Hidden Intentions 2 Read online

  “Yes, I remember now,” he stated, rubbing down my shoulders.

  “Hmm! It feels good what you’re doing to me.”

  “How’s your shoulder? Does it still hurt?”

  I had banged it on the front door the other morning when I was rushing to leave for work. “It’s good as new.”

  “I stopped by the bank today to make a deposit in your account for the bills. I put a little extra in, just in case you wanted to treat yourself.”

  “Thank you. I’ve wanted a fragrance called Chloe.”

  “You’re welcome. The girls you used to work with are still talking about the day when you got shot and the bank was robbed. They even praised a guy named Darren Edmonds for taking down the gunman. Why didn’t you ever tell me about him?” Tory was now rubbing my hips, all the way down toward my ankles.

  “He really wasn’t worth mentioning. It was due to bad memories, to sum it all up. Remember when we broke up for a while after coming back from Hawaii?

  “Yes.”

  “Well, I dated him for a few months. He turned out to be a bad guy and was just using me to move drugs for him. In the end, Darren ended up dead. He left behind a wife and child, and another woman on the side, which he never bothered to mention to me. Now that I look back, he would have killed me if I got in the way of his power and money.” I made sure to leave out the part about the baby. The last thing I wanted was for him to be worried about a past relationship of mine.

  “Darren was dead wrong to treat you that way. Did you ever love him?” he asked.

  “No, I just got caught up in his charm and relentless pursuit of me.”

  “Nya, you do love giving a chase.”

  “Yes, you’re right about. With all the lies and deceit, if he didn’t die so abruptly, I probably would have broken it off with him anyway. Whether or not, you came back from California wouldn’t have made a difference in that decision.”

  Tory turned me over. “Maybe it was meant to be that he and I never crossed paths. He might have been dead much sooner.” He climbed on top of me and began massaging my breasts and then my nipples. He bit the top of my breast.

  “Ouch!” I slugged him in the arm.

  “Sorry.” Tory gently started sucking on my nipples.

  Since the night, I let him come back home, I’d decided to wait to have sex again, because I wasn’t ready. Tonight, he might just get lucky.

  Tory turned me over and licked the back of my neck, one of my hot spots. He opened my legs gently and entered my tight pussy.

  Tory was relentless, his rather extensive strokes showing me no mercy. Damn, it felt good. It was just what I needed.

  “Make me cum,” I demanded.

  “I won’t step till you cum, twice.”

  “Hmm! Yes, double take, baby!” I shouted.

  Later on into the night, Tory was talking in his sleep.

  “Nya, I love you, I’ll make this up to you. They’re all lies they told you,” he said in a low tone, with a hint of a Caribbean accent.

  I explored his body when he slept, since it bothered him when I looked at it for a while. To be honest, it wasn’t as bad as he thought. Plus, I thought the scars would eventually clear up if he started using those olive oil products a local dermatologist had recommended to me.

  Chapter 57

  Natalie and Michael sung in unison, “Juice, juice, juice,” creating an echo in my ear.

  “Would you like grape or apple juice?”

  “Apple!” Natalie shouted, jumping in the air.

  “Grape!” Michael blurted out with a snotty nose.

  I quickly grabbed a tissue from the box. “Let me wipe your nose.”

  “Auntie Nya, can I watch the Jon and Kate Plus Eight show?” Natalie asked. “Hannah is my favorite out of all the kids.”

  “No, I watch Little Bill,” Michael whined after I wiped his nose down.

  “All right, Michael, while I cook breakfast, you can watch Little Bill in the kitchen with me. Natalie, you can watch your show in the living room.”

  “Okay. What’s for breakfast?” Natalie giggled, plopping down on the couch.

  “French toast and scrambled eggs.”

  The kids yelled, “Yeah!”

  Since Jarvis was having corrective surgery on his eyes, Tory and I took the kids for the day. He was happy to spend time with them. He played tea party with Natalie and wrestled with Michael all over the house but I think they all enjoyed playing hide-and-seek the most.

