Chapter 30 VONSHAE
VONSHAE
I tried everything. Going out with Maja and her people, working out, overworking, meditating…anything to get my mind off Iyana’s death. This shit hit hard, and I blamed myself heavily.
“You okay, baby? You’ve been quiet the last few days.”
I’d been staring off in space and didn’t see Maja standing at my study’s door.
She was dressed in my robe and carrying a plate of whatever she’d been cooking the last couple of hours.
The aroma wafted from the kitchen to my study, causing my stomach to growl.
However, I’d been in my own world, fighting to suppress anger that wanted to do something dumb like take a man’s life.
Maja sat the plate on my desk, then rounded the desk to come stand behind me.
She dropped a kiss on my cheek that produced a smile from me.
Her hands caressed my shoulders, applying light pressure as she did so.
The muscles in my tense shoulders agreed that this was what we needed to relax a little.
“You’re so tight,” she murmured. “You want to talk about it?”
Leaning back in my chair, I closed my eyes and let her hands work while I explained to her the shit that had been consuming my mind for the last few days.
“You’ve seen the young lady that was found dead in Cypress County?” It was a rhetorical question. Iyana’s murder was all over the news, and the community, her family, and everyone in between were demanding answers as to what happened to her.
“I have,” Maja confirmed. “Iyana was really sweet. She helped me at the credit union once.”
“Right,” I muttered. “She’s worked there for a few years.” Her coworkers were devastated. Iyana’s death touched many people, and I hated that I couldn’t prevent it.
“It’s crazy that investigators don’t have a suspect yet.”
A spot in my shoulder Maja focused on caused me to groan. She pressed the knot and firmly rotated her thumb over it. The fingers on my left hand tingled from the sensation of relief.
“I know exactly who the suspect is,” I divulged. “Jemell Franklin.”
Maja’s magical hands moved to another knot, this one a little more tender than the other. I hissed in ecstasy at the pleasure pain she inflicted on me. It hurt like hell, but it felt too good for me to tell her to stop. My jaw ticked as she worked the knot out.
“How are you so sure her boyfriend is the suspect?”
“A robbery homicide occurred some months back. The victim was someone Jemell had a run-in with on several occasions. I believe he set it up to look like a robbery to throw off the investigation. It was never about the money or drugs. He wanted my victim dead and used robbery to cover it up.”
“Do you have any evidence?”
“Not enough to tie him to the scene. His crew is deep, and not one of them is gon’ rat on him.”
Moving from my left side, Maja started in on my right side. With patience, she worked out the kinks stress of the last few days had put there.
“Why kill Iyana, though?” she questioned. “What would be his motive?”
“Besides the fact that he was surely abusing her? She was close to breaking,” I confessed.
Therein was what made my stomach turn. Iyana knew that flipping on Jemell was her only way out.
She couldn’t move through the city without one of his homeboys having eyes on her.
Jemell had too much control over her life.
I’d finally been able to find a way in with her by going to the credit union and slipping her my card.
It took days, but she finally reached out to me.
Since then, I’d make random stops at the credit union just to check on her.
I didn’t want to push her or scare her into changing her mind.
Visiting her was how I’d ended up bumping into Maja.
“Poor girl. She must’ve been terrified.”
“Exactly. I hate a muhfucka who thrives on terrorizing his partner. For that, I could never respect a nigga like him. That nigga deserves a fifty-cal to his head.”
“I prefer a thirty-eight,” she said.
Although dazed from the way she massaged me, my eyes popped open. Maja’s smiling face was above mine as she continued working. Her hands moved up the back of my neck, firmly applying pressure to the back and up into my scalp.
Something crazy nagged at me, but when my eyes drifted shut again due to her hands’ onslaught, the thought and feeling disappeared.
***
What seemed like hours later, I awoke to the ringing of my cell phone. Maja’s naked body was joined to mine. Not too long ago, I held her while she screamed my name and shattered around my dick.
“Gunner,” I answered groggily.
“1145 Wilmington Street. Sound familiar?” Sergeant Potter asked.
I sat up, startling Maja. I leaned over and kissed her lips as her eyelids fluttered open. “Go back to sleep, baby.” When her eyes closed, I threw the blanket off myself and sat on the edge of the bed.
“Yeah, I know the address.”
“We have a homicide.” Frustration laced the heavy sigh he breathed. “Jemell is dead.”
Stunned, I didn’t have a thing to say.
“This isn’t good, Gunner. His crew…Jerell… They’re going to tear this city apart until we find who the hell killed him. Get there now and keep this shit close to the vest.”
“Understood.”
Potter disconnected the call, and I sat on the edge of the bed for a few minutes longer, gathering my thoughts. Someone got the drop on Jemell. That shit was unheard of. The streets were about to explode, and I didn’t have the first person to pin this shit on. If anything, I had multiple suspects.
Within an hour, I pulled up outside of one of Jemell’s properties.
It was located in a decent part of Pensacola where crime wasn’t so bad as it was in other areas.
There was nothing spectacular about the house other than the three luxury sedans parked in the driveway.
Jemell flaunted his money, making him a target to almost anyone.
However, I knew nobody was that stupid to knock this nigga off.
