The Versace League (13 page)

  
             
"What is it baby?" Jessica questioned as she threw her nighty back on.

           Yamin walked to the door, peeped through the peephole, and then tucked his gun in his waistband before opening the door. It was two plain-clothes officers and Yamin was immediately able to recognize that they were from the Bureau. He dropped his right hand down by his side slowly and tried not to wince at the pain. It was definitely broken.

           “Can I help you?” Yamin asked defensively.

           “We’re with the FBI, this is my partner Agent Harris and I am Agent Flourish. We wanted to speak with you concerning one of our fellow colleagues, Agent Katrina Warren. Can we come in?” Agent Flourish said as he motioned inside of Yamin’s home.

           Yamin stepped to the side and allowed them to come in. He wasn’t surprised that they were there, but he didn’t expect to see them so soon. He knew that since he and Katrina had text each other right before she apparently died, then they would be questioning him.

             
“This was the address that she had in her GPS and we just followed here,” Agent Harris said and Yamin nodded.

           “We understand that Katrina was working on the disappearance of…” Agent Flourish pulled out his notepad and flipped to the page where he had all of his information written down. “…Ashley Brouard. She was your niece. Is that correct?”

           “Yes, that’s right,” Yamin answered and looked to his left when Jessica looped her arm with his.

           “How well did you know Katrina? It’s not standard practice that we text victims or that we come to visit them on our own. We show that you guys went back and forth with text messages quite a bit over the last few days,” Agent Flourish rose a brow. He looked over at Jessica and then down at his pad as he wrote a few words down.

           “I know her from the hood we grew up in. We lost contact once she moved out and went to college. I didn’t see her again until she started investigating my niece’s case,” Yamin lied.

            “Is that right?” Agent Harris stepped in and asked.

         "That's what I said," Yamin answered.

     
             
   "What was she coming over here for? Because we read a few messages that seemed to insist that there was a personal relationship going on. Something about pregnancies and miscarriages. There was a few messages from her to you saying that she loved you."

 
             
  The grip that Jessica held around Yamin's arm dropped and so did her confidence in their relationship. She wanted to know more details about these text messages too and hoped that the agents would give her some more insight.

             
     "Yea, there was a message that said..."Agent Flourish looked down at his notes. "Did our baby that I miscarried not mean anything to you? I’ve been wanting to ask you this for so long."

     "I don't know anything about a baby. Like I said I knew Katrina back in the day, I just caught back up with her during this case. She was coming to see my wife and me concerning my missing niece. Any other messages that she sent to me were irrelevant to me and I didn't pay it any mind. I'm sure you saw that as well."

    
             
Yamin's jaw tightened as he thought about Katrina's stupidity. They'd already had their phone records cleaned up and she continued to send him foolishness afterwards. I guess she never assumed that they would have to be checked again or that she would end up dead. Even then, the same as before, he never responded to any of those messages via text or via phone calls. He had been too smart for that.

    "Was there ever a baby? I find it hard to believe that these messages meant nothing to you," Agent Flourish said.

             
    "Well they don't!" Yamin said. His voice rose a little and it was obvious that he was frustrated.

      "Excuse me, I believe this questioning is over,” Jessica intervened. "I'm gonna have to ask the two of you to leave."

    "I have a few more questions and then we'll be out of your way ma'am," Agent Flourish held his hand down and flipped to the next page in his notebook.

    "No, this line of questioning is over. If you need to speak to my husband any further then we are more than willing to come down to your office and do this the correct way. Now like I said, the two of you need to leave. He has nothing further to say," Jessica sassed in a soft, but yet firm tone. She immediately placed her emotions to the side and stepped into her lawyer shoes. She knew where this line of questioning would lead Yamin and she had to stop him before it was too late. "I'm also his lawyer, Attorney Jessica Mitchell-Brouard.”

           “We’re just trying to get to the bottom of what happened to Katrina. She was murdered in cold blood on the side of a highway. I’m sure if your hus-client doesn’t have anything to hide then he shouldn’t mind speaking with us,” Agent Harris said. He was pissed and didn’t appreciate Jessica getting in the way. He was sure that Yamin had killed Katrina. To him it made perfect sense.

           Yamin cheated on his wife with Katrina, she got pregnant and miscarried, and he killed her to keep it secret. That was the motive that he’d told himself and his partner once they discovered the various text messages in Katrina’s phone this morning. It was supposed to be an open and shut case and they would be heroes for solving the murder of a colleague in less than 24 hours.

           “My husband was with me all night, as a matter of fact, he hasn’t left my side in the last 48 hours. Now, please don’t make me ask again,” Jessica said with more force and attitude.

           “Fine, he needs to come down to the Bureau within the next 24 hours so that we can do a formal interview. Don’t make us get a warrant,” Agent Harris said.

           “For what, some text messages? You have no basis for a warrant and you know it!"

    
             
  Neither of the agents said anything further because they knew she was right. They'd only come here with a hunch on what they felt happened and hoped that Yamin gave them enough to get a warrant. After a few moments of silence, Agent Flourish turned to leave but Agent Harris didn't move. He and Yamin stared each other down for what seemed like an eternity.

    
             
Agent Harris knew that Yamin was guilty. He could feel it and when Yamin allowed a smirk to form in the corner of his mouth, he confirmed it. He wouldn't let this go. This was far from over.  He just had to gather more information and come back. He nodded his head and turned on his feet to walk out of the door.

