by D. Camille
********
Marc stormed the Ball looking for Dr. Camille Smith. “Find her ass!” he ordered and agents fanned out in search of the infamous woman.
After a thorough search of the premises, neither Dr. Camille Smith nor the Justin Black look-alike that Trent had described could be found. Marc stopped and placed his hands on his waist. Dammit! How had this gotten out of his control? What the hell had Sean dropped in his lap?
He'd thought this woman was harmless except for a few secrets that he would uncover, but she was a master manipulator and still possibly a murderess. What in the hell was he going to tell Ray? He'd put both Trent and Isis in danger and on top of that, he didn't know the whereabouts of any suspects. Shit!
Marc had sent Trent and Callie home and advised them that they would debrief the next day. He needed to regroup and fast.
The agent he'd sent to take Isis home approached him and he looked up. “Is she at home?” Marc asked.
“Yes sir, I dropped her off... but she's left again according to her tracking.”
Marc lifted a brow. “She left? Where the hell is she?
“She's headed towards the woods outside the city.” He paused. “Her mic picked up that she went with someone named Jeremiah.”
Marc looked at his watch then pulled out his phone to check for messages. When he didn't see any, he turned and ran out of the building to the waiting car. “Pop the trunk!” he yelled and the driver acted immediately.
Marc pulled some items from the trunk and quickly got into the car. “Follow Isis Martin's tracking.”
In the back of the car, Marc prepared for the encounter with his brother.
*********
Jeremiah and Isis arrived at a cabin in the woods and he led her from the car. Isis warily entered the dwelling and saw Shana sitting near a fireplace. She was dragged the rest of the way inside by Jeremiah.
“Let me go!” Isis screamed fighting at him.
Jeremiah pulled out the gun. “Stop it before I have to shoot your ass!”
Isis stood with her chest heaving. “What do you want Shana! Why don't you leave me alone?” she yelled.
Shana stood to her feet glaring at Isis. “Because you killed my Daddy bitch!”
“He was my Daddy too and I didn't have anything to do with him dying,” Isis corrected. “I never wanted to lose my Daddy!”
“Shut your ass up! I can't stand you or your whore sister.”
Isis looked confused. “My sister's not a whore!”
“Shut up before I have Jeremiah shoot you before I get my money,” Shana warned.
Isis looked to Jeremiah. “You want to do this?” she asked angrily.
Jeremiah smiled. “I've been waiting for this all my life.”
“Marcus won't let you get away with this!” Isis vowed. “He'll find me.”
“Of course he will,” Jeremiah agreed. “And when he gets here, there's something for him.”
Isis' eyes widened and began to tear up. “Haven't you hurt him enough?”
Shana walked over to Isis. “Didn't I tell your ass to shut up?”
She turned to Jeremiah. “Let's call Isabelle and tell her to get our damn money.”
Jeremiah pulled out a phone. “I got a burner phone so it won't be traced back to us,” he told Shana.
Shana smiled. “You're so smart Jeremiah.” He winked at her.
Isis looked at the pair then dropped her face into her hands in despair. “I don't know why you two are doing this. We've never done anything to you.” She said through her hands near tears.
“Shut up Isis, like Shana said.” He began dialing the number.
“Keep your mouth shut while I'm on this damn phone,” he warned and waited for the call to connect.
He smiled when Isabelle answered.
“Hello?”
“Is this Isabelle Martin?” Jeremiah asked.
“This is Isabelle Parker,” she corrected.
Jeremiah rolled his eyes. “Is Isis Martin your sister?” he questioned.
“Yes, why?”
“Well we got her and if you want her back, we want twenty mil.”
Isabelle paused. “Who is this?
“The people who have your little sister. Now if you want to see her again, get that money!”
“If you have my sister...let me speak to her.”
Jeremiah walked over to Isis. “Say something stupid and watch me shoot you.”
He put the phone to Isis' ear. “Isabelle?” Isis said in a squeaky voice.
