Chasing Bliss (36 page)

Corey chuckled dryly. “You don’t care about Chase, Cyrus, brother or not. You never did. You
shot him! I can still see that shit in my head. That was one of the most fucked-up things I ever saw
in my life. Chase might forgive you, but I never will—not
ever
.”

Cyrus stared out the window, then looked back at Corey. He was even starting to sound like
Chase, whining for no reason
. I don’t need this shit right now,
he thought, scowling at his baby brother.
“You’ll never forgive me for that, huh? Boy, you and Chase just love to get up on your goddamned
soapboxes, don’t you? I wasn’t really tryin’ to shoot him. I was just tryin’ to make him shut up.”

“Yeah…shut up forever.”

Cyrus smiled.
Maybe
. “I knew he was wearin’ that vest.”

“You did not! You know he don’t
always
roll like that.
I
didn’t even know.”

Cyrus smirked. At the time, he really hadn’t cared one way or the other. He still didn’t. “Lucky
guess?”

Corey turned his head and looked at him. “That’s fucked up. You played Russian roulette with
his life, Cyrus. Your own brother’s life! And you woulda shot me too. You don’t care about us!
You’re a piece of shit, Cyrus, and I don’t think I can stomach eating with your sorry self-entitled
ass. I’m takin’ you home.”

Cyrus laughed. “I can’t go home, stupid! I got people after me, thanks to that fuckin’ dickhead,
Smoke.”

It was Corey’s turn to laugh, and he did—loud and long. “Who started all this shit, Cyrus?
You
did—you and Khalid. I hope they do come and get you! I really hope they do because that’s what
you deserve.” Corey pulled over suddenly and unlocked the doors. “Now get the fuck outta my
car, Cyrus! Get out right now!”

Cyrus was way past furious, but he was making an effort to control his temper. He’d already
made up his mind about Corey, but there were some things he wanted to know. They stared at each
other: Corey was so mad he was breathless, and Cyrus was so mad he was…
smiling
.

“I didn’t know you felt that way about me, Corey.”

A brief look of comical shock passed over Corey’s face. “And I didn’t know
you
felt that way
about
us
. You were gonna kill your own brothers, Cyrus. I don’t think we can ever make that right.
Get outta my car.”

Cyrus grinned thoughtfully and rubbed his chin.
Time to put the hurt on Chase’s ass for real. Time
to break that fuckin’ monkey’s heart.
His eyes twinkled merrily. If he could have stepped outside
of himself at that moment, he would have seen that he looked very much like an older version
of Chase, about to fly off into one of his murderous rages. “Is that all you wanted to say to me,
Corey?”

Corey nodded. “Yeah, that’s it. Get out.”

“Fratricide is what they call it,” Cyrus said pointedly, reaching under his T-shirt like he was
about to scratch an itch.

Corey frowned. “
Fratricide?
What the fuck are you talkin’ about, Cyrus?”

“Fratricide, Corey,” Cyrus said patiently, “is when you kill your own brother.” He pulled his
nine out and pointed it at Corey.

Corey didn’t even look scared. Instead, he looked resigned and angry. He shook his head. “I
ain’t scared to die, Cyrus. Life with you has been Hell on Earth anyway. But I hope you know that
if you kill me—or even if he finds out you drew your damned piece on me—Chase is gonna kill
you.
You sure you want to die like that?”

Cyrus smiled and shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter. Nothin’ really does, not to me anyway.
You and Chase turned your backs on me just when I needed you most. You niggas left me hangin’
in my darkest hour. That’s some shit
I
can’t forgive, Corey.”

Corey looked at him like he knew it would be pointless to even try to change his mind. He
looked extremely sad, yet Cyrus had never seen such a stoic look of acceptance on such a young
face. In a very twisted way, he was almost proud of him. “I’ll say it again. Ain’t nobody leave you
hangin’, Cyrus. We came right back.”

Cyrus raised an eyebrow. “Right back from where?”

Corey looked at him steadily and smiled a glittery little smile of his own. “I’ll never tell, so you
might as well kill me. Chase is happy now. Just leave him alone.”

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“Pull the trigger, Cyrus,” Corey said quietly and then shook his head. “Mama is probably rollin’
over in her grave.”

Cyrus laughed.
If he only knew.
“Your mother was a piece of shit, Corey. You didn’t know her like
I did. Maybe you can ask her about it when you see her.”

Corey looked at him with revulsion. “Why do you keep talkin’? Just pull the trigger, you mean,
selfish bastard.”

Cyrus laughed and shot him in the space between his eyebrows. The sound was very loud in
the small space, and Cyrus watched with a mixture of curiosity and distaste as his baby brother’s
brains flew out the back of his head and dripped down the window behind him. “So you
did
have
more than straw in your head, huh, Corey?”
So Chase was happy?
He looked at Corey and smiled,
knowing he wouldn’t be for long.

