“I’d appreciate it.” She’d been too shocked to think about calling the sheriff, but of course she needed to file a police report. Tires didn’t slash themselves.
Barrett asked, “Do you think Alma may have done this?”
“I don’t know. I hope not.”
“Any other enemies?”
“None that I know of.” She supposed Alma could be classified as an enemy, but Gemma had no idea who else might be upset with her enough to warrant this level of retaliation.
Concern on his face, Barrett cast a critical eye around at the houses on their street. “The only place in town not wired for security is our neighborhood. We’ll get started on changing that today.”
Gemma was outdone. Who hated her enough to slash her tires? Was she in personal danger? Were her kids? There were no answers, but she hoped there would be soon. If the person or persons responsible intended to scare her, they’d done their job.
A few minutes later, a brown county sheriff’s car arrived. By then, she and the colonel had been joined by his wife, Sheila, and Roni and Doc Reg Garland. Across the street, Brain, Zoey, and Amari were watching from Trent’s front steps. When Will Dalton stepped out of the cruiser accompanied by Deputy Davida Ransom, Gemma was surprised to see him. A town-wide text had gone out last night alerting everyone to Vicky Dalton’s passing. When he walked up, there was weariness in his face and an abject sadness in his red-rimmed eyes.
“Morning, everybody.”
They replied and offered their condolences.
“Thanks. I had to come to work to keep from losing my mind. The kids and I will let you know when the arrangements are finalized.”
Gemma noticed her kids were back on the porch. So much for keeping this from them.
“Okay, Ms. Dahl, tell me what’s going on here.”
Deputy Ransom took pictures of the car and tires while Will asked her questions that echoed those put to her by the colonel: Did she know who might have done this? Did she have any enemies? She gave him the same answers she’d given Barrett.
“Have you ever been threatened by a customer?”
“No.”
“Is there anyone you don’t get along with or who doesn’t get along with you at your job?” Dalton asked as he made notes in a small spiral-bound notebook.
She met Barrett’s eyes and he gave her an encouraging nod. Seeing the kids still looking on, she asked Will quietly, “Can we move down the driveway a bit? I’d rather my kids not hear this.”
They moved a few feet away and once there, not knowing how her neighbors would react, she drew in a deep breath and told Dalton about Alma and why the woman was so hostile. When she finished, Sheila rubbed her back gently. “This Owen Welke was obviously a louse to prey on a teenager.”
“Amen,” Roni chimed in softly. “None of us think less of you.”
Their support was buoying.
Will said, “I’m going to question Ms. House and talk to Gary, too. We’ll do our best to get to the bottom of this. Promise.”
“Thanks, Sheriff.”
“I’ll be in touch.”
Everyone offered their condolences again. He and Davida drove away.
Moments later, Trent returned with four new tires. Once he and Barrett put them on, Gemma asked, “How much do I owe you?”
“We’ll talk about it later.”
“Trent?”
“Later, Gem. No need to worry about that now.”
She looked back at her kids. They weren’t babies. She owed them an explanation.
Sheila interrupted her thoughts. “The kids can hang with me and the ladies at the rec today. I know you don’t want them home alone.”
And she didn’t. Under normal circumstances, they’d be okay at home alone. Wyatt was twelve and very responsible. If anything happened, she and every other adult in town were only a text away. This wasn’t a normal circumstance, however, and she’d feel better knowing they were being looked after at the rec. “Thanks, Sheila. I really appreciate the offer.”
Sheila said, “Tell them to come knock on my door when they’re ready and have them bring their suits so they can hang out at the pool.”
Roni asked, “Anything you need from me or Reg before we take off?”
She couldn’t think of anything.
Reg said, “If you do, send a text, I’ll be in my office at the school.”
Roni said, “And I’ll be at the studio.”
Grateful again for the cocoon of love and safety Henry Adams offered, Gemma thanked them and Barrett and walked back to the porch. The kids followed her inside.
