Hooking for Trouble

by Betty Hechtman

  When I reached the top of the stairway, I was relieved to see the second floor had thick carpet to absorb the sound of my footsteps. I stopped for a moment, getting my bearings. A U-shaped hall went around the second floor. An upstairs den was directly in front of me and had French doors like the downstairs ones. It seemed sparsely furnished, with beanbag chairs and a lot of toys.

  I took a deep breath as I realized my goal was within reach. I could see the lounge chairs on the balcony before I even reached the doors. I opened the glass door softly and stepped outside. The cushions were all yellow, which was a relief. I was afraid they might have gotten trashed. The tops of the cushions all appeared pristine, so I began turning them one by one. The first two were the same on the other side. The last one had some dirt caked to it. It had to be the one. I ran my hand over it looking for telltale signs of dried blood, but there was nothing. It didn’t matter—the Blood Detector would react to any residue. I took out the bottle, prepared to spray. After a moment’s pause to make sure I was unobserved, I began to spritz. Then I waited. Nothing showed on the cushion. Was I wrong? I quickly read the label on the bottle, and then I understood. The blue glow needed darkness to show.

  I put the bottle back in the plastic bag and got ready to retrace my steps.

  “You shouldn’t be out there,” a voice commanded, and I froze. My mind had gone blank and I stole a look inside to see who it was. Ursula was standing in the doorway. She was wearing her coat and carrying a bag of something. I took a breath, realizing that I had overreacted. I had noted when I met her that she naturally had a tone of authority in her voice.

  I used the bathroom excuse and mumbled something about wanting to check the weather. It was nonsense, but the best I could do. As soon as she recognized me, she waved me over.

  “I need to talk to you,” she said in a stern voice. As soon as I reached the doorway, she took my hand and led me down the stairs. I was sure she was going to drag me into the den and report where she’d found me, but when we got to the bottom of the stairs, she led me to the hall I’d come through before. I hadn’t noticed the doors along it when I’d been on way to the stairs. She opened one and brought me into the room.

  “I’m sorry if I startled you before, but I was told the balcony was off-limits. We can talk in here,” she said, shutting the door. I took in the room quickly. There was a single bed and a desk with some things on it. A wall unit with some shelves sat against one wall, and a dresser was against another. A small suitcase was on the floor. It was open, and I could see that it was full of clothes. There was one chair in front of a small desk, but she didn’t invite me to sit.

  “I saw that woman from story time is in the den.” Ursula shook her head with dismay. “I just can’t deal with her. You have to step in.”

  The shock of being discovered was wearing off, and now I was just listening, waiting to hear what she was going to say.

  “I thought I wouldn’t have to deal with her again. That Jennifer would have returned before the next story time. But it doesn’t look that way. I cannot be harassed about filling out a form with my cell phone number. I will always be there waiting when the children come out.”

  “What makes you think she’s not coming back soon?’ I asked.

  Ursula ignored me and took off her coat and hung it on the back of the chair before putting the bag she’d been carrying down. She clucked her tongue as she looked around the room.

  “There’s no reason to be living out of a suitcase if I’m going to be here that long.” She opened the closet door. I stood on my tiptoes to see over her shoulder as she pushed some hangers farther to the side and seemed to be looking for empty hangers.

  She turned back to face the room and I repeated my question, and this time she answered.

  “It’s something I just heard from the service,” she muttered, glancing around. “You seem like someone with sense. Since I’m going to be here for a while, do you think I should pack the other nanny’s stuff up? I’m not one to mess with other people’s things, but I think the room should be mine while I’m here.”

  I sensed she didn’t really want my opinion as much as she wanted me to agree with her. Actually, I could see her point. “Sure, you ought to be able to hang up your clothes and get her things out of the way.”

