Chapter 23
The courthouse was in a frenzy. Everyone was suspect. Coworkers were turning on each other, and the place just felt cold. It had been a couple of days since warrants had been issued, and they had yet to catch up with Samuel. As I sat at my desk going over case notes, Tyson walked into my office. He slid his hand down his face and said, “You won’t believe who just got arrested.”
I rolled my eyes, not knowing if I even wanted to know. Slowly shaking my head, I asked, “Man, who now?”
“Kerry.”
I frowned. “The tax assessor?”
“Yeah. I’m surprised you didn’t hear the commotion in here. Everyone is in shock.”
I was surprised Stephanie hadn’t called me about that. I knew about everyone else beforehand.
“AJ called an emergency meeting. I’m pretty sure the media will be swarming that meeting like flies on shit.”
“A meeting with who?”
“All city employees and officials tomorrow evening. Since we work for the county, we get to miss out.”
He chuckled. I was grateful, because I had no desire to be amongst those people. My mama was going to meet me at Genesis’s house to cook for us tonight. Genesis had been going to work, but she was clearly affected by all of this. She was extremely withdrawn, far from the bubbly personality she normally was. I couldn’t imagine my family turning on me that way. I just tried to be there for her as much as possible. Monday night, I held her in my arms the entire night, occasionally hearing her sniffle.
Feelings of sadness, hurt, anger, and even betrayal seemed to be crawling all over her, threatening to choke her to death, but the biggest issue was what her brother had said to her about being chief. Genesis was extremely independent and by the book. She worked hard for everything she had. Her brother made her feel unworthy of her title. No matter how much I told her she deserved it, for her quick thinking in my trauma situations alone, she couldn’t seem to snap out of the funk his words put her in.
Her mother had been calling every day to check on her, but she didn’t really want to talk to her. She told me even her mother had blamed her initially. I hated this for her, so I tried to fill all those shoes alone. I was failing miserably. Her grandmother had called too, and she refused to answer the phone. When she told me what Grandma Jean had said to her, I was in shock. I’d only met her sweet and fun sides. What she said to Genesis caught me by surprise.
I didn’t feel like Grandma Jean was involved. I felt like the only thing she was guilty of was trying to protect a grown man and not making him accept responsibility for his actions. She might have even known about him being in trouble, but I highly doubted she was accepting money or anything like that, except for when she was a safehouse for someone. I wondered what the going rate for that sort of thing was.
I looked over at Tyson to see him gathering his things. It was getting to be about that time. I was ready to head out of here and start my evening as well. However, my office phone rang, halting all progress. I went to it and saw the mayor pro tem’s number. I frowned slightly, already sensing that I wouldn’t like this call. I answered. “Kyrie Patrick.”
“Judge Patrick. How are you this evening?”
“I’m good. How about you?”
“Good. I have a huge favor to ask of you. We’re having a meeting tomorrow evening with all city officials. I know that you are a county official, but since a lot of this concerns you, I wanted to ask if you would join us for the meeting, possibly filling us in on missing information.”
I rolled my eyes. “I would join, but I can’t say that I know any more than you do. You would need to get with the detectives on that.”
“Yes, sir. They will be in attendance as well. Thank you. We need to get to the bottom of what’s going on, because this is wrong on so many levels, not to mention embarrassing. First BISD, now the city. We owe the citizens of Beaumont better.”
I nodded. There was no way I would tell those people anything I knew. There was no way to know who was clean and who was dirty in that meeting. I supposed he thought all the guilty parties had been arrested. “That they do, sir. Do you mind if my bailiff comes?”
Tyson frowned at me, causing me to chuckle. I was more than sure he was wondering what I was roping him into.
“I don’t mind at all. See you tomorrow night, Judge.”
I ended the call without acknowledging his last statement. Looking up at Tyson with a smirk on my lips, I said, “We have to go to that meeting tomorrow night.”
“Maaaaaan, for real?”
“Yep. I asked for you to go because I need someone there that I trust. I don’t know AJ like that, and everybody else can be suspect.”
