( Because Frankie can't help what she does to poor Lonnie :))

Lonnie's face froze and he was slapped out of the magnetic pull this woman had over him. 'Christ' He thought worried. 'This here does not look good'. He quickly turned Frankie around and cuffed her again, leaving her standing at the wall of the cell. He walked out passed Ken, nodding, and leaving down the hall in silence.

Ken stood by the cell door, still smirking. 'I wonder what the Lieutenant was thinking after he realized I was standing there; a bit of a blush on him I recon.' His signature cheery smile appeared across his face at the thought. 'Busted...' He almost laughed out loud.

"Miss, can I get you something? Water?"

"Yes, water thank you". Ken nodded and walked over to the tap, filling up the clean browny/beige mug with a painted fleur-de-lis on the front of it. He opened the door and put the mug on the floor while he uncuffed her so she could drink. He handed it to her and she gulped it down ferociously, not realizing how thirsty she was.

"Here-" Ken extended his arm and she put the mug in his hand. "I'll get you another" Smiling at her he locked the cell door and went for a refill. 'Nice guy - that smile could cheer up a funeral' She grinned a bit and turned to the click of the latch and another mug of water; she couldn't wait.

"Sorry ma'am, that's as cold as she gets."

"Thanks" Frankie drank down the room temperature water and wiped her mouth. Ken cuffed her before locking and leaving the cell with a kind nod for the last time. She sat on the cot and thought about Lieutenant Jamison. 'Who is this man?'

___________________________________________

Detective Virgil Tibbs made his way through the line of officers that packed the window to his, and Gillespie's office. When he was finally able to move pass the crowd of bodies he turned with a hard breath and addressed them in his calm, smooth voice. He was about to begin but was cut off at the tongue when Parker came barreling in, giddy as a school girl.

"Hey y'all! You're not gonna believe what I heard! I was down at the dinner getting the Chief his sandwich and I ran in to..."

"Parker!" Virgil rolled his eyes "Parker" He exhaled deeply. "I certainly hope that you are not coming up into this office with gossip from the local drunks at Magnolias." It really wasn't a question; but if Parker could answer it, Virgil would let him.

"Yes Sir Detective, I most certainly am." Parker smiled and Virgil shook his head. "No Sargent, you are most certainly not." Parkers face fell and he couldn't help but feel a bit bad about it. He was so innocent and clueless sometimes. Everyone knew he wouldn't hurt a fly. But he had extremely loose lips. The invisible filter that was supposed to help you discern what you should say, to what you should keep to yourself was non-existent. Virgil stood in front of the officers. He had to, at least somewhat, explain what was happening to the best of his knowledge.

He motioned his arms and hands for everyone to back up into the reception area so he could make his impromptu speech.

"Okay, so what we know right now is that there is a team here - a government fraction that is working in tandem with the U.S. Marshal's office."

"Does this have anything to do with the activity at the ports?" Captain Bubba Skinner asked, crossing his huge, muscular arms in front of himself with a huff. Feeling a bit ticked off that he was not made aware of this earlier, and is lumped in with everyone else. He was also missing the game, which was unacceptable when 'Ole Miss was in the finals, not to mention Tracy was mad at him; she made all that food and no one was there to eat it, then he was called in too. He was just grumpy all around.

"Yes Bubba it does. Their Chief is filling our Chief in as we speak, on the rest, if there is any. The Chief and I were just made aware of this about two hours ago after Lieutenant Jamison and Sargent Williams made arrests at the Floyd house. "Chief..." Virgil fumbled a piece of paper from his suit pocket and held it up to read. "...Rizonou, has graciously agreed to fill us in and keep us in the loop. Let me be clear ladies and gentlemen, this is not obligatory on their part; it is a courtesy to us. When I know, you'll know." He turned around and walked through the door of the office. The officers slowly went back to their desks and phones, disappointed.

____________________________________________

Bubba sat on the edge of the desk he and Lonnie shared, crossing his arms and sucking in his bottom lip in thought.

"Parker-" he waved his hand for him to come over and Parker leaned on the desk with his mason jar of iced tea. "What happened at the house?"

"Lonnie called for backup, I got there, we broke in the door and found two women, they were injured and I called the paramedics-"

"Were they shot?"

"No. A reaction - a breathing reaction and the other one had her hand's all cut open by broken glass from a lamp that got all smashed up.

"Were you the first call?" Bubba couldn't quite wrap his head around the events.

"Uh, no that was Dee and Sweet. They called in and Lonnie was the only commanding officer here so I radioed him from the change room and he went over. I was on my way to your place when he called out for backup."

"That's right" Lonnie walked over to the desk. "The place was clear and I told Dee and Sweet to head home. If that lamp had smashed 5 seconds later I would've been gone - wouldn't have heard the smash - wouldn't know anyone was inside" 'Wish I had been gone' he thought regretfully.

Bubba rubbed his hand on his chin. "Are Dee and Sweet here?"

"Yes Captain" They called over, and made their way to the desk.

"What did you guys see over there, at Floyd?"

"Someone was trying to rewire the basement panel; replacing knob and tube with code grade. It wasn't right, the whole thing..." Dee trailed off as Sweet chimed in.

"Nope it wasn't. A ton of new stuff all being trailed outdoors, I mean why bust into a house to rewire it; they could have just gone in during the day..."

"Yeah that is strange." Bubba's red flag detector was flashing like a firetruck. "Was there anything or anyone upstairs?"

"No, we checked' Sweet motioned to Dee and himself. "-An old bed and wardrobe left from whoever owned the house before, that's all." Bubba stared at the floor for a long minute, still rubbing his chin.

"What are you thinking?" Lonnie questioned.

"Well" He began with a deep southern drawl " Ain't it a little funny that these folks here are supposed to be trained top notch like and two of them get caught by tripping on a rug?"

"Yeah, it is" Lonnie felt his stomach drop. 'Did they say they were renting, or thinking of renting when I stopped them?' He anxiously tried to recount the encounter in his mind. 'If they said they weren't renting already there was no good reason for them to be in that place at that time - which was it!'. He couldn't remember. How could he be so stupid. It was her - that devil woman; it was her fault.

"..And don't you think it's just a tad peculiar that this is all coming out now? I mean, with the Chief and Virgil? Seems to me this kind of thing is something that's takin' care of beforehand." Bubba stood up and walked beside Lonnie.

"I think we need to go to the hospital and ask that young lady some questions." He motioned to Lonnie. 'Please Parker' Lonnie begged in his mind 'Do not say that girl is in the cell' His heart was racing. If she spoke with Bubba, then he'd surely know he'd allowed his emotions to get the better of him. 'Would she tell him?' He didn't want to be pulled off this case - or worse. She played him, she must have. This was her fault. She made him angry, So angry... 'For the love of God Parker do not-'

"Actually Bubba," Parker smiled and took a sip of his iced tea. "The other girl is down in the cell as we speak."

"Well then... Lonnie-" Bubba cocked his head for them to go. Lonnie followed behind, not sure how he was going to handle this. He was at a complete loss, and it infuriated him to no end. 'Devil woman' he said in his head over and over as they walked down the stairs to the cell block.