Home for the Holidays (6 page)

Minnie frowned.  “Well, if that’s all you’ve got.”

Judith scrambled out of the chair, darted over to the fridge and slid the tin of cinnamon rolls off the top.  She handed them to Minnie, who removed the plastic wrapper, peeled a cinnamon roll from the pack and shoved it in her mouth.  The whole thing.  At once.

Gloria guessed she had to be close to full because she slowed considerably while eating the second cinnamon roll.  When she got to the third roll, she nibbled the edge.  “I don’t think I can swallow another bite, but I’ll take it home if you don’t mind.”

She eyed the leftover pizza on the table.  “That, too, if you’re not gonna eat it.  I’ll need a snack before I go to bed.”

Gloria’s stomach churned.  If she had eaten as much food as Minnie had in one sitting, she would be in a food coma!

Minnie reached for a napkin and dabbed at the corners of her mouth.  “Now.  You were wondering if I’ve heard any scuttlebutt at the station about Paul’s…untimely investigation.”

Gloria nodded eagerly.  “Yes.  Whatever tidbit of information you might have, no matter how small you think it might be, could be helpful.”  She reached inside her purse, pulled out her trusty notepad and pen and flipped the pad open.

Minnie nodded and sipped her soda.  “Rumor has been circulating for a good month now that something big was about to go down at the station.  At first, I heard it had something to do with one of the rookies.”

Minnie twisted the napkin in her hand thoughtfully.  “Was it Jason or Alex?” She stared at the ceiling, as if a face, either Jason or Alex’s, would materialize. She lowered her gaze and looked at Gloria.  “It had to be Jason.  Yeah, it was Jason.”

She shrugged.  “Anyway, Pearl.  Pearl Johnson, the other dispatcher, and I were making bets…friendly, mind you, on who was about to get taken down.”

Minnie lifted the glass of soda to her lips, tipped her head back and downed the contents. She lowered her head and then rattled the ice cubes inside the glass.  “Got anymore?  I’m parched.”

Once again, Judith jumped out of her seat and darted to the fridge.  Gloria made a mental note to do something nice…extra nice…for Judith!

Minnie waited for Judith to fill her empty glass and then took a big gulp before she continued.  “Well, imagine our surprise when Paul Kennedy was put on leave after Captain Davies searched his locker and found the cash and notes.”

She shook her head in disbelief.  “Never in a million years would I have suspected Officer Kennedy…Paul.”

“Alex and Paul patrolled together,” Gloria prompted.

Minnie nodded.  “Yep.  Not often.  Paul either patrolled with Alex Tisdale or Stan Woszinski.”

Gloria remembered Stan was the balding officer, closer to Paul’s age and retirement.

Minnie lifted the leftover cinnamon roll and nibbled the side.  “Guess I had a little room left in the ole tummy, after all.”

Watching Minnie eat more food caused Gloria to feel nauseous.

Minnie popped the last of the cinnamon roll in her mouth and washed it down with a couple swigs of soda.  She wiped her hands on the front of her slacks. 

“I would have guessed Alex had somehow managed to set Paul up but he didn’t.”

“Why not?” Ruth asked.

Minnie shrugged.  “Cuz Alex was fired two days before the cash and bribery notes were found in Paul’s locker.”

***

Judith, anticipating Minnie’s demand for more soda, poured her glass full.

Minnie shook her head.  “Whew!  I’m getting full.”

Finally.

She eyed the glass of soda.  “Waste not, want not.” She chugged the glass and set it back on the table.  “Yeah.  Alex was kind of a troublemaker.  I could see his days were numbered.”

“How did he get fired?” Judith asked.

Minnie opened her mouth and then clamped it shut.  “I don’t know how much I should say.”

Ruth leaned in.  “We’ll keep it amongst ourselves.” She made a zipping motion across her lips.

“Well…” She eyed Judith uneasily.  “I caught him at a strip club and told Captain Davies.” She hurried on.  “The place is well known all over Green Springs.  I pass by there each night I work and I happened to see Alex’s pick-up truck parked off to the side.”

Minnie wiggled in her chair.  “So I parked my car behind the oil change place.  It’s right next door to the strip club,” she explained.  “Guess my instinct for investigation comes from working in police dispatch.  It’s in my blood.”

“You caught him coming out,” Gloria prompted.

