She Belongs to Me

by Carmen DeSousa

  “I think that is a great idea; that’s what I did. I received my undergrad from Liberty University through their external degree program, and I’m still deciding what to do for my graduate degree.”

  She cocked her head and smiled at him. “You didn’t tell me you had your Bachelor’s degree?” Of course, there were plenty of things she didn’t know about him, she realized.

  He pointed to himself. “Remember…not a dumb hick?”

  “Stop doing that.” She slapped his hand with her free hand. “I told you before, I have never even for a second thought you weren’t intelligent. And I like your southern accent, very much so…it was the first thing I fell for.”

  He took hold of her other hand and smiled that crooked grin she loved. “Really…what was the second?”

  She guessed he had forgotten the conversation about college.

  “Your eyes, but it’s a very close match. Heck, I guess there isn’t much I didn’t fall for. But that was just at first sight. Most of all, I fell for you—your personality, your generous nature” She squeezed his hand.

  “My eyes?” He huffed in disbelief. “They’re boring compared to yours.”

  She shook her head wildly in protest. “Oh, no they’re not. They’re strong and compelling like you. And then there are your shoulders and chest—I think I’d better stop. We are in a public place.” She giggled. She couldn’t help it. The man drove her wild just looking at him, or rather, the way he looked at her, as though he wanted to gobble her up right here.

  “Jaynee, you’re making me blush, and we may not make it to my office if you don’t stop.” His eyes widened with anticipation.

  “Is that a threat?” She attempted a seductive tone again. It seemed to work the first time.

  “No, darling, it’s a promise,” he retorted. And she couldn’t tell if that meant he wouldn’t go in if she asked him.

  “A promise?” she asked in the sweetest voice she could muster.

  “If you don’t want me to go, I won’t. They can manage without me another day.”

  She sucked in a breath. “But would that disrupt Saturday?” She could hear the defeat in her voice. She sounded pathetic. What would he think of her?

  He shook his head at her in disbelief. “Jaynee, I own the business.”

  She decided to change the subject. She wouldn’t push him to make any decisions he didn’t want to, and she didn’t want him to think she was needy. “So, tell me about your degree. What did you major in?”

  He turned her hand in his and played with her wedding ring. “Criminal justice. The police department doesn’t mind me taking time off, and they even paid for my courses, because it’s the same field. But I’m probably going to get my Masters in business, since it looks as though that is the best move at this point in my career.” He shrugged his shoulders as though it weren’t important. “I like being a cop, but it’s getting old.” He had been staring down at her hand, but he looked up, and his eyes were bright. “What I really want is to be a detective, maybe even enter SWAT.”

  She broke his gaze and looked around the room. She didn’t like the sound of that. All she could imagine were those shows on TV, where some unknown rookie detective died every week. Suddenly, the thought of losing Jordan overwhelmed her again. She’d have to get over this; he wouldn’t want her to worry.

  Jordan tapped her hand as if he recognized her preoccupation. “So, I love the idea of you enrolling in a distance learning program. I didn’t like the idea of you driving so far every day and then walking around a large campus. College campuses aren’t always the safest place for beautiful women.”

  A twinge of annoyance surged through her. “You drive forty-five minutes to work and deal with criminals every day,” she snapped back. His eyes dropped, and she regretted the comment as soon as she said it.

  He pulled out his cell phone. “I’ll call Bobby and let him know I’m not coming in today. I think I’d rather spend the evening with you. It sounds as if we have to talk over a few things anyway.” He pushed the number on his phone. “Hey, Bobby. I won’t be in today.”

  Jaynee could hear her brother-in-law’s guffaws through the phone after he obviously made some ill-mannered remark. Jordan disconnected the phone, no comment.

  63

  Carmen DeSousa

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  The rest of their weekdays went much like the first. After a while though, they only met for lunch once a week, usually on Friday.

