FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART
Chapt. 2
Virgil got home at around 6:30pm. He always hated it when he had to involve Althea in his cases, but he needed to know about Monica Styles. Why was she living alone? How could she be working at the DA's office? And how could he best protect the child?
"Hi, honey!" Althea greeted him as he came into the kitchen. "I just set the table."
The two of them sat down for dinner and Virgil filled his wife in on the case.
"So," he said between a bite of meatloaf. "What's the complete deal with Monica Styles?"
"Well, she's our top student. Very smart, a genius, actually. She's so smart that most of the classes at Sparta High can't keep up with her. She's also, as I'm sure you can understand, incredibly mature for her age. Most of the faculty is put off by her because she's able to communicate with them on their level. So, I convinced the principal to let me design an accelerated program for her. She attends classes in the morning. Her afternoon classes she takes at home and has assigned due dates. That's why she's able to work for Darnell 3 days a week in the afternoon. She also gets credit for that. As a matter of fact, she's been offered a scholarship to a private school in North Carolina. But I wanted to get all of the emancipation stuff taken care of before I told her about it."
"Her parents?"
"Her mother, as I'm sure you've heard, is the last of the Bottoms' great kept women. Her last boyfriend hated visiting her here, so he moved her to New York. Monica has no idea who her father is. Neither does her mother from what I gather."
"Okay, so if you were able to get school balanced with her need to work, then why did she feel the need to file for emancipation?"
"She said she needed to have more work hours. Do you think she's really in danger?"
"Yes, I do. Althea, do you think I could talk to her in the morning?"
"Sure, but don't expect her to talk to you. She has severe trust issues."
"I'd imagine that she would. I'll send Sweet. She knows him."
"Remember, honey? Sweet's leaving for vacation tonight. He asked us to watch his house."
"That's right. Then I'll send Jamison. She met him with Sweet a few weeks back and I'm sure he's spoken to her since at the courthouse or at school. She's more likely to talk to him than me."
As Monica walked out of her front door for school the next morning, the man was waiting for her outside of her driveway.
"Congratulations. Welcome to adulthood. Think we can talk?"
"Sure Superfly! I love chatting with stalkers on my way to school."
Superfly laughed. "For a pretty girl, you sure have a very ugly mouth. Just like your mother."
"Look, I already told you that I'm not interested. Besides, I don't even know where the deed is. My mother probably has it."
"I know for a fact that she doesn't," Superfly said. "You see, we already talked to your mother. She left it here. For you. Sweet of her, wasn't it? Listen, I know that you owe about $15,000 on the house. I'm prepared to give you $20,000 cash, today."
Monica gritted her teeth and growled, "I…said…no. Just leave me alone!"
Superfly let Monica leave for school. They'd talk again. She could count on it.
On the way to school, Monica began to think about Superfly's offer. It would certainly add a bit more cash to her bank account. But with her advanced classes at school and her job with Darnelle, she just didn't want another major happening in her life right now. Besides, what money she made on the sale would have to be spent on a new place of equal size and a better location, so it really didn't make sense; especially since she'd be leaving the area in another two years.
Monica sighed as she thought of the real reason she didn't want to sell. Bottoms or not, the house was hers. And it was the only thing she had that truly reminded her of her mother, the mother that Monica wished she had been all the time. Oh, how proud her mother was that she owned her home. And the only time Monica remembered spending time with her was when they were cleaning or hanging some new picture one of her "uncles" had bought.
'Good, bad or ugly,' Monica thought, '113 Peach Blossom is mine.'
Monica had been at school all morning. Darnelle, after a stand up argument, finally agreed to let her work 20 hours a week beginning next week. Number two on the escape plan list had been checked. However, he made her take the rest of the week off to prepare for exams. Since preparation wasn't necessary, she decided to work with Mrs. Tibbs in her office during the afternoons. When she got there, Althea advised her that Lonnie was coming to see her for an official visit.
"Do you know what it's about?" Monica asked.
Althea almost started to say no, but Monica had an uncanny way of knowing when she was being lied to, and Althea didn't want to break what little trust the existed between.
Just when she was about to answer, Lonnie tapped on her opened office door.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Tibbs. Good afternoon, Monica."
"So they do know each other," Althea thought. "Lonnie never calls a woman by her first name."
Monica smiled. "What's up, LJ?"
