“The only way to what?” I asked softly.
“Protect you,” she answered.
**
“So your husband didn’t have any enemies?” the detective asked, and I shook my head. “Are you sure?”
“No,” I said as I watched the coroner’s van pull into the driveway. Cross and Consonance stood near Cross’s car talking. Xoey left, saying that she was going to check on something for her parents. I didn’t care; she was on my shit list right now. She knew what Am had planned and hadn’t stopped him. I wasn’t just mad at her, I was mad at everyone, and probably would be for a long ass time.
A tall black man with locs approached me. I’d seen him before, but that didn’t mean he was someone I wanted to deal with. He tapped the detective on the shoulder, then said something to him, and the first detective walked away.
“My name is Gift Blackmon,” the second detective said, and I rolled my eyes. Gift was a friend of Amethyst’s and the brother of one of Mercy and Xoey’s friends, Purpose.
“I know who you are,” I said as I crossed my arms. “He sent you, too?”
“Something like that,” Gift nodded. He put his hands in his pockets and licked his lips. Gift was attractive, but he didn’t do anything for me. Plus, there was something dark behind his eyes. He’d been through some shit. “He asked me to tell you-”
“Save it,” I cut him off, holding up my hand. “If he can't come here and tell me himself, then I don’t give a fuck about any message.”
“Look, Yale,” Gift sighed and shook his head. “I’m asking you just to relax. Let him handle this.”
“Handle what exactly?” I laughed and grilled Gift. “Nobody knows what the fuck is going on, or if they do, they won’t tell me shit.” I pointed to the house behind me. “My fucking husband is in the living room dead, and the one person who could give me answers decided to take his big-headed ass God knows where and won’t answer the phone!” I dropped my hand. “Everything in me is telling me to yell at the top of my lungs until he shows back up, but from the way he’s called in reinforcements, I can tell that he still won’t show up. I need answers. That’s all I want, and if you can’t give them to me, then you are as useless as everyone else that’s here trying to figure out who the hell killed Grant.”
“Look, I know about Grant being dead-”
“You don’t know shit,” I hissed. “Not a fucking thing.” I stepped into his personal space so that no one could hear me but him. “I don’t give a fuck what happened to him because I didn’t love him. These tears are for Am.”
“Yale,” Gift sighed, then looked over my shoulder, and his face twisted. “The FBI is here.” I turned to see Gift’s sister, Purpose, and a tall man approaching us. They were dressed in black slacks, white button shirts, and black bulletproof vests that read FBI across the chest. “Don’t say shit, Morning is on his way.”
“Why?” I asked as they approached me.
“Yale Forrester?” Purpose asked, and I nodded. Am told me years ago that if any of his friends approached me on a scene, I should always pretend not to know them. Purpose glanced over at the man, then discreetly tapped at the camera that was on her vest. “My name is Special Agent Purpose Blackmon, and this is my partner, Kenbral S-”
“We’ve been called in to investigate your husband’s death,” Kenbral said, putting his hand out for me to shake. His grey eyes sparkled against the sun, and I couldn’t help but notice how comfortable they were in each other’s space. Every time Purpose moved, Kenbral did as well. He made sure to block the sun fromhitting her in the face. “We have a few questions that we need to ask you about your husband.”
“She just told me her lawyer is on the way,” Gift said, standing next to me. He barely gave Kenbral a second glance as he spoke to his sister. “I’m going to take her down to the precinct to ask her a few questions once the ME clears the scene.”
“I’ve cleared it,” Kenbral announced. I looked over at him, confused because he’d introduced himself as FBI. He couldn’t make that call.
“I didn’t ask you, did I?” Gift grilled Kenbral, and I took a step back. “I said once someone on my team clears the scene.”
“Your team answers to me,” Kenbral said, getting in Gift’s face. “Now, if you have any more questions.”
“Bitch, do you think I give a fuck about what you have to say?” Gift laughed humorlessly. His dark eyes narrowed, and it was like something flipped because the nice and calm man I had been speaking to was gone, and in his place was a legit crazy ass nigga. I knew it because the hairs on my arm and the back of my neck stood up. Plus, the little voice in my head told me to run. I took a step back, and Purpose quickly shook her head, which made me stop moving. “You were called in because of the ties that Grant’s family has with the community. I don’t give a fuck about that shit. My concern is his wife.”
“She’s got a lawyer, little nigga,” Kenbral grunted. My face twisted in confusion, but how the hell did he think that Gift was little? This man stood well over six feet and jacked as hell. Kenbral was just as big, but Gift had him beat by a little in both height and weight. “And like you said, my focus is on the dead. Not her ass.”
“She’s got a lawyer, Kenbral,” Purpose said, stepping between the two men. She pushed them back and then gave them a look that dared them to try her. She may have been smaller than them, but Purpose was tall and curvy.
“I don’t give a fuck,” Kenbral said, shaking his head. “I can-”
“Not do a fucking thing,” Purpose interjected. She turned to me and pulled a card from her pocket. “Have your lawyer contact me so we can talk.” I looked down at the card but didn’t move. “Look, I already have to deal with their shit, I don’t want to have to deal with yours too.” She put the card in the front pocket of my shirt and shook her head. “Have your lawyer call me.” She turned back to Kenbral, grabbed him by his arm, and dragged him away.
“Call Morning,” Gift said as he watched his sister and Kenbral walk away. “I don’t trust that nigga, and he’s already chomping at the bit to talk to you. Something isn’t right.”
“Fuck him,” I said as I pulled Purpose’s card from my pocket. Gift looked at me and lifted his brow in surprise. “You too. As a matter of fact, fuck this entire family.” I flung his sister’s card at him, then walked away.
Chapter twenty-seven
