A Case of the Heart

by Beth Shriver

  Brenda was right. Margie had a lot of bravado, but deep down she also had a heart of gold.

  Brenda sighed and folded her hands together. Liz braced herself for the words of wisdom she knew were coming.

  “It’s been so long since you’ve had a relationship. I just hope you give Alex a real chance.”

  Liz frowned and bumped Brenda with her foot. “It’s the first time in quite a while I’ve wanted to try again. I just can’t let those old feelings creep in.”

  Brenda gave Liz a hopeless smile. “You’ve got to get over the Nick thing. Then you’ve got to be willing to open your heart again.” She stopped and grinned. “Wait until your mom hears about this.”

  Chapter Nine

  The late afternoon sun appeared to shine brighter as Liz opened her blinds to let the golden rays in, covering her office floor. She had put the Sanders incident behind her and was moving on to other cases. Her chair creaked as she shuffled through a file.

  Margie came pounding in. The feathers of her violet, feathery sweater fluttered with her slightest movement or breath. “I told him about you. He’s real interested. He thinks you’re cute.”

  Liz shook her head. “Margie, you’re relentless.” Then realization sunk in. “You showed him my picture?” Curiosity won out over concern. “What picture?”

  “This one.” Margie walked over to Liz’s desk and picked up a silver picture frame. “From last year’s Christmas party.”

  The entire team was in this one, all eight of them, arranged in front of the huge Christmas tree that had been set up in the foyer. Liz critiqued her photo appearance. The dark green velvet dress, and low pumps accented Liz’s straight, brown hair hanging over her shoulders. At least it was a decent picture.

  “How do you know him?”

  Margie gave Liz a sideways glance as she held the picture between them, still at eye level. “At church.”

  “Really?”

  “I knew that would get you,” Margie said with a wink. “You never miss a Sunday. So what do you think? Just meet him one time. Just one time, that’s all I ask.”

  Liz interrupted, giving her an agitated look. “No, Margie, sorry.”

  “Humph! No wonder you don’t have a boyfriend, you’re too stubborn to meet anyone. By the way, you have a call on line two.”

  Liz grabbed the phone, hoping the lengthy hold hadn’t caused them to hang up. “This is Liz.”

  “Liz, it’s John.”

  “It’s good to hear from you, John. I’ve been wondering how the boys are doing.”

  “They’re fine. What I called to tell you is that we found something that you should be aware of. We found a bag of money in the boy’s room.”

  “A lot of money?”

  “Yes. I’m nervous having this much lying around the house. Do you think it’s laundered or drug money?”

  “Probably.” Yes .

  “I don’t think I’ll share that bit of information with the wife.”

  “Just hide it in a safe place until Officer Demas picks it up.”

  “Oh good, someone we know. The boys will be glad to see him again.”

  “And tell Nancy not to worry. I’ll put a rush order on it.”

  Just for reassurance she asked, “Are there any other details or information you can tell me before I make the call?”

  “Nothing at the moment, but I’ll keep thinking about it.”

  “I’ll be in touch.”

  When they disconnected, she called Alex. It felt a little strange calling him on routine details of cases because now she was hoping their work conversations would lead to talk about “them.”

  As she filled him in on the new twist of events, the anonymous phone call came back to her. “Alex, I need you to get that money right away. And please don’t think I’m overreacting, because I’m not.”

  “Okay, okay. You’re a little protective of these people. But whenever it comes to money, clean or dirty, people do start to act crazy.”

  Liz paused. She contemplated telling him about the phone call, but he had her on such a short leash now, she didn’t want him to cut her out completely. It was probably nothing, but he would blow it way out of proportion.

  “I’ll personally go over and get the money, and if it would make you feel better, I’ll tell the officers who patrol that neighborhood to keep an eye on the house.”

  “And the surrounding area?”

  “I’ll make sure they do.”

  “Okay, good.”

  Alex paused. “Would you like me to put out an APB?”

