Savannah's Curse

by Shelia M. Goss

  Asia sat back down on the floor as their uncle Raymond took a seat in the chair.

  “It’s been a rough year,” Asia commented.

  “You girls are looking great, though. In spite of everything,” he responded.

  Savannah wanted to say something but decided to play it by ear. He didn’t drop by at nine o’clock at night for a social visit. He would have called. One thing her dad taught her was never let anyone know everything.

  After about fifteen minutes of small talk, Raymond Steel said, “Vanna, you need to make sure you don’t get too involved with Troy. Your father would agree.”

  Savannah saw Asia open her mouth and she kicked her. Asia rubbed her leg. Savannah responded, “I know you mean well, but I can handle Troy.”

  “That’s my point. You think you can. Did he tell you he got kicked out of The Agency?” The sisters looked at one another. “He wouldn’t tell you. Trust me when I say, he can’t be trusted.”

  “There’s nothing to worry about.”

  Raymond didn’t look convinced. “Call me if he contacts you again. He’s up to something, and I don’t want you girls getting involved.”

  “Uncle Raymond, we can take care of ourselves.” Savannah tried not to sound irritated.

  “And you, young lady. You need to let me handle this whole situation surrounding Major’s death.”

  Montana stuttered, “I s—sort of overreacted. With the break-in I—I was just scared. I couldn’t stand losing someone else I loved.”

  Savannah went and hugged her. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “See, you girls are going to have me crying.”

  Asia said, “Sorry, Unc. As you can tell, we’re just a little emotional right now.”

  Savannah sat back down in her seat. “This was our first year of not having Dad share in family events. So it’s still a little rough for us. I just need some closure.”

  “I’ll get you the closure. Just let me do my job.”

  “Do you have an idea who could have done it?”

  “Not really. If I did, believe me they would be punished.”

  Savannah saw his eye twitch. She knew there was something he wasn’t telling. She pretended to go along with him. She decided to fish for more information.

  “In the report we read, it was labeled as a home invasion,” Montana said.

  Savannah added, “But nothing was taken. That seemed suspicious to me.”

  “True. But after I had my team investigate, it was determined that it had nothing to do with any of his past cases.”

  “Whew. That’s a relief,” Asia said.

  Raymond shifted in his seat. “I didn’t want to say anything, but with everything that’s happened, I better.” With all eyes on him Raymond said, “One of my sources is saying that Troy may know more about this, and that’s why I’m concerned for your safety. If he’s behind what happened to Major, your lives could be in danger.”

  “According to Troy, Dad was a good friend.”

  Raymond looked Savannah in the eye. “Everyone who professes to be your friend isn’t. Be careful who it is you align your loyalty with.”

  A chill ran up Savannah’s spine. A part of her reacted as if his words were more of a warning about himself than about Troy.

  He looked at his watch. “Ladies, it’s getting late. I need to be getting home. I have an early meeting in the morning. Savannah, walk me out.”

  Savannah followed him to the door. “Uncle Raymond, I didn’t want to say this in front of my sisters, but I feel there’s more to it all. What is it that you’re not telling us?”

  His eyes turned to a dark color. “In a situation like this, the less you know, the safer you are.” He bent down and kissed her on the cheek.

  Her body shivered as she watched him walk to his car. When he got to his door, he turned around and waved. She waved back. She closed the door and locked it.

  “Ladies, we have a problem,” she said as she walked back in the living room.

  “Was it just me? Didn’t he seem like he was hiding something?” Asia asked.

  “He knows more than what he’s saying, that’s for sure. From this point forward, do not—and I repeat, do not—tell Uncle Raymond anything.”

  Asia and Savannah both turned and looked at Montana.

  “What? Okay, so I made a mistake.” Montana threw her hands up in the air.

  “Calm down. That’s the past. We can only deal with the here and now. It’s late and we have a full day ahead of us,” Savannah said.

  Asia yawned. “I got second shift.”

  Montana said, “Since I opened my big mouth, I’ll take the first shift. You two go on up. Asia, believe me, I’ll be waking you up when it’s your turn.”

  “No, Montana. I got first shift. Get some rest. Asia will be your relief.”

  “You sure?” she asked.

  “Yes. Now y’all go before I change my mind.” Savannah used her hands to shoo them away.

  She checked the windows and doors before camping out in the living room. She watched a few reruns of her favorite show, CSI, until it was Asia’s turn to take over.

  “See you in the morning.” Savannah left Asia downstairs and headed to her bedroom. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow. She kept having the same recurring dream. The person who killed her dad was now chasing after her. The killer’s face was blank, but the laughter, the voice yelling out at her, sounded familiar.

  Savannah woke up the next morning in a cold sweat.

  13

  “Rise and shine, sleepyhead,” Savannah’s voice resounded from the other end of the phone.

  Troy’s eyes remained closed. “What time is it?”

  “It’s eight. I just called to say there has been a change of plans. I’ll meet you at your place.”

  “Uh. Give me a minute.” He blinked his eyes a few times and then sat up in the bed. “You know how to get to the area, right?”

  “Yes. I know that, but what street do I need to turn on?”

