When Love Comes Around (Love Conquers All) (35 page)

He hated old people, especially old women. They reminded him of his evil grandmother who would beat him every chance she got. If he had his way he’d put them all on an island to starve to death. Just like his drunken granny had practically done him every summer, he was forced to stay with her. It wasn’t bad enough she would take the money his mother would send weekly to help pay for his food and recreation spending it on liquor. The old hag treated him like a slave. She would make him work from sun up to sun down cleaning her junky, filthy house that only seemed to get any attention once a year during his visits.

His lip curled into a snarl as Lucy rang the doorbell. Wrapping his hand around the doorknob, he yanked the door open. An evil grin slid across his face from the startled expression of the elderly woman as he held the gun tightly in his hand. His grandmother had that same expression on her face the night he pushed her down the steps breaking her hip.

Just as Lucy was about to turn around, he reached out tightly grabbing her by her fragile wrist. “And where do you think you’re going Granny?” Lucy shuddered from the cold, deathlike tone of the young man’s voice.

“Get over there with your smart mouth friend,” he demanded, waving the gun at her.

A wicked laugh erupted from his lips as Lucy hobbled on her cane taking a seat next to Beverly. His laughter wasn’t so much because of the elderly woman nearly falling in the process of trying to put some distance between them. That was funny, but not as funny as what he thought was a failed plan, turning out to be the perfect plan. No doubt, he would definitely get the money he needed, maybe even a little extra cash to get as far away as possible. He went from having two to four hostages. If this Kevin punk were the man everyone claimed he was, he would pay the ransom. A sinister smirk curled his lips.
I’m a freakin’ genius. Four lives are worth more than two.

Anger rose up in Beverly. How dare he have the gall to not only intimidate them, but to poke fun at them as well! Pulling away from Audrey’s hold, she stood to her full height of five feet four inches. No longer caring he held a gun, Beverly refused to go another second longer being terrorized in her home. “Who do you think you are? You little black nappy-headed bastard! This is my home and I want you out of here, now!”

“Oh dear, oh dear,” Lucy cried as the menacing man stalked toward her friend balling his large hand into a fist.

“Mother,” Audrey nervously pleaded as she stood wrapping an arm around her thin shoulders and bringing her back down to a seated position on the sofa.

The frantic ringing of the doorbell stopped him in his tracks.

♥♥♥

Starr gasped as the door opened and she felt herself being roughly yanked inside the house.

“Man talk to me.” Richard Jr. yelled at his younger brother as he darted in and out of traffic. The brothers weren’t in D & B’s but two minutes before Kevin’s cell phone went off. Richard Jr. knew something was horribly wrong when all of the color drained from Kevin’s face.

“I’m gonna kill her.” Kevin gritted out through clenched teeth. Bass had called confirming the license plate of the vehicle belonged to a Trina Jones. However, he still hadn’t uncovered the identity of the man driving the vehicle. Kevin immediately lost his cool. Trina was still interfering in his life. The detective pleaded with Kevin to sit tight while he did some more digging.

“I can’t do that,” had been Kevin’s abrupt response as he rushed over to his ex’s house. He couldn’t explain it, but his instincts were telling him that something really bad was about to go down.

“Kill who? Baby brother you’re not making any sense.”

Gripping one hand on the steering wheel, the other he ran quickly down his face. Blowing through a stop sign, he began telling his brother all of the drama that had been going on for the past several months.

His brother hissed a curse under his breath. He wanted to ask Kevin why he hadn’t told him any of this until now, especially the part about Momma being harassed by this woman. He kept his tongue in check. Kevin would never allow a single hair on their mother’s head to be harmed if he could help it.

Bringing the car to a screeching halt, both men jumped out the vehicle. The two women with shopping bags in each of their hands looked like deer caught in headlights as they watched the twins of thunder come barreling up the walkway.

“Trina, didn’t I tell you to stay the hell away from my family?” Kevin barked, charging in her direction.

“Leave me alone, Kevin! I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Trina cried as she frantically dug into her coat pocket searching for her keys. Nervous jitters made her drop them to the ground. Dropping her shopping bags, she attempted to quickly retrieve them.

She hadn’t been quick enough, though. Richard Jr. deftly swung his foot, sending the ring of keys flying into the withered grass.

“Isn’t that your car right there?” Kevin yelled, pointing to the dark vehicle that sat on his block two evenings ago.

“Yes, that’s my car! But I still don’t know what you’re talking about!” Again, she attempted to get her keys, but Richard Jr. blocked her path, stopping her efforts.

“You better tell me something and you better tell me now, because some man was watching my house and driving your car Christmas Eve night.”

A sick feeling overcame Trina as she slightly swayed. She hadn’t gone out Christmas Eve night. She stayed in all night thinking about her life and admitting for once how miserable she really was. Crying and drinking wine all night, she promised when the New Year came in she would be making some changes. Waking up the next morning, she was sick as a dog from drinking the cheap wine on an empty stomach. She felt so horrible she couldn’t manage to drive herself to her mother’s out in West Philly to spend Christmas day with her family.

Turning her gaze to Keisha, her knees slightly buckled. Even though Kevin was angry with her, he was gracious enough to catch her from falling to the ground. “Keisha, girl, what did you do?” she whispered, too afraid of hearing the answer. When Keisha had asked to borrow the car, Trina assumed she was going out with her girlfriends.

