I stopped and frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“Cyber prostitution. It’s a crisis in Sugar Hill and all of Atlanta, really. I’m surprised you don’t know about this.”
“Had no idea. Most of our skips’ offenses are bad, but not soulless.” I paused as Rosary’s face came to mind. “When did you have time to get involved in this?”
“While you slept. I’ll fill you in on the details later, because your friend is standing behind you.” He nodded for me to turn around.
Sean stood dressed to the nines. He wore a beautiful burgundy silk tie to complement his gray Prince of Wales double-breasted flannel suit. I knew men’s fashion well, because Gabe was an aficionado. Before he died, he was about to launch an Asian American/African American men’s clothing atelier in Johns Creek called Bl.si Atelier with his college roommate Khali Knight. That dream also disappeared with our future. Khali left town a few months after Gabe’s funeral.
“Sean, thanks for meeting me.” I squeezed Justus’s hand. “This is my escort, Reverend Doctor Justus Morgan.”
“Actually, I’m her man.” Justus chuckled.
They exchanged handshakes while I studied Flappers further. It was like I remembered it. Inside, it looked like a high-end cigar club, craft cocktail lounge with a 1920s vintage private club barback vibe. Polished mahogany wood panels, tables, chairs, and the bar; great lighting; and very much a throwback nod to elegance. Gabe and I used to sit in a private section behind the bar. I wondered who now paid the extra bill to have the secrecy.
“We’ve met before,” Sean said.
“You did?” I asked them both.
“Yes, we have.” Justus rubbed his chin. “At a fund-raiser for Street Grace, a nonprofit coalition of churches united to bring the abolition of child sex slavery and exploitation in Atlanta.”
I turned to Sean. “I can’t believe you’re involved in something that does not help you in any way.”
“We all grow up sometimes, Angel Crawford.” He winked, then pointed me toward his standing booth. “Let’s have a seat at my office.”
Justus ordered a bottled sparkling water for himself and a Georgia Peach Mocktini for me. After listening to Sean and Justus chat about the convergence of social media and charitable giving, I wanted the real deal. Somehow this meeting had become too provincial for both my and Flappers’ taste. I rolled my eyes and sipped until the cocktail waiter returned.
“Is there a drink that will make me forget my troubles without getting me drunk?” I asked the waiter.
Justus placed his hand over my hand that rested on the table. “How about a hot chocolate heavy whip?”
The waiter nodded. “We have a great French blend that is decaffeinated for expectant mothers.”
I coughed. I looked down at my stomach and adjusted my dress. I wanted to make sure that the fringe wasn’t giving off the illusion of a pouch.
“You look wonderful.” Justus patted my back. “Don’t worry. He’s a prophet. He’s talking about our future.”
Sean chuckled. “I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but you two are an adorable couple.”
“Thank you, sir,” Justus said.
“Sean, I’ve had my share of small talk.” I jumped in before they began their bromance chat again. “I need to know what’s the deal with Riddick Avery. Why is he out for me?”
Sean looked at Justus, then at me. “He’s just jealous of all the media attention you’ve been getting lately. Don’t take it personal. He’s not. He was acting like a total jerk, but this has gotten out of hand. I would be glad to help you guys kiss and make up.”
“Sean, I have a haircut because he paid someone to hit me on the head.”
He sighed. “Angel, if there was malicious intent¸ the young woman who was arrested would have had heavier charges. Quit being so stubborn and let’s move on.”
I shook my head. “Tiger told me that he and Riddick have a business relationship, so I feel I was led there to get hurt. Are you a part of it? Is that why you’re giving me the deer-caught-in-headlights treatment?”
Justus cleared his throat and wiggled his collar. I could tell he didn’t like this conversation.
“Angel, why are you making me seem like a bad guy in front of Justus?”
“Because you are a bad guy, more like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, literally. Get it. Flannel. Sheep’s clothing?”
