Page 33 of Trial of Deceit (The Family’s Oath #1)

Chapter seventeen

A shari’s ponytail whipped around her face, some of the small braids stinging her cheeks from the ferocity of the wind. She hugged her body tighter, sighing hard as the waves continued to crash into the boardwalk. She knew this moment would’ve been hard, but she hadn’t expected it to be so lonely.

A tapping came from behind her. Ashari looked over her shoulder, her shoulders sagging when she noticed Lyssa.

The other woman had a scowl on her face; her cheeks were tinted red from the harshness of the sun’s glaring rays.

Her hard stomps continued to pound against the boardwalk as she made her way toward Ashari.

A small smile came onto Ashari’s face as she watched the woman. Ashari continued to smile as Lyssa stopped beside her and ignored her gaze. “Thanks for coming.”

Lyssa glanced at the vase resting atop the boardwalk’s railing, then crossed her arms before looking toward the glistening sea. “I didn’t do this for you. I’m doing it for Romar. He was loyal to the case.”

“Lyssa…” she trailed off with a sigh, then winced as Lyssa’s cold glare set on her.

“You’re unbelievable, Ashari.”

“I already explained everything to you, and you’re making feelings come between yourself and logic,” Ashari argued.

“I don’t care what you explained! Do you love him?”

Ashari’s eyes widened. “ Love ?”

Lyssa nodded. “I still can’t believe you did this. I doubt he’s ever brought you out on a date. Doubt he knows your favorite color. Doubt he’s ever made you come.”

“I…” Ashari trailed off, her heart beating fast with the threat to rip through her chest. She didn’t know how to answer Lyssa’s question. How could she?

Lyssa was right.

She’d never had a honeymoon phase with Jediah.

They’d never done things traditional couples do.

While they’d been together, she wasn’t sure what they were, but there was something there.

Something deeper than the surface level.

She couldn’t tell anyone Jediah’s favorite color, but she knew all of his traumas.

She knew how he put his entire life on pause so his sister could live the life he never had.

She knew he sat at the head of the dining table, but never ate until she did.

She was always in the spotlight with him.

Lyssa scoffed at Ashari’s silence. Ashari blinked rapidly, locking away those thoughts and forcing away the resurfacing guilt. She hadn’t had these feelings in a while…

Lyssa looked toward the sea. “Say your part, so I can leave.”

“I… don’t know what to say,” Ashari confessed, tears forming in her eyes as Lyssa looked at her.

The heat in the woman’s eyes was dissipating out of pity, causing Ashari to be closer to the verge of breaking down. “Is he watching?”

“No. He wants me to have privacy,” Ashari forced out.

“Can I hug you?”

The first tear fell as Ashari nodded. Lyssa stepped forward, pulling Ashari into a tight, comforting hug. Burying her face into Lyssa’s neck, sobs rocked Ashari’s body. Lyssa ran her hand up and down Ashari’s back, muttering that things would be okay and that she missed Romar, too.

“I l-loved him so much.”

“I know, babe,” Lyssa said, holding Ashari tighter.

Lifting her head, she looked into Lyssa’s eyes. “Do you think… his father will forgive me for not saving him?”

“Don’t do this to yourself, Ash. Toby is your father. He adopted you without a second thought; he’s all you’ve known for basically all of your life. If there’s anybody who’s gonna understand that you did your best, it’s gotta be the most decorated F.B.I. agent. Your father.”

A smile forced its way to her trembling lips. “Thanks, Lyssa.”

Lyssa locked onto Ashari’s smile. Her eyes seemed to trace the curves of Ashari’s lips, before her eyes moved to Ashari’s watery eyes.

They lingered there for a moment, familiar desire pooling in the light brown irises Ashari had found comfort in after Romar had threatened to tell Toby about her closeness to Reka.

Ashari had known Reka needed to complete training to make enough money to care for her ailing mother, so she couldn’t let her feelings for the woman strip Reka of more time with the only parent she’d ever known.

