The Advocate - 01 - The Advocate

by Teresa Burrell

  “But you didn’t?”

  “No. Now I need to find out if Steve was murdered. If it’s within the department, that’s even worse.”

  “Do you have any idea who it is?”

  “I have a pretty good idea, but I can’t prove it. I think it’s Bill Davis, Steve’s partner. They investigated the case together, but Bill seemed real anxious to close it quickly.”

  Sabre thought about the information she had heard from Ruby. She was still torn between telling and keeping her word until Joe said, “If something doesn’t break soon, I won’t be able to continue to work there. The word is already out I suspect a cop of being dirty, and that’s a cardinal sin in the department, not to mention the fact he tried to kill me once. It’s likely it’ll happen again.”

  Though difficult for Sabre to break her word, she believed Joe, and she saw no alternative. She had to trust he would protect Ruby and Alexis. “Joe, I might be able to help.”

  “I doubt it, but I appreciate the offer.”

  “No, I mean I have some information that might be of use to you.”

  “What is it?”

  “First, you have to promise you’ll protect the people involved.”

  “Absolutely.”

  Sabre told him about her conversation with Ruby. She reiterated the threats made against Ruby if she told anyone and about Ruby going to the police, only to see Steve’s partner with one of the thugs. She gave Joe the description of the cop, as Ruby had given it to her. It matched Bill Davis.

  “Sabre, you are my guardian angel! You may have saved my life, kid. I promise I’ll do everything within my power to make sure Ruby is safe. We now have the missing link. This gives us enough to go to Internal Affairs. They’ll obtain the information from Ruby, and they’ll protect her. Internal Affairs is relentless when it comes to cleaning up the department. This will probably re-open Steve’s accident as well. IA will want to know if there’s any connection, and I bet they’ll find one.”

  “Well, you’re welcome. I hope it helps,” Sabre said, hoping her trust had been correctly placed.

  “You did the right thing. You won’t be sorry,” Joe said.

  “I hope not,” Sabre said, as she hung up the phone. “I surely hope not.”

  Sabre phoned Marla to let her know Honey was not with Adelle. “Oh, my God,” Marla said. “Where is she?”

  Sabre knew her question was rhetorical, but she answered anyway. “I don’t know.”

  “I’ll see what I can find out from Peggy and Gaylord. I’ll let you know.”

  Marla took Wayne, a senior associate, with her to question Peggy and Gaylord. She didn’t really want to be alone with either of them, and she wanted a witness in case one of them said something incriminating. She decided to drop in to catch them as unaware as she could.

  Marla knocked on Peggy’s door. Peggy opened it before her knuckles hit the door the second time. The look on Peggy’s face indicated her disappointment. “Oh,” she said. “What’s up?”

  “We need to talk to you. Can we come in?”

  “Actually, I was just leaving,” Peggy said, obviously lying.

  “This won’t take long,” Marla said, as she stepped inside. Turning to her associate, she said, “Peggy, this is Wayne, my supervisor.”

  “Hello,” Peggy said, but turned anxiously toward the door so she didn’t see Wayne extend his hand to shake hers.

  “Nice to meet you,” he said, putting his hand back down by his side.

  Peggy paced in short, rapid trips around the room, twisting her hands and puffing on a cigarette. Every few seconds, she looked at her watch and then the door. Marla guessed she was about to score some drugs, but decided not to question her on it yet. She figured Peggy’s anxious state might help her obtain the information she needed. Her drug deal could be dealt with later.

  “Peggy, please sit down for a minute. We have a few questions we need to ask you.” Marla said to her in a gentle but commanding tone.

  Peggy sat down at the table and Marla and Wayne joined her. Her cigarette almost gone, Peggy reached over and put it out in the ashtray. Marla spoke, “Peggy, we need to ask you one more time. Where is your daughter, Honey?”

  “I told you. She’s with my cousin.”

  “Your cousin, Adelle Thompson?”

  “Yes, that’s right.”

  “Peggy, the police in Atlanta have spoken with Adelle. Honey’s not there. Adelle said you had her – that you came by and told her you were taking her with you to California.”

