“Based on the temperature of the liver, I would say the time of death was three hours ago.” He turned away from me with a chuckle. Bending down, he pulled the thermostat from the incision on one of the bodies. Lifting the victim’s shirt higher, he assessed the bullet wound. “Victim suffered a gunshot wound to the stomach area.”
“Mine in the chest,” Massey added. “I concur with the time of death. The deceased seems to have small hairs under his nails.” He used a pair of tweezers to remove them before placing it in a bag, giving it to one of his assistants. “Tag this for me, will you?”
“Are we looking at a drive-by? More than likely, that’s what this was. This area is prone to them,” I asked Dr. Massey. With him being here, I didn’t have shit to say to McKnight. “Do you have any additional information you can give us?”
Dragging my eyes back over to JJ, I continued to watch him as he studied the body. He stood, hovering over it momentarilyin deep thought before he spoke up. “Nah, this wasn’t a drive-by. These were up close and personal.”
“Care to elaborate?” I gritted my teeth but continued to take notes. “How did you come up with that theory?”
“It’s dark, but I’m sure once you look around the area, you won’t see additional bullet holes or casings.” He side-eyed me before pointing at the bodies. “The shots were clean, which tells me this was intentional. I’ll know for sure once I test the residue, which there’s a lot of around the wound. That’s common with close range.”
“Well, that’s not good enough for me.” I closed the notepad and glared at him. “I’ll deal with the facts that surround the shooting. Stick to what you know, and I’ll do the same.”
Smirking, he took slow and deliberate steps toward me. Chief Examiner Massey called out to him, but JJ ignored him with his eyes on me. It didn’t take long before he was damn near hovering over my shorter frame.
“You want to know what’s a fact?” His eyes slightly darkened as he eyed me. “You’re going to fuck around and find out if you keep trying me, nigga. Keep playing with me, Hines, and you’re going to get a first-hand experience so you can validate everything I’m telling you.” His finger mimicked a gun as he pressed it into my stomach. “You’ll be able to compare notes with them niggas in hell.”
“Is that a threat?” My eyes searched his, seeing the anger he had in this moment. My breathing hitched at the thought of what he would do. “Are you going to shoot me?”
“Dr. McKnight, what’s going on?” Captain Young came over at the same time as Massey. “Is there a problem?”
“No problem at all.” He kept his eyes locked on mine, his fingers still digging into my stomach. “I was just explaining to Detective Hines my theory on the shooting being close range. Not only is there clear residue, but there’s a barrel marking onthe stomach.” He smirked again before stepping away. “That can only be made when the weapon is in direct contact with the skin. Make sure your people finish getting the pictures you need.” Looking around, he found one of his team members. “Joe, bag ’em.”
“Good eye, McKnight.” Massey slapped his back with the Captain agreeing. “This is why I allow you to lead. Let’s get them to the lab so we can start our examination.”
Walking away with his boss, JJ didn’t give me another look as he and his team wrapped up. I stood there in the lot, watching him like a hawk. My disgust with him and his arrogance was at an all-time high.
“Hines, reel it in,” Cap said as he stood by me. “I’m not going to tell you again. I don’t know what your beef is with McKnight, and I don’t care. Do your job like he’s doing his. Come on, we have witnesses to interview.”
Giving no room for argument, he walked toward the crowd, ready to start the process. Taking a deep breath, I did the same, but not before one last look at JJ. Dragging my eyes over to his truck, I found him staring at me. For a moment, he glared at me before a slow smile spread across his face. Winking, he slid into his truck, bass thumping, driving off into the night.
“I’m going to get you if it’s the last thing I do,” I murmured as I watched his headlights disappear. “Mark my fuckin’ words, McKnight.”
“It’sabout time your ass showed up! If I had to listen to Amir try to sweet-talk Mo into having another baby, I was going to knock his ass out with a steel pipe.”
Chuckling, I walked into the small warehouse my dad purchased on the outskirts of Milly Grove. We used this place to hold small meetings with his team and stash away a problem when necessary. Tonight, we were finally meeting to discuss the issues that my dad and his crew were having. A few days ago, when Uncle Mitch called, my dad told him it was family day, and whatever problems we were having would still be there the next day—so here we were.
“What’s up, Slash?” Uncle Mitch walked over and slapped hands with me. “Every time I see you, I wonder why you never went into the league with your brother. You’re big as shit, man.”
“He’d kill any nigga that tackled him.” Uncle Amir walked over, placing me in a headlock. At times, it was hard for him to see me as a grown man and not his six-year-old nephew, but I let him rock. “You remember what happened your freshman year in high school?”
Walking over to embrace my dad, Marshall, and baby brother, Jamir, I shook my head and listened to the guys take a trip down memory lane. During my first year of high school, I was the man on the football field. As the star quarterback and the best at my position in the area, I knew I would be a target for many players. Everybody wanted to be the one who took down JJ McKnight. During our homecoming game, I was sacked too many times by the opposing linemen for my liking.
After each hit, they would try their best to break my arm or leg. Having had enough, right before the end of the third quarter, I lost my shit and started swinging on all those niggas. Not just my opponents, but my teammates too. They were always jealous of my brother and me, and I knew that played a part in their failure to protect me from the other team. The field went into pandemonium, and they called the game. I let a few days go by before my brother and I went to a few cities over to find the guys who tried to end my career. We masked up and beat one of them niggas’ ass. He never played ball again, and my message was made to all who would attempt to mimic that behavior.
“What the hell you doing here, Marshall?” We slapped hands, as we embraced. “I didn’t know your ass was coming through.”
“It was some last-minute shit,” he replied in that gruff-ass voice of his. Blowing smoke from one of his funky cigars, he leaned against the far wall and just stood out of everyone’s way.“I just wanted to sit and peep the scene. You know, make sure y’all had shit handled and didn’t need reinforcement.”
“You know I ain’t no rookie to this shit, but I appreciate you.” I nodded as we slapped hands once more. “Anyway…”
I walked over, pulling up a chair, and sat off to the side of my uncles. We were in the middle of the front room, which we kept relatively empty. With them still dabbling in the drug game back in Willow Springs, they kept their work here. You’d have a hard time finding it due to the secret rooms placed throughout the building, and anyone who entered would deem the place vacant.
“What we doing here tonight?” I continued talking. “If y’all called me here to reminisce about old shit, I’ma be pissed. I could’ve taken my ass home.”
Pulling my vibrating phone from my pocket, I wasn’t surprised to see it was Sheena. I hadn’t spent time with her since the night I left John’s house. While at work today, she made it clear on several occasions that she missed me and wanted some of my time. My dick wasn’t opposed and welcomed the thought of sliding up inside of her. She was too clingy for my liking, though, so to keep from causing bodily harm to the girl, I tried to keep my distance.
“Is that your girl?” My father smirked, leaning against one of the metal tables. “Your mama said if you bring her back around, she’s going to hang her upside down on one of the oak trees in the backyard.” We all laughed at that, but we all knew she would make it happen. “She really hates that broad.”