“But why would somebody do that?” Wyatt asked angrily, once Gemma explained about the tires.
“I don’t know, but Sheriff Dalton will find out.”
Jaz said, “That’s so mean.”
“I agree.”
“We have to go to the rec?” Lucas asked.
He’d learned to hide his emotions so well, Gemma couldn’t tell if it was a complaint or not. “Yes, so go get dressed. Mrs. Payne is waiting on you.”
But they stayed and Wyatt acted as their spokesman. “We want to go to the store with you.”
She assessed the three determined young faces. “You can’t.”
“Why not?” Jaz asked.
“Because there’s no place there for you to hang out.”
Lucas explained, “We don’t want to hang out. We want to be with you in case something happens.”
She paused and studied them. They were determined but she sensed their fear as well. They’d each suffered a life-changing loss. She assumed they were afraid of losing her too, which made her want to pull all three into her arms and offer what reassurance she could. “Thank you for wanting to protect me, but I’ll be safe. Brain’s dad’s there and he’s not going to let anything happen to me. He can see the entire store from his computers.”
“What if he doesn’t see the person, though?” Wyatt asked.
“He will. Besides, whoever slashed my tires is probably satisfied they scared me and are done with me now.”
Lucas wasn’t buying it. “What if they’re not? What if they come back and try and kill you or something?”
“I don’t know Lucas, but that’s why we have Sheriff Dalton on our side. I can’t let this paralyze me and make me so scared I can’t leave the house, otherwise whoever did this will have won, and I refuse to let them think that. So, go get dressed. We got this.”
They looked at each other and then back at her.
“Go on,” she encouraged softly. Once she was alone she cursed the person responsible, not for scaring her, but for scaring her kids.
The sheriff’s cruiser was sitting outside the store when she turned into the parking lot. Will hadn’t wasted time starting his investigation and she was pleased by that. Alma would undoubtedly throw a fit about being questioned but Gemma didn’t care. Scaring her kids meant all bets were off and she hoped Alma had sense enough not to get in her face about it or try and write her up for being late to work.
There weren’t many customers inside. She gave a quick wave to the co-workers she passed on her way to clock in and wondered if they knew why the sheriff was on-site. If not, they would soon and she braced herself for all the questions sure to come her way.
She’d been on her register about thirty minutes, when the phone rang at her station. She picked up. It was Alma. “A sub is coming to relieve you. When she arrives come to my office, immediately!” The last word was spoken with a snarl.
“What’s this about?”
The line was dead.
Wishing she could ignore the summons, but knowing she couldn’t, Gemma turned her lane over to the sub, a college student named Emily, and headed for Alma’s office.
Inside, she found Alma seated at her desk. A thin, brown-haired woman Gemma didn’t recognize was seated in one of the chairs.
Alma snapped, “How dare you sic the sheriff on me!”
“And how dare someone slash my tires and have my ki
ds scared to death that someone’s going to kill me! Dalton asked for names of people who had a problem with me and you’re at the top of the list, or am I wrong?”
Alma looked surprised by the fiery comeback but Gemma wasn’t in the mood to be nice. “So, what do you want?”
Alma gave her a cold smile. “I thought you’d like to meet my baby sister, Lisa. The one whose marriage you wrecked.”
Gemma froze.
“Lisa, this is Gemma Dahl. Owen’s little whore.”
The woman paled visibly. Her wide eyes took in Alma and then Gemma before returning to Alma’s smug, satisfied face. She stood and her eyes flashed with fury. Appalled, Gemma braced herself for an altercation.
“How dare you!” Lisa screamed. “How dare you!”
But to Gemma’s shock, the words were flung Alma’s way.
“Why would you do this!” she asked, now standing at the desk.
