LaToya: Episode XXXV – Unseen Pursuit Begins

 

 

I moved away from the door when someone knocked again. Ashley whispered, “Who is it?” so softly, it was like leaves rustling in the wind.

“I’m not sure. Some short, stocky guy,” I whispered back, just as quietly.

Her eyes widened in fear.

“It’s Ryan,” she said, scanning the room nervously. “He won’t be alone. Don’t let him in.”

The door handle turned, and the door creaked as someone leaned against it. I grabbed her wrist, pulling her into the bedroom and locking the door behind us.

“You’ll have to leave your bags,” I told her, heading toward the window. I opened it, revealing the dark garden outside, shadows shifting among the bushes. “We’ll go this way.”

She hurried to join me, and I lifted her through the window into the garden. Then, I climbed out after her.

“My car is around the corner,” I explained. “Can we make it there?”

“Yes,” she replied. “I’ll show you the way.”

We dashed across a stretch of lawn toward a gate.

“Let me go first,” I said, pulling out Hwang’s gun.

I opened the gate, and we stepped into a deserted alley that faded into darkness. We moved quietly down the narrow space, Ashley close behind me, her breathing fast and panicked. The alley led us to a side street, and I could see the faint glow of my car’s parking lights at the far end.

The street looked empty, so I took Ashley’s arm, and we stayed hidden in the shadows as we moved toward the car.

“Who’s this Ryan guy?” I asked.

“He’s one of Saul Bolton’s men,” she explained, her voice tight with fear. “They won’t let me get away.”

“They haven’t caught you yet,” I reassured her.

We were just twenty or thirty feet from the Pontiac when I stopped.

“I’ll go first,” I said. “Wait here, but be ready to move fast.”

I stepped away from her and cautiously approached the street corner. Glancing up Duke Road, I saw a large SUV parked outside Ashley’s apartment building. A man stood next to it, keeping watch. I quickly crossed the sidewalk, slipped into the Pontiac, started the engine, and softly called to her, “Come on!”

As soon as she jumped into the car, I hit the gas.

Maybe Godson had kept the Pontiac running, but I could tell from the engine’s weak response that it wouldn’t handle a high-speed chase. This definitely wasn’t a good getaway car.

I kept checking the rearview mirror, but the darkness stayed empty—no headlights appeared behind us. I hoped we’d escaped unnoticed.

I swerved onto the main road out of Alexandra and slowly pushed the speed up to sixty-five. At that point, the car began to shake.

I pulled out a pack of cigarettes from my pocket and handed it to Ashley.

“Light one for me and take one for yourself,” I said, glancing in the rearview mirror again to make sure no one was following us.

“Can’t you go faster?” she asked, her hands shaking as she tried to get a cigarette out of the pack.

“If we have to, I can, but for now this speed should work, as long as no one’s chasing us,” I replied.

She lit the cigarettes, handing one to me.

“Let’s talk,” I said, trying not to alarm her, though I knew time might be running out. “What do you know about Leisha York?”

“What happened to her?” she asked, her voice trembling. “Where is she?”

I didn’t hold back.

“She’s dead,” I said bluntly. “They found her body in a pond in West Baltimore. Saul Bolton was with her at a hotel there. She worked at a nightclub. The night she disappeared, Saul Bolton left town.”

Ashley’s hands clenched tightly in her lap.

“So she’s dead,” she muttered, her voice filled with regret. “I warned her. That foolish girl wouldn’t listen. I told her Saul Bolton was using her. He likes black women, but he’d never fall for a naïve girl like her.”

“Tell me everything from the beginning,” I pressed. “What was Saul Bolton to you?”

She slumped forward, staring at the headlights cutting through the darkness ahead of us.

“Who was Saul to me?” she repeated, her voice cold and detached. “Everything! We were supposed to get married. We were happy, and he was completely obsessed with me. Then, out of nowhere, it all started falling apart. He began to pull away, and he didn’t even bother to hide it. At first, I thought it was because of Tara Graves. You know, her husband owns the club?”

I nodded, encouraging her to continue.

“But then I found out it wasn’t Tara,” she said bitterly. “It was Leisha York. She and Saul were sneaking around behind my back. I had them followed. When he was supposed to be at the club in the mornings, he was driving her around. When he told me he had club business and sent me back to the apartment, he was taking her to dinner at Jacobs’, where no one knew them.”

