Juicy: The Complete Series (37 page)

Cringing and clenching my teeth, I tugged on Mindy’s shoulder turning her over onto her back. Her eyes were closed and puffy, but the most damning evidence that she was dead, was
the long ass knife sticking out of her chest in the area of her heart. The back of the couch cushion was covered, drenched in blood.

My eyes shifted to the floor and area around her, recognizing that I had missed the tiny
speckles of blood splatter all around. I was so wrapped up in my own drunkenness that I didn’t even notice the crime scene in front of me. I started to freak out, panicking and panting, feeling like I was going to faint. Had I killed this bitch?

My heart pounded as if the police were at the door already, knowing what to expect to find inside. Then my eyes followed the knife handle down to her chest, finding a note that was carved out with magazine cutout letters. My mouth dropped as my eyes widened at the
message it held.

Still mortified by the display before me, a sense of
relief covered me as I was reassured that I hadn’t done this. But, the pounding that I thought was my heart was actually rumbling that came from the front door. I could hear a voice loudly asking for whoever was inside to open the door, or they’d be forced to break it down.

I had to get out of there and fast. Thankfully, I had everything I needed already in my pockets from sleeping in my clothes last night. I snatched the note and my jacket, and then quietly dipped out the back door. As I eased down the back stairs and out the back gate, I opened the note again. I stared down at it as if it would magically change to read that this all was one big joke or a nightmare that I could quickly wake up from.

Unfortunately, it didn’t change, and it never would. As much as I wanted to rip the note up into pieces, and allow the wind to hysterically carry it far, far away from me, I couldn’t. I knew that the note and the words that it held would prove to be somehow useful to me in figuring out who killed Mindy. Instead, I stuffed it into my pocket, while allowing the words to replay over and over in my brain.

You broke my heart. Now it’s time I broke yours
…

Later that morning

Superior

“We need to talk." Andrew tickled his fingers across the delicate skin of my shoulder, dancing them down my arm.

"No talking now. I'm too busy sleeping," I responded; a bit agitated from the night before of bumpy sore sex.

“We just need to be on the same page here. I need to make sure that you and I both agree on the same thing. No confusions.” He patted my booty over the sheets good-naturedly.

“Look, Andrew. We’ve been over this a million times. We’re airtight, okay? There’s no need to worry about any of this. I got you, and you’ve got me right?” I asked with hopes that I would be able to drift back off to sleep without more of his third degree.

The room grew
silently. My eyes closed as a sigh of relief escaped from between my lips. Even though I was tired, I could no longer sleep. My brain kept replaying all kinds of things over and over again in my head and even though I wanted to be done with Lex, I just couldn’t stop thinking about her.

Even then, the level of
hurt she kept sending me through was unforgivable, especially since she was acting like she didn’t seem to give a fuck about us being apart. Andrew was willing to move hell and high water for me so I would have to forever keep my feelings for Lexi a secret. But, all I wanted to do was lay around in her arms once more.

“Yeah. Yeah, I got you. But Superior, don’t fuck me over, okay? My heart couldn’t take some shit like that.” His lips smacked together as I rolled my eyes.

“Mmm, hmm. I hear you.” My lips puckered in sarcasm as he lovingly kissed my back.

The man couldn’t fuck worth a damn,
and he could barely eat pussy, but as long as I came, I was good on that end. As far as I was concerned, I would fake it as long he made it worth my while, and enough not to have to pretend like his dick was working magic.

The multiple orgasms he thought I
was having while he was fucking me would continue to be an act so long as he did what I told him to do, kept me out of jail, and spent every last dime on me. He had taken care of me so well these past few days that I didn’t even want to go back to the club anymore. It seemed like a waste of time.

“So, are you going to tell me how much you won in the lottery yet or do you still not trust me?” I smirked.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, baby. I just don’t understand why you need that information. Why is it so important to you?” His strong hands massaged my aching muscles, exuberantly. 

“Because, I need to know that you can hold true to your promises of taking care of me for the rest of our lives. Seriously, all that talk is cheap if I don’t know you can back it up, especially since you whisper marriage in my ear every chance you get,” I countered, emphatically.

“Oh baby, I wouldn’t sell you a dream if I couldn’t make it a reality. You’ve just gotta trust and believe in me,” he said as he stroked my curly locks from the top of my head all the way down to where they ended on my lower back.

“Well, until I find security in knowing that, I’m going to continue to shake my ass in front of whatever man pays the
right price at The Lab. No use in losing a sure thing for something I’m not too sure of.” I could feel the heat emanating off of him as the words flew from my mouth.

