“How about I take you guys to lunch? Pizza? Chinese? You pick.”
“Pizza!” they shouted in unison.
“Before we go, let me introduce you to Marvin Shorter. He’s owned the business for about thirty years now. One of the first black-owned detective agencies in the area.”
“That’s cool,” Grayson said. “When I graduate, I’m gonna own my own . . . business.”
Intrigued, Jonelle asked, “What kind?” She sincerely hoped it wasn’t a gun shop.
While proud to announce he wanted his own business, Grayson now appeared reluctant to say anything else.
“Go on,” Piper said. “You started it, so you might as well tell her.”
“Bakery,” he said, barely above a whisper.
“He’s real good at it, too,” Piper added. “Baking, I mean. He calls me whenever he’s just made something, and my mom gives me some money to go up to his place to see what he’s got.” She made a face. “He never says up front. It’s always, ‘Come on up and take your pick.’” She rolled her eyes.
“I don’t plan stuff,” Grayson said, a touch of defensiveness in his voice. “And I don’t like people tellin’ me what to make. I make what I feel like. Plus I charge a little extra for the sweet stuff because I don’t like it as much as the savory.”
“Is Miss Tammy one of your customers?” Jonelle asked.
“Naw. She always said she’s watchin’ her weight and she don’t want Lark eatin’ too many sweets. The only people on that floor that buys stuff is Piper, Fred, and Miss Maxine.”
Jonelle ushered everyone back to her office. She absentmindedly put items in her bag and checked to make sure she had her credit cards. “So, how often does Miss Maxine buy your baked goods?”
“At first, um, maybe once a month, but lately she started askin’ me to let her know whenever I baked pastries with fruit, like strawberries and apple. Once she wanted me to bake peanut butter cookies, but I don’t bake cookies so much, so I told her no. I don’t mind her requestin’ stuff ’cause she pays more than the others.”
“That’s nice. Let’s go, guys.”
With the three youngsters trailing behind, Jonelle stopped outside her uncle’s office. The door stood open as usual, but there was no sign of him.
“Sorry. He must’ve stepped out. If you want to stop by some other time, let me know and I’ll give him a heads-up.” She continued on to the front.
“I’m taking these three home,” she said to Rainey. “After that I have a few stops to make from there, so I’ll probably call it a day instead of coming back here. Okay?”
“Fine with me. By the way,” Rainey said, “when Marvin speaks at schools in the area, he sometimes passes out Frisbees with the agency’s logo. You guys want one?”
“Sure.”
“Cool.”
“I guess so.”
“There’s a box over here on this side of the desk. Pick out whichever color you want.”
Piper chose yellow, Grayson picked red, and after digging through the pile, Fred decided on blue.
Jonelle winked at Rainey. “Thanks a lot. Call if you need me.”
She led them out of the building. Instead of turning right and heading to the open lot, she paused. A dark sedan sat illegally parked under several large trees on the median.
“What’re you lookin’ at?” Grayson asked.
In the time it took to divert her attention to him, the car pulled away and sped down the street. “Not sure. Did you see that car? Did it look familiar?”
He shrugged. “Looks like every other blue Nissan on the planet. Where we going?”
“Hmm. My Jeep’s parked down here.” Once everyone buckled themselves in, Piper spoke up.
“You know, a lot of people in the building are talking about you.”
Jonelle suppressed a smile. “Good. I want everyone to know about me and what I’m doing. Makes them more likely to contact me with any information. What’re they saying?”
Piper, sitting in the passenger seat next to Jonelle, turned to the two behind her in the backseat before responding.
“Mrs. Watkins told my mom to call if she sees you wanderin’ around the building. Claims you’re trespassing.”
“Really? Then why does she keep the main doors open? Seems to me if she was all that concerned, security would be tougher than it is. Sorry. Didn’t mean to raise my voice like that.” Something about that woman ticked her off.
“The building ain’t locked until the nighttime. When Mrs. Watkins leaves. You gotta have a key to get in after, oh, I dunno, five or six. Somethin’ like that,” Fred said.
