White Wedding Page 8

  “Ah, I’m going to have to take a rain check.”

  She had Eboni’s full attention now. “What? Why? Do you have a date or something, ‘cause I know you’re not seeing anyone…” Eboni glanced at Ross and smiled, obviously reassessing. “Wait, wait, wait. This is who was going on in Margarita. I knew it!” She laughed. “Well at some point I want the full story. Ross, nice meeting you. I’ve got to run and visit one of our other stores, but I’m sure I’ll see you around.”

  Ross remained silent, standing at her side until Eboni left. The minute she did, he closed the door. “If you want to go out with your sister tomorrow, I don’t mind. But do you mind if I tag along this time? I can even bring a friend or two.”

  She stepped closer to him and put her hands on his chest. “We’ll go out with her and her friends and yours some other time. Right now I just want to be with you. Just us.”

  “Whatever you want, babe. That works for me, too.” He lowered his head to meet her lips, wrapping his arms around her to draw her closer. She felt his heartbeat increase against her palm and loved it. She loved the sight, scent, and taste of him. She loved it all and the way he more than obliged her. His fingers tugged at the tight black skirt she wore ending just above her knees, until he had it up higher on her hips. She had a surprise for him.

  The skirt was bunched around her waist and his hands slid against her bare thighs. When he pulled back and looked down, he saw a single strip of hair in the middle of naked flesh.

  “Damn, babe, we do think alike.” He moved one of his hands to unzip his fly and his swollen, uncovered sex sprang free.

  “Hmm. You remembered.”

  “I’ll never forget. When we’re together, anything can happen. I have to make sure I’m always ready for you.”

  The phone on her desk rang.

  “Damn,” they both said at the same time.

  He released her and fixed his pants before moving over to the desk to glance at the caller ID. He looked up at her before answering the phone. She straightened her skirt, but he didn’t say anything, just listened. “Is it LaToya?” she asked.

  He pressed a finger to his lips and gestured for her to come to him. He placed the receiver between them so she could listen in; it was the same slight humming sound. They stayed that way for about five minutes until there was a click on the line. As soon as the line went dead, he hung up the phone and pulled out his cell.

  “Did you get that?” he said into his phone, and shook his head. Shanna sat in her chair, waiting for him to finish his call.

  “Good. What is it? Hmm, interesting. Okay, call me when you have something.”

  “What? What happened? Did they trace it?” He’d called his people earlier that morning and had them monitoring the incoming calls on all of her phone lines.

  “Partially. It’s bouncing off several locations. Simon’s trying to trace it back to the source. It might take awhile, but eventually he’ll find it. Whoever’s doing this has knowledge the average person would not have. Does LaToya have a computer background?”

  “No, she graduated high school then went to hair design school. She knows how to use a computer, but no more than anyone else. She definitely wouldn’t know how to do something like what you’re talking about.”

  “Why don’t you call in the two stylists you told me she was closest too. Let me ask them a few questions, then I’ll go have a chat with Ms. LaToya.”

  “Okay, but I’m coming with you.”

  “No you’re not.”

  “Fine, but how are you going to find her if you don’t have her address?”

  He raised that one fine eyebrow again. “Because you’re going to give it to me.”

  “Well it just so happens I’ll be going to that address within the hour; you are welcome to accompany me.”

  “Shanna…”

  “No, Ross. I need to see her, talk to her for myself to find out why she did this to me, if she’s the one behind it all. At the very least confront her over her lies about Kevin.”

  “Does it still mean that much to you?”

  She understood his unspoken question—he wanted to know if Kevin still meant something to her. She smiled. “No he doesn’t, but I need to know why she did this to me. We were friends once. Okay?”

  “All right. Go ahead and call the stylists in. Let me talk to the two you said were closest to her first.”

  Half an hour after leaving the salon, they pulled up to a new townhouse community in Santa Monica. Talking to the stylists didn’t get them any new information other than to confirm LaToya always had the hots for Kevin and that they’d heard she’d started her new salon. All of which they already knew. The other stylists had even less to add.

