by Linda Verji
“Hey!” Jasmine’s voice cut into his mental recriminations. A moment later, he felt her hand on his upper arm. When he looked at her, he found her watching him with an indecipherable gaze. “I’m okay.”
Obviously she could still read his thoughts.
His gaze swept up to her forehead where the bandage still glared like a billboard announcing his failure. “No, you’re not.”
“Lucas, I’m okay,” she insisted. They’d both stopped walking and were now facing each other. She added, “He didn’t hurt me, and we caught him.”
“Yeah. But what if he’d done worse…”
“But he didn’t do worse.” She squeezed his arm. “I’m here and I’m okay.”
Yeah, that was true he supposed, but he couldn’t help imagining what could have happened had things gone south. He’d lost her once, but at least then he’d known that she was still alive. He couldn’t imagine losing her again, especially not to death. It would kill him.
Without conscious thought, he dragged her closer by her wrist then wrapped his arms around her. Even though she was in his embrace, he couldn’t help squeezing a fraction tighter. With a sigh, Jasmine wrapped her arms around his waist and let her body melt into his.
Slowly, the world faded away until all that was left was her. She was still here. With him. Safe and alive. Lucas’s muscles lost their tension. When she squeezed him back, he couldn’t help dragging in a deep breath of relief. He took in her scent, not wanting the moment to end.
But it did.
The porch lights came on right then. Moments later, someone opened the front door. When he and Jasmine stepped away from each other, he glanced towards the door and found a black couple watching them.
“You should go,” Jasmine urged with a smile. “I’ll be okay here.”
“Okay.” Lucas was just about to leave but he turned. “Where’s your phone?”
“My phone?” She reached into her purse and took it out. “What do you need it for?”
“Just a minute.” He took the phone then scrolled through it.
“What are you doing?”
“Installing a tracking app.” He downloaded the app then clicked on it to install it. “This way I always know where you are even if you can’t call me.”
Once the tracking app was installed and connected to his own phone, he handed her phone back to her. He should have left then but he couldn’t help coming back for another hug. He touched his lips to the side of her forehead that wasn’t bandaged then stepped back. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
After a quick nod to the couple at the door, he strode back to his car.
By the time he got back to the station, it was almost five in the morning. Still, there were several officers still milling around either dealing with their own cases or with people who’d been up to no good overnight. Lucas skirted past a few drunks and prostitutes as he headed towards lock up to see if Brando Moore was still there. The officer-in-charge let him know that Brando had already been taken in for interrogation.
Oh hell no! Lucas didn’t want anyone else touching that man. He was all his.
Lucas called Shane as he took the elevator up. “Who’s in with Brando Moore?”
“No one.” Shane said, “I’m keeping him on ice for you.”
“Good.” Lucas grinned but it felt more like a snarl.
He found Shane waiting for him in the hallway that led into the interrogation rooms.
“Does Buddy know that this guy is tied to his case?”
“Not yet.” Shane pushed off from the wall he was leaning against. “I told Martin and Yale to give us first crack at him before they go blabbing to Buddy and McGee.”
Martin and Yale were the officers who’d picked up Brando after Jasmine and the teenagers had immobilized him.
Shane held out a file to Lucas. “Seems like this guy has a history with this kind of thing.”
Lucas flipped open the file. His eyebrows lifted when he read the contents.
“Okay.” He shut the file. “Let’s go get him.”
Shane opened the door and led the way into the interrogation room.
The man lounging in the seat usually reserved for suspects was clean shaven and bald. Despite the late hour, he was only wearing a blank tank-top probably to show the muscles bulging in his arms. Usually people straightened in their seats when they saw cops, Brando just smirked and stretched out his legs to the side as if he didn’t give a damn.
Lucas and Shane settled in the seats opposite the man. However, instead of starting the interrogation immediately, they sat back in their seats and watched him. Even though Lucas’s anger rose a notch with every second that he stared at the smirking man, he kept his cool. Even though he ached to reach across the table and choke the man, he just stared at him.
