Treasure Uncovered (Bellingwood #3)

by Diane Greenwood Muir

  "Do you have your scanner on?" she asked.

  "I'm over at Andy's," Lydia said. "Is something happening?"

  "Of course. I knew that. Well, I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but I followed Ken Wallers over to Harry Bern's house and he and another patrolman went in with their guns drawn."

  "Don't you go near them!"

  "I'm not. I'm not! But, if you were home and heard what was going on, I was hoping you would tell me."

  "Polly get yourself away from there. I'm not hanging up until I hear you put that truck in drive and leave."

  Polly sighed, "I never get to have any fun. Alright. I'm leaving."

  She parked behind Lydia's Jeep and after knocking on the front door, opened it and said, "Can I come in?"

  Andy rushed out of the kitchen and held the door open, "Of course. You don't have to ask. Just come in!"

  "How's the patient today?" Polly asked.

  "See for yourself," Andy said and gestured toward the sofa. Beryl was perched on her left hip and Polly watched as she squirmed back and forth, wriggling around.

  "Has she been like this all morning?"

  "Crap. No. She was fine until just this moment." Andy stood in front of Beryl, "What's wrong, honey? Can I help?"

  "Good god, woman. I'm just trying to get comfortable. I think I can figure it out on my own."

  "Do you need another painkiller?"

  "Get away from me you mother hen. I'm fine." Beryl settled down and breathed a sigh of relief. "There. I needed to adjust a few things."

  "Are you sure you don't need anything?"

  Beryl looked around Andy at Polly, "Tell me the truth. Do I look like I'm going to die any time soon?"

  Polly giggled and said, "I don't think so, but then I don't have all the facts."

  "My dearest friend here is acting like I have a death mark hanging over my head and if she doesn't take care of every little issue for me, I will fall into some bleak stupor and drift away from the world."

  Polly bit her lip to keep from laughing.

  "Fine, you old biddy. You're much less sure of yourself when there’s no audience. If you need something from me, tell me. Otherwise, you're on your own."

  Andy stalked out to the kitchen.

  Beryl whispered, "She doesn't mean it. She'll be back in five minutes to make sure I'm still alive. Trust me."

  Polly shook her head and sat down in the chair next to Beryl. "Are you feeling more normal now that you've slept in a real bed?"

  "I slept all night! At least Andy isn't in every two hours to take my blood pressure and jam a thermometer in my mouth. And there isn't any beeping and whirring either."

  "That's so great. We're glad you're back. Sylvie says she’s stopping by tomorrow with goodies."

  Lydia came in to the living room carrying a tray filled with sandwiches and fruit. She set them down on the coffee table. Andy followed with another tray which contained a pitcher of tea and glasses filled to the brim with ice.

  "Why were you following the police chief this morning, Polly?" Lydia asked.

  "Because I was out driving around and I didn't have anything better to do," Polly said.

  "You can get yourself in trouble doing stuff like that."

  "I can get myself in trouble opening up an employee's door," Polly lamented. "I don't even have to work at it and trouble gets in my way."

  Beryl snickered. "Maybe the people around Bellingwood will start dumping their bodies on your front lawn because they know you'll deal with them."

  "Don't even say that!" Polly cried. She looked up and said, "You didn't hear that. She didn't mean it." She turned to her friends and said, "That was me talking to the universe. Just in case."

  They laughed and Polly asked, "So, Lydia, have you heard anything about the thefts happening around town?"

  Lydia nodded. "Aaron is working with Ken. He's pretty sure it is someone from the area because they know the farmers’ habits and schedules."

  "Mark told me they broke into one of those truck toolboxes. I thought those were pretty sturdy."

  "They wanted in badly enough to do some serious damage. Sam had some expensive tools in there. You're going to keep your barn locked up, right?"

  "I don't have anything out there that isn't easily replaceable, so I'm not too worried, but yes, we'll make sure things are locked. Good heavens, I quit worrying about locking my truck when I moved back to Iowa. I'm not happy that people are forcing me to think about that again."

