She shrugged, trying to gauge his emotions but couldn’t. “To be honest with you, Randolph, I didn’t know what to think. I’m sure you’re very busy and I figured I’d be taking a chance by coming here asking for your help.”
He met her gaze. “I’d do anything for an old friend, especially one who helped me through a very difficult time in my life.”
Is that what he thinks of me now? An old friend? She frowned, not knowing why it bothered her so.
“I’m going to have to act immediately if I’m going to appeal the judge’s decision.”
“Johnny doesn’t have any more appeals left,” she informed him.
“Just a minor inconvenience that we can work around. I’ll block the execution. That will give me enough time to thoroughly review the case. I take it he’s still in California?”
“Yes.”
“Then how soon can you leave?”
Jenna sat up straight. “Me?”
“Yes. I need you to go with me or join me there. Johnny Lane doesn’t know me, at least not personally. He’ll feel more comfortable and open up and talk if someone’s there he feels he can trust. In order to defend him, Jenna, I’m going to have to build a case, a very strong and solid case, against the federal government, specifically the FBI.”
“So you think there’s a chance?”
Randolph didn’t want to get her hopes up too high. “I won’t know until I’ve thoroughly reviewed the case. I need you to tell me everything you know about it.”
“Now?”
Randolph checked his watch. “No, my next appointment is in ten minutes. How long will you be in town?”
“Until in the morning.”
“Then how about dinner tonight?”
Jenna wasn’t sure having dinner with Randolph was a good idea. “I don’t know what I can tell you that might help.”
“Have you seen him over the past twelve years?”
“Yes. I try to visit him at least once or twice a year.”
“Then you know his mental state. Being in jail almost fourteen years is a long time, especially when you’re an innocent man. I need to know what to expect when I meet with him. Plus, I know you told me his version of what happened years ago, but I need to be briefed again. Time is of the essence and could mean whether he lives or dies.” Randolph sighed deeply. What he’d just told her was the truth. If the FBI did have something to hide they would want to push for closure.
Randolph knew that the only reason Johnny had not already been executed was because he’d been entitled to a certain number of appeals by law, and then—thank God—there was Jerry Brown, the very liberal governor of California. Brown was known to be an advocate of civil rights as well as a strong supporter of racial integration. What Randolph had to do was convince Brown, as well as the courts, that there was enough evidence to show corruption within the FBI, which would warrant a new trial.
“So what about dinner tonight, Jenna?”
Jenna paused to let everything Randolph said earlier sink in. There was no way she could get out of going to dinner with him. “Dinner will be fine.”
If Jenna suspected that Randolph had an ulterior motive for asking her to dinner, that suspicion was shot down the moment he began asking her intense questions about what Johnny had confided to her over fourteen years ago. It didn’t take long to understand why he had become one of the most sought-after African-American attorneys in the country.
He knew just the right questions to ask to piece together in his mind the true nature of what had happened to Johnny. He even asked her about the letters Johnny had written during his earlier months with the Panthers. Over dinner he had relentlessly questioned her, deciding what information he could use and what information he could discard as not important enough.
It was only after the remains of their meal had been taken away and dessert had been served that the tone of their conversation shifted when Randolph casually said, “I think we’ve covered everything that we needed to tonight. However, I would like to read those letters. Is there any way you can bring them to California with you when you come?”
“Yes. I know exactly where they’re packed.” She didn’t add that they were stored along with a lot of her other belongings from college, including a number of photos they had taken together. She had come across them during her move to Atlanta. There were even a few photos that she, Randolph and Ross had taken during her first visit to Glendale Shores that Christmas. Those had been happy times the three of them had shared. There had also been pictures that the three of them had taken together at Leigh and Noah’s wedding.
After a few brief moments she said quietly, “I understand from Leigh that Ross’s family was never found.”
Randolph sadly shook his head. “No, they weren’t. However, Noah and I were able to find out that Gia died of complications within a day of giving birth to a baby girl whom she named Adrianna, after my mother. From what we’ve been able to uncover, after Gia died, Adrianna became the custody of Gia’s sister. We were able to trace their trail up to the fall of Saigon, then nothing. We’ve hired some of the best investigators money can buy as well as worked with a lot of highranking government officials, but it’s like they’ve disappeared without a trace. But Noah and I won’t rest until Adrianna is found.”
Jenna nodded, hearing the frustration as well as the determination in his voice. “I believe in my heart that she will be found, Randolph. Don’t give up looking.”
“I won’t. Neither will Noah. We’re both committed to finding her no matter what it takes and no matter how long it takes.”
Jenna tilted her head, considering his words and knowing that he meant them. They paused in their conversation when the waiter came and refilled their coffee cups. She lifted her cup and took a sip.
“Tell me about your daughter, Jenna.”
