by Tyora Moody
“Because I didn’t tell her. Don’t you go telling the rest of the family either. I just needed to get this off my chest. Sorry, you’re it!”
Jo sat down in the rocking chair. “Dang, girl. That’s a pretty heavy load to be walking around with on your mind. Do you have any leads?”
She shook her head. “I looked over the footage with Detective Coleman. There was a figure who walked out the elevator. They’re wearing a big coat like what you need to carry a gun. They knew the building and how to avoid the cameras. We’ve been talking to people and I know people know more than what they’re actually saying.”
Jo raised her eyebrow. “Did you say Detective Coleman? That name sounds familiar.”
Asia waved her arm. “He’s new. His partner is Detective Lamb.”
“Ugh, poor guy. Lamb is the worst. He needs to just retire and enjoy his pension.”
“Yeah, well you know Lamb didn’t care about Locklear. He’s not even showing his face for this investigation.”
Jo shook her head. “That’s a shame. He must still have a chip on his shoulder. It was Lamb’s fault that guy got off. That was about four years ago now, right? He knew better than to not preserve the crime scene. And the knife suddenly showing up. He practically gave Adam something to use against him on the stand.”
“Yeah, well he had the nerve to accuse me of killing Adam.”
“What? Has he totally lost his mind? You were probably one Adam’s handful of friends.”
Asia wrinkled her nose. “Friend is a strong word. Plus, he had another female to keep him company these days. Brooke Cannon.”
Jo arched her eyebrow, “You sound jealous.”
Asia jabbed a finger in the air, “Okay, now you’re tripping from a lack of sleep.” She turned and paced the nursery. “You may want to brace yourself for this one.”
Jo responded, “Uh oh.”
“I met Adam’s ex-wife yesterday. I can’t seem to avoid the awkwardness of this situation if I tried. I knew Adam had been married, but I’d never met his kids, and really didn’t know what his life was like. But, it seems he was an average guy in another life.”
“Average? The debonair Adam Locklear was special and I don’t mean in a good way.”
“I know. According to his wife he’d changed over the years. He became this really unlikeable person especially after working under Preston Cannon.” Asia crossed her arms. “You know, as many times as Adam got under my skin, I occasionally saw that good side. Did you know his dad was a minister?”
Jo stretched her eyes, “Wow! They say you never really know a person.”
“Yeah, you’re right about that. The crazy thing is I think Adam was choosing to do the right thing, maybe for the first time in a long time.”
Alisa stirred a bit. Jo had stopped rocking. She pushed her feet to move the chair again. “I’m sorry. I know this must be hard on you. It’s been what, three days? Something will come up soon. Sounds like you’re really grasping at a lot of information though.”
Asia peered over at Alisa. “She’s so sweet and innocent. Born into a crazy world. I feel obsessed and not in a good way with Adam’s life.”
Jo looked at her. “You want answers. Adam may find some way to get you that information.”
“I don’t need him to reach out from the grave.”
“Not creepy like that. I’m just saying don’t lose faith.” Jo yawned. “Let’s let her sleep. Unfortunately, this isn’t going to help us all later when she’s wide awake tonight. I need some coffee.”
“Possibly more like a nap.”
“I have plenty of time for a nap.” Asia followed her to the kitchen. They passed Bryan and BJ who were playing an Xbox game.
Asia commented, “The boys are having fun.”
“Yeah, as long as they don’t get too loud.” Jo grabbed mugs from the cabinet. She poured coffee in both mugs and passed one to Asia. They both walked over to the kitchen table that faced the patio. Asia spent so much time indoors, this was the first time she’d noticed autumn was moving in. During the spring and summer, the patio was plush with green. Now, leaves were piling up and blowing across the concrete area.
Asia hated to break the mood, but she had to ask, “Will you ever return to homicide? You were so good.”
Jo shrugged. “One day I’ll go back. It’s in our blood. The Reeds like to get the bad guys. I kind of miss it. I just don’t need all the craziness right now.”
