The woman had gasped, her hand clutching imaginary pearls around her neck. She’d turned and stormed out of the building just as the woman behind the counter called him by name. “Your pizza is on the house tonight, Mr. Black. What can we get for you two?” she’d asked, giving Joanna an apologetic smile.
With pizza in hand, they’d returned to his place. Once there she had gone straight to the shower to rinse the afternoon’s experience down the drain.
Hours later, when she was feeling better, she took a sip of the white wine Mingus had poured for her. “So how badly did I mess things up?”
Mingus shook his head. “You didn’t mess anything up.” He updated her about finding the cameras at the school and requesting the footage.
“I forgot all about those cameras. Do you really think you’ll find something?”
“We can’t afford not to find something, baby.”
Joanna blew a soft sigh. She reached to place her glass on the coffee table then turned to kiss his lips. The sweet connection reminded her of the Creamsicles she’d loved as a little girl, the candied orange strips he’d been eating all evening painting his mouth with sugary goodness.
“Are you ready for bed?” she asked when they finally pulled away from each other. “Because I’m ready for bed.”
Mingus smiled, the bend of his mouth dimpling the slightest hollows in his chiseled cheeks. “Lead the way, my lady!”
They made love for hours. Sometimes slow and methodic and then fast and frantic. It was a night of exploration with easy caresses and sweet murmurings. Fingers tracing the dimples in her thighs, the scar on his calf, the deep well of his belly button and the piercing in hers. Her private tattoo was no longer private, Mingus using his tongue to trace the three fluttering butterflies inked over her pubis. He lay sprawled on his back as Joanna teased and taunted him, pleasuring him with her hands, her mouth and body. Again and again and again. When sleep finally came, both rested well.
Chapter 17
Mingus stared down at her, Joanna’s slumbering frame curled around a pillow in the center of his bed. She was naked, her dark brown skin glowing beneath the dim moonlight that shone through the window. She was stunningly beautiful as she snored softly, lost deeply in slumber.
He had woken from a bad dream and hadn’t been able to fall back to sleep. After tossing and turning for longer than he had hoped, he’d slid from beneath the covers and was headed up to his office to see what work he could get done. But he couldn’t resist taking the moment to simply watch her.
Taking a deep inhale of air as he stepped into a pair of track shorts, he pulled the comforter up and over her body and smiled as she snuggled down closer around the pillow. He tiptoed out of the room and headed up the flight of stairs to stare at the wall of pushpins and photos.
For the next hour he replayed the details of the case over in his head. David Locklear, student, accuses teacher of sexual misconduct. Supports allegations with pictures, purported to be images of the teacher in a compromising position. The student had yet to recant or deviate from his story. Thus far Mingus had enough evidence to cast doubt on the photographs, but not enough to explain how they’d found their way onto the teacher’s cell phone. Explaining the how was crucial to clearing her name.
And there was still the why. Why had the student picked teacher Joanna Barnes to lie about? How was a high-profile, real-estate investor connected to a low-profile pimp and a school board administrator, beyond their latent, quasi-familial relationship courtesy of the state? Were there other players and what was the payoff? What would they gain? Mingus still had more questions than he had answers.
His cell phone vibrated for his attention, announcing an incoming text message. As promised, his father had sent him a lengthy list of names associated with the Tower Group real-estate project. Some he recognized, movers and shakers in the Chicago community. It included his parents, the Balducci family, the current mayor, two former senators and a nationally recognized, former pro football player with ties to the area. But two names stood out and Mingus realized he had yet another question that he needed to ask. Where had Marion and John Talley gotten the money to buy in to a multimillion-dollar real-estate project?
* * *
Mingus hadn’t expected to receive the school video recordings as quickly as he did. The delivery had come to his office some twenty-four hours after Ellington had petitioned the courts. He also hadn’t expected to receive what he’d wanted on a USB flash drive. Two of them. In all honesty he had been expecting stacks of old videotapes, unlabeled and randomly tossed into a box. Tapes that would have taken twenty people and ten days to weed through. Anything to put another roadblock in his way. But the school’s IT department had proficiently copied the requested footage, some eight months of data for the current school year, and had included a detailed manifest of dates, times and camera locations. He’d been pleasantly surprised.
Three hours later he was still watching students pass by the camera outside Joanna’s classroom door. Three hours, twenty-six minutes and twelve seconds. Three-plus hours of students being loud and offensive interspersed with periods of quiet, just an occasional straggler wandering the hallways. Then there were the glimpses of Joanna. Joanna coming and going. Joanna and her students. Joanna and other teachers. Each time he saw her he couldn’t help but smile. Joanna looked happy. Joy gleamed on her face and she laughed. There was an air of authority about her. Sometimes she chastised a student, other times she celebrated a student’s success. What he saw on those glimpses of memory was the Joanna he prayed he would see again. The Joanna who hadn’t lost a significant part of the woman she was.
