Chapter 8
Killian
“Ms. Thompson, my name is Killian Lake, your defense attorney. How are you today?”
“I gotta get outta here. I didn’t do anything.”
“I understand your concern—believe me, I do. Right now, I just need to get your side of the story. In order for us to have the best defense, you have to tell me everything. Can you do that?”
“I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”
“Good. Now, before we begin, I must emphasize that everything you say to me is protected by attorney-client privilege. It’s crucial that you don’t discuss this case with anyone else. Anything you say outside these walls can and will be used against you. Do you understand that?”
She nodded. “Yes, I understand. Thank you for taking my case. My mother had to put her house up to get me a good lawyer. You have to help me.”
“I’m gonna try my best. You just work with me. Now, can you walk me through what happened on the night of July 7 when Mr. Owen Davis was found dead?”
Ms. Thompson sighed heavily. “I was at home most of the night. I did go out around eight-thirty to pick up some groceries. It took me a little longer because there was an accident, and I had to drive around it both ways, but I was back by ten.”
“Do you always pick up groceries so late at night?”
“I’m a nurse. I go to work eleven at night and get off at seven in the morning. Sometimes I work a double shift, so I don’t get off until three. I’m tired. I go home, shower, and try to get some sleep. I get whatever errands I can get done when I wake up.”
“Did you see Mr. Davis at all that day?”
She nodded slowly. “He asked me to come see him. We had lunch and ended up having a very heated argument. There were witnesses, and I might have said some incriminating things to him, but that doesn’t mean I killed him.
I didn’t even know Owen was dead until the police showed up at my door the next morning. ”
“What were you arguing about?”
She avoided my gazed and the question. “Nothing.”
“Again, Ms. Thompson, if you won’t tell me the truth, I can’t help you.”
She sighed. “He wanted to call things off.”
“Call what off?”
“Our…entanglement.”
“So, you two were romantically involved?”
“Yes. I loved Owen. I would never hurt him. I was just upset. He’d been stringing me along for years.
Even when I found out he had a wife and tried to end things, he just kept pulling me back.
He told me at lunch that she was becoming suspicious and we needed to cool it for a while.
I was upset because he’d been promising me for a whole year that he was going to leave her. ”
“I see,” I said, making a note of her confession. “Can anyone confirm your alibi for the night in question?”
“My neighbor. She saw me come home with the groceries. We had a whole conversation in the driveway, and I have a receipt from the store at my house.”
“Good, good. That’s helpful. Now, the prosecution claims they have DNA evidence linking you to the crime scene. Can you think of any reason your DNA might be present in Mr. Davis’ home?”
She hesitated. “Well, I was at Owen’s house earlier that week. His wife was out of town visiting her mother.”
I shook my head. This was one thing I hated about being a lawyer. People omitted vital information that could help their case for the sake of saving face.
“That’s crucial information, Ms. Thompson. Why didn’t you mention this to the police?”
“I was scared,” she exclaimed. “I thought it would make me look guilty.”
“And I understand, but withholding information only makes things worse. Case in point: Look where you’re sitting. Is there anything else you haven’t told me or the police?”
Again, she avoided my eyes.
“Ms. Thompson…”
“Just one thing.”
“Which is?”
“Two days before his murder, his wife confronted me. Apparently, she’s been suspecting him of cheating for a while and had cameras installed in the house. She saw me there and came to my job to confront me in the parking lot.”
I sighed. “Alright, Ms. Thompson. The good thing is you said she has cameras in the home. We can get a warrant to have her turn over the video evidence. The downside to that is hopefully she hasn’t destroyed it.
In that case, we would have to go through the security company to get the footage, and that could take a little longer.
I really wish you had told the police this.
This is time-sensitive information. I’m gonna see what I can do as far as getting you bail, but I won’t make any promises. ”
She nodded repeatedly before bursting into tears.
I stuck around long enough to comfort her before leaving the room.
I stopped by the chief’s office and told him I needed a search warrant for Mr. Davis’ widow before heading home for the day.
No sooner than I got in my car did my phone ring with a call from my best friend, Kadeem. I answered on Bluetooth.
“What’s up, man?”
“What’s good, my brotha?”
I sighed. “Long day.”
“Sounds like you need a drink.”
“I damn sure do.”
“Meet me at Kinko’s. We need to catch up anyway. It’s been a minute since we linked.”
