Butterfly

by Sharon Sala

  “Are you sure?” he asked.

  “Yes. Do it,” Bobby Lee said. “Set it up at the Wyndham Anatole for tomorrow morning before I change my mind. That’s where I made my announcement, that’s where it will be rescinded.”

  “Yes, sir,” Ainsley said. “I’ll call you with the details later.”

  As he left, Bobby Lee was already in gear, planning his speech. Maybe if he managed to cry as he said it, the press would put a different spin on the news and make him look like the hero, broken and sad, but nevertheless a hero who was willing to put his family before his personal ambitions.

  ***

  Mona woke up on her back just as a giant-size cockroach skittered across the ceiling above her bed. She stared at it in sleepy fascination, wondering how creatures like that managed to defy the laws of gravity. It wasn’t the first time she’d awakened and not known where she was, but it had been a few years since the last occurrence. Then she heard Bitsy hawking and spitting in the bathroom across the hall and remembered where she was—Pasadena, Texas—and that she’d run away from home.

  She rolled over and sat up on the side of the bed. Ignoring her nudity, she stood and headed for the bathroom.

  “Bitsy, you ’bout through in there? I need to pee,” she yelled.

  “Give me a second to rinse my mouth,” Bitsy hollered.

  Mona waited. Moments later, Bitsy opened the door and then stopped in her tracks, her eyes bugged out in disbelief.

  “Ooowee, girl, you ain’t changed yourself a bit, have you? You still parade around in your birthday suit every morning, just like you used to.”

  Mona shrugged. “It’s just flesh and bone,” she said, and shut the door behind her as she pushed Bitsy aside.

  “Yeah, but it always looks different on you!” Bitsy yelled, and then ambled back into her bedroom and took off her nightgown to dress for the day.

  As she passed a mirror, she paused for a look. She was almost ten years younger than Mona, but it didn’t show. In fact, Mona didn’t look much older now than she had in her forties. Bitsy frowned at the bulges and wrinkles on her own body and then shrugged it off. What the hell did it matter anymore? It wasn’t as if she were looking for a man. She’d had plenty of them and not bothered to keep a one.

  By the time Mona came out of the bathroom, Bitsy had coffee brewing and the television blaring.

  Mona sauntered into the living room with a towel wrapped around her. Bitsy jumped up and pulled the shades on her windows.

  “Lord, Baby Doll, you have a funny way of trying to hide, paradin’ around all nekked in front of the windows and all.”

  Mona shrugged. “I didn’t think.”

  Bitsy grinned. “Get yourself a cup of coffee and then set down and tell me all about it.”

  Mona poured the thick brew, but now that night had passed, she was loath to discuss the mess she was in with someone she hadn’t seen in years. What if she said something that could ruin Bobby Lee’s chances at the White House? No, she’d better just keep her troubles to herself. And she was saved from having to answer Bitsy so soon when her phone began to ring.

  “That’s probably my boss,” Bitsy said. “I called in sick this morning, but I don’t think he believed me. I’ll take it in the bedroom and play it up right, okay?”

  “Whatever,” Mona said, and turned her attention to the morning news on the TV. It wasn’t until she heard her son’s name mentioned that she sat up and began to take notice. She turned up the volume and then took a sip of her coffee, and, not for the first time, thought of what she’d left behind. Fine clothes, clean sheets and Delia’s hot buttered biscuits were the first to come to mind.

  “Senator Wakefield has called a press conference for this afternoon at the Wyndham Anatole in Dallas. Sources are saying that they’re expecting him to withdraw from the presidential race. If he does, this will be the shortest candidacy in presidential history. He hadn’t even announced a platform and he’s already falling off it.”

  “No,” Mona moaned, and sat up with a jerk. “No, Bobby Lee, you can’t do this to me.”

  Bitsy came back into the room ready for a gabfest and found Mona scrambling to get up.

  “What’s wrong?” she said.

  “I’ve got to get home,” Mona said. “Bobby Lee’s about to make the biggest mistake of his life, and I’ve got to stop him before it’s too late.”

  “But you just got here!” Bitsy cried.

