Snapped 2, p.1
Snapped 2, page 1
Snapped 2: The Redemption
Tina Brooks McKinney
www.urbanbooks.net
All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Chapter One - GAVIN MILLS
Chapter Two - GINA MEADOWS
Chapter Three - ANGIE SIMPSON
Chapter Four - COJO MILLS
Chapter Five - MERLIN MILLS
Chapter Six - ANGIE SIMPSON
Chapter Seven - GAVIN MILLS
Chapter Eight - TABATHA FLETCHER
Chapter Nine - MERLIN MILLS
Chapter Ten - MERLIN MILLS
Chapter Eleven - ANGIE SIMPSON
Chapter Twelve - GAVIN MILLS
Chapter Thirteen - MEREDITH BOWERS
Chapter Fourteen - MERLIN MILLS
Chapter Fifteen - GINA MEADOWS
Chapter Sixteen - MEREDITH BOWERS
Chapter Seventeen - TABATHA FLETCHER
Chapter Eighteen - COJO MILLS
Chapter Nineteen - MEREDITH BOWERS
Chapter Twenty - GINA MEADOWS
Chapter Twenty-one - MERLIN MILLS
Chapter Twenty-two - TABATHA FLETCHER
Chapter Twenty-three - GAVIN MILLS
Chapter Twenty-four - ANGIE SIMPSON
Chapter Twenty-five - COJO MILLS
Chapter Twenty-six - MERLIN MILLS
Chapter Twenty-seven - GINA MEADOWS
Chapter Twenty-eight - ANGIE SIMPSON
Chapter Twenty-nine - MERLIN MILLS
Chapter Thirty - MEREDITH BOWERS
Chapter Thirty-one - TABATHA FLETCHER
Chapter Thirty-two - GINA MEADOWS
Chapter Thirty-three - MERLIN MILLS
Chapter Thirty-four - MEREDITH BOWERS
Chapter Thirty-five - GINA MEADOWS
Chapter Thirty-six - TABATHA FLETCHER
Chapter Thirty-seven - MERLIN MILLS
Chapter Thirty-eight - GAVIN MILLS
Copyright Page
DEDICATION
To my friends, readers, and family, I love you all. I received some flack about the characters in the first book because some people believed Merlin was weak and Gina was stupid. Just because this is not your reality doesn’t mean it isn’t someone else’s. The people in this story are fictitious; the situations and circumstances are not.
Judge not, that ye be not judged. (Matthew 7:1).
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Normally, I have this long list of people that I like to acknowledge, but this time I’m going to keep it simple so as not to forget anyone. I must thank my family; my husband, William; my children, Shannan and Estrell; and my parents, Ivor and Judy Brooks; and my sister Theresa.
To my book club supporters, much, much love. Special shout-outs to Savvy Book Club, BAB Book Club, Between Friends Book Club, and RAWSISTAZ Literary Group. Individual shout-outs to Muriel Broomfield, Stacey, Tra Curry, Sharon Jordon, Kim Flood, Patrice Harlson, Angie Simpson, Valerie Chapman, Andrea Tanner and Verlia Williams, Marvin Meadows, Ricardo Mosby, and Detris and Candace Hamm. You folks continue to touch my heart, and I love you dearly.
Chapter One
GAVIN MILLS
I should have known things weren’t going to work out the way I wanted them to. They never did. So I didn’t know why I thought this time would be any different. But I guess it was all water under the bridge now. The damage had been done, and now I had to figure out a way to clean up the mess I’d created for myself. I thought I could pull a rabbit out of a hat and claim the girl of my dreams. Wrong. Now I was cuffed at the wrists and shackled at the legs and on my way to a cell that was not fit for a pet, let alone human being.
I was not necessarily worried about going to jail. Been there and done that. I just didn’t want to stay; this time the stakes were higher. I was not a juvenile whose sentence would disappear with time and good behavior. I was an adult now, so if I didn’t find a way out, my tiny cell would become my second furnished unit.
