In the Shadow of a Protest: An Applewater Mystery, #1

By Y. S. Leonard

After Destiny is murdered during a Black Lives Matter protest, Agent Roberts and Detective Petersen race to find out who murdered her and why, before a town already on the edge explodes.

They soon discover that Applewater is not what it seems. Some towns carry deadly secrets.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Y. S. Leonard
• Release date: May 9, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201368227

Y. S. Leonard

Y. S. Leonard lives in New Jersey with her family. She loves to travel and visit new places. She is a Rutgers University graduate. She is an educator and an avid reader.  She loves a good mystery. She believes that spending quality time with family and friends is very important. In the Shadow of a Protest is Y. S. Leonard’s first book.

Book preview

Chapter 1

The Grand Jury

Destiny could feel the life leaving her body. She never thought that her life would end this way. Thrown in a dumpster like she was garbage.  She had just started her new job. She had no intentions of staying there for more than two years. She knew that this job would give her the experience she needed to achieve her goals. She had her vision board up on her wall. It was a reminder of what she knew she could accomplish with hard work. This job was the stepping-stone to forming her own accounting firm.  It wasn’t a glamorous job, but it was what she needed to get experience.

Accomplishing her dreams would be difficult if she died. When she put on her Black Lives Matter t-shirt this morning, the possibility of her death never crossed her mind. Her mind raced as she went over the events that led to her being in the dumpster.

Be careful out there.

Mom, nothing is going to happen. It’s going to be a peaceful protest. Destiny said to her mother. But the look on her mom’s face showed something different. It showed the fear and anguish that African American mothers have had on their faces for hundreds of years. When Destiny saw her mom’s face, she felt her pain, but she could not just sit by while the world around her seemed to go to hell.

It was not fair, but Destiny blamed people who were okay with burying their heads in the sand because the senseless killing of Black people did not affect them. They seemed okay with the status quo, but she just could not accept it. This was the reason, Destiny was going to the march. She never thought she would be out protesting.  2020 had not turned out how she thought it would. She had begun the new year with the idea that she would have a 20/20 vision about her life. A vision that allowed her to chase her dreams. Instead, she was struggling through a pandemic, and there was civil unrest across the nation.

Don’t forget your mask. Stay safe. Her mom said to her as she walked out the door.

Don’t worry mom. was the last thing she said to her mom when she walked out the door. Destiny got in her car and drove to the designated spot for the protest. She parked her car and took her sign out of the backseat.

Out on the street, the air was tense.  Destiny walked down the street to meet her friends. As she approached the crowd of people waiting for the march to begin, Destiny saw her best friend, Ashley. She had known Ashley since kindergarten.  Hey, girl. You made it. I love your outfit. Especially your necklace and mask. Ashley said.

This is for you.

You know I don’t follow trends; I create them.

Destiny said as she spun around. Destiny held up her sign which said, MY SKIN COLOR IS NOT A CRIME! Destiny had always felt comfortable in how she looked. At twenty-two years old, she was five feet eight inches tall.  Destiny’s tightly coiled hair was a symbol of who she was.

Today she proudly displayed that beauty in the huge afro she was wearing. She had spent a considerable amount of time in the mirror, making it look exactly right. Her skin was dark that when the sun hit it, it revealed hints of gold. Destiny knew that she was Bawdy Goals. She never doubted she was beautiful.

As they began walking towards the rest of the people at the protest, Destiny recognized some of them. They appeared to be deep in a conversation. A group of people was carrying different poster boards. There were a lot of young people between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five. Destiny smiled. Young people were exercising their rights for positive change. She was proud to be a part of the movement.

Destiny thought of the civil rights movement when college students had sit-ins and the march in Selma. The young people were arrested, water hosed, and dogs set on them. They did this for something they believed in and knew was right.  They were met with violence fighting for equality. They had lit the flame of justice and equality. She hoped that wouldn’t be the case today. Destiny had never been a very political person, but this seemed right.

Hello, everyone.

Destiny and Ashley said. Everyone in the group turned to look at them with welcoming faces. A young boy with his mother was holding up a sign that said,

I SAY, BLACK LIVES MATTER BECAUSE ALL DIDN’T COVER BLACK WHEN THEY SAID LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL.

There was also an elderly couple with a sign that said. WE ARE IN OUR SEVENTIES! WE ARE TIRED OF THIS SHIT!

BLACK LIVES MATTER!

BLACK LIVES MATTER!

Destiny, Ashley, and the rest of the group began walking with the crowd.

BLACK LIVES MATTER!

SAY HER NAME. "

FELICIA BAYLOR

BLACK LIVES MATTER!

BLACK LIVES MATTER!

Across the street, Destiny saw some people waving some signs.  There were a group of about one hundred people. Some people were pointing at them waving, confederate flags.

BLACK LIVES MATTER ARE TERRORISTS!

ANTIFA is a terrorist group!

We need to save America!

"Save America from whom?" She was stunned that some of them openly wore shirts with racist images. One of the protestors wearing a shirt that said 6MWE spat in their direction.  No one was hit, but several of the men in the Black Lives Matter group rushed toward him.

The elderly couple in the crowd stood in front of the men.  The woman’s stance said it all. She pointed to the counter-protestors and said.

Stop! That’s what they want. They want to show us as violent. We can’t let them win. I am getting tired of having to protest.