  “Yes, and I can’t thank you enough for helping me out,” Mona said. “But I’ve got to get back to Dallas by noon.”

  “You’re crazy. You’ll never make it in time.”

  “I have to,” she said. “Everything depends on it.”

  Within five minutes, she was dressed and gone, leaving Bitsy Chance with an unmade bed, four wet bath towels and a dirty coffee cup. It was Bitsy’s opinion that Mona had been rich too long to be fun anymore.

  However, money was the least of Mona’s worries. When she finally got back on I-35 heading north, she pressed the accelerator to the floor.

  ***

  China woke up to find herself wrapped in Ben’s arms. The last thing she remembered was Ben seeing her to bed. She’d heard the front door open, then close, and knew he’d gone outside to relieve Dave on guard duty. There were dark shadows beneath his eyes, and his cheeks had a gaunt, almost haunted look. China felt guilty, knowing that the stress of her presence in his life was the cause of all that.

  She snuggled a little closer, sighing with satisfaction as he unconsciously pulled her closer. It seemed a miracle that the man loved her, but love her he did. He told her on a daily basis and showed her in every way he knew how. All she had to do was trust that it would last and their lives would be perfect. After the killer was put behind bars, of course. For now, that was their top priority.

  Just as she was thinking about going back to sleep, the phone began to ring. Ben came awake within seconds and was answering before he’d even opened his eyes.

  “Hello.”

  “Ben, this is Red. We’ve got our warrant.”

  Ben was rolling out of bed as he spoke. “Her alibi didn’t hold.”

  “Everyone remembered her there, but no one could vouch for the entire time, or even when she left.”

  “Did you get an ID on what she was wearing?”

  “Yeah. A floor-length sequined gown. A couple of women said it was dove gray. The rest we asked said it was something pale blue.”

  Ben’s heartbeat skidded. A blue beaded gown. “What about a fur? Was she wearing a fur?”

  “Hell, yes. In fact, that caused the biggest fuss. About half the women we talked to were animal lovers and berated Miz Mona real fiercely for wearing dead critters on her back.”

  “Hot damn,” Ben muttered, and rolled out of bed. He winked at China, who was now on her knees, following his every word.

  “Is the warrant arrest and search?”

  “Yeah. The clothes were the clincher for the captain. After he heard that, he said screw the senator, or something to that effect, and told us to go for it. He made a couple of calls, found a judge who doesn’t much like Bobby Lee’s politics and we’re in like Flynn. When can you be ready?”

  “What time is it?” Ben asked.

  “Almost seven.”

  “I’ll meet you at eight outside the Wakefield mansion.”

  “We’ll be waiting,” Red said.

  Ben hung up the phone. “We’ve got a warrant,” he said.

  “I’m going with you,” China cried, and jumped out of bed on the run, grabbing her clothes as she went.

  Ben hesitated. “Honey, I don’t know if this is such a—”

  She stopped, her jeans in her hands. “We’ve already talked about this.”

  He sighed. “Then hurry up. There’s no time to shower. Just get dressed and see if Mom’s made any coffee. I’ve had about three hours’ sleep, and I don’t want to run into a light pole before I put the cuffs on that woman’s hands.”

  Nineteenr />
  Bobby Lee was still in his pajamas when the doorbell began to ring. He grabbed a robe and headed for the stairs on the run. Please, God, let it be word about his mother. But his hopes fell when he saw the two detectives from yesterday and the uniformed officers behind them.

  Delia was already there, looking wild-eyed and ready to burst into tears.

  “Oh, Senator, these people are looking for Miz Mona. I didn’t know what to say.”

  “You go on to the kitchen,” he said. “Tell cook to bring my coffee to the dining room.”

  “Yes, sir,” she said, and hurried away.

  Bobby Lee smoothed back his hair with the palms of his hands and then tightened the belt of his robe.

  “Gentlemen, I would appreciate it if you would step inside. You’re lettin’ in the flies.”

  “Our business is with your mother, sir. We have a warrant for her arrest.”