“Isis? Oh my...what is going on? Are you okay?”
“Th...they want money Isabelle.” Isis glanced from Jeremiah to Shana with frightened eyes. “They're crazy!”
Jeremiah snatched the phone away and glared at Isis. Putting the phone to his ear, he resumed talking to Isabelle. “You got twenty-four hours!”
“I'll be in touch! No police or she's dead!” he snapped ending the call.
Shana laughed happily. “She's dead anyway!”
Jeremiah moved to Shana's side. “So this is your show Millie, what do you want to do with her?”
“I want her to die. Once we get the money, we'll kill her and leave her out here,” Shana told him with glee.
Isis' eyes were wide with fear. “Don't do this Shana! You don't need to do this. I can get you money, if you want money.”
Shana turned to her sister. “I want money but I want you dead even more.”
Isis lowered her head, shaking it slowly. “Daddy wouldn't want this,” she whispered sadly.
“You didn't give a damn about Daddy. All you did was spent his money,” Shana spat.
Putting her hands to her chest, Isis looked up. “I loved my Daddy, even with all the bad things that he'd done, I loved him with all my heart. He hurt me so badly, yet I can never stop loving him.”
Shana clapped her hands slowly. “Bravo, but this ain't no stage, so save all that damn drama.”
Isis looked to Jeremiah. “Jeremiah, what will your family think, your parents and Tasha?”
He laughed and walked over to her. “They'll think I'm troubled. You know I have issues.” Shana joined him in laughter and Isis watched the pair with frightened eyes.
All three heads turned as the door to the cabin was kicked open. Marc came through the door with his gun pointed and ready. Jeremiah raised his gun to Isis, while both women watched the men.
“Put the gun down Jeremiah!” Marc ordered.
“No you put the gun down Marc or I'll shoot her!” Jeremiah threatened pulling Isis closer.
Marc moved slowly. “Put the gun down Jeremiah and I might let you live.”
“Shoot him Jeremiah!” Shana yelled.
Marc looked from Shana to Isis being held by Jeremiah. “Let's not do this. It won't end well.”
“Not for you,” Jeremiah threatened moving closer to Shana still holding Isis.
Keeping his gun trained on Jeremiah, Marc followed his movements.
“Okay Shana, I told you I'm not a murderer so you need to take it from here,” Jeremiah told her.
Shana frowned. “Are you really that damn scary? No wonder your brother beat your ass.”
Jeremiah kept Isis as a shield in front of them both as Shana took the gun from him.
“Let her go Shana...” Marc said quietly. “Let's end this.”
“You want her?” Shana asked. “Take her!”
Shana gave Isis a shove in the back, propelling her in Marc's direction. Isis took off running towards him right before Shana began to fire at her back. Isis paused before she slowly hit the floor in a heap and Marc stared down, as she lay motionless on the floor. When he finally looked up, Shana was still firing and he took a hit. He managed to fire back a few errant shots before he, himself fell with his body landing next to Isis and a dark pool began to surface around them both.
Jeremiah turned to Shana in horror. “What the hell did you do?”
“He was going to kill us Jeremiah!”
He placed his hands on
his head. “Awwww shit! You shot both of them!”
“I was going to kill her anyway!” Shana yelled. “He just got in the way.”
At the sound of the gunshots, the cabin was now being stormed by agents. One rushed to Marc and Isis on the floor while the others proceeded to force Shana and Jeremiah to put their hands in the air. Shana dropped the gun and was handcuffed immediately before being led out of the cabin, screaming and crying.
The agents turned to Jeremiah who walked over to where Marc and Isis were lying on the cabin floor. “Okay Romeo and Juliet, you can get up now.”
Everyone watched as the two sat up rubbing at the dark red substance clinging to their clothes. Marc looked over at Isis. “You're the best damn actress in the world Princess.” She threw her arms around him and they began to kiss as everyone else in the room looked at one another.
*********
Marc completed the last check of the scene before turning to his brother. “Good job Jeremiah.”
