Chapter 2...June 1990
Gerrick Gable rolled into Sparta as silently as he had rolled out 3 years ago. His hatred for the Sparta PD and anything Lonnie Jamison burned a hole in the pit of his stomach, as if he had swallowed battery acid. Especially after Jackson Tudor, one of the Wormley cousins, had sent him the article from the Sparta Herald.
Jamison, promoted yet again! To detective 1st grade, no less!
And now married to one of the most beautiful girls Gable had ever seen.
Tudor told him, "I've seen her in person. That announcement picture don't do her justice, man. She's a stunner! Shoulder length dark hair, dark eyes with mile long lashes, and a smile to light up a room. Long legs and tan skin …bout 5'8" give or take and little over a hundred pounds. If a strong wind were to come up, why I do believe it would blow her all the way to the gulf. Ain't no meat on her bones to speak of."
Tudor had also said, "she makes my mouth water!"
Gable found this statement hysterical since he knew for a fact that Tudor swung the other way. Boy hadn't been the same since his stay at Parchment.
Gable turned the corner onto Hunters Trace and pulled up a few feet before parking. He doused the lights and lit a cigarette. Jamison's house was across the street and 2 doors down from where he was parked. The house was dark and he didn't see that fancy sports car that Jamison was so proud of, anywhere. Course, it could be in the garage, he told himself. It was only a little after 10. They could be out some place or they could be in there screwing like two rabbits. This thought only fueled Gable's hatred further.
Hunters Trace was an appropriate name for the street Jamison lived on, Gable decided, considering he was about to go hunting for a brunette baby doll to destroy Lonnie (Mr. Perfect) Jamison's whole world.
He flicked the butt out the window, turned the engine over and drove slowly past the house without the headlights. He smiled to himself. Let the games begin.
Two days later, Lonnie and Elle, met Bubba, Tracy, Luke and Carol at David and Susan Castle's house for poker night. Well, boy's poker night and girl's gab fest, is what it boiled down to.
The guys were sitting at the poker table in the basement rec room, deep into Texas Hold Em.
"I call," Lonnie said.
"What's wrong with you tonight, son?" David asked. "You're not up to snuff. I fold." David threw his cards down.
"I don't know. Something is nagging at me," Lonnie sighed.
Lonnie and Luke had nothing, so the hand went to Bubba. As Bubba was racking the chips in, Lonnie said, "Parker told me today that he thought he saw Gerrick Gable pulling into the hardware store parking lot."
"Gerrick Gable!" Bubba and Luke both spit the man's name like it was poison.
"Who's Gerrick Gable?" David asked.
"Someone we thought we were done with but apparently not. If Parker said he saw him, then you can bet the farm he is back in town again. Parker don't miss much and the man never forgets a face! He acts dumb but that's all it is, an act," Bubba said.
The guys all laughed at that statement because it was true. Parker's IQ was higher than most peoples. He was just short on common sense sometimes. The man had a heart of gold and they were all happy to call him their friend.
Bubba looked at David and said, "to answer your question, Gable tried to join the force a couple years back. Lonnie accidentally stumbled across some information that made Gable out to be dirty and turned it over to the Chief. The Chief and Virgil did some more digging and didn't like what they found out. The man was chin deep in drugs, corruption, money laundering, prostitution, you name it. We just couldn't get enough evidence to charge him with any of it! But the Chief shredded his application and told the man in no uncertain terms that he would never get into law enforcement and he had some nerve even trying. Well, Gable went and got Comer involved and you know how much Comer hates the chief. Things just went from bad to worse. You remember all this, don't ya David?"
"Yeah, now I do remember! I believe Lonnie ended up running Gable out of town, right?"
David looked to Lonnie for confirmation.
"Yeah, I sure did. He went quietly but not before telling me he would be back some day. Looks like he kept his word."
About that time, they heard footsteps on the stairs and Elle entered the rec room followed by Sweet.
"Who's winnin'?" he asked.
They all pointed to the big pile of chips in front of Bubba. "Yeah, it's my lucky night!" Bubba boasted.
"Hey um, Lonnie? Parker wanted me to tell you that he saw that car again. You know, the one from the hardware store? It's registered to a Jackson Tudor. Parker says he's related to that Wormley bunch." Sweet said, as he shrugged his shoulders.
Bubba slapped his hand down on the table, making the chips and Elle jump. "Not that pack of hounds again!"
"No, no …" Sweet said, "…nothing on the rest of em. Just this Tudor guy. A distant cousin or some such."
Lonnie raised an eyebrow. "Gable's a distant cousin of the Wormley's too. On his mama's side, I think," he said.
Elle had come to stand beside Lonnie's chair and he put his arm around her hips and drew her closer. "What you girls been up to?" he asked.
"We girls have decided we are done with poker! We are going shopping!" And with that promptly put her hand out in front her husband, palm up, wiggling her fingers.
Lonnie slapped her palm with his and said, "have fun!"
The guys laughed out loud at that and Elle said, "Oh ha ha. Very funny, hubster. If you give me some money, I'll buy you something from that new Victoria's Secret store that just opened in the mall. Like a new teddy or a pair of thong underwear."
