Read A Case of the Heart Online
Authors: Beth Shriver
He held up his hands in surrender. “I’ll support whatever you decide to do.”
Margie, the ‘super’ secretary-slash-drill-sergeant, came in and winked at Liz. “Michael, you have a call.”
“Thanks, Margie.” He got up, tapped his finger on the door and then walked down the hall to his office.
Margie’s contagious laugh echoed down the hallway.
“How’re the boys? All four of them?” Liz asked.
“Just fine. How’s the love life?” Margie asked eagerly. Liz knew Margie couldn’t understand why Liz wasn’t married with three kids by now.
“Non-existent.” As soon as Liz said it she could have kicked herself.
Margie’s green eyes brightened, matching her green rhinestone earrings that swayed as she moved. “Really? What a coincidence,” she exclaimed, moving forward.
Liz scrunched up in her chair, feeling the pressure.
“I have a guy for you. Come over to dinner so you can meet him.”
“I can’t,” Liz answered, a little too quickly.
Margie stood with fists on her hips. “He’s a great guy. He’s going for his doctorate.”
She tried to not let that impress her. “Personality. What about his personality?”
Margie raised her voice a little and went a different route. “He’s good-looking. Blond, blue eyes, over six feet tall.”
She had avoided the personality question.
“I’m sorry, Margie.”
“You don’t know what you’re missing,” Margie crooned as she walked out.
****
After passing the day away with phone calls and paperwork, Liz had one thing left to do. She glanced down at the file on her desk. She needed to give Norma her new case. The other caseworkers had more cases more than she did. So Liz would catch justified grief from them if she didn’t give it to Norma, or she would get unjustified grief from Norma. She could live with that.
She started down the hall with the manila folder in hand. She passed Jackie’s office. Jackie saw the folder in Liz’s hand and quickly turned away. She passed Jen’s office next. Jen dared her by narrowing her eyes, staring as Liz passed.
Next was Norma’s office. She was filing with her back turned to the door. Her short, straight black hair revealed a few gray hairs to show for her worrisome personality.
Liz stood next to Norma’s desk. “It’s an easy show of abuse and confession of the parent. The family is located off East Colfax.”
Norma read it over. Her small dark eyes swept over the papers. When she finished, she swiftly gave them back to Liz and pushed up her glasses. “After reviewing the case, I think Karen would be the best caseworker for this particular one.”
Liz ran out of patience before she had any. None of the other caseworkers complained when she gave them a case. She rested both hands on her desk. “Norma, Karen has almost twice as many as you.”
Norma turned up her chin.
Determined, Liz placed the file on her desk.
Norma frowned as she looked at it.
Margie walked past Norma’s office then backed up. “Officer Demas is on line two for you, Liz.”
Norma was one of the few who had the ability to make Liz lose her self control. Not being a team player was one of Liz’s biggest pet peeves. “I’ll be there in a minute,” she answered abruptly.
Margie shrugged. “Do you want me to tell him you’ll call him back?”
“No.” If it was anyone else, yes. She turned from Margie back to Norma, giving her a contentious look with narrowed eyes.
“This is your case.” Liz tapped the folder and walked away.
Glad to be in the sanctity of her own office, Liz took Alex’s call.
“Hey, glad you called,” she greeted settling back in her chair. “I wanted to let you know that I’m going back to the house we were at last night.”
“Why?” Confusion colored the word.
“I want to talk with the person who reported the disturbance.”
“I can do that.”
She didn’t miss a beat. “So can I.”
Alex sighed. “Promise me you’ll be careful, and call if you run into trouble.”
Liz released the breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. “Promise.”
Chapter Six
As Liz drove she took in the street life. Most of the people she saw hung around the girly show places or the liquor stores. She never understood why people frequented the corner
of streets. She could actually see the folded up money changing hands with a small bundled package. A guy drove up to a half-dressed gal—probably named his terms and price—then she got in the car and they drove off together.
The worst was the younger kids that were already hanging out with the older gang members. It sickened her to see them take a drink of something in a bottle wrapped up in a brown paper bag, or taking a drag and the smoke seeping out through their mouth and nose.
She realized she was ogling when a guy on the corner returned her stare and kept it. She turned her eyes forward just in time to slam on her brakes, almost rear ending the car ahead of her. She looked back to see him still staring at her. She was stuck in traffic now and had drawn enough attention for the guy to start walking up to her car.
About the time she was beginning to panic the traffic started moving again and she hit the accelerator. She could see him in her rear view mirror making crude gestures at her.
Breathing a sigh of relief, she turned off on a side street to the house. As she walked to the door she noticed the neighborhood looked different in the daylight. Older houses that at one time had been prime in their day were let go, caught up in the inner city decay.
