"What's going on?" Marcus asked puzzled. "That's Taj's girlfriend."
"I know," Deidra said. "She said we were to meet her here. That guy with her is her friend, Jamal."
After introductions were made and they started entering the store, Tiffany drove up.
Natasha looked at Deidra, her eyebrows raised. "What's she doing here?"
"I sort of called her. I impersonated Neil's clerk, Georgia." Deidra chuckled, "I want her here."
Natasha nodded. "I can see why. Let's go."
Natasha knocked on Neil's office door.
"Come in," he said gruffly.
He got up from his desk when he saw that Natasha walked in with a police officer in full combat fatigue. His eyes widened in fright when he saw Deidra and Marcus walk in behind them.
He sat down abruptly, but was further shocked when a heavily pregnant Tiffany rushed into his office.
Everyone was silent looking at each other.
"Let's begin," Natasha said, closing the door behind a trembling Tiffany. She was leaning on the wall for support. She didn't know where to look. Marcus was looking at her, confused. Neil looked so guilty that she feared that he would spill the beans before the police even started. Why did Neil call her here? Her hands were trembling so badly that her handbag slipped from her grasp and made a soft thud on Neil's carpeted floor.
"I guess we all know each other," Natasha said briskly, "I questioned Mr. Kennedy here a few months ago, about his connection with one Levaughn Hartley, who he is sponsoring through university, who so happened to run into Marcus and Deidra with a car."
Neil cleared his throat. "I had nothing to do with that." His moustache twitched.
"Your phone call says otherwise," Natasha said boldly. They didn't have access to recordings of his phone conversations, just the numbers that Levaughn had called, but Neil was not to know that. "You told him to stalk Deidra Durkheim."
Neil swallowed and without blinking said, "Tiffany asked me to do it!"
Deidra gasped.
Marcus snapped his head up and looked at Tiffany.
"I did no such thing!" Tiffany said, sweating profusely. She rubbed her belly. "Please do not stress me out, I'm pregnant. Why did you ask me here today, Neil? Was it to tell lies on me?"
"I didn't ask you here," Neil said, "and I am not telling lies."
He looked at the police. "I didn't want to hurt Deidra. She did." He hooked his thumb at Tiffany.
He looked at Deidra beseechingly. "Please believe me. Tiffany was jealous of you and Marcus so for a spot of fun I agreed to spook you a little. That guy, Levaughn, went too far." He shook his head in indignation.
Marcus' head gave him a jab, and he rubbed his temples. Neil and Tiffany. He saw Neil's Porsche beside Tiffany's car in the parking lot at his building. He remembered turning to Howard and commanding him to take him to Mount Faith. It was after Africa! Howard had confessed that he slept with Tiffany before.
He exhaled raggedly. He had his memory back. Everything. The lingering headache made him squint as he tuned into Natasha telling Neil that he was under arrest for conspiracy to commit a crime.
"Hold on this is not fair," Neil said, "She made me do it. She promised me sex in return for it."
Jamal went over to Tiffany. "Well, she is under arrest too."
"No!" Tiffany squealed, "Marcus! Don't just stand there. Do something! I'm the mother of your unborn child. Don't let them manhandle me like this."
Jamal hadn't even touched Tiffany yet. He quirked his brow and looked at her as if she was crazy.
Marcus rubbed his head hoping that the sudden headache would go away. "No, you are not my unborn child's mother. I don't know who you are pregnant for, but it's not me. It couldn't be."
Tiffany gasped. "You got back your memory? Or is it that Deidra is telling you things? You are my baby's father."
Marcus looked at her sadly. "Got back my memory. I want you out of my place by tomorrow."
"How can I get out of your place?" Tiffany wailed, "I am going to jail."
Neil was looking at Tiffany's belly, and it dawned on him that he might be the one responsible.
"Don't pin this brat on me, Tiffany. You were loose with your favors; you slept with anybody who would. I don't want children."
Natasha led him outside.
"Call my lawyer," Neil said to Gillian, who was looking on from her seat at the cash register.
"What about me?" Tiffany asked, tears streaming down her face.
Neil pretended that he didn't hear her.
Deidra, who had not said a word from her place by the corner, looked over at Marcus.
"You okay?"
Marcus smiled weakly. "Got a slight headache. I was almost the victim of paternity fraud, and was almost killed. My God! She must have been crazy to go through with this deception."
Deidra went over and hugged him.
"We have the rest of the day, what do we do now?"
"We get married," Marcus said solemnly.
Deidra giggled. "Nah. I like the idea of our families being around. My Dad has four ex wives. They would be disappointed if they didn't come."
"Four ex-wives?" Marcus asked incredulously.
"Yup," Deidra kissed him on his cheek, "but if you marry me, I think you should know that I want to marry for life. Oh, and I don't mind following rules."
