Loves Redemption (33 page)

the needed information.

Maya turned her attention to Mark and Nicolai. “While you’re talking to the staff

members, I’m going to speak with the residents to allay any fears they may have.”

She turned back to Dalia, “Dal, could you gather the staff after you provide Mark and

Agent Montgomery the list. If you could also call and arrange for the others who aren’t here to come in as soon as they’re able, I would appreciate it,” she instructed.

“Of course. I will start assembling everyone as soon as I print the roster.”

“I’ll leave you to start your interviews. I’ll meet back up with you as soon as I’ve finished speaking with the women.”

* * * *

Mark and Nicolai were inside the conference room, the last staff member was leaving the

room as Maya approached. “How did it go with your residents?” Mark asked.

“Fine. I didn’t realize the time had gotten away from me. I wanted to make sure the

women understood they weren’t in danger, and you had questions that would help make sure

everyone was safe here at the House. They seemed nervous, but basically everyone was content, not afraid.”

“I’m glad you were able to allay their fears. We’ve interviewed most of the staff. No new

information, but we still have a few more counselors coming in later. I also called the station and spoke with Jordan, he’s arranging for extra security. We’d better start interviewing the residents.

It would be best if you were with us as we interview them Maya,” Mark told her.

“Ms. Vallejo was hesitant,” Montgomery said to Mark when Maya excused herself from

the room, to follow Ruby Vallejo.

“Does she know something?” He’d asked, trusting in Montgomery’s odd abilities.

“Maybe. She was uncomfortable, unsure,” Montgomery dragged the last word out, as

though weighing it carefully.

Mark went to the door of the conference in time to see Maya and the woman speaking

quietly to one another before Maya smiled and placed her arm around Ruby’s narrow shoulders, and gave her a light squeeze. The woman hugged Maya tightly before releasing her and striding quickly away. Mark turned away as Maya headed back into the room.

“Ruby told me something she didn’t disclose earlier.” Maya addressed both men as soon

as she reentered the room, but her eyes were on Mark.

“What was that?”

“ She’d noticed one of our weekend counselors, James Smith, had brought a vase of

flowers in the same morning I received my flowers. At the time, Ruby had been hesitant to say anything.”

“Who is this Mr. Smith?” Nicolai asked.

Maya turned in his direction and answered, “James is one of our newest practicum

students. He comes in the evening and on the weekend.”

With a frown, Mark took out the printouts Dalia had given them, double-checking the

names. “James Smith? There’s no James Smith on this list.” He showed the list to Maya.

“I guess Dalia hasn’t updated the roster. And he isn’t here until later in the evening. He’s not scheduled to come in until the end of the week.”

“Why does he come in so late?”

“Our residents are used to being out late night and early morning, and that’s a hard habit

to break. It’s good to have a counselor on duty for them in case they want to talk. I usually have a staff member available, and we lucked out with James needing those particular hours, because of his full-time job.”

“We need to speak with him. Do you have his work phone number available?” Mark

asked.

“I’m sure it’s on file. I’ll check with Dalia.” Maya left the room and went in search of the phone number.

As she went in search of the information Mark and Nicolai perused the remaining

counselors on the list, circling the names of those they still needed to contact.

“If you don’t mind I would like to speak with him,” Nicolai requested as Maya returned

back to the room, phone number in hand.

“We don’t have his work phone number but we do have his home and cell numbers.” She

told them.

“Dr. Richardson could I use your phone please? In case he has caller i.d, it might be

better for your phone number to show,” he explained.

After she handed him the telephone, he dialed the number, and on the second ring it was

picked up with a friendly, “Hello you’ve reached, James Smith. At the sound of the tone please leave a message. Have a wonderful day!” Nicolai disengaged the phone after leaving a message for him to call Imani House.

With a small shake of his head he said, “I’m sure he’ll call back but I don’t think you

have anything to worry about,” he said more to Mark than to Maya.

Maya was confused with the conversation, and realized there was something she was

missing, the two men engaging in some sort of silent communication she wasn’t privy to. She looked back and forth between them, waiting for an answer.

“We’ll follow up with another call, and if he doesn’t call back, I’ll be here when he

comes to work to ask him a few questions.”

After speaking to the security guards once more, Mark and Nicolai waited until the two

uniform police had arrived before they left.

Mark’s call to one of his brothers had produced two plain clothed guards, whose

expertise would allow them to go undetected outside guarding Imani House and its occupants.

He’d also produced two personal guards who would take turns to provide Maya with 24-hour

protection.

Before he reluctantly left, Mark turned to Maya and kissed her lingeringly on the lips.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can. If I think it’s getting too late, I want you to let Mike give you a ride home.” He referred to the silent watchful guard who’d discretely given them privacy.

“Mark do you really think all of this is necessary?”

“If I thought all of this was necessary I wouldn’t let you out of my sight,” he told her

grimly. “There’s someone out there who has a fixation on you, and until we find her, all of this may not be needed, but it damn sure is required.” He kissed her good-bye again before he left.

As Mark and Agent Montgomery strapped on their seat belts, Mark asked, “The

counselor? Nothing?”

“No. But it wouldn’t hurt to have a talk with him,” Nicolai told Mark, and leaned his

head against the headrest and closed his eyes.

Late that night as Nicolai lay down on the soft hotel mattress, his mind replayed the soft

feminine voice he was becoming more and more intimate with.

There was something definitely ‘off’ about the voice, something was obvious he was

missing. He rubbed his temples wearily; the headaches were getting worse and were interfering with his abilities.

He slowed his breathing, and consciously relaxed each major muscle in his body. He

lowered his heart rate, slowly and methodically.

When he’d achieved the cadence and beat he needed, he opened his mind, and drifted

into a trancelike awareness. Reaching out across the miles, his dream self reached for, and connected with the only one who could help.
“Dafina. I need you.”

