Funny Money

by Traci DePree

  Amy? Kate couldn’t imagine the devoted wife and mother involved in anything like counterfeiting.

  THE CAR RIDE HOME WAS QUIET. Kate gazed out the window as Paul turned up Smoky Mountain Road. Heat shimmered on the road’s surface, creating a miragelike wave ahead.

  Finally Kate broke the silence. “Do you think he did it?”

  Paul shook his head. “Hard to say. He comes off as a very sincere person, and I can’t imagine Amy being an accomplice.”

  “It seems like they have enough on their plate just dealing with Jake’s cystic fibrosis. I keep seeing the image of that little boy swinging his feet in church while his father talked about his needs. It doesn’t seem to jibe.”

  Paul nodded in agreement.

  Kate went on, processing for herself as much as with Paul. “And yet people who are desperate do all kinds of strange things.”

  “They do have the fingerprints...,” Paul added.

  Kate nodded. “Not on the offering bills, yet Agent Norris still says Tim’s guilty. But why would Tim place cash in the offering that was meant to go to his own family? That doesn’t add up to me.”

  “Maybe he thought the bills wouldn’t be detected in the deposit, that it’d be easier to pass off.”

  “That’s possible, I guess.” Kate let out a heavy breath. If Tim had committed this crime, what would become of his son? That was the most troubling thought of all. And if Amy were involved?

  Kate sighed and looked in her handbag for her cell phone. She wanted to call around about what she’d learned in her own sleuthing. Had she been on the wrong trail all along? She moved her hand around, scraping the bottom of her purse. As she riffled around, she realized something was missing. Her camera had been in here.

  “Didn’t I have my camera in here last Sunday?” she asked Paul.

  “I remember you showing a picture of the Lourdes family to Livvy and Danny at the diner on Monday,” Paul confirmed.

  Kate pushed the contents of her handbag around one more time. She found the phone, but no camera. “Maybe I took it out when I got Amy those tissues last night.” Kate tried not to panic.

  “Maybe.” As he said it, Kate’s cell phone rang in her hand. She glanced at the display. Amy Lourdes.

  Taking a deep breath, she accepted the call. “Hi, Amy,” she said.

  “Hey, Kate.” The young mother sounded tired. “I’m sorry to bug you, but could you come by the house?”

  Kate mouthed the request to Paul, who nodded and turned the car back toward town.

  “Of course. We’re on our way.”

  WHEN THEY ARRIVED, Jake wasn’t home. Amy explained that he’d gone to play at the neighbor’s again.

  Kate patted her shoulder and followed her to the small living room, with Paul close behind.

  Once they were seated, Amy said, “That lawyer in Pine Ridge called.” She shook her head. “There’s no way we can afford him. We’ll have to hope the court-appointed attorney is competent.”

  Her eyes filled with worry, and she took a sip of water from a glass on the low coffee table between them. “I was supposed to take Jake in to the children’s hospital today. The doctor wanted to see how his new asthma medicine is working.” A tear slid down her cheek.

  “Do you want me to take him?” Kate offered.

  Amy shook her head. “I canceled the appointment.” She took a deep breath. “Right now I have to prove Tim’s innocence—somehow. He is innocent.”

  She looked deep into Kate’s eyes as if hoping to find agreement there. But Kate wasn’t sure of anything at this point, though she couldn’t bring herself to say that to the hurting woman.

  Just then, Jake came bounding in the front door in a flurry of noise and door slamming. His face was red, and he was breathing heavily when he came around the corner.

  “Hey, buddy,” his mother said. Trouble brewed in his eyes. “What’s wrong?”

  Jake’s thin frame moved with each breath. Then he said, in that voice that sounded as if he had a cold, “Is Dad a thief?”

  “Where did you hear that?” Amy moved to him.

  “Is it true?” The six-year-old stared at his mother, his pale face filled with hope that the words were wrong. He coughed again, an unsettling sound.

  “No, baby.” Amy bent to wipe his tear-stained face. “It is definitely not true. You and I know Daddy better than anyone in the world, and we know that he isn’t that kind of person.” She challenged him to be strong with her eyes. “You know that, right?”

