Classic Revenge

by Mitzi Kelly

  "Good," Millie said excitedly. "Follow her."

  Edna sighed audibly. "Joe is going to kill me"

  Trish always navigated fairly well on highways, able to keep her bearings and arrive safely-if sometimes late-at her destination. It was the side streets and numerous subdivisions that gave her trouble-like now.

  She prayed they were not lost to the point of no return as, once again, she followed the white car onto a long, winding road that bordered another residential area. She had absolutely no idea where they were and, when questioned, discovered that neither of her passengers did, either.

  Thankfully, there was enough traffic to allow Trish to remain unnoticed as she trailed from a discreet distance, but she was seriously wondering if Mary was just out for a joy ride. "She's turning again," Trish sighed as she saw the car's turning signal flash on.

  "I'm starting to get dizzy," Millie muttered.

  "You wouldn't feel dizzy if you sat up," Edna said patiently. "You're probably getting motion sickness."

  "I never get ... !"

  "I can't follow this time," Trish interrupted hastily. "There aren't any cars between us anymore, and it looks like ... yes, she's turning into a ... what looks like a mobile home park. I'm going to have to pass the entrance and swing back around"

  "Great, it's a mobile-home park. I hope we don't lose her," Millie grumbled.

  "Well, I can't help it! She may have already spotted us following her, and she's turning just to make sure"

  "There's a side street up ahead," Edna said. "Turn there and we'll wait a few seconds to see if she comes back out"

  Trish kept her head straight forward and never even glanced at the white car as she passed the entrance to the mobile home park. She did notice, though, from her peripheral view, that at least there weren't gates or fencing around the property. At the next street, she turned right and then pulled into the first driveway she saw, then quickly backed up and drove very slowly to the end of the street again.

  "Do you see anything?" she asked, nosing her car forward.

  "No," Edna said. "Not yet"

  "Let me look" Millie grunted as she struggled to sit upright in the front seat. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the dashboard, bringing the binoculars that had been hanging around her neck up to her eyes. Trish placed her chin in her hand, her elbow resting on the steering wheel. "It isn't that far away, Millie. I don't think your binoculars are going to help"

  Millie said nothing as she turned the focus knob back and forth several times. Finally, she lowered the big, bulky binoculars and squinted toward the first row of mobile homes plainly visible a few hundred yards across the street. "Humph, you may be right," she agreed. "I don't see anything."

  "It doesn't seem like there are any cars or people moving around," Edna observed.

  It did appear as if the mobile home park was deserted. Of course, it was early in the afternoon. People could be at work or out running errands. From their vantage point, all that could be seen were a few rows of attractive mobile homes on either side of the main entrance. The homes had small front yards, some with low fencing, some outlined with landscape bushes and gardens. The park was large enough that they couldn't tell how far back the homes went. Regardless, there was no sign of the white car.

  "What do you want to do?" Trish asked both Edna and Millie.

  "Go on in!" Millie exclaimed.

  "Let's wait a minute," Edna said at the same time. Trish chewed the inside of her lip thoughtfully. If they had indeed been spotted, then going into the mobile home park would confirm Mary's suspicions, making it almost impossible to plan a surprise encounter in the future. If, however, Mary had no idea she had been followed, then even if she did see them enter the park she wouldn't think anything about it. Weighing the odds, it was pretty unlikely that their subterfuge had been noticed.

  Trish squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, and pulled out into the street. "Edna, get down in your seat and hide yourself. Millie, you stay sitting up this time. We'll just make a quick drive-through and see if we can find Mary's car."

  "Look out!" Millie shouted.

  Trish slammed on the brakes, and not a minute too soon. A large delivery truck was fast approaching with its horn honking loudly. The driver glared at them as he sped past, his hand raised in the universal sign of extreme anger. Millie sank back in her seat, her hand clutching her chest. "You about gave me a heart attack!"

  "Well, mine's not beating too steady right now, either."

  "There are evidently some benefits to lying down in the back seat," Edna joked.