“Watch your head,” the officer barked as he pushed me into the back of his patrol car.
I did my best to shield my face from the cameras and to ignore the rude questions being shouted to me, but it was hard. Normally, I enjoyed being the center of attention, but this time I preferred to pass.
“What are all these cameras doing here?” I was dumbfounded.
The officer ignored me as he shut the door and elbowed his way back inside the motel room. I could only imagine what was going on behind the closed door. It made me sick to my stomach thinking about it. Regardless of how things looked, it wasn’t my plan to hurt Cojo. The only reason I had brought her to a motel room was so I could try to talk some sense into her. I thought I could change her mind about being with me if I got her out of her own environment.
I would have taken her to my apartment if I had invested more time in sprucing it up, but it was just a room and hardly a home. I couldn’t very well expect her to leave her comfortable apartment to live in my cramped one-bedroom. That would be stupid. I wanted to show Cojo she could have a life with me if she gave me a chance. But she wasn’t trying to hear anything I had to say. She kept crying and fighting with me.
The front of the motel was ablaze with lights. It seemed like every faction of the media was present and accounted for, and they were bugging to have a word or two with me. I rolled my eyes as I viewed the vultures who stalked the patrol car, waiting for me to do something. Their eyes, wild with excitement, gawked at me as they shouted questions.
“Mr. Mills, why were you holding your sister-in-law hostage?” asked one person who had been banging on the glass repeatedly.
“Is it true she is the mother of your child?” another belted out.
“Is she hurt? Is that the reason why she hasn’t come out yet?” called another.
When I failed to answer these questions, the crowd turned belligerent and the lies spread quickly. For the next several minutes, the focus shifted from me to a journalist as she did a teaser for her station. Cameras blazed, and for a brief moment, the people quieted down to hear what the journalist was saying. They listened until they realized they were about to lose their chance to “break” the story themselves. Almost simultaneously other reporters cued their cameras and cited their versions of what went down. If they weren’t lying about my life, it might have been comical.
“I didn’t hurt her,” I yelled, frustrated because I couldn’t wind down the window and set the record straight. I wanted them to hear from my mouth that I had wanted only to talk with Cojo. I wanted them to understand I really loved her, but they were no longer interested in me. It also became clear they weren’t interested in the truth; fiction made for a better story. They were concerned only with being the first to report something, even if it was a lie.
“Good evening. I’m Natalie Spence, reporting live outside the Baymore Motel, the scene of an intense hostage situation turned violent. The police have apprehended Gavin Mills, a family member of the victim. Mr. Mills, seen behind me, is waiting for transport. A spokesperson for the Clayton County Police Department informed us they will charge Mr. Mills with attempted murder. . . .”
My heart felt like it was trying to leap out of my chest. “Murder? Are you fucking kidding me? I didn’t try to kill anybody,” I shouted as I butt my head against the window, trying to get their attention. If they were going to tell my story, they should at least wait until they had their facts straight.
I kept beating my head on the window. Murder? How the hell did they come up with that? I wasn’t trying to kill anyone. “What the fuck are you talking about? I didn’t try to kill anyone,” I shouted in vain. But that wasn’t entirely true. If they’d have arrived ten minutes later, Cojo might have died.
“The victim’s husband is on the scene, but so far we have not been allowed to speak with him. He appeared to be upset when he was allowed into the room. . . .”
“Right. Get Merlin out here. He’ll tell you this is all just a big misunderstanding,” I yelled, but no one was paying me any attention. I couldn’t understand why I could hear them so plainly but my voice was being ignored. My brother had plenty of reasons to dislike me, but I was so sure he wouldn’t want me to go to jail. Or would he? In the past, he had always shielded me. But this time it was his wife. Chances were he might not feel the same way he did for the random chick that got killed.
I couldn’t believe the cops had found us so fast. We hadn’t been in the room long before they came bursting through the door. How did they find us? Somehow I needed to get my brother alone so I could explain to him what happened. Cojo was his wife, but there was also a good chance she was the mother of my child. I banged on the window again, trying to get someone’s attention. I needed to speak to my brother.
