Random Acts of Greed: Holly Anna Paladin Mysteries, Book 4

by Christy Barritt

  “We have more than a thousand members here, and most of them, if they are moms, don’t bring their babies. We don’t offer childcare.”

  My hopes plummeted. “I see.”

  She narrowed her gaze. “Can I ask what this is pertaining to? Because we don’t freely give out information about our clients here.”

  I glanced at baby Sweet Pea and remembered that note. Trust no one.

  It was one thing for my family and Chase to know. Even Jamie and Abraham. I knew I could trust them.

  But the fewer people who knew I had Sweet Pea, the better. At least until I had some answers.

  However, I was terrible at making up cover stories. Terrible. Had I mentioned that yet?

  “Here’s the truth.” Jamie leaned against the counter and lowered her voice. “We’re with a nonprofit that likes to anonymously help people in need within the community. The Red Heart . . . Army. Maybe you’ve heard of us?”

  The woman’s eyes subtly traveled from left to right and then back again, as if trying to recall any familiarity.

  I could sense her thoughts. Red Cross, American Heart Association, and Salvation Army, all rolled into one. What wouldn’t sound familiar about that?

  “I think so,” the woman finally said.

  “We received a nomination about a local woman in need of assistance,” Jamie continued. “Unfortunately, we lost the printout with her name and contact information. We remember that she was a member here and that she has a six-month-old baby boy. We knew it was a long shot coming here, but we were hoping for the best. We hate to see an unmet need.”

  “That’s all you remember?” The woman stared like she didn’t believe us. Rightfully so.

  A flutter of anxiety rippled through me. At that moment, I saw a flyer offering reduced gym rates to people who were in need. I remembered the woman’s computer problems. An idea struck me.

  “Coming to the gym is one of the only ways she rewards herself, even though she’s struggling financially in so many other ways,” I began. “Her friend who emailed us said this woman was really grateful for you guys and how you’d helped her out. Especially because of the baby weight. She really wanted to lose it. We’re just so sorry that our computers crashed. It’s been a real nightmare.”

  “I totally understand that.” She scowled at her computer. “I’ll tell you what. Leave me your contact information. I’ll ask around with some of our trainers. Maybe something will turn up. Don’t get your hopes up, but you never know.”

  I smiled. “That would be great. Thank you. This means a lot.”

  Chapter 5

  “So, I’m doing an interesting article,” Jamie said as we sat across from each other at a coffee house not far away from Rhonda’s Fitness ten minutes later. She raised her cup of tea, sweetened with stevia as per her no sugar rule, and took a sip.

  Her eyes sparkled and caught my curiosity. “Oh really? On what?”

  “I’m sure you remember the triathlon accident that happened about almost a year ago. There was that car that ran a barrier and hit three cyclists.”

  I cringed at the thought. Of course, I remembered. It was horrible to hear about it and think about the impact it had on the athletes’ lives.

  I gripped my own cup of espresso, warming my hands, and glanced down at Sweet Pea, who had fallen asleep. Unfortunately, the only seats available in the coffee shop were close to the line that nearly went out the door. People were crowded near us, so we had to keep our voices low.

  “You’re doing an article on the accident?” I asked.

  Jamie shrugged, the action causing her oversized wooden earrings to swing against her jaw. She’d gone to Jamaica on a mission trip not long ago and brought back all kinds of handcrafted goodies, including necklaces and earrings. Most were made from hand-carved wood, and the look somehow fit her.

  “I just turned in an article on how those three cyclists are doing now,” she continued. “They’ve had to deal with long hospital stays, physical therapy, being unable to work. One man lost a leg.”

  “It does sound interesting.” But it still didn’t explain the sparkle in her eyes.

  As more customers crowded into the business, I scooted Sweet Pea closer to me. I hoped we didn’t regret coming here. A coffee house seemed like a safe enough place. But there was risk everywhere, and we didn’t even know what kind of risk we were facing, at this point.