Jenna froze from taking a sip of coffee upon hearing the strong emotion that was thick in his voice. If things had worked out the way they had dreamed and planned while students at Howard, her daughter would have been his, just like his son would be hers. The hardest thing for her to get over twelve years ago was the knowledge that Angela, and not she, was going to give birth to Randolph’s child. For a long time it had been a bitter pill to swallow, an agony she had prayed away constantly. And now as she looked across the table at him and met his gaze, she knew. She knew that as indifferent as he may have wanted to seem, he was experiencing the same feelings with the knowledge of her daughter Haywood. Another man had gotten her pregnant, and he was trying to deal with it. As close and as much in love as the two of them had been there was no way he could feel otherwise.
She took a sip of her coffee, deciding the best way to handle the situation was to move on and not dwell on the past. Things hadn’t worked out the way they had wanted, had dreamed, but then that was life. You took the good right along with the bad, the ups with the downs. And you learned how to get over them how to persevere and how to survive. Over the past twelve years, she had done all three.
She met his inquiring gaze and smiled. “I think Haywood is the most beautiful little girl to walk the face of this earth, but then I’m very prejudiced when it comes to her.”
A smile formed on Randolph’s lips. “And you have every right to be. With you as her mother there’s no doubt in my mind that she’s as beautiful as you say.”
His comments touched her. “Thanks, Randolph. Would you like to see a picture of her?”
He only hesitated a second. But it was a second that she detected. “Yes, I’d love to,” he said quietly.
Jenna reached into her purse and pulled out her wallet. She retrieved several pictures of Haywood and placed them on the table. “This is Haywood at three,” she said, pointing to a picture of a little girl who was smiling brightly for the camera.
“She’s very photogenic,” Randolph said, picking the picture up and taking a closer look.
Jenna chuckled. “Yes, she is that and loves having her picture taken. She also enjoys
taking pictures, something she inherited from her father. She’s never far from a camera. Steven bought her her very first camera a few weeks before this shot was taken. She had just turned three at the time.”
Randolph nodded and took a look at another photo. “How old was she in this one?”
“Five, and this one—” Jenna said indicating the last photo, “—was taken last month at school. She’s six and this is her first year and I’m glad that she loves it. Now if she can keep that same attitude about school for the next eleven years I’ll be happy.”
Randolph chuckled as he studied the photograph. A knot formed in the pit of his stomach. Haywood was a beautiful girl because she was the spitting image of her mother. It seemed all Jenna’s features had passed to her daughter. The shape of her eyes, nose and mouth; her smile; her rounded chin and perky cheeks. Yeah, she was a beauty all right. He could just see her at eighteen, the same way he had seen her mother—a young woman who had literally taken his breath away.
“Tell me about your son, Randolph.”
Randolph moved his gaze from the photo he’d been staring at to Jenna. He watched as her slightly trembling lips formed into a half smile. Then he knew what the two of them were doing. They were trying like hell, and like mature adults, to handle two very difficult but important issues in their lives. Their children. Trey and Haywood were two individuals that should have actually been just that—their children. But things had not turned out that way and they were trying to handle the situation as best they could by facing it head-on.
“He was named after Ross and my father, but to keep things simple and less confusing, we started calling him Trey, which means ‘the third.’ I don’t have as many pictures as you have,” he said smiling, as he stood to retrieve his wallet out of his back pocket, “but I do have one.” He pulled it out. “Trey is twelve now and started junior high school this year.”
Jenna studied the photograph. He looked nothing like Angela and was the exact image of Randolph. And because Ross and Randolph had favored each other, she could see a resemblance to Ross as well. The youth of twelve was tall for his age and already he was handsome. And from the way he was smiling for the camera, it seemed he knew it.
“How did you and I manage to have such conceited kids,” Jenna asked chuckling. “He’s handsome and I can tell he knows it. I can see him being a heartbreaker in ten years or less.”
“And I think just the opposite will happen,” Randolph said quietly, as he met Jenna’s gaze. “I think he’ll do just what I did: meet the woman of his dreams, fall in love and love her for the rest of his life.”
Jenna’s breath caught with Randolph’s words. Silence stretched out between them. A thick lump formed in her throat and a mist of tears touched her eyes. It was there in his gaze, plain for her to see. He still had feelings for her—just like she still had feelings for him.
“Randolph, I—”
“I think we’ve shared enough for tonight, don’t you? As painful as it was for the both of us, we were able to share with each other two people whom we love very much—our children. And I’m sure that no matter what we may have wanted to happen between us in the past, our children were truly gifts from God.”
Jenna wiped at a tear that threatened to fall from her eyelid. “Yes, they are.”
“And I think the best way to end such a beautiful evening is with a toast.” He beckoned the waiter to their table and ordered a bottle of expensive wine. A few moments later he held his filled wineglass up to hers. “To our beautiful children.”
Jenna nodded as she touched her wineglass to his. “Yes, to our beautiful children.” She then took a sip of wine.
Less than an hour later, Randolph returned Jenna back to her hotel. Although she had told him it wasn’t necessary, he was adamant about seeing her up to her room and together they took the elevator to her floor.
“How soon can you join me in California?” he asked, bringing back into focus the real reason she was there; something she was ashamed to admit she had totally forgotten about.
“How soon will you need me?”
