The Poppy Drop

by C L Bauer

  “That’s John. He’s bringing her lunch. They do that on a regular basis. I talked her into having him come there so she could still be under surveillance.”

  “She doesn’t know, does she?” Tom grimaced as soon as he’d asked and saw Dev’s face harden. “You want to play it this way?”

  “Yes, for now. She knows she’s being watched but she doesn’t know about the hidden cameras and the microphones. She thinks John will protect her and she has me on speed dial just in case. She also thinks KCPD is patrolling the block today.”

  Tom shook his head. His friend truly was playing with fire in more than one way, and not metaphorically any longer.

  “Dev, her with John?”

  “It’s normal for them to have lunch.”

  Tom turned the screen back around. “That’s not what I asked.”

  “I’m more interested, and concerned with that hooded figure. He threw a rock. I’ve had reports that he paces in front of the store some nights like he’s trying to figure out what he’s going to do. I’ve also seen him a couple of times in the early morning hours, looking inside the van and in the garbage bin. He’s looking for something and I’m worried he’s getting desperate.”

  “Has he been at her house?”

  “Not sure. I haven’t seen him and the detail officers haven’t but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t come from another direction, or in a vehicle. We don’t have cameras there.”

  Tom grimaced again. “That was your choice, Dev. You didn’t think you’d be here for months, remember?”

  He shook his head. Dev had thought that this would be a simple clean up but obviously they’d missed something. That hooded figure was still searching for something and he/she truly thought Lily had it, whatever it was.

  Tom turned and clicked the sound button on the feed.

  “So my daughter and granddaughter are coming in from Miami, Lily.”

  Lily was starving. She took a bite, way too big, chewing and nodding at the same time. Finally she swallowed. “I bet your wife is thrilled.”

  “She is. This is a blessing.”

  “How’s your daughter doing, ok now?” Lily knew his only remaining child had the little girl on her own and from what John didn’t say had been through some tough times. He didn’t go into many details but it had been touch and go for awhile. She thought he’d even traveled to Miami during one bad event. Even with her he shielded that part of his life.

  “Oh, she’s great.” John stared down at the table. He stopped talking and was obviously thinking about something he’d rather not share.

  “And your granddaughter?”

  “She’s wonderful.” His broad smile filled his face and lit his eyes, a little moisture forming at their edges. “She dances ballet, well she’s learning. She’s the most graceful thing I’ve ever seen. We get these videos of her. Last week she was a blooming flower with pink petals and everything. You would’ve loved that, little girl.”

  “Yes, I think I would’ve. That sounds so cute. When my nieces were babies they had photo sessions where they put the child in a clay pot and decorated around them to make them look like flowers. The babies are so cute. It almost makes me want to have one.”

  Where on earth had that come from? Lily hadn’t thought about children since her last relationship. She didn’t think about a family on a daily basis at all, maybe yearly, all right, every New Year’s Eve. When the damn ball dropped she thought she felt another egg die. An angel got their wings when a bell rang, her eggs died when a ball dropped.

  “You got that new man. He’d be a good daddy. You two need to get going on that little project.” He pushed her shoulder in jest.

  That was a job she didn’t think Agent Pierce would be the least interested in.

  “Not sure yet. We just began so we have a long way to go.” Yes, when the investigation ended so did their relationship, the real and the pretend.

  “He’s former Army, you can tell. It’s the way he stands and he’s called me “sir” more times than I can count when I’ve seen him. Just the other morning when he was bringing you coffee, he waved over to me and said, “good morning, sir”. Nice to see manners, of course, you wouldn’t have some bad guy, Lily. You deserve someone like him.” He touched her hand softly. “I never did like that other guy. He seemed like bad news, like he was a fake always keeping secrets.”

  She laughed out loud. If he only knew about Agent Pierce. “John, he was a minister!”

  “Well, you never know about people. Where I grew up in Alabama we had a preacher that used to hit his wife and kids. His own son finally shot him dead when he was preaching at the pulpit. So you never know. Army man might just be the one, Lily. You gotta give it time to see how it grows.”

