He replied back. The door will b unlocked. Come 2 the balcony.
He hit send, and then went back out onto the balcony and stared out at the activity of the night.
Chapter 48
Jess couldn’t breathe. Despite the fact that she was taking in air in short, rapid breaths, she still could not breathe. She’d driven, she’d dealt with the stop-and-go traffic, she’d parked, she’d sat in her car for what felt like days, then she’d gotten out, walked into the hotel, took the elevator to Jayson’s floor, stepped out, and walked to his door, where she now stood unmoving, all without consciously seeing, hearing, or doing any of those things.
She’d driven, yet she hadn’t seen the stoplights, the traffic around her, the cars in the parking garage, the interior of the lobby, or the four walls of the elevator. She wasn’t deaf, yet she hadn’t heard the blaring car horns, the jazz intended to calm her down playing from her car stereo, the soft music playing in the lobby of the hotel, the ding of the elevator when it arrived on the ground floor, or when it reached Jayson’s. Neither had she felt the potholes or dips of the city streets she drove on but didn’t see, nor had she heard the clicking of her heels on the concrete she didn’t feel as she walked through the parking garage, and then through the lobby of the hotel.
Jess saw, heard, and felt nothing except Esias’s eyes, the sound of his deep voice, and the immensely heavy beating of her heart beneath her chest. Other than that, nothing registered.
Jess breathed, yet didn’t, and stared at the door, which was slightly ajar thanks to a towel in the doorjamb. Her body shook as her heart raced and threatened to explode. Sweat trickled down the small of her back.
Call the police. There’s still time. Call the police and let them bring the cavalry.
Jess slid her hand into the front pocket of her sweatshirt. Both her cell phone and the gun Melissa had given her were there.
Take the cell phone out and do what you need to do.
Air passed through her nostrils, went down into her lungs, and then eased back out through her nasal passages. Her heart beat like thunder as her fingers closed, not around the cell, but Melissa’s gun instead. As they did, a jolt of fear, doubt, courage, and apprehension seared through her all at the same time. A gun. She couldn’t believe she had it. She didn’t want to have it. But she had to have it. And if it came down to it, then she would have to use it too.
She stared at the door, ajar for her to walk inside and go to the balcony, where she had let Jayson enter her from behind as she leaned forward against the stone. They’d been out admiring the sounds of New York when Jayson began to caress her breasts while he kissed the back of her neck. Her neck, her erogenous zone. He had taken her deep on that balcony. Made her moans, ooh’s, and ah’s blend in with the sounds of the city. It had been bold, exciting, and uninhibited.
Jess shivered and forced the recollection of that regretful moment away from her mind. Tonight, no matter what, she was determined to create a new memory. She just hoped that she would be around to recall it afterward. She pushed the door open and walked inside.
Chapter 49
Jayson heard the door to the suite creak open, and then click shut. He smiled as the hairs on his arms rose. His manhood throbbed. Jess.
Showered, shaved, and fully clothed in a black suit by Liz Claiborne, with a white button-down shirt beneath, the two top buttons undone, he sat at a small table elegantly set for two with candles in the middle, wineglasses at opposite sides, and a bottle of champagne chilling in a bucket of ice. Behind him, playing from his iPod, which sat in the base of a small portable Bose unit, was music by the group Pink Martini. He’d read a book on a whim once about a woman that had been paid by wives to ruin their marriages, and in the book, Pink Martini had been mentioned. Jayson looked them up on iTunes, and then, after enjoying what he had heard, purchased all of their songs. Their music was calm, sexy, and entrancing without even trying, just the way Jess was.
Jess.
His father had told him once that people didn’t always know what was good for them. That sometimes they had to be made to realize what that was. He didn’t want to hurt her, but if Jess insisted on continuing to deny the obvious the way she had over the phone, he was going to help her understand. In this life or the next.
Jayson listened to the music and waited for her to appear.
