Betrayed by Love (16 page)

As Eva’s new body guard, Garth insisted that he be the one to take her home. After protesting for the sake of protesting, Eva got in his car. She said, “I knew there was something not right about Cheryl. What did y’all ever see in her?”

Garth
refused to get into that with her. He attempted to change the subject, but Eva wasn’t having it. She went on and on about paying Cheryl back for the heartache she had caused her. Eva seemed to have finally calmed down when they reached her house. Garth wished he had kept the information about Cheryl to himself but he didn’t want Eva to think he was hiding anything. He wanted to keep her informed because if Cheryl was guilty, this knowledge could possibly save Eva’s life if she got cornered by Cheryl. 

“What do you want to eat?”
Eva asked after getting situated at home.

“Anything you fix. All I need is your desk and DSL connection,”
Garth said, as he removed his laptop from the black case and followed Eva to her home office.

She moved items from her desk to make room for his laptop. After getting set up,
Garth logged on. “If you need anything else, just let me know,” Eva said.

“Will do,”
Garth responded, as he concentrated on the information on his screen. Garth had assigned one of his employees the task of monitoring Cheryl’s comings and goings. He took on the job of checking Cheryl’s phone and email records himself. Now he wished he would have stayed at his house tonight instead of agreeing to stay at Eva’s. Eva’s DSL connection was not as fast as his for some reason.

Eva
tried to distract him a few times by prancing around in front of him but he would not be dissuaded from his task. So far, all the numbers Cheryl had called could be accounted for and none were Eva’s. He did notice a few back to back calls to Trevor’s number; times where he probably was creeping with Eva or some other woman.

“Someone’s at the gate,”
Eva yelled.

“Were you expecting anyone?” he asked.

“No and I don’t recognize the car.”

Garth
went up to the monitor. “That’s Cheryl’s car.” He pressed the button to open the gate.

Eva
yelled, “Are you crazy? Why did you let her in here?”

“That’s Tre driving.”

Eva followed behind him as he went to the front door to let Trevor inside. “You almost didn’t get in,” Eva said, as he walked past them into the entranceway.

Garth
noticed Trevor’s disheveled appearance. “What happened to you?”

“I confronted
Cheryl. Let’s just say it didn’t go well.”

“How did you end up in her car?”

“After we wrestled, she ended up throwing my keys in the garbage disposal. So I wouldn’t choke her, I grabbed her keys and sped away.”

Garth
couldn’t believe Trevor had let stuff get out of hand. “You know she probably called the police.”

“I doubt it. I let it slip we think she’s behind
Eva’s fan mail.”

“Tre, I told you to let me go with you.”
Garth was pissed.

“Man, she was lying to my face. When she realized I knew about you two. She spouted off at the mouth about how the other men were better than me, I just lost it. I didn’t hit her but I pushed her.”

“Pushing is the same as hitting in my book.” Eva popped him upside the head.

“Ouch,”
Trevor said, as he rubbed the back of his head.

“This makes our job harder. I’m sure she’s going to do everything to cover her tracks now.”

“I come baring gifts. Before I let on that I knew about her affairs, I downloaded her hard drive.” Trevor pulled out a small device.

“Follow me,”
Garth said, as Eva and Trevor followed him into Eva’s home office.

Eva
fixed them a plate of chicken breasts and penne pasta and brought them drinks. Garth and Trevor continued to pour over the information on the screen.  Trevor was getting hotter and hotter as he saw traces of emails that Cheryl had been sending to other men. After hours of looking, there was no other evidence showing she was the mystery fan.

Garth
rubbed his temple. “Something is just not adding up. This is still not enough evidence to convince the authorities to arrest her.”

“But it is enough for them to bring her in for questioning,”
Trevor said.

Garth
picked up the cordless phone and handed it to Trevor. “I think you deserve the honor.”

Trevor
took the phone and called the police. While Trevor was on the line, Eva asked Garth, “So what’s going to happen now?”

“Usually you would have to be the one to make the report, but because you hired us, we can act on your behalf.”

