The Treacherous Wife

by Saundra

Genres: Women's Fiction; Mystery

Synopsis

In this fast-paced, suspense-fueled novel, Arizona’s most decorated detective finds a spectacular second chance at love—but when he starts digging into the most lethal case of his career, his future takes a shocking turn . . .

After the tragic unsolved murder of his beloved wife, Detective Ronald King never thought there’d be more to his life than work. But from the second he meets his city's captivating new mayor, Tabitha Knight, he’s drawn in by her lively political savvy, her warm, generous nature—and her determination to make the city work for everyone. Once he finishes investigating the toughest narcotics case he's ever faced, he’ll marry the woman he's grown to love—and support her as she makes a bound-to-be successful bid for governor . . .

But Ronald hits one frustrating dead end after another trying to track down the killer of the state's most powerful and dangerous drug lord. He's uncovering a chilling lack of evidence. And he’s stunned by clues pointing back to Tabitha's high-living nephew. Even worse, he can't seem to make her own mysterious past add up.

As crime surges, Ronald starts putting all the pieces together. But he’ll soon have to confront allies turned enemies, treacherous secrets and lies, and a blindsiding truth that will throw everything he’s believed into question—and could leave him with no way out . . .

Release date: January 21, 2025

Publisher: Kensington Books

Print pages: 272

Sample

“Agghhhhh!”

I screeched so loudly that my throat felt like it was on fire. My head fell back away from my shoulders and the rest of my body felt as if it was going limp. The sharp, knifelike stabbing pains that were slashing my abdomen apart and ripping their way to my pelvis jolted me back to my reality. Agghhh . . . I can’t . . . I think I’m dying. I panted in huffs. Despite being so weak, I raised my feet from the stirrups. Desperately wanting to get out of them, I then tried to lift myself from the spot, but my butt was just too rooted in.

“No . . . no, don’t do that.” Dr. Adams raised his head from under the sheet where he had been commanding my pushes for the past five minutes. “And you are not dying, but I need you to breathe easy, then put all the pressure you can gather on your bottom and push, push hard.”

I knew he was only doing what was best for me and the baby, but he really didn’t understand what he was asking. “But . . . I can’t . . . I’m so tired,” I cried out. My entire body was feeling overwhelmed, and this intense flash of heat was coming over me. I could feel the perspiration on my face. Another sharp pain attacked me. My head flew back again, and my mouth opened wide, but this time I did not scream. “Ummm . . . ummm.” I grunted with force and my whole body shook, and I was sure I heard my pelvis bone crack.

“That’s it. I see the head. It’s there. Right within my hand’s reach. Come on, one more time . . . push.” Dr. Adams’s tone was calm.

With my body still rebelling against the excruciating pain, I breathed in deeply and shut my eyes so tight that I could feel the rim of my eyelids burn. “Ummmm.” Suddenly, I felt a slippery gushing force burst from me, followed by a faint, then high yelping of a baby—my baby. Exhausted, my body fell backward onto the pillow. The light above me seemed to shine so brightly. As my body swooned, a sudden feeling of surreality came over me. I had just given birth. “Is he okay?” flowed from my lips just above a whisper. Carefully and slowly, I lifted myself up with my elbows.

“Can I see him?” I said, this time with a stronger voice. The young white nurse smiled down at the bundle she held wrapped in a green and blue blanket. She reached out her arms gently and handed him to me. One look at the yellowish baby with large, deep, inherited light hazel eyes and I was in love.

“He’s perfect,” I mouthed to Dale, his father, who was hovering over me.

Tears fell from Dale’s big, hazel eyes. He had snuggled close to me. Mikka, the name we had chosen for our son, poured from his lips with love. He leaned over and kissed my forehead.

Home from the hospital, I didn’t waste any time getting back into the swing of things. For me, that was making the almighty dollar. I never let anything get in the way of wealth-building. It was an essential part of my life. Even though I attended college at the University of Michigan on a full-ride scholarship that included room and board, I had decided to live off campus with my new boyfriend, Dale, now the father of my baby. Dale was not in college. He rented a small apartment not too far from the university because he did a lot of business with the rich students. That’s how we met. One day he was on campus making a play and we bumped into each other by accident. We’ve been inseparable ever since.

Dale had his usual hustle, a D-Boy, as he liked to be called. As his lady and a natural-born thinker, I moved in with him. When it came to enhancing his drug empire, I helped him where I could. The apartment was small but comfortable. I was sitting at the kitchen table measuring and sacking up weed when I heard the front door open and shut. Quickly, I closed the last baggie I was working on and stepped around the small wall that separated the kitchen from the living room.

