[The Advocate 01.0] The Advocate

by Teresa Burrell

  "Nope, not a word. I didn't even get to say good-bye to her." Through tears, Adelle asked, "Ain't Honey with Peggy?"

  "I haven't seen Peggy," Joe said. "I was asked to come by here and get some information." Joe stood up. "Do you mind if we look around a bit, ma'am?"

  "Go ahead. I ain't got nuttin' to hide."

  "I'd like to ask your husband a few questions also."

  "I expect he's asleep by now. If'n he is, you ain't gettin' him awake for nuttin'. That man could sleep through a bomb goin' off."

  Joe and Brett followed Adelle back to the bedroom, looking around for any signs of Honey. The door to a small bedroom on the left side of the hallway hung halfway off the hinges, and the room was piled with junk. Joe stepped inside, but he could only go about a foot and a half because no floor space remained open to walk. "That was Honey's room when she lived here. Now we just use it for storage," Adelle said. "Of course, I'll clean it up when she comes back."

  In a room at the end of the hall a heavy-set, unshaven man lay face down across the bed. Adelle shook him, saying, "Harry, wake up." He just lay there. Except for the snoring, they would have thought him dead. "Harry," she screeched in her shrill voice. "Harry, wake up. Some cops want to talk to you." He stopped snoring for a minute, but he still didn't move. She yelled again, still nothing. Adelle grabbed his shirt, shaking as hard as she could, still screaming at him to wake up. He moved a little and moaned, then turned over and within seconds started snoring again.

  With little room to maneuver in the small room, Joe felt claustrophobic. "It's all right, ma'am," he said. "It doesn't look like he'd have much to say anyway." Brett started to walk back down the hallway first. Joe stepped back and let Adelle go next, keeping an eye on his back.

  "You've been most helpful, ma'am. We sure appreciate it." He handed her a card and said, "Please call me if you hear from either Peggy or Honey. Would you?"

  "Sure. Is she okay? Honey, I mean. Is there somethin' wrong? They better not hurt her. I've been worried sick ever since they left – Peggy with her drugs and her fancy boyfriend with his gamblin'. Who knows what might happen to those kids."

  "Are you talking about Gaylord Murdock? Is he a gambler?"

  "Yeah, that Murdock guy. Comin' from all that money and everything. Peggy thought she had herself a good catch with that one, as far as the money goes and such, but he ain't got no money. His folks do, but he ain't got none 'cause he spends it all gamblin'."

  "How do you know?"

  "Peggy told me. She said he's gettin' worse and worse. He's all mixed up with some thugs in Atlanta. I think that's why they went to California. I think he's hidin' out, if you ask me."

  "Is there anything else you can tell me about Gaylord?"

  "Nope, I only saw him a couple of times. He always acts real proper and such, like he's too good for us. I didn't like him much. He made me uncomfortable, but it never bothered Harry. He always says, 'He ain't no different than us, pees with his pecker just like any other man.' Anyway, we never spent no time with them, never socialized or nothin' like that. He was too good for that."

  "Thanks again, ma'am. You be sure and call us now if you think of anything else we should know." Joe looked at her black eye, no doubt in his mind where it came from. "And you be careful, ma'am. Take care of yourself, you hear?"

  "I will," she said, but Joe knew nothing would change.

  CHAPTER 24

  Sabre sat at her big oak desk, trying to focus on her tasks at hand. She grabbed the phone every time it rang in hopes it would be Joe with news he had found Honey Stone. Her mind refused to entertain any possibility other than that Peggy's cousin, Adelle, had her. Her knotted gut, on the other hand, was painfully aware of the possibilities. The phone rang again.

  "Sabre, it's Joe. I just left Adelle Thompson's."

  "Did you see Honey?"

  "I'm afraid not. She's not there. According to Adelle, she's still with Peggy."

  Sabre's heart sank. She imagined the worst. Silence followed while she tried to catch her breath. "Sabre, are you okay?"

  "Yes," she said, her voice quaking. She took another deep breath. "So Peggy says she's with Adelle and Adelle says she's with Peggy. Did Adelle seem credible?"

