Page 98 of Before We Ever Spoke

“No… how would I?” Cara responded, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“My point exactly, Cara… I’m not perfect either. But, you know what? You make me feel like I am, and I am trying my hardest to make you feel like you are, too.”

“I… I don’t know what to say…” Cara said as guilt began to set in.

Coop knelt down on the floor next to the sofa and gently placed his hands on her cheeks so she could see his eyes, which also had tears slowly streaming down the stubble on his face.

“Nothing…” he whispered.

“Nothing…” she replied.

“You better get goin… y’all gonna be late for dinner…”

“Y’all? I’m meeting Lucy there, though.”

“Yes, but Grace Brooks is taking you there, remember?”

“Crap! I’m supposed to meet her downstairs at 5:30! How much time do I have?”

“About 10 minutes… best get a move on, girl!” Coop kissed her on the forehead and pulled her up off the couch and into his arms.

“Wait…” Cara said.

“What’s up?” Coop asked as he held her.

“I just want you to know that I really appreciate what you said. All of it. Even the bad stuff… I want you to know that there’s nothing you could tell me that’ll make me like you any less.”

“Back atcha, Cara Knox. I kinda like you, ya know…”

“Ditto…” Cara said as she gave him a big hug.

66

Detective Jason Knox hopped off the RTA bus at a stop near the intersection where Rides 4 Less was located. He looked nothing like a detective, though, in the faded jeans and slightly wrinkled button-down shirt he grabbed out of his locker at the precinct.

He always kept a few different outfit choices in there for when he was trying to blend in during surveillance. In addition to the disguise, he used a concealed holster to carry his firearm inside the rear waistband of his jeans. The untucked shirt was just long enough to cover up any outline that the gun might give off through his clothes. While he wasn’t planning on needing it, he certainly was not going to leave without it.

Jason had parked his car a few blocks away and hopped on the RTA bus that would take him to Rides 4 Less. He knew that if he was to play the part of a guy in desperate need of a car, he certainly couldn’t show up there in one, let alone an unmarked cruiser.

To call Rides 4 Less a car dealership was a stretch. It was really just a corner lot riddled with the types of cars that you could get for a few hundred dollars at a sheriff’s auction and then sell for a profit. The “office” that Ernie Page had referred to earlier on the phone was actually just an old construction trailer and all of the signage was the kind you’d be able to get at a 24-hour copy shop.

As Jason approached the office he saw the man that he witnessed eating ice cream earlier come bounding out of the trailer door. Although Jason was almost certain that this was Ernie, he still had to make sure.

“Are you Darrell? Never did get your last name. Been expecting you, fella! Ernie Page, nice to meet ya!” the man talked quickly as he extended his hand towards Jason and gave him a firm handshake.

“Yessir, Darrell Dawkins, sir. Pleasure to meet ya…”

“Dawkins? Like the basketball player?” Ernie asked, referring to the former NBA star who had a penchant for shattering backboards in the 70’s and 80’s.

“Yessir, just spelled differently. Been hearing that most my life,” Jason laughed.

“What’d they use to call him? Chocolate something?” Ernie asked.

“Thunder. Chocolate Thunder…” Jason replied.

“That’s what it was. He was one big brother, wasn’t he?”

Brother? A racist and a scumbag…

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