I had thought that by bringing Cojo to the motel, she would not see me as her husband’s brother but as her man. So I’d made a mistake, but I was sure we could work it all out if they would just give me a chance to talk to them.
“Gavin Mills, a bartender at Tiffany’s, a well-known strip club in Decatur, Georgia,” the reporter droned on.
They were telling all my business. If I’d wanted the world to know I worked at the club, I would have done my own infomercial. Things were happening so fast, and I needed everyone to shut the fuck up so I could think.
“If they are taking me to jail, they need to hurry the fuck up,” I shouted, but there was no one around to hear me. The officer who had brought me to his car had gon e back inside the motel room. I didn’t want to be around when they brought Cojo out of the room. I didn’t want to see the fear in her eyes. This was not the way I wanted to remember her.
I watched in disbelief as they wheeled a stretcher into the motel room. This was certainly overkill, and I thought they were doing it because of the media attention. “Oh, come on,” I shouted. This bullshit was not necessary. Cojo was perfectly capable of walking out of that room by herself. “I’ll bet that bitch Gina put her up to it.” Thinking about Gina made my head hurt, as I recalled the nasty words she’d hurled at me as they were leading me out of the room. I didn’t understand why she was there in the first place. Last I heard, she hated Cojo, and Merlin didn’t want anything to do with her. When did Gina become friends with Merlin and Cojo? Gina claimed she hated them both, so why was she up in the motel, all hysterical, like she’d lost her best friend?
I slumped back in the seat. Nothing was making sense. How had they found us in the first place? As the events of the night replayed in my mind, I recalled Gina’s final words. Maybe I was insane. If they hadn’t come into the motel room when they did, maybe I would have killed Cojo. As soon as the thought settled into my head, I shook it away. I was upset with Cojo, but I didn’t want to kill her. Did I?
Chapter Two
GINA MEADOWS
I sat in the car a few minutes before I gathered the nerve to knock on Merlin’s door. Even though we’d mended our fences, I still wasn’t entirely comfortable around him and his wife. Cojo really was a sweet woman, and I felt bad for misjudging her. Thankfully, she wasn’t a bitter woman, or she wouldn’t be giving me a second chance to be a part of their family.
I got out of the car and paused while I got myself together. I was still suffering from an upset stomach, but at first I attributed it to all the craziness going on around me. I wasn’t eating, and when I did manage to get something down, it came right back up. I smoothed down my top and walked up the short path to Merlin and Cojo’s apartment.
Cojo answered the door when I knocked. “Hey, Gina. Come on in.” She was smiling brightly, and it eased some of my fears. I could not believe how good she looked. She was positively glowing.
“Cojo, you look amazing. Your skin is radiant, and this belly fits your small frame.”
Obviously pleased with my compliment, Cojo patted her stomach and led the way to the sofa. “Thanks, Gina. You made my day, because I spend most of my days feeling fat and unattractive.”
“Hell, I wish I looked as good.” I looked at my own belly, which could easily be confused with a pregnant pouch.
The look Cojo gave me would have been hysterical if I had said something funny, but it was exactly how I felt at the moment: fat and unattractive and totally confused. I thought I was having phantom symptoms because of Cojo’s pregnancy, but I came to the realization it was something more than that. Either I was deathly ill or I was pregnant.
“Is there something wrong?” Cojo’s brow was wrinkled with worry.
I panicked. I didn’t know for sure what was going on with me, so I wasn’t ready to share it, whatever it was. Right now my focus was on repairing my relationship with my son and his wife. “No, girl. I’m fine. Just a little tired. Gavin has been calling the house day and night, trying to get me to come and visit. I told him the night they arrested him, I was finished with him, but I guess he didn’t believe me.”
Cojo’s face visually paled at the mention of Gavin’s name. I could only imagine what she was feeling, and I didn’t even know the entire story. One day I was hoping she’d feel comfortable enough to confide in me about the true nature of her relationship with my other son. She shook her head and grimaced, as if she tasted something really bad in her mouth.
