Gray Skies (WeHo Book 8)

by Sherryl Hancock

  “That’s true,” Shenin said. “Ty was like that. I swear I tried to get her to kiss me when she was drunk and so was I… She wouldn’t do it.”

  Jazmine looked back at both women, her look considering. Then she shrugged.

  “She’s with Cassandra,” she said then.

  “That old bat?” Shenin said, rolling her eyes. “What kind of attraction could she hold?”

  “Her checkbook,” Jazmine said simply.

  “Oh,” Shenin said, looking circumspect then grimacing.

  “Yeah,” Jazmine said her look dejected.

  ***

  Two days later Jazmine still hadn’t heard from Dakota and was worried sick. She’d tried over and over to get ahold of her but to no avail. She would have written it off to Dakota blowing her off, but when she’d spoken to Cassandra, she had given some lame excuse about Dakota being ‘under the weather.’ That had set off all kinds of alarms in Jazmine’s head. She’d even gone to the house to see Cassandra, who had pointedly kept her downstairs and then finally told her she needed to go to an appointment and had ushered Jazmine out of the house. She’d seemed nervous.

  By the third day, Jazmine was done waiting around, so she went to the DOJ offices and straight to Rayden’s office. She walked through the open door without knocking.

  “Ray, I need your help,” she said without preamble.

  Rayden turned around surprised to see her, but then saw the worry in her eyes. Grayson was in the office and saw it too.

  “Jaz, what’s wrong?” Rayden asked, as she got up from her desk and walked to where Jazmine stood.

  “It’s Dakota, I can’t get ahold of her, and I’m worried. Cassandra is a violent bitch and I’m worried she’s done something crazy…”

  “Okay, okay, slow down…” Rayden said, walking Jazmine over to the chairs at her table and sitting her down.

  Rayden kneeled in front of her. “Okay, tell me what you mean by Cassandra being violent.”

  Jazmine took a deep breath. “She’s hurt Dakota before.”

  “What! When?” Rayden said.

  “About three weeks or so ago, Cody knows about it. Savanna dressed it for her. Cassandra cut her arm open and hit her, and raked her nails down her chest.”

  “Jesus!” Rayden exclaimed. “Okay, so why do you think something’s happened now?”

  “Cassandra’s been mad at her since Vegas and she was really short with me when I asked about Dakota,” Jazmine said, grimacing.

  “She knows it’s you that went to Vegas with Dakota?” Rayden asked sharply.

  “No,” Jazmine said, shaking her head. “Well, I don’t think so. Dakota told her she went alone… Anyway, she stayed with me for a couple of nights after…” Her voice trailed off as she shook her head.

  “After what?” Rayden asked.

  “Ray, you just need to help,” Grayson put in. She sensed that it was something Jazmine didn’t want Rayden to know and guessed it had to do with when Dakota had ‘found’ her at the studio.

  Grayson caught Jazmine’s grateful smile and nodded, winking at her.

  “Okay.” Rayden nodded.

  “I want Cody there too,” Jazmine said. “She knows Dakota the best.”

  “Okay,” Rayden said, as she walked to her office door. “Someone get me Falco,” she called.

  “Which one?” someone called back.

  “Both!”

  An hour later Rayden, Lyric, Cody, and Jazmine walked up to Cassandra Billings’ front door.

  “Cody, you ask for Dakota,” Jazmine said. “She’s already put me off.”

  Cody nodded. She was worried sick about her friend too, as was Lyric. It was everything she could do not to punch the woman out for the first time she’d hurt Dakota. She rang the bell.

  Lyric and Rayden exchanged a look, both of them worried, but doing their best to stay calm.

  When the butler opened the door, Cody smiled and said. “Hi, I need to see Dakota.”

  The butler’s eyes went to the other three people standing there, then back to Cody. “Miss Dakota is not feeling well at this time. If you will give me your name I will let her know you came by.”

  Cody narrowed her eyes slightly. “Maybe you didn’t hear me, I said I need to see Dakota. That means I need to see her in person,” she said her tone all cop at that point.

  “I’m sorry, Miss, but she is not accepting visitors at this time,” the butler said, and actually had the temerity to start to close the door in Cody’s face.

