Fate Will Twist the Both of You

Chapter 4 - Dirty Little Secret

Six days after Lucious had dropped by Cookie's apartment, Bunkie's body was discovered. The authorities had yet to make the identification, but as Lucious sat at his desk silently reading a New York Daily News article titled "Body Found Floating in Hudson River," he knew without a doubt that it was Bunkie.

A badly decomposed body was pulled out of the Hudson River Thursday morning, authorities said. The remains were discovered around 10:30 am in the water near West 132nd Street and Hudson River Parkway.

The NYPD responded to the scene and divers from Emergency Services Unit fished the body out of the water.

Police said it's not clear how the person died, or whether the corpse was a man or woman due to the state of decomposition.

The unidentified body will be turned over to the Medical Examiner's Office to determine the cause of death.

Lucious sighed after he finished reading the article and pushed his iPad away from him. He had been keeping an eye out for any news of discovery, and nearly a month after he had murdered his long time friend, he'd received it. Lucious had hoped it would have taken longer for Bunkie's body to be discovered because he didn't like the idea of a homicide investigation occurring so close to Empire's stock market launch date. He knew it was standard procedure for detectives leading the case to speak to family members, friends, and anyone who may be able to give them information relating to the last time Bunkie was seen alive, but he wished it could have been avoided. Lucious had always disliked communicating with law enforcement, and he had a nagging feeling in his gut that Bunkie's homicide investigation wouldn't be something that went away easily.

Lucious stroked his chin thoughtfully before standing up and making his way down to the studio to see Hakeem. He figured if Bunkie's body was as badly decomposed as the article suggested, it would take a while for him to be positively identified; so in the meantime; Lucious intended to carry out his days as he normally would. He'd play the part of the bereaved friend seeking justice when the time came; until then, it was business as usual.

When Lucious entered the studio, he sat in a chair at the back of the room and watched Hakeem, who was in the booth recording "Cop Out". When Hakeem had told him that he wanted to make a few changes to the track, Lucious had been opposed to it because he thought the version Hakeem had recorded earlier that week was a sure hit. But as he watched his son, Lucious couldn't deny that Hakeem had taken the song to another level.

"That boy wants to be like you so bad." Cookie said, alerting him to her presence. Lucious responded before looking up to greet her. "Hell, if I was him, I'd wanna be like me, too." He grinned. "Half the damn time the boy don't know his ass from a hole in the ground."

"Shut up, stupid." Cookie said, her grin matching his. She sauntered further into the room and stood beside him, her eyes watching Hakeem in the booth. "Ain't nothin' wrong with my baby." She added.

"Keep tellin' yo'self that." Lucious joked. Cookie rolled her eyes at him then returned her gaze to her son. As Lucious watched both Cookie and Hakeem, thoughts of how the news of Bunkie's death would affect them filled his mind. Lucious knew how close Bunkie and Hakeem were; Bunkie was like a second father to Hakeem. Out of all his sons, Lucious knew that Hakeem would have the hardest time dealing with Bunkie's death. And Cookie, well Bunkie was one of few family members she ever had a relationship with, and although they hadn't been in contact for the past two decades; Lucious was aware of just how much she loved her cousin.

When Hakeem was finished, Lucious instructed the sound engineer to leave and took his place in the seat behind the soundboard. Lucious turned on the microphone and addressed his son. "That was great, Keem." Lucious complimented, his face beaming with pride. "You keep rolling out tracks like that and you gon' be a huge star in no time." He added. Hakeem made his way out of the booth and stood in front of his father. "You really think so, dad?" He asked, his face glowing with excitement. "Man, I know so. I told you you had it." Lucious declared, pulling his son into a hug.