  “Call me when you get in the area, and then I’ll walk you through.”

  “Okay.”

  “Savannah?”

  “Yes.”

  The thoughts running through his mind weren’t pure. “Nothing. I’ll talk to you when you get here.”

  As much as he wanted to roll back into the bed, he couldn’t. After taking a long, hot shower, he got dressed and decided to cook breakfast. He forgot to ask her if she was hungry, but it didn’t matter, because he was. Forty-five minutes later his phone rang again. He gave her step-by-step directions. A few minutes later she was ringing his doorbell.

  Savannah hugged him when she walked through the door. Caught completely off guard by her show of emotions, Troy said, “I could stand to use another one of those.”

  “Only one hug allotment a day,” she joked. She followed him to the kitchen. “All of this for me.”

  The skillet and pans were filled with bacon, eggs, grits, and biscuits. “I take it you’re hungry.”

  “Yes. Montana was cooking when I left.”

  “It’ll be ready in a few.”

  They joked over a hearty breakfast. After she cleaned up the table, Savannah reached into her purse and handed him an envelope. “I come bearing gifts.”

  “You’ve been holding out on me.” He opened up the envelope containing a disc and a note.

  Savannah said, “You had to feed me first.”

  “Follow me.”

  Troy led her to what he called his computer room. Before entering, however, he had to enter a code before the door would open.

  “High-tech. I’m impressed.”

  “This may take a while.”

  “I have all day.” Savannah pulled up a chair and sat beside him.

  While he tried to decipher the codes, Savannah talked. He normally worked by himself, and it usually annoyed him when someone was invading his space. It surprised him that he liked her being there. He snapped out of his daze when he heard his ex-commander’s name me
ntioned.

  Savannah voiced, “To be honest, I probably shouldn’t trust either one of you.”

  He stopped typing on the keyboards. “Good old Commander Steel never liked me, so I’m not surprised. I would try to convince you otherwise, but you’re a grown woman and can make your own decision.”

  “Glad you recognized that.”

  Savannah seemed a little on the defensive. Troy didn’t have time to pacify her, so he put his attention back on the computer screen. Now she was going on and on about her sisters. He stopped typing and faced her. “I don’t mean to sound rude, but do you ever shut up?”

  “Excuse me.”

  “You’ve been talking ever since you sat down. If you haven’t noticed, I’m trying to crack this code. Your talking isn’t helping me any.”

  “Fine.” She stood up and pushed the chair away. “I’ll take a look around your castle.”

  Troy felt a little guilty for purposely starting the little disagreement, but he could no longer concentrate with her there. He could deal with the talking, but Savannah’s exotic perfume was getting to him, getting his mind to wandering, when he needed all of his brain cells to concentrate on the matter at hand.

  Major made his job hard, but he knew why. The disc in the wrong hands could be deadly. He cracked the code and was in the process of deciphering the document, when he heard Savannah scream.

  He grabbed his gun out of the drawer and ran toward the sound of her voice. He almost laughed when he saw her standing on the bed. He put the gun in his back pocket.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you had a pet snake?” she yelled.

  “You never asked.” He laughed.

  Savannah threw the pillows at him.

  “I’m keeping it for a friend. I didn’t expect your nosy behind to venture into this guest room.”

  Savannah got off the bed and walked close to the edge until she got to the door. “Of course you wouldn’t mention it. Snakes protect each other.”

  He giggled as he followed her out of the room. He closed the door. “My guest will be leaving next week.”

  “Well, you don’t have to worry about me. As soon as you tell me what’s on that disc, I’m leaving.”

  “Get ready to camp out. This is going to be an all-day thing,” Troy responded.

  “Hop to it. Why are you wasting time?”

  “Need I remind you that I came to rescue you? How soon we forget.”

  Savannah opened her mouth to speak. Troy interrupted her before she could say anything. “No. Just stay out of that room. In fact, why don’t you go home and I’ll call you when I’m through.”

  “Not. But I will check on my sisters.” She followed him back to his computer room. She called her sisters on her cell phone as he worked. When he would look up, she was watching him. She would pretend not to and then go back to talking on the phone.

  “Bingo!” he said out loud.

  “Got to go,” Savannah said, and flipped her phone off.

  She got up from the chair and stood behind him. She leaned down and the scent of her perfume attacked his nostrils. It wasn’t the fact that her perfume was strong, but with her being in such close proximity, her scent excited not only his senses, but also his male organ.

  “Seems like your uncle Raymond is more involved than he wants anyone to know.”

  14

  Savannah pulled up a chair next to Troy’s desk and asked excitedly, “What do you mean?”

  “According to your dad’s notes, he’s behind this outfit of men who are vigilantes.”

  “That’s the same thing he accuses you of being.”

  “Exactly. I’ve never been a vigilante. I’m about justice and seeing that it’s served. Granted, some folks got killed in the process, but it’s not because of my doing.”

  “I don’t know what to believe anymore,” Savannah said as she looked away.

  “It’s here.” He turned the monitor around to show her what her dad had written.

  “This can’t be. He’s been like an uncle to me and to my sisters. It’s going to break their hearts.”