“I get it. For the first time in a long time, I don’t really like being an ADA.”
Jo’s smile disappeared. “I know it’s rough putting bad guys away, but I’ve never heard you talk like this before. Is Adam’s death bringing all this on?”
“It’s more than Adam. It really started with the Danye Lester case. I wanted to bring that family some justice.”
Jo sighed, “I have to say as a mom of a little boy who’s going to grow up to be profiled, I hoped for once, someone would get punished for taking drastic measures. Officer Lane is not a good cop.”
“I heard that a few times, but we know cops are a tight knit bunch. Nobody was going to rat out their colleague because he’s not a goody two shoes. It burns me that young man ran, and then he reached for his pocket. It was a classic scenario. He was a good kid. If only Officer Lane could have taken a different action besides reaching for his gun.”
They sipped quietly.
Jo broke the silence. “Is Detective’s Coleman’s first name Isaac?”
“Yeah.”
“Is he tall, light-skinned brother?”
Asia nodded. She could picture him vividly in her mind. “Not bad looking at all.”
“I just thought of this. He was the officer-on-duty for a few of my cases. In fact, I want to say his former partner was Officer Lane.”
Asia almost let the warm mug slip from her hand. She stared at her sister. “Are you sure?”
Jo shrugged. “Ask him. I think they were partners. I remember an Officer Isaac Coleman mentioning to me he wanted to move up and become a detective one day. He was really interested in how we gathered evidence.”
“Coleman never mentioned that.” Asia thought about how much she’d revealed to him over the past few days about her relationship with Adam.
Jo shrugged, “Maybe he didn’t want to be associated since he’d moved on in his career. Plus, Officer Lane has been in the spotlight for a few months now.”
“Right?” Asia felt warm all of a sudden.
Jo smiled, “He’s a good-looking guy. Is he married?”
Asia smirked. “He wasn’t wearing a ring that I saw.”
“Mmm, you were looking?”
“I always look, Sis. Now, I plan to do a little digging. I want to know why Coleman never mentioned Officer Lane.”
“Why should it matter? You’re both working on Locklear’s case.”
“Everything matters. You just said ask him.”
Jo sighed. “I didn’t mean ask him right now. Today is Saturday. You’re supposed to be enjoying the weekend, but you’re here obsessing over a case.”
“When have you known me to totally take a weekend off?”
“This time you should. You’re too close to this case. I’m surprised Brandon is letting you do this.”
Asia sat back, “I’m pretty sure he’s going to yank me off eventually. He knows I will find out the information Adam had to share. My boss described me as relentless once. I’m not sure if that was a compliment or not.” Asia stood and took her coffee cup to the sink. “I need to go. It was good seeing you guys this morning. Get some sleep.”
Jo stood, “Where are you going in a hurry? Please don’t be hard on Detective Coleman about the partner thing. The guy I remembered wanted to move on to something new.”
“I get it. I’m going to catch a basketball game.”
“A basketball game?”
“His daughter is playing a game today down at Providence.”
“Are you kidding me? You’re really going to interrup
t the man during his family time?”
“Not interrupt, just ask a few questions.” Like why didn’t he mention Officer Lane. In the past few days, Asia had tired of grown folks not telling the whole truth and holding tight to information.
Chapter 13
Saturday, November 19 at 2:15 p.m.
Asia couldn’t remember the last time she’d been to a live sporting event. It took some time, but Coleman wasn’t hard to spot inside Providence’s gym. Dressed down in a t-shirt and jeans, he was definitely more dad today than detective. She almost turned around thinking maybe she should avoid bothering him at his daughter’s game. It appeared the game was at the end of the second half, and she was already here.
Why am I here?
It wasn’t like her to be impulsive. She tended to think things through, maybe too much. One thing for sure, she was tired of people hiding things the past few days.