Then again, this seemed like retribution. Again, my suspect list grew.
Jerell stood on the lawn with his hands tucked in his pockets.
He stared at the house being guarded by several police officers.
He barely glanced at me as I walked by and entered Jemell’s residence.
The hair on my skin rose, slowing my step.
Peering around, I expected to find someone watching me.
Nothing seemed amiss, so I shook it off and focused on my crime scene.
Jemell’s body was fully clothed and positioned in the middle of the living room floor. His hands were spread out and so were his legs… Instantly, ice chilled my veins.
“Excuse me,” I mumbled to the coroner, just short of pushing him out of the way. I stooped down to get a better look at the bullet hole in Jemell’s forehead.
“Any shell casings?” I asked one of the crime scene unit technicians.
“No, sir,” she replied. “This is the cleanest scene I’ve ever worked. Without surveillance, I can guarantee you the suspect will likely get away.”
Eerily, this shit was familiar. Fuck!
“Everyone pause!” I commanded. “Don’t touch a single thing, and I want everyone off the property. Now!” Standing, I slipped my phone from my back pocket and dialed Lewis.
“This better be good,” he answered, sounding asleep. “I’m nestled underneath my woman.”
“You’re in Alabama?”
“I just got here a few hours ago.”
“I’m about to send you an address. Get here now. We have a big fuckin’ problem.”
“Bet. I’m on the way.”
While I waited for Lewis, I paced the floor and recalled every crime scene of the only killer to truly ever escape me.
Five murders spanning six years. Six murders if I counted this latest murder that Lewis was currently working.
This could possibly make seven. Seven that we knew about.
Many prolific killers had a name, but this one didn’t.
Giving him a name would have made this shit real.
I paced so long that I triggered a headache whose pain only triggered in my brain at Lewis’s arrival.
The second his eyes fell on Jemell, he had the same reaction.
“You can’t be serious,” he stated and stooped next to the body.
I gave him a minute to process what was before him, then asked, “So, what do you think?”
He stood and sighed frustratingly. “You think he followed you to Pensacola?”
“Had to. How else do I explain this shit?” I hissed.
“You don’t. You gotta play this cool. If the media finds out this is related to cases back in Atlanta, it’s gon’ be a shit storm.”
Lewis was right. So far, the Feds hadn’t been involved. For our own reasons, we wanted this suspect to ourselves. If the Feds took over, we’d never see this through the way we wanted to. Our egos wouldn’t let us lose this suspect. By any means necessary, I wasn’t losing this case.
I dreaded the sun rising like a toothache.
With it came a media storm that swept through every hood in the city.
None of that amounted to the firestorm that Jemell’s family caused.
Even now as I sat at my desk, I listened to another message from a local news station wanting an exclusive on my involvement with the murder of Jemell.
Between these phone calls and Jerell blasting my name all over social media, shit was out of hand.
“Gunner,” Lieutenant Johnson called as he entered my office dressed in plain clothes. Normally, he wore slacks and a button-down. “Congratulations.”
“On what?”
He tossed something at me. I caught the gold badge emblazoned with City of Pensacola Police arched across the top and lieutenant arched along the bottom.
“Wait,” I started, “I never gave you an answer.”
He guffawed. “Are you seriously declining the position?”
“Nah…” Maja and I hadn’t put anything in concrete. Although she wanted me to chase my dreams, I still had her to consider.
“Alright, then. Start packing your office. It’s time for an upgrade. Your swearing in ceremony will take place tomorrow. Be ready.”
“Wait.” I stopped him. “I’m keeping the Franklin case.”
“You’re the lieutenant now. It’s your call.” He exited my office like he hadn’t just doused me with the biggest announcement of my career.
Before doing anything, I called Maja.
“Hey, baby!” she answered cheerily.
“Hey, love.” I swiped my hand down my face and chuckled nervously. “Listen… About that lieutenant position.”
“You better take it, Von. No second-guessing. Just go for it.”
I chuckled nervously again. “Yeah, Johnson made up my mind for me.”
She shrieked. “Congratulations, baby!”
Her excitement eased the tightness in my chest. “Thank you. He’s not giving me a chance to take it back. I’m being sworn in tomorrow.”
“Ahh!” she shouted. “Let me go find an outfit to wear! Oh, my God! I should match whatever you wear. Wouldn’t that be so sweet?”
Grinning, I loved her reaction. “Yeah, baby. That would be nice.”
She squealed and offered me a myriad of options for the dress style she wanted to wear.
We talked for a few more minutes, and she finally settled on the type of dress she would look for.
After hanging up with her, I called my parents.
Despite the mud my name was being dragged through, blessings still found me.
Jemell’s crime scene photos drew my attention. Picking up one of the photos, I observed the perfect hole in his head. The coroner confirmed the nightmare I was in. The kill shot was always spot on. Always a thirty-eight…
I prefer a thirty-eight.
Maja’s voice ran my blood cold. I never ignored a gut feeling, but this one was not only ludicrous, it lied to me. Placing the photo down, I shook my head.
“You trippin’, bruh,” I mumbled to myself. I needed something to eat, peace, and good rest. Then I would be able to think clearly.