Secrets and Lies (10 page)

“Thena, what’s the emergency?”

“I…I need you to come get me.”

“Thena, I’m working.”

“Please,” she could hear the tears in her own voice. “I don’t know who else to call and they won’t let me leave unless somebody comes to get me.”

“Where are you?”

She heard the concern peak in his voice. “In jail,” she said sheepishly, hoping he wouldn’t get angry. After all, he had told her, just yesterday, to let him handle things. But she just couldn’t let the cops losing her mother’s body wait. He had work to do on finding out what happened nearly twenty years ago. The least she could do was figure out what happened two days ago…not even a full two days because apparently the body went missing in the afternoon and it was now…she wasn’t sure what time it was. It was morning when this mess started. She knew she had been locked up for at least two hours, as the captain had directed, so it was probably afternoon by now.

She explained, in as much detail as she could, which precinct she was in and why, before the officer reminded her that her time on the phone was up.

“Thena,” he snapped the one word as if he were on the verge of losing his control over his temper. “I’m on my way.” She heard him mumble something about her not being able to stay out of trouble before the officer took the phone from her hand and hung up the receiver.

“Back in you go,” he pushed her into the cell and locked the door behind her.

“Jeeze, honey. You must have pissed somebody off. Normally they let you make your call earlier than this.” Candy D, that’s what she had called herself when Thena first entered the holding cell, was right. She had clearly made the captain very angry. All the other women had been released already—or maybe they were all in court or something. She and Candy D were the only two who had remained. They brought Candy in the same time they brought her in.

“Are they always like this?”

Candy looked her over. “Your first time, huh? Well, don’t worry. The next time will be easier.”

“Next time?” There wasn’t going to be a next time.

“You must work with one of those high class madams or something. I bet they’ll have you out in no time. Don’t suppose you can put a word in for me. I’m trying to feed my kid and this solo thing isn’t working as well as I hoped. I need higher paying clients so I can pay the mortgage and put food on the table easier than I’m doing it now.”

Candy D thought she was a hooker? Seriously! Did she…well, why not, she shrugged. She was a woman sitting in jail, the same cell that had been full of hookers and junkies up until forty minutes ago, so why wouldn’t she make that assumption?  “Boy or girl?”

“Girl; four years old. This isn’t exactly what I want her to see her mother as, but my rat bastard husband took off last year. I lost my job and well…they threatened to take my house away five months ago if I couldn’t come up with the payments my husband hadn’t been making, even though I thought he was—last time I ever trust a man with the checkbook again.” She shook her head.

“How long have you been working in the new profession?” She tried to curtail her words as not to be offensive. She wasn’t judge, jury and executioner and she had no right to take on the role of all three.

“Four months. I kept trying to find a job. I applied at stores, restaurants, everywhere I saw a building I kept taking in resumes. Nothing came through and I was sitting there one day, looking at the bills, looking at the letter from the bank and I just decided I had to do something. I couldn’t lose my daughter and if I lost my home…anyway, it is what it is I guess. This is my second time being brought in.”

She looked at the curvaceous black woman in front of her. Her ebony skin, short Halle Berry cut hair style, and vivacious almond shaped eyes made her look exotic—like a model. “Aren’t you afraid they’ll take your daughter from you because of this?”

She shook her head no. “You see I’ve never actually been charged. They hold me here for a couple hours; the detective who brought me in lets me leave with the understanding that I will give him a freebie in the men’s bathroom before I go. I hate it, but I do what I have to do. They were going to take Liza Jane away from me before—when the bank was threatening foreclosure…they haven’t come back since I caught up on my payments. I don’t walk the streets or anything like that…” she shook her head. “I…well generally I do the online ad sites and post my ad like it’s a date. I do oral sex, not vaginal, but getting paid makes it the same thing when you’re arrested. I thought the ads were a good idea, but…well, not so much. That’s how I got caught the first time. I went, told him how much it would cost and he flashed me his badge. This last time was sheer bad luck. He was working a case at the hotel where I was meeting my next client…well, let’s just say I didn’t get paid, but I got arrested…he let the guy go so I knew he wouldn’t actually book me…but next time...”

Thena shook her head. The cops at this station were all wacky, crazy, two fries short of a happy meal, nut cases. “Listen,” she went to sit beside her. “I’m not a call girl, so I can’t hook you up with a madam. But do you have any other office skills or anything like that? I mean, what did you do before?”

“I used to be a photographer.” She sighed. “Seems like a lifetime ago. But it wasn’t. And I was damn good too…but with the economy going bust the small company I worked for had to cut back and well…they weren’t exactly going to cut their family members. Some of them weren’t even good. I mean, they cut off building tops, people’s heads…everything, and because they were the son or daughter of a distant cousin they let them keep their job while I lost mine.”

She shook her head. “Well, if you’re interested, I might have a job for you. Something to get you out of this profession. And it’s a laid back atmosphere so if you need to bring your daughter with you that’s fine.”

“I’d clean toilets to get out of this. If anybody would hire me.”

“Well it’s not cleaning toilets,” she smiled warmly. “I’m an architect…well, actually I’m a contractor. I took over my father’s business when he died, but I also wanted to still have my dream of being an architectural designer. I could use somebody with a good pair of eyes to maybe do photos of my work for marketing. But I’d also want your help in the office. It’s the only way I’d be able to have you working for more than a couple weeks a month. If you need to bring your daughter…”

“Oh no, my mother watches her. She’s on a limited income—Social Security; and I know she doesn’t know what I’m doing, but she watches Liza whenever I have to…work.”

She smiled. “Okay, then stop by my office on Monday and we’ll get the paper work done and you can start same day.” She told her where her office was located. It wasn’t as if she could just hand the woman her business card. She didn’t even have her purse. “Can you remember that?”