“So is this key separate from the one that goes to your apartment?”
All three answered yes.
“But if you forgot for some reason,” Fred added, “you could always get somebody to buzz you in.”
She silently warned herself to tread carefully. “I’m guessing there’s some kinda intercom, but I wonder if—and I’m not judging, mind you—I wonder if you’ve ever buzzed somebody in that you didn’t know.”
An awkward silence spread throughout the Jeep.
“Sometimes you can’t hear too good,” Grayson said, his voice low behind her. “I mean if you’re expectin’ somebody and the buzzer sounds and you say who is it and they say somethin’ static-y, well, you’re not gonna argue, right?”
Good point, Grayson, she thought. Out loud, Jonelle agreed. “I’ve done it myself in my own condo a few times, so I understand. Anyone else have a problem with me poking around that you guys know about?”
Piper squirmed in her seat. “Um. Well . . . I heard my mom say that Miss Maxine doesn’t believe you’re workin’ to help Miss Tammy. Miss Maxine thinks you’re really workin’ for the cops and that you want to put Miss Tammy in jail.”
Jonelle gripped the wheel tighter. “Really? And did Miss Maxine say why she thought that?”
“Somethin’ about the way you ask questions. She said you was more interested in what Miss Tammy was doin’ that night rather than tryin’ to find out who could’ve taken Lark. Miss Maxine said you was almost sayin’ that she had somethin’ to do with it. Were you? Were you sayin’ Miss Maxine is involved some kinda way?”
Keeping her eyes on the road helped her decide how to respond. “I was hired by Miss Tammy’s lawyer to find out as much as I can about the night Lark disappeared. The main problem right away was . . . how much time Miss Tammy said she was gone when Lark vanished. So, to help Miss Tammy prove that she’s right, and the police got it wrong somehow, is to ask as many people I can to corroborate, um, that is verify, that everything Miss Tammy says is true.”
“I know what that word means,” Piper sniffed.
“Sorry. Don’t mean to talk down to you guys.”
“Hey,” Grayson said. “You got a gun in here somewhere?”
Fred groaned. “You and guns. I think you’re gonna be a gangbanger one of these days. I know. Why don’t you make a bread-shaped pistol?”
“Why don’t you shut up? I’m not gonna be no criminal. Already told you I’m gonna own my own bakery. I wonder if the gun’s someplace in here is all.”
Jonelle steered them back to the main issue. “What else are people saying?”
“I heard one of the ladies say she was in the laundry room and saw you and Jelani and that he got upset about somethin’,” Fred said. “She also said that Miss Maxine was goin’ around tellin’ people not to talk to you no more.”
“She say why?” Jonelle’s face burned.
“Naw. Only that if you came around askin’ more questions that they was to let her know, so’s she could make sure Miss Tammy heard about it.”
Jonelle pursed her lips together to keep from blurting out what she thought of Miss Maxine. She guessed it was time for another visit to—quoting Randy—‘‘that old busy body down the hall.’’
• • •
With Grayson on her right and the other two across from her in the booth, Jonelle ordered one medium cheese and one medium meat lover
’s pizza. She added a tossed salad to alleviate feelings of guilt. Everyone agreed on lemonade, and while waiting for the pizza to arrive, Jonelle’s need to learn more outweighed any former reservations about asking more questions.
“I’m curious about Mrs. Watkins. For some reason I got the impression she stayed in her office most of the time. Does she ever make personal visits to the units?”
Piper, the vegetarian in the group, hence the cheese pizza, answered first. “Not that I ever saw. One time my mom wanted me to tell Mrs. Watkins we needed a new showerhead. When I went downstairs, Miss Maxine and her were talkin’ and watchin’ this small television.”
“Do you remember what they talked about?”
Piper shrugged. “Whatever goofy soap opera thing that was on.”
Jonelle addressed her next question to Fred. “Do you remember seeing Mrs. Watkins go into Tamora’s apartment?”
“Only time I seen her go inside was when Lark had a birthday party, and Mrs. Watkins brought her a gift.”
