Deadly Satisfaction (17 page)

“Whether you believe me or not,” Shartell said, “I'm trying to do the right thing by you.”

“The right thing would be to forget about including me in anything that has to do with that article.”

“Think about how much inspiration your story would give to trans people who're trying to find love. Did you know that the word
transgender
has been trending in the top ten on Twitter for a month? The exposure will be phenomenal . . . I mean, for helping people . . . you know?”

Donetta thought her head would pop off. She was through-the-roof mad, and she had to take a deep breath to calm herself. “Shartell, I want you to listen very carefully to what I'm getting ready to say.”

“Um, okay . . .”

“I've spent my entire life living in the shadow of happiness. You have no idea how hard just doing simple things like going on a date has been for me. You don't know what it's like to live with the fear that someone might beat you up, rape you, or even kill you because of who you are. I've been beaten and I've been raped, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna allow you to put my life in jeopardy.”

“Donetta, I would never do anything to put you or anyone else's safety at risk.”

“That's not true. You have no idea what kind of consequences your actions have caused to the people you've hurt over the years by spreading gossip. What might seem like nothing to you could mean the difference between life and death for someone else.”

“You know me, and you know I would never do anything to harm anyone.”

“The old Shartell wouldn't have. Back in the day, when you were just the town busybody with a bad perm, at least you had a conscience. But the new Shartell, who writes sensationalized articles and has a six-figure book deal, doesn't give a damn about anyone but herself. I've seen the change in you.” Donetta took another deep breath and swallowed hard. “If you have a shred of decency left in your body, you'll finish that article today, and when I go online to read it tomorrow, my name won't be anywhere in it.”

Donetta hit the End button on her phone, looked out the window, and watched fluffy snowflakes begin to fall as tears rolled down her cheeks.

G
ENEVA

I
f anyone had told Geneva at the beginning of the week that her Thanksgiving Eve would be spent doing anything other than enjoying her family and cooking food in preparation for their big holiday feast, she wouldn't have believed it. But as she rubbed her temples, feeling the beginnings of a colossal headache about to roar, a festive celebration was the last thing on her mind. It had been four hours since she and Samuel had put Joe out of their house, turning what should have been a time of family love and celebration into a flood of flared tempers and heated emotions. The family was just beginning to settle down from the chaos that had taken place, but the atmosphere was still tense.

Sarah was upstairs in bed, sleeping off the Valium she'd had to take to help calm her nerves. Herbert had gone to the driving range down the street from Geneva and Samuel's subdivision so he could hit some balls and blow off steam. Samuel had just taken two Tylenol that Geneva had given him and reapplied a bag of frozen peas to his knuckles to help with the swelling from where he'd punched his brother in the jaw. And Geneva was outside, reclined on a lounge chair on their scenic back patio, wrapped up in two thick blankets, as she watched the flames dance inside the Tuscan-style brick firepit in front of her. The only person in the Owens household who was as happy as could be was little Gabrielle, who was oblivious to the adult commotion around her. She'd devoured her lunch and then fallen asleep with a satisfied tummy and a smile on her face.

Ever since yesterday it seemed to Geneva that nothing had gone right. First the interview with Vivana, then her bad dream about Johnny's killer, and now the revelation that her brother-in-law had been the major cause of the pain and scrutiny she'd suffered after Johnny's death. Geneva shook her head in disgust as she thought about the story Samuel had told her. “Now I know why Samuel didn't want that deceitful lowlife in our house or our lives,” she said to herself.

Throughout the investigation of Johnny's murder, up to the point when Vivana had been indicted for the crime, the authorities had hounded Geneva and Samuel. The two had topped the list of prime suspects, and their every move had become a matter of interest to the authorities. The level of scrutiny around them had gotten so intense that Geneva and Samuel had suspected they were under surveillance. The police had known their schedules like clockwork, even when Geneva and Samuel would change up their routine. Neither of them could go anywhere without seeing squad cars or plainclothes detectives parked in dark sedans nearby. One of the detectives working the case had even shown up at restaurants on two separate occasions when Samuel had taken Geneva out to dinner.

As it turned out, Geneva and Samuel had been right; they had indeed been under surveillance. Their personal struggles, daily schedules, events they planned to attend, and intimate conversations had all been leaked by Joe, who sold the privileged information to none other than Shartell Brown, who then passed the details along to the police.

