Reporter:
Breaking news tonight:
Authorities have informed us that Singer, Denise Wilson was found dead in her Los Angeles Condo today at four this afternoon. Source says that the singer had MIA; not been answering phone calls or attending business meetings, and her family and friends grew worried. It was her twin brother, Daniel Wilson, who found her laying unconscious on her living room floor. She was pronounced dead on the scene. The cause of death has not yet been released, but according to police officers there were over ten pounds of cocaine and marijuana found in her home. It is believed that drug overdose is likely be the cause of her sudden death.
Denise, also known as her stage name and Nick name De, was a member of the pop group sensation Promise before she announced that she was going solo this past summer. Since then, she has released one single that has been climbing the R&B charts for the past couple of weeks. Also, an album that is set to release in the beginning of next year.
There has not been any statements made by any of the other members, or Denise's family. There will be more to this story as it progresses....
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December 21, 1984
Harlem, New York
Jojo's POV

There was a hard thudding pressing into my shoulder. If it wasn't for the place that I was, and the urge of respect I had for the people surrounding me I would've turned around and cursed who ever the person was out for being so irritating.
The temperature was freezing. Snow flakes slowly falling on my almost pale white cheeks. The old neighborhood that I grew up to know was covered in a thick blanket of snow. Two inches of it surrounding our boots. I had always hated the snow. I the cold in general. The sight of it always put in a really bad mood for some reason. I wasn't exactly sure if this was proper weather to have a burial service, but it was okay for her family. They all said that wanted to get the hard part over and done with. There was no need to waste time leaving her lifeless body above the grounds of this earth.
They wanted the grieving to be over with already.
The thudding continued and this time the person kept whispering my name. " JoJo...JoJo..."
"What?" I snapped, swinging my head around at the person.
Nikki eyes widened as took a small step back. " I'm sorry," she whispered back to me.
Rolling my eyes, I let out a long sigh. Watching as my breath disappeared in the cold hair. "What, Nicole?" I glanced back at the coffin that sat about ten feet in front of us. The blood red roses that sat on the top were slightly blowing in the piercing breeze.
"Is it just me or are they mean mugging us."
I turned my head in her direction giving her a look of disgust. " Really, Nicole?"
"No, look!" She grabbed my face with her hand pushed my face in a different direction where some of De's family. They were the ones that De never spoke about. Some of her aunts and her cousins. They all stood there looking at not just us, but all of us. Aleena, Aaliyah, Nicole, and myself.
My eyes met one of them. Her cousin, Sandra. Denise had spoke about her. She said that her family always put her in a pedestal. Always bragged about her because she was Captain of the cheer team, had perfect grades, won prom queen two years in a row. The list went on and on. Denise hated it because people always compared the two of them while they were growing up. People always wondered why she wasn't just like Sandra. It sounded like she was jealous of her if anyone asked me.
That's all Denise ever seem like she was. Just...jealous.
It didn't take long for the both of us to realize that we were staring at one another. Her slanted brown eyes scanned my face as her full lips began to purse. I raised my eyebrow and turned my attention away from her. " They probably think we are the reason she's dead." I said, deadpan.
Her face became unreadable, almost frozen like. I had a feeling she was actually taking me seriously. "What?" I whispered.
She closed her eyes tightly and shook her head from side to side. " Nothing, Jo." She said, faintly.
I shrugged my shoulders up and down and turned my attention back to the Reverend. He was speaking, but I really wasn't listening to anything he was saying. I couldn't allow myself to listen to anything he was saying. Everything was just so depressing.
There came a moment when it was finally time to lower the coffin into the ground. It was the heart wrenching moment they were all dreading. Reverend continued to speak again. " Ashes to ashes...dust to dust..." And in that moment I heard Mary let out a cry. Each sob became more piercing the lower the coffin went below the ground. Marking our official final goodbyes. All those years that we had shared with her were slowly coming to an end. All those times we sung together, dance together, laughed together. All of it was just...done. There would be no more of it. You can't go back, and you can't go forward. It was like being stick in one place, and there was no where to go. It was all just....over.
I watched as the last blood red rose, that sat on the top of all the others slowly disappear into the ground. Each petal had vanished. Left to be buried with the dead. I watched as Mary wrapped her arms around her now only living son. "My baby...my baby..." She was saying over and over again.
All DJ could do was comfort his broken hearted mother.
Her death had hit us all differently. Nikki was devastated. She completely fell on the floor when I told her. Leena tried to keep things happy between us, tried to make us remember the good times we had with her. It was hard to tell how Liyah felt about the whole thing. Me? Well, I saw it coming, and I prepared myself the year before when I found out she was doing the drugs. I would've said something to them, but I figured they wouldn't have cared. They were all wrapped up in their own lives and their own lies that they didn't even notice it when it was right in front of them.
I knew about everything. Every secret, every lie that we have told one another. I knew it all. But who was I to say anything? What do you do when all your best friends are stabbing you in the back, but you have to stay together for the sake of the world?
