When Perfection Fails (24 page)

Jonathan was in the car on his way to Parklane when he received the call from Lenora. What he didn't tell her when they got off the phone the first time was he planned on telling someone at the police station about this man, Lance Ryan Matthews.

Darnell had insisted on working on the case right up to the wedding, but Jonathan had encouraged him to concentrate on his wedding, and then honeymoon. Darnell placed Jonathan in touch with his partner, Steven Brunson. Brunson would keep him abreast on any developments in Charmayne's case.

Jonathan called Detective Brunson and told him where his wife was heading.

Brunson answered back gruffly, “You need to get in touch with your wife as soon as possible. We need to be on the lookout for this Matthews fellow.”

“That's what I thought, but Lenora tends to be a bit stubborn, especially when she is trying to get to the bottom of something.”

“Well, I'll head over there now. I don't know if we have any just cause to try to get a judge to get us a search warrant. The best thing now is to make sure Lenora is safe.”

After getting off the phone with Detective Brunson, Jonathan wasted no time continuing over to Parklane Road. As he swerved into the parking lot, he didn't like the number of empty spaces at all. He spotted Lenora's car and parked beside it. The case of paranoia may have been passed on to him, but he was not going to fail at protecting his wife.

Jonathan entered the building. He walked over to the guard who seemed to be staring at some small television. Jonathan hit the desk. “Hey, have you seen a woman come in here in the last thirty minutes?”

The man looked bothered by Jonathan's presence. “Which one?”

Jonathan snapped at the man. “What do you mean which one?”

“There were two ladies that came in here. They both went to the fifth floor.”

“What's on the fifth floor?”

The guard shrugged. “Some lawyer.”

Before the man could turn back to the television, Jonathan banged the desk again. “Look, you have something serious going down in your building. The cops are going to be here soon. If I was you, I would be ready for what's going down. You feel me, brotha?”

The security guard jumped up from the chair, his eyes looking bewildered.

Jonathan headed to the elevator. He noticed the elevator was still on the fifth floor, so he pushed the button. Jonathan yelled at the guard as the elevator doors open, “Be sure to send the cops to the fifth floor.”

The security guard wobbled from behind the desk. As the doors closed, Jonathan heard the man shout, “I'll send them up.”

Jonathan had loosened the knot in his tie earlier after hearing Lenora's scream. He snatched the tie off and stuffed it in his pocket. Not sure what to expect, he didn't need any hindrances.

The elevator door opened. Jonathan stepped out. He could see an office door was open. He ran over and confirmed from the gold plaque next to the door it was the lawyer's office.

Jonathan stepped inside. He heard a scuffle in the office to his left. He tore off for the door and ran inside the office. The first thing he noticed was the white Keds that Lenora wore when she was being really casual. A man was on top of her.

“Get off of her!” He leaped over a chair that had been overturned on the floor. Jonathan grabbed the man by his shirt and plowed his fist into the man's left jaw.

As the man fell to the side, Jonathan saw Lenora start coughing. He turned to hit the man again, but received a blow from the side in his gut. Jonathan staggered back. The man came at him again, but this time Jonathan was ready.

Both men threw blows. Jonathan landed a right punch in the man's face, while the man almost got his jaw. The man was staggering. Knowing he didn't have a bit of time to waste, Jonathan came back with an upper cut, knocking the man to the floor.

By this time, Lenora had managed to stand, propped against the wall. She was crying and holding her neck. He ran over to her, and she leaned in against him. Jonathan was surprised by the body behind the desk.

Lenora pointed and yelled. The man had gotten up off the floor and started to charge toward them.

Jonathan tried pushing Lenora to the side, but she wouldn't let go of him. He grabbed her by the arm, and they both moved to the right around the desk, making their way toward the door.

The man had grabbed an object from the desk and came after them. Jonathan thought it looked like a letter opener or a knife. As they entered the outer office area, Jonathan saw figures outside the door. He yelled at Lenora, “Get down.” He grabbed her by the waist, and they both hit the floor. Jonathan covered Lenora with his body as gunshots rang out above their heads.

Lenora leaned her head against Jonathan as they sat in the lobby of Parklane Plaza. They had waited for what seemed like hours. Interesting enough, there were people who worked in this building. Many had come out of their corners to find out what was going on in their building. Lenora's first thoughts were on Serena as they were ushered downstairs by a young cop.

Detective Brunson assured her, “Serena has been taken to the hospital. She took a nasty fall down those stairs, but at least she was conscious. I hear that's a good sign.”

