Temptation - Brenda Jackson [58]
Zeke smiled. “That might work. We need to run it by Mathis.”
“It’s worth a try if it will link her to Rivera. We want him off the streets and behind bars as soon as possible. He’s bad news.”
Later that night, as he did every night, Zeke called Sheila. Another bouquet of flowers as well as a basket of candy had been delivered that day. He had been plying her with “thinking of you” gifts since he’d been gone, trying to keep her thoughts on him and to let her know how much he was missing her.
After thanking him for her gifts, she mentioned that Brad had stopped by to see how Sunnie was doing. Sheila had been surprised to see him, but was glad he had cared enough about the baby’s welfare to make an unexpected visit. She even told Zeke how Sunnie had gone straight to the man without even a sniffle. And that she seemed as fascinated with him as he had been with her.
Zeke then brought her up to date on what they’d found out about Diane Worth. “It seems she has this weekly appointment at a hair salon. One of the detectives will get hair samples for DNA testing. Once they have a positive link to Sunnie, they will bring her in for questioning.”
“What do you think her connection is to Michael Price?” Sheila asked.
“Don’t know for sure, but I have a feeling things will begin to unravel in a few more days.”
They talked a little while longer. He enjoyed her sharing Sunnie’s activities for that day, especially how attached she had gotten to that toy he’d won for her at the carnival.
“I miss you,” he said, meaning it. He hadn’t seen her in over a week.
“And I miss you, too, Zeke.”
He smiled. That’s what he wanted to hear. And since they were on a roll… “And I love you,” he added.
“And I love you back. Hurry home.”
Home. His chest swelled with even more love for her at that moment. “I will, just as soon as I get this case solved.” And he meant it.
A few days later things began falling into place. As usual, Worth had her hair appointment. It took a couple of days for the DNA to be matched with the sample taken from Sunnie. The results showed Diane was definitely Sunnie’s biological mother.
Although Zeke wasn’t in the interrogation room when Worth was brought in, she did what they assumed she would do—denying the abandoned child could be hers. She claimed her baby was on a long trip with her father. However, once proof was presented showing Sunnie was her child and had been used in a blackmail scheme, and that her hand had been caught on tape, which could be proven, the woman broke down and blurted out what she knew of the sordid scheme.
She admitted that Rivera had planned for her to meet Michael Price for the sole purpose of having him get her pregnant. Once Rivera found out Michael was from a wealthy family, he set up his plan of extortion. She was given a huge sum of money to seduce Michael, and once her pregnancy was confirmed, Rivera had shown up one night and joined the party. Throughout the evening at Diane’s, he’d spiked Michael’s drinks with a near-lethal dose of narcotics and made sure he got behind the wheel to drive home. What had been made to look like a drunk-driving accident was anything but—Michael had been murdered. She also said that up until that night, Michael had been drug-free for almost six months and had intended to reunite with his family and try to live a decent life. With Worth’s confession linking Rivera to Michael’s death, a warrant was issued and Rivera was arrested.
Zeke had kept Brad informed of what was going on. The Price family was devastated to learn the truth behind Michael’s death and looked forward to making Sunnie part of their family. Brad, who had never given up hope that Michael would have eventually gotten his life together if he’d survived, had decided to be Sunnie’s legal guardian. He felt Michael would have wanted things that way.
That night when he called Sheila and heard the excitement in her voice about receiving candy and more flowers he’d sent, he hated to be the deliverer of what he had to tell her. Although