Brandi and Bobby chatting by the smoothie booth, and Marty’s wife Amy is with them –wearing a volunteer shirt. I head up to the second floor where a lot of the classes are being taught and check in on each one. So far so good.
Laurel’s class is on the ground floor, so I head back down to check in on it just as it is letting out. She doesn’t seem me, and she bypasses me in the hall, heading straight for Brandi. She looks down at Ambriel, and soon the two women are wrapped in conversation about the baby. That makes me so uncomfortable, I don’t even know how to describe it. I check my watch, and I realize I need to get out to the small stage that is setup outside.
My phone goes off again on my way down there, and I roll my eyes. I check it, and I have a text that reads: What did you tell the police?
Okay, now I’m fucking nervous. What the fuck is this? I don’t have time to think about it, though. I see that Damion is standing in the front row, and he’s creepily eyeing Alex as the two of us make our way up onto the stage. I swear, everyone I know is here plus another several thousand people. This was way bigger than I could have ever imagined. There are news anchors posted along the edges of the crowd, their cameras pointed my way as I give a speech about the Battered Woman’s Home and how we are all here to raise money for them. I talk about the free training courses we are offering today to help our locals stay safer on the streets. People cheer and clap, and soon I have to step down to let Alex talk about the rules of the run.
Filthy Desires: A Romantic Suspense Collection Page 156