Any simple minded person would automatically think that now that she's dead, her secrets are dead too. That's a foolish thing that anyone could think. Someone dying is an automatic open door for those secrets to make themselves known. They want that. They wait for that. All it takes is for someone to get hurt in one way or another, and they break out their cages like dogs on steroids.
That's what exactly what is going to happen with them. It could be any day. It could be next week, next month, or even next year. They can't run away from the damage that they had done. Denise was just only part of the damage. There were more cuts and wounds that needed patching up.
January 1, 1985
Malibu, California

The sound of fire crackers bursting in the sky was a faint sound in the background as I stepped off of Liyah's patio to head towards the phone that hung in their large kitchen wall. The house was filled with some of Michael's siblings. Latoya was there playing with Ariana in her play pin. Janet was there with her husband. Randy right there along with her talking to while he say on the couch drinking some red wine. I was just sitting outside looking at the fire works as they were being popped into the sky over in the beach area with Nikki, Leena, and Liyah when I got the sudden urge to leave. I told Liyah that I needed her phone, and she told me to use the one in the kitchen. The thing was, this was a personal phone call, I couldn't be around just anybody when I made it. The kitchen was too risky.
Sure enough, I was right. Michael was there in the kitchen with his lawyer John, and his body guards. They all sat at the crystal glass table with very serious looks on their faces. This was supposed to be a New Years party of some sort, so the fact that they were discussing business was off to me.
They stopped speaking when they saw me. "Uh," I immediately began to feel unwanted. " Michael is there a phone around here I could use?" I asked. Playing dumb. " I need to make a personal phone call."
"You can use the one in Liyah's office," he told me as he stood up from his chair. Pushing a picture of to the side.
The man in the photo looked familiar to me. Mindlessly, I walked up to the table and picked it up to get a better look. " Isn't this Leena's dad?"
"Yeah," Michael said, as he took it away from me.
"Why are you looking at headshots of him." I glanced around the table, noticing they had news paper clippings and files spread acrossed the table. "What's going on?" I couldn't help but ask now. I was curious.
"Um," Michael looked over at John and Miko for assistance.
"He's dead now," John said.
My eyes widened. " What? How?"
"He was stabbed, the other night." He explained. " He tried to rape someone in Los Angeles. She attacked him."
I raised my eyebrow at him, then my eyes fell on the files and news papers. " What are y'all doing? Planning a funeral or something? Him dying doesn't explain why you have all of these files out and stuff."
"It's not...really any of your business, JoJo." Michael told me, with hesitation in his voice.
I looked up at him, staring into his big brown eyes that instantly reminded me why I was in there in the first place. " Well, have you at least told Liyah and Leena yet?" They seemed to okay that night for two people who would be just found out another person they knew was dead too.
" I've been waiting on the right time to tell Liyah," he told me as he grabbed my arm. " Come on, I'll show you where her office is. "
He lead me through the living room without even stopping to talk to the people that was there. He lead me through the long hallways of his home, leaving pictures and records that hung on the wall behind us. I had only been in their house a few times since they had bought it and I never realized how exquisite and expensively decorated it was.

Liyah's office was very last one at the end of the very long hall way. Michael twisted knob and pushed open the door. When he switched on the light the room was revealed to be a very open and free. Her desk sat in the middle of the room right in front of a large window. She had stacks of books and papers on it along with pictures that I assumed was just of Ariana and Michael. There was a huge filing cabinet over on the far wall to the left. A massive book shelf wasn't too far from it. Over on the other side there was a antique looking wall clock and underneath it was a record player. The room's color scheme was earth tones. It was painted a tan color. The window was hidden behind tan and brown drapes. The whole place looked like something that had stepped out of a catalog.
"The phone's over there," he pointed towards her desk where it was sitting over on the far edge.
"Thank you," I told him as I walked over to it.
"JoJo?"
I looked up at him, raising my eyebrows at him.
"Don't say anything to the girls about what just happened to Melvin." His voice was dark and serious. "Especially Liyah. She's just now able to go a whole day without crying about De. I still don't know how she will react to this."
I crossed my arms across my chest and cocked my head to the side. " You said it was none of my business, right? "
He nodded his head, " It's not."
" Well, I'm not gonna say anything about it. I could care less about that man any way." I picked up the phone. " Besides, Liyah is a big girl. She can handle whatever it is you have to tell her."
"Uh," he said as silence fell around us. " Okay, thank you."
I waited for him to leave before I began dialing the number. When I heard it began to ring I began pacing back and forth waiting for someone to pick up the phone.
"Hello?" His voice sent relief all over my body. A smile came across my face.
"Hey, it's me."
"Jo?"
"Yeah," I said.
"What are you doing calling me on Michael's phone?"
"Trying to get in touch with you," I said with a snicker. " You haven't been answering my calls."
"I know, Jo. There's a reason for that."
My smile faded when I realized he was whispering. " It's because of her, isn't it?"
"It's always been because of her. Don't act brand new."
"She's right next to you, isn't she?" I asked.
"Jo..." He sighed into the phone. " Hold on..."
"Okay," I said mindlessly. I walked around Liyah's desk and sat in the chair that was behind it. My eyes fell upon a the pictures that was on the desk. There was one of Michael and Liyah on their wedding day.
