Get at Me #5
I picked up my phone not knowing if the stress of the day had me moving like this or if I was actually worried about the woman I was supposed to marry. I wasn’t even afraid of her. The craziest part was that I needed to protect her the same way Yacouba had done Jasmine.
I hit his line and then waited with my foot tapping for him to answer.
“Ori.”
His words were succinct: the speaking of my name a friendly command to tell me why the hell I was on his line so late especially since I knew what he’d just gotten back from.
The message I sent him let him know I was in distress and I could hear him moving around already on go despite how exhausted I knew he had to be.
That was the training that we’d endured to ensure that we could handle what was thrown at us in any situation.
But it was also love. A brotherhood that nothing could shake and I had to think carefully about what I was going to tell him.
The night had cooled and the dark sky was clear, allowing a few stars to peek through despite how bright the city was.
“Xerx, I know it’s late but you've gotta come up here. Everything is fucked up.”
I knew he was probably wondering what the fuck I was on now.
He’d just seen me a few weeks back when we handled Vanya’s ex and her adoptive family.
I was still on a high from being able to shoot destroy that church and caught hell from Asha for being out of pocket all day.
She’d been working with Alec and I’d done the wrong thing by checking in with him instead of her.
“What is wrong? Are you in danger?”
“Shit, I might be.”
I looked out at the city below me trying to put into words what had been dancing around my brain for the last half hour. She was too smart about this subject and it fucked me up to think that her intelligence was based on something else but my gut was screaming at me that it was.
“You sound way too calm for zhis shit to be an emergency.”
“It is an emergency!” Was it, though? I ran a hand over my hair trying to bridle the emotions roiling through me. I needed to control it but they were so unfamiliar I wasn’t sure how without killing something.
“So tell me what’s wrong?”
“I think my fiancée is a serial killer.”
His end of the line was dead silent and I wished that I had the forethought to grab a bottle before I came up here.
“You woke me from my wife for zhis? Ori—”
“I know you can’t think that I’m overreacting.”
He stopped moving around and I could almost see the way he was glaring angrily into space. “Of course I can, because it is clear zhat you are.”
“Xerx—”
“You want me to believe zhat zhe daughter of a billionaire is a serial killer? One zhat we’ve vetted before zhis deal was even done?”
He was making a good point but I still wasn’t going to let up. “Yes.”
“Ori, have you been drinking?”
“Xerx, I’m sober as the day I was born.”
“I’m sorry, my friend, but I don’t see how it is possible.”
Xerxes was laughing it off because when he’d met Asha he hadn’t seen the side of her that could be vitriolic.
He’d seen the almost painfully shy woman who’d been too worried about messing up to truly open up to anyone.
I’d seen her speaking with Jem and Vanya and her friends at the wedding but that had been the extent of it.
She’d been ambushed with being in the wedding party but I understood that Vanya didn’t want to exclude her and that Asha’s acceptance of me, or rather mine of her, enabled their wedding to proceed.
It was her way of saying thank you but I was sure Asha thought it was some sort of tradition.
“The same thing could be said for your mother and yet she’s as deadly as they come.”
“My mozher is oleander. Zhe proverbial Venus fly trap. Zhe ammonium glycol in antifreeze zat tastes delicious as it kills you. Much like my wife, apparently.”
I wasn’t even going to ask him to elaborate on that. “And yet you think that Asha Avery isn’t like that?” I continued to track the traffic below hoping to find peace.
“She’s… studious. Wiz her big glasses and beautiful face, I do not believe zhat she could hurt a fly.”
“I’ve seen how she moves. She’s got stealth. She isn’t afraid of death like she’s faced it before and won.”
“And zhat has you zhinking she’s been the dealer of deazh instead of a survivor of it? Come now, Ori, it is far more likely zhat a woman is a survivor of harm not zhe inflictor.”
Again, points were being made but I still didn’t think he was seeing the big picture. “Have you forgotten the women we know?”
“No.”
“I’m sure you’d say the same thing about Frankie who is the modern-day equivalent of Malinda Russell and B. Smith but can bust her guns with the best of us. But you want me to underestimate the person I’m going to be lying next to every night?”