    Jessica walked behind the agents and slammed the door shut. She was disgusted and she was fed up. She waited a few moments to ensure she would only be heard by Yamin when she spoke. Taking in a deep breath, she held up her finger to silence what bullshit was to come from Yamin.

  
             
"You got that bitch pregnant Yamin? And you dumb enough to continue texting the hoe when you know damn well you're being watched?"

             
   Yamin was silent. He looked at his wife and was taken aback. She sounded like a chick from the hood, so much so he almost didn't recognize who she was.

     "I cannot believe this shit! I stood by your side knowing damn well I should've walked out that door when I knew you were a lying bastard! How can you betray me like this? How can you get her pregnant?" Jessica huffed. She was hurt knowing that the same woman that was crazy in love with her husband had also carried his child. She wanted to be the only one that owned that privilege, but not only had she not been the only one, she wasn’t first one either.

             
   Jessica stalked away from the door and headed for the bedroom when Yamin handled her in a way that put fear deep within. The grip he held around her arm was gruesome and when she looked up at him, she could see the anger popping from his neck.

  
             
   "I told you that I wouldn't fucking lie to you again! Now if you're gonna keep holding this bullshit over my head about how you stood by my side then you can fucking leave and never look back! I ain't got time for this shit! Somebody is fucking with me and my fucking family and you worried about a pregnancy that I don't even know if it was real. And if it was it wasn't my fucking seed!"

    "Typical!" Jessica scoffed. She tried to pull away from Yamin, but he held on tighter.

  
             
  "What the fuck you mean typical? I took care of my fucking brothers and sister night and day while my daddy hustled for us! Cooked, cleaned, fucking homework, all of that! I sacrificed my education for my family...you think if a bitch was pregnant with my seed, I wouldn't man the fuck up!" Yamin released Jessica's arm and backed away from her.

He was upset but he knew that it was his fault that she didn't trust him. He knew that it would take time in order to gain her trust back, but how long would it take? He didn't know if he had the patience.

     
             
Yamin headed back into the living room to get his cell phone. His hand was broken and he needed to see Aasir. Last night he'd called Aasir and was forwarded to voice mail. He left Aasir a message letting him know that Katrina had info on Patrice and that he was on to them. It had only been a bluff since he didn't know what info Katrina had. He never anticipated that she would end up dead before he could get it in his hands.

  
             
He always knew that this was happening because of someone close to him,  but he never knew how close. His own brother was betraying him. His own brother was involved in killing their baby brother and it was all behind that bitch Patrice. It was the only thing that made sense to him.

  
             
   "Pick up the fuckin' phone you bitch! Aasir, I swear to God my nigga when I see you again you dead! You fucking coward!" Yamin yelled into his brother's voicemail. Hurt wasn't even enough to describe how he was feeling. He was so far beyond what words could express. He pressed the end button and redialed Aasir's number, but was once again sent to voicemail.

    
             
"Fuck it, I'll just go over there."

   Yamin turned around to see Jessica standing behind him with a yellow envelope in her hand. His heart skipped a beat and he looked at her for answers.

    "Someone tapped on the door and when I went to open it, this was on the ground," she said. She handed him the package and clasped her hands together. She hated that she'd started drama with him at a time like this. As hard as she tried, she couldn't seem to release her insecurities. She followed behind Yamin as he went into the bedroom to use the DVD player in there. She noticed that he struggled to open the package and quickly moved to assist him.

 
             
Jessica took the package from his hand, opened it, and placed the DVD in the player. She looked at the note that came with it and the twinge she felt in her stomach caused her to grow sick. 

   
             
You can run, but you can't hide. Give me what's mine, and I'll give you what's yours.

   She handed the note to Yamin and he read it and then brought his attention to the TV. On the screen was Ashley, and thankfully she was still alive. She was coloring in a book and he noticed that she had on different clothes from the last time and her hair was neatly combed.

This video sealed it for Yamin, only someone that cared for Ashley would handle her with such care. It was Aasir. Only he didn’t know what he’d taken from his brother. What could he have taken from him to cause him to do this to their family? Had he really taken anything or was Aasir using these notes and videos as a cover up for something else?

TURNING POINT

Yamin looked around as Emmanuel pulled the car into the parking lot of Patrice’s complex. He didn’t see her car anywhere around and he didn’t see Aasir’s either. Before coming there, he’d sat at the hospital for hours waiting to get his hand casted and thought about everything that transpired over the past couple of weeks. He missed Cortez like crazy and wished that he could turn back the hands of time. He wished that he were there that night Cortez had been shot and could have taken the bullet for his baby brother. He would have done anything to lie down on the pavement that night and take his brother’s place.

             
As Emmanuel pulled the car into a spot in front of Patrice’s complex, Yamin felt like a vase that had fallen and broken into tiny pieces. His life was in shambles and he didn’t know what piece to pick from first to place things back together. As Aasir was the number one suspect in his mind, he wondered how one bitch could manipulate his two brothers so much that it caused the murder of one and the kidnapping of his niece. Was Patrice that good that she caused Aasir’s heart turn to stone? This was so farfetched, so far from the person he knew Aasir to be that he didn’t want to believe it, but the facts were there.