Taylorwood (Alexandria Whitney Mystery)

by McCarthy, G. L.

  “I heard every word you said, Professor. I do my best listening with my eyes closed.” Alex opened one eye to look over at Cyn.

  “Please continue, or is that the end of today’s lecture?”

  “We have time for a few more questions from the class. Do you have any more questions, Ms. Whitney?” Cyn wanted to keep this class going forever.

  “Yes, Professor Montgomery, I do have several questions. But I’m afraid it’s getting late for me, so can I ask them at the next session of Taylorwood 101?” Alex was starting to fade. It was a forty-five minute drive home and she hadn’t slept all that well the night before.

  “Absolutely, Ms. Whitney.” Cyn started to put the dishes in the bag to take back to the cafeteria.

  “Cyn, let me help you wash these before I go. You’ve done so much tonight.” Alex was feeling like she needed to contribute to the evening’s chores.

  “No way, this is my evening. You have your chance next week. I’ll be expecting amazing things from you, Ms. Whitney, amazing things indeed. See, I have everything under control. Just grab the blanket. It belongs to Ruby. She told me that I would need it to sit on. Boy was she right. Maybe I can get the guys to clean this place up a bit. I guess no one comes out here much, so it isn’t a priority.” Cyn was secretly hoping for more dinners out here under the stars.

  Alex shook out the blanket and folded it up neatly. “All right, you win – but tell Ruby thank you for me too, okay, Cyn?” Alex suddenly felt sad that this lovely evening was ending. Just like last night, it was reminding her of what she wanted and not what she had.

  “Let me walk you to your truck so you can get on the road for home.” Cyn escorted Alex to the parking lot, where Alex gave Cyn another big hug, and held on a little longer than last night. Cyn wished she would never let go.

  Alex rolled down her window and shouted, “All right then, see you tomorrow, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Thank you, again,” rolling her window up as she drove off.

  Alex and Dez lived thirty-four miles away in a secluded part of the hills surrounding the Taylorwood School. Without street lights you had to have your wits about you so you wouldn’t run into any animals crossing the road at night. These could range from deer, raccoons, opossum, kit foxes, skunks and the occasional Black Angus cow. Alex was about two miles from home when a big raccoon decided to cross the road right in front of her. She hit the breaks, and Rocky shifted into high, and was just barely missed. She sat in the middle of the road, her heart pounding from the near miss. Stupid suicidal raccoons! Why couldn’t they do their crossing in the daytime when people could see them?

  As she continued on, a set of headlights was coming at her from the direction of home. Who could it be? No one but she and Dez lived out on this road. As the headlights drew closer the driver switched to high beams almost blinding Alex, and then back to low beams. Thank goodness it was Dez in her vet truck. Both vehicles slowed to a stop for a meeting in the middle of the dark road. Both drivers rolled down their windows at the same time.

  “Please don’t tell me you have another emergency. I haven’t seen you in two days.” Alex was very tired, rattled by the near miss with the raccoon, and now partially blinded by headlights. She wanted to hear some good news, like her lover was going to be sleeping next to her tonight.

  “I’m sorry, Babe. One of my clients’ cows is calving tonight and she seems to be having trouble delivering. I told them I would be right over. I left you a message on your cell. I need to get going, but I’ll be home later and I promise I’ll come straight to bed, okay?” Dez started to drive off while rolling up her window. “I miss you. See you later,” she shouted as she drove off.

  Alex remembered that she had put her cell in her purse behind the seat and never took it out before she drove home. Obviously she never heard it ring. Mercury must be the cause of all this. If only she could talk to Lena. But Lena was touring the country promoting her CD about relationships. Boy did she need a copy of that CD right now. Just get home and maybe a good night sleep will help. Alex was so frustrated she wanted to cry, but wouldn’t. Dez had promised to be home and she would be. Dez hadn’t broken a promise – well not for a long time she hadn’t.

  Alex wasn’t sure of the time when Dez finally came to bed, but she was like an ice cube and huddled up close to Alex for warmth. Dez always said she didn’t need an electric blanket as long as she had Alex to keep her warm. But it only seemed like minutes before the alarm went off.

  Getting up, Alex felt uneasy in a way. It was hard to explain this new feeling. During her shower she decided she would grab some bread on the way out to pay Cyn back for yesterday and hopefully for some more jam today. As she came out of the bathroom to get dressed, Dez was looking at her.

  “Good morning, good-lookin’.” Dez was watching Alex as she hurriedly got dressed.

  “Good morning yourself, stranger. Do I know you?” Alex was kidding. She was also a little upset with Dez, but wasn’t sure she had a right to be.

  “I’m really sorry, Alex. You know when it rains it pours in the vet business. Sometimes I think the animals all get together and plan to get sick at the same time.” Dez was stating fact.

  It did seem to go in cycles crazy busy one minute and totally dead the next. It was just that when things were dead, Alex wished Dez would come looking for her to take her out for a romantic dinner or a sweet picnic like the one last night. But Dez never thought of those things. Alex always felt she was being pushy if she asked Dez to take her someplace, and then constantly had to remind her to make it happen.

