Gotta Get Next To You (22 page)

Andrea and Charlene spent the rest of the day
together. They did indeed talk, but of nothing too deep or serious.
Sitting at a patio table at Copeland’s on St. Charles, they spent a
pleasant Sunday afternoon. As she drove home to Bayou Blue, Andrea
pondered the two new men in her life and Charlene’s advice on
both.

***

It was another manic Monday. Andrea was
grateful for the madness, though. It meant she had not seen Jamal.
Andrea was not sure if she could face him without remembering the
heat of their embrace. She spent the morning either in her office
or Katy’s, handling administrative chores. After three hours of
paperwork and phone calls, Andrea was able to take a deep breath
and a break. Katy brought her a mug of steaming coffee.

“Here you go, boss lady. I figured you needed
this after that conversation with the district manager,” Katy
said.

“Bless you.” Andrea accepted the cup and
sipped from it. “Wonderful!” She rocked back in her chair.

“I could tell from your expression it wasn’t
pleasant.” Katy leaned against Andrea’s desk.

“Not the best way to start the week, no.”
Andrea started to say more, then stopped. She got up and closed her
office door. “Some of the missing equipment is state property. How
could two computers, six chairs, a desk, and an X-ray device be
misplaced?”

“This office is too small for that, and we
both know it.” Katy grunted and leaned back in her chair.

“That was Karen Normand’s point on the phone.
And of course, she brought up the missing coupons.” Andrea shook
her head slowly. “I told her all we can do is our best to find out
what happened, and then move on. But...” She put the coffee mug
down.

“Yeah, we’ve still got problems.” Katy tapped
a finger on the side of her ceramic mug. “So what are we gonna
do?”

Andrea rocked and thought while Katy sat with
a pensive frown on her face. Minutes ticked by as they sipped
coffee and pondered solutions to their problems. After a time,
Andrea let out a loud sigh.

“Katy, I’m going to document everything
that’s missing and follow the trail as far as I can.” Andrea looked
at her. “That includes questioning former staff again.”

Katy’s eyes widened. “Whoa, does that include
Thelma? She and those slimy relatives of hers won’t be happy.”

“I’m not going to be intimidated. I’ll haul
her rear end before the board of aldermen if I have to. This
involves parish money.”

“Uh, you’ve been away a long time. Let me
explain the facts of life around here. Three of her cousins are
big-time contributors to election campaigns for at least two police
jurors and three town aldermen.” Katy pursed her mouth into an
“O”.

“I know. So let them sweep it under the rug.
At least we’ll have done everything we could,” Andrea said.

“And made some enemies in the process, boss
lady.”

“They’re already pissed with me. Ask me if I
care,” Andrea said.

Katy grinned crookedly. “You got a point,
darlin’. Besides that, they’re not dumb enough to mess with Mr.
John Mandeville.”

Andrea tensed. “What have you heard? What are
people saying about him and the clinic?”

“Just that he’s the power behind the scenes.
But what else is new. He—” Katy broke off and stared at her.
“What’s wrong? You look like you just ate something bad.”

“Nothing. Forget it. Go on with what you were
saying.”

“You know how he likes to keep his finger in
every pie.” Katy went on a diatribe about interference from local
politicians.

Andrea relaxed a bit as Katy’s voice faded
into the background. Thank God there was no talk about her and John
Mandeville. But then most young folks wouldn’t know and their
elders would be too scared to talk about it openly. No one would
risk Mandeville’s legendary wrath. He held too many jobs in his
hands. Still she did not care for herself as much she did about the
effect on the clinic. What was that old saying about sins of the
father? In this case it was mother and father.

“But forget those clowns. We’ll focus on what
counts, the patients,” Katy said.

“Yeah. I’m not really worried about it. I
just don’t want it to cloud the real issue, which is our impact on
health problems.” Andrea gazed out her window at passing cars on
the downtown street.

“I know.” Katy sighed and sipped the last of
her coffee. “Have Denny and Jamal made any progress on sorting
through those records?”

“I haven’t talked to them yet.”

“Remember that you’re supposed to meet with
them. The sooner we have answers for Ms. Normand, the bet-ter.”
Katy stood.

Andrea’s stomach fluttered at the thought of
being close to Jamal so soon. At least they would not be alone.
“I’ll meet with them later on today.”