  "What is the world coming to," Beryl asked, "when a little town like Bellingwood has to worry about locking things up because bad boys are trying to make an easy buck?"

  "That's the thing," Andy said. "This can't be easy for them. They're expending as much time and effort trying to pull off these thefts as they would if they got a regular job. They're fools."

  They talked a little longer about the thefts and Polly finally said, "I should get back to Sycamore House. I want to make sure they don't need any extra help for this big wedding reception."

  "Who is getting married?" Andy asked.

  "It's a couple from Ogden; I don't know their names."

  "Oh," Andy replied. "I hadn't heard of anyone getting married in town this weekend. Do you want to take a sandwich or anything back with you?"

  "I'm good. Sylvie is making a spread and I can always snitch from that if I get hungry this afternoon. Love you guys!"

  She hugged everyone and whispered to Beryl, "Be nice to her. You know you love her."

  Beryl squeezed her back and released her. "I'll be good," she said.

  Polly drove back to Sycamore House and smiled as she saw the parking lot begin to fill up. A young couple was starting their life together today and they had chosen her home as the location of the celebration. A year ago, she never would have imagined her life looked like this. Change was good.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  “Runners and bystanders have been hurt. Have you seen any of this?” Jeff walked into Polly's office Monday morning.

  "No, what's up?"

  "There were two explosions at the end of the Boston Marathon. I thought you'd want to know."

  Polly didn't say anything. She couldn't say anything. All she could do was stare at him and think about her friends. Drea ran the marathon every year and her brothers always worked security. She couldn't even put names to all of the people she knew who were part of the activities at the Marathon. Last year she had taken the day off and had been there at the end to cheer for Drea as she finished.

  "You know a lot of people involved in this, don't you?"

  Polly nodded. She was certain that if she opened her mouth, she would vomit, so she sat still.

  Jeff went to the water cooler and came back with a cup of water. He put it down in front of her. "You've gone pale. Drink this."

  She shook her head and continued to stare into space, thinking about more and more people she knew who were involved. Jeff stepped around the desk to stand beside her and placed his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Polly. What can I do?"

  Polly's body wouldn't move. Finally she shook herself and said, "Are you sure?"

  "Do you want to see it online or would you like to go into the conference room and turn on the news?"

  "No, I can't watch this on television," she said. "That would be too much. I'll read it here."

  She saw that she had received email and opened the message from Sal Kahane.

  "Hi Sweetie.

  Have you seen the news? Copley Square is a mess. We're all pretty distraught here. Dave's brother was at the finish line and we haven't heard anything from him yet. No one knows anything and we're waiting for another one to explode. I don't even know what to think.

  I'm still leaving in the morning as long as the airports are open. I figure it is safer to be in Iowa right now than anywhere else in the world, so tell me you're going to take good care of me, alright?

  I can't wait to see you,

  Sal"

  Polly emailed right back,
/>   "I just found out. Oh my god! Why would someone do this? It's supposed to be a fun event!

  I'm glad you're still coming out. I suppose phones are down in the city with all of the runners and people trying to contact their families. Call me tomorrow morning when you hit Des Moines so I can hear your voice.

  Love you girl,

  Polly"

  Jeff had taken a seat across from her and was watching her with a frown creasing his forehead.

  "Is Sal still coming to Iowa?" he asked.

  "She is. I'm glad. What a strange week for it, but I’ll be glad to spend some time with her after this." Polly clicked on a new website to see pictures of people with blood all over them. She clicked through a few of the photographs and shook her head at the carnage.

  "Who would do something like this?" she asked Jeff. "And why? I don't understand what makes someone think this is the way to get attention."

  "I don't have any smart answers for you, Polly. The world is made up of both good and bad people and today a bad person hurt your city."

  Polly went back to email and sent one off to Drea asking her to send a message as soon as she could and tell her what was happening with the people she knew.