He slowly shook his head. “A’ight. But ain’t your woman gon’ be there?”
“She most likely will since she’s a city employee, but my job is to protect her, not have her in the trenches with me.”
He huffed. “I guess. See you tomorrow.”
“Thanks, man.”
He left out, and I prepared to leave for the day to be with my love. I grabbed my briefcase and my cell phone from the desk to head her way until I saw Stephanie standing in my doorway. I frowned slightly, because I felt a way about her not telling me about the tax assessor. She lifted her hands when she saw my facial expression. “I apologize. I had to keep that one under wraps until I got the warrant. As soon as I got it, I went and got her ass.”
“Why did you have to keep it under wraps?”
“The lieutenant said her family was amongst the affluent of Beaumont and that I couldn’t tell a soul until it was in the bag. When I got the warrant, I wanted to get to her before she left the premises. She was the financial mastermind… had to be. She even went as far as padding taxes to get what they needed. Once this is all over, the city may have to file Chapter 9 bankruptcy.”
My eyebrows lifted. This was unreal. Not only were they betraying the citizens’ trust, but they were beating them out of their hard-earned money. She was right. The public outrage would be so great people would probably start to move out. Not to mention, the city would have to reimburse those overpayments for however many years it was going on. Then the financial structure would be unstable and would likely crumble without a bailout.
“That’s crazy. Well, I will be at the meeting tomorrow. The mayor called and asked me to attend.”
She nodded. “I figured he would. It was because of your diligence and judgment about this case that got us as far as we’ve gotten. It seemed they were just fine with letting Darlene hang for it all… no pun intended.”
I slowly shook my head. This was wild. “They only brought attention to themselves by coming after me.”
“Yeah. I’m more than sure they thought you would be dead by now though. Had it not been for Genesis, that last car accident would have taken you out for sure, even though it wouldn’t have been at their hands. Mister Coler probably has had a moment of reflection and regret by now though, since his sentence of forty years.”
I nodded slowly. “Possibly.”
I hadn’t even thought about Coler. My focus had been on Genesis and her family. I just wanted to make sure she was good. I didn’t even go to the arraignment. I really didn’t care. It was because of his actions that I was able to see myself for who I was. “Has Samuel Farris surfaced yet?”
“No. We’ve been watching his grandmother’s house as well as his. He may have skipped town on us, but it’s only a matter of time before we track him down. I feel like his grandmother knows exactly where he is, but she keeps saying she doesn’t. You think Genesis may be able to find out?”
I took a deep breath as I shook my head. “Not at all. She hasn’t spoken to anyone in her family since the warrant was issued. Somehow, they all blamed her for this.”
Stephanie frowned. “What?”
“You heard me right. Everything from her being too hard on him to her putting me before protecting her brother. It’s crazy. Could have sworn he was a kid. She’s been depressed about it all week. So, I’m on my way to her now.”
“Okay. I didn’t mean to hold you up. How’s the house repairs going?”
I huffed as we walked out the door. “That bad, huh?” she asked.
“They haven’t started yet. The insurance is holding everything up. I just want to get it fixed. I mean, I’m enjoying my time with Genesis, but there’s no place like home. I would much rather she stay with me.”
She slowly shook her head. “Well, whatever. Enjoy your time with your lady, and I’ll see you tomorrow. If something comes up before then, I’ll text you. I still haven’t found anything proving the lieutenant’s involvement, but I still want to be extremely careful.”
“Thanks. See you tomorrow.”
I walked away from her before she kept talking. She seemed extremely talkative today. She probably thought I was pissed about her not letting me know about Kerry. I still somewhat was. No one could be trusted these days. Kerry stealing from the citizens had caught me by surprise. Some people could barely afford to pay their property taxes, and she was padding their bill. That would most likely be a federal crime.
When I got to my car, I noticed a damn note on the windshield. I rolled my eyes. I was so sick of this bullshit. However, when I pulled it off the windshield, I saw it was from Tyson. He’d written on the outside of it, This is from Tyson.
