Falling for the Law Ch. 11-17

"I'm so stupid," Marley said, in almost a pout as she laid her head over on Allie's shoulder. "No one else here is acting like a big baby, except me."

"Well, that's okay," Allie cooed softly. "Lucas wasn't subtly threatening any of them, just you and me. But we stuck together, and you did just what I asked you to do, which helped us get through it."

"Really?" Marley asked, looking up and into her girlfriend's eyes.

"Absolutely," Allie replied, dipping her head to sweetly kiss Marley's lips. "And you didn't get emotional until after it was over. My first time in a tense situation like that, I vomited when it was all over. So don't feel bad."

Allie's reassurances helped to mollify Marley's anxiety, her shaking subsiding as the auburn-haired beauty held her. Marley watched as Mary approached the table, a plate of pie in her hand. But just the thought of eating anything at that moment left a sour taste in Marley's mouth.

"We're going to take that to go," Allie announced, causing Mary to halt in her tracks as she nodded her head and did an about-face headed back behind the counter.

Sliding out of the booth, Allie held her right hand out towards Marley, the pretty blonde grasping Allie's long fingers as she finally stood. The police chief dropped several bills on the table, Marley tossing a five-dollar bill on top of the pile.

"Here you go, ladies," Mary said, appearing from behind the counter. She held out a styrofoam container that Marley assumed held this piece of peach pie.

Thanking Mary and giving a wave to Sam, Allie and Marley exited the building. "What do you say we head to your place and just cuddle in the bed? I think we've had enough excitement for one night."

Marley nodded her head, laying it over on her girlfriend's shoulder, appreciative that Allie seemed to know just what it was she needed and grateful to have such a wonderful and caring partner.

They were so absorbed in one another, the couple missed the four sets of eyes, carefully studying them from a parked car down the street. Those observers watched them drive away: taking particular care to follow from a distance.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Allison left Marley sound asleep in the early morning hours, slipping out from under the covers and gathering her things before quietly heading for the master bathroom. She showered and dressed in her uniform, quickly brushing her towel-dried auburn hair before tying it up in a bun.

She was pleased to see that Marley was still asleep as she slipped out of the bathroom and made her way to the bedroom door, pausing momentarily to gaze lovingly at the beautiful blonde still slumbering peacefully on the mattress behind her.

As was typical, Allison took the time to write her lover a little note, something she'd done after their first night together and every morning since. Then, hitting the timer on the alarm keypad, Allison unlocked the door and slipped out, locking the deadbolt behind her.

During the winding drive back down the mountain, Allison's mind fell back on thoughts of Lucas and his crew and the scene from the night before. She was pleased to see that Jackson Perry hadn't been with them for a couple of reasons. One, it meant he may not have been a part of the plot to snatch up Anna Marie Stallworth, and two, it likely meant he wasn't yet a regular trusted part of Lucas's crew. So there might still be hope for the teen.

Allison still had a sneaking suspicion that Perry knew something about Anna Marie's disappearance. But the police chief groused over the fact that she'd thus far been unable to speak to the young man outside of Lucas's influence.

"Good morning, Chief," the dispatcher announced with a smile as Allison entered the building.

"Good morning to you, Mavis," Allison replied. "Quiet night?"

"Oh, we had a few calls," Mavis replied while fighting to stifle a yawn. "The typical stuff for the most part, though, Mason Abbot did call and say that somebody stole an old farm truck he kept out on his property. Tommy covered that one, so you might want to read his report. It should be on your desk."

Allison excused herself and made her way toward her office. There, the police chief tossed her things on her desk before retrieving her coffee cup and heading for the break room.

She found Molly outside her office, the portly assistant beaming with an early morning smile that was genuine in every way.

"Tell me about your run-in with Lucas," Molly said excitedly, as she grabbed Allison's arm and trailed her into the break room.

"Damn," Allison said with a roll of her eyes. "I see you've already spoken to Mary this morning."

"Actually, it was Tammy," Molly said with a giggle. "So I'm operating on secondhand information. Come on, girl, spill it."

