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Renee
Okay, David Lovell is going to make me put my foot up his ass. He had finally called me back at two in the morning as I was crawling into bed. And he had the nerve to think he was about to make a booty call. Mothafuckas, I don’t think so. He’d had his chance and blown it—although I did tell him that if he helped us solve Kayla’s case, I just might consider letting him rub my cootie-cat again. I then told him everything that happened last night, and all he could say was, “I’ll look into it.”
I checked with him again at eight and he still hadn’t brought Deacon Williams in for questioning. I don’t understand it. Do I have to do all the damn work?
Around nine, I sat up in my comfortable hotel bed and reached for my laptop. Like I said before, I’ve got a deadline that I have to meet. I spent two hours writing a sex scene that made my ass horny as hell, then put my laptop down and went to take a shower. While under the spray of water, I tried to think of a plan of action. Hell, I’m not a detective. That’s David’s job. But there was no way I was letting my girl go to jail without knowing I’d done everything in my power to help her.
Stepping out of the shower, I reached for a towel and wrapped it around my body, then went back into the room. I looked over at the box of chocolates that I had bought earlier from Nadine for her church’s fund-raiser. I wasn’t planning to eat it all, but I love to support a good cause. As I stared at the box, an idea came to mind. I could go door-to-door through Leroy’s neighborhood, selling candy and asking questions at the same time. I know the police had already canvassed the area, but what could it hurt to try again? Everybody isn’t always willing to talk to the police.
I got dressed, told Danielle what I was planning to do, then hopped in my car and headed out toward Leroy’s whorehouse. I was halfway there when Tommy called. “Whassup?”
“Peaches got arrested.”
“What?” I almost ran into another car and had to pull my ass over. “What happened?”
“The ticket to Jamaica had been bought over the Internet with one of Leroy’s stolen credit cards.”
“Oh no!”
Tommy sucked his gold tooth. “The police think that maybe Peaches killed him, stole his wallet, then hopped a plane.”
“That’s crazy.” I wasn’t about to tell Tommy that it was partly my fault Peaches had gotten arrested. David had come through after all. My lips curled upward. He must really want to play with my cootie-cat.
“I got my attorney trying to get her out on bail.”
“Please keep me posted.”
“I will.”
I hung up the phone and squeezed the steering wheel tightly. Someone had killed Leroy, then stolen his wallet, setting it up to make it look like Peaches could be a suspect. My gut still told me it was Deacon Williams. Now I just needed to find a way to prove it.
I pulled onto Rock Quarry Road and parked at the very end of the street, then went door-to-door asking questions while trying to sell candy. Some people were helpful and even bought one or two bars of chocolate. Others slammed the door in my face. I was working the other side of the street, a few doors down from Leroy’s house, when I recognized the elderly woman that answered it. “Hello, Ms. Ruby.”
She peered at me before her eyes sparkled with recognition. “Well, if it isn’t little Nae-Nae. Chile, come on in.” She held open the door and I stepped into a living room that smelled like Ben-Gay. She signaled for me to have a seat and I watched her slowly move over to the couch. She reminded me of Big Mama. Silver-gray hair. Small, wire-rimmed glasses. A face covered with moles. Ms. Ruby had grown thin and moved like her old bones were ready to give out.
“How’s your mother doing?” she asked. Growing up, she had lived next door to us.
I stared across the couch at her for a long, intense moment before glancing away. “I haven’t seen my mother in years.”
She nodded knowingly. “She still hasn’t kicked that habit yet?”
I shook my head.
She placed a small, wrinkled hand over mine and said, “Pray and have faith that in time she will find the strength to overcome her weakness. You know it ain’t nothing but that devil.”
“I know.” We grew quiet and then I decided that instead of trying to pawn candy off on such a sweet old lady, I would just cut to the chase. “Ms. Ruby, are you familiar with Reverend Brown’s murder?”
Her face sobered. “Yes, it was so sad.”
“My best friend Kayla is being accused of his murder.”
Slowly, she shook her head. “I saw it on the news. Such a sweet child. Always has a smile. Waved at me. I remember one time I needed help getting groceries out the car. I didn’t even have to ask. She came across the street and gave me a hand.”
“Kayla didn’t kill him.”
“I believe you,” she replied, squeezing my hand. “Please tell her I’m praying for her.”
“I will,” I said, then shifted on the cushion. “Ms. Ruby, I’m trying to find out what really happened that night after Kayla left.” I quickly told her what I knew about the night of the murder.
