One Wild Night

“I never knew you could drive,” Jade said as she watched Candace handle the wheels.

“That was probably the only useful thing Jero had me learn,” Candace said with a shake of her head to ward off any memories of that period of her life.

“Sorry I made you think about him,” Jade said apologetically, and then her eyes widened when her phone started ringing and she remembered she was yet to give Harry a call.

“Oh, shoot! He’s calling,” Jade murmured as she looked at the phone, contemplating whether to receive the call and lie to him, or wait it out and then call back.

“Who is calling?” Candace asked as she turned to look at Jade, concerned by her discomfort.

“It’s Harry. He asked me to call him before leaving the house and I totally forgot to do that,” Jade said, and Candace rolled her eyes.

“It’s not a big deal. You make Harry sound like he’s Jero or some scary controlling guy,” Candace said with a shake of her head as she returned her attention to the road.

“This almost caused a misunderstanding between us yesterday,” Jade explained.

“Then lie to him if it makes you feel better. Tell him you’re just leaving the house now and was about to dial his number,” Candace suggested, and Jade glanced at her side mirror.

“Not when I can see his men behind us. They probably told him we are on the move already. Shit!”

“It’s just Harry. If really his men are behind us, he will know you’re ignoring his call,” Candace pointed out.

“You’re right. It’s just Harry,” Jade said and quickly received the call before it disconnected.

“Hey, Jonas! I can assure you it wasn’t intentional. I was going to call you, I swear. I’m sorry. I just got distracted and…”

“Calm down, esquire,” Harry said, when he noticed she sounded sort of tense.

“It’s not a stringent rule. It’s normal if you forgot, and I figured you might. I asked Candace to take the car and asked my men to follow her just to be sure you don’t leave without her,” Harry assured her, and Jade let out a deep sigh as she relaxed.

“Really? Do you always think so far ahead?” Jade asked with interest.

“I don’t leave important stuff to chance. Are you feeling better now?” Harry asked, and she frowned.

“I’m alright. Why?” Jade asked, wondering why he was asking.

“I figured you must have been very bothered by the events of yesterday seeing as you had nightmares,” Harry explained.

“No worries. I’m alright. Very pissed, but I’m fine,” Jade said, and then moved her phone away from her ear to check her phone’s screen when she noticed she had an incoming call.

“Oh, shoot! I forgot I was supposed to meet with the Chief Judge,” Jade said as she glanced at her wristwatch.

“The chief judge? I’m not coming with you for that, am I? I told you I have an appointment,” Candace reminded her.

“I can take a cab,” Jade assured her before returning her attention to the phone call.

“Why didn’t you take your car? Don’t take a cab. My men will drive you there and take your home afterwards,” Harry offered.

“Alright,” Jade said, surprising Harry who had expected her to argue with him.

“No argument?” Harry asked and Jade rolled her eyes.

“How can I argue with you after yesterday?” She asked, and he smiled.

“Alright then. Do you have a dress for tonight?” Harry asked, changing the subject.

“Yes. I got something for myself during my shopping with Aurora,” Jade said, remembering that she was yet to hear from Aurora since then. She wondered how her date with Philip had gone.

“Alright, then. Please let me have a word with Candace,” Harry said.

“She is driving. Can I place the call on speaker instead?” Jade asked, and Candace turned to her.

“He wants to talk to me?” Candace asked as she reached for Jade’s phone, “I want to talk to him too,” she said without waiting for Jade to place the call on speaker.

“You figured going to lunch alone with one of the enemy was too dangerous for your girlfriend, so you decided I go as well so we can both be poisoned together?” Candace asked dryly, and Harry chuckled.

“I sent a package home for you. I hope you don’t mind coming to the dinner party with me?” Harry asked, ignoring what she had said.

“I thought it was meant for only your staff?” She asked, surprised by his invitation.

“Not exactly. The members of the staff are allowed to come in with their plus one, and they gain entry using their office cards. Non-staffs on the other hand are issued special invitation cards with which they gain entry,” Harry explained.

“Oh, I see,” Candace said, wondering what she would do in such a place. The crowd was going to be completely different from what she was used to. Not in a bad way though. She just wondered if she would feel out of place in such a place. She had no social graces.

“Besides, you might end up working in I-Global so it’s not too soon to know how the company operates, you know? Unless of course you choose to work with dad,” Harry added and Candace felt her lips curve at the thought of having a real job in a real company.

