Hot on the Trail Mix

by P. D. Workman

  “What about a phone? Does she have one?”

  “Doesn’t look like it. Or if she does, it might just be a prepaid phone, which could be in anyone’s name. Sometimes family buys phones, so that their loved one will be able to reach them in case of an emergency. It would be helpful if we had Ryder’s phone, but we don’t.”

  Erin nodded, thinking about it. “Did he have one? For sure?”

  “Nothing in this case is for sure. Circumstances can change from one day to the next. There’s really no telling. He did have a phone up until a few days ago. But again, no way to tell who it was registered to. We would have to find out who he’d talked to, so that we could find out what number he was at, and then trace that number to see who else he was talking to and when was the last time and location that the phone was used. All of that takes time. And a starting point. Right now, we don’t even have a starting point.”

  “You can’t find his wife or his phone. One would probably give you the other.”

  “Yes. But neither… gets us anywhere. Just asking more questions from more people, trying to find out where he has been and what he has been doing. It’s a lot harder to track people when they operate below the radar like this.”

  “Maybe if you sleep on it, you’ll come up with something.”

  He took a long swallow of his beer. K9 went out to the kitchen, and Erin could hear him slurping up water from his bowl. He’d had a long day too. Though he probably didn’t find his as frustrating as Terry’s.

  Unless he wanted to go outside and do foot patrol, which was what he liked to do best. If he had been cooped up in an interrogation room all afternoon and evening, then maybe he was just as frustrated.

  “I saw a woman in town recently. Thin. With several kids with her. I wonder if it could have been Mrs. Ryder.”

  Terry raised one eyebrow. “Where did you see this woman?”

  “Across the street from the bakery. I just saw them walking along the street… I didn’t recognize her or the children, and I thought they looked like they could use some help. I took some granola bars across to the kids. She wouldn’t take bread or anything else.”

  “Could have been her. Fairly young woman? Dark blond?”

  Erin tried to picture the woman. “That sounds right, yes. I introduced myself, but she didn’t shake hands or tell me her name. She looked tired and… like she’d been living rough for a while. And I’m not sure how many kids she had. Maybe four? Three little ones and a baby?”

  “Do you think she was living here in town? Did you see where she came from or where she was going?”

  “I didn’t watch her for that long. I never thought I would need to know, or I would have. I just thought it would be rude to be watching her and prying into her business. It really wasn’t any of my business where she came from or where she was going.”

  “Did she say anything? About what her situation was or where her husband was? Was she looking for him? Supposed to meet him somewhere?”

  “No. There was really no conversation. I felt bad enough for offering the granola bars in front of the kids, because then she didn’t really have the opportunity to say no, after they had heard. I just wanted to help out, but she acted offended. You know how people are when they say they don’t need any charity.”

  “Oh, yes.” Terry nodded. “I’ve heard that line enough times.”

  “Sometimes people do need help. I don’t understand why charity is a bad thing. It doesn’t mean people are thinking badly about her. Just that they recognize she could use some help.”

  “I guess you have to be in that position to understand it.”

  “I have been, though. I mean, not in exactly her situation, not flat out without anywhere to go, but close enough. And I was always grateful when people offered to help. Especially if it was a job. But anything, even a bit of pocket change, at least it was something. I appreciated it.”

  “Then I guess it is a fundamental difference between you. Maybe the way she was raised. Maybe something happened in her past and she was taken advantage of. Someone made fun of her for accepting charity or thought that she owed them something when she took it. There are plenty of people out there who are not nearly as nice as you are, Erin.”

  Erin stroked Orange Blossom’s head and back and he purred his loud, rumbling purr. “Yeah. There are a lot of people out there who are not very nice. I hate to have them ruining things for those who are good, decent people. There are lot of people who won’t help you out without a lecture or religious sermon first.” Erin shrugged. “But I figure, what does it hurt? Let them blow off some steam. If it makes them feel like they’re doing some good, why not?”

  Terry put his arm around Erin’s shoulders, squeezing lightly, and rested his head momentarily against hers.

  “I don’t like to hear about you being that bad off. I didn’t know that things had been that rough.”

  “Not all the time. Usually, it only took me a few days to be back on my feet. I would find work and a place to stay. That’s what was so good about being a carer, a lot of times you could get a job and food and place to stay all at once.”

  “But they didn’t always work out.”

  “No. Someone didn’t like you for some reason or another, or the person you were caring for, if they have dementia, they lose things and accuse you of stealing. The family doesn’t realize it’s just the dementia talking, think you are bleeding them dry or selling off the family heirlooms.” Erin rested her head against Terry’s shoulder. “Or it would all work out really well, but then the person dies, and… you don’t get to stay after that. Doesn’t matter if it’s the middle of the month and you don’t have anywhere to go. The person you are taking care of dies, and you’re back out on the street.”

  “That would be a shock. Didn’t they know… that it would mean you were homeless?”

  “No.” Erin shrugged. “I wouldn’t tell them that. I’d do everything I could to make it an easy transition for them. So that I could get a reference at the next place. If I caused trouble, insisted that I needed to stay there until I could find a new place… they’d resent me, and they wouldn’t give a good report.”

