Beneath The Surface (25 page)

The woman gathered herself. “Thaddeus is dead,” she said through tears. “He was my husband.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that,” Carmen said. She put her arm around Mrs. Jones and led her in the house. Mitchell rolled her eyes and followed Carmen in the house. “What happened to your husband?” she asked.

“He died two months ago of an inoperable brain tumor.”

“Mrs. Jones, you have my deepest sympathy,” Carmen said.

For the next half-hour, Carmen comforted the widow and listened as she spoke of what a good man her husband was. The longer it went on, the more restless the detective became. Finally, she couldn’t take sitting there any longer. “Can I get you something to drink? Some water maybe?”

“Yes, thank you. That would be nice. The kitchen is right through there,” Mrs. Jones said and pointed.

Mitchell got up and headed in that direction. Once she was out of sight, the detective took a quick looked around to familiarize herself with the layout of the ground floor. Then she went in the kitchen and got Mrs. Jones a glass of ice water.

“Here you go, ma’am,” Mitchell said and sat down.

Mrs. Jones took a sip of the water and continued telling stories of her husband’s days in Vietnam. A few minutes later Mitchell asked where the bathroom was. Once again, Mrs. Jones pointed her in the right direction, and the detective was gone. This time she searched room to room, not knowing what she was looking for, but looking for everything at the same time.

Soon after Mitchell left the room, the widow got up and walked over to the fireplace. “This is him the day he was promoted to lieutenant commander.” Mrs. Jones handed the picture to Carmen. “That’s him,” she said and pointed proudly to her husband.

When Carmen looked at the picture, she had the strangest feeling that she had seen the man in the picture with Mr. Jones. “Who’s that in the picture with your husband?” she asked.

“That’s Captain Terry Redding. They served together for years in Vietnam and Cambodia.” Then Mrs. Jones asked the question that Carmen had been waiting for, and wondered why she hadn’t asked already. “I never did ask your name or what you wanted with my husband?”

“My name is Carmen Taylor; and I’m an investigative reporter for channel five,” Carmen said, trying out the title for the first time. She liked the way she sounded saying it, and knew it would be the last time.

“What did you want to talk to my husband about, Miss Taylor?”

“Do you know if your late husband knew a man named Peter Finch?” Carmen asked.

“Not that I can think of. Of course, I had very little to do with Thaddeus’s business associates,” Mrs. Jones said, and Mitchell returned to the room.

“Did you find everything all right?”

“Yes, yes, I did,” Mitchell answered, although she hadn’t found anything of interest during her search.

“Maybe if I knew what type of business this gentleman was in, perhaps I could help you.”

Carmen looked at the detective. “Mr. Finch was a filmmaker. I was thinking that maybe Mr. Finch produced a commercial or a documentary for your husband’s business,” Mitchell said.

Mrs. Jones looked at Mitchell and then to Carmen. “No, I don’t remember Thaddeus ever mentioning anything like that. But here again, I, as a rule, left the business affairs to Thaddeus.”

Mitchell got up. “I think we’ve intruded on Mrs. Jones long enough; don’t you think so, Carmen?”

“Yes.” Carmen stood up. “And once again, you have my deepest sympathy for your loss.” Carmen took out one of her business cards. “If you think of anything, or you just need somebody to talk to, please call me.” Mrs. Jones accepted the card, got up, and started for the door. That’s when Carmen saw it. As Mrs. Jones and the detective walked toward the door, Carmen drifted toward a picture on the wall. “Is this a more recent picture of Mr. Jones?” she asked.

Mrs. Jones stopped and turned toward Carmen. “Yes. It was taken last year at Terry’s reelection party.”

Now she recognized him. “This is Congressman Redding; the same one that he served with in the war.”

“That’s right,” Mrs. Jones said and continued toward the door. But now Carmen remembered where she had seen him before. She saw him when she was looking at Tangela House’s stuff. Carmen remembered walking to the mirror, when she noticed a newspaper clipping hanging there. It was a picture of Congressman Terrance Redding, and an article about proposed legislation that would bring investment to his western New York district.

It’s no secret that the Bahamas has some of the best sports fishing you’ll find anywhere in the world. The waters that surround Bahamas 700 islands are teeming with the most prized game fish. But that wasn’t the purpose of the outing that day.

Having loaded everything they were taking, Black walked hand in hand to the boat with Michelle. She had her little fishing rod in her hand and she couldn’t be happier.

Once they got out to sea, CeCe and Michelle got setup for a day of fishing. Black broke out a bottle of homemade Bahama Mama, and found a good spot to enjoy the view of the Caribbean Sea, Michelle having a good time, and CeCe in her white bikini.

As he enjoyed being out on the water, Black thought about the call he got from Wanda the night before. She told Black that Rain slapped her.

Black shook his head.

He had made a decision to stay out of their relationship from the time Nick first told him about it. Knowing both of them for as long as he had, Black had a feeling that things weren’t gonna go well, and that he should stay out of it. Taking sides meant losing a friend; and he had lost too many friends in his life.

“You’re right, Wanda. Rain had no business puttin’ her hands on you. But maybe you shouldn’t have called her a low-life bitch loud enough for her to hear it.”

“Good night, Mike,” Wanda said.

