No Turning Back (The Traveler) (8 page)

“I can’t say I blame you for not wanting to get close to that family,” Melissa admitted back at Gary’s loft that evening.

He was stretched out on his king-size bed with her, still dressed in their formal clothes from the funeral. But Melissa’s company was more sweet than sexual. She wanted to let him know that she supported him without ulterior motives. She accepted him for who he was now.

“I really do appreciate you guys looking after me this past week,” Gary said, then added with a chuckle, “You even took off a few sick days from work.”

Melissa smiled, softly. “Yeah, anything you need.”

Gary wished it could that simple, but it wasn’t. He actually needed some time alone, but how could he tell that to a beautiful woman who was draped all over him in bed?

“Yeah,” he moaned as she continued to hold on to him in bed. “But I ahh … really need to clear my head alone for a minute, if you don’t mind. It’s been a long day and a long week.”

It took a lot out of him to tell her that. He could feel Melissa’s heart against his chest, but needing space alone was how he really felt at the moment.

Melissa nodded into his arm and shoulder. “I understand. But you call me if you feel an urge to talk to someone, okay? About anything.”

Gary nodded back to her. “Yeah, I’ll do that.”

Once Melissa climbed out of his bed and left him alone with his thoughts, the absence of his mother finally began to sink in on him.

What in the world am I going to do without you, Mom
? he asked himself.
I’m sure you left me with more than enough in your estate to live for a few years. But without you …

He stopped and shook his head. He surely didn’t plan to settle in with his family in Tennessee. That was not going to happen. He was already set in his own ways.

And Melissa … ?

She’s beautiful and very supportive of me; I just don’t want to hurt her. And unfortunately, I can’t make her any promises that I won’t.

He remained in bed and stared up at the tall ceiling, considering everything. He had inherited his mother’s four-bedroom house to care for in St. Matthews. But he could barely keep his one-room loft in order. He figured he would hire a cleaning service to maintain the house. He even pondered selling it, but he feared that his mother would roll over in her grave.

I bet Melissa would love it there,
he assumed.
She didn’t even get a chance to meet my mother.

As he continued to mull over his pressing issues concerning his estate, attorney Christopher Burnett called him on his iPhone.

Gary read the number and exhaled. “Okay, what does he want now? He just won’t let all of this paperwork go.”

He decided to ignore the call until the attorney rang him a second and third time.

“What the hell?” Gary snapped before he finally answered his cell. Irritated, he barked, “What is it, man? I’m still
mourning
over here, for crying out loud. What do you want from me? I haven’t read the paperwork yet, all right?”

The attorney paused and remained calm. He said, “It’s not about the paperwork, Gary. It’s actually about your father.”

Gary went silent with a paused.

“What about him?” he asked. “Well, a woman walked into my office before the funeral this week. And she had an awful lot of information on you and your mother—information that only an insider would have.”

“Okay, so what are you saying? You think she has something to do with my father?”

“I believe so. She’s obviously representing a very discreet client, and she said that they’ll be watching us,” the attorney answered him. “She was sent to me on very specific terms regarding your future.”

“My future?”

“I’ll let her explain it to you,” Burnett commented. “She wants to meet you tomorrow morning at my office at eleven.”

Gary thought about it. “And what if I decided not to meet her?”

Burnett paused over the line. “I don’t think she’s going to leave me alone until she speaks to you. In depth,” he added. “She even showed up at the funeral today. You remember seeing a tall black woman alone in her thirties? She looks like a very attractive soldier or an
athlete
or something, just very well built and physical. She just fills out the room when she’s in it. And not just physically, but
mentally
. She’s very sharp, very confident.””

The woman had obviously sunk her teeth into him, and he respected her threat.

Gary thought before he answered him. Could it be? He imagined the same woman who had bought an album from his record store, who he remembered from the Louisville weight room. She fit the description—a tall, attractive, and athletic black woman of physical presence and power.

Nah, he’s not talking about her,
he decided.
I didn’t see her at the funeral anyway. But I wasn’t looking for her.