  “No, she’s lying. She’s not with me. You can see she’s not with me.” Peggy reached for her pack of cigarettes and lit one up. She stood up and started pacing again. “She’s lying.”

  “Why would she lie about it?”

  “Because she hates me. She just wants to get me in trouble.” She took a long drag on her cigarette, sucking it deep into her lungs. “She wanted to adopt Honey, but I wouldn’t let her. Honey always liked me better than she did Adelle, and she hates me for it.” The smoke came out of her mouth and nose as she spoke. She was becoming more and more anxious.

  Someone knocked on the door and Peggy rushed to answer it. She spoke for a moment with the man at the door and then stepped partly outside, blocking the door so the social workers couldn’t see them. Wayne stood up and walked toward the door. When he did Peggy said, “No, she’s not home. Come back later. She should be back in about an hour.” She closed the door, turned, and said, “Someone looking for my roommate.”

  “Right,” Wayne said.

  “Peggy, if you want to have Haley and Jamie back in your custody, you have to clean up,” Marla said.

  “I’m clean, honest. I haven’t used in a long time. I’ve been clean for weeks. I swear.”

  “Then why aren’t you drug testing?”

  “I’ve been trying to, but they had my number messed up. The paper had me down as a four and then when I got there they said I was a five, and so I went on the wrong day.”

  “No, Peggy, the paper said you were a five. You need to go on the days they’re testing fives.”

  “I did. I went on Monday, but they closed early. They were supposed to be open until eight o’clock and I got there at five minutes to eight and they wouldn’t let me in. They’d already locked the door.”

  “Why did you wait until so late to go?”

  “Because I didn’t have a way to get there. I had to hitch a ride, and by the time they got me there the doors were locked.”

  “Why didn’t you use the bus tokens I gave you to get to your testing?”

  “I didn’t have any more. I used two of them to go see Jamie and Haley, and then I must’ve left them on the bus, ‘cause I couldn’t find the rest of them when I got home.”

  It was no use. She had an excuse for everything. Marla let it go. She and Wayne continued to question Peggy about Honey, but she kept denying any knowledge of Honey’s whereabouts. Marla and Wayne finally gave up and left.

  Once outside, Wayne shook his head and said, “Isn’t it amazing how stupid druggies think the rest of us are? At least we interrupted her ‘score’ for a few hours.”

  “Do you think she knows where Honey is?”

  “Well, she’s either the world’s worst mother, or she knows where she is.”

  “Or both.”

  “Good point,” Wayne responded. “She never once gave any indication of concern the child might be missing. She never suggested we ask the police to help find her. Instead, it was all about what Adelle was trying to do to her.”

  “Anyway, we can consider her officially missing now and the police will investigate. Let’s swing by and see if we can catch Murdock. Then I’ll go back to the office, write up the report, and fax it to Atlanta so they can begin their investigation.”

  Darkness had set in by the time they reached Gaylord’s apartment. “Good evening,” he said. “Come on in. What can I do for you?”

  Gaylord, well mannered, polite, and cheerful was much easier to deal with than Peg
gy. Marla really hoped he wasn’t involved in any way. “We’d like to ask you a few questions.”

  “Sure, what about?” He motioned to the sofa. “Have a seat. Can I get you some coffee or anything?”

  “No, I’m fine,” Wayne said.

  “Me, too,” Marla added. “Gaylord, you remember Wayne? I believe you met him at my office early on.”

  “Yes, and we’ve spoken several times on the phone, also.”

  Marla spoke, “Gaylord, we need some more information about Peggy’s daughter, Honey Stone. The police went to see Peggy’s cousin, Adelle, this afternoon. Honey’s not with her.”

  Gaylord’s voice went up a notch and his brow wrinkled with concern. “What do you mean? She’s not with her? She has to be with her. Peggy took her back there the day before we left to come here.”

  “Adelle said Peggy came by her house and told her she was taking Honey with her to California.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense. Why would she say that?”

  “I don’t know. Did you go with her?”

  “No, I had too much to do. Peggy went by herself.”

  “Are you sure she took her to Adelle’s?”

