Absolute Corruption: Southern Justice Trilogy

by Cayce Poponea

  “Lainie?” He whispered softly. The only other sound in the room was the beating of our hearts, reaching out to touch the other. Basking in the newness of this relationship. “Can I kiss you, please?”

  Four weeks ago, I wouldn’t have been able to sit here, this close to a man, and allow him to touch me. Could I let him kiss me? When I don’t reply, Austin takes his free hand, and uses his bent index finger to pull my chin closer to him. I can smell the coffee on his breath, and feel the heat of his body, as he closes the distance between us. As if sensing the buildup of nerves and desire, he licks his lips before pressing them gently to mine.

  His graze is soft, patient, and welcome. Although brief and innocent, it’s also a small teaser of possibilities. Austin is a man of extreme passion, a wealth of knowledge, and after the exchanges we’d shared today, the owner of my soul.

  As he moves in again, the patio door swishes open. We turn to see Dylan pocketing his cell phone, a scowl on his face.

  “Sorry to be the motherfucking cockblocker, but that was the pawn shop guy again. Guess who just tried to pawn a ruby and diamond ring?”

  “Nothing too easy, or done too quickly, is going to be right. It takes time to create perfection, whether it’s your tea or the love of your life.”

  “I told her, I couldn’t help her without a valid ID.”

  Dylan explained on the way over, how he had left his information with the pawn shop owner to call him if the girl who tried to pawn our momma’s silver showed up again. In his years as a cop, criminals sometime developed a pattern, going back to certain places if they think they can fence what they steal. This girl, who we both suspected was Harmony, had apparently returned to the shop.

  “She tried to argue, but I pointed at the sign.” Above the gentleman’s head, in bright red letters on a white background, were the words Must Present a Valid Photo ID to Pawn or Redeem. NO exceptions! “She batted her eyelashes at me, and even tried sticking her tits in my face.”

  Gordon Cooper, one of the daytime managers, was a pleasant enough man in his late fifties. With his Grecian formula dark hair, and gold jeweler’s loop, he was ready for a throwback party, or trip to the strip club.

  “She tried to tell me we had bought from her in the past, and never asked for an ID. But we get all kinds in here, one sob story after another.” He waved his hand in the air, a look of disgust on his face.

  “Real shame too, that ring had a Burmese ruby with diamonds around the stone, very rare and very expensive. I would have given her five grand for it.”

  Frustration fueled anger began rising in my chest. Pulling out my cellphone, I scrolled through several emails I had recently received from Chase. Locating the one I needed, I turned the phone to show Mr. Cooper the photo. “Like this one?”

  Chase had confided in me he had purchased a ring from a shop near his base. He asked me not to say anything to Momma or Dylan, saying he didn’t want either one of them to freak out. I, of course, questioned him as to why he was giving her a ring so soon? He explained it was just his promise to come home to her. He planned to replace it with a diamond, once he got out of the Marines.

  “Yep, just like that.” Gordon nodded. “It’s stolen, aint it?” He leaned on the glass counter, looking at the screen as if the ring would pop out of the image, and into his hands. He was practically salivating at the hope of having it in his huge sausage like fingers.

  “No, Sir, it ain’t stolen,” Dylan resolved.

  Gordon let us know the girl had left in an older model Camaro. A Hispanic guy behind the wheel, driving like a bat out of hell. “Did the guy have any markings you’d remember? Tattoos, birthmarks?”

  Gordon pondered for a minute. “As a matter of fact, he had a tattoo of a crown.” Pointing to the side of his neck, tapping the skin three times indicating its placement.

  Judging by Dylan’s reaction to the news, he had an idea of who we were dealing with. “Hey Gordon, do you have security monitoring?” If my suspicions were true, I could compare the footage in the store, to the grainy photo I’ve been studying for weeks.

  “Sure. We have closed circuit. The recorder is locked up in the back.”

  We passed Gordon a few bills for letting us copy the video to a thumb drive I always carry. After again asking him to call us if the girl returned, we jumped back into Dylan’s car.

