Color of Justice

by Gary Hardwick

  “His two-hundred-pound wife,” added Lisa.

  “…fucking this guy in the ass with one of them plastic strap-on dicks!”

  Danny and Erik laughed along with the other officers at the visual image in their heads.

  Gretchen waved everyone to quiet down then, “So they just look at us for a second in shock that we caught them, right?” Gretchen continued. “Then the man says ‘Latasha, we gotta talk to them. Take yo’ dick outta my ass.’”

  They all laughed again at the punch line. Danny leaned on Erik and burst into laughter once more as Joe Canelli bent over and Gretchen demonstrated on him, smacking his backside and yelping like a cowboy.

  The laughter stopped when Jim Cole’s door burst open. He thundered out of his office.

  Jim made a beeline for Erik and Danny, and hardly stopped as he headed for the door. “Got another body,” he said. “In the river. We think it’s your man again.”

  The Detroit River was choppy and tossed the big Coast Guard cutter up and down. The boat floated by the body, which was just off the Detroit shoreline. The corpse had actually been found on the Canadian side of the river, but it was a U.S. citizen, so they’d brought it over here. The Ontario police were present, but they were not doing much. The Canadians, just a mile from Detroit, had not had a murder in their city for several years and were eager to push the floater off on Detroit.

  Fiona and her crew were already on the scene, and their preliminary investigation had led to a call to the SCU. The dead woman, though found in the river, had not drowned. She’d been shot several times with a small-caliber weapon.

  It appeared that the body had been rolled into the water close to a construction site. The body was tangled in some debris, and had been hit by some kids in a boat.

  The corpse was down a low grade by the shore. Danny motioned to Erik and walked down. Erik stayed behind talking to Jim Cole.

  As Danny made his descent down the grade, he heard a helicopter overhead, then saw a big black sedan pull up. He knew the police brass had to be inside. The killer was now a multiple murderer, and that meant political control would be put on the case. Detroit was making an economic comeback and nothing was worse than a case like this. The press was being kept away from the scene, and all the detectives and uniforms had been told not to talk to anybody about the case.

  Fiona and her team worked on the dead woman’s body, which was slimy and discolored. It was hard to tell what had caused the lack of color, the river or the method of death.

  Danny regarded the body and suddenly it turned into his mother’s corpse lying there twisted and broken, a lifeless vessel. He was aware that he had stopped breathing in that instant. He calmed himself. No one could see him react this way. It was not professional.

  “You okay?” asked Fiona.

  “Yeah,” said Danny. “Who is she?” He had to speak up because he’d stopped a good distance away from the forensic crew.

  “Don’t know,” said Fiona. “She had ID on her, but the smart guys took it away.” Smart guys was Fiona’s word for Danny’s police superiors.

  “Is it our man?”

  “It’s our boy all right. Looks like he used the same weapon, a .22, and same kind of tape on the wounds. At least he didn’t cover the scene with dirt. He let the river do it for him this time. Smart bastard.”

  “Why would he try to hide this one and not the Bakers?” Danny asked himself. “Why dump her like this?

  “Don’t know,” said Fiona. “Who can figure out a sick fuck like this?” Her voice had a note of defeat in it.

  Jacob, the new kid, barged into the conversation and before Fiona could stop him he was talking to Danny. “You know, it’s a miracle we ever found her,” he said. “The undertow in the river is strong.”

  “Jacob, what are you doing?” asked Fiona. “Get back over there with the others and check the shore.”

  “But there’s nothing there,” he said like a petulant kid in grade school.

  Fiona just glared at him and soon he walked off. “Eager fuckin’ beaver,” she said. “But he was right. The undertow should have carted her off to the Eastern seaboard, but see this big gash here.” Fiona pointed to an unsightly wound on the woman’s back. “Our boy didn’t do that. We think her back got caught on something down there and it held her. Then the joyriders hit her.” Fiona turned suddenly and admonished one of her workers.

  “Fiona, I’m gonna need all your genius on this, baby. I want to know everything. If our man is trying to throw us off the trail, then we gotta stick to it that much more.”

