After Dark

by Donna Hill

  “Who says so?” He lifted her up into his arms and carried her into her bedroom.

  By the time they’d finally satisfied every need they had, at least for the day, they untangled themselves and took separate showers.

  “No way am I getting into another shower with you,” Elizabeth called out from the bedroom. “We’ll never get out of here.”

  “Chicken.”

  “Name calling wins you no points.”

  “Did I tell you I saw that Jennings guy yesterday?”

  She pushed open the bathroom door. Ron was standing in the center of the room, lean, muscular and very naked. She drew in a breath, momentarily forgetting her vow. She forced her eyes upward. “What did you say?”

  “He came into the restaurant yesterday—to pick Dawne up for their date. Me and Ali were there.”

  “Oh, no. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Kinda pushed it out of my head. Guess I want the whole thing to just disappear.” He leaned over the tub and turned on the shower, giving her a great view from the back. “It was real odd. He acted like he’d just met us for the first time so I let it ride. Ali almost had a heart attack, cause he had no clue about Dawne and this guy.”

  Elizabeth pushed out a frustrated breath. “This is all so crazy. What do they have on you? I simply don’t understand and now with Dawne involved with this guy…is it part of some agenda of his?”

  “I wish I knew. Maybe we ought to tell Dawne exactly what’s happening. My thought is if he won’t then maybe he is up to something.”

  She leaned against the frame of the door, tossing around the information. “Maybe you’re right.” She looked at him. “Sooner rather than later?”

  He nodded in agreement.

  “Hey, Brian,” Adam called out as he walked down the corridor.

  Brian stopped and turned slightly. “I’m in a hurry, Adam.”

  Adam quickened his step and caught up with the taller man, matching him stride for stride. “We need to talk, partner.”

  “Really?” He flipped open a gray folder and scanned it as he continued walking. “About what?”

  “About your relationship with Dawne Lewis.”

  Brian stopped short, snapped his head in Adam’s direction. His eyes cinched. “You following me, man?”

  “You trying to compromise this case?”

  Brian got in Adam’s face. “Look, what I do in my spare time is my business.”

  Adam flinched. “Not when it effects me. Partner,” he added. “You want to tell me what’s going on or should I draw my own conclusions?” He raised a brow.

  “Look, let me handle this. The minute I feel my actions will interfere with this case, I’ll back off.”

  Adam looked at him for a long moment then turned and strode away.

  Brian stood there for a moment. He had no idea what Adam planned to do with the information, but he couldn’t let him ruin his career or his budding relationship with Dawne. He walked off to his office.

  Chapter 20

  “Let me find a parking space and I’ll be right in,” Ron said to Elizabeth.

  “Okay.” She got out of the car, opened her umbrella and made a dash into Delectables.

  For a change, the restaurant was relatively quiet. Perhaps it was the weather. It had grown more and more dreary until the skies had opened up.

  She shook off her umbrella and looked around for her daughters. Neither one of them were up front. She walked over to the counter.

  “Hi, Ms. Lewis,” the waitress greeted. “What can I get for you or would you like to see a menu?”

  “Actually, I was looking for my daughter, Dawne.”

  “I believe she’s in the office putting in an order.”

  “Thanks.” She spun around on the stool just as Ron walked in. He joined her, water dripping off him. He wiped his face with his hands.

  “She’s in the back,” Elizabeth said.

  “You sure you want to do this here,” he asked having second thoughts.

  “I don’t think we should wait. It’s not going to get easier.”

  “Okay.” He followed her to the back where the tiny office was.

  The door was closed and Elizabeth could hear Dawne talking. She knocked lightly on the door.

  “Come in,” she called out. Her face brightened in surprise then drew tight upon seeing the serious expressions on their faces. “Yes, that’s it,” she said into the phone, keeping her eye on her mother and Ron. “I can expect the delivery before noon tomorrow? Great. Thanks.” She hung up the phone.

  “What’s going on?” Her hand still gripped the phone.

  “We wanted to talk to you.”

  Dawne held up her hand. “First, before you say anything, I want to apologize about the other day. I was wrong and totally out of line.”

  “It’s okay, honey, really.”

  “No. I was wrong. I had no right to assume things or speak to you like that.” She took a breath. “I went to see Dad. We had a good talk…about everything.” She gave her mother a meaningful glance. “He decided on his treatment. Desi went with him to his doctor’s visit this morning.”

  Elizabeth briefly shut her eyes in thanks. Ron squeezed her hand.

  “Thanks for telling me. But, more importantly, thanks for going to see your dad. I know it meant a lot to him.”

  “Is that why you came?”

  Elizabeth shot a look at Ron.

  “Actually, no,” he said. “Mind if I sit down?”

  Dawne gave a short nod.

  Ron sat and Elizabeth sat next to him. She took his hand. “There’s something that you need to know…about Brian.”

  Alternately, Ron and Elizabeth told Dawne everything they knew about the investigation into his business, his life and activities and their belief that he was somehow tied to illegal dealings with his supplier who was also under suspicion.

  Dawne listened with her mouth partially opened. When they were done, she shook her head. “I don’t believe this.” She pushed up from the chair. “He’s using me?”

