Adam’s Outlaw

by Sandra Chastain

  “Adam is a city official, folks,” Toni said. “City officials don’t go out on limbs. We better not depend on—”

  “Official channels,” Adam interrupted sharply. “Without some kind of pressure, city hall won’t issue permits until the project has approval by the zoning board.”

  Toni held her breath, waiting for Adam to tell them that her plan was doomed to failure, that she couldn’t pull it off, that the whole idea was a long shot. Maybe he was right. But maybe he was wrong, and at this point what other chance did they have?

  “So, Adam,” she asked, “how do we apply official pressure?” She put her hands on her hips and waited, daring him to oppose her.

  Adam opened his mouth to say that they didn’t have enough official clout to get a license to sell flowers on a street corner. But one look at the set of her lips changed his mind. He was into it now. He glared angrily at Toni. She’d involved him in her project when all he’d wanted to do was see more of her.

  His reputation had always been that if he did a thing, he did it well. So there was nothing for it now but to give these people his best shot. The mayor would hit the ceiling, but at least the mayor was in a position to stop Toni’s foolishness before she went too far.

  “We go to see the mayor,” he said.

  A mixed chorus of excitement and groans swept the room. Adam couldn’t blame them for their reaction. The mayor talked a good game, but controlling City Council was another story and everybody in the room knew it. Still, he’d opened his mouth and he had no choice but to follow through.

  “Fine,” Toni said in dismay. She’d hoped that Adam had decided to help her, but his gesture didn’t fool her. This was his way of delaying her, putting up roadblocks just as her parents had when they didn’t approve of her actions. Talking to them never accomplished anything either. Long ago she’d given up on that and gone her own way. Well, so be it. If seeing the mayor would get Adam Ware out of her hair, she’d do it. “When?” she asked him.

  “This afternoon. Is that soon enough?”

  “All right, Captain Adam. Thank you I think.” Her stern lips told him that her thanks were only for the benefit of his audience. She turned back to the residents. “In the meantime, I want to be honest with all of you. The building I have in mind is in bad shape. It’s been vacant for forty years.”

  “Except for the ghosts,” Adam said, a quirk in his smile.

  “Ghosts?” Willie Benson repeated thoughtfully. “Ghosts. Vacant for forty years. You can’t mean the old prison farm building, Toni?”

  “Well, yes.” She ignored the question in Willie’s voice and the surge of whispers by rushing into a reassuring argument. “Don’t be silly, you two, there aren’t any ghosts. And I know how bad it is. But I’m an engineer. Trust me, all we have to do is come up with the supplies. I already have the students who will do the actual work.”

  “What about us, Toni? Can’t we help?” The speaker was an elderly man who was missing half of a finger on his right hand.

  “No, it would be too dangerous for you. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of everything.”

  Willie took a deep breath and said, “Toni, I’m not sure that your choice is a good one. Maybe there aren’t any ghosts, but aside from the building itself, that area is pretty dangerous, if I remember correctly.”

  “My argument exactly,” Adam interjected with an I-told-you-so glare for Toni.

  Toni noted the worried looks exchanged by her old friends and winced. This fear was all Adam Ware’s fault. He was subtly undermining her project while seeming to be supportive. Well, he wasn’t going to do it. Her plan might be too bold for him, but she wouldn’t let him get in the way.

  “Now wait a minute, people.” she crossed her arms over her chest and lifted her chin. “Have I ever done anything to hurt or mislead you?”

  Warmed by the resounding “No,” she continued, drawing on her imagination as she spoke. “Listen, many of you lived in the Gresham family’s mill village as children. You knew my grandfather. He cared about you and so do I. I know that the area has a bad reputation, but once we get it cleaned up and you move in, all that will change.”

  “Maybe,” Willie said, “but suppose you’re wrong. Even your grandfather couldn’t keep the mill from closing. Don’t you think we ought to hear what Adam’s thoughts are on the safety factor?”