“Yes, that was a funny barb. I had forgotten you had such grit and wit.” He rubbed his vest and chuckled. “Angel, there is another reason why I asked you here.”
I folded my arms over my chest. “I knew it. I knew there was a catch.”
“Before you get all toasted, it’s not what you think. I need you to find someone for me.” Sean’s voice was no longer as light as before. It was a low and fast whisper. “Your home girl, Rosie DiChristina.”
“Rosary?” I looked at Justus, then back at Sean. “What’s wrong?”
“The list is long when it comes to that girl.” Sean reached for his black attaché case, which sat beside him on the bench. He unlocked it with a secret code and pulled out a leather bound notebook, but he wouldn’t let me see the contents of it.
I glanced at Justus. His eyes were on me. If I didn’t know any better I’d have thought he was reading my mind. What had Rosary really done and why did Sean think I could find her?
“How about you start with the bottom of the list then?” I smiled.
“I bailed her out of jail over the weekend and no one has seen her in two days.”
I shook my head and leaned farther back into my seat. “Don’t worry. She’s not gone anywhere. Probably getting her fix. You know her family still runs shine.”
He groaned and covered his eyes with his hand. “Please don’t tell me that.”
Justus nudged me. “What does that mean, ‘her family still runs shine’?”
“Moonshine,” I said. “Her family brews moonshine and sells it.”
Justus chuckled. “But why? Alcohol is legal now.”
“True, but making shine goes back generations and some folks don’t want to pay the high state tax to buy alcohol.”
“Or not be able to buy alcohol on Sunday unless you’re in here or in a restaurant,” Sean chimed in. “Let’s not forget to mention how dangerous some of that lightning is. I heard some of them cut it with bleach instead of water.”
My nose turned up at the thought of drinking bleach. “Either way, she’s probably upstate helping her family. But she never stays for long and she never misses her court dates.”
“A U.S. marshal by the name of Max has been looking for her. He came by Elaine’s office to ask me about her. Elaine’s?! Can you believe that? It was embarrassing to say the least.” He took a swig from his glass of brandy. “If I don’t find this girl, he’ll come back and I don’t need that kind of bad color tainting Elaine’s public image.”
I gave Sean the side eye. The only person’s image he was concerned about was his, not Elaine’s. He had to come up with something better than this to convince me to help him.
“I know what you’re thinking.” He looked at me, then at Justus, then back at me. “How do my dealings with Rosary DiChristina hurt Elaine?”
“That is the magic question.”
He looked around the pub, leaned closer to us, and whispered, “Elaine asked me to bail Rosary out of jail.”
“I don’t believe you.” I scoffed. “Why would she do that? That’s not like her.”
Justus touched my hand. “Let’s just hear him out.”
I felt my neck turn in that no-you-didn’t sort of way, but caught myself. Crap. I must be in love with Justus Morgan to let him tell me what to do.
“Elaine makes bail for her special constituents. In my opinion, she’s too sweet for her own good.”
“Is that why your name is on so many bail contracts at Tiger’s?” I asked.
Sean grinned. “We couldn’t have Elaine’s name tied to all that foolery. Now could we?”
> “Well, that explains a lot.”
“Of course, I didn’t expect the kindergarten playground fight between you and Avery when we made bail for her. Now you have me in a pretty pickle.”
“How so?”
“Tiger has had Riddick’s team and those Big Bad Boys out looking for her for two days and they can’t seem to find her. I don’t think they ever will, but you can.”
“No, I can’t either. I’m on vacation with express orders from Tiger to stay out of Riddick’s way.”
Sean opened the notebook and handed me a small manila folder. I looked inside, counted, and gasped.
I looked up at Sean. “There’s $25,000 in cash in here.”
“If you bring Rosie to me by next Friday, I’ll hand you another twenty-five.”
I closed the envelope and gave it back to him. “I’m sorry. I promised Elaine that I would take Lana to the Running of the Brides on Friday.”
“Elaine said you would be hard to convince.” He reached into the envelope and pulled out another envelope. “There’s a $10,000 incentive inside.”