Alma stuttered, “I thought—”
Lisa slapped Alma so hard, Sgt. Ma’am nearly fell from her chair. “Stay out of my life! Do you hear me!” she shouted. “Always meddling. Damn you! You thought what? That I’d be as mean and hateful as you? Owen was a cheating piece of trash the entire time we were married!”
Alice turned to Gemma. “Did he promise to marry you?”
Gemma nodded.
“You weren’t the first or the last, honey, believe me. Did you have the baby?”
“Yes.”
“Boy or girl.”
“Girl.”
“Where’s she now?”
“Buried in Arlington National Cemetery.”
She stopped. “Oh, my word,” she whispered, scanning Gemma’s tight face. “I’m so sorry.”
“Thank you.”
Lisa asked Alma, “Did you know this?”
“No.”
“Of course not! Why would you care about anyone else’s pain? How’d you find out about her? You weren’t even living in Franklin back then.”
“Astrid Wiggins told me a few months ago.”
“Seabiscuit? Another piece of trash.” The disgust on her face mirrored Gemma’s and she made a mental note to have Astrid’s name added to the sheriff’s list of possible tire slashers.
Lisa said to Gemma, “I heard you’d left Franklin during your pregnancy, but had no idea where you went. No offense, but at the time, I didn’t care.”
“None taken. My parents sent me to an aunt in Chicago.”
“Owen was a bastard. We both deserved better. Just like we both deserved better than to be ambushed by this person who calls herself my sister,” she snapped, glaring at the stunned Alma. “She told me you were an old friend from my high school days who wanted to reconnect, so I drove up from Plainville.”
Gemma asked, “Where’s Owen now?”
“The last time we spoke, he was selling cars in California, but that was twenty years ago right after the divorce. Haven’t heard from him since.”
Gemma wondered if the colonel was watching this on his monitors. Alma’s left cheek still bore the bright red splash of her sister’s fury.
“My apologies to you, Gemma,” Lisa said sincerely.
“Thank you.”
Lisa picked up her purse and without a word or a glance back at her sister strode from the office.
In the silence that followed, Gemma asked, “Anything else?”
“Get out!”
Keeping her satisfaction hidden, Gemma complied.
For the rest of her shift, she didn’t see hide nor hair of Alma. At lunch, she heard that Sgt. Ma’am hadn’t been feeling well and had gone home. That she’d set a trap for Gemma only to have it blow up in her face. Priceless. Gemma hoped she’d be unwell until the cows came home.
Driving to the rec after work, Gemma thought her interview with Gary went well. In spite of the crazy day, she felt as though she’d answered all the questions to the best of her ability. He’d been impressed by the letters of recommendation she’d given him from some of her co-workers. Although they didn’t count as references, she thought the letters would show how the employees felt about the possibility of working under her in the position. He advised her that he had a few more applicants to interview but promised to let everyone know who’d be getting the job by the middle of the next week. She was still worried about the incident with her tires, though, and hoped the sheriff found the person soon.
Gemma picked up the kids from the rec, made them a quick dinner of hamburgers and fries, then hurried off to her class.
Taking her seat, she felt herself relax for the first time that day. In class, there’d be no slashed tires or ambushes from Sgt. Ma’am. The meeting with her team last Saturday went well, so there were no worries concerning their ongoing build-a-business-assignment. Seeing Professor LeForge enter, and fielding the smile he shot her way, buoyed her also.
Once class began, LeForge said, “Okay everyone, I want you to get with your groups and continue working on your businesses.”
Earbud Brad Young hadn’t shown up, so Gemma, Josh, and Carrie pulled their desks close and began working. They were discussing how many employees their tat shop would need, and how much they could afford to pay, when a woman entered the room. She was a young redhead. Even though Gemma had never seen her before, she thought the woman might be a class member until she said, “Honey, I locked my keys in my car. I need your extra set.”
Gemma froze. LeForge sent Gemma a quick glance before opening his bag and began searching inside.
He handed her a key. The woman asked the class, “Isn’t my hubby an amazing instructor?”
