After All (46 page)

Lockport rubbed his chin and stared out
of the large window at a tug boat slowly pushing four barges along
the river. He turned back to her wearing a resigned expression.
“What can I say? I let Jason and that jittery lawyer convince me
when I should have listened to my gut instinct. But listen young
lady; this is a tremendous opportunity for you. You'll get
exposure, a regular feature, and the chance to fill in as anchor at
least one weekend a month. How about it?”

Michelle formed a steeple with her
fingers. “Let me think it over. Of course, I may only work
part-time since I have my radio show twice a week now.” She
expected him to balk at the idea.

Lockport nodded slowly with a large
satisfied smile. “We can certainly work with you on that. You'll
get in touch with me, let's say by Thursday?”

Michelle stood up. “Definitely.” She
gave him a firm handshake before leaving. Once the door closed
behind her, she did a little victory dance in the hall.

***

Michelle sat with Anthony in her
apartment listening to music and having a glass of wine. She told
him every detail of her meeting with Lockport over dinner,
relishing the feeling of triumph once again.

Anthony put his arms around Michelle's
waist. “That's fantastic, honey. I'm just sorry you had to suffer
such a humiliating experience because of me.”

Michelle drew away and looked at him in
surprise. “You didn't have anything to do with my being
suspended.”

“
But either Uncle Ike or
Marcus did. Probably both.” Anthony glowered.

Michelle placed her hands on his
shoulders. “Now look, don't start accepting blame for everything
they do. You of all people shouldn't feel guilty.”

Anthony sighed. “I do though. Chances
are one of them picked up on something I said and used it. I was so
dumb to keep defending Uncle Ike all those years. It's like I had a
part in every dirty trick he's pulled.”

Michelle rubbed his cheek. “Loving and
supporting your family isn't a crime. It's hard when someone you
love dearly lets you down. But, honey, Ike made his own
choices.”

Anthony touched the smooth flesh of her
lips with the tip of his tongue. “Have I told you how marvelous you
are

“
Yes, but you get bonus
points for repeating yourself.” Warmth spread through her at the
sensation of his rising passion. She lifted her mouth to receive
him once more. The annoying sound of the doorbell somehow filtered
through the velvet haze of sensuality that enveloped
them.

“
Better get that,” Anthony
mumbled without taking his lips from hers.

Michelle whimpered softly. “Hmm,
they'll go away if we keep quiet.” Her hands traveled the length of
his muscular body.

“
Say, Toussaint! Open up!”
Earl pounded on the door. “We know you're in there.”

Michelle groaned. “I forgot. Earl and
Gracie called this afternoon to say they were coming over.” She
wore an apologetic smile.

“
It's okay.” Anthony leered
at her. “When they leave, you're mine.”

“
I'm going to hold you to
that, mister.” Michelle was still giggling when she opened the
door. “Quit all that racket and get in here.” She swung the door
wide to let them in.

Gracie came in first. Her eyebrows shot
up when she saw Anthony sitting on the couch. “Hello
again.”

Earl strolled in with a knowing smirk.
“Hey y'all, what's up?” He slapped hands with Anthony in greeting.
“Uh, we're not interrupting anything I hope?”

Anthony's even white teeth flashed.
“It's cool, man.”

Earl winked at him. “All right, all
right.”

Michelle reached out to box his ears
but missed when Earl ducked. “All right nothing. Sit down and
hush.”

Michelle got them all tall glasses of
iced tea. After setting a tray of nuts and corn chips out for
everyone to munch on, she sat next to Anthony on the
sofa.

“
Congrats are in order on
the professional front I hear. Way to go, Michelle.” Earl gave her
a thumbs up sign.

“
Yeah. We know things went
well because Jason has been a foul mood. Success is the best
revenge.” Gracie slapped palms with her. “Even better, he had to
fetch your coffee,” Gracie crowed.

Michelle laughed. “Not even making
Lockport admit he screwed up topped that.”

