Little Romantic *Second Book*

Chapter 20: Her Lies

Having a new puppy was hard. But with Otis, he was an absolute sweetheart. He was a very timid dog who loved cuddling and playing with his squeaky toy by himself. The only time he seemed to be a normal puppy was when he went on his walks with Murphy, Jihwan and I in the evening. Only then would he begin acting crazy and wild. He's been learning his tricks pretty well, he can already sit on command.

As well as training Otis, Jihwan and I have started looking at apartments for us to buy. Jihwan looked at the distance right in the middle of the station and his warehouse for apartments. What he found there was an abandoned apartment building. He tried convincing me that he should buy it and renovate it as a new building to add to the ones he owns and we can have the penthouse to ourselves.

I luckily convinced him against it and started looking at other, already finished, apartment buildings around that area. There were a couple that we both liked and decided to look at. But they we're exactly what we wanted. And one didn't allow dogs.

So the apartment hunting was at a stand still. And Jihwan began to try to convince me that the abandoned building was still a good idea.

"Have you guys thought about buyin' a house in the suburbs?" Jones asked one day when I was at work. "That way you have a backyard and won't need to go to a park. There's amble houses with two to three bedrooms as apposed to an apartment, which might not have as many rooms as you want."

"I suggested that, but he wants to stick to apartments until things cool down with EG," I told him.

I hadn't told Jones about the war between Gabos and Zhanshi since the higher ups told me not to. And the two weeks since I told Captian Butler have been scarily quiet. Gabos and the Top Seven have been acting like Zhanshi doesn't even exist. Jihwan says that he won't be the first one to start a war but he will be the one to finish it.

"Have you thought that EG might be overreactin'? So what if he found about NJ? Threatenin' to never talk to you again and turn NJ in? He should know about some of the things going on in this city with his career," Jones said.

"Thanks, Jones. It's nice to know that someone is on my side besides Jihwan."

"No problem, Kid. I'm here to help the community. Especially from retaliation from gangs."

I turned back to my work and looked at photos of crime scenes. I hated lying to Jones. He was always completely honest with me and it made me feel wrong that I was lying to him. But I just continued my work, trying not to think about it. Until someone shouted my name.

"Hey, Barnes! Is that your brother on the news?" an officer shouted. I looked over at the television mounted on the far wall from me to see EG in a court room.

I stood up and rushed over so I could hear and see it better. "Someone turn it up," I said when I was close enough.

"- a fifteen year unsolved murder. Elmer George Barnes is trying to reopen the case, saying he has new evidence to put the perpetrator behind bars," the newscaster said. "Mrs. Janet Barnes was a homicide detective in Towson and was killed while on the job. Her son, who is the man attempting to reopen the case, Elmer George Barnes, has been leading this new investigation. It is believed that a gang member silenced Mrs. Barnes so they would not get caught in their crimes. And after all these years, they have not been caught and have been out on Towson streets."

The news then moved from showing the newscaster to in front of the courthouse. The camera was trained on EG with microphones shoved under his face.

"How did you come about this new evidence about your mother's murder?" a newscaster asked EG.

EG bent down a bit to get closer to the microphones. "I came about this evidence with diligence and hard work. For years my family has been content with the case remaining unsolved. But something just didn't sit right with me. So it was about time someone did something about it."