Chapter 50
Esias. He was nowhere to be found. Not within the confines of the suite, but perhaps on the balcony where soft music was coming from.
Jess took quick breaths as she moved from the small sitting area to a pair of double doors opened wide. Please be out there, she thought. She slid both of her hands into the pocket of her sweatshirt and wrapped the fingers of her right hand around the gun’s handle.
Still time, her conscience said. Still time to call. Don’t go out there. Back away.
Jess tightened her grip. Her palms were damp with trepidation.
Back away.
She took another breath. Quick, short as her heart galloped.
Still time.
Jess took a step. Not back, but forward. Two more and she was at the threshold.
Her conscience begged her again to back away. She thought about it for a fleeting second. Then, after admitting to herself she had already passed the point of no return the minute she walked out of her home with Melissa’s gun, she took a deep breath, released it, and stepped forward onto the balcony.
“Hi, beautiful.”
Jess turned her head to the right to see Jayson sitting at a small table set for two with candles and champagne. “Would you like a glass of champagne?”
Jess looked at him as he sat casually as though he had never threatened to do harm to the man she loved. “Where’s my husband?” she asked.
Jayson stared at her for a moment, and then frowned. “Come and sit down, Jess. Please.”
Jess stood firm, her eyes on him as he flashed a smile that just weeks ago she’d found sexy and smoldering. Crazy, she thought. As many times as they had spoken and as many times as she had looked at his pictures, she’d never seen the craziness in his eyes that she saw now. No. Not crazy. That was too subtle a word.
Insane. That was the word that applied.
She shook her head. “Where’s my husband?” she asked again.
Jayson watched her, his hands resting on the table. He watched but didn’t reply.
Jess demanded again, “Where’s Esias?”
Jayson looked at her long and hard with a glare that made her shiver. “We talked about this over the phone,” he said after a few tense seconds.
Jess felt herself grow hot and cold at the same time. “Tell me, Jayson. Tell me now where my husband is.”
“Or what?” Jayson said, the tone of his voice becoming sharper.
She swallowed. “I’ll call the police,” she replied.
Jayson cracked his thumbs. “Do you really think I would let you do that?” He pushed his chair back and stood up. “Do you really, Jess?”
Jess watched him as he stood still, his eyes on her, his stare intense. Her heart beat fast and heavy like the patter of feet coming down hardwood stairs. Hard, fast, unforgiving.
What are you going to do when you get there? A question Melissa had asked her.
She took a short breath and thought of the gun in her sweatshirt. The gun she didn’t want in her possession. She said, “Please, just tell me where Esias is.”
Jayson looked at her, his jaw set, his eyes dark. Seconds of glaring passed before he answered. “Esias is dead.”
Jess’s heart stopped. She’d heard the words, but somehow they couldn’t have been real. She shook her head slowly. “You ... you’re lying,” she said, a twinge of doubt in her voice.
“No, I’m not,” Jayson replied. “I shot him and left him to bleed to death in an alleyway.”
Tears welled in Jess’s eyes and began to trickle down. “N ... no,” she said, her throat constricting.
“He was in the way, Jess. He
was distracting and confusing you. Making you believe that you and I were not meant to be.”
“No ...” Jess said as her tears ran. “No ... No!”
“No more waiting, Jess. No more delaying the obvious.”
Jess continued to shake her head as Jayson took a step away from the table. Tears were streaming from her eyes now as her knees began to weaken. She continued to deny Jayson’s claim with the movement of her head, continued to say, “No! No!”
“There’s nothing and no one standing in our way now, Jess.”
“No! No!”
“I’m going to make you so happy, baby. Happier than you’ve ever been.”
Jess began to tremble. She didn’t want to believe him. She couldn’t. Not her husband. Jayson was lying. Trying to confuse her. She refused to believe him. Esias wasn’t dead. He was alive. He had to be because she’d promised her girls that she would bring him home.
“We were destined to be, Jess,” Jayson said, his voice even.
What are you going to do? Melissa’s question popped in her head again, louder, more insistent than before.
