by R A Wallace
“It was a long time ago when you knew him,” Jerry pointed out. “People change. You heard them in there. Jimmy was having trouble getting around, keeping up. He was sixty eight.”
It still didn’t feel right to her. “Maybe it was the jewelry they were after?”
Jerry had considered the same thing. He knew the auctioneers would have a list of the items they hoped to sell. “We can check on that. See what the estimated value was. If it was as nice as they said, it’s possible that it attracted someone’s attention. Maybe they came back and tried to get it?”
***
Emmet Parker stared at the wall, unseeing. His mind was turned inward as he thought of the jewelry he had missed out on. How could he have been so stupid? He should have never let it get away. Not something that important. And it was important, so very important. He’d been so close, so close to having it in his hands. He looked over at the picture of his daughter, Jennifer, on the end table next to him.
He sighed in disgust and dropped his head. What was he going to do now? He didn’t want to fail. Lifting his head, and his resolve, he stood from the chair. He’d messed up. He was going to have to make this right. He wasn’t sure exactly how, but he just had to.
Chapter Nine
She wrapped her hands around the hot mug of decaf tea and stared into the room. Of the four bedrooms upstairs, this one had always been her particular favorite. She had chosen the colors, furniture, and decorations for all of the rooms but this one had been the first room she’d finished as a much younger woman when she’d struggled to make the dream of her bed and breakfast a reality.
Sighing deeply, she leaned against the door frame and considered the consequences. The baby had to sleep somewhere. Even if they kept him or her with them in their suite on the first floor right after the baby was born, they would still eventually have to do something when the baby grew older.
Was she ready to give up on her bed and breakfast? What choice did she have? The child, and any others that came after it, would have to sleep somewhere. Megan took one final look into the guest room, then turned and slowly walked downstairs. She went into the kitchen and set her tea mug down but reached for her sweater hanging on the back of a chair. She was glad to be pulling it on when, a moment later, a cold blast of air came into the kitchen along with her husband.
“They all look good,” Dan said as he removed his coat. He’d checked on the animals after dinner.
Megan assumed he was doing more than checking on the animals since he’d been out there for a while, but she had learned not to ask too many questions about his projects in the barn. It made the surprise that much sweeter when he presented the gift to her later in the form of some completed woodworking project. Given that she’d purchased the plans for him, she strongly suspected the current project might involve either a crib or a rocking chair.
He glanced over at Megan when she didn’t respond. She was huddled inside her sweater, staring into space.
“You okay?”
Megan’s attention shifted to Dan. “Sure. Yeah, I’m good.”
Dan closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her. “Okay, how about the truth this time.”
She smiled into his chest. “I was thinking about my bed and breakfast.”
Dan frowned over her head. “What about it?”
Megan lifted her head in confusion. She was pretty sure it was an obvious problem. “The baby can’t sleep in the barn.”
Dan laughed then wished he hadn’t when he saw the look on Megan’s face. He bent down and kissed her quickly.
“Sorry. I just had an image in my head of our parents coming to visit their first grandchild out in the barn.” He saw that she was still frowning and tried again. “So, what were you thinking of?”
“We’ll have to use the rooms upstairs when they get older. I mean, they can stay in our room with us for a while but that won’t last long.”
Dan focused on the important part. “They?” He grinned. “I like the sound of that.”
She let out a sigh. “I’m serious.”
He pulled her back in for a hug. “I didn’t think you’d want to give up the bed and breakfast.” Then he questioned himself. He pushed her away a little to see her face again. “Do you?”
“No, but…”
“Good. Then it’s settled.”
Her confusion was obvious in her face. “What’s settled?”
“We’ll add on to the back near our suite.”
Megan turned her head in that direction then swung it back to him quickly. “Really?”
“I just assumed that’s what we would do as soon as the weather broke.”
“Um, yeah. That’s a great idea.”
Dan took a step away and reached for her hand. “Okay, now that we have that settled, let’s go sit in the living room. I do have something important to talk with you about.”
Megan frowned all the way to the living room. She settled on the couch while Dan threw more wood on the fire. She turned to him expectantly when he sat next to her.
“I heard something in town today about Tom.”
Megan’s look of anticipation turned to concern.
“He’s okay, Caro’s okay, Ethan’s okay, but I guess they’ve had some issues with break-ins, or attempted break-ins at both Caro’s and out at Tom’s farm.”
“Break-ins?” It wasn’t unheard of in Teaberry, but it was uncommon, especially out in the area where the farms were.
“Yeah. I don’t have a lot of details yet. In Caro’s case, they weren’t there at the time.”
Megan’s eyes widened as the implications sank in. “Ethan was home?”
Dan nodded. “Yeah, but I guess Cooper went nuts and drove them off.”
“Poor Ethan. That had to scare him to death.”
“I can imagine.”
“Did the police catch anyone yet?” Megan wondered who was working the case.
“From what I’ve heard, they have no idea who’s doing it yet or if there is even a connection between the two. Apparently, they didn’t take anything from Caro’s place, they just trashed it while they were there.”
