Simply Beautiful Read online

  “Oh yes,” she moaned out loud, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and holding on tight.

  “Hold on, babe,” he whispered, sinking deep within her.

  Everything and everyone else was forgotten as their bodies met and raced towards completion, until they both shattered together.

  * * *

  “Hello.”

  “It’s me.”

  “Did you find her yet?”

  “No. A shitload of people just left her place.”

  “Did anybody see you?”

  “Yeah, but trust me, they have no idea.”

  “Make sure they don’t. Remember, you can be replaced, too.”

  “So can you, my friend. When do I get the rest of my money?”

  “Find her and bring her to me, then you’ll get the rest of your money.”

  “Really? I thought you were detained.”

  “A short diversion. Call me when you find the girl,” the voice on the other end said menacingly.

  “Will do. Just make sure you have my money.”

  “Don’t I always? Now hang up and find the girl.” The line disconnected.

  “That’s one crazy-assed dude. Not my problem—all I want is my money then this state will see my back,” he said, turning to walk away.

  Chapter Eleven

  The next morning Alisha and Tristan were awakened by the telephone. It was Domino saying that everyone would meet at Brandon’s place in an hour for updates. They got up, showered, and dressed.

  Alisha and Tristan lay fully clothed in each other’s arms, talking in soft whispers, while watching the news. Neither wanted to leave the sanctuary of Tristan’s bedroom but knew that they would have to. Alisha worried that they were missing something in the whole messed-up situation. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong or was going to go wrong. A cold chill of apprehension caused Alisha to shiver and snuggle closer to Tristan.

  Yesterday had been a crazy day and they both knew that today would probably be even crazier. Her brothers had arrived at Tristan’s apartment in big brother mode but before they said anything, Domino Longhorn intervened with news that James Langston had posted bond and was now missing in action. The press was staked out at Cameron, Cameron & LaSalle’s office building, hanging out in front of the apartment building, and Alisha’s house.

  Trevon and Darion stayed at Brandon’s apartment, since Tristan had no furniture. The elder Cameron, his legal team, and Chad had gone down to the law firm to handle the situation there. It seemed as if Domino was everywhere at once. Tristan would not leave Alisha’s side with James on the loose, and they still didn’t know who he had hired to kidnap her. Lorna had come over to Tristan’s accompanied by one of Domino’s men and brought her a pair of sneakers and a change of clothes.

  “What’s wrong sweetheart?” he asked, raising his face to hers.

  “I don’t know. I guess it’s just this situation. I don’t know. I mean I hate having my parents worry about me. It took me over an hour on the phone to convince them that I am okay and that the situation is under control. The thing is Tristan, I don’t know if the situation is under control. I have a bad feeling that something is off or wrong. I’m not exactly sure.” She shivered again.

  “Stop worrying, Beauty. Everything will be fine.” Tristan tried to reassure her. In all honesty he had the same feeling. As if they were missing something. He had been doing this a while now and had learned to trust his gut instinct. Something was definitely off with James and the situation. He just couldn’t put his finger on it. Tristan could see the fear in her eyes and he didn’t like it one bit. He had to convince her to stop worrying.

  “I will protect you with my life, Beauty. Trust me,” Tristan vowed, stroking her hair.

  “I do trust you. In a matter of days you’ve got me doing things I’ve never done before and feeling things I have never felt or experienced before. I don’t really know you, and yet I feel safe when I am with you,” she said softly.

  Damned if he didn’t feel like crying after that. Threading his fingers with hers, too full of emotion to convey what he was feeling, he simply said, “You’re in my heart, Beauty. You’re in my heart.”

  Their special moment was cut short with the ringing of Tristan’s cell phone.

  “Hello.”

  “We’re waiting on you, brother.”

  “We are on our way,” he said, closing his cell phone. “Come on, Beauty, they’re waiting on us.”

  Alisha and Tristan walked out of Tristan’s apartment hand in hand and down the hall to Brandon’s.

  Tristan rang the bell, and the door was opened by Brandon. “Come on in you two,” Brandon said, leading them into the living room where everyone else was.

  Tristan and Alisha followed Brandon into the room. Alisha’s two brothers, Trevon and Darion, sat on the sofa looking at Tristan as if they wanted to hurt him. Of course Tristan, being Tristan, ignored them. As usual, Domino was on the phone. It was apparent from his end of the conversation that he was talking to one of his men.

  Trevon and Darion got up from the sofa. Trevon looked directly at Tristan. “Hello, you two. Glad you could finally make it.”

  Darion was giving Tristan the evil eye. “Yeah, what he said.”

  Alisha stood there stunned, looking first at Trevon and then at Darion in annoyance. “Cut it out, you guys. You both knew I was staying with Tristan since yesterday.”

  Trevon was shaking his head. “No, we knew you were going to his place. We didn’t know that you were actually ‘staying with’ him. Darion and I assumed that it was for your protection.”

  Darion was still shooting daggers at Tristan with his eyes. “Yeah, what he said. It seems to me that you were doing more than protecting her. Just what the hell were you doing with our sister?” Darion asked.

