Secret Sisters

by Tristi Pinkston

  Ida Mae studied the girl’s serious eyes, then nodded. “If you’re sure.”

  “I am.”

  Ida Mae turned back to the ice cream and scooped a generous portion into each bowl. To her, the evidence was as clear as the nose on Bob Hope’s face. But until they came up with a little more, the police wouldn’t believe them. She hoped they would be able to find the answers soon before things got entirely out of control.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Ren left early to take up his post across the street from the warehouse. Ida Mae had packed him a substantial lunch, Arlette threw in some brownies, and Tansy stayed up half the night making a potato salad. They were all pitching in the best way they knew how, wishing they could do more.

  Ren and Ida Mae discussed things before he left, and while Ida Mae didn’t like it, she had to agree that things were going to have to be brought to a head. With James Jeffries coming up dead, their investigation would have to take a more serious turn. Eden would be doing even more digging, and the stakes were higher than ever.

  Eden got home around the same time that night and came straight to Ida Mae’s, with Ren just a couple minutes behind her. Arlette and Tansy were already there and had been for half an hour, anxiously awaiting news. Arlette had even dropped a stitch and had to go back to pick it up, she was so rattled.

  “They called us together for a company meeting this morning,” Eden told them after she took a long sip of water. “They announced that James Jeffries was killed in a car accident on Saturday night, and today they brought in his replacement. I thought that was really weird. James is killed on Saturday, here it is Monday, and they’ve already replaced him?”

  “Sounds like they knew he was going to die,” Ren said, running his hand through his hair. Ida Mae almost gasped when he did it—at some point between the time he left the house that morning and returned to it ten minutes ago, he’d gotten his hair cut. She was glad, but she was shocked. What had gotten into the boy all of a sudden?

  “That’s what I thought. Maybe they had to get rid of him to make room for this new guy,” Eden said. “His name is Ryan Yates and he seems decent enough, but I don’t know if he’s just taking over the VP job or if he’s going to start making Nick’s deliveries too. I mean, just how many of James’s duties will he be taking over? Was James killed to keep him from making more deliveries?”

  Ida Mae jotted everything down on her list. “Were you able to find out anything else?” she asked.

  Eden shook her head. “Tomorrow is another day, you know.”

  “Did you have enough food?” Tansy asked Ren.

  “I had more than enough, thank you,” he said, patting his stomach. “I’m going to have to cut down tomorrow—if Eden had needed me, I don’t think I would have been able to run, I was so full.”

  Tansy beamed. “I’ll make you a nice turkey sandwich on dry wheat tomorrow, then,” she said.

  “You don’t have to go that far,” he protested.

  The meeting came to an end and the ladies went out to their cars. Ren excused himself to go to bed, but Ida Mae held up her hand.

  “Just when did you have your hair cut, young man? You were supposed to be keeping an eye on Eden, not gallivanting around looking for beauty parlors.”

  “I kept my eye on her the whole time. In fact, she went with me on her lunch hour.”

  “And just what prompted this change of heart?”

  “She said she wondered what I’d look like with short hair.”

  “And did she give you another kiss on the cheek?”

  Ren’s face broke in half with his smile. “Or something like that.”

  Ren went to his room and Ida Mae to hers, but not to sleep. Honestly, she couldn’t decide if she was an insomniac or a narcoleptic. When she was tired, it was all she could do to stay awake long enough to find her bed, but there were nights when she couldn’t seem to sleep at all. She refused to think that age might have anything to do with it. It simply wasn’t a factor.

  *

  The next day, Ida Mae felt much better. With her new visiting teaching assignments made and her phone calls complete, she tried to concentrate on making dinner. She thought she’d assemble some chicken enchiladas. but found herself staring into the fridge, forgetting what she’d gone in for. Something didn’t feel right, and she recognized that sensation. Closing the fridge, she turned to the phone, hitting “1” on her speed dial.

  “Arlette, it’s Ida Mae,” she said, bending to put on her shoes while she talked. “I’ve got a feeling something’s not right at the warehouse, and I want to go check on Ren.”

  “I’m glad you called,” Arlette replied. “I’ve been feeling the same way, and was trying to talk myself out of it.”

  “We can’t both be having a senior moment at the exact same time,” Ida Mae said. “I think we’d best get to Salt Lake City.”

  Arlette arranged to pick up Tansy and then come for Ida Mae in a couple of minutes. While she waited, Ida Mae looked around for something she could use as a weapon, should the need arise. The first thing she saw was her heavy cast-iron skillet, which hung over her stove. She grabbed it and swung it back and forth experimentally. Okay, she was no Boris Becker, but it would have to do.

  As soon as Arlette’s van pulled into the drive, Ida Mae tugged her front door closed and stepped off the porch. Tansy was already in the back seat, so Ida Mae rode shotgun. She couldn’t blame Arlette for backing into the street a little too quickly, or for speeding down a residential road, or even for doing a rolling stop at the four-way. Nor could she blame herself for the way her knuckles turned white when she gripped the door handle in an effort to keep her balance.

  Ida Mae’s premonitions of danger increased as they hit the freeway, and she knew they needed to get to Ren’s side as soon as they possibly could.

  Arlette’s cell phone rang just as they hit the edge of Salt Lake City, and Ida Mae picked it up for her.

  “Auntie? It’s Ren,” he said, sounding breathless. “Eden just activated her commlink.”

  “We’re almost there,” Ida Mae said.

  Ninety seconds later—she knew, because she’d been counting—they pulled up in the parking lot across from the warehouse. Ren stood on the pavement, staring at the building.

  “Everyone’s gone home for the night except for Eden,” he said, pointing at the employee parking lot where only Eden’s red VW waited.

  Ida Mae punched numbers into Arlette’s cell phone and waited impatiently for the dispatcher at the Omni Sheriff’s Office to pick up.