  “It seems like I’m always waiting for some bud to open and some flower to bloom larger and now you’re telling me I have to wait on a man to do it?”

  “It’s your garden and your shop, Lily. You’re in charge of how those flowers are arranged.”

  “Well, I know one thing for sure,” Lily said softly as she held one of his big paws in her hands. “I love my Big John.”

  He leaned over to hug her. “And I love my little girl, no matter what.”

  Tom hit the mute button. They’d heard enough.

  He looked up to see Dev’s blank face. “Dev, I smell smoke.”

  “I don’t.”

  “You sure? With what I just heard I think we have more information than you need but I think your wings are burning.”

  Devlin Pierce shut his eyes. He was desperate to finish this mission.

  Chapter Eighteen

  It was almost one in the afternoon when Dev and Lily arrived at the venue. The ceremony was taking place in front of a beautiful white gazebo surrounded by azaleas. The reception was located on the property in a large ballroom. Lily’s van was filled with flowers of every shade of peach, coral, and salmon. She gave her orders to Dev who received “tall” duty. Thankfully, if she were going to have a DEA assistant, they had sent her a tall one who could attach the flower pieces at the top of the gazebo without a step ladder.

  Lily began to prep the ballroom, placing arrangements on tables and adding candlelight. The bride and bridesmaids came down to see their bouquets. She had clapped and hugged Lily so tightly she couldn’t breathe. Another happy bride would soon be in the books. She was walking by the large windows with the bride, talking about the special ribbon wrap when she saw the view by the gazebo.

  Gretchen was talking to Dev as he was working. At least he had kept working. When Abby was the center of attention she usually stopped to carry on a conversation. The over zealous wedding coordinator was adorned in black leggings, tall heels and a tunic that was more revealing in a shocking pink color. Her tanned décolletage was the only focus of the outfit with an illusion blouse over a corseted top. How old was she?

  It was time for the boss to check the assistant’s work, now! She smiled at the bride and said she needed to go out. Her quick steps had her out by the other two in minutes.

  “It looks good, honey.” She drew the last word out so maybe Gretchen could get one more huge hint to back off. “Hi Gretchen. Ready for tonight?”

  “Well of course, Lily. I was just telling Dev that the bride and groom are having their black lab serve as the ring bearer. Isn’t that just the cutest thing to have your pup bring the rings?” She had her hand at Dev’s upper arm, slightly squeezing his muscle.

  “Cute, very cute. So, Dev, all done?” Lily stood next to him on the other side.

  “Just about, baby.” His smile, that she could only see, was all teeth. “Anything else need to go up?”

  “No, it looks good. Gretchen, you need anything else? We need to continue the setup on the reception, oh and the bride has already seen the bouquet. Everything is good.”

  Lily grabbed him by the hand and away from the clutches of the evil seducer. “You can thank me later for that little rescue.”

  So that’s what jealousy looks
like, Dev thought to himself. Actually, Gretchen had been pretty friendly today, not totally obnoxious except for her lack of respect for his personal space. Apparently, she was believing the boyfriend/girlfriend scenario just as much as Big John. Lily was still holding his hand as they entered the building.

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said as she finally broke the hold. “I got a little carried away.”

  “It’s ok. I’m really starting to enjoy these setups, I mean the flowers.” He nervously caught his mistake. How old was he, sixteen again?

  It was then that a blood curdling scream filled the venue. Lily even saw Gretchen hasten from the outside. She could run in those heels. Dev was halfway up the stairs, taking three steps at a time before Lily even began to move. Was there another mouse in a shoe?

  By the time Gretchen and she reached the bride’s room, Dev was holding a dog by its collar and the bride was holding a small piece of chewed paper. Her makeup would have to be redone, two stripes of mascara lining her face down to her chin. The other women in the room were either laughing or crying, or both simultaneously.

  Lily figured the dog had eaten the groom’s note of love before they took their marriage vows but Dev’s scowl made her think it was much more serious.

