My White Hero (6 page)

“
Seems like we made bail,” Cynthia said smiling. Ernest turned around and looked the detective.

“
Catherine, what is this? That man made bail?” he asked angrily.

“
It’s ‘Detective,’ Mr. Davenport and no, he is free to go,” the detective said. Ernest’s eyes grew wide.

“
What?” he asked looking at her, surprised. Rochelle, Cynthia and Desiree looked at the detective and then at Taylor and Tony.

“
Mr. Davenport, your son has a history of violence and we have an eyewitness account of him throwing the first punch. The way it looks, Mr. Ericson was merely acting in self-defense,” she said. Desiree looked at the detective and then at Taylor and then at Ernest. It was not a secret that the good detective and the senior Davenport had a history.

“
Catherine…”

“
Detective,” the woman said again.

“
You should really reconsider this,” Ernest said to the detective.

“
You guys should go,” the detective said looking at Desiree. “If there is anything more, we will call but Mr. Davenport, you do not scare me one bit,” she said looking at Ernest.

“
Catherine…”

“
Detective. I heard all about you when I was still in my other precinct and like I said you do not scare me. Your son provoked another person according to eleven eyewitness accounts and you cannot battle with that. So if you have nothing more to say, get the hell out of my precinct,” she said before walking away.

Taylor and Tony exchanged glances before they walked out of the station. They did not want to be there any more than the people being brought in.

“I would watch your back if I were in your shoes,” Ernest called out. Taylor turned around and looked at him, as did the detective.

“
Smart of you to threaten me right in the presence of police officers,” he said, looking at the detective.

There was just one word that could describe the atmosphere at the station: tension. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The way Ernest Davenport looked at the detective and then at Taylor…there was no telling what would happen next. He took a step forward and roughly pulled the detective aside. The detective angrily broke away from his grip.

“
Whatever you have to say to me, Mr. Davenport, you can say it in front of everyone here,” she said. Ernest looked at Taylor and then turned his attention back to the detective.

“
Catherine, you cannot let this man walk out of here. He needs to pay for what he did to my son!” Ernest said angrily. Detective Jones shook her head and gave Ernest a smile.

“
Why, Mr. Davenport? Why should I hold an innocent man when all he did was defend himself?” she asked. “You do know that the man who throws the first punch is usually accountable for everything that goes down - in this case, your son’s unfortunate quote unquote accident,” she said in a somewhat condescending tone.

From where they stood, Desiree, Cynthia and Rochelle could see Ernest’s cheeks flaring up. He was obviously not used to being undermined especially by a woman. He was a man who ate, lived and breathed power. This, being put down like this, was all too new for him.

“Catherine…” he started before the detective put her hand up.

“
Detective Jones to you and that is the last time I will make that correction, Mr. Davenport,” she said as she looked into his eyes.

“
You are making a mistake,” he told her before turning to look at Taylor. “You are all making a mistake!” he yelled. Detective Jones took a step forward and smiled.

“
Do you remember when I was a little girl and you used to come home just as we sat down for dinner? I never knew why but as much as I enjoyed your visits thanks to the small gifts you brought with you, my father was always unsettled when you came home and then one day I heard my parents argue. That was the first time I heard them argue about anything and it was simply about you and guess what you won then but I am my own woman now. I will not be your patsy so you can tread upon my precinct as you see fit. I am not my father and you may have had him bent over a barrel but I will not be your bitch, Ernest Davenport,” she said in a voice low enough for only him to hear. Ernest’s face looked like he had seen a ghost as he looked at her.

“
You are right, Catherine. You are no longer the little girl I used to know,” he said before he walked out.

Detective Jones took a long deep breath before she walked towards Taylor and Tony. She flashed them a smile as she stood in front of them.

“Should we be worried?” Tony asked. She smiled and shook her head.

“
Ernest Davenport is many things but he is not stupid enough to risk his income for the sake of a revenge mission. You should be fine,” she said. She turned to Desiree and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Keep your man out of trouble, okay?” she said. Desiree gave her a half smile before she walked out. Everyone else followed her without a word.

Everyone was quiet as they walked back to the car. From a distance, they could still hear Ernest hollering at the detective and making threats. Desiree was more worried than ever. She did not have Rochelle’s bravery or Cynthia’s calm and she did not know what she would do if the Davenports made good on their threats or how she could protect her sister and the man she loved. Taylor took her hand in his but Desiree never turned around.

“Dee,” Taylor said softly. She turned to look at him as a tear rolled down his cheek. He brought his hand up and brushed the tear away. Desiree closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “It’s over,” he said. She shook her head and looked into his eyes.

“
You don’t know that,” she said softly as Tony pulled over in front of their apartment building. Desiree got out of the car and walked into the house as fast as she could. She could hear Rochelle and Tony talking but at that moment, she did not want to face her sister. She was afraid of what she would say if she did. But Rochelle had something else on her mind. She ran after her and put her hand on her shoulder prompting her to turn around although she was angry. “What?” she asked looking at Rochelle.

“
Talk to me,” Rochelle said softly as she looked at her sister.

“
What the fuck do you want me to say? You need to learn how to hold that damn tongue, Roch, because I may not always be around to bail you out,” Desiree said angrily.

“
Were we at the same station, Dee? Or were you at another precinct?” Rochelle asked angrily. Desiree rolled her eyes.