Mingus’s instincts had served him well. At the four-hour-and-sixteen-minute mark, he found what he had hoped to discover. He grabbed his cell phone and dialed, waiting for Joanna to answer his call.
“Hey, baby!”
“Hi! Is everything okay? Where are you?”
“At the office.”
“On your way back, I hope!”
“I need you to think back. The date would have been March 3. Something was happening at the school that took you away from your classroom for an extended period. Can you remember what that was?”
“March 3?”
“Yes. You locked your room door and didn’t return for almost three hours.”
“Hold on. Let me check my calendar.”
There was a lengthy pause before she spoke again. “Hey, you still there?”
“Waiting patiently!”
“We had an academic pep rally.”
“What the hell is that?”
Joanna laughed. “It’s what we do right before we go into state testing. We bring all the kids into the gymnasium and try to get them motivated. They play skill-building games, there’s the teachers’ talent show, and the principal buys pizza for lunch.”
“Pizza for the whole school?”
“Everyone! It’s one of the highlights of the year. The kids really get into it and since she’s been doing it, our student test scores have been at a record high.”
“Thank you. That’s all I need to know.”
“Is it a good thing?”
“Baby, I can’t wait to tell you how good!”
“I could use some good news.”
“I’ll be here for a little while longer and then I’m headed straight home. Be naked when I get there so we can celebrate!”
Joanna laughed. “Really, Mingus? Naked?”
“Oh! Did I say that out loud?” He laughed with her.
“Just hurry back to me, please!”
“With bells on, baby!”
“I love you,” Joanna said with another deep chuckle as she disconnected the line.
Mingus stood, still holding the phone, her words echoing in his head. Dropping the device back to the desk, he took a deep breath. “I love you, too,” he muttered to himself.
“Joanna Barnes, I love you, too!”
* * *
Ellington waved his brother into the office, holding up an index finger as he concluded a telephone call. He didn’t look happy, clearly irritated by something, and Mingus found himself whispering a prayer that it had nothing to do with Joanna’s case. He had news that would move the case two steps forward, so they couldn’t afford to get pushed five steps back. He took a seat, listening as his brother castigated the party on the other end for their unprofessional conduct. He blew a sigh of relief.
When Ellington disconnected the call, he gave Mingus a questioning look. “I really need good news. If you don’t have any, then this will have to wait until tomorrow. Maybe even next week.”
“How about news that will blow this case wide open?”
Ellington’s eyes widened. “Wha’cha got?”
Mingus moved around the desk and inserted the flash drive into the USB port on his brother’s computer. The two watched as images of Riptide High School’s hallway appeared on the screen. Mingus pushed the play button. Ellington cut an eye at him, not yet impressed. One minute in, a portly woman in a too small pantsuit that clung tightly to her hips and ass, paused in front of Joanna’s classroom door. She tossed a look over her right shoulder and then her left, appearing to be waiting for someone. She stole a glance at her wristwatch, her foot tapping against the floor. Just seconds later a male student came bounding toward her. Words were exchanged as she shook a finger in his face.
Taking a set of keys from her pocket, she proceeded to unlock the classroom door. The student slumped back against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest as he seemed to be watching out for anyone coming. Mingus zoomed in on the doorway. He could clearly see the desk and the woman rumbling inside a bottom drawer, appearing to remove something from inside. The boy turned as if he’d been called then pulled a cell phone from his back pocket.
Mingus and Ellington watched as the two stood in the doorway, the woman with one phone and the student with another, appearing to be texting and scrolling over their screens. The woman was grinning broadly, something the kid said moving them both to laugh. The exchange lasted for exactly twelve minutes before the woman moved back into the room and the desk drawer, returning the phone to where she’d found it. Exiting, she relocked the door and then she and the student parted, going in opposite directions. Mingus pushed the pause button.
“Tell me, please, what did I just see?” his brother asked.
“You just witnessed Marion Talley, a teacher at Riptide High School, enter the classroom of one Joanna Barnes. You saw her rifle through Joanna’s desk and remove her cell phone. Then you saw that teacher and that student, David Locklear, transmit pornography from his device to hers and back.”
“How do we know what information they were exchanging? If any at all.”
Mingus pointed to the date and time stamp in the lower right corner of the video. “The date and times match the date and times of the transmissions as detailed in the forensics report.”
“Where was Joanna? And the other students and teachers?”
“Some pep rally thing.”
Ellington sat back in his chair. “Locklear has testified that he was getting a bathroom blow job during some pep rally.”
“Not this pep rally and not from Joanna. There are cameras in the gym and Joanna was there the entire time.”
“And we’re sure that’s what was happening?”
“It only makes sense. Why was Marion Talley in Joanna’s desk and why did she remove Joanna’s phone from her purse? Plus, when you read the forensics report, the timing is exact. And something else. The report indicates the images appeared on Locklear’s phone twice. The duplicate images could have been transmitted or they were already there first and then sent to Joanna’s phone. Texted back to his phone and then deleted from hers.”
