Soul Mate (The Mating Series) (38 page)

I laughed. “I bet she disowned him too.”

“Naturally, but my dad liked Uncle Yung and always invited him over.”

“Were they brothers?” I asked, trying to figure out the Kim family tree.

“No, he was Park Min’s brother,” Cho said. “He died when Jimmy was ten. I was closer to Uncle Yung than Jimmy. He used to take me everywhere.” Cho laughed. “Yung always got me into trouble.”

Cho
regaled stories about his Uncle Yung. The man was a character. I could see he had a lot of influence on Cho. It seemed that Yung was a womanizer too. I considered whether or not I should warn Mom about Uncle Yung, but decided against it. Mom was a grown ghost and could handle herself.

While Cho continued telling me stories, the over head television caught my eye. The eleven o’clock news was on. I saw Jimmy’s mug shot appear. “Cho!” I said and pointed to the TV set. “Can you turn it up?” I asked the bar tender.

The man pressed the volume button. We began to hear the news story. “Again, a raid on the Holy Covenant of the Apostle Church this afternoon revealed an arsenal of assault weapons and bombs. Officer William Skinner, a twenty year veteran of the force, and church member confessed to murdering several women. Skinner claimed it was an attempt, by the church, to clean up the streets vigilante style.” They flashed Jimmy’s photo again. “Jimmy Kim is accused of the crime and has been detained under house arrest since his apprehension. With this new evidence it appears that Mr. Kim was falsely accused in a cover up orchestrated by Officer Skinner.”
I knew it!

The program flashed to a press conference where the Chief of Police
spoke at a podium. “It truly saddens me that a decorated officer could be led astray like this.”

“What about Jimmy Kim?” A reporter off camera called.

“I’m truly sorry to Mr. Kim and his family. It’s a situation the Indianapolis Police Force attempts to avoid, but when all of the facts point to a suspect, we do what we need to do. In this case the facts were manipulated by the real perpetrator. The prosecutor is working as we speak to exonerate Mr. Kim.”

“Do you think Mr. Kim will pursue legal action for his false imprisonment?” The same reporter asked.

“We hope the City can work out a peaceful agreement with Mr. Kim, but I don’t know. Again we truly apologize to Mr. Kim.”

“Damn right he’ll seek legal action.” Cho said to the TV. “Sorry my ass!”

“Cho, do you know what this means?” My heart did flip flops. I jumped off the bar stool. “Do you think Jimmy knows yet?”

“I doubt it
,” Cho said. He threw a twenty on the bar and grabbed my hand. “Come on, let’s go.”

Cho
forgot he held my hand. He practically drug me a block to the car. We were so eager to tell Jimmy the news. When we got in the car, Cho squealed tires pulling away. “Slow down,” I said, but Cho ignored me.

We pulled into the parking garage and I was about to jump out. Cho grabbed my arm. “Cassie wait
,” Cho said. I turned to him. “I know you’re thrilled,” Cho said. He appeared upset.

“Of course aren’t you?” I asked.

“Yes, I’m, but we need to be cautious too.” I tilted my head in confusion. “There are a lot of unanswered questions.”
Who cares Jimmy is free!

“I know that.” I whined.
I wanted to see Jimmy. It was almost over. He was a free man. I wanted to be with him, but Cho held me back.
Let me go!

“Listen to me.” Cho insisted. “I know you and Jimmy will be elated over this, but I want you to be cautious.”

“I will,” I said. I didn’t get why Cho made a big deal. I pulled against Cho’s grip.

“Cassandra, stop! Listen to me.” I couldn’t get free of
him. Cho let go of me. I hopped out of the car. Cho followed right on my heels. “I’m going to come right out and say this.” He paused. “This isn’t over. I don’t want you to get hurt.” Cho handed me something. It was a small box.

I looked at it.
“Condoms?” I laughed.

“Cassie, this is not a joke
,” Cho said. “I want you to promise me who won’t be unprotected.”

“
You’re as bad as my mom,” I said. “She thinks there’s some truth to this antichrist thing too.”

“I don’t think there is any truth to it
,” Cho said, pulling me close to him. “I just don’t want you to end up in a worse situation.” Cho seemed to know something I didn’t.

“
I’m not going to get pregnant,” I said “and besides it’s all over.”

“Cassie, I doubt they’ve apprehended all of the members of that
church. You need to take care of yourself and Jimmy on this one.” He wrapped me in a huge bear hug. “I don’t want to be dick, but I don’t want you to get hurt. It’s not Jimmy I worry about. It’s you.”

“
You’re like the big brother I never had.” I beamed up at him. “I’ll miss you went you leave. Will you be leaving right away?”

“No, I need get all of the details and make sure this is truly over first
,” Cho said. “I’ll be here at least a few more days.”

I jumped in Jimmy’s arms as soon as I saw him. We told him the news. He didn’t believe us.
We went into the kitchen, and check the base. No lights flashed. The system was off. Jimmy walked past me and went all the way down to the parking garage. I waited for him, not knowing what to do.

“You’re free
,” Cho said when Jimmy entered the condo. Jimmy looked bewildered like an animal released back into the wild.

“What’s in your hand Cassie?” Jimmy asked

“A present from Cho.” I said, holding up the box of condoms.

“I wanted to make sure you had enough for your night of freedom sex
,” Cho said.

“You stopped to buy these on your way home?” Jimmy asked.

“No, I’ve had them for a couple of days.” Cho blushed. “They were originally for me. I planned to have a visitor if stuck here any longer, but I guess I’ll be home soon.”

“So they’ll be too small for me
,” Jimmy said. His eyes twinkled with happiness. Cho grumbled inaudibly. He pounded a pack of cigarettes on the heel of his hand. He walked away. I heard the terrace door open. I realized Cho hadn’t smoked all evening.

