Smooth Operator Page 3
She resumed pacing for another ten minutes. Diamond slumped onto the floral sofa and stared ahead at nothing in particular. Scotty kept working his cell phone as he prowled through the house. He checked the backyard through the kitchen window and looked at the houses in the neighborhood. Finally Charmaine stopped pacing. She glanced at her phone again, cursed and threw it on the sofa. Then she covered her face with both hands. Seconds later Charmaine’s head jerked up and her hands dropped. She found Scotty in the kitchen sucking down a beer and nodding as he listened to a voice on his Bluetooth headset.
“Hold on a minute, Raheem,” he said when Charmaine walked up to him fast.
“Have the cops gone to that hotel yet?” Charmaine asked.
“Hell yeah. We barely made it before they did. My boys say they pulled up about ten minutes after we left.” Scotty hit his cell phone’s mute button. “What are you thinking?”
“Can you find out what time the 911 call got to the cops, and what time they got there?” Charmaine reached out and clutched his arm. Her heart beat so hard her chest seemed to vibrate.
“Yeah, but what’s that gonna do?” Scotty blinked at her rapidly.
“Just find out. I’m going to talk to Jessi. Be right back.” Charmaine spun around and raced to the bedroom.
“Okay, but…” Scotty called out.
Charmaine kept going. Forty minutes later Charmaine and Jessi came back to the living room. Scotty walked in from the kitchen with a grimace on his dark, handsome face. Diamond stood up.
Charmaine wrapped an arm around Jessi. “We’re going to give ourselves up to the police.”
****
Three hours later, just after midnight, Charmaine sat on a hard chair in the Seventh District Police Station on Dwyer Road. Jessi had been taken to a separate room. Obviously the police didn’t want them getting their stories lined up as they were questioned. Charmaine knew they’d sized up Jessi as the weakest link. Charmaine was worried about Jessi, but not for the reasons the police probably thought. This was a risky move, but they didn’t have a better alternative. Jessi seemed beaten down and numb, as if all the years of misery had suddenly overwhelmed her.
Detective Harrison wore a powder blue NOPD shirt tucked into his black slacks. He gazed at her from his position in the chair opposite Charmaine. His expression seemed sympathetic. “Look, your sister is a little bitty girl. She must have felt threatened.”
“She always feels threatened, detective. You get that way from being beaten and raped repeatedly before you make your sweet sixteen birthday.” Charmaine glanced to her left at the wide mirrored glass set into the wall like a window. “Keisha Front on the other side, huh?”
“I know you and your sister had it real rough. Maybe this is a way you can get her some help,” Detective Harrison replied, ignoring her question.
His words pricked at Charmaine. She let out a shaky sigh, but managed to hold onto her emotions and not cry. She wanted more than anything for Jessi to stop hurting, to live without drugging herself into oblivion. Charmaine stiffened her spine and steadied her breathing. She gazed back at him.
“You’re hard-core. I get it,” Detective Harrison said. He started to speak again, but stopped when the interview room door swung open. A tall white officer came in.
“The story checks out. Every detail,” the police officer said and glanced at Charmaine.
Twenty minutes later Charmaine walked out between the two men. They went to a large room filled with desks. Police officers came and went looking serious. A few talked on the phone. When Jessi appeared accompanied by a policewoman, Charmaine rushed over and hugged her.
Charmaine brushed down her sister’s tussled hair. “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”
Two other detectives ushered in Keisha and Lorenzo. Keisha glared at them. “This is a bunch of bullshit! What do you mean I need to ‘go with this detective to an interview room’? I’m not going anywhere.”
“They want to get our statements is all. Calm down,” Lorenzo said firmly as his gaze darted back and forth. “Starting a riot up in here is not a good idea.”
“They killed my poor husband. You need to arrest those two,” Keisha yelled and brushed Lorenzo’s hand from her arm. She pointed at Charmaine and then pressed a wad of tissues to her eyes, even though not one tear had fallen. “James wasn’t a saint, but he didn’t deserve to die because he picked up a psycho prostitute.”
“Maybe they will arrest us for something, but not murder. Thanks for the text and phone call, Keisha,” Charmaine spat out.
