Home for the Holidays (7 page)

The next morning, she woke with a renewed determination to clear Paul’s name!  Maybe he was onto something and didn’t want to drag anyone else into it, just like he didn’t want to marry Gloria with a black cloud hanging over his head.

She rolled out of bed, grabbed a pair of jeans, along with a festive red holiday sweater to match the mood she was determined to have and headed to the bathroom.

In the shower, she plotted her day.  She reminded herself she needed to be at Pilgrim Bible Church that evening to watch Ryan and Tyler.

The first thing she planned to do was drive to Paul’s house and demand that Jeff tell her where his father had gone.  She had a right to know!

Next, she was going to track down Officer Joe Nelson to see if he’d been able to get a picture of the blackmail letters Paul had supposedly written.  Maybe he’d been able to glean other information, as well.

Afterward, she would come home and start her online searches. 

Gloria finished showering and quickly dressed before heading to the kitchen.  She sipped her morning coffee and pulled out her handy dandy pad of paper.  First, there was Alex.  She slid her reading glasses on and leaned in.  Alex Tisdale.  The young cop who had been fired.

The next on the list was Paul’s other patrol partner, Stan something “ski.”  The name was spelled Woszinski, but Gloria wasn’t sure on correct pronunciation.

Her eyes wandered down the list.  Jason Endres.  Gloria tapped her finger on top of the pad.  Minnie had mentioned Jason was not a fan of Paul’s.  She wondered what Paul had ever done to cause the young officer to dislike him.  Maybe he had gotten in trouble…

Next was Diane Stone, the woman who had been after Paul. Gloria’s eyes narrowed.  Four cops.  Four possible motives.  Three of the four had opportunity and access to the locker room.

Gloria finished her coffee, forced herself to eat a bowl of cold cereal and headed for the door. 

She slipped into her winter coat, zipped the front, reached for her purse and opened the back door where she came face-to-face with Dot, who stood on the other side, her hand raised in a fist, ready to knock.

“Where are you going?” Dot blinked rapidly.  It was only eight o’clock in the morning.

“Why are you here?” Gloria asked. 

“To…uh…” Dot fumbled with her words.

“Lucy and Margaret told you to come over here and keep an eye on me,” Gloria correctly guessed.

“Well, they were, uh…”

Gloria stomped her foot.  “I’m a grown adult and perfectly capable of…”

“Getting yourself in a whole heap of trouble.” Dot finished her sentence.

“So they sent the ever sensible, level-headed, no-nonsense Dot Jenkins to keep tabs on me.”

Dot shifted her gaze.  “Something like that.” She slipped her hands in her coat pockets.  “We’re concerned, Gloria.”

Gloria shouldn’t be mad…in fact she couldn’t be mad.  Her friends were only watching out for her.  She should be grateful, not grumbling.

Gloria turned her frown upside down, determined to start her day on the right foot.  She patted Dot’s arm.  “Well, we aren’t going to sit around waiting for spring to arrive.”

She sidestepped Dot and pulled the door shut behind her.  “We have stuff to do.”

Dot took a deep breath and braced herself for what was to come.  “I can hardly wait,” she groaned.

Dot waited for Gloria to back Annabelle out of the garage before she slid into the passenger seat and reached for the seatbelt.  There was a thick layer of snow on the grass but the air had started to warm and although the roads were wet, they weren’t covered in snow or ice.

“Where we headed?” Dot asked.

Gloria looked both ways and pulled the car out onto the road.  “First, we’re going to Paul’s place to find out where he went.”

Dot gazed at her friend.  Lucy and Margaret had filled her in on their visit to Paul’s and how his son couldn’t - or wouldn’t - tell them where his father had gone.  “You think he’ll tell you?”

Gloria gripped the steering wheel with both hands, her mouth set in a grim line. “I give it a 50/50 chance he’ll spill the beans.  If he even knows,” she added.

“True.” Dot stared out the window.  She wasn’t nearly as hands-on in Gloria’s investigations as the others were. She had a sneaky suspicion the other Garden Girls had sent her because Dot had a softer approach versus some of the others who were a little more outspoken.

The drive to Paul’s farm didn’t take long.  Gloria pulled into the drive and noticed an older minivan she didn’t recognize.

Paul’s truck was nowhere in sight.

Gloria pulled off to the side and slid out of the driver’s seat.  “I’ll be right back.”