Paint on the white brick house was chipped off and the lawn mostly dirt with a couple of big evergreens. The half porch at the side of the house boasted a swing that was slowly swaying in the wind. A blue sedan that hadn’t been there the night before sat in the driveway. Hopefully, that meant the lower occupants were home.
A middle-aged man opened the door. His white t-shirt and jeans sagged over his lanky body. He reached up to his uncombed hair, trying to smooth the unruly curls. His hand went from his hair to his stubbly chin.
Liz explained who she was and why she was there.
His glazed, unfocused stare made her uncomfortable. “I’m Liz Adams, from the department of social services. Did you make the complaint about a disturbance?”
“Yeah, come in if you like.” He opened the screen door and she walked into a similar layout of the Harris place upstairs, only cleaner. The family room and kitchen were in the front of the house with two bedrooms and a bathroom in the back.
“Why did you call in the complaint?”
His stare made her antsy. He appeared to be having some trouble focusing, and his breath about knocked her over with alcohol fumes.
“That dad’s beating that kid, the older one. I hear it go on some nights. Other nights I just leave.”
“Like last night. You weren’t home when we came by.”
“No, I couldn’t stand hearing it no more.”
“But the marks on Scotty weren’t from last night.”
His head lifted and eyes tried to narrow in on her. “Well then someone else must have gotten it.”
“No, Mr. Sanders, no one else in the family showed any signs of physical abuse.” This really wasn’t the issue, his lying was and Liz saw a big, red flag waving at her. “How did you know it was only the older boy? Do you talk with him?”
“No, don’t talk to any of ‘em as long as the rent’s paid.” The phone rang and he started towards the kitchen. He held up his hand for her to hold on.
There were a lot of questions she wanted to ask so she waited. She ambled into the family room. Clothes and papers were scattered around the room. She bumped into the coffee table causing a few papers to fall to the floor. Reaching to pick them up she felt a lump in between the papers.
She weeded through them feeling apprehensive, worried about him coming back in. As she stood, something hit her knee and then fell to the ground. She looked down not wanting to see what she was seeing. A small bag of cocaine lay at her feet. Dang! Where’s a cop when you need one?
She lowered her head down to get a closer look just as a bony, hairy foot slid into her vision. She slowly lifted her eyes to face Mr. Sanders. He was standing within reach, his eyes wide and anxious, studying her.
Without looking down she stepped over the baggie. Her thought process leaned toward ignorance, to pretend the bag wasn’t there. Lame but it was all she could come up with. “I have all the information I need...”
He took a step closer, closing the gap between them. A shiver of fear shot up her spine. Her mind started racing. She needed to stay calm to keep him calm.
She took a step back, hoping to move around the side of him. She hit the heel of her shoe against the wall, not realizing she was so close.
He put both hands up on either side of her head, pressing his palms on the wall. Trapped, she reacted out of instinct and tried to duck under his arm, causing him to move closer into her.
That was stupid, think.
She turned her head to the side to avoid being face to face with him. He slid his arms down penning her in. The stale smell of alcohol penetrated her nostrils. His warm breath puffed against her cheek as his breathing increased.
“Think about what you’re doing Mr. Sanders.” Liz said firmly, willing her voice to keep steady. She closed her eyes trying to endure the closeness of his body. Feeling like a cornered animal, she remembered that no one but Alex knew where she was. Desperation took over as she started to think of a way out.
“We can talk about this,” she said trying to distract him while she slowly reached for the cell phone clipped to her belt.
She searched for the keypad. He bumped into her leg with his knee causing her to lose her place on the keys. She put one hand on his chest to keep him at arms length. She felt her way around the buttons and then pushed send.
“You gone meddling into things you shouldn’t.” He backed away suddenly grabbing her wrist. Twisting her arm behind her back, he turned her away from him and started pushing her forward. She yanked the phone off her belt holding it to her mouth. The last number she’d called was Alex.
“801 Pearl Street, 801 Pearl Street—” She kept repeating the address.
Lord, please let him find me.
Sanders hit her forearm sending the phone flying across the room. It skidded on the wooden floor, hitting the wall.
There was no way of telling if Alex had gotten any information. She would have to fight herself free.
Liz spun around to face him and started kicking like a mad woman. She kicked flesh the first couple of times, and then missed completely, causing her to fall forward.
She flailed her hand at him to keep him from grabbing hold of her other arm. It was a moment of pure insanity. Limbs were flying, kicking and hitting. Sanders grunted in pain, trying to block her kicks but she continued to kick until she felt the tip of her shoe hit bone. Liz cringed and took in a breath.
