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

the embankment.” I indicated the bayou. “He’s somewhere down there.”

“Nah, he wouldn’t do that.” She shook her head. “He can’t even swim.”

I took a breath and blew it out forcefully. “Look, I don’t know why he jumped, but he did. He said he wasn’t going back to prison and then he dove into the water. What was he running from? Was it about the dead lady?”

Rhonda’s face lost a shade of color. “No! He would never hurt a lady.”

“I know that.” I waved a hand like it was already understood. “But he was worried we might get the wrong idea. Why is that?”

“Is he okay?” She craned her neck to see down into the bayou. “Why aren’t you trying to save him?”

“We’ve got a boat in the water.” I had heard the department’s Boston Whaler approaching the area while I had been scrambling up the bank. “And we’ve got officers down there looking for him.”

“Oh, the same cops who pushed him?” She sneered. “I know how it works.”

I could tell she was trying to say anything to keep me distracted and not talking about Mrs. Richardson.

“You told Agent Bourke that Jerome bolted because he thought we were here to arrest him over a dead woman,” I said pointedly. “Why did you tell him that?”

“I…I don’t know.” She shook her head. “Jerome would never hurt a woman. A man once said something ugly to me and he beat the shit—Oops! I’m sorry! He, um, he beat up the man really bad. He doesn’t like men who hurt women.”

I had heard different about J-Rock and how he would threaten to slap women around if they owed him drug money, but there was no need to shatter the image this girl had of her boyfriend. After all, there was a good chance he was never coming back.

“Look, you know why you told that to Agent Bourke,” I said soothingly. “I’m not here to try and pin something on Jerome. I’m just here to figure out what happened to Mrs. Carol Richardson on Saturday night.”

Her mouth drew up in a circle. “Wait…did you say Saturday night?”

I nodded.

She let out a sigh and visibly relaxed. “Well, it couldn’t have been Jerome. He was with me on Saturday night.”

“Well, that certainly helps his position,” I continued in my soothing voice. “What did he tell you about Ty Richardson?”

She shifted her feet. “Will anything I say be used against him?”

“Look, I’m here trying to find out what happened to Mrs. Richardson. I don’t care about anything else Jerome was involved in. You could tell me he sold a kilo of heroin to someone and I wouldn’t arrest him for it.”

I could see her relax even more. What she didn’t know was that I couldn’t arrest him for selling drugs unless I had physical evidence. If she told me he sold heroin, it would be enough justification to launch an investigation, but I couldn’t swear out a warrant. To do that, I would need to have possession of the substance he sold so it could be tested and confirmed to be actual heroin.

“So, what did he tell you about the lady who died?”

“Um…” She hesitated and glanced toward the bayou.

The sun had already disappeared behind the nearby trees and it was getting harder to see through the barren trees to the water beyond. However, I could see the lights from the Boston Whaler, and the sound of voices carried on the water. If the wind was blowing just right, I could even make out what was being said between our crew down there. By the sounds of things, they thought this was a recovery mission and not a rescue.

“It’s okay,” I said. “Nothing you say can hurt Jerome at this point.”

Not fully understanding the meaning of what I’d said, she nodded in resignation.

“Okay, he told me he met this guy named Ty at the boat launch a few weeks ago,” she began. “He said Ty was always sitting on this bench. He said Ty would just sit there and mumble to himself. He said people would walk right by Ty and pay him no attention, so it got him thinking and he started talking to Ty. He said he befriended Ty and, well, that’s about it. They, um, talked about a lot of stuff and all…”

She stopped and let her voice trail off.

“Look, I know Jerome’s been selling meth,” I said. “It’s okay.”

She took a breath and blew it out forcefully. Nodding, she said, “I’ve been begging him to stop. When he first got out of jail, he was doing really well. He got a job at the shipyard down the road and he started paying the rent. I work as a waitress and tips have been lagging lately, so the extra money helped out a lot. But then he ran into that piece of shit”—her voice turned bitter—“Neal Barlow!”

“Did Neal put him up to selling meth?”

She looked down at the ground and nodded. “Sometimes, I think Jerome loves Neal more than he loves me. I tell him that, you know? I tell him he should move in with Neal. See if Neal can do the same things for him that I can do. I mean, he’s still a good boyfriend, but every time Neal calls, Jerome goes running.”

“Did he ever bring the meth into your house?” I asked, indicating her apartment.

“Oh, God, no!” She shook her head rapidly from side to side. “I would kill him if he did that. I’m not about to lose my little girl over his foolishness. He only brought that leather bag to the apartment once, but it never went inside.”

“Leather bag?” I asked.

“Yeah, Neal gives Jerome this leather bag with the meth inside, Jerome sells the meth, and then gives the leather bag back to Neal filled