  Alex gave Dez a kiss on her forehead, as she had fallen back asleep by the time Alex had finished dressing. She wondered if she should tell Dez about the poem. Would it do any good? She was sure Dez would just make light of the whole thing and tell her to ignore it all. Alex wished she could ignore the whole thing, but the poem disturbed her. As the flowers and medal were benign gifts, the poem warned of being hurt not exactly a term of endearment. What if she told this to Dez and she didn’t get the response she wanted. Where would she go from there? It was a path Alex didn’t want to take because if she did there was no going back. The door would be open and did she really want to know what was inside? Not wanting to take a close look at her relationship seemed to be what she was all about these days.

  Chapter 8

  As she drove to school Alex was mulling over a plan to seek out this creep. She decided to nickname him/her “Barney.” Why Barney? Because of Barney Fife from TV. She didn’t want to keep referring to her ominous pen pal as a stalker and Barney didn’t sound quite so foreboding. Also, if this person was as skinny as Barney, Alex was sure she could take him in a fair fight. She was trying to make light of all this drama.

  One thing she never ignored was her woman’s intuition. Her astrologer Lena had told her that she had a feminine sign in all of her houses. That was a good indicator that what she felt was probably right, and to listen to herself and take this situation seriously.

  She’d already ruled out a teacher as being Barney, since they were very visible and hence more apt to be found out. Cyn was sure it wasn’t a member of the working staff – so what about someone on the administration staff? They worked behind the scenes, so to speak, and were far less noticeable. Cyn was Alex’s best bet to know who to talk to for the best information. She was hoping all the mysteries she had read and TV she had watched would pay off. Thank Goddess she had Cyn to keep her from falling apart about this. Alex suddenly realized she was depending on Cyn quite a bit, and maybe that wasn’t fair to her. She would have to ask if all of this was working for her. Alex would understand if she wanted out, but the Cyn she was learning to depend on would for sure stick it out to the end – at least she hoped.

  Alex walked through the door to the teachers’ lounge with bread in hand and found Cyn talking to Lucy and Bonnie. They all looked at her in amazement, as this was two days in a row arriving almost thirty minutes before the first bell. All were speechless, so Alex spo
ke first.

  “Morning troops. Is the kitchen still open? I brought my own bread, but will have to beg for some jam.” Alex acted as if she arrived at this time everyday.

  “What’s the occasion this morning for the early arrival? Dez pull another all-nighter?” Lucy would love to hear there was trouble in paradise. Lucy and Bonnie had more than their fair share of problems. One could say that all either one of them needed was a good reason to leave. A single Alex would be a good reason to leave.

  “No, my phantom girlfriend came home eventually. I just had so much fun getting in early yesterday and having toast, jam and great coffee that I decided to try to become a regular.” As she walked past Cyn who was heading for the counter with the toaster and coffee pot, she gave her a wink.

  Alex put her bread in the toaster, realizing she had just called Dez her girlfriend and not her lover. Did anyone else pick up on that little slip? Cyn had retrieved the jam from the refrigerator, and was waiting to spread it on Alex’s toast.

  “Cyn, you don’t need to do that. I can make toast.” Alex started to reach for the knife when Cyn blocked her. “No way. It will taste different if you do it yourself.

  Great toast is toast made by someone else same goes for PB

  & J. It has to be made by someone other than the consumer.”

  As the two sparred back and forth, they were being closely

  observed by Lucy and Bonnie who gave each other a knowing

  look.

  “Okay, you two love birds play nice.” Lucy was

  smiling, but hoping for a rise out of one of them.

  “Love birds?” Cyn was horrified that her feelings for

  Alex might be so obvious.

  “Lucy, you are so jealous. You just wish you had a

  friend you could kid around with like Cyn and I.” Alex was

  going to nip this in the bud right here and now.

  “You two just seem to have become awfully tight

  awfully quick, that’s all. Besides I was just kidding.” Lucy didn’t want Alex to be upset with her and wished she hadn’t

  said anything.

  “Lucy, I know when someone is kidding and when

  someone is trying to get a quick denial to prove themselves

  right. You weren’t kidding.” Alex gave Lucy a look that pretty

  much told her to back off.

  “I’m sorry, I was out of line. I apologize.” Lucy suddenly realized Alex was not someone she wanted to cross. “Well it’s nice of you to join our little morning group.

  We have a little fun to start off the day” Bonnie was trying to

  change the subject so everyone would play nice.

  Alex finished her toast, grabbed her coffee cup and

  quickly refilled it. As she turned to leave the lounge to head

  for her classroom she looked at Cyn, “See you at lunch?” “Absolutely, brown bag or cafeteria?” Cyn had never

  seen this side of Alex. She was strong and self-confident.

  Wow, what a woman.

  “Cafeteria. Hot grilled cheese, yummy! See you then.”

  Alex walked out the door and stopped on the other side. Who

  was that woman who just left the lounge? Where did all this

  new found confidence come from? Was it having to deal with

  Barney that was making Alex realize life was too short to

  worry about what everybody else thinks about you? Whatever

  it was, she liked it in fact, she liked it a lot.

