by Honey
Wallace rubbed Jill’s back. “They should be back soon, honey. Are you going to be all right? Remember, if you start feeling overly anxious, and the baby shows any signs of distress, you can back out of this.”
“Wallace is right, Jill. The detectives said they can proceed with this phase of the case without you. You’re thirty-seven weeks pregnant. No one would blame you if you pulled out at the last minute,” Aunt Jackie told her.
“No, I want to be here. I must be here when Jay realizes her evil plan to have my husband killed has failed.” She laced the slightly puffy fingers of her right hand through Aunt Jackie’s and squeezed Wallace’s hand with her left one. “I thank God the two of you are here with me. I will be fine. I’m staying.”
* * *
“Showtime,” Jay said as she made her way to the door.
The persistent knocking had disrupted her sleep. She had dozed off after drinking a third of the bottle of Disaronno while waiting to hear from Aunt Jackie or the police. She looked through the peephole and saw two men dressed in dark suits. Jay pasted a fake smile on her face and opened the door.
“Ms. Jayla King, I’m Detective Joel Franklin from the Atlanta Police Department, and this is my partner, Ed Ortega.” Both men flashed their badges. “May we come in, ma’am?”
“Of course, but what is this about?” Jay turned and walked back into the sitting area. The detectives followed her.
“Unfortunately, we have some very disturbing news about your brother, Zachary,” Detective Ortega said.
“Has something happened to Zach? Oh my God! Please tell me what’s up with my brother!”
“He was shot in the back of the head this evening, around six thirty, in the parking lot of Man’s World Athletic Club,” Detective Ortega explained.
“Nooo!” Jay slumped down onto the love seat and wiped her eyes. “Is he dead?”
“I’m afraid he is. He died on the scene,” Detective Franklin said. “I’m sorry.”
“This can’t be happening! I can’t believe someone killed Zach! Some bastard shot my brother! Why?”
“A team of detectives is investigating that as we speak. Mr. King’s wife has been notified, and so has your aunt, Jackie Dudley Brown.” Detective Ortega sat next to Jay on the love seat. “Both women are terribly upset right now, especially your sister-in-law, Jill. As you know, she’s pregnant. We don’t think it would be wise to have her identify her husband’s body in her fragile state. We were hoping you could.”
“You want me to do it?” Jay looked at Detective Ortega, who was still sitting next to her, and then she peeked at Detective Franklin, who was standing a few feet away. “Why me?”
Detective Ortega touched Jay’s shoulder lightly. “Mrs. Brown can’t. She fainted before they could remove the sheet from Mr. King’s face. We need you to identify your brother’s remains.”
Jay left her suite with the detectives and slid into the backseat of their late-model blue sedan. The fifteen-minute ride downtown seemed much longer than usual. Jay was experiencing a serious amount of anxiety. She’d been anticipating this moment for weeks, and now it had finally arrived. The detectives led her into the building. As they walked down a long, dim hallway, Jay’s heart began pounding hard inside her chest. It felt as if it had reached maximum speed.
Detective Ortega placed his arm around her shoulders and stopped in front of a closed door. Detective Franklin continued down the hallway. “Your family is in this room. Please wait here with them while I inform the attendant that you’re here,” Detective Ortega told her.
Jay opened the door and saw Jill crying hysterically in Wallace’s arms. Aunt Jackie was trying to console her through her own grief. Jay walked over to the huddle and stood speechless. Seconds passed, but they didn’t acknowledge her. They didn’t see her until she spoke.
“I’m so sorry, y’all. The police promised me they’ll work day and night to find out who did this to Zach,” Jay said.
“Can they bring him back, eh? Can they bring my husband back?” Jill screamed. “I want my husband! I don’t care about anything else!”
Jay kneeled in front of Jill’s chair and took her hand. “Zach is gone, but I’ll take care of you. It’s what he would’ve wanted. Whatever you and the baby need, I’ll make sure you have it.”
Jill rested her head on Wallace’s shoulder and eased her hand out of Jay’s grasp.
“I can’t think of anyone who would’ve wanted Zach dead,” Aunt Jackie said softly. “He was a wonderful young man. I just don’t understand!”
