Chapter twenty
Jonas
I was chilling at the hotel without a care in the damn world.
I wasn’t sure when Gianna would bring her tail back to New Orleans, but since she was packing her stuff in her car last night, I figured she would be back if not tonight, tomorrow.
I had ordered room service, so I was waiting for my food to get here.
I didn’t want to go anywhere because I didn’t want to deal with people right now.
When the knock came on the door, I got up and hurried to the door. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until I heard that knock on the door. I pulled the door back with a huge smile on my face and it dropped immediately.
“Mr. Alexander, we have a warrant for your arrest,” the detective said.
Before I had a chance to respond, he was slapping the cuffs on me. “Hold up! Can I get my phone and wallet? What about my keys and shit?” I questioned.
“We can grab those things for you because you most likely will not be returning to the room,” the other one said.
We walked back in the room, and I pointed my phone and charger on the nightstand. I told them that my wallet and keys were in the top drawer of the nightstand. I didn’t have any clothes because I left in a hurry and hadn’t been home. After they grabbed my shit, we headed back out the door.
I had no idea how they found me because I had been keeping a low profile. As I was led to a patrol car with flashing lights, I wondered what would happen to my truck. Hopefully, I can get my wife to find a way to come get my shit. Knowing her, she wouldn’t do it.
“What’s gonna happen to my vehicle?” I asked.
“Oh, we have a tow truck coming to get it. It needs to be processed for DNA,” the detective said.
“DNA for what?”
“I’m sure they will let you know once you get back to Houston.”
“When is that?” I asked.
“You will be transported back to Houston later on today. Once HPD gets here, you will be taken back to Houston with them.”
“Then what?”
“Come on, Mr. Alexander, you’re a smart man. You know what happens next,” he said.
I didn’t say anything the rest of the way to the police station.
I was still having a hard time understanding how my life got so fucked up.
Not long ago, I had everything a man could ask for.
I had a wife, a good job with benefits and a girlfriend.
Everything got jacked the hell up when Gianna’s grandmother passed away.
I wished that old lady had pulled through.
If she had, none of this shit would be happening today.
She fucked up my whole life, my career, my marriage, my relationship with her granddaughter, every fucking thing and she didn’t even know it.
Once I was returned to Houston, I was taken to a holding cell, which was fine with me because I didn’t have shit to say to them anyway.
I didn’t know how long I remained in that cell, but several hours later, they came to get me and put me in an interrogation room.
I didn’t know what their plans were, but I hoped these detectives didn’t think that I was about to say shit to them without a lawyer present.
That was how they trapped people into giving a confession.
I wasn’t about to confess to a damn thing.
“Good morning, Mr. Alexander. I’m Detective Carmichael and this is my partner, Detective Montes.”
“Look, I don’t know why y’all got me sitting in here without a lawyer, but I ain’t saying shit until I get one,” I said.
“So, just to be clear, instead of talking to us you want a lawyer?” Detective Carmichael asked.
“That’s what I said.”
“Okay. Well, if that’s how you want it, you ain’t gotta say nothing.
Just listen. You’re being accused of some very serious crimes here and while two of your victims are deceased, one victim is still alive and ready to tell her story to anyone who will listen.
We just thought you might wanna get ahead of everything and tell us your side,” Detective Montes stated.
“Do I need to spell the word lawyer for y’all to realize that I ain’t saying shit to y’all?” I asked smartly.
“Not at all. We will leave you alone for a few so you can contact your attorney. Just know that these charges aren’t going away, and we wouldn’t have arrested you if we didn’t have a solid case against you.
But go ahead and call your lawyer,” Detective Carmichael said before the two of them left the room.
I had no idea who to call because I had never been arrested before.
I had the lawyer who had drawn up the papers for Rozenette to sign, but he wasn’t a criminal defense attorney, and right now, that was the kind of lawyer I needed.
I decided to call my wife. Hopefully, she will answer and send a damn lawyer over here to defend me.
It was a little after nine in the morning, so I was sure that she was awake. “Hello,” she answered.
“Cheryl, I need you to do me a favor,” I said.
“You have some nerve calling me for a damn favor after the way you treated me, Jonas.”
“Cheryl please! I’m sure you know by now that I’ve been arrested…”
“Everybody knows! You killed a student! You killed a real estate agent! How could you do that?”
“Allegedly! I allegedly killed them! Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?” I asked as I rolled my eyes upward.
“You did it! I know you did!” she argued. “We’re having a baby Jonas! How could you do something that would take you away from helping me raise this child?” I could tell from the cracking of her voice that she was crying.
“Cheryl, look, I’m sorry if I hurt you with my cheating ways and shit, but this is way more serious than that! They are charging me with murder and kidnapping! I can do some real time for this shit!”
“No kidding! All you had to do was be faithful in our marriage! If you had kept your dick in your pants, none of this would be happening!” she cried.
“Don’t you think I know that? Look, I need you to contact a criminal defense attorney and send them to the police station downtown!
” I instructed. “These fools trying to question me without a lawyer, and I know it’s because they’re trying to coerce a confession out of me.
But I ain’t saying shit without a lawyer here! ”
“What lawyer you want me to call?”
“I don’t know! Just a lawyer that deals in criminal charges,” I said.
“I still can’t believe you’re being accused of all this shit! The student they’re saying you killed…”
“What about her?”