  Terry nodded. “It must have been a very precarious existence.” He rubbed her back and shoulders with one hand.

  “That’s one way to put it. Coming here to Bald Eagle Falls and starting the bakery… It was terrifying. But at the same time, I was so excited. I never thought I would have an opportunity like that. My own business. Running things the way I wanted to. Hiring employees of my own.” She looked fondly around the living room. “I never had a house of my own before. I never had pets.” She snuggled against Terry a bit more, even though her movement made Orange Blossom lift his head to glare at her. “I never had someone to share it with.”

  Chapter 16

  Erin’s sleep was restless, interrupted with thoughts of the Ryder family. Had it been them she had seen across the street from the bakery? Where were they staying now? What could she do to help with the homeless—or less adequately homed—population in Bald Eagle Falls? The more she learned about their plight, the more she wanted to get involved. She couldn’t just ignore them, pretending they didn’t exist. Even if that’s what everyone else did.

  The next morning, she arose a little drowsy, her lids heavy, wishing that she could sleep in for once. But even when she didn’t have a shift at Auntie Clem’s Bakery, her body was so used to her baker’s schedule, she couldn’t sleep in. Even without anything that needed to be done urgently, she couldn’t sleep for more than half an hour after her usual waking time.

  And she didn’t have the day off, so she forced herself to swing her feet out of bed and head to the bathroom. Walking, turning on the light, and a duck into the shower for a few minutes woke her up enough to function and get her through the rest of her morning routine.

  The houses outside her windows were still all dark. No one else found it necessary to be up so early. Even Vic didn’t get up quite as early as Erin did, ab
le to get ready for work in just a few minutes and not be in a state about getting everything done on time.

  Vic’s light went on in the loft around the time that Erin put on the kettle. She wasn’t in Erin’s kitchen by the time the kettle started to whistle, but it wasn’t much after that.

  “I don’t know how you get ready so fast.” Erin shook her head.

  Vic pulled her hair back into a ponytail and wound it into a bun as she took a chair at the table. “I’m just really motivated to get as much sleep as possible. So I get as much ready as possible before bed… just jump into my clothes and head down the stairs.”

  “You’re crazy. And you have to wake Willie up if he’s driving us. That must take a few minutes too.”

  “Nah.” Vic shook her head. “As soon as I move, he’s awake. He’s a very light sleeper.”

  Erin found that reassuring, somehow. Willie didn’t sleep over with Vic every night, but when he did, it was nice to know that she had another watchdog nearby who would be out of bed in an instant if he heard something untoward.

  Erin poured hot water into their cups, and they both set about making their morning tea. As soon as Willie was down the steps and in his truck, they would pile in and head over to the bakery for their usual early start.

  Erin stared at the blackness of the kitchen window, still hours before sunrise, thinking about the Ryder family. Did they have beds to sleep in? Were they in a safe shelter? Or were they out on the street somewhere? Or in sleeping bags in another cave? All of those little children and the thin woman with her baby. Erin’s hips ached just thinking of her sleeping on the ground or on the floor.

  “What is it?” Vic inquired.

  “Oh. Sorry. Just thinking.”

  “Long thoughts. About what?”

  “Rip Ryder’s family. Where they are and if they were sleeping somewhere safe tonight.”

  “Yeah. I guess. It would be a tough way for a family to live.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  Erin sipped her tea. “Did you and Willie talk about it more last night? I mean… don’t tell me anything confidential. Just wondering if… he said anything else about the family. Where they might be squatting now. The police are going to be looking for them; they haven’t even been able to do the death notification yet. That poor family doesn’t even know that he’s never going to be coming back.”

  “They probably have a pretty good idea by now. I mean… just the fact that he left and didn’t get back when they expected him to. Wouldn’t you figure after a few days that that was it?”

  “Not necessarily. We don’t know if they even saw each other every day. Sometimes when someone has to go away to work… we don’t know whether they would normally see each other once a week, or once a month, or if he was going back to her every day.”

  “But if they were squatting out in the wilderness…” Vic frowned. “I mean, he wouldn’t just leave them all out there to fend for themselves. Would he?”

  “If he didn’t have any other choice.”

  Vic shook her head. “Well, I hope they’re back here in town by now. I wondered about that family that you fed the other day. That could have been them, couldn’t it?”

  “Yeah. I told Terry about that. She fits the general description. I’ll watch for them while we’re working today. If she’s still in the area, I might see her again. I can ask if she is Mrs. Ryder, or if she knows where the Ryder family is. The homeless usually have a ‘bush telegraph,’ ways that they keep informed on what is happening in the neighborhood. So maybe if it isn’t Mrs. Ryder, she’ll still be able to give us a lead.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” Vic looked toward the other window and saw Willie descending the steps. “That’s our cue.”

  Erin picked up her purse and slung it over her shoulder. She had finished enough tea that she didn’t want to be bothered taking it with her, so she dumped the rest in the sink and set the cup down to wash later.

  Vic cocked her head as she looked at Erin’s purse. Erin touched it protectively. “What?”

  “That doesn’t look as heavy and deadly as usual. You got your planner?”

