~Chapter 7~

~Suspicion~

November 27th, 2005

That night when we got back to the house I fell asleep quickly. I didn't want to discuss any of the days events with Jack. He and I never saw exactly eye to eye on the kind of trouble we would get into when we hung around with Bobby. Jack wasn't the first choice when it came to who got to carry the gun (per say), and he was the last person anyone would expect to kill in cold blood. I always did whatever had to be done and usually whatever Bobby told me to do. It's the one thing we disagree on.

The next morning Sofi was helping Bobby clean his dog bites at the dining room table. She took a cotton ball and dipped it in rubbing alcohol; "Ah!" Bobby yelled when she touched it to his skin.

"You're such a pussy, Bobby" Sofi said, setting the cotton ball down. I laughed, as I cleaned my cuts, and wrapped them in gauze.

"Give me a break, will you?" Bobby asked.

"It should be against the law for people to keep their dogs where someone like you can get to them" Sofi said, cleaning up the table.

Angel heard a car door slam outside and looked out the back door to see Green and Fowler walking toward the house; "Hey, y'all! Police in the house!" he yelled, coming back into the kitchen.

"Oh, get me something to cover my arm" Bobby said, looking around.

"Yeah, yeah" Sofi said, and went off to find something.

"Shit. Hurry up" he said looking around; "Yours covered?" he asked me.

"Got it" I said, taking Jack's hooded sweatshirt off the back of the chair.

"Angel. Mind if we come in?" Green asked as he and Fowler came in the back door and into the kitchen.

"You're already in. Cops are always welcome at the Mercers'. It makes us feel safe and cozy. Just the way we like it" Angel said, leading the cops through the dinning room.

"Morning Ms. Best" Green said nodding to me as I worked on my laptop at the dining room table.

"Morning" I replied, not looking up from the screen.

"Wo! Ain't you sexy" Green said looking at Bobby who was sitting on the couch, wearing one of Sofi's robes.

"Thank you. Jackie wanted this little number for himself, but I fought him for it" he said, walking over to them.

"What happened to the hand?" Green asked; "Did you happen to forget our little conversation we had at your brother's house about not interfering with our investigation?"

"Oh, no, no. This is Turkey Cup, man. Hockey. An old Mercer family tradition. You remember that, don't you, Green? You played hockey. Guys can be pretty rough out on that ice" Bobby explained.

"Where's you car, Bobby? It's not outside" Green asked.

"We left it at Jeremiah's" Sofi answered, standing in the doorway of the foyer and the living room with Jack.

"Yeah. Jerry drove us home" I said, walking up behind Fowler and Green from the dinning room; "You know, Volvos are one of the safest cars out there. Volvos are incredible, man, when it's a blizzard outside"

"Fascinating" Fowler said glaring at me; "Alexandria -"

"It's Lexi" I corrected.

"I heard you got into a little fight at the bar the other night"

"Really?"

"You remember Erica Swardson don't you?" Green added.

"Maybe"

"She claims you punched her in the bathroom"

"Don't know what your talking about"

"Is that so?"

"I was drunk, I can't really remember"

"That was always your excuse wasn't it?" Green asked glaring at me.

"Hey, Gretzky, you know what this is?" Fowler asked turning his attention to Bobby, holding up a little baggy with a hair in it.

"A hair from your wife's tit?"

"Try from your thick skull. Forensics took it off a pair of contract killers we found dead this morning"

"Fishing for a confession with a phony hair, huh? That's an old one, boys" I said laughing. Green laughed, and patted his partner on the back.

"Come on, Green" Bobby said, as he and Angel sat back down on the couch; "You know when I'll know you got my hair off a dead body, right? When I hear the jailhouse doors close behind me, girls"

"Okay, then you tell me what they told you. You think that these thugs were hired to kill Evelyn, is that it?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Green"

"Wait, Green, how do you go from petty thug to contract killer?" Angel asked; "And if they were professional shooters, like you say, they'd have never told us who they was working with anyway. Even if they got one hell of an ass-whupping."