  “What are your intentions towards her? And you better come right the first time,” Trevon growled.

  “Now wait a minute, you two!” Alisha was outraged.

  Tristan’s arm tightened around Alisha’s waist. “It’s okay, Beauty,” he assured her.

  “No, it is not. I am a grown assed woman, and neither of them have any right to come at you like that,” Alisha said, furious with her two brothers.

  By this time Brandon had come to stand by Tristan in a stance to let them know that if they were spoiling for a fight they would get one. Brandon stepped forward. “Just wait a damn minute—”

  Tristan put a restraining hand on Brandon’s arm while still holding Alisha’s waist with his other. Tristan understood Alisha’s brother’s need to protect their sister and he respected that. What he couldn’t and wouldn’t stand for was them upsetting Alisha, which they seemed to be doing. That he wouldn’t stand for and he didn’t give a damn who they were. Tristan turned an angry gaze on Alisha’s brothers. “Darion and Trevon, first of all, brothers or not, I won’t stand for you two upsetting Alisha. Now, you want to pull me aside and have a talk, I welcome the conversation. But neither of you, and I repeat, neither of you, will embarrass her nor upset her. I appreciate the fact that you and her parents have cared for her up until now, but from now on that’s my job. As for my intentions towards your sister, I plan to love her for the rest of our lives. As for protecting her, I will gladly protect Alisha with my life.”

  His sweet words made her smile. “Wow,” Alisha whispered next to him.

  “Wow, is right,” Brandon said, proud of his brother.

  Darion’s frown turned to a relieved smile. “A brother couldn’t ask for more,” he said.

  Trevon, always the difficult one, still didn’t look convinced. “Since when? You’ve known Alisha how long?” he asked.

  “Get this through your head. I am not giving Alisha up. Get used to it or get over it—frankly I don’t give a damn. Right now, your sister’s life is in danger. I don’t have time to debate with you. I want this situation over with, and standing here arguing with you is not helping anything at all,” Tristan said.

  “I
agree. Chill out, Trevon, and stop being difficult,” Darion said.

  “We’ll see. He seems too intense for her to me,” Trevon declared.

  “The pot calling the kettle black,” Darion laughed. “Man, give it a rest.”

  Domino had joined them by now. “Trevon, be assured Tristan’s a good man. We need to get moving on this situation with James. Rafe is at a hotel with two of the witnesses. The sister’s been located and Chad and Dominique are meeting with her. Langston senior will have a pleasant surprise when he goes to help his son…all of his assets has been restrained along with Junior’s. By the time he figures out what’s going on, hopefully we will have caught up with James,” Domino said.

  “Where did you find the sister?” Tristan asked.

  “In a Convent in Canada. I’ve flown Chad and Dominique out to meet with her. Dominique will get a sworn statement from her to present to the prosecutor. She will only come to New York if she has to. I will know more after Dominique calls,” Domino said.

  “Wait a minute! Dominique’s back in New York?” Brandon asked frowning at Domino. “I thought she had moved back to Atlanta two years ago.”

  “No she’s not back in New York yet, but she will be returning since she’s familiar with New York law not to mention she’s an awesome attorney. I wasn’t aware that you knew Dominique,” Domino inquired.

  “Yeah, she did some per diem work for me when she first came to New York. Chad asked me to watch out for her while she was here and that’s what I did. I didn’t know that she was still practicing,” Brandon explained.

  “Hmmmm, interesting,” Alisha whispered to Tristan.

  “What?” Tristan asked Alisha not getting what was supposed to be interesting.

  “Oh nothing,” she responded smiling. Men could be so dense sometimes.

  Brandon’s cell began to chirp. He answered and started to listen. “What?” Brandon yelled, closing his cell phone and turning to the others in the room.

  Everyone in the room stopped. “What’s happened, Brandon?” Tristan asked.

  Brandon threw up his hands, “That was the fire department. Apparently the office is on fire! I have to get over there,” Brandon said, striding to the door.

  “Oh, no,” Alisha cried.

  “Shit!” Tristan growled.

  “I’ll go with you,” Domino said.

  “Trevon and I will go too. The G-man can stay with Alisha,” Darion remarked eyeing Tristan’s arm around Alisha.

  “But of course,” Tristan smiled at them.

  “No, Tristan you can go with them. I’m safe here. This building is like Fort Knox. Seriously, Tristan, what can happen here?” she asked.

  “Nothing, because I am staying,” Tristan said. “Brandon, call my cell to let me know what’s going on. We’re going back to my apartment.”

  “Will do. Come on guys, let’s go,” Brandon said.

  * * *

  Brandon and the others waited on the curb outside of Cameron, Cameron & LaSalle for the fire marshal to come and let them know what was going on. Fire trucks and firemen were everywhere. There was a lot of smoke coming from the office building, but no one could tell how much damage was done.

  “Man! Do you think it’s a total loss?” Brandon said to no one in particular.

  “Not sure yet,” Trevon said, eyeing the building.

  “It’s a great deal of smoke, but where’s the fire?” Domino asked, not sure what to make of all that smoke. “You would think that with all that smoke there would be a lot of flames.”

