by Kira Chase
“Do you really like living here, Johanna? It’s so isolated,” she observed as they left the highway and turned onto the rural road leading to the house.
Johanna grinned. “Yes, Mom, I really do. It’s peaceful.”
* * * *
While Frankie waited for Sheriff Ryker to finish with a phone call she took the opportunity to eavesdrop on the lively, but friendly bantering going on between Deputies Arlan Paton and Kate Allen. Their voices filtered in from the adjoining office. She smiled to herself. They were definitely fucking.
George hung up the phone and turned his attention to her as he swept a hand through his graying hair and shifted his heavy body in his chair. He rolled his eyes as he nodded toward the other office. “Those two are like having a couple of lovesick teenagers around.”
Frankie laughed. “It looks like Kate may be the one to tame Arlan.”
“Maybe so, but like I told them, keep it out of the office and I’ll look the other way. Now,” he said, pulling a folder from a stack on his cluttered desk. “These shouldn’t be too difficult. Mostly routine, but if you have any problems don’t hesitate to call.”
“You know I will. Besides,” she replied, patting her shoulder, “I have my Storm Beretta with me. I’ve never had to pull it from the holster yet when I’ve served summonses and I doubt I’ll have to today. Now in Philly that might have been a different story.”
“Nowadays it can happen anywhere. People are stressed out over the economy and don’t think before they do something that can’t be undone. It takes one split second to alter your and another’s lives. Just be on guard.”
Frankie’s eyebrows knitted together. “Is something going on, George? This is just routine, isn’t it?”
He smiled weakly. “Yes, if it wasn’t I’d never send you to deliver them. I’ve been watching too much national news. But still, it pays to err on the side of caution. I would feel better if Johanna and you were doing this together. You know that I’m uneasy with only one of you on the job.”
“She’s at the airport picking up her mother or otherwise we would be doing this together.”
“That’s right. I remember you two telling me you’d be away for the next couple of weeks. I’ll keep an eye on your place while you’re on vacation.”
“I appreciate it. We’re not planning to leave the area, but I’m definitely not going to the office unless it’s an absolute necessity.” Frankie stood. “I’d better get these delivered before the weather turns worse.”
“The weather station said we could have a bad one headed our way. Maybe we’ll luck out and it’ll pass around us. Call me when you’ve finished.”
“I promise.”
“Tell Johanna hello for me.”
“I will,” Frankie promised as she exited the office and made her way through the lobby passing the deputies office.
Arlan poked his head out of the door. “Have a nice vacation, Frankie, and give my best to Johanna.”
“Thanks, Arlan.” She skeptically looked at him. His usually cocky demeanor had softened. Maybe there was hope for him yet. She had to admit he was extremely handsome with wavy jet-black hair and a rock-hard body. If she liked men, he may have even charmed her. She hoped the new Arlan would stick around. She liked this one much better. Her eyes drifted past him to Kate Allen who was seated at her desk going over a file. “Hi, Kate,” she called.
Kate, a pretty, petite blonde, looked up and flashed her a brilliant smile. “Hi, Frankie. George has already put Arlan and me on alert for the next two weeks. We’ll check your office a couple of times a day.”
“Thanks, Kate. Johanna and I appreciate it.”
“You two have a great vacation.”
“We intend to.”
* * * *
Large fluffy snowflakes were beginning to fall as Frankie left the sheriff’s office. She noted how the snowflakes looked like beautiful, large, dazzling diamonds falling from the sky. She glanced around herself. No one else was in the almost deserted parking lot, so she stuck out her tongue, the way she had when she was a child, and caught one. She laughed as she quickly hopped into her car. She scanned the summonses, planning her route. Hopefully everyone would be home and she wouldn’t have to chase them down. She noted the address on the first summons and started the car.
She reached the first address and when the middle-aged man with a large potbelly took the summons, he hurled a curse word at her before slamming his apartment door. The rest of the recipients received their court orders politely, two nervously, and thanked her.