“You make her sound as zhough she’s running around zhe city, murdering innocent people. Is zhat what you’ve found?”
I wanted to tell him about the case but there was no need because I had no proof of her involvement. Just my gut that something wasn’t what it seemed. “No.”
“I’m going back to bed, Ori. Call Priest so he can pray over you and hop a flight to knock sense into you. I do not have zhe patience for zhis.”
“You just gone leave me in my time of need?” Was I whining? What the fuck is this?
“When you’re being ridiculous? Hell yeah. You need to be nicer to her. Get to know her better. You both danced around each ozher at zhe wedding so much no one could tell that you were even together. Where is her ring?”
“I gave it to her already. See, I do actually listen.”
“I doubt you actually listened to me. Besides, it should have been on her finger before you brought her to an event. Zhe last zhing you want is for people to zhink you aren’t serious. Or zhat zhey have a chance to break up a happy home.”
“What happy home?”
He huffed and I heard him moving back around yet again. “And zhat’s more to my point. You might not love her but zhere still needs to be a reason for her to be in zhis beside her family.”
“I’m not going to lie to her.”
“No, but it is clear you’re lying to yourself. You wouldn’t have agreed if you didn’t care.”
“I did this so that you could be on the phone with me right now pissed that you’re not in bed with your soulmate.” I felt like I’d run a mile in three minutes flat while holding my breath. My chest was heaving and my pulse raced.
“True. And my debt to you is sitting here listening to you bitch and pretend zhat you’re not interested in her besides zhese contractual obligations you have.”
“You calling me a liar?”
“When you’re lying, yes.”
I cracked a smile because he answered so flatly which was a sign he was tired of my shit. “Whatever, Xerx.”
“It is not whatever, my friend. It is a fact. Open your mind to what could be. And if she is a serial killer, you do what you must to ensure zhat she is never caught.”
ASHA
I stretched in my seat my eyes feeling like they were going cross - eyed from reviewing the information that Alec and Ori provided.
Their excursion into Natalie’s personal life had opened up a long list of potential suspects and I’d narrowed it down to a few.
I knew that things were going to get bad because none of them were those who fit the description of those who were supposed to be the traditional criminals.
The rumblings had started; the warning coming directly from agent Cochran that some people felt as though the investigation being headed by three people with Black ancestry could have possibly been skewing the evidence.
I was grateful that Ori had taken that call at the office because the way his fist went through a wall at his integrity being called into questions I would’ve made him bleed for causing that type of damage in my home.
Cochran and Alec both seemed unbothered by his reaction and although I could understand his reasoning for being angry I still felt the need to watch him more carefully.
I could tell he realized his behavior disturbed me but he didn’t offer apologies.
The look on his face then silently communicated that I would never be in the crossfire of his anger and I believed him but I still wasn’t going to take my eyes off him.
The three of us had been working tirelessly for the last few hours to ensure that we hadn’t missed anything.
From reviewing witness statements taken by police to crosschecking cellphone records of the few early suspects, we wanted to make sure that there was no way for them to leverage those accusations at us.
We all silently understood that the accusation had come from someone who was working on this with us and all knew who was guilty without us having to say much.
Agent Anderson.
It made me wonder if he was angry about the questioning of his character or them thinking that Anderson’s word held more weight than his.
Or maybe it was about you.
I shook off that thought and when I opened my eyes I felt two that were locked on me.
Ori.
I gave him a smile and went to pick up the file I’d been working on when I heard his voice.
“I think we’re done for the night.”
Alec looked up and then between the two of us before a smile broke over his face. “Are the two of you finally going to go out on the town? Get some dinner or hole up in the penthouse for the weekend?”
“Get your mind out of the gutter, Vega.”
With a mischievous look on his face, he leaned back looking between the two of us. “Was it there or did you drag me down there with yours?”
“I mean he’s not wrong, Ori. All we do is hang out at home.
We haven’t really gone anywhere.” The grin on Alec’s face made me realize all too late how my honesty sounded and I did my best to keep a straight face.
The last thing I wanted was to think about the lack of sex we were having or why I was so offended that we weren’t having it.
Because you’re horny, you fool.