“Hey, babe,” Dale said as soon as he laid eyes on me. He walked straight up to me and wrapped his free arm around me. The other hand was holding a small duffel bag.

I missed you all day, I mouthed to him, my lips grazing against his neck. I had been home with Mikka for almost a month now. We had gotten settled into a daily routine. Dale hustled during the day while I slept, watched Mikka, and sacked up the product. Between the two of us, we were running a smooth and profitable operation.

“I missed you too, but I brought you something for your trouble,” he teased before handing me the duffel bag. “Is he asleep?” he asked about Mikka.

“You know it. Come on.” I led the way to the bedroom. I knew he couldn’t wait to lay his eyes on Mikka. Since we’d brought him home, Dale was a proud and doting father. Immediately after coming through the door whenever he went out, Dale would go looking for him. We both stood over him sleeping soundly in his crib. After gawking at our sweet boy for a few minutes, we headed back into the living room and sat down in front of the television.

“I just finished sacking up for the day,” I said to Dale while pulling back the zipper of the duffel bag. The smell of sweaty hands and worn-out paper filled my nostrils. The money always gave me the sense of dirty hands touching it, and I hated that feeling. As nasty as the thought was, my love for money outweighed that, so I gulped down the dirty smell and went on. “Babe, we have got to find a bigger place. I don’t like weed being so close to Mikka. The scent could get into his skin.” I knew I was probably exaggerating a little, but I knew he would understand what I meant.

“I’m already on it. Been doing some digging around this past week while I was out hustling. I have a few places lined up tomorrow for you to look at. I got y’all, babe. I’m going to take good care of you two. That’s a promise,” Dale assured me, and I knew he meant every word. That was one of the reasons I’d loved Dale since the first time we met. He always put me first. When I told him I was pregnant he made sure I knew that me and the baby were his number one priority. He didn’t miss one doctor’s appointment.

“But look, I have to go back out to re-up tonight. I’m going to need that re-up stash,” he said.

“No doubt. What time do you have to go out for re-up?” I asked. This was the part I didn’t much care for. Him having to leave when he had just come in. But it was the life of hustler, so I had to suck it up. This was what I had signed up for.

He twisted his gold watch around his wrist so that it would face up. “Couple hours.”

“Cool. I’m going to get this counted and locked away. Then I’ll grab the re-up stash. It’s all rubber banded and ready to go,” I assured him.

“Good. I just don’t like keeping that much cash here with you and Mikka here. It’s just too risky.”

“I know.”

He had been telling me to go get another safe deposit box for the past year, but for some reason or another I was always too busy. He was right in saying it was too risky, keeping re-up cash in the house. I understood that more now that Mikka was here, so I made it my business to handle it. It’s funny how when you have a child you put things into perspective quickly.

“Aye, while you count the cash, I’ma grab me a sandwich. I’m hungry as hell. Been hustling so hard today I haven’t ate shit. All I had is a stick of gum. Stomach grumbling like a mutha.”

“Babe, I keep telling you to eat during the day. You know with the baby and all, I ain’t cooked shit. I also ate another dry-ass sandwich. One of us got to eat something good, and since you out and about, it might as well be you.” We both chuckled. “Well, let me count this money. I need to try to get some sleep before Mikka wakes up to be fed.”

I poured the money onto the coffee table just as the house phone rang. I dashed from the couch to grab the cordless phone from its cradle hanging on the kitchen wall. The last thing I wanted was the ringing phone to wake up Mikka. Dale hated the house phone, so he rarely answered it. He was bent over in the fridge, gathering up what he needed to make his sandwich. Like I said, he hated the phone and would gladly let it ring all damn day long.

“Hello,” I greeted without looking at the caller ID. My mind was still questioning if Mikka had been awakened. I didn’t hear any crying, so I assumed we were saved for now.

“Hey, sweetheart,” my aunt Margie said on the other end. I could hear the love in her tone.

Dale walked over to me and whispered, “I’m going to check on Mikka.”

I nodded at him. “How are you, Aunt Margie?”

“I’m fine. I am just wondering when you gonna bring that baby down to Inkster. It’s been a month now,” she reminded me. I knew she was getting antsy to see him.

“I know. I know. I promise to bring him in about two weeks. I was waiting for him to get his shots first. Got to make sure he’s safe when he’s out in the world,” I explained. My aunt Margie had raised me since I was twelve years old. She was the only blood family I’d ever known. When I was a baby I somehow ended up in foster care. Aunt Margie was my biological mother’s sister. According to her, she had no idea I existed until I was eleven. Not long after she found out about me, Aunt Margie started the process to get custody of me, and from that point on, she raised me. I lived with her in the small Michigan town named Inkster until I left for college.

