Deliver Me From Evil Read Free Page A

a door slam and a glass crash to the floor. “Baby, talk to me,” he bleated.
    â€œJ.R., don’t let anybody hear anything you say,” I warned, scraping my tongue with my teeth.
    â€œThey won’t. I’m alone in my office, with the door closed,” Jesse Ray said in a guarded tone of voice. “Don’t you worry about a thing, honey,” he told me, his voice sounding tired and raspy now. I could imagine how hard he was sweating. Jesse Ray was the kind of man who got nervous real quick.
    â€œJ.R., don’t call the cops. Don’t tell anybody about this,” I said, sounding as hysterical as one might expect a kidnapped woman to sound. “Please get me out of this mess. I … I want to come home—” Wade pushed me roughly to the side as he leaned toward the telephone.
    â€œSatisfied? You believe me now? This sound like a game to you now?” Wade asked, screaming toward the phone so hard, spit flew out of both sides of his mouth.
    â€œYes, I … I believe you,” Jesse Ray stuttered.
    â€œAnd by the way, this juicy butt, big-legged woman of yours looks mighty delicious to me … yum-yum. If there’s a bitch better than this one sitting in front of me now, God kept her for himself. I will do my best and try to be a good boy. Uh, I’ll try to keep my hands to myself, but I am a man.”
    â€œ Shit! Don’t you touch my wife!” Jesse Ray shouted.
    â€œThen you better get me my money on time before I lose control. And I know, you know what I mean.”
    â€œDon’t hurt my wife …. Please don’t hurt my wife,” Jesse Ray said, this time in a weak, pleading voice.
    â€œThat’s up to you. You do what I tell you to do, and everything will be all right.”
    â€œWhat do you want?” Jesse Ray asked, his voice trembling. “I’m not a rich man ….”
    â€œBullshit! And Santa Claus ain’t got nothing to do with Christmas,” Wade said, then laughed. “Brother, you rich enough for me! I got friends in all the right places, so I know just as much about your business as you do. I know what your black ass is worth!”
    â€œHow … much do you want?” my husband asked.
    â€œDo you love your wife, my man?”
    Jesse Ray hesitated before he answered. And that gave me something else to worry about. “Yes. I love my wife very much,” he said finally. “I have always loved my wife, and I always will. She means the world to me.” I breathed a sigh of relief.
    â€œThen you’d be willing to pay to get her back.” I couldn’t tell if the sentence was a statement or a question, because Wade winked at me when he said it.
    â€œI just told you, I am not a rich man. I don’t care what you heard about me. I’m a working man,” Jesse Ray said, raising his voice again. “I don’t know why you decided to grab my wife of all people. Especially since the Bay Area is full of men with a lot more money than I’ll ever have—and the women they love. Sean Penn’s wife, Mick Jagger’s daughter. Why my woman?”
    â€œWell, I know about all them rich folks, but I ain’t that greedy,” Wade said, with a sinister chuckle. “And I don’t want to put myself in no position that might attract a lot of attention. I ain’t fool enough to snatch no famous person’s woman.”
    â€œBut you are fool enough to snatch mine?”
    â€œDon’t you get cute with me, motherfucker! I’m the one in charge here! And I just told you, I know what you worth. I done my homework. You want your wife back. I want my money. It’s as simple as that. Do you understand me, motherfucker?”
    â€œI understand,” Jesse Ray mumbled.
    â€œGood! Now just to show you that I ain’t one of them greedy bastards you read about in the newspaper, all I want is half a million dollars.” Wade was as cool as a block of