  “Can you do that?”

  “Liz.” He groaned.

  She let out a breath. That would cover them as well as if there had been an actual threat. “Are we still on for dinner?”

  “Yeah, will it still work for you?”

  She smiled against her will, not wanting to be too excited about this. “I’m looking forward to it.”

  “Me, too.”

  As Liz disconnected she caught a glimpse of Norma walking by. She was dressed in her normal black pants and shirt. But today she’d donned a white scarf with matching shoes. She never said hello—to anyone. How must it feel to be Norma, living such a lonely and miserable life?

  Even if Norma was difficult, it didn’t mean Liz needed to be. Liz hadn’t responded well to the situation the other day, and her conscience had been bothering her ever since it had happened.

  She walked down the hall to Norma’s office and leaned against the doorjamb. Norma didn’t do much in the way of decorating her office. No one really did. These old buildings were in such sad shape it was hard to make them look good. Liz studied her. Norma’s beady eyes caught hers momentarily, then looked back to her files.

  “Norma?”

  She kept filing, but Liz spoke anyway. “I’m sorry about the other day. I’m just trying to keep the caseloads even for everybody.”

  Norma continued to file, but said, “Are you just covering yourself because you want that supervisory position?”

  Liz paused to absorb what Norma just said. She was trying to apologize, and all Norma could think of was a selfish reason for the apology. Lord, give me patience . “I’m sorry you feel that way.”

  Liz stood there for a minute longer, and Norma finally turned to acknowledge her.

  Norma sat down hard in her cushy chair, catching some air and bounced. She slapped the file that was in her lap and looked straight ahead. “I don’t want the cases you have been giving me.”

  “But Norma you can’t take less than the others.”

  Norma waved her off. “It’s more than that.”

  “Then what is it?”

  Norma looked down at the file in her lap. “I don’t think I can handle emergency calls anymore.” She shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest.

  Liz blew out a sigh. “I don’t blame you.”

  Norma snorted. “I thought only the officers got into situations like those.”

  “Yeah, me too,” Liz said sarcastically.

  Norma stood and placed the file in a cabinet. Liz took the hint and turned to leave. “Maybe you should talk to Michael.”

  “I will.”

  Liz stepped out into the hallway and almost ran into Michael. She muttered a hello, and he followed her into her office and waited as she sorted through a tower of messages. “What ever happened to voice mail?”

  She stopped flipping through them, grateful for the break. “I like the old-fashioned way.”

  He sat down and crossed his legs, right over left, just as he always did. There was something comforting in his dependable habits and attire. “You look like you’re in a hurry.”

  “Just trying to wrap up details on old cases, plus I’m still working on the Harris case.”

  “With Demas?”

  “Yes.”

  He looked away for a moment. Liz sat quietly at her desk. Where’s he going with this?

  Michael sighed as he tapped his fingers on his thigh and then scooted to the end of his
seat to rest his long arms on her desk. “I’m sorry, Liz. I feel a little protective for some reason. Not very professional of me.”

  She stared at him in surprise. “You don’t need to protect me.”

  He chuckled, but stopped when she glared. “I don’t want you to get hurt. Demas has a reputation you know.”

  Here she thought he’d been referring to the Sanders case, when he was actually worried about her personal relationships. His opinion of Alex ticked her off a little. Not that she was totally convinced herself yet, but Alex’s preconceived reputation was getting old.

  “I appreciate your concern, but you don’t need to be.”

  He leaned over the desk, then took her hand and looked at the bruise. He examined it for a moment, turning her wrist over.

  “Was this from last night?” His brows drew together, and he held her tighter.

  She nodded and pulled her hand away, disgusted now that she understood his intention. “I’m fine.” She knew he was trying to help her, but not just with her job anymore.

  Chapter Ten

  As Alex drove up to the Bowie’s he noticed Jimmy’s face in the large window. When the boy saw Alex his eyes lit up and he disappeared from sight.

