16
Nate and Tony stepped out of the vehicle then looked around.
“No one ever said the side piece had to be on the come up,” Tony said as they walked up to the bungalow house with the broken fence. “Isn’t Mosley’s wife working at the courthouse?”
Nate smirked. “Going on fifteen years in her job according to my research.”
“So, what in the hell is Mosley doing here?”
“A good lay?” Nate shrugged his shoulders as he knocked on the door.
“Would have to be damn good to bring me to this neighborhood,” Tony said just as the door opened.
A woman with long braids, a midriff shirt and skimpy jean shorts opened the door with a child on her hip. “May I help you?”
“Hi.” Nate smiled as he flashed his badge. “Are you Trinity Scott?”
“Oh my God. Did something happen to Arty?”
“Arty?” Nate raised an eyebrow, acting confused. “Who is Arty, ma’am?”
The woman’s expression changed as another child walked up behind her. “I’m sorry,” she said as she pushed her braids across her shoulder. “What do you want?”
“We were doing a follow-up on a call you made regarding a group of people loitering at Chimborazo Park yesterday afternoon.”
“Chimborazo Park? I ain’t call nobody about Chimborazo. That’s over in Churchill.”
Nate made an effort to look at his notes. He showed her the tablet. “Is this your number?” He asked.
The woman looked at the tablet and laughed. “Oh yeah. That’s Arty’s number. I gave him that phone so he could keep in touch. With his job being so dangerous and all.”
“That explains it.” Nate nodded. “What does Arty do?”
“Arty is a police officer. Don’t you know him? Arthur Mosley. He works at the precinct off of Broad.”
“No, I don’t think I know him,” Nate said as he glanced at Tony.
“I know of him.” Tony nodded. “Tall, brown fella.”
The woman smiled brightly. “Yes, that’s my Arty. When you first knocked you had me a little worried there. I thought something had happened to him.”
“My apologies,” Nate replied. “So this number is Arty’s number?”
“Yes. Do you want me to call him?”
“No, we’ll catch up with him at the station.”
“Oh, he’s not there right now. But you can catch him at his sister’s house.”
“His sister?” Nate questioned as he keyed into his tablet.
“Yes. Her name is Angela Mosley. He stays there to help her out with the children.”
“Sounds like a good man,” Nate said. “Do you happen to know the address?”
“I’ve never been there, but I know it’s right off of Gaskin’s Road.”
Nate looked up. “I’m sure we can find it.”
“You can always ask Sarg,” she offered. “He can always find Arty.”
“Thank you, Ms. Scott. You’ve been very helpful.” Nate nodded then walked down the front steps.
“Anything I can do to help the brothers in blue.”
“We appreciate that.” Tony nodded as he followed Nate’s departure.
Nate waited for Tony to close the car door, then pulled off.
“Now why do you suppose Mosley is staying with his sister rather than his wife?”
“Angela Mosley is his wife,” Nate stated.
“Oh.” Tony replied.
There was silence for a moment before laughter filled the interior of the car.
“That’s a hell of a game he’s playing.” Nate shook his head.
“I wonder what excuses he uses on the wife?”
“Nope, I don’t want to know,” Nate said as he veered the vehicle onto the highway heading to the residence of Officer Mosley.
Fifteen minutes later, Nate and Tony stepped out of the car to stare at the nicely manicured front yard of Officer Arthur Mosley.
“Now, this is a beautiful home,” Tony noted. “Two story colonial, brick front, well maintained home.”
“Definitely a contrast to where we just came from,” Nate said as he proceeded up the walkway.
“This should be real interesting,” Tony laughed. “Real interesting.”
Nate rang the door bell, then glanced around. It appeared Officer Mosley had a really nice thing going for him. He could only wonder why he would jeopardize this and his career. The door opened, interrupting his thoughts.
“Officer Mosley?” Nate asked.
“Yes,” the man replied as he stood behind the screen door. “Tony.” He smiled. “Hey, man. How are you?”
“I’m doing well, Mosley.” Tony stepped forward. “This is my partner Nate Reigns.”
Mosley opened the screen door as he extended his hand. “Hear a lot about you, Detective. It’s nice to meet you in person.”
“Thank you,” Nate replied. “I was wondering if we could have a few moments of your time.”
“We have a few questions about a case. Thought you could help out,” Tony interjected.
“Of course.” Mosley stepped back to allow them into the house. “Anything I can do to help the Major Crimes Division.”
“This is nice,” Tony exclaimed as he looked around. He picked up a picture from the fireplace mantel. “Is this your wife? Man, she is a beauty.” He smiled as he handed the picture to Nate.
“Three kids? That’s cool. When do you find the time?” He laughed then handed the picture to Mosley and watched as he put it back in place.
“When you have a wife like mine, you make the time.” He pointed to the sofa. “Please have a seat. What can I help you with?”
“Mosley,” Tony began. “We have a case that brought us to you.”
“Really. What case is that?”
“The murder at Chimborazo Park,” Nate stated. There was a quick flash of surprise in the man’s eyes. For some reason this pleased Nate. Maybe, just maybe this situation wasn’t as bad as he first thought. “Were you in the vicinity of the park on yesterday?”
“No,” Mosley responded quickly. “I believe Officer Beale, Jake Beale was on duty in that area yesterday.”
“Can you explain why the call for an officer came from your phone?” Nate asked as he pointed deliberately at the man.
“You must be mistaken or you have your numbers criss-crossed. That call did not come from my phone.”
“I don’t think so, Officer Mosley.” Nate looked around. “Where’s your sister?”
“What?” Mosley asked, taken aback.
