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

police department about Ty being on the opposite side of town, when, in fact, Ty was eventually found behind her house?”

Amy shot me with an imaginary pistol. “Bingo!”

“Huh!” I leaned back and pondered the meaning of this new revelation. Had Nikia really seen Ty Sunday morning, or had he called in a fake report to throw us off the scent? By drawing us to the east side of town, it had delayed the discovery of Ty’s body. Had that been the plan all along? Was he hoping we’d never find Ty? That was a strong possibility.

“Now, it could be a coincidence,” Amy said when I didn’t speak again. “This is a small town, so it’s quite possible that the fact that they were sleeping together and also involved in this case is purely coincidental, but, like Clint Wolf always says, I don’t believe in coincidences!”

Amy had changed her voice to mimic mine, and she did a horrible job of it.

“I don’t sound like that,” I said.

“Oh, yes you do sound like that,” Amy sang, and then immediately spun her chair around to face me. “You need to get Nikia back in here right away. By my estimation, he’s got some explaining to do.”

I nodded, still wondering if Nikia was capable of murder and torture. It didn’t take me long to make up my mind. He was a wife-beater, so I figured he was capable of anything.

  CHAPTER 46

I drummed my foot impatiently on the floorboard of Susan’s Tahoe as she drove us to Nikia’s house thirty minutes later. Along with Lindsey, Baylor, and Amy, Susan and I had taken time to devour our food before heading out. One thing I had never been told in the police academy was that cops should eat, sleep, and use the bathroom every chance they got, because they never knew when they would get the chance to do any of it again.

Such had been the story of my life, and it began immediately upon hitting the streets of La Mort as a young patrol officer. I had missed more meals during that first month than I had during my entire lifetime. But that had not dissuaded me from making a career out of law enforcement work—it had only helped me modify my behavior to maximize my preparedness.

“Do you think he’ll run?” Susan asked as she crossed the bridge and entered the east side of town.

I grinned inwardly. The sole reason I’d asked her to drive was so I could spring out of the vehicle in a hurry if Nikia decided to run.

“I don’t know,” I admitted, “but if he does, I’ll get to him first.”

“And do what with him?” she asked. “We don’t have a warrant, so he’s got every right to run from us. For all we know, he could be simply going for a fast jog.”

She was right. I had no authority to chase the man down and tackle him into custody. Sure, he might have called in a false complaint, but it was also possible that he had simply made a mistake about the man’s identity. Even if he had intentionally lied to me about Ty being in his neighborhood, I would never be able to prove it unless he confessed—for how could anyone ever prove what another person did or did not see? Without evidence of a crime, I could not establish probable cause for an arrest. That meant he could tell me to take a flying hike and there was nothing I could do about it. If he simply refused to talk or asked for a lawyer, our conversation would be over—and so might this case.

“I might not be able to tackle him,” I said mischievously, “but there’s no law that says I can’t go for a jog with him and catch up to him. If he believes he’s about to get face-planted into the concrete and gives up, who am I to argue?”

Shaking her head, Susan parked in front of Nikia’s house. I glanced toward the street where he claimed to have seen Ty walking. Something about what he had said suddenly set off alarm bells in my mind.

After taking a quick glance toward Nikia’s house and seeing no movement, I walked to the street where Ty had supposedly been walking on Sunday morning. I could feel Susan’s presence beside me, but I knew she would also be keeping an eye on Nikia’s house.

“What is it?” she asked me when I stopped near a power pole on the corner.

“Nikia described what Ty was wearing, and he even claimed to have seen a rip in Ty’s shirt as he walked right past this area.” I stopped talking long enough to indicate the power pole next to us. “There’s no light on this pole. How in the hell could Nikia have seen all of that detail in the dark?”

“That’s a very good question, and one I’m sure he’ll be eager to answer.” She indicated Nikia’s house. “He just peeked out of the window.”

I nodded and—after taking a picture of the pole—we approached the house. I was sure Betty had called him by now and told him what she had told us, but as long as we could get him talking, we should be able to get the truth out of him. He had been in the system before, and—while an idiot—he would be able to recognize when we had him dead to rights, and he would be looking to make a deal. While we didn’t make deals with suspects, that sure didn’t stop them from trying to deal with us. Fingering someone else for a crime was always a bargaining point with criminals. If I was a gambling man, I would bet my house that he’d throw Betty overboard if it meant he would get the only life preserver.

Susan and I took up positions on either side of