“
So are you coming back?”
Earl asked.

“
Part-time. I don't want to
give up the talk show at WDUP or freelance writing. Being on
television isn't the big thrill it used to be.” Michelle lifted a
shoulder. “Lockport is right about one thing though, I want the
exposure. But more for what it can do for our community than my own
career.”

“
Good for you,” Gracie said.
“Besides, don't rule out being a big wheel in the television
business. You got the right stuff.”

Anthony placed a hand on her knee.
“Look at what you were able to do for the public housing
tenants.”

“
I'd still like to get my
hands on whoever stole my notes,” Michelle said. “That was my
favorite purple folder,” she pouted.

Anthony glanced at her sharply. “Did
you say purple?”

“
Yeah, it had deep pockets
that held plenty of papers. And it was easy to spot in that
landfill I called a desk,” Michelle grinned. “Why?”

“
Nothing.” Anthony grew
quiet and thoughtful.

“
Well, that little plan
backfired. Channel Six jumped on the trail you uncovered and dug up
as much dirt as you did.” Gracie took a healthy swig from her
glass.

“
Yeah, that bee hive is
still buzzing from the lick you landed on it. Word is things are
very uncomfortable for Lonnie Mason right about now.” Earl grabbed
a handful of peanuts.

“
Speaking of which, what did
you find out?” Michelle sat forward.

Earl wiped his hands on a napkin and
swallowed hard. He reached into his inside jacket pocket and pulled
out a worn note pad. “Lemme see... here it is. Lonnie's old
classmate from Angola State Penitentiary, Jeron “Sweet” Glasper, is
serving twenty years for armed robbery. He was a member of the Park
Boulevard Posse before he got sent away. Lonnie was released on
good time and got a job with the Authority through that prison
outreach program.”

“
Ike is on the board of this
non-profit agency to help `re-integrate ex-offenders back into the
community. ’Marcus met Lonnie when he started working there. Lonnie
hooked him up with Tia Sanders,” Michelle explained to
Gracie.

Earl nodded. “Right. Now guess who Troy
Quarles used to hang with when he was a young drug dealer in
training?”

Michelle snapped her fingers. “Jeron
Glasper.”

“
Right again.” Earl pointed
an index finger at her. “There's the connection to Lonnie. Troy was
probably ripping off some of the product for his own business on
the side. But Troy also had a coke habit. Seems he started sampling
the product within the last year and as we all know, a coke habit
is very expensive.”

“
Great work, Earl.” Michelle
clapped his shoulder. “What else? You said something on the phone
about how we can connect with the police to be sure they take us
seriously.”

Earl hesitated, tapping one foot, then
cleared his throat. “Um-humph, I took the liberty of inviting
Detective Majors over here.”

Michelle jumped up. “You did what? Earl
has lost his mind! Have you lost your mind?”

Earl flinched back into the cushion of
the loveseat. “Hey, he went to school with my older brother. He's
an okay dude.”

Michelle huffed for a few moments.
“That okay dude tried to charge Anthony with murder.”

“
Calm down. The man is just
doing his job.” Earl held up both hands to ward off her
wrath.

Anthony stood to put a hand on her arm.
“He's right, Michelle. Majors only questioned me based on what he
had to go on. With the link to me and a tip that I was doing
business with Troy, he had to talk to Cedric and me.”

The door bell caused them all to start.
Michelle eyed Earl. “You better be right, Earl Elvis Gaines.” She
stomped to the door.

“
Elvis? No wonder you
refused to tell anybody your middle name! Wait until I get back to
the station,” Gracie hooted.

Earl blew air through flaring nostrils.
“Thanks a lot, Toussaint. Mouth of the south here is going to tell
the whole world.”

Michelle threw him a look devoid of
sympathy. “Serves you right.” She jerked the door open.

“
Good evening, ma'am. Is
Earl Gaines here?” The burly detective dipped his head a little at
Michelle.

