CONFRONTATION
Aila smacked her alarm clock when it began its angry singing. She had been awake for most of the night wondering and worrying. Frank was supposed to get in touch with her today so they could 'talk' tonight. Maybe he'll forget. Nope. Impossible. Frank never forgot anything in his life, and when he did, it was on purpose. She sincerely dreaded it. His touch [kiss] last night was something they did when either he or she entered or exited a room. Click. It all fell right into place. It was wonderful, but scary. Frank still wanted her and she had no doubt in her mind that she wanted him, but there was the issue of Ethan. I must remember that Ethan is first. Whatever happens in the future, Ethan remains top priority, even if his father denies him. She kept the thought running through her mind as she went about the task of getting herself up for the day. From her son's room, she could hear him making small noises here and there, indicating that he was waking as well. Something else from Frank. Ethan moved lithely and without sound upon waking or going to bed. Her precious little one could sneak up on her and she would not be the wiser until he was right there. Frank liked that ability he had. How many times had she been sleeping like the dead and he would come inside the room without her knowing? Dozens? She rued the day when Ethan became a teenager. Oh the hell Frank's parents had probably gone through reining him in.
Usually, Aila was up and at it by this time. This morning was a different story. She could hear Ethan calling for her, and it was a rare day for that to occur. She was in Ethan's room getting him up. The laziness had come from her. She never enjoyed being roused in the morning. She tolerated it since she was an adult, but if she had her choice, she would choose sleeping in every damn time. It was a small point of contention between her and Frank as well. Well, actually, it was more along the lines of a pet peeve of his. Hadn't he once, in jest, picked her up and threw her body into a cold shower? Of course, he came in with her and the water heated up soon enough. Ethan was just like her in that respect. She often had to wake him up. However this morning, he actually beat her. He was a smart kid, so it wouldn't shock her if she discovered that he had sensed the discord in her. They were very close. Almost too close. It was why she wanted him to know his father now. She could have done this months ago, even years ago if she hadn't been stupid.
Being unexpectedly pregnant had influenced her decision to leave only a little. She had been weighing it in her mind for a few days. Her mother had called with news that Dad was sick. Some rat bastard wanted to take Dad's store and his interest in it. That someone was Thurman Herren. She had a connection with him, but not one that the town expected. Dad had gotten into an altercation with Herren and had a stroke. Her mother hid this information from her for several weeks before breaking the news. Yet, the real damage didn't happen until Ethan was two. He suffered a massive stroke and remained bed-ridden while distant relatives maintained the family business. It was Aila who helped run the store and when some of Mom's cousins showed up, she stepped back. She had bigger fish to fry. The city government was corrupt. Her ex-boyfriend had piddled when he should have paddled and Aila questioned his motives during a town meeting. He was buckling under the pressure of Thurman Herren. It happened a lot in Pineville. Well, screw that. She wouldn't let it happen. One way or another, she would put a stop to it. Sybil begged and pleaded for her to run for sheriff. Voila. She's the Sheriff.* Speaking of Sybil, she thought as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. As soon as she had her shit together for the day, she would speak to her friend.
No sooner had her feet hit the carpet than Ethan was taking a flying leap toward her. God. He was her little tornado. He threw his arms around her neck and squeezed hard. After effectively blocking off her air passageways, he leaned back and stared at her adoringly. He knew exactly what buttons to push and he didn't mind doing it. She ran her fingers through his disheveled black mop and kissed his forehead before he could run off. He hated being 'babied' in public. "Macho little shit, ain't he," Mom often commented. That he was, but so was Frank to a degree. It just took the right woman to break him in, that's all. Logan hadn't had the strength, but Aila had. Or she had for at least a year, anyway. Disgusted thoroughly for the day, Ethan thumped away in his bare feet. How the hell he could maintain himself like that, she would never know. Pushing her feet into her fuzzy slippers, she ran after Ethan to be sure he wasn't tearing down her house. On her way, she grabbed the phone to call Sybil.
