Heavy Love(53)

Now I need Gina to cease to exist. To leave my mind for a while again.

Detective Caruso's head tilts; he appears to have been asking me something, "Luxury …  Luxury …  Lux … "

"Like I've said before," my spine is ridged as I robotically reply, "Nowitsky, I don't know him. Never heard of him."

"Luxury, my apologies." Caruso gives me that comforting smile again. He  gives this ‘you have the worst look in the world' face, even though in  know cops are supposed to be cool and aloof. Yeah, he's still feeling it  for not finding Gina's murder.         

     



 

"Listen, Luxury, we had a few hits on Nowitsky around the States and  he's wanted by Interpol. So if this had been just any bum off the street  coming into rob Urban Gardens, I wouldn't be asking so many questions."  Caruso smiles again as to apologize for what I'm going through. "My  apologies for asking so many questions."

I frown, "Sir, I really don't think you believe me."

"Why is that?" His eyes flicker to the glass mirror to the left of us.

"You keep asking me the same thing. Never met Nowitsky in my life, and  if I had crossed paths with him, I would know. Soon as he came into the  building, I felt odd." I shrug. "What else can I say about this man?  You've been asking me so many questions that I feel like I've done  something wrong."

"That was neither my intention Miss Whitson. As I said, any other perp  and closed case," Caruso almost winces at that inference. Closed case …   "Deondre will be in some heat for that unregistered gun. But as far as  our lengthily conversation goes, it's for the purposes of Nowitsky's  sordid past. So I will keep in touch."

Legs shaky, it takes all my strength to stand, "Sure you will." I begin.  Then I bite my lip, hadn't meant to appear so sardonic. Yes, I expect  Caruso to keep in touch. But after a year of my mom being gone, the  detective won't be keeping in touch about that. Still, I try to take  some tiredness that has been transposed into mockery out of my voice.  "Thank you for the coffee."

He nods. "If you think of anything. If you feel like you've been watched  in the past, let me know. We'll want to piece together Nowitsky's time  in the area, Miss Whitson."

I nod and start out the door. There has to be something that the cops  aren't telling me. But as suggested, I call Victor while a uniform cop  escorts me from the interview area into the lobby of the police  department.

"Little one, I've been thinking of you."

Though he's a delight to hear, my body is feeling heavy at the moment. I sigh, "Hello, Victor … "

"You sound stressed? Where are you?" he asks, and I can hear honking of cars in the background.

"At the Precinct on 154th street. My shop was almost robbed. Luckily a  friend from one of the neighboring stores came in and shot the guy."

"My car is on the way, Lux," he tells me.

I open up my mouth to say that I just want to go home and be alone, but  with Victor, that is not an option. Had Victor been at Urban Gardens  earlier, maybe I wouldn't have been so crazy or reacted so crass to  Nowitsky. Surely telling Nowitsky I had a gun escalated the entire  situation. But what am I saying, if Deondre hadn't been there, Vic and  me would've gotten murdered.





Caruso

Soon as my eyes lay upon the young lady, I went back to the case of Gina  Whitson. The crime of passion was riddled with so many flaws, so much  circumstantial evidence that pointed to one man in particular. It should  have been opened and closed. Doctor Charles Everhart, the genius made  sure that didn't happen.

I watch the petite women's retreat, knowing that Interpol is in the  office right next to me, looking through the mirror. It took every  string in the book to get to do this interview with Luxury Whitson  without them prying. Certain questions took her back to Gina's gruesome  death, but I knew if Interpol had completed the interrogation that she'd  have become a bundle of mess. We wouldn't be able to get a word out of  Miss Whitson edgewise.

The night I met Luxury Whitson, she was covered in Gina's blood.  Delusional, hopeful, erratic, and expectant all at the same time. She  wanted her mother to survive when Gina had been dead for hours. She  wanted answers, and reasoning to accompany her mother's death.

I sigh, realizing that after a hard divorce and putting my last kid  through college, I gave her such high hopes. It had been one of those  days where everything went wrong, so just meeting Luxury, witnessing her  breakdown had me making promises that a seasoned cop like me would  never have done. Hell, in my defense, I was drunk while making  assessments and promises.