“She was pregnant.”
“So!”
“Was the baby yours?” Cheryl asked.
“What?”
“Was that girl’s baby yours?”
“No! That wasn’t my baby!” I lied.
“You might as well come clean Jonas because trust and believe, they are going to find out. It’s better if you tell me the truth than have me looking stupid when it comes out. Was that girl carrying your baby?” she asked again.
“Why is that so important? She’s dead and so is her baby. None of that should matter right now.”
“It matters because they’re saying that might be your motive for killing her. You didn’t want her to ruin your marriage and career. If only they knew that this marriage was in shambles before you started screwing that girl!”
“Cheryl please! I need your support right now, not your criticism,” I said.
“I won’t be supporting or criticizing you. After we end this call, I want you to never call me again!” she spoke in such a harsh tone that I knew she meant those words.
“So, you’re just gonna walk away from me when I need you most huh?”
“You walked away from me and this marriage a long time ago, so please don’t try to make it seem like things were good before this happened.
You know what you did and now everyone else knows too.
I hope you plead guilty because going to trial will get you the death penalty, and I’m sure you don’t want that,” my wife said.
“So, you’re convicting me before the trial. If I can’t get my own wife to believe me and stand by me, how am I going to convince other people that I’m innocent?” I inquired.
“That’s between you and your lawyer. Goodbye Jonas,” she said.
“Cheryl don’t be like…”
CLICK!
“Chery…” I heard the busy signal on the phone and slammed the receiver down.
How could my own wife just diss me like that?
I needed her by my side more than anything.
I sat at the table with my head in my hands trying to figure out what I was going to do next.
Cheryl was right about one thing. If I took this shit to trial and I was found guilty of capital murder, I would definitely be facing the death penalty.
Not only were they charging me with Tanya and Courtney’s murders, but they were also charging me with the murder of Tanya’s unborn baby… MY unborn baby! About an hour and a half later, the door opened and a well- dressed man in an expensive suit with a leather briefcase walked in.
“Mr. Alexander, I’m Martin Crockett. Your wife contacted me to represent you in your case. In order for me to do that, I’m going to need you to tell me everything that led up to the point of your arrest,” he said.
“Everything?”
“Everything! Even if you feel it may not be important, I still need to know about it. So, let’s get down with it.”
He pulled out his tape recorder and pressed the button while I told the story of what brought me here. Once I had finished, an hour and a half later, I tried to read the expression on his face. I wasn’t sure if he believed me or even felt like he could help me.
There was a knock on the door, and a detective walked in with someone carrying those little testing kits. “We have a warrant for Mr. Alexander’s DNA,” the detective said.
“Hell no!” I shrieked.
I knew if they got my DNA, they’d be able to prove that Tanya’s baby was mine. Therefore, that would give me motive for killing her. I had already lied to my wife, so that was the last thing I needed to be in the news.
“Mr. Alexander, I don’t think you understand the severity of these charges. This warrant isn’t a request, and you have to comply. Otherwise, I cannot help you,” Mr. Crockett said.
“How is giving my DNA helping me?”
“You have no choice. A judge ordered a DNA so open up!” my lawyer said in a fierce and aggressive tone.
He was right. With a warrant held over my head, I didn’t have much of a choice. I opened my mouth, and the technician swabbed the inside of my cheek for a good minute. Then she placed the swab in the secured bag with my name on it and left the room with the detective.
“Mr. Alexander, I know you said this is your first time getting arrested, but whenever a warrant is involved, that means you must comply with whatever they are asking for.”
“Even if it may hurt my case in the end, huh?”
“Yes. Now, what I’m going to do is call the detectives in here so they can ask you questions. If I feel it’s okay to answer, I’ll let you know. If not, I will let you know that too because what we don’t want to do is help them build their case against you. Do you understand?” Mr. Crockett asked.
“Yea. I get it.”
So, he called the detectives in the room and after an hour of questioning, my lawyer ended the interrogation.
“Mr. Alexander, I’m not even going to lie to you or sugarcoat your situation, but it sounds like they have some pretty solid evidence against you.
Not only that, but they have a victim who said you kidnapped her from her dormitory. This isn’t good at all.”
“What are you saying? That you’re giving up! That I should take a plea and spend the rest of my life in jail!”
“I’m going to have to gather more evidence in your case. We’re still waiting on the DNA tests to come back, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
“What about bond? Am I gonna be able to post bond?” I asked.
“It shouldn’t be long before you have to see the judge. The charges are pretty serious, so your bond will most likely be really high.”
“Are you gonna be in court with me?” I asked.
“Not for this hearing. This is just to determine whether you’re eligible for bond or not.
I’m going to head to my office and get started on your defense.
I’m sure the prosecuting attorney will be calling once their office is notified that I’m representing you,” he said.
“Just sit tight and hopefully, you’ll get bonded out until your case goes to trial or we come to an agreement concerning a plea deal.
I’ll be in touch, and you are not to speak to anyone about this case. I mean no one!” he stressed.
“I won’t.”
The lawyer left the room, and a police officer came to take me to my bond hearing. Needless to say, with all the charges stacked against me, my bond was set at three million dollars! Now where the fuck was I supposed to get three million dollars from?
I guess that was their plan all along… to keep me locked the hell up!