"You think you're pretty cute, don't you?" Fowler asked with a laugh; "He does. Everybody's a smart guy until I bust them in the mouth" he said walking over to Angel.

"Hey! hey! Wait!" Green said, trying to control his partner while Jack, Sofi, and I all took a step forward to defend Angel.

"You gonna bust me in my mouth?"

"Whoa hold on hold on" Green said separating Fowler and Angel; "This ain't what I'm here for!" he said; "Hey stop!" he yelled at his partner who was still pushing up on Angel.

"Look, Bobby, if you got something, you give it to me. And if it's something vital, we will run with this. But don't…don't try and take on Detroit by your damn self. You keep knocking on the devil's door long enough, and sooner or later, somebody gonna answer you"

"Thanks Dr. Phil. Do you remember the way out or do you need me to show you again?" I asked glaring at him.

I led Fowler and Green out the back door. Fowler walked to the car, but Green turned around and came back over to me; "What have you been doing with your life Lexi?"

"Why you asking?"

"Just wondering is all" he said with a smile; "No harm in that huh?"

I looked over my shoulder towards the kitchen and could hear everyone talking. I turned back to Green; "I live in Flint now"

"Go to school?"

"No" I said crossing my arms; "Just working"

Green nodded; "What happened last night Lexi?"

"We went out -"

"Where did you go?" he interrupted.

"The library" I said sarcastically; "Then we went to see the opera"

"Yeah okay" Green laughed; "What time did you get home?"

"Midnight"

"Then what?"

"I went to sleep"

"Let me guess…you have an alibi. Bobby, Angel, Jeremiah and Jack right?"

"Mainly just Jack" I said smiling, I always loved getting a rise out of Green.

"What are you going to do, be with them all until you find out who's better?"

"Have a good day Green" I said turning to go inside.

"Wait! Lexi! Lexi!" he said, stopping me.

"What?"

"All I'm saying is…I don't want you running all over town causing trouble with Bobby again. Your better than that. Mark was better than that"

Green worked Mark's case, I stared at him; "I got it under control"

"Have a nice day" Green said and turned and walked back to the car.

"What was that all about?" Jack asked as soon as I walked back inside. He was standing right inside the door, leaning against the washer.

"Jack!" I yelled; "Scare the crap out of me!" I held my hand up to my chest; "How long were you standing there?"

"I got here when you told him we went to the library. Good one"

"Thanks" I said smiling; "He just wanted to know what I was up to, while throwing in some insults about Bobby and Mark"

"I heard" Jack said putting his arm around me; "Sorry"

"It's alright, I've been hearing it since I got in town" I said leaning on him.

"Why did you go to sleep so early last night?" Jack asked; "I couldn't sleep"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know" I replied, walking into the kitchen.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay…after what happened last night"

"I'm fine. Fuckers deserved it"

"Yeah" Jack said looking at the ground; "I guess"

"What? You think we should have just let them go?"

"No! Just… you know it's been forever since we did shit like that"

"I know" I said laughing; "But hey…gotta do what you gotta do"

"Don't go to sleep without me tonight"

"I'll stay up" I said and walked over to him and kissed him; "Come on, let's see what everyone is up to, it's too quiet in the living room" I said, taking his hand.

"Um…I can't" Jack said, pulling me back.

"What?" I asked confused; "What's wrong?"

Jack looked down at his pants; "Can you tell?" he asked, embarrassed.

I looked down at the crotch of Jack's pants and saw his erection; "Yea" I said, trying not to laugh; "You can…defiantly tell"

"Don't laugh!" he said, turning around.

"I'm sorry babe" I said biting my tongue; "I'll um…go in the living room"

Angel and Bobby were both sitting on the couch going through a wallet they grabbed off one of the guys from the night before; "What bastard hired these guys?" Bobby asked, looking at an I.D. card; "West Marine's by the river, right?"

