Jail's Bait: Time Served (Book 5)

Melo had fallen asleep on his couch, thinking about Kap, and whether he was okay up in Seattle.  A few minutes before he had quietly rubbed himself out a nutt, picturing Kap in various positions around his dick.  He wondered whether Necie noticed how much better the sex was lately… for of course, while she was beneath him, in his mind’s eye it was Kap he was tossing about and climbing the walls with, digging deeply into those masculine, sexy dark thighs…

“Baby..? Hey, go take a shower,” said a voice from beneath all the fog.

“What-whassup,” Melo mumbled as he began to wake.

“I see you were out here watching porn again,” Necie said, reprimanding him.

Waking up fully, he realized with horror that he had fallen asleep with his boxers down around his ankles and one fist gripping onto part of his lengthy, half-hard dick, of which his flaccid mushroom tip was crusted around the edge with dried jizz.  His thighs also showed dried crusted evidence of the explosion.

“Baby,” he began, not knowing what his mouth was going to come up with next.

“Relax, you obviously know I got my period last night,” she smiled; “men gotta do what they gotta do.  Its all good.” She leaned over and patted him on the head.  “Go shower,” she repeated.

Melo’s eyes widened from the bullet he just dodged; he reached down to pull off his boxers, wiping his hand on a nearby sweat towel.  “Sorry, I was sort of horny after I got off the phone with my brother,” he said- then wondered whether that sounded quite right.

“Your brother?  I thought y’all didn t speak,” Necie replied absently, coffing her hair in her pocket mirror.

Melo nodded.  “That’s why I called him, I thought that maybe-”

“Whatever, anyway I’m going to Sauna Joe’s downtown,” Necie interrupted him then, obviously unconcerned with whatever Melo was up to.  “They open up at 7am, so maybe I can get there and beat the rush.”

Melo sighed inwardly, knowing just how much Necie’s personal life was far more important to her than he was.  “I thought you guys had early rehearsal,” he replied outwardly.

She shook her head no.  “Cancelled.  I’ll need a few days anyway, til my cycle is done.  And anyway, the twins just called me, they can’t make it either.  Their friend Angelina is in the hospital.”

Melo jumped to his feet.  “What the- what’s wrong with her?  Was she attacked?” he asked, thinking of Hooch.

Necie looked at her boyfriend askance. “What’s wrong with you...? Calm down.”

Melo realized that he was acting somewhat dramatic.  “Okay,” he sighed.

Necie went back to fixing herself in the mirror.  “But yeah, she was attacked.”

“WHAT??”

She told him about the twins finding Angelina unconscious and Carmen gone.  “And they don’t know what happened to her.  They called Angelina’s boyfriend Kap-”

“They called Kap?  He actually answered the phone..?” he half-yelled at her.

Necie gave him a weird look.  “Yeah, why wouldn’t he..?  You’re acting real strange right now.  Anyway, he told them to make sure his girl was okay and to call the cops,” she replied dismissively.

“Who do you think took Carmen..?” Melo asked, picking up the dirty boxers and towel and tossing them into the nearby clothes hamper.

“How should I know..?  It’s none of our business,” she replied nonchalantly.  “Look, I want first choice at the booths.  See you later!!”  And with a kiss on the cheek, she was gone.

Melo stood there for a moment, trying to digest all this down.  Then he grabbed his shower things and left his dorm, sprinting towards the bathroom, jumping into the showers.  Since this was Saturday morning, it was still early enough that no one else was in there yet.  He quickly scrubbed himself, rinsed off and ran back to his room, towel-dried and jumped into his clothes, all the while thinking that his love for Kap made him feel like he had to protect those closest to the boy, especially while Kap was out of town- which made Angelina, in Melo’s perspective, his top priority.  He was now her brand-new bodyguard, even though she didn’t know that yet.

He finished dressing and grabbed his keys, thanking the gods that Necie decided to drive her own car today instead of taking his truck.  Rushing outside, he jumped into his Lexus Elite and gunned the motor.  It leapt into life, and seconds later he had cleared the campus and was speeding down the road towards the nearest hospital.  He would get there, protect Angelina for Kap’s sake…

He would find out who did this to her, and make them pay….