  Jake finally nodded.

  “People can be mean, but that doesn’t make what they say true. Okay?”

  Gradually the boy seemed to calm himself. He took a deep breath. Then he started coughing, and Amy patted his back. When the bout had passed, he shifted awkwardly, and Amy said, “Go get your chest clapper.”

  Jake glanced at Kate and Paul.

  “Go,” his mother insisted. Then she excused herself to help him set up the device. They disappeared into the bedroom at the back of the long hall, only the sounds of Jake coughing, gagging and choking along with Amy’s words of comfort reaching Paul and Kate in the living room. They said nothing, though Kate thought her heart would break.

  After a good fifteen minutes, Amy returned to take her seat alongside Kate and said, “I’m sorry about all that.” She looked fragile, ready to come apart.

  Tears glistened on her lower lashes. “We have to prove that Tim is innocent,” she said. “I can’t do this alone. Please help me. Help us.” Her gaze shifted between Kate and Paul.

  Conviction grew in Kate’s heart. This wasn’t just about proving that the guilty party wasn’t from Faith Briar, though a large part of her hoped for that. She knew now that for Jake’s sake, she needed to help the Lourdeses. She needed to find the truth. She needed to find the people responsible.

  Chapter Nine

  Kate had asked Amy about the missing camera during their visit, but it was nowhere to be found. Amy said she recalled seeing her take it from her handbag on Sunday night when Kate had gotten the tissues, but she hadn’t seen it since. They’d searched the house, even rooms that Kate hadn’t been in during her prior visit, thinking Jake might’ve taken it somewhere. But it was gone. Kate tried to remember where she’d put it. She’d called the Country Diner to see if she’d forgotten it there, but no one had seen it.

  But another question had yet to be answered—the matter of Millie’s strange behavior at the SuperMart. She needed to settle that matter once and for all so she could move on. So Tuesday, she climbed into her car yet again to head to the megastore.

  Judy Dunn, the clerk who worked the jewelry counter alongside Millie Lovelace, stared through thick Coke-bottle glasses at Kate. Her black hair stood off her head as if she were being electrocuted. Despite her dated attire, she seemed to be quite young—in her twenties, Kate guessed.

  “Did you say you were with the FBI?” she said in a nasally voice, her attention somewhere over Kate’s shoulder.

  “I’m just helping a friend,” Kate said with a smile. “Do you always work the jewelry counter?”

  Judy shook her head. “Depends on what Randall wants me to do.”

  “Do you know if any counterfeit bills showed up at the jewelry counter last week?”

  The young woman’s face blanched. “Counterfeits? Randall didn’t say anything about counterfeits. Does he think I accepted them?”

  “No,” Kate assured her. “He said you might be able to talk to me about any...possibly unusual activities at the jewelry counter from last Friday?” She pointed to the black dome on the ceiling that concealed the cameras positioned throughout the store.

  “Oh.” Judy’s mouth dropped open. She turned a puzzled look to Kate. “Why do you want to know about that?”

  “It’s hard to explain,” Kate said, careful not to start any rumors about Millie. “I thought I witnessed something when I was here on Friday...” Kate let the words trail away.

  The salesclerk studied Kate for a long moment, then
picked up the phone. She talked in hushed tones, Kate assumed to Randall, given the furtive glances she sent to Kate.

  “Can I show her the footage?” Judy was saying. “Oh...okay. How many times has she been here?” There was a long pause while she listened. “I have no idea.” Then she hung up, leveled a look at Kate, and said, “Randall said you can look for yourself.”

  What had brought about the man’s change of heart? Kate wondered, though she wasn’t about to argue.

  Judy guided Kate across the sales floor and through a door marked Employees Only. She led Kate through a maze of boxes in the back of the store and up to the security section. A guard sat at a desk staring at monitor after monitor, and lifted his head when Judy and Kate came in.

  “Kent,” Judy said, “can you find the footage of last Friday at the jewelry counter?”

  The man narrowed his eyes at Kate, and Judy assured, “She’s okay.”