  Alex decided to pull a Cyn and let her girls out five

  minutes early telling them to walk to lunch and not go at a

  dead run, as this would aid in their digestion. Who knew if it

  was correct but it sounded good. Alex was walking down the

  corridor to Cyn’s classroom when her room door burst open.

  Young ladies came flying out like they were on fire. Cyn was

  seconds behind the last one.

  “Miss Montgomery, a moment please.” Alex was

  using her most official sounding voice to get Cyn’s attention.

  Cyn stopped in her tracks and turned to see Alex grinning from

  ear to ear. “You brat! You scared the b’jesus out of me. I

  thought you were Mrs. Greenway.”

  “Really, did I sound like her?” Alex wondered if this

  could come in handy someday. “I thought I would show up at

  your door today. Let’s go! I want to try my first hot grilled

  cheese sandwich. I would run but it wouldn’t be dignified for a

  teacher, especially in these shoes.”

  Cyn was seeing Alex in a totally different light. This

  morning she was commanding, this afternoon playful and

  daring considering this was probably the first time in five

  years that Alex had ever let a class out early. She was loving

  every minute of it and dying at the same time. Oh how she

  wanted to grab Alex right now and give her a kiss. Cyn really

  had to get her head clear on this point. Alex was not available

  and that was that.

  Ruby greeted the two teachers with a big smile and

  handed Alex a freshly made sandwich. Cyn decided to give it a

  try, but asked Ruby if she could throw a piece of ham in

  between the cheese and bread. Ruby was very accommodating

  and produced the grilled ham and cheese sandwich in record

  time.

  “Thank you, Ruby. You spoil me and I love it.” Cyn

  was tagging behind Alex who had already said her thanks and

  was half way out the door. They needed to sit someplace quiet

  but not look like they were hiding out. Alex turned around and

  almost collided with Cyn who was trying to catch up. Both

  started laughing and Alex motioned towards their oak tree.

  Alex had her sandwich finished by the time Cyn was only half

  done. Cyn picked up Alex’s plate to see where her sandwich

  went.

  “Hungry were we?” Cyn wondered what the big hurry

  was.

  “It was so good I couldn’t help myself. I can’t believe

  that was lite cheese, so delicious. I also wanted to have time to

  tell you what I’ve been thinking. But first I need to know if

  you’re still okay with helping me with my little problem child,

  Barney.”

  Cyn stopped in mid bite. “Who is Barney? A student?” “No, no. I haven’t told you yet. I named my stalker

  Barney. That way we can talk about him/her and no one will

  know what we’re talking about. Brilliant, don’t you think?

  Anyway, are you still a go for this little mission?”

  Cyn looked at Alex and swallowed the last bite of her

  sandwich.

  “Absolutely, Ms. Phelps. What does the IM Force

  have in mind?” Cyn was a big fan of old TV programs.

  Mission: Impossible was one of her favorites and she knew

  Alex would know hat she was talking about.

  “You’re the best. Now who can we talk to that will

  know the scoop on all the administrative staff? I’ve eliminated

  the teachers and since you’re sure it isn’t the work staff that

  leaves Administration. So dazzle me, Agent Montgomery.”

  Alex wanted to be dazzled and hoped Cyn could do just that.

  Cyn looked off in the direction of the gazebo and a smile came

  over her face.

  “Your original suspect Mr. Schmidt.”

  “Okay.” Alex was more confused than dazzled. “Apparently the obvious is escaping me on this

  selection.”

  “Because he’s invisible.” Cyn was now beaming as

  she was making Alex think, and all good teachers love to make

 
; their students think.

  “Invisible, I see. I don’t, but I see.” Had Mr. Schmidt

  suddenly developed a superpower Alex wasn’t aware of? But

  then the light bulb came on.

  “Oh right, hide in plain site.” Because Mr. Schmidt

  was the janitor, he was everywhere in the school but no one

  really paid that much attention to him. He probably heard all

  sorts of conversations.

  “I knew you were the right agent for this assignment.

  Now when do you think it would be a good time to talk to him,

  during lunch? I mean, do you know his work schedule? He

  seems to be here all the time. I bet he lives on campus, right?”

  Alex finally paused for a breath.

  “You’re doing fine. So far you’ve answered your own

  questions. Yes, I am the right agent for this mission. Lunch

  time would be a good time to ask him. He doesn’t have a set

  schedule as he lives here and works all the time. But he does

  take Sunday off.” Cyn was now the one who’d been dazzled. “Excellent. Do you know where he is during lunch?

  We still have enough time before the bell. At least we can ask

  if he would be willing to meet with us, and when would be a

  good time.”

  “He eats in the kitchen. Let’s go in the back way so no

  one sees us. If anyone asks, we’re there to find out where Ruby

  gets her lite cheese for the sandwiches.” Cyn was anticipating

  any unforeseen questions that might come up from snooping

  third parties.

  “That’s a good idea. I really would like to know where

  they get their cheese. It’s great.” Alex wished she could have