Asia looked at the clock, the game was almost over. She scanned the court and observed a bright-skinned girl with a ponytail puff. She wondered if the girl was Coleman’s daughter. Swish. By the looks of the ball hitting the net, she was really good. The time ran down and the crowd on her right side went wild. Asia could no longer see Coleman since most of the crowd were on their feet. She’d headed back towards the parking lot, feeling somewhat foolish. She should’ve stayed at Jo’s a bit longer.
After what seemed like a long time, she finally spotted Coleman. She was right, the girl who threw the last shot was his daughter.
Thinking about her sister’s warning, Asia hung back for a moment and watched Coleman interact with his daughter. She thought back to when she was that age and she’d look for her dad in the stands. Justice Reed was a dedicated cop and often left his wife, Vanessa to be the main sideline supporter.
Okay, Asia, you might as well talk to him. She promised herself to only be a few minutes. If anything, she wanted Coleman’s reaction and then she was gone.
“Coleman, how are you? Is this your daughter?”
Coleman whirled around. He seemed surprised to see her at first, but then a smile spread across his face. “Ms. Reed, I didn’t know you were going to attend the game.”
“Actually, I’m here to ask you a few questions.”
Coleman’s smile disappeared. “Today?”
She added, “It will only take a few minutes, but introduce me to this star player first.”
Coleman’s daughter stared at her. “Thanks. Are you a lawyer? I think I saw you on TV.”
Asia nodded. “I am a lawyer. Asia Reed.” She held out her hand.
Coleman’s daughter shook her hand, “Imani Coleman. I want to be a lawyer when I grow up.”
Coleman looked at his daughter. “I didn’t know that.”
Imani looked at her dad like he didn’t have a clue. “What, you thought I wanted to be a basketball player?”
Asia laughed, “Smart girl. She’s making good plans at a young age. Maybe one day I can show you what I do.”
“That would be awesome. Hey, Dad, I want to go with Tessa and her mom.”
Coleman frowned, “I thought we were headed to have a victory meal.”
“Well, I’m spending the night with Tessa so I may as well go with them now. That will save you the trouble of having to drop me off later.”
Asia noticed a tall, slim girl with exquisite dark skin a few feet away. She also wore her hair in a ponytail puff. They were beautiful girls. Asia eyed Coleman to see his reaction.
He hesitated, “I guess you have a point. I expect you to be in church tomorrow. We can have brunch after service. That sound like a plan?”
“You’re the best, Dad.” Imani hugged her dad and he hugged her back.
Coleman watched his daughter run off with her friend towards a waiting van. Asia assumed the woman waving back was the mom. Coleman waved before turning around to face her. He appeared sorrowful, like he’d lost something precious.
She cleared her throat, “I’m sorry if I messed up your plans. I really just had a few questions.”
“It’s fine. I’m pretty sure my daughter wanted to hang out with her friends all this time. She’s not a little girl anymore and hanging out with Dad isn’t cool.”
“I don’t know, I’m sure she’s glad to have you in the stands. I remember being on the court looking for my dad. I would see my mom with my younger siblings, but wondered if my dad would make it.”
“I didn’t know you played ball, Counselor.”
“Yeah, can’t say I stay as athletic these days. Funny how my siblings and I took up law enforcement. Looks like your daughter wants to do the same.”
“Yeah, I guess I’m not as tuned in as I thought. Now that you’re here, shall we grab a bite to eat? Then you can ask me your questions that couldn’t seem to wait until Monday.”
Asia grimaced. “I’m sorry. How about I follow you?”
Even though it worked out with his daughter going off with a friend, she felt like she’d invaded Coleman’s personal time. She followed him a few blocks to Applebee’s. Coleman stood waiting for her at the door. She asked, “Was this where you and your daughter were going?”
“Her favorite place.” He held the door open for her.
Awkward.
A bubbly teen came up and asked, “Are the two of you dining with us today?”
“Yes.” They both spoke at the same time.