  Jamie nodded. “It really is interesting. In fact, other newspapers and news stations are covering their story since it’s the one-year anniversary.”

  I forced myself to look back at her, fighting my sudden feelings of crowdphobia, which I wasn’t actually sure was a word. “So . . .”

  “Even though I write for a smaller newspaper, these guys agreed that I could do a story on them, especially since they’re all from the west side of Cincinnati. It’s been really incredible to hear their stories. Very inspiring.” Her eyes still danced with excitement, and her hands flew across the table as she talked with enough animation to make Walt Disney proud.

  I put down my coffee and leaned toward her. “I can imagine. But why are you smiling like that?”

  Her index finger tapped against her mug as she stared off into the distance. “I don’t know. One of them is kind of cute. We’ve been staying after the other guys leave and talking some.”

  Now it was making sense. A grin spread across from my face. “I see . . .”

  She waved a hand in the air. “It’s not like that. We’re just friends. But I really feel like this story could do good things for my career.”

  “That’s great, Jamie.” She worked really hard. I knew she wanted to work for the Ledger, and she hoped with enough experience at the smaller paper that she could eventually get a job there.

  “Maybe you’ll get to meet him one day,” she continued. “You know, especially since the last guy I dated didn’t work out all that well.”

  I had to lean closer because the lunchtime crowds seemed especially loud. “We all have those horror stories.”

  Jamie gave me a pointed look.

  “Maybe not quite as bad as yours,” I obliged.

  At my acknowledgement of her especially horrible love-turned-horror story, she relaxed. “Exactly.”

  Without turning my head, I glanced at one of the men in line beside our table. His hands seemed to have taken on a mind of their own. His fingers clenched and unclenched.

  My throat went dry at the sight.

  Maybe he had a disability that made his hands ache, that made him keep moving his fingers. But something about the action made me uncomfortable, whether justified or not.

  I stole a glance upward, trying not to be too obvious.

  The man was probably in his early thirties. He had long, stringy brown hair despite being nearly bald on the top. His black shirt only made his complexion look paler.

  And he was looking right at the baby carrier.

  Was this man somehow connected with this whole mystery? Had he followed us here? Would he try to snatch Sweet Pea back?

  “You haven’t heard a word I said, have you?” Jamie’s voice brought me back down to the moment.

  “What was that?”

  She shook her head. “What are you thinking about?”

  With my eyes only, I motioned toward the man beside us. Unfortunately, the line wasn’t moving fast, so he remained close. His hands still clenched and unclenched. The action instantly gave me visions of a man trying to work up his courage before snatching the baby carrier and running.

  I scooted Sweet Pea even closer to me. I suddenly didn’t care about my coffee. Or the crowds. Just the man beside us.

  Jamie’s eyes widened, and she nodded.

  Without saying a word, we both knew what needed to happen. I grabbed my purse, lifted the baby carrier, and hurried out of the coffee house in five seconds flat. Jamie was right beside me the whole time.

  As soon as we stepped outside, I looked back.

  The man was still in line, and he wasn’
t even looking at us.

  “Maybe I overreacted,” I muttered.

  “Better safe than sorry. He was acting suspicious.”

  I nodded, my heart rate slowing ever so slightly.

  I walked more quickly than usual to my car, casting two more looks over my shoulder to make sure the man hadn’t followed us. He hadn’t.

  I placed Sweet Pea in the car seat base and started to climb in when I noticed a flyer on my windshield. I quickly grabbed it, anxious to get out of the cold.

  As I climbed into the driver’s seat, something on the paper caught my eyes. This wasn’t a flyer. It was a note. Hand scrawled.

  It read, “Stop investigating. For everyone’s sake.”

  “Do you think Sweet Pea’s mom left it?” Jamie asked as she stared at the note behind the locked doors of my Mustang.

  My hands quivered as I glanced around the area for a sign of any shady characters. I didn’t see anyone except a mother with a toddler in tow and a senior adult with a walker. “That’s my best guess. That would mean she’s been following us.”

