Criminal by Terra Elan McVoy Read Free Book Online Page B

got home, we ate dinner at the TV and then went to bed, not talking more than we had to. I was calmer at that point, but it was clear she still needed space. I understood she was mad about the police, because they freaked me out too. But they hadn’t come around to ask me anything else today, and I knew, now that she’d talked to them, she didn’t haveany more to worry about either. It was just like Dee said: they’d asked her what they needed to know, and that was the end of it. She was safe, even if she didn’t feel it yet. We all were.
    Friday I had off, and since I didn’t have anywhere to go, I decided to try and make things nicer again between me and Bird. She’d been up early but lain down on the couch to doze while the baby bounced and squealed in her jumpy swing. I cooed and tapped Jamelee on the nose as I walked by, heading to the kitchen to make a big breakfast, keeping as quiet as I could so as not to wake Bird.
    I made a mess of eggs and some ham, plus biscuits with gravy. The cooking melted away the rest of my upsetness with Bird. But even after the house filled with good food smells, Bird didn’t come into the kitchen until I called for her. She sat at the table with me but pretended to be looking at a magazine while we ate. I watched her, disappointed that she hadn’t even said thank you for breakfast. She wasn’t letting this go. I cleared our dishes and tried to think of some kind of outing I could suggest, something fun for me and her and the baby. Something to help her realize everything was okay.
    A knock at the door finally got us talking. Bird made a face, looking at the clock on the stove.
    â€œTyrone ain’t supposed to be here for his suit until eleven,” she said to me.
    â€œI’ll get it. Probably Jehovah’s Witnesses, since the car’s here.”
    She snorted, and the small laugh-noise felt like a kind of victory.
    When I opened the door, I thought at first what I was seeing wasn’t real. Two cops in uniforms, plus a detective in a suit—the one who had questioned me before—and another officer standing back, in the yard. Two squad cars behind them parked on the street, with a black police van parked farther down the road.
    â€œGood morning, ma’am. We’re here to see Shondeana Brown.”
    Polite as could be, the detective was. Like he wasn’t turning my blood into ice.
    â€œWho is it, Nikki?” Bird said, coming behind me. I heard her stop still, seeing the police.
    â€œMs. Brown,” the detective said to her, looking beyond me. He held something up. “We have a warrant here to search your vehicle. We’re expecting that you’ll cooperate.”
    â€œYou have a what?”
    Somehow Bird was past me, on the stoop, jutting out her chin, looking fierce, even though she only came to the detective’s chest.
    â€œMa’am,” one of the officers said, his tone not as polite. “I’ll ask you to step down, please.”
    I wanted to take her arm, pull her into the house with me. But I couldn’t move.
    Bird’s hands were in fists at her sides, but her voice waslow. “Ain’t no reason you have to be over here this morning. I already told him everything I know, which is nothing. You ain’t got no need to search nothing of my property.”
    A small sound came out of me: “Bird.”
    The detective moved a step down, bringing him closer to her eye level. “Ms. Brown, a vehicle of this exact color and model—specifically, with the symbol there on the back—was described by more than one witness during one of our investigations. We noticed the vehicle when we were here questioning you the other day, and as this is—by your own admission and Miss Dougherty’s—the residence where one of our suspects was staying, I’m afraid we do have probable cause to search your car. Now, I understand you’re upset, but your cooperation