“Bet. I’m headed that way.”
I hung up and rerouted my destination. Ten minutes later, I was walking into the bar and grill.
I spotted Kadeem at a table talking to a server who was clearly flirting with him.
The old Kadeem would have taken the bait, but my boy was a changed man.
He didn’t even crack a smile. I shook my head as I headed in his direction.
He gave me a nod before sending her on her way and standing to greet me.
“Killian Lake,” he said, slapping my hand. “Good to see you, man.”
“Good to see you, too.” I took a seat at the table and got comfortable. “How’s the family, man?”
“Blessed, highly favored, and forever growing. Kyah is pregnant with our second baby.”
“Congratulations. How does Parker feel about being a big sister?”
He grinned. “She’s excited. She can’t keep her hands off my wife’s belly, and she’s forever talking to the baby. Baby girl is hoping for a brother. Truthfully, so am I. I need somebody to balance out all that estrogen, man.”
“As someone who grew up in a balanced household, it ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. Sometimes the estrogen is still just as overpowering.”
“I guess I better prepare then, huh? What’s been up with you? How’s life at the firm?”
“It’s life, man. Same shit, different day.”
“I’d think you’d be rolling in excitement. Criminal law can’t be boring.”
“It’s not boring at all. Overwhelming at times? Yes. Dumb-ass criminals? Absolutely. Some of the shit I hear and see, it’s like you can’t make this up.”
“It’s First 48, huh?”
“Just like First 48. I couldn’t live a life of crime. I’m no punk, but I’m not built for jail.”
“Say that again. I don’t know how career criminals do it.”
I shrugged. “Some people get conditioned to life behind bars. They can’t function on the outside.
Some of them have no ambition. Others are products of their environment.
You have biological and psychological factors, substance abuse, social and family influence, poverty, mental health issues, and employment issues, man.
It’s a lot that goes into building a criminal.
Add to that, the system doesn’t protect those it wasn’t built for either. ”
“You said a mouthful there. We look injustice in the face every day, and most times, ain’t shit we can do about it.”
I nodded and paused for a moment. All this talk about injustice made me think of Alayah.
There were too many women like her behind bars—women who were victims and were now doing hard time for finally putting an end to their abuse.
I contemplated telling Kadeem about her.
He was the one who broke the news to me in the first place back in the day.
He was one of the few people who understood the way Alayah’s arrest made me feel.
“What’s on your mind?” he asked, noting my silence.
“You, uh…you remember Alayah Chambers?”
“Our classmate? The one who got arrested for offing her mother’s boyfriend?”
“Yeah, her.”
“What about her?”
“She’s out on parole.”
“Oh, shit! How do you feel about that? You’ve seen her?”
I nodded. “I was there when they granted her parole. I recently saw her in the grocery store. That didn’t go how I expected. She really isn’t trying to have anything to do with me, man. I just wanted to make sure she was doing well, see if she needed anything. She basically told me to piss off.”
Kadeem chuckled. “Were you expecting things to be the way they were in high school, Killian? She’s been through a lot.
She’s probably done some things she’s not proud of.
Prison has a way of changing people. They don’t trust easily after being locked up for so long.
You gotta remember she did a ten-year bid. Nobody would be the same after that.”
“I know that, man. I get it. I just…I miss my friend. I feel guilty about not being there for her. I could have written or visited or something—anything to let her know she wasn’t alone.”
“You’re putting too much guilt on yourself, just like you did back then. Give her some time to get reacclimated to civilian life. Don’t be pushy. I’m sure you care. Just don’t do the most.”
“I don’t do the most.”
He laughed. “You can. I’m gonna leave it at that though. I think you need to get laid, my brotha—take some of that stress off you.”
I waved him off. “My mind ain’t even on a woman right now.”
“You mean any other woman.”
I took a sip of my drink. “I see what you did there. I won’t lie, she’s been heavy on my mind. But I’m gonna take your advice…well, I’ll try.”
Kadeem shook his head. “I know you. I know when you’re passionate about something, you can’t let it go. Just be careful. Sometimes when we wanna do good, we unintentionally cause more problems.”
“I hear you.”
I changed the subject so Alayah didn’t consume my thoughts. I’d been praying for her. I prayed for peace, healing, and her happiness. After all she’d been through, she deserved that.