Page 14 of Forced Into Your Arms
Shit, I used to do it.
“They had one job tonight,” I continued. “Make sure my cousin never talked. They handled that part. Then they saw you.”
“But I didn’t do anything.”
“I know…”
She let out a shaky breath and looked down at her hands. “I had just gotten to work.”
Neither me or the detective had a response for that. Sometimes life didn’t give a damn what you were supposed to be doing. It put you in the wrong place at the wrong time, and now you were forced to deal with the fallout.
Detective Harris shifted beside me. “We’ll increase patrol around her apartment and make sure she’s got a direct number to call if she notices anything suspicious.”
I looked at him and asked, “And then what?”
“We’ll continue investigating.”
“That ain’t a plan.”
“It’ll have to do until we identify the suspects.”
I shook my head. “No, it’ll have to do for you.”
The detective’s expression hardened. “So what exactly are you saying, Mr. Blackwell? That what we’re doing isn’t good enough?”
“Take it however the fuck you want... You getting offended ain’t gonna catch who did this.”
The room got so damn quiet you could’ve heard a mouse pissing on cotton. Even Milan was looking at me like I’d lost my damn mind. I could feel her stare burning a hole into the side of my face, but I didn’t look at her right away. When I finally turned my attention back to her, I held her gaze for a minute before speaking up.
“You got somewhere else you can stay tonight?” I asked.
“My apartment…”
“Besides there.”
“My sister.”
“She lives alone?”
“Yes… Well, her and her kids. Her husband drives trucks, so he’s hardly ever home.”
I nodded, already crossing that option off in my head. That wasn’t any better. “What about your parents?”
She shook her head. “My dad’s been gone for years, and my mom passed when I was in college.”
“Friends?” I asked.
“I know a few people from back in the day.”
“Anybody with security? Gated neighborhood… cameras… somebody who ain’t an easy target?”
She nodded. “Yeah… Me.”
“What?”
“My apartment building has security downstairs twenty-four seven. Visitors have to check in and show ID before they can even get on the elevator.” She shrugged. “Honestly… it’s probably one of the safest places I could be.”
I nodded and went, “That’s good.”
