CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Johari was pacing the room frantically. She prayed and wrung her hands and pressed her ear to the door for any sign of her sister. There was nothing. She experienced a sense of dread. She had no idea what was happening. There was no line of sight out the windows aside from the ominous-looking rocks dotting the ocean bank below.
Still, in spite of the bleak, possibly fatal fates awaiting her and Zara, Jo felt her heart swell. Thoughts of Moses Ramsey raced her mind. God please let me see him again, she prayed. He was truly the man she wanted. If she made it through this hell, she damn well intended to tell him so.
Raised voices and then the unmistakable sounds of gunshots rose just outside the door. Johari screamed, whirling round to face the front of the room.
“Zara?” she whispered, her heartbeat filling her ears.
A second later, the door burst open and Zara stormed in toting a gun.
“Let’s make a move, sista!” she ordered.
Jo wasted no time following. “What happened?! Where’d you get that gun?!”
“Stef,” Zara answered, checking the hall before pulling her sister outside the room.
“And where is Stef?” Jo asked.
“By now, I’m sure he’s knockin’ on death’s door. I can’t imagine him wanting to live with his manhood shot straight to hell. Let’s go!”
It was all Johari could do to put one foot before the other.
~~~
Moses was in the first of two helicopters about to touch down at the compound. Once the decision was made to begin the search at Kauai Moses and his men; along with Fernando and Ken Shaw, set out for Hawaii.
Ken knew exactly where to go for directions to the compound once they were on the island. Fernando defied his brother’s advice to remain behind and Moses didn’t argue. They were both there to extinguish the threat against the women they loved.
“Anybody got a visual?!” Moses asked speaking into the mic attached to the headsets he wore. “The back of the place faces a cliff so chances are they’ll be keeping the women on that end of the house!”
“Boss! We got a visual alright. Ten o’clock!” The pilot of the second chopper announced.
Everyone looked in that direction. Moses felt his hand weaken on the mic. “God no,” he whispered seeing Johari stumbling out of the fortress-like structure. Zara was right next to her and firing a gun as they ran.
“Get us on the ground!” Moses roared.
~~~
“Don’t worry about me! Go!” Zara cried, still firing the gun while ordering her sister.
“Come on!” Jo called.
Many of Cufi’s men fell beneath the bullets Zara fired, but the men kept coming. Zara kept shooting, her aim on the mark each time. Unfortunately, the luck soon ran out. The last round was spent.
“Damn,” Zara hissed, throwing down the gun and racing after her sister.
The young women flew across the massive green acreage of the compound. They constantly looked cross their shoulders to assess the men chasing them.
“Oh God,” Jo breathed. It appeared as if an army was on their tails.
“Keep running!” Zara cried.
Just then, the shots rang out in a horrific medley. The sisters knew they’d been hit. The gunfire, however, had come from Moses and his men. They’d touched down with weapons at the ready.
When Johari looked across her shoulder and viewed the scene, she stumbled to a stop. “Z! Look!” she called.
Zara closed her eyes in relief when she saw their captors on the ground. “I knew he’d come for you!” she told her sister, pressing a hand to her forehead to keep windblown hair out of her face.
Jo looked back and smiled. Smoothing sweat-slicked hands across her Capri jeans, she turned to watch Moses and his men secure the area.
Meanwhile, Zara walked on towards the beautiful view at the edge of the cliffs. The ocean stretched as far as she could see. So much space, she thought. So much freedom-something she’d almost forgotten the meaning of.
“Let’s get the hell out of here, Z!” Jo called, and then looked across her shoulder when she received no answer. She saw Zara standing motionless. “Z?” she called again, slowly walking towards her sister. Closely, Jo studied her with realization growing more clear each second. Eventually, without word, she understood what Zara meant to do-what she’d meant to do probably almost since the day she returned.
“Don’t leave me again,” Jo said when she stood ten feet away.
Zara bowed her head, the profile of her lovely cocoa face set and guarded. “I have no life here, Sis. I died eighteen years ago.”
“No Z.”
Zara blinked and spread her arms about her. “What man would want me once he finds out what I’ve been?”
Jo stepped closer. “You don’t need that. You’ve got me and-“
“You’ve got Moses and Mel has Yohan and I…I’ve had everybody else.”
“Z please!” Jo cried, running to hug her sister. She tried to hold her captive, away from the wind, crashing waves and ominous looking rocks far below. “Please Z, please,” she wailed. “I need you! You can’t do this! I can’t survive losing you again.” She dissolved into an uncontrolled shedding of tears which only multiplied when Zara returned the hug and began to cry a well.
When Jo’s tears began to slow, Zara pushed her sister away but kept her hands tight on her sister’s upper arms.
“I love you,” Zara said, before pushing Jo to the ground. She turned and raced across the edge of the jagged cliffs.
“Zara? Zara! Zara!” Johari’s stunned cries were half full, half breathless and completely hysterical. She was so distraught; panic-stricken with a well of tears blinding her vision. Her mind was consumed by the image of her sister leaping to her death.
Jo was oblivious to all else-including an enraged Stefan Lyons crawling out into the clearing. Stef clutched a .9 millimeter in one shaking hand and aimed to fire at the grieving sister. His intentions however, were dashed when an old friend found him. Stef froze when he heard another gun cock nearby. He looked up.
“Time for your part in this to end,” Fernando said and shot his former partner dead.
Hearing the gunfire, Johari whirled around to find Fernando standing over Stefan. Dizziness overcame her when she noticed the gun clutched in Stef’s lifeless hands. She was in no shape to stand then and crumpled to the ground where she laid on her side and cried.
