“But if Cecelia had this planned all along, we need to find out why. My instinct tells me there’s something more to this story,” Jasmine said.
That’s because a liar knows a liar, Rachel wanted to say. Instead, she said, “I’ve been going through these papers all night. And I haven’t been able to find anything we can use. I mean, I thought this merger information was something, but it turned out to be nothing.”
“What merger information?”
“You know I told you she was talking about merging with the National Baptist Coalition.” Rachel had shared that bit of information with Jasmine, but she had been so focused on Cecelia’s backstabbing that she hadn’t thought much about it.
Rachel dug through the papers until she found the one she was looking for. She slid it across the table to Jasmine. “This. Apparently, Reverend King and two other men—a Pastor Griffith, and Reverend Lyons—were working a deal to merge the ABC with the National Baptist Coalition. I don’t know what that means, but since Cecelia mentioned it, this caught my attention.”
A look Rachel couldn’t make out passed across Jasmine’s face.
“You think that’s something?” Rachel asked.
Jasmine just kept staring at the paper.
“I mean, I know the two groups have this big rivalry, so it’s surprising that they would agree to come together,” Rachel continued. “So between that, Cecelia talking about it, and both Lester not knowing anything about a merger, and they’re real active in the ABC, I thought there might be something to this. Now that I think about it, my dad said it sounded like a secret deal.” She stopped talking because Jasmine hadn’t taken her eyes off the paper. “Jasmine?”
“Oh,” Jasmine said, shaking out of her trance, “there may be something to this.”
“The more I think about it, the more I think there is. The National Baptist Coalition isn’t as big as our group, but it’s still huge and they have some major political clout.”
“And if the two groups merge, the result would be phenomenal.”
“Making the ABC even more powerful than it already is?” Rachel added.
“Exactly,” Jasmine said.
Rachel’s eyes danced as images of being an even more powerful first lady filled her head.
“That has to be why Cecelia wants this,” Rachel muttered.
“I’m sure it is,” Jasmine replied, sounding more and more sure. “And I’ll bet she wants to keep the merger news under wraps until she’s elected.”
“She won’t be elected,” Rachel quickly said. Lester will, she wanted to add, but she left it at that.
“But why is Earl Griffith involved in this?” Jasmine said, more to herself than to Rachel.
Rachel’s eyes widened. Earl! That was the name Cecelia had used yesterday. “Earl Griffith is your Pastor Griffith?”
Jasmine shook her head, like she didn’t want to focus on that. “We need to be worried about Cecelia. She thinks she’s slick,” Jasmine said. “The one complaint Cecelia and her husband get all the time is that people say they have too much power. She knows that telling everyone about the merger ahead of time might bring that issue back up. That’s why they’re keeping it a secret. But I guarantee you, that’s why she wants the position.”
They sat for a moment, processing this discovery. The members of the ABC wouldn’t take kindly to any secret deals, but she and Jasmine had to tread carefully. Cecelia was a smart woman, so they had to figure out a strategy to use this information against her.
Rachel glanced across the table at Jasmine. She looked like her mind was churning. Rachel hated to admit it, but together, she had no doubt she and Jasmine Bush would come up with a plan to bring Cecelia down.
Chapter
THIRTY-ONE
The two women paced from one end of the suite to the other, their heads down, their thoughts focused. There had to be a way to use this information.
Rachel said, “Well, we could go to our husbands and tell them what’s going on.”
But before the words were completely out of Rachel’s mouth, Jasmine was shaking her head. “You already told me that Lester is just like Hosea. They would want to investigate this, and like you said, we don’t have that kind of time.”
Rachel nodded. “Yeah, you’re right.”
As Jasmine paced, though, her thoughts were beyond Cecelia. Yes, she wanted to bring that backstabbing, RuPaul-looking, slime-eel down, but it was Earl Griffith’s name in that article that troubled her the most.