  “You got it, Danny, and I like that ‘baby’ thing. Sexy.”

  Danny moved back up the grade and saw that Erik and Jim were in a crowd now. With them were Tony Hill, the Deputy Chief, and Chief of Police Vernon Noble. Erik stood a few paces off from the big shots and said nothing. Danny did the same as he joined them.

  “The mayor wants this shit wrapped tight, fellas,” said Chief Noble. “We need a lid on this and anyone who talks is ass out.”

  “Impossible,” said Tony. “We got a crew of seven down there, six uniforms, not including the Canadians, and three detectives already, not to mention the reporters with their fancy camera lenses.” Tony pointed to the helicopter hovering over the scene. “So, it’s gonna get out. Tell the mayor that he has to beat the press to it and release a statement ASAP.”

  Noble nodded and pulled out a cell phone. Tony and Jim shared a quick smile. Everyone knew that Noble was just warming the Chief’s seat for Tony. Tony was running the department and every officer understood that if you had a real problem, he was the man to see. Tony motioned Danny and Erik to come closer.

  “Okay, fellas, you caught the case,” said Tony. “So you’re gonna be the men on this. You’re gonna hear some shit about how Jim and I are personally taking this case, but don’t believe it. This is yours, and we’ll need you to act like it.” Tony looked over to Jim.

  “The floater is Olittah Reese, one of the mayor’s chief aides,” said Jim.

  Danny thought for a second, then he remembered the name. It was the flirtatious woman he’d met at Virginia Stallworth’s fund-raising party. Instinctively, Danny looked back at the body, remembering how pretty she was. He saw her walking away from him, the subtle sway of her hips, the elegant way her long legs stepped, and the smoothness of her neck as she turned to look back at him. A sadness washed over him. He looked at Erik, who had the same emotion written on his face.

  “If this murder is related to the first,” said Jim Cole, “then we’ve got two killings linked to the mayor.”

  “I assume his security is going to be beefed up,” said Erik.

  “Already done,” said Tony. “So you can see the greater implications of this.”

  Tony said nothing, but Danny knew he was referring to Harris Yancy, the former mayor who’d been murdered in office. It was a nasty affair, one that no one had forgotten.

  Noble came back and shoved the cell phone at Tony. He took it and stepped away with the Chief.

  “We’ll establish a team of men to assist you,” said Jim. “From this moment, the case is your top priority. Got anything that looks like a lead?”

  Before Erik could answer, Danny said, “Yes, sir, we got a hooker who had a little booty thing with Mr. Baker.”

  “A hooker?” said Jim with interest. Danny knew that Jim was making the same sordid connections in his head that he had. “Where do you think she is?”

  “She’s a local girl, so we’re going to shake some trees,” said Danny.

  Erik dummied up. Danny knew he’d get it as soon as this conversation was over. But Danny didn’t like to tell his boss that he had nothing.

  “Good,” said Jim. “When you get her, I’m your first call.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Jim walked away, and at the same time, Erik tapped Danny on the shoulder.

  “What the fuck, man?” said Erik.

  “You know Jim,” said Danny. “If we had said we had nothing,
what would he say?”

  “Get your asses out and find something.”

  “There you go. We got the same pressure, only he’s not pissed at us.”

  “I won’t argue,” said Erik. “We’ll be waiting forever on Vice to find her. So, let’s go find us a hooker.”

  “I think we should split up, ask around. We’ll cover more ground, and if we go together, people will think we’re looking to bag her. She’ll get tipped off and scatter.”

  Erik agreed. If they went together, it would look like an official investigation to the folks in the hood. People would be less likely to give up info. And if the girl was connected to a murder, everyone on the street would know it.

  The other reason Danny wanted to separate was that he liked to work alone when he went into the neighborhoods. Each time he went back, it was like opening a door to his past, a past where danger was always a word, thought, or mistake away. Danny was already excited about the prospect, his mind running lists of contacts and things he might have to do.