By the time she had finished serving the summonses and signed off on them, the snow had intensified and was coming down steadily. Her previous joy with the large fluffy flakes soon dissipated. She was looking forward to getting home and off of the worsening roads. Johanna had texted her in the middle of her deliveries saying that Gracelyn’s plane had been briefly delayed and if it was going to be long she’d let her know. Otherwise she’d see her at the house. She wondered if they’d arrived yet and worried with the deteriorating road conditions. She quickly dismissed her unease. Johanna would let her know if there was a problem.
Suddenly Frankie remembered she’d forgotten the invoices Johanna had left on her desk to be mailed. She couldn’t leave them there for the next two weeks.
“Dammit,” she muttered as she turned her dark blue Chevy around and drove back toward the office. She parked out front of the office instead of using the private parking area in the back since she’d only be a minute. She let herself in the thick front door and switched on the light. As long as she was here she decided to do a quick recheck to make sure everything was in order and that all the calls to the office were being transferred to their home phone. She didn’t intend to come back to the office unless it was an absolute emergency. She double-checked the security system. A series of thwarted break-ins had occurred in the small strip mall, but so far their office had been untouched and Frankie intended to do her best to make sure it stayed that way.
She glanced at her wristwatch. She picked up her cell phone and sent a text message to Johanna. Almost instantly a message came back. Frankie grinned.
Almost home, the text read.
She inhaled deeply, slowly letting her breath out as she tried to calm her nerves and mentally prepare herself for the next two weeks. She knew that Gracelyn didn’t like her much no matter what Johanna said. Gracelyn treated her cordially, but that was the problem. She was polite, but offered no warmth. No, Gracelyn would never accept her no matter what she did. Frankie assumed that part of Gracelyn’s problem was that she was uncomfortable with the lifestyle Johanna had needed and chosen for her own well-being. She’d hoped that as time went on and Gracelyn saw that she and Johanna were still happy together, she’d accept them as a couple. After all, Johanna’s happiness should in turn make Gracelyn feel a sense of relief knowing that her daughter was loved and protected. And Frankie would never stop loving and protecting her no matter if they received that acceptance or not. But Gracelyn hadn’t changed. Frankie, though, couldn’t entirely blame her. They’d never spent much time together so the woman never had the opportunity to get to know her better.
Gracelyn rarely visited and when she did, she had an itinerary planned which didn’t include Frankie. Frankie had never accompanied Johanna on her sporadic trips to California, which never amounted to more than a few days. She realized that she needed to make the effort and while Gracelyn was staying in their home, she was determined to finally get to know the mother of the woman she loved and let Gracelyn in turn know the real Frankie Barker.
Frankie’s thoughts turned to her own mother. Selma hadn’t even blinked when years ago, as a teenager, Frankie told her she was a lesbian. If Frankie was happy, then Selma was happy. It was as simple as that. And Selma loved the hell out of Johanna and Johanna was crazy about her in return.
She glanced around the office once more. Everything was in order. She was anxious to leave before the storm worsened. She walked towa
rd the door. Suddenly it burst open taking her by surprise. A slightly overweight, tall blonde entered with a rush of chilling air and snowflakes following her.
“Hello. Is Jo here?” the stranger asked, shaking snow from her unbuttoned long sleek black coat as she glanced disapprovingly around the office.
Frankie eyed the woman skeptically. She’d never heard anyone call Johanna ‘Jo’ before. Johanna hated to be called Jo, so she assumed the woman might be looking for someone else. “Do you mean Johanna Obrien?”
The blonde tossed her hair impatiently. “Of course. Who else would I mean? Is she here?” she snapped as her eyes drifted to the door leading to the storage area. “It’s urgent!”
“No. I’m sorry. She’s on vacation for the next two weeks. Maybe I can help you.”
“I need to talk to Jo immediately. This doesn’t concern anyone else and I don’t care to discuss it with anyone other than Jo.”
“If you’d like to stop back in a couple of weeks we’ll be happy to talk to you.” Frankie moved to her desk, grabbed a business card and walked back to the woman. “You can call the office to set up an appointment.”
