Page 46 of Judgments of Fire and Desire

I closed my eyes. That was where we were from and had lived before moving to Beaumont. What in the hell did he have to do with all this? This puzzle was getting more and more complicated the more we found out. Why was he involved in shit happening way out here if he didn’t live here? By his introduction of me at the memorial, I thought he had a personal issue with me, but I brushed it off because I didn’t know the man. Well, clearly, he knew me. I would have to spend the next few days getting acquainted with just who he was to level the playing field.

I was devastated.I’d thrown myself into my work, trying to forget about the mess I’d heard about my little brother. Since my promotion, I was off on most weekends. However, I volunteered to work. I knew Kyrie could tell that information bothered me, but he allowed me time to work through it. Today, I would be going to his place to talk about everything.

I’d come to the office for a little bit to check on things and make sure I didn’t have to tell Bransford a piece of mind, only to discover that he was off today. The revelations Detective Johnson spewed two days ago were affecting my memory, because it was all I could think about. This was one time I wished I would have allowed their conversation to be confidential. Knowing what I knew and not being able to say anything to anyone was tearing me to shreds. The fact that my grandma knew he was getting in trouble at work and didn’t say a word to anyone made me wonder about just how much she knew.

I wasn’t sure how Johnson had gotten my brother’s file, but she seemed extremely nervous about it. It was like she was afraid of either how I would take what she had to say or something more. She and Kyrie ended up talking again yesterday while I was at work. I’d called to talk to him, and when he didn’t answer, I’d called Ms. Carolyn. When she told me the detective had come back, I knew it had to be some things she needed to say to him without me being there.

As I signed off on an order form for new respirators, I heard the door open. It was probably shift change. I stood from my desk, and as I was making my way out of my office, Bransford was standing there, looking like he was ready to start some shit. I rolled my eyes and asked, “Can I help you?”

He extended his hand to me as I frowned and stared at it. “I wanted to apologize for the hard time I’ve been giving you. You got the appointment, and the council voted you in. I need to accept that and get over my feelings of being slighted. Of all the questionable characters that work for the city and county, I know you aren’t one of them. I signed the write-up, by the way.”

My frown eased somewhat, and I hesitantly shook his hand. I didn’t know what to make of his sudden change in attitude. It actually made me nervous. He gave me a tight smile and walked away. With everything that was going on, I couldn’t help but question his motives. When my phone rang, I once again retreated into my office. My brother’s name on the caller ID made me a little nervous as well. We talked at least three times a week, if not more, but he rarely called while I was at work. Doing my best to pretend nothing was wrong would be difficult.

“Hello?”

“What’s up, Chief? How’s it going?”

“Hey. It’s going. It’s been a relatively decent day, believe it or not.”

“What’s going on? You having issues with Bransford?”

I frowned slightly. I wasn’t sure how he knew that. “Stop thinking so hard, girl. You know he has a big mouth. He doesn’t mind voicing his disdain with not being appointed to the masses, even if that’s saying you aren’t qualified.”

I tried to relax, knowing that everyone probably knew about the issues I was having with Bransford. “Yeah, but today, he apologized. That caught me totally off guard.”

“That’s because I had a talk with him. He knew he wasn’t the best person for the job. Just because he had the endorsement of the previous chief didn’t qualify him. AJ knew who the most qualified person was, and he appointed her… you.”

“Sam… please tell me what you said to him.”

“That doesn’t matter. As long as he fixed his shitty attitude, that’s all that matters.”

“I guess you’re right. How’s work going?”

“It’s going. I have to get my attitude in check more often than what I like, but it is what it is.”

I wasn’t sure what he meant by that. Just as I was about to ask, he said, “When you always have to address injustice and unfairness on your job, that isn’t a good thing, especially when you work in law enforcement. I applied to be a state trooper. So, hopefully, I get that position, and I won’t be jumping from the skillet to the frying pan.”

“Well, that’s great that you’re trying to move on. What type of injustices are you speaking of?”

“There you go… worried about me. Just with pay and assignments. I’ll be fine.”

“I’m your big sister. It’s my job to worry about you… along with Mama’s. We just want to be sure that you’re good.”

“I’m good. How are you and Judge Patrick?”

“We’re fine. Just going through the healing process. He’s tired of being cooped up in the house, but I think that’s what’s best for right now.”

“Yeah. All hands are on deck with locating the owner of the car that hit him. The man seems to be in the wind.”

“Well, hopefully, y’all can track him down soon. Hopefully, it was just a hit-and-run and not connected to all this other foolishness,” I said, testing the waters.

I wanted to see if he would reveal anything he knew or even implicate his involvement unknowingly. He didn’t know that I knew anything, but with as smart as he was, he would probably figure I knew more than the average person because of my involvement with Kyrie.I wonder if he’s testing me to see what I know…

“I can’t see this being random with everything that’s already going on. It’s like there’s a vendetta out for him. Someone wants him gone for whatever reason. They arrested the guy that was leaving the death threat notes on his car. Hopefully, they can get information out of him.”

“Yeah, I hope so. Well, brother, I have to get back to work. Will I see you at Mama’s house tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I’ll be there. See you then.”

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