by Pat Amsden
Tanya was half-heartedly putting shoes on. “It’s not necessary you know. The grief counsellor told me it would take a while. It’s all part of the process…”
Maxine wanted to tell her exactly what the grief counsellor was full of, but bit her tongue. This was not the best of times to pick an argument. Instead she said, “it doesn’t mean you have to go through it alone. You’re staying with me for a few days and that’s final.”
Fortunately Tanya hadn’t put up a fight. In no time at all, Maxine had her installed in her own small apartment. As she heated up some home-made minestrone soup and buns they talked. Or she talked, Tanya listened.
“So,” she said in summary, “Jake Jones is convinced AZK bribed the Indians, specifically his brother to look the other way. And maybe someone in the Environment Ministry as well. Some people will do anything to avoid reality.”
But Tanya, to her surprise, wasn’t leaping to Zak’s defense. Instead her long, tapered fingers twisted a napkin, worrying it until it started to disintegrate beneath her fingers.
“I do know he met with Matt. I mean we had dinner together.”
“Matt?”
“Jake Jones brother. He’s a nice guy. And funny. He had us all in stitches at times throughout the dinner. And his girlfriend was a sweetheart too. She reminded me of me when I was….younger. She’s done some modelling as well as competed in the First Nation games as a runner I think.” Tanya fell silent here and Maxine didn’t want to push her.
She also didn’t want to leave her alone and she had a cake delivery to make that night. No matter how she tried, she couldn’t see Tanya being ready or able to face the world and help her with the cake. Instead she enlisted the help of Grandma Ellie with a frantic text.
HELP!
Not exactly subtle but she was hoping Grandma Ellie had it on her and could read it if she did. She’d recently decided she needed to join the modern world and get a cell phone. The salesman had fitted her with a ‘seniors’ special’. Something Maxine hadn’t known existed but was apparently a simplified smart phone with a limited number of uses and a screen which displayed letters in a larger size than most.
“Readable,” as her Grandma Ellie had said. Clearly it was because within minutes she was knocking on Maxine’s door. She was peering over Maxine’s shoulder even as she answered the door.
“Grandma Ellie, it’s good to see you!”
“And you too, darling. I brought some cinnamon rolls. Oh, is that you, Tanya?” She peered around behind Maxine.
Tanya managed a smile for Grandma Ellie.
“I’m so dreadfully sorry for your loss. I did send a card but I haven’t seen you in person since…”
“It’s all right. I mean it wasn’t as if we were married or anything.”
Tanya’s voice sounded strained to Maxine and she wanted to hug her, to tell her it would be all right.
“It doesn’t matter if you were together one day or a lifetime,” Grandma Ellie said softly. “If you loved him it hurts. Come sit over here while I get you a cup of tea and we’ll talk. Or I’ll listen. I’m good at listening.”
“I thought he was the one,” Tanya blurted out. “I thought we were going to get married and live happily ever after.” She pounded the wall in front of her and Maxine looked on with concern.
Grandma Ellie only nodded at her. “You’ve got a cake to deliver. Tanya and I will talk while you’re gone.”
Maxine felt like a third wheel as she left to deliver the cake to Mrs. Birtwhistle’s 50th birthday celebration. She was glad Tanya wasn’t on her own and she’d long since learned to trust Grandma Ellie when the going got tough. But that didn’t mean she wanted to be left out of the loop.
As the family of Mrs. Birtwhistle oohed and awed over the cake and she set it up carefully she wondered how she could check out Matt Jones. The internet was good for a lot but somehow she didn’t think she’d find a site detailing bribes collected.
“It’s probably not how they phrase it but let’s check out the band’s website Heather said, fingers flying over the keyboard the next morning. Eagle First Nations had their own website. Why was she surprised? Assuming paperboys didn’t disappear entirely they’d probably have their own website soon.
Matt Jones was a handsome man in his early twenties. He stood out in whatever pictures featured him.
“Which could be good editing,” Heather pointed out.
“No amount of editing could give him that body,” Maxine pointed out while Ally almost drooled. And his face had dimples on each side. The man could be a serious heartbreaker. Beside him in almost every picture was a young woman in her mid-twenties who Maxine would almost guarantee was his girlfriend.
Tanya was right. She was stunning. Maxine felt a pang of guilt thinking about Tanya. She’d been afraid to leave her this morning but Grandma Ellie had told her she’d stay with her and to go. Now she didn’t know which worried her more.
That her friend needed her support and she wasn’t there for her or that Grandma Ellie was having to put all her activities on hold so that she could stay with her. They both agreed Tanya needed them.
“It says here her name is January Stevens. She’s a nurse and also heavily involved with the environment. Quote ‘Our elders worked with the natural trees and plants to heal our people. We need to protect that and honor our culture, our leaders.’
Heather clicked on another link that led to the band’s environmental efforts. It showed several pictures and Maxine felt a jolt when she recognized Travis’s face in several of them.
But what was Travis doing in the Eagle Band First Nation’s website?
“Actually there’s a fair number of non-native or First Nations people in all of the pictures,” Heather pointed out. “A lot of the environmental groups are working with First Nations groups to fight the pipeline and oil and gas tankers in our ocean waters.”