  Bobby Lee’s ears began to buzz, and he felt the blood actually draining from his face. He wondered if, for the first time in his life, he was going to faint.

  “You can’t be serious,” he muttered.

  “Oh, but we are,” Ben said. “She has been positively identified as the woman who shot Charles Finelli. And, as you know, the gun that was used to kill Finelli has also been linked to a number of other crimes in the city. Now, either you call her down, or we’ll go up and get her.”

  “No, no, you don’t understand,” Bobby Lee said, as Ben motioned for the officers to proceed upstairs. “She’s not here. I swear.”

  Everyone stopped. For a moment there was total silence. And then Ben took a step forward and grabbed the senator by the lapels of his robe.

  “What do you mean, she’s not here?”

  “We had an argument yesterday after you left. She stormed out, and I haven’t seen her since. I’ve had my men out looking for her all night, but we can’t find a trace.”

  Ben pushed him up against the wall. “If you’re lying to us, you’ll find yourself arrested for aiding and abetting, for harboring a fugitive and for anything else I can think of.”

  “I’m not, I’m not, I swear,” Bobby Lee mumbled. “As for this other, you’ve got to be mistaken. My mother wouldn’t hurt anyone. She’s not capable of something like that.”

  Ben turned him loose in disgust. “Officers, commence the search,” he said, and then turned to Red. “I’m calling in an APB on Mona Wakefield while the senator here shows you her room.”

  “Yes, of course,” Bobby Lee muttered, and started up the stairs just as China walked through the door.

  Ben turned. “I told you to wait outside,” he said.

  “Where is she?” China said. “I need to see her face-to-face, just like before.”

  “She’s not here.”

  China moaned. “She got away?”

  “I don’t know what happened,” he said, and took her by the arm. “Please, honey, wait outside in the car with the other officer, okay?”

  She nodded and had started to leave when she saw someone standing on the stairs. It was the first time she’d seen the senator in person, and he didn’t look as good as she’d expected. In fact, he looked as if he’d seen a ghost.

  “You’re the witness… aren’t you? The woman my mother is supposed to have shot.”

  China took a step forward, moving beyond Ben’s reach.

  “My baby is dead because of her.”

  Bobby Lee moaned and then sat down on the stairs, his legs too weak to stand.

  “This is all a horrible mistake.”

  But no one seemed inclined to believe him. “Senator, you were going to show my partner to your mother’s room?”

  “At the head of the landing, first door on the left. Help yourselves. I don’t feel so good.”

  The officers moved forward, led by Red Fisher, leaving the senator on the stairs.

  Ben took China by the arm and pulled her to the doorway.

  “In the car. Now.”

  “I’m going,” she said.

  “The captain wouldn’t be too happy with me if he knew you were here, so let’s don’t push the issue, okay?”

  “Is she going to get away?” China asked.

  “Hell, no. Mona Wakefield’s face is as familiar in Texas as McDonald’s Golden Arches. She’ll turn up, and when she does, we’ll arrest her. Wait for me outside. I’ll have to go by the station, but we should be home before noon.”

  It wasn’t what she wanted to hear, but it was enough. She went back to the patrol car, while Ben joined the officers in their search of the estate.

  Bobby Lee had retreated to the library and was frantically searching for his lawyer’s home phone number. Cursing every woman on the face of the earth, he decided to call Ainsley instead. Ainsley answered on the first ring.

  “It’s me,” Bobby Lee said. “The police have a warrant for my mother’s arrest, and my house is being searched as we speak. What time did you schedule that press conference?”

  “Christ almighty, Bobby Lee, is that all you can worry about?”

  “You just answer me, damn it. I know what I’m doing.”

  Ainsley sighed. “It’s set for noon.”

  “That’s too late,” Bobby Lee said. “Make it ten.”

  “This morning? That’s only two hours away. I’ll never be able to change all of the—”

  “Just do it,” Bobby Lee snapped. “I’m going to break the news myself, not the other way around. I refuse to look like I’m part of this mess.”

  “You do this, and you’ll be selling your mother down the proverbial river.”

  “She sold herself years ago,” Bobby Lee said. “They’re just finally coming to collect.”

