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“Rough day?” Omar asked.
Fred grunted as he brought his drink up to his lips and sipped. He glanced over the rim at his brother. Omar was still in the sowing-his-wild-oats stage. Dressed in a black leather jacket, with a dark T-shirt and black jeans, Omar was obviously heading out to a club or a party—his usual Friday-night ritual.
“The day was okay. It was this evening that shook me up, though. I took your advice and talked to the assistant district attorney overseeing the murder case.”
Omar straightened, and his dark eyes grew large. “Seriously? How’d that go? Did you tell her everything?”
Fred picked up the television remote. “Yeah, I did. I hope I don’t regret it.”
“So, what’s next? Did you agree to testify?”
“Yes. I’m just glad they’ve already arrested Dennis,” he said, referring to the CEO of Leverage Construction Company.
On the night of the murder, Fred had suffered from being at the wrong place at the wrong time. As a custodial worker at a large office building, he’d been assigned to clean the Leverage Construction offices. That had led to the worst night of his life.
“How do you feel?” Omar asked.
“I’m tired as hell, but I’m glad I told the truth. Joyce was a nice lady. She was always kind to me, and I thought the least I could do was tell what had happened to her. I plan to do anything I can to help keep Mr. Stratton behind bars so he can pay for his crime. I’ll just be glad when all of this is over.”
“Well, I’m glad you told them the truth. I know it was eating at you. For what it’s worth, I think you did the right thing.” Omar strolled across the room to the coat closet. He grabbed his Yankees baseball cap and shoved it onto his head, pulling the brim low over his eyes. “What are your plans for the weekend?”
“Not much. I canceled my date with Raina. Now I’m just going to have another drink, jump in the shower, and hopefully sleep for the next two days.”
If he had more personal days left at work, he’d use up every single one. At least his supervisor had reassigned him to a different floor, realizing he couldn’t handle cleaning Leverage anymore—not without having nightmares. No one at work knew he had actually witnessed the murder. They only knew that he’d found the body, and Fred planned to keep it that way for as long as possible.
“Well, I’m out of here.” Omar picked up his black duffel bag that Fred hadn’t seen until now and looped it over his shoulder. “Heading to Suzanne’s for the weekend. I’ll check in on you, but holler if you need anything,”
Fred set his glass on the side table, then stretched out his legs and propped his size twelves on the table in front of him. “Will do. Have a good time.”
Shortly after his brother left, Fred found himself dozing off, then jerking awake. He was so tired but trying to sleep the last few days only resulted in him waking up in a cold sweat. Even now, he kept remembering how the CEO had slammed the paperweight against the side of Joyce’s head. It had been like watching a horror movie. Joyce’s body crumbled to the floor, and she didn’t get up. The vision played on a loop inside his head ever since that night.
Fred’s eyes popped open when he thought he heard a noise coming from the kitchen. He bolted upright and listened. Seconds ticked by. Nothing.
Now, I’m hearing things.
He dropped back against the sofa and glanced at his watch.Eleven-thirty. He’d done more than doze. He had actually slept a few hours, but still, he was exhausted.
Heavy footsteps sounded against the hardwood floors, and Fred’s gaze leaped toward the hallway that led to the bedrooms. Okay, maybe he wasn’t crazy. His brother must’ve forgotten something.
“Omar?” Fred called out and started flipping through channels on the remote. “Man, you had me in here thinking that….”
A tall, imposing figure stepped into the room, and Fred leaped from the sofa, dropping the remote in the process. The person was dressed in all black, including the ski mask covering his face.
“What the…. Who the hell are—”
“You should’ve kept your mouth shut,” the intruder said, his voice deep and raspy.
That’s when Fred saw the large gun at the man’s side.
His heart slammed against his chest, and an icy fear clawed through his body when the man raised his arm.
“No. No. Please….” Fred begged. He held his hands out in front of him as panic welled in his throat. He stumbled back, his leg making contact with the side table. “Please, please, don’t….”
