Chad Blair's side of things....

"Really, Chad, WTF do you want?" He chuckled and exhaled. A cloud of Havana smoke circles his bald head. "Still mean as shit huh, CC?" I crossed my arms over my chest. "Was that supposed to change? Again, why are you here? I unloaded but that does not mean I won't still kill you." "Bullshit, Piggy. I know you. If that was what you were going to do, I'd be dead by now. You know why I'm here. My case." I was dumbfounded. What the hell was he talking about. After we parted ways as partners I went narcotics and he went into homicide. I wasn't working any homicides. "Blair, what the hell are you talking about?" I went to the room's bar and poured a shot of Vodka. Mixed in a splash of cranberry juice for color. "The Carethers case, CC. You inquired about it. I want to know why. And don't lie to me." Damn, how could I have forgotten that? Chad was lead on that case. I turned to face him and the file was back in his hands. He shook his head. "You know this case still haunt me. I still see that girl shot up like a dog. Pregnant. You know we found out that she was carrying a little boy. I can't get Albro's blood curdling scream out my mind. Loss of family most times is the only thing that make MF's like him cry." By now I had downed my drink. "So you guys never got a lead on who was responsible for it?" "Hell no. I mean Lena had a clean slate as far as we knew. I mean she was college student, no criminal record, didn't even have so much as a speeding ticket. The only thing she had against her was that she was Albro's girl. You know he had more than his fair share of enemies. So naturally we looked there. Nothing. We had to immediately rule out robbery because the killer hadn't even come into the house." I shook my head. "Damn, and that was all y'all had." "Yeah pretty much. Oh but then we had one neighbor of Albro's who told us that she had seen a light skinned black woman get into a Beamer. It was after she had heard the shots. She said she wouldn't have thought nothing of it except for the woman was in her underwear. We didn't even release that to the public. It was so ridiculous." I felt like I had been punched in the gut. Shannon Monet had been telling the truth. "Did the neighbor tell you what color the beamer was or give you any other kind of description of the woman?" "Naw, but then again she was a elderly white woman. You know we all look alike to them. She had described the woman as a 'colored girl'." Chad and I both laughed. I rubbed my neck and tapped my nails on the table. "Something you ain't tellin me, Coyle. Why are you so interested in this case?" I was quiet for a moment. "Now why would I tell you that? I don't trust you no further than I can throw you. You know I could've lost my badge and or sent to the penitentiary. I couldn't believe you had rolled over on me." Chad looked at me, blew more delicious Cohiba smoke my way. "Is that the man you think I am? Huh? I mean I am a bastard. We won't argue about that but do you honestly think I would roll over on YOU? I would've surrendered my own badge. I see that's what they told you though. Denise said they would do it too." I sucked my teeth. Chad Blair had been on many front lines with me as a Houston Police Officer. About three years ago he and I were in a situation in Fifth Ward. I had orders from my captain to take a shot and I ignored it. Why? Because the victim was in my line of shot. The suspect would've been spared and an innocent person killed. I couldn't do that. Instead I had Blair cover me and I went into a trap house. Not any trap house but one on Quitman Road. When we went in suspect pointed his gun at me and then the victim. I asked him to let her go. He turned his Beretta towards me, and I popped him in the front and Blair hit in the back. Victim survives. Of course we both had to go before IAB or the Internal Affairs Bureau. My captain came to me and says, "Coyle, my orders were disobeyed. Whose idea was it?" I refused to play into that. If he was going to relieve me then so be it. I would not give up Blair. Keep in mind I knew about Chad and Denise. Who is Denise? She is the police captain's wife. "CC, Fairfield found out about Denise and I. So he gave me a choice. I could roll over on you and be reassigned or uphold my loyalty to you and have everyone hate me. I chose you Courtney and when I did, he told the entire department that I had gave you up. He turned you against me." I was standing there with my mouth wide open. I couldn't believe this. "Chad you didn't even try to contact me and let me know what was going on. I mean next thing I hear you in Fort Bend county." "I had to. I was now known as a cop who gave his partner up. You know that couldn't go on unanswered for." He was right. My cell rings. It's Tameika. "Hey chick, when are we hitting Albro? I need to know a definite day." "Day after tomorrow. How about you meet me at the Sheraton Astrodome in about an hour." "Alright bet. I got something you need to hear." She hung up. "You expecting company?" I looked up. "Yeah I am. So you gotta go." "One more thing, you ever need anything, I mean anything you call me. Denise works for Albro you know." What the hell? Why would he say that. I played it off. Shrugged my shoulders. "Why do I care about that?" He said nothing. Winked his eye and then he was gone. Something tell me that my covert takeover was no longer that. I didn't care. I would handle my business and Houston would remember me forever. Like it or love it, I would establish a legacy. I sat down and opened the case file. A new horror began....