Sanders yelped grabbing his shin with one hand, the other still holding her wrist. She yanked her wrist away causing him to fall on all fours.
She ran for the door, popped open the screen and ran to the street. Fear radiated throughout her body, she couldn’t get away fast enough. Liz stopped by her car and bent over to catch her breath. She pulled her keys from her pocket, fumbling for the lock. Looking back at the house, she saw no sign of him.
Unlocking the door she noticed some movement out of the corner of her eye. Liz reached for the handle and threw the door open, hitting Alex smack in the gut with the car door. He stepped back and then forward holding the door. He caught her by the arm as she started to get in.
“Liz. Slow down. It’s me.”
As she heard his familiar voice, the fleeing instinct began to dissipate. Her heart pounded in her chest and sweat trickled down her face. Thought overrode instinct and she stilled and turned to the voice.
“Alex.” She could barley get the word out, her strength giving way.
He reached out, pulling her to him. She took another look at Alex to reassure herself it was really him before collapsing into his arms.
****
Not again, Alex thought as he held her. If she didn’t get herself off the streets and into an office he was going to go crazy. He knew he couldn’t push her, she was too obstinate, but he was ecstatic when she had asked him the other night about considering a promotion.
Not that he minded being the knight in shining armor. As a matter of fact he had become involved with her personal life too, because she needed him to meet her parents. But looking at her now, as she lay limp in his arms, he knew he couldn’t continue to keep her safe.
He helped her into his car while he radioed for backup. “Any weapons?” He asked her and shut the car door.
She rolled down the window and shrugged. “I didn’t see any. But you might want to grab the little baggie on the family room floor before he does.”
He eyed her, shook his head and pressed his lips together. Drugs? She never ceased to amaze him. No wonder the guy became so volatile.
“Stay put.” He said firmly, as he motioned downward with his hands. He gave her one last look, pulled his gun and ran up to the side of the house. He climbed up the side of the porch and stepped to the edge of the door, peering in. He quickly opened the screen door and stepped inside.
As he took a second step into the family room he heard a groan. Alex looked over toward the couch to see a man sitting on the floor rocking himself. He held one shin with both hands and grunted when he saw Alex.
The man’s face was pasty white with drops of sweat on his forehead. Alex placed his gun back in the holster and approached the pain-ridden man. “Are you William Sanders?”
He nodded and stretched his leg out on the floor. The bag Liz told Alex about was next to the couch. He reached for it and examined the contents. “Is this yours?”
The man slowly shook his head. “No-o,” he slurred, and looked up at Alex with dilated pupils.
“What’s it doing in your house then?” he stuck it in his pocket.
“Stand, please.” Alex grabbed his arm and helped him up. He had to chuckle to himself realizing how hard Liz must have kicked the guy to cause him this much pain.
Sanders pushed himself up off the floor and assumed the position. After Alex frisked him and read Sanders his rights, he walked him to the door thinking that this had to be the easiest drug apprehension he had ever made, all thanks to Liz.
At that moment Alex’s back up arrived on the scene. Alex walked out with Sanders in cuffs. Sanders’ head hung down, brown curls falling onto his sweaty face. He limped slightly, catering to his left leg.
Alex took Sanders over to Jake Brown, who was the backup officer. He had Jake run a check on him and went over to his car to check on Liz. She was out, head back, mouth open. He could stare at that face forever. She must have felt safe if she could fall asleep after something like that. That pleased him. He knew one thing for sure, she could always count on him, even if there was never anything more between them.
Her eyes fluttered open. As soon as she looked up at him he leaned over her, touching his fingers to her chin and moving her head left to right checking for injuries. Her eyes followed his as he scanned every inch of her face.
“Does anything feel broken? Is there any bleeding?” He asked as he took her arms and squeezed and moved them around. He was surprised she was letting him mess with her this much. Usually she’d get irritated with all the fuss. He wasn’t a worrier and had seen a lot worse injuries than anything she might have gotten during the scuttle with Sanders. He mused at his own concern.
“I don’t think so, just a little roughed up...hey.” She moaned as he touched her wrist.
He pulled up her sleeve and turned her arm over. A red two-inch raspberry ran across her wrist. The skin wasn’t broken but it was swollen and looked like it would be sore to the touch. He reached out his window and motioned for the EMTs.
She scowled at him. “No.”
They rushed up pulled her out of the car and laid her down on a low gurney by the ambulance. They started poking and prodding at her.
“All right, already. I’m fine.” She barked.
He knew she would be irritated with him but he wanted a full check done just to make sure.
Liz started to get off the gurney causing the EMTs to scramble to their feet. She swayed, as if light headed but he knew she wouldn’t let on if she was. Briefly closing her eyes, she slowly stood and started walking towards the closest patrol car. There were two and she was heading for the closest one.
