LOVING HER SOUL MATE (44 page)

He thrashed into her for nearly
twenty straight minutes.
 
What he had
assumed would be a quickie turned out to be so laced with passion that it was
anything but quick.
 
But when he whipped
her pussy one time too many, causing her to squeeze in climax, causing him to
clench in release, his juice poured into her with a few more thrashes that left
them both pulsating and pleased.

It would be just before dawn,
around five am, hours after they both had fallen asleep, before they both would
wake up, and she would tell him.
 
She
knew it wouldn’t matter if she had told him when he first came home, or at five
am now.
 
But she still wanted him to know
before he saw it in the paper.

At first there was no response.

She turned around, to face
him.
 
“Did you hear me?” she asked.

He was on his back, and his eyes
were closed again.
 
She shook him.
 
“John!”

“It’s what?” he asked her,
startled, opening his eyes again and lifting his head slightly.
 
Then he laid his head back down and pinched
the bridge of his nose.
 
“I’m sorry,
babe.
 
What did you say?”

“I know you’re tired, but I need
to let you know.”

“Let me know what?”

“We have proof that Glazer
couldn’t have killed three of those thirteen women.”

At first he just laid there.
 
Then he looked at her.
 
“You have
what
?”

“We, the Brady Beast, have proof
that Willie Glazer didn’t kill three of those women.
 
I’m not supposed to tell you, but I didn’t
want you to be completely blindsided when the morning paper hits the
stand.”
 
And the shit hits the fan
, Shay wanted to add, but didn’t.

John just stared at her.
 
“What kind of proof do you have?”

“The police chief of a small town
in Mississippi showed us proof that Glazer was in his jail for two solid weeks
at the same time, over that two-week period, when three of those prostitutes
were killed.
 
There’s no way Glazer could
have killed those three women, no way, John.
 
Which calls into question whether or not he killed any
of those women.
 
Especially since our District Attorney Pamela Ansley has made clear
that one perp killed all thirteen.”

John frowned.
 
“And you believe this police chief?”

“I, why yes,
why wouldn’t I believe him?”

“A guy sits on information like
this for a whole year after Glazer’s arrested and then, just before the trial
of the century is set to begin, he busts out with the big news?
 
And you don’t see why his so-called news would
be at least a little suspicious?
 
You
can’t possibly be that bad a reporter, Shanay.”

Shay knew he was angry.
 
He only called her by her full name when he
was angry as hell with her.
 
Then he
lifted his naked body over her and got out of bed.
 

“What did Pamela say?” he asked
her as he began putting on his pants.

Shay sat up in bed, the covers
around her waist, her bare breasts revealed.
 
“The DA?”

“Yes, the DA!
 
What’s wrong with you?
 
Who else do you think I’m talking about?
 
Since you didn’t bother to get any comments
from me, surely you got some from Pam.”

Shay knew he’d be upset, but she
never dreamed he’d be this upset.
 
“I was
going to call and get comments, but Paige decided against it.”

“Oh, I’m sure Paige did.
 
If it’ll fuck with the police she’s all for
it.”

“That’s not fair, John.”

“Like hell it’s not!
 
You decided to wait until that shit of a
newspaper hits the stands to tell me that our entire case against Glazer is
fucked, and you’re calling
me
unfair?”

“I couldn’t give you any heads up
on my story before we went to print, and you know that!
 
What if you tell one of your men, and they
tell our competitor, then our competitor trumps us on a story we busted our
asses on?
 
I can’t do that to my
employer.
 
You know I can’t.”

“But you can do it to me?”

“It hasn’t anything to do with
you!” Shay yelled.
 
“I’m a journalist!”

“You’re my woman!” John thundered
back.
 
“First and last!
 
You hear me, Shanay?
 
First and last!
 
I’m your man first and last!
 
If you’re going to be my wife, you had better
understand that.”

“Oh, so, I have to answer to you
about my job, too, is that what you’re saying?
 
There will be nothing about my life that I’ll have control over?
 
You’ll control it all?”

John took a moment to calm
himself
back down.
 
“I
don’t want to control any of it.
 
I just
don’t like the way you handled this.
 
And
if I don’t like the way you handle something I’m going to tell your ass I don’t
like it.
 
You could have phoned me,
Shay.”

“I tried to phone you!
 
I tried, John.
 
But you were in meetings and they couldn’t
disturb you.
 
I even left messages for
you.”

“When did you first find out about
this so-called chief and his new information?”

“The police chief phoned me the
day of Mayor Fletchette’s dinner party.”

“What?” John asked,
astounded.
 
“You knew about it then and
didn’t tell me anything?”

“I hadn’t seen the evidence for
myself.
 
Paige and I went to Mississippi
yesterday morning and saw the info.”

John could not believe that
either.
 
“Mississippi?” he said.
 
“You went to Mississippi yesterday?”

“Yeah, to
follow the story.”

“And there I was, thinking you
were safely at work, doing your job, when you were in
Mississippi
?
 
And you didn’t
think I needed to be aware of that fact?”

