A Family Affair

by Shannon VanBergen

  “That your cat?” one of the guys asked. For some reason, I assumed he must be Sean. He seemed to be the leader of the little group.

  “Yes,” I said, reaching down and picking up her leash. “She got away from me.” My eye started burning again, and I carefully rubbed it.

  “You okay?” another guy asked.

  “I’m fine. Just allergies,” I said, still rubbing my eye.

  They didn’t look convinced.

  “I’ve never seen a lady walk a cat before,” the first guy said. He seemed suspicious of me for some reason.

  Suddenly, my original plan kicked in and I got nervous. “My name’s Bianca,” I blurted out. “And this is Fluffy. I’m a marketing director.”

  “And who’s that?” one of the guys asked, pointing to Owen as he walked up behind me.

  I couldn’t tell him he was a cop, and I didn’t want to say his real name. “That’s John,” I blurted out.

  “Your John?” he asked.

  I was confused. “Well, he’s everybody’s John.”

  “Okay, Nikki…” Owen said, taking my arm.

  “It’s Bianca!” I said firmly. I smiled at the guys and tried to roll my eyes like, “ugh, men” but my right eye felt like it was swelling shut so I kind of just rolled one eye instead of two.

  “You guys have a good afternoon,” Owen said as he pulled me out of the tire shop. He didn’t let go of my arm once we were outside, just seemed to squeeze it even harder as he led me to his car. “Do you realize they think I’m your client?”

  “My client? From my marketing firm?”

  “No,” Owen shouted through gritted teeth. “They think you’re a prostitute and I hired you! I know those guys, Nikki! I questioned one of them just the other day! If word gets out…” He stopped and let go of my arm, but his anger seemed to be building. “Wait a minute. Were you trying to go undercover to talk to them? Is that where you were headed looking like this with that ridiculous name and cover story?”

  “No,” I said innocently. “I was just taking Catalie for a walk.”

  “I can’t believe you! I told you to stay out of this case!”

  He grabbed my arm and led me back to his car.

  The ride back to Grandma Dean’s was a quiet one. Neither of us said a word. He pulled up in the parking lot and I got out without a good-bye. When I shut the door, he sped off and I stood there watching him drive away.

  Well, I could add him to the list of guys I’d recently upset.

  “Nikki?” Someone called my name and I looked up. Dang it. I could leave the apartment a hundred times looking like a normal, put-together person and never run into anyone I knew. But the one time I look like a drug-addicted prostitute, I run into everyone.

  I wasn’t sure which one had said my name. My mom and sister stood there with their mouths open in shock, and Hattie and Irene snickered next to them. Betty was the one who spoke up. “Girl, what you been doin’?”

  I looked back at them, barely able to see out of my right, twitching eye. “Prostituting myself on the streets of Peace Pointe,” I yelled.

  Hattie gave a whoop. “You go, girl!”

  I rolled my good eye and marched Catalie Portman into Grandma Dean’s house. I needed Grandma Dean to come home—to make everything normal again. She was clearly the one who kept everyone balanced. One by one, we were all falling apart. The only one who hadn’t gone crazy yet was Virginia, and every time I was around her, I felt an unstable energy about her. It was just a matter of time before she lost it and God only knew what she was capable of.

  30

  “Nikki?” My mom peeked her head into my room. “You okay, honey?” She was talking in a super-sweet tone, the kind you’d use if you were trying to talk a person off a ledge.

  “I’m fine,” I grumbled from under my blankets.

  She came over and sat on the edge of my bed. She was quiet a minute. “Sweetie, you weren’t really prostituting yourself, were you?”

  I flung back the covers. “Really, Mom? You really think I would do that?”

  She gave me a thoughtful look. “I don’t really know what to think of you right now. Or anyone here, honestly. If you ask me, this isn’t a retirement center, it’s a nut house. Do you know that the crazy old lady Bo is staying with has him fixing her light fixtures, her couch, her bathtub… He’s been worked to death since he got here! And don’t even get me started on the one who thinks her gallstones talk to her.”