* * * * *

Angelina began to stir, the heavy blackness leaving her face and settling in the back of her skull, making it throb quietly.  Her eyes began to twich as she slowly returned to consciousness… and then her eyes dared to blink open, letting in a blaze of light she squinted from.  She raised one arm to her face, and noticed that it was taking her hand an incredibly long time to accomplish this task… raising herself slightly the collected blackness at the back of her skull threatened to wash over her again.  She groaned…

She heard the sound of swinging doors, and the rush of feet.  “Hey,” she heard one of the twins say- was it Dani? Ty?  She couldn’t tell which-

“Don’t raise up yet, you just woke up from being drugged.”

Angelina heard those words, and silently registered that this must be why she felt a large wad of scratch paper in her mouth instead of her tongue. “Water,” she croaked, trying to swallow and wondering absently why that felt so foreign to her to do.

Someone put the tip of a straw by her lips.  She took it in and began to suck.  Wonderful, cool water rushed into her mouth, and it moistened down the scratch paper, and turned it back into her tongue. The more she drank, she more she began to feel like herself again.

She opened her eyes- it was easier to do this time.  “Thanks,” she managed, now able to see for herself what was going on.  She was inside one of the exam rooms at the hospital, laying on a gurney- and the twins were by her side, one on each bedrail.

“Are you okay?” Dani was asking.

The blackness was vanishing from the back of her skull; Angelina felt like she could finally sit up, and gingerly did so.  “Yeahhhh… what happened..?” she asked.

Before anyone could say another word the swinging doors opened again and Melo came bursting in, dressed in his football jersey and jeans.  “Angelina… are you okay, girl..?” he asked, concern and fear both playing across his face.

“We asked you to wait outside until she said you were okay to come in..!” Tyra hissed.

“Melo..?  No, its okay to let him in,” Angelina said then, waving the twins back.  “What happened again?” she asked them as Melo came to her bedside.

“We found you on the pavement right outside,” Danielle replied.  “Someone had drugged you.  We called the boys and they told us to call the police.”

“Did you?  Call the cops, I mean...?” Angelina asked then, frowning.

Tyra shook her head no, much to Angelina’s approval.  “I thought we should wait on calling the cops until you came to.”

Dani nodded in agreement.  “Yeah, you might have seen what happened to Carmen and wanted to do something about it yourself, so we had to wait until you-”

“Carmen..?  Where is she,” Angelina asked, her eyes wide with fright, now noticing that her girlfriend was not there.  “What do you mean ‘what happened to Carmen’...?”

“She was already gone when we found you outside on the ER dock.  “We found her prescription pills laying next to you.”  And Dani handed her the crumpled bag with Carmen’s name on it.

Angelina stared at the bag, and her eyes grew dark.  “It was Jake- he got her.”

“Jake...?” Danielle gasped.  “Why would he take her?”

But Angelina didn’t answer that.  She turned instead and regarded the man hovering over her.  “Melo, you got your truck...?”

“Yeah, outside,” he replied.

“I hope you like road trips, ‘cause you’re taking me to Seattle- right now,” she commanded him.  “I have to get up with Marquis and Kap- they’ll know what to do.”

“Kap..?  Uhh, sure, I’m down, let’s go,” Melo declared without further argument.  

“You aint goin nowhere without us…” Danielle said then, arms folded.

Tyra nodded in agreement.  “That’s right.  And anyway our grams is in Seattle right now, she left a voicemail last night, letting us know that she’d fill us in later as to why.  This way we can look for her as well...!”

“Is Carmen sick?  I heard you say something about prescription pills…” Melo asked curiously.

“No, they’re pre-natal vitamins…” Danielle replied without thinking.

“Tyra pushed her sister.  “Would you hush up??  That’s not his business!”

But Melo stared down at the bag with petrified eyes, and then at the girl in the bed.  “Angelina… you’re not seriously telling me that Jake snactched a pregnant girl, are you?” he gulped.