In Megan’s experience, break-ins at two separate houses with Tom as the common denominator would be more than a coincidence. She wondered what the connection was.
***
Rhys climbed the outside steps to Ava’s apartment on the second floor slowly as his mind continued to focus on the break-ins. He knew there had to be a connection between the two attempts but, for the life of him, he didn’t know what it was. He just knew it couldn’t be a coincidence. He was still on duty but Ava had called him and asked him to stop by on his lunch break.
As usual, Bella was the one to answer the door but instead of her typical happy demeanor, she looked pensive. He wondered why.
“Did you catch them?” He should have known she’d hear about something at school.
He followed her into the small apartment. He saw Ava over in the kitchen prepping some meals for tomorrow and went in to greet her. She also gave him a pensive look.
“Not yet, no. We’re still following leads.” At least, he hoped they’d find more leads.
Bella reached down and picked up the kitten he’d gotten her for Christmas. It was from the litter that had been born behind the Jammin’T and moved to Cy Douglass’s farm. Her love for the tiny furball had been immediate and had cemented Rhys in her heart for all eternity because he had been the one to give her the kitten.
“Do you think he’s in danger?” Bella asked.
This was where Rhys wished he’d taken a class in parenting. On the one hand, he didn’t want to tell her anything that might give her nightmares. On the other hand, he wanted her to understand that there were bad people who did bad things and everyone needed to remain aware of danger. He glanced over at Ava and saw her watching him. She smiled encouragingly. Rhys walked over to where Bella stood and reached out to pet the tiny kitten’s head with one finger.
“Ethan�
��s smart and he took all of the right precautions and did all the right things once he knew there was danger. He had the door locked the way he was supposed to. He called for help the way he was supposed to. He was in a scary situation but he handled it.”
“And he had Cooper?” Bella asked.
Rhys smiled. He’d liked the intelligent dog. “Yeah, that he did. It’s important to stay aware of your surroundings, you know that right?”
Bella nodded. It wasn’t the first time he’d told her that.
“You have your phone with you at all times. You can call us or the police if you’re ever worried about anything that you see or hear.”
“Why do you think someone wanted to break into his house?”
That was the exact same question he’d been asking himself.
Chapter Ten
He could tell it was a Friday morning. The traffic in town was definitely busy enough for it. Jerry stopped at a red light on their way out of town. He glanced over at his partner. Erica was chewing on her lip. He couldn’t remember seeing her do that before.
“You okay?” Jerry glanced at her quickly again before accelerating when the light turned green.
Erica sighed. Not really. “Yeah, I’m good. I’m just thinking about something Martha told me about when I first started working in the department.”
“Yeah, Martha’s been around while. She probably knows all the secrets.”
Erica shot him a look. “Have you ever heard anything about me?”
“What, like you never share your cookie stash?”
He was right about that. “No, I mean about not wanting me to work there.”
Jerry laughed. “Seriously?” He turned to her still laughing. She was serious. “No, why would you… what?”
Erica felt herself relax a bit.
Jerry felt himself grow tense with anger. “Martha told you that? Why would she even say that?”
“According to Martha, there were some cops who didn’t want me to be hired back in the day.”
Jerry did the math. “So, you’re talking, what? Like, twelve, thirteen years ago? Who was here then besides Jimmy?” He thought back. It was before his time but he’d heard a lot of stories over the years. “Newcome?”
“Yeah, that was one of them.” Erica thought of the short, stocky man with a loud voice.
“McDaniels, Keyes.” There were a few others back in that same time frame. Jerry hadn’t really known the men. Most were gone before he started. “So, what did she say exactly?”
Erica told him.
Jerry sputtered some words before finally shaking his head. “That’s just messed up.”
“At least I didn’t get stuck with any of them, you know? I lucked out and had Jimmy as my partner.” She frowned as she considered it. Maybe the other men had refused to partner with her. Maybe that was why she’d ended up with Jimmy. She didn’t care. She was better off with Jimmy anyway. “It all worked out for the best.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Erica had told him stories about working with Jimmy. Jimmy sounded like he was one of the good ones. Jerry slowed down as he neared the address. “This is it.”
Erica took a deep breath before removing her seat belt. Talking to Jimmy’s son was going to be hard. She hoped she could keep herself together long enough to make it through. Losing Jimmy, someone she had been so close to, was hard.
Jerry rang the bell. A man that resembled a younger version of Jimmy answered the door. Like Jimmy, Richard Garcia was maybe five nine and had a stocky build. His jet-black hair was now sprinkled with a few grays. Erica knew he was somewhere in his mid-forties.
“Richard, thanks for speaking with us.” Erica wondered why Richard looked so surprised. She knew someone from the station had called in advance to let Richard know that officers from the department were coming to speak with him.
Richard stood staring at Erica.
“Sir, can we come in?” Jerry asked.
Richard broke his gaze and looked at Jerry for a moment before opening the door wider and stepping away. He led them to a comfortable living room and waved for them to take a seat. Erica and Jerry sat on a couch that was covered with a fitted, plaid slipcover. Richard sat in a well-worn recliner across from them and looked at Erica again.
