Ms. Barnes had arrived at the house approximately a half hour before Ms. Barnes and I took off. Ms. Barnes got her things together, and I met her downstairs.”
“She slammed the door on me,” Angelica jumped in, not wanting to be upstaged by Ari. “I got the hell out of there, thankful for Ari’s offer to stay with him.”
“Well, do you know, Ms. Barnes,” Detective Michaels continued, “who would want to kill Ms. Reardon?”
“Although she was my husband’s cousin, I didn’t know her well. I was even surprised by the invitation to come to New York, thinking my bad luck had turned to good. I met a few of her friends my first few days here, but all of them seemed to adore her.” Angelica made a face.
“What was the face for, Ms. Barnes? Did they or did they not adore her?”
“I think they were all lovers. They kissed each other on the mouth like they were, like, I can’t find the word for it. It was nasty and disgusting. I can’t stomach females kissing females or men kissing other men. It’s not right. If God meant for it to be, he would have made Steve out of Adam’s rib instead of Eve. Get my drift? I don’t think any one of them had a murderous bone in their body, though.”
“What about you, Ari, keeper of the door?” Detective Michaels asked.
Ari wanted to punch the detective in the mouth. “It could be one of a number of people,” Ari snapped. “Ms. Reardon was a happy woman. She liked to party. I never heard her argue with anyone or throw anyone out of her apartment. I wasn’t on duty when this horrible thing happened to her, and in my heart, I wished I had been. The perpetrator might have been found by now. I truly cared for Donna. She was like family to me.”
“You seem to know a lot for being a doorman,” Detective Michaels said as he shot Detective Henderson a glance.
“I’ve been invited to some of Ms. Reardon’s parties,” Ari offered. “Some of New York’s elites would attend. I mostly observed, enjoyed the music, danced every now and then and enjoyed the eats-nothing more.”
“As an observer, did you ever get a sense that some of the folks on the invite list did not like Ms. Reardon?” Detective Michaels asked.
“Not once. Of course, I only attended a handful of her parties.”
“Ms. Barnes, tell me, what state would you say Ms. Reardon was in the last time you saw her?”
“Detective Michaels, I believe she was glad my ass was out of her house. I barely cleared the doorway before the door was slammed, as I said before. I was happy to be out of there, but I would never wish anything ill toward Donna.”
“You got all of that, Henderson?”
“Yep.”
“Don’t think about leaving the city any time soon,” Detective Michaels said. “I’m sure you’ll see our faces again.” He nodded. “Let’s go, Henderson.”
Angelica and Ari watched them leave the house. She dropped on the couch and let out a big sigh. It was mind-boggling, but she was glad the interrogation was over.
Angelica looked up. “Who do you think did it, Ari?”
He came and sat next to Angelica. “I wish I knew. They will have to answer to me. If the police don’t find the killer, I will.”
There was something about the woman who sat so close to Ari. He had been with some of the most exotic women in the world, yet there was something about this caramel-colored diva that made his insides erupt. It could be in the way she switched her hips when she walked or the generous curves of her body that rippled in all the right places. Such things would make any man fall to his knees and beg for her attention and then some.
For a moment, Ari imagined Angelica dancing with a pole, caressing and teasing it with her body, while a room filled with men craved what they couldn’t have, letting their imaginations run wild and keeping their aroused groins in check. Ari reached over and pulled Angelica close. The fragrance from the lilac scrub she used when she showered oozed from her body. He inhaled her fragrance once more and brought his lips to her neck.
Her head flipped back as Ari’s lips dotted every inch of her neck. Angelica pulled her ponytail out of the way so that his lips wouldn’t miss a spot. She turned slightly to the right so that she faced him.
Lifting Angelica’s legs, Ari placed them over his. He lowered his face to hers and sealed her lips with a kiss. She responded in kind, linking her arms around his neck. Savoring the flavor of Angelica’s lips, Ari moved again to her neck while her body pulsated with every touch. Her hands caressed his head like she was creating a master watercolor piece-slowly and gently. His thick lock of hair twisted this way and that as her body answered to the touch of his lips.
“Let’s go to your room,” Ari said in a whisper, not wanting to interrupt the mood.
Angelica seemed to hesitate, but before she could answer, his lips were on hers and his hands wandered over her body, exploring her, making her testify to the power of his touch. She sat up, and Ari scooped her off the couch and headed for her room.
With his foot, Ari pushed open the door to Angelica’s room. It was simple but inviting. A mahogany bed and double dresser with an attached mirror took up most of the room. An old, yellowish quilt covered the bed. Ari gently laid Angelica on it and sat next to her, unbuttoning his shirt. Unable to peel his eyes away from her, he pulled his shirt off and reached down and kissed her again.
Angelica responded to his advances, helping Ari to take off her shirt. He nibbled at her ears and planted kisses on her chin, snaking along her neck until he fell into the bottom of the ravine that lay between her twin mountains. He breathed in her scent and languished in the ravine as if he’d been given a potion to make him sleep. She lifted his head and pouted her lips, and he kissed her again, passionately.
Wasting no time, Ari removed the rest of his clothing and helped a helpless Angelica remove hers. His breathing became labored as he stared at her nakedness, his head moving up and down her body, stopping to analyze a small mole adjacent to her navel like a person with a trained eye.
Angelica looked up and smiled at him, her arms lying lazily by her sides. She could feel the heat from Ari’s body as he continued to X-ray every inch of her, and immediately she knew she wanted to feel him, all of him.
“You are beautiful, Angelica. You have the body of a twenty-year-old-perfect in every way.”
“Thank you,” she said softly, accepting Ari’s compliment.
Ari kissed Angelica and felt her muscles contract as he explored her twin peaks, kissing and squeezing as if he held the controls of a brand-new PlayStation game. Then down the slopes of Aspen he continued, kissing and feeling his way through the sweet terrain until he descended upon the Bermuda Triangle that sucked him under without remorse. Unable to wait any longer, Ari filled her well to the brim with his throbbing manhood.
Angelica shuddered and shook violently-her head turning from side to side-her body a volcano erupting from the pleasure that Ari gave her. She looked like a flight of geese flapping their wings, excited about the flight down south. Then, from the belly of Ari’s soul came a blood-curdling yell, his own body giving up the ghost after the ride of his life.
His body collapsed onto hers, sweat glistening on his back. Angelica’s toes were curled tight as if they had latched onto something they didn’t want to let go of. Moans of pleasure and satisfaction enveloped the room, chasing away the stillness of the morning. Both enjoyed the tender moment and lay in each other’s arms for the next hour.
Finally, Ari lifted his head, finding Angelica asleep. He kissed her gently and then rose, taking his clothes with him before disappearing from the room.
Angelica stirred-the weight of Ari’s body now gone. She opened her eyes and focused them, letting out a little sigh when she realized where she was. She closed her eyes again and relived the last few hours in her dream. Ari was a wonderful lover, and she found herself wanting him again.
27
Jefferson walked back and forth, pushing his walker in front of him. Being cooped up in the house with nothing to do was getting the better of him. His livelihood-the business he had built from the ground up, the business he had cultivated and grown to be the premier minority business in the city of Fayetteville and which had garnered him the title of Black Businessman of the Year, was no more. Myles and Associates had been sold to another up-and-coming black businessman.