  “That’s just what I’m going to do.” She looked back in the closet and pulled out a suitcase. As she did a guitar case started to come forward. She caught it before it fell and pushed it back against the closet wall. “This must be hers, so I’ll just put everything in it.” She put the suitcase on the bed and opened it. “What’s this?” she said, looking down into it. I was curious as to what caused her comment and casually moved closer to get a view inside of it just as she pulled out a bag from a local drugstore.

  “Well, if that doesn’t beat all.” There was disgust in her voice as she held a bottle of pink liquid. I leaned forward to read the label. All I saw were the words “Children’s” and “Allergy” before she slipped it back in the bag. It seemed to be hitting other bottles, which made me think there were more in there.

  “You seem upset about what you just found,” I said, hoping my comment would get her to explain.

  Instead, she flashed me a look. “So do you think you can keep that woman off my back? The children love story time, but I won’t bring them back if it’s required that I give out my cell phone number.”

  She began gathering up items on the dresser and desk and putting them in the suitcase. I did my best to see what she was picking up, assuming they must be Jennifer’s things. There were some papers and CDs in clear cases that Ursula took from the desk.

  She picked up a black purse from the dresser. “She certainly did leave in a hurry,” Ursula muttered. “Not even to take her purse.” She dropped it into the suitcase. “You haven’t given me an answer. Can I depend on you to handle the situation? I wouldn’t want to have to tell their parents that the children can’t go to something they enjoy because I’m being harassed.”

  Great, another way I had to worry about Cheyenne or, more likely, her husband being annoyed with the bookstore. “I’m sure I can convince Adele to make an exception,” I said, hoping it was true.

  She picked up the bag she’d brought in and walked into the bathroom. I didn’t follow her in, but once I saw that she was still on her clearing-up mission, I watched from behind her. She made a sound of distaste as she picked up a towel and wrapped it around a toothbrush and open tube of toothpaste and a selection of cosmetics and hair products and pushed them to the end of the counter. She emptied the bag she’d been carrying, and I saw it contained a full-size bottle of mouthwash and a glass cup. She picked off the label from the cup and set it next to the sink before taking her teeth-cleaning supplies out of a zippered bag and putting them in it.

  “And they will get their membership cards back. She confiscated them when she saw that someone new had brought the children.”

  “I’ll tell you what,” I began. “I’ll make sure they get their cards back if you tell me what you found out from your service about Jennifer. And I’ll make sure that Adele doesn’t bother you again.” I almost felt like crossing my fingers. Could I actually deliver on my promise?

  Ursula turned to face me. “I can’t imagine why you would care, but I’ll make that deal. The service said the Mackenzies were very unhappy with the way Jennifer left so suddenly, and apparently they caught her in a lie. She claimed her mother was sick and must have forgotten that she told Mrs. Mackenzie that her mother died when she was a child. I’m not sure what they’re going to do when she comes back. If they let her go, I’ll have to stay here until the service finds a replacement that suits them.”

  I wanted to ask Ursula for more details, but she was staring intently at me. “And now I expect you to keep up your end of the bargain,” she said with a definitive nod.

  “Of course,” I said, hoping I sounded m
ore sure than I felt.

  She gestured toward the door. “I’m sure you want to get back to whatever it is that Mrs. Mackenzie has cooked up this time. I need some time to put my feet up before my time off is over.”

  I managed to slip back into the den unnoticed. The three sisters were singing as they crocheted. Adele was looking directly into the camera, seeming to being enjoying every moment. CeeCee had arranged herself so her best side showed. Rhoda and Elise both seemed a little stunned and didn’t notice when I sat on the end of the couch.

  “That’s a wrap,” Cheyenne said when they’d reached the end of the song. Garrett stopped videoing and gave his body a little stretch. “We’ll do a little editing and have it up by this evening.”

  I was still thinking about what Ursula had told me as they got up. They were all abuzz with the excitement of being all over social media. Finally, CeeCee noticed me.

  “There you are, dear.” She looked out the glass doors at the chain-link fence. “That’s your—” It didn’t take too much imagination to figure out that she was going to finish it with yard or house.