Maxine shuddered at the thought. No matter how safe developers and oil companies said the proposed tankers and pipelines were, Maxine couldn’t help thinking it was a disaster waiting to happen. She looked up as she heard footsteps on the stairs and saw Patrick.
“Jane said it would be OK,” he said. She could see the question in his eyes as her staff seemed to melt away leaving the two of them alone.
She smiled at him, while her heart sped up. Friends, that’s all they were. Friends. OK, so there had been that one night. Notably they hadn’t managed to find another night to practice self-defense since then.
He looked at the website they had up on the computer and groaned. “Maxine, when are you going to let this go? Let the police do their job-“
“Which,” Maxine said hotly, “doesn’t include looking into stolen dogs or accidents involving people I know.”
“You know as well as I do,” he said carefully, “that it’s not that easy. Besides I’ve done some investigating into missing dogs on my own. At $5000 a pop it’s a lucrative business,” he said grimly. “No one’s talking including Wendy. And if no one files a formal complaint we can’t do anything.”
“Wendy did file a report,” Maxine exclaimed. “She was upset because the police weren’t doing anything about it.”
“And if she was willing to admit Toto had been dognapped we could do something. But she insists Toto came back on his own. The neighbors say the dog appeared out of nowhere.” He gave a small smile. “The little girl still thinks she should be able to keep him.”
“Aww. I’m sure if they spoke to Wendy she’d be happy to let the little girl visit.”
“Still not helping,” Patrick grumbled. “You wouldn’t be willing to go on record would you?”
“You know I can’t,” she said. “I promised Wendy. If she found out I went behind her back she’d never speak to me again.”
“Maxine.” His voice was a growl but she knew it wasn’t directed at her. It was his frustration.
“Heather has said she knows of four other dogs that have gone missing though in the same neighborhood. She was g
oing to talk to them if she could. I haven’t talked to her since she and Heath checked with neighbors in the area to see if they knew of missing pets.”
He raised his eyebrows. She couldn’t help feeling defensive. “You were the one who told me the police didn’t have the manpower to go after missing pets,” she pointed out as she called Heather over. Heath was out delivering cakes along with Marcus.
But not before Patrick said, “and don’t think I don’t know about your meeting with Jake Jones last night.”
She bristled. “So, it’s a free country. I can talk to whoever I want.”
“Have you been practicing any of the self-defense moves?”
“A few,” she said. “But my head still hurts and I’ve been so busy.”
“So, take a few days off,” he said. “It’ll give you a chance to recuperate. And maybe even some time to practice self-defense.”
“I’ll try,” she said although she wasn’t promising miracles. Until Halloween was officially over it was all hands on deck. And once Halloween was over they’d be busy with Christmas. It was the best of times for a caterer and the worst. It was definitely not a good time to put up your feet and relax.
“Of course,” she said, trying to keep it light. “I might be more likely if you took some time off too.”
“I wish,” he growled. “I’m busier than ever.” His eyes softened and the look he sent her could have melted butter. “Maybe we can take some time off, get to know each other better once this case is over.”
“Perhaps,” she said, her heart speeding up under his light touch.
Before there was any time for the two of them to talk though Heather had joined them. For once Maxine didn’t appreciate her smooth efficiency.
“Give me a minute,” Heather said, fingers flying over the keyboard. “You see, all the dognappings are within five miles of each other. She pointed at a google map with pins in it for each dog. In the center was a large red dot that the others all connected with.
Patrick looked at it with interest. “This is perfect. What’s at the center of the dot?”
Heather shrugged. “Nothing. It backs onto George Dents’ place but I’m pretty sure he’s not our dognapper.”
Patrick sighed heavily. “Convenient as that would be I think I agree with you there. That would’ve been too easy anyway.”
Maxine felt a burst of excitement zip through her. Why or how she didn’t know. But she had a hunch Travis Dent was involved. Proving it though, that might be a harder thing to do.
For now she smiled sweetly at Patrick and promised him she’d let him know if she found out anything.
Once he left she did a google search on Travis Dent. What she expected to come up with she wasn’t sure. A search under Maxine Peters came up with Au Chocolate and not much else.
A search under Travis Dent came up with four pictures and none of them resembled the Travis Dent she knew. Since they lived in the US, Australia and Nova Scotia, Canada she was pretty sure Travis didn’t either.
Next she typed in Travis Dent, Victoria and came up with air.
“Try Travis Dent, environment,” Heather said helpfully.
Google provided a few links. One consisted of a link to St. Anthony’s and a picture of Travis getting the Community Service award for his work with the environment group, Field and Streams, in improving fish habitat. It was the type of thing she could see Travis getting involved in.
And then there were the pictures of him with the Eagles First Nation group. Somehow she thought it would be a better idea to talk to someone in Field and Streams.
“Did you ever do up a brochure on Au Chocolate showing chocolate and dessert trays that could be ordered in advance?”
“I did up a sample,” Heather replied. “But I didn’t get any printed because you haven’t had a chance to look at it yet.”