  And Jaynee mostly kept her snide comments to herself. Jordan loved his job, and it wasn’t right for her to give him a hard time about it.

  The weekends were the best. Jordan would go in early on Saturday morning, have a meeting discussing what he expected of his employees the following week, do some paperwork and then come home—often before noon.

  Jaynee managed to experience more of North Carolina than most natives. Every Saturday, Jordan whisked her away to visit one mountain or another when the weather was nice. The first place he took her was Linville Gorge, which was spectacular, known as The Grand Canyon of the East.

  The first set of falls was beautiful. It wound around a bend in an S-shape and then disappeared into the rocks below, cutting a deep gorge through the valley. Since they were located just about a half-mile off the road, there was no lack of tourists.

  But Jordan, being an avid hiker, led her up several more paths to view the opposite side of the falls where they cascaded to the river below. Several spots along the trail opened up to a field of wild ferns, barely touched by the sunlight beneath the tall pines. It looked like a scene from a fairytale. Jordan then proceeded to descend a path to the bottom of the gorge, which ended up being an all-day adventure. The trees closest to the river were already giving up their green, replaced by magnificent colors ranging from yellow to orange and deep red. And the scents were incredible, a mixture of moss and soil and rotting leaves gave off an unexpected sweet aroma.

  Month after month, they spent their weekends exploring North Carolina and as a result each other. They spent hours hiking and talking. She had never known there were so many waterfalls and mountains, and that one man could have so much depth. They talked about God and politics, their views thank goodness were the same. The only instances even close to arguments were when they discussed children and his job as an officer.

  Jordan wanted children something awful and didn’t want to wait. Jaynee wanted kids as well but wanted to finish college first, which didn’t make any sense to Jordan. If she studied at home and planned to work out of the house anyway, what difference did it make when they had children? he’d constantly ask.

  On their first anniversary, Jordan took Jaynee on a cruise.

  It was a perfect opportunity to escape; everything was slow in September, especially the construction business. Kids were back in school after summer vacations, families were broke and weren’t moving into new houses or having major repairs done. Things picked up again in late October or November as preparations for Christmas started Jordan had explained to her.

  Jaynee made the mistake of mentioning over dinner if they had children, they wouldn’t be able to get away at any time of the year. That was all it took to ruin a perfectly good evening. It was a weeklong cruise to the Eastern Caribbean, it was only the first evening and she’d managed to introduce something stupid. She could have kicked herself.

  Jordan didn’t say anything over dinner. But later, when they walked to the top deck, to look out over the waves, he broached the subject again.

  He furrowed his brow as he always did when he was upset or didn’t understand something. “Jaynee, I just don’t understand why you would say something like that.”

  She tried to feign ignorance as if she didn’t know what he was referring to, since it had been over an hour since the conversation, but they were good at this game. They would simply start talking about something they discussed hours or even days before, and the other would continue as if there had been no downtime.

  He
raised one eyebrow skeptically as if he wasn’t buying her ignorance. “If you don’t want children, why don’t you say so instead of making up excuses?”

  Jaynee had to watch herself. She had a terrible temper, one she tried to never let escape, because she would end up throwing things like an adolescent or end up hitting something and break her hand. “I never implied I didn’t want children. I merely suggested that if we had kids, we wouldn’t have been able to escape like this. I adore children. I babysat my cousins’ children since I was twelve years old. Honestly, I just believe we should wait. We’ve only been married a year.” She pleaded with her eyes for him to drop this discussion.

  He refused. “Are you sure it’s not more?”

  “Such as…?” She felt her blood begin to boil.

  “Well, I know how you feel about your mother and how she treated you—”

  She cut him off sharply. “I am nothing like my mother!” she fumed. “My grandmother raised me, and she had four children and tons of grandchildren and great-grandchildren too. Don’t ever compare me to my mother!” She turned away, knowing she had tears in her eyes. She always cried when she was angry.

