Shadow of Death (27 page)

A clip of Lawrence, dressed in an Orville Redenbacher-like suit, appeared onscreen.

“What advice do you have for your client?”
one reporter asked.

“To call me so we can make arrangements for him to turn himself in and deal with this situation the legal way.”

“Mr. Murphy, you have a reputation for accepting only those clients you strongly believe are innocent. Why do you think Mr. Evans has chosen to go on the run if he's not guilty?”

“That's a question only Mr. Evans will be able to answer. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have no further comments.”

The newscasters in the studio came back on.

“In an interesting twist, we learned this morning that the lead investigator, Detective Donald Nugent, has been removed from the case reportedly for failing to disclose a relationship that he had with the murdered victim, Cheryl Hunter. An anonymous tip and photos were sent to the police chief.”

Larry…
Troy thought to himself and smiled.

“We reached out to Detective Nugent who declined to comment. It's important to note that legally, Detective Nugent hasn't done anything wrong. This is a sensitive case and the department wants to make sure
it's investigated objectively without bias. We've also learned that William
Engelmann, the manager of the gym where Troy Evans narrowly escaped
authorities, has not been heard from in over a week. Employees say they thought he was out of town as Engelmann has been known to take spur-of-the-moment trips, but loved ones say that he would have never gone this long without touching base with someone. Authorities aren't saying why they want to talk to Engelmann or if he's linked to the murder case.
However, they are asking anyone with information about William En
gelmann or Troy Evans to call 614-555-TIPS. You can remain anonymous.”

Though he was still mentioned as the prime suspect, watching the news gave Troy a glimmer of hope. The cops were now also looking for Will and maybe, just maybe, they would catch up with him, and Troy would finally be cleared.

T
roy tried unsuccessfully to contact Lloyd and tell him about the meeting with Rio. He left a message, hoping the television/movie fanatic would pose as “Jermaine” so Troy could sneak up behind Rio without the concern of being recognized by the deejay. Plus, he needed a ride to the location. Public transportation was too risky. Being in public, in general, was a big risk, but Troy had to find out the extent of Rio's involvement. He wouldn't be able to do so by phone.

As it got closer to his meeting time, Troy enacted another plan. After eating the burger and fries Eric had been kind enough to bring home for dinner, Troy timidly asked if he could borrow Eric's car after calling the restaurant and leaving a cancellation message for Rio. The quirky pastor was all too eager to help as long as Troy promised to keep the playing of secular music to a minimum. Of all the things Eric could have been concerned about, Troy wondered how in the world music had made the top of the list. He got the keys to Eric's Taurus and headed to the meeting.

Troy sat outside the bar and grill where he'd arranged to meet Rio and waited for him to arrive. Troy had chosen this location because it was busy with a lot of college students who would be too caught up in their own worlds to pay close attention to him. Once Troy witnessed Rio go inside, he pulled the Taurus in front of Rio's car and got out, knowing he'd only have a few minutes before his plan was set into action. Concealed in a baseball cap and sunglasses, Troy knelt down pretending to work on his tire. As expected, Rio soon came out, asking how long he'd be. Troy kept his head down as he responded, “Hopefully not more than ten or fifteen minutes. Would you mind giving me a hand? It'll speed up the process.”

Rio's impatience rang loud and clear through his heavy sigh as he bent down to help. As soon as Troy lifted his head, Rio's eyes danced with fear and Troy could tell immediately that the deejay had recognized him. With his gun pointed in the young man's direction, Troy ordered him to slowly get up and get behind the wheel while he himself slid into the backseat. Having a third party drive Eric's car wasn't something the two had discussed. Luckily, it hadn't been one of Eric's concerns. The pastor would be pleased to know that Troy didn't have any secular music floating through his airways. “Try anything funny and I will blow out your brains,” he said to the dude before instructing him to drive to a nearby park. Rio tried to plead his way out of the situation by playing clueless, but Troy wasn't having it. “Where's Will?”

