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

“Please, you’ve got to believe me!” Nikia fell to his knees and clasped his hands in front of his face. I could barely see him on the floor because of the desk, but everyone in the building could probably hear his wailing. “I don’t want to die for this! I didn’t do nothing!”

“Then who did?”

“I…I don’t know. I already told you, I wasn’t involved.”

“Get up,” I said, rising from my chair. “I’ve heard enough lies from your filthy mouth. I’m locking you up and sending you to jail. By morning, you’ll be charged with the first degree murders of Carol and Ty Richardson, and I’m sure the district attorney will seek the death penalty.”

When he wouldn’t stand up, I moved around the desk and reached for his arm. As I looked down on him, something caught my eyes and I paused, a curious expression on my face.

“Well, look at this,” I said to Susan, indicating the laces on Nikia’s shoes. They were stained dark red in several spots. “How much do you want to bet that blood belongs to Ty Richardson?”

Nikia twisted around to see his shoes. His eyes widened. While he hadn’t believed me about his fingerprints and DNA, there was no denying the dried blood caked into the crevices of his shoe laces. This was something he couldn’t merely explain away.

“Look,” Nikia said in a pleading voice. “I’ll do anything! I’ll say anything you want me to say! Just please don’t arrest me for first degree murder.”

“I want the truth.”

“But I don’t know nothing. I didn’t do it!”

He was still kneeling on the floor, so I tugged on his arm to stand him up.

“I’m done listening to your lies,” I said. “If you don’t start telling the truth right this second, I’m shoving you in a cell—but without your shoes—and calling transport. After that, you can call this office all you want from the jail and say how you’re ready to talk, but I won’t be listening. As soon as you walk through that door, it’s over and you’ll be going down alone for this crime.”

“Alone?” He steadied himself on his feet. “But I wasn’t alone. It wasn’t even me who did that stuff to Ty.”

“Then who was it?”

He hesitated.

“I don’t have time for this shit, Nikia,” I said with a wave. “Come on—get your ass to the back of the building. We’re done here.”

“No, no, wait.” He licked his lips and took a breath. “If I give you a name, will you let me go?”

“You’ll have to give me more than a name—you’ll have to give me details about what happened.” I shook my head. “And even if you do, I won’t let you go. You’re still going to jail. Now, if you weren’t the one who actually killed and tortured Ty, we’ll arrest you as a principal to first degree murder, which is still deadly serious. If you weren’t there when Ty was killed, but you helped move his body, then you would be charged with accessory after the fact to first degree murder, which is less than principal, but it’s still very serious.”

“But what if I wasn’t there for any of it and I only heard about it?” Nikia was desperate. “Could I just be a snitch?”

“Don’t even think about lying to me—I don’t have time for that.” I indicated his shoes. “I’m going to confiscate those shoes and send them to the lab. If that blood matches Ty’s DNA and you maintain you weren’t there, then I’ll be left to believe you’re the mastermind behind it all.”

“But I wasn’t!” He dropped to the chair and hung his head. He started shaking uncontrollably. After a long moment of silence, he said, “I’ll tell you everything, but please don’t let them execute me.”

“I can’t promise you anything.” I stabbed my finger on the table. “Now sit down and start talking. If I sense that you’re trying to bullshit us, I’m dragging you to the back and locking you up. I don’t have time for games.”

“Can you talk to the district attorney first and make sure they won’t try to get me the death penalty? I heard that people can make deals with them.” He fumbled for the words. “Like, I can testify against somebody and they’ll give me immunization.”

“Do you mean immunity?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, that.”

“No, the district attorney’s office doesn’t handle initial investigations and I don’t make deals with suspects.” I folded my arms in front of my chest and stared down at him. “Now, what’s it gonna be? Are you gonna tell the truth for the sake of justice—and for Ty Richardson—or will you remain silent? Those are your only two choices right now.”

“Okay,” he said after another long pause. “I’ll tell you what happened.”

  CHAPTER 51

As Nikia Billiot began to tell us what happened to Ty and his mom, Susan and I listened intently, not taking our eyes off of him. As for Nikia, he didn’t even look up at first.

“I was home Saturday night when my best friend came over. He was mad about something, but he didn’t say what it was. He just told me he needed my help and he told me to get in his truck.”

Nikia paused to take a quivering breath. As for Susan and me, we were sitting on the edges of our chairs, hanging on his every word.

“We drove to the street on the other side of where Ty lives. I’m not sure what they call it. But we snuck into Ty’s back yard and were walking to his camper when some headlights came down the street. We ran to the back of the camper and dropped to the ground. We couldn’t see who it was, but we heard somebody knock on the door and say they had