“It’s not so bad living with me is it?” Mark asked Maya, as she lay in front of him on his

king-sized bed.

“No. The last week hasn’t been too bad at all. If I can’t be in my own home, there’s no

other place I’d rather be, than with you.”

He felt the same. Beneath the dense braid that lay heavily on top of her exposed breasts,

his hand found and massaged the heavy orb, his thumb caressed the hard peak.

“The last few weeks we’ve spent most of our free time in your house, and it’s been great,

but it feels good having you here.”

His other hand traveled down the length of her small curves. He stopped at the small

triangle junction at the top of her legs, and stroked the hidden nub.

He delved one of his fingers inside, and withdrew it, saturated with her cream. After he

took a small lick, he groaned. “You taste so damn good, baby.” He spread the moisture back over her clit, and continued to stroke her.

“I don’t want this to end. I can’t imagine not being with you, now that you’ve become a

part of my life. When this case is over, I don’t want you to leave. If you don’t want to stay here, if you want to go back to your house we can do that, as long as we’re together. Say we’ll stay together,” he begged huskily, his throat clogged.

“Yes, Mark, of course I’ll stay,” she moaned, her head tossing against the front of his

chest.

With her agreement, he lifted her up and onto his aching, hard shaft, spearing her deeply

from behind. He took both of her hips in his hands and set the pace for their lovemaking. Slow at first he guided her, before the tight wet feel of her, demanded he increase the pace.

He lifted her thigh up and over his leg, as he continued to rock into her from the back. He kissed the side of her neck, her small shell-shaped ear, and her smooth brown throat, down to the back of her shoulders.

“Baby, you feel
so
good. I’ve never felt like this. Never. No matter how many times we make love, it only gets better. I love you so much,” he panted as he leveled her body on his.

He knew it was good for her, and he could easily come in this position, but he knew she

needed a little more to achieve her ultimate pleasure. “Push back, baby,” he instructed, and applied the right amount of pressure with his hands. When her orgasm broke, he felt his balls tingle, signaling his orgasm struggling to break free.

He flipped her on her back, and covered her body with his. He lifted both of her hands

high above her head, as he plunged harder, picking up the pace. His body demanded more as he surged into her. He welcomed the way her slick sheath milked his cock when she orgasmed for the second time.

Throwing his head back, he allowed the orgasm to flood his body, his coarse groans of

relief hard and long, as he emptied into her willing body.

Once his heartbeat had returned to semi-normal, Mark lifted his head and stared down at

the small woman who held his heart in his hands. Feelings of love and permanence flooded him as he voiced out loud what had been in his mind. “Let’s make a baby.”

Instantly, Mark felt the change come over her loose-limbed body. Instead of feeling her

soft pliant curves, he felt a rigidity invade her limbs.

Rolling away, Maya sat up and tried to get out of the bed. He placed one arm out and

easily restrained her. “What? What’s wrong? Okay. I know that didn’t come out right. But I

really would like to talk about it. What’s wrong?” He asked worriedly when she said nothing in response. He turned her back around to face him. “Maya what the hell is wrong?”

“I don’t know what to say. You took me by surprise. I’m not sure what to think. I’ve

never thought about children and me. I didn’t know my parents and I’m not sure if I would know how to care for a child,” she nearly stuttered her answer.

“Maya look at me. You are the most caring person I’ve ever known. You show love and

concern to women society has thrown away. You help without thought or a desire for

acknowledgment. ”

He saw her eyes avert his as he spoke. He wasn’t sure if she was listening to him at all.

“Sweetheart, you’re hardworking and loyal and it extends to everyone you come in

contact with. From an early age you nurtured your foster sister as though she were your child instead of a sibling. No, don’t turn away from me,” he demanded, his hand gripping her upper arm as he forced her to look at him.

“You were only a few years older than Ally, yet you took on the role of mother and

protector for her. You did the best you could for her and she knew that, Maya. But no matter how wonderful a parent you are, God has given everyone free will. Some don’t choose wisely, but there is only so much you can do. After you’ve done all you can, there’s nothing else to do, baby.” He gathered her in his arms when he saw her eyes tear up.

“Please don’t allow the way Allison chose to live her life to influence your belief in your parenting skills. That would be an injustice to you, and our child,” he nearly begged.

Maya finally returned his hug. As she held on to him, she didn’t say a word, simply

hugged him, rubbing her head back and forth against his chest. When his phone rang, he barely stifled a curse.

“Let it ring, it’ll go to voice mail.”

“But what if it’s an emergency? With everything going on....”

Mark groaned but answered, “Hello” he barked into the receiver.

“Thank God you answered Detective Halstan. This is Dalia, is Maya with you?”

“Dalia what’s going on? Where are you?”

“I am here at Imani House. I came by to retrieve a document I need to work on at home. I

am not sure, but I believe Maya has received another message from that woman.”

“What is it exactly?” Mark asked Dalia, while Maya leaned close into his side, trying to

hear the conversation.

“When I walked into the office, I noticed the package right away, addressed to Maya.”

“Did you open it?”

“Yes I did. I open all mail and that includes packages for Maya as part of my

administrative duties. When I opened this one, a ‘bouquet’ of dead flowers lay inside with a note sitting on top.”

“Did you open the note?”

“No, I left everything alone.”

“Great Dalia. Here’s what I want you to do--leave the office and lock it when you do and

then go directly to the security guard. Are you on a cordless phone?” He started putting his clothes on as he spoke, and watched with raised brows as Maya did the same.

“Yes I’m on the cordless.”

“Okay, I’m going to stay on the line and when you reach one of the guards I want you to

give the phone to him okay Dal?”

“No problem, the guard is outside the office door. I will hand the phone to him now,