  Desperately, Toni searched for a rebuke. “Adam is a police officer, and he’s a cautious man. He can’t afford to assure anybody about anything.”

  “If you mean,” Adam said, “that I’m not going to mislead these people, you’re right. The area is rife with vagrants and drug dealers. Even I wouldn’t stay down there at night.”

  “Maybe you wouldn’t, but I will,” Toni announced. “If that’s what it takes, I’ll move in and spend every night there until we get the place ready for occupancy. Will that make you feel better?” She glanced at Annie and Fred for agreement. When she met their looks of skepticism, she was stunned.

  “Oh, but it won’t make me feel better, Ms. Gresham. Because you aren’t going to do it. As a police officer, I forbid it.”

  “Oh, but I am, Captain Ware. And you’re going to help me convince the mayor that it’s a good idea or I’ll—I’ll tell the newspaper that my group took on the muggers in the park when the police department did nothing. And,” she went on, warming up as Adam’s expression grew even more stern, “that the vigilante charges against me were dropped because of my family’s political connections.”

  “You’d better not!” Now Adam was really mad. He’d never received special favors and he’d never been blackmailed into giving them.

  “Try me, big guy!”

  Try her? Her eyes were flashing. Her breasts were heaving with anger. A confrontation with Toni Gresham wasn’t what he wanted at all. The crowd was silent as sizzling tension flashed between the two of them. Adam shook his head and considered his options. The sooner he got her out of there and to the mayor, the sooner this bizarre project would come to an end and these people could begin to make real plans. And the sooner he could take on Toni Gresham, one-on-one.

  “Exactly what I have in mind, renegade,” he said in a voice of steel. “Get down off your soapbox and I’ll take you to my leader—now.”

  “That’s more like it.” Toni gave a thumbs-up sign and made her way back to the doorway. She motioned to Annie and Fred, and they fell in behind her as she held out her hand in a sweeping motion. “After you, Captain. Let’s powwow. What’s next?”

  “A Varsity Drive-in chili dog and an order of fries. Then we’ll move on to Plan D.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “I don’t think I’m going to tell you just yet. You’ll find out soon enough.”

  Adam carried their tray of food into one of the many table-filled rooms of the restaurant, with Toni, Fred, and Annie bringing up the rear. Toni, directly behind Adam, silently appreciated the view of her adversary.

  Dressed in faded jeans and a worn T-shirt that was a walking plea for funds for the Boys’ Club, he commanded attention by simply walking through the room with his springy, light step. He was big and muscular, but with the sleek, honed body of an ex-athlete who had let go of the muscle and extra weight and slimmed down into a broad-shouldered, lean-hipped man. He spoke to a couple of seedy-looking characters, found a table, and sat down.

  Adam smacked his lips with anticipation. “Greasy fries, frosty orange drink, and hot dogs smothered in chili and onions. Just the way I like it. Tell me about your grandfather, outlaw. He must have been a good man.”

  “He was very special. He knew every worker in the mill by his or her first name. I—I loved him very much.”

  “And your father? Was he involved in the mill?”

  Annie and Fred tore into their hamburgers and onion rings without joining into the conversation. Toni picked at her hamburger and diet cola and tried not to notice Adam’s sensual enjoyment of his meal.

  “Yes,” she answered, “but when I was s
ix years old my grandfather and father quarreled about the mill, and Dad went into banking. Grandfather died the next year.”

  “And you miss him?”

  “Yes, very much. He was … my friend.”

  Hearing the pain in her voice, Adam glanced up. He’d already learned enough about Toni to know that she and her parents weren’t close. She surrounded herself with projects and workers, but friends might be another story. He could identify with that.

  Toni forced herself to take a long sip of her cola. Though she tried not to watch Adam, she couldn’t seem to stop herself. He held the hot dog loosely in his large hands and didn’t lose a single onion as he took a bite. He chewed slowly, with total concentration. Watching him eat confirmed what she’d already suspected. Whatever he did received every ounce of his attention. She wondered what it would be like to be the object of that intense focus. Just then he looked up. As their eyes met, he stopped chewing. Toni felt a flush warm her cheeks. She swallowed hard and clasped the edge of the table.