  Alex smiled and parked in front of the house. He got out and walked by Nancy’s flower garden, which was cut back for winter. Half a dozen bird feeders hung above where flowers would bloom.

  The front door opened and Jimmy jumped up and down on the other side of the security door. No one had ever been so glad to see him. John opened the door and Alex shook his hand and then bent over to shake Jimmy’s.

  “How are you doing, Jimmy?”

  “I’m real good at cards now. Wanna play?” Jimmy pointed to the card table in the center of the family room.

  Alex smiled down at him. “I think we could maybe get in a game before I leave.”

  “Really?” His eyes were so big and his expression so serious Alex almost laughed.

  “Really.” Alex stuck his fist out. “Remember this one?” He hit his palm three times and put two fingers up.

  Jimmy joined in with a rock. “Rock, paper, scissors.”

  John put his hands in his back pockets and grinned at Jimmy. “He’s quite the card player. So is his brother when you can get him to play.”

  Alex scanned the room. “Where’s Scotty?”

  “In his room.” John motioned for Alex to follow him.

  They went down a short, narrow hallway and found Scotty sitting on his bed playing a handheld video game. The room was simply decorated in blues. Lots of pillows covered the bed and larger ones filled one corner of the room next to a book shelf.

  When Scotty saw them enter his room he jumped off the bed. “Is there something wrong?”

  The concern on his face was far beyond his twelve years. His shoulders carried a heavy load. What all that entailed Alex didn’t know, but he did know was that a kid Scotty’s age shouldn’t have this much of a burden to bear.

  “No, Scotty, nothing’s wrong. I just came to talk with you for a minute and then maybe play a quick game of cards before I go.”

  Jimmy shot straight in the air at the word cards . “Yeah, Officer Demas is gonna play us in Uno and I’m gonna win.”

  “No, you’re not.” Scotty rolled his eyes at his little brother and sat on the twin bed.

  John took Jimmy’s hand and turned to leave the room. “Let’s go get the cards set up.”

  Jimmy bounded down the hall next to John. John’s head bobbed as he tried to talk to him about the seating arrangements for the game.

  “Am I in trouble?” Scotty’s face showed no expression as he asked the question.

  Alex tried to pull over a chair that had a moveable spine for the back. Scotty laughed as Alex grabbed the back of it and tried to push the chair toward the bed where Scotty sat.

  “Very funny.” Alex tried again but the back folded up and the chair went sideways. “How do you work this thing?” Alex stood with his hands on his hips staring at it with added confusion. It was good to see Scotty laugh. He almost acted like a kid again.

  Scotty snickered and rotated a knob on the bottom of the spine and it straightened. Alex sat down with relief and rolled the chair closer to the bed. “I want to talk to you about the money.”

  Scotty dropped his head. “I shouldn’t have brought it here.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Because no one would have found it at my house, now it’ll be gone forever.”

  “Maybe, but it’s drug money, Scotty, no criminal should have that cash.”

  “It would be better if we just gave it to him.”

  The words hit Alex square in the chest. The fact that Scotty wouldn’t have the money anymore didn’t relieve him of any worry, it may have increased it. “You’re safe here, Scotty.”

  “I want my parents to be safe.”

  It always amazed Alex how protective abused kids were of their parents, the same parents who beat them. “That’s very honorable of you, Scotty. But you’re a minor and we protect you first. The cops that patrol your parents’ area are aware of the situation too.”

  Scotty looked at his hands. “He’s gonna be mad.”

  “Who, Pirelli?”

  Scotty put his arms over his chest and remained silent.

  “Can’t tell?” Alex learned the technique from Liz and thought he’d try it, but it didn’t seem to work as well for him.

  Scotty just shook his head.

  Alex thought he’d take another approach. “Does this guy scare you?”