Soon, Brando’s smirk turned into uncertainty. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat as his nervous gaze shifted between the two detectives. When he couldn’t handle the tense silence any more, he asked, “Aren’t you going to ask me questions?”
Shane turned to look at Lucas. “Are we going to ask him questions?”
“Do we need to?” Lucas kept staring at Brando. “We’ve already got everything we need to send him in for a long time.”
“You’re right.” Shane nodded then went back to watching Brando.
Their lackadaisical attitudes left Brando even more baffled. “Then why are you here if you’re not going to ask me questions?”
“We’re just enjoying the view.” Lucas shrugged. “This is probably the last time we’re seeing you.”
“What kind of bullshit are you two talking about?” Brando sneered, but Lucas caught the concern lurking behind his gaze.
“It looks like you’re going in for a long, long time,” Lucas informed him with a wince.
“That’s not right,” Shane corrected Lucas. “A long time suggests that he might actually get out in this lifetime, but that would be lying. He’s going in forever.”
“My bad. My bad…” Lucas grinned as he corrected himself, “Looks like you’re going in forever.”
“What? Why? I didn’t even do nothing to her.” The outrage in Brando’s voice would have been funny if this wasn’t Jasmine they were talking about. Unfortunately, the only emotion Lucas was capable of feeling right now was anger. If it wasn’t for his badge, he would’ve already leapt across the table and smashed his fist into the bastard’s mouth.
“You didn’t even do nothing to her?” Lucas mimicked sarcastically. “Have you forgotten that you abducted her, assaulted her then tried to rape her?”
“Yeah, but I mean I… Yo! I don’t know, man.” Even Brando couldn’t explain away all that. With a huff of frustration, he sat up in his seat. “What did you mean about me going in forever though?”
Shane grabbed the man’s file then flipped it open and read aloud. “First conviction; aggravated assault. Second conviction; robbery with violence. This will be your third conviction and you know what that means, right?”
Brando was as dumb as he looked. Only confusion shone in his eyes as he shook his head vigorously.
“Three strikes,” Lucas helpfully informed him. “If you get convicted for this, then you’re going in for life.”
“But I didn’t even do nothing,” Brando protested.
“Let’s wait and see if the judge agrees once he hears what your victim and the witnesses have to say.” Lucas suddenly pushed back his chair and stood. “Well, good luck in court.”
Shane stood too, but before either man could even take two steps, Brando stopped them. “Yo, wait, wait. Is that all? Aren’t you guys going to try to make a deal with me?”
Lucas turned to stare at the man. “A deal for what?”
“You know,” Brando offered desperately. “Less time if I tell you who sent me to her. Maybe you can speak to the judge or something if I squeal.”
The man had clearly watched too much television. The cops rarely ever came in contact with judges on their cases. Only th
e district attorney had the power to make deals. Still, if Brando wanted to squeal who were Lucas and Shane to stop him? They traded looks and shrugs then settled back in their seats.
Shane said, “Tell us who sent you to Jasmine Mitchell, and we’ll think about it.”
Brando set his handcuffed hands on the table and licked his lips nervously before saying, “I don’t know.”
Lucas narrowed his eyes as fresh anger shot through him. “Are you kidding us?”
“No. No, I’m serious.” Panic flashed in Brando’s eyes. “I don’t know her name.”
Shane’s eyebrows rose. “Her name? It was a woman?”
“Yeah, it’s a bird.” Brando shifted forward in his seat and set his elbows on the table as if to get closer to the detectives. “I was fixing her car yesterday lunch time when she asked me if I wanted to earn some extra money. So, I said hell yeah. So she gave me five hundred and promised another five if I could scare that lady, Jasmine. It was easy money so…”
“… so of course you had to take it,” Lucas finished for him sarcastically.
The sarcasm flew right over Brando’s head. “Of course. Being a mechanic don’t pay nothing and a man got needs.”
