Chapter 46
ATTEMPTED MURDER
Rebel Pierce
I opened my eyes at the sound of the door opening. I wasn’t expecting anyone other than more doctors and nurses. Rumi hadn’t shown her face since I told her to get out and I was grateful. My parents also left a few hours ago after trying to convince me to let my sister visit. But the answer was still no. I loved my sister but at this moment she was making things worse not better.
I hadn’t heard from J.D., and I didn’t expect to, not until he handled everything in Vegas. I talked to Caesar, and he said he hadn’t heard from J.D. either, but I hoped everything was alright.
Through my glassy eyes, I watched as the doctor entered the room with a woman, her heels clicking on the tiled floor. She was impeccably dressed, her outfit exuding elegance and sophistication. The white two-piece pants suit she wore looked like it was straight off the runway, paired perfectly with black stiletto heels and a sleek designer briefcase. Her hair was elegantly pinned up in a chignon, accentuating her smooth, dark skin that had just a touch of blush on her cheeks and lip gloss on her lips.
“Ms. Pierce, how are you doing today?” the doctor asked.
My eyes moved away from the woman to the doctor. He had just checked in a few hours ago and I was already tired of seeing him. He had asked me the same damn questions every time, and I gave him the same answers.
How are you feeling today? I feel like shit. How’s your pain? As long as you keep me doped up with pain meds, I feel absolutely wonderful. Do you remember anything after you were shot? No, I don’t.
I only wanted him to answer one question for me. When the hell was I going home because I was ready to get the hell out of here. If he wasn’t telling me when he was discharging me, I didn’t want to see him or hear shit from him.
“As good as I can be, doc.” I sighed. “Not much has changed since the last time you asked.”
“Sometimes no change is a good thing.”
I strongly disagreed with that. The only way they were going to let me out of here was if things changed and right now, I was stuck. And I wasn’t happy about it nor was I in the mood for visitors.
“This is Della Blackmon,” the doctor said, introducing the mystery woman.
“I can take it from here, doc,” the woman said.
“Take it easy.” He gave the woman a pointed look. “I don’t want my patient stressed. She’s been through enough.”
She nodded, and we both listened to the sound of his footsteps gradually fading away as he walked out of the room.
Facing me, she greeted me with a gentle smile that lit up her entire face. “Hello, Rebel.”
“Excuse me, I don’t mean to be rude, but who are you?”
She took a seat in the chair beside my hospital bed, sitting her briefcase at her feet. “I’m Della Blackmon. Caesar has retained my services.”
“You’re a lawyer?”
“I am. I’m a criminal attorney.”
“I don’t need a lawyer especially not a criminal attorney. I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“And I’m not here because you’ve done anything wrong, but Caesar believes the Feds might try to implicate you in the disappearance of an Agent Alan Revels.”
“He’s missing?” I asked even though I knew what that meant.
He’s dead.
“He is and so is his wife. The police have already come to question you a few times about your shooting, but the doctor has not allowed them to. Now that you’re a little more coherent, I’ve set up a meeting with them.” She looked at the watch on her wrist. “They’ll be here in ten minutes.”
“Okay, but there’s not much I can tell them. I know I met with Agent Revels and after that I remember nothing about what happened.”
“Well, I’m going to say this. An arrest warrant has been issued for J.D.”
My eyes widened. “What for?”
“For attempted murder.”
“Attempted murder of who?” I asked. “I thought you said Agent Revels was just missing.”
“Not for Agent Revels but for you.”
“For the attempted murder of me!” I shook my head in disbelief. “If anyone thinks J.D. would do this to me is a fucking idiot.”
“I agree. I haven’t known J.D. long, but I don’t believe he’d harm you. He has a twisted sense of morality but he’s not a psycho. Right now, all we have is a missing agent who is the only eyewitness to your shooting and your sister’s statements when J.D. brought you in.”
“My sister is also a fucking idiot.” I groaned, rubbing my forehead. “He did not do this.”
A knock sounded at the door.
“We’ll talk about it more after they leave.”
She stood and walked to the door, then opened it. After speaking a few words, she turned around and approached me, accompanied by two men trailing closely behind her.