“No. That won’t do,” she replied irritably. “Give me a number where I can reach Jo immediately. I’m sure she has a cell phone. I can’t wait until she returns in a couple of weeks!”
Frankie’s jaw twitched as she fought to keep her temper under control. She kept her voice level as she looked at the woman. “If you call this number the call will be forwarded to her home phone. If it’s as urgent as you say, then I’m sure she’ll call you back immediately.”
The blonde’s eyes narrowed. “I’m sure she won’t mind if you give me her private number. In fact, I can assure you that she’ll probably be pleased to see me.” Her eyes swept distastefully over Frankie as they moved from Frankie’s red blouse, black leather jacket, tight black jeans and finally to her two-inch heeled boot-clad feet before she raised them level to Frankie’s eyes again.
The woman’s holier than thou attitude annoyed Frankie and she didn’t know how much longer she could stay in control. How did Johanna know this stranger? Frankie had certainly never met her before. Maybe Johanna had run into her somewhere and mentioned that she was a private investigator. The blonde didn’t mean as much to Johanna as she purported or Johanna would have certainly mentioned it. Frankie instinctively didn’t like the woman and wanted to get her out of the office so she could lock up and go home. If the woman did call and ask to hire them Frankie intended to decline. Johanna would agree with her decision once she met this arrogant bitch in person.
“I’m not at liberty to give her personal number out.” The woman’s eyes shifted irritably as they continued to sweep over her. Frankie estimated the woman to be in her late forties. Her stylish clothes, visible from her unbuttoned coat, expensive perfume and the air of self-confidence she possessed made Frankie conclude that she was used to getting her way and didn’t take it well when her demands were refused.
“Excuse me?” The blonde’s eyebrows shot up. “I don’t have all day. You’re obviously on your way out, so if you’ll give me her number, we can both get out of here.”
Frankie stood firm. “If you want to leave a message I’ll see that Johanna gets it. If that’s not acceptable, then call and leave a message and she’ll get back to you upon her return. If it’s as urgent as you say and she’s unable to help you, I’m sure she’ll recommend another agency. In fact, I can give you a referral right now if you’d like.”
“No, I wouldn’t like,” the woman retorted. “Believe me, Jo won’t mind if you give me her phone number and I can assure you that she’ll be quite annoyed that you didn’t.”
Frankie held out the business card. “I can’t.”
“She won’t be pleased when she hears how rudely I was treated. You may find yourself looking for another secretarial job.” She squared her shoulders. “You could also use some fashion tips. I’m surprised Jo lets you come to the office dressed so casually.”
A smile played on Frankie’s lips, but she kept silent. She didn’t intend to tell this haughty bitch that Johanna and she were partners.
The blonde snatched the card out of Frankie’s hand before stalking out of the office.
Chapter 3
Frankie pushed the remote for the security gate, waited as it slowly opened, then drove up the long driveway. She pushed the remote to open the garage, drove inside, and parked her car next to Johanna’s cherry red Chevy. She grabbed a bag of rock salt before locking the garage. She took her time dispensing the rock salt as she walked to the house. She stepped onto the porch. The light spilling through the open blinds cast a warm homey atmosphere. She turned away from the windows and faced the entrance to the house. The view was spectacular and she never tired of it. Tonight it was even more breathtaking. The lightly falling snow clung to the limbs of the trees. It looked like a wintry scene from an old fashioned postcard. She sucked the cold fresh air into her lungs savoring the tranquility. She was overwhelmed with the peaceful emotions her land conveyed in her. Trees surrounded the house for as far as the eye could see. The only sounds were those of nature. She loved not hearing traffic, sirens, or noisy passersby. A huge security gate surrounded the land they used for their own personal use. The rest of it was posted private property. They’d been afraid that a developer would get the notion to build a development and had offered the elderly man who’d privately put the land up for sale a deal he couldn’t refuse. He had no living relatives to inherit the land that his ancestors had settled and worked. He couldn’t bear the property being turned into a strip mall or housing development and was only too happy to accept their offer. After the papers were signed he’d gratefully thanked them for preserving the land and happily headed off to Florida to retire.