  “Sometimes you need someone just to be with,” he said softly.

  “Sometimes,” she whispered.

  “Oops, Fred.” Annie leaned back. “Better move your milk shake. They’re setting off sparks again.”

  By the time they reached city hall Toni felt washed out and exhausted. Being with Adam overstimulated her and depleted her energy like nothing she’d ever experienced.

  The mayor was very pleasant until he heard Toni’s incredible plan. “You want to spend the night in the prison farm to prove it will be a safe place for the elderly to live?”

  “Yes, Your Honor. Then we’d like to negotiate with the city to renovate it for the residents of the Swan Gardens apartments, at no cost to the city, of course.”

  Adam didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. The mayor was about to take care of the problem of Toni Gresham and the prison for him.

  “Absolutely not, Miss Gresham. That building is structurally unsafe. There is no way I could sanction such an idea. Even if you did manage to spend the night to prove that it is safe, any renovation/land use plan would have to go before the city housing authority board and the City Council for approval. The building has been approved for low-rent government housing already, but not the funds.”

  “Low-rent government housing isn’t exactly what I had in mind, Mayor. Private renovation of the building will be faster and less expensive. Do you think you could get that approved instead?”

  The mayor sighed, lifting his hands in defeat. “Who knows? I’ve been trying to get that project addressed for the last two years. Unsuccessfully, I might add, and that was before the question of finding a site for the Olympic complex for the ’96 Summer Games came up.”

  “Olympic site?” Toni was rattled. That would really ruin her idea.

  “Actually, no. The proposed site is adjacent to the prison farm. But the council is reluctant to move forward on a decision until they get the results from the Olympic site committee. They’d rather wait until we get some kind of answer. And that won’t come until September.”

  “Well, maybe a little publicity would fire up the support of the citizens for both the games and my cause,” Toni suggested. “If they found out what we want do to, I’m sure we could force some kind of action.”

  The mayor considered her suggestion for a moment.

  “That may be, Miss Gresham, but I’d want to check with city planning and the housing authority before I could encourage your efforts. Suppose you let me do some investigating. I’ll get back to you.”

  “But Your Honor, we don’t have that much time,” Toni began.

  Adam cut her off gently. “Toni, face facts. There’s no way that anybody could renovate that old building in the sixty days you have, even if the city agreed to your plan.”

  Toni stood, her dejection written plainly on her face. “Then I’ll just have to do something else. Thank you for your time, Mayor.”

  “I’m sorry, Miss Gresham. The city is well aware of the generosity of your family and how you personally extend yourself for the needy. I can’t, in good conscience, authorize your plan, but I can have the housing board give the residents of the Swan Gardens more time to make their moves. I’ll even assign Captain Ware to give you a hand in finding another site for your project.”

  “No!”

  “No!”

  Both Toni and Adam objected instantly.

  “Thank you, Your Honor,” Toni said, “but I’m sure Captain Ware has far more important things to do than follow me around. I do appreciate the time extension, though.”

  “I think the criminal element in the city would be pleased to hear that Captain Ware is off the streets for a few days. What about it, Adam? Will you give Miss Gresham a hand for a day or two?”

  “Certainly, Mayor,” Adam agreed stiffly, shaking his employer’s hand. “I’ll ask around down at housing and see what I can find.”

  There was nothing Toni could do but agree and hold her tongue as Adam piloted her out of the mayor’s office and back to the street. There was nothing Adam could say when Toni told Annie and Fred that, thanks to Adam, they would have to find another solution to the Swan Gardens problem.

  “Thank you, Captain Ware,” she said with artificial sweetness. “I’m sorry that I didn’t let you choke on that cigar. Do you realize that in two days’ time you’ve managed to stop my Peachtree Vigilantes and torpedo my plan to help a group of people in need of housing? I hope you’re as good at your job as you are at interference.”