Lenora wondered if the reporter had any family in Charlotte. She called Wes who she knew worked with Serena. Wes promised to go check on his friend.

“Are you and the pastor okay?” Wes had asked.

Lenora sighed. “Yes, other than some bruises and sore body parts, we should be fine.”

Almost an hour passed since she checked with Wes about Serena. Lenora had started to doze from exhaustion. Jonathan nudged her awake. “Here comes Detective Brunson. Maybe we can finally leave now.”

“Wow, you two look like you went about eight rounds up there,” the older detective commented. “Why didn't you go to the hospital?”

Jonathan shook his head. “We agreed that we both looked worse than we actually felt.”

“Well, that's good after the ordeal you've been through earlier. Mrs. Freeman, I have something for you.” Detective Brunson handed her a package with her name on it.

Lenora knew what it was before she opened it. She ripped open the tape with her fingernails. The first thing she saw when she opened the package was the document Charmayne had brought to the salon. She pulled it out. “This is what Charmayne brought me the day before she died.”

Detective Brunson peered at the package. “Looks like that might be evidence. Why don't you let me have that box so we can keep it safe from too many fingerprints?”

“Sure.” Lenora gladly handed the box to the detective, almost feeling a weight lifted off of her shoulders. Charmayne would at least not be remembered in her death the way she had been painted the past few weeks.

“Do you have any idea of what exactly went on upstairs?” Jonathan asked.

Lenora smiled, and then grimaced. Her jaw hurt like crazy. “I have some ideas. The one thing I do know is that the man who was killed was Charmayne's lawyer. She said she would ‘take care of it,' so I guess she gathered everything to keep it safe.

“What I haven't figured out, and I'm hoping maybe Serena can once she is alert, is why Lance decided to start threatening Charmayne now.”

“So he killed her?”

Lenora shook her head. “Lance said he didn't. Someone else did who hated her more than he did.”

Jonathan's eyes grew wide. “Someone else was involved?”

“Yes, but I have a feeling whoever it was, they're going down.”

The crazed man wasn't killed. Detective Brunson shot Matthews in the leg to stop him. As he was being handcuffed, Lenora and Jonathan stood to the side. The whole time his eyes were locked on them.

She would've been scared, but she was too exhausted, and she knew God had been good. All the scares and close calls that came to her family in the past few weeks, most people wouldn't have experienced in a lifetime. Lenora was just grateful.

Detective Brunson walked back over to them. “You two young people can head home. If I was you, I would still get checked out at the hospital.”

“Thank you, Detective.” Jonathan held out his hand and shook hands with Steven Brunson. “I think Darnell will be pleased this was taken care of while he was gone. He has some partner in you.”

Detective Brunson winked. “Make sure you let him know that as soon as he gets back.”

Both men laughed.

Lenora stood still as they laughed. She still had questions. What did Lance have against Charmayne? They were engaged five years ago. The man had transformed himself and could get any woman he wanted. He certainly couldn't have been bent on revenge against his ex-fiancée all this time.

Now she wished she had kept that package Charmayne had left her. She wondered what evidence had been gathered.

“Are you ready?” Jonathan asked, his eyes concerned.

She smiled. “Yes, I am. I'm so tired.”

Jonathan responded back, “You and me both.”

As they walked out together, for once, Lenora decided not to analyze or overthink anymore. She was just thankful to be alive. God would reveal all that was needed to be known in time.

Lenora sat and waited patiently for Serena to open her eyes. She'd waited a few days to come see Serena, mainly because she needed time to recoup. Lenora hadn't slept well since Jonathan's and her ordeal on Monday. There was something, or rather someone, missing. She kept mulling over what the man said.

Lenora needed to know who else was involved or if Lance Ryan hadn't told the truth.

She was thankful to Detective Brunson for graciously answering her questions. Lenora had stopped by his office yesterday afternoon.

Detective Brunson explained, “Before Darnell left, he passed Ms. Hudson's phone records to me to tackle. It took me some time, but I did trace some serial numbers back to stores where the phones were purchased.”

Lenora asked, “Can you tell who purchased the phones?”

“No, that's not quite possible, but we can see if our perp was in the vicinity of the store around the time a phone was purchased. We lucked up, not on a number on Charmayne's phone records, but on your phone.”

Lenora sat stunned. “I don't understand. What are you saying?”