  “Someone’s been following us.”

  My trembles traveled from my hands all the way to my bones as I sat in my car. “Let’s say this was Sweet Pea’s mother. Why doesn’t she want to be found?”

  “Same reason anyone doesn’t want to be found. She’s hiding something. Scared. Maybe she’s running from the police.”

  I stared at the note again, remembering the blood on the car seat carrier. Jamie could have a point, but there was something else I needed to consider. “This isn’t the same handwriting. The other one had big block letters.”

  “This one was probably written more quickly. Whoever wrote it was probably afraid we’d come out and catch him or her.”

  “Probably true. Then again, what if this was left by the person responsible for the blood? What if, for that matter, it was Sweet Pea’s mother who died and the person responsible didn’t want to take care of a baby?”

  “We have plenty of what ifs, don’t we?”

  Jamie had a point. There was nothing else I could really do about this except hand it over to Chase. We needed more information before we could draw any conclusions.

  I was just grateful that the media hadn’t picked up on this yet. There were more abandoned infant cases than were reported. If Sweet Pea had been left in Walmart, it might be all over the news. But since he’d been left with me, I supposed it didn’t seem newsworthy. If word about the blood on his car seat leaked, it would become front-page news.

  I carefully placed the note in my purse, gave one last glance around the parking area, and put my car into Drive.

  As I drove away, I tried to flesh out other possibilities. What if the mom was killed and the baby taken. Had he been given to me by the killer? Did that mean I knew the killer?

  That thought was disturbing.

  Maybe no one had died, I mused. Maybe the blood was all from an accident. I mentally sighed. What I needed was something concrete. Maybe clearing my head at home would be the best thing I could do.

  When we got back to my house, I spotted someone walking from the front door toward the sidewalk. It took me a minute to recognize who it was. Evan. The paramedic who’d taken Sweet Pea to the hospital and who’d stopped by to talk in the waiting room.

  I retrieved Sweet Pea’s carrier from the back seat, looped my arm through the handle, and walked toward Evan. My curiosity rose with each step.

  Why was he here? Had something happened? He was wearing his paramedic uniform, but I didn’t see an ambulance anywhere.

  He met me halfway across the lawn with a huge smile stretched across his face. “Hey there. I know it’s not polite to stop by unannounced, but I just happened to be in the area.” His gaze fell on Jamie, and his smile remained in place. “I’m Evan.”

  Jamie grinned. “Jamie. Nice to meet you.”

  “I just thought I’d check on the Sweet Pea.” He peered into the baby carrier. “He’s asleep again?”

  I glanced at the baby’s closed eyes and deep breathing, willing my insides not to turn to goo every time I looked at him. Babies had always had that effect on me. “I guess our little trip wore him out.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Trip?”

  I shrugged. “We thought we had a lead on his mom’s identity. It turned out to be nothing.”

  Surprise flashed in his gaze. “You’re looking into this case yourself?”

  Careful about who’s aware of this information. “Looking into it would be putting it strongly. I mostly just want to make sure his mom is okay.”

  “She must know you,” he continued. “She picked you on purpose.”

  “You’re assuming it was even his mom who left him.”

  “You think it was someone else?”

  I shrugged. “I’m trying not to jump to conclusions.”

  “That’s probably smart.”

  “Either way, I’m concerned about his mother. No one has reported her missing yet, and it seems like someone should care. Someone should notice.”

  He shifted weight from one foot to another. “Hopefully, the police will discover something soon, right?”

  Jamie elbowed me. “Knowing Holly, she’ll figure it out first.”

  Evan’s gaze fell on me, curiosity lingering there. His blue eyes danced, sparkling like the ocean on a tempest day. As half of his lip curled, it revealed a dimple in his cheek—one that had certainly made the ladies swoon before.

  “Is that right?” he finally said.

  I shrugged, unsure how to respond and not sure I wanted to divulge all my history. I finally settled on, “I’ve been accused of being persistent.”

