Authors: D. L. Sparks
Tags: #Fiction, #Suspense, #General, #African American Police, #Urban Life, #Thrillers, #African American
Between Friends (22 page)
“Twin, I don't wanna fight with you either. I just want what's best for you that's all. And I know that Grammie would want you to be happy.”
“I know,” I said, as I sorted through purchase orders.
“I'm thinking about splitting with Linc.”
She got quiet for a second, then she finally spoke. “If you're serious you know I got you, right?”
“Yeah, I'm serious,” I said, fighting tears and trying to steady my voice. “This shit's not right, and I gotta get out. Some of the shit that he's done ...” my voice trailed off. I didn't want to burden her with that right now.
“Well no worries, okay?” she assured, her shaky voice matching mine.
“No worries,” I said.
“You need me to go by your house and grab you and Cam some stuff?”
I scratched my head. “No, I don't wanna do it like that. I'm gonna tell him.”
“Idalis, he's a fool. He already hit you once. Do you think he's just gonna roll over and let you walk away.”
“And you think he's gonna act any better if he comes home and I've packed up me and his son and left without telling him?”
She let out a sigh. “Yeah you got a point.”
I stood up. “I'll see you when I get there and we'll figure this out then.”
“Okay, I love you, Twin.”
“I love you too, Twin.”
The door had finally slowed down and some of my waitresses were starting to cash out and I ran a Heineken to the DJ booth for Raymond.
He took the bottle and smiled. “Thanks, sweetheart. I'm sorry to hear about your grandmother.”
“Thanks, she's better off. She was in a lot of pain.”
He looked over my shoulder toward the dance floor. “Here comes your boy.”
I turned around and saw Linc making his way through the crowd. He stopped and spoke to a few people before making his way to the booth.
“What's up, Ray?”
Raymond gave him a head nod and put his headphones back on. I started toward the bar, with him on my heels. He followed me and ordered a Corona.
“What time you finished?” he asked.
“I don't know. Trying to be out of here by midnight.”
His eyes stayed on the crowd, which was now trying to get coordinated enough to wobble all over the dance floor.
Si-Man's laugh-filled instructions poured from the speakers. “What's wrong wit y'all? Your
other
left.” He laughed.
other
left.” He laughed.
Raymond mixed the song back to the beginning, giving everyone a chance to get in sync.
The acid in my stomach was churning so much I thought it would dissolve me from the inside out. Linc was extremely agitated. He kept checking his phone, and his fidgeting was making me uneasy. His eyes kept darting around the crowd. Every once in a while, he'd look at the door. I couldn't tell if he was looking for someone or avoiding someone.
“What are you doing here? I thought you had to work.” I finally asked.
He didn't respond. He just checked his phone again.
Now it was my turn to be agitated. “Lincoln, what's going on?”
He looked at me. “Look shawty, we need to go. We need to talk.”
I looked at him like he was crazy. “I can't leave now. The radio station isn't done until midnight. And my car is outside, anyway. You can go, and I'll meet you at the house.”
He set his half-empty bottle on the bar and looked me directly in my eyes. “Hurry up, get your shit so we can get the hell outta here.”
Before he could say anything else, I turned and headed back to the office. I paced around in the office for a few minutes, wasting time before flipping through a few invoices. They might as well have been in Chinese because I couldn't focus at all. My mind was strictly on trying to figure out how to leave without Lincoln.
Around eleven forty-five, I counted down my pull of the bartenders and tipped out for the DJ and stuck it in the safe before heading out to Dionne's station. She would do the final countdown and tip out when the club closed at three.
I noticed her heading toward the door, carrying a box of decorations.
“You gonna be okay?” She asked.
I nodded. “Yeah, I'll be okay.” I tapped the side of the box. “What's this?”
“Stephanie is throwing her aunt a birthday party, and I'm borrowing these decorations.”
I laughed. “Borrowing? And y'all are speaking now.”
“Of course. I knew she'd call eventually.” She smiled. “Come on, I'll walk out with you.”
