by Deany Ray
“Let’s go through that way,” Marge said, and Celeste nodded her approval.
Then, the thing I was most afraid of, happened. We heard voices! O-M-G. We should have never done this. What would happen now? The sounds were coming from the front, not far from where we stood. Nobody moved a muscle.
A deep voice rang out into the open space. “Watch where you’re going, moron.”
Freaking fortune cookies! They were really close. My heart began to race, and I reached out to feel for a wall, anything for support. But, instead of a sturdy wall, my flailing arm banged against Marge’s shoulder.
“Girl, you’ve got to stay still,” she whispered.
Just then, we heard a crash.
“Stay still. That’s my big toe,” said another voice. “Who’s in here? What the heck?”
“They know that someone’s here!” Celeste grabbed my hand. “How could they have known?”
“Thank goodness for motion detectors,” said one of the men. “We were smart to put those in.”
We hadn’t thought about security systems and all of that. Stupid, stupid, stupid. How could we not have thought about alarms? Man, we were some genius detectives. Of course, we had a key card like we were real employees. But it was after hours, past the time that an employee might be coming into work.
“Well, let’s see what’s going on,” a man said. “Let’s see if someone broke in. Or if it’s just a rat.”
Hmm. I’d heard that voice before.
“Hopefully not a human rat. I wonder where the boss is. He said he’d rush right over.”
Did they mean Mr. Hudson? Cursed Candy Sprinkles!
The footsteps were moving closer. I bit my fingernail really hard. I needed a cookie bad. I needed to throw up.
Soon I felt Celeste’s arm around my shoulder, and she pushed me and Marge through the factory door.
“Motion detectors!” Marge squeaked. “Oh, my goodness. Oh, goodness.”
“Quiet!” Celeste said.
My heart was hammering hard into my chest. A tear leaked down my cheek. I wondered how pitiful the crowd would be when they had my funeral. That made the tears come harder.
“I’ll bet they only put detectors on the outside door,” Celeste said. Her voice was low and calm. How could she be so calm? “Hurry,” she whispered to us. “Get down where they can’t see you.”
This room had better lighting than the hallway. It had a high ceiling, tall machines, and a conveyer belt. I ducked behind a large box. I heard footsteps hurry past. Could we get really lucky? Maybe these were lazy workers. Maybe they’d just peek into a corner here and there, tell the boss that things were fine.
I heard my mother’s voice inside my head. What was it that I’d heard her telling a class the other day? Take deep and calming breaths. Think of an ocean breeze. I closed my eyes and tried. My heart slowed just a little.
I looked around and studied the scene. After all, that was the point. There were glass jars on the conveyer belt in front of where I hid. Was this where they made the jam? That would be convenient. Because if I had the chance to make a run for it, I wasn’t going to explore the rest of the darned place, looking for the section that we needed.
Beside me was a wooden box with the lid intriguingly half open. Hmm. Did I dare to take a peek?
Very slowly, I stood up and took a look. Yes! The box was full of jars. Half of them were filled with jam and half with something white. So. The three detectives extraordinaire had scored really big on this one. Now all we had to do was make sure we lived.
But how exactly did it work? Did they have labels big enough to cover all the white? So they could explain to anyone who asked. Cocaine? Goodness, no. We’re just heading to the retailers with our yummy jam.
Marge has ducked behind a tall machine. I managed to catch her eye. “White stuff in the jars!” I mouthed.
With an alarmed look on her face, she signaled for me to get back into my heading place. And oh man, was she right. As soon as I got down behind the box, I heard the door swing open. Crap. They were coming in. I dared to take a peek. Double crap. It was our old friend Mickey and his buddy, Elkins. Which was so much worse than a couple of security dudes and the factory boss.
Was the boss in on the whole thing? Did the security people know? How many bad guys were there who worked in the factory? Oh, what the heck? I didn’t care. I just wanted to be in my nice, safe car, speeding out of there.
“Did you hear something, man?” Elkins looked around.
