Chapter One: I Didn’t Do It
Numbers
I was in a dingy interview room waiting for the lady detective to come back. I started fidgeting a little bit because I couldn’t believe I was at the station in the first place. The charges were laughable, and I had no clue where they came from. I wrapped my fingers tightly around the glass of water in front of me and gulped it down. I tried to settle my nerves, but nothing was helping.
“It will be fine. All you have to do is tell the truth. There’s no evidence to suggest that you stole that car. You have solid alibis, and that’s the main thing,” Mia, my stand-in lawyer, confirmed sharply. She’s the one that represented Smoke’s girl ? Naomi.
If it worked for her, then it should work for me.
“I didn’t do anything, and a Nissan Altima? I’m going to steal that car? Are you freakin’ serious? That ain’t my bag, Mia. I’m a class act,” I joked nervously as I raked my hand through my hair. I watched her cat-like green eyes scan me and saw my bad joke didn’t go down as well as I would’ve liked.
She cut those pretty green eyes at me like slicing a knife through thick butter. She coughed, clearing her throat. Her straight mahogany locks hung past her shoulders.
They had this sheen to them that made me want to rub my hands through the strands to see if it was real. I cast a glance at the door so I could take my eyes off her and concentrate. She seemed kind of uptight and I wondered why she couldn’t be more relaxed about the situation. I knew for certain there was no way I could be charged with anything. I couldn’t help but be drawn back to staring at those eyes again. They were something to behold, that’s for sure.
“Let’s go over a few things before she gets back.” She opened the manila folder she had in front of her and slid it across to me. “You were with someone named Hawk at the time they say you stole the car? At the Holbeck Fish Fry along the wharf? Is that right?”
“Yes, I have the receipt for the catfish I ordered right there. Time and date stamped. That meal was finger lickin’ good, too. I keep all my receipts. I’m an accountant, so that would be irresponsible of me not to. Wouldn’t you agree?” I smirked at her trying to lighten up the moment.
She readjusted her pencil skirt and wriggled in her seat.
I snuck a look down past the bottom of her skirt. She had a nice set of pins on her. I discreetly brought my eyes up a level to meet hers. I was busted, but I just grinned at her. It wasn’t my fault she looked like a tasty treat. I realized I was slouched back a little too much in my chair, so I sat up a bit straighter.
“I’m not sure about what your methods are as an accountant. It’s my job to present the evidence that’s at hand and let that decide the verdict.”
I lifted my eyebrows up and blew out a long, drawn-out breath. Mia was no-nonsense, that was for sure. I couldn’t get her to crack a smile, and that never happened to me. I was a pretty carefree type of individual who liked to laugh, but I was guessing that wouldn’t be on the cards with her.
The door creaked open, causing me to look up.
A lady detective walked back in with a tape recorder and sat down. In her grey pantsuit with her champagne-colored hair and cute nose, she wasn’t bad-looking either.
Two beautiful women around me, and a man couldn’t catch a break. I sat up straighter as she flashed a polite smile my way.
“Are we ready to start, Nathan?”
My government name was Nathan Briggs, but the club called me Numbers. I wasn’t used to being called Nathan, and it almost sounded foreign when they said it.
“Yes, I’m ready. Go ahead,” I responded.
“I’m Detective Mandy Shepherd, and I’m going to record the interview today with your lawyer present.” She paused as she looked me in the eye. “I will need you to answer every question honestly. If there’s a question you don’t understand, I will repeat it. Are you ready to proceed? Shouldn’t be too hard,” she said smugly.
I nodded. “Yes. Please do.” I rubbed my knuckles as she pressed the play button on the black tape recorder. The room was air conditioned, but my palms were still perspiring. It was as if she had a polygraph machine in front of me. I cleared the thickness out of my throat.
She looked down at her notepad, ready to reel off her questions. “Let’s start with where you were on the night of Saturday, the 14th of November at 6:45 p.m. Can you walk me through your night?” she asked.
“Okay, sure. I’d just come out from Wheelz ? our motorcycle club bar ? with my buddy Tomas Castillo. We left there around 6:30 p.m. We were hungry, so we stepped out to get a bite to eat at the Holbeck Fish Fry restaurant. We were on the waterfront just hanging out, eating and drinking.” I kept my response short like Mia told me.
“Provide only the details she asks for nothing more. Don’t over elaborate anything. Let her go fishing. You’re not on trial, and there is no evidence, only speculation from a tip-off.”
“Can you verify that you were there?” Mandy’s arms were leaning over the table one hand atop the top of the other as she studied my face. Her demeanor was cool, calm and collected.
A lump was forming in the middle of my windpipe though. I was irritated with myself because I had no reason to be sweating the charge. “Yeah, I can.” I pointed to Mia.
She slid a receipt across to the detective.
“I keep all my receipts, so you can see what I ordered and everything,” I added confidently. Not much she could do, if I was giving her legit receipts. The air began to feel stuffy to me and was making me claustrophobic. I wanted to get out of the windowless room as soon as I could. I looked over at Mia.
Her expression looked determined. She stared straight at the detective. It was almost as if a silent battle was going on between them.