Alfonzo (8 page)

“Arrest me
,
but
let me
see for myself. I want to make sure it’s him!”

The officers stood close,
ready to whisk
Alfonzo o
ff to jail
,
but he didn’t give a damn. He wanted to see. Maybe, the girl…he spun around and saw the girl on the gurney eyeing him sadly. She’s the one…he thought she’s the one!

“Take the cuffs off Brody.”
Detective Johnson
gripped Alfonzo’s arm as
Officer Brody unlocked the handcuffs then propelled him forward, “One more outburst and that’s it. Got it?”

Alfonzo clenched
his teeth, “
Sí
.”

Detective Johnson relaxed
the pressure to
his arm then motioned f
or a plainclothes officer to guard the young women
and Jay
.
He looked over at his daughter, “Don’t go anywhere Shanda,” eyes fell on her male
friend, “
and
that includes you too!”

The detective escorted Alfonzo inside the apartment where a forensics team collected evidence. Alfonzo glanced at the
nonporous tarp covering the bodies. His chest heaved violently, “
Is that Tio
?

Detective Johnson opened his pad. “What’s your Uncle’s name?”

“Alfonzo Javier Diaz.”

“Is there a contact number to a next of kin?”
He asked before he even let
A
lfonzo near the
bodies
.

“
Me,
”
Alfonzo
hissed, still pissed at seeing Jay there
and the delay in being shown what lay beneath the darkened tarp.
He thought about his mother and his aunt. The news of their brother’s untimely death should not come from a stranger. If this was Uncle Al then he’d br
e
ak the news as gently as possible. The entire family loved
Al –deeply.

Detective Johnson gave the kid a m
inute
then continued, “What’s his date of birth
?”

The questioning assisted in compiling background information on the victims.
Loved ones became impatient at this point.
He’d
worked in Homicide for ten years and never knew any of the
victims, until now.
Selange was inconsolable, which was understandable.
She refused to go to the hospital
and
insist
ed o
n remaining out there until they took her mother away. She looked a mess. It hurt to see her that way…it killed him seeing Darlene even more. Whoever killed
her
was a brutal sonovabitch and he was going to do everything to catch
the monster
before he destroyed an
other family.
Detective Johnson
cleared his throat
, stretched his spine and repeated the question,
“Your uncle’s date of birth?”

“August second,”
a
muscle protruded from
Alfonzo’s
jaw, “
lo siento…
I can‘t do this
man…I can’t stand here talking with you…I
need to
see.” He dug his
hands deep in
the pockets of his trousers to conceal a sudden
onset of nervous tremors.

“Alright,” Detective Johnson said then closed the pad.
I.D taken from the victim matched.
Detective Johnson walked over to the bodies and motioned for
Alfonzo
as he
knelt
then
peeled back the covering.

“
Oh Jesus!
”
Alfonzo
muttered then
balled
his hands
into
fists.
Al’s forehead was torn apart.
The upper portion of his skull resembled a gory horror movie, brain matter, hair and blood were grotesquely matted together,
and evidence
that
whoever did this stood very close or packed an extremely high-powered weapon.
His eyes faltered then settled on the woman. She
also
experienced a
traumatic
head wound
; one
bullet straight through
her
forehead. He turned away unable to
stomach
any
more. It was apparent this was an execution, not some punk with a beef to grind.
It was a
hit
, b
ut why?
The cold-blooded bastard
s were going to
pay
!

The detective covered the bodies then stood. From the expression on the young man’s face it’
s apparent he’d seen death in a similar fashion
. D
espite the cold glint of his blue eyes and the obstinate jaw
,
the youth was hurting. He was hurting bad.

“Have you got anything
, caught anybody
?”

“We don’t have a suspect yet, we’re still trying to piece together what happened,
so far, it doesn’t look like forced entry. The positions of the body lead us to believe
the woman must’ve let the killer in. Your uncle may have heard a commotion
surprised the intruder and a fierce struggle ensued.”
He wanted to give the kid something, “Your uncle put up a
helluva
fight.”

This mattered little to Alfonzo, “My uncle
would
put up a fight, that’s just how he was.”

“We
ll whoever did this must be hurting. Your uncle’s got a major bruise on his knuckles. We’re going to see if there are any traces of someone’s DNA on it.”

Alfonzo’s mind was clicking. “
Who’s the girl on the stretcher, did she see anything?”

“That’s the victim’s daughter
. S
he found the bodies.” Detective Johnson’s voice was
compassionate, “Look, we’re still investigating and we
’ll contact the family
when
we apprehend a suspect
,
” he coughed, “
we’re about to send the bodies to the morgue but once the autopsy is complete you’re free to make arrangements.”

