No time of the week is lonelier than a Sunday morning at four. Lucinda and Jake were grateful for each other’s company on the quiet streets. The only signs of life were feral cats that ran and hid at the slightest provocation.
They talked at length about the status of the cases foremost in their mind. Would Martha Sherman be released from prison on Monday? Would Mack Rogers ever be found and arrested? Would Chris Phillips walk away from his crimes and, God forbid, end up as their elected congressman once again? Would Charley ever be cleared and how would the experience change her? They shared their hopes and fears about outcomes in each one. Jake tried to help Lucinda cope with the guilt she felt over each situation.
When they ran out of thoughts to share, they sat in companionable silence until Jake broke it. ‘Lucinda, I’m not telling you what to do and it won’t make any difference to how I feel about you; but I really think it would do you a lot of good to get the final surgical procedure done.’
‘I’ve been thinking about it, Jake. But one thing stops me every time.’
‘What’s that?’
‘I am afraid that after it’s done, Dr Burns will say that I need just one more. I don’t think it will ever be over.’
‘You’ll never know if you stall out now. And listen, I’ll be at the hospital, waiting for you to come out of surgery. I’ll be there by your bed when you wake up. I’ll come to stay with you, if you’ll have me. I’ll run your errands, make your meals and if you get tired of my cooking, I’ll pick up some take-out. I want to be there for you.’
‘Shoot, you do that and next thing you know I’ll get used to it and expect you to move in.’
‘Would that be so bad, Lucy?’
She looked at him, trying to assess his seriousness. ‘My place is too small for the two of us. Sometimes, it seems too small for me and Chester.’
‘My place isn’t any bigger. Maybe we should both find another place.’
A sharp intake of breath from Lucinda indicated her alarm at taking the relationship to the next step. ‘I don’t know, Jake. I don’t know if I’m ready.’
‘Sometimes, Lucy, you just need to take the risk and hope for the best.’
‘Well, as my ex-mother-in-law put it, I’m easy to like on an occasional basis but once someone knows me well, I’m poison.’
‘She’s a fool and her son is a liar.’
Lucinda laughed. ‘How about if I just think about the surgery first? If I go through with it, I’ll take you up on the offer of temporary live-in servitude. Now, do you really think Rogers is ever going to show up?’
Before he could answer, Lucinda’s cellphone rang. It was her brother Ricky. ‘Hey, bro, what’s up?’
‘I just got back home from bailing Lily out of jail.’
‘Lily? She was arrested? For what?’ Lucinda turned to Jake and mouthed, ‘My brother Ricky’s wife.’
‘Assault. Our dear sister Maggie filed charges.’
‘Oh, dear. Start at the beginning, Ricky. How did this happen? Jake’s here with me, do you mind if I put you on speakerphone?’
‘No, not at all. Hey, Jake!’ Ricky said. ‘Well, we saw Maggie’s little television performance and we were both pretty ticked off. Honestly, I just wanted to pretend as if she didn’t exist, but Lily insisted we go over and tell her to cut it out. So we did.
‘I started out being really diplomatic and trying to convince her that the attack on you didn’t specifically matter to me, but you do know it does, right?’
‘Yes, Ricky. I know.’
‘Well, anyway. I wanted to make her think that I believed having a sister like you reflected on me – and on her – and she was making us all look bad. Maggie wasn’t buying it. Lily was keeping quiet. Then Maggie said, “Our piece of shit sister”, sorry, Lucinda but that’s what she said.’
‘I know, Ricky. Go on.’
‘Anyway, she said, “our piece of shit sister shouldn’t be allowed to use her badge to abuse people. She should be locked up for the rest of her life. And I won’t give up until that happens”. I guess that was a bit too much for Lily. She got up in Maggie’s face and said, “That woman saved my life. She saved your brother’s life. And a long time ago, she saved both of you from the worst of it when your father shot your mother and then himself. Where is your gratitude?”
‘And Maggie had to put in her two cents. She said, “We’d all have been a lot better off if Dad just shot Lucinda instead”. Lily’s response was to throw all of her weight into a shove that sent Maggie flying across the room. She hit her head on the edge of the fireplace mantel and boy, did the blood flow. Don’t think it was that bad of a cut but you know how head wounds bleed.’
‘Then what did you do?’
‘The second Maggie got to her feet and started roaring at us, I grabbed Lily and got out of there. We went home and about two hours later, a couple of deputies were at the door. They cuffed Lily, put her in the back of the car and took her over to the county jail.’
‘Is there anything I can do, Ricky?’ Lucinda asked.
‘For another one of your wife’s breakfasts, I’ll do anything you need,’ Jake added.
Ricky laughed. ‘You can come on out for breakfast any time, Jake. Lucinda, the lawyer said if we go to trial, we might need you to testify, but he’s hoping it won’t come to that. He said usually these family things can be worked out. I’m not sure I want it “worked out”. You ask me, Lily’s reaction is normal – it’s been building for a long time, thanks to our sister’s continued provocation. Maggie’s out of control. Something needs to be done.’
‘But what, Ricky? What could we possibly do?’ Lucinda said as she watched an angry woman in a tight spandex skirt move across the parking lot as quickly as her garment would allow. When Lucinda realized she was heading for the car, she said, ‘Listen, Ricky, something’s happening here. I have to run. I’ll catch you later.’
The woman’s fist hammered on the passenger side window. Jake rolled it down and the woman said, ‘You cops?’
So much for our undercover presence, Lucinda thought.
‘Yeah,’ Jake said. ‘Is that a problem?’
‘You vice?’
‘No. I’m FBI. The lieutenant here is Homicide.’
‘So you’re not here to bother girls trying to earn a living?’
‘No, ma’am,’ Jake said.
‘Well, then, somebody stole my damn car.’
‘From this parking lot?’
‘Well, I live here. Where else?’
‘When did you notice it missing?’
‘It was a couple of days ago. But I thought a friend borrowed it. I just found out she didn’t.’
‘Have you reported it as stolen?’
‘What do you think I’m doing here? Are you sure you’re cops?’
Lucinda tried to suppress her laughter and put her hand over her mouth to hide her spontaneous smile. The woman leaned into Jake’s window and said, ‘What you laughing at, girlie? You better not be laughing at me.’
‘No,’ she said, pointing a thumb at Jake. ‘I’m laughing at him.’
‘Yeah, well, he is a pretty sorry excuse for a cop. Maybe I should be talking to you.’ She backed up and walked around to Lucinda’s side.
Lucinda got out of the car and said, ‘C’mon, let’s sit over on that bench and call it in together.’ Lucinda relayed the details about her car along with the woman’s name and phone number and slid back behind the wheel.
‘A 1998 green Hyundai Elantra – I can hardly believe it’s still on the road. Nobody would steal that car unless they were simply desperate to get away. It has to be Mack Rogers. He’s not coming back for his truck, Jake.’
‘Damn, I guess we’ll have to start looking for her ride and hope we find him with it. Did you emphasize the importance of finding it?’
‘Yeah, they’re sending it out to all the patrols as we speak. We’ll find him.’
‘I still don’t feel right abandoning the truck.’
‘You could just tow it in.’
‘Yeah, I think I’ll keep the watch up for another twenty-four hours first.’
‘You love stake-outs that much?’ Lucinda asked.
‘With you, I do.’
‘Don’t start, Jake. I already agreed to a temporary living arrangement with you after my surgery – don’t push your luck.’
Jake pressed his lips together and held his hands up, palms out.
‘Jeez, Jake, you’re even more juvenile than I am. If you do the little girly thing miming that you’re locking your lips and throwing away the key, I’m getting out of this car and walking home.’