  Her phone buzzed with a text from Lydia, "Are you alright? I saw the news and thought of you. I'm sure you have friends involved in the Marathon. Just know we're thinking of you."

  "Thanks," Polly replied and set her phone down on the desk.

  She said, "I could obsess about this all day, but they're doing what they have to do out there and I'm not going to know anything more about my friends by watching the media flail about trying to break news that isn't real. Talk to me about something else."

  "Are you sure?"

  "Yes," she said adamantly. "I can't handle this."

  "The wedding Saturday evening was a huge success. Sylvie is starting to make a name for herself. I think she got a couple of catering jobs from it."

  "Really? That's awesome! Oh, she's going to be great at this."

  "And we had a mom ask about a sixteenth birthday party in the classrooms. Then she asked if the kids could ride the horses. I told her that wasn't probably a good idea since they were still recuperating from neglect. Was I right?"

  "You were absolutely right. I don't want to subject them to anything like that for a long time. As a matter of fact, I don't want to be subjected to that either." Polly rolled her head around on her neck and said, "I'm glad you're managing it."

  "There will only be fifteen or twenty kids there. Sylvie is going to do the food for it, too. Some of the kids work here as waiters and waitresses for events and thought they could use all of those rooms for different things for the party. I think it's a great idea."

  "Well, at least we won't have bouncy houses littering the lawn if they're in high school."

  Jeff laughed, "Not a big fan of little kids' events, are you?"

  "Every time I see one of those, it occurs to me there isn't enough bleach in the world to get them clean to the point I'd want any child I cared about in them."

  "Well, that eliminates the kid's carnival I was planning for August," he laughed and pulled out his tablet.

  "No!" Polly exclaimed. "I'm sorry. It's my own phobia. If you have something in the works, don't let me stop you."

  "I was only kidding. There's no carnival. It's not a bad idea, but the city brings one in every year for Bellingwood Days in July.

  "I missed that last summer," Polly said. "It's a pretty big deal, isn't it?"

  "It is. There's a big parade and they even name a Queen. They have a street dance on Saturday night downtown and all sorts of exhibitions and contests are spread out in the buildings around town."

  "We should figure out how to be a part of the festivities," she said. "Is Sycamore House open that weekend or do we have weddings scheduled?"

  "No, I was smart enough to check the city's calendar and block out dates. I've left that weekend open. So, what are you thinking?"

  "We've got this big auditorium and we've got Sylvie. Surely we can come up with something."

  "I know Cy would love to use the auditorium on Saturday for the quilt show," he grinned.

  "Cy?" Polly asked.

  "Cy Leverton. He's the Chamber President and owns the General Store."

  "Good heavens, you know more people in town than I do!" Polly laughed.

  "It's my job," he said. "So, do you remember all of those pie plates we got for the hoe-down?"

  Polly nodded.

  "What if we had a pie contest on Sunday and combined it with an old-fashioned ice cream social?"

  "That's a great idea!" Polly exclaimed. "But, I can't believe they don't already have something like that going on."

  "I checked. No problem. We could put the pie plates out at a few different locations. People could buy them for a dollar and that is their registration fee. All of the money will go into the prize fund. We can have door prizes and then I'll talk to Cy about bringing in enough ice cream for the social."

  "You've given this a little thought, haven't you?"

  "Like I said," he replied. "It's my job."

  "Well, you are doing it very well," Polly smiled. "Thank you. I'd hate doing this without you."

  Jeff smirked at her, "Just remember that when I ask for a raise."

  "Uh huh," she said. "Got it."

  Polly watched him make a few notes in his tablet, then asked, "How is Eliseo doing?"

  "Polly, he's only been here for two days and I'm totally in love with the guy."

  "Stop it," she smirked.

