Bad Cop

by Linda Verji

  “What makes you think that?”

  “Remember how I was?” His eyes met hers. “I probably would’ve gotten you pregnant then ditched you or something….

  “No, you wouldn’t,” Jasmine retorted. “You weren’t as bad as you’re making yourself out to be. You would never have ditched me, and we would’ve made it somehow.’

  “Angel, I was bad news back then.” Exasperation in his tone, he reminded her, “My life was heading to the bin, and I would’ve taken you there with me. Look how well you did without me.”

  “If your life was heading to the bin, you’d be there right now. And look how you turned out. You turned out okay,” she countered. “But for argument’s sake, let’s say that you actually ended screwing up your life; who says I would’ve followed you there? I know I was naïve, but I wasn’t dumb. You probably don’t remember but I was actually valedictorian. Like really smart.”

  He chuckled. “I remember.”

  “And you still think that I would’ve let my life go to waste just because of a boy?” She snorted. “You overestimate your charms, Sir.”

  “Ouch!” He winced but couldn’t hide the reluctant smile that crooked his lips.

  “I’m serious though.” Her expression turned serious. “Even if all the things you think could’ve happened actually happened, I’m confident that I would still have found my way out. And while I did so… I would have had you. It wasn’t your job to decide my future. You should’ve talked to me before you decided for both of us.”

  * * *

  JASMINE’S WORDS RANG in Lucas’s thoughts all day long. Should he really have talked to her? Maybe. But even then he knew what her reaction would be. She would’ve wanted him to stay. No, she would’ve begged him to stay. He’d loved her so much back then that seeing her plead would’ve weakened his resolve. And he couldn’t let that happen. He was so set on the path he thought was right that he didn’t want anything dissuading him. not even the woman he loved.

  Back then he’d thought that leaving her was necessary. That if he really loved her, then the best thing to do was to leave her. And he’d loved her. Oh, how he’d loved her. Just as he did now.

  Even if he could go back to the past, he’d do the same thing again.

  “Mr. Walcott says to go right in,” Michael Walcott’s assistant cut into Lucas’s thoughts. She gestured towards the huge double doors. “He’s waiting for you.”

  “Finally.” Lucas grunted as both he and Shane stood up. “I thought His Highness was going to keep us waiting for the whole day.”

  “He’s lucky we don’t have warrants yet,” Shane muttered. “When we get one, promise that you’ll let me bring my own battering ram so I can break his door.”

  Lucas laughed. “Bring as many battering rams as you want. But I have dibs on his wrists. My handcuffs are the perfect size.”

  The two detectives didn’t even bother knocking on the huge double doors. Lucas simply shoved the door open and marched in with his partner at his heels.

  Michael’s office was the kind of office you only see in big-budget movies. The office was large – larger than most living rooms. Its walls were painted soft beige to match the brown drapes hanging beside the three, tall, floor-to-ceiling windows on the left side wall. Facing each other were four couches (two per side) separated by a humongous coffee-table. Right at the end of the room was a large dark wood desk. Looming behind the desk was a large bookshelf.

  The first person to catch Lucas’s attention was Jonas Walcott, Michael’s son. He was stretched out on one of the couches, fiddling with his tablet. Michael himself was at his desk going through some document while August Wells stood beside him watching. All three men looked up when the detectives walked in.

  “Well, well, well… if it isn’t my two favorite detectives.” Michael’s thin lips stretched out in a smile but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Welcome. Welcome. I wanted to send August down to greet you but as you can see we’re busy.”

  Lucas snorted. “Yeah, we can see.”

  “Please have a seat.” Michael gestured to the couch facing the one that his son was stretched out on.

  When the two detectives started towards the couch, Jonas immediately jumped to his feet with irritation glittering in his eyes. “Dad, I’m leaving.”

  “Already?” Michael frowned.

  “Yeah.” Jonas nodded. “I want to go check out that new Lambo that I told you about. Can I buy it if I like it?”

  “You don’t need to ask.” Michael smiled. He waved his son out. “Go have your fun.”

