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Pondering the best way to broach the subject with Aunt Marie as they were headed to the Bingo Hall, Sunni cleared her throat.
“Do you happen to know who that funny little man was? The one handing out sacks last time we were here?”
“Not really. I’m always one of the last ones out. Why?” Aunt Marie fixed Sunni with an inquisitive look.
“He just seemed…I don’t know…fishy?” Sunni waited to let Aunt Marie think.
“Fishy? For someone that doesn’t eat them, are you sure you can make that comparison?” With a raised eyebrow, Aunt Marie watched for a reaction.
“I know what the word implies and yes, he was too charming and slippery. I just felt something was off, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I guess it was nothing.” Sunni shrugged it off. “I’m seeing bad guys around every corner.”
Pulling up into the drop off zone, Sunni waited to see if Aunt Marie took her seriously.
Curious, she pulled the open door partially closed. “Why do you think he’s bad? This is a really great neighborhood, and the police station is only two streets over.”
“See, that’s the thing. He was wearing a vest and a bow tie, which is what struck me as odd, even for this area. He didn’t do anything that I could see. It was just a feeling or the vibe he was giving. He felt off.”
Aunt Marie smiled. “I’ll ask around to find out who he is and what his business is with the Bingo Hall.”
“No!” Sunni exclaimed. “What if he decides to follow you and we go to jail instead of him?”
“Huh? Listen, I’ll be subtle about it, but he can’t hurt us if he doesn’t know we’re checking out his story.” She placed her hand on Sunni’s arm reassuringly. “We’ll get to the bottom of this and make sure it stays a safe place for us seniors to hang out at.”
“Just be careful, please?” Sunni pleaded.
“Cross my heart. I’ve got this, kiddo.” She winked as she opened her door the rest of the way, then slid out. “Nothing to worry about. See you in a few hours.”
Sunni sighed as she watched her walk away. Now they were committed to this undercover investigation because Aunt Marie wouldn’t let it go until she got to the bottom of it, no matter what the consequences.
Looking at the quiet twins in the rearview mirror, who were inhaling their snacks, Sunni turned toward the park and the promised picnic. She was hoping she could wear them out before she had to return and pick up Aunt Marie.
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Parking where she had a perfect view of the front door, Sunni took out the digital camera she kept for outings.
“So, are we going to spy on the old people?” Flynn asked excitedly.
Thinking quickly, Sunni improvised. “I’m doing some documentation and research. After hours of watching people, then I’ll put a report together.”
“Ugh! That is sooo boring.” Flynn placed his headphones back on and was asleep in minutes.
“Phew!” Sunni sighed, focusing her attention on the entrance of the Bingo Hall.
They were twenty minutes early, which was astonishing. Sunni glanced around, anxious for the man in the bow tie to show up.
Aunt Marie was one of the last to leave the building as the slow-moving group made their way to their vehicles.
Climbing into the van, Aunt Marie started her report loudly. “I only got to talk to two ladies, and they’re huge gossips.”
Sunni interrupted. “Shh, they’re asleep. Talk softly, please.”
Aunt Marie lowered her voice as she looked in the back at the quiet children. “So the gossips had no idea what I was talking about, which is good for the criminal. I wouldn’t trust them to keep a secret if my life depended on it. Anyway, I’m sure they’ll talk about my need to make some cash, and I can get an insider’s scoop on what’s going on for you.”
As Sunni pulled up at Aunt Marie’s, she was startled by fingers snapping.
“I just remembered, they should have my car ready and delivered by tomorrow so I won’t need you to take me next week. I do hate to be a bother.” Aunt Marie unbuckled her seat belt and started to get out.
Sunni smiled as she placed a hand on Aunt Marie’s shoulder. “You’re never a bother, and I need someone that can do some undercover work inside the senior center.”
“Well, I do hate to impose, but I’d like to help you out with this. It makes me feel needed. I’ll keep checking and when I found out more information, I’ll give you a call.” Aunt Marie dug through her purse for her keys.
