Gold, Fire & Refinement

Chapter Thirty-Seven

"Sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." ~Lewis Carroll

It sounded like a thousand phones were ringing at the same time when Zarah opened her eyes and looked around. She wasn't dreaming. She wasn't in a hotel room in Jefferson City, Pennsylvania. She was in her bedroom, in her bed—on Strawberry Circle, in Jackson, Mississippi, and her head was pounding. Wait. What was that? Someone was in her house, talking. Her cell phone was ringing, and then she heard a knock on her bedroom door.

"Zarah?"

It was a man's voice. A man was in her home and he was knocking on her bedroom door and calling her name. She looked underneath the blanket. She was fully clothed in what she'd had on in Pennsylvania.

"Zarah? You up yet?"

It was Tyler's voice. Tyler Wilson. Now she remembered. Tyler brought her home. "Yes, Tyler," she said. "I'm up. You can come in."

He told her he spent the night in her guest room, because both Laura and Harvey insisted he stay over. And, oh yeah. Yvette had just called. "You're not answering your cell," he said. "So Vette called your landline. She called the hotel too, in Jefferson City. They told her you left."

Zarah assured Tyler she was fine and that she would call Yvette later. Then she stood up, ignoring her pounding head. Feeling dizzy, she sat back down on the bed. The next time she tried standing, her legs were stronger, and she gave Tyler a hug while thanking him for taking care of her the night before.

"Don't mention it," he said. "And your cell phone? It's ringing again. I'm pretty sure it's my brother calling. Again."

She looked at Tyler but didn't say anything. He gave her an understanding smile.

"Don't wait too long," he said. "I'm not one to meddle, but I really think you need to hear what he's trying to tell you."

After he made her a pot of coffee and some toast, they were sitting together at the breakfast table when Tyler told her he had to go, and that either he or Laura would check in on her later. She told him she had to go too, to do her last interview at THN, and that she had no idea how long it might take. 

"Doesn't matter," he said. "One of us will try your number later, until we get you. And Z?" He got up to leave. "No more drinking? Until this is all over. One way or the other. Okay?"

After breaking off a piece of toast, she looked down at the table. Even though she hadn't needed to hear his warning, she smiled, then said, "Okay."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Working in his production studio at his home near downtown Jackson, Thurgood couldn't keep his mind on the video he was reviewing. His mind kept taking him back to the night before, and he couldn't remember a time when he was more livid. Everything was in place last night, including Zarah. They were getting ready to leave the hotel, just the two of them, when Harvey and Tyler showed up and ruined everything. They had no way of knowing about his plans, and they still managed to ruin everything.

When Tyler insisted on flying back with them, as if Zarah needed a chaperone, he had no choice but to allow his cousin to come with them. Once they landed in Jackson, Laura called and insisted Harvey wanted Tyler to take Zarah home, to make sure she was okay. "Why? Does he not trust me?" Thurgood asked his caller. She told him she was just relaying a message from her boss regarding what he wanted for one of his employees.

Because of how things turned out, he now had no choice but to play his trump card. And he had to play it soon, because the Wilson family had started circling their wagons around Zarah.