  "Well, not like that," he laughed. "But, he's amazing. He had the auditorium set up and ready long before the family got here and then he was invisible. Things were cleaned up as the evening progressed and even I didn't see it happening. Within an hour after the last person had gone home, the place was ready to shut down. I tried to tell him that when he worked weekend weddings, he could take a day off during the week, but he said he had no place else to be and since there was plenty to do around here to get caught back up, he'd just work."

  "He's been helping me in the mornings with the horses," she said. "It annoyed me on Saturday, but when he was there again yesterday, I decided that I didn't need to feel threatened. The horses love him and for that matter, so does the stupid dog."

  Jeff laughed. "Sometimes animals know people better than we do, I guess. He's cleaning out the front room upstairs and will have it ready for your friend before she gets here."

  "Thanks," Polly said, her eye drawn back to the news channel on the computer. She refreshed the window and sighed as they updated the number of wounded.

  "It keeps getting worse, Jeff. They're talking about people losing limbs. What in the hell happened out there?"

  "Come on," he said. "Let's go outside and you can talk to your horses. They'll take your mind off this."

  Polly snagged a jacket off the back of her chair. "That's a good idea. But wait, you're going out to talk to the horses with me?"

  "No, I'm going to walk you to the side door and watch as you prance your pretty little fanny down to the barn."

  "You're a good friend, Jeff, even if you don't like my animals."

  "I like your animals just fine, but I have a commitment to these leather shoes and I'm going to keep it."

  It was a rainy, cold, miserable day. Polly had hoped it would clear up so she could let the horses out into the pasture for a while. Maybe she would put them out anyway.

  "Good afternoon my lovelies," she called as she went into the barn. She went back to the tack room to grab a bag of treats. Stopping first at Nan's stall, she opened it and dropped the treat into her feed dish. "Are you ready for some pasture time? I know it's miserable out there, but if you want to go out, I'll clean you up when you come back. I promise." Polly opened the outside door and went back into the barn. She stopped in at each horse's stall with a treat and an open door. None of them galloped out to the pasture, but they all found their way to the hay piles. She stood and watche
d them for a while and returned to the barn. Picking up the bag of treats, she took it back to the tack room. She put it on its shelf and then peered at the bales of hay. Something blue caught her eye in between a couple of bales. She pulled it out and saw that it was a small blanket. Nothing she'd ever seen before. Where would it have come from?

  Polly had the blanket in her hand when she walked out into the alley of the barn. She looked up when she heard footsteps and saw Eliseo approaching her.

  He glanced at what she was holding, then asked, "Is there anything I can help you with, Miss Giller?"

  "No, I needed to spend a few minutes with the horses to settle my mind down and figured they might want some time outside even though it's so ugly out there. I don't want to hang out in my office and watch the news and this is a good place to be."

  "Those big beasts will take the hurts away, won't they," he said.

  The two of them walked back outside. The horses had stayed under the overhang and out of the cold rain. Demi and Nat were munching hay together and Polly imagined the two of them talking to each other about the crazy woman who owned them now. She wondered if they ever thought about their old life or worried they might have to return to it. What did horses think about anyway?

  "I wonder that myself, sometimes," Eliseo said.

  "What? Did I say that out loud?"

  He chuckled. "You might have. Either that or you were thinking very loud thoughts."

  "Do you think they wonder about us?"

  "I suppose they might. But, I don't think they have great big thoughts all the time. They focus on the immediate a lot better than we do. If their needs are met and they feel safe, they're pretty happy."

  "That's the way most of us feel until we start thinking too hard about it," she said.

  "Mazlow's hierarchy of needs, you know," he responded.

  Polly looked sideways at him, "Not too many people talk to me about that," she giggled.

  "I had a lot of time by myself when I was in the hospital after this happened," he gestured at his torso. "They brought me a catalog for books on tape and at least I was able to have something going into my mind all the time. I learned the weirdest stuff in there. For instance, did you know that the giraffe is considered by Jews to be kosher? That's one of those weird little things that got in my brain and I've never been able to forget it. Why would anyone want to know if a giraffe is kosher?"