She gave me a long, thoughtful look, then folded her hands onto her lap. “I remember waking up at midnight. I had fallen asleep on the couch as usual watching the X-Files. I just love that show. Ms. Tabby was meowing, wanting to go outside. When I opened the door, I saw this VW Bug pulling out from the new development next door to me. I remember wondering why someone would risk parking their car over there and getting stuck in all that mud. But as it pulled away, I remembered seeing that same car in front of Reverend Brown’s house several times before.”
My heart was pounding rapidly in my chest. ‘What color was it?”
She frowned thoughtfully. “It was either black or dark blue.”
“Would you be willing to tell this to the police?”
Nodding, she replied, “If it will help that sweet friend of yours, I will.”
I stayed long enough to have lunch, then said goodbye and went out to my car to call the girls. Kayla said she left Leroy’s house shortly after eleven and Deacon Williams reported he didn’t find Leroy’s body until after one. So, if that was the case, what was his car doing pulling away from the neighborhood around midnight? Ms. Ruby seemed confident about the time.
While dialing Danielle’s number, I couldn’t help grinning. I had finally found something to connect Deacon Williams to the murder.
Chapter 43
Danielle
She picked up a pair of booties and her heart fluttered. She was going to be a grandmother. A smile curled her lips. Teenage pregnancy was nothing to be proud of, but there was nothing she could do about it now except support her daughter’s decision and get ready to spoil her grandbaby.
Danielle put the booties in her cart, then moved to the next aisle. She had come to Wal-Mart to buy food, not shop for baby clothes, but as she was moving down the aisle, she couldn’t resist. As she gazed down at a pink ruffled dress, she couldn’t help but hope that Portia had a little girl. However, after having only one child herself and the drama that came with girls, maybe she needed to pray for a grandson. Nadine had a boy and so did Renee, and both claimed that little boys were so much easier to raise.
“Excuse me, can you suggest a gift for a baby shower?” she heard someone ask.
“Sure, the easiest...” She swung around and her voice trailed off as she gazed up to find Calvin standing over her. Danielle’s heart started to pound rapidly. He had a fresh new haircut and was casually dressed in jean shorts that showed off fabulous legs and a shirt that strained across his massive chest. “Calvin.” She said his name like she was almost afraid to believe it. “Hi.”
“Hey, yourself. I’m surprised to see you here.”
She shrugged, then swallowed as she finally managed to pull herself together. “I’m supposed to be grocery shopping, but I couldn’t resist.”
His smile widened. “That means you’ve accepted your daughter’s pregnancy and it’s sunk in you’re going to be a grandmother?”
“Yeah, you know what they say—if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. Besides, I think this whole experience is going to have a positive effect on my daughter. She’s been reading baby books and asking a lot of questions about her future, especially college, a subject I couldn’t even get her to consider before,” Danielle said while nervously fingering her hair.
“Good, I’m happy for both of you.” He touched her arm and they shared a smile before Danielle dropped her eyes back into the basket. “Think you can spare a few minutes and help me pick out a gift?”
She nodded and looked up again. “I would love to.”
“It’s for my niece,” he explained. “She and her husband are expecting their first child in four weeks. The doctor told her it was a girl.”
“Okay, girls are easy to shop for. But I learned a long time ago that the easiest thing to do is to buy a gift card. They’ll know what they need more than you will. It also prevents buying the same gift as someone else.”
Calvin removed a gift card from the display. “Then a gift card it is.”
“Good choice. Just go up to the register and you can put as much money on the card as you want.”
“Thanks, Danielle.”
“No problem.”
There was a long silence before Calvin cleared his throat. “Well, I better get out of here. Good seeing you again.”
He then turned on his heels and was several feet away before she finally found the courage to shout, “Wait! Calvin! Can I ask you a question?”
He slowly turned around and eyed her with measured curiosity. “Sure.”
Her expression grew serious as she took a step forward. “Do you miss me?"
“Yes,” he said without hesitation.
“Good, because I miss you, too.” Without ceremony, Danielle dashed over to where he was standing, tossed her arms around his neck, and kissed him passionately on the lips. She was relieved when she felt him relax against her. Danielle didn’t care who was watching. All she cared about was how good it felt to be held by him again. What a fool she had been to let him go. Her thug days were finally over. After her experience with Ron, she had learned to appreciate someone like Calvin. Good, single men were few and far between. Now that she had a second chance, she wasn’t going to blow it.
“You must really miss me,” he replied when she finally released him.
“I do.” She kissed him again. “You think maybe you can sneak away with me next weekend? I would love to spend some time in St. Louis, getting to really know each other in more ways than one.”
He nodded. “I think that can be arranged.”
“Good. I’ll call you later.”
He kissed her once more, then went to the register up front. Danielle stood there for the longest time, grinning like a damn fool.