  Rayden’s hand on the door stopped that from happening.

  “Go get Dakota, now,” Rayden told the man, her dark eyes glittering dangerously.

  “I… but… ma’am!” the butler stammered, flustered.

  “Fuck this,” Cody said, shoving the door open and stepping inside the house. “Dakota!” she yelled, her voice carrying in the open foyer. “Dakota!” she yelled again, glancing back at Lyric who was grinning and shaking her head.

  Cassandra came sweeping down the stairs looking at Cody and the rest of them like they were armed robbers.

  “What is going on here!” she screeched. “I’m going to call the police!”

  Cody, Lyric, and Rayden held up their badges.

  “Well… I will not stand for this intrusion!” Cassandra huffed.

  “Cassandra, where is Dakota?” Jazmine asked, moving to stand in front of the others. “We just need to see that she’s okay.”

  Cassandra’s eyes widened as she looked at Jazmine, then they narrowed. “Just because she’s been fucking you doesn’t mean she cares about you Jazmine, you should know that by now…” she said, her voice pure acid.

  “Tell me where she is!” Jazmine yelled.

  Cassandra merely smiled icily crossing her arms in front of her chest.

  Cody, who was well past being patient, strode toward the stairs.

  “You can’t do that!” Cassandra snapped moving to intercept Cody and putting her arm on Cody’s arm.

  “You better remove that,” Cody said, her eyes glittering with malice. “Or I’ll break every one of your bony ass fingers.”

  Cassandra snatched her hand back like she’d been burned. “I will not tolerate this invasion of my privacy! Douglas, call my lawyer!”

  “Good, you’re gonna need him,” Cody said and then she started up the stairs.

  Jazmine, Rayden, and Lyric followed her. It took a while to find the right room but then they stepped up to a door that had Cassandra throwing herself in front of it.

  “You can’t go in there! This is my home! You don’t have a warrant!”

  “We don’t need a warrant,” Lyric said. “We believe Dakota Blair to be in grave danger, and have probable cause to search these premises to locate her since you failed to produce her to verify her safety.”

  “Wait!” Cassandra said, staying in front of the door.

  “Lady, if you don’t move, I’m gonna move you, and I guarantee you it’s going to hurt,” Cody growled.

  Rayden reached out, gently taking Cassandra’s arm and pulling her out of the way. Cody tried the handle to the door but it was locked. Without hesitation, she stepped back and kicked the door open. She strode inside but stopped dead in her tracks when she looked over to the bed. All she could see was red and Dakota lying in the middle of it. She reached out blindly, and Lyric was there supporting her as her knees weakened.

  “Dakota!” Jazmine screamed, running over to the bed. She climbed onto it, her hands shaking as she reached out to touch Dakota’s hair. “Dakota?” she queried, terrified that they were too late.

  She could see cuts and scratches everywhere. Dakota wore only boy shorts underwear and an exercise bra. There was blood everywhere and it was impossible to tell where the blood was coming from.

  Dakota looked pale, her eyes were closed, and her face slack. Jazmine called her name over and over again, with no response.

  “Ray…” Jazmine breathed tearfully.

  “Okay,” Rayden said. She reached over and put h
er finger to Dakota’s neck feeling for a pulse. “She’s got a pulse, Lyric call an ambulance now!”

  Jazmine jumped off the bed, strode over to Cassandra, and slapped her so hard that Cassandra fell to the floor. Cody picked her up and turned her around, holding her hands behind her back and pulling out her handcuffs.

  “You are under arrest for assault and battery,” Cody said, her voice shaking, but sure. “You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney…” Cody marched Cassandra out of the room, unable to look at Dakota’s body again for fear she’d kill this woman she had in cuffs.

  Chapter 9

  At the hospital, doctors told Lyric, who had stepped as Dakota’s “guardian,” that Dakota needed blood and that she was a rare type O Negative. As luck would have it so were Cody and Lyric. They both donated as much as they were allowed, which fortunately was enough for what Dakota needed. It had been determined that Dakota had lost twenty to thirty percent of her blood due to the numerous cuts, some quite deep. It had been further determined that had Jazmine not insisted that they go to get Dakota, she would have likely have died due to the blood loss within eight hours.