Chapter 22

B
liss was having a late dinner with Chase in his office at Cream when Dee walked in without knocking
and closed the door behind her. “Chase, I’m sorry, but I think we got a problem.” She looked at Bliss
apologetically as Chase stood up and tossed his napkin on top of his plate.

“What kind of problem?”

Dee took a deep breath and came a little further into the room, wringing her hands.

Bliss stood, too, suddenly scared—especially when Dee’s eyes filled up with water. Dee was
not a woman who was easily ruffled.

“Chase, the cops are outside. They want to talk to you.”

Chase’s eyebrows went up, and he took a step back. “What do they want?”

There was a sharp knock, and J.T. stepped into the room. He was visibly upset, but he was calm.
“Chase, we got a couple detectives by the bar waitin’ to speak to you.”

Chase rubbed at the scar under his jaw. “That’s what Dee said. They lookin for
me
?”

Bliss put her hand over her mouth. “Oh God!”

Chase put his arm around her.

“No, I don’t think so. They didn’t roll up, Chase. They came in real quiet and respectful.”

Chase’s head went back a little. “Aw shit, J.T. What do you think they want?”

J.T. shrugged, though not with indifference. “I don’t know. Sounds like bad news to me.”

Chase kissed Bliss’s forehead and looked in her eyes. “If they take me out of here, you go stay
with Dee until everything works out. She knows where I keep all my documents. I still got stuff for
you to sign.
Sign it immediately
. If something happens to me, you and Corey get everything, except
what already has Dee’s and J.T.’s names on it.”

What the hell is he talking about, if something happens to him?
“You mean…if they arrest you?”

He nodded. “Be quiet, baby. Don’t talk. Don’t say anything without our lawyer.” He turned to
Dee. “Send them in and then call Stan Markowitz and get him on standby.”

Dee nodded and disappeared.

“Stan is our lawyer?” Bliss asked.

Chase nodded. “That’s right. Everybody relax,” Chase said and leaned against the corner of his
desk.

Dee came back half a minute later with two big cops, one black and one Hispanic. They stepped
in and looked around appreciatively, and Chase folded his arms across his chest. The black one
spoke. “Good evening, sir. Are you Chase Brown?”

“Yes I am.”

The cop looked at Bliss and J.T. “Family?”

Chase nodded. “My wife and my best friend.”

The detective nodded at them and pushed on. “I’m Detective Gibson, and this is Detective
Silva. Do you know Corey Brown?”

Chase bounced off the desk like it was on fire.

Bliss was instantly at his side. She glanced at the other cop who tucked his lips in and looked
away.

Dee returned to the room and stood near J.T. “What happened to Corey?”

Gibson pressed on. “You
do
know him?”

When Chase started shaking, it terrified Bliss. She knew it was bad. She tried to put her arms
around his waist, but Chase pushed her away and walked right up to Gibson.

“He’s my little brother.
What happened to Corey?!”
he screamed at him.

Gibson put a firm hand on Chase’s arm and looked at him like he’d rather be anywhere but
there, giving him this horrible news. “Mr. Brown, I’m sorry, but we are here to inform you that
your brother, Corey Brown, was found—”

Before the officer could finish, Chase went into what Bliss first thought was a swoon, like he
might pass out.

“Oh God!
Corey!
” he said, his voice mournful and full of sorrow. He dropped to his knees with
his hands over his face.

Bliss went down with him, her arms wrapped around him protectively.

“Oh God. Not Corey,” he wailed.

“Mr. Brown?” Gibson called his name with audible sympathy.

“What happened?” J.T. asked.

“Corey Brown was found in his car on Avenue D with a single gunshot wound to the head.”

Dee gasped, and J.T. shook his head.

“Oh no,” Bliss whispered.

Chase had grown still.

“Mr. Brown, your brother was taken to Brookdale Hospital. We need someone to come and ID
the body,” Detective Silva said.

“Could you give us a minute?” J.T. asked.

Gibson nodded. “We’ll be outside. We have a few questions.”

They left the room, and Chase removed his hands from his face. Bliss thought he was crying,
but he wasn’t. He stood and pulled her to her feet. His eyes were full of misery, and a muscle
clenched angrily in his jaw. “Let’s go. Dee, could you stay here and hold things down?”

Dee nodded through her tears. “Whatever you need. Chase, I’m so sorry.”

Chase nodded grimly. “Not as sorry as whoever killed Corey is gonna be.”

“Chase what are you gonna do?” Bliss asked.
This can’t be happening,
she thought. She put her
hand to her face and brushed away her own tears.