“Yeah, baby. Tell him that you could never leave that place. Once a hoe always a hoe,” Lexi smiled as she stepped slowly in the room with her hands folded.

“What the fuck?” I jumped up, pulling my sheets to cover my bare, naked tits from her sight, even though she already knew what my beauties looked like. “What the fuck are you doing here, Lexi?”

Deep down inside I was overly excited to see her since I was just thinking about her. I wanted to touch her. I wanted to drop my sheets and allow her hands to search my body as they had done many times before. But, I knew that wouldn’t happen, not with Andrew pulling me so damn close to his body.

I choked it up to his police training, but he was holding me so close that it was almost impossible to move. She stared down at our guilty faces, already knowing what we had done. I felt as if all the blood had rushed from my face, leaving me so pale that I was embarrassed to look up into her eyes.

“I could be asking you the same thing, but looking at you scrimmage for clothing, it’s all too obvious,” Lexi said as she approached the bed.

“Just get the fuck outta here, alright. You are not even supposed to be here. Leave my got damn keys on the kitchen counter and get the fuck outta here,” I snapped, noticing my words were falling on deaf ears.

“I think you need to do what she says, Lexi. Alright? We don’t want any trouble and if you leave now there won’t be.” Andrew said, butting in.

“Why are you even talking? This shit has nothing to do with you. And…don’t I know you from somewhere?” Lexi’s eyes squinted as her head tilted slightly.

“No. I don’t believe so.” Andrew stood, bending his exposed ass cheeks in Lexi’s direction before sliding on his plaid boxers.

“Hmm. Naw, I do. I just can’t put my finger on it. But it’ll come to me,” she chuckled, deviously.

“Again, I ask, why the fuck are you here?” I shoved her shoulders hard as I slipped on Andrew’s polo shirt, allowing the oversized shirt to flop on against my body.

“You know what you did, Superior. I’m not about to play these bitch ass games with you.” Her hand reached up like she was about to slap me, but retreated at the last second when her eyes locked onto Andrew’s. “Fuck this shit. You got your raggedy ass boyfr—“

She walked out of the room before pausing midstride in the hallway. Her silence was so eerie that it sent chills up and down my spine. I had never seen her so at a lost for words. She turned, faced me, and stared firmly into my eyes. I could hear Andrew stepping forward to get a listen in, awaiting the words after Lexi’s gasp. She covered her mouth before looking up at him with a look of confusion written across her face.

“You set me up. You hate me that much that you and this prick set me the fuck up,” Lexi snarled, charging and pointing towards him as I held her back, trying to push her forward into the living room.

“Stop it. You’re acting crazy, Alexis. Nobody set you up, okay? I don’t even know what the fuck you’re talking about.” I shoved her against the wall next to the front door, sending the hint that she needed to leave.

“Alexis? Alexis Burden?” Andrew walked into the room, slowly. “Sister of the dead Burden girls, correct?”

I gradually closed my eyes and opened them just in time to see Lexi drop and shake her head.
After saying her entire government, the look on her face told me she knew exactly who he was. She raised her eyes back up to me with a sly smirk perched upon her face. I couldn’t say anything; much less breathe as he moved in closer to the both of us.

“Officer…”

“Officer Jacobs. Yes, I’m the one who busted your sister Pandora. I’m sorry for your losses,” he said in a monochromatic tone. “We are still looking for Pandora’s killer. Did you know they had been looking for the next of kin to bury them? Did you know they were dead?”

“Why do your questions sound more like accusations?” Lexi asked, crossing her arms once more.

“No reason. Why? Do you feel guilty about something?” Andrew sucked his teeth before joining her in a defensive pose.

“How dare you stand there and accuse me of killing my sisters? They were the only ones I had. They were all I had in this world,
and I loved them more than life itself.” Lexi looked as if tears were building up in the crevices of her eyes.

“
Alright enough. Lexi, leave my motherfucking keys and get out. Andrew, just go back in the room, and we’ll talk later. I will handle this,” I demanded, scolding them each like school children.

“Yeah,
gon’ back in the room like a good little bitch,” Lexi taunted, shooting him a look of pure disgust.

“Lexi, stop it. Just go, please.”

“No, I’m not going anywhere. Not until you tell me why you’re trying to frame me by killing that damn girl. I thought she was your friend,” Lexi sneered, furiously.