  Savanna arrived at the hospital as Lyric was being given an update of Dakota’s condition.

  “How is she?” Savanna asked, looking frantic.

  “She’s okay,” Lyric told her, looking relieved. “She’ll be okay.”

  “We need to get her out of here as soon as possible,” Cody said.

  “What?” Savanna said. “Cody, she needs to be here.”

  “Mom, she hates hospitals, why do you think I had you look at her arm? ’Cause she wouldn’t set foot in a hospital. She had some major trauma when she was a kid.” She put her hand on Lyric’s arm. “Trust me, Mom, she wakes up in a hospital and there’s going to be a problem…” Her voice trailed off as they heard a ruckus down the hall. “Shit, too late!”

  Jazmine had been sitting in the room where Dakota was lying hooked up to an IV and various machines. Jazmine hadn’t noticed when Dakota woke up, but she noticed a minute later when Dakota sat up and started yanking the IV out her arm and pulling off the monitor.

  “Dakota! Stop!” Jazmine yelled, trying to get through to her.

  “Get me out of here, Jaz,” Dakota said trying to get off the bed, weaving dangerously as she did.

  “Whoa!” Lyric yelled as she came through the door, just in time to catch Dakota as she slid out of the bed, and started to fall when she couldn’t support her own weight. “Hold on Dak, hold on…” Lyric said, supporting Dakota’s weight as Cody and Jazmine helped her back into the bed.

  “I’m not stayin’ here…” Dakota said mutinously, even as she gasped for breath.

  “Okay, okay,” Lyric said, as Savanna came into the room.

  “I need to go…” Dakota said, her voice rasping, looking at Savanna.

  “Okay, honey, we’ll get you out of here,” Savanna said soothingly. “Just let me talk to your doctor first, okay?”

  Dakota looked like she wanted to argue.

  “Dakota, please,” Jazmine said, putting her hand on Dakota’s arm.

  Dakota looked over at Jazmine, seeing how worried she was, she sighed. “Okay, but just long enough for Savanna to talk to the doc.”

  “Right,” Jazmine said, nodding, glancing over at Cody who only grinned.

  Two hours later it had been discussed, argued, and eventually Dakota signed out AMA (against medical advice) allowing her out of the hospital. Jazmine had offered her apartment for Dakota to recover at. Cody had given her mother’s silent signal to agree with that option. Dakota hadn’t said anything, but certainly didn’t argue with the idea of staying at Jazmine’s.

  They got Dakota settled in Jazmine’s room on one side of her bed. Savanna went over all the instructions that they’d been given by the hospital with Jazmine. Savanna and Lyric then went shopping for groceries, and Cody and Jazmine sat in the living room while Dakota slept.

  “I’m really glad you were keeping tabs on her,” Cody said sincerely.

  “I just wish I would have gotten there sooner,” Jazmine said. “I should have beaten the shit out of Cassandra the first time I went over there.”

  “I should have ignored Dakota and arrested her ass the first time she cut her,” Cody said, her lips twitching.

  “Do you think she’s going to be okay?” Jazmine asked Cody.

  Cody drew in a deep breath, then blew it out. “I think that she’s gonna have a rough time for a bit…”

  Jazmine nodded. “Well, she can stay here as long as she wants.”

  Cody smiled. “I’m really glad she has you.”

  “Well, we’re friends,” Jazmine said, her tone conciliatory.

  Cody nodded, her eyes showing that she didn’t really believe they were just friends.

  A little while later Lyric and Savanna got back with groceries and after Savanna had checked on Dakota again, the three of them left. Jazmine walked into her room and sat down on her bed looking at Dakota. She’d been terrified when she’d seen Dakota lying in her own blood, she’d been sure she was dead.

  She saw the tiny cuts on her face, it seemed like Cassandra had avoided doing too much damage to parts of Dakota that would be visible. It drove Jazmine crazy to know that Cassandra had done all this damage to Dakota, and then just left her to bleed to death. Every time she thought about it, she just wanted to go down to the jail and kill Cassandra Billings painfully and slowly, like she’d tried to do to Dakota.

  She’d received all kinds of texts from everyone, telling her to tell Dakota to get well fast.

