Tameka's Smile

Chapter Ten

Chad looked at the others gathered around the small conference table with him. They’d spent hours searching the woods for clues before Rome commanded that they return to the station for a briefing. Rome, Bull, Leo the evidence tech, and he were present. Hernandez and Casanova had given their reports to Rome and were back on the streets, including the officers who’d manned the roadblocks.

“What do we have?” Rome questioned.

“Zip. No clue who the perp is or the motive,” Chad said in disgust.

“We know she’s one sick bitch,” Bull added.

“How do we know it’s a female,” Leo asked.

“According to Tameka and The Markham Group, the person that contacted them both was female,” Chad stated. “Speaking of The Markham Group, we get a nibble on the bait?”

“Not yet,” Rome answered.

“But whoever was out there shooting today handled themselves like a pro,” Leo countered, like a dog with a bone, unwilling to let it go. “Are we sure it’s the same person?”

“Maybe she has an accomplice,” Bull offered.

“Or today’s attack could be totally unrelated,” Leo proposed.

“Highly doubtful,” Chad stated. “That road gets a lot of traffic. Whoever shot at me was clearly waiting for me.”

“I’m not saying it was random. I believe you were the intended target. I’m just saying this may have nothing to do with your mate,” Leo continued in his usual role as devil’s advocate.

“Let’s not get so focused on this mystery person that we overlook the obvious.”

“Your concern is duly noted. Now give us your report,” Rome ordered.

“We have the flowers that were left at the target’s home. No prints. They were in a Flora’s Flower’s box. We don’t know if the assailant works there or if she picked the box out of the trash,” Leo stated.

“Or she could have simply reused a box from a personal delivery,” Rome added.

“Correct. We have the phone call made to the target…”

“Tameka,” Chad corrected. Hearing Tameka referred to as the target was starting to get to him.

Leo nodded. “Tameka. We have her phone records. All of the calls were made with prepaid cell phones or calling cards.

Completely untraceable. We know nails were used to flatten the tires, but those can be purchased from any hardware store.”

“Or Wal-Mart. Is there anything they don’t sell?” Bull asked.

“There were no prints on the knife, nothing special about the paper the note was left on or the newspaper letters used to form the words. As near as we can tell, the dog may have been a stray. We called around to the local shelters and found no animals fitting its description recently adopted. Or it might have been a personal pet,” Leo said with a shrug.

Bull whistled through his teeth. “That’s just creepy. Killing your own pet to make a point.”

“No, it’s dangerous. It means we may be dealing with a sociopath,” Rome stated grimly.

Chad just sat quietly and listened.

“The pictures were most likely taken with a digital camera and printed out on a home computer. No help there. The shells we found today were your garden variety twelve-gauge ammo, available at any store that sells hunting supplies, like Wal-Mart,” Leo acknowledged with a grin.

“Like I said, we got nothing,” Chad stated in disgust.

“Not quite. The markings on the shells match those found at the scene of Ned’s death. We have a killer on our hands,” Rome informed them quietly.

He waited a while for that to sink in and then added, “I think Tameka was right on target with the motive. I spoke with some of the elders. Lulu remembers a human woman that Ned was seriously involved with. He broke things off when she turned up pregnant. The woman swore the baby was his. Told it to anyone who would listen.”

“He abandoned his child? Wait, I thought you said Ned didn’t have any children?” Chad was confused.

“He didn’t. Shifters and humans can’t procreate, unless the human’s your One. We’re not biologically compatible. That’s what makes human women so much fun,” Bull told him, wagging his eyebrows. “All the fun, with none of the consequences.”

“I take it she didn’t know this?” Chad asked Rome.

“She either didn’t know or didn’t believe it. Lulu thinks it was the latter. The woman was convinced Ned was her mate and was pissed that he wasn’t living up to his responsibilities.”

“So what’s this woman’s name?” Chad asked, impatient to hunt her down.

“That’s the problem. No one remembers. They all remember the incident, but she moved away once it was clear that Ned had no intention of marrying her. That was over forty years ago, maybe longer,” Rome finished on a sigh.

“So based on Tameka’s theory, we have the woman’s daughter who believes that Ned was her father and therefore, the land should rightfully belong to her,” Chad concluded.

“It fits. If the woman was convinced Ned was the dad, and she convinced the daughter, then the kid grew up believing her father rejected her. Revenge is definitely a motive for murder, especially if she grew up in less than ideal surroundings and feels ‘dear old dad’ should have been there making life a little easier. It would also explain why she’s fixated on Tameka’s property,” Bull supposed.

“As well as her dislike of shifter/human relationships, considering what she believes happened between her mother and Ned,” Leo threw in.

“We know she’s a threat to Chad. Today’s incident proves that,” Rome stated.