What was she going to do?
Jess shook her head. No! No! No!
The word repeated itself over and over in her head as she stuck her hand into the pocket of her hoodie and wrapped her fingers around Melissa’s gun.
What was she going to do?
She stared at Jayson through blurred vision as she removed her hand from her pocket with the gun in her palm and pointed it at Jayson. She stood with her feet spread slightly, her arms locked straight ahead, her left hand cradling her right as her finger rested against the trigger.
The question: What was she going to do?
The answer: Whatever she had to.
“Where is my husband?” she demanded.
Jason stood still, looked from her to the gun, then looked back up at her. There was a mild expression of surprise and amusement in his eyes. “A gun,” he said with a smirk. “I’m impressed.”
“Where’s my husband?” Jess said again, her voice stronger.
“I already told you, Jess. He’s dead.”
Tasting the salt from her tears on her lips, Jess shook her head and said, “You’re lying!”
“Do we have to repeat this conversation again?”
“Where is he, Jayson? Tell me now!”
“Or what, Jess? You’ll shoot me?”
Jess gave a frenetic nod. “Yes!”
Jayson chuckled. “No, you won’t,” he said watching her intensely.
“Yes, I will! If you don’t tell me where Esias is right now!”
Jayson sighed. “I’ve already answered your question, Jess. If that’s not sufficient for you, then pull the trigger and shoot me.”
Jess’s hand began to tremble. “I ... I will,” she said, the strength in her voice fading as did the belief that her husband was alive.
Jayson took a step forward. “Then do it,” he said. “Shoot me.”
“I ... I will,” she said, her hands shaking more. What was she going to do? The question kept repeating itself as Jayson took another step toward her. What was she going to do? What was she going to do?
“Do it,” Jayson challenged her. “I killed Esias.”
Her heart hammered as her tears rained down. Esias, dead? Sharp pain pulsed at her temples. Esias, dead? No!
“I’m going to kill you!” she screamed.
“Then do it!” Jayson screamed back as he took another step closer to her. “Shoot me!”
“I ... I will!”
“Stop saying it and pull the fucking trigger!”
Jess let out a cry and before she realized she was doing it, she leaned forward as Melissa had instructed and squeezed the trigger.
But nothing happened.
No pop, no crack. Nothing shattered in front of, beside, or behind Jayson as he continued to walk toward her.
She squeezed the trigger again, and then whispered, “Oh no,” when the realization of why nothing had happened hit her. A split second later, Jayson knocked the gun from her hand, backhanded her viciously across the mouth, and sent her reeling to the ground.
Standing above her, he said, “Rule number one when firing a weapon, Jess ... it can’t be done unless you take the safety off.” He kicked her in her midsection, sending her rolling to the left. “I thought you were different, Jess,” he said, kicking her again. “I thought you were special, a cut above all of the others.”
Another kick.
“I can’t believe I was so fucking wrong! I can’t believe I ever thought you were anything more than a fucking, cheating whore!” Jayson delivered another hard blow to her ribs.
Jess gasped for breath as pain like she’d never felt before riddled through her. She was sure something had been broken.
Jayson kicked her again, and then wrapped his fingers around her throat and hoisted her from the ground. His face inches from hers, he said, “I can’t believe I ever thought you were supposed to help me carry on my legacy.”
As though she were nothing but a ragdoll, he tossed her to the side, sending her crashing back against the waist-high ledge of the balcony, and then rushed her and wrapped his hands around her throat again. “You played me, Jess. And I’m going to kill you for that. For making me think my search was over.”
Jess grabbed his hands and tried to pry his fingers from around her throat. She was becoming dizzy and light-headed with each passing second, and she knew that if she didn’t find a way to break his grasp, he was going to succeed. Spots began to appear before her eyes as she tried in vain to loosen his grasp. She let go of his fingers and hit him several times, each blow weaker than the one before it. She tried to speak, to beg for her life, but with her windpipe constricted, she could produce little more than a gurgling sound. She tried to hit him again.
