Chapter 2 VONSHAE GUNNER
VONSHAE GUNNER
As I crossed the bridge leading from Niceville Shores to Pensacola, I thought about the woman I’d bumped into a few hours ago.
I still smelled her as if she stood in front of me.
Her body’s suppleness was still attached to my hands.
Fuck. That hickory brown skin she possessed was something I wanted to brand to my own damn blood stream.
Maja issued a challenge that I had to see through. She didn’t want me to chase her, but I was on that ass like a big ass mole. If I had to ride around Niceville Shores every minute of my day, I was going to find her ass.
A loud shrill broke through my obsession over Maja. Glancing at the number on the in-dash screen display, I grinned.
“Oh, shit. What happened?” That was the way I greeted my brother in blue.
Lewis grunted, then laughed. “Damn, I can’t call just to say hey, nigga? Maybe I miss yo’ ass, bruh.”
I laughed and said, “I’m sure you do miss me. There’s nobody around there to keep you from losing yo’ mind.”
“Damn sure ain’t,” he agreed. “How’s the move going so far?”
Releasing a heavy breath, I sat at a red light and scanned both sides of the street.
Downtown Pensacola had grown since I left the city.
Most of these businesses were only a few years old, and it seemed like a new store, boutique, or office space popped up daily.
Back when I was a kid, downtown was just starting to boom.
That came with the influx of wealthy Black people moving into the area.
While Pensacola had its problems with the local gangs, drugs, and violence, I couldn’t deny that this city was home for me.
Although I decided to reside across the bridge in Niceville Shores, Pensacola was deep in my blood.
“It’s about as much as you can expect. I cut my teeth on the streets of Pensacola. Atlanta raised me, though. It’s really no different.”
“Ah… So, what you’re sayin’ is, you may come back someday?”
“Hell, nah,” I countered. “My folks are getting old, man. It’s time for me to be closer to them. Four hours isn’t a long drive, but it’s not exactly a quick drive if there was ever an emergency.”
“I hear you,” Lewis stated. “The minute I think about leaving Atlanta, my mama is gon’ have to pack her shit up and come with me. I refuse to leave her here.” We both chuckled.
“Mama Winston ain’t gon’ hear that. You know she loves her Jets team.” Lewis laughed again, but this time I finally caught the strain in his voice, prompting me to ask, “What’s really goin’ on?”
He sighed heavily and said, “Guess who’s back?”
Ice flooded my veins, and the hair on my arms stood at attention. “No fuckin’ way.”
“I wish, bruh. It’s been two years and he’s been silent. This muhfucka came back with a bang.”
“Who’s the victim?” I questioned.
Lewis grimaced. “I told you about using that term. Victims don’t deserve what happened to them. These muhfuckas definitely deserved every bullet he served them. Breez included.”
My eyebrows crashed together. Breez was a mid-level drug dealer who came across my radar three years ago.
His daughter was found murdered not too far away from the house she grew up in.
Speculation was that Breez killed his daughter to prevent her from testifying against him in a trafficking case he was fighting.
Breez denied any involvement in his daughter’s death, and the case had gone cold since.
“Well, let’s hope he got sloppy this time,” I said, shaking off the gloom of one of my hardest cases.
He snorted. “Let’s hope not. My stance with the killer will never change. Whoever he is, he’s doing the streets a fuckin’ favor.”
Sadly, I couldn’t help but agree with Lewis. Then again, our stance should never parallel with the enemy. That in itself gave me pause. How was I supposed to remain true to my badge if anything inside me agreed with the suspect?
“I’m doing all I can to keep the Feds out of this. Hopefully, whoever he is will lay low for a while. In the meantime, I’ll see you at Pops’ retirement party.”
“Bet,” I replied. The light switched to green, and as I eased through it, I prayed I could ease through not feeling a way about that one killer who got away from me. While I admired a meticulous muthafucka, I hated how that nigga always slipped away from me.
A few blocks later, I pulled into the Pensacola Police Department’s parking garage and parked in my designated space.
After graduating with my bachelor’s degree in criminology, I joined the force.
For the first few years, I worked as a patrolman, getting to know the ins and outs of the streets.
Quickly, I rose to detective. To think, at one point in my life, I considered myself a bad boy.
Fights, alcohol, drugs, and rebellion fueled me.
I nearly drove my parents crazy. Finally, my pops made the decision to move me, my siblings, and my mama out of Pensacola.
While he stayed in Pensacola to continue his career, he shipped us off to Atlanta.
The first time I got in trouble, it was met with swift consequences. Although I fucked up and disappointed my parents, it was ultimately my brothers who pushed me to do better with my life. I was the oldest out of my siblings, and there was no way I wanted them to follow in my footsteps.
So, I stopped skipping school, did all I could to stay out of trouble, and kept my head on straight.
Lewis was one of the people I met when I first moved to Atlanta.
He and I became quick friends and pursued our careers together.
He was like my brother. Working side by side with him was a flick every single day.
Now, I had a new partner and was relearning the city I left all those years ago.
I climbed out of my truck and adjusted the shades sitting on the bridge of my nose. Today started with me bumping into the most stunning woman I’d ever seen. Hopefully, the day ended with me walking down on her ass.