Once You'Ve Touched the Heart Read online

  Day’s information was damaging enough to make a few people in the homicide division very uncomfortable. The information on Gavin could be harmful to someone running for political office. JD was convinced the whole story had not surfaced yet. His instincts told him something was missing. He decided to hold off on the information Al had given him until he was sure what had taken place. JD believed Gavin made this information surface because he wanted Al out of the way before he made a bid for the governor’s office. However, he wasn’t convinced Gavin would have Al killed. However, this left enough doubt for JD not to trust Gavin on this case. Therefore the only people privy to any information were JD and his select few.

  As JD left the courtroom he knew he had a few things to wrap up in his life. There was no better time than the present. He placed a call to Carolyn and arranged to see her that evening. Upon his return to the office, he checked in with Mrs. Langston. “Hello, Mrs. Langston, everything okay around here?” JD asked as she handed him his messages.

  “Mr. Roberts is looking for you, has been all morning. Every 15 minutes or so. It’s about time for him right about now. Hmm, what do you know, there he is. Mr. Roberts, guess who I found for you?”

  She looked at JD and started laughing under her breath.

  “Thanks a lot, friend,” JD joked. “Gavin, they tell me you’ve been looking for me, what’s up?” JD asked while reading his messages.

  “JD, let me talk to you for a minute.”

  “Sure, your office or mine?”

  “Yours will do.”

  “That’s good; at least I know I’m not being fired.” JD winked at Mrs. Langston.

  They walked to JD’s office. He closed the door, put down his briefcase, then sat at his desk.

  “What can I do for you, Gavin?”

  “Well, I received a call from the Attorney General himself congratulating me on a job well done with the Day case. Now, I’m sure you can imagine my surprise to find out the case is a done deal.”

  “Oh, yeah, that was wrapped up this morning. Made an offer, Day accepted, the court had an opening. The AG got it in on the docket; closed the deal. Indictment, conviction, and sentencing all in one day. I tell you, Gavin, I like the way they operate over there. No bullshit back and forth trying to get deals approved.” JD sat forward, put his hands across the desk, and glared at Gavin. Gavin knew JD very well. The tone in his voice and the look on his face told him JD had something but wasn’t talking.

  “Anything I should be aware of?” Gavin questioned.

  “Not at this time,” JD said, sitting back, “but I will let you know if anything comes up.”

  “So you found Day’s sister?” Gavin smirked.

  “Wasn’t hard, but you knew that. Here’s something else you should know. She has my protection now. As long as she is happy, I’m happy.”

  “JD,” Gavin said as he stood, “if I didn’t know better, I would think that sounded like a threat.”

  “No,” JD replied as he stood. “It would only sound like that if there was something to be threatened by. You have no reason to be threatened by me, unless something happens to her. As far as I’m concerned, it’s business as usual.”

  Gavin acknowledged JD’s statement by nodding his head and walked out of the room.

  JD exhaled. “One issue wrapped up, on to the next.”

  Gavin went to his office and made a call. “Harrison knows something, but he’s not going to talk if you stay away from the girl,” Gavin stated.

  “Harrison is just like his father, straight as they come. How do you know he won’t come after us?”

  “I don’t think he has us, I think he has me. We can’t take any chances on this. I’m the one who stands to lose everything I’ve worked 20 years for. All we want is Day silent. She is our assurance that he won’t talk. As long as JD has a hand in this nothing will come out.”

  “Are you sure of that, Gavin?”

  “He gave his word. But to be safe, I have something that will keep him occupied.”

  ♥

  Tracy was already in the office working when Ashley got in around 8. “What the hell did you do, come in at dawn?” Ashley asked while pouring a cup of coffee.

  Tracy looked up. “No,” she replied laughing. “I got in around 7 and started working on Brooks’s project.”

  “Oh, yes, my first closer, you must make that one good. My reputation is on the line,” Ashley boasted.

  “Well, I’ve got to give it to you, you made a good deal. I taught you well.” Tracy smiled and stepped around to the front of her desk and gave Ashley a high five.

