Jeopardy in January

by Camilla Chafer

  "Bree got herself mixed up in some nasty business. She either double-crossed the wrong person or maybe they never intended for her to get her cut. Either way, she's paid the ultimate price now and I have to make sure no one else gets harmed."

  "I get the message," I told him. "Stay away from Bree's apartments. Be on the lookout for anyone asking about diamonds."

  Detective Logan laughed, his face lighting up pleasantly. Now, I realized he could be good looking when he wasn’t so dour. "I don't think they'll be that obvious. Call me if you feel suspicious about anything. Anything at all."

  "I will," I assured him.

  Detective Logan paused in the doorway to zip his jacket. "I do have one good piece of news," he said.

  "Oh?"

  "You can officially go back to the library now."

  "Really?" I smiled, my mood instantly lifting. "Thank you so much!"

  I shut the door behind him, waiting until he reached his car before I switched off the porch light. I wouldn't admit it to him but his news worried me. Bree took something very valuable and whoever wanted it would clearly stop at nothing to get it back.

  Chapter Fourteen

  "Sara! Yoo-hoo! Sara!"

  I turned around, searching out the voice and spotted Candice at the door of the café, waving hard. I waved back and crossed the road, allowing her to usher me inside and into a chair where Jaclyn and my mother waited.

  "Have you heard?" asked Candice.

  "Heard what?" I replied, looking at each of the expectant faces.

  Candice leaned in. "Bree was a jewel thief," she said in a low voice. "She stole millions of dollars worth of jewels."

  "How do you know that?" I asked, wondering why the news surprised me so much. The Calendar gossip mill must have launched into the emergency news phone tree overnight. I would have been surprised if anyone in town didn't know by now. This had to be the juiciest news the town ever heard.

  "My sister, Tamsin, told me and she heard it from her friend, Jessica, whose cousin is married to Danielle, who knows Joe Nixon, down at the police station," said Jaclyn. Her leg was propped up on another chair and she did her best to look comfortable. I figured she was desperate to return behind the counter but until her leg healed, holding court here was the best she could do.

  "Oh," I cooed, amazed that the news had traveled so far and remained intact.

  "But you can't tell anyone," said Jaclyn. "I don't want anyone to get into any trouble."

  "I won't tell anyone."

  "Me either," chorused the other ladies.

  "I already heard it from my neighbor, Alice, who heard it from her son who lives next to Sam Logan's father," said my mother. She looked very satisfied. "So I think it's safe to say the secret is out."

  "Detective Logan is not going to be happy that everyone knows his business," I said, receiving a collective shake of heads and some worried murmurs.

  "So it's true?" asked Candice.

  "Huh?"

  "When Mrs. Stanley came in her for her morning latte, she said Detective Logan was at your house last night; since he didn't arrest you, we figured it was because he came to tell you something," said Candice.

  "He told me I could open the library now," I said, glossing over the details that the ladies might have found more interesting. The town might know the headline news but they definitely didn't need to hear the rest of the details from me! Plus, the last thing I needed to incur was Detective Logan's wrath. I'd been lucky enough last night. I didn't need to push him any further.

  "That's great news!" said my mother, reaching for my hand and giving me a happy squeeze.

  "It is, isn't it? I don't have a lot of time left in my campaign to keep it open so I thought I should get started right away with an upcoming event to prove just how much the library is loved. Can I count on all of you to come?" I asked. The idea popped into my head when I awoke and I relished the convenient distraction.

  "Absolutely. I'll bake something and turn it into a real party," said Candice.

  "I could bring some of my homemade wine," said Mom. "And the coffee and tea urns we use for big gatherings."

  "And I'll bring tiny cups for the wine so no one blows their mind. That stuff can be lethal!" added Jaclyn.

  I laughed. "It all sounds wonderful. I'll make up some flyers and put them around town. Tell as many people as you can."

  "Speaking of telling people things, why don't you tell us all about your date with that handsome, young man last night?" said Mom. "It sounded like you two were very romantic."