  “Thanks, Dad.” Jonas pranced out of the room with a smug grin.

  Shane and Lucas traded looks. With his history, Michael didn’t seem like the kind of man who would dote on anyone. The saying really was true; even serial killers adore their offspring.

  “What can I help you with?” Michael said once his son was gone. He stood up and circled his desk to come towards them. “I thought we were already done with the questions.”

  “We’re never done with the questions,” Lucas retorted as he watched the man take a seat opposite them. August came to stand next to Walcott.

  “What more is there to ask me?” Michael sat back in the seat. “I heard my driver already confessed to stealing my car, and the club confirmed that I was there.”

  Yes, the driver had confessed and the club’s employees had claimed that Michael was at the club at the time of York’s death. But wasn’t it really convenient that Michael was the club’s largest shareholder? Moreover, the club didn’t have any surveillance so there was no way to confirm the employees’ statements.

  What made this whole thing even more suspicious was how eager the driver had been to absolve Michael of any responsibility. The driver had vehemently insisted that he was all alone in the car when he’d driven to Walcott Towers. When they’d asked him why he’d gone to Walcott Towers, the driver claimed that he’d forgotten his jacket. Yeah, he’d driven all the way back to Walcott Towers and risked angering his boss for a jacket.

  A jacket. What a pile of bullshit!

  Lucas wasn’t even surprised when they’d found out that Michael had recently paid for the man’s wife to get cancer treatment at a local hospital.

  Everything about the driver’s statement smelt fouler than a landfill. Unfortunately, they had no way of proving their suspicions. No one was talking. Michael had sealed their mouths too tightly.

  “Actually, we’re not here to question you,” Shane said as he turned his attention to the chairman’s secretary. “We’re here to talk to him.”

  “Me?” August pointed to himself.

  “You!” Lucas emphasized as he watched the man.

  August frowned. “Why would you want to talk to me?”

  “Where were you on Tuesday at six p.m.?”

  “Tuesday?” August’s frown deepened. “What Tuesday?”

  “This Tuesday,” Lucas said. If they were lucky, August would say something that would put him close to Teddy’s neighborhood during Teddy’s time of death.

  “This Tuesday…. This Tuesday at six?” August rubbed his forehead as if trying to remember. “What was I doing?”

  “You were with me,” Michael piped in. Turning to his secretary, he said, “Don’t you remember? We went to the club together.”

  That club again? Where everyone had been paid off by Michael?

  “Ah yes!” August tapped his forehead. “I completely forgot.” He turned smiling eyes to the detectives. “I was at the club with the chairman. We had some things to discuss.”

  “Can anyone confirm that you were at this club?” Shane asked even though he, like Lucas, probably suspected that there’d be a whole line of employees clamoring to confirm that they’d seen August.

  “Am I not enough?” Michel sounded innocent enough but the smirk that crooked his lips said that he found their attempts at trapping him as nothing more than an amusing game.

  Instead of answering the question, Shane said, “We’ll ne
ed to question your employees at the club.”

  “Again?” Michael sighed heavily. “Fine, have a go at it.”

  “We’ll be going then,” Lucas said. Both detectives stood up, but as they were about to leave Michael stopped them.

  “I heard that Teddy Bryk died.” Michel was watching them keenly.

  “You heard?” Lucas lifted his eyebrows. “Really? You heard?” He wanted to add, ‘As opposed to being behind the man’s death?’, but resisted the impulse.

  “Yes, I heard. I told you I was close to him.” Michael tried to contort his face into something resembling sadness but all it came off as was some kind of weird grimace. “It’s sad… so sad.”

  “I’m sure you’re really sad,” Lucas retorted sarcastically.

  The sarcasm flew right over Michael’s head. His eyes wide, he asked, “Do you think the same person who killed York Emerson killed him?”

  “Our investigation is confidential,” Shane responded curtly.

  “Sad… so sad,” Michael repeated with a shake of his head. “I don’t even know how you can continue investigating this. Aren’t you scared?”

  “Scared of what?” Lucas asked.