  Throughout the day, Tory kept hinting to me about having a baby. When he finally had the balls to ask me directly, I was going to tell him I wasn’t ready just yet.

  It’d been months since he and I decided to give our marriage a try. I was still paranoid and searched the house for alcohol bottles, but every time, I came up empty. We were bonding, getting close again. On Wednesday nights, he watched the National Geographic specials with me, something he never used to do.

  I’d noticed some differences in him. He used to prefer his steak medium. Now, he liked it rare. Before all this happened, Tory couldn’t live without his Visa check card. Nowadays, the only thing he carried in his wallet was cash and his driver’s license. He used to take showers first thing in the morning, but now he waited until around eleven at night to shower, claiming the late shower was his refuge from the day’s stress.

  I found it strange that he and Rome had been toying with the idea of opening up an upscale Jamaican restaurant. Previously, Tory never really enjoyed Jamaican or island food.

  To top everything off, what he did last week was really out of character for him. Since we’d got married, Tory wouldn’t dare look at another woman in my presence. Last week, while at a jazz club, he was a bit flirtatious with the waitress, and I caught him checking her out. I wasn’t mad about it. I knew it was innocent fun, but he’d never done that before.

  After breakfast, the four of us prepared for our day out. Not wanting the kids to fill up on sugars just yet, I gave them plenty of water to drink, whole wheat turkey sandwiches, and seedless grapes for lunch.

  “I’m so excited,” Natalie expressed. She was holding my hand, while Tory held on to Michael’s hand.

  “So am I,” I admitted as we entered the tent of the UniverSoul Circus.

  After buying popcorn, rainbow-colored snow cones, blueberry cotton candy, and memorabilia toys, we marched up the bleachers to watch the show. The horse riders and stiltwalkers performed death-defying acts.

  When the tigers came out to perform, the kids were scared. The elephants stole the show by standing up and roaring at the crowd. When the kids became restless, Tory and I knew it was time to go.

  “I have to go to the bathroom,” Natalie told me.

  “All right, let’s go. Tory, I’ll be right back,” I replied.

  On the way to the bathroom, I spotted Charles smirking at me from the corner of my eye. I pretended like I hadn’t seen him and went straight into the bathroom.

  Thankfully, there wasn’t a long line to use the bathroom. After we came out the bathroom, I heard a loud commotion in the corner. I tried looking for Tory and Michael, but they were nowhere in sight. Finally, I peeked my head through the crowd and saw Tory choking Charles, his feet lifted off the ground and dangling in the air, and his tongue dangling out of his mouth.

  “Tory, what are you doing?” I shouted.

  “He was looking at your ass. I don’t tolerate disrespect. You got that?”

  “Let him go.”

  “I sure will. It will be my pleasure.” Tory dropped him to the floor.

  On the way home, we took the kids back to their house, both of them worn out from the day’s events.

  “What the hell were you thinking, choking him in front of Michael?” I asked after we got home and I had set the alarm system to night mode.

  “Nya, I was tired of him looking at you.”

  “So what if he was looking at me? It doesn’t give you the right to choke him. You almost knocked him out. Did you bother to notic
e his eyes were rolling back into his head? You could have been arrested over that nonsense. Plus, you’re teaching the kids to solve their problems physically. Yvette would freak out if she knew what happened.”

  Tory had a worried look on his face. “Do you think Michael would say something to them?”

  “It’s not a matter of if he would say something, it’s a matter of when he will say something. He will probably want to brag on you.”

  “I apologize. I lost my temper. The last thing I want is to be a negative influence on those kids,” he said, shaking his head.

  “It’s all right. In the morning, I’ll call Yvette to smooth things out with her.”

  I took off my clothes, revealing a lime green bra and boy short set.

  “Are you wearing the fragrance Chloe?”

  “Courtesy of you,” I said, rubbing his hard dick.

  Tory motioned me down to the carpet floor. With silk scarves, he tied my hands to the bottom of the bed frame. Then he ripped my panties off and started teasing my pussy, placing the tip of his dick in and out. This kinky game made me want it even more.