  “We don’t know that for sure, Dawne,” her mother said. “When he talked to me that day at the spa he sounded sincere. But he also made it clear that to stop seeing you was not in his plans and that, as long as he was dealing with the investigation, he was essentially the only friend we had.”

  Dawne’s pinched expression looked almost painful. “He was threatening you,” she said, appalled. She began pacing the tight space. “I…He used me to get to you, to find information about you?” She zeroed in on Ron. “And he walked right in here yesterday saw, you and acted like…nothing. God. How stupid could I be?”

  “Dawne this has nothing to do with you being stupid. If, and I say if, this was his plan to get to us through you, there is no way you would have known,” Ron assured her.

  “He’d been coming here for weeks. He acted so interested,” she said in a faraway voice remembering the kiss they’d shared the night before.

  “Baby, he didn’t want me to say anything, but we—” she looked to Ron “—felt it best that you knew what you were dealing with.”

  Slowly, Dawne sat down, deflated. “I’ll break it off. I have to,” she said sounding beaten. “He’s supposed to call me. I’ll…talk to him then.” She got up. “I have to get back to work.”

  “Sweetie,” Elizabeth said, grabbing Dawne’s hand as she passed, “it’s going to be okay.”

  Dawne flashed a tight smile and walked out.

  “Do you think we did the right thing?” Elizabeth asked. “Maybe we should have left it alone.”

  “No. If he’s on the up and up regarding Dawne then it will come out. If he’s not, that will come out, too. At least, she’s not operating in the dark.”

  They both got up.

  “Have you been able to reach your supplier?”

  “No. I keep getting voice mail. I’ve left several messages, but there’s been no response.”

  “Do they honestly believe that your wood supplier is somehow
funding extremists?”

  Ron opened the door for Elizabeth. “Apparently, they think he has some Middle East connection and the business is just a front to launder money.”

  “Even if that was the case,” she said, walking out, “I still don’t see how you are involved.”

  “Just the fact that I was once a part of a nationalist organization will make me a suspect until the end of time, no matter what my agenda may have been. The Panthers were targeted. Back then they were considered extremists and a threat to the country—or, at least, the status quo of the country.”

  “It’s like a nightmare. Every day when I walk into the spa, I expect a dozen men in dark suits to come in and take over.” She shuddered at the thought.

  Ron put his arm around her. “This has got to be over soon.”

  She rested her head against his shoulder. “I hope so.”

  When they got up front, Dawne was behind the counter serving a customer. Her smile was in place but her eyes were distant. Her mother knew that look. It was Dawne preparing for action. She’d had that look in her eyes since she was a baby. If she saw something she wanted, she’d get that hunter’s look in her eyes—even something as simple as zeroing in on a toy of her sister’s. She didn’t want to think about what Dawne was zeroing in on now.

  Chapter 21

  The rain was still coming down in buckets as Barbara made a break from her car to her front door. By the time she got inside, she was dripping wet.

  Trudging up the stairs, she shook off water, leaving a wet trail. It had been a long day. To say that she was exhausted would be an understatement. She hung up her wet coat on the hook by the door and took her umbrella to the bathroom and put it in the tub.

  She’d had a full day at the hospital and then had gone to the spa to work on three clients. Even though they had two wonderful massage staff, which they’d hired from the Swedish Institute, there were still her regular customers from the early days of the spa’s opening that only wanted her.

  She had to admit, that made her feel good—being wanted. She sighed. Wil wanted her to take the weekend off and take the trip with him down to North Carolina to see the house. On the surface, it was an innocent enough trip but, in her mind, it would signal some kind of unspoken agreement that she was willing to relocate. She knew he would ask her opinion, show her around, try to convince her how wonderful life could be for them. Maybe it would. What was she so afraid of?

  Change wasn’t easy, especially at her age. She wasn’t some young thing that could just pick up and run behind a man. What if it didn’t work out? She wouldn’t have a job, a home. She had roots here in New York. Veronica’d said she was afraid of failing. Maybe she was. She didn’t have the kind of time in her life to make mistakes and go back and fix them.

  She got out of her clothes, put some leftovers in the oven to warm up, then went in the living room to watch some mindless television.

  Surfing through the channels, she stopped when she saw Michael’s face pop up on the screen. He was being interviewed by one of the hosts from E! Her heart fluttered for a moment.

  Sometimes it was still hard to believe that she’d almost married him. He was talking about being traded to New York. She turned up the volume.

  “I’m excited about the trade,” he was saying as he walked the red carpet on his way to an awards show. “There’s no town like New York and I’m eager to be part of the historic team.”

  “But New York has had a lot of trouble with its players, management and, quite frankly, winning a championship.”

  “My job is to bring my A-game and to turn things around.”

  “We’ll be looking forward to seeing you at Madison Square Garden, next week.”

  Her stomach rushed to the center of her chest. Next week? Michael was coming to New York? She got up from the couch and returned to the kitchen for her dinner.

  Michael. He’d started off as a client at the hospital, then her lover, then her fiancé. Michael had reawakened her womanhood if he did nothing else. But when Wil stepped back into her life, whatever doubts she’d had about the big age gap between her and Michael only magnified.