Rachel said, “You know, it’s the three-way race that’s the problem. If one of our husbands dropped out, the other would get all the votes and clobber Cecelia.”
“So, Lester’s prepared to do that?” Jasmine smirked.
“In your dreams.”
Jasmine chuckled—if she wasn’t her enemy, Rachel might have made a good friend.
A knock interrupted Jasmine’s thoughts and she’d barely opened the door before Mae Frances barged in, already talking.
“Jasmine Larson, there’s just one day left to win this—” Mae Frances stopped so suddenly, Jasmine thought she’d topple over. Her glance moved from Jasmine to Rachel. Back and forth.
When her eyes settled on Rachel, Mae Frances growled, “What’s she doing here?”
“She … came to apologize. About, you know”—Jasmine waved her hand—“the whole Jacquie thing.”
“The whole Jacquie thing?” It must’ve been all the lies that Mae Frances had told in her life that made her shake her head. “What’s really going on?”
In the past, Jasmine would’ve had Mae Frances right beside her, helping her handle this business—especially the part about Pastor Griffith. But it was the part about Griffith that made her keep her mouth shut.
“We’re just talking, Mae Frances,” Jasmine said, directing her back to the door. “Trying to settle things because we think that even with Cecelia in the race, one of our husbands is going to win. We’re just finding a way to be cordial.”
Her friend wasn’t having it. “This is too important to be mixing with the enemy.”
Behind her, Jasmine heard Rachel grunt, but she kept her eyes on Mae Frances. Right now, Rachel felt more like a friend than Mae Frances did, but there was no way that she could say that. Just like there was no way that she would get rid of Mae Frances if she didn’t toss her some kind of bone.
So, she winked, then mouthed, “I’ll call you later.”
“Oh,” Mae Frances mouthed back, and winked herself before she left the two alone.
“Who is that old hag anyway?” Rachel asked.
Through lips that barely moved, Jasmine said, “She’s a good friend,” trying not to let Rachel see how offended she was by that comment.
“Really?” Rachel said as if she found that hard to believe. “Why does she walk around wearing that old rabbit coat?”
“It’s a mink!” The words burst from Jasmine. She’d let Rachel get away with the hag comment, but that was it. Until she knew for sure, Mae Frances was still on her side. That meant that she herself was the only one who could talk about her friend that way. “And,” Jasmine added, “I wouldn’t make too much fun of her if I was you.”
Rachel laughed. “As if she could do anything to me.”
“Do you have a brother who’s gay and one who’s on drugs?”
Rachel’s eyes opened wide as her mouth snapped shut.
“Exactly!” Jasmine said. “All of that—and a whole lot more about you—came from Mae Frances. You think you have someone who can dig up dirt? No one is better than Mae Frances.”
After a few seconds, Rachel said, “She found out all of that about my family?”
Jasmine nodded. “And like I said, even more.”
“Well, maybe we should use her to bring down Cecelia.”
Jasmine had to pause and look at Rachel again. Just a little while ago, she’d made a dig about Rachel’s education, but there was no way you could hate on Rachel Adams. She was focused, and willing to do anything�
��even work with her and Mae Frances—to win.
“So”—Rachel cut through her thoughts—“you think your friend can help us?”
“No,” Jasmine said. “She’ll …” She paused to think of a good lie. “She’ll tell Hosea.”
Rachel fell onto the sofa. “Then what in the world are we going to do now?”
“What about your friend?” Jasmine asked, the thought just coming to her.
Rachel frowned.
“Your TV reporter friend. Did you tell her about this?”
“No, not really. I just asked her to look up the Kings to see what she could find.”
“So, you didn’t tell her about the story?”
“No …” Rachel sat up straight on the sofa. “I didn’t even know it was a story until a few minutes ago. That’s what I have to do!” She jumped up and grabbed her cell from her purse.
While she dialed, Jasmine thought about the plan. Yes, if they could get Rachel’s friend to report on this story, even without all the information, it could be enough to get a few people to move their votes away from Cecelia. It would be all innuendo, of course. But reporters didn’t need all the facts … the reporter would just ask a few questions, get Cecelia off guard, and bam!