Marcus kissed her back. "That's fine; I don't mind following rules now neither."
"Rule number one," Deidra murmured on his neck, "thou shalt love Deidra with all your heart and mind."
"Already done," Marcus whispered. "Already done."
THE END
Here's a Look at the Next Book in the Series:
Sense of Rumor
"Sup Arnella? You good?" Cory waved to her from the other side of the pool where she was lounging and winked.
Arnella ignored him. He had been pestering her from high school to date him. Now that he was going to Mount Faith and entering second year of medical technology he thought that he was a good catch. He could be, she supposed, he was cute in a nerdy kind of way. If only he didn't try so hard for her to like him. That was a big turn off for her.
She adjusted her dark glasses and lay back in the floating donut. She was bored. It was the kind of boredom that was bone deep and fuelled from a lack of meaningful activity. Most of her friends, if she could call them that, had moved on from high school and were either in there second year of university or had found jobs which they constantly complained about.
She was doing nothing, even Tracy her only true friend in the world whose birthday party she was attending seemed as if she was moving on without her. Tracy had different friends, she was talking more maturely. She didn't find Arnella as entertaining anymore. In the past she was the one who Tracy looked up to for advice. Now, Tracy rarely asked her for anything or about anything she was in her second year at university now, Arnella was fast becoming relegated to her wild high school pal who she had hung out with to spite her conservative parents.
She glanced around the poolside; she could count on one hand, the people here that were from Tracy's high school, there was Cory, Dave and Jeff. They were the only three persons she knew from high school and all three of them were now at Mount Faith. The other persons were from Tracy's classes or whom she'd met at university.
Tracy's spacious backyard were full with them, Mount Faith people. Some of them were in the pool and one or two of them had initiated conversation with her but she was among strangers.
She glanced at her root beer bottle. She had lined them up at the poolside. Five beers and she felt a tad tipsy. She thought Tracy had said that they were non-alcoholic. She didn't touch alcohol. Not with her history.
"Hey Nella," Tracy stooped at the side of the pool and gestured to her. "He's here," she whispered fiercely. "Alric is here. What should I do?"
Arnella lazily lifted her glasses and stuck it in her hair, "say hi and stop acting like you like him."
Tracy had a panicked
look on her face as if she was going to expire. "I don't know how to do that thing you do."
"What thing?" Arnella squinted at her in the sunlight.
"The bored thing, the nothing doesn't touch me thing."
Arnella laughed dryly, "my attitude comes from years of hard living, and growing up extremely badly with an alcoholic mother."
Tracy stood up and looked at her pretty petite friend. "I can't believe that because I have a regular happy nuclear family that that is a handicap."
Arnella nodded, "it is a handicap. Regular families are so yesterday."
She laughed as Tracy shook her head in exasperation and then twisted around in her tube and spotted Tracy's crush.
He was standing near the makeshift bar, holding his ear from the extremely loud party music and the gyrating bodies. She had warned Tracy that he was too straitlaced and stuck up for this crowd but Tracy had asked him to attend. Alric Peterson, Pastor Peterson, the university church pastor's son.
Tracy had dragged her to the university church one night to check him out, even though she had warned her that she knew Alric, he was the goofy kid that lived in the big house on her street in Fair Ridges, a suburban community on the outskirts of Santa Cruz.
According to Tracy he had grown into his looks. She had been right. Arnella could not reconcile the awkward kid with the big ears who used to ride slowly by her house and watch her with a smirk on his face from their childhood days.
She had lived at the top of the street in the unkempt yard in the turn of the period old house, the sore thumb on the block and one time when she was around ten, newly arrived in Jamaica, Alric had said hi to her. His parents had welcomed her mother to the neighborhood, his mother had baked a cake and handed them a tract to attend some crusade or the other.
Her mother hadn't been interested and the Peterson's didn't fool around them anymore. Alric and her had been night and day in everything including their houses and they had not managed to rub shoulders even as children.
She looked him over, standing there now tall, lean and handsome. Somebody must have told him that a completely bald head gave him a certain look, coupled with that goatee. He was really killing it. No wonder Tracy was so jittery over him. He was very handsome and so not her type, he was attending a pool party in dress pants and long sleeved shirt. Though the light green shirt flattered his smooth nutmeg color nicely.
"Hey Alric," Arnella shouted, wanting to see him squirm when he recognized who was calling to him. He looked around when he heard his name.
Arnella waved to him and his eyes widened when he saw her. At first she wasn't sure why he looked so shell shocked and then she realized that he was probably shocked at her half naked state.
Her bikini was a caramel shade, just like her skin, the poor guy probably thought she was naked. She looked down at her chest; her nipple ring was showing through her bikini top.