* * *
I'm stupid. Flat out stupid. How many times had Frank thought this after he awoke today? He kept the meeting with Aila short and sweet as he wanted, but he betrayed himself with the gentle kiss to her temple. Aila wasn't an idiot. She knew as well as he that those kisses were something they often did as a couple. It amused Aila because of the slight height difference. "I have to get up on tippy toes to kiss you." To cure that, she often wore high heels. He loved being near her, close enough to bury his face in the side of her neck, and inhaling her lovely scent. Although neither did so in public, while together in private, they would dance without music. It was horridly cliché, but they moved their bodies to the sound of their beating hearts. After his marriage ended, Frank wasn't so sure he'd find another woman who stirred him up as much as Logan did. He was wrong. Aila gave him everything he craved but could never expect from his ex-wife. She was tough as nails, but also so very soft. She never nagged or picked or poked. It wasn't in her. And when he told Aila he never wanted to marry again, he was telling the truth as he knew it then. Just before she discovered some of his secrets, he was on the verge of telling her anyway. Yes, goddamn it. Aila Blane owned a part of his heart. Almost everyone who knew him realized that something was affecting his personality. It wasn't just his kid. It was a woman. It was Aila. He wanted to tell her about Darien because he was damn close to asking Aila to move in with him. Any time he mentioned one slip of his past or his present life, the person to whom he confessed meant a lot to him. Meant the world. Instead of telling Aila about Logan and Darien, she had learned the hard way, and he nearly lost her. In fact, he wouldn't have blamed her if she had walked out anyway, but he loved her, and he was fighting for her. When he told his father over the phone about Aila, Terra had screamed, "Oh Lord! My big bro is in love! Ma! Break out the good china." Then what did he do? He kept silent until the point of nearly losing her before he told her how he felt. Before that, he had thought of proposing to her. It was actually no more than a big joke between them. However, sometimes jokes made were truly what the other wanted. They were both scared of it all. Scared of failing, of living together on a much more permanent basis, of having children, and on and on.
The day he intended to propose to her wasn't actually the first time he had tried. He'd actually bought the ring not long after Aila learned of his daughter. He introduced her to Darien tentatively, thinking that his daughter might not quite adjust to another adult woman. She had her mother, grandmother, and Aunt Terra most immediately in her life. What did she need with another? However, Darien took to her quickly, becoming fascinated with Aila's hair and eyes. "Your hair is black, like Daddy's" was the first sentence out of Darien's mouth. After that, it was uphill at a fairly slow, but steady pace. It was working exactly according to plan. Therefore, he thought it might be time to step up his plan. And then when Aila was shot, his plan went into overdrive. He loved this woman, had no desire to lose her, and would ask her to marry him come hell or high water. Unfortunately, Aila didn't feel the same. He never understood the sudden coldness. Just the night before, they were in bed together making mad love. How could she separate into such different poles so quickly? He had never understood that. But then, instead of staying and fighting for her as he had done the first time, he stepped back and let her go. "You're a big dope, Desmond," Terra accused. And she was right. He was the biggest dope ever invented. He should have stepped forward and demanded that she tell him what was going on. They'd been together for a year, had lived together for most of that year. They loved each other, goddamn it. Didn't that count for anything? Yes. He admitted it. Franklin Desmond Donovan was a big damn dope. The only thing dopier was his name. If given a chance, he would make it right between them again, even if she did have another man in her life. It was the kiss to her temple that set it all off. Oh how he longed for it to be so much more. How he longed to taste her kiss just one more time.