Only Herculean self-control kept Lucas from slapping the man. He was surprised at how calm he sounded as he asked, “How did you know Jasmine and where to find her?”
“The lady who hired me gave a picture and an address,” Brando said. “I scouted her place but there was too much security. So I was about to give up, but when I was going home, I saw her getting off the bus. Then she got into that alley… I just followed her, man. Then I jumped her.”
His tone was shockingly blasé, as if it was no big deal to go around jumping women in dark alleys. Still, Lucas wasn’t surprised. This type of scum often had little regard for other people and considered assault as nothing.
“The woman who gave you money,” Shane chimed in. “Do you remember what she looked like?”
“I don’t know.” Brando shrugged. “From what I could tell, she wasn’t a looker and kind of old, maybe forty, fifty. So I wasn’t really interested.”
“If I got an artist to draw her, do you think you could describe her?” Shane asked.
“I don’t know.” Brando shrugged. “I could try, but it’s gonna be hard. She was wearing a hat and sunglasses.”
Lucas asked, “If you don’t know her name or how she looks, how were you going to get the rest of your money?”
“She gave me her phone number,” Brando said. “It’s in my wallet.”
“What about the car?” Shane asked. “Do you remember it? Brand, color, plates?”
“Hmm.” Brando looked up to the ceiling as if trying to draw the memory. “Ford Escape, black… I don’t remember the plates though.”
Shane and Lucas traded looks. It was obvious that Shane, like Lucas, believed that they’d gotten all they were going to get from Brando Moore today. Tomorrow was another day.
“Okay, let’s get you to lock up.” Lucas stood and Shane followed suit.
“What about my deal?” Brando complained as they escorted him out of the interrogation room and down the hall that led to the bullpen.
“We’ll talk about it later,” Shane said even though they both knew that no deals were going to happen.
The three men had just emerged into the bullpen when Brando came to a sudden stop.
“Move.” Shane tried to force him to keep walking.
“Yo. Chill.” Brando’s gaze was fixed on a spot in the bullpen.
When Lucas followed the man’s gaze, he realized that he was looking at Buddy and Rosa who seemed deep in conversation.
Brando turned his shocked gaze to Lucas. “Yo, bro. That’s her.”
“That’s who?”
“That’s the bird.” Brando lifted his handcuffed arms to point at Rosa. “That’s the bird who hired me. I remember her cause she was wearing the same dress and those earrings.”
What? Shock shot through Lucas as his gaze shifted from Brando to Rosa then back to Rosa. Rosa?
ROSA’S ARREST SENT shock waves through the whole station. Even those detectives who knew nothing about York Emerson’s case had gathered in the observation room to watch her interrogation. Though Lucas couldn’t see them through the two-way mirror, he could’ve sworn that he could feel their eyes burning into his back through the glass. Still, he was more concerned with the woman sitting in front of him.
Rosa? Really? As a cop, he had a sense for these things. Usually he could pick up on people who were darker than ordinary people, yet he’d never sensed anything like that from her. She’d always been Rosa; a woman who was a firebrand yet still the most competent and hardworking person Lucas knew. If Brando Moore had pointed out Buddy as the culprit, Lucas would’ve had an easier time believing it. But Rosa? No way. How could she be dirty? It just wasn’t possible. Yet here they were.
He sat back in his seat and just stared at her. Though Rosa wasn’t looking at him, he could feel the silent anxiety pouring from her in waves. Her face, which was already a sickening, waxy gray, looked even more severe because she’d pulled her hair back into a painfully tight ponytail. She sat hunched over in her seat, her eyes glued to the table and both hands tucked underneath it. He would’ve bet anything that under that table, she was nervously threading her fingers between each other.
“Why did you hire Brando Moore to go after Jasmine Mitchell?” Shane asked.
Rosa didn’t look up. “Because she was interfering with the case.”
