Succumbing To His Fear (11 page)

“Don’t stress,” I said, still chuckling. My phone ringing again stopped all the chatter. Without looking, I answered the call. Realistically I knew that it couldn’t be Fear again, but that didn’t stop the hope that it was.

“Hello.”

“Alfred Kaleb McKenzie, what trouble have you gotten yourself into that I just had a call from my lawyer saying he got a call asking for him to recommend a local criminal attorney for you?” Great just great. Just what I didn’t need. My mother sticking her beak in. I loved her dearly, but things were about to reach a whole new level of crazy. The thing with my mum is that she’s not a typical mother. I mean she is now, but twenty-five years ago, she was kind of famous. She liked to say that was another life and now she was a mother, wife and professional homemaker. It was obvious that I got my crazy from her. 

“Are you listening to me young man?” No, I wasn’t. I was too caught up in my head.

“Mum, okay, a lot has happened since we last spoke. How do you want it? Quick and to the point or gentle and around the houses?” She hated when I tried to ease her into things. She liked things all at once so she could jump right in to try and fix it.

“Don’t make me fly there just to kick your arse, Alfred!”

“Okay, here it is. One, I met someone. Two, his sister just had a baby two days ago and her husband is overseas with the military. Three, his mother died, worse, she was murdered. Four, he’s been arrested as the lead suspect, or so we’re guessing. We really don’t know anything and I need to get him a lawyer ASAP. Five, I love him. The end.

“Right. I already sent Mr. Curtis to the address you gave Marcus. He should be there any time now. I’m booking a flight as we speak. It is clear that you need your mother. Too much time unsupervised and look what happens.”

“Mum…,” I tried to interrupt, but she just continued to talk over me. She was definitely on a roll.

“I should be able to get there sometime tonight if not first thing in the morning. Now tell me about this person you have up and fallen in love with,” she said. I could hear the smile in her voice and knew that she was trying to do the same “distract him with humor” thing that I do. Yet another thing I inherited from my mother.

I realized, rather humiliatingly, that everyone in the room had been listening to the whole conversation. I tried to end it. I couldn’t get rid of the woman fast enough. 

“Erm, Mum, I have to go. Everyone is here and we’re trying to figure out what to do next.”

“Put me on speaker,” she ordered. Oh, good god. Not having the energy to argue with her, I clicked the button and prayed that she was only half her usual crazy due to exhaustion caused by the time difference.

I put the phone down on the table and looked up to explain as best I could. “First off, let me start by apologizing. There is no hope for any of you now.” All six faces looked at me with WTF expressions. “All I ask is that you keep in mind that sometimes the crazy skips a generation.”

“Alfie, you hush your gums. Now, who am I speaking to?” No one spoke; they just stared at the phone like it had somehow turned into a ticking time bomb. “Alfie is everyone just staring at the phone?”

“Yes. They can sense your complete absurdness just from the sound of your voice.”

“Oh, my goodness. Where did I go so wrong with you? You just wait Alfred. No chocolate for you.”

“Mum, come on now. There’s no need to be so hasty. I didn’t mean it.” I love chocolate, especially Cadbury. They don’t have the kind I like in the States. I found some that said Cadbury on the label but it wasn’t the same. Looking up at Fear’s friends and family, I added, “She’s not all that crazy. It can almost be endearing sometimes.”

“I’m taking back the crème eggs I bought for you. Do you hear me? Back, I say.” Hayley started to giggle. Mum was so dramatic.

“Hello, Alfie’s mom. I’m Hayley.” She elbowed Tate and motioned to the phone.

“Tate,” he said, rubbing the spot where he’d so recently been elbowed. Soon all the guys had introduced themselves.

“Well, hello. I’m Sheridan.” Greetings were exchanged and I could tell that none of them knew what to make of her. “How did you meet my son?” She was so nosey.

