"Graham. Thank you for coming." Charmaine gave me a sweet smile when she opened the door. I immediately went on alert. I knew that voice and smile. It was her working-the-crowd persona. I hated it more than I hated her bitchy attitude.
"No problem but I can't stay long. I need to get back home to Andrew." More accurately I needed to get back and figure out who she hired to get rid of me. I also didn't mention Sarah because it would've only given my ex more of a reason to prolong this. She would've demanded information that I didn't want to give.
"That's okay. This won't take long. Would you like a glass of unsweetened iced tea?" I noticed how she didn't ask how our son was.
I was tempted to refuse but if I knew one thing about my ex-wife, it was easier to placate her than it was to argue over something so small as a drink. I would realize later that was a mistake.
"Sure. Thank you." I took a small sip after she poured me a glass and took a seat on the uncomfortable sofa. The thing was definitely made for aesthetic purposes only because it was as hard as a damn rock. Even more reason for me not to spend too much time there. If I did, I would have a sore back the next day and no one wanted that.
"You said you had something to tell me?" I did my best to keep the bite out of my tone. I didn't want her to think this was a social call and I much preferred to get down to business when I could.
"Some things never change. Always straight to the point." Charmaine didn't look me in the eye. Instead, she picked a piece of invisible lint off her dress.
I wasn't in the mood for whatever game Charmaine was playing and I told her as much. "That's because I have to find out who you hired so I can protect you and Andrew. Speaking of"—I looked around the house—"where's the guys Black sent over to protect you?" I just realized I hadn't seen them when I pulled up and I would've expected at least one of the guys to say hi. We weren't friends or anything, but I was friendly with all of Black's men.
"Oh, them?" She dismissed the idea with a wave of her hand. "I told them they weren't needed anymore. I hired my own security."
Now I didn't even bother to hide my disdain or my suspicion. "I thought you didn't have the money?"
Again, with the wave of a hand, she answered, "Once I told Richard that my life was in danger, he hired someone. I think he feels bad about the whole cheating thing. I mean seriously.Like he could find someone better than me." She waved her hand up and down her body like I didn't already know everything about her. We were married once, but I much preferred Sarah's luscious body over Charmaine's stick figure.
Something wasn't right and I didn't just mean her explanation. Suddenly I felt very strange. The room felt like someone had cranked up the heat. I tried to move my arm so I could pull my shirt away from my body but it refused to follow my command.
"What did you do to me?" The words sounded slurred even to my own ears.
Charmaine let out a manic laugh. "You really should've just stayed away." That was the last thing I heard before the room around me went dark.
Sarah
I paced around the living room with my left arm across my belly and my right thumbnail in my mouth. Graham wasn't answering his phone. I figured he would always answer when I called because he never seemed to send anyone to voicemail. Not even Charmaine.
"Dad's going to be fine." Andrew tried to calm my nerves, but it wasn't working. Something was wrong. I could feel it.
"He's been gone a while." I could see it in his eyes that he was hoping she would confess who she hired to take him out, but I didn't for a minute think she would do that. I didn't have to meet the woman to know ones like her. Evil enough that they would do just about anything to get what they wanted.
"It's not like Mom plans to hurt him or anything crazy like that. She might dislike Dad but she wouldn't do anything about it."
I forced myself to keep my mouth shut. Graham hadn't told his son about what he suspected, and I wasn't going to be the one to let it slip. All Andrew knew was that his mother got herself into a mess, not that the mess included hurting Graham.
"I think I should call Matthew just in case." Graham could get mad at me all he wanted but I would rather be safe than sorry.
Walking into the kitchen, I grabbed my new phone and called Graham's team leader.
He answered with an "Everything okay?" after only one ring.
Yes, that was exactly how Matthew answered my call. It was almost like he too knew something was wrong, even though he had been here not that long ago.
"I know this is going to sound ridiculous but I'm worried about Graham. He went to Charmaine's a few hours ago and hasn't come back yet and he isn't answering his phone. My gut is telling me something is wrong." The words flew out of my mouth in a jumbled mess, and now that I was saying it out loud, I realized just how crazy I sounded. "Sorry, I'm probably just being silly."
"Don't ever disregard your gut," Matthew reassured me. "I'll take the team over there and see what's going on."
I immediately felt better. "If they’re just talking, he's going to think I'm crazy or don't trust him."
Matthew snorted. "There's no way they’re talking for hours. Graham can't stand Charmaine. You were right to call."
Now instead of feeling relieved, I was worried all over again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