I pulled it from the wiper and got in the car, not wanting anyone to see me reading it. Once I cranked up, I opened the note. It simply read, Don’t trust nobody. I overhead someone talking about a couple of detectives that were working for the opps. Keep your eyes open, and I got your back in case you miss something.
That put me on edge. I wondered who he’d overheard. He didn’t put names. I slid my hand down my face and pulled out of my parking spot. Although things seemed to be getting more intense, I knew they were wrapping up. People were starting to scramble, doing what they could to protect their identities and hide their misdeeds.
As I racked my brain, trying to think of who else could be involved, I was turning into Genesis’s driveway. My mama was already there, waiting for me. When I got out of the car, she hopped out of hers with a huge smile on her face. I couldn’t help but reciprocate it, although my mind was in turmoil.
“Hey, Mama,” I said as I made my way to her.
“Hey, baby. Can you help me with the bags?”
I frowned slightly. “What all did you buy?”
She frowned back. “You know Genesis is my girl. I bought turkey legs, cabbage, cornbread, stuff to make maque choux, and sweet potatoes.”
“All that?”
“Don’t act like Genesis don’t deserve all that. I bought stuff to make lemon bars as well. Her mom said it was her favorite dessert.”
“I didn’t say she didn’t deserve it, Ma, but I don’t want it to take you all night to cook either.”
“Come on here, boy. Only an hour or two.”
I rolled my eyes and led my mama to the back door. Once I unlocked the door, Mama made a beeline to the kitchen, and I went to the bedroom to take a shower so I could help her. As I put my things down, I figured it would be better to go help her prep, then take my shower. It wasn’t like I would be able to help her cook.
I changed into shorts and a T-shirt then made my way back to the kitchen. When I did, my mother said, “I was wondering where you went. You worried about the time, but yo’ ass ain’t in here helping me.”
“Okay, okay. I’m here now. What do you need me to do?”
“I need a sous chef. You can mix the cornbread batter and cut up sausage for the maque choux for me while I season this meat and get it to the oven.”
I nodded and dove all the way in to make sure this would be a night Genesis would remember and appreciate. I wasn’t sure if she liked creole food, but maque choux was the truth. It was a corn dish that my mama made. She found a recipe on TikTok, and we loved it. She doesn’t cook it as often as she did when she first found the recipe, but whenever she cooked it, we rarely had leftovers.
I couldn’t help but smile as I cut up sausage. Despite the foolishness in that note from Tyson, I knew tonight would be a good night. While I knew Genesis’s family would eventually come around, and she would welcome them back into her life, I wanted to cater to her mental state as of right now. She was saying she was done with them, but I knew her heart. She was speaking from places of hurt and anger. She loved her family and was just a loving individual.
Her mother was already trying to make things right. However, she told her that would be done in her time, not theirs. I had a feeling that time would be coming soon, because she was so depressed and lost without them. Her heart wasn’t going to let her stay angry too much longer. They’d messed up, especially Grandma Jean, but I knew they loved her. She knew it too.
“Put the sausage in this pot, Kyrie. I’ve started the fire, so after you’re done mixing the cornbread, you can sauté them while I work on the cabbage.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I added her cut vegetables to the pot as well then checked the next thing off my to-do list. “Thank you for doing this, Mama. I really appreciate you taking the time out of your day to help me cater to my one.”
She smiled. “I’ve been waiting for the day you would find someone to love and that would reciprocate that love. Genesis is perfect for you, so I don’t mind doing whatever to help you make her feel special.”
She pinched my cheek then went back to her cabbage. I smiled as I thought about how she used to do that to my fat cheeks when I was a kid. That was her way of showing affection. Now that I was grown, though, it made me feel like her little boy again. Those were happy times, receiving her praise and love. I had to admit, I was a mama’s boy because of that. Thankfully, I wasn’t too spoiled to where I was useless. She showed me how to be a man and to appreciate women, especially the right one.
Those lessons definitely came in handy, because I wanted to love and appreciate Genesis for the rest of her life, and we’d only been together a couple of months. Destiny had found me, and I was thankful that it forced me to recognize it through all this trauma. I couldn’t regret a thing that had happened, because it led her to me.