  Finally, he glided his python inside me for the grand finale.

  After fondling each other in the hot shower and reminiscing over fond memories together, we lay in the bed and watched a movie called G.

  I wasn’t tired, but I could tell Tory was fighting sleep. “I love you,” I cooed in his ears.

  “I love you too, Jewels,” he whispered and dozed off to sleep.

  Suddenly, I felt as if someone was sitting on my chest. The only person in the world who called me Jewels was Darren Edmonds. He’s supposed to be dead, I thought as I drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter 58

  “My back is killing me,” Tory moaned.

  “It’s no wonder. You were doing me for two hours on the floor. You probably threw your back out.”

  “I’m getting old.”

  “I have medicine to relieve your pain.” I rose up from the bed to get him something to take. I filled a disposable cup with water and handed him the pill and cup.

  “Nya, you always know what to do.”

  “Open your mouth and take this. It will make you feel better.”

  Tory didn’t even bother asking me what pill I’d just popped in his mouth. After twenty minutes, the Percocet kicked in. He didn’t feel a thing when I snagged a minor sample of blood from him.

  The last time I had seen Darren was on college graduation night when I wore my pink Chanel dress. I took a small strand from the dress to compare DNA samples. I planned to drop these samples off to the lab first thing in the morning.

  “Feeling better?” I asked, placing his eggs, turkey bacon, and toast on a plate.

  “Yes, I am. The pill you gave me helped. What was it?” Tory bit into a slice of bacon.

  “It was Aleve I had in the medicine cabinet,” I responded, lying through my teeth. I’d made sure to throw the medicine bottle in the trash.

  “I hate to eat and run, but Irv is counting on me to nail this new client. I should be home by the usual time. Tonight, you can let your Betty Crocker apron rest, because I’m cooking dinner.”

  “Surprise me with something tasty.” I grinned and kissed him on the cheek good-bye.

  I ransacked the house for anything out of the ordinary, like an extra cell phone or loose papers lying around. I patiently waited one hour to call Tory at his office to ensure he was there. Next, my computer geek on call, Aaron, came by to see if the house phone and cell phone were tapped. Plus, I wanted him to make sure no hidden cameras were lurking in the corners. Turning up nothing, I headed off to work.

  “Eileen, may I have a rush on these samples? Please make sure the report includes the specific blood type,” I said, placing her favorite candy bar, a Butterfinger, on the counter.

  “Anything for you.”

  Digging deeper for more solid information, I dialed the number for Wake Forest Center in Dallas, Texas from an unlisted hospital number. From now on, until I figured out what the hell was going on, I needed to be careful.

  “Good morning, Wake Forest Center. This is Mildred speaking. How may I help you?”

  “Good morning, Mildred,” I said in a Southern drawl, disguising my real voice. “My name is Carolyn, and I would like to enroll my son into the program. He’s a cocaine addict and I want to get him some help. I hear Dr. Todd Greene happens to be the best and has helped thousands kick their addiction.”

  “Oh, dear. I guess you didn’t hear.”

  “Hear what?”

  “Honey, I’m sorry to tell you this, but about a year ago, Dr. Todd Greene was brutally murdered. His office was lit on fire. For a month, we had to relocate the patients. The patients took it the worst, especially Tory. He and Todd went to school together. Once the center reopened, Tory and another patient named Raymond didn’t return.”

  That name sounds familiar, I thought. “Did you find out who committed such a heinous crime?”

  “No, but it’s still an ongoing investigation. The funny thing is, the person who killed Dr. Greene only stole his plaques and a lot of blank certificates. After completing the program, a patient is honored with those items, you know. Honey, I got to run. Right now, the center is packed to capacity. Call me back in about two months, and I’ll see if I can spare a bed for your son.”

  “I sure will. Thank you for your time.”

