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

in my chair, “I don’t think your girlfriend will appreciate you calling her a liar.”

“I didn’t call no one a liar.”

“So, was she telling the truth when she said you were with her on Friday night when she almost ran over Ty Richardson?” I leaned suddenly forward. “Was she telling the truth?”

“Look, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was home Friday night, and I was all by myself.”

I shook my head. “Boy, you never learn, do you? You can’t get away with your sins, Nikia.”

“I’m not trying to get away with anything.”

I asked him to recount everything he did on Friday, beginning from when he woke up and continuing until he went to bed that night or the next morning. He scrunched up his face for a few long seconds and then began reciting his activities. They consisted of cooking a frozen pizza, watching television, using the bathroom twice, smoking a dozen cigarettes, and then going to bed.

“Then how’d your fingerprints get on Betty’s car?” I asked, dropping her name causally, like it had been mentioned a dozen times already.

“I…I don’t know who you’re talking about.” He scrunched up his face. “Who’s Betty?”

“Betty’s gonna be a pissed off woman when I tell her you’re pretending not to know her.” I shook my head. “Not a good move, Nikia—especially since we have physical evidence that you were in her car.”

“But I wasn’t.”

“Are you denying being in Betty’s car?”

“I don’t even know nobody named Betty.”

“You don’t know Betty Watts?” I asked, wanting to get a firm denial from him.

“Nope.”

I glanced at Susan and asked if she could retrieve one of Betty’s social media pages. She was more adept at such things and would be much quicker than I could ever be. I had never learned how to use those platforms. To me, they were a tremendous waste of time.

Once Susan had the picture of Betty up on her phone, she turned it so Nikia could see. He did a good job of acting like he’d never seen her before, and I was beginning to wonder if he actually believed his own lies.

“I’ve never seen her before in my life.” He glanced up, trying to appear curious. “Is this the Betty woman you’re asking about?”

“Have you ever been in this woman’s car before?” I asked.

“How could I be in her car if I don’t know her?”

“So, you don’t know this woman and you’ve never been in her car?”

“That’s right.”

“What would you say if I told you that your fingerprints were on the passenger’s side door handle of her car? And you know what car I’m talking about—it’s the red one.”

“I…um…I’d say that’s crazy.” He shook his head. “Like I said, I’ve never seen her before in my life.”

“Is that so?” I asked patiently. “Then how do you explain your fingerprints being on Betty Watts’ car and your DNA being on the extension cord that was used to tie up Ty’s hands and legs?”

He laughed nervously. “That’s impossible. I would never do anything to hurt Ty. He’s a nice fellow. I like him, so why would I want to hurt him? I’ve never tied up anyone in my life.”

“We can link you to the crime scene and I can place you in Betty Watts’ car,” I said, ignoring his denial. “Since we know for a fact you were in both places and you’re lying about being at either place, then I’ve got to believe you’re the killer. After all, why else would you lie about sleeping with someone when you’re single? You can’t get in trouble for having sex with a married woman. So why lie about it? It just doesn’t compute—unless you’re the killer.”

“Look, you’ve got to believe me—I don’t know anything about some extension cord being tied around Ty’s hands and legs, and I would never kill anyone.” He was desperate now. “I swear I didn’t do it!”

“Are we just supposed to ignore the evidence we’ve got against you?” I threw my hands up in the air. “And what exactly are you saying? Are you suggesting that someone planted the evidence? Why would someone try to frame you for a murder? What’s so special about Nikia Billiot that someone would somehow plant his fingerprints on a cheating wife’s car and deposit his DNA on a piece of evidence directly linked to a murder? Are we supposed to forget the evidence exists just because you say you didn’t do it?”

“I…I don’t know, but I know I didn’t do nothing to Ty.”

While he had denied hurting Ty, he hadn’t denied being there. If he was involved—and I believed he was—he might’ve been the least culpable of the suspects, and he might be willing to flip on his accomplice or accomplices.

  CHAPTER 50

“Look, Nikia, this is a serious crime,” I said after questioning him for another twenty minutes or so and getting nothing but stubborn denials. “More than one person was murdered, which makes it a capital case. Ty was killed in a heinous, atrocious, and cruel manner, which qualifies you for the death penalty.”

“Qualifies me for the death penalty?” Nikia threw himself back in his chair. “Why me? I didn’t do that!”

“Nikia, you took off the man’s head,” I said quietly, lying about the condition of Ty’s body. “You tortured him while he was still alive and—”

“His head wasn’t cut off!” Nikia blurted, not recognizing the admission he’d just made. “And I swear I didn’t touch him! I would never do anything to hurt somebody like that. I wouldn’t even hurt an animal.”

“No, but you’re okay with beating women, right?” I asked, unable to resist myself. I leaned closer to him. “You might not have decapitated him, but you certainly tortured him. For that, you’re going to die by lethal injection—unless they bring back firing squads in