She turned around a few minutes later and unlocked the door while she stomped the snow from her boots. She moved inside pasting a bright smile on her face as she walked through the entryway and into the living room. Gracelyn was seated on the sofa glancing at a magazine. Her shoulders were straight and her back was rigid. As usual she was dressed impeccably right down to her matching shoes. Not a gray hair on her head was out of place. Quite a contrast to Selma, who usually had windblown hair and the closest she came to dressing up was throwing on a pair of putter pants and a pullover. Gracelyn was still an attractive woman nearing seventy years old and it was obvious to anyone that she must have been quite a beauty in her day.
“Hello, Gracelyn. It’s good to see you again. I hope you had a nice flight,” Frankie said.
Gracelyn’s thin lips parted into a slight smile. She set aside the magazine. “I did, thank you, Francine.”
Gracelyn was the only person Frankie knew who insisted on calling her Francine. Ever since she could remember, the nickname her mother had given her at birth, which was for her father Frank, had followed her through high school and into her adult life. When anyone called her Francine it sounded foreign to her ears and sometimes momentarily caused her not to answer believing the person was talking to someone else. No matter how many times she’d asked Gracelyn to call her Frankie, it fell on deaf ears. Gracelyn didn’t believe in calling anyone by a nickname when, as she patiently explained, they were given such a beautiful name. Frankie agreed with her where Johanna’s name was concerned. She’d never even thought about calling her Jo, but for herself she still preferred to be called Frankie and couldn’t stand her given name. Her bottom line was that a person should be addressed by his or her own preferences. But she also respected Gracelyn’s point of view, so said nothing. She could live with it since she didn’t see Gracelyn often.
“The snow’s starting to come down pretty good now,” Frankie stated, trying to make conversation.
Gracelyn nodded absently. “The news stated only a few inches was to accumulate.”
“You never know around here,” she said, then let out with a laugh. “We could have two feet by morning.” She noted that Gracelyn seemed tense. She wondered
if something had happened between Johanna and her, but quickly dismissed the thought. Johanna was excited about the visit and she knew that Gracelyn always relished every moment she spent with her daughter.
“Johanna’s in the kitchen making coffee,” Gracelyn said. “We weren’t sure what time you’d be home from the office. We haven’t been here long ourselves.”
“I had a few things to take care of.” She gazed toward the window. “It’s going to be a cold night.” She turned from the window relieved to see Johanna entering the living room. She smiled widely at her.
Johanna seated herself on a large white-and-tan print designed overstuffed chair. “Coffee will be ready in a few minutes.” She returned Frankie’s smile. “Did everything go okay when you delivered the summonses?”
“Without a hitch.”
“I’m glad you made it home okay, but I shouldn’t worry so much since you have a brand spanking new car. I’d be beside myself with worry if you were still driving your old relic. You’d probably be off in a ditch or stranded somewhere.”
“Come on now. It wasn’t that bad.” Frankie laughed. “I still have separation anxiety attacks whenever I think of my old Chevy, but my new one and I are adjusting just fine.”
Johanna turned to her mother. “Frankie finally broke down and bought a new car a couple of weeks ago.”
“That’s nice, dear,” Gracelyn said distractedly. “You’re looking well, Francine. I trust your ribs have fully healed.”
Frankie smiled. “They have thanks to Johanna’s tender loving care.” Gracelyn’s pale face alarmed her. She wondered if the woman was ill. If something were wrong, Johanna would certainly fill her in later. She decided that it wouldn’t be appropriate for her to comment on it until she had a chance to discuss it with Johanna. She rubbed her hands together. “I don’t know about anyone else, but a cup of coffee sounds good. Let me take care of my coat.” She walked to the coat closet in the entryway hall, hung up her coat, then walked back into the living room. “The temperature must have dropped twenty degrees since this morning. Oh, I threw some rock salt on the walkway. It’s getting a little slippery out there.”
