“Yes.”
Booda shook his head slowly. “Nah. Look how you living. This ain’t you.” He gestured around the empty space. “Remember their faces.”
I froze for a second, then kept eating like I hadn’t heard him.
“Think about their faces,” he repeated.
“I said I don’t know what you talking about.”
He pushed off the wall and moved closer to me. “You do. I need you to remember for me, baby. I can’t get at those niggas for what they did to you if you can’t tell me who they are.”
“Why? What good will that do?”
“A lot. And it’ll also help you understand why I did what I did. Until then, anything I say will be just words,” he said. “Plus, that’s part of our history, our love story.”
“Booda—” I groaned, already feeling the pressure mounting.
“Don’t fight me on this,” he cut in. “I need every face. Niggas don’t get to fuck us over and live.”
A tear slipped from my eyes as the memory slipped away, and suddenly, I was back in the interrogation room.
“Where is Booda?” I asked, unable to hold back any longer.
The room went still, and Mercer frowned.
“Who?” he asked.
“Booda.”
Neither detective answered immediately. They just looked at each other instead.
“Where the fuck is he?” I asked again, louder this time.
Mercer pushed back from the table and said, “I’ll be back,” before walking out.
The door shut behind him, and silence fell over the room again.
Vega folded his arms. “We’ve been trying to talk to you for a long time, Ms. Holiday. Since the day you woke up from the coma, actually. We wanted a statement about what happened that night.”
“Where’s Booda?” I repeated.
Vega exhaled slowly through his nose. “We never got one,” he continued.
“Where is he?” I demanded, and this time, my voice cracked.
And I hated that he heard it.
Vega’s eyes stayed locked on mine for several long seconds before he finally leaned back in his chair.
“Ms. Holiday… when’s the last time you saw Davion Madison?”
The door opened again, but I didn’t look toward it. My eyes stayed locked on Vega.
Every nerve in my body suddenly felt too tight.
“Where is he?” I asked again as Mercer moved back toward the table.
“I saw y’all take him,” I snapped, my voice rising. “I saw officers dragging somebody out my apartment.”