  I blushed and giggled. "Does everyone know?" They nodded. "I thought so. Tom and I had a lovely time, thank you. We ate dinner, drank a little wine, and he drove me home. He was the perfect gentleman the whole time."

  "So when is date number two?" asked Jaclyn, glancing toward my mother who was waiting just as eagerly.

  I was about to tell her I wasn't sure when the café door banged open. My friend Rachel, rushed inside, and a blast of cold air followed her. She looked around, saw me, and hurried over, throwing her arms around me before greeting everyone else. "I just heard about Bree!" she exclaimed. "How awful to discover that you were harboring a criminal!"

  "I wasn't harboring..."

  She cut me off, "You must be terrified. You never can tell, can you? Bree looked so innocent but underneath it all, something dark was lurking."

  "I really don't think anything was lurk..."

  "I wonder if she was casing the whole town?"

  "Why? There's nothing to steal," said my mother. "I think she hid her loot here until the police stopped looking for her. Then she planned to dig it up and take off."

  "Where do you think she hid it?" asked Rachel. She pulled off her hat, releasing a tumble of long blonde hair and undid the buttons of her coat as she waited.

  I tuned the gossip out as I drank the coffee Candice placed in front of me, thinking about the library. It would be so strange to open it up again, especially knowing that Bree died there only days before. Despite my doubts over many of the things I thought I knew about her, I was sure her love for the library was real. Perhaps it was silly of me to assume, but I truly believed Bree wanted me to save the library. I pushed away the annoying, little voice that told me she didn't care at all, and simply wanted to hide out in my sleepy, little town until it was safe for her to disappear forever.

  Taking a deep breath, I remembered Bree suggested a number of ideas for library events and also spent many enthusiastic hours helping to plan them. Unless she were a brilliantly accomplished actress, she couldn't have done that without some kind of genuine interest.

  There was another thing that worried me. It seemed so frivolous to hold an event where Bree had died only days before, but if I didn't start campaigning, there was no hope for the library’s preservation. It didn't seem like I had any other choice. I had to do it.

  "What do you think, Sara?" asked my mother.

  "Hmm?" I frowned and blinked, wondering what I missed.

  "I asked if you knew when Bree's family were coming to town?"

  "Oh, I don't know. I doubt she had any," I said.

  "That is so sad. Who's going to bury her?"

  That problem never occurred to me. "I don't know," I told them. Bree was my friend, regardless of everything else. I felt that strongly about her. I couldn't subject her to the mercy of some bureaucratic decision. "I guess if no one shows up, I will," I decided.

  "You have a kind heart, Sara. I hope someone shows up at her funeral, even if she were bad news," said Jaclyn. "You've raised a good daughter, Nadine."

  "Maybe some of her criminal pals will come," said Mom and the gossip started all over again.

  Gathering my coat and purse, I slipped away from the table unnoticed.

  "They just don't stop, do they?" said Candice from behind the counter.

  "They will talk about this for weeks," I agreed, watching my mother and Jaclyn as they drew Rachel into their conversation.

  "Is there any truth to what t
hey're saying?"

  "Some, but I think that will be diluted soon enough."

  "I know it doesn't mean much, but I really liked Bree. I'm sorry she died in such a horrible way and I hope whoever did it is brought to justice, and fast." Candice busied herself arranging baked goods under the glass cloches that sat on the counter.

  "Me too. I must go and get those flyers printed. See you later?"

  "You can count on it. I won’t bake a cake because I prefer to make lots of bite-sized favorites. You know, brownies, cupcakes, cookies. I just watched a tutorial on how to make edible wafers that look exactly like book covers."

  "They sound amazing but please don't spend all your time on this. I can't pay you much. The library's budget is very constrained."

  "Consider it my contribution to the Save the Library campaign and also a little marketing ploy for me when I open that bakery one day. It's my pleasure, really, Sara. I'll enjoy it."