“But how have you been? I haven’t spoken to you since last week,” I said.

I silently counted the money as I continued to listen to Aunt Margie. I was on a mission, and Dale had somewhere to be.

The sun shining through the window stirred me awake, and then I heard a cry from Mikka that caused me to sit straight up in bed. My hair scarf, which had been tied securely around my head, had worked its way off and was now buried somewhere beneath the sheets. I ran my right hand through my long, straight, thick hair. I glanced to my right and noticed Dale was not in bed next to me.

“Agh! Agh!” Mikka wailed out again.

“Aww, sweetie.” I got to my feet and reached down into his crib for him. One look at the smile on my face and he quieted down. “Good morning, my love,” I cooed at him. He stirred his little lips, licked them, and smiled. It pulled at my heartstrings, knowing he loved me back.

I went into the kitchen to prepare his bottle. I glanced around the living room and there was still no sight of Dale, which seemed strange because the bathroom door was wide open. That told me he wasn’t held up in there. Testing the bottle on my hand and satisfied with the temperature, I picked up Mikka from the crib and cradled him in my arms. Then I sat down for the feeding. After sucking up a full bottle and a good burp, he was satisfied. Laying him back down, my mind drifted back to Dale. Where the hell was he?

Had he left this morning without saying anything or leaving a note?. That was unlikely because he always woke me if I was still asleep and he had to go. He never left the house without telling me. Walking over to the nightstand next to the bed, I grabbed my two-way pager. No messages were there; there were no numbers listed.

I picked up the phone and dialed his pager number with the hope that he’d call me back quickly. I then took a peek at Mikka. Since he had already fallen back to sleep, I decided it was a good time to take my shower. Anxious to hear back from Dale, I showered faster than usual, dried off, and put on Dale’s oversize Oakland A’s baseball jersey. Back in the living room, I picked up the phone and dialed *69, just in case in I had missed his call. With no luck there, I checked my pager again, but there were still no missed pages.

Growing more concerned by the minute, I turned on the coffee pot to let it brew. Then I sat down at the table for a minute with my head cupped in my hands. Where was Dale? The coffeepot buzzed. Opening the cabinet, I grabbed a mug and filled it with coffee. My stomach started to twist in knots. “The car wash,” I suddenly said out loud. That was where Dale had told me he was going to re-up. I had to go there to find him. Back in our bedroom, I opened the closet, snatched a pair of my Girbaud jeans off a hanger, and slid them on since they were the closest thing to me. Then I made my way over to Mikka. Not wanting to disturb his sleep, I picked him up gently and we headed out the door.

My jaw dropped to my feet as I pulled up to the car wash on Michigan Avenue. There was a crowd of people gathered around, flashing police lights, cops everywhere, and men in suits who I knew right away were detectives. I put the car in Park and carefully removed Mikka from his car seat. I wasn’t sure why, but my feet felt as if they had turned to stone as I approached the crowd. I could hear the police as they urged the crowd to step back. My breath caught in my throat, and I felt completely horrified at the sight of Dale’s black 1990 Chevrolet Camaro IROC. I stood frozen there for a minute until I was able to summon the courage to take another step forward.

“Ma’am, ma’am, I need you to step back,” I heard a voice over my shoulder say. At first, I didn’t realize the policeman speaking to me had touched my shoulder. It wasn’t until I gazed up at him and saw his hand resting there that I snapped to attention.

“That’s my boyfriend’s car. Has something terrible happened?” I asked the police officer. I turned my focus back toward the car just as the two detectives took a step backward and I saw my nightmare come true. “Dale.” His name rolled off my tongue in a whisper as if it were a secret.

Suddenly, I heard screams, and my legs buckled beneath me. The strength in my arms disappeared. Someone yelled, “Get the baby!” Those sudden screams had come from me. As I fell to my knees, one of the detectives reached me in time to grab hold of Mikka. The unknown cop who had tried to stop me from moving forward now tried to pick me up off the ground as the other detective did his best to comfort me. I was sick with grief as I broke free and ran toward Dale’s lifeless body. He was covered in blood, his body riddled with bullet holes. He was gone. A piece of me died that day with him.

Three Weeks Later

I still couldn’t believe we had buried Dale a week and a half ago. It was just too surreal. I couldn’t eat or sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw his face and kept hearing his voice asking me to help him. It was a nightmare that I had to wake up from. My fear was I would never sleep again. The worst part was I’d still have to live with the fact that he was brutally murdered, and the Detroit police would probably never find out who was responsible. The fact that he was a drug dealer increased the chances they wouldn’t take his homicide seriously. The one thing I knew for sure was, had I known who pulled the trigger, I would do the same to them if given the chance. The big question was, who? Who exactly was the Connect?