“Mum, we really have more important things to worry about. Can you save the interrogation for when you get here? I love you long time, but I am ten seconds away from falling apart. Fear’s in jail and I think he’s accused of killing his mother. If you knew him, Mum, you would know that he couldn’t do it. I need to help him get out of there. He is the backbone of his family, Mum. His friends are more like brothers, and he and they all take care of Hayley while her husband is away. Hayley has lost her mum, had a baby without John being here and now she has to cope with her brother being locked up. She should not have to deal with his hysterical boyfriend freaking out on the phone to his mother.” I took a few deep breaths and carried on, but my voice cracked. “Now, I realize that I am a grown man, but I’m not ashamed to admit that I need my mum. So if you could get here and help in any way you can, I would really appreciate it. But if you turn up without my crème eggs, I will be sending your arse back home to get them.”

“Well it’s certain that turning into a sausage lover has made you even more dramatic, honey.” Laughter erupted from everyone, including me. When the laughter stopped, her voice got soft. “You keep strong until I can get to you. Griffin and Lily are going to need you whole. And from what you’ve said, so does everyone else. I love you, honey. I’ll call you when I land.”

We said our goodbyes and I realized that since I’d heard her voice, I really wanted my mum. Not just for me, but for all of us.

Fear

“Your lawyer is here, Mr. Williams.” I looked up at the thirty-something guy wearing an expensive looking suit who was walking into the room.

“Hello, Mr. Williams. I’m Craig Curtis. I was contacted by Mrs. Hopper to be your attorney. I’ve been brought up to speed by the detective in charge of the investigation. Have you been advised of any charges brought against you yet?” Who the fuck was Mrs. Hopper? And what the fuck was he taking about it?

“I can see from the look on your face that you haven’t been told anything. They are planning to charge you with the murder of Mrs. T. Wilson. I say planning, because it’s clear, even to an idiot, that all their so-called evidence is circumstantial, if not flat-out fabricated. Do you have any questions?” I liked that the lawyer was a straight to the point, no fucking around type. But yes, I had fucking questions.

“Who is Mrs. Hopper?” There was probably more important shit I should’ve asked first, but come on. What the fuck had the guys been doing?

“Mrs. Hopper is the person who retained me to represent you. I believe she is your boyfriend’s mother? Now, any further questions?” What in the fuck?

“Yeah, what evidence do they have?” How I was being accused of anything was crazy. My head was so full of Alfie, Hayley, JJ, the kids, and the guys that I couldn’t focus on anything.

“Currently, they’re holding you for questioning and have not formally charged you. This is due to some discrepancies in the witness statements, and those witnesses are currently being questioned in more detail. I realize they have yet to explain any of this to you, but that just further proves my point that they’re chasing their tails.”

My lawyer and I spent the next hour going over what I should expect from him. He never once asked me anything about the case itself or if I was guilty. When I asked him why that was, his response was that it didn’t matter. His firm was hired to get me out and cleared of the charges when and if they were filed and that was what he was going to do. I got the impression that he thought of me as nothing more than shit stuck to the bottom of his shoe, but if he was going to get me out of there, he could think whatever the fuck he liked.

After what felt like an eternity, the door slammed open and a red-faced Detective Unders stomped into the room. The first thing he did was produce photos of Tula’s headless corpse. He took his time laying the five photos out in front of me so I got a nice clear view of each one. He then sat back and crossed his arms over his protruding gut and sneered at me.

Mr. Curtis was the first to speak. “Detective Unders, what do you hope to gain from showing these images to my client? I hope there is a relevant question you intend to ask and this isn’t some feeble attempt at trying to provoke a reaction from my client.” All I could do was listen. I didn’t think that I would’ve been able to form a sentence, even if I’d wanted to. Closing my eyes, I concentrated on my hands gripping my knees to stop me from lunging across the table and re-arranging his ugly junkyard-dog-looking face.

“I’m just trying to get all the facts in this case. Mr. Williams, when we spoke yesterday at the morgue, you confirmed to me that you and your mother were not on good terms.” The guy was a fucking moron. I would not give him the satisfaction of letting him see that he was getting to me. Fuck him.