  “Wanna tell me why you have a picture of that ring in your phone?

  “It’s not what you think, I can assure you.” I hated keeping things from my family.

  “So it’s not a ring for the slut our baby brother is fucking?” Without taking his eyes off the road, he pressed a few buttons on his console. I chose not to answer his question until his phone call was over. Instead, I listened to the ringing coming through the speakers.

  “Carson.”

  “Hey, old man. Tell me if Largo, or Kevin North, is a current guest downtown?”

  “What did the fucker do this time?”

  “He may be in possession of stolen property. Also, check and see if there were any reports of a stolen Camaro recently.” Dylan shifted gears as he moved around traffic.

  “Let me check, and I’ll call you back.”

  Dylan ended the call without saying anything, something Momma would have fussed at him for. It would seem it was time for us to compare notes, to get a better handle on this situation. Where I felt awful for going back on my word to Chase, something told me this went deeper than just some girl on a stripper pole.

  “Chase bought a ring for Harmony, said it was just a place keeper for the real ring he is planning to give her.” Dylan shook his head, pressing the accelerator harder. The speedometer spiking with the increased speed.

  “Who is this Largo?

  “Largo is a street thug we arrested a few months back. He’s a local gang banger wannabe. The tattoo on his neck is a symbol for the Latin Kings. Last I saw him, he didn’t have the diamonds on it. Meaning he hadn’t taken the final step to becoming a full member.”

  Dylan pulled off the highway, headed in the direction of Claire’s apartment. “Hey, Dylan, I need to go to my office, and have a look at this video against the photo of the girl.” I also needed to take a look at Chase’s financial records, to see if any money was being syphoned out.

  “You don’t want to see Lainie first?” He questioned, astonished.

  “I do want to see her, but this is important. Besides, I have to be careful with her, take things at her pace.” I could feel Lainie trembling slightly when I’d kissed her. She needed me to be patient, and I would, no matter how long it took. I would wait for her to be ready for us.

  “When is Chase due back in the states?” Dylan knew when to back off and when to pursue. Lainie was special to me, and had been through a lot lately. Had it been Chase sitting in this seat, talking about Harmony, the situation would have resulted in blood shed and harsh words.

  “Not long.”

  Dylan pulled the car into the parking lot of my building. Just as he pulled into a spot, I looked at him. “Listen, Dylan, don’t say anything to Chase. I can’t prove the ring is the same one he sent to her, and you can’t prove the two girls are the same.” Parking the car, we were just about to open the door, when his phone rang.

  “Morgan.”

  “Largo is not a current guest of the county, but a stolen Camaro was found in Mount Pleasant. We are still processing it for prints.” Dylan slumped his head against the headrest, removed his sunglasses, and tossed them on the dashboard. “Thanks, Carson. Call me with any developments.”

  “You got it, man.”Dylan ended the call, but remained in his seat. He was tired, we both were, but finding the answers we needed overruled hitting the sheets. Something deep inside was nagging, telling me all of this was somehow connected, but how? If it was Harmony who had tried to sell Momma’s silver and now her own ring, what did she have to gain from it? Besides money? If she were to sell the ring, surely Chase would ask her about it when he got back. Lastly, how did this Largo
fit into all of it?

  As we entered the building, Momma was heading out the door, her arm secured around Daddy’s elbow. I kissed her cheek, and let her hug the piss out of me, then Dylan. “I have the best news! Chase just emailed us. He will be back in the states by the end of the week!” I knew what this meant; Priscilla Morgan was about to throw a party. The radiance she normally displayed increased tenfold at the idea her baby boy was headed home. If only she knew a snake waited in his bed, coiled, and ready to strike.

  Daddy reminded her they had an appointment to keep. Pulling her toward the parking lot, allowing us to get to my office, and the answers I hoped to find. Hopefully we could save Chase a world of hurt and ridicule, as Momma would not hold her tongue if she found out someone was hurting one of her boys.

  I slid the thumb drive into the slot, fast forwarding to the location we needed. It would take a minute or two for the program to compare the photos. As I waited, I took a peek into Chase’s bank accounts.

