Her parents and brother all arrived around the same time, usually about an hour after she arrived. Davis was usually in early like she was, so she found it odd that he hadn’t arrived yet. That, and he hadn’t responded to her text yet either. She thought the Jennifer/Jessica information was pretty mind-blowing and possibly super important. She must’ve been involved with Chris. In that picture she found online they looked pretty close. Add that to the fact they were allegedly, possibly dating at one time, her now all up in the Abington Armadillos business couldn’t be a coincidence.
Madeline sat behind her computer, trying to focus on her emails when she heard Eliza open the front door and fling her giant purse on her desk.
“Anyone home?” she called from the front desk.
Madeline poked her head out of her office and gave Eliza a wave. Eliza dashed towards her office and pulled the door closed behind her. “I know there are voicemails waiting for me, but I need to hear from the horse’s mouth what happened at the Barnstable Stadium between you and William Chase yesterday!”
“How did you hear about that already?” Madeline smiled at Eliza. “Wait, let me guess. The administrative assistant grapevine started with his lovely assistant and spread to you before daybreak this morning?” She shrugged and gave her a smile. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Nothing scandalous happened. He texted that he wanted to meet. I went, and I found him on the floor of his office, knocked out.”
Swiveling around in her chair, Madeline stopped to think more about what actually happened the day before. Was he attacked because someone knew he was meeting with her to tell her about the murder? Was she overthinking everything? Maybe it was supposed to be an innocuous business meeting. He had been trying to get in touch with her ever since she started back at the park. Of course, now that she found out about a connection between him and the fake Jennifer Roberts, she had a million more questions.
Madeline leaned towards Eliza. She decided to tell her everything, to see if she had any other insights. “I think there is something going on with Jennifer Roberts and William Chase. He mentioned a daughter. What if she’s the mother and was still involved with Chris Dailey on the side?” She quickly filled Eliza in about what she found out via her internet searches the night before.
“Dang. That’s ten ways of crazy. It’s like a soap opera. And you think this Jennifer/Jessica person might be ultimately responsible for Dailey’s death?” Eliza asked the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question.
Madeline thought for a minute. Did she think that Jennifer/Jessica had a hand in the murder? “Maybe. I mean, I don’t know. It just seems odd that she appeared so suddenly in our lives after the murder and has made it her life’s mission to throw my family under the bus for everything. Maybe she is trying to deflect suspicion. Obviously, it must have worked a bit because I haven’t heard of anyone else being arrested. Plus, they keep talking to my brother instead of looking elsewhere.”
Eliza got a serious look on her face. She checked to make sure the door was still closed tightly and leaned forward over the desk. Madeline leaned forwards as well until they were close over the top of the desk.
“I think we should set up a sting. We should invite her to the park to see if we can get her to confess that she’s William’s baby mama. At the very least, we can try to solve that mystery.” She winked at Madeline and got up to head back to her desk.
It did seem like a crazy idea, but then again, what harm could a nosy reporter cause her? Other than reporting lies about her family, of course. She already caused Madeline enough stress with her reporting. Maybe she could try to get Jennifer on her side to find out more information about Chris and William.
The only thing to figure out was a way to get her to talk to Madeline. Until she could figure out a way to do that, there was still some real baseball work to do. First on her list was pulling together an Instagram contest for fans to win swag and tickets for upcoming games. Her bright idea also included sending the mascot of the team out to local landmarks on the South Shore to interact with the community. Peaceful Meadows Ice Cream in Whitman, Wollaston Beach in Quincy, and the Hanover Mall were all on the lists of places for the Armadillo to hit in the next few weeks.
Madeline finished up a call with a local little league organization about bringing the Armadillos mascot to their tournament in the next few weeks. The kids loved seeing Arnold the Armadillo out of the ballpark. Her grandfather used to tell a story that Ben and she were terrified of the mascot as a kid. It used to be more realistic, but it scared too many young kids. They redesigned it to more resemble a cartoon character. Less crying children at the ballpark was always a good idea. She finalized the dates and times with the team and started to pull tighter the marketing materials for the upcoming ticket contests that she wanted to hold.
Before she knew it, it was late afternoon and found that she had worked straight through lunch. She didn’t even notice the rest of the family had come in for the workday. Davis hadn’t even stopped by. She stood up, stretched her arms behind her back, and made her way to her mom’s office. When she arrived there, the door was open; her mom was on the phone and held up one finger, indicating to wait. Madeline sat in the chair across from her to wait while she finished up the call.
“Yes, thanks, Denise. We’ll get together later to discuss terms of the sponsorship. I appreciate your contribution to the team for the upcoming games and the rest of the season.” With a quick goodbye, she hung up the phone. She gave Madeline a stern look and came around the desk to sit next to her.
“Now, what’s this I hear about you getting caught up in a mess over in Barnstable?”
Madeline quickly filled her in on the latest updates and shenanigans by all the players in the investigation. She nodded as Madeline told her about the surprise revelation that Jennifer Roberts was not who she claimed to be. She sat back with a thoughtful look on her face.