“Angelina’s eyes glittered with emotion.  “We gotta go, NOW.”

* * * * *

In the prep room, Danny stood by the gurney upon which lay his unconscious son, holding his hand and staring down at his young face, which only now began to show slight signs of age... the way stubble underneath his chin began to leave a slight darkening to his neck, how his hairline just didn’t look as razor-smooth as it used to be.  Yet in every other aspect Lamar Clark-Hill was handsome, almost too much so.  Danny had wondered when his little boy was around seven or eight years old, what his children would look like since Lamar was such a pretty boy himself.  He imagined that Lamar would settle down with the best-looking girl in the area and they would present him with grandchildren that would outshine the sun, and be the best in everything.  He smiled at that memory.  Of course, Lamar didn’t exactly follow that path, but he did find the path to true love, and in doing so became a vessel of integrity and honor; a decent man.  So much so that he rubbed off on Joop’s thuggish ways, which made him into Malik- a man of respect and dignity as well.  He was so proud of them both he coudnt express it… which is what made this so unbearable.  Malik’s choice to willingly betray Lamar’s personal integrity and moral compass would probably be the one thing that would break them apart forever.  But as much as he loved his son and allowed him to make his own life choices, Danny knew he couldn’t just stand by and watch Lamar die without fighting tooth and nail to save him… but he also knew what the cost would be.  Lamar would wake up and only see this as the two of them betraying him- again.

Yet unlike back in the beginning, he knew that Lamar wouldn’t forgive either of them, not this time.

The doors to the prep room opened.  “You shouldn’t be back here,” Dr. Martin said, laying one hand on Danny’s shoulder.

“I just had to see him once more before he went into the OR,” Danny admitted, wiping his tears from his face.

“I understand,” Dr. Martin replied.  “Where’s Malik?”

“He left to go handle something… a family problem,” Danny replied.

Dr. Martin sighed.  “Okay, then, the heart is here and is being prepped.  Am I allowed to proceed with the prep stages...?”

Danny met Dr. Martin’s eyes.  “You heard my son-in-law; please continue.  We will yell at my son later, after his new heart is strong enough to take it.”  He reached into his pocket and held up a piece of paper.  “Malik signed the release form before he left; the original is with the Admissions people, and this is an official copy for his lawyer’s records- that’s me,” he added.

Dr. Martin nodded as the surgical team began to enter the room.  “Nurse, please escort the patient to Prep Room 4,” he indicated to one of the women who were dressing themselves with scrubs.

“Yes, doctor.”

* * * * *

Five minutes later Danny was back in the Emergency waiting room, absently wondering why no one else was having an emergency early on a Saturday morning, for the place was deserted.  He ran his hands through his hair, took a deep breath, and then pulled out his cell phone, dialing Crimson Crest.  “Yes, this is Danny Clark, I’d like to speak with Trey Hill please…  Oh, he did...?  Okay, thank you.”

Slightly disappointed, he hung up the phone.  The staff member who answered said that Trey had left out of the manor.  Danny guessed that he couldn’t really blame the man, since this would be the first time in thirteen years that he went outside on his own steam... maybe he went for a walk to get some fresh air, or maybe-

“Hey partna…”

The voice stunned him as he spun around to see Trey standing there, dressed in jeans, a white tee shirt and jacket, bright, half-cocky smile, arms outstretched.

Tears blinded Danny’s eyes as he fell into Trey’s arms.  For a moment he just shook with sobs, his fear for Lamar pouring forth in a torrent as Trey smoothed his hair, shushing him back to calm.  After his sobs subsided, Danny stayed there in the shelter of Trey’s arms.  “How did you know I needed you right now..?” he managed.

“It’s my job to know, Danny-boy,” he replied, tightening his arms

“I’m so scared for my boy, Trey…” Danny said then, trembling.

Trey’s response was to bow his head down onto Danny’s, kissing his forehead.  “I gotcha, partna.. always.”

Danny was so grateful for Trey’s presence that it did help him calm down… yet inside he knew that he was just as nervous for Lamar as before.  

Please let my son make it… he prayed.

