Undercover in Glimmer Creek

by Julianna Morris

  “So, Gabe is going,” he said finally.

  “Yeah.”

  “I guess...well, it’ll be all right.”

  Tessa nodded and drank the rest of her mineral water, trying to keep her reaction low-key. Chances were that her father would still decide not to attend, but at least he was considering it.

  The family did miss him. He’d stopped attending church, rarely went to community events and often seemed to be in a fog. The last time she’d taken him to the clinic for a checkup, Dr. Romano had suggested treating him for depression, but Pop wouldn’t consider it, declaring grief wasn’t depression. That was true, but clinical depression could be triggered by grief.

  When it was clear her father wouldn’t eat any more, Tessa cleaned up and suggested they work on the rooftop garden together.

  She didn’t want to give him a lot of time to sit alone and change his mind.

  * * *

  JAMIE WAS ANXIOUS as she watched her parents and Lance greet each other. They’d arrived at the ice-cream social early, and he’d met them on the street.

  “I’ve never gone to something like this,” Lance told them awkwardly.

  “You’re in for a treat,” her father assured him. He was more comfortable with Lance than her mother. “Don’t get fooled by all the different ice-cream flavors—homemade vanilla is the best.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Her mom and dad went ahead of them, and Jamie leaned closer to Lance. “Where is your motorcycle?” she whispered.

  “I parked it a couple of blocks away. I know people don’t like it that much.”

  “Oh. Okay.”

  She was glad. Her mom had finally confessed she was worried about the motorcycle and had asked her not to ride it again. Jamie just wasn’t sure how to tell him.

  It was cool inside Veterans Memorial Hall, with the air-conditioning running full blast. People were bustling back and forth, setting out baked desserts along with containers of ice cream, some homemade and some bought from the store. Homemade was the yummiest, but not everybody had time or the equipment to make it from scratch.

  Lance stopped and stared at the dessert tables; they were covered with cakes, pies and cookies of every kind.

  “Is this for real?” he asked.

  “Yup.” Jamie leaned close again. “Be sure to get one of the brownies on the last table. The ones in the middle. They’re Mrs. Tomlinson’s and the absolute best, with chocolate chips, caramel and chocolate-fudge frosting.”

  “Okay. Uh, isn’t that your grandfather over there? The boss preacher, or whatever he’s called?”

  “He’s the senior pastor.” She waved at Grandpa George, and he walked toward them.

  Lance jumped, looking uneasy. “Maybe I’d better go.”

  He didn’t wait for her to say anything, just bolted for the door. She caught up with him on the sidewalk outside. “Lance, what’s wrong?”

  “He’s wearing a priest’s collar.”

  “It’s just a clergy collar. He wears it when they’ve asked him to do a prayer.”

  “Yeah, but your dad is a preacher, too. You’re like, holy, or something,” Lance muttered.

  Consternation filled Jamie. People had always said that kind of thing to her, but she didn’t want her boyfriend thinking it. “No, I’m not, and I don’t want to be treated different because of my dad or grandpa. They’re people, the same as everybody else.”

  “Whatever.”

  At Lance’s stubborn expression, she began to understand why her two brothers had gotten rebellious for a while. Was that what preachers’ kids had to do, act wild to get people to stop expecting them to be saints?

  Jamie sighed. Love was much more complicated than she’d thought it would be. She was trying to think of the best way to convince him when her mouth dropped open.

  “Lance, it’s Uncle Liam and Tessa,” she whispered urgently. “Uncle Liam hasn’t come to anything since Aunt Meredith’s funeral.”

  “Don’t stare—you’ll creep him out.”

  Jamie hastily looked down. Lance was right. It was rude to stare.

  “Gabe came, too,” Lance muttered.

  It was Gabe McKinley walking inside the Veterans Memorial Hall next to her cousin and Uncle Liam. “Maybe things will go back to the way they used to be now,” she said wistfully.

