CHAPTER 16 Suspect

*Zuri*

The next morning, after I had showered and had gotten dressed for work, I knocked on Evie's door with a bowl of her favorite cereal on a tray. Before entering, I made a mental note to get her her favorite cheeseburger before coming home later tonight. Cheeseburgers were her comfort food. She could eat two of them in one sitting which always made me wonder where she put all the food she ate. Evie, in my opinion, was as thin as a pole.

I found Evie in bed, still in her clothes from yesterday, curled up in a ball, not moving. Honestly, I have never seen her like this, not even when a professor of ours gave her a poor grade on an essay she spent so much time to perfect.

"Evie, I brought you breakfast. You need to eat if you want to get into med school," I reminded her of her dream while placing the tray on her nightstand. I had hoped mentioning her aspirations would make her stop wallowing in sadness and regret and help her see she could use her pain to help others.

Unfortunately, when you've been in love with the same person since you were thirteen, it's hard to see past the hurt.

She still didn't move nor did she say anything to acknowledge my presence. It was obvious she just wanted to be left alone. But she had to eat.

"Sweetie, you need to eat," I said, trying to coax a response from her. I sniffed and grimaced. She had gnarly breath. "I think you should also make a quick trip to the bathroom. You know, to brush your teeth, shower and change?" Still nothing. She obviously didn't care. "Alright then. I need to go to work. I'll drop by your place and pick up your mail. If you need anything, just call me. Okay?" I waited for a grunt or any sign to know she heard me, but I got nothing. I heaved a sigh and rubbed her arm gently before walking out of the bedroom and closing the door behind me.

I went to my kitchen, turned on the TV for the news and walked to my coffeemaker to pour myself a hot cup of coffee. What I saw on the TV almost made me pour coffee all over myself. There, on my big screen Smart TV was Cheryl's pretty face smiling at me with the announcement that she was found dead in her apartment and a suspect was now in custody. There was no mention of the name of the suspect although I had a feeling who it was.

*Oh shit!* *Boy*, *am I in trouble*!

I quickly went to my room and looked for my phone, chastising myself for letting my emotions get the best of me. I found my phone where I had left it last night.... in my bag on top of some documents I still needed to go through. I swiped my finger on the screen and saw I had fifty two missed calls. Two were from Draven while the rest were from my partners at my law firm who represent Draven Blake. I quickly went to check my messages and found over a dozen angry messages left by my colleague, Attorney Matthews.

*I'm fucked*!

No time for breakfast. I had to get to the office now! I grabbed my bag and slipped into my heels before running out my bedroom door.

After quickly punching my alarm code into my security panel and locking the door behind me, I dashed to the elevator, punching the elevator button repeatedly so I could get to the carpark. Luckily, the elevator was only a few levels above mine. I quickly walked in, punching the elevator button to go down.

*Come on*, *come on*! This was the downside of living on the upper floor of a tall building. When you were in a hurry, the elevator never moved fast enough.

Once the elevator doors opened, I ran to my car, pushing the button of my car key to unlock it. I dumped all my stuff on the passenger seat and placed my phone into my trusty phone holder and began dialing.

My secretary's angry voice echoed from my phone as I drove out of the carpark and sped towards my office buidling. I was in deep shit!

"Zuri, where the hell are you? Matthews has been looking for you since last night!" Layla, my secretary, hissed on the phone. "Why you didn't even bother to check your phone last night is beyond me!"

"I had to take care of a friend, Layla. So what's happening?" I asked as I sped through the streets of the City of Angels, praying I wouldn't be pulled over by a cop.

"Haven't you seen the news?!" She asked, surprised I wasn't updated with my current events.

"I just saw it... like five minutes ago. Cheryl Brandon is dead and they have a suspect. Who?" I stepped on the gas again and swerved through the lanes, silently thanking the Moon Goddess that Monday morning traffic hadn't even started.

"Draven Blake that's who! This is why Matthews is so pissed. Blake has specifically asked for you to be with him on this and we couldn't find you last night. I went by your apartment building and your asshole of a security guard wouldn't even call you to tell me I was downstairs. He kept saying it was policy," Layla narrated, not hiding her frustration. "Where are you now?"

"I'm almost at the office," I answered curtly.

"No, don't come here. Head straight to the precinct instead. Matthews and Connor are already there. I'm heading there too," Layla said.