  “Time to go,” I said, cutting her off and hustling her toward the door.

  * * *

  I wanted to talk to Dinah. I certainly couldn’t tell the group about what I’d heard about Jennifer. I had purposely kept them in the dark about anything negative going on with Cheyenne’s place. I hoped she wouldn’t mind my interrupting her time with Commander, but as soon as Adele dropped me back at my car in the bookstore parking lot, I headed directly to the Mail It Quick Center, which Commander owned and operated. Apparently she didn’t, because as soon as I walked in, she came up and grabbed me as if I were a life preserver.

  “Seeing the invitations makes it all a little too real,” Dinah said under her breath.

  Commander was leaning over the center counter, which was spread with a bunch of samples of wedding invitations. He seemed to have no idea that Dinah had used me to get away from what they were doing. Nor, I suspect, of how uncomfortable she was at having to deal with the invitations, even if it was just picking out the one she liked best.

  A man came over from the post office boxes, which were in an alcove near the front door. He saw the invitations. “For you?” he said to Commander.

  “Yup. All we have to do is pick the one we like and I’ll print them up.”

  “Congratulations. It’s nice that things are turning out well for you.”

  “And there’s my bride,” Commander said with so much pride in his voice, looking at Dinah.

  The man turned to Dinah and me. I’m not sure if he knew which of us it was, so he spoke to both of us. “You’re getting a great guy. I don’t know if you have any idea the kind of stuff Commander does for his customers.” He looked to Commander and smiled. “A lot of us who have post boxes work out of our homes. There’s no gathering around the watercooler to socialize or hanging in a break room for us, and it can get pretty lonely. Commander figured it out and he started arranging get-togethers for us post box people. That’s how I met my wife.” He gave Commander another pat and then told Dinah she was a lucky woman.

  Commander almost seemed to be blushing, but I could tell he was pleased. I already knew the story and that there was really more to it. Commander had been in the throes of grief over the death of his wife, and he’d turned his own loneliness into a way to help others by starting the get-togethers. And he’d continued doing things for senior centers. He was all about making other people happy, and in the process he had found his own.

  He’d probably been working since early morning, but the crease in his khakis was still razor sharp, and there wasn’t the hint of a wrinkle in his blue oxford cloth dress shirt or a hair out of place in his thick shock of white hair.

  “Go on with Molly,” he said. “I can tell you two need some girl time.”

  We went outside and crossed the small strip mall to a tea shop that had just opened up. Dinah hung her head. “I wish I wasn’t such a stick in the mud. It was so much easier getting married the first time. I didn’t know anything. Now I’m worried about everything.”

  I gave her a hug and assured her it would all work out.

  “I don’t see you rushing to the altar again.”

  “Who knows what the future will bring?” I said. “This is about you anyway. Just be glad you’re not in Adele’s shoes.” We went inside and looked at the menu. We both chose chai tea lattes and stood by the bar while we waited for them.

  “I just wish he wasn’t so perfect,” she said. The barista pushed our drinks to the front of the counter. We picked them up and went to a table. “I’m afraid he’s in for a shock when we live together. It’s going to start with the toothpaste. He’s the kind who carefully rolls the tube up from the bottom, and I’m much more of a random squeezer,” she said.

  “There’s an easy fix—just have your own tubes,” I said with a laugh.

  But all the talk of toothpaste stirred something in my mind.

  “Who leaves a place without taking their toothbrush or their purse?”

  “Huh?” Dinah said, giving me a puzzled look. Then she snapped to attention. “Does this have to do with your checking out the chaise cushion? How did that go?”

  “It was a bust,” I said, telling her about the blue light only showing up in the dark. “But I busted Felix.” I smiled. “Sorry for the corny play on words—I couldn’t help myself.” I described seeing the dog sleeping on the table.

  “What about the rest of it? Did anyone slip up and give away that you’re Cheyenne’s neighbor?”

