Page 25 of Judgments of Fire and Desire

“I’m sorry, but it’s my job. It’s engrained into me.”

He nodded and released me from his grasp then knelt where the officer who had been hit was laying. It looked like he was hit in the thigh. As I was about to kneel with them, Samuel said, “Get inside, Genesis. We got this. There’s no fire, so you need to be inside.”

Before I could say anything in rebuttal, I heard the sirens. Kyrie nodded as I looked back at them. “He’s right. You need to get inside.”

Samuel frowned at him, but he didn’t say a word. I took a deep breath and walked away from them toward the entry. When I got under the awning, I turned back to look at them, seeing Kyrie staring at me. He looked away without any visible emotion. I knew he had to be scared, but it seemed like he was irritated with me.

A burning sensation made its way to my elbow as I watched them. I turned my arm to see the scrape. Making my way to the fire engine, I got inside and sat in the seat to take out the first aid kit. I swallowed hard, trying to swallow my emotions in the process as I nursed my wounds. This was dangerous. People were doing more than making threats now. They were trying to kill him. I couldn’t lose him, and despite what he said, I would always be there to protect him.

“She hung herself, man,”Tyson said as soon as he entered my chambers.

“What? Who?”

“Darlene. She killed herself in the middle of the night.”

I slid my hand down my face. It had been a week since the incident at the firefighters’ initiative, and I was still somewhat rattled. I didn’t go back to Genesis’s house, because I was obviously being followed. I refused to put her in danger by leading them to where she rested her head. She would be in danger any time she was around me.

“This isn’t good.”

“I know. I hate this shit, but whoever is after you, they may come harder. The guard found her hanging there. They think she had been there for two hours.”

“So let me guess, the masses are blaming me.”

“They’re saying that the sentencing played a big part in her demise.”

“Yeah. Blame the black man. They fail to remember that her actions are what contributed to her being there.”

“Yeah. So what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to really dig into this shit so I can solve it myself. I feel like she was the fall guy. There are more people involved in this, and no one seems to be concerned about it.”

There was a knock on my door, so Tyson turned to me, and I nodded. He went to it and opened it, then left out of the door. The DA stood there with a folded piece of paper in his hand. “Good morning. This had your name on it. They found it in Darlene’s cell.”

My eyebrows lifted.Why would she leave a note for me?I took the note from him and stared at my name on the outside of it. When I looked up at Carl, I asked, “Did you read it?”

He shook his head. “I wanted to, but at the same time, it was addressed to you. I figured if it was something I needed to know, you would tell me.”

I nodded, but I felt like his nosy ass was lying. I opened the letter and read.

Judge Patrick,

You did your job, sir. I could tell during the proceedings you were irritated by my silence. I got myself into the foolishness I was involved in because my husband and I were in a bad spot financially. He doesn’t know what all I was doing. I just told him I’d gotten a significant raise and that I was doing other jobs that allotted me another paycheck. He is gullible when it comes to me.

I’m writing this letter to let you know that I wasn’t working alone. There are other high profile people that were involved in this. Watch your back, because they will be coming for you,doing their best to destroy evidence. I heard you wanted to be a detective at one time. Well, it’s time you put those skills to use.

This ring goes deep. I could tell by your demeanor in the courtroom that you were seeing right through the charade. I was the fall guy to protect them, but I lost the most. I lost my family. I won’t get to see my kids graduate from college. I won’t get to see them start families and give me grandkids to spoil. Now, I’ll never be able to see them. This isn’t on you, Judge. However, if you want to know who all is involved, you’ll have to solve it yourself. Good luck.

My final words,

Darlene Doll

P.S.- No one needs to see this letter but you. You never know who you could be talking to.

I folded the letter as I repeatedly nodded my head. She confirmed what I already knew, but I wished she would have included names. Now everyone would be a suspect. I brought my gaze to Carl’s and said, “She only wanted me to know that I wasn’t at fault for this. That she deserved the sentence she got. I was doing my job.”

“That’s it?” Carl asked.

“Yes. She knew people would be blaming me. She took responsibility for her actions that led to the sentencing. That’s it.”

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