  “You takin’ the east side, I guess,” said Erik.

  “Yeah,” said Danny. “I got a couple of people who might have something.”

  “I’m gonna do the same on the west side,” said Erik.

  They walked back to their car, and Danny could see the line of uniforms holding several TV crews at bay not far off. Absently, Danny thought about Vinny, and how this case would now consume him, and that might make things worse between them. Danny turned and looked back at Fiona and her crew. They were lifting the body and placing it into a long, black bag.

  16

  SISTER’S KEEPER

  Danny got home late that night. The department was buzzing with the news of the second killing, and he knew the newspapers would both carry front-page stories. He’d done some checking on the property around Holyland, and just as he’d thought, there had been a renovation planned.

  Reverend Bolt had wanted to start something called Holyland Gardens, a low-rent housing project for members of his order. He was set to break ground when funding fell through. It was around the same time the New Nubia.com scam was uncovered. So, it appeared that the Bakers had ruined his plans to build a little religious city in his own backyard. And who had solicited Bolt at one of her parties? None other than Olittah Reese.

  Danny expected the house to be empty, or Vinny to be passed out on the sofa with some thick book in her hands. What he found instead was Vinny in the living room talking with her big sister, Renitta.

  Vinny was from a family of ten kids. In order, they were, Renitta, Juan (pronounced jew-wan), Ivory and Ivanna (the twins), DeWayne, Easter, Teyron, Devinna, and Marcus, who was named after his father.

  All of the kids were a year apart or so in age, and so Renitta was only thirteen years older than her little sister, Vinny. But those years made all the difference. Renitta had practically raised the younger kids. It broke her heart when Vinny enrolled in the police academy, and it killed her when she started dating a white man. Renitta hated Danny as she did most white people, and the feeling was mutual.

  Danny felt the room go cold as he stepped inside and said hello. Renitta shifted her big frame on the sofa. She was overweight, but carried it in that regal manner that black women do. She was comfortable with her size, and didn’t give a shit if you had a problem with it.

  Danny walked toward Vinny and waited for her to greet him. She didn’t. She just smiled and looked at him, so he bent over and kissed her. He could feel Renitta’s butt tightening as their lips met.

  “Anything to eat?” asked Danny.

  “No. I ate down at the school,” said Vinny.

  “You can cook something. I’m kinda hungry,” said Renitta. Her voice was full and loud, just like the woman herself. Her statement held contempt in it. She was suggesting that Vinny did not exist to serve a man. Renitta smiled and gave Danny a sly look.

  “I got a couple of pork chops in there,” said Danny. “You can have one if you want.”

  “One pork chop?” said Renitta. “That ain’t gonna fill me up.”

  “How do you know if you’ve never stopped at just one?” said Danny.

  It was a silly game they played, but it was better than saying the things that were really in their hearts.

  “I’ll pass,” said Renitta, ignoring Danny’s cut on her. Danny was sure that in her mind, she was being bigger than he.

  “Hey,” said a voice from out of Danny’s vision.

  He turned to see Ivory, one of the twins. She’d been in the bathroom and was just coming out. Danny said hello and then thought it best to get out of there. Ivory disliked him, too, more than Renitta if that was possible. Ivory was a gorgeous, free-spirited girl. She was the opposite of her bookish identical twin Ivanna, who was a teacher and who liked Danny just fine.

  Danny knew that if Renitta and Ivory were here, something was up. He didn’t stay around to find out. He went into the kitchen, cooked his dinner, and had a beer.

  When he was done, Renitta walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table with him.

  “We need to talk,” said Renitta.

  “About what?” asked Danny. “You and me got an understanding about things, don’t we?”

  “Yeah, I guess we do, but some things change.”

  “So, you love me now?” Danny smiled.

  Renitta reacted to this statement with a mixture of shock and mild revulsion. Danny wondered what particular thing had made her come to hate white people so much. Then on second thought, he decided that he didn’t want to know.