She shrugged, if he had never seen a nipple ring before too bad. She decided to shock him even more and stick out her tongue. She had gotten it pierced just last month. It no longer felt sore but she was yearning to stop wearing it. Like all her piercings she had been making a statement, her body was hers to do with as she pleased and to hell with anybody else. She was planning tattoos next but was too scared of anybody leaving inferior art work on her body forever.
Alric didn't move, Arnella Bancroft, was calling to him in a friendly manner. He did not know how to react.
He had spent most of his life thinking of Arnella as Satan incarnate. The whole neighborhood in Fair Ridges where they lived thought so too. Her mother had had a hard time reigning her in from she was little and there were rumors and counter rumors about Arnella that could fill a tome of books. Most of the things were bad things and fairly indecent.
OTHER BOOKS BY BRENDA BARRETT
Mount Faith Series
Saving Face (Mount Faith Series- Book 1) - Mount Faith University drama begins with a dead president and several suspects including the president in waiting Ryan Bancroft.
Tattered Tiara (Mount Faith Series-Book 2)- Micah Bancroft is targeted by femme fatale Deidra Durkheim. There are also several rape cases to be solved.
Private Dancer (Mount Faith Series- Book 3)- Adrian Bancroft was gutted when he returned to Jamaica and found out that his first and only love Cathy Taylor was a stripper and was literally owned by the menacing drug lord, Nanjo Jones.
Goodbye Lonely (Mount Faith Series- Book 4) - Kylie Bancroft was shy and had to resort to going to confidence classes. How could she win the love of Gareth Beecher, her faculty adviser, a man with a jealous ex-wife in his past and a current mystery surrounding a hand found in his garden?
Practice Run (Mount Faith Series- Book 5)- Marcus Bancroft had many reasons to avoid Mount Faith but Deidra Durkheim was not one of them. Unfortunately, on one of his visits he was the victim of a deliberate hit and run.
The Three Rivers Series
Private Sins (Three Rivers Series-Book 1)- Kelly, the first lady at Three Rivers Church was pregnant for the first elder of her church. Could she keep the secret from her husband and pretend that all was well?
Loving Mr. Wright (Three Rivers Series- Book 2)- Erica saw one last opportunity to ditch her single life when Caleb Wright appeared in her town. He was perfect for her, but what was he hiding?
Unholy Matrimony (Three Rivers Series- Book 3) - Phoebe had a problem, she was poor and unhappy. Her solution to marry a rich man was derailed along the way with her feelings for Charles Black, the poor guy next door.
If It Ain't Broke (Three Rivers Series- Book 4)- Chris Donahue wanted a place in his child's life. Pinky Black just wanted his love. She also wanted him to forget his obsession with Kelly and love her. That shouldn't be so hard? Should it?
Contemporary Romance/Drama
Homely Girl- April and Taj were opposites in so many ways. He was the cute, athletic boy that everybody wanted to be friends with. She was the overweight, shy, and withdrawn girl. Do April and Taj have a love that can last a lifetime? Or will time and separate paths rip them apart?
The Preacher And The Prostitute - Prostitution and the clergy don't mix. Tell that to ex-prostitute, Maribel, who finds herself in love with the Pastor at her church. Can an ex-prostitute and a pastor have a future together?
Love Triangle: Three Sides To The Story- George-the husband, Marie-the wife and Karen-the mistress. They all get to tell their side of the story.
New Beginnings - Inner city girl Geneva was offered an opportunity of a lifetime when she found out that her 'real' father was a very wealthy man. Her decision to live up-town meant that she had to leave Froggie, her ‘ghetto don,’ behind. She also found herself battling with her stepmother and battling her emotions for Justin, a suave up-towner.
Full Circle- After graduating from university, Diana wanted to return to Jamaica to find her siblings. What she didn’t foresee was that she would meet Robert Cassidy and that both their pasts would be intertwined, and that disturbing questions would pop up about their parentage, just when they were getting close.
Historical Fiction/Romance
The Empty Hammock- Workaholic, Ana Mendez, fell asleep in a hammock and woke up in the year 1494. It was the time of the Tainos, a time when life seemed simpler, but Ana knew that all of that was about to change.
The Pull Of Freedom- Even in bondage the people, freshly arrived from Africa, considered themselves free. Led by Nanny and Cudjoe the slaves escaped the Simmonds’ plantation and went in different directions to forge their destiny in the new country called Jamaica.
Jamaican Comedy (Material contains Jamaican dialect)
Di Taxi Ride And Other Stories- Di Taxi Ride and Other Stories is a collection of twelve witty and fast paced short stories. Each story tells of a unique slice of Jamaican life.
books on Archive.
Practice Run (Mount Faith Series: Book 5) Page 14