Detective Brunson explained, “We traced the serial number from the first text message you received back to a phone purchased at Walmart. You know these shopping centers have security cameras in the parking lot, right?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“Well, our guy in the cell, Lance Ryan, showed up on the camera.” Brunson shrugged. “Could be coincidence and definitely circumstantial evidence, but I would say our guy purchased a phone and used it to send threatening messages.”

“But what about Charmayne? Can you prove he was doing the same to her?”

Detective Brunson answered, “I believe we're close, but something interesting came up with her phone records that we are looking into now.” The detective averted his eyes from Lenora.

She turned her head to see what had the detective's attention. Lenora frowned as she saw a man being guided in to one of the interrogation rooms. She whirled her head back around to Detective Brunson. “Why is Mayor Carrington here?”

“Well, all I can tell you is the mayor has some questions that need to be answered. We're really interested in his last conversation with Ms. Hudson.”

Lenora inquired, “When was the last time he'd spoken to her?”

Brunson stood from his chair and buttoned his coat jacket. “He called Ms. Hudson on the morning of her death. When Darnell asked him about it earlier, the mayor claims it was council business. There were some papers in the package that Ms. Hudson left. Some of those papers indicated improper use of some funds.”

Lenora left the police station after the detective went into the interrogation room. The police were trying to put the pieces together, but Lenora had a feeling that someone already knew the answers.

Serena stirred on the bed. From what Lenora had learned, the reporter suffered a moderate case of traumatic head injury. She didn't stay unconscious for long after she fell, but the doctors kept her in the hospital to make sure there was no swelling or bleeding on the brain. Serena had also suffered a broken ankle. The bottom of her left foot was in a cast.

The reporter opened her eyes. She stared around the room, her eyes unfocused for a few minutes.

Lenora leaned in and grabbed the woman's hand. “How are you?”

Serena turned her head slightly toward her.

The doctor mentioned Serena could have repercussions from the head injury, like memory loss. Lenora hoped Serena would remember her and be able to recall what happened.

A slow, wry smile stretched across Serena's face. “I feel like I could sleep for days.” She lifted her head. “What are you doing here? Did they get him?”

Lenora frowned, not sure how much Serena had experienced before her fall. “Lance is in jail.”

“Good! That was one crazy man.” Serena narrowed her eyes as if she was unsure of her next question. “What about the mayor?”

Lenora looked at her. “The mayor was being questioned yesterday by Detective Brunson. Why do you ask? What did you find out, Serena?”

The woman stared back at Lenora, her eyes were wide. “So, no one has gotten him to admit it yet?”

“Admit what, Serena?”

Her voice had dropped so low, Lenora had to lean in closer. “The mayor did something to Charmayne. I guess they fought, and he killed her. I overheard Lance talking to him on the phone. Lance basically came in and covered it up, making her death look like a suicide.”

Lenora was stunned. “Why? I don't understand why Mayor Carrington would harm Charmayne. Was this about the Hudson Development?”

Serena nodded. “I bet you it had everything to do with it. From what I gathered before he became mayor, Carrington made his money swiping money that didn't belong to him. Like federal money meant to build low-income housing. Sounds like Lance was in on it too. They might have thought they could get away with something similar on the Hudson Development Project.”

Lenora sat back in the chair. “You think Bishop Hudson got a whiff of their schemes. Maybe he pushed Charmayne to break it off with Lance because of his possible illegal activities.”

“He had good reason. I'm thinking that Carrington was a little more complicated. If I can recall from the election a few years back, Bishop Hudson was really behind getting Carrington elected.”

Lenora agreed. “It wouldn't have looked good for the bishop to out the man he helped put in the mayor's office. So, the mayor was trying to cover his activities after Bishop Hudson died?”

Serena said, “That's my theory. I think the bishop had something on Carrington. It also explains why Mayor Carrington wanted to back away from the Hudson Development Project. Martha German, one of the committee members, was telling me they were ready to move forward and work out the zoning. So the entire project was under more eyes, especially federal funders.”

It suddenly dawned on Lenora. “I believe Charmayne left something for the police. I was supposed to pick up a package from her lawyer. I gave it to Detective Brunson. I believe there is probably a case being built against the mayor right now.”

“The kind of stuff Mayor Carrington was into, he could have the FBI and IRS on his case.” Serena grinned. “Good for her. I could tell she was a really smart lady. Just a couple of bad breaks.”

Lenora smiled. Tears sprang to her eyes. “Charmayne Hudson was a good soul. Just like her dad. I'm very proud of her.”