To Catch A Foxx (Chapter 26)

Written by XAVIER D. PRUE

Cover Art for ‘To Catch A Foxx’ novel (IMG CRD: Xavier D. Prue)

Chapter 26

It was time to get Aletta Fowler back. Red had already called the Bondsmen over two hours ago. You would think that for 100 Gees, he’d be there already, but he was in no rush because he already knew the deal.

The agreement between Officer Fowler, a Norwich Judge, and the Bondsmen was that if they re-captured Foxx after bailing him out, the money would be taken back and Foxx would face bribery and kidnapping charges unless he cooperated with the police. However, if they lost Foxx, the Bondsman could keep the money.

Just before the Bondsman arrived at the station, a call came through Red’s office.

“Fowler”, Red grunted through the phone.

“Red…”

“Who’s this?” Red sat up in his seat.

“Ah… you would like to know that, wouldn’t you? You can call me… Snap.”

“Snap?” Red had never heard of him.

“Yeah. They call me Snap because I don’t got it all upstairs, feel me?”

Now, Red was getting mad. “Are you threatening me?”

“No, I’m telling you! They also call me Snap because I like to snap pictures on my camera!”

“What’s your point?”

The voice on the phone laughed. “Red… you’ve been a bad boy lately, haven’t you? I think that you and I should meet up somewhere… have lunch. I have some things… which may spark your interest.”

“What are you talking about?” Fowler was nervous; he didn’t know what this guy allegedly had.

“Four Seasons Buffet in the Casino… 3 PM. If you’re late, or you don’t show… everybody will have what I have. We clear?”

“Yeah, but-” Red heard the phone click in his ear. He sighed and hung up. Looking at the clock, he saw it was a little after 1:30 PM. Less than an hour and a half. He had to go get some cigarettes. He smoked cigars here and there, but he hadn’t smoked a cigarette in over a year. This whole situation was giving him gray hairs.

He got up and grabbed his jacket, about to hit the road and maybe pick up some Marlborough’s. As he locked his office and made it to the end of the hallway leading out, somebody called out to him.

“Red, the Bondsman is here!” Damn, now he wants to show! So much for those cigarettes.

Red took the Bailsman back into his office, cracked a private safe, and handed him the suitcase. The Bondsman popped it open, saw the money, and smiled in satisfaction before closing it.

In the main office, Red was setting up surveillance so they could keep track of Foxx. “Bug Team 1, get over to Corrigan and set up; we’re about to bond this maggot out!

“Bug Team 2, post up on both directions of Rt. 32 and follow us when we leave. Report Team… make sure all your equipment’s working. I want everybody on the same page… I want to know everything that’s going on! If he even as much as sneezes, I want it reported.”

They made it to Corrigan Correctional Inst. around 2 PM. Red sat in a hard chair as the Bondsman filled out paperwork for Foxx’s release. It was almost 2:40 by the time Isaiah Clemmons came into the lobby, smoothing out the wrinkles on his outfit and popping the collar of his button-up.

He smiled. “F#%k you bonding me out, for? You missed me?”

Red hated this street punk. “Somebody likes you… and it sure as hell ain’t me! I’d love to ride with you and see if we can figure out how to fill in the blanks, but I got to run. Mr. Humphrey will drop you off wherever you want to go…”

Foxx looked at Red in astonishment. “Damn Red, that’s it? I can just go… like that?”

Red shrugged. “Bail’s paid, you’re free to go.”

Foxx snickered. “Yeah, I’m goin’ have him drop me off right at my momma crib. Ha, ha!”

“F#%k you!” Red screamed as he took brisk steps towards the door. At the door, he looked back. “Your court date’s for the 29th, although I don’t expect you to be there…”

“Ghost, baby!” Foxx shouted after him.

Red stepped into the food court at the Mohegan Sun Casino. It was nice as hell in here. There were pictures of Geno Auriemma, the couch for the UConn Women’s Basketball team. He partially owned half of the restaurants in the food court.

