Home for the Holidays (13 page)

Gloria stepped inside the restaurant and made a beeline for the table in the center of the room.  It was the largest table inside the restaurant and usually monopolized by the “coffee clique.” “Coffee Clique” was the secret name Gloria had given the group of retired men who hogged the space.

The group of men was long gone. Gloria pulled out a chair and plopped down.  Andrea took the chair to Gloria’s left and Lucy eased into the seat on the right. 

Gloria pulled out the stack of invitations Mitzi had given her and handed Lucy the one with her name on it.  Andrea had already tucked hers inside her purse.

Gloria slid the other invitations…Dot’s, Ruth’s and Margaret’s, across the table and in front of the empty chairs. 

Lucy glanced at her name scrawled on the front.  “What is this?”

“A surprise,” Gloria said mysteriously.

Lucy turned it over.  “Can I open it?”

“Not yet.  You have to wait for the rest.  Then I’ll explain.”

Lucy rolled her eyes.  “Oh no!  Gloria has something up her sleeve!”

“Now what?” Dot approached the table with a tray of water glasses.  She gazed at the invitations.  Dot moved around the table as she set a water glass in front of each of the chairs.  She reached for the envelope with her name on it.

Lucy held out a hand.  “Uh-uh!  You can’t open it until Gloria tells us we can,” she said.

Dot wiped her damp hands on the front of her apron.  “I can hardly wait.”

“It’s a good surprise,” Andrea reassured them.

“What’s good?” Margaret had popped in, approached the table and pulled the scarf from around her neck.  She slid into a chair, switched the card with Ruth’s name and picked up her own.

Ruth was the last to make it to the party and it was well past five by the time she made an appearance.  The girls were getting antsy.  “What took you so long?” Dot asked.

Ruth pulled out the chair and sat.  “The holidays.  That’s what!”

Ruth dreaded the Christmas holiday season.  The workload at the post office doubled with area residents sending and receiving boxes, cards and gifts.  In addition to the extra workload, she had to work every weekend, including Sundays, just to make sure everything was done.

No one was happier to see New Year’s Day than Ruth! 

While Ruth settled in, Dot placed a plate of goodies in the center of the table.  She set six empty coffee cups on the table, along with a fresh pot of coffee.  After the last Garden Girl had settled in, they turned to Gloria.

She explained how Andrea and she had met Mitzi Verona.  She told them about the conversation they had, although she purposely left out the part about Kenneth, Mitzi’s son.  She didn’t lie.  She just didn’t mention it.

Then she went on to say they suspected the real culprit, the person who was bribing Mitzi Verona and Commissioner Evergreen, planned to attend the party.

Lucy, the only one of the bunch who ordered hot chocolate, dumped a packet of sugar into her cup and stirred it.  “Someone has the nerve to show up at the party and then take the money?  Talk about gutsy!”

“Think about it,” Andrea said.  “There will be so many people there. It’s almost the perfect crime.”

The perfect crime Gloria was determined the culprit would not get away with. Not if she could help it!

Gloria waved her hand.  “Go ahead…open the envelopes.”

Dot, Margaret, Ruth and Lucy opened the invitations at the same time.

Lucy spoke first. “We-we’re invited to the party?” 

“Yep.” Gloria nodded.  “I’m going to catch this character and all of you are going to help!”

Gloria didn’t have a plan yet.  The first thing on her list was to get her hands on a layout of Mitzi’s house, get a feel for the lay of the land, so to speak. 

Once she had the layout, she could work on strategically placing the girls so all of the bases were covered…

“I could bring my spy equipment,” Ruth offered.

It was a brilliant idea!  “Why didn’t I think of that?” Gloria asked.  “We need a way to spy on the mailbox.” She frowned.  “Although it’s going to be dark.”

Ruth dropped the invitation in her bag.  “I have the perfect tool,” she said.  “Leave it to me.”

Somehow, Gloria believed her. 

The conversation shifted to what they should wear as the girls chattered about how they had never attended a high society function. 

Lucy bit her lower lip.  “I’m nervous.  I mean, those people are out of my league.”

Gloria reached over and patted Lucy’s hand.  “If the guests are anything like Mitzi, you have nothing to worry about.”