Chad didn’t think some crazy bitch trying to kill him qualified as only an ‘incident,’ but he let it go.

“The question is, is she a threat to Tameka? So far she’s only tried to buy her off and scare her away.” Rome looked at each of them, waiting for their opinion.

“Right now she sees Meka as an obstacle to getting what she wants,” Chad said slowly, thinking out loud. “She may even see her as a victim, like her mother. Hence the pictures and the dog. Meka thinks she was trying to warn her off, embarrass her into ending the relationship. She may not even realize Meka knows what I am.”

“What concerns me is that she’s already killed once to get what she wanted,” Leo said.

“What was the trigger?” They all gazed inquiringly at Bull.

“I mean, this chick’s how old? Why now? Why wait? Why not approach Ned when she was younger if she knew about him and blamed him for the way she was raised.”

“That’s a very good question,” Rome said, a considering look on his face.

“Maybe she didn’t know,” Leo speculated. “Maybe something happened—mother died, etc.—and she came across the information afterwards.”

“Okay, let’s say that’s it. The mother died. Maybe she kept a diary or something. Daughter finds out about Ned. Hunts him down. Makes contact. Maybe she expected him to welcome her with open arms. Only he denies being her father. She gets pissed when he doesn’t acknowledge her. Ned was fairly well off.

Prominent lawyer in the area. She feels he owes her something.

Decides to take what should have been hers. Kills Ned. Waits for Ms. Emma to die, only now the land goes to Emma’s relatives.

That had to be a surprise. Not many people knew Emma had family since they never visited. Tries to get Meka to sell, only she doesn’t. How am I doing so far?” Bull asked.

“Makes sense,” Chad admitted.

“Too much. The question is, what’s she gonna do now?” Leo asked.

They were all quiet.

“I’ll call Alex and have him send someone to the hospital.

From now on, you and Meka will be guarded twenty-four/seven until we can catch this woman,” Rome informed Chad.

“I don’t need a guard. I can protect myself,” Chad protested.

“What about the sister? She should be covered, too. This woman may see her as another contender for the land,” Bull stated at the same time.

“This isn’t about you. Think of your mate,” Rome told Chad. “Bull, since the sister is familiar with you, you’re on guard detail while she’s here. Anything else?” he asked the three of them.

They shook their heads.

“Dismissed.”

As Rome watched them file out, he had the nagging sense that he was missing something. He went back to his office to pore over the reports one more time. Whatever it was, he wouldn’t stop hunting until he’d found it.

Tameka showered and dressed in a set of scrubs Alex had one of the clinic staff provide. NeeCee should be arriving any moment with a change of clothes. While she waited, she decided now was as good a time as any to explore the many floral and plant arrangements delivered during her stay. As she read the cards attached, she noticed most of them seemed to be from the same florist.

Judging solely by the many “wishing you well” and “get well soon” cards attached, the people of Refuge were a very caring group. Several had handwritten notes welcoming her to the area and hopes of meeting her soon under better circumstances. She drifted over to the two that came in this morning.

The first card made her smile. The second one caused her to drop into “Chad’s chair” with a thump.

The old lady. Her husband. Your animal lover. Who else will you lose? Your sister?

Give me what I want!

As Tameka clutched the card and envelope in her hand, she pondered what action to take. To borrow an old saying, she didn’t have a dog in this fight. What this woman wanted wasn’t hers to give. If it was, she’d hand it over. Right or wrong, she wasn’t prepared for people to lose their life over what amounted to

a

piece

of

dirt.

The

problem

was

that

this

person…woman…whomever didn’t know that and Tameka couldn’t tell her.

Her first instinct was to call Chad and make sure he was safe. Instead, she made herself sit there and think. If something happened to Chad, she’d know. The man was so deep in her heart, he was like an extension of her soul. If she concentrated really hard, she could actually feel him. Wherever he was, he was angry, but not hurt and definitely not dead.

Besides, he’d called earlier to check on her and alluded to something happening that would delay his return. While she was concerned, he was alive and that’s all that mattered. But he might not be as lucky the next time. Being a werewolf gave him supernatural abilities, but it didn’t make him immortal. She wasn’t prepared to lose the man she loved over a stupid piece of property.

Her thoughts skidded to a halt and her heart stuttered as she mentally repeated the thought. The man she loved. She loved Chad. Her, not whatever it was that was growing inside of her.

She, Tameka Renae Jones, loved Chadleigh Wilson in the ‘til death do us part kind of way. She began to hyperventilate.

Breathe, Meka. It’s alright. He’s a good man. Nothing like your father or the sorry excuse for men you’ve dealt with in your practice.

“Momma E?” Tameka clung to the familiar voice, using it to stabilize herself in a world gone topsy-turvy. It didn’t even matter that this shouldn’t be happening. Momma E, who was dead and buried, shouldn’t be able to communicate with her from beyond the grave.