“I don't know. I haven't seen him since the last time I saw you at the gym. When I left, he was in the parking lot talkin' to some short chick with long hair. They were arguing about something. Will left and she got into a black truck.”

Troy was certain Rio was speaking of Cheryl and it confirmed his suspicions about Will's involvement. “What was your role in setting me up for Cheryl's murder?”

“Man, I don't know nuthin' about no murder, I swear.”

Troy pressed the gun harder into Rio's skull. “My patience tank is low. Start talking or I will pull the trigger.”

“You're a cop, man, you can't do that.”

“Not anymore. Thanks to you and your buddies, I'm thought to be a murderer. What's one more body when my best-case scenario is life in prison?”

Like an accomplice offered a reduced sentence for turning State's evidence, the hard-edged-looking thug sang like a bird. Rio revealed that he'd been approached one day at the gym and offered five hundred dollars and eighty hours of personal training services to keep an eye on Troy whenever he was there. If Heidi, the employee Troy met yesterday, had not told him about Rio getting the most hours of personal training, Troy probably would not have believed him. Still, he questioned Rio's common sense. “That didn't sound weird to you?”

“I didn't ask no questions, man. I was just trynna hit a quick lick. I got a felony on my record and ain't nobody trynna hire a brotha. He said it was a quick hustle and if you confronted me, to play it off like you were being paranoid.”

“Who's ‘he'? Will?”

“Naw, the old guy that's always there flirtin' wit' all the females.”

“Charlie?”

“Yeah, that's him. He would text me when you were on your way to the gym and tell me to come.”

Troy wondered how Charlie was able to keep up with his whereabouts, but then he remembered Lloyd's theory of them planting something in his phone while at the gym. That made sense considering how much Cheryl had known about him. His insides smoldered at the thought of his privacy being invaded to such an extent. “Tell me what else you know.” Troy tapped Rio's head with the tip of the gun as if that would jog his memory.

“That's it, man. I promise. Charlie paid me and hooked me up at the gym. I did what I was supposed to do and went about my business.”

When questioned about taking the pictures at the motel and draining all the money out of his and Natalie's accounts, Rio didn't know anything. Thus, Troy was led to believe that it was either Will or Charlie whose image was in the background of the motel pictures and, if Troy was a betting man, he'd put his money on Charlie since he always wore baseball caps. Troy was starting to piece everything together now. Rio had been used as a pawn so that if Troy began to suspect anyone at the gym, it would be him. But, the way it was all looking, it seemed like Charlie was the front man, Will took care of things at the gym, and Cheryl and Chyanne worked behind the scenes. Suddenly, another revelation hit him!
“I bet they also had eyes on you,”
Lloyd had said, and exactly whose eyes had become painfully obvious as similarities between Cheryl and his neighbor were becoming more apparent. Both were petite with a similar skin complexion and long hair. Ann was thirty-six this time last year, which meant she was now thirty-seven. Forty-six, Cheryl's age, minus nine was thirty-seven, the exact age Cheryl's sister would be!

To top it off, the view of Troy's place was crystal clear from across the street at Ann's house. Then, there was Charlie who'd become a frequent visitor of Ms. Harrow's, if that was even her real last name. Both she and Charlie had plenty of opportunities to keep track of his comings and goings. The final element that stitched it all together for Troy was that Ann was at the gym yesterday when he arrived, giving her the perfect chance to call the police and plant the knife in his truck, thanks to the broken alarm!

Troy's first thought was that he was glad RJ had gotten his family safely out of the house. Troy hadn't confirmed it with RJ, but he knew his friend to be a family man himself and Troy trusted that RJ had taken care of things. Troy's second thought was to expose Ann/Chyanne and friends for the murdering, greedy hustlers they were. Troy assumed that Will had taken off because he either had not known about the entire plan to set him up and kill Cheryl or had gotten cold feet about enacting it. The latter would explain why Will had wanted to talk to Troy. Perhaps Will had been trying to warn him after realizing that he'd gotten in with the criminals way over his head. Troy was determined that every last one of them would be held accountable for their actions. To do so, he needed the help of another new friend.