“You know, it makes sense. She has been hanging around the local league for a while now. She reported on William’s purchase of the team and maybe she felt some sort of loyalty with William and that’s why she was so determined to undermine the Abington team. Either way, I’m glad you stopped by today. I meant to find you earlier, but you’ve been holed up in your office all day. Tonight, we’re going to have a family meeting here at the ballpark. Your father and I want to go over the new roles and responsibilities that you have, and future opportunities as well. Are you able to get back here tonight?”
Madeline nodded.
“Good, we’re meeting here in the conference room at seven. Now, I have to get back to some money-raising calls. We need to get some new sponsorships for the winter and beyond.”
Madeline gave her mom a hug in appreciation for listening to her ramble on about the mess that she seemed to be in. Or at least the mess she was finding anyway.
She decided to take a quick turn around the ballpark before heading back to her desk for some more work emails before the end of the day. It was still relatively quiet with only the sounds of a few hitters in the outdoor batting cages and the sprinklers running in the outfield. Madeline walked over to the right field standing deck and looked down across the field. Breathing in the scent of the fresh cut grass and the lingering smell of peanuts that never seemed to go away, she thought about the past few weeks.
Losing her job, starting with the family business, stumbling over a dead body, her brother being a murder suspect, getting cleared, going on a date, reconnecting with Davis, and then the events of the previous night. It was almost too much to deal with. It had only been a month! She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. She heard a ding and rummaged in her pocket for her cell phone.
She had another text message from an unknown number. She knew that didn’t bode well for the message. Clicking the application to open the text, she gasped. It was a message from Jennifer/Jessica.
Madeline, can we meet? I need to tell you some things. Meet me in the parking lot in two hours. — Jennifer Roberts
Before Madeline responded, she tried to think things through. So, this lady had connections it seemed with both the murder victim and the potential suspect in William Chase. Could she be dangerous? Madeline couldn’t imagine that she would reach out if she had nefarious plans. She would know that Madeline would let Davis know. What other possible benefit did she have? Maybe she heard about William and wanted to clear the air about her relationship with William and the possible child they shared.
After deciding to meet with her that afternoon, she texted Davis to let him know what was going to happen. That way if something, god forbid, went wrong, someone would know what the plan was. She wasn’t stupid. She wasn’t going to walk into an unknown situation without a backup plan. Just in case. She hadn’t talked to him since the incident in Barnstable the day before. She was hoping to see him in the office to debrief on what happened. He must’ve been elsewhere at the park that day because she still hadn’t seen him. She wanted to pick his brain about the incident and also to smooth down the nervousness she was feeling about meeting up with Jennifer.
Madeline was not one who got gut feelings about things usually, but she definitely had a pit in her stomach when she thought about meeting up with her later. She wasn’t sure how Jennifer fit into everything, but there was just something about the whole situation that made her uncomfortable. Well, she couldn’t do anything at that point, she just had to wait and see what Jennifer wanted. The parking lot will hopefully still be full enough at that point in the days so there shouldn’t be too much danger, if any. At least that’s what she kept telling herself.
Chapter Twenty-Five
That afternoon, about an hour before she was going to meet with Jennifer, Madeline found herself fidgety and unable to focus. The whole murder thing was still weighing on her shoulders and now she was poised to hopefully get some answers. She just wanted to find out why and how everyone was connected and why Chris was murdered at the Abington ballpark. Why not anywhere else? It almost seemed like a direct attack on her family.
She tried to work on some emails and Facebook posts, but she couldn’t keep her eyes from straying to the clock. She only had a quick text from Davis telling her that William was kept in the hospital overnight again for observation. The police apparently had questioned him once, but he didn’t say much other than he didn’t know who had hit him. He remembered having a meeting with her, and that the last thing he remembered that day was the receptionist leaving for home. Davis said he would be in the office the next day to catch up on things. She threw the phone down on her desk in frustration. She was hoping he’d be around to help her work this Jennifer thing.
So not much help there. She hoped the police knew that she didn’t attack William. She had showed him the text luring her there, so it’s not like she just showed up out of the blue. The police hadn’t called her again to ask more questions, so that must have been a good sign she thought. She hoped that meant they had a better idea of who attacked him and knew that it wasn’t Madeline.
Drumming her fingers on the desk, she glanced again at the clock for what seemed like the fifteenth time the past hour. She realized it was just about time to head to the parking lot. Madeline paused at Eliza’s desk before she went out the door to let her know where she was going to be.
Eliza nodded at her and tapped the side of her nose. “I got you, girl. Make sure she tells you everything. If you’re not back in an hour, I’ll send out a search party.” She gave Madeline a conspiratorial wink.
Madeline laughed as she made her way out the front entrance. She pulled up the recording app on her phone. She wanted to make sure she caught any confessions on tape. Of course, Jennifer was a pro, so Madeline didn’t expect to get any information from her. Why would she want to talk to Madeline? Then again, she had thought the same thing about William and look how that turned out.
There were only a few cars left in the parking lot since it was after 5 p.m. on a non-game day. She wasn’t sure what car she should be looking for. Of course, that news van from previous days was still parked in the back of the parking lot. Surely she wouldn’t have driven that in, it seemed gaudy. The van had the news station emblazoned across the side and looked like some sort of conversion van changed into a news van.