  “Hey, you still play this?” Dylan stood across the room, a chess piece in hand, taking care to set it back gently. “I haven’t since Granddaddy passed. But I plan on taking it over to Lainie’s, and teaching her how to play.” The thought gave me a rush, showing her a part of me I though might die with his passing.

  Chase’s bank had a joke of a firewall. Less than two minutes after I started, I had everything on three screens. Looking through months and months of back bank transactions, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, until about two months ago.

  “Look at this,” I told Dylan, pointing to the numbers on the screen. “Three thousand dollars has been paid to Armstrong Properties in Mount Pleasant.” Dylan pulled his phone back out, his fingers flying across the screen. “Armstrong Properties is a property management group for three complexes here in Charleston. The Grove, Hummingbird Point, and Whippoorwill Valley.”

  I took down another firewall, this time with Charleston Power. It provided me with a little more of a challenge. “Wouldn’t you know it, Chase Morgan has an account with the electric company for a condo in The Grove.” Pretty impressive for a man who is half way around the world.

  “Hasn’t he been looking for an apartment in Parris Island?”

  “Oh, it gets better,” I opened the last webpage. “He has opened three credit cards in the last month, all with Harmony as an authorized user.” Dylan glanced up from his phone, his eyes full of fire. “Tell me you’re fucking kidding me?”

  “Nope, and it gets even worse. Every single one of them is maxed out from cash withdraws.”

  Dylan pocketed his phone, and turned to look at my wall of screens. Staring him dead in the face was nearly thirty thousand dollars of debt. How is that possible?

  “Look at this charge.” Dylan moves closer to the screen, pointing to a charge made four weeks ago. It’s a jewelry designer. The IP address telling me it’s an online company, and probably some back alley shop in Hong Kong.

  “Looks like Harmony purchased something to go with the ring Chase got her.”

  Dylan looked back over his shoulder, “Or copy it.”

  A ping sounded from the recognition program I had comparing the photos from the pawn shop, and the first stolen car. The angle of the closed circuit is terrible, focusing on the merchandise at the back of the store, and is black and white. The first photo is grainy, and I’ll be shocked if we ever identify her.

  “Anything?” Shaking my head in the negative. The angles were just too muted, bringing us no closer to the truth then when we started. It’s completely frustrating. I’m tired, and pissed, and even with all my equipment, I can’t figure this shit out.

  “Come on, let’s go see our girls.”

  It’s the best suggestion I’ve heard all day. I need to get back to Lainie, talk to her about how to proceed from here. Maybe sneak in a few more kisses, minus the interruptions from the outside world.

  I boxed up my chess set. Knowing it will give us time to talk, and give her something else to think about, instead of the craziness in her life.

  “What are you doing?” Dylan has never been the patient one in the family. Being an early riser from the second he was born, the way he sped through everything, included climbing the ranks in his job.

  “I told you I was taking this over to Lainie’s. She wants to learn how to play.”

  Dylan’s smirk made me want to slap the fuck out of him. I tried sampling the waters the way he had, a different girl every day. While the feeling was great, and the sex satisfying, it still left behind an emptiness. Maybe that’s why he stayed with Claire. He finally found a home, filling his own. In his mind, I should head over to Lainie’s, bust down the door, and fuck her until she couldn’t move. But that wasn’t me, and it certainly wasn’t Lainie. We would write our own chapters, live up to standards we create…together.

  Seeing the smile on my girl’s face as she opened the door, made the frustration of lack of answers go away. The sunlight from the window behind her created an angelic glow around her. Although she didn’t need the help of the sun to be an angel, she managed that all on her own.

  “I brought my chess set, I was hoping you had some time to play.” Raising up the box to show her, as she sidestepped to allow me in. I loved her house, with the tall windows and the early Charleston style. She’d confessed she had just moved in a little over a week ago, but you would never guess. Her style wasn’t flowers and fuss, just soft fabrics and comfort. If Dylan could have heard my thoughts, he would have handed me a tampon for my vagina.

