Stripped

by Stacy-Deanne

  “Why on earth would Nelda do this?” Dee asked.

  “She says Hart Carroll told her to.” Odina scratched her hand. “I asked Nelda why they wanted to do Mr. Paul like this but she wouldn’t tell me.”

  Dee rubbed the cool tabletop. “How could you go along with this when you knew Grayson was innocent?”

  “Nelda’s a friend.” She sniffed. “I wanted to say something, but I got scared after time passed. Are you going to arrest me?”

  Dee sat back, catching Connie’s suggestive expression. “Will you help us get Nelda and solve this case?”

  “I—”

  “Don’t get shy now,” Connie said. “Nelda and Carroll might’ve killed Autumn and LJ Witt too. You covered for them, which makes you an accessory.”

  “Accessory to murder?” Odina’s face twisted. “I swear I had nothing to do with anything. Nelda wouldn’t even tell me what’s going on. Please. I wanted to help you guys. I didn’t have to come here.”

  “It’s your choice, Odina,” Dee said. “Help us and we’ll help you. You don’t and you might share a prison cell with your girl Nelda.”

  “I can’t go to prison.” She waved her hands, palms outward. “What do you need me to do?”

  “We want you to wear a wire and get Nelda to confess,” Connie said.

  ****

  “Here we go.” Nelda carried two plates of hot spaghetti to her kitchen table three nights later. “Bon appetite.”

  Odina sniffed the pasta and meat sauce. “Smells great.” She pressed on her bosom, making sure the tiny microphone under her dress remained secure.

  “I’m so glad you wanted to have dinner.” Nelda got a bottle of red wine and two glasses. “Lord knows I need the company.” She sat at the table. “Everything okay?”

  Odina wrapped pasta onto her fork. “It’s a little hot.”

  “Shoot.” Nelda jumped up, snapping her fingers. “Forgot the parmesan cheese.” She got the container of grated cheese and set the bottle in the middle of the table.

  Odina tasted the tangy spaghetti. “It’s delicious, Nelda.”

  “Is it?”

  Odina licked sauce off her lips. “Sorry you’ve been so stressed.”

  “Ah.” Nelda laid her napkin in her lap. “I’ll be okay.”

  “Anything wrong? Got something you wanna get off your chest?”

  Nelda chewed, eyes going left and right. “Not really.”

  Odina faked a smile, the wire tickling her stomach. “I doubt that’s true.”

  Nelda tore her garlic bread in half.

  “We’ve known each other for years.” Odina pointed her fork at her. “I can tell when something’s bothering you.”

  Nelda poured wine into her glass and glared at Odina. “I can trust you, right?”

  “Have I ever told any of your secrets?”

  Nelda laughed. “And, you know plenty of them.”

  “I do.” Odina giggled.

  A cloud of sadness suddenly filled Nelda’s face. “I really liked Autumn.”

  Odina swallowed.

  “I didn’t want things to turn out the way they did.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Nelda propped her elbows on the table and sobbed. “I got dragged into this.”

  “It’s okay.” Odina walked to her and hugged her. “You’re a good person. Whatever you did, you wouldn’t hurt anyone on purpose.”

  Nelda cried into Odina’s stomach. “God, forgive me.”

  Odina clenched, hoping Nelda didn’t sense the wire. “Did you do something to Autumn?”

  “No.” She let Odina go.

  “Did Hart?”

  Nelda looked straight ahead, a tear trickling from the corner of her eye.

  “You don’t have to be afraid.” Odina knelt beside her. “You’re not alone. Whatever you say won’t leave this kitchen. I promise.”

  “You’re the closest friend I have. I’m ashamed of what you’ll think of me.”

  “I’m gonna always be your friend.” Odina wiped Nelda’s tears and kissed her cheek. “But, you can’t go on like this. It’s tearing you apart.”

  Nelda pinched the corner of her napkin. “Hart killed them. LJ and Autumn.”

  Odina covered her mouth. “Why?”