“Your sister?” Nate raised an eyebrow.
“Angela Mosley,” Tony added.
“Angela is my wife, not my sister.”
“Oh, I know that,” Nate stated. “However, Trinity Scott believes Mrs. Mosley is your sister.” There was a moment of hesitation from Mosley.
“Trinity Scott? I’m not sure I know who you are referring to.”
Tony lowered his head shaking it as Nate pulled out his phone. Nate checked his tablet, then dialed the number. Nothing happened. “Where’s the phone, Officer Mosley? In your car? Somewhere the wife can’t find it?”
“I have no idea what you are talking about.” Mosley stood. “Now if you don’t mind…”
“Daddy.” A little girl around five walked into the room dressed in pajamas with a cell phone in her hand. “Your important phone was buzzing.”
Nate watched as different emotions played across the officer’s face as he reached down to the little girl.
“Thank you, baby. Let’s get you back to bed before Mommy comes home.” He picked the litter girl up.
“Officer Mosley,” Nate called out. “The phone.”
Mosley hesitated, then placed the phone in Nate’s hand.
Tony stood with his hands out. “I’ll carry her back to the bedroom. I think you need to stay here with Detective Reigns.”
Mosley put his daughter in Tony’s arms. “You be a good girl and go with this nice man, okay.”
“Okay, Daddy.”
Nate waited until Tony and the little girl were out of earshot, then turned back to Mosley. “Tell me about the call, Officer Mosley. Keep in mind, you haven’t done anything up to this point to cause you to lose your job or your freedom. Don’t compound things by lying to me.”
“It’s really not a big thing,” Mosley started. “A guy came to the precinct. He said $5,000 had been deposited into one of my accounts as a donation. All I had to do was clear out the people hanging around on the corner near the park.” He shrugged. “I thought hell you don’t have to pay me for that, it’s a part of my job and I told the man just that. It wasn’t my beat yesterday, so I made the call and Beale went out.”
“Who was the man?”
“I don’t really know him, but I’ve seen him around the courthouse from time to time.”
“You accepted 5K from a stranger and did not see a problem with that? You are an officer. You took an oath to protect and serve. Your wife works in the court system. You expect me to believe you did not know what was happening?”
“I got three kids to feed,” Mosley shouted. “Look around, I have a mortgage to pay. You’re a cop. You know what the pay is. That 5K can go a long way to helping my family.”
“Five kids, Officer Mosley. Five. The three here with your wife and the two with Trinity Scott. You are going to tell me who the man was that deposited money into your account or my next stop will be the court house to speak with your wife.”
“You really don’t have jack, you know. The call wasn’t made from my phone nor is my name on the account the deposit was made to. So technically, you don’t have anything on me.”
“Technically you are correct,” Nate stated as he took a step closer to the officer. “However, I will implore you to take a closer look at your situation. When I leave here, to arrest your girlfriend, Trinity Scott, where do you think your children are going to land? Foster care? Hmm, Ms. Scott did not come across as a woman who would stand by while being setup by the father of her children. Especially when she discovers the woman you are living with is not your sister, but your wife. No, I can see those children being dropped right outside on your front porch.” Nate smiled. “How do you think your wife will react to that? Now, again, technically, you have covered your steps. But I have to ask how damn stupid do you think we are to believe you did not realize you were accepting a bribe when a man put 5K into your account. Maybe on the same line of the idiotic thought that you have no idea who the man was that approached you in the first place.” Nate picked up the phone the little girl had brought to her father. “I think you better call your Union Representative, you are going to need legal advice on how to keep your job and your wife if you don’t give me the man’s name.”
Tony walked back into the room. “Look, Mosley. I don’t think you are a bad cop. You just got caught up in a bad situation. I suggest you do the following. The 5K and whatever else is in the account, let Ms. Scott have it to help with the children because you are going to end your relationship with her. Next, you are going to tell your wife about those other children so they will not grow up with the possibility of dating each other someday in the future. Give us the name of the man and keep your job.”
Nate gave Tony a sharp look, but did not say what was on his mind, he turned back to Mosley.
“Man, I can’t tell my wife about Trinity. She will kill both of us.”
“That’s your cross to bear,” Nate replied.
Mosley exhaled. “I can keep my job?”
“Yes,” Tony replied
“No,” Nate replied. “I will agree to keeping the 5K and your name from the brass for a month. I suggest you find another job and leave the force within that timeframe. If you don’t this part of the case will be unsealed and put on full display.”
“Man, that’s not a deal.”
Nate shrugged, then glanced at Tony. “Put the cuffs on him. I’ll call child protective services to come stay with his daughter until Mrs. Mosley can be located.”
Tony took a step toward Mosley. “Wait, man….really? You going to take me out like this?”
“Are you going to give me the man’s name?” Nate stared at the officer, waiting.
“Wyatt…Wyatt Chambers.”
“How can we find him?”
“I don’t know, man,” Mosley replied as he slowly sat down. “He’s usually at the courthouse when I run into him.”
“Is that the same courthouse where your wife works?”
“Reigns you stay away from my wife,” Mosley said as he jumped up.
Nate pushed him back into his seat. “Don’t jump up concerned about your wife now. You did not seem to have that same tendency when you had unprotected sex with Ms. Scott. Did it dawn on you even once that you could have been bringing home a communicable disease to your wife and children? No, it did not. If it had, you would not have two children outside your marriage.”
“Umm, Nate.” Tony pulled him away from Mosley. “We have what we need.”
Nate stood. “One month, Mosley. If you haven’t stepped down from the force by then, everything goes public.”