But Not For Lust by BJ Bourg (comprehension books .txt) 📕

water,” Takecia said, stopping when she reached the water’s edge. “If he pops his head up, I’ll be waiting for him.”

I nodded and pushed my way through the bare branches that littered the moist earth in this area. I was thankful for the recent cold snaps, because it robbed him of places to hide. Had this chase occurred two months ago when the trees and underbrush were still green, he could’ve simply bedded down like a deer and watched us pass right on by. He might not have fooled Melvin, because Melvin seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to tracking humans through the swamps, but he might have fooled the rest of us.

I found myself ducking under low-lying branches often. Each time I straightened, I took a good look around. I didn’t know if J-Rock was armed or if he had survived, but I wasn’t going to take any chances. I was also trying to proceed as quietly as possible, but that idea was shattered when my cell phone rang loudly.

I quickly removed it from my pocket and glanced at the number. I didn’t recognize it, but I had a strange feeling it might be related to what we were doing now, so I answered it.

“Detective Wolf?” asked a raspy and excited voice. “This is Lenny. Is it true what I heard?”

“If you mean did J-Rock swan-dive over a cliff, then the answer is yes,” I said to Agent Bourke, while I was squatting near a large Cypress tree that was leaning precariously over the water. “We’re looking for him right now.”

“He can’t swim.”

“What?” I asked incredulously. “Are you sure?”

“Yep! He told me his girlfriend keeps asking him to go the apartment pool but he won’t do it because it’s six feet deep and he can’t touch the bottom without his nose filling up with water.”

A thought suddenly occurred to me. “How’d you find out about this so fast?”

“His girlfriend called and said y’all showed up to arrest Jerome and he bolted,” he explained. “When I asked her why he bolted, she said it had something to do with a dead woman.”

“What?” I could almost feel my ears perk up. “Say that again.”

“She said he bolted because he thought y’all were there to arrest him over a dead woman.” He paused before continuing. “That’s all she said. She didn’t give any more details. She said she had to go because y’all were going down in the bayou after him and she wanted to keep filming in case y’all murder him. She said he’s unarmed.”

I rocked back onto my haunches, considering all of the possibilities. I was certain J-Rock had given or sold Ty the drugs—thanks to his fingerprint on the baggie—but I had no clue if he was present on the night Mrs. Richardson died. How did he factor into the equation? Did Carol catch him delivering the drugs? What if she fussed him and told him to leave? What if a fight ensued and J-Rock had gotten rough with her? It could’ve been as innocent as him brushing past her to get out of the shed, or he could’ve shoved her down in anger.

“Hey, Detective Wolf, are you still there?” asked Lenny on the other end of the phone.

“Call me Clint,” I said absently, still musing over the possibilities. “Look, I need to go find that girlfriend. She might know something about my homicide case.”

I ended the call before Lenny could say anything else. I straightened and carefully studied my surroundings. I certainly wasn’t going to take the girlfriend’s word that J-Rock was unarmed. I would take every precaution—just in case.

I slowly made my way back to the point where I’d descended into this slop and met up with Baylor and Takecia.

“I went as far south as I could go,” said Baylor, “but I didn’t see any tracks or any signs of life. I kept an eye on the water as I walked, but the only things moving out there were a couple of ducks.”

“I also did not see anything,” said Takecia. “I believe he is gone.”

I nodded, looking out over the water first and then up above us. I caught some movement along the edge of the upper bank and had to stare at it for a few moments before discerning that it was a cell phone attached to a thin pole and it was hovering over us like a drone.

“Smile big.” I pointed up. “We’re on candid camera.”

  CHAPTER 20

“You must be Rhonda Sylvester,” I said when I scrambled the last few feet up the embankment and stood facing the young woman who had been filming us with the cell phone. She aimed the phone at me, as though she thought it would keep me at bay. I smiled. “It’s okay—you can keep filming if it makes you feel more comfortable.”

She hesitated and licked her lips, studying me with large green eyes. She wore tight jeans, a sweater, and flip flops.

“I just spoke with Agent Bourke,” I continued, “and he said you called him with some information.”

She immediately shut off the phone and wiped a hand across her brown face. “I...um…I only called the P.O. because I was worried about Jerome. I wasn’t trying to get him in trouble.”

“Why do you think he jumped?” I asked, hooking my thumbs in my waistband. “Sure, we had a detainer for him, but he didn’t even know about it. He ran as soon as he saw our vehicles. He didn’t even wait to find out if we were here for him.”

“Where is he? What’d you do to him?” Rhonda shuffled her feet and lifted the phone again. “Why isn’t he up here?”

“Were you filming the entire time?” I asked. “Since we first drove up?”

She hesitated, then nodded her head.

“Then you saw what happened. Jerome dove right off