  Trish took a steadying breath and wiped her hands on her pant legs. Carefully, she looked both ways before once again pulling out. "I hope that wasn't an omen."

  "Nonsense," Millie said, "that guy was going way too fast"

  "Thanks for trying to make me feel better, but it was my fault, just the same. We could have been in a serious accident"

  "Well, we weren't, so stop worrying about it. Let's just find Mary."

  "Tell me what you see since I can't look, myself," Edna reminded them.

  There was a large wooden sign with faded lettering at the entrance to the park welcoming them into Southwest Mobile Home Park and warning them to watch for children playing. Trish drove straight down the main road until it ended and then turned left onto another street, her eyes darting from side to side as she tried to find the white car. She noticed the further they went into the park the less attractive the homes were. Older mobile homes with sun-bleached paint and unkept yards sprinkled her view as she mindfully kept her speed at the posted speed limit. She wondered where the children were that she was supposed to keep an eye out for.

  "Do you see anything?" Edna whispered from the back seat.

  Trish shook her head. "I don't see a thing. It's almost spooky." Old cars, some obviously not in running condition, littered several gravel driveways, but, otherwise, there was no sign of life and no sign of Mary's car. Trish turned right at the end of the block onto another row of homes, these much the same as the other ones.

  "There she is!" Millie suddenly exclaimed. "Hurry! Stop!"

  Reflexively, Trish put her foot on the accelerator, causing the car to jump forward, then slammed on the brakes causing the tires to squeal and the car to rock. "Make up your mind, Millie!"

  "Hey, what's going on?" Edna asked nervously.

  "Not now, Edna! Just pull over here in front of this mobile home, Trish."

  Trish did as Millie asked-not because she thought it was a good idea, but because they were going to draw attention to themselves if they didn't take some action. The white car was parked on the side of the road in front of a mobile home desperately in need of some repair work. Two windows were busted out and covered with plywood on the side facing them, and an old air conditioner window unit jutted out from a rear window.

  As far as Trish could tell, the best thing about this situation was that, even though there were only four homes between them and the one Mary was parked in front of, Mary would be driving away from them when she left instead of driving right by them. Small favors, Trish muttered to herself as she placed the car in park, leaving the engine running. She rolled down her window, feeling the soft, warm breeze blowing gently in the afternoon sunlight. She could think of half a dozen things she would rather be doing than sitting in a run-down mobile-home park watching a vacant car.

  "Uh oh," Millie said quietly.

  "What's happening?" Edna asked.

  "Not now, Edna! Trish, there's a man in this front yard and he's looking at us suspiciously."

  Trish peered sideways, trying not to appear too obvious. Well, she had wondered where the people were who lived in the park. It was just their luck that the only one they found just happened to be sitting in a lawn chair by the front door of the mobile home they were stopped in front of. "Pretend like you're looking for something in the glove box," Trish said quickly through lips that didn't move. Right as Millie began an awardwinning performance of someo
ne totally engrossed in the contents of the glove box, Trish spotted movement up ahead. "There's Mary!" she exclaimed.

  "Well, that's just terrific," Millie said sardonically.

  Trish looked over at her in surprise, but she soon realized what Millie was upset about. The man from the front yard was walking toward them. Dressed in baggy jeans and a white T-shirt, the man appeared larger than he probably was ... and he didn't appear to be too happy.

  Millie slammed the glove box closed and rolled down her window. "Excuse me, sir. We're lost. Do you know where we are?"

  Trish bit the inside of her lip to keep from groaning out loud as the man bent down. They didn't have time to engage the man in conversation-although how he would answer Millie's strange question she couldn't imagine-because Mary was about to get into her car. Suddenly, Trish saw Mary turn, place one hand on her hip, and raise her other hand palm-out. She was shouting something toward the mobile home she had just exited, obviously toward someone Trish couldn't see, and she seemed to be very angry.

  "You're at my house," the man snarled. Trish jerked her attention to the not-so-friendly man, a little concerned about the tone of his voice. About to speed off, regardless of whether they drew attention to themselves or not, she saw the man's eyebrows suddenly shoot up as he glanced in the back seat.