  “They’re okay once you get to know them,” I defended them. “They’re just a little quirky.”

  “Well, I think they’re all up to something. There’s something shifty about all of them. I don’t know how you can stand it here. It’s no wonder you’ve about lost your mind.”

  “I haven’t lost my mind,” I said, feeling frustrated as I sat up

  My mom gave me a look like she wasn’t buying it. “Really?” she asked. “So, what is all this?” She waved her arms around me.

  “A typical Tuesday,” I answered dryly.

  My mom huffed. “I don’t like your tone, young lady. And it’s not even Tuesday.”

  We sat there quietly for a minute and finally, my mom sighed. “I know this has been a rough few days for you. And even though it’s all your fault, I still feel bad for you.”

  “Gee, thanks,” I said, not looking at her.

  “Nikki, maybe you should come back home with us. I think Bo would forgive you and…”

  “Mom,” I said, looking her in the eyes. “It’s over between us.”

  “But it doesn’t have to be!”

  I put my hand on hers and sighed. “But it is.”

  “Okay,” she said after a long pause. “If that’s what you want, I’ll support you.”

  Her words shocked me. “Really?”

  She looked at me, sadness reflecting in her eyes. “I’m not happy with your decision, but I love you. And I love Bo. I want what’s best for both of you.”

  Her words meant so much to me. I pulled her close and whispered a thank you. She hugged me back then pulled away.

  “I’m going to let you rest a bit,” she said, standing. “Maybe tonight we can go out to dinner, and you and me and Amber can come back and watch a movie.”

  That sounded wonderful. She walked out and I pulled the covers over my head. I stayed in my little cocoon for a few minutes and was about to drift off when my phone beeped. It was a text from Virginia. “Get cleaned up and meet us outside in fifteen minutes. We’re going to go question someone!”

  I sat up and rubbed my sore eye. Who were we going to talk to now? The Grannies must have a new lead. I jumped out of bed with renewed energy. I couldn’t handle the case by myself, but I was sure we could crack it together.

  Fifteen minutes later, I was in the parking lot after a quick shower and telling my mom and Amber I had to run out for a minute.

  “I see you washed off all those layers of makeup and shame,” Irene said with a laugh.

  “Very funny,” I said as we climbed in Virginia’s vehicle. “Hey, where’s Betty? Isn’t she coming?”

  The Grannies gave each other a nervous glance.

  Greta turned around and looked at me. “She got called away.”

  “What does that mean?” I asked. But the Grannies were silent. Something was definitely up with Betty. “Is she coming back?”

  More silence. “No,” Virginia finally said. “I’m afraid she was needed somewhere else.” That sounded suspicious.

  Virginia looked at me through the rearview mirror and smiled. “But Greta was great today with her first Hearts Before Parts presentation!”

  Hattie and Irene congratulated her, and I knew the conversation about Betty was over. One of these days when I had some free time, I’d have to do some research and see if I could find anything about Betty. Or maybe I could talk one of the Grannies into actually telling me the truth about who she was and what she did. I knew there had to be more to Betty than the Grannies let on. Even though I was suspicious of her f
rom the start, I still felt a little sad that she didn’t even say good-bye to me.

  We pulled out of the parking lot and I still didn’t know where we were headed. “So, who are we questioning?”

  Virginia glanced at me in the rearview mirror. “We’re going to talk to that gang member at the tire store.”

  My heart was suddenly in my throat. I couldn’t go back there again!

  Since it was just a few blocks away, we were there with in a few minutes. The Grannies got out of the vehicle, but I stayed put. “Come on,” Greta said, extending her hand to help me out.

  “Uh, I’m not feeling well. I think I’ll just sit this one out.”

  Irene frowned. “You can’t do that! We’re all in this together!”

  They all gave me the same look—the look that said I needed to get out of the vehicle and go with them. I sighed and prayed that maybe the guys wouldn’t recognize me. Even though I was afraid my still-red eye was going to give me away.