Shake it off. Shake it away. That's exactly what he'd do. He'd shake it away. He had to. Today, the team would speak to Sybil, the town treasurer. She was apparently the 'witness' who saw Aila manipulating the books. Frank was determined to scour the books with a fine-toothed comb. He didn't take accusations against people he knew lightly. There had better be proof and damn good proof at that. Anything less wouldn't be good enough. You're blind to her, Frank. You're completely blind to what she's doing. Open your eyes and look, you bastard. No. It simply wasn't true. He was riding the fence, goddamn it, and doing nothing else. He and the team spent a good five hours last night going over their roles in this investigation. Although Cody and Monica knew everything about his connection with Aila, neither of them said a word to Jake or Alex. He would never express the gratitude he felt at that simple, unspoken gesture. However, there was a job to be done. If they later found Aila innocent, then things could progress from there. Go on, go on, go on. He couldn't allow Aila to shift his focus. It was time to make their moves just as they did with any other case. The perp in question has never been a former lover, has she? Frank grumbled incoherently toward the bathroom. Today, he would need a scalding hot shower.
* * *
Aila stood back beside her Bronco in Sybil's front yard. When Sybil hadn't answered her phone, she jumped into her Bronco and drove out to her house. She knew it was early, but Sybil was always up, because her shop opened at 10. Aila walked around the circumference of her house and still saw no signs of life. What the hell was this? Sybil was avoiding her? Oh God. She knew what that meant. She should have known what it meant last night. Sybil was doing something not so good to the city funds. Aila turned around and went back to her Bronco. Perhaps she could scare up Mayor Allred and a few of the council members [since half of them worked at City Hall]. Her departure wasn't unnoticed. Sybil was inside and she picked up her phone and made a short [but sweet] phone call.
Allred watched as Aila parked her Bronco in her assigned slot. His 'niece and nephew' were seated in the same room with Monica, the new dispatcher. Aila entered through the back, as was her custom. She thought nothing of the strange comings and goings. However, she was going to sit down and go through the books again before she confronted Sybil. Aila looked around the front of the jail. The console was vacated. Beck wasn't in and Mildeen wasn't behind the counter. What the hell was going on? Where was her fucking staff? She whipped around when she heard people entering. Allred was escorting an attractive African-American woman into the room. Wasn't she the one with Frank yesterday?
"Where's Beck and Mildeen," Aila asked suspiciously as she eyed the two people.
"Mildeen called in sick and I sent Beck to Kansas City for a new cruiser. Matt's taking his place later today. This here is Monica Harris. She's going to be filling in for Mildeen until she's better."
What was this? When Mildeen was sick, they never hired a replacement. Pineville wasn't busy enough to hire backups. Something wasn't right. To her immediate right just behind the mayor, Aila saw two people lurking about. "Who are they," Aila asked, nodding toward the two strangers.
"Oh, they're my niece and nephew in-law, Alice and James. Come on in, kids."
His niece and nephew in-law? What the hell? Since when did his relatives follow him around like that? Since when did anyone come to Pineville unless someone had died? The longer she stood here, the more she was convinced that this was some type of elaborate setup and she was bound to take the fall. All of them were in on it, probably her parents as well. Yet, she didn't want to sound completely paranoid. She needed answers and she damn well wanted to find Frank to get them. Whatever was going on had something to do with Frank. And all along, she thought he had come to her because of her plea. He had no interest in her. None at all. He was doing his fucking job and nothing else. At first she was so angry she wanted to scream at them all. However, she downplayed it. She had to stay cool. She didn't know the three people with the mayor, but she knew him and Frank. You used to know Frank. What do you know now? That he can still set you off by kissing your temple?
She nodded vaguely and remembered later that she had shook their hands, muttering a hasty, "Pleased to meet'cha." Aila knew they were watching her, but she didn't care. She turned around and went out into the bright early morning sunshine. She vaguely heard the 'niece' muttering something that sounded like, "I think she's headed your way."
Frank received the message loud and clear and Aila was right. Everyone was taking note of her every move. She didn't care. It was time to settle a score and settle it good. As if on official business, she demanded Frank's room number, was given it, and then she made her way outside to find it. He was expecting her and had the door open. Just before Aila's fist connected with his jaw, his last thought was so much for keeping this hush hush. He recovered quickly enough and had the greatest urge to return the punch in kind.