Eva said, “Good because I really don’t need for this to get out to the media.”

“I’ll do my best but as you know there’s no guarantee. Reporters have ears all over the place.”

“Let’s hope they don’t.”

Garth
pulled out his cell phone. “I need to let Caroline know what’s going on because I have a feeling neither I nor Trevor will be available tomorrow.”

“Okay, well I’ll go make us some more snacks while we wait.”

Garth admired how calm Eva was. Before she was ready to scratch Cheryl’s eyes out, but now she was cool as a cucumber. In fact, she was too cool. It was taking her a long time to make the snacks. He went to the kitchen in search of Eva. He got there just in time to see the headlights to Eva’s car. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Eva’s number.

“
Eva, answer your phone,” he yelled. His calls kept going to voice mail. He went back into the room where he left Trevor. “Come on. I have a feeling Eva’s on her way to Cheryl’s.”

“I’ll drive,”
Trevor said.

“Give me the keys,”
Garth said. “I’ll drive.”

Garth
had to drive way above the speed limit, but still couldn’t catch up to Eva.  He wondered how Eva knew where Cheryl stayed, but shrugged that thought out of his mind. He knew from experience that women made the best investigators because of their natural skills. He lost Eva, but sped up and dodged in and out of traffic.

Cheryl’s door was opening before Garth could pull up into the driveway. He saw Eva push Cheryl. He ran up to the house with Trevor on his heels. Eva had Cheryl by the hair. “I’m going to teach you who to mess with. You want to hide behind some letters and emails. Take this.” Eva had a hand full of Cheryl’s hair and looked like she was trying to break her neck. Cheryl tried to hit Eva but Eva blocked her shots.

As much as
Garth enjoyed a good fight, he didn’t want Eva to do more harm than she may have already done. “I’m going to sue you,” Cheryl yelled.

“It’ll be a cold day in hell before you see one red cent of my money,”
Eva spouted back at her.

“Well bring your coat.”
Cheryl started swinging.

It was hard getting the two apart, but
Garth and Trevor finally did. Garth said, “Ladies, enough!”

Trevor
said, “Looks like we have company.”

Garth
saw a police car pull up and two uniformed officers exited the vehicle. The front door was still open so when they made themselves known they all turned in their direction. “Is this the residence of Cheryl Johnson?”

Eva
pointed in Cheryl’s direction. “There she is officer.”

Garth
could feel the tension in the room between Eva and Cheryl. Garth went and stood near Eva. “Officer, our company, GT Securities reported the issue.”

The officer took off his handcuffs. He walked over to
Cheryl. Cheryl’s hair was a wild mess all over her head. “We need for you to come with us.”

Cheryl
yelled, “I didn’t do anything.”

“We’ll decide that at the station, but for now,” the taller officer said, “Please come with us. I’m sure one of your friends will lock up for you.”

“I don’t have any friends here. I want my lawyer.”

“You can call one when we get you down to the station.”

“You’ll pay for this,” Cheryl yelled, looking in Eva’s direction.

“Officer, I hope you write that down. That’s another threat,”
Eva said.

“Sheeee attacked me,”
Cheryl stuttered.

“Is that true?” the officer asked all in attendance.

Neither Trevor nor Garth would confirm Cheryl’s allegations.

“Ma’am, since no one witnessed it happen, it’s her words against yours. Since we have an arrest warrant for you, we’re subject to believe her.”

“But look at me. My hair didn’t get like this. My clothes. See my blouse is torn here.” Cheryl pulled on her sleeve to show him.

“You could have did that yourself. Now we’re trying to be patient with you.”

The officers handcuffed Cheryl. “All of y’all can go to hell,” she yelled as the officers led her out.

“
Trevor we’ll wait here until you’re sure everything’s secure here.” He led Eva by the arm. “Come on, we’ll wait in your car. Keys please.”

Eva
hesitated, but handed him her keys. “You didn’t have to follow me. I had everything under control.”

“If I wouldn’t have come,
Cheryl wouldn’t be the only one hauled off to jail.”

