Ride or Die by Solomon Jones

Author:Solomon Jones [Jones, Solomon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, African American, Urban, Crime
ISBN: 9781466824454
Google: fklinkPZP00C
Amazon: 0312339895
Publisher: Macmillan
Published: 2005-10-13T00:00:00+00:00

Lynch had his detectives do a second sweep of the projects. But he did so knowing that they’d be hard-pressed to find anything in such a place.

These projects, with their neat, two-story houses and quiet walks and driveways, looked nothing like the high-rise buildings he knew. But Lynch had the eerie feeling that its brick walls and pothole-ridden asphalt held the same kinds of secrets that had destroyed generations in his old housing project.

As detectives and uniformed police went door-to-door with pictures of Jamal Nichols, Lynch went to the management office and knocked.

A frightened-looking older woman cracked the door.

“What do you want?” she said with an attitude.

Lynch pulled his badge. “A little touchy, aren’t we, Miss …”

“Bagwell,” the woman said, exhaling and opening the door as she stepped back to allow Lynch inside. “My name is Miss Bagwell.”

“Lieutenant Kevin Lynch, Homicide.”

The woman’s face twitched as she smiled nervously. “I’m sorry I was a little rude. I guess I’m just used to residents coming here and harassing me.”

She shook her head. “Their rent is a couple dollars a month, and they won’t pay it. Then when they get an eviction notice, they wanna come here and curse me out. I guess I should expect that, though. They’re all that way.”

Lynch looked at her for a long moment.

“I grew up in the projects, Ms. Bagwell,” he said with an edge to his voice. “Some people are like that, some aren’t. But if I’ve learned anything over the years, it’s that it takes a lot to survive when you’ve got everybody looking down on you.”

Ms. Bagwell started to respond, but thought better of it. Instead, she put on her glasses, in the hope that he couldn’t see the embarrassment in her eyes.

“So I see you’ve got officers going door-to-door,” she said, changing the subject. “What’s going on?”

“There’s a murder suspect on the loose,” Lynch said. “We think he may be hiding somewhere nearby.”

“Well, he’s not in my office, if that’s what you wanted to know,” she said, going to her desk and shuffling through papers as if to dismiss him.

“Actually, I wanted to look through the names of the residents. I was thinking he might have come here because he knows someone who lives here.”

“I’d have to call down to the main office to get permission,” she said without looking up.

“Ms. Bagwell,” Lynch said, moving a step closer to her. “You’ve made it clear that you don’t care about these people. But I do. Now, there’s a murderer on the loose, and I’m not gonna sit here and let him kill somebody else because you wanted to put me through a bunch of red tape. Give me the list of residents. Now.”

The woman swallowed hard, reached into her desk, and gave it to him.

Lynch snatched it and began going down the list of names.

“Were there any names in particular you were looking for?” Ms. Bagwell asked timidly.

“Nichols,” he said, while continuing to scan the list. “People with the last name of Nichols.”

The woman thought for a moment.

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