  The address they were looking for was the last townhouse on the end. “Nice place,” Shanna observed. They were three-level, above ground townhouses. All brick fronts with two car garages on the back. Six-foot ficus trees lined one side of the sidewalk. The area had that new middle-class family-oriented feel to it.

  “Did she make enough to be able to afford something like this?” Ross asked, looking around.

  “Yes, actually. She was one of my top stylists, always booked. When she disappeared we lost about half of her clients, now I know why.” She glanced at the side of the first level of the end townhouse. There was a sign painted on the French doors proclaiming it LaToya’s Salon. “I think we’ve found her.”

  They pulled into a visitor’s spot and walked back to the house, but they didn’t follow the path to the front door. They went around to the side of the house to enter through the salon entrance. What might have been a double garage area on the other end units housed a business on this one. This townhouse may have been the model for the homes, because French doors were on the side of the house, typical of a showhome.

  Shanna turned the handle and pushed the door open. A bell chimed as Ross stepped in behind her. It was a good hour before noon, but there were two women sitting in chairs getting their hair done. There were two other unoccupied stylists’ chairs. The reception area consisted of a pair of empty cushioned seats sitting near the door. Between them was a coffee table covered with hair design magazines. In the corner was a small desk with a computer on it. One of the stylists—a short, curvy woman with long red hair pulled into a ponytail—had her back to the door, but turned when they entered.

  Whatever LaToya had been about to say died in her throat when their gazes locked. She turned her head away to look in the mirror at her client.

  “I’m almost done,” she said, loud enough for them to hear.

  Shanna took Ross’ hand and pulled him to sit down on the chairs behind them. She glanced around the place. It was nice. It looked like LaToya may have kept the original wall paint and accessories that were part of the model home and just added the salon stations, mirrors, and more lighting. She leaned forward and saw two sinks and hairdryers beyond the second stations. LaToya had done well for herself.

  They didn’t have long to wait for her to finish. She’d always been fast.

  After her client left, she finally turned to face her former friend. “I knew you’d find me sooner or later. Well, come on.” She took them to the rear of the salon and through a door, which led to a stairwell. They followed her up carpeted stairs to a short hallway opening up into a foyer, past the front door, and then up a few steps to the second level. They entered into a living room area just as nicely laid out as the salon. It did look like the model home. The drapes had been custom made to frame the tall picture bay windows, and the furniture was perfectly matched. At least it wasn’t the stuff that had been in LaToya’s apartment the last time Shanna had been there. LaToya always did have nice taste, she’d give her that much.

  “Have a seat,” LaToya said, gesturing to a long black sofa with her hand. “Ya’ll want something to drink?” After shaking their heads and sitting down on the sofa, LaToya excused herself. She walked into the open kitchen area to her refrigerator and took out a beer bottle. Coming
back over to them, she pulled up a chair and sat down, crossing her legs at the ankles.

  “’Kay, so you found me. Now what?”

  LaToya’s sarcastic tone got Shanna’s back up and pissed all over again. She remembered why they were there and it wasn’t to admire LaToya’s place.

  “What the hell…?” Ross grabbed her arm, restraining her, forcing her to rethink her wording. She sighed. “You know very well what, LaToya. Why? Why did you do it?”

  LaToya took a sip from the bottle. “We both met Kevin and Ben the same night, remember?” She paused, turning her attention to Ross. “Who’s your friend?”

  “This is Ross Marshall. You can talk to me in front of him.”

  LaToya raised her eyebrows. “Whatever. Anyway, I saw Kevin first. I slept with him that first night, but he wanted you.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me. That’s right—he always wanted you, but I’m the one who loves him more.” She folded her arms beneath her ample chest. Shanna read it as a dare, challenging her to say different.

  When she didn’t comment further, LaToya continued. “I’ve been sleeping with him and Ben off and on ever since, up ‘til the time ya’ll got engaged. Then he wouldn’t touch me no more.”