  “They won’t.” Lance shrugged when she looked at him in dismay. “Nothing goes back to the way it was.”

  She sighed. “I suppose, but come inside with me again. If we don’t get some soon, Mom’s vanilla ice cream will be gone, and you won’t get to taste Mrs. Tomlinson’s brownies.”

  * * *

  LANCE HESITATED.

  Since he and Jamie had started dating, they’d mostly done stuff by themselves, walking by the creek or hiking, or just wandering around Poppy Gold while she told him stories about the people who used to live there.

  It was nice that Jamie didn’t understand the bad things outside her hometown. As for her being a preacher’s kid? That really wasn’t the issue, though admittedly it had made him a little uncomfortable in the beginning.

  What Jamie didn’t understand was that he had to be extra careful. He wasn’t like her. He was a foster kid with a police record who didn’t even know what his parents had done for a living...except that his dad was in prison and his mom had been in jail a lot, too, before she died. Maybe the social workers had done their best, but living in foster homes sucked. Even the nicer ones. He didn’t really belong to anybody, and they’d just kept him because of the monthly checks from the state.

  “What is it, Lance?” Jamie asked, squeezing his hand. “Don’t you want to go back inside?”

  “Sure, it’s just...”

  How could he explain that he didn’t know how regular people with regular families acted? And if he tried, he’d have to tell her about growing up in one foster home after another. Jamie had asked about his family when they’d started dating, so he’d shrugged and told her it was like everyone else’s. He’d even talked about one of his foster sisters, Maggie, as if she was a regular sister.

  He’d hated lying, but it had seemed easier than the truth.

  If only he could be like Gabe McKinley. Nobody would ever think Gabe wasn’t good enough. Maybe it would be that way for him if he joined the military and got training. But it got back to the same old question—would they take him after what happened in Sacramento? An arrest wasn’t the same as being convicted, but it was still on his record, and some people figured being accused was the same as being guilty.

  Lance just didn’t know how he could have done things differently. Maggie had called, crying, saying the old man was hitting her again, so he’d gone to help, only to have the asshole accuse him of breaking into the house. The cops had arrested him, though he was released when Stanton didn’t press charges. Luckily Maggie was moved to another foster home right afterward, and he’d left town.

  “Ohmigosh, are you diabetic and don’t want to tell me?” Jamie asked. “Almost all the treats are sugary, and Mom says we shouldn’t push someone to eat in case they have a medical condition.”

  “It’s nothing like that,” Lance denied quickly. “It’s just that we, uh, didn’t go to church when I was a kid. I don’t want to look stupid.” It was true, though not the whole reason.

  She hooked her arm around his. “Then let’s go eat ice cream. We’d look pretty stupid not having any when everybody else is having fun.”

  He grinned and let her tug him back inside.

  * * *

  TESSA SHOPPED FOR groceries on Sunday afternoon, taking several sacks to her father’s apartment to stock his refrigerator and cupboards.

  “I keep telling you not to do this. You’re too busy,” Pop protested as she folded the last paper bag and put it under the sink.


  She hugged him. “It isn’t a big deal. I have to get groceries for myself, too. Oh, I also picked up a new garden hose.”

  “Thank you, darling.” Yet Liam seemed perplexed as he examined her purchase. Tessa didn’t blame him; it was an expandable hose that the lawn and garden store had convinced her to try. It looked quite peculiar.

  “According to the garden center, it expands when the water is turned on,” she explained. “Up to fifty feet. Then when you turn the water off, it pulls itself back into a little pile.”

  As she’d hoped, her father was so intrigued that he immediately had to try it out. The hose was long enough to reach every corner of the rooftop garden, but it did indeed withdraw into a heap by the spigot when the water pressure dropped.

  “It wouldn’t work for slow watering,” Liam said thoughtfully, “because the water pressure has to be high or else it shrinks back, but it should be excellent up here.”