  “Did you know that I can’t have children?” she said. She checked to make sure Danny had heard her correctly. “The doctors don’t really know why, but let’s just say I wasn’t born with all the necessary equipment.”

  Danny was shocked. First by the nature of the statement, then by whatever it was that had made her share this intimacy with him.

  “But you have a daughter, Serena,” he said.

  “Adopted. Actually, she’s the daughter of my cousin from Alabama. My cousin is a drug addict, and the family thought it was best to give the girl up.”

  “Vinny never told me that.” He felt a little sorry for Renitta, which he guessed was her plan all along.

  “It wasn’t Vinny’s secret to tell,” said Renitta. She sat up straight, taking on the proud look she liked so much. “I’m telling you this because my little brothers and sisters are like my kids. I take pride in their accomplishments. Marcus is in the University of Michigan, Easter is in dental school, and Teyron and Devinna have a little computer company. The older kids are doing good, too, but that’s not my doing.”

  “And Vinny’s here stuck with me. Is that your point?” asked Danny.

  “No, that’s just part of it. Vinny’s now in law school, where she always belonged. You getting her shot was actually a good thing. It woke her up.”

  “I didn’t get her shot,” Danny said angrily. “It was a robbery and we tried to stop it.”

  “You’d better watch that temper,” said Renitta. “It’s gonna be the end of you yet.”

  Danny calmed down. He thought about Gordon and their talks about anger and his self-image. He eased in his chair ashamed that she’d pushed his buttons so easily. Renitta smiled and he knew she was happy she’d gotten a rise out of him.

  “The bottom line is, she got shot and you got a promotion out of it. But you know what? Vinny got promoted, too. She’s back where I wanted her to be, on the road to being a professional black woman.”

  “But that ain’t yo point either, is it?” Danny sensed that something more was coming.

  “Let my sister go,” she said. He was sure she didn’t mean to sound like Charlton Heston in that movie, but she did.

  “We’ve been through all this, Renitta. You know my answer to that.”

  “This time it’s different. I’m trying to help you.”

  “How is your prejudice against me helping anything?”

  “Black people can’t be prejudiced,�
� said Renitta in a matter-of-fact tone. “Your people invented that shit. I’m just telling the truth. Vinny is on a journey that you don’t understand. She’s about to enter a world filled with lawyers, judges, doctors, and all kinds of high-class people. How do you think your world of guns, murder, and beer is going to look to her after that?”

  “Vinny doesn’t want my world, she wants me.” He meant the words to sound defiant, but they ended up sounding defensive.

  Renitta smiled, sensing a crack in Danny’s armor. “She won’t separate the two. I think the only reason she’s still here is because your mother died.”

  Danny felt himself tense all over. Only Renitta would be so evil as to bring up the pain of his loss in such an insulting manner. But he would not lose his temper. Not just because Vinny would be angry, but also because he had to learn to live beyond his mother’s death.

  “I think Vinny would disagree with that,” he finally said calmly.

  “I know you believe you got a black man’s heart,” Renitta continued. “Hell, sometimes when you talk, I almost forget myself. Vinny may have been fooled by your so-called soulfulness, but not me. I know that deep down inside, you just like all the other white folks. Against us. And now that Vinny’s eyes are opened, she’ll see that to make it here in Detroit, where blacks have power, she’ll have to get away from you.” Renitta smiled at Danny. “You know, it’s funny, the world will do what I couldn’t.”

  Danny didn’t say anything. Renitta would have liked nothing better than for him to get mad at her. So he was silent as she pushed herself out of the chair and walked back into the living room, where Vinny and Ivory chattered noisily. But before she left, he did manage to say the one thing he heard echoing in his head.

  “You’re wrong.”

  Danny cleaned up the kitchen and waited for the evil sisters to leave. He went into the den and read over the file on the killer again as he tried to deny Renitta’s vile words.

  After about an hour, Vinny entered holding an overnight bag. She stood in the doorway wearing a pair of jeans and a jacket that was too big for her. She never looked better to him. He wanted to grab her and kiss her, refuting all that he’d just heard from her sister.