  “I guess this means there won’t be any more ‘in the morning’’s?” Adam didn’t know why he said that. Any mornings with Toni Gresham were likely to be cartoons instead of fairy tales. He’d already decided she was the roadrunner and he was the coyote. Any kid knew what happened in that contest.

  “You got it, Captain. Good-bye.”

  “What, no more vamping scenes?” He couldn’t seem to let her go. “I liked having my fur stroked.”

  “Annie was wrong. You’re no pussycat, you’re a chameleon, blending in with whichever group of people you happen to be with at the time.”

  He slid his gaze lazily down her tiny figure, appreciating the energy she generated. “But what about the mayor’s assignment? I’m supposed to help you find another building. You wouldn’t want to make me lose my job, would you?”

  “You look for a building your way, and I’ll look for one in mine.” She flagged a passing cab and crawled in the front seat with the driver, motioning for Annie and Fred to take the back.

  “Just a minute, outlaw. It’s time for Plan D.” Adam leaned inside the open cab window.

  “Oh? What’s that?”

  When he kissed her, she wasn’t even surprised. Only an impatient car horn from behind forced her to pull away. “How many letters are there in the alphabet?” she asked dreamily.

  “Twenty-six, Toni, and I’m making plans for every one of them.”

  He watched the cab pull off, Toni facing firmly forward. Only Annie leaned her head out the window and just as they turned the corner, gave Adam a big conspiratorial wink.

  The wink helped. Even as he told himself he would do well to get rid of the woman, along with her wild ideas, he felt an odd sense of failure that the mayor hadn’t been more positive. His promise to check around wouldn’t hold the outlaw back.

  Toni Gresham was too impulsive, jumping in over her head with no thought of the risks she might be taking. Toni Gresham was a disaster just waiting to happen. And he was totally preoccupied by the woman. Any chance of working out that attraction had effectively been blocked by the mayor’s making him responsible for her. Great!

  In the cab Toni was waging her own war for independence. Adam Ware was simply a barrier, she told herself. Getting around barriers was something she was considered an expert at. She supposed she was a Gresham hereditary throwback. Her kind of bulldog determination certainly wasn’t a characteristic of her father’s generation.

  Toni winced. She didn’t want to think
about what her mother and father would say about her latest idea. She simply wouldn’t tell them. They never approved of anything she did anyway. Engineering was bad enough; they’d never understand why she was renovating an entire building. The only part of this project her mother might approve of was Adam Ware. At this point in Toni’s life, her mother would probably look kindly even on a cop. Toni smiled. Introducing him to her parents would be a real “hoot.”

  Still, Adam was the same kind of barrier to progress that her parents were. Where he was a stickler for the law, they were mired in society’s rules of etiquette and propriety. The difference was that Adam was coming at her from a new direction. Her mind was saying whoa, but her overcharged body said go for it. She wasn’t sure she could stand the kind of armed conflict the two factions were setting up. She sighed again. Oh, Grandpa, she said silently, if only I was still six years old and you were here. We’d show them a thing or two.

  “Toni, girl,” Fred rapped from the rear, “now listen here. You’ve met your match, but have no fear. Our Captain Ware is quite a man, and you’ve got him now in Toni’s land.” Fred’s smile was happy. Annie’s smile was happy. The cabdriver just shook his head and drove.

  • • •

  Adam walked down the street toward the Boys’ Club. On his days off he coached the basketball team. That day he had a game, and it would be over before he went on duty. And at least it would take his mind off the outlaw and her illegal activities. It ought to be safe to leave her for one afternoon. It would take her that long to regroup.

  The game was hot and fast. Adam had to coach both teams, as he often did, and referee as well. It was late afternoon when he checked in at Police Headquarters and found a message on his desk instructing him to see the mayor. Adam went to the squad locker room to shower and change into his dress blues and captain’s gear, then walked over to City Hall.