“What? Who got killed? Oh, my God, Lexi, what did you do?” I punched her in the chest.

“I didn’t do shit. You killed her, didn’t you?” She took out a small, folded piece of paper from her pocket, and waved it in my face.

“No, no. I didn’t kill no—“ I paused, and gasped abruptly after reading the crafted message, immediately knowing
whom she was talking about. “Oh, my fucking God! What the hell happened to Mindy?”

Lexi stood there with a blank stare. She didn’t move and the way her shoulders tensed up when I asked the question, made it look like she wasn’t breathing either. I had no idea what the hell she was talking about. I hadn’t killed anyone and even if I had the balls to kill; I wouldn’t have killed the one woman who looked out for me all these years.

Yeah, I was jealous that Lexi was probably lying up with her every single night giving her that good stuff that I used to get, but it was not deep enough for murder.

“You didn’t?” she questioned, solemnly.

I couldn’t speak, only shaking my head in response.

“Oh shit, I gotta go.” Her hand quickly reached for the door as I pulled on the other one, silently begging for her to stay. “Naw. You stay here with your new man and your new life. It’s what you’ve always dreamed of. Remember?”

“It’s not and you know it’s not.” A single tear formed and fell down my right cheek.

“I’m no good to you right now. I’ve gotta find out who did this before the feds come looking for me. If they
find me, I know I’m going down.” She licked her lips, moistening them reminding me of how sexy they were.

“Wait. What can I do? You know, to help?” I bit my bottom lip nervously, still hanging on to her arm.

Unconsciously, I didn’t want to let go. I didn’t want her to walk out the door, and I never see her again. If someone would kill Mindy, then they would undoubtedly kill her if the situation called for that. But, right now they were only trying to hurt her, and at the very most get her locked up for one reason, or another.

I didn’t need Lexi. In fact, she was too toxic to my life with her cheating ways and heart breaking issues. But, I wanted her so badly that I could taste every salty bit of her in my mouth. It was a taste I longed for, yearned for every minute. I’ve never felt a love deeper than what I felt for her.

“Keep that nigga up off me while I figure this shit out.” She looked back towards the room before kissing me quickly on my lips. It was so sweet and so sensual.

“I got you,” I told her.

She headed out the door without so much as a salutation. I wanted to put my clothes on and follow her just in case she needed help, but I knew I would fair much better keeping my distance. A part of me wondered what the hell was going on while another part of me mentally mourned Mindy’s death.

I couldn’t imagine who would want to hurt either of them in that way, let alone who had the balls to commit murder. Soon after, my thoughts quickly shifted to Jesse. He had all the motive in the world to kill Mindy, from the rumors going around the club that he was tired of her walking around the joint acting like she owned the place.

“Hey baby. I’ve gotta go do that thing. But you stay here and figure out where you want to go for dinner tonight. I’ll be home tonight.” Andrew kissed my cheek as he waltzed out of the room into the hallway, meeting me as he lifted his shirt from my body.

“Huh? I thought we were sleeping in today.”

“Yeah, but I’ve gotta go investigate a murder in my jurisdiction. I’ve gotta go.”

“Andrew, why do you keep working if you’re rich now? Detectives don’t make that much money anyway,” I said as I rubbed my hands across his six-pack tenderly.

“I told you, baby. I love my job. Besides, I’ve only got $300,000 dollars left, and I really want to use that to invest in some sort of lucrative business. You remember me telling you all this. I need to create a future for us baby.”

My heart stopped when I heard the amount of money he had stored away somewhere. “Oh, wow. Thanks for finally telling me.”

“I want you to know that what we have is real to me.” He leaned down to give my forehead a sweet peck, clenching my cheeks in the process. “I’ll be back soon. Call me if you need me.”

“Okay, I will.” I sighed, not wanting him to leave since that would force me to break my promise to Lexi. “Be safe.”

The only thing I could think to do was to get dressed and go find Lexi. If he went to the crime scene at Mindy’s place then he would no doubt find her belongings there and with a snoop, he could easily pin the murder on her. I needed to find her to warn her that soon the cops would be on her ass like white on rice.

As I slipped my jeans on, the number Andrew spat at me replayed like a broken record inside of my head. With that kind of money, I could retire in Maui and never be seen or heard from again. It was so tantalizing that I damn near salivated all over the hoodie I was sliding onto my torso.

I hadn’t heard or seen that much money ever in my life. He was proving to be a smart man; he knew exactly what he needed to say to put the icing on the cake and keep me wrapped up under him.