Waiting for You

by Kasey Croshaw

  “Thanks, Jess, and if it means anything to you, I didn’t come out here today to bust you, I just wanted information about your dead husband,” I said sadly.

  I took her jacket from the hook on the wall by the door and draped it over her shoulders. Luker took control to take her out to the cruiser.

  “My purse, Nick, grab my purse and my phone. Oh, and Noah has a diaper bag right there on the chair,” she said.

  I pulled the diaper bag over my shoulders and took a baby blanket from the chair as well to cover Noah for the short trip to the Tahoe. I took an evidence bag from the bag of the police cruiser and went back inside to collect the bong and the baggie of pot next to it. Careful not to spill the bong water, I turned off the lights and secured the lock on the door behind me.

  Driving out of Opal’s Trailer Court, Jessica had accepted her fate and sat quietly looking out through the bars that secured the rear window. I watched her as I drove away. Not once did she look at her son. What kind of mother doesn’t think about, worry about, and obsess over their child when it is being ripped from her arms? I already knew the answer.

  “What else can you tell me about the friendship between Cleet, Sonny, and Jared?” I asked as we headed for the long drive to the jail in Sinclair.

  “Not a whole lot, I didn’t hang out with them back then. I know that Jared got Natalie Weston knocked up after they fucked at a party at Sonny’s house. I heard she got clean and I ain’t seen her around. Cleet and Sonny were selling pot that Jared was muling in from back east.”

  “I take it they are still dealing. Who’s their mule now?” I asked.

  “Some dude named, Danny, I think. I heard Sonny talking to him the other day. They’re muling it in from Denver, dropping some here, and then into Idaho, and then down to Salt Lake,” she answered.

  “Do you know Danny’s last name,” I asked.

  “No, I didn’t hear any other names. Sonny did say something about his partner being a little Mexican dude,” Jessica said.

  Luker and I just looked at each other. Those two were from the bust we had made the day before. It was funny how these puzzle pieces were fitting together. However, this was a rural area, and it was more like a 300-piece puzzle, and not the big 10,000-piece puzzle.

  “Can you do something for me, Nick?” Jessica asked softly.

  “I’ll try,” I answered.

  “Can you take care of Noah? I don’t want him to go with CPS. It will ruin his life if he gets put in foster care. I’m pretty pissed at you right now, but I figure I can trust you to do the right thing. I’ll sign whatever I need to for you have temporary custody of him. You know, just in case, something happens to me,” she said, but there were no tears.

  “Jessica, nothing is going to happen to you other maybe a little jail time, and you’ll have to clean up your act,” I said trying to make her feel better about the bad situation.

  “No, Nick, you don’t know. It’s bad, real bad. I want you to take him. Promise me, God damn it, promise.” She was getting agitated.

  “Yes, Jessica, I’ll take care of Noah and make sure nothing ever hurts him. I promise,” I succumbed to her wishes.

  I heard Luker on his radio. “Dispatch, 10-15, prisoner secured in custody. Cancel prior call for CPS check at 2505 South Highway 30, number 5. Infant secure. 10-26, clear.”

  There was a blast of squelch, then the voice of the dispatcher “10-4.”

  Chapter 7

  The garage door began to rise after I flashed my ID card at the outside scanner. I pulled into the jail transport garage where Deputy Luker escorted Mrs. Deets-Lambert into booking along with her purse and cell phone. I unlatched Noah’s car seat, slung his diaper bag over my shoulder, and took the baby into the jail. At only a year old, I was sure he wouldn’t be traumatized by being removed from the horrible living conditions where he had been.

  “Who do we have here?” Sheriff Lassiter said, looking under the baby blanket cover Noah’s carrier.

  “This is Noah. He is my new charge,” I announced.

  “Yeah, I heard from dispatch that you were arresting his mother for possession and child endangerment. Did something changed?” he asked.

  “His mother was my old girlfriend in high school, and she asked me to take temporary custody of Noah until her legal problems are taken care of,” I said, glossing over the rough edges of the exchange between Jessica and me.

  “That’s excellent. You and Dave need a little one. Keeps you on your toes,” Sheriff Lassiter said with a mighty laugh, which woke Noah, and he started to cry.