“Really, Auntie, any time you need something, just ask. If I can’t do it I’ll tell you, but family takes care of family, right?”
She held up her keys in triumph. “You are so right. I could never ask for a better niece. See you later,” she exclaimed as she slammed the door.
Sunni waved as she tried not to grimace. Neither child stirred, which was a miracle considering they had been asleep for a while.
Chapter 2
The next few days ran together, working through problems, so Sunni barely remembered there was a mystery she wanted to solve.
It started out with Lily washing her stuffed animals in the sink, causing it to overflow and flood the bathroom. This catastrophe meant Sunni would have to wash two more loads of towels from the floor cleanup.
Sunni enjoyed modern appliances, but when she could save some energy and use a more natural method, she really tried. So she headed out to the clothesline with a basket of laundry as a scream rang out.
Dropping the basket, Sunni raced to the source of the screams, only to discover Lily in the playroom, lying under the shelf of craft supplies. A sheepish looking Flynn stood next to the mess, at a loss on what to do next.
“Lily, honey, it’s going to be okay. Just stay still until I can get you out from under there,” Sunni cautioned as Lily desperately tried to escape the shelf.
Lifting the shelf only caused the contents to spill over onto the floor as Lily continued to whimper.
Hurriedly setting the shelf upright, Sunni bent to lift Lily into her arms, cradling her as she sat on the ground. She turned her gaze up to Flynn and noticed he was almost gleeful in surveying the disaster that he had created.
“Did you do this to your sister?” Sunni watched his expression carefully. At his slight nod, she asked, “Why?”
“I captured the evil queen and put her in the dungeon, my good woman,” he declared. “That’s you, Mom.”
“Did you push the shelf over on your sister?”
“Well, she was climbing on it to get the paper at the top, and I might have helped it just a teensy bit as it was falling over. It looked like she had been captured. The evil queen was trying to escape so the good knight held it down until you got here,” Flynn explained quickly.
“First of all, we are not going to put Lily or anyone in a dungeon. She could have been hurt.” She turned to Lily. “Lily, you can’t climb up on things like that. You could’ve been badly hurt.”
“Well, she was climbing the wall and was going to put a spell on the kingdom. If she did, we would’ve all died,” Flynn argued again.
Sunni gritted her teeth while checking to make sure that Lily hadn’t broken any bones.
“Firefly, are you okay? You really scared me.” Sunni started cleaning up the mess from the floor and returning it to the shelf.
“Yes, I’m okay,” Lily whimpered. “But Mommy, I don’t want to be the evil queen. I just wanted to get more paper so I could color more pictures to go on the refrigerator.”
“Well, pickles,” Sunni exclaimed. She didn’t want to say something worse in front of little ears.
Crouching in front of him, Sunni spoke calmly. “Flynn, go to your room for a time out. Even though you were only pretending, you could’ve seriously hurt your sister. She didn’t want to play the game you picked, and you can’t force people to play the way you want them to.”
When Flynn started to protest, Sunni shook her finger and pointed toward the door. “No, sir. N
ow go.”
Flynn turned dejectedly as he headed for his room, dragging his toy sword behind him.
Sunni gave Lily a hug and helped her get settled at the table with the supplies she had been getting when the crisis had happened.
Returning to the laundry basket, Sunni looked outside as she opened the door to discover a downpour of rain.
A groan of frustration erupted from her as she closed the door with a bang. Taking a deep breath, she squared her shoulders and carried the basket back to the laundry room and to the dryer.
At least the dryer was energy efficient because today, Sunni was ready to give in on the fight of natural vs. convenient. Her optimism had diminished after four years of the twins’ accidents and a steady stream of crisis’.
“Banana peels!” Sunni exclaimed. “Now the kids won’t be able to go outside this afternoon.”
She decided to check on the moods of both children before she started carrying a black cloud of despair around behind her.
Lily was engrossed in her art, so Sunni continued down the hall toward the room Flynn shared with Dusty.