Keisha eyes darted from her cousin to the two angry men. All day she had tried to tell Trina what she had gotten herself involved in over the last few months. But every time she tried the words got caught in her throat. Yes, she had sworn revenge, but if she told on him that meant their cousin Latif would be going back to prison.

Latif was a good kid and only got in trouble because he followed behind her. She was the reason he’d done a brief stint in a juvenile prison in the first place. The weed he got caught buying was for her. Instead of snitching on her, he took the fall. So she owed him. She couldn’t let him go back to prison.

“Keisha?” Trina repeated. The girl was holding something back. The fear etched across her face spoke volumes.

Shaking her head from side to side, Keisha’s voice trembled as she spoke. “I can’t.”

She wanted to desperately tell them what was going on. But how could she? How could she tell her cousin that she had played her all because she wanted Kevin? She was the one responsible for the red thong in the newspaper and slashing Starr’s tires. How could she tell Trina that she and Latif had given his dogs the command to destroy that beautiful garden?

Furthermore, would her cousin ever be able to forgive her for goading her own, encouraging her to do the little silly pranks like calling Kevin’s home and showing up at his job? Of all people, she understood how much Trina wanted Kevin back and how determined she was to get him back. Her sole purpose had been to fuel Trina’s actions on hoping and praying she’d drive a wedge between Starr and Kevin.

All she had to do was lay back while Trina did all the dirty work and wait for the right opportunity to seduce him into her bed. She was young and pretty. Why wouldn’t he want her too?

Kevin and Richard Jr. glance at each other. The young woman standing before them held the key to the mystery. It was clearly apparent Trina was just as clueless as they were as to what was going on. Taking a few steps to stand in front of her, Kevin gently, yet firmly placed his hands on Keisha’s shoulders. “Please, if you know anything, tell us.”

“You’re gonna be mad at me,” she whispered like a frightened child.

“Keisha, I have a feeling this man is going to do something really bad to my wife or my mother. Right now, I have a private investigator trying to find out who he is. If you are in any way involved, it’s best for you to speak up now before it’s too late.”

Now was the time to get revenge; now was the time to tell everything she knew. Why should she continue to protect him when all he had done was use her and she in return used her cousins?

Taking a deep breath, she gazed up into Kevin’s eyes. As the first tear fell, she began to tell her story.

After Keisha told them of Marcus’ blackmail, they were stunned. They couldn’t believe that a grown man would go through such lengths to do something so diabolical. And to use someone who was practically still a child was inexcusable.

Keisha felt awful as her cousin looked on in horror as she told her story. She wanted to run and hide when Kevin’s facial features became stormy as she disclosed she had taken Marcus to Beverly’s home.

Richard Jr. had to reach out and catch Trina from falling as she became lightheaded again. Realization dawned on her that Keisha was able to give this information to this madman because she had taken Keisha with her over to Beverly’s on numerous occasions while hunting Kevin down.

As tears welled up in Keisha’s eyes, Kevin felt sorry for her. She was so young and had been used by a man who preyed on women. The hard expression he wore melted.

Giving Keisha a tight hug, Kevin thanked her. Turning to Trina, “Please call the police for me and send them to my mom’s.”

Nodding her head, she pulled her cell phone from her purse. As Kevin and his brother ran to the car, Trina yelled, “Kevin!” before she dialed 911.

As he turned, their eyes locked and held. “Tell Starr and your mom I’m so sorry.”

Stumbling, Starr wasn’t able to catch her fall as she was yanked and then pushed to the floor.

“Starr, sweetheart, are you all right?” Beverly cried attempting to go to her side, but was stopped by Audrey firmly holding her in place.

Before she could answer, the man reached down and roughly grabbed Starr by the collar of her coat to her feet. “Get up!” He hissed through clenched teeth.

“Marcus, what are you doing here?” she snapped pulling away from his hold. What had she done to deserve this good-for-nothing bum, popping back up in her life? Wasn’t dealing with her father’s drama last night enough?

Marcus threw back his head and laughed as if he were a madman. Shoving her towards the sofa he snarled, “Sit your ass down and stop asking me questions!”

Briefly taken aback by his bark, she stumbled again and then froze, glued to the spot where she stood. It only took a second for her to realize he had shoved her again. Letting out a low growl, she gathered all the strength her tired body could muster and shoved him back. “Don’t you put your hands on me again!”

Quickly recovering, he raised the gun and pointed it at Starr. “Are you going to sit down on your own or am I going to have to sit you down?”

Defiantly, Starr stood her ground. This could not be happening. No way was her ex-lover waving a gun around threatening her and holding her mother-in-law, her neighbor and sister-in-law hostage. Why was he here? What did want?

“Did you hear what I said?” Marcus gritted out between clenched teeth as he advanced toward Starr.

“Yeah, I heard you,” she snapped, removing her coat before taking a seat next to Lucy. The three women collectively let out a terrified sigh of relief.

“Are you all right?” Starr questioned the women, a sense of guilt settling over her. It was her fault Marcus was here. But for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out why.

Nodding, all the women agreed they were okay. “He hasn’t hurt us yet.” Audrey mumbled under her breath.