The Tea Series

by Sheila Horgan

  “Good questions.”

  “Roland, this is what you do. I’m kind of fuzzy right now, but I’m not completely incapable of thought. You know a whole lot more than you are telling me. What’s going on? This wasn’t some kids who break into cars in the parking lot and take the change and GPSs. This is something else. What is this?”

  “I don’t know, but it’s pretty obvious it was meant to send a message, and that message was directed at you.”

  “Well, yes, even I can figure that out. It’s my apartment.”

  “Look around you, Cara. It’s also your belongings.”

  “What?”

  “It is articles that someone would consider your most personal belongings.”

  “All those little papers, those are A.J.’s. His grandmother and sister made him a memory box.”

  “If someone didn’t know you and A.J. well, they would assume that a memory box belonged to the female of the house, not the male. It is your lingerie, your teapot, your perfume. Take in a deep breath and look around. This was directed at you.”

  “Barry.”

  “The man who beat you?”

  “Yes. He’s the only one who would want to hurt me this way.”

  “I’m all but certain that he is currently incarcerated, Cara, but I’ll check that. We have a list of interests in a variety of facilities. We have an arrangement. They alert us any time one of our detainees is released or moved. I doubt it is Barry. You never know, there is a chance he co-opted someone, but that feels wrong. It’s the teapot. Why was it saved? Barry or his minion would be more likely to throw something like that. Not place it.”

  “Like he threw me against the wall?”

  Roland didn’t pursue that comment. He was trying to keep me calm, I guess. “Any other thoughts?”

  “The only other person in my whole life who has wished me harm was Joe the cop. He and his sister, really. They’re no longer around. So, no, I can’t think of anyone.”

  “What about A.J.?”

  “What?”

  “Do you know of anyone who would be out to send a message to A.J.?”

  “I thought you just said that the message was directed at me.”

  “I believe that to be true, Cara, but I need to ask these kinds of questions. If someone wants to hurt a man, or scare him, the best way to do that is to go after the person or people he loves.”

  “Oh, crap. I need to check on my family. And on A.J.’s. I didn’t even think of that.”

  “I’m sure your family is fine, but if you’d like to make some calls, I would suggest that you do so from one of the SUVs, or I can have one of my guys walk you up to the apartment business center if you’d be more comfortable.”

  “I’m going to go sit in my car. I get the hint. You want to look around. I’m going to call A.J. and my sister Teagan. She’ll check in on the rest of us, and A.J. can check in on his sister and grandmother.”

  “That sounds like a good start.”

  “Have you told Adeline about the warehouse?”

  “No, I have people doing a thorough check. One box at a time. First we will establish if anything has been disturbed.”

  “I still have that post in my car. I threw it in the back.”

  “Thanks, that will be a help.”

  “This makes no sense at all. You know, maybe this doesn’t have anything to do with that. I mean, maybe my apartment and the warehouse are two isolated events that just look like they are connected.” Even I knew I was grasping at straws, as my mother would say, but I had to find a way to make all this okay in my brain. “Maybe somebody just forgot to turn the alarm back on, or maybe there was a malfunction. You said that there are motion sensors and cameras and everything. If someone was actually inside the warehouse when they weren’t supposed to be, I’m sure all hell would have broken loose. Besides, if someone was inside the warehouse and you have all the cameras and all the motion detectors, then obviously you can check to see who that person was. Even if you can’t identify them, it gives you a clue. You want me to take a look? I can at least prove to you it isn’t my family.”

  “We’re looking into that.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means that we have found some discrepancies in the protocol and we are investigating them.”

  “That doesn’t sound good.”

  “It isn’t good.”

  “Well, I didn’t get very far into the warehouse, but from what I saw, the cubes looked locked. You’d have to be psychic to know what was in each cube. Even the guys who loaded them up and delivered them wouldn’t know which cube was which. Harry and I sorted all that out. The lists are on the inside.”

  “Yep.”

  “So I don’t get it.”

  “Me either, but I will. Bet on it.”

  “Any ideas what the connection might be between my apartment and the warehouse? You said that somebody was sending me a message. What does that have to do with the warehouse?”

  “Another good question. And you’re sure you don’t have your passcode written down anywhere in the apartment?”

  “I’m positive. The only place I have the passcode is on my phone, and my phone was in my purse. Still is. You want to see it?”

  “No. Not now. Is your phone password protected?”

  “Yes. I never used to do that, but I have ever since I started keeping information about Adeline’s business on my phone. My stuff isn’t of any interest to anybody, but I figured Adeline’s might be.”

  “We appreciate the diligence. Anything else you can think of?”

  “No, just that I need to check on my family.”

  “You go and do that. I will have one of my guys keeping an eye on you; if you need anything at all, just ask. I’ll make arrangements for you and A.J. to stay at a hotel tonight.”

  “That isn’t necessary.”

  “Yes, it is. We won’t be out of here for a few hours. You will need some rest.”

  “You don’t want to be rushed or to have me underfoot.”