"Yeah" Angel replied, looking over Bobby's shoulder.

"Come on. Let's go take a look"

"All right"

"Lexi you coming?" Bobby asked looking at me as I walked into the living room; "Where's Jack?"

"We're coming" I replied; "Jack!" I yelled over my shoulder "Come on"

As we started to walk out of the living room Sofi stopped us, standing in the doorway blocking our way; "Baby" Angel sighed as Jack, Bobby, and I looked at each other smiling.

"Now, sweetie, wasn't there a discussion about a dinner together? Because I seem to remember spending two hours in the kitchen" Sofi asked.

"We got some important shit to deal with, baby, can you not do this right now?"

"She's so la vida loca" Bobby mocked.

"Man, don't do that right now" Angel said, turning to Bobby.

"Shut up, Bobby. Don't you start with that crap!" Sofi said pointing at him.

"Can y'all not go there?" Angel yelled.

"You know, that's why you don't get a girlfriend"

"Please don't go there. Don't go there, please" Angel kept repeating.

"You know what? I want a girlfriend like you" Bobby started, as Sofi put her hands on Angel's shoulders and gave him 'the look'.

"Can we go?" I asked looking at everyone; "Sometime today please?"

"Angel. You said this time was gonna be different" Sofi said sadly.

Jack, Bobby, and I were trying so hard not to laugh; "Ay mami. You're breaking mi corazón. Chica"Bobby teased and Sofi walked away.

"Sorry Sofi" I said sarcastically.

"Don't talk to me Lexi" she said walking past me.

"She's getting real comfortable here, huh?" Bobby asked Angel after Sofi left the room; "What are you doing? I thought you was a macho man. A tough guy" Jack and I both laughed, but Angel didn't say anything; "You know, it's a real shame that these love birds are the only one's down to ride. Let's go Jackie, Lexi. Say goodbye to your big sister. Let's go"

"You gonna leave me too?" Angel asked as we walked towards the door. Bobby threw on his jacket, but Jack and I went out in our hooded sweatshirts "I just need fifteen minutes, guys"

Bobby and I walked out onto the porch, while Jack turned around; "She's addicted to what Angel's dick did" he teased before shutting the door.

On the drive over to the guy's house on West Marine's Jack sat upfront in Bobby's car; "How you two doing?" Bobby asked; "In love?"

"Yes" Jack answered quickly; "We are"

"Oh yeah? Congrats, when's the wedding?"

"Bobby shut up" I said rolling my eyes.

"What? I just want to know what's going on my brothers' life, that's all"

"She lives in Flint and I live in Ann Arbor though" Jack replied.

"We don't know when we're going to see each other" I said with a sigh.

"Lexi you should just move" Bobby suggested.

"Oh really?" I asked laughing; "Just like that?"

"Why not, you just broke up with your boyfriend, quit your job" he explained; "What do you think Jackie?"

"I think it's a good idea" he said turning to me.

"Yeah I'll think about it" I said laughing.

"Guys this is it" Bobby said pulling up across the street from the house we were going to go snoop around in; "Go through everything alright?"

"You sure this is safe?" I asked, getting out of the car.

"The guy is dead. It's not like he's home" Bobby explained; "Come on"

"Check everything, Jackie. There's gotta be some shit around here that ties these guys to somebody else" Bobby yelled as he and I searched the bedroom, while Jack checked the living room.

I lifted up the bed mattress to reveal a dozen handguns and shot guns; "Jackpot" Bobby picked up a gun and cocked it to see if it was loaded; "Here" I said digging an empty duffle bag out from the closet and handed it to Bobby so he could fill it with the guns.

We walked down the hallway and found Jack going through a pile of CD's; "You dicking around in here? You find anything?" Bobby asked.

"A camera"

"Come on, let's go" I said and we left the house and headed back to Evelyn's.