  A week later, I’d been researching the medical records of Tory and Darren. Tory’s blood type was O negative and healthy as a horse. Darren’s blood type was AB positive. He was allergic to morphine, had high blood pressure, an irregular heartbeat, and degenerative disc disease, which caused him severe back pain. Both had similar body builds, but Darren looked younger than his real age.

  I was back at Eileen’s desk, looking for the test results.

  “Here’s the report.” She handed it over to me.

  “Thanks,” I replied, taking a deep breath.

  “The DNA from the cloth strand and the blood sample were a match. The confirmed blood type is AB positive. I ran it twice to make sure.”

  Darren’s blood type is AB positive, I thought as my knees began to weaken.

  Tory was really the presumed dead Darren Edmonds disguising himself. The question was, Why? If the man sleeping in my bed was Darren, where was the real Tory? Was he dead?

  Suddenly, I felt I couldn’t breathe and went into the closest women’s bathroom to collect my thoughts. I felt so alone. Who could I tell? No one would believe me. Darren posing as Tory could have me committed, I thought, catching my breath. There was no point in shedding tears.

  One thing was for sure, Tory did go to Texas for rehab treatment, and so did Darren. That had to explain why he knew so many things that only Tory and I shared together. One man had died. How many more had been sacrificed due to a psychopath?

  “Karen, can you take over my patients? I don’t feel so well.”

  “Sure, I can. What’s wrong? You look pale.”

  “I think I’m coming down with something. I’m going home to rest.” I headed to my office to grab my purse.

  Quickly, I rushed into the Target store to buy a TracFone. I quickly dialed the phone number of an old friend, Brennon Gilles.

  “Hello?”

  “Brennon, it’s me, Nya.”

  “Hey. Why are calling me from an unknown number?”

  “I’m taking extra precautions. Listen, I need your help right now. To make a long story short, Tory lost his father a few years ago.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry to hear about that.”

  “Due to his loss, he became an alcoholic. A year ago, he vanishes into thin air, saying that he went to—”

  “He went to Texas,” he said, cutting me off.

  “What?” I asked in shock.

  “Tory went to Texas.”

  “Did you already know?”

  “Yes. Darren was there too. At the time, I didn’t put the two clues together. Darren has probably been watching you and him fo
r a long time. With him making a move in Virginia, it wouldn’t have been smart for him to do anything else, so he waited till Tory was vulnerable and in Texas. ”

  “I ran the DNA from a dress Darren gave me. It has his prints all over it. Then I compared it against a blood sample I recently took. Darren is really posing as Tory. He has scars all over his body, claiming he’s been in a fire. What are we going to do?”

  “Aaw, man! This is what I’ve been afraid of. Darren didn’t die from the shooting. We didn’t realize that until two years later.”

  “What the hell happened?”

  “After the shooting, Darren survived the bullet wounds. We thought he was dead. Once his body was dropped off at the morgue, later on in the night, he waited for the morgue attendant to fall asleep. He was next in line to complete an autopsy. Darren switched his body with someone else’s. Ever since then, he’s been on the run. I got a court order to exhume his body for DNA evidence for unsolved murders on several islands which was how I found out he was still alive. Needless to say, the DNA didn’t match. He’s been using Raymond’s identity as well.”

  “That’s the name of the guy the receptionist said was at the rehab center.”

  “Darren has been using the identity of Raymond Gilles. I never told you this, but he was really my brother. Growing up, all of us were so close. When I got locked up, Raymond chose money, greed, and envy over his own flesh and blood. Once he joined forces with Darren, my whole family disowned him. Raymond killed a lot of people for Darren, who had him doing a lot of his dirty work. Darren isn’t stupid enough to use his own information to move around. I guess he figured no one would inquire about my brother.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me he was on the loose?” I barked at him.

  “I didn’t want you or Gabrielle worrying about it. Plus, I thought I could have caught him by now. The country of Trinidad, the DEA, and the FBI have been working together to track Darren down. Every time we think we have him, he moves again. Darren has set up a new team and been moving cocaine in the islands and the Southwest part of the United States.”