It didn’t sound unreasonable at
the time, Shay thought.
 
But now, the way
John pointed it out, she realized her problem.
 
She couldn’t jump up and do whatever she wanted when she wanted and how
she wanted without at least letting him know.
 
That was the deal now.
 
She had a
man now.
 
A real man
who wasn’t going to take a backseat in her life.

“I didn’t think about it,” she
admitted.

John ran his hand through his
hair.
 
He stared at her.
 
There was a lot she didn’t think about.
 
“Go on,” he said.

Shay reluctantly continued.
  
“After we got back into town and the story
was in the queue, I tried to reach you.
 
That’s why I came over here.
 
And
I knew if I told you last night or if I told you this morning it wasn’t going
to make much difference, I know that.
 
Especially since the story was already locked and loaded and ready for
this morning’s distribution.
 
But I still
wanted to give you a heads up.”

He just stood there, his shirt in
his hand.
 
His pants on but
unzipped.
 
“We’ll talk tonight,” he said,
“but I’m very upset with you, Shanay.”

Tears began to appear in Shay’s
eyes.
 
What did he want from her?
 
“You’re upset because I did my job and didn’t
let the Tribune or any of our other competitors get the story out before we got
it out?
 
Is that why you’re upset?”

“I’m upset that you would believe
I’d betray you like that.
 
I’m upset
because you didn’t come to me first and let me know what you had.
 
I wouldn’t have run to some damn competitor
of yours.
 
But I would have devised a
strategy for handling the onslaught.
 
This story of yours is going to set off a bomb in this town, a
firestorm, Shay, and like always I’m un-fucking-prepared!
 
I expected it from Paige and that
got
damn Brady Beast.
 
I never expected it from you!”

He stared at her longer, and then
headed for the shower.

The headline was bold:
New
Evidence Exonerates Glazer. Pam Ansley
Under
Fire
.

John stood behind his desk
staring, once again, at that newspaper Pamela Ansley had just tossed onto his
desk.
 
She stood there, tall, leggy,
blonde and attractive, and shook her head.
 
She was so angry she could hardly contain herself.
 
Craig Yannick was also in the office, along
with Wayne Peete.
 
And they, too, felt
blindsided.
 

“How could she do this to you?”
Yannick was asking John.
 
“After all you
did for her, after how you stood up for her, how could she do this to you?”

“She was doing her job, Cap,”
Peete said, but it angered Pam.

“How can you defend that bitch?”
she roared.
 
“She didn’t even bother to
get a comment from me!
 
Nothing.
 
I called the
publisher of that so-called newspaper this morning and you know what that
butthole told me?” She looked at John when she asked this.
 
“He said the public already knows our side of
the story.
 
Now it’s Glazer’s turn.
 
Glazer’s turn, he said.
 
A serial killer’s turn!”

“Just hold on, Pam,” John
said.
 
“Hold on, all right?”
 
Then he looked her in the eye.
 
“And if you call Shanay a bitch again you can
get your ass out of my office, I don’t care how upset you are.”

Pamela exhaled.
 
“I’m sorry,” she said.
 
“All right?
 
I didn’t mean to disrespect
your whatever
she is to you.”

“My fiancé,” he replied and everybody
looked at him.
 
Especially Pamela, who,
after Blair died, had hoped to make some inroads with John herself.
 
Shanay Turner was long gone to Philly.
 
She thought she stood a chance.
 
But when she approached him about spending
the night together, he wouldn’t even do that.
 
He wasn’t available was what he told her.
 
Wasn’t available.
 
As if he was waiting for Shanay to come
back.
 
As if a bitch like her was worth
waiting for.
  

“Well, whatever,” Pamela said
dismissively.
 
“But I’m worried,
John.
 
My office has already received
death threats.
 
Those civil rights
activists are all over television gloating about how we were covering up the
truth all along.
 
And I just got word that
the judge is already considering a defense motion to dismiss all charges.
 
He’s already considering it.”

“When is he expected to make his
ruling?”

“Tomorrow morning.
 
His office says either the trial will begin
as planned on that day and the defense motion will be denied, or the motion
will be granted and all charges will be dismissed.
 
Either way, it all goes down tomorrow
morning.”

Yannick shook his head.
 
“This is bad, Chief.
 
No matter how we try to dress up this pig,
it’s bad.
 
We’ve got to prepare for riots
in the streets if that defense motion is denied.
 
Now that those activists have this so-called
investigative report of Turner’s as proof of what they’ve been saying all
along, they’ll expect nothing less than a complete exoneration for Glazer.
  
If the judge denies the defense motion to
dismiss, we’re screwed.
 
This town could
erupt.”

“What can we do, Chief?” Peete
asked the boss.

John ran his hand across his
eyes.
 
“I want you and Kincaid to get
over to Hurley, Mississippi, wherever the hell that is, and check out that
police chief.
 
Talk to the residents, I
understand there’s only a handful there.
 
I think there’s only something like two or three hundred people in the
whole town.
 
See what they know about
this character.”