  “I feel like I’m contributing now, not just hanging on your skirt tail.”

  Tracy looked at her with a frown. “You always contributed.”

  Ashley sat down on the sofa next to the door. “Yeah, but not like you. All I did was talk to people. You put the packages together and keep the ball rolling. I just bring them in. It’s your work that keeps them sending in their friends for consultations.”

  “It takes both pieces to make the company successful,” Tracy said and sat on the edge of her desk. “I can’t persuade people like you can and your mind can’t work like mine.”

  “Girl, you are so right. That piece you put in about matching employee contributions in the investment plan was really a deal sealer. James loved it,” Ashley exclaimed.

  “That’s good to know; tells me he’s into his employee’s well-being and personal growth.”

  “Okay, whatever.” Ashley took a sip of her coffee. “So, what’s up with you and JD?”

  Tracy tilted her head to the side and got up. “What are you talking about?”

  “I saw you two in the yard talking the other night.”

  “Oh, that was about Turk and what he is doing with the case.”

  “Looked like a lot of hand holding to me.”

  “It was a rough day.”

  “That’s all?”

  “Yep, that’s all.”

  “Tracy, you know I love you like a sister, and I have never steered you wrong.”

  “Bullshit,” Tracy replied with laughing.

  “Okay, okay, okay, once or twice,” Ashley said, and put her hand up, “but I was still trying to look out for you.”

  “Okay, I give you that. But?” Tracy said, waiting for Ashley to continue.

  “JD’s my brother and I love him, but you know he’s a player. He has not had one serious relationship since Vanessa, way back when.”

  “Okay.” Tracy raised her eyebrow. “And?”

  “You are a very serious type person and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  “Hurt by who?”

  “It’s whom, not who,” Ashley stated.

  “Oh, now you are giving me English lessons?”

  “No, I’m just saying, I did not want you to misread JD’s attention to you yesterday. I know how you used to feel about him,” Ashley said, as she eyed Tracy over her coffee cup.

  “Ashley, I might be a little naïve, but I’m not crazy. I know there is no way Jeffrey would even be remotely interested in me. Please, I don’t have what it takes to be on the front of anybody’s magazine cover and that’s what he goes for. So don’t worry about that, I have not lost my senses, yet. I know my place; Cynthia taught me well.”

  Ashley got up. Yep, she still has feelings for him. She smiled to herself. “Well, that’s not how I meant it, but okay.” Ashley shrugged her shoulders. “I just want to make sure you are not setting yourself up for disappointment like you have a tendency to do.”

  Tracy smiled. “Thanks for looking out, but I’m straight on this one.” When Ashley left, Tracy closed her eyes and thought, okay, remember your place, get that man out of your head, NOW….

  Ashley went to her office called her mom. “Mom, I tried to feel Tracy out. She has such a complex about JD. Getting them together is not going to happen without our intervention.”

  “Okay, I’m in honey, just tell me what to do,” Martha replied.

 
“Well, I’ll lay the groundwork, you just follow my lead.”

  ♥

  “Good job today,” Calvin commented as JD joined him at Maxi’s bar. “You managed to get Gavin his ‘kudos’ from the governor, satisfy the AG and Day. That’s a hell of a job for one day.”

  “Jack straight,” JD said to the bartender.

  “Coming up, JD.”

  “Thanks, man. I appreciate you listening last night. I needed a sounding board,” JD stated as he took his drink. “You got a minute or do you have plans with Jackie?” JD motioned to Calvin to take a booth.

  “Yeah, what’s up?” Calvin asked as they took a seat.

  He hesitated. “Do you love Jackie?”

  Laughing, Calvin responded, “Man, why are you asking me some shit like that,” ready to give the typical male response.

  “Well, do you?”

  Seeing JD was serious, Calvin replied, “Yeah, but I will take the Fifth if you tell her. Why you ask?”

  “How do you know?”

  “I am not sure what you mean.”

