After All (17 page)

Thomas stood over her. “Maybe so. But I
don't intend to go anywhere. Somehow I'm going to find a way to
knock some sense into Dominic before he’s turns into a crook just
like... “ Thomas bit off the words.

Annette’s defiance flared back when she
saw his expression, a combination of pain and anger.”Just like who,
Tommy? I dare you to say it,” she hissed.

Thomas strode from the room.

“
It isn’t true. Why won’t
you believe me?” she screamed after him. “Thomas!”

Chapter 7

“
Screw the District
Attorney.” Ike Batiste reared back in the expensive leather
captain's chair behind his desk. Propping an ankle on one knee, he
puffed on a cigar.

“
I don't know, Ike. This
time they say he's on to something. Word is out.”James Bridges
blinked in the cloud of smoke enveloping them.

“
Ike's right, James. Connely
has been sniffing around for years trying to get something on us,”
Buster Wilson said. His title of property manager did not begin to
describe the varied tasks he was assigned. Having worked for Ike
for twenty years, he handled those few delicate duties Ike trusted
to no one else.

“
But I hear he's been
looking through invoices and work orders. Even records of rents
collected over a four year period.”Bridges twisted his gold tie pin
nervously.

“
So what? He's done that
before, too. Listen, there ain't no way he can find anything.” Ike
waved dismissively.

“
You got Charlotte under
control, right?”Buster cocked an eyebrow at Bridges.

“
Sure. She knows what to do,
but I still don't like it. We ought to do something about those
ex-cons. Charlotte is even getting scared to say anything to
them.”

“
I took care of that.”Buster
nodded.

“
How?”

“
Let's just say Buster had a
little heart to heart with the maintenance supervisor. He knows
what to do with those men that can't get with the program.” Ike
smiled wickedly.

“
He'll stop the drug dealing
and strong arm tactics I hope.” Bridges tugged at his
collar.

“
Bridges, be real. That
stuff has been goin’ on in the projects for years. Nah, Mason will
keep it at an acceptable level so as not to unduly attract police
attention. Long as it doesn't spill into the middle-class parts of
town or make the news too regular, they would just as soon stay out
of there.” Buster brushed lint from his cashmere jacket.

“
And you think the DA won't
be able to come up with anything?” Bridges turned hopeful eyes to
Ike.

“
I'm tellin’ you, man,
relax. It's gonna end up like always: after a few months he'll be
buried under a lot of facts that don't add up to anything.”Ike sat
forward.”Now what about this new contract? Charlotte tells me the
feds are sending some money down to renovate old
houses.”

“
Charlotte called you
directly?” Bridges frowned slightly.

“
We were talkin’ about this
other job I got for a friend of mine and she mentioned it. Now
here's what I've been thinkin’, those old houses I own downtown
would be perfect. What with them developing down there, more and
more of the young professionals are moving in those neighborhoods.”
Ike pulled out a map of downtown.

“
But if you get that money,
you're supposed to rent the renovated units to low income, elderly,
or disabled tenants,” Bridges said.

“
True, but the regs or so
full of holes you can drive a truck through 'em. We can legally
rent or sell those houses at premium prices.” Ike looked up at
him.

“
I don't understand.”
Bridges stared at the map.

“
The regs don't specifically
say the elderly or disabled have to be low income for one
thing.”Ike grinned.

“
Yeah, and if the landlord
can document that rentin’ to a low income family causes him a loss
on the property over time, you can pay the money back at a only
nine percent interest.” Buster shrugged.

“
But listen to this, so many
smart operators are takin’ advantage of the program that the feds
don't have nearly enough staff to keep up with it all. So what
happens? Nobody is checking to see if they're even following the
regs. I got a pal in New Jersey who's rentin’ houses for as much as
$950 a month. No old people, no disabled people, damn sure no poor
people.” Ike grinned in admiration of his friends’
cunning.

“
Easy money.” Buster ground
out his cigarette.

“
I don't know, Ike. Maybe we
better not push our luck any more than we have to.” Bridges shifted
around in his seat.

“
Settle down, James. Things
are fine and they're gonna stay that way.” Ike took his elbow and
ushered him to the door. “You just go on back to your office and
forget about Connely. Everything gonna work out. Bye now.” He
beamed at a still frowning Bridges before closing the
door.

Buster stood with his arms folded.
“Ain't never seen James that uptight before. Think he's right?
Maybe we should be worried about the DA.”

“
Nah, James just gettin’
jumpy in his old age,” Ike said.

“
I dunno. Connely's
investigators are askin' a lot of questions, but it's different
this time. Sorta like they know what they're lookin' for, but they
ain't gonna go directly to it. I can't put my finger on what it is
though.” Buster stuck a slice of gum in his mouth.

“
They’re fishin'. All we
gotta do is keep our heads and don't do anything stupid. Besides, I
got a little bit of insurance.” Ike blew out smoke
rings.

“
What kinda
insurance?”

“
A certain young lady
workin' in the DA's office is keeping me well informed. That's how
I know what to tell Charlotte about her records.”

“
Damn, Ike. You better hope
all them ladies don't ever get together to compare notes.”Buster
gave a short bark of laughter.

“
Not hardly. Besides, my
interest don't depend on either one of them. Remember what I've
always said, Buster; don't get into to anything with anybody that
has less to lose than you, and always have a plan B.”Ike tapped
ashes from the end of his cigar into a large ceramic
ashtray.

***

“
Not another delay. I don't
know how much longer I can stall my bosses, Greg.” Michelle's
finger tapped rapidly on the table.

“
Can't you keep doing
stories on people in the projects and houses? They’ve been real
good.” Greg stared at her apprehensively.