Yes, that would work. Because most of the Coalition would be against a merger.
So, that would bring Cecelia down for sure.
Now all Jasmine had to do was make sure that those people who left Cecelia didn’t vote for Lester, either. And she knew exactly how she was going to do that.
“Okay,” Rachel said, tucking her phone back into her bag. “I left her a message. This is absolutely perfect because Cecelia is a press hog; she’ll be happy to talk to Melinda again. And when Melinda asks her about the merger …” Rachel pumped her fist in the air. “This is it. I just pray she calls me back in time.”
With that handled, Jasmine needed to get Rachel out of her suite so that she could get working on the part of the plan that would take Rachel down at the same time.
But it seemed as if Rachel was as anxious to get away as Jasmine was to get rid of her.
“I’m going to go and … um … wait for Melinda to call,” Rachel said, rushing to the door. “And I’ll … um … call your room when I hear back from her.”
“Okay,” Jasmine said, opening the door for Rachel, then closing it just as quickly behind her.
Good! If that reporter was as good as she was the other morning, that was one down. Now for the Adams family part of the plan.
Jasmine would need the hotel’s business office for that.
Jasmine glanced over the flyers once again.
It hadn’t taken too long to complete this—less than an hour, actually. It was her own exposé and now everyone in the Coalition was going to know the truth about everyone in her competition’s family.
The top of the flyer introduced the happy couple—a mug shot of Rachel (from back in the day) and one of Lester (from his false arrest). The pictures added authenticity to the facts that followed: Rachel’s arrest, followed by the litany of tricks she’d pulled to try to win back her baby daddy. That was followed by the information about Lester’s arrest. Then came the supporting cast: one brother so strung out on drugs that gang members and drug dealers often showed up at Zion Hill (because his father used to be the pastor) with guns and knives, threatening death to church members because of the money that Rachel’s brother owed. Then there was the other brother who had married, fathered a child, but kept a gay lover on the side the whole time.
Of course, the stories were so exaggerated they were almost false. But one thing that Jasmine had learned this week was that the saints of the American Baptist Coalition loved themselves some good drama. It didn’t matter if it was true or not—just as long as it delivered enough for them to talk about.
Stuffing the flyers into a manila envelope, Jasmine knew that she’d finished the easiest part; the most difficult was yet to come. She had to slip these six-hundred-plus flyers under the doors of all the guest rooms—after hours, of course. She had no idea how she was going to get out of their suite, and even less of an idea of how long it was going to take her. But it had to be done. Tonight. It was all over tomorrow.
Tomorrow! The morning couldn’t come fast enough for Jasmine. She was tired, dead tired of all of this work—the back-and-forth between her and Rachel. Bringing down Lester Adams was a full-time job because Rachel had been a formidable opponent.
But was it worth it? Beyond definitely! Hosea was going to be the new president. Tomorrow at this time, they would all be celebrating—she and Hosea, Reverend Bush, Mae Frances … and Pastor Griffith.
She sat back and stared at the now-dark computer screen. Pastor Griffith, the dealmaker.
She pushed her nagging thoughts about that article aside. After all, the mission had been accomplished. If Rachel reached Melinda, Cecelia would be out of the race, and with what she held in her hand, Hosea would be victorious.
Would the merger still go through with Hosea as the president? That would make him (and her) even more powerful—and that was a good thing, right? But if the merger was so good, why was it being done in secret?
That was it! That was the question that had been gnawing at Jasmine from the moment she read the article. The secrecy—why? She guessed see could understand Cecelia’s motivation for running—it was all about power. But what kind of power would Pastor Griffith have? And if he’d put this together with Cecelia, why hadn’t he backed her from the start?
For that matter, why hadn’t he run for office himself?
