A Baked Ham (21 page)

“I think I’ll pass,” Moose said,
“as tempting as that sounds.”
 
He took
the envelopes from me, and said, “Perfect.
 
Now, should we do full names, or first names only?”

“Let’s keep them casual and stick
with first names,” I said.

“Done and done,” Moose said as he
started on the first one.

I rang up a few bills and
delivered some meatloaf to a customer, and when I got back to Moose, he’d
finished his task and stuffed every envelope.
 

“Would you like me to hold onto
those?” I asked.

“Thanks, but I figure if I take
them home with me, you won’t be tempted to deliver them early.
 
I know how much you like your sleep.”

“I’d never do that without you,”
I said.

“Well, just in case, let’s keep
temptation at arm’s length, shall we?”
 
He stood as his wife came over to join us.
 
“Martha, are you ready to go home? I’m sure
we can coax Greg into whipping something special up for us from the kitchen
before we go.”

“I’m certain of it, but I have a
pot roast in the slow cooker that’s due to come out in twenty minutes.”

“Did you put extra carrots in
like I enjoy?”

“Two bags worth,” she said.
 
“I’d never forget something like that.”

Moose grinned.
 
“I knew there was a solid reason I fell in
love with you.”

“I’ve got a hunch it was for more
than my pot roast,” Martha said with a laugh.

“Oh, so much more.”
 
As they started to walk out, Moose said,
“I’ll see you tonight, Victoria. Try to resist the temptation to go out
sleuthing on your own in the meantime, okay?”

“I’ll try,” I answered.

“Where are you two going
tonight?” Martha asked as they reached the door.

“I’ll tell you later over
carrots,” he replied.

I hadn’t even realized that Jenny
had walked up beside me until she said, “I really want that some day.”

“What’s that?”

“What the two of them have,” she
said wistfully.

“There will be plenty of time for
you to find it,” I reassured her.
 
“How
are classes going this semester?”

“Not great, as a matter of
fact.
 
My favorite professor quit after
one class, and my least favorite one took over for him.
 
It’s not going to be pretty, I’ll tell you
that.”

“I’m sure you’ll do fine.
 
You always do.”

With fingers crossed, Jenny said,
“At least so far.”

It was a relatively quiet
evening, and when seven rolled around, I was ready to lock up for the
night.
 
After we let Jenny go, Greg and I
closed the diner, going through a routine that we could both do in our sleep.

I stifled a yawn as I shoved the
receipts and cash into the deposit envelope.
 

“Why am I so sleepy?” I asked
Greg as he came out front.

“Probably because you’ve got a
late-night errand to run tonight,” my husband said with a grin.
 
“Would you like to catch a quick nap before
you go out with your grandfather?”

“No.
 
As tempting as it sounds, I’d never get to
sleep after we got back.
 
I’ll just have
to tough it out.”

“I made us meatloaf sandwiches,”
he said as he held up a bag.
 
“I don’t
know about you, but I don’t feel like cooking tonight.”

“That sounds wonderful,” I
said.
 

After we got home, I set the
table, and Greg and I dined on cold meatloaf sandwiches, chips, and milk.
 
Some folks might have turned their noses up
at such a dinner, but as far as I was concerned, it was a meal fit for
royalty.
 

“Feel like a movie to pass the
time until Moose comes by to pick you up?” Greg asked.

“That sounds great,” I said, and
we both settled in on the couch, me with my head tucked on Greg’s
shoulder.
 

We couldn’t have been more than
three minutes past the opening credits when I felt Greg shake my arm.
 
“Hey, wake up, sleepyhead.
 
Your grandfather just drove up.”

I rubbed my eyes, and I then
stared at the clock.
 

It was three minutes until
midnight.
 

“How long was I asleep?” I asked
him.

“It was a solid four hours, and
from the sound of your snoring, I’d say that you must have really needed it.”

“Why didn’t you wake me up?” I
asked as I stood and stretched.

He looked a little sheepish as he
admitted, “Mainly because I fell asleep, too. I’m sorry you have to go out
again tonight.”

“Don’t be,” I said as I gave him
a quick kiss, and then I headed for the door.
 
“This needs to be done if we’re going to make any progress in the case.”

I watched as Moose mounted the
steps, and then I pulled the front door open.
 
“Are you ready to do a little mischief?” I asked him.

“I’m always ready for that,” he
said.

“Let me grab my jacket and we’ll
be off, then,” I replied.

He looked at me carefully.
 
“Victoria, did you take a nap?”

“Didn’t you?
 
It seemed to be a prudent thing to do.”

Moose just laughed.
 
“I can see how you might feel that way.
 
Then again, I haven’t worked the hours you do
in donkey years.”

“Do you have the envelopes with
you?” I asked.

“They’re in the truck,” he
said.
 
“I don’t suppose I could get a
little coffee before we go, could I?”

Greg must have read his mind,
because he came out of the kitchen just as Moose finished making his request, and
my husband had a pair of traveler’s mugs with him, one in each hand.
 
“I thought you both might need a little
caffeine in your system to keep you going,” he said.

“You are quickly becoming one of
my favorite people in the world,” Moose told Greg.
 

My husband smiled broadly.
 