  "Hi," Edna said cheerfully, still sprawled in a horizontal position.

  Up ahead, Trish saw Mary get in her car and slam the door. She turned quickly to look at the man. "Oh, silly me, I just realized where we are. Don't worry, Sally," she said with a glance over her shoulder, "we'll be at the hospital in no time."

  "Sally?" Millie asked, turning to stare at her. "Who are you talking to?"

  No doubt about it, Trish was going to strangle her. "Thank you for your time," she said quickly to the man as she put the car in gear and pulled away, noticing that Mary had just reached the end of the street.

  "Oh! You didn't want to use her real name. That was good thinking," Millie said. "That man was sort of creepy, wasn't he?" Trish glanced in her rear view mirror and saw the man standing there, hands on hips, watching them. She couldn't agree with Millie more.

  "Can I sit up now?" Edna asked impatiently.

  "No!" Trish and Millie said in unison.

  "At least tell me what's going on!"

  "We're following Mary again," Millie said.

  With a pointed look at Millie, Trish said, "I hope she goes back home. We really are lost, you know."

  Millie just waved a hand in dismissal. "We can stop and ask directions if we need to. What we're doing is important."

  "I hate to remind you girls, but what we're doing is exactly what Joe warned us not to do. If we're gone much longer I'm going to have a heck of a time smoothing his ruffled feathers."

  Trish grimaced. "You're right, it is getting late. Let's follow for just a few more minutes. Maybe we'll get back on a street we recognize. I hope so, anyway. This atmosphere sure is depressing."

  "Do you think this place is important to our investigation?" Millie asked.

  "It's probably not," Trish admitted ruefully. "More than likely, Mary was just visiting a friend or relative. I don't think I could find it again, anyway"

  "I know I couldn't," Edna said from the back seat. "I'm so turned around right now that I actually thought Millie's question to the man about where we were made sense!"

  Trish started laughing, but Millie only shook her head.

  Mary didn't go back home. They followed her for several miles until she finally pulled into the parking lot of a Jim's Restaurant. Trish entered through the second driveway and parked a few rows behind Mary's car, where they could see inside the restaurant through the large glass panes. "Edna, we'll leave in just a minute," she promised. "The main street there runs directly into Interstate 10, so we're not lost anymore. Let's just see who she's meeting."

  But Mary wasn't meeting anyone. They watched as she disappeared for a moment behind a wall, then came back out wearing a different shirt with black slacks-a uniform. "Aha," Millie exclaimed, peering through her binoculars, again unnecessarily, "this is where she works!"

  "Can I sit up now?" Edna asked.

  "Oh, of course," Trish said. "Sorry"

  Edna sat up and stretched. "Why is she working as a waitress when she's a bookkeeper?"

  Trish shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe she's not a very good bookkeeper, like Mark said."

  "What are we waiting for?" Millie asked. "Let's go in."

  "Not now, Millie-I really don't have time. Joe's probably already home by now"

  With one last look through the restaurant window, Trish put the car in reverse. "I think we've done enough spying for one day. Finding out where Mary works is a godsend"

  Millie leaned back in her seat and yawned loudly. "I'm hungry. Why don't we pick up some chicken on the way home, and we'll call Joe over to tell him what we found out? That way you won't have to tell him by yourself," she said to Edna.

  "Yeah, that's a good idea." Edna wasn't worried about Joe getting angry, because he would understand, but since she was hungry too, it would be a great way to kill two birds with one stone. Satisfied with the plan, she didn't feel guilty at all about justifying her reason not to have to relate the day's events by herself.

  Forty-five minutes later, they were in Trish's kitchen spreading plates and silverware on the table when Joe walked in carrying a small cardboard box. Edna smiled at him as she carried napkins to the table. "Mmm, something smells awfully good in here," he said.

  "We've been cooking all day," Millie chuckled.

