Origins (The Black Diamond Series Book 3) Read online

  He looked at Diamond then at Lily. “You all are everything to us.”

  ***********

  Trent met Callie in the office parking lot and quickly jumped into her car. He looked her over in tight jeans, a white tank top and white Chucks.

  “Hey Callie,” he said smiling.

  Callie returned his once over taking in his jeans, a nice blue T-Shirt, white sneakers and shiny watch.

  “Hey Trent, you look sexy.”

  Trent smiled. “You look sexier.”

  Callie laughed. “You ready?”

  “Always.”

  Callie sent him a look. “We'll see.”

  Callie drove out of the parking lot and entered traffic. She turned on some music.

  “You like to dance Trent?” she asked while driving.

  “Yeah.”

  “Do you know how?” she glanced at him.

  Trent glanced at her. “Girl, you don't even want to mess with me! I'm like Michael Jackson mixed with Usher; mixed with Chris Brown.”

  “Boy, please!”

  “Okay. Don't say I didn't warn you.” He gave her a little shoulder bounce.

  Callie laughed. “Okay Michael Jackson, Usher, Chris Brown.” She shook her head.

  “What about you?” he asked. “You got some moves?”

  She glanced at him. “Yeah, I'm like Janet Jackson mixed with Beyoncé; mixed with Ciara.”

  Trent smiled. “Okay. This I have to see.”

  “You don't want to mess with me, I'm telling you.”

  They both looked at each other and burst out laughing as she continued to drive. Callie pulled into the parking lot at an ocean side festival. Trent turned to her.

  “You brought me to a festival?” he asked.

  “Yes. It's called having some fun Trent.”

  He shrugged.

  “Have you been before?” she asked.

  “No.”

  Callie rolled her eyes. “I thought so. Come on.”

  She exited the car with Trent in tow. Callie purchased their tickets and he frowned.

  “Don't say anything,” she warned.

  Callie linked her arm in his as they entered the festival. They walked past food vendors, games and rides and Trent didn't care how far they walked as long as Callie kept holding on to his arm. He looked down at her and took in her necklace.

  “Is your necklace a cross? I've seen Sage, Lily and Ray with those,” he asked.

  Callie looked down at her chest and lifted her chain. “No. It's an Ankh. It has the loop at the top.”

  “What is it for?” Trent asked.

  “It's the key of life,” she explained. “I wore this to my interview with Ray and I think this is the reason he hired me. He recognized it immediately.”

  “It's cool,” Trent told her.

  She smiled. “Thanks.”

  She looped her arm back with his and led him further into the festivities. They walked until they came to a basketball game where you had to make baskets to win prizes of stuffed animals.

  “Hey, don't you want your man to win you a prize?” the vendor shouted to Callie.

  Trent stopped and looked down at her. “You want a prize?”

  Callie shrugged. “It doesn't matter.”

  Trent smiled and pulled out his wallet placing a twenty on the counter. He nodded at the vendor and asked, “How many baskets for the panda?”

  Callie looked at the biggest prize available, a giant panda.

  “Trent, what am I going to do with that big ass panda?”

  The vendor smiled. “Nine baskets for the panda.”

  Trent looked over at Callie then back at the vendor. “Let's do it.”

  The vendor happily grabbed Trent's money off the counter and handed him a basketball. Trent sank three baskets then turned to Callie and winked. Three more baskets went through all nets. A crowd started to gather around wanting to see if he could win the giant panda.

  Two more baskets and the crowd cheered loudly. Trent turned to Callie and smiled.

  “One more basket, you want to kiss me for luck?”

  People in the crowd screamed, “Kiss him so he can win!”

  Callie came over to him. “If you miss now, I'm going to kick your ass.” She kissed him quickly and moved away.

  Trent shot the last shot and turned away before it even hit the net. “Get your panda Callie.” The ball went through with a swish and the crowd erupted. Callie happily took the panda that was nearly as tall as she was and walked over to Trent smiling.