  “Two people are already dead,” Michael reminded them as if they didn’t already know. “Who knows who’s next? What if that person comes after you too? Or someone you love?”

  It sounded like a question asked out of concern. But the hard look in Michael’s eyes left no doubt that he wasn’t concerned for them. He was threatening them.

  “No, we’re not scared.” Lucas met the man’s eyes with a hard glare of his own. “If anything, it makes us want to catch that person even more. And we will. Don’t doubt it.”

  Michael only chuckled.

  “HE DID IT,” Shane announced as soon as they were out of the chairman’s office.

  “Who?” Lucas asked. “Walcott or August.”

  “Both of them.” Anger flashed in Shane’s eyes. “I don’t know which one killed York but they’re definitely involved in Teddy’s death. Did you see how fast Walcott created an alibi for August?”

  Yeah, Lucas had seen. Those two were really enjoying themselves, weren’t they? Lucas wished there was something he could do to stop them. Unfortunately, zero proof had come up. Though the medical examiner had confirmed that Teddy’s death was a murder too and that he’d actually been killed with an injection to the back of his neck, there were no prints on his body.

  The murder was clean as was the crime scene. The CSIs couldn’t even come up with evidence that could lead them in the direction of the killer. If it wasn’t for the homeless woman’s statement, they wouldn’t even suspect August’s involvement.

  It was as frustrating as it was annoying.

  However, Lucas’s frustration eased the moment he saw Jasmine stride out of her office’s building to meet him later the same evening.

  “Hi.” She greeted him with a smile when she got into his car.

  “Hi.” He leaned over for a kiss. Their kiss was a short as it was gentle and when he sat back in his seat, he was smiling too. “How was work?”

  “Good. Yours?”

  “The usual.” Suddenly, his day didn’t seem as terrible as it’d felt moments ago. He started the car. “Straight home?”

  “Mm hmm.” She nodded as she pulled her seatbelt over her upper body. “Ah… wait. We need to pass by the store.”

  It felt so natural and right to be in the car together like this. Like a couple coming back from work and on their way to the store to pick up groceries. Though Lucas knew that it was temporary, an odd warmth threaded through him. That warmth lingered all through the drive to the store, the short shopping spree and the drive back home.

  When they got to her place, he parked the car then got her groceries from the trunk. Who knew that carrying groceries for a woman would feel so fulfilling? It almost felt like he was taking care of her. Like she was his woman, and he was her man.

  She tried to take one of the bags. “Let me help.”

  “Nope.” He held the bags away from her. He wanted to enjoy this moment a little longer. “I got it.”

  Jasmine’s phone rang right at that moment. She reached into her purse for her phone but once she saw who was calling, she thrust the phone back into her purse. But whoever was calling was persistent. Her phone kept ringing as they crossed the lobby and entered the elevator. The ringing sound seemed especially loud in the elevator.

  “Don’t you need to pick that?” Lucas asked. “It’s been ringing since we were in the store.”

  “Uh uh.” She shook her head. “I don’t need to pick it. It’s my mom.”

  “Your mom?” He immediately stiffened as tension swept through his body. Despite the tension, he forced himself to ask, “How is she?”

  “A nuisance. That’s how she is,” Jasmine said as the elevator doors opened.

  “Are you and your mom on bad terms?” Lucas asked as they walked down the hallway.

  “Not exactly. She’s just been on my case about-” Jasmine suddenly stopped walking and talking. “Mom.”

  Lucas followed her gaze and found her looking at the only woman capable of making him shake in his boots. Yolanda?

  “Surprise!” Yolanda’s mouth widened into a grin. “Didn’t expect me here did you?”

  Little had changed about Yolanda. Though a shade lighter and plump, she was as pretty as Jasmine which was reasonable since they were mother and daughter. Though she was now in her late fifties, she still had no gray in her perfectly coiffed hair.

  “No, I didn’t expect you.” Jasmine closed the distance between them in quick strides. “What are you doing here?”

  “Is that a question to ask your mother?” Yolanda stretched her arms out and engulfed her daughter in a warm hug.

  “It’s just surprising that you’re here,” Jasmine said.