“What about Jamal? Are we going to leave him alone with…”

“Don’t worry. Janet and Andrew already offered to stay with them until we get back. I think Evelyn and Desmond will be there too. So there’s nothing to worry about,” Harry said, and waited to get a response from Candace.

“Are you sure you want me there? What if I end up embarrassing you or something?” Candace asked hesitantly.

“I wouldn’t ask or make all these plans if I didn’t want you there, would I? And I doubt you would deliberately want to embarrass yourself or me. So, if anything happens, it won’t be your fault. What other excuse do you have?” Harry asked patiently, and she sighed.

“Just say you will come for christs sake!” Jade, who had deducted what the conversation was about from Candace’s end of the conversation, cut in impatiently, making Candace scowl at her while Harry stifled a chuckle.

“I’m not sure I have the right outfit…”

“I sent an outfit already. Two actually. You can choose to wear which ever of both you prefer. I take it you are coming. See you when I get back. Please return the phone to Jade,” Harry said, and Candace sighed as she did.

“Don’t worry, she will definitely be there. I will pull her by the hair if I have to,” Jade assured Harry immediately she took the phone from Candace.

Harry chuckled, “You won’t have to do that. We will pick you up by 7 P.M. Will you be ready by then?” Harry asked and Jade nodded.

“Sure.”

“Alright then. Take care of yourself. I love you.”

“I love you too,” Jade said before hanging up and turning to look at Candace whose brow was furrowed.

Candace was wondering how long they would spend at Lisa’s and how long she would spend with Matt before getting home in time to get ready for the dinner party. If she had known the day was going to be filled with so many activities, she wouldn’t have agreed to meet with Matt.

“What’s wrong?” Jade asked, and Candace turned to her.

“What will the party be like? I’ve never been to such a formal party before,” Candace said, and Jade smiled.

“Don’t worry about it. You’re going to be fine. You won’t be in the midst of strangers. I will be there, Sonia and Lucy will be there too. You will be comfortable,” Jade assured her, and Candace sighed again.

“So, what time is your appointment with Matt?” Jade asked casually.

“I’ll see him after….” Candace stopped abruptly when she realize she had fallen into a trap, and turned to look at Jade who was grinning from ear to ear.

“I’m not seeing Matt,” Candace corrected, but it was too late already.

“Yes, you are. The moment you said you had an appointment, I figured it was Matt. It must not have been easy running into each other for two days in a row,” Jade said with an amused smile.

“I said I’m not seeing Matt!” Candace said through gritted teeth.

“Okay. That’s fine too. And you don’t have to worry. I won’t tell anyone if that’s what you’re worried about,” Jade said with an agreeable smile that set Candace’s teeth on edge.

While Candace was seething, Jade hummed a happy tune as she looked outside the window, and soon they arrived at Lisa’s house.

Less than thirty seconds after they rung the doorbell, the door opened, and Jade was surprised to see Tiffany and Bernice standing there.

“I was not informed I was having lunch with you all. I thought I was meeting with Mrs Steel?” Jade asked Tiffany, not taking a step into the house.

“Hello, I’m Bernice. Bernice Washington. The eldest amongst my siblings. I’m sorry Lisa didn’t give you the details, but we all wanted to meet with you. We will explain the details over lunch,” Bernice said as she stepped back from the door to give them room to go in.

Jade turned to Candace who gave her a shrug, and then they both walked in.

“Hello! You must be Jade Hank? I’ve heard so much about you,” Lisa said with a bright smile as she descended the stairs.

“Congratulations on the birth of your baby,” Jade said politely and Lisa beamed with pleasure.

“Thanks. I just put her to sleep now so we can talk without any distraction,” Lisa said before glancing at Candace who was standing behind Jade.

“Oh! I’m sorry for not introducing my colleague. This is Candace Jonas, my colleague,” Jade said without thinking, and Candace looked at her.

Candace Jonas? They had not discussed that. Her name was Candace Robert and the thought of changing her last name had not even occurred to her yet.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Lisa said and then turned to her sisters.

“I believe you’ve met my sister, Tiffany. I wish I was there to witness your encounter at the spa,” Lisa said with an amused smile that earned her a glare from Tiffany, but drew a smile from Jade.

“Is your last sister not joining us?” Jade asked curiously, wondering why Anita wasn’t there since these three were here.