  “Thank you!”

  Trent gave her a look. “I thought you didn't want a big ass panda?” he said pointedly.

  She shrugged. “I didn't know you could win it.”

  Trent laughed. “Be honest, why don't you Callie?”

  “I didn't want to put you on spotlight.”

  “Thanks.”

  She smiled wrapping her arm in his while holding the panda with her other hand.

  “I should feed you now,” Callie said looking up at him.

  He smiled down at her. “Yeah, you should.”

  They walked around until they found something that Callie liked since it really didn't matter to Trent.

  Callie chose some grilled chicken and rice and Trent paid for their meals. They sat at a nearby table watching the sun lower in the sky.

  “Are you having fun?” Callie asked.

  “Yeah I am,” Trent said truthfully.

  “So you can ball huh?” she asked.

  Trent shook his head. “Nah, I got a sweet “J” though.”

  “I see.”

  Trent smiled.

  “You want to go on some of the rides?” she asked.

  “Cool.”

  Callie smiled. “Are you afraid?”

  “Nah, you'll hold me.” He gave her a dark stare.

  “Yeah, baby I'll hold you.”

  Trent gave her a wicked grin, which she returned.

  Callie had her panda sitting next to her when a little girl approached her. She had beautiful ebony skin and big dark eyes. She looked to be around five or six.

  “Is that your panda?” her little voice asked.

  Callie smiled at her. “Yes. He won it for me.” She nodded towards Trent.

  The little girl smiled at Trent and he returned it. Her eyes went back to the panda.

  “It's so big!” she exclaimed.

  “I know!” Callie told her.

  “Kayla!”

  All three heads turned as a woman approached.

  “Kayla you can't go wandering off from the group honey,” the woman admonished.

  Callie looked at the badge the woman was wearing that read Jackson Children's Home. She looked back at the little girl.

  “I'm sorry,” the woman apologized. “We try to keep them all together. They're just so curious.”

  Callie nodded slowly. “No problem.” She turned to Kayla. “Bye Kayla.”

  Kayla gave one last look at the panda. “Bye,” she said quietly.

  The woman walked away with Kayla to join the group of children at another table.

  Callie looked at Trent who had also noticed the woman's badge. He'd been on such outings himself as a small child.

  “Excuse me,” Callie said getting up from the table and grabbing the panda. She walked over to the table where Kayla was. Crouching down in front of the little girl she smiled at her.

  “Kayla, would you do me a favor?” Callie asked.

  Kayla nodded her head.

  “Will you take my panda home with you?”

  The little girl's eyes lit up.

  “I need you to take really good care of it and share it with the other kids, okay?”

  The little girl's head bobbed up and down happily.

  Callie looked up at the woman chaperoning the children and the woman smiled at her mouthing the words, “Thank you.”

  Callie gave Kayla a brief hug before returning to the table where Trent was waiting for her. She sat back in her seat and looked over at h
im.

  Trent shook his head. “Damn Callie, that was so cool.”

  “Are you mad that I gave away your panda?”

  “Hell nah...did you see her face?”

  Callie smiled. “Yeah, she was so happy.”

  “You're my shero Callie.”

  “Since I don't have my panda to hold on to, you'll hold me right?” she asked watching him.

  Trent reached for her hand. “Yeah, I'll hold you baby.”

  *********

  “Well Jordan, I can always say that you are a man of your word,” Sage teased him as she lay across his chest in bed.

  Jordan gently stroked her naked back. “I'll never lie to you pretty girl.”

  Sage held him closer rubbing her cheek against his solid muscle. His hand went to her hair moving it away from her face.

  “I need to talk to you Sage.”

  She immediately snapped to attention. “What's wrong?”

  “We're putting extra security on everybody.”

  Sage lifted up to look into his face. “What happened?”

  Jordan looked at her. “There's a threat on Trent's life.”

  “What!” She sat all the way up and Jordan became distracted.