  I thanked Candice, pleased with her efforts and suggestions, and stepped outside, buoyed by her support. I raised my hand to wave to Detective Logan as he drove past in his police car but I saw his heavy frown and he didn't seem to notice me. I felt sorry for him. He was going to have a hell of a time trying to calm the town gossip. In a couple of hours, he would probably be inundated with people who "might have" seen something or "possibly" heard something. In reality, they would all be angling for some new information to astonish their friends.

  I tucked my chin into my jacket and hurried to the small print shop further down the street, glad for a reprieve from the nearly relentless rain. If it rained later, it would definitely impede the turnout for my impromptu event. It was bad enough that Calendar was enduring a sustained cold snap, but the now incessant rain managed to drag everyone's mood down. I couldn't wait until spring arrived, so the trees could grow leaves and the flowers could bloom in the gardens. And the sad business about Bree would have already been resolved.

  The possibility that the library wouldn't exist then pinched my heart. I loved working there and even though I was sure I would still have a job at the new library in the building Jason's firm delegated as “suitable,” it simply wouldn't be the same. Perhaps I should do what Bree did: try something entirely new.

  I laughed aloud, surprising a woman who was walking a tiny, fluffy dog dressed in its own yellow, hooded, rain jacket. Changing jobs was practical but comparing myself to Bree definitely wasn't. For all the qualities I liked in her, I had to remind myself that she was a fugitive and a criminal. She didn't just change jobs. She took off with millions and selected my town to hide in under an assumed name and job she gained purely by subterfuge.

  The print shop, combined with a stationer’s, also carried a wide range of newspapers and magazines. It was empty when I stepped inside. I pulled the flyer from my bag and peeled back the protective, plastic cover, setting it on top of the large printer.

  "Good morning," called a cheerful voice. "Oh, it's you, Sara. I just saw your mother over at the café. How are you?"

  "Very well, thank you. I came in to print these," I said, holding up my flyer as Antonio, the shop's proprietor, ambled over. "They're for an event occurring at the library tonight."

  "It's open now? I heard about what happened. Such a terrible thing to befall a poor, young girl. Did they catch whomever did it?"

  "Not yet, but I'm sure Detective Logan will."

  "Bet he didn't think he'd ever have to solve a murder in Calendar."

  "I doubt anyone thought that," I agreed.

  "True. How many copies do you need?"

  "Fifty, I think. I want to make sure I can leave one in every shop, café, and noticeboard."

  "Why don't you print some extras? I can ask my niece, Addison, to put them in the mailboxes when she takes my special offer pamphlet out to distribute. A lot more people will see the flyers that way."

  "That would be great!"

  "Print whatever you need and leave me a copy. I'll print the rest and give them to Addison when she finishes school."

  I pulled a ten-dollar bill from my purse and offered it to Antonio but he waved it away, saying, "Consider it my contribution for the campaign to preserve the library. I can't believe our council would tear it down just so that bigshot developer can put a bunch of tract houses on the land. I gave him a piece of my mind already!"

  "Really?"

  "Absolutely. I saw him outside the library this morning."

  I stopped, my hand gripping the lid. "What was he doing there?" I asked.

  "I have no idea. I was outside walking Mindy and I saw him strolling around like he owned the place."

  "Huh." I closed the lid and hit the print button.

  "After I told him what I thought of big firms like his trying to bulldoze little towns like ours and make them all look the same, he said he'd take my opinion to the board, and then he walked off into the gardens."

  "The library gardens?"

  "Yes. What do you think he was doing there? Looking for Bree's hidden treasure?"

  I should have guessed the conversation would come around to that. "You heard about that?"

  Antonio huffed. "Who hasn't? My wife woke me up to tell me and you won't believe who she heard it from!"

  I hit the print button again, only half listening as the machine began to shoot out more copies of my flyer. I couldn't imagine what Jason needed in the library gardens but Antonio's comment bothered me. If he thought Bree might have hidden her treasure in the garden, then other people might think that too. What if Jason went there to look for them?

  What if other people decided the library gardens contained millions in treasure just waiting to be found? I usually left the gates open so that people could stroll in whenever they liked but perhaps it would be more sensible to lock them now. If only to discourage anyone from amateur treasure hunting. I decided to do just that just as soon as I finished distributing all the flyers.