“No,” he finally answered the attorney. Gary had not paid attention to a lot of people at his mother’s funeral that morning, and he had met tons of strangers, including his own family members. He had no time to notice one person. He had taken in entire groups of people that morning.

“Well, she wants to see you,” Burnett commented. “And she seems all business. So I would advise us both to make the necessary arrangements to get this out of the way. After all, you do want to find out more about your father, right?”

It was an obvious question. How many children would deny information about a parent who had been missing in action for twenty-six years?

Gary stalled again with his answer. “How do we even know that this woman’s for real? I mean, what is she, a private investigator or something?”

“I don’t know, but she seems important,” Burnett remarked. “Who knows who she’s working for? But she carries herself very professionally, and she knows her facts about you.”

Gary was at least curious about it. “So, what’s her name?”

“Jonah Brown. But she told me to call her J.B., like the black football announcer from Fox. I’m willing to bet that’s not her real name though.”

Gary deliberated for another minute. There was no way he would turn down an opportunity to learn more about his father. He also wanted to appear hard-boiled and ready for anything.

“Okay, you tell Jonah Brown that I’ll meet her at your office then. And tell her to make sure he has something
good
to tell us, especially if she can’t wait until Monday morning.”

“Agreed,” the attorney told him.

As soon as Gary was introduced to Jonah Brown at the law office, he immediately recognized her as the woman who had been in his store and the Louisville University weight room. Gary wasted no time boring into her with his questions.

“Okay, so what, you’ve been following me all this time? What are you—a
stalker
? Who do you work for? Do you know my father?”

He was grilling her harshly and was pressed for answers. And Burnett was right: In a woman’s dark-blue suit, she took on a commanding presence.

She remained calm in her chair and crossed her legs, wearing sheer stockings with low, dark heels.

She said, “I understand how emotional this must be for you. But I’m only here to help.”

Gary read her concerned face and asked her the obvious question: “Why?”

“Because I’ve been asked to. It’s my job,” she answered civilly. “But now I feel that you really need it. You’ve been through
a lot
this past week.”

She had a familiar confidence and stateliness about her, as if she had known him for years.

Gary took in her words and her calm demeanor and began to believe in her immediately. He was now certain that she was no fly-by-night woman. Burnett was right again. She knew things, and she played a strong game of poker herself. There was no bluffing her hand.

“So, you do know my father,” he stated, confident himself.

She nodded to him and carefully folded her hands in front of her chin. “Yes. I know your father very well.”

Suddenly, both men were all ears. How did she know his father and in what way were they connected?

Jonah read their masculine and sexual assumptions and quickly corrected them.

“No, I don’t know him like
that
, I know him as a business man,” she stated firmly.

Gary grinned. “Like father, like son,” he quipped. He would have surely come on to Jonah sexually had he been an older man. He liked her as a younger man, he and Taylor. But it was obvious that she would never respond to their flirtations. She seemed to be about business only.

She looked at the smiling attorney and added, “If you don’t mind, I’d like to speak to him in private a minute.”

Burnett was stunned. “You’re asking me to leave my own office?”

Jonah didn’t bother to even answer him.

Gary eyed the attorney and said, “Come on, man.” He could tell that she wouldn’t budge. He already knew her type. It was her way or nothing. He could read it in her determined eyes.

Burnett got the point from both of them and stood up to leave. Gary could be as determined to have his way as the stranger was. They were both spoiled.

Yeah, they deserve each other
, he thought with a grin.

“All right, I’ll go out and grab a sandwich or something.”

Once he cleared out, Gary asked her, “Is it that serious? What’s so secretive about him?”

Jonah didn’t flinch or smile. She took a breath and answered, “Yes, it is. Your father’s a very important man who likes to keep his privacy.”

“Is that right?” Gary responded sarcastically. He felt more comfortable with her in private, and he spoke his mind as always.

But his frequent sarcasm vexed her. She said, “I know how much you like to play hard ball, but how
smart
can you be? Now, I’m here to give you some important information, but I need you to be ready to receive it. Are you?”

