It was late Friday afternoon, and Charles was meeting with the PI that Arthur hired for him. They were in his office.
“Mrs. Davis hasn’t changed her name legally, but she uses her maiden name for her professionally pursuits. It appears she is doing business with Desmond Early. He’s an art dealer and collector. He has a gallery on Fifth Avenue. She lives in Harlem with her thirteen-year-old daughter in the Chase Building. Loft number 503 on the fifth floor. The child attends The Alexander Prep Academy for Gifted Children.”
Charles mulled over the information Randy had just recited. “Anything else that could be useful?”
“Not really. Jessica Davis lives a pretty normal life. She goes to the grocery store, she takes her daughter to school and picks her up, she runs errands while her daughter is in school, and she works from home.”
“All right. I appreciate the work you’ve done on this,” Charles
It was the night of her big cocktail party. Debbie was spending the night with a neighbor down the hall. The neighbor worked at a daycare center, and she babysat on the side. She had excellent references. Debbie had begged to stay for at least the first hour of the party, but Jessica had held her ground. This was an adult party. No matter how intelligent and mature Debbie was, she was still a thirteen-year-old girl. Jessica had hired two servers — one male, one female. They were college students looking to make an extra few bucks. They sat up the buffet for her while she got dressed. She was wearing an off-the-shoulder, white cocktail dress with red lace that lined the white underlay. She had on red heels, and her dark hair was up in a gold butterfly clip.Th
There were two khaki-colored couches in Jessica’s huge living room. Toni and Max curled up on the sofa across from the one Charles lay on. The thick wood coffee table separated the couches.As Toni and Max quieted down, Charles thought about the dress that clung to Jessica’s body tonight. He wanted to peel it off her, but he didn’t think she would appreciate being seduced in front of her guests. She had gained a few pounds over the years in all the right places. Jessica always had a nice ass, but it was plumper now – more rounded. She looked to be a healthy D-cup now as well. Her brown legs and thighs looked strong and smooth. As he fell asleep, he wondered if Jessica slept in the nude.Charles wasn’t sure how many hours had gone by, but he was being watched. He could feel it. It had to be Jessica. He acted like he was still asleep, letting her gaze upon him. He knew she wanted him last night. He fought the urge to smile as he waited for h
Jessica had been able to avoid Charles for a little over a week. When he had come to the apartment, she acted like she wasn’t home. One day, Jessica had spotted him in a black and red Bugatti before she left the lobby with Debbie. Her normal routine was to ride with Debbie to school in a cab. That day, Jessica had walked Debbie out the garage exit and hopped on a bus. Today should be easy to avoid him because she was going to be out all day. First, Jessica took Debbie to breakfast at Amy Ruth’s in Harlem before she took her to school. Then, Jessica went to see Eric to show him some sketches for three paintings she wanted to do for him. He loved the sketches and commissioned them. Then, she went to Desmond’s art gallery for a quick meeting. “I sold
Charles would be lying if he said he wasn’t hoping for this. He was. However, he didn’t think she would fall this easily into his arms once he had her isolated. She still cared for him. She had to. Jessica wasn’t the type of woman who just threw her panties at a man who showed interest in her. Her wet, soft canyon curved and squeezed his rod in all the right places like it had years ago. “Oh, Jessica,” he moaned against the slope of her neck. “Charles,” she squealed. He kept thrusting. He had planned to take her to his bedroom and to take his time making love to her, but when she started pulling at his shirt like a woman possessed, it sent him into ove
Jessica got to the school twenty-two minutes late. Debbie didn’t seem to notice because she was chatting with three girls. Apparently, their parents were late picking them up, too. Xavier blew the horn as Jessica lowered the back window of the limo. She waved to let Debbie know it was her. Her daughter’s eyebrows rose as the three girls she was talking to looked Jessica’s way with smiles. One girl nodded her head up and down and said something to Debbie. Xavier put the car in park and got out.Debbie shyly smiled and waved at Jessica. She said her goodbyes to her friends and started walking to the limo. When Debbie got closer, Xavier opened the door for her to get in.
Jessica got to the school twenty-two minutes late. Debbie didn’t seem to notice because she was chatting with three girls. Apparently, their parents were late picking them up, too. Xavier blew the horn as Jessica lowered the back window of the limo. She waved to let Debbie know it was her. Her daughter’s eyebrows rose as the three girls she was talking to looked Jessica’s way with smiles. One girl nodded her head up and down and said something to Debbie. Xavier put the car in park and got out.Debbie shyly smiled and waved at Jessica. She said her goodbyes to her friends and started walking to the limo. When Debbie got closer, Xavier opened the door for her to get in.
It was Monday afternoon, and Calvin was heading back to his office. He had just concluded a meeting with all the VPs. He had to admit, Charles was doing a decent job so far. He was in negotiations with a Canadian clothing company who was looking for American investors. When the time was right, they also wanted to go public. Charles was trying to talk the Canadian executives into using Michelson Investments to pair them with investors and take them to the next level. The company was worth forty million dollars. However, if Charles was successful, it would be a hundred-million-dollar deal. “Not bad for your first month,” Calvin had said to his cousin as they left the meeting. Charles had smirked and gotten off on the nineteenth floor without saying a wo
Jessica had fixed spaghetti and garlic bread for dinner. It was one of Debbie’s favorite dishes, but she barely touched it. She had said she wasn’t hungry because she had a big lunch. She had asked if Jessica could pack some of it to take to school tomorrow for lunch. While Jessica was cleaning the kitchen, the doorbell rang. As she walked to the door, her visitor started banging on it. “Jessica, I know you’re in there,” Charles said. He had called three times since their afternoon romp, and Jessica hadn’t answered her cell. She had no idea how he got her number. She cracked the door open. “Charles, keep your voice down. My daughter is upstairs doing the rest of her homework.” 