Lonnie smiled back at her. Althea was shocked. She'd never seen Monica smile at anyone about anything, unless she was being a smartass. And what's this "LJ" business? She decided to leave the two of them alone so Monica would feel more comfortable talking. When she left the office, Monica told Lonnie what happened at her house that morning. He immediately called Virgil and relayed the story to him.
"She can't go home alone, Virgil."
Virgil sighed. "I hear what you're saying, Jamison. But the guy won't show up if anyone is with her. And then we're left with exactly what we have now which is nothing. Listen, all of the break-ins have been non-violent. Except for the last one and that guy fell trying to chase the robber. I need you to talk to her. Let her know what we need, and see if she's willing."
Lonnie knew where Virgil was going. "No, Detective".
Virgil didn't like the tone in Lonnie's voice. "Excuse me?"
"What I mean is…" he cut his eyes towards Monica who doing a very bad job of pretending not to listen. "Virgil, she's only…."
"Jamison, are you working on this case….. or something else?"
"What exactly are you asking me, Detective?"
"Nothing. I'm telling you to advise Miss Styles of our plan and to find out if she's willing to cooperate. And I'm telling you to get back here to the station. Now."
"Yes, sir." Lonnie hung up the phone and looked at Monica. Before he could figure out what to say, she spoke.
"They want me to help you set this guy up, right?"
"Yes."
Monica looked at the clock. "Well, school's out at three. One hour and thirty minutes until show time. I guess you should go and get your game plan together, huh?"
Monica straightened herself out and began to busy herself with her work. She was behaving more like her guarded self, the same way she had behaved the first time Lonnie had met her. Only this time, Lonnie recognized it for what it was. He recognized it because it was same way that he'd been ever since his daddy died, and he had been in charge of his depressed mother until she passed away. Monica wasn't cold, unfriendly, or distant. She was scared. And there wasn't a soul in her life to be scared with.
Before he could stop himself, Lonnie reached out and took her hand away from her files. He noticed the way his pale white skin seemed to glow against her chocolate brown fingers, and was hit by an odd mix of shame and excitement. She tensed, but she didn't snatch her hand away from him like he expected. Instead, she turned her head and looked at him. He brushed her hair out of her face with one hand, while his other hand kept a tight grip on hers.
"Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."
Monica looked at him, smiled indignantly and said "And what makes you think that I'm worried?"
He smiled back at her. "Nothing. Just thought I'd let you know."
Somehow, her head found his shoulder. Neither of them spoke a word as Lonnie put his arms around her and rocked her until he felt her body relax, an indication that she was starting to calm down. The moment was tender, though it was laced with tension. But even still, it was beautiful, innocent even. And in the middle of everything that was wrong with it, it seemed so very right.
At least that's what Althea thought as she watched the two of them through her office window.
Bubba and Virgil were waiting for him in the Chief's office, along with Luann Corbin and Parker Williams.
"Okay, Virgil. Looks like we know why this guy is after Monica Styles. But does that necessarily mean he's tied to the other break-ins?" Bubba asked.
"No, it doesn't. But if we catch this guy, we'll know for sure. I'm thinking the other break-ins might be a cover."
"Yeah, " Luann added. "Maybe he was after Monica's house all along and the others were to keep us busy. After all, she has one of the better properties in that area. And if Lt. Jamison hadn't run into her with the guy a few weeks back, we wouldn't know anything about her."
"Exactly." Virgil said. "And, nothing was stolen from the other properties, just vandalism. All right guys, everybody knows what to do. Monica should be getting home by 3:30. Let's get into position."
"Ready to go, Lieutenant?" Luann asked. She always rode with Lonnie when Sweet wasn't available. And she liked it. He was about the only guy on the force that didn't treat her like a female on the job.
"Luann, "Virgil interrupted. "Why don't you bring the car around and wait for Lonnie out front."
Luann looked confused, but left without saying a word.
Virgil hated everything about what he was going to say. And normally, he would wait until he had evidence before he would address something like this with one of his officers. But he liked Lonnie, he truly did. He was a great cop and was turning into a damned fine investigator. Virgil knew that if he waited for facts, he would have to conduct an investigation regardless of his feelings for the man. So against his normal mode of operation, he jumped right to the point.
"You know, Lonnie. Legal or not, Monica Styles is 16 years old. And black."
Lonnie chose his words carefully before he spoke. Virgil had taught him well, so his normal tricks of the trade wouldn't work now. "I'm fully aware of her age and her race, sir."