  Erin squeezed her purse and realized she did not. “Hang on a sec! I was writing in it before bed last night…” She hurried back to the bedroom and tried to retrieve it as silently as possible so that she wouldn’t disturb Terry. “Good thing you reminded me! I wouldn’t want to be without my lists.”

  “None of us would want that,” Vic agreed with a laugh.

  There was plenty to do before opening, and if Erin did see Mrs. Ryder, she was sure it wouldn’t be until later in the day like the last time, so she tried to put her worries about the little family to the side while she and Vic baked the day’s goods and prepared to open the store.

  She still found herself inventorying everything that she was working on, weighing whether she should put something aside for the Ryders. A couple of loaves of bread. Some muffins. Maybe some cookies.

  But Mrs. Ryder hadn’t wanted any charity. So even if Erin put things aside for her, she would probably refuse to take them.

  Could she? If she were hungry, if they couldn’t afford anything to eat, then they would take the food, wouldn’t they? It wasn’t like there were soup kitchens and homeless shelters in Bald Eagle Falls. If they weren’t able to fend for themselves, they would have to depend on the charity of strangers, like it or not.

  “I hate to think of anyone out there on the street,” she told Vic.

  “You’ve got a good heart. But you can’t help everyone.”

  “I can try. If there are people who need food here in Bald Eagle Falls, then I should donate to them before taking baking into the city. Don’t you think? I’m giving it away either way, but I should serve my own community before going farther afield. Especially since they already have services in the city. They really don’t have anything here, do they?”

  Vic shook her head. “Maybe someone could go to one of the churches to ask for help. I’m sure they could get taken care of that way. But not everybody is religious or wants to go to a church for help. Would you?”

  “I’d go wherever I had to, if I was hungry. I’ve gone to missions and churches before.”

  “I guess you can’t be choosy.”

  Chapter 17

  Erin asked a few of the customers who came into the bakery whether they had heard of the Ryders, or whether they knew who might be willing to help the homeless—or less permanently homed—in Bald Eagle Falls.

  Most disclaimed any knowledge of the Ryders or of any homeless in or around Bald Eagle Falls. Erin only asked the women that she thought might be willing to help, yet even some of those she selected gave her a disapproving look for suggesting that there might be people like that around Bald Eagle Falls. The townspeople might be poor, but they looked after their own. No one was turned out onto the street.

  She watched for the family, but didn’t see them again. Apparently, it wasn’t a regular routine. They had just happened to be by when Erin had seen them the last time. Maybe they had been in town to buy groceries for the week, which they would cook on their camp stove wherever they were currently squatting.

  She was tired at the end of the day, but not ready to go home. Not ready to give up on helping the family or at least some of the people in Bald Eagle Falls who didn’t have enough to support themselves. She could be part of the solution instead of the problem. Seeing the people who were in trouble. Not letting them be invisible.

  It was Terry who picked Erin up, and she was not eager to ask him for help. He had probably been looking for the family for half of his shift anyway.

  “Do you mind if we drive around a little? I’d like to see if I could see that family that I gave the granola bars to before. Make sure that they’re okay.”

  Terry looked at her. “Where are you going to look?”

  “Well… it isn’t like it’s the big city. We can check out the most likely places in a few minutes. If we don’t see them, then I’ll go home. But I’d li
ke to at least try.”

  “Where?”

  “The churches. The library. Maybe check around the grocery store. The dumpsters behind the grocery and the restaurants. Places that they might go for shelter or food.”

  “We don’t have a homeless problem in Bald Eagle Falls. I would know if people were loitering around here, going through dumpsters. That’s not legal.”

  “People need to eat. They need a place to sleep. It’s warm enough now that they can sleep outside, but still, somewhere that’s sheltered, safer…”

  “We can drive around a bit.” Terry turned his head to check in with Vic in the back seat. “Do you want to be dropped off or to join Erin on her quest?”

  “I’ll come along. I’m curious to see what she finds.”

  Terry nodded. He pulled out into the street. “Library first?”

  “Yes.”

  They cruised over to the library. Some children were playing outside, and a few cars were in the parking lot. Certainly, nothing that looked out of the ordinary. But now that Erin knew what she was looking for, she looked more carefully. Were they children that she knew? Were they dressed like the rest of the kids in the town, or were they wearing dirty or worn clothing? Did any of the cars in the parking lot look like they were being lived in?

  “I’m going to pop inside,” she told Terry. “You can just wait here.”

  Terry looked at Vic. “I guess I’ve been told.”

  “It might be something to do with the fact that you’re a cop. People who are living on the street or have something to do with a murdered man might not want to have any contact with the police.”

  “True enough,” he agreed. He didn’t get out of the truck.

  “Should I come with you?” Vic asked Erin.

  “If you want, but I will probably only be a second.”

  Vic sat back. “I’ll let you have the first run at it. It isn’t like you’re going to run into anyone dangerous in the library.”

  Erin went in by herself. She didn’t expect to find anything in the first place she looked, but libraries were a good place for homeless people to hang out. They had climate control and a person could stay there for hours without anyone kicking them out for not buying anything. There was built-in entertainment, with both books and computers available for public consumption.