CHAPTER THIRTEEN
"After carefully reviewing your jacket and your behavior before and after it is the official ruling of this committee that you not be reinstated."
The breath that Jo had been holding onto had released coolly. Her back sat rigid and she looked her superiors in the eye as they dryly gave her the verdict she'd been waiting for. If she had been a man then they would have drawn out the suspension. If March had been any other pervert she would have had a parade.
The countdown to this moment had been tedious. She wasn't one for patience. She hated not knowing if this part of her life was coming to a close. Now here she was in a room with five other men, who took it away, not knowing what they were shattering. She detested giving them the power to do so, but the hell if she'd show it.
"You used excessive force and your actions were deemed unbecoming of an officer. You knowingly injured a man and failed to report it further endangering his life." The older man with sagging skin and graying hair spoke in monotone. Unflattering caricatures involving the chief of police, a donkey, and a tennis ball were passed around the office. The brunette thought the cartoonist was an optimist. He gave their superior more emotion than Jo ever thought the man was capable of. Jo's face didn't break in disappointment or pain. She had loved the job. She enjoyed making a difference. The badge didn't make her, but it had helped to complete the part of her that needed to be active to make a difference.
When the official pleasantries were over Jo looked over the committee. They were all older men wearing crisp suits and medals. They had never wanted her there. The resentment drove her to do better and excel where her male counterparts didn't. She was smart and capable and even now she could see them looking her over putting her in a dress. When her eyes landed on her Captain Gale, he wore a smug smirk like he had won, and he had.
The former cop stood and turned leaving the white walled room. She didn't meet the curious eyes gazing at her after she walked by them. Her chin didn't tilt. This would be the last time some of them would see her and she wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing beyond her mask. If she had bothered to look around she would noticed a familiar blonde head scribbling notes in a pad. Natalie was just as unaware.
She stopped at the steps of the council building. She looked at the street aimlessly. Remy stood outside in the car holding the door for her. She didn't speak and neither did he. She wasn't too devastated to notice that he wasn't yapping away. The change unsettled her. She glared from the back in the rearview mirror.
"Are you sick?"
"What?" he didn't expect her to speak, "uh no."
"The garage," she growled. There was plenty of time in their drive for him to speak. It was distracting to obsess over his reserved behavior.
"Did someone die?" she asked absently.
"No."
Jo settled into the silence coming to the only conclusion that made sense. Teodor's garage was closed today. Another Wednesday he would be spending with his wife. She figured they were happy. Where most men usually complained about their wives, Teodor was always careful to say nice things. She'd only met the woman once and from that meeting she could assume the woman was worthy. She had to be worth it with the kind of courting Teodor put himself through to get her back.
Remy stayed uncharacteristically silent for the entire trip. Jo obsessed for the remainder. The key in her pocket jingled when she made a move to get out. Remy usually didn't let her get that close before he sprinted towards the door. "You coming?" she asked meeting his eyes in the rearview.
He started from his thoughts and then worked on his seatbelt. Jo was already out of the car to unlock the garage door. Outside of the windows above the garage was darkly lit. She heard Remy stumbling behind her before she turned the light on in the office. He followed her more confidant in his gait.
Her blue jacket lay open and a beer rested in her hand. She took liberties with the old man's stash since knowing she'd replace what she drank. She handed one to Remy. Considering he was going out of his way not to be annoying, he wouldn't be rude now and decline a drink. She leaned back on the couch and watched him stiffly sit beside her leaving a huge gap. She appreciated the distance. But it unsettled her that he didn't try to get into her personal space.
She found him a lot more tolerable as a companion when he wasn't talking. She noticed the dirty glass of Teodor's office. He really needed to clean that, she thought.
"You haven't asked me how it went," Jo pointed out.
Remy took a drink to avoid speaking. Mr. Warner had warned him not to get too close to Jo in the beginning, but she was easy to like, that's what brought him here.
Remy shrugged, "if you wanted me to know you'd tell me."
