Chapter 21 The Fake Named Tammy

Jones and I returned to the office to interview the woman's husband. Jones was silent throughout the drive, until we parked. It was then that he turned to me giving me the most serious look I've seen from him.

"Listen, Kid. You need to be honest with me," Jones said. "What is going on between you and RM?"

"Well as of two nights ago, he's my boyfriend," I said, nervously. "He's not going to hurt me."

Jones sighed and looked at me. "Kid, you can't be serious. RM is a mafia boss. He can be dangerous. More dangerous than any of the men we put away. He could ruin your life and the life of your family if you do one thing he doesn't like. I hope you know I'm only looking out for you."

"I understand that, Jones. But there's another side to him, a sweet side," I said. "That's the side he shows me when we're alone together. I know what kind of man he is, but I can't help but look past that and see what kind of man he really is."

"I can't help but wonder what he wants from you," Jones said. "When it comes to RM, he never does anything if he doesn't get anything in return."

"Is it so wrong that he might want love from me?" I asked. "What else could he possibly want from me?"

"I'm not sure, but whatever it is, he's going to hurt you in the end," Jones said.

"The only thing he is capable of hurting, is my heart," I said.

"When he finally tells you what he wants from you, I'll be here to tell you, I don't you so," Jones said. "Now let's go interview the husband."

Jones exited the car and I followed behind him into the station.

"Wait Jones," I called out before we got inside. He stopped and turned to face me. "Can we not mention RM being my boyfriend around the station? I don't want the others thinking too much about me dating a mafia boss."

"I can do that," Jones said. "Wouldn't want the others thinking your dangerous because of who you're dating. All five foot four inches, blonde hair, blue eyed you."

"Thanks, Jones," I said.

///

Jones and I walked to our desks where a man sat with a woman next to him. The man was obviously the husband of the dead woman as he wrung his hands, nervously. But I'm not sure who the woman was.

"Are you Floyd Harret?" Jones and as we reached them.

"Yes, sir," he said, standing up. There were tears in his eyes and he had tear stained cheeks. His eyes were completely red all around. "Have you found out who killed Opal?"

"Not yet," I said. "Is it alright if we ask you some questions?"

"Of course, whatever you need to know," Floyd said.

I looked at the woman next to him. She was extremely, beautifully fake. She had long, wavy auburn hair extensions, shining blue eyes surrounded by dark eye makeup, freckled cheeks that were obviously tattooed on, and glossy red lips filled with Botox. She didn't look like a lawyer, if anything she looked like a sugar baby.

"Would you like to do this in private?" I asked and looked away from the woman back to Floyd.

"I don't mind," the woman said in a high-pitched, bubbly voice. "I won't tell anyone."

"That's not what I'm worried about," I said. "But thank you."

"Tammy can stay," Floyd said. "She keeps me grounded."

"Who the hell is she?" Jones asked not being discreet. I thanked him with my eyes before I looked back at the two. They smiled at each other before I turned back to Jones.

"She's my girlfriend," Floyd said. "My mistress, Tammy."

"Well that's good," I said. "We were looking for you."

"Did your wife know about - Tammy?" Jones asked with a sneer.

"I knew of her, but I never met her," Tammy said. "And it was the same for her as well."

"Thank you, but we'd like Mr. Harret to answer these questions," Jones said. "Now, Mr. Harret. Were you aware of your wife's affairs?"

"Of course I did. We had an open relationship," Floyd said. "She was the love of my life, but I couldn't sleep with just one woman for the rest of my life and Opal was the same with her men."

"Did you know all the men that your wife slept with?" I asked. "Could you give us names?"

"Mostly," Floyd nodded. "But there were some in which they wanted to remain secret, so Opal didn't tell me their names. I can give you a list of all the ones I know."

"That would be great," I said. "Now, when did you last see Opal?"

"Before I left to go to Tammy's apartment last night," Floyd said.

"About what time was that?" Jones asked.

"Nine o'clock," Floyd shrugged. "It was sometime around then."

"Did you know if anyone was going to visit your wife?" Jones asked.

"I thought someone would. Usually when I leave, she has someone come over," Floyd said. "If it was someone I knew, she would tell me. But this time she didn't say."

"Do you know anyone by the name of Jimin?" I asked.

"He owns the building Opal and I live in," Floyd said. "Why do you ask?"

"He told us that he was going to go sleep with Opal last night, but she canceled just after you left," I said. "And that someone came into your apartment after she canceled with. Do you know of anyone who would have access to your apartment besides Jimin?"

"Our maid and the building manager are the only ones I can think of. But if it was one of her boyfriends, she would have let him in," Floyd said.

"Do you know of anyone who would want to harm Opal?" Jones asked. "Anyone at all?"

"I can't think of anyone," Floyd shook his head.

"Jones! Barnes! You got a call on line four," an officer called out from the front desk.

"I got it!" I called out and answered the phone.

"Detective Barnes," I said into the phone.

"Not that it's not great to hear your voice, I was hoping to talk with Jones," Namjoon's voice said through the phone.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Stop investigating, Anastasia," Namjoon said in a tone that was both sweet and demanding. "Do it for me."

"Why?" I asked. I turned away from Floyd and his mistress. I started to whisper into the phone. "What have you found out?"

"It's deals with my work, Anastasia. I can't go too far into details, just please know that Bangtan is dealing with it," Namjoon said.

"That doesn't help at all, RM," I whispered into the phone. "And what's with calling me Anastasia? You've never called me that before."

