Checkered Past (A Laurel London Mystery Book 2) (15 page)

“How the hell did you get in there already? The church people aren’t ready for you yet.” She pushed me through the checkpoint and let go.

I cringed from the long fingernails she had dug in my arm.

I kept my head down and shuffled my feet, knowing I was almost home free to the library.

“Watch it, asshole!” An inmate walked by and chugged my shoulder with his shoulder, knocking me almost flat on my ass.

“Sorry,” I muttered keeping my head down and picking up the pace.

I didn’t dare breathe until I made it into the library. It was quiet. Too quiet. I looked up and noticed another person was working behind the small desk I could only imagine was a check-out desk.

He was gabbing with another inmate, so it was easy for me to slip into the row Willie had told me about. He said he had put the book back in the romance section because inmates never read the romance novels.

I had to admit, I wasn’t a big fan of the Dewey Decimal System. I ran my finger along the books until I saw the red and gold spine of my favorite book.

“Yes,” I whispered and used my finger to tip
Love in the Time of Cholera
. “Damn.” I rubbed the rare leather-bound copy, saddened I couldn’t smuggle it out of there.

My finger ran down the outside of the spine. I hated to do it, but I had to. I gripped the loose string and began jerking it, freeing the stitches from the book. Two small keys fell out on the floor. I covered them up with my muddy loafers and slid the book back in its spot.

My body flung back when someone wrapped their strong arm around my waist and planted their hand over my mouth. My feet dangled off the ground.

“Hmm. . .I could use a little taste of Laurel London.” The hot breath dotted my neck. “I’ve waited a long time to get in your pants. Who knew it would be when I was at my horniest? There aren’t many girls in here.” His lips seared my exposed neck in a sucking motion as if he were trying to give me a hickey.

I fought like a mad cat, trying to claw my way free. I reached up grabbing him by the head, ripping off his cap, feeling a bald head.

“Bitch.” He dropped me and spat on me. I landed on the ground with a hard thud. My hand felt the keys under my palm. I scooped them up. “What the hell are you doing in here?”

“Johnny,” I slipped the keys in my shoe before I stood up. “I swear to God, I will scream. You will be put in the hole.”

The hole was where the naughty prisoners went.

“I’ll stick it in your hole.” His eyes lowered. “Because you are turning me on in that orange jumpsuit.”

He came toward me again. I stomped on his foot.

“Bitch!” He jerked backward.

“Everything all right?” The inmate I saw working the desk came around the corner.

“Fine,” I muttered in my fake deep voice, not looking up.

“Yeah, fine.” Johnny glared at me.

The inmate must’ve believed it, because he disappeared around the corner from where he had come from.

“What the hell are you doing in here dressed like that?” He wiped some spit from his mouth with his hand. He stared at me with intense hatred. “Does this have to do with pussy Willie Ray Bowman because if it does, you can tell him he has made it a living hell in here for us. And if I get my hands on him before the feds, I’m going to kill him.”

“What do you know about Willie Ray?” I asked as if I was expecting Johnny to tell me something. He owed me nothing.

“Why in the hell should I tell you?” Anger held in his tone.

“Because Sally Bent is dead over it. I have to figure out where he is and bring him to justice before he kills anyone else.” I didn’t dare tell him I was there for Willie, in fear he would tell the authorities.

It would be just like Johnny to get revenge on me. I knew if I got caught aiding and abetting, I’d be in a similar clinker.

“Shit.” He rubbed his bald head, which was weird since Johnny took such good care of his looks and his hair. “Sally was a good girl. I hate to hear that.”

“That is why I’m here.” I swallowed. “I heard the church came here to witness, I knew I had to see you.” I lied. And lied some more. “If I had come here as a visitor to see you, the feds would’ve caught on that I’m doing my own investigation. If I snuck in here with Pastor Wilson, I had hoped to find you.” I tucked a loose strand of hair up in my cap. I had to keep undercover. “As soon as I saw you out in the courtyard, I knew you would do whatever you could to see me.” That part was true. Johnny Delgato had a hard on for me in more ways than one.

His eyes narrowed. He bit his bottom lip, pausing, processing my request.

“Willie was framed from what I have heard since he broke out. Lucky bastard.” He shook his head. “Everyone has been trying to break out of here and Willie Ray Bowman did it.” He chuckled.