Her eyes pleaded with the men to return to the protest. Pleaded with them to move forward to leave the hate behind.  Hate she had witnessed her entire life for more years than she wanted to remember.  There was a look of desperation in her eyes. Desperate to learn when the hate would end. Of years of pain that have not been comforted. A yearning for comfort while continuing to fight. Destiny got the feeling that the woman’s body was fragile, but her mind was strong.

ALL LIVES MATTER! 

BLUE LIVES MATTER! 

They kept screaming. She wondered why they couldn’t understand that saying BLACK LIVES MATTER! didn’t take anything away from them. It was just that Black people were tired of seeing the senseless killing of Black people without consequences. How many more Black bodies had to fall in the streets before there was justice?"

We can’t let them get away with that.

If you go over there, no one is going to remember who started the confrontation. They are only going to talk about the Black Lives Matter movement and violence. So, turn around, we came here to do something important. This has to end. It may not happen in my lifetime, but I believe it will happen.

She reached out and grabbed one of the men by his hand. Destiny could see that her grip was very tight.  She began walking along with the crowd. The group of young men reluctantly turned around. The man who spat at them laughed and said.

BOYS, you better listen!

Funny, it was the Black Lives Matter movement that was considered violent, but she saw firsthand who started the confrontation. People seemed more emboldened to be racists.

......

Over a loudspeaker, Destiny could hear, We are tired of not feeling safe. They continue to kill us in the streets, and now they have moved to our homes.

BLACK LIVES MATTER! BLACK LIVES MATTER!

Destiny held up her sign. The crowd had grown bigger than she thought it would be. She looked at the crowd with pride. As she stared at the diverse crowd that was chanting BLACK LIVES MATTER!

Destiny saw the police approach the protest in tactical gear.  They approached the crowd in what appeared to be an aggressive manner.

Ashley began to point at the SWAT team.

Can you believe this? Why are they so threatened by a peaceful protest? I just want them to stop killing us.

Destiny could see that the police were surrounding the crowd. Destiny began feeling boxed in. She did not do well in confined spaces.

BLACK LIVES MATTER!

BLACK LIVES MATTER!

NO JUSTICE! NO PEACE!

Destiny began coughing, and her eyes began to burn. She looked around and spotted the police firing tear gas into the crowd and pepper-spraying people. People started running past her. Destiny froze. Ashley grabbed her by the arm.

We have to move Destiny.

Destiny’s eyes were on fire. She looked around at the protestors who were running and gasping for air. Then Destiny felt her chest and windpipe beginning to close. There was a tightness that frightened her. Several SWAT officers wearing riot gear began moving forcefully towards the protest. Destiny’s heart began to race. She could feel the blood pumping in her ears as she looked down at her hands. They were shaking. She was panting and, it felt like she couldn’t catch her breath. 

Destiny, stay close.

Okay. My eyes are burning and, it’s getting hard to breathe. 

As she ran, she adjusted her mask, making sure that it was covering her nose. She was wearing a mask to stay safe against Covid-19, and she was also fighting the pandemic of law enforcement killing black people.

The cloud of tear gas was thick, which made it even more challenging to see. The smoke was paralyzing. Her nose began to burn. Breathing was unbearable. Destiny heard what she thought was a gunshot and, then the protesters began to scatter. Destiny saw one of the protestors scream in pain clutching, his eye. He had been hit by a rubber bullet. Bloods could be seen rolling down his cheek.

She could not understand why this was happening. The entire protest had been peaceful.

Black lives matter! Black lives matter! Black lives matter!

Say her name! Say her name!

The police officers began pushing against the crowd.  Over to the corner, she could see the little boy and his mother running with their signs. In his eyes, she saw true terror. He tripped and fell, wailing. Destiny’s heart was broken.  

Mom, it burns! It burns! Mom, I can’t see. 

I know baby. I’m so sorry. This wasn’t supposed to happen.

The mother rambled on as she picked up her son and ran away from the police carrying him the best way she could.

Destiny looked around for Ashley, but the smoke was so thick she couldn’t see anything.

Ashley, where are you? Ashley, can you hear me!

She hurriedly reached for her phone out of her back pocket.

Great, only three percent battery life.

She dialed Ashley’s number. No answer.

Hello, this is Ashley. You know what to do.

Where are you? I don’t know how we got separated. Meet me by my car in front of our favorite coffee shop. Heading there right now.

Destiny began walking towards the coffee shop. Her eyes were still burning, and it was still hard to breathe. The deafening noise of the sirens and people screaming was getting to her. The SWAT Team was getting closer to her.

Ouch!

Destiny fell to the ground. She looked down and saw blood running down her calf. She had been hit by something, and she did not know what. The pain was agonizing. She stood up and began limping towards the coffee shop. She was so close, and she knew it. All she had to do was make it to her car. She and Ashley could drive away to safety.

Through all of the smoke, scream, and chaos, she could see Ashley standing next to her car. Ashley was frantically craning her neck around. She was looking for her. A feeling of relief came over Destiny. She attempted to quicken her pace, but her leg’s throbbing pain caused her to limp with every step.

Suddenly, someone grabbed her from behind. She screamed, but the sirens and people screaming helped to drown out her screams. The pain in her leg was intensifying. She didn’t have the strength to fight. Destiny was helpless. Two men forced her down the alley.  They looked like they meant business. They looked completely different from each other, and that they did not look like they ran in the same social circles. One of them, who