* * * * *

The upscale roadster sped down highway I-5, its wheels a blur as they dodged past slower moving vehicles.  RahRah sat in the back while Marquis drove, with Kap riding shotgun.  The silence was becoming oppressive, with Marquis's worry over Carmen overwhelming everyone in the car. RahRah suddenly realized that he missed Marcus.  “I need to make a call,” he suddenly said aloud.

“It’s okay, Dad,” Marquis replied absently as he sped down the highway.

RahRah pulled out his cellphone and dialed Marcus’s direct phone line at OakGrove.  In seconds the phone’s ring was answered.  “Hello?”

“It’s me,” RahRah smiled.

He could almost hear the answering grin coming from the other end.  “Hey baby… I’m already dressed in my regular street clothes- are you on your way to come get me?  I’m so excited.”

“What are you talking about...?” RahRah asked, completely confused.

“My day pass- its today, remember?  We had planned to finally spend the day outside of OakGrove together…” Marcus replied brightly.

RahRah mentally smacked himself when he remembered that this was planned about a week beforehand, and hurdles of red tape had to be muddled through before the day pass was approved.  He sighed openly, “Ahhh damn, I didn’t forget, it’s just- I’ve been up all night with my son; his girlfriend was just kidnapped, and she’s pregnant.”

“WOW, the drama never stops in your family, huh?” Marcus replied, his voice sounding sullen.

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” RahRah frowned, reacting to the change in tone.

“All these larger than life… episodes your family gets dragged into every week!!  Are you sure this is really going on, or are you just looking for excuses to not fuck with me?” Marcus asked defensively.

“Oh my GOD, I don’t have time for this,” RahRah groaned.  “The girl carrying my future grandson or granddaughter is currently being held against her will by a potentially crazy kid, and you think this is all about you??”

There was a moment of silence.  “Okay, I see where that might seem like I’m being just a bit selfish…” Marcus began.

“YA THINK??  Dude, give me a break.  I wanna be with you, I want to have something decent and nice and stress-free, please meet me halfway on this?” RahRah asked stressfully.

“I’m sorry, I got carried away.  Again,” Marcus explained.  “You just forget that drama I just pushed, cool...?”

RahRah sighed once again.  “Okay.  Look, we’re going to start looking at my cousin’s place- HT, what used to be the old ski lodge halfway up Mt. Rainier...?”

“I want you to focus on that.  I’ll keep the girl in my prayers,” Marcus said then, with genuine concern.

“I cant wait to see you, baby.  I mean that,” RahRah said then.

“Me too.  Bye.”

The line clicked off.  RahRah sighed once again as he put the phone away.  

“Dad, are you okay?” Marquis asked.

RahRah looked up to see his son staring at him in the rearview mirror.  “What- oh, yeah, I’m fine.  Marcus, he can be a little bit… “

“Diva..?” Kap supplied.

RahRah chuckled. “Yeah, most sports celebrities are.  But he’s also a patient in an asylum for the criminally insane.  Kid gloves…”

“Marcus James, right?” Marquis asked curiously.

“The NBA All-Star..?  He’s sexy-lookin… and he reminds me of somebody too…” Kap said then, frowning.

RahRah replied, “Well, he has a brother that goes to your school, plays on a sports scholarship.  Doesn’t talk too much about him, though.”

“You got a name?” Kap asked.

“No, he’s real tight lipped about the whole subject.”

“I wonder if we know him..?” Kap asked Marquis.

Marquis half-shurugged.  “Could be.  I wonder where Carmen is…” he added then.

Kap laid one hand on Marquis's shoulder.  “We’re gonna find her, Key; I know it.”

Marquis smiled at Kap gratefully for a second. “Yeah, but where did Jake take her..?  Wouldn’t it be too cliché for cousin Jake to show up at HT?”

“Getting onto the grounds notwithstanding, if Leo saw him walking about without an escort… well, you know he really doesn’t like Jake.  He might knaw on him like a turkey bone,” Kap added.

“Well, its not like we’re dealing with someone whose got a full deck right now… he’s gone screwy, ‘ol Jake,” Marquis reminded Kap.