  We walked up to the tire store and there sat the same three guys in the same spot. They clearly didn’t work there, since they weren’t wearing the dark blue uniforms with name tags like the two guys working on the car. But they were there talking to them and laughing about something when we walked in. They took one look at us and went silent.

  “Can I help you ladies?” asked one of the employees.

  “We’re actually here to talk to these gentlemen,” Virginia said, taking the lead.

  The three guys looked at each other and laughed. One of them stood up—the one I figured was Sean. “What can we do for you?”

  Virginia was unscathed by their cocky attitude. “We’d like to ask you a few questions if you have a moment.”

  “Well, we don’t have a moment,” the guy said, looking at his friends and laughing. “Clearly, we’re busy here.”

  To our shock, Virginia reached out and grabbed him by the throat and pulled him close to her. “Clearly, I don’t care.”

  She let go of him and I could tell she was just as surprised by her actions as the rest of us.

  “Okay, okay,” the guy said. “Let’s step out back.”

  Once we were in the alley, we gathered around him and waited for Virginia to question him. He looked up at me and his eye brows furrowed. Crap. He recognized me. “Aren’t you the lady that was in here earlier?”

  All the Grannies looked at me. I shook my head.

  “I’m almost positive it was you. You were here with your John.”

  “Oh my goodness, Nikki!” Greta said, shocked. “You really were prostituting yourself?”

  “I thought your name was Bianca.”

  I wasn’t sure how to get out of this one. “I’d rather not discuss it,” I finally said.

  Greta gave me a disappointed look. “We’ll have a chat later.” I was sure we would. Then the next thing you’d know, she’d be putting together a sex education class for prostitutes.

  “You’re Sean, right?” Virginia demanded. He cautiously nodded. “We want to know why that gang member was killed in the old sewing building.”

  “Oh man, come on. Don’t do me like this,” he said as looked around to make sure no one was watching. “I can’t talk about stuff like that.”

  “You either talk or we’ll make sure you end up just like him.” We all looked at Virginia, stunned again by her boldness.

  Sean just shook his head. “Woman, you’ve got some major anger issues.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “You have no idea.”

  He stood there for a minute, and I was sure he wasn’t going to talk, but then he leaned in close to us and lowered his voice. “What’s in it for me?”

  Hattie smiled. “We’ll give you a positive review on Yelp!”

  Irene turned to her. “He’s works for a gang, not a restaurant.”

  Hattie was genuinely confused. “Gangs don’t have yelp reviews? Well then, how do you young people know which one to join?”

  He looked at each of us. “Is she serious right now?”

  “Sadly yes,” Irene answered.

  “What’s in it for you is we let you walk away from here and you don’t end up being another body in our trunk.” Virginia definitely wasn’t messing around today.

  “We’ve had a lot of those lately,” Hattie told the guy.

  “You people are crazy,” he said, backing away.

  “Look,” I said calmly. “We’re trying to solve the murder of a young guy named Ricky. He was killed three years ago. Right after his death, you guys showed up and then here you are again after another death. We just want to know what’s going on.”

  He narrowed his eyes at me. “Are you a cop?”

  “No,” I assured him. “We’re just trying to figure this out.”

  He looked around nervously. “I don’t want to get busted because I snitched to a bunch of grannies.”

  “Sean,” I said, reaching out to him. “Please, we just want to know. We don’t want to get you in trouble.”

  He still seemed unsure.

  Greta took a step toward him. “If you tell us, I’ll bake you cookies.”

  I chuckled. Sweet Greta, she thought that would actually work.

  “What kind of cookies?” he asked.

  Wait a minute, that was actually going to work?

  “What kind would you like?” she asked him.

  He thought about it for a minute. “My grandma used to make chocolate cookies with mint candy pieces in it, but she hasn’t made those in a long time. Can you make those?”

  Greta smiled. “Of course I can. You tell us what we need to know and I’ll bring them by tomorrow.”