Shartell had met Joe in passing when he'd come down to visit Samuel a few days after Johnny's murder. Joe had been in Starbucks waiting for his coffee when Shartell walked in. At the time, Shartell hadn't risen to the notoriety she now enjoyed. Back then she'd simply been known as the town gossip, and she'd made it her business to buddy up to as many people as she could so she'd always be in the know. When she saw Joe's unfamiliar face, she'd immediately known he was new in town, so she struck up a casual conversation with him. She asked him where he was from, noting that he didn't have a Southern accent. Joe told her that he'd been in Birmingham a few days before for a business convention, and that he'd decided to drive to Amber to visit his brother.

Once Shartell found out that the stranger's brother was none other than Samuel Owens, a light had sparked in her eyes. Shartell was the type of person who could smell a conniving schemer a mile away, and Joe had been oozing with the scent. She knew she could use Joe's greed to advance her own ambition.

Shartell told Joe that she was a local reporter, which was almost true, seeing that she was always asking questions, gathering information, and telling stories. She'd said she was working with authorities on the Mayfield murder investigation by providing them with inside information. She told Joe that if he gave her information about Samuel and Geneva, she would make it financially worth his while and his name would never be mentioned. The only catch was that he could never mention her name either. That had been fine with Joe, because he didn't want any dirt to be traced back to him.

Shartell had been so eager to enlist Joe's help that she'd reached into the large leather attaché draped over her shoulder and pulled out a confidentiality agreement right there on the spot. “Anonymity and confidentiality are crucial in my line of work,” she'd told him, “and I'm always prepared in case I run into a juicy story.” They walked next door to the UPS Store and had a notary public witness, stamp, and sign the agreement, sealing their deal.

Joe had made a pretty penny feeding Shartell the details of his weekly phone conversations with his brother. Time rolled on, and everything was good—until the day after Vivana was indicted. Samuel and Geneva were no longer news, and Samuel's usefulness had come to an end, along with the brotherly phone calls from Joe.

Samuel didn't find out what Joe had been up to until a month after Gabrielle had been born. He and Geneva had planned a big party to celebrate the birth of their daughter. They'd invited their close friends and family members, and at the urging of Samuel's parents—who'd purchased Joe's airline ticket—Joe had come to town for the festivities.

Geneva shook her head when she thought about that weekend. She remembered watching Joe and Shartell exchange glances during the party. She'd even caught them huddled in deep conversation at the edge of her flower garden beyond the patio. She'd thought they might be trying to hook up, but then Shartell abruptly stormed off, leaving Joe standing outside alone. Geneva had simply thought that it was a case of Joe being Joe, and that his abrasive personality had turned Shartell off. Little did she know at the time that her assumption was only half-right.

“I thought they were trying to hook up, too,” Samuel had told Geneva a few hours ago when he'd broken the news to her. “I'd heard voices coming from the family room, which I'd thought was odd because everyone had been in the kitchen and living room. Anyway, I went to see who was in there and it was Shartell and Joe. They didn't see or hear me when I cracked the door, and that's when I heard them arguing in whispered tones. Joe told her that she still owed him money and he threatened to sue her. He told her that without the information he'd given her about you and me during Johnny's murder investigation, she wouldn't have been able to assist the police, which helped her become well-known and land her the job with Entertainment Scoop. He wanted a piece of the action. That's when Shartell reminded him about the agreement they'd signed, and she told him that if he opened his mouth about anything she'd make sure he ended up in jail for defamation and breach of contract.”

After Samuel finished telling Geneva all the details of his brother's betrayal, Geneva had sat on the couch stunned.

“Why didn't you tell me this when you found out?” Geneva asked.

Samuel let out a long sigh. “Because we'd gone through so much and you'd finally gotten to a point where you were happy. I felt that telling you would only cause more pain, so I decided your happiness and peace of mind was much more important than my brother's scheming ways.”

But Geneva's hurt soon turned to anger, and anger turned to rage. Samuel had barely finished his sentence before Geneva jumped to her feet and ran up the stairs—taking them two at a time—to the guest room where Joe had been napping. Samuel had tried to stop her, but she'd moved too quickly. She'd stormed into the room and shouted at Joe to pack his bags and leave.

“Are you crazy?” Joe had said. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“You're a no-good, low-down, devious coward,” Geneva yelled. “I want you out of our house right now!”

When Joe made the mistake of telling Geneva to go to hell, he'd found himself lying flat on the floor after Samuel punched him in his jaw. Sarah had stayed in their guest room with Gabrielle, while Herbert rushed in and broke up the one-sided fight. Fifteen minutes later a cab pulled up to the front door and took Joe to the Hilton Garden Inn.