  "It's hard to say. She was pretty drunk. Her old man had passed out already, and she had a fairly fresh black eye I expect came from him. I don't think she hurt the little girl, but he may have done something to the kid. My gut feeling, though, is she told the truth." Joe filled Sabre in on the details. "One more thing: Adelle said Gaylord is a gambler and he's mixed up with some heavyweights. Do you know anything about that?"

  "No, it's news to me."

  "Well, Adelle didn't like Gaylord much. I think his social status made her feel inferior. That may or may not have been intentional on his part, but she did feel put down. It could be she's exaggerating what she heard from Peggy about the gambling. I'll see what I can find out. Maybe the social worker could talk to Peggy about it as well."

  "I'm sure Marla would be happy to."

  Sabre thought about what she had learned from Ruby Sterling and wondered if Elizabeth's disappearance had anything to do with Gaylord's gambling. She thought again about telling Joe, but was too afraid for Ruby and Alexis if he weren't clean. The more he helped her, the more she questioned his intentions. Yet, he seemed so sincere.

  Sabre's thoughts were interrupted when Joe spoke again, "Sabre, there are some other things you need to know, for your own safety as well as Alexis'. There may not be a connection, but there have been too many coincidences for my liking." Joe paused for a second, trying to figure out where to start. "I haven't been totally honest with you. I told you my only interest in helping you was to protect Alexis, but the truth is I have my own agenda. I had an interest in helping you right from the beginning because of my friend, Steve."

  "Who's Steve?"

  "Steve Parker was my best friend through grade school and high school. He's the reason I became a cop. He and his partner, Bill Davis, worked on the Elizabeth Sterling-Murdock case. He didn't finish the case because he died in a car accident. When you wanted information on Elizabeth, I thought it might be a way for me to help Steve. He would've done the same for me. I guess I should've told you from the beginning, but it just didn't seem important then."

  "And now it does?"

  "Well, there are still a lot of unanswered questions, but I think my investigation of this case is ruffling some feathers. And if it is, I'm concerned it could lead to you and to Alexis. Here's what happened — I went to go see Steve's wife, and look through his records to see if I could find anything on the Sterling-Murdock case. I knew Steve would have taken his own personal case notes. I remembered Steve telling me about a riddle he had come across. It drove him crazy trying to figure it out. He wasn't sure at the time if it had any bearing on the case, but he was determined to solve it and find out. Steve drove himself to solve any puzzle. It's one of the things that made him an excellent cop.

  "Anyway, I recall his obsession with the puzzle he had found. He agonized over what it might mean. He would call and try to use me as a sounding board. I was so busy at the time, I got frustrated with him, but he kept hounding me. I knew he wouldn't let up until he had it figured out." Joe sighed. "He attacked this with a vengeance. He kept hitting me with bits and pieces, trying different angles to solve it. The night of his accident, he called and left a message saying he had figured it out. He said he would tell me when we met for coffee the next morning. But I never saw him again, because he was killed about twenty minutes later."

  "I'm so sorry, Joe. I had no idea. What does it have to do with Alexis or me?"

  "Well, a few other things have happened since I read Steve's notes. Several entries on his notepad indicated there might be some bad blood in the department. If it's true, Steve's death may not have been an accident. So, I put out some feelers and shortly thereafter someone broke into my house."

  "And you think they were after his notes?"

  "I'm
pretty certain of it, but I can't prove it," Joe said. "That same evening, someone ran my car off the road. They tried to kill me, much like Steve was killed. I think whoever did it probably figured if I didn't die from the accident, I would certainly heed the warning."

  "But you didn't?"

  "No. Now I need to find out if Steve was murdered. If it's within the department, that's even worse."

  "Do you have any idea who it is?"

  "I have a pretty good idea, but I can't prove it. I think it's Bill Davis, Steve's partner. They investigated the case together, but Bill seemed real anxious to close it quickly."

  Sabre thought about the information she had heard from Ruby. She was still torn between telling and keeping her word until Joe said, "If something doesn't break soon, I won't be able to continue to work there. The word is already out I suspect a cop of being dirty, and that's a cardinal sin in the department, not to mention the fact he tried to kill me once. It's likely it'll happen again."