Jack, Bobby and I started going through the guns on the dinning room table while Sofi worked on dinner in the kitchen; "SIG Sauer, forty-five auto. That'll blow your back out" Bobby said examining one of the guns, then took out another from the bag; "Nine millimeter Beretta", then took another one out of the bag; "Oh, look at this Beretta. It's triple-action. Three bullets at once"

"They say dead men tell no tales, but they sure leave important shit lying around" I said, pointing one of guns at Jerry, who just walked into the living room.

"Hey, what the hell are y'all doing now?" Jerry asked, in disbelief.

"Just getting a head start on next year's taxes, Jerry" Bobby replied.

Jeremiah looked around the living room shaking his head; "Look how y'all doing Mama's house! Come on! Look at this table, man! Come on!"

"You know what? You're right" Bobby said, turning to Sofi in the kitchen; "Hey, Sofi, why don't you do me a favor and clean up some of this shit? Make yourself useful" Sofi threw an empty pizza box at Bobby; "You missed"

"That's the second pizza box someone threw at you" I said smiling.

"Shut up" Bobby said sarcastically.

"Hey Bobby" Jack said, handing him the digital camera he found at the house, there was a picture of Evelyn walking down the street on it.

"Where'd y'all get this?" Jeremiah asked.

"Our friend Stanly, the shooter" Bobby replied as he flicked through a few more pictures, showing Evelyn spending time with Robert Bradford, her lawyer.

"Let me see that" Jeremiah said, taking it from Bobby.

"They were tracking her" I said, looking over Jeremiah's shoulder.

"That's that guy. That's that lawyer guy. That shithead said, he said he only met her once, Bobby" Jack explained.

"Yo, where the hell you been? I been trying to call you all day" I yelled at Angel as he walked in the dinning room from the kitchen.

"Following up new leads" he replied, staring at Jeremiah.

"Yep. Let's go. Jerry, you coming with us? Don't you wanna find out who hired them?" Bobby asked, grabbing his jacket.

"Yeah, don't you wanna find out who killed mom?" Angel asked, coldly.

"Of course I do, man"

"Let's go. Stop bullshitting. Come on" Bobby said, walking out of the house through the back door with Jack right behind him.

"All right. Somebody gotta look after y'all clowns"

"Oh, so now you calling us clowns?" I asked, walking outside with him.

"Well I call it like I see it"

As Angel walked back through the kitchen, Sofi stopped him again; "What?"

"You're gonna leave again?" she asked, with attitude.

"See, that's your problem" he replied, giving her attitude back.

"Okay, fine. Go. Go"

"Yeah, you gonna be here. Whatever"

We drove across town to the lawyers house and broke the window on the back door to get in; "We might have to spend the night up in this bitch" I said looking inside at all the fine décor.

Bobby went in first and a little white lap dog walked up to him; "An attack dog. Come here, poochie. You don't wanna bite me, do you? You gonna bite me, baby?" he cooed, picking up the dog, carrying it with him.

We walked over to his office area and started going through papers and drawers while Jack sat down and started to go through the calendar on the computer; "Hey, Bobby, check this out. I found Bradford's calendar. You don't think 'EM' stands for Evelyn Mercer, do you?"

"You're getting good at this, Jackie" Bobby said, looking at the screen.

"November twenty first" I whispered looking at the calendar; "He met up with her the night she died"

"Why would anybody meet up with their lawyer at eight o'clock at night?" Angel asked.

Just then we heard a car door slam and someone yell; "Angel!", followed by a car horn; "Angel!" We all looked up and Jack quickly shut the laptop.

"Nice" Bobby said sarcastically, looking at Angel.

"Your girlfriends here" I said smiling; "Can I beat her up?"

"She's is crazy man, she's fucking crazy" Angel said under his breath.

"Well, go shut her up then" Jack demanded.

"Angel!" Sofi yelled from outside; "Angel, come out! I see you in the window! Come out you idiot! I know you're in there!"