  “Drugs.” Nelda wiped her nose. “Hart’s in the drug game and uses some of his properties to run drugs. LJ dealt drugs for him and he was also the muscle for when people owed Hart money.”

  “My god.”

  “One night, LJ called Hart to his place and demanded he give him some money to leave town. LJ had gotten into trouble with some gang and they were after him. Hart refused and then LJ tried to blackmail him, saying he’d tell the police about the stuff he and Hart were into.”

  Odina rose.

  “Hart told LJ to leave the property and LJ refused. He swore he’d turn Hart in and ruin his drug operation. They fought. Hart claimed the murder was self-defense, and that LJ attacked him with a bat.” Nelda gaped at Odina. “I’m not sure I believe that, but Hart beat LJ until he was dead.”

  Odina sat in her chair, mind going in a thousand directions.

  “Hart needed help to get rid of the body so he called me.”

  “Why did he think he could call you?”

  “I don’t know.” Nelda shivered. “Maybe because I’d always been loyal to him and he trusted me. Plus, he knew I’d be too afraid to tell.”

  “Did he pay you?”

  Nelda nodded. “To help him dispose of LJ’s body and to keep it a secret.”

  “Nelda.” Odina sighed, closing her eyes.

  “I didn’t wanna do it but it happened so fast and Hart was desperate. He begged me.”

  “Okay, what happened after LJ was killed?”

  “He wanted to cut him up, but I couldn’t go for that. All I could think about was how his family and his mother would feel if we threw him out like trash.”

  Odina shook her head.

  “Hart said we’d just leave him in the house and play dumb when he was discovered.” Nelda took a measured breath. “But after a few days, Hart got scared because he thought people might’ve seen us over there so he decided we needed to get rid of the body. We went over there and LJ was smelling and decomposing.”

  Odina’s stomach turned.

  “Hart got the idea to bury LJ in the backyard.” Nelda took in a deep breath. “We said I’d just tell people LJ moved away and that would be the end of it. Then, Autumn moved in and got suspicious when people started talking about LJ leaving the way he did. She started asking me all these questions, and Hart was afraid she’d figured out what happened.”

  Odina moaned with her eyes closed.

  “He freaked out and said we had to get rid of her.” She wiped tears. “I begged him not to but he said he wasn’t going to lose everything over LJ’s murder so Hart went to Autumn’s.” She took a deep breath. “He strangled her. I had to go along, but I didn’t want to, Odina. He said I’d go down with him if he got caught.” She howled, tears covering her face. “I can’t go to prison. That would be the death of me, Odina.” She slapped the table. “The death of me.”

  “And, that’s why you set Grayson Paul up?”

  Nelda sniffled through her red nose. “I’d told Hart about how angry Grayson was when Autumn broke things off. To us, that seemed a perfect motive, so we decided to set him up.” She pleaded through her torn expression. “I’m sorry, Odina. I really am.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  “Oh!” Dee kicked her shoes off when she entered Winston’s living room that night. “I’m so happy that case is over.”

  “Congratulations again.” Winston swept her into a fiery kiss. “I knew you’d get to the bottom of it.”

  “For a while there I wasn’t so sure.” She threw her purse on his couch and ran her fingers through her hair. “Now I can relieve some of that stress I’ve been having.”

  “Speaking of stress...” Winston danced toward her, wrapping his arms around her waist
. “Someone needs some pampering.”

  She giggled. “I like the sound of that.” She swayed against him. “What do you have in mind?”

  “How about us cozying up on a pallet in front of the TV and sipping wine?”

  “That sounds great.” She put her arms around his shoulders. “Let’s escape tonight then tomorrow it’s back to the bullshit.”

  He chuckled, lowering her to the couch. “You rest and I’ll go get the wine and the blanket.”

  Dee curled her feet up on the couch and got the remote control. “We can watch Turner Classic Movies.”

  “I’ll be right back.” Winston winked and left the room.

  “Mm.” Dee lay back, stretching out her arms. “Winston?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Bring cheese and crackers.” She rubbed her stomach. “I’m starving.”

