It was all overwhelming, but she had to chuckle. Some of the ways the group had managed to push through projects in the past had been a bit underhanded and devious, but that was okay. They’d gotten the job done.
Should they even pursue this bloody package business or just report it to the police? What would the police even do? Putting already-delivered mail in the outgoing box wasn’t a crime, and she didn’t know who’d done it. Maybe it wasn’t even blood on the tube.
She kicked off her shoes and wandered across the beautifully designed and ornate bedroom. If the society couldn’t deal with the package, what should she do?
Again, she thought of the person whose blood was on the parcel. Were they even okay? Who could it possibly have been? Was someone she knew hurt? Or was it a criminal of some sort? The conditions in the neighborhoods north of town had been a concern for a while now. The area needed upgrades in pretty much everything, including law enforcement. And neither the society nor the residents had the resources to do much of anything that would upgrade the life of the residents there. They couldn’t hire more police, replace water lines, or put in curb and gutter. Even better lighting would be expensive.
She dropped onto her bed. Flopping back, she stared at the ornate tin ceiling. She should get up and brush her teeth in her hidden master bathroom, but she couldn’t seem to move. Sometimes, she felt so alone. Like it was her against the world. She knew she shouldn’t, because she was luckier than most to have a beautiful home, a good job, and a wonderful son.
Still, what to do about that parcel?
Chapter Three
The next morning the door buzzer made Heidi jump, and she hit the back of her head on the upper shelf. No matter how many years she’d worked at the post office, every time she had to reach back into those shelves the door buzzer scared the living blazes out of her. She rubbed at the rising knot on the back of her head as she headed to the front of the post office. The bump pounded in time with her pulse.
Her steps faltered when she saw the customer waiting at the counter. It was that man who’d moved into the old Shaw place out on highway 221. She hadn’t spoken to him yet, and a newcomer in Sugar Mountain was always a big deal.
No one knew why Adam Williams had come to town, and that alone was intriguing. He was in his forties and fit, with a goatee and snapping brown eyes. Overall, he was a working-man kind of handsome, and he had women’s heads turning. His hair was a little longer than Heidi considered proper, and he could use a shave, but his clothes were top notch, and he smelled fantastic.
“Good morning,” Heidi said with a smile. “How can I help you?”
He placed a yellow slip on the counter. “This notice was in my box. It says I have a package.”
“Right,” she took the slip. “And what is your box number?”
“237.”
“Okay, I’ll be right back.” As she walked away, Heidi couldn’t help but sneak one more peek at the man over her shoulder. She’d been a widow for nearly eight years and most men didn’t interest her in any way, but that Mister Williams was a fine specimen, if she did say so herself.
Sorting through the packages in the bin, she was surprised to find the largest one belonged to him. Hefting out the heavy box, she had to wonder what on earth the man had received.
Making her way back to the front counter, straining under the weight of the box, she was annoyed to find Nancy Dickerson, the town gossip, entering the post office lobby.
“Good morning— Mister Williams, isn’t it?” the older woman gushed with curiosity bright in her gaze. “What brings you to the post office today?”
“Just picking up my mail ma’am.”
Heidi used her hip to shove the package up onto the counter. Barely able to see over the top, she watched the exchange between Adam and Nancy.
“Oh my,” Nancy gasped. “What on earth did you get in the mail?”
Heidi rolled her eyes. Everyone knew it was the height of boorishness to ask about another person’s mail. She was curious too, but it was none of their business.
“Auto parts, ma’am.”
Before Heidi could say a word to Adam about his package, Nancy remembered why she’d come into the post office. “Oh, Heidi, honey!” she blurted, shouldering past Adam to peer around the box. “I was so upset when I heard about the construction project on Main Street, I hurried right over!”
Heidi bristled. What had Nancy heard? It should be no shock that the town gossip had picked up on news of a building project, but her society ladies should have gotten wind of it first. One thing was certain, she wasn’t about to admit that she didn’t know what Nancy was talking about.
Adam looked uncomfortable, unsure how to retrieve the box from between the ladies.
“What on earth are you going to do?” Nancy demanded, her face flushing with excitement. She turned to Adam. “Since you’re new here you probably haven’t heard. The city plans to redo Main Street because of all the traffic. They’ll have to tear out a bunch of homes and Heidi’s house is likely one of them. Can you imagine?”
The air sucked out of Heidi’s lungs leaving her feeling gut punched speechless. Her home demolished? What was Nancy talking about?
Adam knew what it meant to lose a home, and it wasn’t something he took lightly. He watched in concern as the color drained from Heidi’s face.
“Say something, I know you’re upset,” the older woman said to Heidi. “You love that old house. Plus, your little reenactment group meets there, right?”
Heidi glanced at Adam then back to Nancy. “Yes, but, I—” Knowing she had to get a handle on the situation, Heidi raised one hand. “Nancy, this isn’t the time or place—”
“Do you have any recourse? When do they plan to start demolition?” The woman demanded.
Overcome with emotion, Heidi couldn’t answer. An uncomfortable silence stretched between the trio.
Adam spoke up. “If I may ask, your house is old?” He glanced between the women, waiting for an answer.