Dot watched through the front windshield as Gloria walked around the front of the car and up the side steps to the porch door.

Gloria rang the bell and waited.  Moments later, the door inched open.  Jeff, Paul’s son, took one look at Gloria and swung the door open.  “Gloria.”

Gloria shifted her feet.  “Hi Jeff.  I, uh, know your father is gone and was, uh, wondering if you could tell me where he went.”

She could tell from the expression on his face he was torn.

Gloria pressed on.  “He may be in some kind of trouble or walking into a dangerous situation.”

Jeff twisted the doorknob in his hand as he weighed his options.  He would never forgive himself if Gloria was right and his father was in trouble.  “He went to Lansing.”

Gloria frowned.  Lansing, Michigan was Michigan’s capital city.  What in the world would he be doing there?  “Did he say how long he’d be gone?”

Jeff shook his head.  “Nope.” He leaned against the doorjamb.  “In fact, he didn’t tell me where he was going.  He was in kind of a hurry to leave and left a computer screen open.  He had made a hotel reservation.”

“Do you remember the name of the hotel?”

Jeff nodded.  “Yep, in fact, I wrote it down, just in case. Hang on.” Jeff disappeared inside the house and returned a few moments later.  He handed Gloria a slip of paper. 

Gloria glanced at the paper and shoved it in her jacket pocket. 

“Thank you, Jeff.” Gloria impulsively reached up and kissed her soon-to-be (at least she hoped) stepson’s cheek. 

Jeff blushed.  “You’re welcome Gloria.”

Gloria turned to go.

“My dad.  He’s stubborn as a mule sometimes,” he called out.

Gloria turned, a half-smile on her face.  “That’s okay,” she said.  “So am I.”

Back inside the car, Gloria turned the GPS on and punched in the address.  “Paul is in Lansing,” she told Dot.

The GPS calculated the location and informed them it would take over an hour to get there.   

Dot squinted at the screen.  “This is a hotel.  Maybe we should call to make sure he’s there,” she pointed out.

Gloria nodded.  “Good idea.” She turned the car onto the road and headed back home.

Gloria pulled Annabelle into the drive, parked off to the side and wandered up the steps with Dot. 

“What is that?” Dot reached out and plucked a folded piece of paper tucked in the doorframe.  She unfolded the piece of paper and stared at the words.

Gloria shoved the key in the lock and twisted the knob.  “What does it say?”

“It’s a note from Officer Joe Nelson.  He said he sent you a text.  He wants to talk to you ASAP.  He left a number.”

Gloria turned the knob and pushed the kitchen door open.  She promptly dropped her purse on the chair, reached inside and pulled out her cell phone.  Sure enough, there was a new text message.

She pressed the message button and tapped the screen. 

Gloria looked up at Dot.  “He got it!  He sent me pictures of the extortion notes Paul had supposedly written!”

There was also a missed call…from Paul.  Her heart sank when she realized he hadn’t left a message. 

Gloria quickly dialed his cell phone and it went right to voice mail.  She had no idea what to say so she didn’t leave a message, either.  Her lower lip quivered. “I missed Paul’s call.”  At least he had tried to call.

With a determined effort, Gloria focused on Joe’s message.  She switched back to the text message and quickly forwarded the pictures to her email address, kicked her snow boots off, threw her jacket on the chair and darted into the dining room.

Dot was hot on her heels.  Maybe they were making progress!

Gloria fired up the computer and tapped the desk impatiently as she waited for it to warm up.  “I think it’s time for a new computer.  This thing is ancient and slower than molasses.”

The only reason Gloria hadn’t purchased a new one yet was because she wasn’t tech savvy.  She was waiting for her oldest son, Eddie, to arrive. He was up on all of the newest gadgets and gizmos and had promised to hook her up.

Finally, the machine came to life and Gloria went right to her email.  She opened the one from Officer Joe Nelson and enlarged the screen.

There were two notes; both of them typed:

“Put twenty-five thousand dollars in unmarked bills in the trashcan next to the gazebo in Besterman Park by midnight tonight or else I go public with the pictures of you and Pandora Gillette at noon tomorrow.”
  The note was initialed PK.

Gloria jabbed her finger on the screen.  “This does not make Paul the culprit,” she fumed.  “Someone set him up.”

Dot slid her reading glasses on and peered over Gloria’s shoulder at the screen.  “What does the second note say?”