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to stare, it’s just. Look, I’d really like to apologize for my father. I mean, what he did to you, that just wasn’t right. But you know, back then things were just different and some of those old timers just were out of touch. Including my father.” Richard clasped his hands together in front of him and looked intently at Erica. “He was one of the worst ones really.”
Erica and Jerry exchanges confused looks.
“Sir?” Jerry said. He had no idea what the guy was talking about.
“I know what he did was wrong. In the end I think even he regretted it all. I was just surprised to see that you were working his murder now after all they put you through.” Richard put his hands in the air, palms out. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you would rise above that. Like I said. I never agreed with any of what they did.”
Erica felt a fist clench her stomach. Jerry started to speak but she reached her hand out and placed it on his arm. He took the hint and stopped.
Richard continued talking. “I’m just glad they didn’t succeed at getting you fired. I mean, I was only in my late twenties then but he would talk about it all the time. How the group of them did everything they could to drive you off at first, hoping you would just give up under the pressure and quit on your own. When that didn’t work…” Richard shook his head.
“They tried to get me fired.” Erica phrased it as a statement, not a question.
“Pretty crazy, right?” Richard agreed. “No matter what they threw at you though, you never reacted the way they expected you to. They’d give you the impossible cases assuming you’d fail and, man, you showed them. They’d ride you about doing their paperwork for them but you never fought back. Pop said you usually just ignored them.” Richard laughed. “And then, when you actually did the work, you’d do their paperwork so well it showed them up.”
Erica had never minded the extra work. She’d always assumed it was an initiation of sorts but she’d learned so much from it that she’d just never minded taking on the extra load. Back then when she was first starting out, she needed to learn everything and she was learning from the most experienced guys on the force who were working active cases at the time. It had given her the foundation she’d needed to become a good cop. That solid foundation helped her even today.
Jerry couldn’t help himself. “Your father thought she should be fired?”
Richard shrugged. “Like I said, it was a different time back then and they were the dinosaurs in the department. Most of those guys retired within a few years of her starting. And Pop changed his mind over time. I mean, he fought being partnered with her like you wouldn’t believe when they first told him. But, once he got stuck working with Erica, he did a one eighty. Not overnight, of course In fact, it wasn’t really until just before the end. Once he changed his mind about her, that’s when he retired.” He shrugged again. “Still, he finally came to accept it.”
Erica took out her notebook and flipped it open. “Would you mind if we ask you some questions about that night?”
Richard nodded his agreement. “Of course. Anything I can do to help find who did this.”
“Was your father working a lot lately?” Erica asked.
A grimace passed across Richard’s face. “Nah, he couldn’t really do much. He got confused a lot, you know? I was really surprised that he even got this job but it didn’t sound like it would be dangerous or anything. I mean, he just had to babysit the property. I figured he could nap there just as easily as here.”
“He napped a lot?” Jerry asked.
“Yeah, he was having trouble sleeping through the night. He was up and down several times, going to the bathroom, you know. It made him tired and he’d sleep off and on during the
day.” Richard’s eyes were drawn to an old photo of Jimmy on the mantel. “I shouldn’t have let him do it, but he promised it would be the last time. He said he just wanted to feel that old feeling again, you know? Like he was important.”
“You live here with your father?” Jerry asked.
“Yeah, oh yeah. I had to move in to help him out. There was no way he could do the day-to-day things on his own. Keeping track of bills or remembering to do things, you know? Even keeping his clothes clean. That was all beyond him now. He was so excited about this last job, he even insisted I iron his uniform.”
After several more questions, they left the house. Jerry started the car and sat in the driveway for a moment.
“Let it drop,” Erica said quietly.
“You know if you ever want to talk about it.” Jerry turned to look at her. “You know I have your back, right?”
Erica gave a fleeting smile. “Thanks, partner.”
Chapter Eleven
It was a man’s room, Casey thought. It held exactly what was needed and nothing more. No photos, no decorations, and very little color of any kind save the plaid curtains on the windows. The bed was comfortable enough though, and beat sleeping on the couch which was what he had anticipated doing when he insisted on staying with Marcy and Ethan.
He could smell something tempting wafting up the stairs. Marcy must be working in the kitchen. He smoothed the worn coverlet on the bed, then followed his nose downstairs. The smell of bacon and coffee was easily discerned. It was the other smell that had him perplexed. He entered the kitchen with images of various possibilities cycling through his head. The cake cooling on the countertop should have been obvious. It was Saturday, the day of Ethan’s birthday party. He blamed the lack of caffeine for his failure.
“Good morning,” Marcy said without turning from her task. She was transferring the bacon to a plate.
“Morning.” Casey took a mug from the cupboard and poured himself a cup of coffee. He leaned back against the counter and watched Marcy at work. He could get used to this. He didn’t mind his mornings at the Jammin’T. It was nice to catch up with others in town but he could just as easily do that at lunchtime. A relaxing breakfast at home. That was something altogether different.