“What?” Keisha frowned, an expression of confusion twisting her face.
“I told you to shut the hell up,” Lorenzo mumbled.
“I’m glad she’s so talkative. The police wanna find out how you knew Jessi would be wanted for murder three minutes after the 911 operator got the call.” Charmaine nodded as Keisha’s mouth dropped open. “Yeah, and before the first cop found the body.”
“She’s lying!” Keisha shouted as two police officers led her away. “You gonna listen to her? Don’t touch me! I’ve got friends, important people. I’m calling my lawyer.”
“Look man,” Lorenzo stammered and wiped a large hand over his face. “I don’t know nothin’ about nothin’. Okay? I’m just a friend who agreed to drive her down here so she could get justice. All I’m doing is tryin’ to help the lady out. I haven’t even known her that long,” Lorenzo protested frantically. His voice faded as he was led away.
Jessi leaned her head on Charmaine’s shoulder. “I’m so tired, Char.”
“We’ll be home soon, sweetie,” Charmaine said quietly and kissed the top of her tangled curls.
“How did you know the Front’s house had cameras installed inside?” Detective Harrison asked Charmaine. His dark eyebrows went up giving him a suspicious expression.
“They live in a lovely home, nice area but we have a high crime rate. Makes sense don’t you think?” Charmaine kept her expression neutral.
“That thing about Mrs. Front texting you was shaky, circumstantial, even if it was suspicious. The video of her and Thomas hauling what looks like a body out of the house is going to be harder for them to explain. You two dodged a bullet this go round. I strongly suggest you help your sister change her lifestyle, ma’am.” Detective Harrison said, bass voice pitched deep with intensity as he made his point.
“Yes, sir,” Charmaine said and pulled Jessi against her protectively.
****
The next morning Scotty and Diamond sat in Charmaine’s kitchen at the table in an alcove. The cheerful yellow and green decor contrasted greatly with the dark hours they’d spent earlier. Sunshine streamed through the windows above the sink. Scotty shoved a mound of eggs into his mouth. Diamond munched on a slice of bacon. Diamond’s little girl sat in a chair with a fist full of grits. She was happily getting more food on her face than in her mouth.
“I’m glad to see the sun come up on a new day,” Charmaine said. “That’s a blues song my last foster mother used to sing. And that’s exactly how I feel.”
“Jessi is still knocked out. I mean she looks like she’s in a coma,” Diamond said as she tried to wipe her toddler’s cheeks clean.
“Once she finally felt safe, Jessi could relax,” Charmaine replied calmly.
“She’s right, Diamond. I’ve seen big strong dudes do the same thing. They just fall out after running on adrenalin for hours, even days,” Scotty added.
“Don’t worry, Diamond. We’re all going to be okay.” Charmaine wiped her hands on the kitchen towel. Then she blew a kiss at little Indyah.
Scotty wiped his mouth with a paper napkin and sat back. “By the way, Charmaine, how did you know that Front had hidden video cameras in his house?”
“Humph, he knew Keisha was up to no good I bet,” Diamond put in and continued swabbing down her squirming toddler.
Charmaine leaned against the counter. “I didn’t. Jessi told me.”
Scotty wore a baffled expression as he dige
sted her reply for a few seconds. “Wait a minute, Jessi knew Front before?”
“No,” Charmaine said.
“Then how…” Scotty blinked exchanged a glance with Diamond who shrugged.
“James Leland Front told Jessi. The dead seem drawn to her, those who can’t move on and want to tell their stories. I had to hypnotize her to get the details.”
“Damn,” Scotty and Diamond exclaimed in unison.
“Keisha and Lorenzo will go to prison for a long time. Too bad about Lorenzo cause he was good company. At least I got that little bonus before I had to burn him,” Charmaine said. She grinned at them and went back to washing the breakfast dishes.
**************
Read another Charmaine and Jessi Joliet story
A rich client in the Garden District of New Orleans isn’t just more trouble than she’s worth, she is covering up dangerous details. Jessi and Charmaine use psychic abilities and good common sense to sort through the lies and double crossing of the upper-class.
About the Author
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. For more information visit:
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