She smiled and told them the story of how Mitzi came barreling around the side of the barn on Sassy, her out of control horse. 

“Did you get to ride horses?”  Lucy loved horses.  Her aunt and uncle had once owned a horse farm.  When she was young, she used to beg her parents to take her to the farm to ride.  The horse farm was long gone now, as were her aunt and uncle.

Gloria scrunched her nose.  “No way.” Gloria was the complete opposite of Lucy and deathly afraid of horses. 

The girls promised to dig through their closets to try to find something to wear. 

Andrea sipped her ice water.  “Gloria and I stopped by the thrift stores in Green Springs and both found outfits to wear.”

“No fair,” Lucy pouted.

They decided if they couldn’t find something in their closets, they would make a girls trip to Green Springs to see if they could scrounge up any other outfits for the rest of the group.

Gloria glanced at her watch.  “I better go.  It’s getting late.”

When Gloria got home, the first thing she did was head to her answering machine to see if Paul had called.  Her heart plummeted when she saw there were no messages.

Gloria hung her coat, keys and scarf on the rack near the door.  Maybe she had Paul pegged all wrong.  She never would have believed he was a quitter.  For him to up and take off…no warning, no notice, seemed so out of character. 

Gloria wandered aimlessly around the house.  She plugged the Christmas tree lights in and watched the bright lights twinkle. 

Puddles stalked across the room and eyed the twinkling tree with interest.  “No more chewing on the branches,” Gloria scolded.  Puddles had been nibbling on the fake branches and leaving little piles of green all over the house.

She finally settled in front of the computer.  Mitzi Verona fascinated her.  It went to show no matter who you were, no matter how much money you had, life was full of problems and complications. She thought of Percival Verona…and death.

Gloria logged on to her email.  She scanned the unread messages and her heart leapt.  There was a message from Paul!

“Hello Gloria.  I wanted to drop you a note to tell you I am thinking of you.  I tried to call the other evening but you didn’t answer.

I know it seems to you I turned tail and ran but believe me, that is not the case. 

I cannot tell you what I am doing right now but ask you to trust in me and know I love you with all my heart.

Soon, this whole mess will be behind us and I will be back home with my beautiful bride.

Love,

Paul”

Gloria’s lower lip began to twitch.  She dropped her head in her hands and began sobbing.  Finally, a message that showed he still cared. 

Puddles jumped onto her lap and nudged her arm.  His tongue felt like sandpaper as he lapped at the tears trailing down her cheeks.  Gloria snuggled her beloved cat and closed her eyes.  At least now, she had something to cling to…a ray of hope.

She wiped her wet face with the back of her hand and lifted her head.  Was Paul in some kind of trouble?  Was this the reason he left?  Maybe someone was after him, to hunt him down and he was trying to keep the person or persons away to protect his family.

Someone at the precinct knew what was going on.  That someone was Paul’s boss, Captain Davies. 

Gloria finished reading her messages, shut off the computer and jumped out of the chair.  Captain Davies was going to have an unexpected visitor.  It was high time he answered a few questions!

Chapter 14

Gloria pulled Annabelle into the Montbay County Sheriff’s Station and eased into a spot, smack dab in the middle of the parking lot. 

She had forced herself to wait until a decent hour, 9:00 a.m., before showing up at the sheriff’s station.  She remembered Paul had told her Captain Davies worked the day shift and Paul would normally end his nightshift by making an appearance at the station to discuss his shift.

Gloria had no idea what Captain Davies drove or if he was even there.

She climbed the steps and made her way into the familiar lobby.

Funny how everything inside the station looked the same, but how everything was so different now, at least to Gloria. 

She vaguely recognized the young officer behind the counter and glanced at her tag.  Jennifer.

Jennifer smiled with a hint of recognition in her eyes.  “Yes ma’am.  Can I help you?”

Gloria shifted the purse on her shoulder.  “I’m looking for Captain Davies.”

“Your name?”

“Gloria.  Gloria Rutherford.” Gloria lowered her voice.  “I am Paul Kennedy’s fiancée.”

The woman nodded.  “I’ll see if he’s available.” She disappeared behind the door and Gloria stood silently praying he would see her.

The woman returned a moment later.  “Follow me.”