Eva had a hard time sleeping. Every time she dozed off, she could see Cheryl’s face. Her irritating voice sounded like fingernails on a chalkboard as she taunted Eva. “Garth was mine first. Welcome to my left overs,” Cheryl kept saying over and over with a sinister look on her face as Cheryl chanted Garth’s name. 

Eva
woke up in a cold sweat. She was disappointed to find herself alone in the bed. Garth went to the police station so he could be there when they questioned Cheryl. Eva called John. “I know I said I didn’t want to do this, but in light of what’s happened, let’s reschedule the shows for a later date.”

After
Eva assured John, she was okay, he said, “Be careful. Call me if you need me.”

“I will. Please apologize to everyone for me,” she said.
Eva called Jackie and repeated the same to her as she told John.

“Do you need me to come over?” Jackie asked.

“Just keep your cell phone near you,” Eva responded. She knew she could be a little hard on Jackie, but Jackie always stood up to her.

After ending the phone call with Jackie,
Eva opted to take a long hot bath to sooth her nerves. She kept her phone near the bathtub. As the bubbles soaked into her skin, she opened her eyes when she heard the Los Angeles news reporter say her name. She fumbled for the remote and turned up the volume.

“Our sources say that
Cheryl Johnson has been accused of sending Eva Ward life threatening messages because of one man. The man’s name is unknown at this time. As soon as we find out more, we’ll disclose that information.”

Eva
didn’t bother to dry off. She jumped out the tub, grabbed her phone off the floor and threw on her robe. She had her agent Carmen on the phone before she could get the robe on good. “Please find out who is behind leaking this to the press.”

Carmen said, “Why am I just now hearing about this? I should have been the first person you called.”

Eva apologized but continued to rant about the leak to the media. Carmen’s attempt to calm her down, didn’t work. She was still fired up when Garth showed up.  Garth reached to hug her when she opened the door, but she wasn’t feeling it. Garth said, “If you don’t calm down you’re going to work your way into an early grave.”

“Have you seen the news? Every station is talking about it.”
Eva’s hands were moving all over the place. 

“I take it you probably don’t want to see this either.”
Garth pulled the daily newspaper from behind his back.

She took it from him and looked at the front cover. There she was all glammed up in the right hand corner with a crazy looking photo of
Cheryl that they must have taken at the police station the night before right next to her. The caption read – Alleged Crazy Fan Now Caught. She threw the paper at Garth. “Some heads should roll for this. Don’t you have connections on the force?”

Garth
responded, “Yes, but there’s no telling who leaked this information.”

She pouted, “Somebody needs to do something. I try to lead a drama-free life, but no, people just won’t let me.”

Garth started laughing. “Drama and free shouldn’t even be in the same sentence when describing you.”

“Oh you can take that negative attitude and leave for all I care.”

Garth frowned. “Oh you just used me. Now that we got the fan, you want me to go.”

Eva
felt like he did have a point. She didn’t mean to come off as a user. “Sorry. All of this has been too much. I’ll cook us breakfast, while you tell me what happened at the station last night. Seems like everybody else knows more than I do and it’s all happening to me.”

“She admitted to the clippings because she was curious to why her man seemed to be infatuated with you. In fact, the way she made it sound,
Trevor could be the culprit. The detective pulled him to the side and asked him a few questions as if he was the guilty party too.”

“Wow,” was all
Eva could say.

“It pissed him off, but he’ll be alright.”
Garth massaged Eva’s shoulders.

“Did Ms. Thing say anything else?”
Eva asked, as she moved her head from side to side.

“Oh she called you every name but a child of God but other than that, nothing that we didn’t already know.”

“Well I’m just relieved she’s locked up. Maybe I can have peace around here.” Eva moaned. Garth was making it difficult for Eva to concentrate on cooking.

“Her attorney had arrived when I left. More than likely they will be letting her go.”

Eva couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You have the letters and the letterhead. Weren’t her fingerprints on it?”

“Actually, they weren’t. So until we can get more evidence on her, she’ll be out probably by the end of the day; if not sooner.”

“I should have cold cocked her when I had the chance.”