  I left Antonio with a flyer as requested and stepped outside, slipping in a puddle that collected outside the door. Just as I began to slide, my arms flailing, the flyers flapping, a pair of strong arms caught me.

  "I've got you."

  "Tom! Thank you so much." I looked around, noticing one sheet had slipped from my grip, landing face up in the puddle.

  "What's this?" he asked, stooping to pluck the wet page from the pavement.

  "It's a flyer for an event I'm hosting at the library tonight. I have to distribute them all around town."

  "What's happening to the library?" he asked, reading.

  "It's in imminent danger of being shut down," I said, quickly filling him in on the difficulties the library faced. "So, you see, I don't want to seem unsympathetic to what happened to Bree but we're running out of time."

  "Let me help you," he said, reaching for the flyers. "Two people can do this a lot faster than one, which will leave you with some free time."

  "For what?" I wondered.

  "To have lunch with me." Tom smiled and I couldn't help smiling back. "You can tell me all about this little town of yours and whether or not all the gossip about hidden treasure is true."

  I sighed. "You've heard the gossip as well?"

  "Guess so. The proprietor of my hotel spoke of nothing else and I think it's fascinating. Hey, here's an idea. You knew your friend better than anyone else. Why don't you find the jewels and use the money to save the library? You could even buy it to make sure it never gets knocked down!"

  "If there are any jewels, they're stolen property. They wouldn't be mine to keep but I like your way of thinking."

  "Maybe there's a healthy finder’s fee?" Tom widened his eyes and raised his eyebrows, making me laugh with his infectious enthusiasm.

  "Let's try my way to save the library first," I told him as I hooked my arm through his when he offered it. "And leave the jewels for the police to find."

  "That doesn't sound like much fun but I'll indulge you. Lead the way."

  Chapter Fifteen

  After Tom and I parted wa
ys - with the firm assurance that he was looking forward to attending the event - I headed over to the library. Choosing the shorter route, the one that took me past Bree's apartment on Oak Street, I was hoping that the route itself didn't violate Detective Logan's warning to stay away.

  If someone in a police car were watching her house, it wasn’t a marked car, and I thought I recognized one of the junior officers parked in his truck. Waving to him, I walked over and he cranked down the window as I approached.

  "Hi, Joe, or should I say, Officer Nixon," I said, handing him one of my flyers. "If you can manage to get off work in time, please come to this event later."

  "How do you know I'm working?" he asked, frowning as he scanned the flyer.

  I glanced over my shoulder, instantly confirming my initial suspicion. "Because sitting here, I doubt if you just happen to have the perfect view of Bree's door. Any luck?"

  "None," he replied, looking chagrined at being spotted so easily. "Logan told me surveillance would be boring but I never imagined it would be this dull. Plus, I'm freezing my ass off waiting for something to happen."

  "I read in a book that city cops who are assigned to doing this kind of thing often bring their own blankets just to keep warm," I told him.

  "I'll try to remember that if I ever have to do it again! I don't suppose Logan will mind if I tell you something, since you already heard the man breaking in, but I sincerely doubt any bad guys are going to show up. Certainly not with all the treasure hunters stopping by the apartment every ten minutes."

  "Treasure hunters?"

  "You haven't heard about what your friend stole?"

  "Of course I have!" I replied, wondering exactly how far the gossip had spread, not to mention, how corrupted it now must have become.

  "Folks figure them jewels have got to be around here somewhere. Someone dug up most of the yard last night and I already chased some kids off for raiding the flower planters next to her steps."

  "That isn't even Bree's yard! It belongs to Mrs. Kowalski who lives in the first floor apartment!"

  "I know. She already filed a report about it." Joe raised his chin, indicating I should look behind me. I turned to see Mrs. Kowalski shuffling around in her yard, a small spade in one hand. "I think she decided to check it out for herself. She makes a good guard dog, if you'll pardon the expression."