Page 25 of Trial of Deceit (The Family’s Oath #1)

“That’s why yu don’ sleep until mi reach the room?

” he asked, warmth bursting in his chest and traveling through his body while he watched her scramble for an answer.

He chuckled, and she glared, making his smile stretch.

He released her and watched as she put two paces between them. “I have something to tell you.”

“Can it wait?” she asked, and he shook his head.

He opened the door of the bedroom and motioned his head inside. Ashari’s eyes asked the questions her mouth didn’t as she stepped past him. Her fruity fragrance wafted up Jediah’s nostrils. He did a deep inhale, willing her scent to calm his nerves.

He’d need it. If Bryony could see that something was bothering him, that meant he wasn’t on his A-game. And when it came to Ashari Richardson… he’d need it. No matter the consequences.

She looked up from her coloring ten minutes after she’d finished it. She’d been using the time to reflect on her predicament.

The F.B.I.’s plan was for her to get close to Jediah, but not this close. Where she wore his ring. Bore his name. Yanked herself out of his arms whenever she woke up in the middle of the night and noticed she was being cuddled on his chest.

Ashari needed to pivot.

She jumped to her feet and walked as quickly as she could without raising suspicion. Entering the house, she looked up and down the hallway, panic easing its way beneath her skin and lodging inside her erratic heart. She needed to be quick if this was going to work.

Finally remembering which wing was Reine’s, she took brisk steps down the hallways until she stood before the bedroom’s door. Ashari knocked once, willing her heart to steady as the door cracked open.

Reine’s eyes widened briefly before returning to their normal size. A delayed smile came to her face. “A-Ash…”

“Not who you were expecting?” Ashari asked, her brow raising.

Reine cleared her throat and straightened herself. “Mi just surprise you a talk to me. Think yu woulda still angry because I tricked you for my brother.”

Ashari shook her head. “I’m not upset about that. I would’ve done anything for my brother, too…” she admitted, gulping hard as Romar’s dirt-speckled face flashed across her mind.

Reine sensed the change in Ashari. Her eyes softened. “I’m sorry… Jed can be extreme sometimes.”

“I know, but I didn’t come here for that.” Ashari locked away the memory of Romar where she kept her nightmares. She looked around the empty hallway before leaning forward while lowering her voice. “You say you’re sorry, right?” she asked, and Reine nodded. “I know how you can make it up to me.”

Reine’s eyes narrowed in scrutiny. “Why mi feel like Jed don’ know ’bout this?”

“He doesn’t.”

Reine shook her head. “Mi never gon’ go against mi brother’s words if a that yu come here fi convince me fi do.”

“So, you wouldn’t care if he knows about your relationship with his friend?”

Reine’s eyes widened as she gasped. She opened the door wider, reached her arm out, locked her fingers around Ashari’s wrist, and yanked her into the room before slamming the door shut. She took them to the furthest corner in the room and lowered her voice. “How yu know ’bout that?!”

Ashari smirked. “Worry ’bout me telling Jed if you don’ help me.”

“Don’ talk Patois. Yu sound terrible,” Reine hissed. Friendliness vanished from her eyes while she crossed her arms. “Wa yu want?”

“I want to know how I can sneak out of the house without Jed knowing.”

“Yu caan’ sneak out. You’re his wife. Anything can happen to yu—”

“You’re not supposed to sneak out either, but I’m willing to bet that you do it a lot,” Ashari challenged, and Reine pursed her lips. Ashari gave Reine a pressing stare, the threat of blackmail looming in the tense air between them.

She sighed. “Fine… There’s a way, but it very risky. And yu have fi do it during the shift rotation of the guard dem.”

Ashari nodded. She listened keenly as Reine advised her how to sneak out.

After Reine finished, Ashari returned to the bedroom she shared with Jediah.

She ensured the door was closed before she went to the back of the large walk-in closet.

Jediah had given her half and told her she could use his space if she desired, but she was yet to further intrude, despite him not seeming bothered by it.

As she lowered herself onto the floor, her ring caught her attention. The beauty of the sparkling cushion cut diamond made her lips slowly spread into a smile.

Ashari’s heart skipped a beat at the realization.

Her guilt morphed into anger and sheer determination as she tightly pursed her lips.

She didn’t want to wonder about how he got this ring within a few hours of her professing herself his wife.