"Good move, Lonnie. Good move," Virgil thought. "I'd be proud if I wasn't so…worried".
"What I mean, Lonnie, is that I'd hate to see you make a stupid and impulsive move that could end your career before it had a chance to grow."
"Thank you for your concern, Detective. Is there anything else?"
Virgil just shook his head and sighed. "No, Lieutenant. You can go. Luann will fill you in on the way."
At the last minute, Superfly man had decided to follow Monica to school that morning. He wasted half the morning, ducking and dodging for hours, but he was glad he had followed his instincts. He thought that black cop would be his problem until he saw the white one bring her home a few weeks ago. His suspicions were confirmed when the white cop showed up at the school shortly around 1:30.
"So, he's the one I've got to watch. I better get back to her house before she has time to tell him anything."
He pulled out of the parking lot and headed for the Bottoms.
Monica thought about her last moment with Lonnie all the way home. She had grown accustomed to their talks; and had even begun to look forward to them. She liked that he could determine her moods just by looking at her. He seemed to be able tell if she was thinking about something heavy or just plain in a hurry from watching the way she walked. And he knew that if she crossed her arms across her chest, somebody was in trouble! What was confusing to Monica was that she liked that Lonnie knew those things about her, when it normally made her angry when people presumed to know her. She liked that he paid enough attention to her to notice, when she normally tried to go unnoticed. And she liked it when he held her this afternoon.
She knew she was being silly. The man was, well, a man! And he could not possibly be thinking of her in a romantic way. Plus, with everything Chief Gillespie and Harriet Delong were going through, no way would LJ risk the same kind of damage, or worse considering her age. He was just being nice. And she needed get a hold of herself and remain focused on her escape plan. Her line items were taking form exactly as she had planned. This was not to time to start acting like a teenager.
Monica walked onto her front porch and turned her key. Before she could put down her books, Superfly grabbed her from behind and put a gun to her head.
"Now, you and I are going to have a nice little chat about this house."
Monica was terrified, but was determined not to show it. "So, I take it I was speaking French this morning?"
Superfly slapped her. Monica bit her tongue to keep from giving the man the satisfaction of hearing her scream.
He slapped her once more, and then lowered himself within inches of her face. "Now, let's try this again. Where's the deed?"
"I told you I don't know."
"I'm not playing games with you, girl! Where is it?"
"I'm not lying. I don't know. Why do you want it anyway? This isn't exactly the best neighborhood. You won't be able to sell it, and the rent you would get isn't worth the trouble. Why are you doing this?"
Superfly placed the gun at Monica's head again. "That's my business. Your business is to find that deed."
Meanwhile, across the street, Parker was two-waying Lonnie and Luann from an unmarked car. They were one street over watching the back of Monica's house.
"Guys, I've been sitting here for almost 2 hours. Monica came in at 3:40 as I reported, but she hasn't come out yet and there's been no sign of anyone near here."
"Okay, Parker. Lieutenant, did you hear that?" Luann asked.
"Yeah, I heard. I've got a feeling something's wrong. Parker, you still there?"
"Yeah, Lonnie. Go ahead."
"Listen, I'm going to the door. I'll signal if something's wrong."
Lonnie walked up the street and around the corner. If someone was watching the house, he didn't want them to figure out where Luann was parked.
He climbed the steps and knocked on the door.
"Hey, Monica. You in there? It's LJ."
The man had led Monica to the kitchen and had her going through all the cabinets and drawers when he heard Lonnie's voice at the door.
"Shit! Okay, my Nubian princess. Answer the door. And no funny stuff or I'll blow you and him away."
He grabbed Monica and dragged her into the living room. She opened the door slightly and said "Hi, Lieutenant. What can I do for you?"
Lonnie raised an eyebrow. "I just wanted to check on you to see if you're okay. Do you need anything?"
Monica felt the gun grind into her side. "No, Lieutenant. I'm fine. I hate to be rude, but I'm in the middle of cleaning the living room. Thank you for stopping by, Lieutenant."
Lonnie left and went back to his car.
"Well?" Luann asked.
"She's in trouble."
"How do you know? Did you see something?"
"No, I didn't see anything. It's what I heard."
"Okay, what did you hear?"
"I heard her call me 'Lieutenant'."
Lonnie picked up his two-way and called Virgil.