  Darion looked over towards Domino. “I agree. Something seems off about this. I’m getting a bad feeling about this, man.”

  “Like what?” Brandon asked looking at the three men standing beside him.

  “Like why is there a fire marshal and chief on the scene? Something’s up,” Trevon said not liking this one bit.

  The hairs on the back of Domino’s neck stood up, a sure indication that something was not right. Domino looked around. Firemen were moving in all directions, people were lined up on the curb of the block trying to see what was going on. There was a man across the street that looked familiar. His height, body build, and hair color drew Domino’s attention. As not to alert the man that he had spotted him, Domino whistled softly under his breath. A move he had done often when he’d worked with Trevon and Darion as a Texas Ranger. It was a move to let them know when a suspect was spotted. The whistle did the trick.

  Trevon and Darion were on full alert at Domino’s silent whistle. “What’s up Domino?” Darion asked both in ready mode.

  “It appears that someone’s come out to play. Don’t look around, but Langston’s at nine o’clock,” Domino informed them speaking in a hushed tone.

  “Well, I can go over to the fire chief and have him alert the police without James’ knowing,” Brandon said. “It wouldn’t be suspicious. It’s my building.”

  “Since we don’t have anything on him yet, that wouldn’t be a good idea,” Domino said.

  They all looked at Domino as if he had lost his mind.

  “What the hell are you talking about Domino? The police are looking for James.” Brandon said.

  “Yes, yes they are, but it is not James. It is Langston, Sr.,” Domino whispered. “Wonder what he is doing here.”

  “What! You think daddy’s got something to do with all this?” Trevon asked.

  “Either that, or he’s trying to help his son again. I don’t know, but I’m about to find out. Be on alert,” Domino informed them before turning around to make a phone call on his cell.

  * * *

  Brandon, Trevon and Darion stood around speaking in quiet tones to each other while waiting for Domino to finish his call. They all stopped talking when a rather tall, muscular, bald, African-American, dressed in a fireman’s uniform approached.

  “Which one of you is Brandon Cameron?” the fireman asked looking at each of them.

  “I’m Brandon Cameron. Why?” Brandon inquired.

  The fireman extended his hand to shake Brandon’s. “I’m Captain Williamson. And these are?” the captain asked as he observed the three men standing with Brandon, one with his back to them.

  “I’m Darion, this here’s my brother Trevon, and the man on the phone is Domino, we are all friends of Brandon’s. Why? Is there a problem?” Darion asked.

  The fireman turned his glaze from the other three men and looked directly at Brandon. “I asked because it appears that the fire wasn’t an accident. We’ve found accelerant in one of the back offices. We’re thinking it was started in the wastepaper basket since there were remnants of the device in and around it. We won’t be able to confirm that until after a full investigation has been conducted,” the captain said.

  “You mean someone intentionally tried to burn down my office building?” Brandon said, outraged. “Who the hell would want to burn down my law firm?”

  “That’s what we would like to know, Mr. Cameron,” said two police officers walking up to stand beside the fire captain.

  The fire captain spoke directly to the two officers. “Nothing has been determined yet, officers. I believe you will have our full report by tomorrow morning. I believe the chief has already advised you of this, has he not?” the captain said to the accusatory tone of the officers. Granted it was arson but there were other aspects of this fire that were bigger than an insurance claim. He had been doing this long enough. He could tell. This guy had an enemy or someone at his office did.

  “Hmm, just a matter of time,” one of the officers said nastily, as he and his partner walked away.

  “What the hell is his problem? And why would he think I had something to do with this?” Brandon asked.

  “Because it’s his job; but this time I think he’s wrong,” Captain Williamson said.

  “Oh why’s that?” Brandon asked.

  “Because either you have an enemy or someone in that office building do—”

  “Why, what happened?” Domino, who had joined the conversation, a
sked.

  “Well, except for the one office that was pretty badly burned, there were a few other offices that had the smoke enhancers shot through the windows. These are only found in tactical teams, such as SWAT, and from the device used in the trash pail a person would have to have some knowledge of bombs,” Captain Williamson said.

  “BOMBS! Are you telling me someone tried to blow up my law firm?” Brandon yelled. “What the hell for?”

  “No, I’m telling you that someone wanted you to think he or she wanted to blow up your law firm. Like I said before, the stuff that was used today is used in tactical teams as diversions. I’m no police detective, but I have worked with detectives long enough to know a diversion when I see one. Other than the one office, there is no other damage, other than what was done by my guys. Someone’s trying to get your attention, counselor. I’ll keep you updated on the investigation,” Captain Williamson said as he turned and walked away.

  “Somebody went to a great deal of trouble to distract you, Brandon. But from what?” Darion asked.

  “Maybe it wasn’t just Brandon that needed distraction. I’m thinking the fire in the office building was intended as a diversion for both Brandon and Tristan,” Domino said looking from one to the other.

  All three men stood paralyzed with fear as they realized what Domino was getting at. “Alisha,” they all said at once.

  Chapter Twelve

  Tristan and Alisha had come back to Tristan’s apartment. They were in the kitchen eating lunch and waiting on word of what was going on at the firm.