As Madeline scoured the parking lot, she saw the van doors open and Jennifer’s blonde head stuck out. Looking around, she gave Madeline a quick wave over and ducked back inside the van leaving one door propped open.
Shrugging, Madeline made her way through the parking lot to the van. By the time she got there, she had realized how quiet that part of the lot was. The van was parked at the very end of the lot in a corner spot lined by trees on one side. At that moment, she was really glad it was still light out. Seemed less threatening than if it was night out.
Brushing off a shiver of unease, Madeline approached the van. Jennifer was a news reporter, not some crazy person. She shouldn’t be nervous. Madeline told herself to let Jennifer do all the talking and not to offer any information. She sidled up to the back door of the van, where one door was still propped open.
“Jennifer? Are you in there?” Madeline put her hand on the door frame and peered inside. She found several TV monitors and a large control board. What she didn’t see was Jennifer. She heard a noise from the back of the van, closer to the cab. She knew from mystery novels and TV shows that she shouldn’t proceed any further. Mysterious noises were nothing to play with. She wasn’t crazy. Madeline backed away from the van door and felt a hand cover her mouth and another pull her arm behind her.
She tried to scream but the hand clutched her face tightly. A hoarse voice whispered in her ear. “Do not say anything or I will kill you. Just get in the van.”
A hand pushed her into the interior of the van, and the door slammed before she could catch her breath and let out a scream. She felt the engine kick on and looked around for something to hold onto as she felt the vehicle move. Scanning the van, she couldn’t find anything that might help her. No radio, no phone, no weapon of any kind. She scrounged in her back pocket for her cell phone and came up empty. It must have fallen out of her pocket when she was pushed in the car.
Crap. That was not ideal. At least she had remembered to tell Eliza what she was up to, and hopefully, she would check for her sooner rather than later. Madeline continued to scan the back of the van to see if there was something she could use to signal anyone. She saw a door leading to the front cab. Sliding across the floor of the van, she banged a fist against the door. She tried to pull it open, but it seemed to be locked from the other side.
“Jennifer? Is that you? What’s going on? Where are you taking me? What’s this all about?” Madeline tried to listen through the door, to see if she could hear any voices on the other side. The only noise was the engine. Putting her back against the door, she tried to gather her thoughts. Kidnapping now? This whole saga seemed so surreal.
She had just wanted to clear her brother’s name. Why did all this drama have to happen now? And for real though, why was Jennifer so obsessed with her? She was just the social media consultant for her family baseball team. Not a police officer, not a detective. Madeline couldn’t influence the police even if she wanted to. And yes, she’d been asking questions, but a murder happened at her place of business! Anyone would get themselves involved if that happened to them.
The car bounced over a set of train tracks, which made her wonder where Jennifer was taking her. If she had to guess, she thought they were heading towards Island Grove Park in Abington. The drive to the park from the stadium was only about five minutes, and there were two sets of tracks that they would have to go over if that’s where they were heading. The park itself was pretty secluded, even though it was in the middle of town. There were two sides to park on, one in the woods and one along the lake.
Two minutes later, Madeline felt another bounce as they went over the second set of train tracks. She knew now that was where they were headed. She heard some sort of murmuring from the front
seat. She couldn’t tell if Jennifer was alone or if someone else was with her. Maybe she could take Jennifer when they stopped. As long as she was by herself, Madeline was confident she could overpower her.
Looking around the van again, she looked closer at the buttons on the control panel to see if any buttons could be pressed to draw attention to the van. She regretted not paying attention during school trips to the news station in high school. Maybe there was a button that could communicate with people on the outside. She just kept pressing buttons, but so far, she didn’t have any luck. All the buttons had weird symbols on them, and of course there didn’t seem to be any power in the back of the van either. She wasn’t sure if that was typical of these types of media things. Not surprisingly, this was her first time in the back of a van.
She felt the van jerk to a halt and the engine cut off. She fell against the door that she had been leaning on as it opened behind her. Staring at her was Jennifer. Madeline guessed she should probably start thinking of her as Jessica from this point on. The surprise was when, from behind Jessica’s shoulders, Ashley, Chris’ old girlfriend, peered out.
“Ashley?” Madeline stared with her mouth open in shock. This was definitely something she wasn’t expecting. She understood now that Jennifer/Jessica was a complete crackpot, but Ashley seemed genuinely devastated by Chris’ death. Madeline had no idea she would be involved in all the mess. Ashley looked at her with tears in her eyes, but Madeline wasn’t going to depend on her to help her out.
“Ashley!” Jessica snapped. “Snap out of it. We need to finish this now.” Jessica pushed Madeline further back into the van and crawled through the opening to sit near her. “Okay, now you’re going to tell me everything you know about the murder and what you think you know about the business. Otherwise, we’re going to have issues.” Her eyes glittered with menace. There was no doubt in Madeline’s mind that she would hurt her if she had the chance.
Murder at First Pitch Page 19