  “Exactly.”

  We both chuckled. It wasn’t a full-blown laugh, but under the circumstances, it was pretty impressive.

  I walked over to my car and hopped in the passenger seat. I may be a chicken, but I’m still nosey, and from the passenger seat I had a better view of what was going on inside my apartment. Thanks to whoever did whatever, I now was the proud owner of some really messed up blinds, so I could see people moving around inside, even if I couldn’t tell exactly what they were doing.

  I called A.J.

  He answered on the third ring.

  Not a good sign. If he isn’t busy, he answers on the first.

  “Cara? What’s wrong?”

  “How’d you know?”

  “You knew I had a full day. You wouldn’t call unless there was a problem. Are Suzi and my grandmother okay? Are you okay? What’s going on?”

  “Someone broke into the apartment and trashed it.”

  “Where are you?”

  “In the parking lot.”

  “Stay out of there. Did you call nine-one-one?”

  “I called Adeline’s security guy.”

  “What?”

  “I went over to the warehouse just before I came home. The door at the warehouse wasn’t locked right, so I called the security guy, and he said to leave it, they’d check it out, so I came home, and the apartment was trashed. He was calling me about the warehouse, so I told him about the apartment, and he said he would take care of it.”

  “I’m on my way. You sure you are okay?”

  “There’s no reason for you to come home. There are six guys here. Maybe more. They’re going to do their own investigation just in case it has something to do with the warehouse and Adeline and everything. You’d just get stuck sitting in the parking lot with me.”

  “I want to make sure you’re okay.”

  “I am. I’m surprised I am, but I am.”

  “You sure?”

  “Positive.”


  “This isn’t one of those things that later you are going to be upset that I didn’t come?”

  “No.”

  “Okay, well, I have twelve people in the conference room at Jovana’s. I can wrap it up in about thirty minutes and be there in forty-five, if you are sure. I can walk in and tell them I have a family emergency and be there in ten if you would be more comfortable.”

  “The security guy offered us a hotel room for the night. I think I’m going to take him up on it. I’ll find out where and text you the information and meet you there. You want me to grab you anything from the apartment?”

  “I’m good. If you need me, call me. I’m serious, Cara.”

  “I promise.”

  Next I called Teagan and filled her in on all the details, at least the details I was aware of. I was kind of hurt that it was so easy to talk her into believing that I was fine sitting in the stupid parking lot all by myself. It didn’t surprise me that I could talk A.J. into believing it, but Teagan should have known better.

  She assured me that the family was fine and I didn’t need to freak out about them.

  I called Suzi to say hi, mostly to make sure she was okay. She was. I didn’t tell her about the apartment. No need to get her upset when she just signed a one-year lease to live across the hall from a major crime scene.

  I took a few minutes to think about everything that happened and to make sure that I’d told Roland the truth. Lying to the head of security is a mistake, even if you lie by mistake. Even after thinking about it again, I’m sure I never wrote down any of the information for security for the warehouse.

  The guy, what’s-his-name, the one with the blond hair and the shoulders any Olympic swimmer would die for, told me what the passcode was, and I put it in my phone with the rest of Adeline’s stuff. Then when I screwed it up and typed in the wrong numbers and ended up with a full response — complete with cops, drawn guns, and everything and Roland’s team coming too — we decided that I could use my parents’ birthdates backwards. I replaced the original passcodes with the new ones.

  Pretty much, just because.

  I really don’t need that information in my phone. I don’t know why I put it in there, other than the memory problems I’ve had since Barry beat the crap out of me and me being all paranoid about not being able to remember anything. I should probably just go ahead and erase it, but I’m not doing anything like that until I talk to Roland.

  I don’t want it to look like I’m trying to erase evidence or something.

  I’m one hundred percent sure that I didn’t write it down and leave it sitting around my apartment. Even on my worst days, I don’t do things like that.

  Roland tapped on the car window, and I about had a heart attack.

  “What were you thinking about so hard?”

  “Just going through everything in my head to make sure I didn’t forget anything that you might find important. I couldn’t think of anything.”

  “Do me a favor. While it is all still fresh in your mind, type up a little report for me. Start out with getting up this morning and just write down everything you remember until right now.”

  “Damn, they probably stole my laptop. I didn’t add it to the insurance.”

  “Is that your work laptop or a personal laptop?”

  “Personal. Adeline offered me one, but my sister and I had just picked one out that I love, so I told her I didn’t need it.”

  “Where did you leave it?”

  “Leaning up against the speaker next to the couch. I was sitting on the couch doing some work last night, and, well, I got busy, and I just left it there. I’m usually not such a slob.”

  “That is strange.”

  “Why? Do you always put your laptop away?”

  “No, it is still there. I assumed that there was a second one that they stole and that they didn’t look further because they thought they’d already grabbed the only one there. Does A.J. have a laptop?”

  “Of course.”

  “Can you call him and ask him if he has it with him?”