  Her cell rang.

  “Jeez it never ends, does it?” She leaned up, pulling the phone out her pants pocket.

  Jonathan Wild

  Dee placed the phone to her ear. “Hello?”

  “Deidra?”

  She glanced at the doorway. “You have no business calling me.”

  “I wanted to congratulate you on solving the case.”

  “Listen, okay?” She sat up, hooking her leg underneath her. “Whatever this is you’re trying to do is over.”

  “I’m not trying to do any—”

  “Over, Jonathan. There is no reason for you to contact me again.”

  “You’re one of us now.” His tone grew ominous. “I won’t give up until you realize where you belong.”

  She hung up, slamming the phone on the table.

  “I gotta get the blanket.” Winston strolled in with wine and a tray of cheese and crackers. “Is everything all right?”

  “Yeah.” Dee faked a smile. “Everything’s fine.”

  THE END

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  READ CHAPTER ONE OF CAPTURED BOOK TWO BELOW:

  CHAPTER ONE

  Broadville Port, Maryland

  “Welcome all,” Jonathan Wild bellowed from the platform of the stage in his crowded mansion ballroom. “Ladies and gentleman I promised you a night you’d never forget!”

  Men and women waved wands and rods, howling with their faces covered in decorative, masquerade masks.

  Baltimore Detective Dee Quarter giggled, her bosom confined by the velvet bodice of her sequined, lavender baroness dress.

  “Now we play a game only fit for this evening!” Jonathan stomped along in his gothic vampire costume, suede cape sweeping the stage. “A treasure hunt.”

  The audience celebrated.

  “Here are the rules of the game.” Jonathan pulled at his purple vest that matched the inside of his cape. “You all will be trapped in my home forever as my servants if you cannot find the magical key.” He whipped a picture of a gold key from his pocket. “Feast your eyes upon it for this is what you must look for.”

  Guests chuckled and mocked while slurping fruity drinks.

  “He or she who finds the key is free.” Jonathan raised his black and purple mask that covered his deep-set, silver-gray eyes. “But those who do not will stay here forever and do what I want.”

  “Promise?” a woman flirted, her breasts flowing from her bodice.

  Everyone laughed and whistled.

  “Seems like some of you might like the punishment,” Jonathan joked.

  Dee laughed, straightening her brown mask outlined in gold.

  “I’ll give you a clue,” Jonathan announced. “The key is on the first floor in five marked rooms. You must search the rooms to find the key.” He threw his hand up, moving his fingers. “Ready?”

  “Ready,” the guests yelled.

  “Ladies, you do the honors.” Jonathan beckoned for the women of The Circle and they rushed to the stage in shimmering white dresses and white, silvery masks covering their eyes.

  “Ready?” the women asked the guests in unison. “Go!”

  The guests stormed out the room, screaming.

  “Jesus.” Dee stumbled as a man pushed her aside.

  “You too, girls.” Jonathan hopped off the stage, shooing his women.

  “But we want to stay,” Rena kidded, holding her dress at the sides.

  “Go on.” He slapped her backside; his gaze back on Dee.

  The women scrambled from the room with Mistress Shauna taking her sweet time to leave Jonathan and Dee alone.

  Jonathan waited until Shauna left and approached Dee, stepping on party debris and masks.

  “Umm.” Dee flattened her hand to her bosom, her brown skin sparkling under the chandeliers. “Guess I’d better get going to find the key.”

  “No.” He took her hand, his mask wiggling on his aquiline nose. “That game’s not for us.”

  “Please.” She pulled her hand back, trembling. “I didn’t come here to see you.”

  “Then why did you come, Deidra?” He smelled of the vanilla cake served earlier. “Why are you once again on my compound if you didn’t wanna see me?”

  “It’s hard to explain.” She wiggled her feet, the gold pumps compressing her pinky toes.

  “It doesn’t have to be hard.” He swung her around. “You like to dance?”

  She grinned, a chill crawling through her spine. “There’s no music.”

