CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
“JJ!” Artie yelled again. “It’s late! Let’s go.”
JJ and Tish were the last two out of the chambers to head to the courthouse press room. They were standing there, staring into each other’s eyes, knowing just how momentous an occasion it truly was. They had been lost, out there alone, but now they felt found. They felt as if they weren’t in it all by themselves anymore. They’d been through a lot. The last month-and-a-half confined to a hospital proved that. But now things were looking up and JJ wasn’t letting Tish out of his sight. But what he didn’t know was that Tish wasn’t letting him out of her sight either. They were each other’s protectors.
“I’d better go get myself a seat in that press room too,” she said as she kissed JJ on the mouth and began to walk away from him.
But he pulled her back. Not only was he not letting her leave his sight, but until that gunman was caught, he wasn’t letting her leave his side. “You’re staying with me,” he said, placed her hand in his hand, and then they walked, together, into that briefing room.
And the first thing JJ did was to introduce her to the world. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he said, “I would like to introduce you to my lovely fiancée, LaTisha Payton.”
An audible gasp went up in the pressroom and the photographers began snapping pictures so wildly that Tish and JJ both had to keep looking away at the numerous flashes of light. But they looked at each other when they looked away. And they couldn’t help but smile. JJ wanted them to take her picture. He wanted them to see that she was no longer in the shadows to be talked about based on lies and inuendo. This was his woman, and he wanted the world to recognize.
And they did. Every single question was about their love affair.
But Earl and Viola sat in the back of that room like proud parents. At one point JJ even turned the mic over to Tish, and she answered those reporters’ questions like she was a pro from way back. Yes, she was at the scene of the robbery. But for the first time she explained to the public exactly what happened the day Shake died. And it sounded plausible to those reporters. So plausible that they started asking the judge when did he first realize she was being railroaded. Earl was impressed. He even did something he had not done in decades: he placed Viola’s hand into his hand, and he squeezed.
She looked at her husband and smiled. JJ had not only brought their daughter back to them, but he had also brought their love back to each other. She squeezed him right back.
But the news only got better and better. Because after the press conference, which even Artie was quick to say was magnificent, Bill Goslin walked over to JJ and Tish and asked if he could speak privately with them.
When they moved away from the crowd that was still mingling in the press room, Bill got to the point. “I wanted to let you know before the press got wind of it,” he said.
“Got wind of what?” asked JJ.
“The Jacksonville Sheriff’s office just phoned my office and said that they found the suspect.”
It was great news. “Thank you, Jesus!” Tish blurted out, and she and JJ hugged.
But the judge in JJ needed the details. “Who is he?” he asked Bill. “Was Mo Lugar and his gang involved?”
“No. JSO and the FBI ruled that out when it first happened.”
“Then who is he?”
“That’s where it gets crazy.”
“Crazy how?”
“The guy they caught has a rap sheet as long as my arm. Did time for murder once too. Very nasty asshole. Guy by the name of Michael Belvins.”
As soon as he said that name, Tish noticed a change in JJ.
And she was right. JJ frowned. “Michael? It was Michael, are you sure?”
“When I heard it, I had to be certain too. I knew he was a criminal from way back, but damn. He’s her nephew.”
Now Tish didn’t understand who they were talking about. “He’s whose nephew?” she asked.
“Candiace,” said Bill.
But Tish didn’t know who that was either.
“My ex-wife,” JJ clarified.
But that only made it even more puzzling. “But I thought you were divorced for a long time.”
“I was. Seven years.”
“Then why would her nephew target me?” asked Tish. “Because based on where those bullet shells were found, he wasn’t trying to shoot my mother. He was shooting at me.”
JJ knew that to be accurate too. But he had a more pressing question. “Did he say why he did it?” he asked Bill.
“He’s not saying anything. They found him dead in some mobile home over in Mayport. The only reason they knew it was him was because they found papers in his house with your information on it. You and Miss Payton’s. He started following y’all after Dena Lamb was struck down by Danny Walls. The followed y’all to Alabama when y’all suddenly decided to go there. But he had his eyes on Miss Payton all along.”
“Somebody paid him?”
“That’ what it’s looking like. He was a beach bum, but yet he had ten thousand in cash in that mobile home.”
JJ exhaled. Tish could feel his frustration. She was frustrated too.
“Have you had any contact with Candiace lately?” he asked JJ.
Tish looked too. It was a question she wanted an answer to as well.
But it was a no-brainer for JJ. “No, I haven’t had any contact with that woman,” he said. “And I certainly haven’t had any with Mike.”
“Then why would he follow y’all all the way to Alabama and try to kill Miss Payton?”
JJ ran his hand through his head. He wished he knew.