Alex held her arm and had one hand behind the small of her back. “This way.”
He guided her past Jake’s patrol car. Sanders was sitting in the back. He kept his head down but followed her with his eyes.
Jake walked behind them and came up to her side, handing Liz her cell phone. Liz gave him a nod and a tired smile but didn’t stop until she was in Alex’s car again. Jake and Alex talked outside the car as Liz sat in the front seat, head back, eyes closed.
Alex got in, stared at her and then touched her cheek.
“Ow!” She scowled at him.
“Sorry. Looks like you might have a bruise starting there.” As much as he wanted to keep checking her out he knew better and moved on to business. “Are you up to making a statement at headquarters?”
“Sure, why not,” Liz said sarcastically and closed her eyes again.
He knew she was worn out but he also knew he shouldn’t treat her any differently than he would another social worker. But other social workers didn’t get beat up all the time either.
“If you do it now you’ll remember more, and I want to make sure this guy gets what he deserves.” He’d make sure of that.
Alex started the car and slowly started down the street. He’d bring her back for her car later. He tried to keep his thoughts to himself but this was becoming too frequent and dangerous. “Next time you go on a call make sure I’m with you.”
She opened her eyes and glared at him. “Are you my personal body guard now?”
“Looks like you need one,” he said matter-of-factly.
She snapped her eyes over at him. “I’ve been with the department for over three years and nothing like this has ever happened.”
“Yeah? What about the chase on Capital Hill? Or the guy that took a shot at you in Lo Do? And what about last night? Do you just forget about these things?”
Unbelievable. Had she just put those incidents out of her mind? Why didn’t she just admit it like she finally had last night? He hoped, although he knew better, that she was too tired to dispute the point any further.
She closed her eyes again, as if hiding from him. “Those were flukes. I guess I meant I’d never gotten hurt before.”
“Other caseworkers don’t have this many
flukes
.”
He had actually gotten the last word.
She must be tired.
As they walked in to the station a couple of cops said hello and asked how she’d been, while another cop razzed Alex because he was usually the one on calls with Liz. Obviously they were causing a buzz within the departments.
Liz and Alex went into his office and he shut the door behind him. “Okay, tell me again what happened from the beginning. You know the routine.”
She described the whole ordeal, giving as many details as she could remember, struggling to put facts in place of feelings. It was easier to keep things straight when she wasn’t the victim. The whole thing seemed like a blur. Alex took some notes but mostly remained silent. He only spoke when he needed to clarify something.
His half-cocked grin showed his admiration. “Liz, I’ve got to hand it to you. You can get yourself out of a fix. Most people panic and get themselves into worse trouble.”
She had grit that’s for sure. And thank God, due to all the trouble that came her way. One part of him felt like scolding her and another wanted to hold her. But since he couldn’t do either he just smiled, taking her all in. And as she smiled back at him he felt the tension loosen and slip away.
She nodded slightly, too tired to talk anymore. He was grateful—of what he wasn’t exactly sure. Maybe just that she was okay and the ordeal over.
“Let’s get you out of here. Just relax while I take care of a couple things. Stay here.” He made eye contact to show her he meant it and did those motions with his hands again. How she could get into trouble sitting in his office at the police station, he didn’t know. But she was on a roll and he didn’t want to push his luck.
He finished up by making a phone call and talking to Jake about Sanders’ record. He saw her milling around his office. He grinned and ended his conversation and then walked back to his office and stood in the doorway.
She scanned his office. The furniture was similar to what they had in her building. Age old stuff that would never be replaced until it fell apart. His desk was tidy with everything in its place. Maybe he should give her a lesson or two in organization, but it probably wouldn’t help.
She glanced at various sports paraphernalia but also a couple of books.
Catcher in the Rye
and a Tom Grisham novel lay on his desk. Liz ran a finger over a leaf from the three-foot palm inhabiting a corner of the small room. Then she looked up to a frame hanging above the plant which was a fairly large picture of his family when he was a youngster.
Maybe she’d realize that there was more to him that met the eye. He had more décor in his office than she did. Not that that was saying a lot but he was a guy, a guy that didn’t allude to a lot of the stuff she was seeing here for the first time.
When she looked up he was braced against the doorjamb watching her, his arms crossed over his chest. “Ready?” He motioned for her to come.
The drive to her house was quiet. She leaned her head against the headrest. “I hope this headache doesn’t get any worse before we got home.”
Alex reached over and rubbed her temple. “We’re almost there.”
He pulled into her driveway a few minutes later. As soon as they walked in the door she immediately collapsed on the couch and fell into a deep sleep.