Page 60 of Trial of Deceit

The space was dwindling.Closing in on her.She couldn’t breathe—

Hands grabbed her, pulling her away.

“Ash…” came a voice, and she sucked in a big breath.Her frantic eyes met Jediah’s worried ones.He ran a hand down the sides of her face and said gently, “You’re okay.See?”He looked around, and she did, too.“There’s no water.You’re not drowning.”

“I’m sorry,” she cried, now feeling the cold porcelain of the tub.Tears rushed to her eyes as she buried her face into his chest.“I-I thought—”

“Shh, it’s okay.”He lifted her out of the tub and brought her to the bed.He held her close and she cried against him until her sobs died to sniffles.“Yu usually sleepwalk?”

“Only when I’m off my meds.”

“You take meds?”he asked, and she nodded.

“I used to, but I stopped…”

“Why?”he asked, and she gulped.He tried pulling out of their embrace, but she tightened her grip around him, not wanting to break the proximity.

“’Cause someone took care of me.”

“Who?”he asked, jealousy in his tone.

“A woman…”

“Wait… Yu bi?”he asked, and she nodded.“So, me have fi go worry ’bout if a gyal a try tek mi wife?”

She chuckled, knowing that he was jealous, yet still trying to distract her.She pulled away and wiped at her eyes while staring at him.His brows were furrowed, and she pressed her thumb against it.She rubbed the area until his features relaxed.“No.When I’m with a man, I don’t mess with women.”

“So, it’s before me?”he asked, and she nodded.

“They gave me sleeping pills when I started therapy after what happened.When my memories got suppressed, I couldn’t remember why I needed them, but, overtime, I didn’t think much about it ’cause it helped with being restless from training.When I got on your case, I wanted to do good— No, better.Ineededto do better than my brother ’cause our dad always brags about him.So, I stopped taking them so I could stay up late and study you until I knew you like the back of my hand…” Ashari trailed off and sighed.“I developed nightmares whenever I managed to sleep, and I told my partner.I can’t remember exactly what led to this part of the conversation, but she suggested giving me my favorite food to distract my mind before my body fully wakes up, and it helped, but I don’t have her to watch over me anymore.”

“Where’s she?”Jediah asked.

She stopped playing with his brows to look into his eyes.“You made me kill her,” Ashari said, seeing a flash of guilt in his eyes as she resumed playing with his brows.

“I’m sorry…”

“I don’t want to live so much in the past tonight,” she said.“So, for the future… If you happen to hear me twisting or turning too much, just force strawberries topped with coconut flakes into my mouth, and gently talk me out of it.It might sound crazy, but it’s what works for me.”

“Why don’t you go back on your meds?”

“I was becoming too dependent on them.Besides, my nightmares and sleepwalking don’t happen as often anymore.”

He stared at her for a moment, then sighed.“I thought you went to use the toilet… Sorry it took so long to get to you.”

She smiled.“You’re apologizing.”

Jediah scoffed.“How low do you think of me?Mi don’ heartless, Ashari.”

“Well…”

Jediah’s mouth loosened.“Don’ tell me seh you did have access toalla mi health records?”

She grinned.“Mostof them.Me think you woulda figure that out by now.”

“Don’ start wid the bad Patois again,” he said, then muttered something inaudible before asking, “So, why unu caan’ arrest we?”

Ashari shrugged.“Your father is very smart,” she said, and his eyelids lowered.“You’re smart, too,” she rushed out, and his brow raised slightly.“I mean, it was your idea to distribute drugs in specific foods instead of running the risk with mostly corner boys, right?”she asked, and he nodded.“See?No one in the F.B.I.knows that.It’s all you, and if you were still using Kayon’s old method after his secret got out, then everyone who works for the Richardson family would’ve been arrested already.”

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