  “Hold up. It doesn’t say he killed your dad.”

  “Might as well. If he’s in cahoots with them, he’s just as guilty.”

  Troy could see the pain on her face. He wished he could erase it, but he wasn’t so sure of Raymond’s innocence himself.

  “He was just at my house. He swore he would get to the bottom of this. He said he was going to help.” Savannah went on and on with her monologue.

  Troy allowed her this time to vent. He knew how it felt to be betrayed. She would have to deal with this type of betrayal on her own, but he would be there to help in any way he could. First by making sure Raymond paid for his part in Major’s death.

  “I still have some more to decipher, so maybe we’re both overreacting,” he said.

  “My instincts tell me we’re not,” Savannah said, sounding defeated. “I need a drink.”

  “Soda is in the fridge,” he responded.

  “I got it. Just continue to work on that disc,” Savannah said, leaving him to his thoughts.

  Savannah paced the floor back and forth while nursing the soda in her right hand. Her mind tried to grasp all that she had learned about Uncle Raymond. Her father taught her to trust her instincts, and from the beginning she didn’t trust him enough to go to him about her suspicions. She was livid. He had just left her house the night before, and had acted all concerned. She recalled the last thing he said to her, and now it all made sense. He was threatening her. How could he? She wanted to yell, but she didn’t want Troy to think she was a basket case. One scream a day was enough.

  Regardless of what else Troy might discover, things with Uncle Raymond would never be the same. She suspected he knew exactly who had killed her dad, and he wasn’t doing a thing about it. He would pay just like the rest of them. How or when wasn’t important, but he would pay.

  Finding her father’s killer kept her from falling into a depressed state of mind. Nobody knew—not even her sisters—how she suffered with the same recurring nightmare of finding her father and holding him in her arms before he took his last breath. She didn’t have the dream every night—well, now she didn’t—but she still had the dream. It shook her core each time.

  She was in deep thought, when she felt his presence. “I’m okay. Just admiring your garden.”

  “Gardening relaxes me. Reminds me of God’s omnipresence,” Troy responded.

  “That’s the same thing Dad used to say.”

  “My adopted mother used to garden. She tried to teach me, but I thought it was girl stuff, until one day I was having a conversation with Major about it. When I bought this house, planting a garden was one of the first things I did.”

  “He would be impressed,” Savannah said.

  “He was,” Troy said with pride.

  Savannah turned and faced him. “I take it you’re through.”

  “For now. I wanted to check on you. I know you’ve had a lot to think about.”

  She crossed her arms and leaned on the counter. “Remember, I’m a big girl.”

  “Even big girls need a shoulder to lean on every now and then.”

  Before she could protest, he wrapped his arms around her. She leaned into his shoulder and embraced him.

  She removed herself from his arms. She pretended to wipe off her clothes. “Enough of this mushy stuff. Show me what you got.”

  “You sure? Because I’ve been told I’m working with a lot.”

  She blushed. She recalled not only that he was well endowed, but he also had skills that made her have multiple orgasms. “I’m talking about the disc, silly.”

  “I didn’t know. I thought it was time for big daddy to make its debut.”

  “Uh, no.” She walked toward the computer room with Troy behind her.

  She sat in his seat at the computer. He turned the chair around and sat down. He scrolled the screen down, showing her some other things he had discovered.

&nb
sp; “Your dad was the best. This is a list of men who are double agents. Your dad loved The Agency, and he loved his country. Scroll down here.” He gave Savannah a chance to read over it before continuing. “He was about to expose them. From his notes he had confided in the commander.”

  Savannah completed his statement by reading what was on the screen. Savannah heard her father’s voice in her head as she read his words silently:

  I never thought I would see the day that an agency to which I dedicated my life would have men in charge doing everything opposite of what we are to uphold. The integrity of The Agency was compromised the moment Raymond gave these men free rein to kill. I cannot, in good conscience, let this sort of practice continue. I’m at a crossroads because Raymond is not only a colleague, but also a friend. The talks I had with Raymond have not helped. He refused to redeem himself and stop these ill practices. I have no choice but to turn over this information to the Justice Department. If, by chance, someone else is reading this, then it means that I’m no longer here. Please make sure that you deliver this by hand to . . .

  Savannah stopped reading and looked at Troy.

  “I still have other things to decipher,” he said.

  “Thank you.”

  “I don’t know how to say this, but I can’t just hand this over to the Justice Department.”

  Savannah looked back at the computer. “Everything is here. Turn this in. They arrest the folks on the list, and one of them or several of them will be my dad’s killer.”

  “My dear Savannah, if only it were that easy.”

  Savannah was confused. “What? You can’t figure out the rest of the code.”

  Troy patted her hand. “If I hand this to the Justice Department now, you will never see your father’s killer caught. The government takes care of its own. The fact your uncle knew about this is scary.”

  “It explains why he doesn’t want me to have anything to do with you too.”

  “He just doesn’t like me.”

  “No, but he said some other stuff that I didn’t tell you.” Savannah repeated some of the things he had said about Troy.

  Troy’s face turned red. He was livid. “He’s on the top of my list to bring down.”