  Though difficult for Sabre to break her word, she believed Joe, and she saw no alternative. She had to trust he would protect Ruby and Alexis. "Joe, I might be able to help."

  "I doubt it, but I appreciate the offer."

  "No, I mean I have some information that might be of use to you."

  "What is it?"

  "First, you have to promise you'll protect the people involved."

  "Absolutely."

  Sabre told him about her conversation with Ruby. She reiterated the threats made against Ruby if she told anyone and about Ruby going to the police, only to see Steve's partner with one of the thugs. She gave Joe the description of the cop, as Ruby had given it to her. It matched Bill Davis.

  "Sabre, you are my guardian angel! You may have saved my life, kid. I promise I'll do everything within my power to make sure Ruby is safe. We now have the missing link. This gives us enough to go to Internal Affairs. They'll obtain the information from Ruby, and they'll protect her. Internal Affairs is relentless when it comes to cleaning up the department. This will probably re-open Steve's accident as well. IA will want to know if there's any connection, and I bet they'll find one."

  "Well, you're welcome. I hope it helps," Sabre said, hoping her trust had been correctly placed.

  "You did the right thing. You won't be sorry," Joe said.

  "I hope not," Sabre said, as she hung up the phone. "I surely hope not."

  Sabre phoned Marla to let her know Honey was not with Adelle. "Oh, my God," Marla said. "Where is she?"

  Sabre knew her question was rhetorical, but she answered anyway. "I don't know."