Allison relayed the story from the night before as she poured her coffee, including Marley's breakdown once it was over. Molly listened intently, her eyes watering up in what appeared to be a sympathetic response to Marley's reaction.

"I wish Sam had shot the fucker," Molly stated with a scowl, her hand immediately going to cover her mouth, the Presbyterian deacon's wife seldom using such language.

Allison couldn't help but laugh as she said, "Oh, it was a very near thing from what I could tell, and to be honest, I kind of wish he had, too. It would have been worth the extra paperwork."

"Anything new on Anna Marie?"

Allison shook her head and said, "No, but I'm going to contact Sheriff Rawlings and have his boys make another run out to Lucas's place this morning. They likely won't find anything but the thought of rousting those boys from their slumber just warms my heart. And there's always a chance that they might catch Lucas in a violation, and we can put him back where he belongs."

The pair reached Molly's desk, Allison pulling out her phone and leaning down to write a number on a blank notepad. "This is the number to where Jackson Perry lives with his mother. Get ahold of the mother and see if she's had a chance to talk with her son about meeting me for a private discussion."

"Will do, Chief," Molly said, now in full business mode.

Allison went to her desk and set about her morning routine. There was the dispatcher's logbook from last night to go over, and the report Tommy Ballard had written on the disappearance of the farm truck. Abbott had been awakened by what he thought was gunfire at about two AM. Grabbing a flashlight and his shotgun, Abbott had just made it outside in time to spot his beat-up, old seventy-two Ford pickup disappearing over the hill. According to Tommy's report, Abbott had told him the engine on the vehicle was in rough condition, and what he'd thought was gunfire had probably been nothing more than the engine backfiring when the thieves started it up.

Tommy had put a BOLO out on the vehicle, a rusted blue F-one-fifty with no tailgate and a crack on the passenger-side, front windshield. It struck Allison as an unusual theft; the truck was not fit for joyriding or pretty much anything, other than puttering around a farm hauling hay or manure. And the likelihood of it being stripped for parts seemed awfully distant.

So why risk taking a round of buckshot to steal it?

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Allison's day was pretty typical, the chief cruising the city limits and taking the time to get out and stretch her legs on Main Street. She liked to do it each morning, giving her time to touch base with all the proprietors along the main thoroughfare. It was primarily friendly banter, though Allison occasionally received a tip or two that helped her in her job.

It also gave her a chance to call Marley, the beautiful blonde sounding in good spirits despite the previous night's activities. Allison had half expected to find her in a malaise with an emotional hangover.

The pair chatted comfortably, with Marley relaying that she'd just finished the penultimate chapter in her newest book, a milestone she seemed remarkably chipper about. They made plans for lunch, with Marley suggesting that she prepare a picnic and bring it to the office instead of the pair meeting at the diner. Allison couldn't help but surmise that her blonde lover was still feeling a little gun-shy about the location.

Molly got back to her on Mrs. Perry, her assistant relaying that the Perry matriarch had indeed spoken with her son and encouraged him to meet with the chief. Molly said the woman had seemed hopeful that Jackson would do just that, mentioning that her son had seemed even more anxious and depressed in the last few days.

A few minutes before lunch, Marley showed up with a large picnic basket and a canvas bag full of eating utensils. Molly and Marley retreated to the break room while Allison took a phone call from the county sheriff, the lawman informing her that one of his deputy's confidential informants had passed along a tip that something was up with Travis Lucas and his crew. The man didn't have any particulars, and Lucas was far too intelligent to share any details of what he was up to with someone outside his band of miscreants. But the informant had reported that Lucas and his boys were far jumpier and amped up as a whole for it not to be something big.

Hanging up the phone, Allison reclined back in her chair and took a deep breath, slowly exhaling it as she willed her tension and anxiety to go with it.

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Lunch had proven to be a spicy, fried chicken with steamed green beans and brown rice Marley had boiled in chicken broth. The sexy blonde had even managed to put together a delicious spring salad, the cucumbers, and tomatoes at perfect ripeness. And Molly had raved over the dessert, a peach cobbler with a homemade crust, a recipe Marley announced that she'd managed to finagle from her mother just that morning.

