Page 41 of Widow Mayker

“So, Von, what made you decide to be a detective?” Heir quizzed. She sat her chin on her fist and listened with rapt attention. If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear she was smitten by Von.

Unashamed, he replied, “It was either a badge or strippin’.”

Heir’s eyes lit up with intrigue. “Seriously?”

“Unfortunately,” I mumbled as Von nodded.

“How exciting!” Heir exclaimed.

Sighing, I flipped my menu open and fished over which burger I wanted while Von and Heir discussed Von’s sexcapades. His arm ended up around my shoulders, and as he settled in, I thoughtlessly tucked my fingers in his hand. By the time the thought occurred to disengage my fingers from his, he had a hold on me that stayed long after lunch was over.

MAJA

A few days later, Von and I were on our way to Atlanta. I reclined my seat and listened to the music he played while observing his profile. Every time he licked his lips, tingles assailed my skin. Every so often, he’d reach over and slide his hand over my thighs, or he’d take my hand just to place a kiss on my palm. Each time he touched me, a piece of the woman I once knew, melted away, which ate at me. There was no way my heart could ever fall for any man let alone a man tied to an organization who swore to serve and protect.

Von turned down the music and asked, “You good, baby?”

“I am,” I replied a little too quickly. He chuckled at the lie. Chuckling too, I said, “I just wonder is there a deeper reason why you decided to take on the badge. Personally, I can see you as a stripper.”

He scoffed as if I’d said something forbidden. “You met my mama. The day she found out I was strippin’, she stopped talkin’ to me for almost a month.”

I burst out laughing at the sick look on his face. “No, she didn’t!”

“Yes, the fuck she did. Mane, I have never felt so helpless in my life.”

I cackled even harder. His face reflected how serious he was.

“I cried like she beat my ass in the middle of the street,” he added. By now, I was laughing so hard, he had to laugh at himself. He shook his head and said, “But it’s deeper than that. Pensacola was so bad at one point, that my Pops shipped my mama, me, and my brothers off to keep us off the streets. I was wildin’ and didn’t give a fuck about shit. There was a time you couldn’t have told me that I’d be wearing a badge.”

“Seriously?”

He nodded. “Every officer I know grew up wanting to wear a badge. I thought that wasn’t my calling.”

“Why do you believe it’s your calling?”

His grin was quick. “I have a way of catching the bad guy, baby. Hunting bad guys is so deep in my blood that I can sense when I’m closing in on the perp.”

“Really? That’s interesting,” I stated. “How many cases do you have open?”

“New cases? Plenty. I’ve only been back in Pensacola for a short while. Things have been crazier, and I expect the heat of the summer to ramp things back up. However, so far, I’ve been lucky enough to close most of my cases.”

“Hm. Is there one case that haunts you the most?” I questioned.

Von’s grin faded slightly, and he sighed. “Yeah,” he answered. “It’s a case I worked back in Atlanta. A serial killer.” He shook his head and chuckled. “I was this close to catchin’ that nigga.”

“What happened that you didn’t catch him?”

“He went dark. The murders just…stopped. And he disappeared.”

“Oh. How do you know it’s the same guy?”

“Besides the fact that he’s methodical and clean as fuck in his kills, a gut feeling.”

“A gut feeling? You really trust your gut to lead you the right way?” I asked to which he nodded.

“I told you; it’s in my blood, baby.”

Smiling, I said, “Oh, okay. So… What can you tell me about the case?”