“Elaine knows about this?”
“Elaine knows everything.” He took another drink. “I know about your problem with Riddick and you know that Riddick is my friend. But you and I both know that friendship and business don’t mix.”
Sean looked at Justus and grinned. “Except for you two, of course. Y’all have something special.”
“Don’t go there, Sean,” I said.
“Just trying to lighten the mood of the room.” He chuckled, then cleared his throat. “Seriously, I need that marshal off my back. I need Rosie. If you bring her to me, Riddick will ride her in.”
I scoffed. “No way.”
“Hear me out. If Tiger sees that the both of you have kissed and made up, then it’s a win-win for everybody. Don’t you agree?”
I turned to Justus; his eyes screamed, “Don’t go down this dark road again.”
“Are you sure Riddick didn’t ask that Marlo girl to hit me at Draft House?”
“Angel, let it go.” He chuckled.
I sighed. “That won’t ever happen, but I will see what I can do about Rosary.”
“Fantastic.” Sean smiled. His face looked serene, a little too peaceful, if you ask me.
The last time I saw that expression was when Elaine had to participate in a runoff election with Sid Marcus. It was her first campaign and Sid was a shoo-in. He was synonymous with The Georgia Gentlemen’s Club, a powerful PAC group whose agenda was to continue to keep Georgia minimum wage lower than the rest of the country and their banks larger than any public library in the state.
There was a lot of old money bankrolling Sid’s campaign, unlike Elaine’s ragtag army of middle-class, college-educated, Southern women united to change the future of our state to a more progressive and equal one for all. Consequently Sid’s campaign contributors could afford to put pressure on the media and threaten to drop future advertisement dollars if they dared mention Elaine’s name or her liberal causes.
While the rest of Elaine’s interns—myself included—did everything but throw ourselves off roofs, Sean did his secret work and smiled with glee. Two weeks before the election, Sid dropped out the race. Said he decided he needed to devote more time to his family.
Years later, after I had been working at The Sentinel, the truth of Sid’s forfeiture came out. Sean had learned that Sid had a mistress living in Peach County, Middle Georgia. She was a beautiful Mexican migrant worker who once pulled rotten peaches out the carriers on Sid’s brother-in-law’s peach orchards near Fort Valley. Now she ran a bed-and-breakfast near Hazelhurst with two teenaged sons, one a dead ringer for a young, tanned Sid on holiday.
How Sean found that information back then I had no clue. However, now I suspect that the many folks he had bailed out of jail all these years returned the favor to him in the best way they knew how . . . with what they knew.
“Sean, are you sure there isn’t more to this than you’re letting on?” I observed his face for any more tells.
“After all these years you still don’t know me.” He smirked, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a cigar.
Justus reached in his breast pocket and pulled out a gold lighter.
I frowned at Justus. “You smoke?”
“No . . .” He flipped a flame and lit Sean’s cigar with it. “But I have enough common sense to bring a lighter to a cigarette bar.”
Sean inhaled his potion and chuckled. “Y’all are absolutely adorable.”
I threw back my mocktini and gulped. “Now I really need a stiff drink.” I raised my hand for the waiter to return.
14
Wednesday, 11:00 PM
Flappers, Atlantic Station, Atlanta, Georgia
Justus didn’t allow me time to strap myself into the seat belt before he gave me his two, three, and four cents about my meeting with Sean.
“I’m thankful that you let me tag along with you tonight. I hope that this big step forward also includes me being able to share my thoughts about what just happened in there,” he said.
“Share away, just as long as you turn the heat on. It’s cold in here.”
He chuckled, turned the ignition, and drove us out of there. However, he didn’t say another word until we were well on I-85 North toward home.
“Although I’ve only spent about two hours with Sean, I think the guy isn’t telling you the entire story. Tiger has more than enough agents searching for your friend.”
“I agree.”
He coughed. “You do? Then why did you take the money?”
