“Mr. Joseph, what do we have here?” Patterson’s eyes moved from Joi to East.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” East mumbled under his breath before he gave Patterson his attention.
“Unless you have a warrant, get the fuck out of my shop.”
Patterson smirked and looked at Joi again. “Ma’am, are you okay? Looks to me like you’ve been assaulted. Did Mr. Josephhere put his hands on you? Those are some nasty bruises and I think you need medical attention.”
Patterson was already removing his cuffs, which had Joi talking fast.
“No, absolutely not.”
No matter how annoyed she was with East, Joi wasn’t about to play those types of games with his livelihood or freedom.
“She said no. We’re good, now get the fuck out.”
Patterson grinned and shook his head. His cuffs were now in hand and he used his other to unsnap the latch that covered his gun and rested his fingers there when he was done.
“Sorry, can’t do that. She looks visibly afraid. It’s my duty to make sure she’s not answering under duress.”
Joi’s panicked eyes moved from Patterson to East. “Wait, no, he didn’t do this. I don’t have a reason to be afraid of him.”
“On the contrary. You do, miss. You’re just not aware of who he really is.” Patterson shrugged and looked right at East. “We can sort this out down at the station. The caller who reported the attack gave a clear description of a tall, black male wearing dark clothes. Seems to me that you fit that description perfectly, Mr. Joseph.”
“You are really trying my fucking patience,” East gritted with dark eyes focused on Patterson.
“I just told you it wasn’t him.” Joi rushed Patterson and got in his face, which only fueled his agitation.
“Sweetheart, I suggest you get out of the way before I have you in handcuffs too.”
“Mr. Joseph. I need you to turn around. You’re under arrest for suspicion of assault.”
“You can’t do that.” Joi’s voice was unsteady, lacking confidence. It appeared that was exactly what was about to happen. This detective was taking East into custody.
“Joi, chill. He doesn’t give a fuck about the truth or what you have to say. I’m straight. Just move out the way before you make it worse.” He kept his gaze on Joi to make sure she understood his position, but then addressed Patterson. “I need her to lock up. The keys are in my pocket.”
Joi’s eyes shot over to Patterson, who now grinned. “Move slow. I’d hate for things to go bad.”
He could shoot him and pretend like he had just cause.
East gritted his teeth but slowly reached into his pocket and removed a set of keys, which he held out to Joi. She took an uneasy step forward and received them with a shaky hand. Her mind was racing a mile a minute as she watched East turn his back to them both, with his arms behind him and his wrists close together.
East was positive he would be out in a few hours at most. There was no reason for him to fight Patterson. With four crates of cocaine in the storeroom, East wasn’t about to risk anyone searching his property. Cooperating was a small price to pay. However, one thing was for certain, Patterson had just signed his death certificate and moved himself to the top of that list, pushing Reg into second place.
“What should I do?” Joi questioned as Patterson walked East to the door.
“Lock up and go home, Joi. I’ll get with you.”
Joi, that’s the third time he called me by name. No Grinch or shawty.
“Yeah, lock up like your little boyfriend here needs you to and go home, sweetheart. Get yourself some rest. He’s gonna be with me for a while. It appears Mr. Joseph and I have future business arrangements to discuss based on his current dilemma.”
Joi watched as Patterson and East passed through the door and it closed behind them. She looked around in a moment of confusion before she removed her phone from her pocket andmade a call. Her hands were tied and she didn’t know what else to do, but she wasn’t about to let East sit in jail for something Reg had done. So she requested assistance from the one person she knew she could count on.
“Hey, it’s me. I need your help.”
17
“Nick, go to your room baby,” Nyelle spoke calmly even though her heart was pounding in her chest. She didn’t want her voice to alarm her son. His sleepy eyes were already focused on his father, causing a slight pout to appear.