  “Jordan! What is going on?”

  His eyes moved slowly back to her face. “Huh?”

  Sage snatched the sheet and covered herself. “The threat on Trent's life?”

  “Uh yeah...we've got it under control.”

  “Who is it?” she asked.

  He ran a hand down his face. “It's someone from our past.”

  “What do I need to do?” she asked.

  Jordan's dark eyes darkened even more. “Take that sheet off and come here.”

  “Jordan, I'm serious.”

  “I'm serious too. I didn't come here tonight to go over this. I just wanted you to know about the extra security.” He tugged at the sheet. “Now, come here.”

  “Jord-” she began before she found herself underneath him without the sheet.

  “I'm handling it Sage. No more talking.”

  Brown eyes looked into his. “Please, just one more thing?”

  He raised a brow.

  “Are you safe?” she asked afraid.

  “Yeah baby, I'm safe.”

  She touched his face. “I don't know what I'd do if I lost you Jordan.”

  “I'm not going anywhere pretty girl.” He joined their bodies.

  “What would you do without this love?” he whispered to her.

  Sage pulled him closer and opening to his breathtaking invasion. “I never want to find out...”

  “Show me that I'm always what you want,” he said against her neck while stroking her into ecstasy.

  Sage didn't do any more talking for the rest of the night.

  Chapter 17

  Carolyn checked the calendar. Thirty days, thirty more days and she would be going home and Sean would be getting married a week later. Dr. Williams had approved for her to have a week to prepare for the marital festivities. She was looking forward to seeing her family all together, although there would still be one missing. Trent had said that he planned to tell Sean and Jordan after Sean returned from his honeymoon. She hoped that Sean would be able to forgive her for yet another transgression.

  Carolyn thought if he'd been able to forgive her for all the other atrocities, it was a good possibility he would be able to again. She thought back on her plot with Milton and Joanna. She'd been so driven by anger she had not thought through the repercussions of her actions. She and Joanna had never been what you would call friends, but they had a found a way to unite in their hatred of Justin.

  Carolyn no longer had hatred toward her sons, both Sean and Jordan. She vowed she would do whatever she needed to do to make sure Milton did not hurt them. Milton was tenacious when he wanted something, but would easily back off if threatened. She knew he was looking for her. She also knew that Sean had made sure he wouldn't find her.

  Carlyn was stronger now, stronger than she'd ever been in her entire life. Nothing or no one was going to destroy the family she had now put back together. She guaranteed it. Everyone had skeletons, even the great Milton Martin; and if he wanted them to remain in the closet, he would play the game her way.

  *********

  Milton Martin sat in his office determining his next move. He had to find Joanna and Carolyn. They both knew too much about him for his liking. Moreover, that damn Carolyn was so unstable he never knew what she was going to do. He'd invested a lot of money into their scheme to bring down Sean and Jordan and now his two co-conspirators had disappeared. Was he next?

  He knew that Sean and Jordan were connected to the disappearances, yet he still hadn't been able to find anyone to help him prove it. Since his visit to Ray Parker's office no other investigative firm would even let him through the door. It seemed that he'd been blackballed, which was strange considering that he had no limit to what he would spend to see Sean and Jordan behind bars.

  Milton was sure that Sean and Jordan were also involved in some illegal activities, especially Jordan. No one amassed that amount of wealth without doing something that crossed the line. Milton himself was no exception.

  There had to be someone out there who wanted Jordan and Sean as much as he did. He just had to find them and if they also wanted to handle that Ray Parker, it was worth every dime he had; but first he had to find that damn Carolyn. She could ruin everything he'd built.

  ***********

  Jordan and Sage returned to their home to find Sean and Lily serving Diamond her breakfast. When Diamond saw her daddy enter, she raised her arms to him. Smiling happily Jordan retrieved her from her chair where she promptly grabbed his face with both hands and began to kiss him.

  “Mmmmmmm...” she murmured while Sean and Lily watched confused.