  "And you even went to the trouble of packing it in colorful containers. What's the special occasion?"

  "Just knowing we have a handsome man to share our meal with does the trick," Millie quipped.

  Edna walked over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Hi, honey. You sure got here fast. What are you carrying?"

  "I'll tell you in a minute." Joe placed the box on the countertop and sat down. "Who wants to start telling me about what you ladies did today?"

  "Oh, no, let's not do that yet," Trish said, walking over with a pitcher of iced tea. "Let's eat first. I'm starved"

  "I am too," Edna said, passing around the box of chicken. "Besides, we want to know how it went with Sam."

  During the meal, Joe told them about his visit. "I'll have to say he looks better than the last time we saw him. I hate to say this, but I think the robbery may have sparked some life back in him. He's angry, not about the money, but about losing Susan's jewelry"

  Trish sighed. "The sad thing is that I doubt if the police will ever recover anything that was stolen"

  "They won't even look if they think Sam staged the whole thing," Millie pointed out.

  "Did he give you any information on Mary Chavez or Tom Jones?" Trish asked.

  Nodding, Joe chewed and then swallowed. "Yes, but it was like pulling teeth. Sam doesn't like to say anything negative about people"

  Millie snorted inelegantly. "You can say that again. When we first suspected Susan was murdered, Sam about chewed our heads off. He wouldn't help us at all until we threatened not to give him any peace until he did."

  Joe chuckled. "Torture works every time. I did find out a few interesting things. First of all, Sam believes Mary lied on her application about being a full-charge bookkeeper. She had a lot of trouble staying up with the work load. He decided to do on-the-job training with her, and she did show some improvement. But when the other company wanted to use their own bookkeeper, Sam said it was as though Mary went through a sudden personality change. She was really angry and became downright mean. He hasn't heard from her since. He doesn't know what she's doing now."

  Trish remembered the show of temper Mary had displayed outside the mobile home earlier. She didn't know the woman, but it appeared that she used anger quite often to make her feelings known. God help the customer who complained about the food or service at the restaurant where she now worked.

  Edna stood and began cl
earing the table. "What did you learn about Tom?"

  "Tom Jones" Joe nodded and took a sip of his coffee. "Tom worked for Sam for a number of years. He supervised jobs, ran crews. Around the last year or so, before Sam retired, Tom hinted around that he was having some financial problems, so Sam gave him some work on the side, things Tom could do on his own. Tom wanted to buy the company when he found out Sam was selling, but Sam knew Tom wasn't experienced enough to run a whole operation. Well, Tom wasn't real happy about it, and it pretty much destroyed their relationship. It turns out the new guy didn't like him, either. Tom didn't last long. Sam doesn't know what he's doing now"

  Trish sat back and crossed her arms. The two former employees might not be murderers, but they were still the only two leads at the moment. If Tom Jones and Mary Chavez could be eliminated from the list of suspects, then the next step would be customers Sam had before he sold his business. Sam would surely give them trouble over that line of thinking.

  "So, what did my favorite sleuths find out today?" Joe asked, his eyes twinkling. He was either really get ting into this detective stuff, or he was ready to pounce on them for interfering needlessly. Better tread carefully, Trish thought as she glanced at Edna.

  Of course, Millie had never understood the meaning of tread carefully. "We found out where Mary Chavez lives and where she works"

  Joe's eyes narrowed slightly. "I knew you were going to try to find out where she lives. How did you also find out where she works?"

  Edna started to respond, but Millie beat her to it. "We got lucky when we found her house because she was just leaving. We thought of a way to approach her, so we followed her." Millie had a self-satisfied expression on her face, obviously proud of their accomplishment, but Joe didn't look impressed. Fortunately, Millie left out the part about the mobile home.

  "She made a stop first at a mobile home park, but we don't know who she was visiting. After that we followed her to the place she works. She's a waitress at a restaurant" Trish groaned silently and sent an apologetic look to Edna for The Mouth.

  Joe took a deep breath and asked, "Are you sure she didn't see you following her?"