We moved toward the front door, stopping in the entranceway. Linc was already outside on his phone. The door swung open and a few people blew in with the warm night breeze.
Dionne's freshly detailed black Chevy Camaro sparkled under the lights of the parking lot, the running lights from the marquee bounced off the rims, making the car glow. She hit the remote on her key chain and the car's lights flashed its hello.
She slid the box onto the backseat. “You don't have to go with him. You know that, right?”
“Oh, I'm not. I'm about to get into my car and go to my mother's.”
I handed her the keys the office and club.
“Why don't you come back in and wait for me,” she suggested. “You can keep me company at the bar.”
I looked over at Linc and for a moment I thought about taking her up on her offer, but I really wanted to get back to my mom's. I had a lot to sort out, and I needed to do it without Lincoln hovering over me.
“No, I'll be okay. Once I get back to my mom's, I'll be able to sort out the best way to handle this.”
“Handle what?” she asked.
“I'm leaving. I don't wanna do this anymore.”
She studied me for a moment, waited to see if I was joking or not. “You're serious?”
I blew out some air. “Yes. I'm gonna talk to India tonight. See what I can come up with.”
She smiled. “I'm so glad.”
We walked over to my car and hugged good night. I saw her eyes go to movement behind me; it wasn't long before I felt Lincoln come up behind me.
“We need to go,” he insisted, totally disregarding Dionne. “Now.”
She sucked her teeth. “Call me as
soon
as you get home.”
soon
as you get home.”
She turned and headed back inside the club, leaving me standing there with him.
I hit the button on the remote and unlocked my car doors. “Lincoln, I'm not leaving my car here. I'm going to get Cameron and I will see you at home.”
I shoved my phone into my purse and tossed it onto the front seat, getting ready to climb in my car, hoping he'd take the hint.
Instead, he reached around me and slammed the door closed.
I spun around and looked at him. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“You think I'm playin' with you?” His eyes were intense as he stood in front of me.
I could feel the anger radiating off his body like heat from a fire causing my heart rate to double.
“You know what, you're acting real crazy right now, and I ain't in the mood for it.”
“Ain't in the mood for what?” he demanded through clenched teeth.
“I'm not doing this here.” I tried to turn around to open my car door, but he held the door closed.
I stood there and shook my head in disbelief. “You know what. This is over, Linc. I'm
done
. I'm taking Cameron and I'm moving in with my mother.”
done
. I'm taking Cameron and I'm moving in with my mother.”
I tried to push past him to head back in the club, but he grabbed my arm spinning me around and causing me to drop my keys.
“Let me go!”
He lifted up his shirt, showing me the butt of his Glock tucked in his waistband. “Get in the fuckin' truck, Idalis.”
I kept my eyes on the glass doors that led inside 404 hoping that Dionne would come back out, but she never did.
Linc stayed behind me, waiting as I climbed up in his truck then slammed the door closed. Before I had a chance to clear my clouded vision he was merging his truck onto 285 speeding north.
“Slow down!” I screamed, as the outer perimeter flew by the tinted windows. My plea was met with a backhand that caused my head to slam against the window.
His dash glowed along with the phone in his armrest. He snatched his phone up. “What!”
I watched intently trying to get some sort of feel for what the hell was going on, but he wasn't saying anything and
UNKOWN
flashed across the dashboard screen.
UNKOWN
flashed across the dashboard screen.
“So can you do it or not?” he snapped at whoever was on the other end.
He got quiet as he listened intently to whoever was on the other end.
My blood was coursing through my veins so fast I could hear it pounding in my ears. My head was pounding from hitting the window, I reached up and touched the spot to see if it was bleeding. It wasn't but I could feel the warmth of my blood trickling down the side of my face. I reached up and dabbed at it with the back of my hand.
A scowl spread across his face. “I'll do it myself then. You just let me know when he leaves.”
He tossed his phone back in the armrest.
“Do what Linc?”
“Take care of Supercop once and for all.”
Chapter Twenty-seven
Trip
The text I got telling me to come to the hospital had me on edge.