Minnie nodded.  “Yep.  Sure as sugar.  He was drunker than a skunk, too, swaying and staggering.  He climbed into his truck and I thought for sure he was gonna get into an accident so I followed him home.”

This woman was a girl after Gloria’s own heart.  Not the food part, the investigating part.

Minnie tsk-tsked.  “He got home alright but only by the grace of God.”

Minnie swirled the melting ice cubes around in her glass.  “Anyhoo, I told Captain Davies and next thing I know Alex is gone.” She thumbed her finger out.  “Lickety-split.”

Ruth drummed her fingers on top of the table.  “It could be Alex believed Paul had turned him in and decided to get even with him by setting him up.”

Gloria picked up.  “So he blackmailed Cal Evergreen, City Commissioner, along with Mitzi Verona and made it look like Paul did it.”

Minnie nodded.  “The case is bigger than Commissioner Evergreen and Ms. Verona.  There were several other people blackmailed.”

She sucked in a breath. “Not that you heard me say anything.”

Gloria shook her head and made a zipping motion.  “Mums the word.”

This meant the investigation - and Paul’s suspension - could go on indefinitely.  Gloria’s dream of a beautiful winter wedding was slipping away.

Ruth noticed the look on Gloria’s face.  She reached out and patted her hand.  “Don’t worry, Gloria.  We’re gonna kick this investigation into high gear.”

Minnie pushed back her chair, grabbed the leftover pizza and reached for her purse.  “I best get going.  I have to let Jupiter out and make my lunch for tomorrow.”

Gloria could only imagine what Minnie ate for lunch. She probably needed a U-Haul
®
truck to get it to the station!

The trio watched Minnie as she walked to her car.

Judith turned to Gloria.  “What do you think?”

“I smell a skunk.  Maybe it was Alex. Maybe it wasn’t.”

“It sure sounds like Alex,” Ruth said.

“True,” Gloria admitted. “Minnie seemed determined to pin it on him.”

Minnie backed her car out of the drive and onto the road. 

Gloria crossed her arms in front of her.  “There’s something Miss Minnie isn’t telling us. I can feel it.”

Chapter 7

Gloria left shortly after Minnie.  She wandered into the kitchen and walked over to the home phone, anxious to see if perhaps Paul had called.  It had been two days since he had hinted that they might need to postpone the wedding.

Lucy and Margaret told her earlier they had stopped by his place to try to talk to him.  They found his truck parked in the drive but no one answered when they knocked on the door.

The light on the machine was blinking red.  She pushed the button and listened to the first message. 

“Hi Mom.  I wanted to remind you about tomorrow night and the boys’ Christmas program at church.  You can meet us there around quarter to seven. It starts at seven.”

Gloria tilted her head back and closed her eyes.  She had completely forgotten Tyler and Ryan were in their church’s Christmas play, “One Starry Night.” 

She slid open the silverware drawer and lifted the tray.  She had tucked the invitation in a safe place and then completely forgotten about it.

Gloria pulled the colorful Christmas invitation out, slipped her reading glasses on and studied the front.  Sure enough, the program started at seven the following evening at Pilgrim Bible Church in Green Springs!

She quickly called Jill back.  “Yes, dear.  I forgot all about the program,” Gloria told her daughter.

“I hope you can make it,” Jill replied.  “The boys are practicing their little hearts out and they asked me to call you to make sure you would be there.”

Gloria wouldn’t miss it for the world!  She didn’t care what kind of personal crisis she was smack dab in the middle of.  There was no way she would let Ryan and Tyler down.

“I’ll be there,” she answered firmly.  She promised to meet Jill and Greg in front of the church entrance at 6:45 the following evening and then hung up the phone.

There was one more voice message on Gloria’s phone.  It was Margaret.

“Hi Gloria.  I stopped by earlier but you weren’t home.  Lucy and I ran by Paul’s place again this evening and his truck was gone.  It looks…”

Margaret paused.  “Look, give me a call.  I want to stop by and talk to you.”

Gloria had a gut feeling whatever Margaret had to say was not good. 

She immediately picked up the phone and called Margaret’s cell phone. 

Margaret picked up on the first ring.  “You at home?”

“Yeah.  What is going on?” Gloria asked.

“I’d rather not talk on the phone,” Margaret replied.  “Can I come over?”

Gloria paused for a brief moment.  On the one hand, she wasn’t in the mood for company.  On the other hand, there was no way she would be able to sleep, wondering what Margaret deemed important enough to drop everything she was doing to come over.