“I think things out front have slowed down.
Want me to get them for you?” Katy opened the door. “Might as well
deal with it now. I know that woman. She’s like a dog with a
bone.”

“Sure,” Andrea said after a pause. The last
thing she needed was to let Katy or anyone else detect tension
between her and Jamal. That would start a whole new set of rumors
spinning.

She smoothed the front of her tan cotton
shirt. It was neatly tucked into a navy blue skirt. Andrea inhaled
and exhaled five times in preparation for his appearance. As
seconds ticked by she drummed her fingers on the desk blotter.
Realizing it, she laced them together to keep them still. Jamal
knocked on the half-opened door and walked in.

“Hi,” he said.

Andrea cleared her throat. “Hi.”

He entered cautiously, unsure of his
reception. “Katy said you wanted to meet with me.”

“Yes, and Denny. I want to know how much
progress y’all have made with the records.” Andrea kept her gaze on
a point just above his shoulder. “Is he coming?”

“Denny drove his grandmother to a cardiology
appointment. He won’t be back until after lunch sometime.” He shut
the door behind him.

Andrea blinked at the closed door. “Oh.”

She bit her lower lip, and then looked up at
him. He couldn’t give her a break, could he? Here he stood, fine as
ever in khaki chinos and a sage green knit cotton shirt. The
short-sleeved shirt emphasized the rippling muscles in his arms
whenever he moved. The familiar craving to touch him hit her full
force.

“We could put this off until you can meet
with both of us. If you’d be more comfortable, that is.”

“No,” Andrea said sharply. She lifted her
chin. “Why wouldn’t I be comfortable with you?”

“I guess I shouldn’t assume this is as hard
for you as it is for me,” he said in a quiet voice.

Andrea picked up an ink pen and fidgeted with
it. “How is that?” The flutter of anxiety in her stomach was
replaced with anticipation.

“I know we agreed on all the reasons we
shouldn’t get involved.”

“Very good reasons,” Andrea said.

“Sure, and I still agree,” he rushed to add.
Then he sighed. “But keeping the other day out of my mind isn’t so
easy.”

“We knew it wouldn’t be.” Andrea risked a
brief glance at him. Looking into those eyes was too much and she
turned her gaze away quickly. “But we did agree that getting
involved was a horrible idea.”

“We never said ‘horrible,’ ” he replied. “I
mean ...” “No, I didn’t intend for it to come out that way,” Andrea
put in. “Just that it’s not a very good idea. Right?” Jamal didn’t
answer right away, but when he did, his response lacked conviction.
“Yeah.”

Andrea swallowed hard. She squared her
shoulders and lifted her chin. “Right. We’ll get over it.” She
forced herself to smile and hoped that it looked more genuine than
it felt. “On to business then. I hope you have good news about the
records.”

Jamal nodded as though silently agreeing to
follow her lead. “About the records, let’s see.” He sat down in the
chair across from her. “There’s still a lot of missing pieces.”

“I said good news.” Andrea’s brows drew
together. “Sorry, but you know what condition the last crew left
them in.” Jamal lifted a shoulder. “I’m surprised we were able to
put together as much as we have. But we still can’t exactly track
all medications or even find all the invoices we need.”

“Dam it!” Andrea slapped an open palm on the
desk. Jamal stared at her. “I thought you weren’t that concerned
about it.”

“The previous director submitted a final
report. I was to tie up a few loose ends and then start fresh. At
least that’s what I was told at first.” Andrea grimaced. “But now
I’m being held accountable for finding out what happened before I
got here.”

“They can’t really blame you, can they? I
mean, it didn’t happen on your watch.” Jamal leaned forward,
el-bows propped on his knees.

“Yeah, well, I haven’t made friends with some
of the decisions I’ve made recently. Especially about
personnel.”

“You mean that nurse who was the clinic
manager and Shonda. Got ya.” Jamal rubbed his chin. “They’ve both
got friends in high places. At lot of Shonda’s relatives run
errands for some of the local politicians.” “How do you know all
this? You’ve only been in

Lafourche Parish a few months.” Andrea raised
an eye-brow.

“Almost a year really.”

“There are people who’ve lived in Bayou Blue
for twenty years and they’re still considered outsiders.” Andrea’s
eyes narrowed. “And the natives don’t talk about certain things to
outsiders.”

“I’ve made some good friends in the last few
months. Especially working here.” His brown eyes twinkled. “Folks
appreciate it when you help them out.”