“The money in my purse isn’t contingent upon me finding Rosary DiChristina. It’s an incentive. Now if I bring her in, then I get another twenty-five thou.” I leaned my head back.
“So you have no intention of looking for Rosie?”
“A little. I don’t know . . .” I closed my eyes. “I’m curious why the best recovery agents in Atlanta can’t find a drunk, dark-haired hoochie with bright blue eyes. She’s hard to miss.”
“I’m curious that your speakeasy pal wants you to search for a known bootlegger.” He chuckled. “I feel like we walked through a wormhole or the fourth dimension tonight.”
“Wow. I didn’t know you were such a science geek.”
“Not really. But don’t you think Sean insulted your intelligence? He wants you to believe that finding Rosie helps Elaine when clearly finding her—or her private stash—helps him.”
“That’s exactly why I kept that money. I might be stupid, but I’m not dumb.”
He laughed. “Somehow I understand exactly what you mean.”
I chuckled with him until I got this brilliant idea.
“Justus?” I opened my eyes and sat up. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Probably not.” He glanced at me, then back to the road. “I’m sure I’m not, and batting your eyes at me will not convince me other wise.”
“But it’s a good idea.”
“No, it’s a crazy, you-haven’t-learned-the-last-time idea.”
“But I can’t do this without you,” I whined.
“And that’s exactly why your idea is a crazy one, because there is no reason why I should be involved.”
“Just hear me out.” I shifted my body toward him in the seat. “I promised Bella an afternoon movie Friday. No sitter for Saturday, got church on Sunday, school field trip on Monday, and the next two weeks are filled with PI training and pretending to be on vacation. Tonight is my only night to bop over to Amicalola Falls and snatch Rosie out the woods without Tiger being the wiser.”
“Snatching someone out the North Georgia Mountains is a clear indicator that you’ve been out way past your bedtime.” He shook his head. “Give it a rest, Angel.”
“I’ll split the money with you.”
“Don’t want it. You know better than that.”
“Fine.” I huffed and plopped back in the passenger seat. “I’ll go by myself.”
“Ang
el, don’t be foolish,” he said while turning into my subdivision.
“ ‘And wisdom was taken from the prophets and given unto fools.’ ”
“You can’t use the Bible to fit your agenda like that.”
“I know, but everybody else does it.” I unzipped my purse and located my garage remote.
He pulled into my driveway and didn’t say anything for a while. The tension in the car was so thick it made my knees shake.
Justus took my hand and placed it over his heart. “Angel, don’t go anywhere else tonight. Stay here, please. I’ll do anything, if you just stay.”
“Anything?”
“Anything.” He nodded.
His new haircut made him look more handsome than before and made it way too hard for me to hide my attraction from him. I ran my hands around his nape. He closed his eyes and groaned. It felt fuzzy and I could run my fingers through it. A sliver of silver peeked just above his temple. It complemented the sparkle his eyes gave off when he was either happy or angry with me. When he opened them again, the glow shimmered, but he wasn’t happy. He was dead serious.
“If Rosary doesn’t turn up by this Thursday afternoon, will you go with me to get her?”
“And if she’s not there? Then what?”
“Then it’s over. Deadline missed. Besides, I have Running of the Brides Friday morning.”
“Do you mean it?”
“Justus, don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re right.”
He scoffed. “Okay . . .”
“I’m going to hang back and let the dust settle this time. Like Mom often says, ‘The truth is like a man caught with his pants down. Eventually the truth will come up.’ ”
15
Monday, 3: 00 PM
Home, Sugar Hill, Georgia
Bella’s class field trip at the Georgia State Capitol went off without a hitch. The kids oohed and aahed and then cried for their mommies. I thought of Elaine while we were there. I had planned to call her to confirm her knowledge of the $25,000 Sean Graham had given me to find Rosary. But I took the high road and spent the weekend with my daughter, my family, and Justus. Tiger had paid me to rest and I did just that. Shoot. I made Bella take a nap, too.
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