If Gemma had any doubts about who the woman was before, there were none now. She turned to Josh. He met her eyes, and sadly shook his head. Pushing her disappointed feelings aside, she returned to the discussion.
When class was over, a melancholy Gemma gathered up her possessions and headed to the door.
“Ms. Dahl.”
She stopped, but didn’t turn.
“Um. Can I walk with you to the parking lot?”
She shook her head and left.
Driving home, she supposed she owed the fates a thanks for revealing LeForge’s true status. All they’d shared were a few smiles, nothing more, but the potential for more had been simmering like a pot on the back burner of a stove. Finding someone to spend time with might have been nice, but the last thing she needed was to hook up with another married man. She had enough on her plate with a job, raising three kids, and school; she didn’t need drama.
Chapter 16
Bernadine nodded approvingly as she, Lily, and Luis Acosta were walked through a presentation put together by Trent and Barrett Payne in response to Gemma’s tire slashing incident yesterday. Their subdivision was going to be outfitted with security cameras and Bernadine couldn’t be more pleased with the decision. No one thought such precautions would be necessary when the homes were initially built. Sadly, they were wrong. Once the new system was up and running, all future perpetrators would be caught on film.
“How long will this take?” Lily asked.
“No more than a couple of days,” Trent replied. “We’re going with the same company that wired Gary’s store. We have a good relationship with them and they have some new outdoor prototypes they’ve been wanting to test. They’re coming out tomorrow to lay the groundwork for the installation.”
Bernadine liked the time frame.
Luis asked, “Who’s handling maintenance?”
“They are. They’ll also store copies of the digital records on their site in case we lose our backups for whatever reasons, weather, fire, hackers, et cetera.”
Barrett asked, “Any other questions?”
Bernadine turned to Luis and Lily but both appeared satisfied by what they’d heard.
Trent said, “We’ll let you know when they arrive.”
The men filed out, leaving Bernadine and Lily alone. “I never thought we’d have to do this.”
“True, but there are crazies everywhere. Even in small to
wns like ours.”
“I hope Will finds out who did this to her. I don’t want us constantly looking over our shoulders wondering who might be next.”
“Trent’s going to take the cost of her new tires out of his budget. He says she shouldn’t have to foot the bill.”
“She’s not going to be happy about that. Gemma is serious about paying her way.”
“I know but she’s got three kids to feed now, and she’s in school. Even with the stipend from the Herman kids, she’s not rolling in dough.”
“No, and that reminds me. I need to hook her up with a financial adviser so she’ll have help managing their funds.”
“Good idea. Do you need me for anything else here? I promised Tamar and Gen that I’d help them move some of the food out to her place for the August First get-together.”
“No, you go ahead. I think I can turn the world without you for the rest of the day.”
Lily searched her face. “You look tired, girl.”
“Worried about Mal.”
“Are you getting any sleep?”
“Sleep is overrated,” she replied with a bittersweet smile. She hadn’t had a full night’s rest since this all began. Crystal being gone seemed to make sleeping even more of a challenge. “I’ll be fine. You go help Tamar.”
Lily didn’t look convinced, but she made her exit, leaving Bernadine alone. What Bernadine hadn’t told anyone was that PI Sandy Langster hadn’t found anything related to Mal’s whereabouts. When they spoke on the phone last night, Sandy said either he’d registered at one of the hotels under an assumed name or he wasn’t in Vegas at all. She had a few ties to some of the police and private investigators there and planned to call in some favors to track him down, but Bernadine found it all very discouraging. Where are you Mal? What made you take off? Why are you breaking my heart? Bernadine was still waiting on word from the computer people in LA. She was at the point of almost hoping they wouldn’t be able to crack the password either for fear of what the data might reveal.
Hearing what sounded like the chop of helicopter blades, Bernadine went to her window. The sight of the all-gold chopper hovering over Main Street put a smile on her face. Tina Craig had come to town.