AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“How is Averie?”
“Physically she is fine. She is trying to be strong, but I know that she is still shaken up. I just dropped her off at her parent’s house.”
“You want to take a ride with me?”
“Is it about Averie?”
“Yes.”
“I’m on my way.”
I met Countee at his office and rode with him to a police station.
“This is where they brought Barry after they checked him out at the hospital. He had a mild concussion, but he’s alive. One of my connects here can get us in the room with him as long as you can keep your composure.”
“I can’t promise that.”
“At least try? I think there is more to this story, but I need to get it from him. Some shit is not adding up.”
“More than he tried to murder my lady? More than he had his hand between her legs trying to open her pants?”
I was ready to get into this room and murder this dude with my bare hands. I wanted to watch the light dim in his eyes and the life leave his body.
“El, calm down, or this is not going to happen.”
I took a deep, cleansing breath and said a quick prayer. I asked God to give me the ability to control my temper. I didn’t want to go back to jail but I would today if the Lord didn’t help me.
I followed Countee into the precinct and stayed quiet while Count did all the talking. We were escorted to a room that reminded me of the room the officers had me in when I was arrested.
“You sit here in the corner. Don’t speak. Listen. This is important, El.”
I rolled my eyes and sat in the corner like I was in timeout.
A few minutes later a guard opened the door, and a pale, bruised, shell of a man walked into the room. I almost didn’t recognize him. His jumpsuit was a least two sizes too big, his hair was all over his head, and his eye was a bluish-purple color. I smirked when I saw that.
They led him to the table situated in the middle of the room and handcuffed him to the bar that stretched the length of the table.
“We will be right outside,” the guard said to Count.
“Good looking out.”
The door closed behind the guard and Count sat across the table from Barry.
“I’m not here to bullshit with you, Leathen. I just want to know how you got into the building and who told you that Ms. Patterson would be there working late?”
“Why would I talk to you?”
Barry stared at Countee.
“Humph…why would you talk to me? Let’s see.” Countee looked up at the ceiling while drumming his chin with his index finger. “A good reason to talk to me is that with a couple strokes of my keypad on my phone, I can switch your number with a regular inmate’s number and have you out of protective custody and in the general population in a matter of seconds. Another good reason to talk to me is that those guards outside that door will take you wherever I tell them to take you. They will put you in whatever cell I tell them to put you in. We both know that there are several hundred people in this prison that would love to see you dead. Why would you talk to me?” Countee snapped his fingers and then pointed at Barry, “Oh I know, probably because I have trained marksmen sitting on your wife and those two little kids at your house right now. What're their names? Rebecca and Robert?”
“Leave my family out of this!”
“Why? You didn’t leave my people out of it. Why wouldn’t I do the same to your family?”
The thing about Count was you never really knew when he was bluffing. I chose to err on the side of caution and take him seriously all the time. I’ve seen things he was capable of doing. Nobody wanted that in their life.
“Do I need to ask the questions again?”