  He turned her around then reached for her face but pulled his hand back as she jerked away. “Jaynee, I know you are nothing like your mother. I wasn’t implying—” He paused, sighing. “I just wondered if you thought children would come between us, as you think you did with your parents. I know you would never hurt a child.” Despite her rejection to his touch, he wrapped his arms around her, refusing to let her go. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I am twenty-eight and don’t want to wait until I’m over thirty to start a family, but I understand. I won’t pressure you.”

  She relaxed in his embrace. “I’m sorry too, Jordan. I just think it’s best. Besides, you being a cop isn’t the best occupation when deciding to raise children, either.”

  She couldn’t see his face, but she felt his body tense. He was ready to end the fight, and she had broached another sore spot. “I won’t be an officer forever. Actually, I was waiting to tell you this as a surprise, but I have it through good authority they are going to offer me a detective’s position. It’s not the division I wanted, but at least my foot is in the door.

  Jaynee wasn’t positive this was good news, but she knew it was what Jordan wanted. At least he wouldn’t be on the streets every day.

  She did her best to sound enthusiastic. “That’s good, Jordan. When? What division?”

  “Auto-theft.” His tone lacked the excitement she expected from his announcement. “I wanted rape or homicide, but I’ll take it. Probably right after we return.”

  At least it didn’t sound too dangerous. She wasn’t certain what an auto-theft detective would do, but at least he wasn’t working the streets in one of the worst neighborhoods in Charlotte.

  She turned in his arms and looked at him. “Are you not happy?”

  “It’ll be okay. It’s just not what I envisioned when I joined the force. It’s a lot of insurance fraud more than anything—teenagers steeling joyrides, junkies losing their vehicles in awry drug deals. And then, every so often, they make a big bust on a chop-shop.” His eyes thrilled as he discussed the possibility. “Hard to imagine, but over six hundred vehicles are reported stolen every year in Charlotte. It’s a big division. It’s where John works, and he put in the recommendation.”

  “It sounds exciting,” she added, hoping they were finished arguing.

  Jordan pulled her closer, noticeably feeling similar emotions. Here they were under the stars with no appointments, no work in the morning, no reason to get out of bed if they didn’t want.

  He kissed her gently and then with more fervor. “It’s not as exciting as you. Let’s go back to the room.” He stood up and held his hand out for her. She took it gratefully, and then he pulled her against his side, effectively ending any further argument.

  Jordan did achieve the detective’s position and no surprise to her he was an excellent investigator.

  His hours virtually remained the same, except the few times when he was on call. Fortunately, his Captain didn’t have a personal life and tended to appropriate all the overtime. But several times, when they detained a suspect and couldn’t obtain a confession, they’d call Jordan.

  He was a natural; even criminals liked him. He had an ability of making everyone feel comfortable. “They don’t confess because they are pressured; they confess because they want to,” Jordan explained to Jaynee after one very exciting situation.

  Uniformed officers apprehended suspects who supposedly raped a cocktail waitress. The detectives in the rape division couldn’t seem to elicit a confession from the perpetrators and were standing in the hall frustrated. They knew the guys committed the crime, several witness had seen them walk out after her, but it would make it incredibly easier if they could obtain a written statement. Jordan’s Captain, having overheard the detective’s frustration, indifferently suggested sending Jordan in to speak with them, even though Jordan wasn’t in rape.

  The detectives allowed him, and it wasn’t ten minutes and Jordan had one guy confessing to everything and consequently his friend felt compelled to do the same after hearing about his friend’s admission of guilt.

  Jordan never talked about police work, but that day, he’d called Jaynee all excited and continued the conversation when he came home. He loved being a detective, and she thought he would never quit.

  Again, over the next few years, it was the only other cause for discord among them. Several times when they went to dinner with another couple, typically cops, she would hear stories. She would attempt to remain calm, not wanting to upset Jordan and start an argument. Luckily, they were usually only old stories about how some woman offered her body in exchange for a ticket.