"Hold on, Layla. Why do they have Draven Blake in custody in the first place?" I asked.

"It seems Cheryl Brandon was cheating on him with some unknown. The police see this as motive."

"That's it? What time did the murder take place?" I asked.

"According to the coroner, time of death was around five to five thirty yesterday morning. The neighbors told the police they heard a scream, but they didn't think to call 911. Her body was found in the evening. Cause of death, puncture wounds around the neck," she enumerated hurriedly.

"Thanks, Layla. You're a life saver. ETA around five minutes. I'll see you at the precinct," I said and hung up.

The other night when I arrived at Blake Towers to tell Draven about Aurora, Luke, his Beta, informed me through mind link that puncture wounds were found on Mama Agnes' corpse. Two people now had the same cause of death. How the police were going to pin this on Draven should be interesting.

At Los Angeles' finest, I parked my car and ran inside. My colleagues were there waiting for me with grim faces.

"Where have you been, Robinson? I have been calling you all night. Draven Blake has been uncooperative and won't talk to anyone, but you. He won't even give us his alibi," my partner, Chad Matthews, said.

"I'm so sorry. I had a family emergency," I reasoned. It was true... Evie was family to me. "Can I speak with our client? Where is he?"

"Of course, you can speak with him. He's in a holding cell," Matthews said. "Robinson, get him out. All the police have is motive, but we still need an airtight alibi." He pulled out a folder from his briefcase and waved it in front of me.

"I got it. Get him out and ask for his alibi. I won't let you down," I said, fixing my business suit. I took the file folder and scanned through its contents before I went to talk to Draven.

In the interrogation room, I found Draven in good spirits. He was wearing a casual light blue button down shirt, jeans and black boots. His hair was combed back and he had a small smile on his lips while he sat and played with a steaming cup of coffee on the table.

I rolled my eyes at him.

"You seem to be in a good mood for a person who's in jail. Why are you smiling?" I asked him through mind link as I sat down beside him.

"This is one place I know my uncle won't think of trying to enter. He hates human law enforcement," Draven said through mind link. "So, how is she?" He suddenly asked aloud, then mouthed "no names". I nodded my head.

"She's fine. I'm feeding her," I answered aloud, making it sound we were talking about his pet dog rather than a woman named Evie. "Problem is she's also your alibi," I said, continuing the conversation through mind link. "Don't you have CCTV footage of you inside your building?" He smiled.

"Of course," Draven answered through mind link. "Look for Luke. I'm guessing he's still waiting for me in the parking lot." I did notice his Bentley parked out front when I arrived. "Tell him to give you the CCTV footage and buy me some take-out. The food here is horrible." I gestured for him to move his face towards mine so it would appear as if we were whispering.

"Draven, play the scared businessman who has an enemy who is determined to kill him rather than this cool cat persona. Agnes Schultz and Cheryl Brandon have the same cause of death. The detectives here will eventually figure out that it couldn't have been you. But for the meantime, I suggest when they ask you for your alibi, tell them you were having sex with an employee. This is why you were hesitant to divulge the information because office romances are frowned upon. You do not need to identify your lover. All you need to do is give me the CCTV footage and I will take a screen shot of a blurry image of you and her entering your suite," I told him through mind link. He leaned back, looking quite relieved.

"You're the only one I trust, Zuri. I'm scared there might be a mole here. Humans are easy to bribe while-" Draven stopped abruptly sensing someone at the door. I inhaled deeply and caught the smell of coffee and stale donuts. It was a human.

The door of the interrogation room opened and an average sized man in a cheap brown suit with a folder tucked under his arm entered. His light brown hair was still damp from his shower and his pale face was clean shaven. He was neither handsome nor could he be considered ugly, but I noticed he had friendly dark brown eyes and a warm smile. He seemed to be in his mid-thirties, but I suspected he was younger than he looked. Being a police officer was stressful work.

His shiny dark brown leather shoes made a shuffle sound as he walked towards us. I grimaced. He couldn't even bother to lift his feet when he walked.

I stood up from my chair for introductions.

"Good morning, Counsel." He extended his hand. I placed my hand in his and we shook hands while we stared warily at one another. "I'm Detective Malcom Smith, Homicide. I'm the lead detective on this rather unusual case."