The answer was much simpler than anything her heart wanted to trick her into believing that it could be: he was Jediah Richardson.

Ashari was sure if he wanted the world to stop spinning, it would be done at his command.

She removed an earring from her ear, then held it against the back of her phone. She was sure Jediah had a bug on this phone, but this earring was high-tech. It was embedded with a chip linked to a secure website made by Tsai.

The pop-up came on the phone, and Ashari inputted her access code. It loaded quickly, and she pressed play on the intel gathered today.

“Since there’s no other way, I think we will have to continue moving guns through the new construction site,” Elias finally said.

Jediah scoffed. “Wisdom don’ come wid age. Mi been seh this.”

“You’re right just this once, Jediah. But, what should I tell Iyana?”

“Iyana knows you’re not a saint, so don’t worry. Tell her to look through the paperwork for the most skilled blue collars. The ones who have the most to lose and gain, single them out.”

“I can do that right now,” Reka said.

“No,” Jediah declined. “I need you and Tyre to focus on finding out if they found anything. Iyana needs to be prepared, just in case… Can’t be too careful.”

Ashari sucked in a breath as she remembered how Jediah trailed a finger along her inner thigh after saying those last four words. “Focus,” she mumbled, crossing one leg over the other before resuming the recordings.

After she found what she wanted, she memorized the timestamp and disconnected the earring before slipping it into her ear. She looked at the time on the phone. The guards should be in rotation now. She had three minutes to make a perfect escape.

Ashari jumped to her feet and exited the room.

Ignoring the blare of the medical alarm, she took brisk steps toward the hallway Reine had told her about, when she bumped into Jediah.

Her heart somersaulted as his hand wrapped around her arm.

Not from the unwelcomed butterflies that gave her a jittery feeling around him.

But from the sheer dread that Reine would dare to betray her when she held such a damning secret in her palms.

As Jediah invited her into the boardroom, her specialized training surged forth, masking her guilt from his intense stare.

She wasn’t sure what he wanted from her, but she wouldn’t make him none the wiser about what she was up to.

However, as Jediah spoke, she never expected that even a few hours later, his words would still be with her.

“Where’s your brother?” Toby asked, pulling her from her thoughts.

Ashari stopped staring through the window to look at the man she knew as father.

Seeing this familiar face wasn’t enough to stop the resurfacing memories from crashing into her over and over again.

Her mind was unsteady and her body was feeble.

Still, she found a semblance of normalcy to ask, “You haven’t seen me in almost a month, and Romar’s your only concern? ”

“I am not too worried about you, but I do have many questions. Why did you go M.I.A.? Where is Jaia? How did you get to deliver a message at the daycare?”

“Things got complicated.”

“How?” Toby asked, and Ashari looked away so he didn’t have to see her gulp.

The ring was burning a hole into her conscience. It was tucked into her pocket so Toby couldn’t see it, but she was painfully aware of it.

“Here.” She removed her earring and handed it to him.

Toby stared at her for a moment before he held it against the back of his phone, then inputted his code.

Ashari closed her eyes as Toby waited for the program to load, leaning her head back onto the headrest and reminding herself how to breathe.

She could envision everything that had happened earlier.

Thanks to her dreams or that sting that never left her chest?

Ashari was left even more unsure as the recording began.

“Wa you wan’ tell me?” Ashari asked, watching as Jediah moved to the head of the table. He grabbed a cigar that was near to its end, then lit it.

“I think you should sit,” he said.

“Me don’ like how this sound…” she admitted while sitting.

“Did they teach you in Richardson School that my mother died?”

“Yes. Seventeen years ago, she was pronounced dead at the hospital you always make donations to.”

“Yeah…” Jediah sighed and sat. He looked down at the floor, his shoulders sagging while the cigar remained loosely clenched between his fingers.

“We were on our way home from my milestone event, and my parents were arguing. My sister and I were in the back seat. I gave Reine my earphones and put on music so she didn’t have to hear them.

I know earphones aren’t good for a three year old, but I didn’t want her to witness all that I had to.

” Jediah cleared his throat. “Anyway, it got physical when Kayon backhanded Mom. Maybe she forgot we were in the car, or she was finally at her limit, but she hit him back. It shocked Kayon, and he was so focused on hitting her back that he lost control of the vehicle. We… ran another car off Flat Bridge.”

