“Play the hand you're dealt.” Jawahareal Nehru
“There was no footage of the hit and run on Hawkins and his fiancé. Cameras weren’t stationed in that area, and the calls that have come in have led to nothing,” he explained, for God knows how many times, to Dray Hawkins’ family.
Detective Dan was no closer to finding the culprit of the hit and run than when it first happened, and the case was considered cold. Unless someone had a change of heart and called to tell what they’d seen or confessed to the crime, then it looked like this case would join the thousands of other cold cases stored in the Cold Case files at the Memphis Police Department.
He decided to question Bethany Thompson one more time. Maybe, just maybe there was something she’d missed. And now that Hawkins was able to talk, Detective Dan and his partner planned to have a talk with him a second time, too. They didn’t want to come off like they were harassing either of the victims, but either this was an accident committed by a coward or it was intentional. If it was intentional, they were looking at someone who might return to finish the job.
“I’m telling you, I don’t know anything. I just remember seeing a car seconds before. I can’t tell if it was speeding up or trying to deflect from hitting us. It was just too much too fast,” Bethany explained to the detectives again.
“We understand, but we hope you understand, the both of you, how important any fine detail no matter how insignificant you think it is, might help to solve this case.”
Both Dray and Bethany huddled together. He was on his last day of rehab and she was there to sit with him when the detectives knocked and walked into Dray’s room.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t have much else to say that I haven’t said already. Like Bethany, it all happened so fast. She and I were engaged in conversation from what I can remember. I don’t know if we were talking about our upcoming wedding, stuff at work, I don’t know. All I can say is I woke up and a nurse told me I was in the hospital.”
The detectives eyed one another, looking hapless and a little perturbed that the couple still didn’t have any valuable information that could lead to the arrest of whoever committed this crime.
“You don’t have any enemies?”
“Uh, enemies? I don’t think so,” Dray said. “At least none that I know of.”
“What about this Chynna Moreno person?”
Dray and Bethany peered at each other.
“You were charged with assaulting her a few months ago. Is that right?” asked Detective Dan.
“Uh, the case was dismissed,” Bethany said, deflecting her eyes from the detective’s stare.
“You were involved with her long term before Ms. Thompson? Isn’t that right?” the other detective questioned Dray.
“Yes, but what does Chynna have to do with any of this?”
“You said you didn’t have any enemies, but this woman could very well be out for blood. Especially if she’s a woman scorned. And we do have a long list of domestic calls sent to your residence. Looks like wherever you laid your head to rest, there were calls made to your place, and it involved you and Miss Moreno.”
“That’s true, and I guess you can say Chynna has a bit of a temper, but she wouldn’t do anything like this.”
Detective Dan looked at Bethany. “And you? Do you feel the same way?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know Ms. Moreno that well. I do know that accusing me of assaulting her was absurd. I never laid a finger on that woman. She didn’t show up in court and before my court appearance she withdrew her complaint against me because obviously she knew what she accused me of wouldn’t hold up in a court of law.”
“So in light of that, you still don’t believe she could have been the one to run you down?”
Bethany looked uncomfortable. She thought a time or two about Chynna but she just didn’t want to believe Chynna could be that evil. “I can’t be sure. I don’t know what she would do. But I do know I haven’t seen or heard from her since that happened. So if it turns out that she did do this, I want her punished to the fullest extent of the law. We could both be dead if it wasn’t for the grace of God.” Bethany began getting upset.
Dray reached over and held her hand. “It’s okay. They’re going to find out who did this, sweetheart. Whoever it is won’t get away with it for much longer.”
“Well, let us know if you remember anything,” the detectives said before turning and leaving.
Detective Dan contacted Chynna and asked her to come to the police station for questioning. Chynna wasn’t the least bit bothered about the request. Dray nor Bethany remembered anything about that day and Chynna was sticking to her alibi. She begged KeeKee to swear up and down she was with her the day and time of the accident.
KeeKee promised her bestie she would uphold her in the lie. She hoped and prayed that she would be able to stay true to her word.
Chynna hummed one of her favorite tunes by her girl, Beyoncé, while she left work and headed to the police station. She thought back to the day of the hit and run. After composing herself, she took the car through a drive through car wash, went home, cleaned it up real good before taking it to get the front grill repaired at a body shop she knew about located in the hood. There she could be assured no questions would be asked. All they wanted was to be paid. Less than a week after dropping off the car, she picked it up and it was like new with no sign of it being involved in any type of accident. She traded the car in for a black Avalon.
The police detectives grilled Chynna for three hours nonstop. Chynna didn’t bend or break under their increasing pressure. Again, thanks to her foster mom, she was not the weak, timid kind. She knew the detectives were trying to pin the hit and run on her, perhaps catch her in a lie or get her confused, but she was able to maintain a level head, decipher every question they asked, and answer without bringing suspicion to herself, no matter how they worded their interrogation.
By the time the interrogation ended and they told her she was free to go, she was surprised they hadn’t offered her a job. She chuckled at the thought as she proudly walked out of the station and into the moonless night.