  "I'll see what I can find out from Peggy and Gaylord. I'll let you know."

  ~~~

  Marla took Wayne, a senior associate, with her to question Peggy and Gaylord. She didn't really want to be alone with either of them, and she wanted a witness in case one of them said something incriminating. She decided to drop in to catch them as unaware as she could.

  Marla knocked on Peggy's door. Peggy opened it before her knuckles hit the door the second time. The look on Peggy's face indicated her disappointment. "Oh," she said. "What's up?"

  "We need to talk to you. Can we come in?"

  "Actually, I was just leaving," Peggy said, obviously lying.

  "This won't take long," Marla said, as she stepped inside. Turning to her associate, she said, "Peggy, this is Wayne, my supervisor."

  "Hello," Peggy said, but turned anxiously toward the door so she didn't see Wayne extend his hand to shake hers.

  "Nice to meet you," he said, putting his hand back down by his side.

  Peggy paced in short, rapid trips around the room, twisting her hands and puffing on a cigarette. Every few seconds, she looked at her watch and then the door. Marla guessed she was about to score some drugs, but decided not to question her on it yet. She figured Peggy's anxious state might help her obtain the information she needed. Her drug deal could be dealt with later.

  "Peggy, please sit down for a minute. We have a few questions we need to ask you." Marla said to her in a gentle but commanding tone.

  Peggy sat down at the table and Marla and Wayne joined her. Her cigarette almost gone, Peggy reached over and put it out in the ashtray. Marla spoke, "Peggy, we need to ask you one more time. Where is your daughter, Honey?"

  "I told you. She's with my cousin."

  "Your cousin, Adelle Thompson?"

  "Yes, that's right."

  "Peggy, the police in Atlanta have spoken with Adelle. Honey's not there. Adelle said you had her – that you came by and told her you were taking her with you to California."

  "No, she's lying. She's not with me. You can see she's not with me." Peggy reached for her pack of cigarettes and lit one up. She stood up and started pacing again. "She's lying."

  "Why would she lie about it?"

  "Because she hates me. She just wants to get me in trouble." She took a long drag on her cigarette, sucking it deep into her lungs. "She wanted to adopt Honey, but I wouldn't let her. Honey always liked me better than she did Adelle, and she hates me for it." The smoke came out of her mouth and nose as she spoke. She was becoming more and more anxious.

  Someone knocked on the door and Peggy rushed to answer it. She spoke for a moment with the man at the door and then stepped partly outside, blocking the door so the social workers couldn't see them. Wayne stood up and walked toward the door. When he did Peggy said, "No, she's not home. Come back later. She should be back in about an hour." She closed the door, turned, and said, "Someone looking for my roommate."

  "Right," Wayne said.

  "Peggy, if you want to have Haley and Jamie back in your custody, you have to clean up," Marla said.

  "I'm clean, honest. I haven't used in a long time. I've been clean for weeks. I swear."

  "Then why aren't you drug testing?"

  "I've been trying to, but they had my number messed up. The paper had me down as a four and then when I got there they said I was a five, and so I went on the wrong day."

  "No, Peggy, the paper said you were a five. You need to go on the days they're testing fives."

  "I did. I went on Monday, but they closed early. They were supposed to be open until eight o'clock and I got there at five minutes to eight and they wouldn't let me in. They'd already locked the door."

  "Why did you wait until so late to go?"

  "Because I didn't have a way to get there. I had to hitch a ride, and by the time they got me there the doors were locked."

  "Why didn't you use the bus tokens I gave you to get to your testing?"

  "I didn't have any more. I used two of them to go see Jamie and Haley, and then I must've left them on the bus, 'cause I couldn't find the rest of them when I got home."

  It was no use. She had an excuse for everything. Marla let it go. She and Wayne continued to question Peggy about Honey, but she kept denying any knowledge of Honey's whereabouts. Marla and Wayne finally gave up and left.

  Once outside, Wayne shook his head and said, "Isn't it amazing how stupid druggies think the rest of us are? At least we interrupted her 'score' for a few hours."

  "Do you think she knows where Honey is?"

  "Well, she's either the world's worst mother, or she knows where she is."

  "Or both."

  "Good point," Wayne responded. "She never once gave any indication of concern the child might be missing. She never suggested we ask the police to help find her. Instead, it was all about what Adelle was trying to do to her."

  "Anyway, we can consider her officially missing now and the police will investigate. Let's swing by and see if we can catch Murdock. Then I'll go back to the office, write up the report, and fax it to Atlanta so they can begin their investigation."

  Darkness had set in by the time they reached Gaylord's apartment. "Good evening," he said. "Come on in. What can I do for you?"

  Gaylord, well mannered, polite, and cheerful was much easier to deal with than Peggy. Marla really hoped he wasn't involved in any way. "We'd like to ask you a few
questions."

  "Sure, what about?" He motioned to the sofa. "Have a seat. Can I get you some coffee or anything?"

  "No, I'm fine," Wayne said.

  "Me, too," Marla added. "Gaylord, you remember Wayne? I believe you met him at my office early on."

  "Yes, and we've spoken several times on the phone, also."

  Marla spoke, "Gaylord, we need some more information about Peggy's daughter, Honey Stone. The police went to see Peggy's cousin, Adelle, this afternoon. Honey's not with her."

  Gaylord's voice went up a notch and his brow wrinkled with concern. "What do you mean? She's not with her? She has to be with her. Peggy took her back there the day before we left to come here."

  "Adelle said Peggy came by her house and told her she was taking Honey with her to California."

  "That doesn't make any sense. Why would she say that?"

  "I don't know. Did you go with her?"

  "No, I had too much to do. Peggy went by herself."

  "Are you sure she took her to Adelle's?"

  "She said she did, and she had nowhere else to take her." Murdock thought for a second, "Oh my God, poor Honey. Where do you suppose she is?"

  "We don't know."

  "Do you think Adelle or her husband . . . what's his name? Harry? . . . may have done something to Honey?" Gaylord suggested.

  "Why do you ask?"

  "I hate to put people down, but they had some real problems. I only saw Adelle a few times, and Harry only once, but every time Adelle came around she looked like she'd been beaten up. I'm sure he knocked her around. She always had some excuse for the cuts and bruises. As far as I know, he never hit Honey, but like I said, I didn't see much of any of them."

  "So the last time you saw Honey was at your house the day before you left to come to California?"

  "Correct."

  "Was Peggy high when she left with Honey?"

  "No, she didn't seem to be. She hadn't been using for months prior to then. She stayed clean from the time she became pregnant with Haley until recently when she started using again. I thought it was the stress from the pregnancy getting to her." His brow wrinkled. "Does Peggy know Honey isn't with Adelle?"