"I'll tell you at dinner. Hand the phone over to Jones, so that I can talk to him," Namjoon said.

"RM," I growled.

"Little Detective," Namjoon murmured sexily. It sent a shiver down my spine hearing his low voice, in my ear. "See you tonight. Now, Jones."

I groaned as I held the phone out to Jones. He gave me a confused look. I mouthed 'RM' to him and he nodded taking the phone.

"What's that about?" Floyd asked as he looked at Jones on the phone.

"Another case the we finished," I lied. "But right now, we are focused on finding Opal's killer."

"Can I talk to you in private, Detective?" Tammy asked. She looked a bit scared.

"Sure." The two of us stood up and I led her upstairs into an empty interrogation room. I closed the door behind her then turned to face her. She sat with against the table and turned her head to look at me.

"What did you want to talk about?" I asked.

"The owner of the building it's not Jimin," Tammy whispered. She leaned closer to me and whispered even quieter, "It's RM, the leader of the Bangtan mafia."

"I know," I said. She gave me a shocked look. At the moment, I wasn't RM's girlfriend, I was Detective Barnes. So I told her how I knew as a detective, "He's a consultant on some cases, especially the ones that have to do with his business."

"Well the only reason I'm with Floyd is so I can try to get close to Jimin and then get close to RM," Tammy whispered. "I don't love Floyd. He's a great guy, but not my type at all. In fact, I was a bit jealous of Opal's relationship with Jimin. Because I like bad boys. Like really bad boys. Which is why I have my eye on RM."

This woman was after my boyfriend! Oh if only she knew who she was talking to.

"So now that Opal's gone . . ."

"I'm going to break up with Floyd. He's not going to get me close to Bangtan any more," Tammy shrugged. "But I do know that Opal did have an affair with someone else that she never told Jimin about."

"Did she often tell Jimin about who her affairs were with?" I asked.

"Well this is only what I've heard about," Tammy said. "She was seeing this man called BamBam. He was from a rival gang. And I don't know if they get along with Bangtan or not."

"Is there anything else you can remember?" I asked.

Tammy puckered her lips in thought. It seemed like it was hard for her. Not long after she shook her head and said, "I can't remember anything else."

"Thank you for telling me this, I really appreciate it. I'm going to make a quick private call. Do you need me to show you back to Mr. Harret?"

"No, I good with directions," she said.

I held the door open for her to leave. Once she was gone, I closed and locked the door. I pulled out my phone and dialed Namjoon's number and hoped he was finished talking to Jones.

"Do you miss me already, Little Detective? We just finished talking," Namjoon asked.

"Why didn't you tell me that you knew about BamBam?" I asked.

"Because he works for my friend," Namjoon said. "And I owe him for some stuff he helped me with."

"Did he kill her?" I asked.

"No. So you don't worry your little head. I'm going to get Jones in contact with my friend and they're going to work together to find who did this," Namjoon said. "You don't have to worry your beautiful head about this one. Worry about the dead grandparents case."

"We're just waiting until they catch the kids, then we can question them. Why don't you want me worrying about this one, Namjoon?" I asked.

"Because I know these guys, Ana," he said. "They're not someone I want you affiliating yourself with. They're not like me."

"How are they not like you, Namjoon? You are literally the leader of the most powerful mafia in Towson. You can't get much more dangerous than that."

"I'll explain better at dinner tonight. I promise."

"You better," I hissed before I hung up the phone on him without saying goodbye.

I walked out of the interrogation room and back downstairs to my desk. But halfway down the stairs, my phone rang in my hand.

"Detective Barnes," I answered the phone as I continued to my desk.

"You're not going to say goodbye, Little Detective?" Namjoon asked through the phone. I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

"Bye, Namjoon," I snapped at him.

"Bye, Ana. I love you."

I let out a squeal into the phone. Namjoon laughed at me on the other side of the phone. Some of the cops that walked around gave me a strange looks.

"Y-yeah. Good-goodbye, Namjoon," I said before quickly hanging up.

As I walked back to my desk I saw that Tammy and Floyd were no longer there. Jones was on his computer.

"Tammy told me about BamBam," I said. "And Namjoon told me he doesn't want me involved."

"Yup, so don't ask me about me about it," Jones muttered.

"Come on," I groaned. "You get to work with a mafia, to catch the killer. And I'm just sitting back on my hands while my-" I looked around before whispering, "-boyfriend- and you get to do the job I've been waiting to do."

"I understand your frustration, Kid. But you're the one who's dating a mafia boss," Jones said.

"Barnes is dating a mafia boss?" Jones and I looked to see Sanchez and Richmond had stopped by our desks as they were on the way to their desks. Richmond had his jaw on the floor and Sanchez looked at me confused.

"You guys weren't supposed to hear that," I said.

"Which one?" Sanchez asked. "Suho? JB? RM? Taeyong? G-Dragon?"

"There's that many mafia bosses in Towson?" I asked.

"That's not an answer," Richmond said.

"RM," I said. "And you two cannot tell anyone. Or face my wrath. And his."

"Got it," Sanchez said.

"No wonder you've been turning me down," Richmond said. "You're already dating someone."

"Enough, Ginger," Jones growled.

"Yup," Richmond said. He went to his desk and got to work.

Sanchez followed suit. I turned back to Jones.

"Can you let me in on the intel at least, Jones? Let me know how close you're getting?" I asked.

"Ask your boyfriend," Jones muttered.