"You don’t have to thank me, Devin. Just be there for me next time I get drunk."
"What did you tell them at the office?"
"The truth."
"What?"
"I told them the truth. I told them that you and Taye have been having problems, and you went out and got drunk. You had a fight at a bar, and when the police came, you fought with them too, so they locked you up."
"Couldn’t you come up with anything better than that?"
"I could have," he said as we got in his car. "But they were gonna find out the truth sooner or later, anyway. Better they hear the truth from me now, than for you to have to explain the lie later."
"I guess you’re right. Who you tell?"
"McNamara."
"Good choice."
"Thank you."
"What Mac say?"
"He laughed and said he’d see both of us tomorrow. So I thank you for the day off."
"Not a problem. Glad I could help you out."
"So where’s your car?"
"Just take me home," I said, knowing that I wanted him to come in with me, and at least be in the house when I found the body. "I’ll get my car later. Right now I just wanna go home and take a shower."
"I hear you, dude. Home it is."
When we pulled up in front of the house, I asked Winston to come in with me to have a drink.
He laughed. "No thank you. First of all, you don’t need anything else to drink for a good while and two, you just want me in there to lessen the drama you’re gonna get from staying out all night."
"I didn’t stay out all night. I was locked up in jail all night. There’s a difference."
"I used to be married. Out is out. But since I did bail you out, all I can do is to verify that I arranged bail, and then I’m out."
"Good enough," I said quickly. "Come on."
We went in the house and the first thing I noticed was that my 42-inch wide screen was gone. For some reason, I knew Qianna wouldn’t be satisfied with just the jewelry.
"Something’s not right," I said, and walked in the living room.
"What?"
"TV is gone," I said. "Taye, Taye. Are you here?"
I went to the garage and looked in. "Her car is still here." I began wandering around the house. "Taye, Taye!"
I stuck my head in the office and saw that she had taken my MAC and my Bose entertainment system. "I think we’ve been robbed."
Winston began looking around, and joined me in calling her name. "Taye, Taye!" he yelled, as I walked quickly up the steps with Winston on my heels.
I burst into the bedroom and looked at the bed. I dropped to my knees when I saw her tied to the bed in a pool of blood.