Read Little Girl Lost 6: The Return of Johnnie Wise Online
Authors: Keith Lee Johnson
Little Girl Lost 6: The Return of Johnnie Wise (15 page)
“Get as many as you need, but I want to know everything there is to know.”
“No problem.”
“What’s she doing right now, Mr. Hatcher?”
“Sleeping, I guess.”
“Mr. Hatcher, if you have to guess, there is a problem, and the problem is you. I’m not paying you to guess. I’m paying you to know.”
Hatcher doused a couple fries in ketchup, and then put them into his mouth. Smacking, he said, “No problem. Consider it done.”
“How many men do you think you’ll need?”
“At least three, possibly four. The trick is to be able to watch her without her knowing, but the problem is that there are other people who will see us and ask questions. We’ve got to eat and sleep, too. We stick out like sore thumbs around here. But we’ll get the job done.”
“And you’ll do it without alerting her to your presence, right?”
“Absolutely.”
“Good. Now what else do you have to report.”
“She’ll be starting a new job tomorrow in a dive called, Lucille’s. She had lunch there earlier today.”
“You don’t say. A job, huh? Then, she really doesn’t have the two hundred and fifty thousand. I wonder what happened to it.”
“Maybe she never had it, sir.”
“Oh, she had it alright. I don’t know what she did with it, but she had it. She may have reinvested or something. I don’t know, but she has that money.”
“Forgive me for asking, sir, but if she has that kind of money, why would she work in a dive like Lucille’s when she doesn’t have to?”
“Perhaps her money is tied up. She’s a very smart girl. She’s not going to touch that money until she has to. Now what time is she supposed to be at work tomorrow?”
“Lucille’s opens at six. So, I’m sure she has to be there before that. I’m thinking sometime between five and five-thirty.”
“What about the boyfriend, Lucas Matthews? What do you have on him so far?”
“The kid’s probably on his way to boot camp. He heard testimony that his girlfriend was sleeping with several white men. That couldn’t have set well with the kid. At some point, Johnnie looked up in the balcony and screamed his name. So, I’m sure the kid heard everything. After hearing that, no man would want any part of her—at least not on a permanent basis. I can put a man on him, too, if you like.”
“No. Leave the kid alone. But if you’re wrong, and he didn’t join the Army, and he comes back into her life, follow him, too.”
“No problem.”
“Good job so far, Mr. Hatcher, but in the future, I want every detail, no matter how miniscule. Go to the Western Union tomorrow, and you’ll have enough to cover your expenses for three weeks. If she leaves Jackson, we’ll make arrangements to pay you and your people wherever she goes.”
“How long do you want her under surveillance?”
“Mr. Hatcher, I want her under surveillance until I don’t want her under surveillance. Do you understand?”
“I do.”
Hatcher hung up the phone and guzzled his Pabst Blue Ribbon. Then, he doused his fries with ketchup again and put them in his mouth. He picked up the receiver and called New Orleans again. “Hawkins, Hatcher here. I need you to get a couple people up here in Jackson pronto . . . yeah at least two. Make sure one of ’em is a female. I think she’ll be able to hide in plan sight much easier . . . no, not tomorrow, tonight . . . right now . . . move your ass!”
Chapter 28
“
You sure you wanna know the ugly truth, Cassandra?”
L
ucas Matthews and Lieutenant Perry had seen
Rear Window,
and now they were in The Blue Diamond Restaurant, sitting in a cozy booth in the back, waiting for their waitress to serve their meal. Throughout the movie, Lucas kept thinking of Johnnie, specifically his first date with her. They had gone to the Sepia to see
A Street Car Named Desire.
He had come a long way since those days. At that time, he didn’t have a car, money, or the apartment he left. Johnnie had to pay for everything until he took the runner’s job Napoleon offered him. Now he had everything Johnnie had the first time he went to the movies with her. He wondered what she was doing now that her house had burned down. He hoped that she had finally left New Orleans. He had no doubt that she would land on her feet, but he wanted it to be in another place; someplace where Napoleon couldn’t reach her. It occurred to him that even though he was over eight hundred miles away from her, she still had his heart, and he wondered if he would ever get over her.
“So, did you think she was pretty, Mr. Matthews,” Cassandra said.
“Huh?”
She stared at him for a moment and said, “Where are you, Mr. Matthews . . . in New Orleans with your former girlfriend?”
“Uh, no. I was just thinking.”
“About?”
“Just thinking.
She rested her back against the booth before saying, “You must’ve really loved her, huh?”
“Who?”
“You know who . . . that woman in New Orleans. What’s her name, so I can at least know who I’m competing with? I had hoped my competition was Grace Kelly. I could compete with her. She’s not a living, breathing rival. She’s just an actress on a movie screen. You have no fond memories of her. I could easily win that battle. But I don’t know that I can compete with a memory.”
He smiled and said, “Is that a sexual overture, Lieutenant?”
She laughed out loud. “Is everything sex with you, Mr. Matthews?”
“Not everything, no, but it has crossed my mind on more than one occasion since we met this morning.”
“Uh-huh. I see.”