A
fter he'd gotten all the information from Rio, which he learned was short for Mario, Troy made him get out of the car. He left him at the park, telling the dude to use the several-mile hike to think about his future and how he needed to be careful about “quick licks” if he didn't' want to find himself back in the pen. Troy also warned him that his life could be in danger and that he should lay low for a while. Mario was receptive to Troy's advice and even offered a “my bad” apology for the unsuspecting role he'd played in Troy's trouble. Overall, he seemed like a good kid who'd made some bad life choices that came with the consequence of incarceration. If Troy was in a Boy Scout Big Brother sort of mood, he would have taken the time to hear Mario's story. But, he wasn't. He was in a problem-solving mode, ready to crack a case and be reunited with his family.

On his way back to Eric's, Troy tried calling the number he'd gotten for Charlie from the deejay only to learn it was disconnected. Once again, he tried calling Lloyd, still to no avail. He tried not to let his thoughts go wild with speculations about Lloyd's character. The guy had helped him and if Lloyd was in cahoots with Troy's conspirators, Troy was certain that he'd find himself in jail right now.

Eric was kneeling in the “sanctuary” when Troy arrived. Troy tiptoed past him into the den where he used Eric's laptop to look up the number to the gym, hoping Shay would be there. He was disappointed and surprised when someone else answered, but he asked for Shay anyhow.

“No, I'm covering her shift. Is there something I can help you with?” the lady asked.

“This is Detective Coleman. I was one of the officers there yesterday during the incident with Troy Evans.” That wasn't a
total
lie. “We're still searching for Mr. Evans. It's my understanding that he and Miss Donovan were friends and I need to speak with her. Is there any way you can give me her contact information?”

It didn't take much prodding, if any, for the lady to cave. She was spooked by the murder accusations flying around and basically said to h-e-double hockey sticks with company policy. Within minutes, Troy had Shay's cell phone number. He thanked her for her cooperation with the “investigation” and hung up just as Eric came into the room.

“How was your meeting?”

“Good. I have a new lead to follow. I'm pretty certain I know who it is that set me up.”

“Praise God! I'm glad I took the time to fast and pray for you while you were away.”

Praying, Troy could see, but
fasting…
was it really that deep? He hadn't been gone that long. Plus, he and Eric had eaten less than two hours before he left.

“Sometimes I have an evening snack,” Eric explained, likely because Troy's perplexity couldn't be masked. “I skipped it tonight so I could spend time with the Lord and intercede on your behalf.”

“Thank you,” Troy said hesitantly, not knowing what the appropriate response should be. He questioned if it was the right one because silence ensued afterward.

“Well, I'll get out of your hair so you can get back to what you were doing. I look forward to our devotional and prayer time tomorrow.”

Oh, yeah…that.
“Me, too,” Troy replied and immediately dialed Shay as soon as Eric left. Caught off guard by the professional, yet sultry voice of the woman who answered, Troy glanced at the number he'd written down, comparing it with the one he dialed. “Um, hi, I was trying to reach Shay Donovan. Do I have the right number?”

“Yes. May I ask who's calling?”

He thought for a moment. Jermaine Coleman wouldn't get her to the phone if she was screening calls. But, he knew what would. “Tell her it's Southie.”

There was a muffled sound of noise before Shay's voice came gushing through the phone. “Oh, my gawd, Troy! What's goin' on? 'Da PoPo were at 'da gym questionin' er'body yesterday. 'Dey called today wantin' me to come to some lineup, but I told 'em I didn't see nuttin' and I don't know nuttin' about nuttin'! I didn't tell 'em we was spose to meet at 'da gym or anything 'bout Will. I didn't know if I should tell 'em 'bout whatchu said 'bout Will, but I did tell 'em you ain't no killer, though. I been callin' yo' phone and it keeps goin' to voicemail. I been so worried 'bout you. You all right? Where you at? You need me to come gitchu?”