“Was this before Mr. Graves’ death?” I asked.

She turned her head slowly, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears under the dim light from the dashboard.

“What does Mr. Graves’ murder have to do with her?” she shot back.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Maybe nothing. I was just trying to piece together the timeline.”

“It was just before, about two weeks…”

“You said they were meeting in secret. How secret was it? Did anyone else know about their relationship?” I asked, leaning in.

“No, no one would’ve known if I hadn’t hired an investigator to follow her.”

“But why would Saul go through all that trouble to keep it hidden? Was he afraid you'd cause some drama?”

She let out a bitter laugh, her voice cold as it echoed around the car.

“With the thugs he had around him for protection, he didn’t have to fear anyone,” she replied.

“Then why all the secrecy?” I pressed.

“I don’t know. I tried to find out, but I hit a dead end. I even confronted Leisha York. She was obsessed with him, I could tell. The way her face lit up whenever his name was mentioned, it was obvious. But she denied ever being with him. I made the stupid mistake of telling her I had her followed. That’s probably the biggest mistake I’ve ever made.” Her fists tightened in her lap. “She told Saul. He came to the apartment, and the moment I saw his face, I knew it was over. I thought he was going to hurt me. He ordered me to pack and leave. I was too scared to say a word. That’s probably the only reason he didn’t lay a hand on me. He stood in the bedroom doorway, watching me pack. When I was done, he grabbed me by the arms and squeezed so hard that I had bruises for weeks. He warned me not to leave town. He said I had to work at the Black and Proud Nightclub and never speak a word about him. He told me Hwang would keep an eye on me, and if I even tried to mention his name, leave town, or get anywhere near him, Hwang would deal with me. I knew he meant it. That’s been my life for the past eighteen months. I haven’t seen or spoken to him since. He didn’t give me anything—not a single dime. And now, look at what I’ve done. If they find me, they’ll kill me.”

“They won’t find you,” I said, trying to sound confident as I pushed the car’s speed up to seventy. I still had a little room to push further, but not much. The engine roared loudly, making it hard to hear, and we practically had to shout to keep the conversation going. For a moment, I just drove in silence, processing everything she had shared. I wasn’t much further along, but at least now I had confirmation that Saul Bolton and Eddie Peterson were one and the same, tying Saul Bolton directly to LaToya Young’s disappearance. It was something, but I knew this story had many more layers I hadn’t uncovered yet.

“Have you ever heard of someone named Dajon Price?” I asked suddenly.

She shook her head slowly.

“No,” she said. “Why?”

“He’s involved in this somehow,” I explained. “Maybe you’ve run into him. He’s a short, stocky black man with a long, dark scar on his left cheek. The last time I saw him, he was wearing a camouflage jacket and an old, dirty papa’s cap pulled low over his right eye. Does that sound familiar? Have you seen anyone like that?”

It was a long shot, but to my surprise, it hit the mark.

“Thaddeus saw him,” she said quietly.

“Thaddeus?” I asked.

“Thaddeus Garrick, the investigator I hired,” she explained. “He gave me a description of someone that sounds exactly like that.”

“Where did he see him?” I asked, my curiosity growing.

“It was at Jacobs’ restaurant one night when Saul and Leisha were there,” she began. “Thaddeus saw this man sitting in a car parked outside. When Saul and Leisha walked past the car, the man pointed at Leisha without being obvious about it. After a while, the guy got out of the car and stood near the restaurant’s entrance, keeping his eyes on her. Thaddeus thought Saul had pointed her out to him, but I didn’t believe him.”

“Why didn’t you believe him?” I asked.

“He wasn’t a great investigator,” she admitted. “He was always trying to get more money out of me. I thought he was just making things up to seem like he was doing more work than he really was.”

The pieces were starting to come together. It was looking more and more like Saul Bolton had hired Dajon Price to take care of LaToya Young.

I was about to ask if Thaddeus had seen the man again when something in the rearview mirror caught my eye. I had gotten so caught up in the conversation that I had forgotten to stay alert for any signs of danger. What I saw behind us made my stomach drop.

Two large, yellow headlights were closing in on us from behind. They were about half a mile back, but they were moving fast.

Ashley saw them too. She gasped as I slammed my foot down on the gas pedal.

 

 

 

END OF EPISODE 35

P.S. Stay tuned for Episode 36, which  will be published here next Sunday.