~~~
Moses had gone hoarse screaming Johari’s name. He ventured out to the rear of the estate and; viewing the scene, his heart almost stopped. His gun slid to the ground mere seconds before he did the same-kneeling next to Johari. Closing his eyes he pressed his face to the back of her head and shuddered in grief.
“Moses…”
The sound of her whispering his name caused his heart to lurch. “Jo?” he muttered, grasping her upper arms and making her face him. His darkly handsome face was a picture of disbelief while he blinked and studied her as if he were proving to himself that he was alright. “God,” he breathed, closing his eyes once more as he hugged her tightly.
“She’s gone Moses, she’s gone…”
Frowning, Moses pulled away to watch as Johari half turned in his arms. His gaze followed hers towards the cliffs.
“She left me again,” Jo whimpered, “she’s left me for good.”
Understanding then, Moses cupped her neck and turned her away from the cliffs. Johari snuggled into the security of his embrace and he rocked her as she wept against his chest.
***
One Week Later…
Ramsey involvement in the Hawaii incident-including Fernando’s role in Stefan Lyons’ death was concealed from the press. The men, who survived in Cufi’s organization, weren’t talking. Cufi himself had vanished during the shootout at the compound. All speculation was that he and Marcus were someplace celebrating another triumph over justice.
Houston and Daphne Ramsey were laid to rest at mid-morning on a Tuesday that week. There were separate funerals held at different locations in hopes of a measure of privacy for the families. Of course, the media made their presence known at both ceremonies.
At a far more private gathering, JahZara Amiel Frazier was buried.
Johari arrived at the cemetery at least an hour before the other attendees and spent the time speaking with her sister, crying and saying goodbye. When the funeral began, she’d taken her place at the rear of the seating and remained there until all services concluded.
Attendees placed their roses on the casket and paid their respects to George and Kathy Frazier seated at the front.
Moses was last to step up. He didn’t feel himself worthy of extending his hand for shaking but George and Kathy quickly removed the decision from his hands.
“Thank you son, thank you,” George whispered, his eyes red from crying as he pulled one of Moses’ hands between both of his.
Meanwhile, Kathy kissed his cheek four times. She was sobbing, but managed to whisper a shuddery, “Thank you,” against his jaw.
“I’m so sorry,” Moses managed. He was quite stunned by the Frazier’s reaction to him.
The bereaved parents held each other close. “You gave us the joy of seeing our daughter again-something we’d lost hope for long ago,” George said. “Apologies from you are the last thing we want, boy.”
“What you’ve done we can never repay,” Kathy said.
“And there would never be any reason for you to,” Moses said, this time bending to kiss Kathy’s cheek. He extended final condolences before leaving the couple to sit at their daughter’s casket.
By then, Johari had moved on. She stood looking out over the stream that trickled past the cemetery grounds. Moses debated as he watched her. He knew this would probably be the last time he’d see her. He thought back to when he saw her in London after all those years. She’d slapped him and he couldn’t help but believe this final meeting between them would end with her doing the same. He walked forward until he stood next to Jo. For a time, he also contented himself with watching the stream as she did.
“I’m sorry for Zara, Twig. But I’m also sorry for doing nothing except hurting you in the name of protection,” he smirked and smoothed a hand across his bald head. “Seems it’s what most of the Ramsey men are good at and I’ve got to be the front runner. I was so obsessed with finding Zara because I wanted you back. I believed it was the only way I could prove I was worthy enough to even speak to you again.”
Jo’s bright gaze was no focused on Moses as he spoke.
“Everything that’s happened between us…you losing…the baby and then having to deal with that on your own… Then, I barge back into your life and make you relive that time. Then on top of all that, you lose your sister again and this time…for good.” He turned to face her then. “I had the best intentions Twig and they produced the worst results.” He brushed his knuckles along her cheek before kissing her there. Keeping his hand cupped around her face, his nose grazed her temple. “I swear that I love you Johari. I’ll never stop.” He whispered.
Jo clutched his wrist when he moved to turn away. “I told myself in Hawaii that if I made it out with my life, I’d tell you that I love you and that losing you again is the very last thing I want. Worst results? Yes, everything we’ve done has had the worst results and I’m so sick of that, aren’t you?”
“God yes,” Moses breathed, looking a though he were about to faint from the sound of her words. “Are you sure, Twig?” he asked in the most adorable little boy tone of voice.
Jo tugged on the lapel of his black suit. “More sure than I’ve ever been about anything in my entire life.”
Moses’ shuddery breath was a mix of relief and joy, but still he had to be certain. “I won’t survive it, if one day you wake up and realize you hate me for the loss of our child and for what happened to Zara.”
Johari’s expression clouded as if she’d just realized something. “I never did thank you for that, did I? For bringing her back to me? My parents…I saw true happiness in their eyes. Even with all that’s happened, the light is still there for them and for me…she saved my life Ram and she couldn’t have done that if you hadn’t gotten her out of France. On top of all that, I got my sister back as my confidant-as my friend thanks to you,” she shook her head. “I could never hate you for that.” She pressed her lips together then and moved closer to squeeze his hands. “As for our child…that hurt will always be there. For you it’s just beginning. I can’t let you deal with that alone. I love you way too much for that,” she confessed and sniffled past her tears. “I believe love is moving beyond past hurts and looking forward to new joys and making our best intentions have better results.”
Moses’ dark, long brows drew close and he pressed kisses to the backs of both her hands. He closed her eyes once more, thanking God. Then, he pressed his face into the palms of her hands. “I love you,” he said.
“I love you,” Johari returned the sentiment while kissing the top of his bald head. Her laughter filled the air when he picked her up and held her captive in an unbreakable hold.
They stood there in the embrace for countless moments. Their hopes soared then, towards all the beautiful possibilities awaiting them.
And Now:
A Lover’s Beauty