by R A Wallace
“Margaret?” she called across the room of the open-space modular as she held up the empty pitcher, interrupting the conversations.
“If you wouldn’t mind,” Margaret said with a smile from the living room.
Paula opened the plastic container she’d brought and lifted out a half empty bag of sugar before bending to retrieve the pot Margaret used to boil her water.
Trudy joined the others in the living room offering morning greetings as she did.
“This was a good idea,” Trudy said as she took a seat.
“I absolutely have to get to the store today,” Sally agreed as speared another piece of fruit. “That half empty package of Cheese Danishes I brought with me this morning was the last thing I had in my kitchen for breakfast.”
“I’ll drive if you want to come with me,” Elaine said. “I was down to a few frozen waffles.”
Margaret waved her hand toward the kitchen. “We ended up with a feast to share.”
Vanessa looked down at her plate. It was true. “I’ve never heard of a potluck breakfast before.”
Neither had Margaret but it had seemed like a good idea to her at the time when she realized she had little left in her fridge to choose from.
“I think I like it,” Sally said. “I haven’t eaten this good in a while.”
“We’ll have to remember this,” Margaret agreed.
“Are you sure Callie is going to be here this morning?” Elaine asked.
Margaret nodded with confidence. “It’s the investigator in her. She always seems to know when my cupboards are bare.”
Paula joined them in the living room with her own plate of food.
“Tell us more about this new entertainment Elliot has involved you in.” Paula took a bite of the Cheese Danish.
Margaret set down her empty plate. “You know those car shows they hold throughout the year, right?”
“I went to one of those once,” Sally said. “It was at the county fairground.”
“That’s huge.” Trudy set her empty plate down and picked up her coffee. “It would take hours to walk around that.”
“Oh, it did,” Sally agreed as she jumped up to gather the empty plates.
“What did they have there?” Vanessa asked, holding tightly on to her plate. She’d learned early on that if she didn’t, Sally would clear her meal before she had a chance to finish it.
“Mostly car parts, but there were also vendors selling interesting things too. You know, crafts and things.” Sally threw the breakfast debris in the trash and returned to the living room. She eyed Paula’s plate.
Paula quickly finished her food and passed the empty plate over Sally.
“Did they have actual cars?” Paula didn’t understand why they would call it a car show if they only had car parts.
“Oh, yes. Some were pretty old. You know, the classics. There was a section of the fairgrounds that had cars just to look at. Then there was a separate section where they had used cars for sale.” Sally reached for Vanessa’s empty plate.
Vanessa wiped her mouth with her napkin. “That sounds interesting.”
“It was,” Sally said. “I enjoyed the exercise. And the food, of course.”
Elaine eyed her thin friend with envy. “You can eat anything.”
“She burns it off,” Margaret agreed as the front door opened. “Darling, you’re just in time for breakfast.”
Callie greeted everyone on her way to the kitchen. She saw a pitcher of sweet iced tea cooling on the counter and remnants of food options.
“What’s this?” she called to the others in the living room.
“Potluck breakfast. Help yourself,” Margaret called back.
Callie took a little of everything and filled a plate before joining the others. There hadn’t been anything left in her own fridge.
“This is a good idea,” Callie said as she took a seat at the dining room table next to Elaine. She looked at her mother. “I take it your fridge is bare too?”
Margaret smiled and nodded. “We’re glad you’re here. Elaine has a favor to ask.”
Callie raised her eyebrows at Elaine as she ate from her plate.
“You remember Aubrey, don’t you?” Elaine asked.
Callie thought of the younger version of the woman across the table. Aubrey was about five years older than Callie’s thirty-five. Both Aubrey and her mother had dark hair and carried a few extra pounds on their short frames.
“How is she doing?” Callie asked.
“That’s the thing. She’s met someone,” Elaine said.
“Is he another elementary school teacher?” Callie asked before finishing her last bite.
“No, and that’s what worries me. She doesn’t really know him that well,” Elaine said.
Callie understood where Elaine was going with the conversation.
“You want me to check up on him?”
Elaine looked relieved. “If you wouldn’t mind. I worry about her, you know. She doesn’t have a lot of experience with men.”
“What’s his name?”
“Robert. Robert Talbot. He’s an intake person at a hospital. You know, the ones who take your information and handle the insurance billing.”
“That sounds nice,” Sally said as she lifted Callie’s empty plate and headed for the trash.
“It does,” Elaine agreed. “I would just like Callie to make sure.”
“You can never be too safe these days,” Paula agreed.
“Exactly,” Elaine said as she turned to Callie.
Callie nodded. “I’ll see what I can find.”
“Margaret was just telling us about the car show,” Trudy said. “What are you planning to wear?”
Callie quickly turned to her mother. “Me? Why do I have to wear something?”
“I was going to tell you the next time you stopped by,” Margaret said. “There’s a big party the night before the car show starts. I’ll need you to come with me. Elliot will be busy that night with all the guests and he asked me to help by serving as hostess.”