The second note was addressed to Mitzi Verona, the wealthy widow of developer Percival Verona.  The note demanded fifty thousand dollars in unmarked bills, twice as much as the one addressed to Commissioner Evergreen and the location was different.  Whoever was extorting the money was smart enough to change locations.   

Gloria was surprised at the drop location for the cash.  It was outside the Green Springs Library, although the extortionist instructed Mitzi to put the cash in a paper sack and place it behind the bushes in the back of the library.

Someone obviously knew there were no surveillance cameras.  After all, who would break into a library to steal a bunch of books?

The signature was the same,
PK
.

If Paul had received $75k in cash, he sure hadn’t acted like it!  Gloria didn’t believe for a second Paul was involved.

Gloria clicked out of the screen and reached for her cell phone.  She called the number Officer Joe Nelson had given her.  He didn’t answer so she left him a message.  After she left the message, she sent him a text.

“Now what?” Dot asked.

“We wait for Officer Joe Nelson.”

Gloria headed to the fridge.  She opened the door and peered inside.  It was slim pickins’.  There was a half a package of sliced cheddar cheese and an unopened container of cottage cheese and some leftovers.

Inside the cupboard, Gloria grabbed a can of tomato basil soup and a loaf of bread.  “I hope you don’t mind grilled cheese sandwiches and canned soup,” Gloria said.

Dot waved a hand.  “As long as I’m not cookin’, I could care less.”

Gloria wandered over to the counter, popped the top on the can of soup, dumped the contents into a saucepan and set it on the burner before turning the burner on.

She sprayed butter spray on four slices of bread.  Gloria changed her mind and made it six slices when she saw two sets of hungry eyes gazing up at her.

When the food was ready, Gloria tore one of the grilled cheese sandwiches apart and broke some of it into bite-size pieces for Puddles and put the rest of the sandwich in Mally’s dish.

She hadn’t even settled into her chair before her beloved pets had wolfed down their treats and begged for more.

“Oh no!” Gloria pointed to the other room.  “We want to eat in peace.” Her furry housemates slunk out of the kitchen and Dot grinned.  “Every time Odie looks at Ray like that, Ray pulls out the chair and invites him to the table.”

Gloria chuckled.  Odie had come from the puppy mill Gloria and her friends had discovered a couple months earlier.  Odie and Ray, Dot’s husband, bonded immediately.  She had to admit that Odie was quite a character and had a way of looking at you that melted your heart. 

Mally and Puddles did the same thing.  If Gloria wasn’t careful, they would be running the show, as if they weren’t already. 

Dot reached for Gloria’s hand.  “Let’s pray.”

Gloria nodded and lowered her head.  “Dear Lord.  We pray You will help us clear Paul’s name.  We know he is innocent and ask You to lead us to the real culprit and fast, if You don’t mind, so Gloria and Paul can marry.”

Tears stung the back of Gloria’s eyes as she lifted her head.  “Thanks Dot.  Your prayer means a lot.”

Dot reached over and patted Gloria’s hand.  “I feel at peace about this.  God has it all under control.”

As the girls munched on their lunch, Gloria asked Dot how her cancer treatments were going.  Dot was in the midst of radiation treatment and her prognosis was good.  Gloria had prayed for her dear friend every day and God was answering all of her prayers.

“Good.” Dot tore off a piece of her sandwich and dipped it in her bowl of soup. “It makes me tired,” she admitted.

Gloria had no idea what Dot had gone – or was going - through.  She could see Dot tired easily.  “Maybe you should go home and rest instead of babysitting me.”

Dot reached for her soupspoon.  “You aren’t going to get rid of me that easy,” she teased.

After they finished their lunch, the girls rinsed the dirty dishes and placed them inside the dishwasher. 

Gloria had no more than closed the dishwasher door when she heard a light tap on the porch door.  She peeked out the window.  It was Officer Joe Nelson.

Gloria swung the door open and stepped to the side. 

Officer Joe Nelson snatched the hat off his head.  “Boy, you’re not gonna believe what I found out!”

Chapter 9

Gloria grabbed his hand and pulled him into the kitchen.  “I hope it’s good news!” she exclaimed.  She was due for a break in the case.  It was wearing her down.  It seemed as if she was running in circles and going nowhere.

Gloria pulled out a kitchen chair.  “Here, have a seat.  Coffee?”

She knew she was rambling but she had a feeling Officer Joe Nelson had news…big news, judging by the look on his face.