“No, she won’t. She left. Too many family drama. She couldn’t stand it,” Lisa explained, and then looked at Jade with hopeful eyes.

“I hope your brother and his girlfriend can find it in their heart to forgive her. Anita isn’t really a bad person. She made wrong decisions, and for that we are sorry,” Lisa said, and Jade decided that she liked Lisa.

“You should at least offer them a seat first,” Tiffany pointed out.𝚘𝐕𝑙𝐞xt.𝗇𝓔t

“Oh, my apologies. Please sit down, and make yourselves comfortable,” Lisa said as she pointed to a seat, and then she and her sisters took a seat.

“Thanks,” Jade and Candace said as they sat down.

Without wasting a moment Jade leaned forward in her seat, “I’ve been very curious as to the reason for this invitation,” Jade started, and the sisters exchanged a look.

“Well, it’s about our mother. Before we go further, may we ask how your meeting with her went? We were together when she received your call,” Bernice said, and Jade looked at each other them for a moment.

“Not too well, I think. Why don’t you tell me the reason you asked to meet with me? And after that I can decide whether or not to say anything to you?” Jade asked, and once again the sisters exchanged a look before Tiffany leaned forward.

“The other day, I told you I had reasons to believe my mother is involved in whatever happened to my sister’s late husband, right?” Tiffany asked, and Jade gave her a nod.

“So you said. Did you change your mind on that?” Jade asked, and Tiffany shook her head.

“We find it suspicious that Bernice here hasn’t been allowed to see her husband’s corpse. Have you seen it? I mean, you are the lawyer, so you should be allowed to take a look, right?” Tiffany asked, and Jade’s eyes narrowed, while Candace busied with scribbling down what they were saying despite the fact that the conversation was being recorded by Jade.

“I think something is off. I don’t feel like my husband is dead. The fact that my father-in-law is stopping me from seeing his corpse makes me all the more suspicious. Could you look into it? I know we are in no position to ask for favors from you, but since you offered to be Jackson’s lawyer, we believe looking into this might help you get the answers you need to prove his innocence,” Bernice added.

“We all believe that our mother might be involved. Tiffany told you our mother was having an affair with Adam, right? Jack might have his flaws but I don’t believe he would go as far as murdering Adam to cover his affair with Ben…”

“Lisa!” Tiffany called to stop her from exposing Bernice’s affair.

“I thought we agreed to be honest with her?” Lisa asked with a frown.

“It’s fine, Tiff. I really don’t mind us telling the whole truth,” Bernice said to Tiffany before turning to Jade.

“As shameful as it sounds, I had an affair with my sister’s husband. That was what led to the fight between them at the hospital. The point is, we believe our mother has a hand in all of this, and just maybe the chief judge is aware and is trying to cover it up…”

“Why would he want to do something like that?” Jade cut in.

“It’s possible he is willing to let Jack take the fall for it so he wouldn’t have to expose his son’s affair with our mother. Jack had an affair with his son’s wife after all, and was at the supposed crime scene. Who best to take the fall?” Tiffany asked, and Jade’s lips twitched in amusement.

Although the sisters had a very wild imagination, there was no denying that they were smart. She admired them for that.

“If I remember correctly, you said our meeting was about your late father’s death,” Jade said as she turned to Lisa.

Once again the sisters exchanged a look and Lisa gave her a nod, “Well, it’s unrelated to the case. But we were hoping you’d have the resources to help us look into it. We have reasons to believe that he didn’t take his life. We think he was murdered and our mother might have a hand in it,” Lisa said, surprising both Jade and Candace who exchanged a look.

“What led you all to believe such a thing?” Jade asked curiously.

“I know you must think we are crazy for thinking so ill of our mother,” Bernice said with a sigh.

Lisa explained what their uncle had told Anita and also the fact that she knew her father had been planning to divorce their mother before his demise.

“Are you certain you want to look into that?” Jade asked, and all three of them nodded their heads.

“We need to know. And if she was responsible for his death, then he deserves justice,” Lisa said, and Jade sighed inwardly, wondering how Lisa would feel to know he wasn’t her biological father.

“Lunch has been served. Please let’s go to the dining,” Lisa announced when she saw her chef standing by the doorway.

“So, will you help us look into this?” Tiffany asked after they were all seated on the dining and eating.

“Well, because you’ve been honest with me thus far, I will return the favor with equal honesty,” Jade said, and they all looked at her with interest, including Candace who was curious to hear what Jade planned to say.