Callie narrowed her eyes at her mother. “Starts? How long is the car show?”
“Six days not counting the night of the party.” Margaret brushed an imaginary thread off her shirt sleeve.
“Six days? How large is this car show?” Callie had meant to look The Pomelo Cove Classic up on the Internet but hadn’t had a chance to yet.
Margaret’s face lit up with enthusiasm. “They’re holding it out at the airport. That will make it easier for some of the bigwigs to fly in for the auction and the hotels are right next door.”
Paula’s eyes opened in surprise. “They’re going to use all the land at the airport?”
Margaret nodded.
“That’s way bigger than the county fairgrounds,” Sally pointed out.
“They’ll use some of the hangars for the auction.” Margaret pressed her hands together in front of her. “And they’re going to televise the auction.”
“Why would they do that?” Elaine asked.
“Some of the cars will be sold for six figures,” Margaret said. “It’s big money.”
“I never understood why anyone would spend that much for a car,” Trudy said.
“I’m sure they’re worth it for the investment,” Paula said.
Elaine raised her hand toward Paula. “Don’t try to explain numbers to us again. I’ll never understand all of that.”
“I did it for a living and I’m starting to forget what it all means too,” Paula said with a chuckle.
“I won’t claim to understand it all either,” Margaret said. “But I do know that some of the cars will also be what they call concept cars.”
Trudy frowned as she set down her empty coffee mug. “What does that mean?”
“They’re the cars of the future. You know, with all that high-tech stuff.” Margaret turned to Callie. “Anyway, there’s a formal party the night before. You’ll need to wear something fancy. The party will be attended by all of Elliot’s cro
wd. Of course, they’ll be tapped for donations to benefit various charities and other worthy causes.”
Callie thought about her limited wardrobe. Part of her wanted to be upset that she was being roped into another one of the entertainments Elliot dreamed up to keep her mother happy. The other part of her was excited at the thought of rubbing elbows with the business people whose success she wanted to emulate.
“How is your new partner doing?” Sally asked Callie.
“He’s not my partner,” Callie said automatically, then remembered to smile to soften her response. “He seemed fine last night at dinner.” She knew she didn’t have anything in her closet to wear to a formal gathering.
“He took you to dinner?” Margaret asked. There was surprise in her voice, along with a touch of hope.
“No, actually I paid.” Callie wondered when she’d have time to do some shopping for clothes.
“You did?” Sally asked.
“Well, it was my turn. He brought dinner to my place the last time,” Callie muttered as she rearranged her schedule in her head.
Margaret flashed a smile around the room. “Really?”
Callie stood. “I should go. I need to get to work. I’ll drop some food off for you later.” Callie headed for the door. “Thanks for breakfast. I’ll get back with you soon, Elaine.”
Sally turned to Margaret. “Well, that sounded promising. Maybe they get along better than you thought?”
Chapter Five
Callie carried the newspaper that she hadn’t had time to read at her mother’s house into her office. After greeting Sierra and Michael, she sat down at her desk. There was a pile of mail on one corner of her desk. She picked up the first envelope and began to open it as she waited for her computer to turn on. It took her quite a while to work through the entire pile. Once that was done, she checked her email and began working on invoices for recent jobs. She also created new files for the new cases she had recently accepted. She was able to get started on several of those cases using her computer to begin the searches and following up on other leads with her phone.
After several hours, she pushed her chair back from the desk and picked up the newspaper again. She skimmed through the pages of the paper. She found what she was looking for in the local events section. It was a review of the starter dish Callie had watched Krista enjoy the previous evening.
The blurb was short and not meant to be a full restaurant review. The glowing description of the sharable dish did sound tempting, however. Callie could imagine a group of friends or office mates deciding to give it a try at the end of the business day with a drink of their choice because of the upbeat promotional piece.
As far as advertising goes, it was a great idea. The short description included an eye-catching color photo of the dish. Callie imagined that The Orange Quay should expect an increase in customers in the near future because of the quick, positive review. No wonder the owner of the restaurant was so happy to see the reviewer at one of his tables.
Callie set the newspaper down and turned to her computer. She started with her favorite search engine and entered in the name that Elaine had given her for the dating background check. It was a common activity for Callie. Although she didn’t get such requests on a daily basis, they were certainly regular enough. At least, it was regular since the media splash involving Greyson during the capture of the bank robbers.
Callie always ignored whenever any of the women calling to request a background check asked for Greyson by name. She had a standard reply about his many other responsibilities that she used whenever someone specifically asked for his services.
Her search for the new boyfriend by name yielded too many results. Elaine hadn’t been specific about where Robert Talbot was from. Callie knew that Elaine’s daughter, Aubrey, taught at the elementary school in Pomelo Cove. She narrowed the search by limiting it to the local area. That, in turn, narrowed the results too much. She found very little to look at. She widened the search area to include more towns around Pomelo Cove. That, at least, gave more promising results.