“Cho didn’t smoke tonight.”

“I told him not to smoke around you. I didn’t want to smell it on you.” Jimmy pulled me close to him. He wore only a pair of blue sweat pants, the ones that showed his hip bones. I loved those pants. His bare skin warmed me. “You’re freezing.”

“I’ve been cold all night.”

“You reek of Cho.” Jimmy stiffened, territorially. “He’s been touching you.”

“It’s from sitting close to him all night. He’s like an oven. I needed the warmth.” I didn’t elaborate that Cho had put his arm around me several times or any of the m
ind games and flirting.  “He’s like a big panda isn’t he?” I laughed. “He’s a good brother. He’d never cross the line,” I said. Cho wouldn’t cross the line, but he liked to dance on the edge of it.

“I know
,” Jimmy said. “I trust Cho, but he likes to look,” Jimmy said. “I catch him thinking about you a lot. It worries me.”

“He thinks about me?” It flattered me.

“Not bad thoughts I’ve caught phrases like… ‘if she were mine…’ or ‘if I met a girl like Cassie…’ He does it intentionally. Cho’s very opinionated. He doesn’t openly give his opinion. He knows I won’t admit to intentionally invading his mind.”

“Do you intentionally read people?” I asked.

“I do with Cho. I like to go in his head a probe around. He’s a strange man. The things he thinks about…well…makes me wonder about him,” Jimmy said, blushing. 

“Like what?” I wanted to know more about Cho.

“Well…he’s into some weird shit. My brother has a dark side,” Jimmy said.

“You’re lying.” I said
, doubtful.

“Honestly
,” Jimmy said. “That’s why I probe around in his head. I want to make sure he’s not envisioning you in his fantasies.”

“Gross! Cho isn’t thinking that about me, is he?”

Jimmy put an arm around me. “I’d kick his ass if he thought about you like he thinks about other women.”

“I think he’s really into that woman who
’s calling,” I said. “Is he thinking about her like that?”

“He’
s keeping his new woman locked up. I can’t see her or get an impression. He’s keeping some kind of secret there.” Jimmy pulled me to the bed room. “Enough about Cho. I want to be with you.”

At two in the morning,
Jimmy and I finally stopped making love. I nestled in his arms. My lips ached from kissing so much. Freezing, I snuggled close to Jimmy’s warmth. He pulled the blanket around me and pulled me tight. “I thought we were going to talk,” Jimmy said.

“Later.” I yawned. “
I’m exhausted.”

“
I’m too wired to sleep,” Jimmy said.

“How can you have any energy left?” I asked. He gave me little pecks all over. “Go play your game.”

“You know this isn’t over yet,” Jimmy said, vacantly.

“What isn’t over yet?”

“The church and us,” Jimmy said. “There’s something more going on. I can’t get a clear picture of it.”
First Cho and now Jimmy.
They insisted on bringing me down.

“You’
re free,” I said. “We can deal with whatever is looming in the future.”

“Freedom will allow me to work this out
,” Jimmy agreed. “As long as I was shackled to this condo, I couldn’t think about anything else.”

“The hard part is over. We can deal with the rest together
,” I said.

“Now, I wish they’d come and get this thing off me. It itches!” Jimmy said. He rubbed his ankle next to mine.

Jimmy tossed for about an hour before he finally got up and left the bedroom. It didn’t take long for me to fade off to sleep.

CHAPTER 18

Ben arrived early the following morning. I took Ben into the office and went to find Cho. Cho leaned on the kitchen island with a cigarette and a cup of coffee. “Ben’s here,” I said. Cho shuffled in the direction of the master bedroom. Jimmy snored. “Don’t wake Jimmy,” I whispered. “He didn’t sleep at all last night.”

“I came to speak with Cassie and you, Mr. Kim
,” Ben said, from the office doorway. “You can relay the information to your brother.”

“What happened?” I asked
, pulling up a chair.

“I
did an investigation on the information you gave me,” Ben said. “I discovered the church was located in an empty warehouse on the east side. I spoke with several of the congregation members. Their information didn’t add up. I did a stake out for a couple days.” Ben absently clicked a pen as he spoke. “In the scope of my investigation, I found that the church stored some heavy duty fire arms in the building. I had enough to call in the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Fire Arms division. The ATF raided the place and found over a hundred assault rifles, bombs and other weapons. They also found blood”

“Who’s blood?” I asked.

“We haven’t got the DNA back yet, but I’m willing to bet it belongs to one, or more, of the victims.”

Cho
ambled around the room in his pajamas and his hair stuck up funny. He appeared tired. I had the feeling Jimmy kept Cho up late. Cho lit a cigarette. “Go on.”

“We brought Skinner in for questioning and told him he was going down for everything, so he might as well name his accomplices. He confessed to the murdered prostitutes, but claimed no knowledge of Mary Lazarus’ murder, your home invasion, or the bloody note.”

“He’s lying,” I said.

“He’s being charged with all of the murders, your break in, intimidation, and interfering with a police investigation.”

“He framed my brother,” Cho said. “That’s more than mere interference.” 

“The fact remains your brother was found standing over a murdered victim with her blood on him
,” Ben said. I considered Ben’s accusations. Jimmy could still take the wrap for Mary’s death. I didn’t like the sound of it.  “However, we’re willing to look at other circumstantial evidence against Skinner, and the fact that he intentionally tried to direct the investigation to Jimmy Kim,” Ben said.

“Do you think Skinner is responsible for everything?” I asked.

“I don’t have all of the facts, but I’m sure upon further investigation, we’ll find that all of the evidence points to Detective Skinner and the Holy Covenant of the Apostle.”