“Oh, my yes,” Nancy blurted, ignoring Heidi. “It’s on the historic register, got a plaque in front of it and everything.”
“Do you know— I mean, is it registered with the county or the state?” He asked.
Nancy’s gaze flew from Heidi, back to Adam. “Why? What are you saying?”
Adam continued. “Well if the house is on a historic register, you can get something called a demolition review. It halts demolition while the situation is reviewed by the preservation commission.”
“The preservation commission…” Nancy repeated in awe, her face blank.
Adam cleared his throat. “Well, I uh— I’m not familiar— I’m new here, but if you can get a delay on the demolition maybe you can sort things out. Avoid demolition all together.”
“Really?” Heidi blurted, hopeful for the first time since hearing the news. “How do you know this?”
Adam reached for his package. “You can google it, it’s no secret.”
“Oh right, I’m sorry,” Heidi apologized. Here she’d been irritated with Nancy over asking what was in a box and she’d gone and got all personal with a customer. She pushed the package to the front of the counter. “Have a nice day.”
“Thank you, ma’am, and good luck with your house,” Adam replied, then hefted his package and hurried toward the door. A brief struggle ensued at the doorway as he wrestled the box, but he managed to escape.
Heidi and Nancy watched him leave, then their gazes met. Heidi’s face wore a wary but hopeful expression, while Nancy’s eyes narrowed in speculation. Before the older busybody could speak, Heidi sprang into action. “Gotta get back to work,” she called as she turned away. “Thanks for coming in!”
Hopeful that the woman would leave, Heidi hurried to the back of the post office where she hid behind a stack of boxes and crouched to sneak a peek between the open shelving. With a sigh of relief, she watched Nancy exit.
Was what Nancy said true? Her gaze went to the shelf where the blo
ody drawings lay. Could they be related to the Main Street project Nancy mentioned? Heidi hadn’t yet called anyone about them and she wondered how many days she could keep them there while she sorted things out. How did Nancy know about the project anyway? And could Mister Williams be right and she had a way to stop the demolition?
She straightened her shoulders in typical Heidi fashion and sniffed at her behavior. If any of it were true, then she was certain that the society would be able to figure something out. They always did.
Rain poured down in sheets outside as women puffed up the secret stairs to Heidi’s attic, shedding coats and snapping umbrellas as they chattered excitedly. As usual, they’d parked behind the Presbyterian Church next door and come through the tunnel, making sure no one saw extra cars at Heidi’s house. But tonight was special. It had been years since the grand master had called an emergency meeting and tensions ran high.
Heidi shuffled her notes, watching as the women hung up their coats and took their seats. Jessica handed out coffee cups and Michelle came along behind filling them with hastily brewed coffee. Mildred settled her little dog, Spit, under her chair then opened a package of store-bought cookies and pushed it to the center of the table. Sarah shuffled through her notebook and clicked the end of her mechanical pencil to adjust the lead. Sam flipped to a clean page in her planner then took a bottle of water from her backpack. Monique helped Stella to her seat, then folded her walker and put it in the corner. Chair legs scraped on the floor and voices murmured as the women got situated.
Once everyone was ready, Heidi stood and banged the gavel. “Welcome to this emergency meeting, let’s get underway.”
Monique gestured with a cookie. “I motion that we refrain from reading the minutes of the last meeting and get on with it.”
“I second the motion,” Mildred offered.
Heidi cleared her throat. “Let’s get right to the point then. I believe we need to issue a High Alert.
Murmurs of surprise and excitement rose from the group. The women were clearly surprised. An emergency meeting was one thing, but a High Alert was a different situation all together.
“What does that mean?” Sarah whispered to Monique behind her hand, alarmed by the other women’s reaction.
Monique shushed her, indicating that she’d find out soon enough.
“Now, now,” Heidi interrupted. “I know this comes as a surprise to some of you. We may not have issued a High Alert since you joined, but I believe it’s the best course of action.
“What are we supposed to do?” Jessica blurted, her face animated with excitement. “Some of us have jobs and families and—”
Heidi knew that Jessica was usually the first member to fly off the handle when things got intense, but she was also the most passionate about helping. “Calm down,” she said again, more firmly this time. “Let me explain.”
The women quieted and she continued. “We have new developments. The most upsetting is some gossip I heard from Nancy at the post office, but first let’s deal with the facts. Today, I saw several more parcels containing drawings come through for the mayor’s office.”
The room fell silent.
“No more bloody ones though, thank goodness.” Heidi assured. “But based on the sheer number and size of parcels, I believe that a construction project of major proportion is being planned.”
“How do you know the mayor’s not just building a house for himself or something?” Monique asked, ever the one to keep her head in a crisis.
Murmurs of disagreement were heard around the table.
“That’s a good question,” Heidi assured, “But today Nancy came bursting into the post office to report that she’d heard of plans to demolish parts of Main Street, including this house.”
Panic and confusion broke out around the table. Jessica choked on her cookie and Michelle spit out her coffee.
“What happened?” Stella demanded loudly, her magnified eyes scanning the group for answers. “Did somebody die?”