Alfonzo nodded
then
turned to leave.

“By the way,” Detective Johnson said to his back, “what’s your name
and you never gave me a contact number.”

Alfonzo recited his name and cell number then reached for the door. Another question arose from the detective.

“
Alfonzo, did your uncle have any enemies?”

Alfonzo
ran his fingers through his straight black hair. The trembles subsided
as he
quickly assessed the possibilities. Sometimes enemies were disguised as friends.
You
might
piss off somebody and wouldn’t know it. Uncle Al certainly made enemies over
the years
,
but
he’d
begun a
new life with Darlene.
“Everybody has enemies.”

The detective stood be
side
the tall youth
, “Why’d you attack my daughter’s friend. It sounds like you think he might know something about this,
does he
?”

“Jay’s an asshole
but he didn’t do this
.” He responded.

“Why’d you accuse him of hurting your uncle?”

Detective Johnson’s expression turned contemplative. Was Jay a killer?
Were these murders over lottery winnings
or a personal vendetta
?

“I didn’t accuse him of anything, you heard wrong.” Alfonzo responded with a defiant lift
of his chin, “we had a little beef but we’re cool.”

The detective moved aside as Alfonzo
shouldered by. These tough street guys never rat on anybody, did they?
He watched him walk
down the hall toward
Jay
and the others.
His officers watched
,
making sure the
muscled Latino
didn’t do anything stupid
. If he did, they were given orders to haul his ass
straight to jail.

Detective Johnson
motioned to his daughter and her friend as he stepped into the corridor and they came. “I want you to go straight home and you,” he said to Jay, “do not leave town I have some questions for you.”
When his daughter
nodded
,
he slipped back inside the apartment to refocus on the crime scene. T
he stench of death began to emanate from the bodies and permeate the air.
“Come on guys let’s try to hurry up and get these bodies to the morgue!”

Selange
wiped at her face to stop the tears. Blurry eyes followed the approach
of the guy who attacked Jay. He looked angry, no, sad and angry
.
The nephew
-
sobrino
…it must be him…the voice.

He walked calmly over
and
glanc
ed
at the paramedics in annoyance as they asked
the girl to sign
the RMA. Selange s
cribbled her signature on the
refusal of medical aid
form
then slumped against the wall as they packed up their equipment, placed it atop the stretcher then rolled the gurney to the elevator.

The nephew stared at her
with
inten
se blue eyes.
He inhaled then spoke, “Are you the girl from the phone?”

She nodded trying to maintain her composure
, “Yes.”

Baby blue’s settled on her
bloodstained clothes
then
traveled to her face once more, “What happened…do you have any idea?”

She sniffled, “I
don’t know…I don’t know.”

He stepped closer. Neck muscles protruded
as he extended both arms against the wall trapping her there. Muscular biceps
bulged
beneath the cotton shirt and the warmth of his Mentos breath fanned across her forehead, “Think…anything that might help make sense of this.”

She turned her head to avoid
the scrutiny of his eyes
. Intimately close he
realized beneath the dried blood
in
her
hair
and smeared over her face and clothing
she was strikingly beautiful. The feline eyes were bloodshot from crying
. Her posture was proud
,
yet
slouched under
the
load from the
gruesome discovery
. H
e
noticed her
forlorn expression
; a young woman
without direction.

She frowned, “Maybe the money from the lottery. We were moving because my
mom hit the lottery…maybe someone thought we had money in the apartment…I don’t know.”

His voice softened, “
Did she
?”

“I can’t right now.” She lowered her head
exhausted from thought. It was simply too much. The questions were overwhelming. She grasped her head.

Alfonzo’s voice deepened, “I need answers that
ca
n’t wait
,
and whoever
did this is running or hiding. I want to find the sonovabitch, don’t you?
”

Her eyes darted to Shanda wrapped in Jay’s arms
. P
resently, she felt alone and scared.
Meanwhile, this guy seemed intent
upon an
interrogation
when all she wanted was someone to comfort her
.
Someone to tell her the nightmare would soon end
. S
he glanced toward the door of her apartment
and
knew this day will
always be
the worst day of her life.
Lips tightened in anger, “
I need space
…I can’t do this
…please…it hurts too much…please.”

She
began to
cry
hysterically
and bent
over in such agony it inspired an act of chivalry from Jay.
“Won’t you back the fuck-up man
,
can’t you see she’s not
able
to answer your fucking questions. Look at her
!” Jay inter
jected
.