  “All right, fine,” he said as he got close to us. He dropped his voice. “We had nothing to do with either murder. The cops didn’t believe us. We weren’t even in town when the first one happened, but we were blamed for it because of some stupid tattoo. We came here to investigate, and we couldn’t figure out who did it either, so we left. Then out of nowhere, it happens again. So, we came back to see if we could figure it out this time. Sometimes bad things happen to people and it is our fault, but we’re not taking the blame for something we didn’t do.”

  “So, what happened to the guy in the sewing building?” Virginia asked.

  Sean looked around again. “He didn’t follow orders. He was supposed to quietly question some people and instead, he was threatening people right in public. Man, that’s not how we take care of business. We do things quietly, you know. Back rooms, dimmed lights, all nice and calm. Not yelling at people at gas stations and attracting attention.”

  “So he was killed,” Virginia asked flatly.

  “Yeah, basically,” he answered. “The crazy thing is the stupid cops still think we’re involved with the murders of those two young guys. But they’re not even looking at the evidence. And when we tried to point it out, they acted like it wasn’t important. But we’re like, ‘hello! It’s not even our gang symbol tattooed on the bodies’.”

  “Hold up,” Irene said, pushing her way around Hattie. “What do you mean it’s not even your gang symbol?

  “The two victims, they had a spade tattoo, right? Our symbol is a club.”

  We all looked at each. “Virginia, do you still have that picture on your phone?” Irene asked.

  She pulled out her phone and scrolled through the pictures while we practically held our breaths. She paused and turned her phone around. “It’s definitely a spade.”

  “Wow,” Sean said, taking a look at the picture. “You have a picture of a dead guy on your phone? That’s pretty messed up. I don’t even have that.”

  “I’ve got a couple good ones.” Hattie winked at him. “I’ll air drop them to you.”

  We were silent for a minute. The gang had nothing to do with either death. How did the police not catch the difference in tattoos? Or maybe they did, and we were the ones who didn’t catch it.

  Greta reached out and shook Sean’s hand. “Thanks for your help, dear. Will you be here tomorrow afterno
on so I can drop off your cookies?”

  “Yeah,” he said, looking worried. “You guys promised you wouldn’t say anything to anybody about what I told you though, right?”

  “We promise,” we all said in unison.

  He smiled and pointed to Greta. “I’ll see you tomorrow!”

  “What a nice young man,” Greta said as we walked to the car. “I’m going to make him a double batch so he can share with his friends.”

  After a few minutes, we pulled into Virginia’s parking space at the retirement community.

  “So, what now?” I asked the Grannies.

  “Our memory isn’t that great,” Irene said. “I think we need to double-check and make sure the tattoo on Ricky really was a spade and not a club.”

  Virginia nodded. “I agree.”

  “How do we do that?” I asked. “I’m no longer on Detective Owen’s good side, so it’s not like I can just ask him.”

  “Geraldine kept a scrapbook of all the newspaper articles about Ricky’s case. I think you should ask her where it is. We can look through it and see if the tattoo is a club or a spade.”

  Just then, I got a text from my mom. “It’s going to have to wait,” I said to the group. “My mom is texting me saying she’s hungry and wants to go out for dinner.”

  “We’ll take her and your sister out for dinner,” Greta said excitedly. “And you can call Geraldine and ask about the scrapbook. When you find it, you can look through it and let us know which it is.”

  “I like that idea,” Virginia said. “Nikki, you can join us for dinner after you get answers.”

  It was decided then. My mom wasn’t too happy about going to dinner without me, but I told her I wasn’t feeling well after the long day I’d had, and she seemed to understand. Amber didn’t seem convinced. “You’ve acted strange since we got here,” she said while our mom was talking to the Grannies about where to eat.

  I just shrugged. “It’s been a stressful time.”

  She looked at me for a minute. “You’re up to something. You’re all up to something. What is it?”

  I sighed. Might as well come clean. “We’re solving a murder. That’s what we do. We solve crimes the cops can’t solve.”