  “For the love of God, what has happened in here and why is my bride crying?” Gretchen asked breathlessly as she placed her arm around the girl.

  “This, this,” she stammered holding the one inch wide piece of paper, “was our marriage license and Two Bit ate it. That mongrel ate my license. He said a dog would be great for us as a couple. He was so wrong.” She kept pointing at the dog over and over. Two Bit laid at Dev’s feet enjoying the stroking he was receiving. Lily assumed “he” was the groom.

  Now Gretchen was crying and wailing. “And that is why you don’t have some animal in your wedding. Well, you’ll just have to get married without it and then on Monday you march yourself back down to the county offices and get another.”

  “I can’t get married without a license. It wouldn’t be legal.” Her mother was now on the other side of the sobbing bride, agreeing with her daughter.

  “Oh for heaven’s sake, you two have lived together for two years.”

  Lily nearly fell over in a heap of laughter at Gretchen’s faux pas. She couldn’t look over at Dev. She could see his body shaking from laughter as he held the poor dog. Of course Gretchen was correct but to bellow it out for all to hear?

  The mother of the bride pushed Gretchen away and demanded she leave the room. Lily motioned for Dev to come with her as they exited too. He thought he could see the poor dog pleading with his eyes to stay by his side. Two Bit needed protection. They ended up in the tight hallway with Gretchen.

  “I mean, what’s the big deal? You two virtually live together too, don’t you? So what’s a few days?”

  Lily and Dev chose silence. She actually felt sorry for Gretchen. Of course, when she relayed the story to Abby, and Abby laughed so hard she peed her pants, her lovely little assistant would not be so kind to the shrew. Abby had been drowned in Gretchen’s wake several times and had felt the burn of her words. She would have no forgiveness for Gretchen’s fallibility.

  “Um, Lily, I need to make a call. Maybe I can get this fixed but I need the bride and groom’s names, addresses, etc. Any information we can get. Gretchen, could you find out when they got the license and which county?”

  “Me? Go back in there after they treated me so rudely?” Gretchen was back to being Gretchen and Lily’s compassion was waning.

  “I’ll go,” Lily suggested to Dev. “What else do you need?”

  “Anything they can remember…a judge’s name, a clerk’s name…I don’t know what’s on a marriage license in Missouri. Anything will be helpful.”

  Lily rushed in to see what she could do while Dev began calling someone. He went down the stairs, away from Gretchen. Soon, Lily was marching down next to him with as much info as she had written in the notes on her cell.

  “Thanks, honey,” he answered as he took the phone from her. “Yes, it was that county.” He walked away as he continued to talk.

  One way or another there was going to be a party so Lily continued to decorate. One of the ladies from the venue came in to visit as she worked. She liked her new assistant, too. Every woman in the world seemed to like her new assistant.

  Dev entered the room and asked for the keys to the van.

  “I’ll be back as soon as I can with a license. What time is the wedding?”

  “Five. The traffic is going to be a killer.”

  “I’ll be ok. I drive in DC, remember, and other dangerous places. I’ll be back in time or close to it.”

  Lily looked toward the venue’s coordinator. “Go tell them that the license is coming. I don’t know how he is getting this done on a Friday afternoon but it is coming.”

  It was four o’clock when Lily finished the last table decoration after several interruptions from a grateful bride, mother, father, sister, it seemed like the entire bridal party after awhile. The groom even hugged her. She just hoped Dev would get there on time so there wasn’t another meltdown up in that bridal room. The groom had apparently begged forgiveness and the wedding would go on. The dog and Gretchen weren’t fairing as well. The dog was now banned to the groom’s dressing room and the illustrious wedding coordinator had been told to get off the premises. Somehow it had all become her fault. She should never have let them use a dog in the wedding and how dare she say what she said.

  Lily could hear the final sentence from the bride’s mother as Gretchen left.

  “How dare you judge my daughter, you old hag!” Everyone at the event space heard her.