“The police said it was a random shooting. It may have been gang related,” Jay lied smoothly. “You know. Maybe it was an initiation type of thing. I swear, kids are so stupid these days.”
“People are wicked and cold,” Wallace spat, his eyes burning a hole straight through Jay.
There was a light tap on the door before it swung open. “Are you ready, Ms. King?” Detective Franklin asked.
“I’m ready.” Jay stood and adjusted the baseball cap on her head.
Wallace cleared his throat. “Would you like for me to go with you, Jayla?”
“For what? I’ve made it through twenty-nine years without your trifling ass! I think I can go another hundred.”
When Jay had left the room with the detective, Jill lifted her head from Wallace’s shoulder. She made direct eye contact with him. “Your daughter is vexed!”
* * *
Jay entered the dark room behind the detectives. It was freezing cold, and the scent of harsh chemicals made it hard for her to breathe. The door slammed shut behind her. Then, suddenly, blinding bright lights illuminated the small room.
“Hello, Jay.”
She squinted her eyes against the brightness and gawked at the figure sitting on an examining table.
“What the fuck!” she screamed and lunged toward Zach.
Chapter Forty
“Jayla Simone King, you are under arrest for murder for hire, conspiracy to commit murder, contributing to—”
“Let go of me! Take your damn hands off me! This is a bullshit setup!”
The detectives restrained Jay, preventing her from attacking Zach. She heard Detective Ortega finish reciting the Miranda rights to her as an icy pair of handcuffs clamped shut around her wrists.
“Why, Jay?” Zach stammered, tears trickling down his face. “Just tell me why.”
“You dirty, low-down motherfucker! You helped these bastards sting me!” Jay fought aggressively against the two men and the handcuffs. She jerked and screamed in Zach’s direction. “I hate you, you evil bastard! I should’ve smoked your ass my damn self!”
“Let’s go, Ms. King,” Detective Ortega said before shoving her out of the room.
“I want a lawyer! I have the right to speak to a lawyer! I want a motherfucking lawyer right now!”
* * *
“Sh. It’s over now, Jill. Hush now. It’s all over, baby.” Zach could feel the fear, shock, and rage warring throughout her body as he rocked her in his arms. “I’m alive, Jill. I was never in any danger. It’s okay now. Let it go. All this crying and fussing will only upset the baby. You don’t wanna do that.”
“She touched me! She had the nerve to say she would take care of me and our baby. I wanted to behead her!”
“Jay is gonna get exactly what she deserves. Trust me.”
“That’s right. The Bible makes it plain. You will surely reap whatever you sow, honey.” Aunt Jackie threw her stubby arms around Zach and Jill. “Everything is gonna be all right.”
Wallace stood up. “Come on, son. Let’s go find out if we can take Jill home. She’s had a full day of drama, and she’s worn out.”
Detective Ortega walked into the room just then. “You’re free to go now, Mr. King.” He extended his hand to Zach for a firm handshake. “Do you plan to attend the hearing in the morning?”
“Am I needed?”
“No, sir. We have more than enough evidence to keep your sister in custody. I don’t think any
judge will set bail for her. And if one does, it’ll be too high for her to post. Your sister is dangerous and very unstable, Mr. King.”
“I know. I hope she’ll get the help she needs.”
* * *
“This evening a murder-for-hire scandal was uncovered, and now a young Atlanta woman sits behind bars, awaiting her first appearance before a judge tomorrow morning. Jayla Simone King, age thirty-one, was arrested for allegedly paying an undercover police officer ten thousand dollars in cash to gun down her brother, Zachary Sean King, in the parking lot of an Atlanta athletic club earlier today. Mr. King, the alleged victim, is a thirty-six-year-old neonatal intensive care nurse at Grady Memorial Hospital.”
Zach turned off the television and tossed the remote control on the nightstand. Jill snuggled closer to him on the bed and rubbed his chest. The house phone began to ring. The buzz of Zach’s cell phone, which was charging on the dresser, added to the noise.
Wallace tapped a few times on the closed bedroom door. “Zach, should I answer the phone, son?” he called.
“Nah. Come in here with us, Daddy.”