  Wil had provided her an out, gave voice to her insecurities about being involved with a man young enough to be her son.

  Barbara brought her dinner to the kitchen table and sat down heavily. Fears and doubts had affected her future with Michael. Now fears and doubts were affecting her future relationship with Wil.

  She picked at her food and thought about her girlfriends. They were all secure with their men, making plans for their futures together. Why was it so hard for her?

  The downstairs doorbell rang. She frowned. Probably someone needing to get into someone else’s apartment. She ignored it. The bell rang again.

  Making a face she pushed up from her seat and went to the intercom near the door.

  “Who?”

  “It’s Chauncey, Ms. Barbara.”

  Chauncey? She pressed the button for the door and buzzed him in. Moments later. he was knocking on her front door.

  “Chauncey, what are you doing here? Is something wrong?” She stepped aside to let him in. He pulled his hood off his head.

  “Sorry to come by without calling, but I was on my way home from practice…”

  “Come in. You can hang your jacket up right there.” She pointed to the rack next to the door.

  He took off his jacket and set his duffel bag down.

  “I wanted to talk to you about something without Dad being around.”

  She was getting nervous.

  “Okay.” She walked into the living room and sat down.

  Chauncey came in behind her and sat down. He fidgeted for a few minutes, looking at his laces. “Wow, this is harder than I thought.”

  “What is?”

  “Saying what I got to say.”

  “Just talk,” she said gently.

  He blew out a breath. “In a few months I’ll be going away to school, right?”

  She nodded.

  “And it’ll be the first time me and Dad have been apart. I mean, since Mom died, it’s just been me and him, ya know?” He looked around the room trying to find a place for his gaze to land. It eventually landed on the floor between his feet. “He’s never been alone. Anyway…He’s been working on getting this house for a long time. It’s a dream of his and it’s finally coming true. He told me that he wanted you to come with him and he asked me how I felt about that.”

  He finally looked at her. “At first, I didn’t like it. I mean, it’s one thing for Dad to have a girl…I mean, a woman in his life.” He flashed an awkward smile. “But to live with someone…” He shrugged his right shoulder. “Anyway, I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. I want him to be happy and I don’t want him to be alone.” He looked into her eyes. “He likes you a lot.”

  Her insides warmed.

  “And, well, I was thinking that it would be a really good thing if you did go with him. I mean, I wouldn’t mind or anything.”

  “I see.”

  “It would make him real happy. I know it would. My dad, he’s a good guy, man—I mean, Ms. Barbara. He works hard and he’s had no one for a long time—except for me. And now I’ll be gone, ya know?” He suddenly stood up. “That’s what I wanted to say. So, if you decided to go—” he shuffled his feet “—it would be cool.”

  Barbara didn’t know what to say.

  “I better get home. Dad will worry or start blowing up my cell phone.” He grinned and looked just like his dad did at his age.

  “Thank you for telling me that, Chauncey. It means a lot.”

  “Cool.” He turned and headed to the door then stopped. “Don’t tell Dad I was here. I don’t want him to think I was all up in his personal business. Then he might think he can get in mine.” He laughed.

  “I won’t say a word.”

  He bobbed his head, collected his things and walked out.

  Barbara slowly closed the door behind him. Well, she’d gotten his son�
�s blessing. So what was stopping her now?

  Chapter 22

  Ever since her mother and Ron had left the restaurant, Dawne’s spirit was restless. Her emotions shifted from hurt to anger. If there was one thing that she detested it was people who used others for their own benefit.

  She’d been advised not to say anything and just let it all play out. Although she’d agreed, she knew she couldn’t let it rest and simply play along. It wasn’t in her nature.

  She stared at the phone—debating. Finally, she picked it up and dialed Brian’s cell phone.

  He picked up just before it went to voice mail.

  “Hey, Brian, it’s Dawne.”

  “Hi. I was going to call you.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Beat you to it,” she said, forcing lightness into her voice. “Listen, I’m not doing anything special this evening and I was wondering if you wanted to stop by. I’m fixing dinner now and you have to eat sometime.”

  “Uh, tonight?”

  “Hey, if you have other—”

  “No, no, tonight is fine. It’s just that I’m in my car right now. What time were you thinking about?”

  “Around eight?”

  “Sounds good. I’ll see you in a little while.”

  “Great. See you soon.” She hung up the phone, her expression set in determination. Nobody was going to play her.

  Brian checked his rearview mirror. Ever since his little run in with Adam earlier in the day, he’d been looking over his shoulder. He knew Adam would do just about anything to get ahead in the department even if it meant fabricating information and turning on his partner. He couldn’t let that happen. First thing in the morning, he was going to Hargrove to tell him everything he knew, but first, he needed to set things straight with Dawne. He made the turn and headed uptown.

  Traffic was light considering the hour and the crappy weather. He arrived in front of Dawne’s building with nearly a half hour to spare. He found a parking space after several tries, looked around for Adam’s car, then walked half a block to Dawne’s building.

  “I don’t usually get dinner invitations in the middle of the week,” he said when she opened the door for him.