Another one of them when Ariana was born.
And them there was one of the five of us when we were back in Harlem. A retro seventies picture of all of us that was taken by Liana on one forth of July. Denise, Nicole, Aleena and I were all smiling. Liyah was caught of guard standing there in the front of the picture in the middle of a sentence. I felt my heart sink when all those memories of all the good times we had came rushing back on me.
I reached over and pulled the picture face down. Hoping that hiding the picture from myself would stop what I was feeling.
"Jo?"
"I'm here," I said instantly.
"We have to stop this."
I rolled my eyes towards the ceiling. " You say that all the time, but any time you and Ann have an argument, you are in my bed."
"That's my fault," he said. " I have to learn to stop running away from my problems."
I pursed my lips with a snicker. " Please, that's all you Jacksons no how to do."
"What is that supposed to mean?" He asked, offended.
"Nothing," I told him. " So, you're choosing her over me?"
"I love her, Jo."
His words broke my heart. "So, you don't love me? After six years, you don't love me?"
"I do love you, Jo!"
"But you love her more?"
The line went silent.
"Hello?"
"Yes, Jo. I love her more." He said. " I married her, she's the mother of kids. I can't just leave her for you."
His words stabbed me in heart. I felt years beginning to swell up in my eyes. "Y-you never cared about that before."
"Jolene, I've always cared about that. I can't keep this affair up for any longer. She knows I'm cheating on her, and she knows you're a white woman. It's only a matter of time when she finds out I've been sleeping with my brother's wife, best friend. Imagine how that will make us look."
"Marlon, I don't give a shit about how that makes us look. Let them find out they have no room to judge us. No one does."
"I don't care," I said instantly. " I can't keep doing this to Carol. My marriage is more important than my affair with you."
" Why do you keep calling it that?" I asked, a tear escaped my face.
"Because that's what it is."
"So, for six years, I was just your mistress?
"Yes," I could picture him nodding his head up and down.
He can't be serious. I was sure that he loved me more. All those times he spoke about us getting married and everything. That couldn't have been a lie. It couldn't be. I began to laugh at the thought.
"Why are you laughing?"
"Because you're full of shit, Marlon."
"Jo..." He sighed again. " J-just don't call here anymore." The way he said it made it sound like he was turning his back on me. " It's over. Officially, this time."
"Marlon!"
"What?" He asked.
" I need to tell you something."
"JoJo, I have to go before she wakes up."
"Just listen," I urged him. I glanced and the picture of Liyah holding Arianna in her arms.
"Tell me whatever it is you have to tell me, and then I'm hanging up." He said, quickly.
I couldn't help but smirk when I had his attention. "Guess what?"
"Jojo, I'm hanging up."
"Marlon, I'm pregnant!"
Aleena's POV
"Liyah, someone's at the door." The sound of their door bell going off was beginning to irritate me.
"Miko will probably answer it," she said as she stood from her patio chair and grabbed her wine glass off the table. "Miko!" She called as she pushed open the door. "Do you have the door?"
"Yeah!" His loud voice bounced off the walls of the house.
I walked into the living room where I found Alana and Randy sitting on the couch watching Beverly Hills Cop. She had her feet propped up on his legs, while he played with calves. "Aww, look at the couple!" I smiled.
"Go fuck yourself, Leena." Randy said without even making eye contact.
Alana began to giggle.
I sucked my teeth. "I-"
"Leena!" I heard Nikki call from the foyer.
" I'm coming," I said with a sigh.
"Leena," Liyah met me at the steps. " This is detective Lacey." She pointed towards a tall middle aged man.
" Happy New year," he said with a smile.
I raised my eyebrow at him. Even though he was being polite I knew that he wasn't there to give happy news.
"He has the autopsy report," she whispered.
"De's?"
She only nodded.
"Come in," she smiled at him as she began to lead him into the house.
"You have a very nice home." I heard him tell her as they disappeared into the other room.
Nikki and exchanges glances before turning to follow them.
She too him into the kitchen where we found Michael, John, and Miko gathering some papers and putting them into manilla envelopes. John quickly began to stuff them all into his suit case as if whatever it was wasn't supposed to be seen.
"Can I get you something to drink?" Liyah asked him.
"No, ma'am." He places his folder on the table and opened it up.
"So what killed her?" Nikki immediately asked.
Liyah and I shot a look at her.
"Well, Ms. Harris" he said with a sigh. " It wasn't drugs that killed her. I mean, there was a lot in her system, and they automatically thought it was drug overdose. But when they went into further examination they found she had high levels of carbon dioxide in blood stream, she also had a lot of bruising her her nose and her mouth."
"So, what are you trying to say?" Liyah asked. It was clear that she wasn't understanding.
"Based on the crime scene, we suspect that..." He hesitated for a moment. " We suspect that her cause of death was a murder."
To Be Continued...
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A/N: Sorry for the long wait, but here's the final chapter! I hoped you enjoyed the book! Comment and give your overall opinion about the whole thing. What did you like, what did you hate. Don't forget to vote! I'll try to have the follow up as soon as possible!
Peace and Love,
Kay