Devilish Details (36 page)

“We let you ride to keep her calm. But you
have to sanitize yourself,” the EMT said softly.

“Yeah, don’t let that funky sweat drip on
me,” Jazz mumbled.

“Smart ass.” Byron grinned at her, relief
easing the furrows in his brow.

“I sign your checks,” she said, her voice
came out low and scratchy. “What happened to you?”

“Dudes jumped me and...”

“No talking for now,” the EMT ordered.

Jazz didn’t protest because she couldn’t. A
soft darkness pulled her in a hole as her eyes closed. When she
woke again, Willa and Don leaned over her from opposite sides.
Willa gently touched her arm seconds later. Don’s taught expression
relaxed in relief. Jazz tried to talk around the cotton in her
mouth, realized it was her tongue and grimaced. A cup with a straw
appeared in Willa’s hand and Jazz drank.

“Unless we at the funeral home, I think
y’all oughta look a bit happier,” Jazz managed.

“Ten minutes only, please,” a crisp voice
said and the door whisked shut.

“The nurse,” Willa replied to the
questioning gaze Jazz shot at her.

“Byron?” Jazz looked from Willa to Don.

“He’s fine. Two guys jumped him on the way
back for his little stake out. He fought them off for a good ten
minutes before we showed,” Don rumbled. “You two need a good long
lecture on playing cop.”

“Oh she’ll be hearing from me,” Willa put in
firmly. She kissed Jazz’s forehead.

“Lorraine?”

“You managed to plug her shooting wild.
Well, we’ll find out for sure once we do the ballistic. I don’t
think she was hit by one of the officers though,” Don said.

Jazz raised her head, but Willa pushed her
back. “Is she...”

“Not dead. She’s in critical but stable
condition. She’ll make it to trial,” he replied.

Willa gently tucked a blanket around Jazz.
“Tyretta is talking non-stop. She’s trying to get a deal. Girl,
Lorraine...”

“Is the top gangsta,” Jazz broke in.
“Lorraine kept that nice and quiet. I’ll bet anyone who found out
ended up dead.”

“We’re gonna clean up the trash, get those
thugs off the streets. We’re rounding up her crew now. I’ll bet we
solve some drive-bys and more.” Don gave a satisfied grunt at the
solid police work ahead, the reason he loved his job.

Jazz looked at him. “There’ll be plenty of
young dudes ready to take their place. I bet some guy is makin’
moves to be the next leader right now.”

“Yeah, but I’ll worry about them later.”

Willa smiled down at her. “Hey, let’s get to
the good news. Phillips says the charges will likely be dropped in
the next few days. The police have to submit the results of their
investigation of course but with Tyretta being so very cooperative,
you’re in the clear.”

“The city is backing off closing you down,
too. Your big time suspect is linked to the complaints they got.
They don’t want the publicity.” Don’s grin indicated he played a
role.

“Since you didn’t get yourself killed, I
won’t fuss too much about the chances you took,” Willa added with a
scowl. “Okay, before time is up, I’m going to let Mikayla and
Anthony set eyes on you. They imagined the worst.”

“Okay,” Jazz said with a sigh as she watched
Willa hurry out. “I hate the kids being scared like that.”

Don leaned his long frame down and kissed
her softly on the lips. He drew back to stare into her eyes.
“Promise me you’re gonna become a regular boring girlfriend from
now on.”

Jazz blinked at him in a rare moment of
speechlessness. All she could get out was a weak, “Okay.”

“I’m consider that a sworn oath. Now I gotta
move. I’m on desk duty, but they need me to help with the
investigation. Oh, you’ll be happy to know Armand decided I’m not
throwing my career down the toilet. Y’all might be pals in a
minute.” Don gave a deep hearty laugh at the expression Jazz put
on.

“Not sure I wanna be his buddy,” Jazz
wisecracked. She accepted a goodbye kiss with a smile.

Anthony and Mikayla came in looking just as
terrified as Willa had said they were. Her nephew tried to look
brave, but Jazz saw him examining her bandages. Mikayla looked on
the verge of tears as she approached the hospital bed. Soon they
were smiling as Jazz joked around to show them she wasn’t headed
for the grave. The nurse came in to politely but firmly usher them
out. She allowed Willa a few minutes longer.

“You’re coming to my house,” Willa said. “I
don’t want to hear it.”

“Please ask your aunt not to sing so loud
this time,” Jazz retorted with a roll of her eyes. Then she smiled
with affection at her big sister.

With her family reassured and gone, Jazz
settled against the surprisingly comfortable hospital pillows. The
television set high over her was on a bland nature show, the sound
muted. Her eyes drifted shut in the cushioned quiet enforced by
nurses. She started when the door eased open.

MiMi slipped in sideways like she was used
to sneaking around hospitals. She sat down in a chair near the bed.
“They can’t keep me out.”

“Damn, MiMi. I’ve gotten into enough trouble
already. Don’t get me kicked out of the hospital,” Jazz blurted
out. Then she laughed until it hurt. Literally. Still she couldn’t
help it. MiMi looked like a Black American Princess burglar in
designer clothes.

“Shh, keep it down. I just wanted to see how
you were doing for myself. That stiff old nurse can’t tell me what
to do.” MiMi sniffed. “So you’re feeling better?”

“Oh yeah, since I’m off the hook for murder.
Best freakin’ medicine in the world.” Jazz raised an eyebrow at
her. “And?”

“Hmm, what do you mean ‘and’? I came to
check on my friend.” MiMi brushed back her long hair. A few seconds
went by as she examined her fingernails. “So those notebooks might
tell us where Lorraine hid a lot of money or how much she stole
from Filipe...”

Jazz managed to raise
her uninjured arm and clap a hand over her eyes. “Oh, hell no. Here
we go again.”

* * * * *

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Mix knowledge of voodoo, Louisiana politics
and forensic social work with the dedication to write fiction while
working each day as a clinical social worker, and you get a
snapshot of author Lynn Emery. Lynn has been a contributing
consultant to the magazine Today’s Black Woman for three articles
about contemporary relationships between black men and women. She
sold her first novel in 1995 to Kensington publishing for their
groundbreaking Arabesque line.
NIGHT MAGIC
went on to be
recognized for Excellence in Romance Fiction by
Romantic Times
Magazine
. Her third novel,
AFTER ALL
, became a movie
produced by BET. Holly Robinson Peete stars as Michelle Toussaint,
an investigative television reporter. In 2004 Lynn won
three coveted Emma Awards. She was chosen Author of
the Year and her novel
KISS
LONLEY GOODBYE
won Best Novel and Favorite
Hero.
GOOD WOMAN BLUES was nominated for
the Romantic Times Best Mainstream Multicultural of
2005

www.lynnemery.com