“May she rest in piss.” I shrugged, causing the ladies to gasp as I pulled Blossom from her. “I’m sorry, baby, but I have to go to work for a little while. I know you think a nigga is holding you hostage and shit, but you can’t go home yet.” Her happy demeanor faded, and I felt like shit. “You can FaceTime Stacy and have a girl’s night or something.”
“Or… She can chill with us and have one here,” my mother came over and offered. “I’m not trying to get in your business?—”
“You’re a damn lie!” my father yelled, causing us all to laugh. “You want to ask her a million questions about your crazy-ass son and tell her all types of embarrassing shit about how bad his ass was when he was little.”
“Embarrassing stories, huh?” Blossom grinned sneakily as she pulled away from me. “On second thought, maybe I could stay with the ladies a little longer.”
Winking, Bloss Baby grabbed my mother’s extended hand, leaving me in the yard. All of the fellas stood in awe as the ladies gravitated and loved on her like she was one of the crew. Reaching the threshold of the house, she smirked over her shoulder before disappearing inside.
“I know that look all too well, son.” My father came over and slapped my back a little too hard for my liking. “You’re definitely in love.”
Swish!
“Ahh, if it isn’t my favorite protégé.” Dr. Massey stood to his full height to greet me as I stepped into the room, pausing his current autopsy. “For someone who’s been off for almost a week, you look mighty aggravated.” He smirked before turning to resume his work. “Trouble in paradise with your new girlfriend?”
Leaving Blossom at home with my family was harder than I wanted to admit. I had no doubt that they would treat her right; I just wanted to be in her presence. I knew she wasn’t feeling a nigga right now, but once this shit was over, I had every intention to make it up to her.
“Doc, get the fuck out of here.” I chuckled, shaking my head. The mere mention of Blossom caused my chest to tighten. Shit with her was getting trickier by the day. Walking over to peer at the deceased, I whistled slowly. “Gah damn. What happened to her?”
Peering down at the naked woman, I took in how badly disfigured she was. Her face was smashed in on one side with bruises and lacerations all over her body. Her fingers were bloodied, and there was a boot print embedded in her stomach. Someone was enraged when they murdered her because this was extreme overkill.
“It’s sad, isn’t it?” my mentor spoke somberly as he placed her heart in the weighing pan. “Poor girl was pistol-whipped and stomped to death. Between the broken ribs that punctured her lung, a crushed esophagus, and blunt force trauma to the head, it’s hard to pinpoint when she was killed.”
“Where was she found?” I turned to give the doctor my attention as he bagged her organs for forensics. “Better yet, who is she?”
“Her name is Lisa Smoke.” I angled my head and stared at him, thinking I had heard him wrong. “You’d never guess where her body was found?”
From the moment I interrupted their breakfast date to the moment I had Marshall and Jamir gather the information I needed on possible hideout spots, I was very familiar with who Lisa Smoke was. If the person I was thinking killed her, my life had just gotten a little easier.
RIP to her, though.
“Where?” I pulled up a stool, feeling like a gossiping hoe as I hung onto Massey’s every word. “Somewhere in the Heights? They seem to get the most action these days.”
“While I can understand why you made that assumption, you’re wrong.” He slid off his dirty gloves before discarding them in the hazardous trash bin. “This poor girl was found in the living room of Detective Tyreek Hines, Jr. I’m shocked you haven’t heard about it. It’s been all over the news and radio. That man has lost his damn mind, Dr. McKnight. I still can’t believe he shot up the rehab center and killed our beloved Sheena.”
I was going to let him slide with that “beloved” shit because Sheena was nothing but a mere fuck to me. As my eyes continued to linger over Lisa’s battered body, I shook my head in disbelief. I knew he’d fallen off his rocker, but to actually murder the girl he was sleeping with was insane.
“You know I don’t watch that depressing-ass shit.” I groaned as I stood, stretched, and walked over toward my PPE station to suit up. “What’s on the agenda for the night?”
“Believe it or not, we have his mother as well.” He walked over and opened the cooler that held a dead as hell Mika. “I’ve already finished up with Sheena. I wouldn’t ask you to work on her because of your past dealings with her. Will this be too much for you? I know you and he have a verypersonalrelationship?—”
“Me and that nigga don’t have shit.” I cut him off as I tied my apron around my neck. “Handle your business with your report while I assess her.”
Beet red from my comment, he said nothing as he went to finish documenting Lisa’s death. There was no way he thought I would give a damn about cutting this bitch up. It wasn’t like I hadn’t killed her ass and gotten a head start on the job.
“You want to know what’s sad?” I listened to him as I removed the blanket and almost gagged when her naked, saggy flesh came into view. “The autopsy shows Miss Smoke here was pregnant at the time of murder. This young man has committed numerous murders, acquired several assault and attempted murder charges, and lost his mother in a matter of days. It’s a shame how he’s thrown his life away like that.”
“Real sad,” I replied dryly as I circled the slab, tapping my chin. “Someone did a number on this lady. Any ideas about what happened at the crime scene?”
“Nothing out of the ordinary.” He sighed, exasperated. “No forced entry, no unusual prints, or anything out of place.” I nodded, quietly knowing he wasn’t going to find anything linkedto me. I was just trying to show interest as if this were the body of someone I had no connection to. “Be of help and take this up to forensics for analysis before you start, please.”
“You okay?” I walked over, got the clipboard and the multiple pans holding marked specimens and organs. “You look tired.”
Dr. Massey wasn’t a spring chicken, and I knew his days working here were nearing an end. He looked a little paler than usual, and that worried me.
“Just fatigue, son. Nothing for you to worry about.” He patted my shoulder before standing. “I’m going to run to the back for a moment, and then I’ll be back to watch you perform the next autopsy. Is that okay with you?”
“It’s your world, Doc.” I grinned, causing him to laugh. “If I’m not back by the time you return, come check on the tech. I’ve probably choked her ass out.”