Heidi banged the gavel. “Ladies, it’s only gossip at this point, settle down.”
Jessica regained her composure and took a sip of coffee to stop the coughing. Michelle wiped at the table with her napkin.
Heidi continued. “I saw two more packaging tubes, the kind that contain blueprints, like the bloody one. They are much bigger than a house or a personal project would require. Plus, they are from an engineering firm, not an architectural firm. No, I believe the mayor is planning something big.” She waited for her words to sink in.
Jessica’s brows lowered in concentration. Sam chewed on a hangnail and Michelle scowled over her coffee cup. Sarah jotted down a few notes then waited for more information, her face calm. She was a kindergarten teacher after all, she didn’t ruffle easily.
Heidi continued. “I’m willing to agree that at this point, we are working off of speculation and gossip—that’s why I’m issuing a High Alert.”
Jessica waved her hand. “Will you please remind those of us who’ve never been through an alert, exactly what all is involved?”
Heidi motioned to Mildred and the old woman stood. She cleared her throat and adjusted her reading glasses then read from her notes. “A High Alert will be issued when the ladies of the society need, with all due haste, to gather any and all information pertaining to a particular circumstance.”
“Gather any and all information…” Jessica murmured. Her eyes glossed over as she considered what that meant.
Michelle greeted her next customer, then settled her into the barber chair and slung an apron around her shoulders. “Good morning, Mrs. Park,” she offered in a sing song voice as she taped up the neck of the apron. “How are you today?” she asked, her bright nails clicking together as she worked.
“About as good as could be expected,” the woman relied. “I see your hair is pink this month.”
Michelle smiled. “Yes, for spring. Do you like it?”
The old woman pulled a face. “I suppose it’s alright for you.”
Michelle readied her scissors and combs, unperturbed that Mrs. Park did not, in fact, like her hair color. “The usual cut and style?”
A harrumph was the only reply, so Michelle sprayed down the woman’s hair with a spray bottle. “What has Mr. Park been up to these days,” she asked, readying the scissors. She braced herself for the response, because her question was a serious breach of protocol. At any other appointment on any other day, she would have asked questions about Mrs. Park herself. But there was no time to waste. The old lady’s chatter normally involved her doctor visits and aches and pains, but Michelle knew that it was Mr. Park who kept up with happenings around town. Maybe he knew something helpful.
“Him?” Mrs. Park huffed. “I don’t know what that man is up to. Why, just yesterday he was gone the whole day.”
“The whole day?” Michelle repeated as if in shock. “Where could he have gone?”
Mrs. Park shrugged. “How should I know. He normally goes fly fishing with the mayor, but he said the mayor cancelled on him.”
Michelle’s ears perked. “Why is that, do you suppose?”
“None of my business, but if you ask me, the mayor has been acting mighty peculiar lately.”
“What has he been doing?” Michelle coaxed, lifting hair to snip along her extended fingers.
“I hear tell his son isn’t getting good grades at the fancy college they sent him to, but I think the mayor’s mind is on something here at home.”
“You do? Why?”
“Well. Like I said, he’s cancelled on my Harold the last two Thursdays. They always go fishing on Thursday.”
Michelle scrunched her face in response to the mayor’s actions. “I’d have to agree with you, what could make him skip out on a long-time friend.”
“I don’t know, but it happens to me all the time. I was just telling Susan that no one wants to spend time with me. My life has become a shambles.” The woman complained, changing the subject. “My friends are getting old
and all they want to do is complain about their headaches and discomforts. Like I want to hear that when my lumbago is acting up so bad I can hardly walk!”
Michelle hid a smile and nodded in sympathy.
Samantha hooked the leash onto the dog’s collar and straightened to make eye contact with his owner. “I’ll have him back in an hour or so,” she assured the man. “How have you been doing? she added, surprising the dog’s owner. Normally, she preferred the company of dogs over people and didn’t converse any more than was required.
The man pointed to his leg which was enclosed in a large, strappy, Velcro brace. “Not much improvement I’m afraid. I hope you can keep walking Brutus for a few more weeks.”
“Of course I can,” Sam assured. “He enjoys walking with my other big clients.” She scoffed. “He may not enjoy the little barky guys I walk in the afternoon, but we’ll stick to mornings for now, if that’s okay with you.”
“That’s fine, my therapy is in the afternoon so it works out.”
“Alrighty then,” Sam said as the man hobbled back from the door. “Where do you go for therapy, by the way?” she added just as the door was closing.
Once again, the man was surprised that she was so chatty. He opened the door wider and shuffled back up to the open doorway.
Brutus pulled, used to heading out for a walk the moment Sam had his leash on.
“I drive up to Boone,” the man replied. “My Doctor’s office is there too.”
Sam reined in Brutus, straining under the dog’s considerable strength. “I’ve considered switching to a doctor in Boone,” Sam grunted, tugging on the leash. “But I wouldn’t know anyone over there. Do you ever see anybody you know when you go to Boone?”
“Come to think of it,” the man said, scratching his head, “I did see the mayor there last week.”
Sam wrapped the leash around her hand and braced her arm against her side. “Really? Where?” She grunted.
Trouble on Main Street Page 3