  Shanna leaned forward, shaking her head, not believing what the hell she was hearing.

  “We’d been lovers for the past few years,” LaToya said. “I was their booty call.”

  “You’ve been sleeping with Kevin all this time, and Ben, and still pretending to be my friend?”

  “I wasn’t pretending, I was your friend,” LaToya said softly.

  “Hell of a way of showing it!”

  “I tried to tell you he weren’t no good for you, but you didn’t wanna listen. Gurl, why you think the shithead waited so long to ask you to marry him? He was too busy still banging other women. Him and Ben, ‘cause I wasn’t the only one.”

  “Wait. Ben, too.” She shook her head, confused. “I thought he was gay. So did you lie about him kissing Kevin, too?”

  “No. I didn’t lie ‘bout that.” LaToya sighed. “Look, Ben can go either way, but he always had a thang for Kevin. Far as I know Kevin only fucked women, but that didn’t stop Ben from wantin’ to do him.”

  “LaToya,” Ross finally spoke up. “Did you date both men at the same time?”

  “I wouldn’t ‘zactly call what we was doing dating. They’d call me up and I’d met ‘em at one of their homes, or my place couple times, and we’d make a sandwich. With me always in the middle.”

  “What!” Shanna exclaimed.

  “Yeah, that’s right. That’s really the way Kevin liked it. That’s the only way he’d let Ben even near him.”

  “Are you saying Kevin’s bi?”

  “Kevin, no. Ben, yes. And they liked to hunt for women as a pair. That’s what Kevin really wanted from you but knew you’d never go for it, and he didn’t want to let you go. So when he asked you to marry him, Ben had a fit ‘cause he knew that would be the end of it. He’d never get to make love even second-handed with Kevin again. He came to see me, all upset and shit, and I told him he should tell Kevin how he really felt.” She took another sip of beer. “And finally he got up the nerve the day of your wedding. Told him he wanted ‘em to try to have a real relationship together, and they would still include me. Make us a real threesome. Kevin wasn’t havin’ any of it. When I was with ‘em Kevin never touched Ben in a sexual way, although once in the middle of a good orgasm Ben tried to, you know, touch him, but Kevin was never down with that. So Ben settled for always having a woman between them, but he preferred that woman to be me.”

  “This is unbelievable.” What the hell life had she been living that she didn’t know this had been going on right in her face? “Shit.”

  LaTaya nodded. “Believe it. I lived it. They’d been arguing about you for a while now. Ben wanted to be a part of you alls relationship. Kevin and I both knew you weren’t going there.”

  “Hell no!” Ross’ hand on her back let her know he was with her, and abated some of her anger.

  “Anyway, I was there when just ‘fore the wedding Kevin hugged Ben, at first just a friend kind of hug. Then Ben tried to turn it into somethin’ else and planted a big whopper on ol’ Kev. Kevin dropped his arms and pushed Ben away from him. Even to me he looked shocked. I thought you should at least know Ben was kissing on Kevin, even if you didn’t know the rest. That was the truth. I figured you’d finally think twice before you married him. And you did.”

  Shanna stared at her, momentarily speechless. “Unbelievable. We were supposed to be friends.”

  LaToya looked away for a moment before meeting her gaze again. “We were, but I knew you and Kevin woulda never last. Not like me and him would have, and Ben.” She shook her head, moving her ponytail from side to side. “But you didn’t want to listen when I told you he was no good for you, and I couldn’t really tell you ‘zactly why. So see the way I see it I sorta did you a favor. Eventually, he woulda hurt you.”

  When Shanna’s hands balled into fists, Ross took over. “What about the phone calls?”

  LaToya sighed. “I’m sorry ‘bout that, but I was pissed when I heard you was coming back, and you and Kevin was getting back together.”

  “But don’t you know that Shanna broke it off with Kevin almost right after she returned from Margarita?”