Damn. Jonelle tried something else.
“When you guys take care of the pets, do you ever see anything odd?”
“Do you mean do we see anybody acting suspicious around the building?” Grayson asked. He plucked a pepperoni from a slice of pizza and chewed.
“Yes.”
“My dad says everybody’s a little weird.”
“Well, I think it’s weird that all these people are so worried about Miss Tammy that I think they’re forgetting about Lark,” Piper said. “That’s why we put up fliers. Somebody’s gotta do something to find her. I mean, where is she? How come nobody’s organizing a search party or something?” Anger in the youngster’s voice came through.
“That’s a good question. What do you think the answer is?”
The plastic cushions in the booth squeaked when Piper leaned back. She picked at the cheese on her pizza. Jonelle waited.
Piper looked at her friends who stared back, slowly chewing.
“I think,” Piper said, “what I mean is, we’ve talked about this, so it’s not just me.”
“I understand,” Jonelle said. The waitress came with the check, and Jonelle asked for containers for the uneaten pizza.
“We think Miss Maxine knows something and so does Miss Tammy. I don’t mean they know who took Lark or anything,” Piper said, frowning. “Heck, now I don’t know what I mean.”
Jonelle thought she knew and had been considering the same thing herself. What she came up with was the only way a mother would seem so nonchalant about her child’s abduction is that she knew what had happened. She wouldn’t say this to the kids. She felt she’d gained their trust and didn’t want to jeopardize that, so she kept that idea to herself.
She paid the bill, gave the cheese pizza leftovers to Piper, and said, “Grayson, you mind sharing the other leftovers with Fred?”
“She can have the whole thing. I don’t like used pizza,” he said.
The way he said it sent off warning bells. As Jonelle followed the trio out of the restaurant, she took in Fred’s skinny arms and legs poking out from under shorts that were frayed at the hem. What she’d thought was adolescent gawkiness she now wondered if it could be something else.
“Tell me something. Every time I’ve been in your building Miss Maxine is always there. Does she ever go out?”
“For the past couple months, every Saturday at nine in the morning,” Piper said. “My mom says you could set your calendar and watch by what she does.”
“Where does she go?”
Grayson shrugged. “Mrs. Watkins picks her up. We figure they go play bingo or something.”
Once inside the Jeep, and after everyone had buckled up, Jonelle again broached the subject of Lorraine Watkins. “I understand Mrs. Watkins lives somewhere else and that if there’s an emergency you call another number. Is that right?”
“Yeah,” Grayson said. “But most of the time after she locks up, she goes over to the shopping center.” He snickered.
The girls giggled.
“How do you guys know that?”
More giggles.
“Okay, everybody. What’s so funny? So she goes shopping when she leaves work. I do that sometimes myself.”
“I don’t think you’re shopping for what she’s shopping for,” Piper managed between fits of laughter.
“Okaaay. Fill me in, please.”
“Here’s the deal,” Piper said. “Me and my mom went to the discount shoe place, and we saw her talkin’ to this guy. My mom said she oughta be ashamed flirtin’ with a guy could be her son.”
Jonelle had to make sure she heard right. “You positive it wasn’t Jelani she was with?”
“Him?” Fred snorted. “No way.”
“Nope. Not Jelani. We was close, and when she saw us, she ducked inside the auto parts store.”
Jonelle glanced at Piper, silly smile still plastered on the girl’s face. “Can you describe what he looked like?”
“Black guy. About your complexion. Not ugly, not cute either.”
“Do you remember what he was wearing?”
“Normal clothes.” Piper shook her head. “He looked regular. You know?”
Jonelle suppressed a sigh. She glanced in the rearview mirror at the occupants in the backseat. “Is it possible that it’s the same guy Grayson saw with Randy and Jelani?”
“We maybe could pick him out of a lineup or something, if you got one,” Grayson said.
The kid definitely watched too much television. “It’s too early for that, but I’ll give it some thought,” Jonelle said.