The latter won out.  “Sure.  I’ll be here.”

“I’m on my way.” The line went dead and Gloria stared at the phone in her hand.  Her heart began to pound and her pulse raced as she paced the kitchen floor. 

It was as if she were in the middle of a bad dream.  She pinched her arm and winced at the pain.  Nope.  She was wide-awake, unfortunately.

Mally scrambled out of her doggie bed and trotted to the door.  Mally was the unofficial doorbell.

Gloria flipped on the porch light and peeked out the window. Margaret had brought reinforcement.  Lucy was with her.  The feeling of dread turned to impending doom.  It was going to be worse than Gloria thought, of that she was certain.

She unlocked the door and slowly pulled it open. 

Gloria held the door as Margaret and Lucy wiped their shoes on the rug before stepping into the kitchen.  “Should I make coffee?”

Margaret nodded.  “Got any Captain Morgan to throw in it?”

Lucy whacked Margaret’s arm.  “Margaret!”

Margaret shrugged.  “She might need it.”

Gloria turned her attention to the coffee pot.  “You’re scaring me.  What is going on?”

Lucy unwound the scarf from her neck and laid it in the chair.  She slipped out of her coat and slid into a kitchen chair before casting Margaret an uneasy glance.

Gloria measured out the coffee, put it into a filter, poured fresh water into the reservoir and flipped the switch to “on” before settling in at the table and fixing her gaze on her two friends.  “This has to do with Paul.  What happened?”

Lucy tugged on the collar of her shirt.  “We, uh, stopped by Paul’s place earlier.”

“Did you talk to him?  I haven’t heard from him since the day he left here.”

“No,” Margaret admitted.  “We didn’t.”

“His truck wasn’t there?” Gloria probed.  Getting these two to talk was like pulling teeth.

“Uh-uh.  Paul’s son, Jeff, was there.” Margaret popped out of the chair and headed over to the coffee pot. 

“Did you talk to him?” It was twenty questions…going nowhere.  “What did he say?”

Margaret poured three cups of coffee, carried two to the table, set one in front of Lucy and the other in front of Gloria before returning for the third. 

Margaret grabbed her cup and eased into the chair next to Gloria.  “I don’t know how to say this.”

“Spit it out,” Gloria said.

“Paul left town,” Lucy blurted out.

***

Gloria’s eyes widened and her mouth fell open.  “Left town?”  She blinked rapidly as she tried to digest the news.

Margaret nodded uneasily.  “Jeff told us Paul packed a large suitcase, tossed it into his pick-up truck and drove off.  He wouldn’t say where he went.”

“W-when did he leave?”  Gloria had officially been jilted!  Her world tumbled around her.  Was he guilty, after all?  Why else would he turn tail and run?

Here Gloria was, trying to clear his name and he wasn’t even around!  Never in a million years would she have guessed him to be not only a criminal, but also a quitter! 

Gloria shook her head, as if to clear it.  “Well, I guess it’s settled, then.  If he’s not interested in clearing his name, why should I?”

Lucy waved her hand across the tabletop.  “We don’t know he isn’t interested.  We don’t even know where he went,” she argued.

“You would think he would’ve at least told his children where he was going,” Gloria pointed out.

Margaret shrugged her shoulders.  “Maybe he did and told them not to tell.”

Gloria’s brows formed a “v.” It was possible he had stumbled onto something.  Still, wouldn’t he have at least had the common courtesy to call Gloria to let her know he was leaving town?  After all, they were engaged to be married!  Or had been, she reminded herself.

The girls weren’t able to offer any more information.  They stayed until they were sure Gloria would be all right and promised to check in with her first thing in the morning.

Snow began to fall and when Gloria opened the back door, a gust of arctic air and snow blew in.  The girls hustled to Lucy’s jeep and quickly jumped in. 

Gloria waved as they pulled out of the drive and then slowly closed the door behind them.

She leaned her forehead against the coolness of the glass and closed her eyes as tears streamed down her cheeks.  What should have been the happiest time in her life was turning out to be one of the worst.  In fact, she wasn’t sure how it could possibly get worse.

If only she knew…

Chapter 8

Gloria climbed into bed and pulled the covers over her head.  Puddles wasn’t having any of that as he wiggled his way under the blankets and cuddled up next to Gloria.  His purr soothed her frazzled nerves and despite her broken heart, she promptly fell into a deep slumber.