Jeremiah shrugged. “It was your plan. I just followed it.”
“You saved Isis a lot of grief by telling me Shana's plan, then agreeing to set her up.”
“Look Marc, I know what I did when you were a kid was wrong. Momma and Daddy never looked at me the same and although they didn't shut me out, I know how I hurt them and Tasha.”
“I deserved what you did to me and I don't ever want that to happen again,” Jeremiah said quietly.
Marc nodded. “I don't ever want that to happen again either.”
“Besides, Millie was crazy as hell. I couldn't stay with her, she might try to kill me one day,” Jeremiah told him.
“I'm just glad this is over. Now we're able to charge her with both kidnapping and two counts of attempted murder, one on a Government Agent. She'll be locked up for a long time,” Marc informed him.
Jeremiah sighed with relief. “I'm glad those props came in handy, the guns and the fake blood. It worked out that Tasha's movie is an action film.”
Marc looked at his brother. “That was some pretty good acting Jeremiah.”
Jeremiah smirked. “Yeah right, Isis is incredible though. You should have seen her. You would've thought she really didn't know this was all planned out.”
“You were early,” Marc admonished.
Jeremiah smiled. “I know, Mille was getting anxious and I didn't want her to do anything crazy to throw the plan off.”
“Well like I said, good job. I couldn't have done it without you,” Marc said sticking out his hand.
Jeremiah took it and they shook. “I see you still got your acting skills,” Jeremiah said smiling.
“I make sure I brush up on them every now and then,” Marc replied. “I need to get Isis home, so I'll see you later.”
Jeremiah nodded and watched Marc walk to the door.
“Hey Marc?”
Marc turned and raised a brow.
“You're a damn good FBI Agent,” Jeremiah told him.
Marc nodded. “Thanks.”
Marc walked to the car where Isis was waiting. He slid inside and she jumped into his arms. He pulled her close holding her tightly and Isis kissed him savoring his full lips.
“We need to get cleaned up,” he whispered.
She smiled. “And then get dirty again.”
“Yeah.”
Isis touched his face. “I'm sorry about the mission with Dr. Smith.”
“That wasn't your fault Princess. We missed a lot with Dr. Smith.”
Isis sighed. “I'm just glad that Trent is okay. I really thought Callie was going to shoot you.”
“She was...”
Marc ran a hand down his face. “I'm just glad you're okay.”
“I spoke to Isabelle. She was worried about your plan but I assured her that everything went fine.”
“And Jeremiah was great!” Isis said laughing. “I used to be scared of him, but he's not a bad guy.”
“I was thrown off by what happened at the Ball, so I was late,” Marc explained.
Isis looked down at him. “You were right on time like you always are. That's why you're my hero.”
Chapter 23
Isis awakened early the next morning with the adrenaline and excitement from the previous night still running through her veins. She looked over at the man sleeping next to her. Even after all the events of last night, he slept peacefully. It amazed her how he always managed to maintain his calm, even in the midst of chaos.
Isis studied him in repose. He was such a beautiful specimen. Working in the theater industry, she saw handsome men all day long, but none were as exquisite as Marcus Graham. The thing about him that drew her the most was the way that he loved her. She'd never thought that the man she'd once pegged as rude and arrogant was the kindest, most loving man she had ever known.
Marcus made her feel like a true Princess. He was a man of his word and unwavering in his convictions. His fight for truth and justice wasn't just his job; it was an integral part of him. He'd put aside his personal feelings about the brother who had hurt him, to help keep her safe. She smiled down at his sleeping face.
Marc's phone began to ring on the nightstand and his eyes opened revealing two silver lights. His gaze connected with hers before he reached for the phone.
“Graham.”
“Your ass! My office. One hour!” The line disconnected.
Marc held the phone for another second before replacing it. He looked at Isis who had heard the person on the other line.
“Ray wants to talk,” he informed her.
“He sounds really mad,” Isis said touching his bare chest.