  “She said she did, and she had nowhere else to take her.” Murdock thought for a second, “Oh my God, poor Honey. Where do you suppose she is?”

  “We don’t know.”

  “Do you think Adelle or her husband … what’s his name? Harry? … may have done something to Honey?” Gaylord suggested.

  “Why do you ask?”

  “I hate to put people down, but they had some real problems. I only saw Adelle a few times, and Harry only once, but every time Adelle came around she looked like she’d been beaten up. I’m sure he knocked her around. She always had some excuse for the cuts and bruises. As far as I know, he never hit Honey, but like I said, I didn’t see much of any of them.”

  “So the last time you saw Honey was at your house the day before you left to come to California?”

  “Correct.”

  “Was Peggy high when she left with Honey?”

  “No, she didn’t seem to be. She hadn’t been using for months prior to then. She stayed clean from the time she became pregnant with Haley until recently when she started using again. I thought it was the stress from the pregnancy getting to her.” His brow wrinkled. “Does Peggy know Honey isn’t with Adelle?”

  “Yes, we just spoke with her.”

  “Peggy must be beside herself,” Murdock said. He sat, shaking his head in disbelief. “I’m sorry; I can’t even imagine what it would be like to not know where your little girl is. If I didn’t know Alexis’ whereabouts, I don’t know what I’d do. Thank God she’s safe. Every day I pray for her to come back home with me, but at least I know where she is.”

  25

  Sabre agreed to meet with the detective investigating the whereabouts of Honey Stone. She walked into the police station and checked with the desk clerk. A policeman came out and greeted her, “Good morning, Miss Brown. Thanks for coming by,” he said, as he shook her hand. “Gregory Nelson.”

  “Nice to meet you. I’m glad to help,” she responded. Something about him looked familiar, but she couldn’t place him.

  He caught her staring at him. “You don’t remember me, do you?”

  “No, I’m sorry. Do I know you?”

  “I handled the bat incident. By the way, how’s your head?”

  “Much better. Thanks for asking.” She gave him a warm, appreciative smile.

  Nelson asked Sabre a few questions indicating his familiarity with the facts of the case. Marla had written her report and provided it to Nelson the night before.

  “You seem to know about as much as I do about this case. What do you need from me?”

  “Actually, I need to know about Alexis. What’s she saying about what happened to Honey?”

  “I don’t know. She hasn’t even acknowledged Honey’s existence. I tried bringing the subject up yesterday, but it really upset her, so I let it go.”

  “Do you think she’ll talk to me?”

  “I doubt it.”

  “Do you think she knows something we don’t?”

  “I think she knows a lot we don’t.” Sabre shared what she knew about Alexis’ imaginary friend, Mattie, and how Sabre now believed it to be Honey. “There must be some reason why no one in the family has mentioned her.”

  “And why Alexis felt it necessary to create an imaginary friend so she could talk about her,” Nelson added. “I’m going to have to talk with her. She may know something that’ll lead us to Honey and possibly save her life.”

  “I know. Just be gentle with her. She’s a lot more fragile than she tries to act.”

  “I will. I promise,” Nelson said.

  Sabre believed him; his voice was warm when he spoke Honey’s name. His brows wrinkled and empathy emanated from his face, as he looked at the photograph of his own family sitting on his desk.

  Sabre left the police department and drove to the facility for the third session with Carla, Dr. Vincent, and Dr. Steele, hoping it would be easier than the first two. The sessions drained everyone, especially Carla. During the first one, Carla had clung to Dr. Steele the full hour, afraid to let go for fear he would disappear. At the end of the session, Carla had to be physically removed from him and taken back to her room. Sabre stayed with her for two hours until Carla finally fell asleep.

  The second session went a little better. At least it appeared easier for Dr. Steele, since Carla didn’t wrap herself around him for the whole time. She stayed very near him, though, and she never took her eyes off him.

  Dr. Steele and Dr. Vincent were already in the room when Sabre walked in wearing blue jeans, a gray sweat shirt, and tennis shoes, her hair pulled back in a ponytail. It was Saturday, and she didn’t dress up on her day off. Besides, she knew Carla would be more comfortable if she came in street clothes.