It doesn't take a rookie cop to notice that Nowitsky had been shot at  the side of his head. Ballistics indicated at a longer range of distance  than what Luxury Whitson's briefing of Deondre Watt's location implied.  Mr. Watts would have had to be on the South side of the alley while  making that shot. The slugs didn't even match.

As I step out of the interview room and toward the adjoining conference  room, I stop a new cop, a young Caucasian guy with a dash of red hair.

"Tail Whitson," I nod my head at another cop escorting Luxury to the front of the precinct.         

     



 

"Will do," he replies eagerly.

Then I step into the conference room with the two Interpol agents who  were sent here to gather more information about Nowitsky's last days. A  Latina butch, Perez, and a black man, Jackson, who is a vet in the game.  I hope they don't plan to continue this fiasco. Luxury didn't know  Nowitsky, not one bit. But I'm going to keep tabs on her for a while.

"Caruso, we're convinced this isolated incident had nothing to do with Luxury Whitson," Jackson nods to me.

I take a deep breath. I don't want to cause Luxury any more heartbreak  than I did before. Besides, Nowitsky had it coming. There's no need  Interpol drilling questions into her. Nowitsky had so many enemies that  just about anyone could have murdered him.

For now, I'll allow the taxpayers money to confirm Miss Whitson's safety just for a short time.





Victor

As Burt went to get Luxury, I took a quick cab back to Bulgari.  Disregarding the missed calls from my Mother and a few other deals in  Arlington that needed to be dealt with. I went to the luxurious bathroom  and turned on the infinity tub for Luxury. Opening the brown bag of  L'Occitane almond bubble bath, I poured the contents into the steaming  pool of water, as the suite door opened and voices traveled toward me.  So I leave the water running and start for the living room.

" …  Burt, you are so kind," Luxury says, slipping out of her jacket as he takes it.

"Is there anything you would like?" he replies. Darn Burt The Butler  really is putting the moves on this one. With all the others, Burt  usually leaves me to my own devices. It's easy to see that he cares for  her, too.

"No. Take a load off, I commend you for working with that one for so  long," Lux replies, glancing at me, to which Burt smiles as if they have  a secret.

"What's going on here?" I ask, leaning against the living room archway. Burt gives a cocky smile and retreats to his bedroom.

"Inside joke," she chuckles, as I pull her into my arms. Luxury's head nestles against my chest.

"Well, I'm glad you're doing okay under the circumstances," I reply.

"Yeah, I think Burt pretty much made my day! He told me about your  ‘sniffing' the chairs of beautiful ladies as a toddler." Luxury looks up  and smiles, though sadness masks her eyes.

"You don't believe everything that senile old man says?" I smile for  Luxury's sake, though on the insides I'm seething about the cunning  Everhart. It's Burt's time to get some rest from watching Luxury, but  when it's my time to rest, I'll be searching for Everhart instead thanks  to Paul and Monica's tapping into the NYPD database.

I walk Lux into the bathroom, expecting to clear her mind before we  discuss Nowitsky's death – if she wants. But she speaks, giving a summary  about how everything played out.

"Well, Little One, good thing you had a hero." I smile, even if a random person gets all the credit, Lux is safe.

"Yeah, I'm just glad I didn't look back and have to see another dead  body," she replies. Luxury hasn't told me about Gina's death, but I'm to  assume that's whom she meant.

"Allow me to wash away all your worries, little one," I tell Lux while  pulling her shirt over her head. Lux's beautiful curly hair goes falling  all around her shoulders, like a reddish golden lioness' mane. Then I  bend down and kiss her pillow lips. After undressing Luxury, I take her  hand and help her into the water.

"Mmmm," she sighs as bubbles tickle her voluptuous body. I unbutton my shirt at the wrists and push the sleeves up.

"Victor, aren't you getting in?" Luxury pouts.

"Not until you're clean," I take a crystal pitcher from the ledge and  scoop it in the water, as Luxury leans back. Then slowly pour it in her  hair. Next I grab the shampoo and wash. A moan seeps from Lux's sexy  lips making my dick harder than ever, when I had already been horny at  just undressing her.