Page 172 of Justice II

“About a week.”

I gripped the phone tighter. A week was right around the time Storie got on that bus.

“You think he got something to do with this?” Priest asked.

“I don’t know. That nigga gets out, and a couple days later the girl who might be his daughter disappears. That ain’t no coincidence.”

“I’ll put the word out. If he still in the DMV, somebody gon’ know.”

“Appreciate you.”

I hung up and stared down the hallway. If Tavares had her, the cops wouldn’t find her. I kept his name to myself. Giving it to them meant explaining why I had been asking around about a man I never met.

Melody came out once they were gone. She was concerned but not for the same reasons the cops were. We both had this fear that this was an elaborate plan of Storie’s to get back at us.

“They don’t have anything?” she asked.

“Nothing.”

She looked toward the front door, then back at me. There was something she wanted to say, and I could tell she was trying to decide how to ask it.

“What?” I said.

“Justice.”

“Go ahead.”

“You swear this wasn’t you?” she asked.

I stared at her.

“You asking if I made Storie disappear?”

She nodded.

“No.”

“You told me you had a plan.”

“I did. This ain’t it.”

Her arms dropped, but she kept looking at me.

“I didn’t know how to ask.”

“You just did.”

“Don’t get an attitude with me. You know why I’m asking.”

I exhaled and leaned against the doorway. She wasn’t wrong for wondering. I had given her enough reasons to believe I could make somebody stop being a problem.

“I ain’t touched her, Mel. I don’t know where she is.”

“Okay.”

“I got people looking. I’ve tapped the Kings for intel. I’ve put feelers out everywhere I can think of. And what’s coming back is…”

“What?” she asked.