  I brushed over that question and brought up Ursula.

  “Who?” Dinah said. “With all this wedding stuff and my students and their pictures in their essays, I’m missing out on everything. By the way, the meeting with them was short and to the point. They told me I was out of touch and needed to move with the times. I told them I’m the teacher, and if they want to pass my class they better turn in hard copies of their papers written in complete words only. No texts, no shortened words and no happy faces, emoticons or emoji.”

  “Good for you,” I said, and then reassured her that she hadn’t really missed too much. “Ursula is Jennifer’s replacement and also the person who caught me in the act of fondling the chaise cushion.” I could laugh about it now that it had turned out not to be a problem. “And all your talk of toothpaste reminded me of something I saw at Cheyenne’s.” I explained about the war between Ursula and Adele before I got to describing what I’d seen. “Jennifer’s purse was on the dresser. All of her cosmetics and hair stuff were on the counter in the bathroom. And the cap wasn’t on her toothpaste and her toothbrush was next to it. Her suitcase was in the closet.”

  Dinah played with the lid of her drink. “What do you think it means?”

  “If it was just one of those things, I wouldn’t think it meant anything, but all of them? It makes me wonder if Jennifer Clarkson didn’t really leave at all.”

  “But you talked to her on her cell phone,” Dinah said.

  “I talked to someone on her cell phone.” I looked at Dinah. “And there’s something more. Jennifer’s mother died when she was a child.”

  “Ooh, the plot really thickens,” Dinah said.

  CHAPTER 15

  I went back to the bookstore in the afternoon. Somehow my suggestion of Dinah and Commander each having their own tube of toothpaste after they got married seemed to encourage Dinah. She’d gone back to the Mail It Quick center resolved to pick out the invitations and go forward with the wedding plans with more joy. Who knew it would be so easy to solve the whole issue?

  Mr. Royal was busy sprucing up the music and video department. He had picked up the signs announcing the upcoming event with ChIlLa and the She La Las from the printer and was positioning one right at the entrance to the alcove. He waved me over as he was finishing up. “How big a crowd are you expecting
?” he asked.

  “I usually set up for fifty people for our author events,” I said. He didn’t seem content with that.

  “This is going to be bigger. ChIlLa is posting about it on their Facebook fan page.” He gazed around the bookstore. “We can roll back the bookshelves and open the middle of the store up. Make it one hundred seats.” He stopped to consider. “You’ll have to rent some chairs. No, why don’t I take care of that. It’s going to be great.”

  In the background, I saw Mrs. Shedd overhear him and smile with satisfaction. As I had thought, she was doing it all for him.

  I barely had time to straighten up the yarn department. The romance readers were having a meeting, and I’d had to set it up for them. Usually they just got together to discuss a book they’d all read, but this month I had gotten Eduardo to be a special guest. Even though he’d put his career as a cover model behind him, everyone still thought of him that way.

  He got to the event area just as the women were starting to arrive. I had to smile when I saw he was wearing one of the outfits from the old days. The white, billowing shirt was open and exposed his chest. Leather pants and boots finished off the look. Time had been kind to his angular face, and his eyes were as clear blue as ever. We traded looks, and I smiled. His expression dimmed for a moment and I gathered that while the leather pants looked good, they might not be so comfortable—I noted him tugging at them.

  “What’s going on with the pictures at the front?” he asked. “Was that Cheyenne Chambers with a long crochet hook? And there seem to be several shots of CeeCee.”

  I got it. He was a celebrity, too. I got Mr. Royal to come over and take some photos to add to the bunch. Eduardo was a master at posing, and it turned out that he didn’t have a bad side.

  I left the bookstore just as it was getting dark. I wasn’t sure what the plans for the evening were, but I stopped home to drop off my things and check on the animals. Of course, with the sun down, Felix had left his sleeping spot on the kitchen table. I looked the small gray terrier mix in the eye. “I know where you were and what you were doing.”