Ashari’s heart raced while her throat tightened. She gulped hard then forced out, “Why are you telling me this?”

“Our car slammed into the mountain, and my ears were ringing from Reine’s cries.

I should’ve stayed, but… it was hard to breathe in the car.

The smell of blood was too much. My head was pounding.

My eyes were hurting from all the smoke.

I remember the door was stuck, and I had to force it open to get out.

I remember walking away and stooping before the river.

I was struggling to breathe while watching the other car sink. ”

Ashari shook her head, tears welling in her eyes. “N-no… Don’t finish that,” she begged, her voice shaky.

He looked at her. The raw emotion in his eyes made her body tremble.

“I tried yelling for Errol to come help. My mouth was moving, but I wasn’t hearing my voice.

I was only hearing the water bubbles pop around the car as it sank…

And my sister’s cries. And the guards rushing to get my parents into another car.

It was very late, and Flat Bridge doesn’t stay quiet for long.

We couldn’t be there. Someone grabbed me, and they put me into a car. I… I didn’t know it was you, Ash.”

Her lips trembled as she stood, backing away from him. He stood, his eyes full of regret as he stared at her.

“Would it have made a difference?” she asked, and he kept quiet. “Huh, Jediah?! I lost my real parents that night, and you still have your father! And your sister! You have this big house, and your whole life of wrong doings, while I have a lifetime of trauma. And, to make it worse, you knew?!”

“I didn’t know until you told me why you’re scared of water… I’m sorry, Ash.” He stepped toward her, sympathy in his eyes.

She shook her head and hurried out of the room. He hadn’t followed her, and she was thankful.

Barely.

The recording ended. Ashari’s eyes opened, emotionless as she stared at the building a short distance away from the parked car.

The informant wasn’t at the headquarters this late, but Ashari didn’t want to go inside.

It’d be too many questions to answer when she barely had answers to questions she wanted answers for.

Too many people waiting for a confrontation when all she wanted to do was break this case and step out of the shadows.

“I know what you want me to do… but this isn’t why you were placed on the case,” Toby said, making Ashari scoff.

“Don’t know why I expected anything different from you.

It’s always Senior’s way or no way,” she mocked.

It was Senior’s way with all the private schooling.

Senior’s way with friends. Senior’s way with a career path.

Senior’s way with the strict once a year visit to Jamaica after the therapist had insisted the recurring nightmares were her way of trying to hold onto the last living moments with her parents.

“That’s not true.”

Ashari hissed her teeth, then waved her hand. “Play the next recording.” She listened with a scowl as the meeting with Elias played.

“They’ll be hiding drug baggies in the plyboards?” Toby asked, and Ashari nodded.

“Yes. They’ll clean money through the car marts, per usual, and deposits will be done through the wholesales, but this is a temporary arrangement. You have the date when they’ll start the drug imports. So, set up the bust, extract me, and move in.”

“Anything about the guns?” Toby asked.

Ashari shook her head and sighed. “No.”

“Then we’re not ready to arrest him.”

“I’m tired of waiting. Jediah plays the long game.

His entire family does. I’ve been inside with them, and I know that they’ll continue to drag us along if we allow them to.

Jediah’s been constantly looking over his shoulder since what happened to his father became public knowledge.

The force has had assumptions about the Richardson family, but we’ve never been this close.

This is the perfect time to arrest Jediah.

He’ll be spooked and slip up. Maybe if you put all of your faith into me like you always do with Romar, I can even get Kayon arrested, too. ”

Toby allowed a moment of silence to pass before he sighed. “Where’s Romar?”

Ashari’s eye twitched from irritation before she looked at Toby. “Romar is dead. I killed him.”

Toby’s eyes widened. “ What did you say, Ashari?”

Ashari almost laughed. “You heard what I said, so I won’t repeat it. We can’t let emotions cloud our judgments, right?”

Toby gaped like a fish.

Ashari reached over to snatch the earring from Toby. He slowly fixed his posture, unable to remain unfazed as he processed Ashari’s words.

“You can’t give it to Tsai for her to upload it yet,” Ashari said while slipping her earring back in place. “I want to be there.”

Toby cleared his throat. “Where?” he asked, his voice lacking that powerful bass Ashari was used to.

Ashari turned her head toward the window. Her reflection scowled at her. “Jediah Richardson’s arrest.”