“Why was he framed? What value did he have to add? Who framed him?” I threw questions at him. Time was running out.

“Shit, I don’t know. I want to know how he got out.” His face softened. “The rumor is that he walked in on some sort of pay off illegal deal. That’s all I know.”

I looked up at the clock on the wall.

“I’ve got to go before they send the posse out to get me.” I sucked in a deep breath. Johnny wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know. He was as useless as tits on a daddy turtle.

He grabbed my hand when I walked past him.

“I sure would appreciate a conjugal visit from you.” He shrugged, pulling me closer and whispered, “You smell good and aroused me all over again. And I’ll keep our little meeting a secret.”

“I’ll think about it.” I jerked away; eerily aware he was on my heels.

I walked out of the library and slipped back down the hall into a little cove and slipped off the jumpsuit, leaving it there.

“Excuse me?” A correctional officer stopped me. “What are you doing in here?”

He grabbed the pass dangling from my neck.

“Honey, you are in the wrong spot,” he warned. Johnny Delgato stood behind him at a short distance. He blew me another air kiss.

“I needed to go to the bathroom.” I batted my eyes.

“You ventured a little too far.” He pointed through the checkpoint from where I had snuck from. He escorted me over. “Don’t come through here again. Or I can’t promise you will make it out alive.”

He turned around. Johnny leaned up against the wall. His hungry eyes darted through me. The only thing between him and me was the checkpoint.

I shot him the bird. “Fuck you,” I mouthed and walked back in the bathroom to grab my bag out of the stall.

Chapter Seventeen

“Jesus saves.” Sharon Fasa leaned over her little table telling the man with the tattoo of a woman with big boobs on the back of his balding head. I walked by her. “See,” she pointed to the inmate across from her. His eyes were closed. “He’s feeling it.”

Politely I nodded and gave a thin line smile. The man was sleeping. He was snoring.

“It’s about time you got here.” A thin younger man sat at one of my chairs.

“Yeah, here.” I shoved one of the Open Window Magazines across the table. “Read it. Jesus loves you.”

“That’s it?” His dark eyes flashed in an outrage. “Jesus loves me is all you got?”

“Listen,” I leaned forward, my hair fell over my shoulders. I swept it back into a low ponytail using the rubber band that had bound the Open Windows in a bundle to keep my hair back. “I’m not going to give you the low down on all the in’s and out’s of the world or even inside the pearly gates.” I gave a little laugh. “Hell, I’m not sure I’m going to get there. But I do know Jesus loves us.”

It wasn’t like I didn’t believe, but it was mine to own. I didn’t feel comfortable pushing my beliefs on anyone, especially a prisoner who wouldn’t give two cents about what I believe.

“Seriously?” His expression was taut and derisive. He called, “This lady is broken. I need a new preacher lady.” His finger held up high in the air, pointing down on me.

Pastor Wilson and Rita marched over. Pastor Wilson’s brows grew together in an angry expression.

“Shh.” I gave the prisoner a warning. “Fine. Tell me what bible stories made you feel good as a child.”

“Is there a problem here?” Rita asked in her sweet southern voice.

“No, ma’am. I was wrong.” The inmate gave her and me a shit-eating grin. Satisfied with his answer, Rita walked away.

My eyes caught Johnny Delgato still standing on the other side of the checkpoint, looking directly at me.

“That’s better.” The inmate straightened up. “Now, you see my little friend over there.” He nodded behind me to Johnny.

“Jesus,” I muttered. “He saw you in line and had you pick me didn’t he?”

I knew Johnny Delgato was too smart not to let my being here, just be that. He was going to get me one way or another.

“Jesus isn’t here, but I am.” The young inmate shot me a twisted smile. “And my buddy is also your buddy.” His smile deepened. “Now. You are going to help us while we are in here or. . .” He eased back in the chair.

“Or what?” I threatened. What in the hell could they do from behind bars?

“We got people on the outside that would love to do us a little favor or two. And I could use a little of your money since you seems to have extra these days.” He crossed his arms. “And Trixie Turner might get a little visit in the middle of the night.”

I stood up, my chair slamming on the ground and drew my fist.

“You touch her and I’ll knock your ass into next week!” I gritted my teeth.