“Good night, Wanda.”

“And maybe if she wasn’t such as low-life bitch, I wouldn’t have had to have called her one,” Wanda said and slammed down the phone.

That was exactly why he didn’t want to get involved.

Black poured himself another glass of Bahama Mama, and tried not to think about Carmen. But the harder he tried not to, the more he thought about her. Each time his mind would drift to thoughts of Carmen, he would look at CeCe, and that was enough to refocus him for a while.

The comparisons began.

Carmen was prettier than CeCe; but not by much, because CeCe was a beautiful woman too. And if he wanted to be honest about it, Cassandra had them both beat in so many ways.
Which is why I married her.

While Carmen had maintained the classic model’s body that highlighted her beauty, CeCe was a statuesque beauty with raw sexuality and a body to match, that made him want to spend hours making love to her. But here again, Cassandra ruled in that category as well.

And what about Jada West?
You just want to fuck her.

He finally asked himself the question.

Who do you love?

Just then, Michelle came running up to him, jumped in his lap, kissed him on the cheek three times, and jumped down. “I love you, Daddy,” Michelle said as she ran back to where she and CeCe were fishing. “I guess that answers that question,”
Black said as he enjoyed watching his daughter having a good time.

After a day at sea, the trio returned to their house. CeCe cooked dinner: grilled steak and chicken strips with zucchini, squash, and mushrooms. As soon as dinner was over, CeCe announced that she was going to give Michelle a bath and put her to bed.

“What’s your hurry?” Black asked.

CeCe leaned close to him. “I saw the way you were looking at me all day,” she whispered and kissed him on the cheek.

When Michelle’s bath was over, CeCe went into their bathroom and got in the shower. Black read Michelle’s favorite story,
Cat in the Hat
to her, and then he said good night.

He very quietly went in the bathroom and got undressed. After a long shower, he went in their bedroom where CeCe was lying across the bed with her eyes closed. He approached the bed slowly; devouring every inch of her body with his eyes. He stopped in front of the bed and watched her. CeCe was lying on her stomach and he admired the curve of her back, her beautiful ass down her long and luscious legs, to her feet.

Black got down on his knees and began to massage her feet and kiss her ankles. Slowly, CeCe began to squirm. He looked up from what he was doing. Watching her movement, hearing the rustle of the sheets beneath her, excited him. Her legs pressed together and then opened slowly, as he crawled up on the bed and ran his tongue along her calves.

Slowly her head turned and CeCe opened her eyes. “Hi,” she said softly, but got no answer. Black’s eyes were focused between her legs. CeCe spread her legs a little wider and her lips seemed to open, calling him. He eased two fingers in his mouth and then slid them inside her. While Black slid his fingers in and out of her, he ran his hand over her ass. CeCe closed her eyes and her fingers gripped the sheets.

Black leaned forward, kissed her cheek, massaged her clit and continued to crawl his way up her body. He loved the feeling of CeCe’s soft skin against his. He removed his fingers and CeCe rolled on her back. Black eased his fingers inside her again. The deeper he got, the more CeCe would squirm. He brushed her thin patch of hair with his hand. Black spread and then sucked her lips gently. He glided his tongue slowly along her lips while he massaged her clit with his index finger.

CeCe’s back arched as Black stuck his tongue inside her, moving in and out slowly and gently. She moaned and rotated her hips. He spread her lips with two fingers and sucked her clit, and then he
flickered
the tip of his tongue across it. CeCe began to moan as Black sucked harder. As her clit got harder, her moans got louder.
 

CeCe reached out and held his head in place as she arched her back, thrusting her pelvis into him. Her body began to tremble, her eyes and mouth sprang open, and she screamed the screams of passion.

CeCe forced his head from between her thighs and pulled him toward her. She pushed her breasts together and Black began sucking her nipples. First one then the other; back and forth as he continued to slide his finger in and out of her while rubbing her clit with his thumb, until she came and couldn’t take anymore.

“Come here. I want to feel you inside me.”

CeCe was so wet that Black was able to push his entire length inside her. CeCe’s fingers dug into his back and she lifted her legs. Black grabbed her ankles and continued to plunge deep inside. Then suddenly, he pulled completely out of her. He held CeCe’s ankles together with one hand and reached for a pillow with the other. Black lifted her up and placed the pillow under her hips.

Once again, he spread her legs and entered her. Black watched as CeCe alternated between squeezing her nipples and playing with her clit. He long-dicked her for a while sliding in and out of her slowly, pulling almost completely out of her, then slowly back inside, as deep as he could get it. Black let go of her ankles and CeCe wrapped her legs around his waist. They got into a slow grind until he felt her body trembling. Black pulled out of her when he felt her juices flow.

He stood up and walked around to the side of the bed. CeCe caught her breath and rolled to the edge of the bed, and she got on her hands and knees. Black reached out and grabbed CeCe by the shoulder with one hand, and her waist with the other. Black pulled her to him and entered her as hard as she could stand it. He felt himself begin to swell inside her, so he pulled out of her. CeCe turned around quickly and took him into her mouth. Black stood watching as his length disappeared and reappeared, as it went deeper and deeper in and out of her mouth. CeCe moaned and fingered her clit while she took him in. “I love sucking your dick.”