“And it loosens their tongues, eh?” Andrea
laughed.

“Let’s just say they like to chat.” Jamal
tilted his head to one side.

“I may not have said so, but you do a great
job around here. And not just with computers and filing. I’ve seen
the way you pitch in and talk to the patients.” Andrea smiled at
him. When he smiled back die world seemed brighter.

“Thanks. That means a lot to me,” he
said.

“And I really appreciate the way you’ve
gotten through to Denny.”

“He was messing up pretty bad, huh?” Jamal
wore a serious expression.

“Between us, I was afraid I’d have to fire
him.” Andrea shrugged at his raised eyebrows. “He handled a lot of
things for Thelma and the rest of those bums. It looked as though
he knew more than he was telling.”

“But you don’t feel that way now?” He gazed
at her intently.

“Honestly, the jury is still out. But he’s
gone a long way toward proving himself. You can take a lot of
credit for helping his attitude. He seems to follow your lead,”
Andrea said.

Jamal shifted in his seat uncomfortably.
“Don’t give me too much credit.”

“I know you spend some of your free time with
him.” He looked up at her sharply. “You do?”

“Sure. And I think it’s great. He’s a smart
young man. With the right guidance he could really make something
of his life.” Andrea’s businesslike reserve was slipping fast. She
couldn’t help it. Jamal was a caring, giving man despite the
devilish persona he adopted at will.

“Don’t be too sure I’m the right role model.”
He seemed uneasy with the compliments.

“I wish I could take your picture right now.”
Andrea grinned. “You look so humble and bashful. I expect you to
say ‘Aw shucks’ any minute.”

Jamal shook his head. “No, just being honest.
I was a wild kid myself once, and I can’t say I’m completely
re-formed. So don’t fit me with a halo just yet.”

“Okay, so I’ll hold off on the halo. But I
still say you’re a good guy.” Andrea felt warmth now that went past
physical desire. She had a growing respect for him as a man.

“Thanks.” Jamal stood up quickly as though
eager to escape. “Look, I think I can help you out on those
records. Give me a few more days, maybe a week.”

“Do what you can. And don’t put in too many
long hours,” she said softly. “You look tired.”

Jamal turned to leave, but hesitated. He
faced Andrea again. “I haven’t been sleeping all that well for the
last few days.”

‘Tell me about it,” she murmured. ‘Too much
on my mind, I suppose.”

“Yeah, that’s probably it.” He gazed at her
for several seconds, then started out again. “I’ll let you know
some-thing as soon as I can.”

“Thanks,” Andrea called after him. “Then we
can get back together.”

Andrea stared at the spot where he’d sat for
a long time after he was gone.

Chapter 13

Lee arrived at the Lafourche Parish sheriff’s
substation in the small town of Cut Off at 5:50 that evening. He
made it a practice to be ten minutes early for appointments he was
uneasy about. It gave him a chance to look around. He didn’t like
the idea that Sheriff Boudreaux was Mandeville’s pal.

The building was red brick and small. Three
deputies passed him in the space of two minutes, each wearing sober
expressions as though intent on fighting crime. Lee looked around
for a few minutes. He read the bulletin board and observed the
activity around him. At 5:59 he gave his name to a female deputy at
the front desk and sat down on a wooden bench to wait. Mandeville
strode in seconds later. He grinned at the attractive woman with
shocking red hair and freckles that stood out against her fair
skin.

“Hey, Tish. How’s life treating the cutest
law officer in Louisiana?”

“Can’t complain, Mr. Mandeville. Well, I
could, but who wants to hear?” She grinned. “Go on back.”

“All right, darlin’.” John turned to Lee and
shook hands with him. “Hello, Matthews. Let’s go on down to
Harley’s office.”

Mandeville walked on unchallenged. Several
deputies spoke to him by name. Lee looked around as he followed
him. They went through a large room with desks. Two burly white
deputies watched Lee with hooded expressions. Mandeville led them
down a short hall at the end of which was a door with a
frosted-glass window. Mandeville went in without knocking. The room
was small with a gray metal desk in the center. The only items on
it were a phone and one file folder. Sheriff Boudreaux stood up
when they entered. He was thin and developing a slight paunch. Lee
guessed his age at somewhere around fifty. His brown hair was
streaked with gray and starting to thin at the top.