  Tessa was pleased and left him to play with the new toy while she finished his laundry. She yawned and shook her head to wake herself up. Following the ice-cream social, she and Pop had talked well into the early morning hours at her apartment. He’d seemed to enjoy the event, only to become depressed afterward.

  She didn’t know what to do. In some ways he’d gotten better over the past few months; in other ways she wasn’t sure.

  Discouraged, she sorted out his clothes needing repair and put them in a bag before starting dinner.

  At least Pop usually ate something when he was at work. She’d hired Uncle Kurt to stock the refrigerator and freezer in the maintenance kitchenette. That way Pop had supplies to make his smoothies and fuss over everyone on his crew with sports drinks and other food.

  “Ready to eat?” she asked an hour later, pulling a baking dish from the oven. She would have preferred a main-dish salad in such warm weather, but lemon barbecue loaf was her father’s favorite.

  “It smells wonderful, dear, but you should have invited Gabe. There’s plenty for three.”

  Tessa pressed her lips together. She’d already warned her father that she wasn’t interested in anything serious with Gabe, but these days, Pop tended to be single-minded. He liked Gabe McKinley and had automatically thought about inviting him to dinner.

  “I wanted you to have enough for sandwiches,” she said finally. “I got horseradish sauce and that organic bread you like.”

  “Oh, that sounds good.” He ate quietly for a few minutes and then looked at her. “You know, when I met your mother, I felt strongly about not having children. She’s the one who changed my mind.”

  Tessa groaned to herself. “That doesn’t always happen.”

  “No, but it’s possible. You can’t completely dismiss Gabe because of how he feels about kids.”

  “It’s not the same at all. But when you met Mom it was a lightning bolt, while Gabe and I aren’t even sure we like each other. There’s attraction, of course,” she added hastily, “but that only goes so far.”

  Her father nodded, looking unconvinced, and Tessa wanted to bang her head on the table. He didn’t say anything else about it the rest of the meal, but she still couldn’t relax.

  In reality, she was uneasy about how much she liked Gabe. It turned out he had a sense of humor, was smart and had a caring heart, whether he’d admit to it or not.

  Her mom had been confident that she could pull her husband away from the darkness he’d seen in the army, but Tessa wasn’t so sure she could do the same for Gabe.

  * * *

  IN HIS STUDIO COTTAGE, Gabe pored over the list of Poppy Gold employees he’d compiled, including all the information he had found out about them. As he’d said to Tessa, it was remarkable how much you could learn about people’s lives these days. She might dislike the loss of privacy, but it was reality.

  Even if the police chief proved to be helpful, Gabe had every intention of pursuing the investigation himself, using his own resources. Because of that, he’d ordered background checks through KJ’s security firm, providing as much identifying information as possible. It wasn’t entirely a case of being the Lone Ranger; both Milt’s and Tessa’s judgment could be clouded by being too close to the situation.

  What about you? challenged a voice in his head...a voice that sounded remarkably like Tessa’s. Aren’t you too close? It would have been a fair question for her to ask based on his connection to TIP.

  Pushing the thought away, he called Rob.

  “Did you talk to that FBI agent?” he asked when his brother answered.

  “I’m fine, thank you for inquiring,” Rob said ironically. “And yes, I’ve given the letters to the agent. He’ll add them to the file, which is still tiny since we still don’t actually know anything. Milt Fullerton also called about the copies of the letters that Tessa gave him.”

  “When did you give Tessa copies?”

  “After I got home. I faxed them to her Friday afternoon. It’s okay, she was there waiting by the machine.”

  Gabe tensed. Tessa hadn’t said anything about getting the letters, and he wondered if she was trying to give him a taste of his own medicine. He couldn’t completely blame her, but it could be risky.

  “I’ve been thinking that I shouldn’t have bothered you with any of this in the first place,” Rob said slowly.

  “I’m your brother. Who else would you call—the auto club?”