  “All right. I hope you know what you’re doing.”

  “I always know what I’m doing,” Bobby Lee said, and hung up in Ainsley’s ear.

  Then he went to his room to dress, bypassing the destruction of his mother’s quarters. He didn’t want to know what they found. The way he figured it, the less he knew, the more innocent he would appear. By the time he was ready to come back downstairs, he had everything all figured out. By God, he was going to come out looking like a hero again or know the reason why. It wasn’t going to be easy, but he was about to announce to the citizens of his fair city that when he’d discovered her duplicity, he’d turned in his own mother for her horrible crimes.

  After that, he had one last chore to attend to, and then everything was going to fall back into place. So he wasn’t going to run for president. So what. The more he thought about it, the more he began to convince himself that it had been his mother’s dream, not his, all along.

  ***

  As fate would have it, Mona had a flat tire just outside of Austin. She pulled off the highway into a rest stop and popped the trunk, although she didn’t have the faintest idea of how to remove the spare, let alone take off the flat tire. But she reminded herself that she’d come from hardy pioneer stock. Her great-great-granny had walked across the country from Boston to Texas, following her family wagon to a new land. If that woman could walk several thousand miles and live through Indian and Mexican wars, then by God, Mona could figure out how to change a flat tire.

  She rolled up the sleeves of her designer suit and leaned into the trunk to study the setup. The tire seemed far too small, therefore it must be flat. But just to be sure, she got the manufacturer’s book out of the glove box and began to read. Before she’d gotten past the directions on how to change the digital clock to daylight savings, a trucker was pulling off the highway and coming to a stop behind her.

  “Thank you Lord,” she said, and stood up, pasted a smile on her face and sauntered toward the man.

  He got out of his rig, thinking this was his lucky day. Before he knew it, he was showing her how to take the spare out of the trunk and where to place the jack to make sure the car didn’t tip.

  “I don’t know what I would have done without your help,” Mona said, playing helpless to the hilt.

  “It’s my pl
easure,” the trucker said, as he tugged on the doughnut, but it wouldn’t come out. “Dang thing’s stuck on something,” he said, and leaned a little farther into the trunk.

  He gave it another couple of tugs, and as he did, the layer of carpeting inside the trunk came up in his hands.

  “Something had spilled on it,” he said. “Looky here. It plumb glued the carpet to the spare. Don’t look like it’s ever been used, or you would have found this before.”

  Mona nodded, pretending great interest, but she didn’t really care. All she wanted was to be on her way.

  “I’ll straighten the carpet,” she said. “You just take that little old tire and do your thing, okay?”

  The trucker grinned. He was going to do his thing, and he hoped that she’d be willing to do another little thing or two when he was through.

  Mona knew what he was thinking, and she’d play hell before she bumped bellies with some stranger. She hadn’t ever been that hard up. She leaned into the trunk and began pulling the carpeting back down. As she did, a flash of something shiny caught her eye. She lifted up the carpet again and peered under, and as she did, her heart skipped a beat.

  A gun. Jesus Christ, it was a gun.

  But where had it come from? This car was hers. She’d bought it off the showroom floor less than a year ago. No one drove it but her. There was no way this could have…

  A strange look crossed her face. She glanced toward the trucker to make sure he hadn’t seen, then calmly smoothed the carpet back down. A few minutes later, he was finished.

  “Just put that dirty old flat right in here,” Mona said. “And tell me, what do I owe you for your help?”

  The trucker tossed the flat and the jack inside the trunk and slammed the lid.

  “You can’t drive over forty or fifty miles an hour on one of these things,” he said. “As for what you owe me, well, I’ll just let you decide.” Then he rubbed his hand down the front of his fly and grinned.

  Mona smiled. “Why don’t you just crawl up in that big old truck of yours and stretch out in your cute little bed and I’ll see what I can do.”

  When he grabbed her by the hand and headed for the truck on the run, she thought she would break a heel. But her chance was coming. She needed to put some time between her and this moose, to get lost in the traffic without having to worry about him following her and she knew what she was going to do.