Meka, have I ever led you wrong?

“No, ma’am.”

You’ve always been able to count on me, haven’t you?

“Yes, ma’am. You were my rock, the one person I could always depend on.” And now you’re gone, she thought sadly.

Then trust me now when I say that Chad is a good man.

Don’t be afraid to let your guard down with him. I’m not saying he won’t ever hurt you. Hurtin’ comes with loving. The deeper the love, the greater the capacity for misunderstandings and hurts to arise. I’m saying that this man will always be true to you, will love you the way you’re meant to be loved and the joy he’ll bring will be worth every second of pain that comes with it.

Tameka was quiet as she considered her words.

“Intellectually speaking, I know you’re right, but emotionally, frankly, I’ve had enough of pain. I’m not sure if I want to open myself up to more,” she confessed mournfully.

Meka. Her name was sighed. If relationships were all good, they’d never grow. Life is hard. It takes a strong love to survive it intact. Just as nature requires a good ratio of sunshine and rain to grow and flourish, so does love. Too little of one or the other and plants wither and die. Love is the same way. Trust your heart. Better yet, trust God. He’s the one who brought this man into your life.

“I’ll do that, Ma...” she broke off as the door swung inward.

NeeCee walked in with one of her overnight bags over one shoulder and a bag of aromatic food in her left hand. She looked around the room, a puzzled expression on her face. “Who are you talking to?”

Tameka glanced guiltily at the phone still in its cradle. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” she muttered after the silence had thickened to uncomfortable proportions.

NeeCee placed the bag at the foot of the bed right below her feet and the food on the lap table. “Try me,” she encouraged.

“I’ve seen and heard a lot of strange things in the last year.” She shook her head. “You’ll think I’m crazy.” Her sister laughed. “You? Crazy? I know better than that.”

“Sometimes I wonder, with all that’s happened recently,” Tameka said on a sigh.

NeeCee paused while removing Styrofoam containers from the bag. “Meka, you’re the sanest person I know, other than Momma E.”

She watched her sister’s expression closely as she admitted,

“That’s who I was talking to.”

“Oh? Did she answer back?”

Something about NeeCee’s posture and stillness caused Tameka to cautiously confess, “She initiated it.” Her shoulders relaxed and she let out a deep breath. “Oh, thank God. I’m not the only one.”

“You hear her, too?”

“Oh yeah,” NeeCee said with feeling.

“What does she say to you?” Tameka asked eagerly before cautiously adding, “That is, if you don’t mind my asking.” When she was younger, NeeCee would tell her everything without prompting. The one standing before her might not be as open.

NeeCee shrugged. “Typical Momma E. She shows up for one of her little heart-to-heart chats whenever I’m struggling with something important or to warn me. That’s how I knew about you. After she told me you were in the hospital, I immediately called Mom to confirm.” She paused, then continued a bit awkwardly, “What about you?”

“A few days ago was the first time I heard her and each time it’s been about Chad.”

“Warning you off?”

“Just the opposite. Encouraging me to give him a chance.”

“Even though he’s white and a werewolf?” Tameka’s back straightened as she jerked to attention. “You know?”

“Yeah. Heard them talking when I arrived yesterday and confronted Bull. He admitted that he and...and...”

“Chad,” Tameka supplied the name she was searching for.

“Yeah, that they were both werewolves.”

“And you believed him?” Tameka asked skeptically.

NeeCee was a lot more accepting than she.

“Kind of hard not to when he changed in front of me.

Scared the crap out of me.” NeeCee shuddered.

“I can understand my being afraid, but you love dogs, especially big ones.”

“Dogs? What are you talking about?”

“Dogs, wolves, same difference. They both have four legs, are covered in fur, and have fangs,” Tameka stated with a shrug of her shoulder.

“I don’t know what you’ve seen, but a wolf is not what I saw. He turned into a monster straight out of a Lon Chaney movie. Over seven feet tall, a muzzle, fangs, and his face was covered in fur. You want some of this food?”

“I’ve already eaten.” She tried to figure out what NeeCee had seen, glad that’s not what Chad had showed her. And she’d thought his turning into a wolf was frightening. She’d have wet herself if he’d done what Bull did. This whole thing was so confusing. She’d be glad when Carol and her husband arrived.

The questions were just piling up.

“According to my doctor, I’m one of them now,” she said quietly.

NeeCee paused with the fork halfway to her mouth. “How do you feel about that?”

“I haven’t decided. Right now I have more questions than answers. Someone’s stopping by today to provide me with some.”

Silence fell between them while NeeCee devoured her food.

She still had a healthy appetite. Good to see that hadn’t changed.