Dam, she was good. In another life maybe she could come back as a Heather. Of course that might affect her cooking. Better not to take the chance. Right now she gave the brochure Heather pulled up a quick glance and then said, “let’s print out a few here as a sample and then if we’re still happy with it we’ll do a larger printing through Staples.”
She switched the printer to color and quickly ran off five. “I’ll use one when I talk to the Field and Stream people.”
“I could come along,” Heather said eagerly. A little too eagerly.
“Isn’t there work here at the shop?” Maxine said frowning.
“Sure, but I can stay late tonight. I’ve never had a chance to play detective before.”
“We’re not playing detective,” Maxine said with a sharpness she didn’t mean. “I’m checking a few things out, but if you want to come I don’t see the harm. Maybe we should take a few samples of our chocolates then.”
“I have a small sample tray ready to go,” Heather said quickly.
“How could you know we’d need one,” Maxine said. “I didn’t even know we’d need one until a minute ago.”
“It makes sense for you to have a sample tray ready to go,” Heather said. “I was putting together one to show you. It’s not full size but it’s got an assortment of store favorites. You could put one together every morning and if you don’t have a need for it give out store samples to customers later in the day so they aren’t wasted.”
“It’s a good idea,” Maxine said pleased. “Even if we do use the sample tray we should probably make a practice of giving free samples to customers coming in for coffee in the last hour. It could be a form of happy hour for us.”
“Chocolate always makes me happy,” Heather said.
A sentiment Maxine shared as they made their way to the Field and Stream offices, a mere five minutes away in Fernwood. The office was on a side street just off Fernwood Square.
The front portion had a large number of pictures of men and women wading through streams, some holding salmon, some picking up trash. On the coffee table in front of seriously sad looking seating, were an array of magazines focusing on environmental issues and a counter stopped them going any further. They rang the bell on the counter and were rewarded minutes later when a woman in her sixties or seventies came out.
“I’m sorry. I was in the middle of something when you came in. How can I help you?” Dressed in jeans and a t-shirt that said, ‘Save Our Salmon,’ she didn’t look as if she suffered fools gladly.
Maxine stepped forward. “I have a chocolate shop in Victoria and am doing trays for fundraising events or personal. When I have some time I like to drop by local businesses and community offices to let you know what we can do for you.”
“Do we look like an organization in need of chocolate?” the woman asked with the twinkle in her eyes taking the sting from her words.
“Everyone needs chocolate sometimes,” Maxine said without thinking. “Also as part of our marketing we give you a chance to enter to win a free tray for your next event. Travis Dent said you might be interested.”
“Oh, did he?” the woman said. “He left us for a more radical group so I’m surprised to hear that.”
“Oh,” Maxine said. “He probably put your name down when he was still involved with you. And just because he’s left doesn’t mean you won’t get the chocolates.”
“Good. Our annual fundraiser is coming up in a few weeks and maybe chocolate will loosen some of our donors’ purse strings. Lord knows we could use it.” She gave them a broad smile. “My name is Lee. Lee Merriweather – would you like to know more about what we do?”
“If you can tell us in a short time,” Heather said. “Where did Travis go?”
“Oh, he’s with Environment First. Too bad, he’s a nice kid and those guys are trouble.”
“How so?” Maxine asked.
“They’ve been known to do things like spike trees so that when loggers go to cut them down they end up getting seriously hurt. One even got killed a year ago. They believe the ends justify the means. It’s stupid. I told him not to get involved with them but he was determin
ed.”
She scowled as she took one of the chocolates. “Field and Streams work to protect the environment and make sure the fish stock stay healthy and plentiful but we’re a peaceful group. God, these are good! You make these yourself?”
“From scratch,” Maxine said beaming. “With only the best ingredients. The chocolate raspberry is our shop favorite. Try one of our salted caramels too,” she said pointing to one.
“Travis didn’t strike me as a radical, just your ordinary high-school student.”
“He wasn’t,” Lee said scowling. “We do an outreach program with his school. You know, get them involved with caring for the environment young. The kids come out a couple of times a week to Goldstream park and help make sure the salmon are getting upstream, nothing disturbs their natural habitat.”
“That sounds perfect,” Heather said.
“It’s been a good program,” Lee said. “Except this year some yahoo spilled a truck-load of oil when he turned his truck over on the highway going through Goldstream park. A lot of the fish died when it got into the water. We won’t really know the damage until the salmon start returning from their spawning in a few years.
Travis took it bad. He said we should be doing more, the government should be doing more. And then I guess he ran into someone connected with Environment First. I warned his mother, but she didn’t seem too concerned. Said when she was younger she’d been involved in social causes too.” Lee shook her head.
“I don’t know what else you could have done,” Maxine said sympathetically. “How does someone find Environment First?”
“You don’t,” Lee said darkly. “They find you. Although I’m pretty sure they have someone in our group who was able to point Travis in their direction. If I find out who it is I’ll personally kick his butt so far out the door he won’t know what hit him.”
Heath was working on a rotating stand complete with small engine that allowed the top layer, or in this case coffin, of the cake to open and a bony skeleton to come up while ‘A Graveyard Smash,’ started to play. The skeleton was refusing to cooperate.