Gary chilled out and nodded. “Okay. Tell me something I don’t know,” he told her. “Who’s my old man?”

Jonah nodded back to him. She asked, “Have you ever stopped to wonder how your mother was able to afford so many of your extracurriculars?”

“Yeah, she loved me, and she worked hard for it,” Gary answered.

“Well, I’m sure she worked hard for some of it,” Jonah hinted.

Gary stared at her. “So what are you trying to say? Just spell it out. Is the guy loaded or what?”

Jonah deliberated on how to give him her answer. “Let’s just say your mother struck a very beneficial deal to look after you with.”

Gary snapped, “Look, let’s just cut the bull. Okay? If you really have something to tell me, then spit it out. I don’t have all morning to play guessing games with you. Do you know my father or not?”

He had a point. There was no use in continued stalling. She already had his undivided attention, so Jonah decided to stop wasting time with him.

“Gary, your mother was a very dignified woman and a passionate teenager who was wise beyond her years. And when she became pregnant in an affair with a wealthy older man, although she was defiant, lonesome and eager to have his baby, she was also competent enough in her situation to agree to an oath of silence. She knew that it would benefit her and her child long-term.”

“Yeah, well, he didn’t have a choice. He got her pregnant, didn’t he?” Gary commented. He didn’t like the reality of the information though. It made his mother out to be a young gold-digger.

Jonah continued. “Well, that was twenty-seven years ago. And your father was initially skeptical of whether she could uphold her part of the agreement. But as she began to establish her own career in Louisville, your father became impressed with her; so impressed that he decided to stay informed on her progress while seeing to it that her son received the best of everything.”

Gary listened patiently and smiled at it all. Her story was so preposterous that he began to laugh. “Yeah, as long as the old man could keep his distance from us, right?”

Jonah paused again. She said, “I can finish when you’re ready. But while you’re so quick to pass judgment, let me ask you a question.”

“Go ahead. Shoot.”

“If you were a married and wealthy man, with a reputation and an empire at stake, and you inadvertently impregnated a young woman, who refused to abort … what would you do?”

Gary thought about the rich man’s dilemma with poise.

“Inadvertently, huh?” he repeated.

“Accidents
do
happen, even to wealthy people,” Jonah said firmly.

Gary shrugged, unconcerned. “He should have never been with a young woman, especially a teenager. I’m sorry, but I have no sympathy for that.”

Jonah nodded. “Indeed, I see your point.”

With no argument from her, Gary didn’t know what else to say.

Jonah eyed him and smiled. “I’ve noticed that you have a way with young women yourself. Are you planning on getting married anytime soon? I imagine there would be plenty of young women dying to hold on to a handsome young man like you, including Melissa. Right? And I bet you wouldn’t wanna do
her
wrong,” she added.

That assertion forced Gary to contemplate. He was obviously not the only master of sarcasm in the room. But as the receiver of the jest, the bite was no longer amusing to him. It hurt. Gary suddenly felt like the pandered product of a rich man’s indiscretion. “Like father, like son” was right. He just hadn’t sired any kids yet.

Gary remained speechless as he contemplated the reality of his life.

“Now understand your father’s predicament,” Jonah tacked on. “So what would
you
do?” she repeated.

Gary broke from his angered haze, but he still had no answer. He didn’t need to answer the question. It was obvious that a rich man would do whatever was necessary to protect his wealth, his family, and his public reputation.

“So, what is he, a big-time investor, a corporate CEO, or what?” Gary asked instead.

Jonah leaned back in her chair. “We can discuss that once he trusts you more.”

Gary smiled again. “Okay, so … he doesn’t trust me now?”

She said, “Of course not. He doesn’t really know you yet or not as an adult. And that getting-to-know-you relationship begins now. But he did learn to trust your mother. So if you prove to be as agreeable as she was, then those conversations between you and your father become possible. And who knows? You may even get a chance to sit down and meet him face- to- face.”