  I lifted Noah into my arms for the first time, and I was smitten. He was a perfect little angel, but he was crying softly. Sticking my finger down the back of his diaper, I found out why he wasn’t happy.

  “Excuse me, Sheriff, I think he needs a change,” I said, taking the diaper bag with me and making my way to the restroom.

  That was an interesting exercise in dexterity, taking off a dirty diaper from a squirming baby, cleaning the behind of a squirming baby, and replacing it with a clean diaper that the baby didn’t much want back on. However, I managed to figure it out and held him in my arms and cooed to him for a few minutes before returning to the sheriff’s office.

  “Did everything come out all right?” the sheriff laughed.

  “Smart-ass,” I answered. “I’m going to need a search warrant for her trailer, and also, one for the residence of Sonny Horton and Cleetus Jones. I’ll get you their addresses in a minute. It looks like these three are tied in with the two I arrested yesterday, running pot out of Denver, into Idaho, and then, down to Salt Lake.”

  “Good work, Sloan. Looks like you’re taking down a prime drug ring around these parts,” Sheriff Lassiter said.

  “Deputy Luker helped,” I answered, trying to give credit where credit was due.

  “I’ll have those search warrants for you first thing in the morning,” Sheriff Jim told me.

  Grabbing the diaper bag and the baby carrier, I headed back out through booking to find Luker, who appeared to be hitting on a very handsome deputy.

  I could tell the guy was interested in Luker, just by his body language. He was leaning in toward Josh, laughing, and rubbing his hand across his strong chin.

  “Luker, I hate to break up your conversation, but let’s get Noah home,” I said with a big smile.

  “Here’s my card,” I heard Luker say as he jotted his number on the back of his card and handed it to the deputy in booking.

  They were both all smiles as we departed.

  Back in the Tahoe with Noah belted in his carrier in the back, I looked over at Luker and started laughing. “Smooth, real smooth,” I said.

  “Stop, it’s not often I get hit on by a good-looking hunk like that,” Luker tried to protest.

  “I’ll give you that he’s hot, what’s his name?” I asked.

  Luker’s face flushed to purple. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, I forgot to look at his nameplate, and I forgot to ask,” Josh admitted.

  “Calm down, buddy. It’s okay. I’m certain from the way he was looking at you that he’ll call,” I said.

  “God, I hope so. He’s a new deputy, too, just came up from California,” Luke said, all smiles. “He actually hit on me.”

  “Hey, you’re a hot catch. He’d be lucky to get with a guy like you,” I said reassuringly to my friend.

  We bullshitted all the way to Onyx, but pulling in back of the café I realized that I hadn’t discussed taking Noah into our home with Dave. “Fuck, I messed up,” I berated myself. But, I had to face the music and hope for the best.

  “Well, well, well, what do we have here,” Georgia’s voice rang out as we came through the back door of the café.

  “Dave,” I said assertively, “I need to talk to you about something important.”

  “Alone,” I said, looking at Georgia and Luker.

  They left the kitchen through the swinging doors, but I knew they were probably listening just around the corner.

 
“Who is in the baby carrier?” Dave said with a wide grin.

  “This is Noah, and if it’s okay with you, he will be living with us for a while so his mommy can get her legal troubles cleared up,” I said.

  I set the carrier on the counter, and Dave retrieved Noah and held him in his arms. “Well, Noah, it looks like you are going to be staying with us for a while, so we need to get acquainted. I’m Dave, and you already know Nick.”

  Dave was a natural with the baby boy. Cooing and kissing him and talking baby talk. It made me love the man even more than I already did.

  “Did his mommy have to go to jail today?” Dave said in baby talk to Noah, but he was really talking to me.

  “Yes! This is Jessica Deet’s baby. Luker and I went to question her today, but we ended up arresting her for possession. Luker called Child Protection, but Jessica begged me to take him, at least temporarily. I can always turn him over to CPS?” I said, trying to ride the middle line in case Dave took a sudden turn.