  “How do you know it’s love and not lust?” JD clarified. “I mean, there are millions of women out there. What is it about this one that makes you want to be with just her?”

  Calvin smiled. JD needed guidance. He had not allowed any women to get close to him. Calvin thought at one time Vanessa had penetrated that thick skin of his, but that ended. Now, apparently someone was making him think of a one-on-one again. The last thing Calvin wanted to do was to hand him that bullshit most men tell other men.

  “Well, you’re right; there are a lot of women out there. But I haven’t found one, other than Jackie, that makes me want to go home every night,” Calvin confessed.

  If this was the way he could help JD experience what he has with Jackie, he would break the male code, tell him the real deal.

  “It doesn’t matter what we do or where we go. I just want to be wherever she is. There were times when we had plans to go out to dinner or to one of Carolyn’s functions, but instead we stayed home, alone, and loved it. I enjoy taking the time to get to know her; hearing about her day and all the crazy shit Carolyn is up to. It’s the craziest thing.” Calvin laughed. “All hell can break loose at work. But when I go home, Jackie knows just what to say or do to calm me down.”

  As if a second thought just hit him, Calvin added, “Oh man, when it comes to sex, you haven’t felt anything until you make love to a woman you actually love and she loves you back. There’s nothing like it. It doesn’t matter if it’s a ‘I got to have it now on top of the kitchen table’ or a session you planned with the candles and shit.”

  He hesitated for a moment. “I would give my right arm for Jackie if she asked. But she would never ask. Because she loves me with the same intensity that I love her and that’s what makes it good.” Calvin stopped.

  JD thought for a moment and smiled at his friend’s happiness. “What happens when she leaves? How do you cope with that?”

  “What makes you think she’s going to leave?”

  “They always do,” JD responded, “one way or another. Look at Vanessa. I loved Vanessa; she left. Look at Mama. She loved Daddy with all her heart and he left.”

  In all the years Calvin had known JD it had never dawned on him JD was afraid of being abandoned.

  “Your dad did not abandon you, JD, or your mother.”

  JD flinched.

  “As for Vanessa, well let’s examine that, JD,” Calvin said. “Did you really love Vanessa, I mean really? If Tracy had been available to you back then, Vanessa would have been history long before she actually was.”

  JD looked at Calvin.

  “Yeah, I knew you had a little thing for Tracy back then,” Calvin stated. “Apparently it was deep enough that you still feel it now, six years later. So I ask you again, did you really love Vanessa or was she just a convenience?” Calvin sipped his drink.

  “As for your mom,” Calvin said with a chuckle, “she has a smile on her face every time I see her. It’s the same smile she had when we were little and your dad came home from work. You should ask her why she’s still smiling. Oh, just so you know, I don’t worry about if or when Jackie may leave. I enjoy having her in my life one day at a time. If she leaves, at least I can say, I know what it felt like to be truly in love.”

  Calvin watched JD for a moment. He knew his reconnection with Tracy was what prompted this conversation. He remembered JD struggling with getting Tracy off his mind and using Vanessa to do it. Calvin also knew Carolyn would go after Tracy if JD started seeing her. Carolyn could be a devious bitch.

  “JD,” Calvin started, “hear me out on this. I’m going to say this with all the respect and love a man can have for a brother, and you know I’m down with you for whatever, have been since kindergarten.” Calvin wanted to be sure he said this right. “I know you. Been through many women with you. Hell, shared one or two with you. Tracy isn’t the type to understand the hit-and-run game that men play. She’s the type you love and cherish, always. When she loves, she loves totally. When she trusts, if she trusts, she trusts totally. The two are one in the same for her. Don’t play with her emotions. Remember what this girl has been through. She’s been on her own all her life, except for her brother, and now he’s gone. Tracy does not need you to come in, hit it and leave; she doesn’t deserve that. Don’t play with her; be sure of your intentions.”