“The prosecution is going to challenge that. I have no doubts they’ll spin it and the two were doing something totally different.”
“Maybe, but we can show David Locklear had possession of her phone when she was not aware and without her permission. We can also connect him to Marion Talley.”
Ellington nodded slowly, pondering the information.
“Why don’t I give you the icing on this cake?” Mingus said. He pushed the play button a second time and used the mouse to select another day of video.
He crossed his arms over his chest as he and his brother watched once again.
The camera angle captured a flight of stairs and a small alcove that looked out onto the ball field. Although the manifest detailed the location, Mingus still wasn’t sure where in the school this was, but he knew it wouldn’t be hard to find out. He and Ellington watched for three minutes. David Locklear descended the steps, pausing in front of the window. He was followed by a young woman who was talking rapidly. Suddenly the two were engaged in a tight liplock, the boy’s hands like automobile windshield wipers on fast speed. Locklear suddenly spun the girl against the window as he grabbed her leg and slid it along his side until it was wrapped around his back. The two spun a second time and Mingus hit Pause. He pointed to the screen.
“Look familiar?”
Ellington grinned. “That infamous tattoo.”
“Crystal clear and as pretty as you please!” he said. He pushed the play button again.
The make-out session lasted another six minutes. When it was done and finished, the girl’s skirt was pushed high around her waist and Locklear’s pants hung low on his hips and ass. Locklear was grinning as he pulled up his pants and adjusted his clothes. The girl didn’t appear to be equally pleased. She pulled down her skirt and rebuttoned her blouse. She then bent forward to retrieve something from the floor. It was just as she moved to straighten that Mingus hit the pause button one more time, the girl’s face in perfect view.
“Please, make my day,” Ellington said.
“Meet Alicia ‘Champagne’ Calloway, professional prostitute.”
Ellington threw his arms straight up. “That feels like a touchdown to me!”
Mingus nodded. He disengaged the flash drive, returned it to the envelope and rested it on his brother’s desk. He moved back to his seat and watched as Ellington picked up his phone. His brother dialed and waited for it to be answered on the other end.
“Lieutenant Black, please. This is Attorney Black calling.” There was a pause. Then he said, “Thank you.”
Ellington engaged the speaker, Parker’s voice echoing through the room as he answered the call.
“Is this business or personal?”
“Definitely business. I’m here with Mingus.”
“What now? He and his woman in trouble again?”
“Better than that. He needs that favor you promised.”
“I promised a favor?”
“I believe you agreed to another police interrogation of David Locklear.”
“You found something on those videotapes?”
“Of course! I’m good at what I do!”
Mingus shook his head. “And I’m better!”
Parker laughed. “Sounds like I need to hear this story over a beer!”
* * *
The words had slipped past Joanna’s lips before she could catch them. They had surprised her as much as she imagined they had surprised him. It was after she had ended the call that she realized how true the comment had been. She loved him. Had fallen in love with him. For the first time she couldn’t begin to imagine a life without him.
Knowing the words had come naturally, without practice or worry, made the moment even sweeter. She’d spoken from her heart, the gesture as organic as breathing. Any other time, any other man, and she might have been concerned about his reaction. Did he feel the same way? What would he think about her saying the words aloud? But something told her Mingus Black had accepted her pronouncement as easily as she had spoke
n it. Even if he hadn’t said it back.
It had been a few hours since they had last spoken. He had called her a second time to say that he was grabbing a drink with his brothers. His tone had been cheerful and celebratory. Clearly he’d been in a good mood. That meant good news and she was excited to hear what he had discovered.
Joanna broke down the last cardboard box, adding it to the pile that rested by the back door. It had contained a number of trophies and awards that Mingus had earned over the years. After dusting and polishing each one, she had carried them up to his office and had arranged them throughout his bookshelves. With her hands on her hips, she stepped back to admire her handiwork.
It had taken most of the day to unpack the moving boxes that had cluttered the living spaces. Joanna had started the task the moment she had awakened and was excited to be done before he arrived home. With all his personal possessions now in their proper places, Mingus’s new house looked like a home.
She had taken a quick break to run to the market, stocking up on toiletries for the bathrooms. She had added the ingredients for dinner and now a dish of her mother’s vegetable lasagna sat warming in the oven. When they were ready to eat, thick slices of crusty bread and tumblers of lemonade would complete the meal.
Her cell phone ringing pulled at her attention. She had left the device in the bedroom on the upper level. By the time she made it up the flight of stairs the ringing had stopped. Mingus had called a third time, leaving a message that he was on his way home. Joanna stole a quick glance at the digital clock on the nightstand. She fathomed that she had just enough time for quick shower before he would be coming through the door.
* * *
Despite the good time he and his brothers had shared, Mingus was glad to be home. He came to an abrupt halt as he stepped through the door. The stereo was playing, someone’s country song wafting through the background. The lights were low, candles strategically lit around the room. Shadows reflected against the walls, flickers of light dancing.
Tempted by the Badge Page 19