Chase put his arm around her and gave her a squeeze. “Don’t get upset, Bliss. You stay here
with Dee, and I’ll be back as soon as I can. Come on, J.T.”

When he turned to go, Bliss grabbed his arm. “I’m going with you.”

He looked down at her like he was weighing the pros and cons in his head. He finally nodded
and took her hand. “Okay.”

They left the office and followed Gibson and Silva in J.T.’s Range Rover to Brookdale
Hospital.

Bliss watched Chase silently the whole time, waiting for him to fall apart. Other than his initial
reaction, Chase had been extraordinarily calm, as if he’d retreated to some deep, dark place inside
of himself. Bliss knew how much Chase loved Corey. His grief had to be enormous, but so far
he was holding it in. She was
very
worried about him, and she didn’t like what he’d said about
whoever killed Corey being sorry.

They reached the hospital and followed the detectives down to the morgue. Chase held Bliss’s
hand and walked slightly ahead of her, with J.T. at her side. Gibson ushered them into a small room
with a monitor, and Silva joined them shortly and folded his arms across his chest. “It’ll just be a
moment,” he said.

They stood in silence and waited. A few moments later, the monitor turned white, and Corey’s
handsome face appeared. It was swollen, and there was a hole right between his eyes.

A small choked sound escaped from Chase as he put his hand over his mouth and turned his face
away. He shook his head in disbelief.

“Is this your brother, Mr. Brown?”

Chase nodded. Tears spilled over and ran down his face, and Bliss’s heart went out to him.
“Yeah. Yeah, that’s him.” His voice was a whisper.

J.T. put his hand on Chase’s shoulder, and Chase shrugged it off, but J.T. didn’t seem
offended.

Bliss was afraid to touch him. She looked back at the screen.
Poor Corey. Who could do such a
thing?

Chase looked at the screen again and walked out of the room with the cops following right
behind him.

Bliss looked at J.T., who was also staring at the screen. He put his hand out and touched it.
“Damn, youngster.”

Bliss left the room in search of Chase. She stopped short when she found him down the hall
talking to Gibson and Silva. She didn’t know what to do, so she just waited for them to finish as
J.T. came out of the room and dropped an arm over her shoulders. Chase waved them away.

“Come on, Bliss,” J.T. said.

Bliss felt sick as she followed J.T. out of the hospital and back to the car. Corey was dead, and
it all seemed surreal.
Corey…

J.T. opened the door for her and helped her in. He stood there looking down at her with hurt
eyes. “Um…” he said and choked up. “You okay?” Before Bliss could answer him, he broke down,
sobbing harshly. He folded his arms on the hood of the car and buried his face into them.

Bliss jumped out and put her hand on his broad shoulder. There were no words she could console
him with. In fact, there was nothing she could do for anybody—Corey least of all. Bliss was crying,
too, for she’d also loved him. She watched J.T. cry for Corey like his heart was broken.

Chase touched her shoulder. “I got him, Bliss.”

Bliss stepped out of the way and wrung her hands helplessly.

Tears were running steadily down Chase’s face as his hand replaced Bliss’s on J.T.’s back.
“
Jayson,
come on, man,” Chase said in a soothing voice, using his name that Bliss had almost
forgotten about.

J.T. straightened up, pulled his handkerchief out of his pocket, and wiped his face with it. Then
he blew his nose and returned it to his pocket. His voice trembled at first but then grew stronger.
“Well…I guess that’s that.”

“No it ain’t. Let’s go,” Chase said in a low voice. He got in the backseat with Bliss as J.T. started
driving.

“Where are we goin’?” J.T. tossed over his shoulder.

“Home,” Chase answered. Then he turned to Bliss and took both of her hands in his. The tears
were still coming, but he acted as if they weren’t there at all. “Bliss, sweetheart, you have to listen
to me. I know we talked about certain things before we got married, and I know I made certain
promises, but, baby, this is different. Somebody took my baby brother away from me tonight. You
have to understand that I can’t just let that shit stand. Somebody killed Corey, Bliss, and they ain’t
gonna be walkin’ around like that don’t mean shit—like it’s all right.”

Bliss didn’t say anything at first. She studied her husband’s face and examined his tears. He
was crying for Corey, of course, but he was also crying because he was angry. She slid over to him
and put her arms around him. She kissed his wet cheeks, and he hugged her back. “I loved Corey
too. I’m so sorry. I can imagine how you must feel if I feel so bad. I’m your wife, Chase, for better
or for worse. I understand what you’re saying, but I’m not gonna give you my permission to go
lookin’ for revenge and gettin’ yourself shot too.”

Chase looked so hurt and grief stricken in that moment. He narrowed his eyes in his sorrow and
shook his head, but then he smiled through his tears. “Okay, Bliss, but I really didn’t ask you for
it.”