  The heavyset man slowly got up and shuffled to the other side of the room. He found the tape with the footage of Millie stuffing the cash into her vest. There in front of them was the moment in question: Millie glancing around. Placing the sack of money alongside the till, then switching the bills.

  Judy sat back in shock. And Kent said, “What in the world is she doing?” He scratched the top of his head.

  “You think there’s something to it? What should we do?” Judy finally said when the security guard turned off the monitor.

  THE SECRET SERVICE AGENT seemed almost irritated as he reviewed the footage in the crowded back room of the SuperMart. He leaned in for a closer look, then he blew out a heavy breath as he raked a hand through his blond hair.

  “What do you think she’s doing?” Kate asked.

  The agent’s blue eyes landed on her. There was a sense of condescension in his expression that Kate brushed aside.

  “Mrs. Hanlon,” he began. “I appreciate that you brought this information to my attention, but the truth is, none of the counterfeit bills have surfaced at SuperMart or in Pine Ridge.” He shook his head at her. “And we have arrested our criminal. The only thing we don’t have is the accomplice. Are you accusing Mrs. Lovelace of being the accomplice?”

  “No...I don’t know,” Kate said sheepishly. She had to admit she was relieved that Agent Norris didn’t suspect Millie was a part of the crime, but the agent had yet to explain her strange behavior.

  His expression softened. “Listen, I appreciate that you care about Mr. Lourdes and want to see him back with his family. But maybe you should ask yourself just how well you know him.”

  KATE GLANCED OUT the large dance studio windows, distracted by her conversation with Agent Norris earlier that day. He had asked her to move on, but didn’t he have any doubts at all? Hadn’t he spoken to Tim and seen his sincerity? Was sincerity enough to prove innocence?

  Kate turned back to the room of dance students, who were chatting among themselves. There were a few couples Kate didn’t recognize. The two Cline sisters, who worked as tellers at the Mid-Cumberland Bank, were there, though Kate didn’t see any dance partners for them. The women stood to the side, their blue hair forming a peak as they whispered to each other. Renee Lambert was there with Sam Gorman. Kate wondered how the seventy-one-year-old woman had convinced the younger man to agree to take dance lessons. Paul gave him a wave, and his face broke into a grin. Livvy and Danny Jenner were there also, standing near the back of the room. Kate waved and led Paul to them.

  Kate didn’t see Audrey or Hal anywhere, though there was soft music wafting from a CD player atop the piano.

  Livvy was glancing around the room. “It’s quite a turnout, isn’t it? This is going to be fun.”

  “Have you taken any kind of lessons before?” Kate asked Danny.

  “Just square dancing in grade school.”

  “Swing your partner, do-si-do,” Kate said and Livvy giggled.

  Finally Audrey came into the room, wearing a flowing aqua blue caftan that reached almost to the floor. Her white, high-heeled sandals peeked from beneath. Her jewelry was big and gaudy and made a tinkling sound as she clapped her hands in three quick raps.

  “Gather up, now,” she said in her high-pitched voice, a smile on her paper-white face.

  Everyone quieted down. Hal had come in behind her and stood to the side with his hands clasped in front of him. When Kate met his eye, he nodded briefly.

  Paul had come to stand behind Kate as Audrey began introductions.

  “Welcome to beginning waltz.” She turned to take in the whole class, then pointed out her husband as coteacher for the class.

  “Now y’all are gonna have to help me with your names. I’m not much for such details unless it has to do with dancing.” She laughed in her nervous way, and a few of the students chuckled along. “We’ll take it slow, so you don’t need to fret. Hal and I will show you everything first. Then we’ll come around to help couples.”

  The class formed a circle around the room, leaving the center open for Audrey and Hal. Audrey slipped a CD into the changer, then took her position in her husband’s arms.

  Audrey and Hal stood like the silhouette Kate had seen on the brochure, tall and elegant as the music began.

  They mesmerized their spectators like a couple deeply in love. The expression in Hal’s eyes mirrored the look Kate often saw in her own husband’s face—years of devotion. One step moved into the next and the next in a fluidity of motion and symmetry. They seemed lost in each other, and Kate found herself blushing at the sense that she was intruding on a private moment. Several minutes later, the music ceased.