  “I don’t have to call him. I know he has it. He had his full backpack today, and he was complaining about the weight. Both camera bodies, four lenses, batteries, a laptop, and a tablet for his portfolio. He carries it all around all the time, but today he said it was heavy.”

  “Good to know. You don’t happen to have an inventory of your apartment do you?”

  “A partial inventory. I made one up for insurance about a year ago. The apartment complex made us all buy insurance. We have to cover the apartment for damage — why I have to pay for insurance to cover their building is still a mystery to me — but the insurance guy said that it would only cost me about fifteen dollars more to cover my stuff too. I’m a pretty organized person, so I went through and took pictures of everything, and Teagan and I made a list. She did her apartment too.” I knew I was starting to ramble a little bit. Maybe I was more shaken up then I thought.

  “Where can we find that?”

  “It was in my good desk, but I took all that stuff out because I’m redoing my office, so all that stuff is in that big box that is shoved over against the closet door in the office.”

  “Good, we’ll know where to start looking.”

  “I guess you guys are going to go through all my stuff, aren’t you?”

  “I thought we had your permission.”

  “You do. It’s just kind of… I don’t know what the word is. It’s bad enough knowing that other people were going through all my stuff. Now people I know are doing it too. You guys are going to read everything I’ve written and know all my bills and stuff.”

  “Cara, I know more about you than you are aware, and I’ve been quite impressed with you. I don’t think you have a thing to worry about. Besides, at this point, I don’t think we are going to have to read all your mail.”

  “It’s not that I’m worried that you’ll find something wrong. I don’t really do anything wrong. It’s just kind of creepy, you know?”

  “I do. I’m sorry. If you think about it, it is better that we are going through it. At least people who know you and care about you are looking, instead of strangers.”

  “Good point. My last run-in with stranger cops didn’t turn out so well.”

  “I promise you your stuff will be treated with respect.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. I’m being stupid.”

  “Cara, you are not being stupid. Having someone break into your home is a very personal affront. It will mess with your mind. I know that it is not the first strike. You have had multiple incidents beset upon you in just the last few months.”

  That made me laugh. “Beset upon me? Really?”

  Roland is actually cute when he smiles and blushes. Normally he is kind of scary looking. He comes off as big and mean and brisk. A good thing in a security guy.

  “Too much?”

  “Way.”

  “Working on a project with my daughter. She’s trying to make me articulate.”

  “Communication doesn’t require big words or unusual speech, just the ability to make your point. I’ve always thought you were really good at that. You are succinct. You are erudite. A balance of street smart and cerebral.”

  “Wow. Thanks. You want to talk to my daughter?”

  “I’d love to. I have a question.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You said you wanted us to stay out of the way and suggested a hotel. I think I’m going to go ahead with that. Is there any special place you want us, or should I just go ahead and find a room? I can let you know where we’re staying. I can have my house back tomorrow, can’t I?”

  “I’ll have my office make arrangements. Do you have a favorite hotel or area?”

  “A.J. works in Old Town. Closer is better, I guess.”

  “I’ll take care of it. I’ll have the information for you in a few minutes. Can I impose on you to start on that writing project?”

  “Okay. Can I have my laptop?”

/>   “I’ll get you a laptop. Give me a minute.”

  “Okay.”

  By the time I was done typing up a timeline of my day, Harry and Roland had taken a pretty good look around the apartment and were ready to tell me what they thought.

  I was pretty sure I wanted to know. Not completely sure. If they told me that the jerks had ruined some of my stuff, I’d be really upset. I don’t care what happens to the stuff that you can replace, but some things that can’t be replaced are really important to me. I have things that have been handed down for generations. I’m the most sentimental O’Flynn, so by default I’ve been made holder of the O’Flynn for a lot of stuff. If they tell me that stuff has been ruined, I’ll cry.

  I’d moved from the car to a bench by the kids’ playground. There were no kids playing, so it was quiet, and it was less confining than sitting in the car.

  Harry sat on the bench next to me. It was like looking at a parent sitting on a child’s desk at school. He looked uncomfortable to say the least. I realized it was a petite bench when I sat down. I considered that they might do that on purpose to make the stuff around it look bigger, maybe entice future residence with a sense of a larger playground, or maybe a petite bench is a little cheaper.

  It’s amazing what you mind does to avoid doing something you don’t want to do.

  It was a longish and well-modulated speech that Roland gave. Something intended to communicate the facts but to do it in a very benign way.

  He told me that although the apartment looked pretty torn up, there wasn’t all that much damage. I’d lost some dishes and the top of my coffee table. My bathroom was a mess. For some reason they hadn’t quite figured out, whoever trashed my apartment poured out all the bottles of stuff in the bathroom. All my smelly-good-stuff. Down the drain. Literally.

  I had a fleeting thought that I should have smelled all that when I walked into the apartment, but I hadn’t noticed it.

  That’s weird.

  Teagan shooed Harry off the bench like he was a small child.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “What am I doing here? You said your apartment had been trashed. Where else would I be? Are you okay?”