Allison made a mental note of that tidbit, hoping that the fact she'd spoken to her mother was signaling a thaw between the mother/daughter duo. Marley deserved both her parents' support, no matter how long it took to get it.

And while Allison enjoyed her time with Marley and her best friend, she let Molly and her girlfriend handle the majority of the conversation. Allison's mind was elsewhere and focused on the myriad of problems currently threatening to go from a simmer to a boil in her small town.

There had still been no firm relationship established between Travis Lucas and the disappearance of Anna Marie Stallworth. And while the county sheriff seemed content to want to investigate other possibilities regarding the disappearance of the young beauty, Allison knew in her gut that he was wasting his time. Travis Lucas and his ilk had taken Anna Marie, of that Allison was positive. She had seen it in Lucas's eyes both times she'd spoken to him. What's more, Allison was sure that Lucas had wanted her to know. It was his way of torturing her.

Allison also no longer held any realistic hopes that Anna Marie was still alive. She wouldn't admit that to anyone outside law enforcement, but Allison wholly believed that they were now looking for a corpse. The chief suspected that it was only a matter of time before some hunter or fisherman stumbled upon her dead body.

And when that happened, Tracey Stallworth and her boys were likely to go off like a powder keg. The matriarch of the Stallworth clan had already sent her sons after the hapless Otis brothers, resulting in a bar fight that spilled out into the parking lot before the combatants had all scattered once a patrol car had arrived. No arrests had been made, but warrants had been sworn out on Derrick and Isley Otis because both men had brandished a weapon during the melee, Derrick a small pistol, and his brother a long bowie knife. Allison knew that she had to develop something fast to prevent the feud from becoming an all-out war.

And the county sheriff was correct; there was something strange going on with Lucas and his crew. Travis Lucas had always made it a habit of being very visible in town, he and his top lieutenant Jeffery Parker cruising around in that flashy rebuilt Camaro muscle car. And where they went, the Otis brothers and one or two others would typically follow.

But since that night in the diner, there'd been no noticeable sign of any of the Lucas crew other than the Otis brothers' brief late-night skirmish at the town tavern. No making rounds to meet with their dealers, or hassle locals at the theater or one of the few restaurants around town, nothing.

Whatever they were doing, they were doing it in secret while laying low. And that knowledge was causing Allison great concern because, like everything else where Lucas was concerned, he'd done an excellent job of covering his tracks.

Following their meal, Allison walked Marley out to her vehicle, the two lovers holding hands as they went.

"You seemed a little distracted in there, Allie. Is everything okay?" Marley asked, tilting her head to the side as her eyes met Allison's. "It's obvious something is weighing on your mind."

Allison didn't answer right away, unsure how much of her concerns she wanted to share with Marley. The chief enjoyed that when she was with the gorgeous blonde, she could leave the law enforcement aspects of her life behind. Allison wasn't precisely sure how much she wanted her job to pollute her relationship with Marley. She'd done an excellent job of keeping the two areas in balance so far and hoped she could maintain that equilibrium.

"It's just the job," Allison said, with a dismissive shrug.

"Still no luck solving the mystery of what happened to Anna Marie, huh?" Marley asked sadly.

"Oh, I can make a pretty good guess about what happened to her. But the frustrating thing is that I have no proof, at least nothing that will amount to a conviction in court," Allison replied, the last sentence sounding almost bitter.

"It will come," Marley said encouragingly, her hand coming to rest on Allison's breastbone. "You're good at your job, and even if I didn't already know that, then I could go by what everyone around here tells me. You just keep plugging away, and eventually, you will catch the break you need.'

Allison pulled her girlfriend into a warm embrace and kissed her firmly, both women's mouths opening to allow their tongues to slither together. Honking horns out on the road signaled that they were making a lurid spectacle of themselves, but neither woman cared, each of them lost in the touch and taste of the other.

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The break in the Stallworth case came later that afternoon, and did so from the most unlikely of sources. Allie had been out patrolling the south side of town and hoping to catch Jackson Perry at home when a call came in over the radio from dispatch.