  They moved directly into lessons, teaching the basic box step, then gathering everyone up in pairs like animals on the ark.

  “Tell me if I step on your toes,” Paul said as he took hold of Kate’s waist.

  “I’ll be sure to yelp.” Kate smirked.

  Audrey was talking again. “You two, where are your partners?” She was speaking to Georgia and Evelyn Cline.

  The identical twins, who stood facing each other, burned with embarrassment. Kate had a hard time telling the two apart, especially when they weren’t together.

  “We couldn’t find partners, so we’re dancing together,” Georgia said. “That’s not a problem, is it?”

  It sounded to Kate’s ears almost like a threat. I dare you to kick paying customers out of your class.

  “It’s not a problem at all, honey.” The endearment was spoken gently, carrying a measure of grace for their transgression. “I’ll share Hal with you so you both can get the feel of following. We don’t want to have you domineering any potential dance partners down the road, do we?” Her head bobbed slightly with the joke.

  Georgia cleared her throat, while Evelyn nodded in agreement.

  Kate grinned up at Paul.

  “Let’s see if we can teach this old dog a new trick,” he said.

  Kate smiled at him. It felt good to try something new with an old dog.

  Chapter Ten

  Images of Tim Lourdes in jail and Millie Lovelace stuffing money into her SuperMart vest haunted Kate all through the night.

  So Wednesday morning, after she’d spent some time in the Word and cleaned up from breakfast, she headed to the church to see Millie. Paul had gone to do some visitation at the hospital in Pine Ridge, and Kate was glad to have a private moment with the church secretary.

  Kate felt sure she read more into what she’d seen than was there. Yet how could she broach the subject?

  Um, Millie, I was spying on you at SuperMart on Friday, and I talked to the Secret Service about you... No, that wasn’t right. Did you happen to steal a sack of money from the jewelry counter? No, that didn’t work either. She’d simply ask about the mysterious envelope as she’d meant to do before. Hopefully, the conversation would transition naturally from there.

  Kate drummed her fingers on the steering wheel as she drove the short distance to the church. Millie’s red Nissan was parked in the lot. Kate pulled her black Honda alongside it an
d made her way inside.

  The gruff little woman lifted her head when Kate came around the corner. “What are you doing here, Kate?” Millie said curtly.

  Kate cleared her throat, buying herself a few moments.

  “How was your vacation?” she began.

  “It was good.” That was all Millie offered. She watched Kate for a moment.

  She should’ve known Millie wouldn’t appreciate small talk. “Did you see an envelope for the Lourdes’ offering before you left on vacation?” Kate decided to dig right in.

  “Of course.” Millie turned back to the computer. “I put it in my desk tray for you. It was part of the money for the special offering. There was a note on it.”

  “So you wrote that note?”

  Millie nodded.

  “Did you know that some of the money was counterfeit?”

  A look came over the woman’s face slowly, and Kate wasn’t sure how to read it. It was as if someone had told a joke she hadn’t quite gotten at first, but then the meaning dawned piece by piece. “They think the counterfeit money came from that envelope?”

  Kate took the chair across from her. “They aren’t sure,” she said. “It could’ve come from passing the plate that Sunday or from the envelope. I was hoping you could shed some light on where the envelope came from.”

  “A woman brought it by.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I didn’t examine it closely.”

  “But do you know who she was?”

  “She said she’d heard about the offering and wanted to help.” She clicked a few keys on her keyboard.

  “What did she look like?”

  “She was tall and had dark hair, brown, I think. She seemed nice.”

  “Would you recognize her if you saw her again?”

  Millie shook her head. “I didn’t really pay close attention. She dropped it off and left.”

  “Did you write both notes?”

  “Both?”

  “There was a note that said ‘Don’t forget twenties and fifties.’”

  Millie waved her hand as if she were waving away a gnat. “That was a note to myself, so I’d remember to get cash for vacation. I have no idea how it came to be on the envelope. I heard somewhere that they didn’t take credit cards at Disney. By the way, that’s not true.”