Wallace entered the master bedroom and took a seat at the foot of the bed. “This is a nightmare. God only knows how long it will be before you and Jill experience a sense of normalcy again.”
Both phones continued to ring.
Zach sat up in the bed, carefully pulling Jill up with him. “I didn’t even consider the media coverage this case would draw. I really didn’t have time to think about anything except cooperating with the police and keeping Jill and the baby out of harm’s way. I guess we’ll have to lay low for a while. Please don’t feel like you have to stick around for this circus, Daddy. Patricia and Wallace Junior have been patient and understanding long enough.”
“What are you talking about, boy? They’re flying to Atlanta tomorrow evening. I hope you and Jill don’t mind if they stay here.”
“We don’t mind at all, Papa King,” Jill assured him. “We are a family. It will be good for all of us to be together right now.”
The chime of the doorbell rippled through the house. Wallace got up and peeked through the blinds. He scratched the top of his bald head. “There’re two media vans outside, son. About six or seven people are dragging cameras, microphones, and other equipment out. Uh-oh! A husky guy with a beard just hopped out of a champagne Ford Explorer. Whoa! He shoved a reporter carrying a camera to the ground hard. This guy is pretty ticked off. He’s yelling and waving his fist at another reporter. He’s a madman!”
“That’s my best friend, Dex.” Zach laughed. “Let me go get that fool before he catches a case.”
Zach threw on a pair of sweatpants and dashed down the steps, skipping two or three at a time. He disengaged the security system and flung the front door open. Bright lights blinded him, and a Britney Spears–looking chick thrust a microphone in his face.
“Mr. King, I’m Rebecca Arnold from WXYS Channel Seven here in Atlanta. We’d like to know why—”
“Fall back, Goldilocks!” Dex slapped the microphone out of the reporter’s hand. “Get them damn cameras outta his face! I’m gonna smash them. I swear I will.”
Zach snatched Dex by his green FAMU T-shirt and pulled him inside the house. They cracked up when they slammed the door on some bold black female reporter who was trying to barge her way inside. Her foot almost got crushed in the act.
Dex stopped laughing and stared at Zach. Zach grabbed his buddy in a bear hug and slapped him on his back. When he let Dex go, he released a breath and shook his head.
“I wanted to tell you so bad, man, but I couldn’t,” he told Dex. “The police wouldn’t even allow me to tell Aunt Jackie. The only reason I was able to tell my dad was that he swooped in from Raleigh on a whim. I refused to have him come all this way and be left in the dark.” He took a deep breath. “Jay is psychotic as hell! That bitch is possessed with a million demons. I love her, and I’ll always remember the sweet teenager she used to be. But I don’t ever wanna see her crazy ass again.”
The house phone and doorbell continued to ring and chime nonstop. Zach walked into the kitchen, and Dex followed him. Zach removed two ice-cold bottles of Heineken from the refrigerator. And like they had done for the past eighteen years, they sat down to work through a problem over their favorite beer.
Chapter Forty-one
Ayla swerved, barely missing a truck in the right lane, when she heard Jay’s name mentioned on the radio. She increased the volume and listened as the news reporter released details about Jay’s arrest in a murder-for hire case. Ayla reached for her cell phone when she learned Zach had been the hit man’s target. Then she dialed her lawyer.
“That crazy bitch borrowed money from me to have her brother killed!” she screamed while she waited for her lawyer to answer his phone. The call rolled over to voice mail after five rings. She pressed the number two on her speed-dial list. It was still assigned to Zach after all this time. The man was happily married and was expecting a child, but she still hadn’t downgraded his status in her phone. He didn’t answer her call either. Ayla fired her engine and sped toward the hospital.
* * *
“I knew her when she was an itty-bitty thing,” Ida Bell whispered. “I was at her mama’s funeral, in the third pew on the left side of the center aisle. Honey, Reverend King baptized me when I was seventeen years old. I know the whole family history. I remember when Jay started liking girls. She propositioned my Tina.” She rolled her neck and popped her lips for dramatic effect.