  They’d been married for almost five years, so she was getting used to the stories about fights, but she still hated to hear them. She tried to prepare herself for more of the same this evening, as they walked in to meet several of Jordan’s coworkers for dinner.

  John was the only detective she knew; he was there with his newest girl—who Jaynee tried to strike up a conversation—but it was no use, the girl was dumber than a box of rocks. Patrick, she recognized the other man’s name, worked with Jordan in auto-theft. His wife seemed nice, but uninterested in socializing. Two other detectives, Powe and Williams, worked in Homicide according to Jordan. The men weren’t married and neither chose to bring a date.

  Jaynee listened to the office politics and the he-said she-said monologues, finding herself bored with the melodrama. The men were worse gossipers than the women she worked with in restaurants.

  Powe raised his hand to break into an exchange she couldn’t hear between John and Patrick, as if cued by their conversation. “So…we heard we almost had a new case on our hands, and here we thought our jobs were dangerous.”

  Jordan winced in his seat.

  “Man! Can you believe that,” Patrick retorted in response to the homicide detective’s comment. “Li should have been locked away years ago; instead, he’s sporting an AK47 and taking potshots—”

  “Excuse me,” Jordan interrupted Patrick, patting his pockets as he stood up in front of his chair. “I just realized I think I left my credit card in my jacket. Jaynee, do you have your purse?”

  He knew she didn’t. She always left it inside the vehicle when they were together. “Uh, no,” she answered suspiciously. “It’s in the truck.”

  Jordan reached for her hand, pulling her up at once beside him. “Let’s go get it.”

  Jaynee sat back down. “That’s okay, Jordan. You go, I’ll wait here.”

  Patrick rested his hand on Jordan’s arm. “Hey, hold on a minute, man. You’re the hero in this one. If it weren’t for you, we might all be dead.”

  Jaynee eyed Jordan contemptuously. “I’m interested, Jordan. I haven’t heard this story.”

  Jordan sat back down in defeat, his jaw clinched. Evidently, this wasn’t a story he wanted to share
.

  “So,” Patrick began again, his face animated. “We’ve arrested Li several times for auto-theft, but the judge always releases him…since it isn’t a ‘violent crime’.” He made quotes in the air, sneering at the judge’s words. “So to make a long story short…Jordan and I were eating lunch when John calls. They just made an arrest on a string of armed carjackings, and this perp starts singing, giving them the head of their gang, who just so happens to be Li. Who, as I said, we’d arrested repeatedly, but now we had him on a multiple, armed offense and an informant.

  “John instructed us to meet him at the suspect’s mom’s house; we were just supposed to bring him in for questioning. When we got there, his mom answered the door and said loudly ‘he not here, go away!’” Patrick imitated a bad impression of an Asian accent. “So, we knew right away Li was there.

  “John escorted the mother downstairs, and I called for Li to come out. Li shouted from behind a door right off the front room. ‘Is my mom still here?’ and this is where it gets exciting. I don’t know how Jordan knew, but he told him ‘yeah, she’s right here.’ Li must not have believed him, because the next thing I knew Jordan pulled me to the floor whispering frantically, ‘He just racked a gun! Go now! Stay down!’ I hadn’t heard anything. And then, BAM!”

  Jaynee jumped when he clapped his hands in front of him.

  Patrick made eye contact with her. “Sure enough, the rounds commenced. And y’all know the story from there…four hundred eighty-six rounds later, SWAT and a whole hell of a lot of paperwork.”

  Jaynee said nothing the entire dinner, and no surprise, Jordan did have a credit card with him. He requested their check as soon as he finished eating, apologizing to his coworkers that he needed to get up in the morning.

  Jordan slid his arm around Jaynee as they left the table and directed her out of the restaurant, but she wriggled herself free as soon as they passed through the exit. She waited as he opened her door but refused assistance. It was difficult getting into his truck even with the running boards, but she could manage.