Jasmine tossed aside the flyers. The day was getting late and she was supposed to be having dinner with Hosea and some of the others from the North. But there were things that she had to know. She swiped her credit card to add time so that she could use the Internet.
And then she got to work.
Chapter
THIRTY-TWO
Melinda had turned out to be a blessing. Rachel had been concerned that the reporter would grow weary of her, but Melinda had returned Rachel’s call in less than an hour. And once Rachel had filled her in on everything, she had been more than willing to help—again.
“Thank you so much for agreeing to come back out. I know I have worried the mess out of you this week,” Rachel said. “But you just don’t know how grateful I am.”
“Well, I told you I owe you, and to call on me anytime.”
“Yeah, but I’m sure you didn’t think that call would come over and over.” Rachel chuckled.
“It really is no problem. Actually, you’re doing me a favor because there’s nothing like some juicy item to lead the five o’clock news.”
“And there’s nothing juicier than some good ol’ church drama.”
“You ain’t never lied.” Their laughter died down and Melinda spoke again. “So, look, I’m just gonna call Cecelia myself so she doesn’t think something is up. I’ll give her some spiel about needing to redo the interview.”
“Yeah, and if you tell her you’re going live right before the election, she’ll eat that up. You just can’t let her know you’ve talked to me. She might get suspicious.”
“Trust me, I’ve got this under control.”
“Okay, but, Melinda, don’t make the organization look too bad, all right? You know I’m about to be first lady.”
Melinda let out a laugh. “I got you. As long as you promise I get the scoop if any drama does jump off at any time.”
“The exclusive scoop!”
“Great!” Melinda exclaimed. “So, I’ll see you tomorrow. Pray we don’t have any breaking news that I get called away to.”
“What?” A flash of panic swept over her. Melinda had to show up. They had to follow through with this plan—it was the only shot they had at bringing Cecelia down.
“Calm down,” Melinda said. “We have a full staff, so it shouldn’t be an issue. I’ll be there.”
“Whew, okay. I’ll see you then.”
Rachel had just pressed the
end button on her cell phone when she heard, “What in the world are you up to now?”
She spun around to face Lester. She had been so caught up in her conversation that she hadn’t heard him enter the suite.
“Are you eavesdropping on me now?” she asked.
Lester loosened his tie as he walked over and kissed her on the cheek. “No, I’m not. I just walked in to hear you using your conspiratorial voice.”
“I don’t have a conspiratorial voice.”
He chuckled. “Okay, darling. I’m sure that was the pizza man.”
Rachel didn’t have time for a lengthy debate with her husband. She’d handled Cecelia, but she still had to contend with Jasmine. Sure, they were working together, and while she actually made a great ally, she didn’t trust Jasmine one bit. Jasmine thought she was some young, dumb country hick. (For the life of her she couldn’t understand why people considered Texans country. She’d never in her life owned a pair of cowboy boots!) Rachel might not have been educated, but she dang sure was smart. And she knew all the “Kumbaya” coming-together mess was just a front. At the end of the day, Jasmine wanted to win as bad as she did, and that wasn’t about to change just because Cecelia had stepped in the ring.
The game was still survival of the fittest. And Rachel was the queen of the jungle.
That meant she needed a plan B, for after she implemented plan A.
“And I’m taking the kids and moving to China.”
“Huh?” Rachel said, snapping her attention back to her husband.
He pointed an accusatory finger at her. “That right there is how I know you’re up to something. I’ve been talking to you for five minutes and you haven’t heard a word I said.”
“Babe, I’m sorry. I’m just nervous about tomorrow, and thinking about Cecelia.”
“Well, don’t be nervous and definitely don’t think about Cecelia.”
“Did you guys ever figure out what she was up to?” How Rachel wanted to tell Lester what they’d uncovered. But Jasmine was right, he wouldn’t do anything about it. In fact, he’d say something to Hosea, who would probably say something to the Kings. And right about now, Rachel wasn’t trying to tip her hand.
Sinners & Saints Page 23