  Rob chuckled. “Okay, but once we figured out the thefts must be happening at Poppy Gold, I could have simply switched to a different conference center or stopped having executive conferences altogether.”

  “It’s better to catch the culprit. For all we know, this person would have found another way to target you. Surely the FBI sees that everything taken together is suspicious?”

  “Come on, Gabe, they’ve got their plates full with bank robberies, kidnappings and terrorist threats. They’ll analyze the letters when they get a chance. It’s all we can expect for now.”

  “Fine. Have you compared my list of people connected to Poppy Gold with your list of disgruntled current and former employees?”

  Early on Gabe had asked his brother to compile a list of anyone who might be upset with TIP, perhaps because they’d been fired or reprimanded. They seemed likely candidates since they might hold a grudge and possess enough inside information to use.

  “Yes, but I don’t see any links. I’ve sent the information to Mr. Fullerton, though, just in case.”

  “Well, stay cautious. Did Tessa mention she wants to know which visits you think the information leaks happened on? I didn’t bring the list with me.”

  “Yeah, I sent it when I faxed the letters.”

  After they got off, Gabe stared moodily at his computer screen. He knew he had to be patient. Besides, he’d been in Glimmer Creek for only a couple of weeks. Sting operations could take months.

  Curious, he did a search on Meredith Connor. The local newspaper barely had an online presence, but both the library and historical society had sites where he found numerous articles mentioning her name. Tessa hadn’t exaggerated—her mother had indeed been involved in everything. Meredith must have been a great deal like her daughter, with boundless energy and determination. The shock of losing her to pneumonia must have been terrible for both father and daughter.

  Gabe gritted his teeth and returned to more helpful research. It would be easier if he had an official employee list, including the names and details of the businesses Tessa had outsourced Poppy Gold services to, such as Sarah’s Sweet Treats.

  The catering staff delivered breakfast to every single guesthouse, every single day. Their familiar presence throughout Poppy Gold raised questions for Gabe, though he could imagine what Tessa or Milt would say if he mentioned the issue.

  After all, Sarah Fullerton was family.

  Tessa was devoted to her relatives, but the
re was a good chance they would discover that someone she’d trusted had betrayed her.

  Gabe shut down the computer with a frown. He hadn’t expected to regret how uncovering the truth would affect the innocent people in Glimmer Creek, but he did.

  It also bothered him that he was mostly concerned about how Tessa would feel.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  JAMIE WAS PLEASED when Lance drove down with her to Stockton for her next two classes; he even suggested they visit the library together to research the term papers she needed to write.

  “Do you think something is wrong at Poppy Gold?” Jamie asked Lance as they ate burgers together in the old park square after work on Thursday.

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know. Ever since Tessa fell, I keep thinking something isn’t right, and it’s gotten worse the last few days. Yesterday I asked her if something was wrong, but she said I shouldn’t worry.”

  “I bet it’s nothing.”

  But Jamie wasn’t entirely convinced, especially since Tessa had only said not to worry. That wasn’t the same as being fine, and it reminded Jamie of the time Grandpa George had needed a biopsy and was waiting for the results. Nobody had told her, but she’d known something wasn’t right.

  But she was eighteen now. How long would it take for people to realize she wasn’t a kid?

  Lance sipped his chocolate milk shake, and Jamie tried not to be envious. With all the hard work he did in the orchard, he could eat anything and stay skinny. She’d gotten skim milk. It didn’t compare to one of the Burger Saloon’s double-thick milk shakes.

  He wiped his mouth. “Why do you think something’s wrong?”

  “I don’t know how to explain. Mostly it’s a feeling I keep getting. And Tessa is distracted, though I suppose it could be from dating Mr. McKinley. How does he seem?” Now that she thought about it, it was the most likely explanation. Gabe was rather grim and solemn, not at all the kind of man she’d expect her cousin to like.

  “The same, I guess.” Lance shook the bag from the Burger Saloon, making something rustle. “Hey, some of your French fries must have fallen out.”