From her view in the doorway, she didn’t see him. The closet was empty, so she sunk to all fours to look under the bed.
Flynn laid on his back with his hands holding the hilt of his sword on his chest, with the tip pointed downward in the classic dead knight pose.
“Flynn—” Sunni started.
“I’m not Flynn,” he declared with eyes closed.
“So who are you, if you’re not Flynn?” Sunni questioned.
“Sir Percy of the Pursi…pursi…well, the in-trouble knight.” Gripping his sword tighter, he shut his mouth.
“Do you mean persecuted?” Seeing his head nod, she continued. “Do you even know what that means?”
Flynn opened his eyes wide. “Dusty always says it. I think it means the firing squad is going to death me.”
Sunni placed her hand over her mouth in an attempt to hold her laughter in.
“Persecuted is when someone has it in for you. They’re constantly trying to get you mad or in trouble. Now, Sir Percy the Persecuted, I don’t believe you’ll be on your deathbed today. I do think you should apologize to your sister for hurting her.”
“I can’t. Knights have their pride, you know,” Flynn said with authority.
“Well, I think a brave knight would be willing to admit he was wrong and almost killed the princess who looked a lot like the evil queen. Do you think you could give it a try this once?”
“I guess.” Sunni frowned. “I mean, yes, Mom?” Flynn asked.
Not trusting herself to speak, she shook her head and just sat on the floor, laughing silently as Flynn scooted out from under the bed and raced to the kitchen to give his apology.
She only caught Lily’s reply as she approached the kitchen at a much slower pace.
“Thank you, Sir Knight, and since I didn’t get hurt or broken, it’s okay. Do you want to color with me?” Lily offered.
Flynn laid his sword on the floor under the chair and joined his sister, the incident forgotten.
Sunni only wished she could forget the craziness as easily.
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Aunt Marie called three days later and suggested they meet for lunch to get out of the house.
“We’d love an excuse to get out of the house. All the rain is driving us crazy. The Sweet Pea has an indoor playground with the caterpillar slide. Will that be okay?” Sunni’s day had taken an upward turn.
“Sure, but can you take me to Bingo when we finish?” Aunt Marie asked hesitantly.
“No problem. We’ll be there in thirty minutes.”
Sunni hung up the phone. “Kids, put your shoes on. We’re going to the Sweet Pea for lunch.”
Wincing at the sounds coming from the bedrooms as the twins raced to find their shoes, Sunni went to change out of her stained shirt and into something suitable for the public to see.
Aunt Marie was standing on her porch, out of the rain, watching as Sunni arrived.
“You certainly made good time,” she commented as she climbed into the passenger seat.
“Well, the motivation of a playground always speeds up the process.” Sunni grinned into the rearview mirror at her children.
Ordering was easy since the Sweet Pea was one of the few restaurants in town that served vegan food.
There were empty tables with a full view of the caterpillar slide and playground.
“So, I had an ulterior motive for asking you out to lunch. I’ve been doing some sleuthing for you.”
“Aunt Marie, it could be very dangerous to do this on your own.”
Waving a hand to dismiss Sunni’s concern, she continued. “The man you saw is Alexander Fine. He’s a librarian at the high school on this side of town. He has a college degree and volunteers to help the senior citizens with book checkouts. He works part-time at the public library to run a cart at the Bingo hall so they can get new books and don’t have to drive over to the main library.”
“I guess that sort of makes sense, but why can’t they drive to the library if they can get to bingo?” Sunni tilted her head, confused.
“Because, dear, the bus will pick them up for bingo, or their family drops them off. A library stop is considered nonessential and takes too much time compared to leaving them at the senior center. Sort of like an adult daycare, so their children don’t have to have them around constantly.”
“Aunt Marie, that’s awful. I hope no one there thinks I’m trying to get rid of you.”
“Oh, honey, it is what it is, and most of us are glad to escape for a few hours from the confines of our homes.” She laid a hand reassuringly on Sunni’s arm.