“Nah, I think it’s just the damn machines. They’re kind of loud at night.”
“The boss says to be extra careful. People have started to snoop. He says that if we do something stupid, our butts might get caught.”
“Who you calling stupid?” Mickey got up into Elkins’ face.
Elkins held his hands up. “Hey, man. I’m just saying!”
And, truth to be told, these two weren’t the brightest in the bunch. They didn’t look behind a single box; they didn’t bother to take a peek behind the conveyer belt. As the captain always said, if the bad guys are kind of stupid, that gives the good guys a head start.
I watched as they made their way to the other end of the long room. I noticed a tower of red sticking up from behind a crate. At least I knew where to find Celeste if I needed to grab her quickly.
The guys had their heads together, deep in a conversation which was apparently threatening to turn into a fight. They were facing away from me. That was really good. The door was standing open. And maybe it was me who was being stupid, but I hauled ass and ran.
My friends were close behind me. Great! We were almost out the door when Marge tripped and fell into a box. I glanced back at the men, who stared back at me, alarmed. Then, after we all froze like idiotic statues for the longest time, the guys grabbed for their guns. Celeste and I quickly helped Marge up. Then I moved faster than I ever thought a klutz like me could run.
The hall outside was pitch black, and there was no time for Celeste to scramble for her lighter. I bumped once into Celeste and once into something hard that jammed into my knee. A dim light from outside shone from underneath the front door. I tried to focus on that small line of dirty yellow; I tried to make my way toward that.
The girls weren’t far behind. I could hear them breathing and the sound of Celeste’s high heels clicking on the floor.
I was almost there – six feet…three feet – when a huge figure filled the doorway. I’d seen him before, but where? I wondered in my panic: who was this familiar man?
Then I felt a flood of sweet relief surge through my whole body. It was Patrick Snow! The chief of the Springston police had arrived to save us. He gave me a menacing glare and pointed his gun at the three of us.
I held up my arms. “Chief Snow! Hey, Chief Snow, it’s me! You remember me? Charlie Cooper here! From the PD in Boston.”
He didn’t put the gun down. So I tried again. “They sent me here to work the case?”
Oh, shit. What if I was such a nothing that he had no memory of the girl they’d sent from Boston? Then we’d look like a band of thieves. Or drug dealers with the kind of stash that could get a girl sent away for life.
“I know exactly who you are,” he said. “I’ve had people watching you.”
Well, if you remember, sir, could you please put down the gun? By then, my eyes had adjusted to the dark. I could see that he looked furious.
“Sir, do you know what’s going on in there? What they’re keeping in the jars?” Something was feeling kind of weird, but it was a proud moment, telling him the news. But did he already know? Was that why he was here?
“Charlie,” Marge whispered.
“I wish you hadn’t looked,” he said. “You should have stayed in Boston. You can’t say we didn’t warn you.”
We?
He moved closer with the gun.
“But, did you already know? About the drugs in here? And do you know that guys with guns are chasing us right now?” I was so c
onfused.
He didn’t seem to care, just kept his eye on me.
“Charlie,” Celeste whispered.
Snow turned his eyes toward the two men who had been behind us all along. “Are there any others in here, guys? Or just these three troublemakers?”
Mickey coughed. “This is all there is, boss.”
Boss?
It was not my finest moment. I was the very last to understand. I took in the shocking news.
“So…you…all along, you were…” I could barely speak. I had one question. “Why?”
“Because, you nosy idiot, it was the perfect plan. The perfect plan for bringing in the big bucks like nobody’s business. Till you and your captain had to stick your big-city noses in.”
“Yeah, you obnoxious broad,” Elkins thundered from behind me. “You almost screwed the whole thing up.”
“They were in there in the main room, boss,” Mickey piped in. “We’d just run in to check.”
“And you’re gonna get back there right now,” Snow said, moving his eye from me to Celeste to Marge, and keeping the gun pointed straight at me. “Okay ladies, move!”
I felt the tears spring up again. No one would hear us if we screamed. And if they did, what would they find? A police car out in front! And they’d think, no need to call for help. The police are on the scene.