“
I was there, all right, but you need to know when to shut it, Roch. That tongue of yours is the reason we grew up in different foster homes, or did you forget that too?” she said angrily.

Rochelle looked at her, surprised. She had known Desiree a long time but she had never known her to hit below the belt. She was still standing there surprised when Desiree turned around and walked to her room.

Taylor walked up to Rochelle and looked at her. He felt his heart go out to her when he noticed a tear rolling down her cheek. He looked at Desiree, who was now entering her room, and then looked back at Rochelle.

“
She is just pissed at me and taking it out on you. I’ll talk to her, okay?” he said. Rochelle nodded as another tear rolled down her cheek. “Hey, she did not mean it. You know that, right?” he asked. Rochelle nodded again and tried to force a smile as Tony walked up towards them. “Let me handle her. And let Tony handle you two ladies. Everything will be fine in just a few minutes, okay?” he asked before he walked to Desiree’s room.

He took a deep breath and knocked softly on her door before poking his head through the doorway. She was standing in front of the mirror, gazing into space, when he walked in.

“Hey there,” he said softly as he walked in and closed the door behind him. She turned around and looked at him. “What were you thinking?” she asked.

“
What are you talking about?” he asked.

“
You, kicking around that poor guy,” she said. Taylor scoffed.

“
I would hardly put it like that. That asshole was asking for it long before I got there,” he said.

“
I know, but you could have walked away,” she said. Taylor shook his head.

“
Never leave a man behind,” he said. Desiree blinked back yet another tear.

“
Ericson, you are no longer in active duty. You are not in the marines anymore,” she said. Taylor was getting agitated.

“
So I should just look away when someone threatens the woman I love, or hurts her?” he asked. Desiree’s heart went soft when he said that. She took a step forward and looked into his eyes.

“
I worry about you,” she said softly. “You really need to avoid these kinds of situations,” she added.

“
I will always protect the woman I love. I would have let him go but he hurt you,” he said as he looked into her eyes. He gently wrapped his arms around her and planted a kiss on top of her head. Desiree closed her eyes as her other angry words went down the drain. She could not tell him why she was worried, that the only thing she feared most was losing him since he was no longer the man he was on the force. She wanted to scream out that the injury he sustained in active duty made him more vulnerable but she was sure this would bruise his ego more than she could ever know. “And you need to cut Rochelle a break too,” he said softly.

Desiree rolled her eyes.

“She was also just angry because like me she loves you and she watched her big sister almost get hospitalized tonight,” he said as he pulled away.

“
I know and I feel terrible. That’s why I just wanted to come straight to my room first. I say stuff I don’t mean when I’m upset,” she said sadly. “I honestly would never say all that to my sister. I love her,” she added.

“
I know, that is why you need to cut her some slack. She loves you and she was only defending you. You know it and I know it,” he said. She shook her head and put her hands up in surrender.

“
I’m the worst big sister in the world. And even after all that all I can think of is how much I want to sleep off this whole night,” she said as she buried her face in her hands.

Taylor pulled her hands from her face and frowned.

“What?” she asked as she looked at him.

“
I don’t know, I thought we could at least make this night count. I mean, we were supposed to be doing some dirty dancing and flaming tequila shots right about now,” he said looking at her.

“
Actually flaming shots are usually for rum or Sambuca. You really need to get out more,” she said.

“
What? They don’t do tequila flaming shots?”  he asked. Desiree laughed.

“
Tequila is a flaming shot on its own. I mean seriously, you have to salt it down to lessen the burn. Lighting it up would definitely leave wounds in your gullet,” she said. Taylor frowned again.

“
I guess I have never been much of a drinker,” he said. Desiree smiled.

“
We can have a do over of this night, but later,” she said with a smile. Taylor’s smile got wide.

“
I know what we can do instead,” he said, pulling her closer. Desiree laughed.

“
Really? Even with an invalid?” she asked.

“
Well, we can do the hot nurse and patient thing,” he said with a smile.

“
That usually works when the nurse is a female,” she said.

“
What? You don’t think I am a hot nurse? Or better still, I am your doctor and I want to take advantage of my sweet, beautiful, sexy patient,” he said before he brought his head down to kiss her. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to get lost in the moment. She hated how much Taylor seemed to have a hold on her. She could never be mad at him for long. It was like she was under some kind of spell or something. Suddenly, he was not the smooth romantic but the hungry lover, the one with the insatiable taste for her that just could not be quenched. She tugged at his shirt and tried undoing his buttons as he pulled her dress upwards. When the buttons became too much for her, she held the two ends of the shirt and pulled them apart. He pulled away and smiled down at her. “That is so hot,” he said. “A few more days with you and I’ll need more shirts,” he added as he looked at her. She smiled and pulled him down toward her.

“
Stop talking,” she said before kissing him softly. She gently let her tongue touch his, sending little chills down her spine. She moaned her pleasure when she felt Taylor’s flicking fingertips running on the surface of her skin. He pulled away from her and pulled the dress over her head. She looked at him and returned the favor by slipping his shirt off his shoulders. As she looked at him, she could feel her heart beating faster than usual. It was almost as if this was the first time this was happening. She was not sure whether it was the mere fact that this was make up sex or that she just loved him. Either way, she was feeling like a sex crazed teenager in the arms of her crush.