"Y'all come out here with me. This girl is crazy" Angel said, and we followed him outside.

"Angel! People, there's robbers in the house! Come out, Angel! I'm gonna call the police now! Come on!" Sofi kept yelling.

"You better call immigration on this girl. You've got a real class act here. She should be at Guantanamo Bay. Locked up" Bobby teased as we walked out of the house. Angel took Sofi aside to talk to her, when Bobby saw Mr. Bradford's car pull up in the driveway.

"Excuse me. What are you doing?" Mr. Bradford asked through the window.

"How you doing, buddy?" Bobby said, opening his car door.

"Bobby! Bobby! He's a lawyer!" Jeremiah said, pleaded with him to stop.

"What's going on here?"

"He's a liar, Jerry!" Bobby said, pulling Mr. Bradford out of the car. Angel, and Jack walked over to Jeremiah and Bobby while I stayed with Sofi.

"You heard me, old man" Bobby said, pushing Mr. Bradford into a snow bank, pulling his shirt over his head; "You fucking lied to me. You said you didn't even know my mother. You were the last person to see her alive" Bobby pulled up Mr. Bradford's jacket and slapped his stomach; "Oh, look at that, Jerry. It leaves a nice big red handprint, huh?"

"Just ask him the question" Jerry said.

"No, I'm gonna do it again" Bobby said, and slapped his stomach; "and again until I find out what I wanna know"

"Oh, God!" Mr. Bradford yelled.

"Tell him!" Angel demanded.

"Okay. Okay, I'll explain" Mr. Bradford said, pulling the shirt off his head and pulling his jacket down; "It's just that I…I…I felt so guilty"

"What the hell are you doing out here?" I yelled at Sofi.

"Don't talk to me Lexi"

"Look I know you don't like me but I've never done anything to you!"

"Your one of them!"

"It's how I was brought up! You know nothing about me"

"I just want Angel"

"Okay well what if something went down? It's not safe for you!"

"It's safe for you?"

"Safer"

"Safer. Like that makes sense"

"Go home. Now. Before I make you" I said and walked over to Jack.

"Guilty for what?" Jeremiah asked.

"I'm not even sure I know how to say it" Mr. Bradford stammered.

"Say what?"

"Your mother and I were...were seeing each other socially"

"Socially?" Bobby asked, in disbelief.

"I didn't want to sully your mother's reputation. She was a fine, fine woman"

We all looked at each other and Bobby bent down to help Mr. Bradford up; "I know. I know" he said.

"I have some of your mother's night things, if you want"

"What? No. No, it's not necessary" Bobby said, helping Mr. Bradford get the snow off his suit, and fix his jacket.

"Too much information" Jeremiah said rolling his eyes, while Angel went back to speak with Sofi, and Jack and I held each other standing there in the driveway.

"I apologize, Mr. Bradford. We broke your back window. We're just trying to figure out what happened to my mother" Bobby explained.

"I understand" he said shaking his head.

"Thank you. I appreciate that. You have a beautiful home here"

"Thank you"

That night when we got back to Evelyn's house Jack and I were feeling extra flirty. We took our jackets off in the foyer then ran upstairs, holding hands, like little school kids who knew a big secret; "Jack!" Bobby yelled, standing at the bottom of the stairs; "Get down here!"

"What Bobby?" Jack asked, coming halfway down the stairs.

"You hungry?"

"What?"

"Are you hungry? I think you should come downstairs and eat"

"No…we're…fine" Jack said, glaring at his brother.

"We're not hungry!" I yelled from the top of the stairs.

Jack and Bobby stared at each other for what felt like an eternity; "Have fun. Fairy" Bobby finally said, laughing at Jack.