"Chief, you're needed ten-nineteen to the station," came the familiar sound of the dispatcher's voice.

Allison's eyebrows immediately furrowed as she wondered what the call from the precinct could pertain to. Pulling off the side of the road, Allison keyed her mic and said, "Ten-four, dispatch. I'm ten-eighteen back to the station."

Allison turned her wheel sharply and hit the gas; a cloud of dust and smoke was immediately thrown into the air behind her as the tires spun in the dirt before finally finding purchase on harder ground, the rear of the car swinging around as Allison hurriedly headed back towards town. Her reply that she was ten-eighteen hadn't received a response, which told the chief that she was needed in a hurry.

Using her dome light, flashers, and occasionally whooping her siren served to clear the traffic in front of her, allowing Allison to make it back to the police station in just under seven minutes. Hopping out of her car, Allison made for the front door, noticing Molly standing behind the glass entrance waiting for her.

"What's wrong? Is it Marley?" Allison asked hurriedly, unsure why she'd suddenly blurted out her concern for the woman she loved.

"No...no, nothing like that," Molly remarked with a shake of her head.

"Then what?" Allison asked, sounding flustered.

Her eyes misting a little, Molly said, "Two mushroom hunters found a body in a cave at the base of Pine mountain. They think it's female. I didn't want to put the call out over the radio because I didn't know who might have been listening. That's why I asked Mavis to call you back to the precinct."

Allison couldn't help but smile inwardly at her friend. Molly was absolutely right. There were countless locals with police band radios who used them to keep abreast of every bad thing going on in town. And Allison had long suspected that her nemesis Travis Lucas likely had access to one as well.

Allison's shoulders went back, her spine stiffening as she prepared herself mentally for what was to come. Turning to where Mavis sat, listening in on their conversation, Allison said, "Call Ted and Alex and get them back to the station without saying a word about what's going on. I don't want Travis tipped to the knowledge we've found a body, and we sure as hell don't need a couple of hundred looky-loos out there when we bring that body out of the cave."

Turning back to where Molly stood, Allison said, "Call Sheriff Thompson and fill him in on what we know so far. And make sure that you remind him that thanks to our greedy city council, that area of Pine Mountain is still within Camden city limits, so it's my case."

Camden's city council had gone on a kick several years earlier where they'd annexed county land that mainly consisted of farmland and wooded areas. They'd done so in the hopes of attracting developers that would turn the acreage into subdivisions. But so far, all they had to show for their efforts were a few individually built homes in the parcels closest to the city.

"When you get off the phone with Thompson, give Emmitt Brantley a call and get him out to the cave in question with his dogs. Again, swear both of them to secrecy. If this body is Anna Marie and there's something out there to link the body to Lucas, I don't want him having the chance to run."

Both Mavis and Molly immediately swung into action, each woman carrying out their assigned task. Rather than wait inside for her two officers to arrive, Allison exited the building and went to the rear of her squad SUV, opening the hatch and taking a seat as she began to unlace her shoes.

The chief was still sitting there lacing up her boots when the two squad vehicles pulled into the parking lot and parked on either side of her SUV. Both men exited their rides and joined Allison, where she sat lacing up a pair of hiking boots.

The chief filled the two deputies in on what had transpired so far, instructing Alex that it would be his job once they reached the site to take ample amounts of pictures of both the body and the location it was found in, including anything within fifty feet of the cave. Ted would be with her, the two of them inspecting the body without disturbing anything and making a note of any other artifacts left behind.

After checking their equipment, the three pulled out of the precinct parking lot, Ted leading the way as they drove through town. Allison prayed as she went, wanting desperately to believe that this wouldn't be the body of Anna Marie, but her faith feeling minuscule at best. Allison knew that the chances of it being someone else were slim.

So instead, the chief prayed a simple prayer, though hardly a pious one.

"Please let the fucker have slipped up this time."

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Marley paced the floor incessantly as she waited to hear a word from Allison. The pair had last spoken at lunch, with Marley heading home to work on her book afterward. She'd managed to hammer out four quality pages in the final chapter of her book before giving up and deciding to work on a meal for her and Allison.