  Jazmine took a shower and got ready for bed. She climbed into her bed, next to where Dakota slept and lay with her hand on Dakota’s shoulder, so she’d feel it when or if Dakota woke up and needed something. She slept all night, Dakota never even stirred. The hospital had given her some heavy-duty painkillers. Savanna had explained to Jazmine that, between the painkillers and the blood loss, Dakota was likely to sleep a lot over the next few days.

  The next morning Jazmine got up and went into the kitchen to make some coffee. When she walked back into the bedroom, she sat on the bed with her coffee, tucking her feet up under her. She spent the day reading and started to reach out to her contacts to try to line up more dancing jobs. With Dakota out of action, she’d need to find some work for the time being.

  At one point, Dakota stirred, opening her eyes and staring up at the ceiling for a long minute. Jazmine turned to look down at her. Dakota blinked a couple of times, then she looked over at Jazmine, her eyes searching Jazmine’s face.

  “You came for me…” Dakota said, her voice barely audible.

  “Well, me, Cody, Lyric, and Rayden,” Jazmine said smiling softly. “And of course I came for you, I always will,” she said, her eyes staring down into Dakota’s.

  Dakota looked back at her for a long moment, and Jazmine could see she was trying to decide how to take what Jazmine had just said. Finally she reached out her right hand, and touched Jazmine’s hand, sliding her fingers over Jazmine’s. Then she closed her eyes again and was asleep again moments later.

  Later that day Savanna came to check on Dakota to make sure she was doing alright. Dakota barely woke as Savanna checked her more serious cuts on her left side and up near her collarbone.

  “They look good right now,” Savanna told Jazmine when she walked back out to the living room. “Just keep an eye on them, and check with her to see if they hurt or are feeling hot, okay?”

  “Okay,” Jazmine said, nodding.

  “We’ve got to watch for signs of infection, we have no idea what that bitch cut her with,” Savanna said, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

  It was another three days before Dakota was feeling better. Unfortunately that was the same day Lyric heard that Cassandra had been released from jail. Her lawyers had gotten her out on bail. She’d already tried to file charges against Lyric, Rayden, and Cody, an
d she was threatening charges on Jazmine for “assault.” Jazmine tried to keep all of this information away from Dakota, but Dakota saw the shadow in her eyes the minute she walked back into the bedroom.

  “What’s wrong?” Dakota asked her blue eyes searching Jazmine’s face.

  “Nothing, it’s okay,” Jazmine said, shaking her head and smiling at Dakota as she sat down on the bed.

  Dakota levered herself to sit up wincing slightly as she did.

  “Careful…” Jazmine said, seeing Dakota’s wince.

  “Tell me what’s going on,” Dakota said her voice stronger now.

  Jazmine drew in a breath, shaking her head. “It’s no big deal.”

  “Jaz…” Dakota said, her tone and look serious.

  “Okay, okay,” Jazmine said, seeing that Dakota was getting irritated. “Cassandra is out of jail and threatening everyone with charges.”

  Dakota froze for a moment. “They arrested her?” she asked, her tone shocked.

  “Yeah, Dakota, Cody did,” Jazmine said her tone indignant. “She almost killed you!”

  Dakota let out a sarcastic sound. “People like Cassandra don’t pay for shit like this.”

  “Shit like this?” Jazmine repeated disbelievingly. “What does that mean?”

  Dakota shook her head, her look disdainful. “For hurting someone like me,” she said, her tone full of derision.

  “Someone like you,” Jazmine repeated her face a mask of incredulity. “What exactly do you think ‘someone like you’ is, Dakota?”

  Dakota gave a cynical snort. “Some fuckin’ street kid that isn’t worth shit.”

  Jazmine stared at Dakota open mouthed as she shook her head. “Do you really believe that?”

  Dakota didn’t answer, seeing the look Jazmine was giving her.

  “You do, don’t’ you?” Jazmine asked sadly.

  Dakota shook her head, looking away. “It doesn’t matter, she’ll win, she always wins.”

  “She won’t this time,” Jazmine said, shaking her head.

  Dakota looked back at her for a long moment. Jazmine could see she didn’t believe her.

  “I’m guessing that she’s pulled the funding for the studio too, right?” Dakota asked then.