“Well, when you put it in perspective, I’m sure the seniors enjoy a little time away from their families as much as I cherish MOMs. Still, it’s hard to imagine families who want to get rid of each other in that manner.” Sunni glanced at the children racing up the slide again to hide her tears.
“Honey, the world isn’t a nice place. You’re just lucky I like you.” Aunt Marie winked at her in an attempt to lift the sad mood. “Now, let’s eat lunch, then you can drop me off at my daycare so I can play detective some more.”
Dropping Aunt Marie off at Bingo, Sunni decided to swing by the grocery store while the children were still full from lunch.
Lily and Flynn were always helpful on a shopping trip because they wanted one of everything in the store.
List in hand, Sunni managed to bypass the sugary cereals with only a few protests and placed the oatmeal into the cart, along with wheat flour and yeast to make enough bread for the coming week.
Thankfully, the fresh food’s store catered to those trying to lead a healthier lifestyle. Their fruits and vegetables were from local farmers and provided the things Sunni couldn’t grow in her own garden.
Lily and Flynn began to argue over the merits of green beans versus peas.
“Peas get all mushy, but the green beans get softer, and you can still tell what you’re eating,” Lily informed.
“Just imagine, the peas are made from mud mixed with grass, and you have to eat it to survive when they take you prisoner,” Flynn countered, excited at the prospect.
Huffing, Lily placed her hands on her hips. “I’m not going to be a prisoner. I can’t be one because I’m not joining the army, so I won’t have to pretend the mud or ugly peas are anything I want to eat.”
“Mom,” Flynn whined. “Tell Lily she won’t have a choice if the terrorists come for her. She’ll have to do what they say.”
Sunni’s dislike for guns and fighting didn’t extend to her brother, who was overseas in the army.
She was proud of her brother, but the short periods of time Flynn had been around him made it hard to keep the peace. His continued infatuation with all things military was a source of constant irritation, and all she could do was hope that he would outgrow it as he got older.
“Flynn, the likelihood that we’ll be taken prisoner
is very slim. Instead of arguing with your sister, would you go get a bag of oranges to put in the cart, please?” Sunni used the best way to stop a fight, using a distraction.
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Arriving back at the bingo hall a few minutes early, both the twins had fallen asleep after using up all their energy to load the groceries. Sunni pulled up under the tree to park so the sun wouldn’t shine on the twins.
She picked up the book lying on the passenger seat. She lifted the book up in order to cover her spying on the seniors pouring out of the bingo hall.
A young man with baggy clothes was leaning against the wall, catching Sunni’s attention as he lit the cigarette placed between his lips.
He must have felt her stare as he glanced around and favored her with a wink as he slid the lighter back into his pocket.
Embarrassed to have been caught watching him, Sunni lifted the book higher to cover her flushed face.
He might have fallen into the “hot” category if it wasn’t for his long hair that was pulled back in a ponytail, Sunni mused from behind her book, when a knock on the window startled her.
Dropping the book to place a hand on her heart, she was relieved to see Aunt Marie standing outside the van.
Unlocking the door, she held a finger to her lips with a warning glance toward the sleeping children.
“If you’re going to be undercover, you might want to read the book right side up,” Aunt Marie whispered as she got settled in the passenger seat.
“Aw, cheese and crackers. I guess I wasn’t paying attention.” Sunni pulled into the line of departing cars.
“You had all your attention focused on the guy in the alley.”
Sunni blushed as she protested. “I believe he could be a suspect.”
“Ah. Listen to you, a regular private eye. Found your culprit, did you?” Aunt Marie snickered.
“Well, why else would he be hanging around a senior center? He must be doing something wrong. I still think your Mr. Fine is up to something besides just delivering library books, but this other guy might bear some watching.” Sunni defended herself strenuously.
“Dear, you’re entitled to your opinion, but don’t be disappointed if you find out he’s normal,” she advised wisely.
The Mommy Detectives and the Bingo Hall Mystery Page 2
