Page 32 of Judgments of Fire and Desire

“Yes. It’s an older woman’s house in the Pear Orchard area of town.”

“When you say older, how much older?”

“Around seventy. Nearly old enough to be your grandmother.”

“Okay. Give me some time to think about it.”

“Don’t take too long, sir. This last threat has made me nervous. I feel like they are going to make good on it this time. The other times were risky but didn’t necessarily mean you would die from whatever they did. The threat to bomb your house while you sleep… that’s too serious and too dangerous to doddle about.”

“I understand. Let’s do it.”

“Okay. I’ll drive you home, and one of the officers will meet us at Grandma Jean’s house.”

My eyebrows lifted slightly. They were that friendly with her that they called her grandma? This was getting more and more complicated. I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to listen to my gut and what my heart was saying. I reopened them and nodded. He did the same and left my office.

Taking a leave of absence, although paid, was the last thing I wanted to do. I wouldn’t be able to access my work computer. My new laptop didn’t have all the programs on it that I needed yet. Were they just trying to get me away from the office? That was possible. However, they didn’t know about my secret weapon: Detective Johnson.

She’d already tracked down some paperwork purposely left out of the evidence submitted. I didn’t know how she found it, but she said it could possibly lead to something more that could help us track down a name. She was diligent. We’d been at this for nearly two months now. The day of my accident was when she tracked the information down. That was good news after what I’d suffered. I thought I was going to die that day.

When I hit the telephone pole, my SUV almost flipped over. That was when my head hit the window. They tracked me going thirty-five miles per hour, which was under the speed limit. I’d just left the gym and was headed to Kroger to get a few things for my mama. I hadn’t had to use my brakes because all the traffic lights were green until I got to Gladys. When I realized my brakes were gone, the only thing I could think of was keeping the people around me safe.

Then my angel appeared minutes later. When I saw Genesis, I could tell she had been miserable. It had only been two weeks since I’d seen her, but the moment I laid eyes on her, it felt like it had been forever. Her eyes were somewhat puffy like she’d been crying a lot. Mine had been somewhat the same because I hadn’t been sleeping well.

The threats had been coming nonstop, wearing my nerves thin. If it wasn’t text messages, there were notes on my vehicle. I was at the gym early, hoping that I would tire myself out enough to sleep. If I wasn’t thinking about the threats, my mind was on Genesis. I couldn’t have her putting her life on the line to protect mine. Did I have issues with a woman protecting me? Absolutely. I had more of an issue withmywoman protecting me. The only way I felt I could keep her from trying to do that was to distance myself from her.

I’d only suffered a mild concussion and just had a small laceration on my temple. I stayed home a couple of days from work, allowing my mother to see to things around the house andbaby the hell out of me. After a couple of days, I went back to work to escape her nurturing. She fussed the entire time I got dressed, but I tuned her out and left. Besides the couple of visits from Tyson, I had nothing to shield me from her dramatics.

When I’d finally seen Genesis’s text message, asking about how I was doing, I couldn’t force myself to respond. Seeing her had knocked me a step backward. Just when I thought I was making progress of living without her, I had to see her beautiful face. Had I responded to her, I wouldn’t have stopped talking to her. I didn’t want her to become a target either. Surely, whoever was after me would try to get at her as well. That was why I wasn’t spending much time around my mother either.

I couldn’t have either of them caught up in the crossfire. This elderly woman I would be staying with would be putting her life on the line as well. Surely, whoever was after me would easily find where I was. All they had to do was follow me. I wasn’t sure how the police planned to hide me, but hopefully, what they did would make more sense than what it was currently making in my mind.

As the hours passed, I was able to get some documents sent to my email that I needed to go over and reallocate cases for the rest of the week. The other cases that were further out would be reassigned later. Once I cleared out all the paperwork on my desk and signed a couple of search warrants, I packed up for the day and made my way to the police station.

When I got there, Detective Johnson met me at the door. “Don’t push back. What they are about to do was my recommendation. You need to get away from here because this is where you’re being tracked from. The lieutenant pulled me back in on your case.”

She winked, and I nodded repeatedly. She had my back, and I was grateful I made a connection with her. The lieutenant approached me with a black pullover to put on. I did as herequested and put the hood over my head. They then cuffed me and led me out to one of the blacked-out SUVs that they transported criminals in. After they helped me inside, Johnson said, “You’ll be safe. We’ve got you covered.”

I nodded, then she closed the door. Once the lieutenant got in the driver’s seat, he said, “I’m going to take you straight to Grandma Jean’s house. Then I’ll escort your mother to your house to get the things you need. If you can spin around a bit, I’ll uncuff you.”

“Will my mama be able to know where I am?”

“No, sir. We can’t even risk you using that phone. I’m going to provide you with another phone that you will be able to talk to her on. You’ll leave that phone with me. Detective Johnson and I have the new number. I wouldn’t suggest giving that number to anyone else.”

He proceeded to uncuff me, and I sat back in the seat and put on my seat belt. This life was about to get really lonely. There was only so much talking to Mama I could handle. After reaching that threshold, she would start wearing on my nerves. Genesis crossed my mind, and I knew I needed to get her out of my system.

When he turned into the driveway of the quaint little house, I smiled slightly. It looked like I would imagine a grandparent’s house looking. My mom’s parents were deceased and so were my dad’s. Even before he died, I didn’t spend much time with them. After he died, they were both deceased within seven years. So I didn’t know what it was like to grow up around grandparents.

Lieutenant Gamble came around the car and opened my door then led me to her back porch. I could smell food cooking, and my stomach verbalized its excitement. Gamble chuckled as he knocked. Shortly after, a short gray-haired lady answered the door. She was gorgeous. I knew she had to be a firecracker in herday and time and was probably still a firecracker to a man her age.

Her eyes widened slightly as she said, “Come on in. I’m cooking some oxtails. I hope you like that.”

“Yes, ma’am. I like food… period.”

She chuckled. “We’ll get along just fine then.”

She and Gamble talked for a minute or so, then he said, “I’ll be back with your things.”

I nodded as he left. She closed the door and turned back to me and said, “Well, my grandkids call me grandma, and most people that aren’t related to me call me Grandma Jean. You’re welcome to call me either of those, or my government name, Genevieve Adams.”

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