They followed the host back to a booth, and Asia wondered why she just didn’t ask her questions and go. Eating lunch together wasn’t in the plan. Of course, she’d left Jo’s house with no plan other than to find Coleman. She really didn’t do well with not thinking things through.
They sat and perused the menus for a while. Asia ordered an iced tea, and Coleman ordered a Coke. When the server walked away with their orders, he asked, “Are your questions about the Locklear case?”
She glanced out the window before addressing his question. “More about your former partner. I was talking to my sister, Jo, this morning. She remembered when you were an officer.”
He narrowed his eyes, as if he wasn’t sure about her angle. He finally spoke, “Your sister was encouraging. She let me see how detectives processed the scene.”
“How come the other day when we talked about going to see Officer Lane, you didn’t mention you were partners?”
Coleman placed his hands on the table in front of him as though he was bracing himself. “I don’t know. A lot of reasons.” He shrugged. “I don’t like the guy. He was, in many ways, a worse partner than Lamb. Lamb just ignores me which is fine with me. Lane was a bit of a bully. Not that he got in my way. I didn’t take anything from him. He didn’t like it, but he had to respect it. I saw the way he treated other guys like he was some demi-god or something.”
“None of them would say anything about his character other than he was a good cop. Do you think he was probably over aggressive with pulling the gun on Danye Lester?”
“I wasn’t there, Ms. Reed. Events showed Officer Lane pulled the gun in self-defense. Unfortunately, your folks let Lane off the hook if there was something different.”
Asia sat back in her seat. That stung.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say it like that.”
“No, you’re right. We looked at the Facebook video. The way Officer Lane approached and how he talked seemed like he was capturing a kid who’d ran himself into a corner. You guys are trained to take people down without having to shoot, but Danye reached for his pocket.”
“That’s right. The kid ran. He got to a wall that he couldn’t scramble across fast enough. And—”
“A cell phone. That’s all that was in his pocket.”
“Officer Lane isn’t the world’s greatest cop, but he didn’t know. You grew up in this world. Your dad. Your sister. They have to think fast or be killed.”
“I know. I’ve been over all of this more times than I wanted to.” She observed the waitress approaching with steaming plates. Coleman had ordered steak with a skewer of shrimp,
while she opted for a chicken salad.
They ate in silence for a while before she asked another question. “In what ways did Officer Lane bully? Is there a chance the story wasn’t told truthfully?”
Coleman chewed thoughtfully. “I thought you were on the Locklear case now?”
“Locklear was Officer Lane’s lawyer. You said in your findings he was the last client Locklear saw.”
“Are you trying to connect him to Locklear now? The charges were dropped. They were finished with each other.”
“When are you going to ask him about his last visit with Adam? Maybe he noticed something.”
Coleman studied her. “You want to get Lane on something?”
She shook her head, “No, that’s not what I’m doing here. I want to know what was said. Keep in mind when Locklear called me, he had to still be at Lane’s house or maybe he’d just left, but this was right after the press conference.” Asia leaned in, “Here is another question for you. How was Officer Lane able to afford Locklear on his salary? Locklear’s clientele were normally pretty wealthy people.”
Coleman paused.
Asia could see when the light went on his eyes.
He finally responded, “I don’t know. Maybe Adam took him on for the challenge. You said he never won a case against you. Suppose he thought he could on this one.”
Asia pulled her napkin out of her lap and placed it on the table. “No. Adam wasn’t that desperate. He liked to get paid.”
The waitress came with the check and handed it to Coleman.
“I can get mine.”
Coleman looked at her, “I can afford to take care of the check.”
“Touché.” She waited as Coleman swiped his credit card on the table register. After he signed the receipt, he looked at her. “Since we seem to be working, you want to talk to Officer Lane?”
“Now?”
“I know where we can find him if you want to lay your mind to rest. Just know Sundays are off limits for me. After today, I’ll see you again on Monday.”
She smiled. “I’m not a heathen who works all the time. I just needed to know…”