“If I’m on a list, that’s the one I want to
make.
 
Safe hunting, and be careful
tonight, both of you.”

“This evening we’re acting in
stealth mode,” my grandfather said.
 
“If
we do it right, no one will ever know that we were there.”

“Then, by all means, do it
right,” Greg said.

“You don’t have to wait up,” I
told my husband as we headed out the door.

“I know that I don’t have to, but
I will, nevertheless.”

I gave him a quick kiss, and then
I said, “See you soon.”

“Be careful,” he whispered in my
ear.
 
“I mean it.”

“Always,” I replied.

After we got into the truck and
Moose started driving to our first drop-off, he took a long sip of coffee, and
then he said, “I really like that fellow of yours.”

“That’s good.
 
I’m rather fond of him myself,” I said.

“It’s awfully quiet out, isn’t
it?” Moose asked a few minutes later as we drove the nearly deserted streets of
Jasper Fork.
 
“I’m not used to seeing
town at this time of night.”

“Neither am I,” Moose said.
 
“I’m surprised there are as many folks out as
we’re seeing.
 
Maybe we should wait a few
more hours until we deliver our special mail.”

“Moose, if I go back home, I’m
going straight to bed, nap or no nap.
 
I’m afraid that we’re just going to have to take our chances.”

“I know what you mean, and I
agree with you.
 
We just need to be extra
careful.”

“Agreed.
 
So, who’s first on our list?
 
Did you get all of their addresses?”

“I did,” he said proudly.
 

“That internet can be a pretty
powerful tool, can’t it?” I asked.
 
Moose
wasn’t exactly a technophobe, but he hadn’t fully embraced the information age
yet, either.

“I’m sure that it is, but I used
our phone book at home,” he said.
 
“It
had all the information I needed, and I didn’t have to reglove anything to find
it.”

“Reboot,” I said, correcting him
automatically.
 
“As long as you got those
addresses somewhere.
 
Do you have a
plan?”

“My dear old grandfather always
taught me to go to the farthest place first and work my way back home, and I
haven’t found a reason to go against his advice yet.”

I loved stories about my
grandfather’s grandfather, and I could never get enough of them.
 
“He sounds as though he was a disciplined
man.”

“He was that, and as organized a
fellow as I’ve ever met.
 
Why, he had his
socks arranged in his drawer by the year and month that he purchased them, and
he always wore them in perfect rotation.”

“Surely you’re exaggerating,” I
said.

“I am not,” Moose said.
 
“He had my grandmother stitch little hash
marks in the heel of each sock so he’d be able to tell them apart.”

“How did she manage to put up
with him for all those years?”

My grandfather laughed.
 
“She loved him more than any woman ever loved
a man, as far as I could tell, and I know from experience that allows you to let
a great many things slide that would infuriate you otherwise.”

“Are you saying that Martha has
learned to put up with your idiosyncrasies over the years, and that she loves
you in spite of them?”

“Perhaps even because of them,”
Moose said.
 
“Enough of that,
though.
 
I’ve planned to visit our
suspects in this order.
 
Fred Hitchings
is first, then it’s Amanda Lark, Garret Wilkes, and finally Marcus Jackson.
 
How does that sound to you?”

“Far be it for me to interfere
with a man’s well thought-out system,” I said with a smile.

“Then that’s what we’ll do.”

Chapter 13

“Moose, the light’s still on,” I
said as we drove close to Fred Hitchings’ house.
 
“What should we do?”

“It’s most likely just on a
timer,” my grandfather said as he pulled the truck to a stop a hundred feet
after we passed Fred’s house.
 

“Are you sure about this
address?” I asked as I looked out the window.

“Positive,” Moose said.
 
“Why?”

“I expected more than this from a
man who has so much money,” I said.
 
There wasn’t exactly anything wrong with the house.
 
I was sure that it would be fine for most
folks, but it looked to be worth about the same as my place, and I ran a diner,
not two car dealerships.

“What were you expecting, an
estate?” Moose asked.
 
“One way folks
hold onto their money is not to spend it unnecessarily.
 
If you ask me, I think more of Fred Hitchings
after seeing his house than I ever did before.
 
Do you have the notes?”

I held up the large folder as I
nodded.
 
“I do.”
 
I grabbed the roll of fresh gray duct
tape.
 
“Are you sure we shouldn’t just
tape these up with regular clear tape?”

“I’ve given it a lot of thought,
and I believe the duct tape leaves more of a message,” Moose said.

“Okay, I’ll trust you on this
one.”
 
I ripped off a piece neatly, and
when Moose saw it, he shook his head.

“Let me have that,” he said, and
I handed the gray roll over.

Instead of trying to produce a
neat edge, Moose intentionally tore a jagged piece, and then another, making my
smooth edge vanish.
 
“There, that’s
better.
 
It looks a little crazier now,
don’t you think?”

“Sure, but is that the message we
really want to send?”

“We’re stirring the pot,
Victoria.
 
The crazier we can look, the
better.”

“Maybe we should redo the notes,
too, then.”

Moose studied his handiwork, and
then he shook his head.
 
“I kind of like
what I’ve done.
 
Besides, we can’t
overthink this.
 
Do you want to put them
up, or should I do it?”