Jo laughed finishing off her beer tearing at the label. She stared at it, but paid attention to Remy's body language. "Why do I get the feeling you already know?"
He cleared his throat and started fidgeting taking another drink. Jo smirked, the man should never play cards in the near or distant future with his tells.
"You knew before I did didn't you?" the question was accusing, but her tone, devoid of emotion, lessened the sting. He choked on a gulp and Jo finally eyed him in his coughing fit. She leaned her forearms on her knees now interlocking her hands. Remy, the self proclaimed man at the bottom of the food chain, knew about her official dismissal before she did. There were one of two reasons to contemplate, and Jo wasn't convinced that the man was omniscient.
"David's been pulling strings hasn't he?" she asked her final question. There gazes met, and even though Remy had yet to say a word the man was too much of an open book to hide the truth. Jo could see it. Her instincts told her something was off and Warner was in the middle of it all, like he always was.
She settled back tossing her hat off watching it slide across the table to the floor on the other side of the small office. Remy didn't need to betray any confidences. She knew Warner would make her pay for being with his daughter. She couldn't give him all the blame for losing her job. From the looks on the committee she didn't look like she had any fans.
"He's not done Jo," Remy offered against his better judgment.
David liked to play with his proverbial food. The brunette heard all the seriousness in her friend's tone and believed every word of it. Though there wasn't much left for him to take.
"Captain Gale," Natalie stood abruptly catching up to the wiry older man.
The captain turned. He looked her over debasingly before his eyes roamed back to her eyes and the other tell tale signs that this woman was hunting for a story. "No comment," he allowed before carrying on.
"Wait," Natalie followed undeterred.
"I hardly think a disgraced cop is worth media attention," he called over his shoulder.
Natalie didn't let on she didn't know what he was talking about, "God help us if the day ever comes when the media is run on what you consider news worthy." She moved faster in his profession Gale deflected nasty comments like that all day long.
Taking a shot in the dark, "disgraced cop slash millionaire mathematician and murdered girl sounds like a Josephine Tey novel."
The older man whirled around. She struck a nerve, smiling inwardly.
"Media hounds don't care about the truth or who they hurt by twisting it."
"We're not all made from the same cloth," Natalie smirked, "but from an outsider's point of view it sounds bad all around."
He closed the distance between them. Natalie stood her ground fighting the urge to retreat. "Charles March was the victim of an overzealous cop's delusions. Polniaczek no longer represents the department. Whatever she might have said reflects on her resentment of her suspension and subsequent firing."
She couldn't follow if she wanted to when he entered a cruiser. She remembered her notes and the seemingly clandestine photograph of Captain Gale and Charles March turned overwhelming. What was the great mystery? What did it mean? And Jo, what had happened with the case? She remembered the media coverage. There were no reports that Jo had been suspended, hell, Jo hadn't even said anything. The case wasn't sound enough to hold March. The media waned, reluctant to give up the coined 'March Molester'. Perhaps there had been more to the story obscure by money and a certain Captain.
"I promise you you're the last person I wanted to see today," Jo groaned sitting up from the dolly.
When Tootie didn't glare or offer sarcasm as a reply that was all the indication Jo needed. The younger woman knew. She was close to the twenty four hour mark and here she thought she was home free for a day, she was wrong. She smirked and shook her head wiping her hands on a cloth in her pocket.
"Good news travels fast."
The actress waited a whole hour after hearing the news to seek Jo out. When Louie heard and not long after called her. He didn't know if he would be welcomed, but he knew she wouldn't turn away a childhood friend. And Jo didn't. Instead she stood taken aback by the smaller woman plowing into her arms. The hour wasn't enough time to find sentiments suitable for comfort. Where words failed the actress hoped a friendly hug would convey.
Unfortunately walking in with preconceived notions of the duo Blair eyed the embrace darkly. She had come to talk to Mr. Adamnski about the distribution of funds through a Warner account for vehicles. Teodor noticed the woman before the two women did and introduced him as the owner.