Gloria followed her down the hall and passed Paul’s office.  The door was shut.  She wondered if they had already moved his stuff out, boxed it up or perhaps even thrown it in the trash…

The woman stopped at the end of the hall.  Gloria remembered where Captain Davies’ office was located from the night Margaret and she had “cleaned” it.  She also remembered how she had found a message inside the trashcan from Commissioner Evergreen. 

She made a mental note to do a little more digging into the commissioner’s past.  After all, he was on the extortionist’s hit list, too.

Captain Davies smiled and motioned Gloria into his office.  He slipped out of his chair, went over to the door and closed it behind him.  “Hello Gloria.  I’d like to say it’s a pleasure to see you but I doubt you dropped in to say hello.”

“No, I didn’t.”

He waved to the chair in front of his desk.  “Have a seat.”

Gloria settled on the edge of the seat, as if at any moment she might bolt.  “Paul…”

Gloria didn’t know where to start, what to say and if she should even admit her suspicions.  For all she knew, Captain Davies could be involved in the extortion scheme.  He had opportunity.

“Why is Paul in Lansing?” she blurted out, hoping to catch the captain by surprise.

She caught a flicker in his eyes.  The captain eased back in his chair, propped his elbows on the armrests and clasped his hands in front of him, his index fingers pressed against each other at the tips.  “Paul is in Lansing.”

Gloria wasn’t sure if he was making a statement or asking a question.  “Yes.”

“How do you know Paul is in Lansing?” he asked.

She didn’t want to throw Paul under the bus, particularly if he was on some covert operation.  It was a longshot but possible.  Gloria wasn’t ruling anything out, or anyone for that matter.

Gloria answered his question with a question.  “Did you know Paul was in Lansing?”

Captain Davies grinned. “We’re going in circles, aren’t we?”

Despite the circumstances, Gloria returned the smile.  “Yes, it appears we are.”

Gloria cut to the chase.  “Are you going to charge Paul with the extortion of Mitzi Verona and Commissioner Cal Evergreen?” she demanded.

Davies narrowed his eyes and studied the woman across from him.  “Now I know what Paul sees in you.  You have spunk.  I like that.”

“Thank you.”

Captain Davies leaned forward in his chair.  “We are still in the midst of the investigation.  Paul is…one of the suspects.”

“But you have others,” Gloria insisted.

Captain Davies drew a deep breath.  “This investigation is a very serious matter.  It involves my department and my men.  Someone with inside information is bribing very important people and I have every intention of finding out who that person, or persons, is.”

Gloria clutched the strap of her purse with both hands.  “This involves me and my future, too, so I believe I have as much at stake as you and your department.”

She abruptly stood.  “Captain Davies, it appears we both have the same goal in mind. Good day.” She turned on her heel and strode out of his office.

Gloria wasn’t sure what she hoped to accomplish.  Maybe she had hoped he would share with her that Paul was in the middle of a sting and not a suspect.

Gloria stepped out of the station and onto the sidewalk.  Perhaps Captain Davies was the extortionist.  Officers, especially captains, were often given unmarked police cars…with government-issued plates.

Back at the farm, Gloria settled into a chair and reached for her notepad.  She studied the list of suspects…Stan Woszinski, Paul’s occasional partner.  Alex Tisdale, the young officer Minnie Dexter had told Gloria had been fired.  Jason Endres, the other young cop who didn’t like Paul. 

Gloria tapped her pen on top of the notepad.  She thought about Minnie, the dispatcher for Montbay Sheriff Station.  Minnie knew all the ins and outs of suspects, the department and the officers.  She had motive – money, but what about opportunity?

Gloria texted Officer Joe Nelson and asked him to call when he had time. 

She busied herself with the final chores around the house to get ready for her houseguests.  She put clean sheets on the bed in guest bedroom downstairs and then made her way upstairs to the other two bedrooms.

She rarely used the upstairs bedrooms.  In fact, the last time she remembered anyone staying upstairs was a couple years back when her sons had last visited.  If she were honest with herself, Gloria had to admit it was too much house for one person, but the thought of parting with it was depressing. 

Her grandsons were still too young to inherit the farm but the years were flying by and soon enough they would finish college.  She wondered if they would want the farm then.  What if they married and their wives had no interest in living in the small Town of Belhaven?