  Scotty stuck out his chin and looked up at Alex. He wasn’t going to budge, maybe because he was scared, maybe because he was stubborn. Alex guessed the latter of the two was correct.

  Scotty scoffed and turned away. “No.”

  “Good, because you have to say no, that’s the only way to stop a guy like this.” Alex looked him in the eyes. “Even if we gave him this money he’d just come back to you to do more runs for him. It’s a vicious cycle. We’ll find him soon and you’ll be done with him.”

  “Are you gonna arrest him?”

  “When we find him and get the evidence we need to hold him we will.” Alex leaned closer. “And that will hopefully be soon.”

  Scotty took a deep breath.

  “You did the right thing giving John that money. Now it’s out of your hands.”

  “I didn’t give it to him, he found it. They go through your stuff before you can stay here.”

  “That’s for everyone’s safety. You wouldn’t want some kid in here with a weapon would you? And now you’re not responsible anymore.” Alex put a hand on Scotty’s arm. “You hear me? It’s not your job anymore—any of it.”

  Scotty shrugged, clearly not convinced of Alex’s words. He scrutinized Alex and looked away again.

  “Enough of this, let’s go play a game of cards.”

  Scotty shook his head. Alex was genuinely disappointed. He wanted to see this kid happy, like Jimmy. “You scared I’ll beat you?”

  Scotty half smiled and shook his head again.

  “All right, but if you change your mind, come out and play a game?”

  “No, thanks.”

  “Okay, Scotty. Call me if you need anything.” Alex gave him a pat to his shoulder and went in to join Jimmy and John for a game of UNO.

  Jimmy started bouncing in his seat when he saw Alex. John dealt out the cards and they began the game. Alex periodically looked over at the doorway, hoping Scotty would change his mind and join them, but he never did. Alex was so distracted he got beat, even by Jimmy.

  Jimmy frowned and put his hands on his little hips. “You lost on purpose.”

  Alex looked at the mass of cards he had in his hands and Jimmy and John’s empty hands. “No, I really didn’t.”

  Jimmy’s eyebrows shot up. “Then you’re really bad at this game.” He began to scoop up the cards as John and Alex enjoyed a good laugh.

  Chapter Eleven

  Whittier Elementary w
as located near an area called Five Points. It was close to an intersection east of downtown where five streets intersect. The neighborhood had not been kept up and now showed its age.

  Scotty and Jimmy both attended this school, so Liz could get a lot of information at one time. She entered the front office and immediately felt the activity level.

  Liz handed her business card to the woman behind the desk and asked if she could speak to the principal. The tall woman in a pink sweater and gray skirt acted as if it were routine to see Social Service workers on a daily basis. Unfortunately, she probably did.

  Liz sat down and waited, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible, taking in the feel of the place. Three women sat up front, each behind an old, wooden desk. One woman’s phone rang constantly. What calls she couldn’t get, the other one behind her would take on backup.

  The third took the walk-ins. Many children were in and out, needing the phone or asking to see the nurse. Parents came in as well. They would pick up their children, or drop items off for them. She felt as if she were on a merry-go-round that never stopped.

  A tall slender man stepped out of his office. The woman at the front desk pointed to Liz. He walked over to her and offered his hand and pulled her along as they shook.

  “Ms. Adams.” He was cordial but rushed.

  She understood. It was just the way the school functioned.

  His office was drab and bare. The only contents were his desk, one chair and a table piled high with papers next to a huge filing cabinet.

  They went over the basics of her visit, and he got on his phone and requested the boys’ teachers come in. The confidentiality agreement between schools and Social Services helped move the process along.

  Scotty’s teacher was a very poised and cooperative young woman. “We haven’t had any real problems with Scotty, an occasional tardy or minor playground infraction, but nothing serious.”

  The school social worker didn’t have much information on the family. “There are so many families with extreme needs that sometimes the families with less pressing issues got lost between the cracks.”

  Liz understood, having the same problem—too many needs and not enough caseworkers.