Callie took down the information that she found. Elaine also hadn’t mentioned that Robert may have had multiple wives. She hoped the Robert Talbot she was reading about wasn’t the one Aubrey had been dating. She figured there was only one way to find out for sure. Callie shut down her computer and grabbed her things.
Sierra waved as Callie left. Michael’s focus never left his computer. She wondered if he even knew she’d been in the office. Callie glanced into the windows of the shops she passed as she drove through town. She wondered which of the shops might have the type of dress she would need for the gala her mother had described. She thought again of her younger half-sister, Ariana, as she pulled into a parking garage downtown. Maybe asking Ariana to go shopping with her would be one of those sister things she should be doing?
She walked up the block and crossed the street to enter the large building that housed multiple departments, including Vital Records. It was something she did on a regular basis as part of her job and she knew several of the employees by name. Because many of the records stored there were considered open to the public, the staff were accustomed to people like Callie coming in to see them.
The fifty-something woman working behind the counter greeted her with a smile.
“What brings you in today?” Maria asked.
“Dating background check,” Callie said as she stepped up to the counter.
“You can never be too cautious these days,” Maria agreed with a nod. “Do you need help?”
“I might. I’m looking for a Robert Talbot. The only one I found lived a couple of towns over but he’s still in our county.” Callie removed the sunglasses from the top of her head before they fell off and tucked them into her purse.
Maria turned the monitor on the tall counter toward her and began typing.
“Looks like there might be a couple of marriage records.”
Callie leaned against the counter. “Yeah, I saw those, but they aren’t available online.”
Maria wrote down the numbers on her screen. “Let me check.”
Callie took her phone out and scrolled through her messages while she waited. There were several from her mother. The first one was a shopping list. The ones after that were additions to the shopping list.
Maria returned a few minutes later with the documents Callie wanted to see.
“Looks like he married this one first, then this one,” Maria said as she pointed.
Callie jotted down the information.
“The names of the towns are different on each one,” Callie said more to herself than Maria.
“Makes sense if the first one ended in divorce,” Maria said.
“Wait. The birth year has to be wrong.” Callie looked up at Maria. “What I mean is, this can’t be my guy.”
Maria leaned over and read the date. “Too old?”
“Yeah. According to what my client said, the guy should be around forty, at most.”
Maria went back to the computer and looked at a couple more screens.
“That’s all I’ve got under that name for marriages,” Maria said.
Callie frowned down at the documents in front of her.
“What about property ownership?” she asked hopefully.
Maria clicked through some more screens.
“Yeah, got one. Here it is.” Maria flipped the monitor around so Callie could see it.
Callie wrote down the information then noticed the line below the one she was copying.
“What’s this?” Callie pointed at the name.
Maria leaned in. “R. Logan Talbot.” She looked up at Callie. “You think the R could stand for Robert?”
Callie raised her brows quickly. “Could be, right? Wouldn’t hurt to check it out.”
She wrote down the information for the second name as well.
“Good luck,” Maria said as another person entered the office and approached the counter.
“Thanks, yo
u’re a peach.” Callie gathered up her notes.
“Tell that to my boss when you ask for my raise,” Maria said with a laugh.
Callie made a quick stop at the grocery store after leaving the records office. After dropping some of the groceries off at her house, she stopped at her mother’s again. This time, Margaret was alone and sitting in her sunroom. Callie put some of the items in the fridge and left the nonperishables on the counter.
“I have to go,” she said as she stuck her head in the sunroom.
Margaret looked up from her computer. “Thanks for the groceries. Have you thought more about the party and what you’re going to wear?”
“I’m thinking of asking Ariana if she wants to go shopping with me,” Callie confessed.
Margaret smiled. “That sounds very big sisterly of you.”
“I thought so too. Is that what you’re working on?” Callie nodded at the computer in front of Margaret. Her mother often helped Elliot with his many activities. In addition to acting as his hostess, she also organized several of the events he was involved with and sat on committees for some of the charitable organizations he supported.
“Yes. I’m finalizing some of the preparations for the party. It’s going to be a very large affair but the catering company we’ve hired is supposed to be the best in the business.”
“Gotta run. I found a few things on Aubrey’s new boyfriend to check out, but I need to follow-up on something else first.”
“Happy hunting,” Margaret said as she picked up her phone. After texting in the message to Elliot, she smiled as she pressed send. He will be happy to hear that things with Callie are progressing as she’d hoped.
Once again, Callie parked her car about a half a block away from the newspaper office. She went through her messages again and replied to several as she waited. Before long, staff members from the newspaper began leaving for the day. About thirty minutes later, Krista Danforth exited the building and walked to the parking garage.
This time Callie followed her to a sizable establishment named the Tiki Bar. It had a lot of outdoor seating with multiple tiki huts dotting the property along the sandy beach. Callie was familiar with this place and her mouth was already watering at the thought of the fresh fish they served. She took a seat at one of the tables that gave her a clear view of Krista.