  When she was done, Jordan turned to them.

  “She imitating Sage,” he told them.

  “She is not!” Sage defended.

  Jordan looked over at her. “You know she is. You were just kissing me like this last night.”

  “Be quiet, Jordan.” Sage turned to Lily.

  “Thank you so much. I hope she wasn't any trouble,” she told her friend.

  Lily smiled at her friend. “She was an angel. She's adorable.” The two women hugged as the men looked at each other.

  “Thanks Sean. I knew I could trust you with my baby,” Jordan told him kissing his daughter.

  Sean gave him a look. “How many cameras did you have on?”

  “You know me too well.” Jordan smiled.

  Sean laughed. “Well Lily and I will be taking off now. I hope you two enjoyed yourselves.”

  “Thank you Sean,” Sage said going over and giving him a hug.

  “It was my pleasure Sage to spend time with my Goddaughter, since I can rarely hold her when her daddy is around.” Sean gave Jordan a look.

  Jordan shrugged and Sean laughed as Sage led him and Lily to the door thanking them both again. She returned to find Jordan and Diamond at the table.

  “Can I make you some breakfast since we didn't get to eat at the hotel?” Sage asked him slyly.

  “Do I get something that I like?” he asked.

  Sage smiled. “Yeah, I know what you like,” she said remembering last night.

  Jordan read the look on her face. “You certainly do pretty girl.” He smiled at her.

  “I'm going to clean Diamond up and I'll be right back,” he said picking up his daughter.

  Sage nodded going to the fridge. She opened the door then stopped. She began thinking about what Jordan had told her last night. If anything happened to Jordan, she truly didn't know what she would do.

  Her last lost had been of colossal proportions...

  Five-year-old Sage took the seat next to the ten-year-old brother that she adored. The Sun God took her hand as she sat down in front of her Aunt and Uncle. Aunt Ruby and Uncle John had come to babysit the pair so their parents could have a weekend getaway. She lifted b
ig brown eyes up to them.

  “Ray, Sage we have to tell you both something,” their Uncle John told them as their Aunt Ruby's eyes filled with tears.

  Sage sat still as Ray leaned forward. “Yeah, Uncle John.”

  Uncle John took a deep breath. “There's been an accident,” he said slowly.

  “Accident?” Ray asked and Sage felt his hand tense in hers.

  He nodded. “Yes children, I'm sorry...” he choked.

  Both Sage and Ray sat quietly.

  “You're parents are gone,” he said sadly.

  “What do you mean Uncle John?” Ray asked as his heart starting beating faster and he released Sage's hand.

  “They were killed in a car accident. I'm sorry children.”

  Little Sage had not totally comprehended the words but when the Sun God dropped to his knees sobbing, she knew something was definitely wrong. She dropped down beside him crying because he was crying.

  “Sun God, don't cry!” she screamed wrapping her little arms around him.

  The next weeks had been a blur for little Sage. She hadn't understood at the time that she would never see her parents again. Her aunt and uncle had moved into their home and raised them both until Ray had left for college, then they'd moved to Senegal with Sage.

  Sage had never seen the Sun God cry again. He'd promised her that he would always take care of her and there had never been an occasion when she'd needed him that he wasn't there. After their parents’ death, Ray had grown up overnight. Even with their aunt and uncle around, he had taken on Sage as his full responsibility.

  Sage had never cried over her parents since she hadn't known exactly what was going on. Her parents’ bodies had not been recoverable from the accident so the family had simply held a small memorial service for them. The only thing Sage knew is that she'd never felt so empty in her life.

  She'd managed to go on with her life and grow into the woman she was now, however she didn't know if she could survive such devastation twice in her life.

  When she came back to the present, Jordan was standing in front of her. She looked up at him with water filled big brown eyes and he immediately became alarmed.

  “Baby, what is it?” he asked taking her into his arms.

  Sage held him tightly and he stroked her back.

  “Sage, what's wrong?” he began to panic.