  “Not a bad trait to have.” He reached into his pocket and, with flair, pulled something out and handed it to me. “This is the other reason I stopped by. I wanted to drop this off for you.”

  His head bobbled in a very George Clooney-esque way.

  As I took it, I glanced at the words on the front. It was a gift card to a local baby store. My heart warmed with gratitude. “Thanks. That’s very kind of you, Evan.”

  His foster parents had obviously taught him great manners. That was always a positive in my book.

  He shrugged. “Like I said, I was a foster kid. I know about the challenges. If there’s anything else I can do, please let me know.”

  “Do you always go above and beyond like this?” I asked before he could walk away.

  His smile dimmed. “Life is too short to operate on cruise control, right?”

  I nodded, totally agreeing with his mantra. It always inspired me when I saw people who took life by the horns instead of waiting passively. “I understand.”

  He flashed his trademarked, dimpled grin.

  “See you around, Holly, Jamie.” He nodded before continuing down the sidewalk.

  Jamie let out a low whistle as he left. “He seems too good to be true. Handsome, kind, and thoughtful? I think he likes you.”

  I scoffed and started toward the front door. “Don’t be silly. He saw me with Chase.”

  “He doesn’t seem like the type to let something like . . . oh, I don’t know . . . being taken stop him. That would require too much cruise control and not enough gumption.”

  I didn’t believe that. She was reading too much into this. “It’s like he said. He was a foster kid. He understands all of this more than most people. He also seems to have turned out remarkably well after everything he’s been through. That’s inspirational. Besides, I want to believe there are some people in this world who are simply good people and who want to help—with no ulterior motives in mind.”

  She grunted. “You’re probably right.”

  I glanced at my friend as I unlocked the door, trying to get a read on her. “He does seem nice. Maybe you should get to know him.”

  She snorted this time. “Nice idea, but no thanks. I don’t like being a leftover. That said, he is one fine specimen. Almost as fine as Wesley.”

  “Is he one of the triathletes?
”

  “You know it.”

  As soon as I stepped inside my house, I heard voices in the distance. My mom must be home. But whom was she speaking with?

  I found her in the kitchen, sitting at the table with a police officer across from her. The man was probably in his fifties with a square face, graying hair, and a calm, easy demeanor. He was tall, thin—but not too thin—and he wore a patrol uniform.

  The two of them seemed to be having more than a professional conversation. There were two coffee mugs between them, as well as cookies. Cookies that I’d made.

  I stopped in my tracks. “Mom?”

  She looked up at me, and her a-little-too-loud laugh came to a dramatic halt. “Holly, you’re home. And just in time. This is Officer Truman. Officer, this is my daughter Holly.”

  Introductions went around.

  “It’s been hopping around here,” my mom continued. “You just missed that paramedic. He said he’d come back later. Someone from church brought over some food for us earlier too.” Mom pointed to a casserole dish on the kitchen counter.

  “Some food? Why?” I set Sweet Pea on the floor and walked over to the oven where a white dish with little flowers on the edge sat covered in aluminum foil. Whatever was inside, it smelled savory and delish.

  “They heard about the baby, of course.”

  I pulled my coat off, a weight of concern pressing against my shoulders. “How’d they hear about the baby?”

  My mom waved her manicured hand in the air. “I may have mentioned it to Louisa, and you know how Louisa is. Now everyone at church has heard. Anyway, you’ve always been so good to people, bringing them food and cookies. They wanted to do the same to help us out. They’ve set up a meal train for the next two weeks.”

  “Wow . . . that’s nice.” Although it was in direct contrast to my plan to keep this quiet. Half of Cincinnati would soon know about the baby.

  My gaze fell back on Officer Truman. He must have seen the questions in my gaze.

  “I’m doing patrol by your house until we have some answers. I just thought I should introduce myself. If you need anything, I can be here in less than five minutes. Chase made sure of that himself.”