“Is there a question coming anytime soon, Detective?” The lawyer spoke up. He might be an ass, but I definitely liked his style.

“Yes. I would like to know what Mr. Williams was doing at the time his mother was brutally murdered.”
I will not react. I will not react.

“I was with my boyfriend at his house all night.” The moment I said boyfriend his lip curled and disgust was displayed across his face. I had no idea why he was gunning for me, but I was certain that the fact I was gay only helped to convince him that I was guilty.

“And this boyfriend,” Unders said, looking down at his notes, still unable to hide his disgust. “Mr. McKenzie. He can corroborate this?”

“I believe my client just stated that he was with Mr. McKenzie, Detective. So your question is moot. Are there any further questions? Because, so far you have provided no evidence which would explain why my client is being detained.”

“We have a witness who stated that they saw Mrs. Wilson fighting with her son a few days before her death. Additionally, there are several statements that a man of Mr. Williams’s description was seen leaving the alley in which his mother’s body was found around the time the murder took place. Seeing as his only alibi is a man who shares his
lifestyle
, I’m not inclined to give it much credence. We all know what those people are like and how they all stick together.” What a fucking prick. I was biting my cheek so hard that I could taste blood in my mouth, and I was gripping my knees as tight as I could to stop myself from exploding, my hands and fingers were numb.

“Detective Unders, as a police officer, you are to leave your personal opinions and narrow-minded views out of an investigation. You have no proof that the man seen at the crime scene was my client and you have no evidence that his alibi is false. Now, I would like you to either charge my client with a crime of which you can actually convict him, or let him leave. At the moment you are doing nothing but wasting everybody’s time.” The situation was going from bad to worse. Not only was my friendly lawyer goading the asshole cop, but I saw the exact moment dogface went from angry to livid. I knew at that point that any chance I stood of getting out of there anytime soon went out the window.

It took Unders only moments to arrest me for the murder of Tula Wilson. Mr. Curtis assured me that nothing would stick and he’d get me out as soon as possible. It was obvious the police, or at least Detective Unders, were out for my blood and throwing everything they could at me. All I had to do was wait for my hearing and see if I could get bail. How I was going to be able to afford it if I got it, I had no idea. Maybe the guys could go to a bail bondsman. Which meant more shit that I was piling on their plates. And Alfie, what was all this doing to him and the kids? Fuck, the kids were there when all the shit had hit the fan. They saw me with a gun pointed at my head. They had to have been terrified.

Even with everything swirling around in my mind and the shitty situation I was stuck in, my mind couldn’t help but go to Alfie and what we’d shared the previous night. It was clearer than ever that he was the person who could make me whole again. The someone who could help me move on from the past and focus solely on the future and the amazing journey we could have getting there. I even had thoughts of being there for Griffin and Lily throughout their lives. Those two were going to make my life with Alfie perfect.

I knew I should be focusing on what was happening to me. Unders was not looking for the real killer. He was eager to have the evidence fit his assumption that I was a murderer. Not only a murderer, but a man capable of killing my own mother. I still hadn’t figured out if it was because he disliked me due to my sexuality or if there was something bigger at work, but none of what was going on was making sense.

The only thing that I was sure of was that being left alone with my thoughts for much longer would make me fucking crazy. The thing that was scaring me the most was: what if all the bullshit somehow stuck and I was locked up for life. Hayley, the guys, the shop, my new baby nephew and Alfie and the Nuggets. Deep inside, I knew he would stand by me. Even after a turbulent start and the short time we’d had together, I just knew that we were it for each other. I also knew with devastating clarity that I couldn’t let him. No matter what I selfishly wanted, I couldn’t allow him to live a prison sentence with me. And with that thought, the first real bout of panic started to claw its way up inside me. My breath started coming quicker. Not wanting to show weakness, I did the only thing I could and shut down emotionally. A gift that I could thank Tula for, ironically. 

Mr. Curtis advised that I would not be called for my bail hearing until sometime the next day, so for the time being, I was going to concentrate on tearing apart everything I could remember about their fucking investigation.