The World in Reverse (15 page)

“No, I’m not,” she said quickly. “But that doesn’t mean that just because it’s just you
for now
that I want to complicate my life with a committed relationship.”

His eye twitched. “Especially for me, right?” Even he had to admit that he didn’t think he was good enough for her, but women like her were never attracted to the guys who were
good enough
. They liked bad boys; guys who barely returned a text the morning after and
never
stayed the night; guys who drove fast, flashy cars and spent countless hours in the gym to get a woman’s attention but never took the time to notice any woman he had been with.

No, they didn’t like good enough.

They liked worthless.

Women complained continuously about the kind of guy he was, but they couldn’t stay away from him. They wanted to be fucked within an inch of their lives, made to feel as though there was no one more important or beautiful on the earth besides them, made to feel as though the bad boy couldn’t live without them and then cry and moan when they were discarded days if not hours later.

And in the past, that was him down to the last detail.

Even now with other women that was still him, but with Carmen being the bad guy, the worthless
all wrong
choice wasn’t an option anymore.

Too bad she didn’t believe him.

Too bad she might very well like him the way that he used to be.

Too bad he couldn’t change back.

Carmen rolled her eyes again at the sight of him sulking but relaxed her shoulders at his confession. She knew that she was being too hard on him, but she also knew that she was dealing with a reforming player…basically chopped liver. “It’s not that. I just…I can’t go back to that life, Johnson. It made me want to pull my hair out. All the fighting and the drama.” She unfolded her arms and touched his face. “What we have now works.” Her voice pleaded for his understanding.

Johnson flashed his amber eyes her way. “For you?”

“For us,” she said, standing up and snaking around him. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she kissed the tip of his nose. “Besides, you’re too sexy to pout.” Playfully, she made a sad face. “And there are so many other things we could be doing right besides fighting.”

He rubbed her lower back and rested his hand on her bottom. “You know, you can’t always change the subject with this,” he said looking down the front of her robe at her ample breasts. He licked his lips. “I mean…I might forget for a minute but it’s going to come back up.”

She kissed his ear and bit his lobe. “What’s going to come back up?” Pushing in between his legs, she ran a hand down his black gym shorts and felt his erection.

“Sometimes, I think you only mess with me because of him,” Johnson said, biting his lip.

Carmen chuckled. “Well
he
is ten very thick inches of…steel.”

“A girl’s best friend,” Johnson said, standing up. “Come on. Let’s go upstairs.”

Just then, his cell phone started to vibrate on the table. Picking it up, he cursed under his breath before answering.

“Hello,” he said, watching Carmen walk in front of him and drop her robe to the floor. Completely naked, she made her way to the back stairwell that led upstairs and turned to look at him.

“God,” he muttered.

She smiled and pulled her hair down out of its ponytail.

He rubbed his growing erection and pushed his phone closer to his ear. “Yes sir. I’m on my way.”

Hanging up the phone, he walked pulling down his shorts to reveal his gorging manhood.

“I thought you had to go?” she asked, holding on to him as he scooped her up in his arms.

“They can wait ten minutes,” he said firmly.

“Ten minutes?” She frowned.

“Beggars can’t be choosers,” he said, carr
ying her up the stairs.

14

On the twelfth floor of 201 Poplar, the headquarters of the Memphis Police Department, beyond the reach of the hungry reporters who were camped out below, Johnson’s lieutenant sat patiently waiting for him to arrive while he listened to Director Amway speak firmly with someone on the phone.

When he had come in, Amway was on the phone and had remained occupied, waiting on Johnson’s arrival. All he wanted was a minute to ask what the meeting was about. He didn’t like going in just as blind as the men that he commanded. A little Intel would have been nice…a common courtesy that any high-ranking officer would have expected.

Still, he was made to wait.

He tried to act as if he wasn’t paying atte
ntion, but the tone of the conversation between Amway and the mysterious caller had taken on such intensity that it pulled him out of his thoughts and propelled him to move closer to the bathroom door. Amway was inside, holed up and sounding like he was ready to tear his own hair out.

Abruptly, the call ended, and from what the lieutenant could tell, it did not end well. He stepped quickly away from the door and made his way over to the window.

Amway stepped out of the bathroom and wiped his brow. The discussion had obviously gotten the best of him. Sweating profusely, he went over to his desk and dug through some paperwork until he found what he was looking for. Clutching a card in his hand, he looked up as Deputy Chief Magnelli knocked and entered the office.

“Sorry that I’m late,” Magnelli said, making his way over to the coffee pot percolating in the corner. Dressed in a golf shirt and khakis, he looked at Lieutenant Thomas and nodded. “How are you, Bill?”

“Fine, sir,” Thomas answered quickly. He swallowed hard, realizing that this was a meeting of top brass and for the first time, he was a part of it.

“Is Johnson on the way?” Amway asked shortly.

“Yes, sir. He should be here any minute,” Thomas said, looking at his watch.

