She squeezed her eyes tightly as tears continued to run and put her hand to her face.
“Jess! Esias is alive!”
Jess removed her hand. “Wh ... what?”
“Esias is alive, Jess. A boy found him in an alleyway and called 911. He’s in the hospital.”
“He ... he’s alive?” Jess said, stunned.
“Yes!”
Tears of joy and relief poured from Jess’s eyes. Esias was alive. “How ... how are my girls?”
“They’re fine. They’re with me at the hospital. Jess, are you still at the hotel?”
Jess nodded. “Yes.”
“I’m calling the police.”
At that moment, there was a banging at the door to the suite, and then voices yelled, indicating they were the police. Jess smiled. “N ... no need,” she said. A few seconds later, the door was kicked in. “They’re here already.”
Jess hit the end button and let the phone fall from her hands as the cavalry surrounded her.
Epilogue
Jess squeezed Esias’s hand. They were sitting in the fifth row at the Grammy Awards. Mary J. Blige was among the nominees for song of the year, and the crowd was anxiously waiting for the winner to be announced. Mary’s song was an upbeat track filled with rhythmic bass and a horn arrangement that many called genius. It was one of several of Esias’s tracks on her album.
She turned and looked at her husband, a scar along his forehead catching her eye. Fortunately for him, Shane Mitchell had been hiding out in the alley when Esias had been shot and had called the police once Jayson pulled away. Had he not been there, Esias would have never survived the wound to his chest.
It had taken months of counseling, but the two of them had managed to find their way back to solid ground once more once the dust settled after Jess revealed all of the things she had done with Jayson—real name wasn’t Jayson at all but rather Eric.
Jess learned from the police that his full name was Eric Barber and that he was from Detroit, Michigan. He had lived with his father, a business executive, who’d started a very successful Internet-based company during the dot-com era of the mid-nineties. His mother had died long ago, and his father had died of a heart attack when Eric was twenty-three. Before he passed, he’d decreed in his will that his only child would get everything when the day of his death came. Never interested in running a business, Eric sold the company promptly, took the millions he’d made, and lived a life filled with partying and drinking. Trouble had become the norm for Eric. So too had run-ins with the law, so much so that a life behind bars was where Eric was headed.
But then one day, he disappeared. Jayson surfaced four years later.
A persona created for reasons that investigators, family, former friends, and associates could never answer. He just existed. And along with his existence, so too did a horde of files on his laptop and PC at his home filled with nude pictures and explicit conversations from women he’d met online. Some of the women were single, but most were married women he had targeted. Through the use of a truth or dare game, he got them to say and do things they desired but could and would never admit to those closest to them. Truths were answered. Dares were completed, oftentimes in much more forceful ways than the women had requested. Many of the women wanted to go to the police when Jayson was finished with them, but when they threatened to do so, he threatened to expose their secret and “dirty” life to everyone they knew. Years passed, and no one said a word.
And then he met Jess.
Because of everything Jayson had done throughout the years, and because of what she was fighting for, Jess avoided jail time for murder and served just six months of community service in a shelter working with abused women. Melissa served the same sentence for providing Jess with the gun. As far as Jess was concerned, it was an even trade.
Jess squeezed Esias’s hand again. He turned and looked at her, love radiated from his eyes. Jess leaned over and kissed her husband on his lips. The road hadn’t been easy, but ultimately, everything they’d been through had made their love stronger. But given the chance to do it all over again, Jess would not.
She put her head on Esias’s shoulder and closed her eyes as they announced the Grammy winner.
Book Club Discussion Guide
1. Why do you think women indulged in Jayson’s game? What made Jess susceptible to it? Would you have been?
2. Why do you think Jayson played? What was the driving force for him?
3. Had it not been Jayson, do you think someone else would have grabbed Jess’s attention?
4. Would you have gone to the police or would you have remained silent for fear of Jayson exposing your secrets? Were the women weak for not doing so?
5. Why do you think Candy didn’t call someone for help to save Reggie’s life?
6. What was the most shocking moment in the book?
7. How do you think Jayson’s father influenced him?
8. Were you surprised that Jess’s marriage to Esias survived? Could you have remained with your partner had you been Esias?
9. Was Melissa right or wrong for supplying the gun? Would you have taken it or would you have called the police?
10. Did Jayson get what he deserved? Did Jess?
Urban Books, LLC
78 East Industry Court
Deer Park, NY 11729
Truth or Dare? Copyright © 2011 Dwayne S. Joesph
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior consent of the Publisher, except brief quotes used in reviews.
ISBN: 978-1-5998-3233-3
ISBN 10: 1-60162-330-5
First Trade Paperback Printing October 2011
Distributed by Kensington Publishing Corp.
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Truth or Dare Page 17