Marc groaned and ran a hand down his face. “I would agree with that.”
Isis rubbed her hand across his defined pectoral muscles. “Well, I thought you were incredible. It wasn't your fault that Trent was taken and Dr. Smith got away.”
He looked at her. “Actually it was sweetheart. I'm the leader.”
She gazed at him. “You can't account for things out of your control Marcus. Ray should understand that.”
Marc ran his hand along her naked spine. “Thank you for having my back.”
She smiled up at him. “We're a team, Iron Man and the Mighty Isis.”
He cupped her naked behind pulling her closer. “Mighty Isis, I need you to bless me before I go meet with my fate.”
Isis climbed over him and smiled as she glanced down his body. “I see the Iron Man is ready.”
Marc reached up and pulled her head down to his, capturing her lips in a heated kiss.
*********
“Ooooh baby...” Callie purred as she welcomed Trent's weight over and inside her body.
He whispered in her ear, “Good morning sexy girl.”
She closed her eyes as they began their own special dance. Running her hands along his muscled body, she reveled in the touch of his smooth skin as his mouth paid homage to her neck and lips.
His phone rang on the nightstand next to the bed but the two lovers remained wrapped up in each other in this moment. A few minutes later, Callie's phone that was sitting next to Trent's began to ring.
“Trent...” she breathed as the pleasure he bestowed escalated.
She wrapped her legs tighter around his waist and increased the tempo as she held his dark gaze. Trent smiled down at her with a sexy grin before matching her pace. Trent's phone began to ring again and he whispered to her, “It's Ray.”
Callie held him tighter, signaling this encounter was not about to end anytime soon. “I know.”
Trent pulled her closer indicating that he'd received the message. “I love you Callie.”
She reached down with both hands and squeezed his muscled ass, urging him on. “I know baby...”
********
Ray looked at his phone after calling both Trent and Callie... twice. “Those damn kids!” he barked.
Isabelle walked into her husband's office. “What's wrong?”
He glanced up as she approached. “I'm trying to contact Trent and
Callie. Neither one is answering their phones.”
She reached him and touched his arm. “Maybe they're still sleeping?” she suggested.
Ray frowned. “They asses ain't sleep.”
Isabelle smiled at him and touched her protruding belly. “We didn't used to be sleeping either.”
“We're grown as hell,” he told her.
“You're so overprotective of them,” Isabelle commented. “All of them...even Marc and Isis.”
Ray nodded. “They're the new Diamonds.”
Isabelle placed a hand on her stomach. “I was worried about Isis last night with Shana. When Marc's brother called, he sounded very convincing that he would hurt her.”
Ray frowned. “Jeremiah didn't want that problem.”
“I can't believe Shana. We've never done anything to her and she actually wanted to kill my sister,” Isabelle said in disbelief.
Ray came and placed an arm around her. “Well, she's out of the picture for good. Neither of you have to worry about her any more.”
Isabelle held on to him. “I'm just glad that this is over. I'm so thankful to Marc for taking care of Isis.”
Ray smiled. “You don't ever have to be concerned about that. Marc will shield Isis with his life.”
She smiled. “They're so perfect together.”
“I have to admit you're right,” Ray acknowledged. “And Alice Graham.”
“Alice and I are just waiting for them to realize it...” Isabelle said with a sly smile.
Ray shook his head wondering what his wife was up to now.
*********
Trent laid next to Callie tracing her soft lips. “Sooooo...who's going to call Ray back?”
She smiled. “You.”
He shook his head. “Nah, you wouldn't let me answer so you have to call him.”
“Such a baby,” Callie teased. “You scared?”
Trent laughed. “Hell yeah, he's about to tear into all of our asses about last night.”
Callie sobered recalling the events of the previous evening. “Are you okay?” she asked touching his face.
Trent laid back against the pillows and blew out a long breath. “That was crazy. I went from thinking I was going to be killed to meeting a man who looks just like my father.”
“Who do you think he was?” Callie questioned.