Three months later. . . The living perpetrators who were responsible for the mass shooting at Michelson Investments on Madison Avenue were captured eight weeks ago. Their trials would start in two months. They were sitting in the city jail without bond. Calvin had been right. They shot up the place and everyone they could out of some sort of entitlement of justice for losing their jobs.The Michelsons and the Washingtons sat in the spectator seating in the courtroom. Charles, Jessica, and Debbie sat at a table several feet away from the bench. Arthur Whitman had just finished his petition to the court to have Debbie’s last name legally changed.Jessica had filed an application to change Debbie’s birth certificate to state that Charles was her father. But in the state of the New York, they had to
Debbie’s head fell forward. Charles quickly caught her in his arms. She was out like a light. He pulled the side of her shirt up. Blood had soaked the large gauze that covered where she was shot. The other gauze where she had surgery was starting to bleed, too. “Calvin!” he yelled frantically. The door swung open. Calvin dashed over to him. “What happen?” “She passed out. Calvin, she’s burning up, and she’s bleeding,” he explained as he adjusted his hold on her. “We have to get her back to the hospital.” They were back in the Range Rover within minutes. His unco
After Charles had carried an unconscious Jessica to a hospital room for the nurse to examine her, he walked with Drake and Bobby to the hospital employees’ elevator. The maintenance guy had said he had never seen anything like it. Debbie had pried the panel off the wall and rewired the elevator to do what she wanted it to do. “It’s sloppy, but they got the job done,” the maintenance man had said. Security had a camera in the elevator. Everyone’s mouths had dropped open when they saw Debbie enter the elevator with a coat and boots on. She had looked half dead on her feet. She got off in the employee garage. Three security officers along with Bobby, Drake, and Charles had searched the garage, and there was no sign of her.
Debbie quickly trotted down the sidewalk in Manhattan with the coat that she stole out of the maintenance closet and the boots that were two sizes too big for her feet. However, she was still cold. The hospital gown was not made for cold weather. She had found ten dollars in the coat. She was saving it for food. She had plenty of cash stashed in her bedroom at home, but she didn’t have her house keys to get in. She had always saved ten dollars from her allowance in case of emergencies since she was nine. Debbie wasn’t sure where she was going. All she knew was that she wanted to get out of there. They were all getting on her last nerve. She needed her space, not drugs.Luckily the sedative had worn off while no one was in the room. Despite the fact that she was groggy, she had rummaged through the drawers and found gauze and
Jessica had left. Bobby stepped to Charles. They were eye to eye. Neither one of them blinked. “If I had seen you fourteen years ago right after I found out she was pregnant, I would have busted yo ass. Job or no job,” Bobby said darkly. “Now that you know that you’re a father, I’m sure you understand.” He understood. If some guy got Debbie pregnant, he would shoot him in the face. “I do. But I hope you know that I was in love with her. It wasn’t a one-night stand. I love her still, and I told her so.” Bobby’s thick eyebrows rose. “What’d she say?” &
It had been an hour and a half since Debbie’s break down. The staff had let Jessica and Drake look in on her only once during that time. They were limiting her visitors until she woke up and a child psychiatrist had a chance to speak with her. Jessica didn’t like it, but she knew that it was best for Debbie. Jessica didn’t want her daughter to be traumatized for the rest of her childhood. She and Drake hoped it was just an outburst of frustration and nothing deeper had taken root because of the truth. Jessica was in the hospital chapel alone. Drake and her parents had gone to the cafeteria. All of a sudden, Yvonne Michelson sat next to her in the pew. Jessica didn’t even hear
It was five thirty, and Drake and Jessica were sitting at Debbie’s bedside. Debbie had just finished picking at her dinner.“Baby, you should eat some more. You need to keep up your strength,” Jessica mumbled.“Oh, Ma, that’s not food. It’s a science experiment, and lunch wasn’t that much better,” Debbie said with a deep frown. “Daddy, can’t you get me a cheeseburger with mayo?”“Sweetheart, the doctor doesn’t want you to eat anything greasy for a while,” Drake said solemnly.“You two seem down about something. I thought the doctor said that I was going to be okay,” Debbie said.“You are, honey,” Jessica said quickly. “It’s just . . . we have something to tell you, and we don’t know how to . . . tell you.”Debbie looked at her and then she looked at Drake.“You know I love you, don’t you, Debb
Charles had been at the townhouse for two hours drinking wine out of bottles. He had excused Xavier for the evening. He wasn’t going anywhere. What for? He wasn’t needed or wanted by anybody. Someone rang the doorbell. Charles drunkenly made his way to the door. Whoever it was rang the doorbell again, and then started banging on the door. Charles stopped in the foyer. “I don’t want to talk to you, Jessica! Go away!” he slurred loudly. “It’s Calvin, you fool. Open the door!”&n
Thanks to Charles’s blood donation, Debbie survived the night. Drake, Jessica, and her parents stayed at the hospital. They slept on and off in the waiting room in the ICU. They were allowed to see Debbie two at a time and for only ten minutes at a time. Debbie had been unconscious most of the night. She had opened her eyes once when Jessica and Drake were in the room, but her eyes fluttered closed within five seconds. The staff said the doctor wanted Debbie sedated for the night so she could rest and to make sure she didn’t make any sudden movements that would tear her stitches. Charles had been gracious enough to spend the night at the hospital just in case Debbie needed more blood. Plus, the hospital staff wanted him to stay close by because they had slowly drawn two pints from him. Of course, it wasn’t all at once, but two