When Jack and I got into his room we started kissing, I shoved him against the door and kissed him more passionately, running my hands through his hair. We moved from the doorway to the bed, still kissing, and not letting go of one another. Jack sat down on the edge of the bed and I straddled him. I shuddered from his touch as Jack went up my shirt. As his hand ran over my breast a million thoughts and feelings came over my body. He squeezed gently and I let out a moan of ecstasy.

I started to suck on Jack's neck and nibble on his earlobe. I felt his entire body tense up and he grabbed my hips. I knew Bobby, Jeremiah and Angel were all downstairs and that we had to be careful not to get caught but it felt like Jack and I were the only two people on earth. Whatever happened tonight was going to bring Jack and I closer than ever before; "We have to be quiet" he whispered.

I sat up and looked at him seductively; "Shh" I held my finger up to my lips; "Be quiet" I got down on my knees on the floor and undid Jack's belt buckle.

"What - what are you doing?" he asked. He sounded half surprised, half excited; "You don't have -"

"I want to" I said seductively and unzipped his jeans; "Just lay back" Jack laid down and put a pillow behind his head. I slipped his jeans and boxers down a bit and was pleasantly surprised at the size of Jack's rock hard dick. I took it in one hand, then licked his head a few times. Jack's whole body jerked in response. I sucked on his head and ran my tongue up and down, and round and round before taking the whole thing in my mouth.

Jack remained quiet, but I knew he for sure he was enjoying it. His knees would occasionally move inward, then back out and he was gripping the blankets with his hands. I heard him breathing heavy and bite his tongue and lips to keep quiet; "I'm close baby" he warned and a few minutes later Jack reached climax inside my mouth. I swallowed it down and stood up, looking at Jack who was laying on the bed with his eyes closed, a smile on his face; "That. Was. Amazing" he stammered, then burst out laughing.

"I'm gonna go…take a shower" I said laughing and walked out of his room.

After I was done brushing my teeth and showering I walked out into the hallway and saw Bobby leaning on Jack's doorframe, talking to Jack; "You guys want to come out to the bar?" he asked.

"It's up to Lexi, I don't really care" Jack replied, trying to keep his cool.

Bobby turned around and saw me in the hallway; "What's up Lexi? You wanna go punch someone else in the bathroom at the bar tonight?"

"Do you want to go?" I asked Jack, walking past Bobby.

"I don't care"

"Well…you said you wanted to talk tonight" I whispered; "Is it important?"

"Oh. That's right" Jack said smiling; "Nah Bobby, you guys go ahead"

"You sure?"

"Yeah. We're gonna get some sleep"

"Alright. Whatever" Bobby said and walked back downstairs.

"What's up?" I asked, turning to Jack after Bobby left.

"How long do you plan on staying in Detroit?" he asked, sitting on the bed.

"I don't know. I'll probably leave after all of this blows over. Why?"

"Well I was thinking about what Bobby said in the car earlier"

"About me moving in with you?" I asked and sat down.

"Yeah. I think it's a good idea"

"Well it does sound like a good idea but…"

"But what?"

"What about my apartment in Flint? I have a roommate, I can't just leave her with all the rent and…what about my stuff?"

"Well" Jack said and thought for a minute; "You don't have to move now…"

"What the fuck?' I thought; 'Just do it!" "Do you live with someone?"

"I live with my friend Scott. He's the drummer in the band, but he's moving out next month, he's going to move in with his brother. Rent free"

"Oh" I said; "You have this all figured out don't you?" Jack nodded; "I can just find a job down there right?"

"Yeah, you can work at the mall or something"

"Well let me call my roommate tomorrow and see what she's doing first"

"Okay" Jack replied smiling.

"Do you think we're doing things a little…fast?"

"It's not like I just met you"

"If it doesn't work, I'm going back to Flint, just so you know"

"Fine. But it'll work. I know it will"

I leaned over and kissed Jack; "I love you"

"I love you too"

"We're crazy for doing this"

"I know"

"Are you going to tell Bobby?"

"Defiantly not" Jack said laughing; "Come on, let's go to sleep"