“So, the truth easily offends you, is that it?”
“Offended? I’m not offended. I’m just perplexed by the males’ preoccupation with reproduction.”
Lucas recoiled a little and said, “Hey, I never said anything about making babies.”
“Excuse me, Mr. Matthews, but that’s exactly what you said.”
“I never said a word about any babies, Cassandra. Not one word, and you know it.”
“Did you use the word babies, no? But you’ve used the phrase ‘sexual overture’ three times now.”
“So, you’re keeping track of what I say?”
“I am. My father says that not only is a man’s word his bond, but whatever comes out of the mouth of a man reveals what’s in his heart. So, I pay strict attention when I listen to people, especially men.”
He smirked and said, “Hmm, okay, so from what I’ve said, I’ve got babies in my heart, huh?”
“No . . . you’ve got the act of reproduction in your heart. Just the act, Mr. Matthews.”
“Same thing.”
“Exactly.”
The waitress brought their catfish, greens, macaroni and cheese, sweet cornbread, and a couple bottles of Coke. She set it all on the table and disappeared.
Cassandra bowed her head and blessed her food while Lucas watched. When she started eating he said, “I see what this is all about now.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re one of them holy rollers, aren’t you?”
“If you’re asking me if I believe in God, I do, but do you have to believe in God to replicate yourself, Mr. Matthews?”
Lucas exhaled. “There you go again,” he said, avoiding the God question. “I’m not trying to replicate myself. I don’t see what’s wrong with having a little fun.”
“My sister wasn’t trying to have children either, but nine months later that’s exactly what her and her boyfriend did, who by the way, left her as soon as he found out she was pregnant. They made a copy of themselves even though they had no intention of doing so. Now isn’t that an interesting thing, Mr. Matthews?”
“So, that’s what this conversation is about. Your sister has a baby, and you’re afraid you’ll end up just like her.”
She locked eyes with him for a brief second, picked up the bottle of Frank’s RedHot Sauce, shook a few drops on her catfish, and said, “Actually, no, my sister doesn’t have a baby, Mr. Matthews.”
Lucas stopped eating and looked Cassandra in the eyes. “But you just said she has a baby. Now, which is it? Does she have a baby or not?”
“My parents have the baby.”
“Okay, why is that?”
“You know what, Lucas, let’s change the subject. How’s your catfish? Isn’t it divine?”
Lucas nodded. “It’s pretty good, but it’s better in New Orleans.” He ate some of his cornbread and said, “So, why do your parents have your sister’s baby?”
“You sure you wanna know, Lucas?”
“Yeah, I wanna know. Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because the truth can be an ugly thing sometimes. Sometimes it’s better not knowing, I think. Knowing a thing, knowing the truth can be a burden sometimes, ya know?”
“Yeah, it can be, but whatever happened in your family is obviously bothering you. It seems that we both have precious things on our minds that we wish we didn’t. I told you about my former girlfriend.”
“Actually, you didn’t, Mr. Matthews.”
“Oh, so it’s Mr. Matthews again, huh? A minute ago it was, Lucas.”
“Yes. It keeps things
official
until they’re no longer official.”
“Uh-huh. Well,
Lieutenant
, what would you like to know about her?”
She smiled and said, “I wanna know everything there is to know about her. Are you willing to tell me absolutely everything, Mr. Matthews?”
“We could be here all night.”
“Is that a sexual overture, Mr. Matthews,” she said, smiling, looking at her watch.
Lucas laughed. “No, Lieutenant, it isn’t.”
“That’s good to know. The restaurant closes in about forty-five minutes. So, we definitely won’t be here all night. But if you wanna talk, there are places we can go and talk. And no, that’s not a sexual overture, Mr. Matthews.”
“If
I
wanna talk, huh?
Me?
You’re the one who wanted to know everything there is to know about Johnnie.”
“So, that’s her name, huh? Tell me, does this Johnnie have a last name?”
“Yes. Her last name’s Wise.”
“She obviously can’t be too wise if she got involved with your boss, can she?”
“I said her name was Wise, not that she was wise. But the truth is she’s a really smart girl.”
“Is she now? What evidence do you have of that? I mean, besides the brilliant decision to get involved with her boyfriend’s boss. I gotta believe that if you love her as much as you say still, she had to love you, and yet look at her actions.”
“You know what, Cassandra? You don’t know anything about her, okay? You don’t know what he did to make her do what she did with him.”
Cassandra leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table. “So, wait a minute. She actually tried to make a replica of herself with him?”
Lucas cut his eyes to the left.
She folded her arms and leaned back against the booth again. “And you think that was a smart move, huh, Lucas?”
Lucas exhaled hard and said, “You weren’t there, okay? You don’t understand!”
“Touchy. Touchy,” she said, looking into the windows of his soul. “You’re right, Mr. Matthews. So far none of this is making any sense. None of it. Help me understand this nonsense.”
“You sure you wanna know the ugly truth, Cassandra?”
“Yes, Mr. Matthews. I do. Enlighten me.”
“You first. Why are your parents taking care of your sister’s baby?”