  “Don’t say that. He’s not going to go to foster care. I won’t have it. He will live with us, at least temporarily. You know how much I want kids and just having him around, even for a little while, would be a dream come true. You and me and Amber and Noah, living as a family,” Dave said. Small tears were forming in the corners of his eyes, and I pulled him in for a hug. With Noah held between us, we kissed.

  “And that is why I love you, Dave. You are an amazingly compassionate man,” I said with tears forming in my own eyes.

  Wiping my eyes with the back of my hands, I started to laugh. This had turned from a shitty day into a wonderful day, knowing that I was in love with this man holding a baby.

  Georgia and Luker had been listening outside the kitchen doors, and they came back into the kitchen all smiles, with Georgia claiming charge of Noah.

  “What the heck are we going to do with a baby, Dave?” I asked, now thinking through the logistics.

  “We can do the same thing we did with Amber. We bring him to the café every day and take care of him,” Dave said. Georgia readily agreed to that plan.

  “I guess that settles that situation. Thanks for pitching in. This little guy needs a chance, and I hope we can give it to him,” I said.

  “Speaking of Amber, I think we should introduce her to Noah,” I said as I went through the swinging doors to bring Amber into the kitchen.

  “Amber, this is Noah. He will be staying with us for a while,” I said as I stood the little girl in front of Noah’s carrier.

  “Look, Grandma, a baby, can we keep him?” Amber asked. She was excited in meeting Noah. “Is he going to be my baby brother?”

  We all started to laugh at that prospect, but Georgia said, “We will see, Amber. I hope so.”

  I hoped so too. The idea was rolling around in my brain ever since I heard Amber say that she wished I was her daddy. The idea of having kids was what Dave and I had discussed many times, but the universe seemed to be paving the way.

  Deputy Luker and I had some lunch at the café and then left Noah in the very capable hands of Dave and Georgia.

  As I kissed Dave goodbye, he whispered, “Thanks for bringing a baby into our lives.” However, whether Noah would stay in our lives remained to be seen.

  We have another interview to conduct, and I checked the file for an address on Cleetus Jones. Luker checked back in with dispatch and gave her our destination. I had her patch me into booking. “Has Deets made in calls to bond out?”

  “None” was the answer from the deputy in booking.

  That answer set me up for my questioning of Cleetus. He had no way of knowing the Jessica was in custody and what she had told me about his role in dealing drugs. A short drive through town brought us to the front of a run-down clapboard house on Montana Avenue. The place looked deserted. The paint had long ago peeled from the wood siding, and it was weather-beaten and sun bleached. The drapes in the living room window didn’t look like they had been opened in thirty years and the window itself had a large crack along the top which had been repaired with duct tape. Nice place. Homes around here weren’t new or fancy, but most of them were at least kept up, but not the Jones’ house.

  I parked on the opposite side of the street a couple of houses down. Luker walked ahead of me and surveyed the side of the house. I also approached the front door from the side opposite the window in the living room. The day was overcast, but there was no wind or snow. The screen door had long ago been ripped away from the casing, but the hinges still hung as a reminder. My knuckles rapped at the plain, windowless door, while I stood to the right side.

  There was no immediate answer, but I thought I heard a noise from inside. I knocked again. “God damn, I’m coming, hold on,” the male voice shouted from inside.

  The door opened just a crack. “What?” Cleet asked.

  “Sheriff’s Department,” I said, holding up my badge where he could see it. “We would like to talk to you for a few minutes, sir.”

  “About what, I ain’t done anything wrong?” Cleet asked.

  “Can we just come inside and talk? It won’t take long,” I asked.

  The door opened to a dark living room. My eyes had to adjust to the lack of lighting. “I’m Deputy Sloan, and this is Deputy Luker,” I said.

  “I know who you two jokers are. You’re being cops don’t impress me none,” Cleet said.

  I wasn’t listening to Cleet’s rant. My eyes were scanning the room for anything suspicious. Yes, and there it was a foil pouch, a spoon, and a syringe. Heroin!

  “Sit down. Can I offer you gents a cup of tea?” Cleet asked sarcastically but in a semi-drowsy state. His eyelids were heavy and his speech a little slurred. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and I could see the sleeves of tats on both arms and his chest. He wouldn’t be a bad looking guy if he got cleaned up and laid off the drugs.