The ceilings were different colors, mostly orange and blue, which made a nice glow on the table that Red was sitting at. Red folded his fingers into each other, and nearly smacked an ashtray out of the way. Damn, I didn’t even get no squares!

Crowds of people were moving through the food court; some impatient, others as if they didn’t have a care in the world. Red saw some workers wiping down tables with soft rags, a few seats away. He looked down at his watch to see what time it was. It was 2:59. He had sped over here from Corrigan as fast as he could, doing 70 miles the whole way down the street.

When he looked up from checking his watch, he saw a solid man sliding into the seat across from him. He had on a du rag and a big chain, along with an angry look on his face as if he would have no problems or second thoughts about cracking Red’s s#!t. The thug extended a hand, and hesitantly, Red took it; looking the man deep in those angry eyes.

“Nice to finally meet you, Red”, said Snap.

“Yeah… can’t say the same for you.”

“Well, of course. I understand.” In the guy’s other hand was a thick manila envelope. He laid it on the table, and pulled out a stack of pictures. “Let’s get down to business, get down to what we came for.”

“And what is this all about?” Red asked worriedly.

Snap looked up briefly from the pictures in his hand. “Do you know somebody named Priscilla Dayton?”

Red sat straight up. “Who the hell are you?”

“Calm down, she’s alright.” Red relaxed a little bit. “The question is… are you goin’ be alright after you see this?” He paused a moment, adding a sense of drama to his approach. “You been on the force for a while, haven’t you?”

Red just nodded.

“You’re working on becoming Captain, right?”

“Yeah.” Red’s fists were clenched tightly. He wanted to wring this dude’s neck.

“And I bet you think you’re going to get that promotion after you take Foxx down…”

“Thinking comes from not knowing. I know I’m going to get that promotion. Foxx is going away for a long time and these streets could be a little safer. What are you… his little hit man?”

Snap shook his head, waving his hand in denial. “No, no… nothing like that. Just a starving artist, shall we say.” They both looked at each other. Snap reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of Marlborough’s. “Cigarette?”

Damn, he’s using the same interrogation tactics on me, that I use… ain’t that a b!#%h? Red wanted to say no bad as hell… he didn’t want to take anything from this thug, but he really needed a cigarette… his nerves couldn’t resist the temptation.

As they both sparked their boagies, Snap glanced at the pictures and then, back at Red. “You’ve been on the force for so long, Red… wouldn’t it be a shame if your reputation was ruined? Or, better yet, wouldn’t it suck if there was one thing that could prevent you from becoming chief?”

“And what would that be?” Red asked in a nonchalant voice. He was trying not to show too much emotion; he was striving to match this thug’s careless attitude. They were playing verbal chess.

“You sound like you don’t care… I like that because I know that really… you do care!” He smiled.

He slid the stack of photos across the table so that Red could observe. When Fowler picked up the shots, he damn near dropped his cigarette. Right there in front of him were numerous pictures of him and Officer Priscilla Dayton.

Some were normal, friendly pictures. Most of them, though, were showing him and Dayton out on dates. There were even some flicks of them in a strip bar together. And a few pictures showed he and Priscilla either entering Red’s crib or hers. There was one picture of Fowler and Dayton making out, inside Red’s house. It looked like it had been taken from the windows in the house across the street.

“Where the hell did you get these?” Red exploded, the color of his face matching his name.

A slick smile came over Snap’s face. “Ah, I just knew that I could get some emotion out of you! I am quite a photographer, wouldn’t you say?”

Red braced up, ready to jump across the table.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. You know how much security is in here? You wouldn’t want to lose your job over a simple guy like me, would you?”

“How did you… where…”

“What would you say if I told you that there were more where that came from, that I even have pictures of you visiting prostitutes and hookers?” He didn’t have those types of shots, but Red didn’t know that and he was too shaken up to notice right now.