“I need to remind Phyllis to order me some more damned cards,” Amway said absently. He grabbed a pen and wrote something on the back of the card that he had fished off of his cluttered desk.

“Damn, your office looks like when you were a detective,” Magnelli joked with Amway.

Thomas smirked, but didn’t dare make a sound. He knew that he was mostly here just to observe.

“Lately, I’ve been feeling like that’s were I’d prefer to be. Do you know since this shit went down with Agosto, I’ve given out more cards, gotten more fucking emails and phone calls from people who want to weigh in on the situation.” Amway rolled his eyes. “It’s ridiculous. And I just got off the phone with the mayor.”

“He wants an update?” Magnelli asked.

“No. He wants the case solved. He wants Agosto’s head on a plate. He wants Memphis’ name cleaned up and he wants it all done today,” Amway answered, irritated again.

“He wouldn’t be the mayor if he wasn’t as
king for the world,” Magnelli said, revealing his politician-like demeanor.

“Where are you coming from, the golf course?” Amway asked Magnelli after he finally noticed his attire.

“Damn near drove off the green in the cart straight to the office,” Magnelli answered.

“Well, I wouldn’t know what that’s like. I haven’t had an off day since Agosto made the news.”

Magnelli’s chest immediately swelled. He knew that his boss was implying that if he hadn’t taken a day off, neither should he. “Sorry, I don’t make your salary. A day off is the only way that I keep my sanity.”

Amway’s eyes narrowed. “You make enough to skip a day on the green so that we can solve this case, I’m sure. And the pay never matches up to the fucking responsibility around this place. When was the last time that the mayor called you bitching, complaining and making demands.”

“I meant no disrespect, sir,” Magnelli said with his nose turned up. Quietly, he wanted to spit in Amway’s face. The audacity of the young director made him sick. He had put in years to be able to take off without hearing from some snot-nosed, black boy from the LeMoyne Gardens, who only got tapped to Director because the mayor wanted another dark-face in the administration.

Amway could sense the animosity. Turning around, he looked over at Thomas. “Lieutenant, when was the last day that you had a day off.”

Thomas held a breath. Dear God, he didn’t want to be pulled into this brass pitching match.

Realizing both men were waiting on an a
nswer, he finally spoke. “I can’t remember.”

“Even with a four percent cut in pay that the city council just took from us, you still feel the need to put in the work that citizens need?” Amway said, looking over Magnelli with an insinuating glare. He shrugged his wide shou
lders. “Well, I guess that some of us get it.”

Thomas sucked in a breath, trying to hold on to some oxygen as all the air left out of the room. Talk about intimidating. This was wa
rfare that he really didn’t want to be involved with.

The rebuttal was almost immediate. Eye twitching, Magnelli opened his mouth to say something but Amway quickly put the conve
rsation to bed. “End of discussion. I didn’t bring you here to discuss this shit.”

An interruption came with invited arms. Johnson, in his usual shirt and jeans, opened the door and closed it behind him.

Amway looked over from Magnelli and waved Johnson over. “Have a seat and lets get started.” He walked over to his circular work desk where the men were to convene their meeting.

Johnson nodded at Magnelli and immediat
ely thought of Carmen. The old man would have a heart attack if he knew that he was seeing his baby girl. Too bad she wouldn’t let him tell him. He could probably convince him that he wasn’t a bad guy.

“Do you own anything other than jeans and t-shirts? Shit, Johnson grow up,” Magnelli said out of the blue.

Johnson audibly clucked his tongue against the bottom of his mouth. “Didn’t know it mattered,” he said, looking down at his clothes. “Their clean, freshly washed.” By your daughter, he thought to himself.

“The next time I see you, I want you to have a suit on,” Magnelli said with a point.

Johnson didn’t answer. Maybe Carmen was right.
He would hate him.

In the middle of the table were newspapers from across the country. The local paper sat atop the pile with Agosto’s picture, A1 above the fold.

“Gentlemen, we are way behind the eight ball on the Baby Boys case. Agosto’s untimely and very fucked situation has all but buried us in a media hell that we won’t likely dig ourselves out of for quite some time. I have people picketing outside downstairs, as you could clearly see on your way up. They are demanding jail time for a man that I’m not even sure is guilty of anything except getting caught. I have news reporters covering every inch of this man’s life and begging me for a statement. I have parents demanding something be done to find the killer or killers, according to Agosto and Johnson’s report.” He huffed in frustration as he passed the newspapers around the table. “The public relations firm that we have hired to help us in this has recommended several steps in a crisis communications plan. I’m looking it over. But I need action now on this case. We have to find a way to control the message and get back to our job.” Even as he gave the directive, he hated sounding like a politician. It wasn’t who he was at all, but it was a title that he had to come to grips with or be swallowed by the very people who hired him.

“It would be a lot easier to
control the message
if Agosto hadn’t lost his cool,” Magnelli snarled angrily.