We made our way to the room where I imagined nothing good was in store for us.
“Get on! Go!” Snow shouted.
But I couldn’t see a thing. I held on to the walls as a kind of guide. At least I could feel my way around any sudden turns.
Then suddenly, I heard the sound of breaking glass. Everybody stopped.
“Keep moving, girls! Go on!” Snow kept on shouting at us. “Hey, Elkins! Go check out that noise. Seems another damned unwelcome guest has come to our little party.”
“Yes, sir!” Elkins shouted. Just like it had before, his voice grew high and whiny with the excitement of it all.
As I continued to feel my slow and nervous way down the darkened hall, I heard a door slam, then I heard a girlish scream. I bet that scream was Elkins.
“Okay, girls, hold up,” Snow said. “Mickey, run outside and tell me what the hell is going on. And try to do a better job than your stupid friend.”
“Yes, sir! Anything, sir.” Mickey ran outside.
I reached up to push my glasses up off my sweaty nose. “If these are your best men, then you’re screwed,” I said to Snow.
He let out a sigh and reached up to wipe his forehead.
This might be our best shot, now that he was alone without his buffoon assistants. If we could just distract him…
He glanced toward a window to his left. “What are those simpletons doing out there, anyway?” he yelled. “Mickey! Get your butt back in here now!”
I glanced at a nearby desk. Was there anything there that we could use? I squinted. Well, not the most sophisticated weapons. Not top of the line, for sure. But there was no time for shopping. I stared at Marge until I caught her eye, then I nodded toward the desk. She just looked terrified. She didn’t get my drift.
Then Elkins ran in, wide-eyed. Snow turned to look at him. And I knew that was our chance. I grabbed a lamp and smashed it as hard as I could into the middle of Snow’s forehead.
“What the hell?” he yelled as he fell down on the ground. “Elkins, pay attention! Elkins, don’t just stand there like a stupid fool!”
I kicked his head with one foot while I pushed the other hard against his chest in an attempt to hold him down. I was officially freaked out. I tried my mother’s trick again. Take deep and calming breaths. Think of an ocean breeze.
And who would have thought it? That all that whoo-whoo stuff would work? Oh, don’t get me wrong. My heart was racing fast enough to beat the speed of light. But it slowed down just a little, enough for me to keep Snow down and catch my glasses in the nick of time when they started to slip off of my nose. Maybe I would look into those contacts…
Meanwhile, Celeste jumped into action. She grabbed some scissors from the desk and plunged them into Elkins’ arm. He let out another high-pitched scream and fell, sending his gun sliding across the floor.
Finally emerging from her stupor, Marge picked up the gun. “Let’s get out of here,” she yelled.
We made it out the door and nearly stumbled over a motionless Mickey who was lying on the ground. I could see my car not far away. Was I really going to live?
As we ran towards my car, a shadowy figure hurried past us. This place was getting crowded.
“Keep going, just keep going!” Celeste screamed. She was running way ahead.
But curious me, I turned to look at the person who’d run by. Just before he disappeared inside the building, I recognized the newcomer to the crazy scene.
Of course.
Who else would it be? Who always seemed to show up when I made a fool out of my stupid self beneath a limbo crossbar, when I fell into an open grave, or went out with the kind of date who played with paper birds?
I should have known that Alex would make an entrance now. But I’d leave him to deal with Snow. I was out of there.
As I reached the safety of my car door, I heard shots ring out inside. Then the sound of sirens wailed into the dark night. Soon, three police cars screeched to a halt in front of the factory.
I could finally catch my breath. “Thank goodness. The police!”
Marge stumbled up, breathing hard. “But are they good police? Or bad police? I hope they’re not in with Snow.”
I was still in shock. “Snow. Can you believe it? He was behind it all along. Plus, it was him who wrote those notes and scared me half to death.”