  “Good afternoon,” she said.

  “Hello, Sabre. Thanks for joining us,” Dr. Vincent said. Dr. Steele nodded his head and smiled.

  “My pleasure,” she said. “I’m not late, am I? I rushed to get here.”

  “Nope, you’re right on time. Carla’s on her way,” Dr. Vincent responded. He turned to Dr. Steele, “Corbin, I know it’s difficult to put much physical space between you and Carla, but try to walk around as much as you can. Let her see your walk.”

  After the last session, Sabre and the two doctors had met and made a list of the similarities and differences between Ron and Dr. Steele. They hoped to emphasize the things more “Steele-ish” so Carla would see the doctor rather than Ron. One of the most obvious to Sabre was Dr. Steele’s walk. Another difference was that Ron almost never stopped smiling and joking. Dr. Steele, on the other hand, acted more serious.

  Phyliss brought Carla into the room. Her eyes lit up as she saw Dr. Steele, and she dashed toward him. “Carla, you remember Dr. Steele,” Dr. Vincent said.

  Dr. Steele walked toward her with his hand extended to shake hers, trying to act natural and hoping to avoid another bear hug from Carla. Carla stopped for a second and looked at him, her eyes following his movements, his expression, appearing to drink in the very essence of him. Her expression, quizzical for a few seconds, changed to sheer joy as she neared. She reached for his hand and then pulled him into a hug, mumbling stuff in his ear that apparently made no sense to him. After some coaxing from Dr. Vincent, Carla let go.

  To Sabre, the session seemed much like the first two, but in their recap after Carla left, Dr. Vincent seemed encouraged. Although he couldn’t be certain what Carla was thinking, there seemed to have been several times when she had questioned Dr. Steele’s behavior. Dr. Vincent also pointed out that Carla had left with less resistance. “I believe, with a couple more sessions, Dr. Steele will be able to resume his work here. I’m not suggesting, in such a short amount of time, Carla will be convinced he’s not Ron, but I think it’ll help for her to see him conducting his work. Maybe you’ve noticed she doe
sn’t believe Ron left and became a doctor. That doesn’t seem to be possible for her.”

  “That makes sense,” Sabre said. “Anyone who knew Ron knows he would never choose medicine. He fainted at the sight of blood, and he didn’t believe in taking prescriptions. He believed something existed in nature to heal anything ailing you and you didn’t need synthetics in your body. He wouldn’t even wear polyester because he didn’t want it on his skin. His clothes had to be cotton, or silk, or something natural. Besides, he’d never have made it through med school. He squeaked by in college, not because of his intelligence, but because they didn’t hold classes outside. He couldn’t stand to be cooped up. No, the one thing Ron would never be is a medical doctor.” Sabre looked at Dr. Steele and realized she was also convincing herself. There was hope for Carla.

  Dr. Vincent put his hand on Sabre’s shoulder. “I know this must be difficult, but we couldn’t do it without you. Your insight is invaluable. Thanks again for coming. See you in a couple of days.”

  “Anything for Carla.” She stood up, smiled, and left the room.

  Sabre drove to the beach, parked her car, and walked toward the boardwalk, hoping some time by the water would help take her mind off Honey. Fall was her favorite time of the year for the beach.

  She approached the beach, smelling the salty ocean air and enjoying the breeze on her face. She wandered along the boardwalk, breathing in the air and admiring the magnificent ocean, the tide high and the waves crashing down. She loved the sound they made and the way the white caps of foam formed as they reached their crests. She took a deep breath, sucking in the majestic beauty before her. She imagined every one of her troubles being washed out to sea as the tide went out. She let them all go, and each new wave brought her more tranquility.

  Reaching her favorite spot, she hoisted herself onto the concrete wall that acted as a breaker for the high tide. Feet dangling, she waited for the sun to set. About sixty feet away, she saw a man sit on the wall. He wore a black overcoat and a dark green knit cap, and he appeared to be looking in her direction. Within a few minutes, several other people sat on the wall between them. The sun started to set, and all along the boardwalk, people stopped to watch.