“Almost immediately after I arrange to see Johnny. I think it will be best if you’re there from the beginning to break the ice, so to speak. Afterwards, I’ll be able to handle things from there. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to be away from Haywood any longer than necessary.”
Jenna appreciated his thoughtfulness and understanding. “No, I prefer not to. Although getting a babysitter isn’t hard because Mom now lives in Atlanta, I still prefer not being away from Haywood too often.”
Randolph nodded. “I was saddened to hear about your father, Jenna. I really liked him.”
Jenna smiled up at him. “And he liked you, too.”
“I know. We had a long talk that day I went to him looking for you. He knew where you were but was duty-bound to keep it a secret. But he had known the pain I felt, the pain I was going through. And he talked to me like I believe my father would have talked to me that day. He gave me some pretty good advice although a part of me hadn’t wanted to hear it. The only thing I wanted was to find you and get you back.”
Jenna knew about that day. Her father had written to her and had told her all about it, including the pain Randolph had been going through after receiving her letter that had ended things between them. “It was hard for us to let Dad go. The only reason we were able to do so was because none of us could stand to see him suffer any longer. I took leave from my job to come back to the States. I was back home a few weeks before he died.”
“He was a wonderful person, Jenna. That was one of the reasons I had to be there when he was laid to rest.”
Jenna jerked her head up and looked at him. “You were there?”
“Yes. But I intentionally stayed in the background. I wanted to be with you that day, to share your pain and your grief, the way you had shared mine with Ross. Somehow I believed my being there, even without your knowing it, would somehow give you strength.”
Jenna nodded. It had. She clearly remembered that day, and the moment when she had glanced away from her father’s coffin as it was being lowered into the ground that she thought she’d seen him off in the distance leaning against a tree. But she had convinced herself that she’d only imagined it. But just the idea that he had been in her thoughts had helped her overcome her grief.
“And I was saddened to hear about Grandpa Murphy, Randolph. By the time I got the word in Paris the funeral was over. I did talk to Gramma Mattie though and conveyed my condolences. He was a good man.”
Randolph nodded. “Yes, he was.”
The elevator door opened and together they walked toward her hotel room. A slight shiver began moving in the pit of her stomach and inched lower to an area that hadn’t been touched in over two years. Sex between her and Steven had been good but not frequent due to his travels. It was as if tonight that part of her body recognized the man who had set it on fire years ago. The man who had branded it as his. And against her will, her body was reacting to his nearness. His very presence.
They stopped walking when they reached her hotel room. She opened the door and the two of them stepped inside. Jenna sighed, refusing to dirty what had been something special between them by giving in to overworked hormones. “Thanks, Randolph, for a special evening. And thanks again for agreeing to take on Johnny’s case.”
He looked down at the hand she was offering him before finally taking it into his. Holding it. Without saying anything, he leaned forward and touched his lips to hers.
The moment he did so, Jenna felt a weakness in her knees, the lower part of her body began to throb and a moan slipped from her throat. And moments later when he slipped his tongue into her mouth, she latched onto it, wanting it, needing it. It felt like coming home. He continued kissing her with a kiss that was tender and passionate.
Randolph slowly lifted his head and stared at Jenna. Her lips were moist and swollen from his kiss. He knew it was time to leave or else he would kiss her again. He was d
etermined to take things slow. They needed to get to know each other again. They weren’t the same two people no matter what feelings they may still have for each other.
He dropped his hand and took a step back. “Twelve years ago, Jenna, you thought you were doing the right thing by disappearing from my life. But even with the best of your intentions, you couldn’t make me love Angela. Nor could you make me forget you.”
Without saying anything else he turned and walked out of the door.
Twenty-three
The end of 1980 was drawing near. Richard Pryor was recovering after getting badly burned trying to freebase cocaine, and on the eighth day of December, former Beatle John Lennon was murdered outside his apartment, leaving numerous Beatles fans to mourn his death.
Noah Wainwright sat behind his desk and frowned at the man sitting across from him. “I hear what you’re saying, Jim, but I refuse to give up my search. I have to know something one way or the other.”
Jim Rogers sat back in his chair and gazed at Noah imploringly. “Look Noah, I understand your need to bring closure to the issue of whether or not Ross Fuller’s daughter is still alive. However, if you’re serious about becoming the next senator from Florida, you need to put more concentration into organizing a campaign.”
Noah was quiet for a moment. Slowly he stood and walked across the room to look out of the window. It had been thirteen years since Ross had died in Vietnam. It seemed that lately he’d thought of his best friend often. The years he and Ross had shared while in school at Howard had been the best, and he knew if their places had been traded and he’d been the one killed in ’Nam, Ross would fulfill any promise he’d made to him or die trying.
Noah turned around. “Go ahead and organize the campaign and I’ll do whatever you need me to do. But I won’t give up my search. A part of me believes that thirteen-year-old Adrianna Fuller is alive somewhere and one day she will be found.”
Later that evening after spending time helping Zachary with his homework and reading Noelle a story, Noah walked into his bedroom at the same time Leigh was coming out of the bathroom after taking a shower.
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