"You fucking son of a bitch," she bit through clenched teeth. "You're investigating me? You're fucking investigating me! Why didn't you come to me and ask. Why the lies? Why this? Why did you make me think…" She stopped speaking. She had nearly overstepped her bounds. He no longer deserved to know about Ethan. Fuck Frank Donovan. "How could you," she wailed indignantly. Sadly, those words would soon come back to haunt her.
"Aila, please," he said. She tried to hit him again, but he held her at bay. Although she was strong, he could still overpower her if it was necessary. "I'm not happy that you found out like this. I didn't want anything of this caliber to effect you or your family."
She jerked her way out of his grip and stood back. "Save the sanctimonious bullshit for the wide-eyed bleached blondes you bed. Whenever somebody sends you out, it's a big deal. I know that much about you, even after three years. You wouldn't be here if you weren't investigating me. Now spill it or get the fuck out of my town and take your goons with you."
He stood back with his hands on his hips. The little bitch had truly clocked him good. His jaw was starting to hurt and he could hear Cody's voice in his ear repeatedly asking him if he were okay. God. Was there any way to save the case? He would have to put his trust in her. Could he risk it? Sick of hearing Cody's voice, he said, "Back out, Cody. This is between me and the sheriff." He then jerked out the earpiece and left it dangling. Aila's ice blue eyes were burning with a fire he had seen one too many times. She was going to light into him unless he did something. "When you called, I assumed it was a cry for help. I hadn't heard from you in three years. Why would you suddenly call out of the blue? I didn't understand. But when the FBI received a call about your misappropriating town funds and channeling them to a drug kingpin, I began to listen to the urge to come to you."
"Oh, I see," she said sarcastically. "So that automatically means I'm guilty? Come on, Frank. How could you believe that I would do something like that?"
Frank sighed and shook his head. "I've seen the books and the evidence is quite damning."
She rolled her eyes. She thought she felt tears rolling down her cheeks and was irritated when she realized there were rivulets cutting cruel lines down her face. "Oh Jesus. Would I still be here if I had money in the bank? Goddamn you, Frank Donovan. I can't believe you think I did it."
"I didn't say you did it. I didn't say I believed it," he told her. He didn't say he believed it. He didn't say he thought she did it. Of course, he also didn't say he believed she was innocent, either. "If you're innocent, Aila, you'll help us. Whoever took the money is inconsequential to us. We want the kingpin. We want Thurman Herren. Do you know of him?"
She nodded. Oh yeah. She knew the bastard all right. "Yes. He nearly helped kill my father. It was one of the reasons why I came back. My father got sick and my mother needed help with the family business."
She was trying to distract him and damn if he wasn't falling right into it. "And the other?"
"That must wait now. I'm not going to stand here while a man whom I lived with for nearly a year accuses me of theft," she said softly.
"Then help me. Prove to me that you're innocent. Only you can do that. And until you do, I must treat you as if you were a hostile witness. If you leave right now, this case will stay in tact. The true suspect will never know we're here. Play the game, Aila. I know you can. Play it and save yourself and your town. If you walk out that door, I can't guarantee I won't escort you to Chicago in cuffs. I don't want to do that."
"No," she said. "But you would." She hastily wiped the tears out of her eyes. "I'll do whatever you ask." She would do it for Ethan as well. "I know it's the Treasurer, but I can't say I know it has anything to do with Herren." She turned around and moved toward the door. His voice called her back. "What is it?"
"Aila, I'm sorry," he told her.
"Me too," she said. And even sorrier for Ethan.
"I think we should meet each other for dinner as planned," he said.
"I agree. I'll see you here at seven."
He watched her leave. Goddamn it. Goddamn it all.
_____________________
To be continued…*She's the Sheriff was a short-lived show that starred Suzanne Somers. That and The Andy Griffith Show helped inspire this story.