  “Who needs music?” His full lips flattened as he clutched her waist tighter. “You look so beautiful in this dress. Do you like my outfit?”

  She exhaled, avoiding his stare through the mask. “Yes.”

  His mouth lifted in one corner. “Does it excite you?”

  “Everything excites me.” She whirled around in his arms, growing more comfortable by the moment. “I don’t know what it is about this place but it makes me forget my worries.”

  “I knew you’d come back and you’ll keep coming back.”

  She turned when he tried to kiss her. “Me being here doesn’t change that I’m with another man who I love very much.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Did you and Winston argue?”

  “What?”

  “I heard you tell Rena you and Winston had a fight.”

  “It wasn’t a fight.” She scratched her through her thick, wavy extensions wrapped in a graceful updo. “Just a disagreement. All couples have them. Don’t you and Shauna?”

  He smirked, rubbing his black buzz cut.

  “What is it with you two, anyway? She claims your heart is with her but I don’t see evidence of that.”

  “I could say the same about you and Winston.”

  “I love Winston more than you’ll ever know.” She released his shoulders. “I shouldn’t have come here.”

  “Yet you keep doing it.”

  “Not anymore.”

  “You nor I have control over this, Deidra.” He laid his fingertip on her mouth. “You’ll keep coming here because it’s what your heart wants.”

  She moved his hand. “Winston is the most important thing in my life.”

  He pulled her close and whispered in her ear, “You’re the most important thing in mine.”

  She pushed him away and left the ballroom.

  ****

  “Hey.”

  Dee turned her attention from the breathtaking waterfall in Jonathan’s garden as Rena made her way over. “Hey there.”

  Rena smiled, her mask perched on her head. “Having fun?”

  “Yeah.” Dee took her mask off and sat on the railing that separated the waterfall from the lawn.

  “Hm.” Rena’s white heels sunk in the ivy-green grass. “You don’t look like you’re having fun. Is it Jonathan?” She rested her buxom bottom on the railing, her blonde ringlets blowing in her face. “Not just anyone can become a member of The Circle. You belong here, Dee.”

  She closed her eyes. “Stop saying that.”

  Rena patted Dee’s hand. “It’s normal to be scared, but why do you think you keep coming back if it’s no
t fate?”

  “This place has a hold on me.”

  “That’s how it starts.” Rena batted her large brown eyes. “You can’t stop yourself from coming back and soon the outside world isn’t familiar to you.” She smiled. “We understand you here, and Jonathan can make you so happy.”

  “I love Winston.”

  “That’s not the spiritual love you find here.”

  “No.” Dee shook her head, her chandelier earrings hitting her neck. “I love Winston.”

  “You’re angry with him and you’re jealous of his relationship with Lisa.”

  “God, I’ve told you too much.”

  “But, it’s the truth isn’t it?” Rena stared at the water flowing over the stone rocks that mounted the waterfall. “Seems like Winston brings out negative feelings while Jonathan gives you peace. Do you trust Winston?”

  Dee winced. “Yes, but his relationship with Lisa threatens me.” She shrugged. “I can’t deny that.”

  “In The Circle we don’t get jealous toward one another. We cherish the love Jonathan gives and we want to share it. You won’t understand that unless you reject the outside world.”

  “I don’t want to reject it.” She fought the urge. “I want to be with Winston.”

  “Yet, when it comes to Lisa, you’ll always feel like the substitute. Am I right?”

  “It’s just the way he looks at her sometimes.” She squeezed her fingers into a fist. “Like if he could be with her maybe he would.”

  “Jonathan thinks of only you,” Rena whispered. “He’d treat you like the only woman in the world. He loves you.” She touched Dee’s cheek. “We all do.”

  “I have to go.” Dee jumped up and started down the pathway. “Goodnight, Rena.”

  “Dee?”

  She stopped. “Yes?”

  “There’s a world of passion, excitement, and more love than you can imagine just waiting for you here.” Rena stood with glassy eyes. “Nothing comes from fear. Remember that.”

  Dee nodded, leaving the garden.

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