Celeste shook her head. “I never liked that guy. But most of the cops are customers, and some of them are friends. Most of the cops in town are people you can trust.” She watched the action in front of the building as officers raced inside with their guns raised. “I think that we’re okay now,” Celeste said. “We should probably wait right here. They’ll want to talk to us.”
“But let’s wait in my car,” Marge said, who was still out of breath. “I really need my candy.”
Celeste nodded. “And I need a cigarette.”
“I think I need one too,” I said. “And I don’t even smoke.”
“Hey, good job in there,” Celeste said once we were settled in the car. “You were a demon with that lamp. I think you saved us all.”
Hmm. Perhaps I really did. I smiled. “You know, you were my inspiration. I decided that when I got into a tough spot, I’d ask myself ‘What would Celeste do?’ I’d channel my inner warrior. And I guess it worked.”
She let out a honking laugh. “Did you hear Elkins cry when I came at him with the scissors? He sounded like a two-year-old.”
Marge joined in. “And the way that he just stood there when you were beating up the chief?” We all laughed until we all had tears rolling down our cheeks. We laughed in sweet relief.
“Oh, boy,” Marge said, wiping away her tears. “Who knew it could be such fun to get chased by men with guns? I think we all could use some chocolate-covered peanuts.” She reached into a smallish fuchsia purse with a heart-shaped clasp.
“Hey,” I said. “Where was your other purse? You know, the great big fat one? The one with your persuader. We could have used your little gun.”
Marge handed out some peanuts. “You are absolutely right,” she said. “But, you see, my friend Celeste is afraid I might be too quick on the trigger. She said ‘When you go into the factory, Marge, take it easy with the gun.’ So I decided to bring a different purse, one without my little friend that’s loaded up with bullets. A decision I regret.” She stuffed some of her chocolaty treats in her mouth. “But at least this purse has peanuts.”
Celeste frowned. “Sorry about that, girls. There were definitely some guys in there who could do with some persuading.”
Marge smiled. “But you girls did pretty well. If I ever get on Charlie’s bad
side, I hope there’s not a lamp nearby.”
Just then, Alex made his way outside with a couple of uniformed cops. One of the officers looked around as if he were searching for someone. Then Alex spotted us and pointed.
Celeste rolled down the window and enthusiastically waved them over. The glitter from her nail polish shone in the light from the half moon. “Yoo hoo, we’re over here,” she called.
Marge rummaged in her purse. “I saved some peanuts for the officers. I always like a little snack after I’ve done something scary.”
“Let’s get out,” I said. “It’s time to explain to these clueless cops how we solved their case.”
Chapter Fourteen
The next morning, I looked at the clock. And by morning, I mean barely eleven a.m. Sheesh. Oh, well. I did have quite a night.
I reached for my robe that lay on the floor. Whoa. Was that a backhoe running through my head?
I’d told Marge a million times that I’d regret the last two daiquiris when the morning came. But then, of course, we had a lot to celebrate. One daiquiri for solving the case. One daiquiri for reeling in a really big fish. One daiquiri for beating that know-it-all, smug Alex in the race to solve the puzzle of cocaine in a jar. One daiquiri for…well, you get my drift. And speaking of getting things, would someone get me an aspirin, please?
Alex. Before the pompous pretty boy could wipe it off his face, I think I might have spotted a flash of jealousy.
“Well, look at you, Detective Cooper,” he’d said in a kind of awstruck voice. “I didn’t know you had it in you.” He’d looked over his shoulder at the factory in the moonlight. “Jam jars? Really? Jam jars? And the chief. Cripes.”
Right before I fell asleep, I’d thought about the soft look that I’d seen in his eyes. And I had capped off my night of victory with some amazing dreams. Don’t you hate the way a dream slips just beyond your memory as soon as you wake up? But there were kisses that went on and on. I did remember that. And his warm, muscled body pressed tightly into mine.
The boy knew how to kiss. Or the Alex in my dreams did. How he really kisses is anybody’s guess. The guy is just too arrogant for any girl to ever want to get too close to him. Okay, that was a lie. I’ll bet girls were standing in line to get a piece of him.
