Deadly Charm by Claudia Mair Burney

Author:Claudia Mair Burney
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Howard Books
Published: 2009-10-15T16:00:00+00:00

chapter fourteen

MONDAY MORNING. Ma had called the jail for me on Saturday and informed them that I’d been hospitalized and wouldn’t be back in until Thursday. I wanted to sleep in but ended up waking early to the sounds of Jazz—not the music; the man. He’d gotten into my bedroom somehow and sat beside me with his legs under the covers.

I prayed that man had something on. Anything, and it didn’t look like he did from what I could see. He had his cell phone to his ear. Sounded like he was trying to schmooze someone into running fingerprints through AFIS—the Automated Fingerprint Identification System. I propped myself up on my elbow, wild-eyed, braids all over my head like Medusa, and still mad from last night.

“Jazz,” I stage-whispered, “what are you doing in my bed?”

He put the index finger of his free hand to his lips. I hated when he shushed me, even if he hadn’t actually said “shush.” At least waiting to speak with him—okay, yell at him—gave me a chance to eavesdrop.

“If you get a hit let me know.”

He waited. I couldn’t hear what the other person said.

“Thanks a lot, okay?”

Pause. He laughed. “Cut that out, girl. You know I’m not on the market.”

I sat up. “Who is that?” I said. Loudly. Honestly! Women seemed to have no regard for married men actually being married. What is up with the world?

He laughed again and nudged me with his elbow. “Bye, now.” He flipped his phone closed. Looked at me. “Good morning, Mama.”

“How did you get in here when I locked the door?”

“That lock is useless. All you need is a wire hanger to open it.”

Man! Why didn’t I listen to Joan Crawford when she said, “No more wire hangers”? I chided myself for my lack of foresight.

“So my boundaries mean nothing to you?”

“Bell, some boundaries are good. Noble. Others are dumb. We’re married, and I’m going to sleep with you. No need to play hard to get anymore. Just accept this and be happy.”

“What? You think sleeping with you is a gift?”

“Tanya Stevenson would think it’s a gift.”

“And who is Tanya Severenson?”

“Tanya Stevenson.”

“That’s what I said.”

The mischievous eye-twinkle thing returned with a vengeance. “You didn’t say that.”

“Could you just tell me who Toni Anderson is?”

“I don’t know anybody by that name.”

“You just said she would think sleeping with you is a gift.”

“No, I didn’t. You got the name wrong.”

“You know who I mean. Tessa Jefferson.”

He chuckled. The sound delighted me. “You’re doing that on purpose.”

“I don’t have all day to play the name game with you, Jazzy. Please, tell me who Tonya Harding is.”

“She’s the chick who got her ex-hubby and his boys to crack Nancy Kerrigan in the knee.”

“She wants to sleep with you? Ew.”

He chuckled again and bent over to kiss me. “You’re so much like Sasha sometimes.”

“That’s not what Ma and Carly say. They say I’m just like Artie, my dad. Neither of them likes him.”

“I’d like to meet him.”

“Yeah. You can knock back a few drinks together.

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