Earl went around her and stuck his hand
out. “Detective, come on in.”

Michelle raked the detective with a
critical gaze as he passed. He entered without appearing to notice
her hostility. Majors seemed vigilant yet at ease at the same time.
He stood just outside the enclosure created by the living room
sofa, chair, and loveseat. “Evening, Mr. Hilliard. Ma'am.” He
acknowledged Gracie.

Earl bounced on the balls of his
feet.”You want something, Detective Majors?” He approached the
counter where Michelle had left large bottles of cola.

Michelle glanced at Earl sideways.
“I'll get it.”

“
No thanks,” Majors said in
clipped tone. “You have information regarding the Troy Quarles
murder?” He looked at each of them in turn.

Earl fumbled for his note pad again.
“Lonnie Mason was in prison with a guy named Jeron ‘Sweet’ Glasper;
a member of the Park Boulevard Posse.”

Detective Majors crossed his arms over
his immense chest. “Who got him in the outreach program. He got a
job with the Housing Authority which is where he met Tia Sanders
and Troy Quarles. We know all that. Contrary to what you see on TV,
we aren't dumbbells who can't see a clue unless some clever amateur
detective points to it.”

Michelle faced him with a grimace.
“Then why haven't you dragged them in for questioning,” she
exclaimed.

Majors turned to her. “Because it isn't
enough. Quarles knew lots of people with criminal
records.”

“
But you have to admit, it's
a connection to known drug dealers,” Michelle broke in. “Anthony
has no criminal record and no other connection to drug
trafficking.”

Majors studied Anthony for a long
moment. “True enough. All I can tell you is that we're keeping all
avenues open. We're following up on a couple of interesting
leads.”

“
What does that mean?
Anthony is walking around under a cloud of suspicion. You should
make it known if he isn't the main suspect anymore.” Michelle
stabbed a finger at him.

Anthony gazed at Majors with a
thoughtful expression.” Chelle, be cool.”

“
But, Anthony,
he--”

Earl picked up Anthony's cue. “Yeah,
Michelle. The man's got a job to do. Thanks for everything,
brother. Take it slow.” He tapped fists with Majors.

Anthony did the same. “See you,
Detective.”

Michelle and Gracie watched their
exchange with puzzled faces. They looked at each other and then at
the three men. Majors turned around before leaving. His granite
face transformed when he gave Earl a small smile.

“
Tell that brother of yours
he owes me a re-match on the court. And I'm going to whip his butt
next time.” He waved goodbye.

Michelle stood with both hands on her
hips. “What was that all about?”

Earl looked at Anthony who lifted a
shoulder.

“
Don't tell me it’s some
kind of `man thing' we women wouldn't understand,” Michelle
retorted.

Anthony shook his head slowly. “No,
baby. The man can't tell us certain things. He's looking to nail
Lonnie and his pals, including the Park Boulevard
Posse.”

“
He's on their trail all
right. The police want to keep them guessing. You know, psych them
out,” Earl added. “It's a mind game. They're going to be on edge.
Criminals are naturally suspicious. Pretty soon, they're going to
be wondering about each other.”

“
Which means turning on each
other.”Anthony sat down on the sofa again.

“
Which means somebody is
either going to talk or make a stupid mistake.” Earl slapped hands
with Anthony before sitting on the loveseat. “Somebody is going
down real soon, man.”

“
Sounds like it.” Anthony
crossed one ankle on his knee.

“
Unbelievable.” Gracie fell
into the chair next to the sofa.

Michelle threw up both hands. “You mean
to tell me you got all that from `We're keeping all avenues open'?”
She imitated the detective's basso voice.

Gracie blinked in confusion. “Where was
I when all this information came out?”

Earl laughed. “Ladies, the man already
knows about the connection between Troy, Lonnie, and the gang. He
told us that.”

Anthony nodded in agreement. “They've
got the resources to track down those bums no matter where they
hide.”