“Of course.”

“Great. So, Monday, anytime before noon is good. If you’re really interested in staying on I’ll get you aquamated with the contracting side and maybe you can come out on jobs with me from time to time…or meet with clients with me.” She had an assistant already, but that assistant was part time and never went in the field with her. She could afford one more employee…especially if she could manage to grow that employee into another area. It would be a win-win for both of them.

“I can’t believe my luck,” she laughed. “Who knew I’d find a job in a place like this.”

Thena laughed. “Yeah, not exactly what one would expect. Of course I never expected to land on this side of the bars.”

“Yeah, what’s up with that?”

She shrugged, and then she told her about her mother, finding the body, the cops losing the body and the stupid captain throwing her in jail because of his mistake.

“Oh, Lord honey I’m sorry. I couldn’t imagine losing my mom that young and then finding her like that.”

“Yeah…it wasn’t easy on us. I guess in a way I’m glad my dad isn’t alive to see this. I think we always knew she was dead…but some part of us just hoped she was still alive. You know I crafted this idea that maybe some desert sheik wanted her for a wife and one of these days some Special Forces military man would find her and bring her home. As a child it was how I got by. As an adult…I guess I never really believed it would happen, but wouldn’t it have been nice if this ended differently? Wouldn’t it have been nice if she were still alive?”

“Yes it would have. I imagine finding her is like grieving her all over again.”

She brushed a fallen tear off her cheek. “Yeah,” she didn’t know why, but talking to Candy D was so therapeutic. She frowned. “Since you’re working for me now I have to ask. Is Candy D even close to your real name?”

She laughed. “Yes and no. My middle name is Deanne, my first name is Jane. The D is for my middle name and I picked Candy because I thought it seemed sexier than Jane…plus it’s not like I wanted people to know who I really was.”

She shook her head with understanding.

“I actually go by Deanne, so if you don’t mind, when I start working for you, could you call me Deanne, or something like it? I hate going by Jane. It seems so…plain.”

Thena laughed. “Yeah, I get it. And my name really is Thena.” She felt the need to be sure Deanne understood she hadn’t given her an alias too. “Not Athena, just Thena. Thena Davis.” She hadn’t told Deanne her last name in the first round of introductions.

She laughed too. “I got it. Should I call you Mrs. Davis?”

“Miss,” she supplied. “And no. We’re all really informal. You can call me Thena; everybody else does.”

The burly officer with the oversized gut, balding head, and permanent scowl unlocked the door. “You’re out of here, Davis.” Thena jumped up so fast her head almost started spinning. “You too Candy D…I think Detective Manus wants to see you before you go,” he chuckled. That alone told Thena he knew exactly what Detective Manus wanted.

She kept Deanne by her side as she made her way over to Thomas. “Thanks,” she smiled up at him. Relief flickered through her the moment she saw him standing there, but the moment she looked in his eyes she could see he was angry—very angry.

Detective Manus approached. “I’ll give you a ride home Candy D,” he snickered.

“Actually,” Thena chimed in. “Thomas and I are going to give her a ride to my office. It’s on our way. And since she’s going to be working for my office now I might as well get her started on the paperwork.” She noted the hesitation on the detective’s face. “It is very noble of you to want to help her, but she’ll be safe with us. Plus I’d love for her to meet my attorney. He’s a partner in Magnum and Cleason, You may have heard of it; they win so many cases a year…criminal and business.” She smiled, knowing the detective was sitting on edge now. “Good guys,” she added. “Dependable and honest,” she stressed the word honest.”

“I see,” he croaked out.

“Say good bye to Candy D, detective. She won’t be back here.”

He nodded his understanding. As if she was really in the position to make threats…well, it wasn’t a treat really. What he was doing was wrong. Although she was sure if it came down to it Deanne wouldn’t aptly press charges because she’d risk it being public record that she sold sexual services to pay her mortgage and put food on the table.

Thomas took hold of her arm and guided her out the door and to his car. Deanne sat quietly in the back as they drove. Thena could see Thomas gripping the steering wheel. She was sure he was ready to lecture her, but holding it back because of their silent passenger. She wondered how long his temper would hold. She didn’t have to wonder for long because before he even got a block from the station he let loose.

“What were you thinking? First you go off and nearly get yourself killed yesterday.”

“I hardly think they were going to kill me.” Although had they caught her they might have. She just wanted a look around the building to see if her mother’s body really had been taken to their facility. The cops had told Thomas as much…something about not having real proof, but that they thought it probably had been the O’Shea family. They didn’t seem in a hurry to find real proof so she just thought she would help them out.

He cut her a terse look that told her she needed to stop talking now. “Then you pull this stunt. Has it ever occurred to you that one of those cops might be your enemy?”

She shook her head. “I know they’re not my friends, or even good cops,” she noted, “but that doesn’t mean anything…wait, you think they had something to do with my mother’s death?” She asked incredulously.

“No, what I’m saying is dead bodies don’t just get up and walk away, Thena. Somebody carted it out of there and they couldn’t have done that without some inside help. Then you go down there, get yourself thrown in the slammer…”

She giggled.

“You think this funny!”

“Slammer…I thought they only said that in the movies.”

He growled.

“I’m sorry, Thomas I was just trying to help.”

“You don’t help. When are you going to get that through your thick head? You stay out of this and let me do the job you hired me to do.”

“I hired you to find out what happened to my mother nearly twenty years ago, not to find out where the cops have stashed her body. I thought I could help…I’m sorry I tried.”

He blew out an exasperated breath. “You could drive a saint to cursing,” he snapped.

“You haven’t cursed.”