“Time is up.” Rita rushed over along with a guard holding me back.

“Praise Jesus!” The inmate threw his hands in the air. “She is good,” he told them and slowly got out of the chair. We exchanged glances before the guard took him away in cuffs.

Rita continued to hold on to me, we both watched him leave. Johnny was still standing by the checkpoint. Rita obviously didn’t recognize him with his shaved head.

“I win,” Johnny mouthed with a blank face, not letting me read his emotions.

He didn’t wait around for a response. The guard uncuffed the inmate and he and Johnny walked off.

“I knew it was a big mistake to bring you.” Rita rubbed my arm. “They can’t handle pretty young women, that is why we let the Holy Rollers and Charlie come.”

The rest of the couple hours we were there, they let me sit by myself in the corner by the door. My mind reeled with the words of the inmate.

There was no way someone was going to get to Trixie. I’d be sure of it. How did they know about my money? Johnny was in on the deal with Trigger Finger and no one believed an orphan girl like me was a mobster’s granddaughter, dismissing all the allegations of the blood money. Still, Johnny must’ve believed it.

I made sure I was first on the bus. I was ready to get the hell out of there and back in Walnut Grove city limits. I had gotten what I had come for. I got settled in the back seat but not without getting the wonky eye from Sharon Fasa. She didn’t say a word; she took a seat up front.

The bus trip back gave me time to get the keys out of my shoes and safely in my hobo bag. I also finished unstitching the seam on the pleather seat to make sure it was the bus used to take the orphan kids to school.

My fingers hit what I was looking for. There it was, in the palm of my hand. The half locket Willie Ray had found in the dumpster when Trixie had taken us dumpster diving for some new items behind the K-Mart. He had found a part of the broken locket and used a knife to carve our initials. I knew Trixie would be mad if she saw he took it and not bothered looking for real stuff we could use. I kept it on the bus for safety. Every morning I took it out, rubbed it, put it back and in the afternoon did the same thing.

I had no idea the day we skipped school I would never be back on the bus because after Trixie found out from Gia’s dad we had skipped school, Trixie made me walk to school and gave Derek the truck so he could get a job for after school and learn some responsibilities.

I stuck the locket in my pocket when the bus pulled into Friendship Baptist Church. Pastor Wilson gave a final prayer before we all got off and went our separate ways.  Before I hopped in the Old Girl, I walked across the street straight to Jax Jackson’s office.

“Did I just see you get off the Friendship Baptist Church bus?” he questioned.

My heart skipped a beat; I looked down at my dirty shoes. I gulped. I wasn’t sure how much I could trust Jax and what I could tell him. For one, he was disturbingly attractive. Two, he wasn’t threatening like Willie Ray was. Jax was sensible and hot. Willie was unpredictable and sexy. Both bad boys in their own way. And I was having a hard time differentiating between whom I could trust most.

“I did.” I sucked in a deep breath of air. “That is why I’m here.”

“Are you working on Willie Ray?” He settled his elbows on the desk and steepled his fingers.

“No,” I denied. Over his shoulder, I could see my cell number was on his laptop computer screen. What was he doing?

He looked behind him to see what I was looking at. He pushed the laptop closed.

“I was working on my employee file so Uncle Sam doesn’t come after me.” He smiled.

“Interesting.” I wasn’t buying it. I might not have a college education, but I had street smarts. He wasn’t fooling me. Maybe I didn’t know what he was up to, I was sure I’d figure it out. “I think you have more pressing cases to work on than my file at the moment.”

“Which makes me wonder why you went to Eddyville with the church group when you never step foot into the Friendship Baptist Church, much less witness to someone.”

“I went because Sharon Fasa asked me to. But something bad happened and I need to grab some equipment for my house.”

“What do you mean?” He stood up and walked over carrying himself with vigor and grace.

“I. . .” Any thought of misdoings with my phone number went up in smoke. I had to gather my wits. When he stood near me, my mind swirled with confusion. I wanted to tell him so badly about the keys in my bag. I wanted to open up to him about Willie and the news, but I knew he’d have to tell Eric because he had contracted to help out the FBI. It was his duty. But it wasn’t my duty. “I didn’t know what to expect. When I got there, I looked out the window and made eye contact with Johnny Delgato.”