“Yeah, Lord knows what he might do- sorry, Key,” Kap said with a grimace.

Marquis was the one to sigh now.  “No, you’re right.  We can’t put anything past Jake right now.  I just wish Carm were out of danger… I know the reason she might not be fighting back is because she doesn’t want to hurt the baby.”

Everyone fell silent then, watching the highway exits fly by, Marquis trying hard not to think about his unborn baby being at the mercy of Jake and his insanity... Hold on, Carmen… please hold on… he breathed.

* * * * *

It was currently noon in Paris, France, where the Le Femme Mystique Modeling Agency, the cream of the crop in the fashion industry, was run.  It was the time of year that the heads of the agency were preparing to catalog the upcoming fall collections by the A-listers in couture.

In front of a large oval mirror, a beautiful, cream-skinned woman sat before her dressing table which was littered with feminine skin products, gazing at her perfect form.  Her personal make-up artist was putting the finishing touches on her cheeks when an assistant appeared, gapsing out of breath, “Zey will need you on set in five, Ms. Jacqueline.”

“Merci, monsieur,” she replied loftily, waving her make-up artist away. “Eet is beautiful, you should not over-do,” she instructed.

“Oui, Ms. Jacqueline,” the make-up person replied, bowing before walking away.

She sat there, admiring herself in the mirror, knowing that most of the girls may be younger in this game, but they held not one candle to her luminous beauty…

Another assistant appeared.  “Madame, there iz a long distance call from America,” the assistant replied, holding out a cordless phone.

Jacqueline nodded.  “Merci,” she said, holding out for the phone.  “Allo, zis is Jacqueline..?”

“This is Mata Hari,” the voice on the other end replied.

Jacqueline sat straight up in her chair then.  “Ahhhh…. What news from Crimson Crest, then..?”

“It appears as though your son Jacques made his move before consulting you,” the voice replied.  

“He has already stormed the manor with a cadre of hired guard and captured everyone at gunpoint, including the staff.”

“Mère sacrée (Sacred Mother), zat idiot boy!!  How are you able to call me if ze whole manor is under siege?”

“In some twist of fate his guards abandoned him- and he was left alone.  He turned tail and ran- but not before he cleaned the entire family estate out of their money.”

“Je ne peux pas le croire (I cannot believe this)!!  He took it all?”

“The whole pie- and all the deeds bought by the Hill family estate are also his now.”

“Zat little bastard- he left me nothing?!?!?” Jacqueline gasped in indignation.

“There’s something else you should know…” the voice continued; “you recall those three men you asked me to pay close attention to? Lamar took a fall and he is at the hospital right now.  RahRah and Malik are there with him, along with Marquis and his friend.  Yet they just called here, and told us they heard Jake has kidnapped Marquis's girlfriend and took her to HillTopp Terrace.”  The voice paused.  “They say she is pregnant with Marquis's child.”

Jacqueline almost dropped the phone in her shock. “GAWSP!!  What eez my son playing at..?  He will be sought by ze police..!”

“Well, everyone else who was here has gone to HT; I figure you’ll want me to tag along, so I will find a way to keep myself inconspicuous.” The voice hesitated once again.  “Also, while everyone was still under guard, he made those three take a home DNA test.”

This caused the supermodel’s heart to beat like a pigeon’s wing.  “He did..?  So… he knows which one of them his father is..?”

“I don’t think so,” the voice went on.  “During the melee with the vanished guards he disappeared himself, and I don’t think he got a look at the vials.  I believe I made sure of that.”

“You have ze vials?” Jacqueline asked, impressed.

“I do.  Should I destroy them...?”

The supermodel considered this.  :Not yet- but I have to come to Seattle right away,” she replied.

“But Ive taken care of it, he doesn’t yet know who his father is. Why should you waste the trip?”

“Because if I know my sister, if she gets wind of zis, she will open her big mouth and tell what she knows,” Jacqueline said then with a slight frown.

“Ahhh, and so the secret will be out then anyway, huh?”