While I did help with counting the cash, inventorying the product, and strategizing his plays, I never really knew his clients or who his Connect was. I was just a behind-the-scenes kind of girl. In my mind I knew it was either his Connect or a client who had betrayed him. Or it could’ve also been a secret enemy who came disguised in the form of a so-called friend. Snakes like that were always lurking around in Dale’s line of work. Just because he was found where he was and said he was scheduled to re-up really meant nothing. The cops found no money or dope lying around. Truth be told, it could have been anybody. The game was built like that. This was a dog-eat-dog world we lived in.

“Tabbi . . . Tabbi . . .” The sound of my name being called interrupted my running thoughts.

“Yes, Aunt Margie.” Once again, I was so deep in my thoughts that Aunt Margie had to call my name repeatedly before I gave her my attention. This had been happening since being back in Inkster. I arrived a week ago with Mikka. I stayed in Detroit long enough to bury Dale, but after that I knew I had to get out of there right away. I really needed to be around family, and Aunt Margie was the only one I had in my life now besides Mikka.

“Dinner is ready. You really need to try to eat something. You skipped breakfast and lunch,” she said to me.

Concern was etched on every inch of Aunt Margie’s face. I hated to make her worry about me, but I had no appetite. The hole where my food should have passed through had a knot there that would not seem to move. Although I knew it wasn’t a real knot, just my grief eating away at me, I didn’t know how to push it aside. I was afraid that anything that tried to get past it would only end up choking me.

Instead of saying just that to Aunt Margie, I forced a weak smile. “I’ll try,” I said. And I really would try, but I doubted I would succeed. Pushing myself toward the edge of the sofa with the intention to stand, I said, “I need to check on Mikka.”

Aunt Margie waved me back down into my seat. “No, he is fine. I have fed, burped, and changed him. Now the king sleeps,” she teased, and I could only smile.

“Thank you. I really appreciate it.”

“No need for that. You know I will always be here for the both of you.” Aunt Margie sat down next to me and patted my knee. Everything about her was love; it had been that way since I was twelve. Her comfort just made me want to cry even more. I had missed her so much when I was away at school in Detroit. Between taking full-time classes, spending time with Dale, and helping him with his hustle, I was always so busy. I hardly ever made it down to Inkster to visit with her. For that I also felt guilty because growing up, Aunt Margie had always put me first. Once she got custody of me she never allowed anything to come before me.

“I’m so sorry, Auntie, that I haven’t been coming out to see you the way I should.”

“Baby, I told you to stop apologizing about that. I understand you are busy with school. No need for that, okay?” she replied.

I nodded in agreement, but I still felt bad. I knew I had been selfish, putting other things like making money before her. In the future I would make it my mission to do better.

“Now, what is your next move?” she asked.

I hadn’t thought about it much but one thing I knew for sure was I had to get back to school. That was the one reason I ever went to Detroit in the first place, and that still was my goal. Hustling was Dale’s thing, and while I did love the fast money, a good education had always and still was my number one goal in life. Even more now that I had Mikka to raise.

“Well, I have to get back to school. I can’t drop the ball on that . . . no matter what.” I sighed, feeling overwhelmed, but I was adamant in my determination.

Aunt Margie nodded in agreement, and a hint of a smile said she was proud of me. College was also her number one goal for me. She had preached a good education to me since the first day I entered her home and I had bought it lock, stock, and barrel. I agreed with her then and now. It was the one thing no one could take away from you.

She reached for my right hand. “You go on back to school and leave Mikka with me. I’ll take good care of him,” she assured me while squeezing my hand.

“Aunt Margie, I can’t ask you to do that; you just retired. It’s your time for you. Besides, you already raised me. You did your job. I know you are being nice and I’m grateful. But no, I can’t let you do that.” I wouldn’t even consider asking her to give up her life to raise my son. How selfish of me would that be?

“Girl, I tell you, you are still stubborn.” She chuckled. “From the time I brought you into this house, you were stubborn and hell-bent on being in charge of me. And that hasn’t changed. Now you listen to me. I raised you because I loved you from the moment I was told you existed. Can you believe that? Before I ever laid eyes on you. Sure did.” She nodded at me with a huge grin. “And I love that baby in there. As long as I exist, I’m going to do what is necessary to make sure y’all have what you need. So, you pack up your little bags and head back to school. Me and Mikka, well . . . we gone be okay. And when you walk across that stage for graduation we will be in the crowd. Because that is what family does. Now I don’t want to hear nothing el. . .