“Oh when she sees her photo in the paper, I’m sure she’s going to feel like you did.”

Eva laughed. “She did look a hot mess didn’t she? Looks like I had perfect timing then. Teach her to mess with me.”

“I love a feisty woman.”
Garth’s smile was intoxicating.

“Oh, you haven’t seen anything yet mister.”

Garth wrapped his arms around her while she stirred the eggs in the skillet. “If you don’t stop, I’m going to burn up your eggs.” Eva said, gently pushing him away.

“So where is
Trevor? Did he ride from the station with you?”

“Yes. I dropped him off at home before swinging by here. If you don’t mind, I could use a long hot shower.”

“And some sleep,” Eva said, as she noticed the bags under his eyes.

“Let me eat first and then I’ll shower and take a nap. Hopefully, in your arms,”
Garth said.

Eva
finished cooking and served Garth his food. She could spoil him all day and night. She wanted him to know that too. Instead of saying it, she would show him. In between bites, Garth said, I can get used to your breakfast.”

“There’s dessert too if you want it,”
Eva said, feeling a little feisty.

“Do you care to join me in the shower?”
Garth asked.

“I’ll think about it,”
Eva responded.

Eva
placed the dirty dishes in the dishwasher while Garth left to shower. She heard the shower when she entered the bathroom. She stood and watched Garth for a few minutes before removing her clothes. He looked surprised when she opened up the shower door.

“I couldn’t resist,”
Eva said, as Garth helped her into the shower.

Garth
picked up Eva’s sponge and poured shower gel on it. He rubbed it over her body. Eva closed her eyes as the feel of the water and Garth’s circular motions relaxed her tense muscles. She returned the favor by scrubbing his body. Eva could not resist kissing Garth on his chest. She could care less about the soap suds. Garth released some moans as Eva’s lips kissed his chest. She saw his manhood rise. Before long, Garth had her pinned up to the wall. She couldn’t help but gasp as he gently entered her.

Their bodies rocked in unison as the water cascaded over their bodies. “I love you
Eva,” Garth said, as their bodies climaxed.

They were about to make love again on the bed when the buzzer sounded, alerting them to a visitor. Neither
Eva or Garth wanted to move. Eva got up first. She looked at the surveillance screen. “A reporter. Why she came by I don’t know. They should know I’m not letting them in.”

The reporter shouted. “
Eva we just need your side of the story and then we’ll go.”

“I can’t believe it. That looks like Sandy Blair. I thought she moved away after she tried to run over Parris.”

Garth asked, “Who is Sandy Blair?”

“She had a fixation with Parris and Casper’s relationship. She ended up getting in a horrible accident. Nobody thought she would survive it, but she did. The whole ordeal was a big mess. I’m surprised you didn’t hear about it. It was all on the news.”

“I don’t listen to gossip.”

Eva
rolled her eyes. “Well, anyway, Sandy is the last person I want to talk to.

Garth
got up and answered for her. “Ms. Ward is not talking to the press right now.”

Eva
’s house phone rang. She answered, although the number didn’t come across on the caller ID.  “Ms. Ward, would you like to give your statement…,” a male voice asked from the other end. Eva slammed the phone down.

The phone kept ringing back to back.
Eva turned the ringer off.  “The calls won’t stop coming.. I’m surprised it took them this long. Every time I get my number changed, they figure out what it is. That’s why I don’t even bother changing it now.”

“Must be tough being you.”
Garth sat on the bed next to Eva.

“It can be, but I wouldn’t trade my life for anyone else’s. All of this just comes with the territory.”
Eva meant what she said. Life right now was frustrating, but overall she wouldn’t trade her life for another.

“Your attitude has definitely changed. I remember when we were in college you would punch a photographer out if he tried to snap you.”
Garth picked up her foot and began to massage it.

“After being labeled the bad girl of modeling one too many times, I decided to turn a new leaf,”
Eva said. “Yes, right there,” as she leaned her head back and moaned.

“Now you’re just cut-throat behind the screens.”
“And you know it,” Eva said, winking her eye.