Brenda Jackson - Canyon

“Keisha?”

“Yes?” The single word had been hard to get past her lungs.

“Come on, let’s sit in the car.”

She hesitated but knew what he was suggesting was reasonable. There was nothing they could do until the police arrived and Beau could tell she was troubled. She didn’t want to upset him.

“Play, Mommy,” Beau said when they reached her car. She placed him back in his car seat and gave him his favorite toy. When she went around to get into her seat, she noticed Canyon talking on his cell phone. Was he talking to the police again?

* * *

“Yes, Keisha’s okay, Dil,” Canyon told his oldest brother. He’d given Dillon a quick rundown on what had transpired over the past hour, including the fact that he had a son.

“Everyone is here for dinner, so how do you want me to handle things?” Dillon asked. “I’m sure you’ll want to be the one to tell them about Beau.”

Canyon drew in a deep breath. “Yes, I want to be the one. Pete is on the way. When we finish here, Keisha and Beau are coming with me until we figure out who did this and why. I’m leaving my car here so I’ll need someone to pick it up and drive it to my place later.”

“I can do that. But will Keisha agree to go anywhere with you, Canyon?”

Canyon rubbed a frustrated hand down his face. He was more than certain she wouldn’t. At least not at first. Keisha had an independent streak that she’d inherited from the single mother who had raised her. He’d always admired her ability to stand her ground and not depend on anyone for anything. But in this case things were different. She didn’t have just herself to think about. She had their son.

Their son.

The thought sent an unexplainable thrill through his veins. “No, Dil, she’s not going to go along with it, at least not easily. But I’m convinced what happened to her house and that car following her today are connected. My only ace is that she has Beau to think about. If it was just her she would dig in her heels.”

At that moment three police cruisers pulled up and the one leading the pack was driven by Pete. “Pete’s here now, Dil. I’ll call you back later.”

* * *

Keisha stared at the policeman in confusion. “What do you mean I was targeted personally?”

Pete leaned against the kitchen counter as he stood beside Canyon. “You’ve verified that nothing of value was taken, not even that container filled with gold coins sitting in plain view on the dresser in your bedroom. My only conclusion is that the person who did this didn’t take anything because this is about you personally. It seems to be more or less a scare tactic.”

None of this made sense. She had been grateful that her next-door neighbors, a couple with a set of twins a few months older than Beau, had come over and offered to take him to their place, feed him dinner and keep him entertained while she handled the break-in.

With Canyon and Pete by her side, she had gone from room to room taking in the devastation. Her sofa and chairs had been turned over, pillow cushions thrown about along with her magazines. In her kitchen, the person had opened a canister and floured her counters to the point where it looked like snow in August. Not one bedroom had been left untouched...not even Beau’s room. Some of his favorite toys had been broken. And in her bedroom, in addition to her clothes, which had been pulled out of the drawers and strewn about, the intruder had left water running in the bathtub to flood the floors.

What Pete said was right. Nothing of value had been taken. Not the coin collection her mother had started for Beau, not the set of expensive purses in her closet or any of her big screen televisions. The only thing the person had done was trash every part of her home as if he’d been trying to make a statement. However, she was clueless as to what statement that could be.

“Think hard, Ms. Ashford. Are there any cases you’re working on that someone would want to scare you away from?” Pete asked.

For the life of her she couldn’t think of one case, past or present, where anyone could want to extract some kind of revenge. She had won all her cases lately, except for one, and none of the cases were such that either party would encounter any financial hardship.

“I honestly can’t think of any case like that, Deputy Higgins.”

Pete nodded and shoved his notepad into his pocket. “If you think of anything later, let me know. I’m turning this over to a detective who will contact you. There is also the issue of the car that was following you earlier today, the one Canyon reported.”

She’d almost forgotten about that.

“You think the two are related?” Canyon asked before she could.

“Right now, Canyon, I’m not discounting anything. By the time I reached the area where the car was supposed to be, you had taken matters into your own hands and run the guy off. I should have known it was too much to expect a Westmoreland to do what he was told.”

“Whatever,” Canyon said, shoving his hands into his pockets and then releasing a deep breath. “So what’s next?”

“We’re still looking for the vehicle. I’m going to pull the videos from the red-light cameras and traffic-surveillance cameras in the area. I hope they’ll reveal something. Although we already know the license plate was stolen and the car was a black Ford sedan, if we have a picture of the vehicle itself we can determine if there are any dents or scratches that might make the car stand out. If there are, then it will make locating the vehicle easier. I want to find the person who did this.”

“So do I.”

Keisha and Pete looked at Canyon. It wasn’t what he’d said, but how he’d said it, in a low, threatening tone. In a way, she wasn’t surprised by his reaction. She’d felt the intense anger radiating from Canyon as he’d gone from room to room with her. She’d felt the hostility even more when he’d seen the senseless destruction in her and Beau’s bedrooms.

Instead of either of them addressing what Canyon had said, Pete looked over at her. “I wouldn’t advise you to stay here tonight. Whoever did this was able to bypass your security system.”

“She won’t be staying here,” Canyon said before she could respond. “She’s coming with me and will be staying at my place for a while.”

“That’s a good idea,” Pete said as if that settled it.

It didn’t. “Whoa. Wait a minute. I won’t stay here, but I’m checking into a hotel,” Keisha said.

Canyon looked at her. “No, you’re not.”

She placed her hands on her hips, stiffened her spine and narrowed her eyes at him. “Yes, I am.”

“No, you’re not.”

Pete cleared his throat. “I’ll let you two hash out those details without me. But if you remember anything at all, Ms. Ashford, call the precinct. Detective Ervin Render will be handling your case.” Pete quickly left, as if he didn’t want to get in the line of fire.

Even before Pete had cleared the doorway that separated the kitchen from the dining room, Keisha turned back to Canyon. “Now, wait just a damn minute, Canyon Westmoreland. Why should I stay with you when I can stay at a hotel? Besides, what I do or where I go is none of your business, so back off.”

Hearing her sharp tone, any sane man would not have hesitated to do what she’d suggested. However, instead of backing off, Canyon took a step forward. The fierce expression on his face and the laser-sharp look in his eyes had her dropping her hands to her sides.

“Probably, if it was just you, I might back off, Keisha, since your decision about me three years ago proved just how little trust you have in me. You had the gall to believe I would admit to loving you and then sleep with another woman...in your bed.”