“Rebel, this is Detective Edward Lloyd and Detective Archie Baker.”
“Nice to meet you gentlemen,” I said even though it wasn’t. I wanted everyone out of here until I could talk to J.D.
“They’ve agreed to keep questions to a minimum, Ms. Pierce,” Della said. “Detectives.”
”Can you tell us what happened the night you were shot?” Detective Lloyd asked.
“All I can remember was meeting Agent Revels.”
“And do you know why you were meeting Agent Revels?” Detective Baker asked.
“He approached me about my relationship with J.D. Stevens and I had some information to share with him.”
“Information against J.D. Stevens?” Detective Lloyd asked.
A heavy sigh escaped my lips. “J.D. did not do this to me gentlemen.”
“But I thought you said you didn’t know who shot you?” Baker asked, his brows bunched together in confusion. “All signs point to him shooting you and if you were going to the Feds...”
“What I said was I don’t remember what happened. That’s different than not knowing who done it. And J.D. would never hurt me.”
“But your sister seems to believe that he had something to do with your shooting.”
“Of course she does.” I rolled my eyes. “Just because she believes it doesn’t mean it’s the truth. My sister doesn’t believe J.D. is good enough for me and he was the one who brought me to the hospital. Of course, she’d come to that conclusion without knowing all the facts. But I want to reiterate detectives, J.D. Stevens did not shoot me.”
They both scribbled furiously in their notepads, their brows furrowed with skepticism.
“Then who did?” Detective Lloyd asked.
I shrugged. “I can’t remember. Are we done?” I asked. “I’m a little groggy from the medication.”
“One more question Detectives,” my lawyer said. “My client needs to get some rest.”
They looked at one another and I could tell they wanted to ask more questions, but I wanted to talk more with Della before giving them any more information.
“Do you know where J.D. Stevens is?” Detective Baker asked.
“I do not.”
They closed their notepads. “If you hear from him, let us know. There’s an arrest warrant out for his arrest. We’ll be in touch.”
“You have my card,” Della said as she escorted them to the door. “Any more questions, direct them towards me. Thank you, gentlemen.”
As the door closed behind them, she made her way back to me and sank back into the chair. “I know you’re trying to protect him, but I need to know everything from start to finish so I can protect you and him. Anything you tell me is confidential.”
I sighed. “I’ve been investigating the death of his wife and son for him. Long story short, I found some incriminating evidence against Agent Revels being linked to her death. I went to confront him on what I found. After that everything is blank.”
“So, he’s crooked?”
“He is.”
“Full disclosure.” She leaned back in her chair. “I’m also Ian’s attorney. You may know him as Hannibal. I know what the guys are involved in Rebel so if you’re holding back because of that, don’t.”
“It’s not that. I truly don’t know what happened. The doctor said the memories will come back but all I can tell you is that Agent Revels isn’t an upstanding law enforcement officer.”
“Well, the bullet is being tested. Hopefully that can rule, J.D. out. And you don’t know anything about his disappearance?”
“I do not.”
“And you haven’t heard from J.D.?” she asked with her eyebrow arched.
“I haven’t. I called from my mother’s phone, left him a message but he hasn’t returned my call.”
“Okay. The locals have your case, but I fully expect the Feds to come question you as well. Do not speak with them unless I’m here.” She opened her briefcase, removed two business cards then handed them to me. “One is for you to keep so you can call me when you need me, and the other one is for the FBI. Do not talk to anyone at the FBI without me being present.”
I had a hunch that she was referring to my godfather, but she seemed hesitant to mention his name.
“If you’re talking about my godfather, I won’t. I promise.”
She stood and headed to the door. “Call me when they release you, and we’ll go over everything more thoroughly.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“You’re welcome.”
The moment she left the room, a wave of silence washed over me, allowing me to take a long-awaited breath and close my eyes. I can’t believe they really think J.D. tried to kill me and I was sure my family especially Rumi weren’t trying to convince the cops of anything differently.
I grabbed my phone and dialed Caesar, and he answered on the third ring.
“We’ve got a problem.”
He groaned. “Don’t we always.”