  “Why don’t you sit down, Cleet, we can just stand. This won’t take long. What can you tell me about the Natalie Weston?” I asked.

  A look of bliss came over his face as if he remembered something with Natalie. “She’s in jail, and I’m going to go get her when she’s released,” he admitted.

  “Yeah, we already know that. What do you know about her and Jared Lambert? Were they hooking up or was it strictly the drug business?” I asked.

  His eyes began to tear up. My God, he did have some emotional connection to Natalie. I felt bad for the guy.

  “She had a thing for Lambert. I remember her telling me that Jared was her baby daddy. It hurt seeing them together, but that’s who she wanted to be with, so I just tagged along to be with her. The thing is that I introduced them. I didn’t think she’d run off with him,” Cleet said sadly.

  “Sorry, man, that’s gotta hurt,” I said empathetically. “But now that he’s dead, you don’t have to worry about him anymore. When was the last time you saw Lambert?”

  “Last summer. He came back to see Jessica and kid,” Cleet said.

  “Interesting, Jessica told me she hadn’t since him since he left last January to go take care of his sick mother,” I pressed on.

  “Sick mother, my ass. He went back to hook up with Natalie and start muling junk again. That’s how they ended up in jail in Wheeling. Lambert jumped bail and came here to hide out with Jessica, but they just ended up in a big argument over the baby. Jessica told Lambert that he owed her child support, and he’d better pay up, but he ended up beating the shit out of her. She was pissed. Told him that the kid wasn’t his that she had fucked Sonny. We all knew that was bullshit. She wouldn’t fuck Sonny if he were the last guy around. Lambert ended up staying with Sonny for a few days till he could figure out how to unload his stash of tar and disappear.”

  “How much was he carrying?” I asked.

  “I don’t know for sure, but it was a lot, probably 3 pounds of black tar and maybe a few of bricks of pot,” Cleet said.

  “Is that where you got that?” I asked, pointing to the junk on his coffee table.

  “Fuck, I for
got… shit, muthafucka,” Cleet sputtered in his anxiety at being busted. “You ain’t gonna arrest me are you, man. I’ve been straight up with you, Sloan. You gotta give me a break. If I’m in lockup I ain’t gonna be able to go get Natalie,” Cleet said as he was crying.

  “Sorry, Cleetus, I have to take you in, but I can promise you I will tell the prosecutor that you are willing to help with this murder investigation of Lambert.” I tried to assure him so he would keep talking.

  “Murder, you didn’t say anything about murder. I had nothing to do with that.

  “That’s okay, Cleetus, you just settle down, and we’ll talk about this later.

  I needed his cooperation, and he was the weak link in this chain. Anything he was telling us now could be refuted by a good defense lawyer saying he was under the influence of drugs when he talked. We needed him straight before we continued, but I had what I needed.

  Jessica had lied about not seeing Lambert this past July before he was murdered. She had also lied about Noah being Sonny’s kid.

  Deputy Lukas had cuffed Cleetus Jones, patted him down, and read him his Miranda rights, placing him under arrest for possession of a Schedule 1 Narcotic, Heroin. I collected the evidence and sealed the bag with my initials on the label. I contacted dispatch and advised them that we would be bringing another arrest.

  Luker had Cleet secured in the back of the cruiser when I came out and closed the front door behind me. “You drive,” I said, tossing the keys to Luker. “Drop me off at my place, and I’ll take your Tahoe. I need to take care of a few loose ends.”

  I wrote the name Sonny Horton on my notepad and showed it to Luker, so he understood what I had in mind. He just nodded in agreement. Cleet had fallen asleep on the hard plastic seat in the transport cage and would probably be coming down from his high for a few hours.

  After I started up Deputy Luker’s vehicle, I hit the mic and reported my destination. I verified Sonny Horton’s address and pulled out of the driveway. He lived in Sinclair so I would be able to stop in at the jail after I talked with Sonny. I wanted to get to him before Cleetus or Jessica had a chance to call him for bail money. However, when I arrived at the address, he wasn’t to be found. I pounded on the doors, peered through the windows, and tested the locks on the doors, to no avail.