“We think she hangs out there ’cause I seen her, too,” Fred said. “My sister took me to get shoes a little while ago and, whaddya know, there she was. But we seen her talkin’ to a black guy and a white guy.”
More fits of laughter.
“Say,” Grayson said, once he caught his breath. “You want us to keep an eye on her when she goes to the mall?”
“Absolutely not. Seriously, guys, please don’t interfere. We, um, don’t want to tip the bad guys off, now do we?” Jonelle’s heart sank. She hadn’t intended for the kids to get so involved. Now that they were caught up in the case, she had to find some way to diffuse the situation.
“Tell you what. Since I can move around more quickly, I’ll handle everything away from the apartment. What would be a huge help is if you watch—and I mean watch only—what happens around your building.”
She pulled the Jeep in front of the apartment building. The three youngsters hopped out and stood outside the driver’s side window. Jonelle reached into her bag. She always kept a supply of small notebooks to jot down impressions on a case. Reaching inside she found three unused pads but no extra pens or pencils. As she looked up, she noticed a figure staring at the group from a distance. She couldn’t tell if the person was male or female. Whoever it was saw her staring and turned and hurried away.
“Here,” she said, handing a notebook to each.
“What’re these for?” Piper asked.
“For taking notes on what you see that you think might help Miss Tammy.”
Piper didn’t look too sure about that, but Grayson caught on.
“I get it. Like when the detective wants to remember stuff, he writes it down for later, right?”
Jonelle agreed.
“Cool. So we’re kinda workin’ the case, too. I got lots of pencils at home if you guys need one,” he said.
“You’ve gotta promise that all you’ll do is take notes. Promise?”
Two heads nodded. The scowl on Piper’s face indicated she wasn’t sold on the idea.
“What’s the matter, Piper?”
“I’m not sure my mom’ll like it if I hafta go to court or somethin’.”
“Oh, no. No way this’ll ever go that far. Don’t think of yourselves as anything other than reporters. If—and that’s an ‘if’ in all caps—you see something out of the ordinary and can’t get in touch with me, write it down and I’ll look into it. Okay
?”
Piper still hesitated.
“Listen. No pressure. In fact, now that I think about it, having you write stuff down might not be a good idea. I’m really sorry, so forget I suggested it. I sometimes get carried away and don’t always think things through the way I should. So,”—she held out her hand—“if you want to give me the notepads, I’ll stick them back in my bag.”
Grayson shoved the pad deep in his pants pocket. “I wanna keep mine.”
“Me too,” Fred replied.
“I dunno,” Piper said. “If somebody doesn’t like what I’m writin’, then I hafta give them the notes. My mom says—”
“Oh give it a rest, willya,” Fred shouted.
Piper’s eyes flashed. Before an argument ensued, Jonelle jumped in.
“Tell you what. You guys are a team, so if one member doesn’t want to do something, that’s okay. No worries. The fact that I’ve learned so much from you guys from the little time I’ve known you has been a tremendous help.”
“Can’t we still report on stuff, though?” Grayson said with a tinge of sadness.
“Of course. And you can call anytime.” She smiled and held out her hand for Piper’s notebook. Instead of placing the pad in the palm of Jonelle’s hand, she tucked it inside her purse.
All three waved and entered the lobby’s glass doors. Jonelle resisted the urge to park and seek out the apartment manager and decided instead to check out the local strip mall first.
Before she set off, she turned to the spot where someone stood watching the group. She drove through the lot, parked near the street, and observed the main entrance. After ten minutes, when no one went inside, she aimed the Jeep for the street.
She checked her mirrors before pulling out and yawned. Dealing with tweens exhausted her. Another quick check in the mirrors revealed a dark blue sedan behind her. The same sedan she’d seen twice before.
CHAPTER 29
A plastic sheet covered the license plate, preventing her from reading the tag of the sedan still one car behind. Jonelle pulled into the open lot of the strip mall and parked close to the front of the Little Caesars. The vehicle on her tail slid into a space one row behind and several cars down. The person behind the wheel needed to work on his tailing skills. Unless, of course, he wanted his presence known.
Five Minutes Page 14
