Page 143 of State of Affairs (First Family 1)

“His name came up when we were reviewing Calvin’s case files, and when I spoke to former Detective Morse about Calvin’s case, he mentioned D’Andre.”

“Detective Morse wanted to do more, but they wouldn’t let him,” Lenore said. “He was good to us. I never forgot that.”

“I don’t know him personally, but he was very helpful when I talked to him.”

“There was this blue wall of resistance when it came to dealing with dead Black kids back then. It’s still there, in many cases. I could never get anyone who mattered to care about my son’s case.”

“I’m very sorry you had that experience.”

“It wasn’t just me. I know a lot of other people who did too. And others since then. We both know this is a much bigger topic than this one case.”

“Yes,” Sam said with a sigh. “It is.”

“That’s why I appreciate you so much. From the first minutes of this nightmare, when you responded after Calvin was shot, you’ve showed me your heart. I’ve never had any reason to think you’re not exactly what you seem.”

“Thank you, and I’m very sorry that Calvin’s case wasn’t given the attention it deserved from the beginning.”

“I’ve read about what became of Detective Stahl and what he did to you. It was appalling.”

“He’s where he belongs, and I’m going to do my very best to help you get justice for Calvin. It may not happen right away. Hell, it might never happen after all this time. But I won’t stop trying. I promise.”

Lenore put her hand over Sam’s. “You can’t possibly know what it means to me to have someone of your caliber working on Calvin’s case.”

“Can we talk about D’Andre?” Sam asked, moved by Lenore’s faith in her. “How is he related to you?”

“My late husband’s nephew,” Lenore said. “He was the sweetest boy you’d ever met until he was thirteen. That’s when his father was shot in an armed robbery at a friend’s house. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and D’Andre… He was just so bitter about losing his dad that way. My husband was equally distraught over the death of his baby brother. His heart stopped less than four months later, and I’ve always believed he died of a broken heart.”

Sam took furious notes as Lenore told her story. “How old was Calvin when his uncle and father died?”

“He was eleven, two years younger than D’Andre, but they’d been very close until D’Andre’s father was killed. After that, we didn’t see much of D’Andre. It was like someone flipped a switch, and this very good boy became someone we barely recognized. He started hanging out with the wrong kids and doing everything he could to break his poor mother’s heart. Then he started getting into trouble. Little things at first—shoplifting, underage drinking, speeding. It didn’t take long for that to escalate into drug possession, assault. A girlfriend accused him of attacking her. He was in and out of juvie, and then, when he was twenty-one, he did two years at Jessup for possession of heroin.”

“Where is he today?”

“That’s where it gets interesting. While he was in Jessup, he found Jesus through a Bible study group there and completely turned his life around. He’s the pastor at First Baptist on Capitol Hill.”

“I drive by that church every day on my way to work. If you’d asked me to bet on what he was doing now, I wouldn’t have guessed that.”

Lenore laughed. “Right? He was a changed man after those two years in prison. It was like someone gave him a good shaking, and he remembered who he’d been before his daddy was killed. The sad part is his mama didn’t live to see the change in him. She died of breast cancer while he was locked up.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that.”

“He’s had us, and we’ve had him,” Ayana said. “He’s like a brother to me. No one can take the place of my own brother, but D’Andre has been there for me, and vice versa. Our kids are growing up like siblings rather than third cousins. I was so afraid you were going to say he had something to do with Calvin’s death, and neither of us wanted to hear that.”

“I’m glad you’ve had each other.” Sam hated to have to ask something that would upset them, but if she was going to get them answers, she had to ask the hard questions. “Is there any chance that Calvin’s shooting was in some way tied to what D’Andre was up to at the time?”

Mother and daughter glanced at each other.

“Of course that’s occurred to us,” Lenore said. “But D’Andre has always said if it was related to him in some way, he would’ve known. He was as heartbroken by Calvin’s death as anyone. He got even more remote and hostile after that.”

“Do you have photos of both boys from around the time of Calvin’s shooting?”

“I have school photos upstairs,” Lenore said. “I’ll be right back.”

After she left the room, Ayana said, “She gets so, so excited whenever someone takes an interest in the case, and inevitably, it always ends up with her devastated again. Please don’t do that to her. I don’t think she’d survive it if you let her down too.”

“I promise I won’t let her down. I may not be able to solve the case, but I’ll keep trying for as long as I wear the badge. You have my word on that.”

“Thank you.”