  “Yeah, I found out ‘bout that the next day.” She grinned. “Kevin and Ben came to see me, seemed like we was taking right up again where we left off.”

  “Then why continue the calls?”

  LaToya frowned. “What are you talking about? I only made hang-up calls that first night. Okay, maybe one more the next day, but that’s it.”

  “Are you sure about that?” Ross asked.

  LaToya put one hand on her hip, sitting up straighter in her chair. “I’m damn sure. Why would I continue? It was a stupid thing to do in the first place, and she’d dumped Kevin.”

  “Well I’m still getting hang-up calls, or calls where I answer the phone, and no one’s on the line and the caller ID says ‘out of area’.”

  “That ain’t got nothin’ to do with me.”

  Ross spoke up. “Are you still seeing Kevin and Ben?”

  “Only both of them one other time since then, and Kevin said he wasn’t doin’ it again ‘cause he still had hopes he could win you back. Even though I told him you was a lost cause. I have bin seeing a lot a Ben. We figure sooner or later he’d get the message and come back."

  Chapter Eleven

  After they returned to the salon, Ross sat in Shanna’s office while she leaned against her desk near him. “I believe her,” he said, continuing the conversation from the car.

  “I don’t know. She said herself Kevin still thinks he can get me back.”

  He leaned forward and put his hands on her waist. “And can he?”

  She placed her arms on his shoulders. “What do you think?” Her lips found his and told him without the use of words how much she wanted him. Ross got her message loud and clear. He looked up and smiled at her.

  “Well it should be easy to find out if she’s telling the truth.”

  “How?”

  “I’m going to call Simon and find out if he’s got any leads on where the calls have been originating from. I’ll also give him LaToya’s address and he can monitor the outgoing calls coming from that line.”

  “That doesn’t sound very legal.”

  “This isn’t going to be used in any court. He’s not going to listen to any conversations, just tracking the location of the end calls. Like he’s doing with your phone but in reverse.”

  “Oh, I see. So he’d be able to tell if my calls are coming from her location.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Cool.”

  He reached for his cell phone in his pocket, and she leaned back against her desk. Standing up, he stepped away from the chair and paced the room.

  “Give me a second.” After he got off the phone he l
ooked at Shanna. She meant so much to him in a short period of time, and he was damn pissed this was happening to her. He didn’t like what Simon had to tell him. Hopefully with the new address he’d have something.

  “Whoever is behind the calls is good. Simon said the signal has been bounced around all over the world. The next time you get a call he should be closer to pinpointing the origin of the signal.”

  “Well that’s good, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Never thought I’d look forward to getting another call then, but if this would help catch the person, it would be worth it.”

  “What do Kevin and Ben do for a living?”

  “Kevin’s a lawyer for Tyson Simons and Ben has a management consultant firm. Why?”

  “Just being thorough. I know Kevin’s last name, but what’s Ben’s?”

  “Hurst, Ben Hurst.”

  When her phone rang, they both turned to look at it. Shanna’s body tensed up. Ross stepped over to the desk and looked at the screen. He picked up the phone and handed it to Shanna, mouthing, “It’s okay.”

  Her entire body relaxed when she took it from him. She wasn’t on long before she hung up. “Just a client.”

  “I’ve got to run,” he said. “I have a few things I want to check out. What time do you want me to pick you up tonight?”

  “Come by around eight.”

  “Fine, I’ll pick something up and we can eat at my place.” He wrapped his arms around her again. “I don’t want to share you with anyone tonight.”

  “Shouldn’t we go back to my place? In case I get another call so your people can trace it?”

  He nodded. “Good point. Okay, we’ll go back to your place.” He touched his mouth to hers. “Mmm, I love your taste.” He was slow to release her. If he was going to leave, he needed to leave now, or else he’d be locking her door and making another use of her desk. He glanced over at it. It was sturdy and just the right height. Maybe not such a bad idea after all. But as he stepped toward the door to lock it, someone came through.