“
That was okay for a while,
but it's all about ratings. Scandal and criminal wrongdoing make
for good ratings. Now what's the problem?” Michelle pushed back a
section of her thick hair.

“
For some reason Miss
Kinchen has been real careful 'bout the records. She kept putting
off letting anybody touch 'em but her. My friend says she was real
tense for a couple of weeks, almost like she knew something was
gonna happen. You didn't tell nobody what we were planning? With
the work orders and invoices I mean,” Greg whispered.

“
Greg, please.” Michelle
gave him an admonishing look.

“
Yeah, sorry. But something
made Miss Kinchen nervous for a while. Anyway I'm supposed to call
my friend at home now so maybe we'll get good news. That's why I
wanted to meet you later than usual. Be right back.” Greg got a
quarter from his shirt pocket and headed for the pay phone tucked
in a corner of the restaurant.

Michelle sat sipping a small cup of
coffee staring out into the dark through the wide window. A steady
stream of customer came in for takeout orders leaving with bags of
hamburgers and French fries. Michelle was not the least bit
tempted. With Thanksgiving approaching, she fully intended to watch
her diet now so she could indulge herself later. A couple entered
with their arms draped around each other's waist. Michelle watched
them scan the menu, faces close together as they decided what to
order. Thoughts of the last few weeks with Anthony filled her mind.
She could almost feel his arms pressing her body, smell the spicy
odor of his skin. Before the sight of a loving couple would have
caused her to turn away, not wanting to acknowledge what she was
missing. Now she smiled in anticipation of seeing Anthony
later.

Greg spoke into the phone quietly but
gave her a thumbs-up sign. He was nodding as he turned his back to
her. Michelle's bright, happy thoughts dimmed to foreboding. The
information Greg's friend would give her might cool the blissful
warmth she and Anthony had worked so hard to restore.

Greg came back and sat down. “Tomorrow
she's supposed to start organizing all of the files, including work
orders and invoices. She says Miss Kinchen has been in a better
mood for the last couple of days. She asked my friend to work on
the files today. They'll be sending all of 'em over six months old
to be stored at the warehouse.”

“
Oh.”Michelle looked
down.

“
Hey, I thought you'd be
glad. A few minutes ago you were upset because nothin’ was
happenin’.”

“
No, I mean I am glad.”
Michelle smiled tentatively. “At least now I can get Jason, the
king of jerks, off my case.” Pulling on her large shoulder bag, she
got up from the booth.

“
I'll be in touch as soon as
she tells me the first package is ready.” Greg waved goodbye as he
drove away.

Later that day Michelle sat in the
producer's office. Jason was behind Lockport's desk as though he
wanted to make sure she knew he was figuratively as well as
literally closer to the seat of power than she. Michelle made an
effort not to make a snide remark.

“
Frankly, Mr. Lockport, I
don't think we should waste any more time on this. Obviously the DA
hasn't come up with anything. If they had Connely would moving
forward with a grand jury.” Jason lifted a shoulder.

“
The DA isn't stupid, Mr.
Lockport. He's not going to blab about his investigation and give
those folks a chance to destroy evidence or intimidate possible
witnesses. Just because he isn't sending out press releases doesn't
mean he has nothing.” Michelle pointedly ignored Jason.

“
Connely is a politician who
loses no opportunity to show the public he's cracking down on
crime. Believe me, he would have been talking by now.” Jason
propped a hand on the back of Lockport's chair.

“
He's a smart man who knows
that talking too soon or moving on a case with flimsy evidence
means egg on his face. Not good for an elected official, especially
with an election coming up in only six months.” Michelle continued
to look at Lockport.

“
How much longer before you
can look at those documents from your source?” Lockport's fingers
formed a steeple in front of his face partially hiding his
expression.

“
Two, three weeks at most.”
Michelle's lips twitched in an effort not to smile. He was hooked.
But Lockport liked to think he made decisions based on his own
intuition. It would not do to look self-satisfied now.

“
And you feel confident
about your source's ability to deliver?” Lockport lowered his
hands. He regarded her with an iron gaze.

“
Definitely.” Michelle did
not bat an eye.

“
Go with it.” Lockport
nodded curtly then turned his attention to other
matters.

Although Lockport began questioning him
about a series on the police department, Jason's eyes were still on
Michelle. Giving him a sassy wink, she left the room with jaunty
step. But out of his sight, her confidence sagged. There were long
hours of hard work ahead without any guarantee she would be able to
live up to her words. Michelle offered up a silent prayer that her
source would not get frightened and fail to deliver.

***

For the next three days Michelle
gathered information about hazardous conditions in four of the
largest low rent housing projects. LaWanda, through her network of
tenants groups, was able to provide her with more than a few good
leads. Michelle had a plotted out a grueling schedule by the end of
the week.

Earl threw down his notebook in
frustration. “Say, Michelle. You mind if the rest of us get video
for our stories, or is Bob under exclusive contract to
you?”

“
Don't whine, babe. It's so
unattractive.” Michelle continued to tap on her
keyboard.

“
Listen ace reporter, some
of us are working on important stories, too. My piece on riverboat
casinos and river safety needs footage. How am I going to get
it?”

Bob doubled up working the camera in
the studio on some newscast and going out with reporters with a
mini-cam. He had the most experience of the three cameramen
employed by the station. The least experienced and least liked,
Robert C. Mansur III was working his way up to be their boss
someday.

“
Use Trenton-- no Gracie has
him booked. I bet Junior is free.” Michelle just managed to keep a
straight face though she knew how he would react to her
suggestion.