  “How have you been?” Even as she spoke, Yolanda’s eyes swept to Lucas who was trailing behind Jasmine. “And who’s the handsome man?” However, she soon answered her own question. “Are you… Lucas? Lucas Gallo.”

  He forced a smile. “Hi, Yolanda.”

  Yolanda’s smile immediately dropped and her eyes hardened. “What are you doing here?”

  CHAPTER 21

  “Lucas is helping me out with a work issue,” Jasmine said as she ushered her mother into her apartment.

  Lucas silently followed behind them with the grocery bags.

  Trying to change the subject, Jasmine asked, “What are you doing in L.A. anyway?”

  But Yolanda wasn’t fooled. Her scowl burned into Lucas’s back as he strode to the kitchen. “Him? What kind of work issues could he possibly help with?”

  Jasmine understood her mother’s hostility. She really did. What kind of mother would welcome the man who’d broken her daughter’s heart with open arms? Still, Jasmine had hoped that their past almost-familial relationship with Lucas would temper Yolanda’s hostility. Obviously that hope was too optimistic. Yolanda was glaring at Lucas like she wanted to wrap her hands around his neck and strangle him.

  Jasmine sent Lucas, who was now setting the groceries on the island, an apologetic look before turning back to her mother. “I was having a bit of trouble and Lucas helped me out.”

  “Trouble? What kind of trouble?” Yolanda asked. However, before Jasmine could answer, she rushed on with, “And what kind of help could he possibly offer?” Horror flashed in her eyes as a sudden thought struck her. “Or did he introduce you to his criminal friends?” She turned to Jasmine. “You’re not involved in anything illegal, right? Right?”

  “No, I’m not involved in anything illegal.” Jasmine had to work extra-hard to keep from rolling her eyes. “And neither is Lucas. He’s a cop.”

  “He… he’s a what?” Yolanda gulped and turned her wide-eyed stare to Lucas. “You’re a c… cop?”

  “Yes,” Lucas answered shortly before striding to her side. He reached downwards for the teal, rolling backpack that Yolanda still held. “Let
me take this in for you.”

  “What? No.” Yolanda jerked the backpack backwards. It was almost as if she thought he’d steal it or something. “Don’t touch my things. And what do you mean take it in? Take it in where? Have you been in her house before?” She turned to Jasmine. “Has he been here before?”

  Jasmine refused to answer that question because she knew that the truth would only send her mother into a hysterical tailspin. She could lie of course, but it wouldn’t fool her mother. Yolanda had always been able to tell when Jasmine wasn’t being truthful.

  In a bid to avoid the question, Jasmine grabbed her mother’s bag herself and hooked her other arm firmly into her mother’s. “Mom, let’s take your luggage in first.” To Lucas, she said, “Could you put the groceries into the fridge for me?”

  Before either could answer, Jasmine dragged her mother, luggage and all, to her bedroom.

  “What are you doing here in L.A?” Jasmine rushed to ask before her mother could start her attack on Lucas. Setting the bag beside her bed, she added, “You didn’t tell me you were coming in.”

  “Good thing too,” Yolanda scoffed, “otherwise I wouldn’t have found out that you were hanging around with that thug again. How long has he been around?”

  “Stop calling him a thug,” Jasmine said as she sat on the bed. “I told you he’s a cop.”

  “I don’t care what he is. I can call him whatever I want,” the older woman retorted. Crossing her arms over her chest, Yolanda said, “And answer my question. How long has he been loitering around you?”

  “You’re making my head spin.” Jasmine patted the spot next to her on the bed. “At least sit down.”

  “Stop avoiding my questions,” her mother countered. “How long has he been hanging around you?”

  “There’s no need to put it that way. He wasn’t hanging around me. He was doing his job,” Jasmine explained. “An employee of mine died, and Lucas is in charge of the case.”

  “Oooh!” Yolanda’s top lip lifted in a sneer. “So that’s what he’s using to get close to you again? A case?” Huffing angrily, she threw a glare at the door. “He always knew how to take advantage of opportunities.”