Aftermath by Tracy Brown Read Free Book Online

officers were snapping pictures of the blood all over the room for use as evidence. Steven lay on a gurney, his cold and lifeless body shrouded in a black body bag. The bag was zipped up to his chin, revealing only his face, which was frozen in a ghastly expression, eyes wide open.
    Blinking back tears, Frankie nodded. “That’s him.”
    Sergeant Denton nodded toward one of the junior officers and they zipped Steven’s body all the way up and wheeled him out past Frankie and Tremaine who stood in stunned silence. Frankie looked around the kitchen. He watched one cop walk past with a .38 Special zipped up in a plastic bag. Gathering that this was the murder weapon, Frankie turned his attention back to Sergeant Denton.
    â€œWhere is she?”
    â€œYour wife?”
    Frankie shook his head. “Misa.”
    The sergeant seemed to hesitate, as if unsure whether or not it would be wise to let this man, who was clearly upset, be in the same room as the suspect. He decided to go for it. After all, it might be interesting to see how Misa reacted to seeing her brother-in-law. Figuring that the worst that could happen would be that some questions might get answered, Sergeant Denton led the way to the living room where Misa sat surrounded by detectives.
    Camille stood with her back to him, flanked by Toya and Dominique, both of whom had just arrived. When Frankie entered the room, Misa’s face resonated with fear. Turning around to see what had caused Misa’s reaction, Camille came face-to-face with her husband.
    â€œFrankie,” she said, not knowing what else to say.
    He ignored his wife, instead staring straight at Misa. The officers on the scene stood guardedly, waiting to see what would happen. But they said nothing as Frankie stared at his sister-in-law and walked slowly toward her.
    â€œYou did this?” he asked, his gaze fixed on her.
    Misa’s jaw clenched. Her body seemed to tense and she stared right back at Frankie as he drew nearer. She nodded, and in one swift motion, Frankie lunged at her, snatching her by the neck as officers hurriedly pulled him off her. Camille ran to him, trying to plead her sister’s case. But Frankie shoved her off him.
    â€œGet the fuck off me!” he bellowed as Tremaine and Sergeant Denton restrained him.
    â€œCalm down,” Tremaine urged. “You don’t want to go to jail tonight, Frankie.”
    â€œListen to your friend, Mr. Bingham,” a detective warned.
    Frankie’s chest heaved as he glared at Misa, who was holding her neck as if he’d managed to hurt her in the few seconds he’d tried to squeeze the life out of her. “Why’d you do that to my brother, Misa?” he asked, tears streaming down his face. Steven was Frankie’s Achilles’ heel—his weakness. By hurting Steven—who Frankie had always tried to protect from any kind of harm—Misa had crushed him in a way she couldn’t possibly imagine.
    Misa shook her head as tears fell from her eyes, too. She hadn’t thought this far ahead. It hadn’t occurred to her that she would hurt Frankie, that his marriage to her sister might never survive this. Frankie had always been generous to her. But she still had no regrets about what she’d done to Steven. The bastard deserved what she’d done and more! She said nothing as her brother-in-law looked at her with hate in his eyes.
    â€œI asked you a fuckin’ question!” he yelled. “Why’d you shoot my brother?”
    Toya and Dominique held Camille back as she still struggled to get free and get close to her husband. Toya had to fight the urge to slap her friend. Instead, she hissed at her, “Don’t go near him right now, bitch! He’s pissed ! Be easy.”
    Finally, Misa spoke up, her voice low and calculated. “He was fucking with my son, Frankie,” she said through clenched teeth. “He was molesting Shane!”
    Frankie’s