Brooklyn Bombshells: Part 2

Their call ended, and as if on cue, Mecca came back into the bathroom. She was smiling and happy for Chanel. Pyro’s mood about their friends’ wedding didn’t match hers.

“You think Mateo will be disappointed? Cuz we probably won’t be able to make their wedding,” he said.

Mecca looked at him like he was crazy. “What are you talking about? Of course we’re gonna make it. There’s no way we can miss it.”

“But it being short notice, them getting married at the Justice of Peace, and I got so much to do.”

“So much to do? Pyro, Mateo is your best friend, and when it comes to something special like this, it should be your priority to be the best man at his wedding.”

“I’m happy for him.”

“Are you sure?” she asked. “Wait a minute. What’s this really about? Because the Pyro I know would kill to make it to this wedding. They are our best friends and they’ve been through so much and lost so much—nearly their lives. And if you don’t think this is important, then I don’t know what to tell you.”

Pyro exhaled. There was no getting out of it.

Chapter Forty-Two

High-profile defense lawyer D’Angelo Bratcher and his legal team, along with the New Jersey detectives, were disappointed that they weren’t able to find any third-party female DNA in God’s apartment. The cops were able to get a photo of Charlie’s license plate as she traveled over the George Washington Bridge several days before they found Kym in the apartment with the murder victim, but they weren’t able to place Charlie at the residence. No witnesses saw Charlie, and she was hard to miss with her red hair.

Kym was devastated. She was going to go away for a crime she didn’t commit. Her attorney had a knack for spotting liars, and he believed in her innocence. D’Angelo had been a lawyer for twenty-five years, starting out as a Brooklyn prosecutor and then transitioning into a defense attorney because there was more money in it and he wanted to help those who couldn’t help themselves. D’Angelo Bratcher had seen his fair share of overturned verdicts—mostly black and brown men and women convicted of a crime because they couldn’t afford a good lawyer.

He didn’t want to see Kym fall victim to that flaw in the justice system. He believed she was being set up—that the detectives had arrested the wrong person.

“I’m not giving up on you, Kym,” D’Angelo said.

“Then what’s our next move?” she asked him.

“My office is working closely with the detectives on the case, and right now, things are looking promising for you. The detectives investigating the homicide believe in your innocence too.”

“They do?” she asked, her eyebrows going up.

“The case against you is circumstantial at best, and with your clean record, your family background, and no violent history with the victim, the ADA will have a hard time convincing the jury of a guilty verdict. But this Charlie character, she has a criminal history and a rap sheet longer than the constitution. Hey, if O.J. Simpson can get off, I know I can get you off. So, I’m going to have a talk with the ADA,” he said.

Kym felt somewhat relieved by those words, but she knew she wasn’t out of the woods yet. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet. Thank me on the day of your acquittal or when the case against you is dropped,” he replied.

For D’Angelo, it was a long shot to try and convince the ADA to drop the charges against his client. But it was worth trying.

The detectives wanted to pull Charlie’s cell phone records to see if it had pinged off any cell phone towers closer to God’s home, but she didn’t have a phone in her name. They assumed that she had a pay-as-you-go disposable phone or a phone in someone else’s name. Charlie was a career criminal. She was smart.

Finally, Bratcher subpoenaed the recording of the 911 call reporting the murder. You could clearly tell it was a female disguising her voice.

They were working feverishly on the case. The detectives were also in constant contact with the Bronx detectives regarding the rape of Chanel Brown and attempted murder of Mateo Hernandez. They had even less of a case. Right now, it seemed that Charlie was literally getting away with murder. Now the tide was turning, though, and the more the detectives investigated Charlie, the more they saw she had motive and opportunity to kill God.

***

It was a damp spring evening when Charlie got into Mona’s car. She handed Mona a bulky envelope filled with cash, the organization’s cut from her street profits. Charlie had more money coming in than she could count.

“Business is good,” Charlie said.

“I see. You were born to hustle, Charlie.”

“And y’all need to remember that. That’s why I feel I need y’all to increase my cut,” she said.

“We’ll vote on it. But there’s something else I need to discuss with you,” said Mona.

“And what’s that?”