“No, not necessarily…” replied Jacqueline mysteriously.

There was a hesitated silence.  “What do you mean?  Did you ask her not to tell who the father was?” the voice saked curiously.

Jacquline sighed.  “No, simply I lied to her when she asked me, back when I first got pregnant.  My sister doesn’t know who my son’s father is; she thinks its Malik, which would make sense why I would want her to keep quiet, since Malik and my boyfriend Lamar at the time were friends.  She thinks I didn’t wish for Lamar to know I was having a baby by his best friend.”

“But if she tells her version of events, everyone will believe that Malik fathered Jake..!” the voice said then.

“And I want to make sure that she said exactly that,” said Jacqueline darkly.

There was another pregnant pause.  “This is none of my business, of course, but why did you lie to her so long ago...?  One would think that as your older sister that she would be your confidant.”

Jacqueline paused, and then something seemed to open up from within her.  “I was young, and scared. And there was no way I could tell my older sister that I got pregnant by her boyfriend, back when they were still together..!  They had a son of their own, and she would ‘ave killed us both for betraying her; my father would have made sure Robert was dead, at least, for getting both his underage daughters pregnant.  I still cannot face my sister with ze truth, it’s too ‘orrible a secret.”

“Gasp!  And that’s why you haven’t told your son who his father is..!” the voice asked in surprise.

“Back then I could not choose which would be worse for my son Jacques to learn, that I had no idea who fathered him, or that I was slut enough to sleep with my sister’s boyfriend at age 13?  A Lolita, is what I was,” she confessed, a small tear sliding down her perfectly rouged cheek.

“Well, honestly it looks bad from either end of that point, but I guess you don’t want to confront your sister about this, even now,” the voice surmised.

“Exactly,” said Jacqueline.  “Ze look of shame on her face when I told her I was with chld was bad enough, but had she known ze child was from Robert...?!?!  I would ‘ave died of embarrassment.  I realized after time passed that a lie kept for years grows worse and worse to tell… so if I can yet avoid this, I will.  I shall charter ze next flight; we shall soon see one another at HT, yes..?”

“So you wish for me to reveal myselkf to you then?” the voice asked.

Jacqueline thought for a moment.  “No. keep your cover for ze time being.  It is easier for me to confide in someone I do not know without judgement; like a sort of confessional without ze absolution.  Keep contact only on ze phone.”

“As you wish,” the voice replied, the line going dead.

Jacqueline sat there in the mirror, staring at the image of her holding the cordless phone.  Her mind was racing.  This freakin kid is way too clever for me!!!  If Jacques finds out about RahRah being his father then I gotta hear Marquette’s mouth for the rest of my life..!  And he took all that money and left me NUTHIN… I told him about ‘not sharing the mark’…

The assistant appeared again.  “S'il vous plait (please), Madmoiselle, you are wanted on seat right away..

Jacqueline threw a powder puff at the assistant, who ducked as it sped by.  “Vous idiot!! (You idiot!!) Do you not see zat I am ‘aving un cas d'urgence (an emergency)..?  Ze shoot is cancelled..!”

“Oui, Ms. Jacqueline,” the assistant replied timidly, hurrying off.

Jacqueline hurriedly dialed the operator on the cordless phone as the sounds of outrage began to swell from the cameral shoot.  “Fire up ze jet- at once!!!”

* * * * *

Marcus was halfway to the front desk at OakGrove to return his day-pass, when he suddenly stopped short.  You know, he thought to himself, RahRah and I are in the middle of starting a relationship.  His problems should be mine, as well.  I shouldn’t be just cheering him on from the sidelines… I should be out there, helping him find his grandchild, side by side… I could show him that I’m with him for the long haul- and this, he surmised, holding up the day-pass, could be just the thing to help me do that.

Smiling to himself, he turned around and seconds later, he was back in his room and dialing his phone.  Baby, you’re gonna see me sooner than you think… I mean, one more person helping to look for the girl won’t hurt, she must be terrified.

The line connected.  “ Operator, can you get me a car service that will take me to HT, up on Mt. Rainier…?”