Jayson laughed off each weak, futile blow, pulled her toward him, and then pushed her back hard against the ledge over and over.
Pain rifled through her back. Her head felt as though it were going to explode from the lack of oxygen. Her eyes felt as if they were going to pop out of her head, and they began to close slowly as the cold approach of death neared.
“You could have avoided this!” Jayson said. “All you had to do was choose me. Now you’ll be dead along with Esias, and your girls will be left with no one!”
Jess’s eyes snapped open wide. Her girls. They were home, in bed, oblivious to what was going on, oblivious to the pain and heartache that would be coming for them. To lose one parent was horrible, but to lose two ...
Her vision foggy, she stared up at Jayson, who smiled cruelly down at her.
Her gaze fell away down to the ground, and when it did, it fell upon Melissa’s gun.
Death and darkness were approaching, racing toward her, but so was a light behind it.
Jess stared at the gun.
Her heartbeat began to increase.
She had seconds to try with everything she had left.
Seconds to fight to survive, to keep her girls from experiencing the worst pain they would ever feel.
Seconds to deliver the one blow she hadn’t thought of until now.
Jayson squeezed harder and smiled heartlessly, certain that her death was imminent.
Jess stared down at the gun. She begged for the strength she would need. Then she looked up at Jayson and with everything she could muster, drove her knee hard into his balls.
A momentary recognition of pain flashed in Jayson’s eyes as he stared back at her before he groaned, loosened his grasp, staggered back a step, and doubled over with his hand grabbing his crotch.
Jess didn’t hesitate.
Before Jayson uttered a painful “Bitch!” at her, and before she could think to take a full and much-needed breath, she dove for the gun.
Jayson cursed her again and spun around. When he did, Jess had the gun in her hand.
Jess didn’t think.
She didn’t aim.
She just clicked off the safety and
squeezed.
This time something happened.
Chapter 51
Jayson saw the bullet coming before it hit him. The world had slowed so much that a snail’s pace would have been like Usain Bolt running the one-hundred yard dash. So he saw the bullet exploding from the muzzle of the gun Jess held, saw it whizzing through the humid air, splitting specks of dirt. Saw it coming fast—with promised intent—straight for his forehead.
He thought of all the women he’d chatted with, the women he’d gotten to play his game as he searched for the right one he thought he’d found in Jess. For years he’d tried to apply his father’s lessons. He’d tried to become the man that his father had been. But, as he watched the bullet come toward him, he realized he’d failed miserably because he’d chosen the wrong one.
Jess. The one that never was.
Jayson watched the bullet come. He smiled before it hit.
And then he felt nothing.
Chapter 52
Jess let the gun fall from her hands as she watched Jayson fall over onto his side. Blood ran, pooled beneath his head as his eyes stared blankly at nothing. Melissa’s question ran through her mind one final time. She looked at Jayson’s dead body, content with her answer.
Finally, she took a labored breath. With the adrenaline wearing off, the pain from the beating she’d taken and from the fingers choking her returned. She moaned, took another breath, and moaned again.
And then her cell phone rang from inside of her hoodie. Despite the violent kicks to her midsection, her cell phone had survived.
She reached into her front pocket, pulled out her cell, and looked at the ID. It was Melissa calling. She thought about her daughters, hit the talk button quickly, and put the phone to her ear. “M ... Mel ... Meli ... ssa,” she said, each syllable uttered with excruciating pain.
“Jess! Where are you?”
Jess looked up. She hadn’t noticed before, but the sun was rising. Dawn had come. Tears began to fall from her eyes again. Dawn. She’d promised to be back by then with Esias. She said, “It ... It’s over. Jay ... Jayson’s ... he’s dead.” She paused, not wanting to continue with more she needed to say. That despite everything, she had still failed. She’d lost her husband. “Melissa ... I ... I lost Esias.”
Truth or Dare Page 16