“Thank God he hasn’t called here. I don’t want to hear from him ever again.”
“I know, but you’re going to have to go to court and testify whenever they set a date for his hearing.”
She absently rubbed her belly, and I felt a twinge of envy.
“I know, but I’m still not looking forward to it.”
We fell into silence, but it wasn’t strained.
“Where’s Merlin? I didn’t see his car,” I finally said.
“He had to report to the base. He should be home soon. He’s sticking closer to home these days.”
Silence again.
I looked around the room, trying to think of something else to say. “So when are we going to have your baby shower?” I didn’t know who was more shocked by my suggestion, her or me. I wanted to attend her shower, but planning it? I didn’t think so.
Cojo laughed. “Merlin and I haven’t even thought that far. We just want to have a healthy baby.”
I heard what she was saying, but I wasn’t buying it. Why wouldn’t she want a shower? I thought about it some more and decided I should be the one to give it to her. Especially since I had treated her so badly in the beginning. “Nonsense. You have to have a shower. This is your first baby. Just leave everything to me, and if you have someone you want me to invite, let me know so I can send them an invitation.”
Cojo looked as if she wanted to cry. I didn’t mean to make her upset. I had thought my offer would make her happy.
I moved over to the sofa and put my arm around her. “Honey, what’s wrong?” I wasn’t used to this emotional Cojo. Now that I was getting to know her, it was hard for me to see her crying.
“I’m all right. Lately, I seem to cry at the drop of a hat.”
I understood what she meant. When I was pregnant, I cried all the time, even though my pregnancy was short lived. “You scared me. I thought I did something wrong.”
“No, actually, I’m overwhelmed by your thoughtfulness. I always wanted this type of relationship with you.” She wiped her nose with the back of her hand.
I went into the kitchen and grabbed a paper towel for her. It wasn’t as soft as a tissue, but I didn’t feel comfortable enough in their space to look for anything else. Her candor touched me in ways I hadn’t felt in years, and it was a feeling I couldn’t describe, even if I had to. “Cut that out. There is nothing cute about a snotty nose,” I said as I walked back into the living room. I felt giddy and needed to do something to expel the nervous energy I was feeling. “Hey, since I’m here, is there anything I can do for you?”
“Gina, I’m fine. Merlin hasn’t allowed me to lift a finger since you guys rescued me.”
I didn’t see the black cloud enter the room, but I damn sure felt it. “Wow, what a buzz kill.” I was trying to be funny, but I’d never been so serious in my life.
“You ain’t kidding a bit. I just wish I understood what was going through Gavin’s head. Part of me wants to forgive him for what he did to me, but the other side of me would like to castrate him for scaring the shit out of me.”
Absently, I patted Cojo’s hand as my mind drifted off. I understood exactly what she was saying, but on a deeper level. I was beginning to believe my dream wasn’t just a nightmare and Gavin had actually fucked me. And to add insult to injury, I could be carrying his child. How twisted was that? I felt like my life had become some low-budget movie, and I was terrified of the ending. I wanted to confide my fears to Cojo, but I was afraid if I said it out loud, it would come true.
“Gina?”
“Huh?” I’d been daydreaming and wasn’t paying attention to the conversation.
“I asked if you were okay. You got this weird look on your face. Kind of scared me.”
I patted her hand again and shook off my thoughts. I hadn’t decided what I was going to do, and until I did, I would keep my fears to myself. “Sorry, dear. I guess I was off in la-la land. Hey, I could use something to drink. I’m feeling a little parched.”
She got up, but I stopped her before she could leave the room.
“I don’t want you waiting on me. I can fix it myself. Do you want something? Water? Milk?” I assumed she had plenty of milk, or at least I would if I knew for sure I was having a baby. I looked down at my own stomach, which was protruding before any thoughts of being pregnant had entered my mind, and smiled. If this turned out to be a false alarm, I was going to have to get my ass in a gym with a quickness.