  The bridal party had been calmed down enough so they could take some pre-wedding photos. Lily watched them from the window. She was worried about this bride. She wasn’t really smiling in the photos. Lily knew that smile very well, she’d been doing the same thing all afternoon. One of the groomsmen brought Two Bit onto the lawn. The groom went to get him, loving on him, kissing him on the head. He brought him on the leash over to the bride who stood stoically in front of the gazebo. The dog’s head was about as low as it could possibly get.

  Lily just shook her head. The poor animal didn’t know what he was doing. She knew for sure they would be laughing about this fiasco on their anniversary. Maybe they’d even make some money off it on some bridal blog…the dog ate our license.

  The groom was saying something to his bride and finally she leaned down and pet their dog. The little family formed a hug unit and the bride smiled true and real for the first time in the last few hours of conflict. All was forgiven, until the dog started to eat her bouquet. That dog was hungry.

  The venue’s coordinator suggested they all get inside since guests were coming. Dev had twenty-five minutes. She saw the van pull into the driveway and park on the side. An older gentleman got out of the passenger side and Dev came strolling up on his left side, helping him up the steps. She met them at the door.

  “You made it. Did you get it?” Even Lily was wringing her hands over this one.

  “I did and I got them a judge just in case. Lily Schmidt, Judge Paul Stanley.”

  “Thank you so much, your honor.” His warm smile suddenly calmed her down. She only hoped he could do the same magic for this bride.

  “I hate to do this to you, sir, but they’re upstairs. It’s over here.” Dev assisted him up the stairs, slowly. The squeals after a few minutes assured Lily there would be a wedding and there would be a happy bride, a relieved groom and a dog that really needed to stay away from the bride’s mother.

  Dev came back down the stairs two at a time meeting her at the bottom.

  “You have everything ready? Sorry I wasn’t any help.”

  “You did enough. By the way, I do think they forgot the officiant.”

  Dev nodded. “I figured when I noticed one of the programs and there was no name for a minister or judge. Besides, he insisted he meet them, signing everyt
hing so it would be legal. They’ll still have to file some items but this will get them by and he’s thrilled to do something happy for a change. Oh, I need water for him and if there’s a small snack. He’s diabetic and he needs a little something.”

  “Got it.” She rushed into the venue coordinator’s office and within five minutes the judge had what he needed. Dev remained at the bottom of the stairs so he could help his friend make it down safely.

  “Do I want to know how you know him?”

  “Well, you can imagine but I also know him personally. I was at West Point with his youngest son. We also served together.”

  “That’s wonderful,” Lily muttered. She was so immensely proud of Dev. Her new found “friend” was a wonderful man, thoughtful, kind…

  “I brought his son’s body back from Afghanistan.”

  Dev was no longer with her. He was with his friend, this man’s son. She could see the face of grief…he was accompanying him back to his father, back in a flag-draped box. His mood was miles away and years behind.

  She touched his arm to say sorry but his attention had moved to his fragile friend. He was making his way down the stairs.

  “I’m coming, sir.” Slowly they made their way down. The judge still held a water bottle in his hand.

  “Crisis averted, young lady,” he said as he greeted her. “So I hear you are a very special woman, Ms. Schmidt.”

  She glanced at Agent Pierce who now looked slightly uncomfortable. “You did, did you? Well, that was very nice. Thank you so much for doing this.”

  “No problem. It’s going to cost you. You’ll have to wait with me until my wife can get here after the wedding to pick me up.”

  “That is no problem at all, sir. I’m just so grateful. Thank you so much for coming to the rescue.”

  He was cute and very unassuming. Little in stature, bent in age, the judge was more Lily’s height. His smile lit her heart.

  “Oh I’m just an old romantic, kind of like this guy here,” the judge stuck a finger in Dev’s rib cage. “So, we’ve got this all figured out now. Those two up there, don’t know about them.” He shook his head. “The dog ate the license and they forgot to get someone to marry them. The groom said he’s an attorney? Hope he’s never in my court.”