She arrived at the scene to see caution tape surrounding the accident, and she knew that this shit was real. She brushed aside a few pedestrians to finally see Dontae’ sitting on the curve with a bandage on his head and his arm in a sling. She finally took a breath, one that she felt like she had been holding since the phone call.
“Jesus Fucking Christ, and I thought I couldn’t drive.” She joked.
“Someone tried to kill me.” He said in gripping pain.
“It's hard to believe they didn't succeed. Look at this shit.” She turned to look at the crane lifting the car from the café’. She could also see some commotion around the yellow tape. She looked a little closer and noticed that it was Sandy saying something in a panic to the officers. She took a breath and waved her hand in a gesture for the officer to let her through. The officer complied.
Sandy immediately ran over to Dontae’ kneeling as she wrapped her arms around him. Dontae’ grunted in response. It was good to feel her embrace and nice to smell that sweet lavender shampoo in her hair, but this hug hurt.
“Oh, God I’m so sorry. Are you Okay?” she releases.
“I’m fine,” He reassures her.
“You don’t look fine. Why aren't they taking you to the hospital?”
“I don’t need to go. I’m fine.”
“Hardheaded! You need to get looked at.”
“I’m –“he tries to speak before Jessi interjects.
“He’s fine-”
“Don’t!” Sandy puts her finger up as a mom would do if her child is being disrespectful. “Don’t tell me he’s fine. This is my man!”
“He’s my partner,” Jessi counters.
Sandy was now angry. “Don’t you get it? He’s my man, and just because ya’ll work together doesn't give you the right- “
“Stop. Stop, stop. Baby, I'm fine.” The two were making his head hurt worse. “Jessi, go back to the station. I’ll call you later.”
Jessi throws up her hands and stomps off.
“Where is the other car?” Sandy asks as she looks around.
“Truck. They ran me off the road and kept going.” He corrects her.
“What?” Not sure if she heard him correctly. “Oh my god. You think it was-”
“-I think it was whoever murdered Rochelle. Not a cult.” Dontae said, cutting her off.
“Please leave this case alone. It’s not worth it,” she said, pleading.
“Look at my car Sandy. They tried to kill me. There is more to this than Rochelle. It is worth it.”
She hugs him. He grunts again but holds on to her with his one good arm. Just beyond the accident scene, an older man watches them.
CHAPTER VI
Dontae awakes to a bright lightning strike and a thunder rumble to open his eyes upon what looks like a shadow of a man on his living room wall. He immediately dives beside the couch on which he was sleeping and pulls his sidearm from the coffee table directly in front of him. He slowly crawls to the edge of the sofa using his one good arm. He peeks around the corner and towards the window where the shadow originated. The room is silent, with only the sound of rain dripping on the window banister. With a sudden move, he aims the gun towards the window. The shadow was none other than a String of Nickels hanging in the window. He remembered that sandy had brought the plant as a get-well gift after his accident. She hung it there because he would sleep on the couch for a few days until his wounds healed. After all, she likes to kick in her sleep. Dontae stands and heads to the plant. “Fucking scary-ass weed.” He smirks as he taps the plant causing it to spin. He looks out the window and notices a man standing on the far corner, seeming to be looking directly at him. The guy had on a long coat, and the shadow of his hat was coving his face. The man was far enough away not to cause any concern but standing in the pouring rain looking in his direction was enough to raise awareness. Dontae’ opened the window to see if he could get a better look without the glass's glare. The man took notice and quickly walked out of his line of sight. His phone rang, startling him a bit. The incoming call was “Jessi.”
Ω
Jessi was already ahead of Dontae’. She had been able to get Vasquez's address and had headed straight for his house. She was there as a concerned coworker just checking on him. At least that was her story.
It was clear he’d left in a hurry. Clothes were thrown across the bed, personal items knocked over in the bathroom, and hell, he didn’t even bother to lock the door behind him, although she made sure to do so.
She spotted a light illuminating from the cracked door in the bedroom. She slowly pushed the door open and notices that it’s a computer monitor. She headed to the computer and took a seat at the small desk. The fact that the computer hadn’t locked yet, further proved Vasquez left in a hurry and most likely hasn’t been gone long. Reviewing his past searches, she found an address he’d recently looked up. She took out her phone and snapped a quick picture of it. She swiped and called Dontae’.
“Hello?” Dontae’ answers.
“Hey. How you holding up?” Jessi asked.
“Good. Just a little sore, nothing major.”
“Okay, cool. Get this, I went to talk with Vasquez again and this time I was going to plaster
