The Iron Tiara

Alexander spent the next few hours walking the streets of Philadelphia and visiting some shops. He spent a long time perusing one in particular. It was a store that specialized in every kind of knife known to man. It didn't matter if you were a chef or a hunter. They had a knife for every profession and every occasion. He eventually settled on a sleek switchblade that was calling his name. After making his purchase, he noticed the time. He had fifteen minutes to get back to the offices of Perkins & Wallace.

Nisha hadn't been able to speak to Nicholas, so she'd left a message with his assistant telling him she was very sorry, but that something important had come up. He still hadn't returned her call by the time 6:30 p.m. rolled around. She was outside, walking down the steps when she looked up.

Alexander was already there, leaned up against his rental car across the street. Even from a distance, she could feel his piercing blue eyes as they raked over her body. She couldn't deny the way his stare made her feel. She shivered despite the warm balmy weather.

They drove in silence to a restaurant he'd picked out during his mini-tour of Philly. She agreed with his choice. It was a casual place, off the beaten path, that catered to all types of clientele. It was an old house that had been converted to a restaurant in the thirties. After entering what used to be the home's stately front door, the patrons could go to the left where there was a bar and laid-back seating area, or the right where there was a more formal dining room. But not so formal that Alexander's jeans and dress shirt would seem out of place.

They were shown to a table, and after giving their drink orders, they perused the menu. The waiter returned with their beverages and a basket of warm bread. After writing down their selections, he retrieved the menus and told them the wait wouldn't be long.

"Why so quiet on the drive over?" Alexander asked. He took a sip of his drink and set it down.

"I don't know. I guess I'm trying to figure you out." Nisha shook her head. "I can't understand why you would come all this way to take me for a meal.” There was a pause, and her eyes narrowed. "Unless that's a lie. You're here for something else, and I'm filling in some empty space because you have time to kill." Although it was never discussed, she wasn't na?ve about Anthony's other business. She secretly hoped that Alexander knew her brother from the landscape office, but her gut told her otherwise. Alexander wasn't the type to ride a mower or wear gardening gloves. She'd known it from the moment she met him, but didn't want to recognize it.

"I'm here for you. Only you." His words and the way he said them caused her insides to tingle. She immediately dialed back her reaction and feelings. "But?" There was a long pause before she asked, "Why?"

He wasn't going to answer her question, so he changed the subject.

"Did you know Anthony is serious about someone?" he blurted out. Of all the subjects to try and divert her questions, why had he chosen this one? "But you can't tell him you know. He doesn't know I'm here and you know how private your brother is. When he's ready, he'll tell you about her."

That was one point Nisha wouldn't argue about. Alexander was right about Anthony being private. It wouldn't bode well for Alexander if she gave him up. Her eyes went wide as she leaned across the table.

"You're lying." She paused. "Tell me everything," she said with a devious grin.

He couldn't help but smile at her contradictory statements, and he proceeded to fill her in on everything except for the things she couldn't know. He told her it was the girl Anthony brought home that day and that her brother had fallen hard and was now referring to her as his woman.

"Wow," Nisha exclaimed, leaning back and reaching for her drink. "Falling hard doesn't sound like my brother, but calling her his woman this soon does. I don't need to tell you how territorial Anthony is and after he's made his mind up about something it's a done deal. The minute he decided he loved her, there would be no going back for him."

The pager on Alexander's belt interrupted the moment. He reached for it and squinted, not sure if he was seeing it correctly. It was displaying a number that meant there was an emergency at the camp. He couldn't do anything about it from Philadelphia, but he still needed to make a call to see what was going on.

"I have to answer this," he told Nisha.

She nodded and said, "I know there's a pay phone on the second floor by the restrooms."

"I won't be long," he said as he stood up and pushed his chair back in.





Chapter Thirty-Two





Naples, Florida





After Dr. V drove away, Shasta mustered up the courage to go outside and tell the men the pretty doctor had been lying and was using them to take vengeance out on a woman that Anthony cared about.

They laughed at her.

Andrew stood up and walked slowly toward her. "And we're supposed to take a drug addicted slut’s word over the woman that drove away in a fifty-thousand-dollar car?" he asked before slapping her hard across the face.

"Everybody knows Anthony don't care about no woman," one of the men added.

"Yes, I think he does. Weren't you here when X had everybody looking for her?" Shasta pleaded as she raised her hand to where her cheek stung.

The four men exchanged glances and one spoke up, "Ain't heard nothing about it."

Shasta knew they were probably telling the truth. They weren't regulars and only showed up occasionally to execute a drug deal, have sex with the women or to be included in some of the camp’s more unsavory business. She glanced over at Denny's charred hand.

"I'm telling you what I heard. Dr. V never got a phone call telling her to relay a message. I heard her call a woman and lie about Anthony being hurt and asking the girl to come to the camp." She was begging them to believe her.

That comment earned her a kick to the stomach. She fell back onto the hard brick and clutched her abdomen as she tried to catch her breath.

Andrew stood over her and said, "Don't matter anyhow. We'll be out of here tonight and don't plan on coming back."

When she was able to stand, she ran back to the office and paged Anthony. She looked down at the phone, her breathing heavy, and tried to remember Alexander's number. She tried twice, before she finally got it right.

She stood over the phone and willed it to ring. She knew Anthony would be heading back from Miami and she wasn’t sure he would be able to get a page if he was already crossing the Alley. When the phone rang she immediately snatched it up and accepted the collect call from X. She rattled off everything that had transpired. When she finally stopped to take a breath, X told her in no uncertain terms what she needed to do, and reassured her that Anthony would insist she do the same.

Her breathing back to normal, and with a newfound confidence, she picked up the phone and was ready to make the call when the office door flew open and the receiver was smacked out of her hand. She felt a hard punch to her face and staggered backward. She held up her hands to try and ward off the punches, but they were no match for Andrew's meaty fists. "I'm sorry," she whispered to no one who mattered. She thought about Anthony, X and the woman she'd never met. The woman named Christy. "I'm sorry," she said, once more before her world went black.

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