  “Are you sure you have time to teach me?” She moved a basket, full of remotes to the side, making an area to set up the board. “It may not be every day, but yes, I have time.” Shooting her an assuring smile, the one she returned would stay with me for days.

  “Have you had supper yet?”

  “No, I usually grab something from a drive thru.”

  “Make you a deal, you get the board ready, and I’ll make us supper.”

  Setting up the board took no time at all. The smells which found their way to me, became too much to resist. Trying like hell not to appear to be a crazed stalker, I peered around the edge of the bar to find Lainie peeling a potato. Back and forth she used the blade to remove the brown peel, her eyes focused on the root vegetable.

  “You know, if you’re gonna stand there and watch me, you can always come in and help.” I wasn’t even embarrassed she had caught me. I could watch her all day. The way her hips swayed to the music in her head, or how she relieved an itch with the back of her hand.

  “You may want to reconsider, I’ve been known to burn water.” Her eyes flashed to mine, as she stopped peeling, dropping the potato into the empty sink. “How did you survive in New York?”

  Laughing nervously, I rounded the wall of the kitchen, not certain I wanted to revisit my time up north. “It was easy, a deli on nearly every street corner, and a different restaurant beside them.”

  She continued with her peeling. “What no girlfriend to bid her way into your heart by way of your stomach?”

  The thought of Keena removing herself from the television screen long enough to open the fridge was quite comical. Detaching herself from anything which didn’t give instant gratification, or something to tweet to her friends about, wasn’t on her radar. My silence gave Lainie the wrong impression, as she began to apologize. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to open a closed grave.”

  I reached over to touch her face, her petite chin soft between my thumb, and index finger. “Keena, the girl I lived with in New York, wouldn’t know how to turn the stove on, much less cook on it.” I lowered my face slowly to hers, searching her eyes for any hint of warning. “She never cared if I ate or even came home, as long as she had cable and a big screen.”

  The timer on the stove gave us the indication that something she was preparing was finished. I ignored the intervals of beeping. Concentrating instead on the pair of lips against mine, soft and supple, with the perfect amount of pressure. Wet fingers skimmed acr
oss the skin above my shirt collar, and into the hair at the back of my neck. Her ample chest pushed into mine, signaling I could deepen if I chose. I pulled her closer, my arms wrapped around her, losing myself in the essence of her.

  “Lainie, the stove has—“A feminine voice breaks the spell, but I refused to let her go. “Oh, God, I’m sorry.” Heidi appeared in the kitchen, silencing the offending alarm. Lainie was first to let go, stepping around me to open the oven.

  “It’s fine Heidi, we were just about to have supper. Are you hungry?”

  I leaned back against the sink because I’m clueless as to what to do. In my time, I’ve been caught by a few siblings, a couple of pissed off dads, and one nearly blind granny.

  “Is Ginger still here?” Lainie continued, as if nothing happened. Maybe this wasn’t the first time she had been caught either,

  “No, her boyfriend had car trouble, and he felt bad because he couldn’t give me a ride home like he promised. So he called me a taxi, and paid for it.” Shrugging, as she starts to cut the rest of the potatoes in the sink.

  Glancing in Lainie’s direction, the look on her face tells me this isn’t welcomed. “Heidi you should have called me. I would have picked you up.”

  Heidi turned back around, her face contorted in anger. “You didn’t sleep much last night and besides,” she nodded in my direction, “you had company.” A mischievous smile formed on her face.

  Soon we were sitting at the bar, a full meal before me. The only woman who ever took this much time to cook a meal for me was my momma. I would never tell her, but Lainie made a meatloaf which would rival hers.

  “So do you need a ride to campus tomorrow?”

  “Nope, Ginger said she would have her car tomorrow. But I do need to give her some money for gas. I mean, she lives all the way over in Mount Pleasant.”

  At her words, I drop my fork, sending it clattering to my plate. “I’m sorry,” I quickly pick up the lost utensil, continuing with my dinner. Heidi smiled the same grin her sister had. My long night and day were suddenly catching up with me.