Geneva pulled the soft lambs-wool blankets up to her neck and let out a long sigh as she thought about her money-hungry brother-in-law. Then her thoughts turned to her nosy friend, Shartell. Geneva had always known that Shartell was a bigmouthed gossiper; after all, she'd been nicknamed Ms. CIA because she had intel on everyone in town. But Geneva had also known Shartell to have a sense of honor, or at least she'd thought so. Geneva shook her head when she thought about what Shartell had said at the salon yesterday when Donetta had made a joke, and said that Shartell's family better be careful, lest they end up in Shartell's new book. Geneva had been appalled when Shartell had said it was actually a good idea.

“If she'll sell out her family, she'll certainly throw me under the bus in order to get what she wants,” Geneva huffed. She closed her eyes and rubbed her throbbing temples. When she looked up, she was startled to find Samuel standing beside her lounge chair. “I didn't hear you come out.”

“You looked like you were in deep thought and I didn't want to startle you.” Samuel handed her a glass of wine. “Here, baby. I know it's the middle of the day, but I figured you could use this.”

Geneva nodded her head and took a sip. “Thanks, honey. This is exactly what I need. How's your hand feeling? Is the Tylenol helping?”

“No, but the wine is. I already finished one glass and I'm about to have another.”

“I might need a refill, too.”

Samuel looked up at the dark clouds looming above. “The weatherman said this'll be the first time in over fifty years that this town has seen snow on Thanksgiving.”

“Snow?” Geneva looked up at the sky. “You've gotta be kidding me. I didn't know they were calling for snow.”

“They weren't, but apparently in the wee hours of this morning an unexpected clipper, mixed with a polar vortex, came from out of nowhere, and it's sweeping through the South. I didn't know anything about it, either, until I turned on the news right before I poured your drink.”

“Wow, this is sudden.”

“Yeah, this winter storm is fast-moving, and it's caught everyone off guard. They're saying it's an emergency situation. I'm glad we've got plenty of food, because it looks like we're gonna get over a half foot by nightfall.”

Geneva took a sip of her wine and closed her eyes. “Can things get any worse?”

“Why don't you come back inside, baby? It's way too cold to be out here, and it's supposed to start snowing any minute.”

Under normal circumstances, Geneva wouldn't have willingly gone outside in this type of cold for any reason. But what she'd just experienced wasn't a normal circumstance. She needed the solitude and the bone-freezing chill to clear her mind. “I'll come in after I finish my glass, which won't take long,” she told her husband. “Between the fire, these blankets, and the wine, I'll be warm.”

“Okay, but if you're not inside in the next ten minutes, I'm coming back out to get you.”

Geneva took another sip of her wine and watched Samuel close the patio door. She'd wanted to tell him about her dream, but now it seemed silly in comparison to what she'd just discovered. She thought about how much Samuel had been hurt by his brother's betrayal, and how he'd kept it inside because he hadn't wanted to upset her. They'd suffered the loss of one child the year before, and he didn't want to ruin the celebration of their new baby girl by confronting his brother, which would have surely caused a scene.

Before Geneva knew it, she was swallowing her last sip of wine. She set the glass on the patio side table and looked up at the heavy clouds. “What's gonna be next? A plague of locusts?” She wished she could make a wish and return her life to normal. But when she thought about it, many of the things she'd thought were normal had really been lies. Her entire marriage to Johnny had been a lie. Joe's bond with Samuel had been a lie. Vivana's conviction for a crime she didn't commit had been a sham. And Shartell's claims of integrity had been a huge farce.

Geneva was hurt by her brother-in-law's betrayal, frightened by what her dream might mean, and angry that Shartell had used her and Samuel's pain to advance her own gain. Geneva was the type of person who always tried to look for the bright side of any given situation, but when she thought about the current set of circumstances, it was hard for her to see any good. She'd tried to keep a positive outlook, but right now all she could feel was the numbness that came with finding out someone had betrayed you.

“I guess I'd better go in before I catch pneumonia out here.” Just as Geneva rose from her lounge chair and gathered her blankets, she felt a snowflake land on her cheek. She looked up into the sky and saw big, fluffy flakes starting to fall all around her. “What a beautiful sight.” She stood perfectly still, enjoying the quiet beauty of nature, and for a brief moment she felt completely at peace. But her solitude was interrupted when she heard Samuel call out to her.

“Donetta's on the phone,” he said.

“Okay, tell her I'm coming.” Geneva folded her blankets and reached for her wineglass. She was looking forward to talking with her best friend, who was probably calling to give her another update about the wonderful new man she'd just met. Geneva couldn't wait to talk to Donetta, because she needed to hear some good news right now.