My mind was racing faster than my truck could slice through the soggy city streets. A wave of showers came through leaving behind humid air quicker than a rapper could wife a stripper.
I caught a glimpse of myself in the rearview mirror. I was doing exactly what I wasn't supposed to be doing, getting caught up with Idalis. She definitely wasn't the same person I'd grown up with, and she definitely didn't trust me the way she used to. There was a time when she would tell me things that India didn't even know. I knew that her relationship with Lincoln wasn't the picture-perfect story that everyone thought it was, long before the first bruise showed up on her brown skin.
But there was nothing I could do, if she didn't want my help.
I didn't know what to expect when I got to Phil's room, but I knew I needed to brace myself for anything. No matter how healthy he was a gunshot wound is still a gunshot wound.
When I bent the corner to the hall leading to Phil's room, I was met by Lenny and a crowd of agents and I immediately thought the worst.
Lenny read the expression on my face and calmed my nerves. “Phil's okay, but we got a bigger problem.”
He turned and started walking toward Phil's room. Instinctively, the other agents and I followed. We all filed into the room. Commander Harris was talking to Phil, who was propped up, and two APD officers, who were standing next to the bed. Their conversation looked serious.
The intense look on everyone's face put me on edge. There were no smiles, nothing jovial about the fact that my partner up and talking after all this time.
I didn't like that.
I directed my attention toward Phil. “About time your lazy ass woke up,” I joked, trying to lighten the atmosphere.
Phil turned, looked at me, and smiled. “About time you got here.”
“What's up, partner? How you feeling?”
“Like I been hit by a truck.”
Lenny spoke up. “Doctor says he's gonna be fine. Should be outta here soon.”
I laughed. “Oh, is that right?”
“Damn right,” Phil answered. “Did you really think I was gonna let you corrupt a new partner?”
Everyone in the room chuckled.
“Look, man, I'm really sorry about not being there for you,” I started to say.
“Partner, I need you to table that shit for right now. I can kick your ass about that later,” Phil retorted with a somber tone.
Lenny's facial expression suddenly changed too. It went from humorous to serious in the blink of an eye. “Spencer, we got a hit on the sketch and some evidence pulled from the last scene.”
I looked at him, waiting for him to fill me in.
Commander Harris spoke up this time. “One of the men found dead at the scene was an APD officer, Nathan Daniels.”
“Undercover?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No. His girlfriend worked at headquarters,” he said.
I dropped my head and let out a sigh. “Let me guess, in the clerk's office.”
“She was found dead this morning along with two others, we believe to be connected with the breach,” the commander said.
“All signs point to it being a hit,” Lenny continued explaining.
I scanned the room. There were too many eyes on me. My body was hot.
Still too much tension for what was supposed to be good news.
There was something they weren't saying.
I felt the muscles in my arms tighten.
“What aren't y'all telling me?”
Lenny took a deep breath. “Briscoe.”
“What about him?” I asked, fire slowly rising up and lapping around my ears.
“He's been flipping the coke from the Four Horseman bust,” Phil said.
I stood there for a second. I felt like I'd missed something. “What did you just say?”
He proceeded to go into the details of what went down at the bust. The more he talked, the angrier I got. I paced the floor as I tried to digest what he was saying, but it wasn't sitting right. I stopped at the window and stared out into the traffic going up and down the street.
I turned around and faced him. “Man, are you sure?”
“Hell
yeah,
I'm sure. His punk ass shot me.”
yeah,
I'm sure. His punk ass shot me.”
“You mean to tell me all this fucking timeâ” I couldn't even finish my sentence.
Commander Harris cut me off. “We already got officers out looking for him to pick him up.”
“Trip you should've told me what was going on with you and Briscoe,” Lenny scolded.
I looked at Lenny. “Would you have taken me off the case if I had?”
Lenny nodded slowly. “Probably.”
“Then there's your answer.”
Lenny spoke; his tone was sympathetic. “I just sent a team to your friend Idalis's house.”
I made a break for the door.
“They better find him before I do.”
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