She gave Lonnie a wink and that 1000 watt smile that made his heart do flip flops. He reached into his back pocket for his wallet and handed her his credit card. "Don't go overboard! I'm still paying on the honeymoon."
She flashed him that smile again and said, "yes, but it was worth every penny!"
She could charge a million dollars on that card and he would never say a harsh word about it. She could have anything she wanted. He would never say no to her and she knew it. He would work himself to death to pay for it but Elle never took advantage of that. If she really, really, really wanted something or just had to have some trinket, she always asked him about it first. Elle was very mindful of their finances and stayed well within the limits she set for herself. Of course, Lonnie would buy her anything she asks for but she rarely asked for anything at all. So giving her the credit card tonight was his way of saying buy out the store.
She kissed his cheek and said, "thanks sugar. We'll be back when the mall closes. See you all later!"
"Yeah, I gotta go too." Sweet headed for the stairs.
"Hey, Elle?" Bubba called.
"What Bub?"
"Do us all a favor?" he asked, "Don't buy Lonnie any of that thong underwear. Luke, Sweet and I don't want to have to see all that in the locker room, ok?"
She gave Bubba a thumbs up and was gone. She could still hear them howling with laughter as the four gals headed out the door.
Tracy pulled the Highlander into the mall lot and found a spot between the light pole and the door. For safety reasons, she always parked close to a light. They got out and headed to the entrance.
Carol said, "I think I'll go down to the book store while you all look in Victoria's Secret."
"Oh no you don't!" Elle grabbed her arm and pulled her along towards the store.
"You got to quit being so shy, girl! We'll help you find something modest but sexy to wear for Luke."
"Oh, oh, oh I couldn't! I just couldn't, Elle!" Carol was about in tears.
"Oh for pete's sake Carol! Is it going to hurt just to look and try somethin' on?" Susan said.
"Well, no I suppose not," Carol agreed.
As the women were walking past the food court, two men were standing in line for sandwiches and milkshakes.
"So you gonna just snatch her up for some snatch?" Tudor asked.
Gable could not believe he was actually going to use this idiot!
"Will you keep your mouth shut until we sit down, you jackass!"
"Sorry, gman! Geez, you're touchy tonight."
Gable turned to Tudor and said, "don't call me gman! You know I hate L.E.O's of any kind! Go find a table."
Grabbing their trays, they headed for one on the outskirts of the dining area. They sat in silence for a few minutes, chewing their sandwiches and swigging gulps of vanilla and strawberry shakes. Finally, Gable spoke.
"Tell me more about Jamison's woman."
"Like what, man? I don't know much more than I already told ya," Tudor said around a mouthful of burger.
"Well, for starters, where did you actually see her in person?"
"At the Palomino Club."
"The Palomino Club?"
"Yeah, man! The Palomino Club. It's this country western bar out on Tyler Road. On the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month, his woman sings with a country southern rock band that plays there. She sings damn good too. The band ain't bad either!"
"A country band?" Gable hated country music!
"Yeah, man! A country band. The Southern Bullets!"
"The Southern Bullets?"
"When did you turn into a fuckin' parrot, man?" Tudor was the one getting irritated now. "Yeah, man! The Southern Bullets!"
"When does she sing again?"
"Sorry, man. I ain't got a calendar on me today. And you know I don't keep up with stuff like that."
"Yep, your useless alright."
Once I grab the girl, it will be time to put our family out of the misery of having to deal with you, Gable thought to himself.
Gable got up silently and walked over to the bookstore and came back with one.
"Shit! Year is half over with, they still charge me $8 for this!"
It was pretty though. It was a Sparta calendar. The Rotary Club did them every year as a fundraiser. This year's just happened to be secluded and seldom visited locations, in and around Sparta, Mississippi. He found the June page. This coming Tuesday was the 2nd one for the month.
"Ok, here's what we'll do. We go see her this Tuesday. Get the lay of the land, then we grab her the next time she sings."
"What if Jamison is there watching her that night?"
"He won't be."
"How you know?" Tudor was curious.
"Fourth week of the month is Jamison's week for night duty."
"I'm going to ask you again," Tudor snapped, "how do you know?"
"I still got friends in this town that pass me information when I need it. Now, let it go," Gable warned.
"Yeah, alright, I'll drop it." Tudor backed off. Best not to make the gman mad. He could be unpredictable.
About that time Tudor squealed like a pig and grabbed Gable's arm, shaking it fiercely.
"What the hell is …" Gable didn't get a chance to finish.
"There she is! There she is!" He pointed.
Coming across the mall, heading straight at them was Jamison's woman, laughing and talking with three others. Tudor was right. The picture didn't do her justice! She was a goddess! She was wearing short shorts, a tank top with Keds on her feet and she took Gable's breath away. They watched the group pass by silently.
After they were gone, Tudor said, "Didn't I tell ya? Huh, huh? Didn't I tell ya?"
Gable didn't answer him. Instead he looked back down at the calendar and knew where he would take her when he grabbed her up. The picture on the month of June was the perfect place for some alone time with Mrs. Lonnie Jamison but it needed some more planning.
"Let's go! We got work to do."