“What do you want?”

“I want you to leave Isaiah alone.”

“Foxx?”

“Who else?”

“I can’t do that.”

“I’m sure you got this n!@@a under heavy surveillance, don’t you?”

Red said, “of course. As soon as we get my daughter back, we’re taking him back in. If he even tries to leave the country, we’ll catch him at the gate.”

“Red…” Snap began. “Isn’t it against your policy, especially with you being Lieutenant and all… to date co-workers?”

“Well, I-”

Snap cut him off. “Now, just imagine what would happen when the New London Day… the Norwich Bulletin… when all the newspapers get a hold of these photos, get air of this situation. What do you think’s going to happen? Your police station is going to get a lot of bad publicity, a lot of flank… that’s what’s going to happen.

“And do you honestly think that you’re going to move up to Captain after that? After your name’s spoiled? Now, that’s cool… if you don’t mind being stuck where you’re at… or being exposed, but damn… I think you want more than that, now don’t you, Red?”

“It would make my day to be stuck at Lieutenant as long as I can bury Foxx and get him off the streets of Norwich and New London. Have a good f#%^in’ day, and tell your boss nice try, but we still coming at him…” Red stood up, slapping the pictures back on the table as he left.

“Yeah?? And what would DCF say?”

Red quickly came back to the table with an evil scowl on his face. “What did you just say to me?”

“You’re such a good father. Would DCF say the same if they knew that you cheated on your wife… that the reason y’all broke up was because you were having an affair? Would they let Aletta stay with you after that? I doubt it.”

“But, I never had an affair. I didn’t start messing with Priscilla until months after Melody and I broke up.”

That’s not what the pictures say!!” Snap smiled at Red. “Take another look.”

Red sat back down and observed the snapshots one more time. Right there, in the bottom-right corner were dates. The pictures dated back to around the time that Fowler was still with his ex-wife. Of course, he knew that Snap had manually inserted the dates himself, but it was authentic enough to pass for the actual dates.

“Now, that sucks, doesn’t it? You could lose everything, f#%$^n’ with me… and I know you don’t want to lose your daughter.”

“I will have you arrested for bribery, and threatening.”

Snap shrugged his shoulders as if jail was a walk in the park. “Well, yeah… you could. That’s the chance I take. I go to jail, I sit it down for a little while, and then, you know what happens?

“You wake up in the morning to see your s#!t on the headlines, maybe even make the 6:00 news, you know? Come on Red, do I look retarded to you? You think I haven’t insured myself? There’s about eight other people with these same exact shots. So, you could take me in, charge me, take the flicks, but in the end… is it worth it?

“All I’m asking for is a little favor. You can always catch a ton of more criminals, there will be plenty of opportunities to make Captain. Don’t rush it. Foxx is only one dude out here; everybody deserves a second chance. Ha, ha… I’ll let you think it over. If I don’t hear from you by 7 tonight, I’m sending these out to my peoples. Good luck!”

He laughed and walked away, leaving Red all alone in his thoughts as he kept flipping through the pictures of him and Priscilla. There were about 70 pictures. He thought about Aletta. Damn… and to top it off, the bastard couldn’t even leave him a cigarette. He looked up, trying to spot him, but by then, the kid had merged into the crowd and disappeared.

---

By 5:00 PM that day, Officer Robert Fowler had called off all surveillance on Isaiah Clemmons - Foxx. He had no explanation for any of them, except that he was looking out for the best interest of his daughter. A call came a little after six.

“Are we good, Red?” It was the voice of Snap.

“Yeah, we’re good… for now”, Red muttered.

“Great! Your daughter’s at Mohegan Park Beach…”

It took the police an hour and 45 minutes to find Aletta Fowler. She was sitting blindfolded in the woods, at a picnic table with her hands crossed in her lap. She was shaking badly. They took the bandana off her face. She looked like hell.

© XAVIER D. PRUE 2003. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.