One of the nurse’s assistants leaned in closer to the table. She lowered her voice when she said, “Is it true that Zach’s wife came here from Jamaica, with Jay as her lover? That’s what I heard.”
Ida Bell shook her head. “Uh-huh, it’s true. Jill was Jay’s woman first. They came over here and were staying at Zach’s house until they could find a place. Jay wanted to buy a condo at the Seven Seas, but she couldn’t afford it. They’re expensive. Anyway, Zach and Jill started doing the hootchy-cootchy behind Jay’s back. Before long, they fell in love. Jill dropped Jay, and Zach kicked Dr. Fitzpatrick to the curb, honey.”
Ayla approached the table with her hands on her hips. “Ms. Ida Bell, I would appreciate it if you’d refrain from discussing my personal business at our place of employment. And you ladies sitting around here and taking it in are just as messy as she is. I should report all of you.” She sighed. “I thought y’all liked Zach. You call him your favorite nurse all the time. If that’s the case, you should respect his privacy and pray for him during this awful time he and his family are facing.”
The housekeepers, nurse’s assistants, and the one LPN scattered, leaving Ida Bell at the table alone, looking sheepish.
* * *
Zach walked downstairs early the next morning just as Wallace was about to leave the house. The night before, he’d given his father permission to drive his SUV. Wallace had a few errands to run downtown.
“You never did tell me where you were going this morning. Is it a surprise or just none of my business?” Zach said.
“I didn’t tell you on purpose. I wasn’t sure how you’d react, son.” Wallace walked toward Zach with his hands in the pockets of his gray suit pants. “If you must know, when I leave here, I’m going to visit Belva Jane’s grave.”
“Aren’t you a little overdressed for that? That’s a nice suit you’re rocking.”
“After I leave your mother’s grave, I’m going to the courthouse. I want to speak with Jayla’s attorney and offer some of our family’s history. It’s the right thing to do. I’m her father, Zach. Some, but not all, of what she’s become is my fault. I want that to go on the record.”
“You could’ve told me this last night. I wouldn’t have been upset. I actually understand, because I’m suffering with my own guilt.” Zach looked into his father’s eyes. “I hurt Jay too, you know? I guess I didn’t realize how much. But I love Jill, and I don’t regret getting her pregnant or marrying her. I just hate how it al
l went down. I never meant to hurt my sister. Can you tell her attorney that for me?”
“I will, son. I’ll see you later.”
* * *
Jay wasn’t sure if she could wiggle out of her legal troubles by playing crazy, but she damn sure planned to give it her best shot. The first person she had to convince was Mr. Alan Rice, her court-appointed attorney. In their first meeting she told the man she couldn’t remember very much about what she’d done. Jay described herself as a very depressed alcoholic who’d been dumped by two women she once loved deeply. Both breakups had happened over a five-year period, leaving her very distraught, she claimed. Then she put on an Oscar-winning performance with tears, hysterics, and lots of drama. Jay cried and screamed over the death of her mother at such an early age, as if it had just happened. The devastation she described about growing up without a father was her trump card.
Then, all of a sudden, she started rambling about Ayla. She named her as her conspirator in planning the hit on Zach. Jay claimed the doctor had lured her into a sexual affair after the end of her four-year relationship with Jill. At that time she had been extremely vulnerable. Allegedly, Ayla had used her to get back at Zach for dumping her for Jill. Mr. Rice’s confused expression was comical to Jay. The poor man had a hard time keeping up with who had slept with whom and when. Jay broke it down for him. She described the way she and Zach had swapped lovers as a love square, and then she started laughing like a damn fool. Then, without warning, her mood became very somber as she recounted the night she was given five thousand dollars to hire a hit man to kill her brother. According to Jay, Ayla had somehow convinced her that Zach deserved to die for wrecking both of their lives. He had disrespected them and betrayed them by sleeping with Jill.
Hopefully, for Jay’s sake, Mr. Rice bought her story and would be able to build a strong case to defend her at trial. Until then, she wanted a bond, and she had her fingers crossed that it would be low enough for Nina to post. Nina’s drug-dealing cousins in Mexico had promised to help her raise the money to pay Jay’s bond. Then they were going to get her and Nina out of the country somehow.