Blair thoughts of retreat were deterred by the man's introduction. She smiled lightly this was the last place she wanted to be. She took the short trek to Mr. Adamnski's office. In resentment she eyed the duo. They had been so wrapped up in each other they didn't even notice she was there. She watched the other man make himself comfortable behind his desk after he closed the door behind them. She decided to stand. While she told herself she stood to stretch from sitting at her desk all day, she knew differently.
She questioned the older man distractedly. Her eyes found Jo and Tootie no longer hugging. Jo was rummaging through tools while Tootie's mouth moved. They stood close, too close for Blair's liking. She sighed reminding herself that she no longer had a claim to the woman, but the part that wouldn't let go was telling her differently.
"I'm sorry that you came all the way here for no reason, but all our paperwork is in order." The sound of paper slapping his desk got Blair's attention. She moved turning her back to the window for the first time since she walked in.
"So it does," she admitted troubled by her father's signature. If he were using Jo as a mechanic then why lie about the innocuous profession? And why was Jo a mechanic? Obviously this was something she didn't mind sharing with Tootie.
"Well at least you're thorough," he tried to make her feel better. He thought it odd for her to be inordinately disappointed, but women were sensitive creatures, even if they were lawyers.
Blair stood holding the file, not looking at the words anymore. Her head lifted expecting to see Jo, but Tootie just stood alone looking down. Returning the folder she her smile was brief stating she could see herself out. When she walked passed this time she made sure that she was seen. Tootie smiled when she saw her and Blair realized where Jo had disappeared.
"Blair what are you doing here?" she queried the smile faltered a little. Blair assumed it was because of a guilty conscience.
"Roughing it," she looked down as Jo rolled out from under the car. The mechanic stood up looking at Blair, but she didn't bother to speak. Tootie followed her, but she kept a careful eye on Blair and her not so congenial smile. "I'm not in the mood Blair," the brunette pointed out straightening up her tools.
The blonde's eyes narrowed, "how convenient," she eyed Tootie and then Jo's back. She could give Tootie a hello hug and not her? Not as if grease and silk went together, she narrowed her eyes on Tootie's sweater stained by Jo's overalls.
"What are you doing here Tootie?" she queried as lightly as she could manage.
"Um…" she started knowing it wasn't her news to share; she looked at Jo, who still had her back turned. "Just visiting," she answered.
"Oh?" Blair glared into Jo's back.
"Is there something wrong with coming by the garage?" Tootie frowned. Blair had been looking her weird, but now she had a tone to match. It was a tone that she wasn't appreciating being directed at her.
The heiress answered in a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. Jo would have seen it if she turned around. Tootie had a clear view of it and couldn't say she cared for it. Something was going on in Blair's head. Blair feigned being concerned by the time leaving the younger woman confused. Jo pushed her frustrations focusing on her indifferent visage. A short visit by Teodor, after Blair left, shed some light on the real reason she stopped by. Jo listened intently even though she looked to be more concerned with cleaning her tools.
When he was out of ear shot Tootie hit Jo's back for her attention, "what was that all about?"
"What?" Jo turned toward her slightly. Blair had figured this much of 'the mystery' on her own. It was a matter of time before she was completely unsatisfied with all her father's excuses and went searching for the truth. She didn't know how she would feel about that. It hadn't crossed her mind until today that she would seek answers. She was always under the impression that the women questioned her father in earnest.
Tootie had noticed the change of Blair's behavior. The looks and the tone added up to something familiar. But the actress had only seen it in other women, who thought she stood in the way of their careers or their men. Jo agreed with the younger woman's reservations. Succeeding against quiet shock Tootie found words again only to marvel how Blair could assume she was a rival.
"I don't get it."
Jo shrugged not understanding it herself. The answers she could offer left holes that only Blair's jaded psyche could fill in and apparently they had. In her head Tootie and she were living in the happily ever after that should have been theirs. Fortunately Blair had only been proactive with making Jo's life a living hell. She never wanted a friend to pay for anything that involved the mistakes she made.
"Just drop it alright?" It came out as a question, but it was a clear cue to end the conversation.