She waited until NeeCee was almost finished to ask the question pressing on her mind. “Why are you here, NeeCee? I thought you hated my guts,” she finished softly.

NeeCee looked at her then glanced away, just like she used to when she was little and was caught doing something wrong.

After a tense moment, she set her fork down and sighed. “I said a lot of mean, hateful things to you, Meka, and I’m sorry. When you asked me to come live with you, I thought you were trying to take me away from Mom. That’s what she said when I mentioned it to her, and I, fool that I was, believed her. I didn’t know about...” her voice trailed off.

Tameka sat silently, waiting for her to continue, knowing she had to do this her way.

NeeCee took a deep breath, then said in a rush, “I didn’t know about the men...the drugs,” she finished softly. The eyes she raised to Tameka had a tortured expression in them.

Tameka wanted to close her eyes as the pain rushed through her, but didn’t want to send the wrong message to NeeCee.

Instead, she pushed it down to be dealt with at a later time and asked, “How did you find out?”

“When you first left, things were great. Mom spent a lot of time with me. We went everywhere together—shopping, the movies, out to eat. And we talked. It was...nice,” she sighed, a rueful smile of remembrance crossing her face. The smile faded to be replaced by a grimace. “Then, after you’d been gone about a year, she started bringing guys home with her. Men, in and out of the house, coming and leaving at all hours of the night. I was so angry. ‘How could you do this to us, to Daddy?’ I screamed.

‘I’m just having a good time,’ she said. Ain’t nothing wrong with havin’ fun.’ NeeCee swallowed hard. “‘I’m telling Daddy,’ I warned. She was only too happy to tell me Dad had his own thing going, but sometimes he joined her and they all played together. When I stood there with my mouth hanging open, she said, ‘I don’t know why you’re so concerned about a man that’s not even your father.’” NeeCee blinked rapidly, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

“Oh, Nin-Nee, why didn’t you call me? You know I would have dropped everything and come running.” A small smile briefly crossed NeeCee’s face at the old nickname. When she was little, Tameka used to call her ‘my Nin-Nee Pooh.’ “I think I know that now, but back then I was devastated. Both you and Momma E were gone. I didn’t know how to handle the pain so I acted out. Took Mom’s word for it that what she was doing was ‘fun.’” She wiped at the tears that escaped. “I stole some of her happy pills, but didn’t like the sick, woozy way it made me feel. The alcohol made me nauseous so I gave sex a try. One of Mom’s boyfriends had a taste for tender young things, as he called it. He liked breaking them in. Offered over and over to ‘do me just right.’ One night when Mom was stoned and Dad was out doing his thing, I let him have me.” Tameka sucked in a sharp breath. Damn it, she’d spent years helping other families but hadn’t been there for her own when she was needed.

“He...it...was just as good as he promised. I discovered I loved sex. Everything about it turned me on. Most of all, I loved not having to think. I could just be.”

“Escape,” she murmured.

“Yes, that’s it exactly. I can’t tell you how many men I’ve been with. I lost track a long time ago. It’s amazing how many like ’em young, and Momma didn’t care what I did or who did me until her boyfriends started buying me things and giving me money instead of her.” NeeCee gathered her empty food containers and threw them in the trash. “Anyway, I just came to say I’m sorry for the pain I caused. I can understand you not wanting me around. After all, I’m not really your sister. Well, half-sister, and Momma E’s not really my grandmother.” She picked up her purse. “I hope you have a good life. You deserve it. Be happy, Meka.”

She walked towards the door.

Her hand was on the handle before Meka found the words to say. “Did I ever tell you I was in the birthing room with Momma when you were born? You came out all gray and purplish looking, screaming your head off.” She smiled at the memory. “They cleaned you up and then Momma let me hold you.”

She paused to swallow. She had to get this just right. “You were the tiniest thing, more beautiful than any baby doll I had ever seen. I gave you your first bottle.” NeeCee’s hand came off of the doorknob and she turned around. Tameka eased off of the bed and stood beside it. “I would sneak into your room at night, take you out of the crib, and put you in my bed with me. Momma fussed and got mad, but I didn’t care. You were my NeeCee. I gave you your two AM

feedings. I bathed and dressed you. When you cried, I was the one who came running to see what was wrong.” Tears were running down NeeCee’s face.

Tameka eased forward. “When you started talking, it was me you called Momma.” She blinked back the tears in her own eyes. When she was close enough, she cupped NeeCee’s jaw. “I have always loved you. I don’t care who your father is or isn’t, what you’ve done in your life, how many men or even women you’ve sleep with. I will always love you and be there for you, if it’s in my power to do so. You’re my baby sister.” Then she wrapped her arms around NeeCee and hugged her tight. They were both crying openly.

As the tears flowed, Tameka felt a broken place in her heart began to heal.