  JD was glad Calvin was his friend. Whether he wanted to hear it or not, Calvin would always give him a straight answer. “I’m not going to hurt Tracy. To be honest, she scares the hell out of me.” JD chuckled, and then finished his drink. “I’m glad you and Jackie have each other. Don’t let Carolyn or anyone else mess you up. Speaking of Carolyn, I’m running late. I’ll check you later.”

  Calvin watched as JD left. He pulled out his cell and dialed. “Hey baby, what are you doing?”

  ♥

  Tracy was still in her office integrating the notes from the morning meeting into the Brooks file. As she keyed the notes into the computer, she remembered the conversation with James Brooks. Why would a man like that be interested in her? Tracy wondered.

  James Brooks was an accomplished man. At the age of 30, he was named the Metropolitan Area Business Man of the Year. He had written several articles on management in the future. Every agency he headed was rated number one or two in the state for employee satisfaction. This was the fourth agency a sitting governor had commissioned him to head. Unfortunately, it was one of the largest in the state and had poor morale issues. He was placed there to clean up the agency, but had been met with a lot of resistance.

  Tracy pulled out his bio: James Avery Brooks; age, 35; Harvard Business, Master’s in Public Administration; he married at the age of 26 to his college sweetheart, divorced five years later. They had one child, a son, James Jr., 6 years old.

  Tracy smiled looking at the picture of James that accompanied the bio. The picture does not do him justice, she thought. Maybe this could be the person to get her mind off Jeffrey. She was 24 years old now. She had put up a shield when she was 19 and had never let anyone in. It didn’t appear anything would ever happen with Jeffrey. Cynthia had always said he was out of her league.

  Tracy remembered when she and Ashley returned to campus from that spring break. Cynthia came by the room to see Tracy, which should have been her warning.

  “What in the hell made you think you could go after JD Harrison?” Cynthia yelled at her.

  A little startled, Tracy asked, “What are you talking about, Cynthia?”

  “I saw you two in the sunroom at the club the other night.”

  “There wasn’t anything to it, don’t sweat it, Cynthia.” Tracy turned her back and continued working.

  “You do realize you are not his type. I mean, you don’t have anything to offer a man like him. You don’t even look the part and you’re from the wrong side of the tracks, if you know what I mean. Just because they let you in their house don’t mean you get to play with the big bo
ys.”

  “I get it, Cynthia. You don’t have to keep going on about it. I get it, okay,” Tracy yelled.

  “Oh, don’t tell me your feelings are hurt—what did you expect? JD Harrison is the cream of the crop, girl. You can’t even clean the bottom of his shoes. I’m just trying to keep your dumb ass from getting hurt. Make sure you remember that,” Cynthia said as she left the room.

  Tracy closed the bio on James Brooks. Cynthia would probably say the same thing about Brooks, She thought, smiling to herself. When she looked up, James Brooks, all 6 feet 2, 220 pounds of him, was standing in her office doorway.

  “Good evening, you’re working late. Now why doesn’t that surprise me?” James smiled. “Do you always leave your door unlocked after hours?”

  “I guess the receptionist did not lock it when she left this evening,” Tracy replied, surprised. “Is there something you need, Mr. Brooks?”

  He smiled. “That’s a loaded question, Ms. Washington. And please call me James.”

  The picture really did not do him justice. She smiled. “Mr. Brooks, it is a little late and I was just about to leave. Was there something in particular that brought you here?”

  “Yes, your smile.”

  Tracy sat back in her seat, not sure what to say.

  “Before you say anything, hear me out,” James said as he took a seat. “It’s not in my nature to pursue a woman. I don’t have the time for it. Before you walked in my office today I was curious, to say the least. Your proposal impressed me and that’s not easy to do. That’s why I asked to meet with you. When you walked into my office today, I was totally knocked off my game. You were a very pleasant surprise.” He sat forward. “All I’m asking for is a chance to get to know you a little better, nothing more.”

  Tracy blushed. “Thank you. Mr. Brooks, I’m not a very sociable person. This company keeps me busy. Even if I did take time to get to know a person, it would not be one of my clients. It’s a matter of principle”

  “Your reputation?”