It had hurt giving Reka the cold shoulder, but it hurt more when the woman had suddenly disappeared without so much as a goodbye.

At least she had Lyssa — a better kept secret and even better distraction while it had lasted.

Knowing Lyssa would try to lean in for a kiss, Ashari pulled away. She wiped beneath her eyes as she turned toward the urn of fake ashes. “When we get back to the car, I’m gonna give you Romar’s ashes. Give it to Senior.”

“You’re not gonna make me drive you back?” Lyssa asked.

“Don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“But that was the plan! See, this is what I’m always talking about!”

Filled with newfound annoyance, Ashari hissed her teeth. “I’m gonna come. I just need to see the kids at the daycare one more time,” she said, and Lyssa pursed her lips. “Everything will be okay, Lyssa. Let’s spread the ashes so we can go. I don’t wanna miss the arrest.”

Breathing was impossible as she focused her attention onto the large monitor at the front of the room.

The live stream was from the camera attached to Sanjae’s combat suit.

Her throat tightened more as the police stormed onto the construction site, disrupting the array of blue collar workers.

Some officers prodded workers with their guns, forcing them into a corner of the incomplete building.

Other officers weren’t as gentle. They forced non-compliant workers face down on the floor, bringing their hands behind them and locking them in place with zip ties instead of handcuffs.

Workers voiced their protests through hisses and glares, all being ignored by the officers as they continued to round up the workers one by one.

Ashari’s nails dug into the soft cushion of the desk chair before her.

Dust rose from bags of concrete some workers had tossed onto the ground, hoping to create a blockade and means of escape.

It smeared the camera. Ashari’s fingers fumbled over each other as she reached for the mouthpiece on her headset.

“Clean the camera, Sanjae,” she said, on edge.

Sanjae wiped the camera, then threw a thumb up before the lens.

“It’s good. Move on. There’s a backroom not on the construction plan.

It’s at three o’clock,” Ashari stated, watching as Sanjae’s body turned at an angle.

He made no verbal command, but after heavy stomps and shakes of armor followed him toward the direction, Ashari released her grip on the microphone.

Her fingers dug into the chair again. Her eyes darted around the live feed as Sanjae moved through the site, scanning over terrified or passive faces in search of Jediah.

He should be there.

Why wasn’t he there?!

Lyssa walked across the room. She stopped beside Ashari. “We’ll get him,” she assured, laying a hand on Ashari’s shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

Ashari’s lips parted, but her throat was still blocked. Her heart raced a mile a second, slamming against her chest so hard, she thought every throbbing vein would rupture.

Could this be the end of the Richardson empire?

It couldn’t be.

This was too easy.

Officers were only finding drug baggies hidden in the plyboards. Where were the guns?! Jediah had said they’d be temporarily housed there. Had he found somewhere better to store them? He was strategic like that—

Her spine stiffened as Jediah came into view.

He was kneeling on the ground beside Elias, their hands raised in surrender.

Two officers rushed over and forced them to the ground.

Jediah’s teeth gritted as an officer knelt on his back, wood chippings pressing hard into the side of his face as the officer fastened a zip tie around his wrists.

Sanjae released his rifle. It swung at his side as he stooped before Jediah. Jediah’s eyes narrowed on Sanjae. Ashari knew he couldn’t see her through the lens, so she convinced herself that it was the dust causing him to glare so deeply.

Cheers and applause erupted around the room. Ashari’s grip loosened on the chair.

“Congrats, babe,” Lyssa whispered.

“Thanks,” Ashari mumbled.

Lyssa walked away with a victorious grin.

The tightness released from Ashari’s throat as she moved around the chair and plopped herself into it.

She glanced to the side, meeting her father’s gaze.

Toby gave her a nod before he left the room.

Ashari dragged her gaze back to the monitor.

She should’ve felt relief as Sanjae yanked Jediah to his feet.

Instead, there was this morbid feeling of uncertainty.