“What case?” Lucas asked even though they all already knew the answer.
“York Emerson’s case,” Rosa confirmed. She swallowed convulsively then added, “She was trying to get you people to reopen it so I had to stop her.”
Considering that Rosa was in forensics and spent her days with cops, Lucas was surprised that she’d been idiotic enough to leave a trail this wide. Then again maybe she’d assumed that Brando wouldn’t get caught and that if he did, he wouldn’t be able to identify her. It was a perfectly reasonable assumption considering that the number she’d given him led to an already dead burner phone. Also, the car she’d brought to the shop was rented under a false name, and she was wearing a sort-of-disguise. It was just her bad luck that she’d come to the bullpen right as they were walking Brando through it.
“I assume that you’re also the one who called Jasmine then sent the snake,” Lucas said.
“Yes.” Rosa’s voice was low as she added, “I thought she’d get scared by she didn’t. Then today Buddy told me that she came in to request a fresh autopsy, and I panicked. I swear I didn’t mean to hurt her. I was just trying to scare-”
Rosa suddenly burst into tears. Neither man moved to console her, she’d lost that privilege.
Lucas waited until she was done with her sobs before asking, “Why didn’t you want York Emerson’s case reopened?”
Rosa sniffed. “Because if the case got reopened everyone would find out what really happened and I wouldn’t get my money.”
Lucas had expected something like this but he couldn’t help the disappointment that shot through him. He asked, “What really happened?”
“York didn’t die from suicide.” Rose threw him a nervous look under her eyelashes before quickly lowering her gaze. “He was already dead before he fell.”
Shane’s shock was identical to Lucas’s. Both detectives stared at the woman in surprise for quite a while. Shane found his voice first. “How did he die?”
“Someone beat him up. He died after he was struck on the head.” Her gaze lifted to meet Lucas’s, and in her eyes was a plea for mercy. “I swear I didn’t mean to mess with the results. I was going to give the real report-”
“Then why didn’t you?” Lucas bit out through gritted teeth.
“I needed the money,” Rosa said. When she saw the mirror-images of distaste on both detectives’ faces, she pleaded, “I really, really needed the money. You don’t know how hard the divorce has been on me
. I almost lost my house and everything seemed to be falling apart.”
She was kidding him, right? Lucas couldn’t help lifting his eyebrows. Did she believe that that was a good reason? Lots of people got divorced, lost their livelihoods, went broke, but they didn’t turn to illegal means to recover.
“And you think that makes it okay?” Shane voiced Lucas’s disbelief.
Rosa answered his question with silence and a lowering of her eyes.
“Let’s talk about the money,” Lucas said. “Someone paid you to do this?”
Rosa nodded.
“Say it loudly for the recorder,” Shane said curtly.
“Yes,” Rosa said.
“Who?” Lucas asked.
“I don’t know,” Rosa said. When she looked up and found both detectives giving her looks of incredulity, she insisted, “I swear I don’t know. I got an envelope in my mailbox with fifty thousand dollars, telling me that if I called the death as a suicide, I’d get fifty more. I know it was wrong to do it, but I really needed the money. You guys don’t know how hard it has been for me. Henry left me for another woman and…”
Her sob story soon led to real sobs. With identical sighs, both detectives pushed their chairs back and stood up. They exited the interrogation room, giving her the space to cry her guilt away, if that was even possible.
Just as they emerged into the hallway, the door to the observation room opened up. Several detectives filed out. Most of them expressed their shock to Lucas and Shane before heading their own way all while talking in hushed tones. Buddy was among that last to leave but all he did was give Lucas and Shane a sheepish nod before quickly striding away. Captain Harrison was the last one to emerge. Judging by the frown on his face, he was troubled.
“Captain!” Both detectives greeted.
“Find out who gave her the money,” the captain said in greeting.
“Okay.” Both detectives nodded.
However, when the older man started to walk away, Lucas called out, “Does that mean that the case is ours now?”