“Be that as it may, I brought you here to help me make a final decision on either letting Johnson move forward on this case alone, or assigning him a new partner.” Amway looked over at Johnson. “Now, normally, this decision wouldn’t include you at all, but considering that I did handpicked Agosto, and considering that we need to work extremely hard on the case, I’m going to take your suggestions into consi
deration.”

“Who did you have in mind?” Thomas asked, finally feeling comfortable enough to enter into the discussion. He knew his team well and there were only a few people that he would even consider teaming up with Johnson.

“Detective Cory Hamilton and Lt. Kat Steele come to mind,” Amway said, looking over at Magnelli.

“One OCU member. One homicide.” Ma
gnelli sat back in his chair and took a deep breath. “My bet would be on Steele. She’s sharp, and she’d be able to handle the media.”

“I don’t think either one would be a good fit,” Thomas said, biting his lip. He tilted his head and looked over at Johnson. “I think he can handle this alone.”

“Alone?” Amway shook his head. “No offense, Johnson, but at this point, this case is too big for one person.”

There was an ally in the room. “Having to catch someone up on this case is going to slow things down. Plus, Johnson would still be the lead,” Thomas defended.

“I’m worried that he might not be mature enough to handle this alone,” Amway added. His reservations were evident in his tone.

Johnson frowned. “In what way?”

“Johnson, you’re a good cop but I mean you did come to a news conference in jeans and a damned t-shirt. I need someone who can represent the police department and build confidence in the citizens.”

“Agosto wore a suit to the news conference, right?” Johnson asked, feeling Thomas’s eyes burning through him. “And yet, here he is on the front of the paper, sir.”

“Steele is solid, and she has 15 years on the job. Getting her up to speed won’t be a problem,” Magnelli said, tapping his pen against the desk. He ignored Johnson’s rebuttal altogether. “Plus, she has an unblemished record.”

“I guess that it helps from a PR standpoint that she’s a woman,” Amway said, flipping through her file.

“And it also helps that she’s black,” Thomas blurted out. He looked around the room at all eyes on him for his obviously awkward statement. Being a southern white guy with blue eyes and graying brown hair, he instantly felt uncomfortable again.
Was black a bad word now?

Amway turned the page in the file and smirked.

“This case isn’t about PR,” Johnson said, after he had heard enough. He had to get them to see the bigger picture, but he felt like he was losing them to some popularity contest.

“I don't need to be reminded what this case is about, Johnson.” Amway gave Johnson a stern stare. “Where are you with leads?” he asked. “What do we know so far besides the fucking obvious?”

Johnson hesitated. He didn’t necessarily mind sharing with Amway but Magnelli rubbed him the wrong way. He simply didn’t trust him.

Picking up on his concern, Amway rolled his eyes. “Please don’t tell me that you think you’ve got a mole.” He pushed back in his chair and dropped his pen.

Johnson raised a brow and stared at his boss. “That’s what I’m telling you.”

“This is just great,” Amway seethed sarca
stically. “Have you reported it to the Securities Squad?”

“No,” Johnson said quickly.

“Reason being?” Amway asked.

“I don’t have proof and I don’t have a name. I’m working on hunches.”

“The public already has me literally by the balls. I’m pissing opinions in the toilet and wiping my ass with national newspapers. And you’re telling me that not only do I have to deal with this Agosto bullshit, but I now have to deal with another dirty cop on my watch?” His voice reached a high pitch in utter frustration. “I’ve got cops beating the hell out of gang bangers…one last week busted for running hoes down to the fucking casinos in tunica…two shaking down drug dealers on duty....”

Magnelli interrupted, “Don’t forget that dumbshit
, Patterson, who got caught having sex on duty.”

Amway shook his head. “Yeah, I’ve got his ass and about 15 more, front and center fucking up for all of Memphis to see and trying to make a damn mockery out of this department. But that’s nothing…all that shit is moot if you’re telling me that you think there is a cop in on these murders.” He had to take a deep breath. The room began to close in on him.

“Well, whoever the bastard is, he’s not in this room, so please enlighten us on the specifics of this case,” Magnelli said, frustrated. “Maybe we can help you in some way. Closed mouths don’t get fed.”

Johnson sighed. “We think that the murders have less to do with a single psycho killer and more to do with drugs. Molly was found in the system of each child and then after Agosto leaned on Twist, Twist ended up dead. Cane is a subject of interest but we can’t prove anything definitively right now and he’s in the wind.”

“So you’re saying Molly dealers are killing kids? Why?” Amway asked intrigued.

“There is a connection there but we have to find out what. The night that Twist was killed he had a jump drive in his stomach. He swa
llowed it.”

“What was on the jump drive?” Amway asked.

“Well,” Johnson narrowed his eyes. “Agosto gave him the FBI’s profile report to review. He wanted to find out if one of Twist’s dealers knew someone who fit the bill.”

Amway rolled his eyes. “Does anyone ou
tside of us know that he was that stupid?”