  “Hello, Lurlene? I need to talk to Ricky,” she said.

  “Ida Mae, is that you? Ricky’s not in. He’s been at a conference all day.”

  “Well, I really need to talk to him.”

  “Seein’ as how it’s you, you can call him on his cell. You sure it’s business related?”

  “Very sure.”

  “Okay, here’s the number.” Ida Mae heard a sound that could only be Lurlene popping her gum. “Here you go.”

  “Thanks, Lurlene.” Ida Mae hung up and dialed the new number.

  “Ida Mae?” Ricky’s voice sounded distorted. “What in the blue blazes . . .”

  “Eden activated her commlink,” she told him, and waited fully three seconds for a response.

  “Who? Did what?”

  “Oh, never mind. We need you!”

  “Just where are you?”

  She gave him the address.

  “Ida Mae, that’s not even in my jurisdiction! You’re in Salt Lake County now. Call the Salt Lake Police.”

  “But I know you,” she reasoned. “I don’t know them.”

  His sigh of exasperation came through loud and clear. “I don’t know what you think is going on there, but if you really need some help, you’d better call the Salt Lake Police, all right? Listen, I’ve hit some traffic. I’m on the road. I’ll talk to you later.”

  Ida Mae shut the phone. “He’s not coming.”

  “And he’d prob
ably need more proof anyway,” Tansy added.

  “I guess it’s up to us,” Arlette said, looking resolute. “Let’s go.” They walked across the street, looking both ways for cars and mobsters.

  “What kind of security system does this place have?” Ida Mae asked.

  “Eden said they just use locks on the doors, and there’s a guard dog at night,” Ren said. “But I don’t think the door nearest the parking lot is locked—I’ve seen people come and go through it a lot.”

  They sidled up to the building. Ren grabbed the handle and tugged to find that the door was open. There were no lights on in the dim building, so she pulled out the small flashlight attached to her key chain.

  They were surrounded by shelves and cabinets. “Now what do we do?” Tansy asked.

  “I saw movement in the northwest upper corner window just before the commlink went off,” Ren said. They edged their way around the cabinets to the corner in question and saw a flight of stairs.

  Just as they were getting ready to go up, a shadowy figure dashed down the stairs pell-mell. Ren made a flying leap and landed on top of the fleeing person, who said, “Oooph!”

  Ida Mae shone her light in the newcomer’s face. “It’s Nick!”

  Nick sat up and looked around. “I need to call the police,” he said. “They’ve got the new secretary in their office, and they’re threatening her.”

  “And we’ve finally got a witness,” Arlette said, pulling out her cell phone and punching some numbers. She spoke urgently while Ida Mae resumed her questioning.

  “What’s going on up there? Is Eden hurt?”

  “No, but they’re getting pretty mean. I heard them through the door.” Nick’s brow furrowed as if he was seeing them all for the first time. “Sister Babbitt, why is the Relief Society here?”

  “I’ll explain it later,” she said. “Right now we’ve got to help Eden.”

  Ren’s face looked hard in the faint light, and Ida Mae knew that expression. He was trying to stay calm, but she knew he would go charging off like a bull if provoked.

  As they started up the stairs, they heard a gunshot.

  Ren was provoked.

  Dashing up the rest of the flight with Nick right behind him, Ren reached the top before anyone else. Ida Mae was quite amazed at the sudden burst of energy she felt as she followed along. At the top of the stairs, they came to a long hallway and saw an office door at the end. She raised her skillet high. Arlette’s knitting needles were at the ready. They all burst through the door at nearly the same time, the adrenaline coursing through their veins.

  Ren tackled the man just inside the door. Ida Mae fleetingly wondered if Ren was living out all his old childhood linebacker fantasies in one evening before she brought her skillet down over the head of the man standing opposite. Nick grabbed the third man in the room, and it was all over so quickly, no one had time to react. The first man’s gun skittered across the floor to stop at Arlette’s feet and she picked it up, waving it around wildly. “Where’s my granddaughter?” she demanded.

  “I’m okay, Grandma,” Eden said, speaking from the corner. “I’m not hurt.”

  “Then what was that shot?” Arlette asked.

  “I think a car backfired outside,” Eden replied. “But I’m glad you’re here. These guys were about to take me on a ride.”

  Ida Mae took some yarn out of Arlette’s bag, and they got to work trussing up the suited serpents. One of the men tried to sit up, but he took one look at the nervous grip Arlette had on the gun and decided against it.

  Another man kept protesting. “You’ve got this all wrong,” he said, trying to smile.

  Ida Mae pulled out one of Arlette’s newly finished creations and shoved it in his mouth. “Put a sock in it,” she said.

  Just then, blue-and-red flashing lights reflected on the wall as the Salt Lake City police pulled into the warehouse parking lot. Ida Mae heard footsteps as the officers dashed through the building, and moments later, burst into the room. She could only imagine what they must think when they saw what awaited them—three thugs held captive by a crazed woman with a gun in one hand and a knitting needle in the other.

  “Hello, officers,” she said blandly, lowering her skillet at last. That thing had been getting heavy.

  Ricky Shelton stepped into the room as the first men on the scene entered. “Ida Mae, what on earth . . .?”

  “I tried to tell you,” she said, lifting her shoulders. “But you weren’t listening.”

  He looked around, bewilderment all over his face. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, but nothing came out.

  “You look like a fish,” she told him, then turned to the officers. “Yes, please do handcuff them,” she said. “I trust Arlette’s taste in worsted goods, but the baby yarn is a bit delicate.”

  The ladies moved into the hall to make room as the three suspects, plus Nick, were led out in cuffs. “We’re going to need you all to come down to the station too,” one officer said, and Ricky nodded.

  “I’ll bring them down,” he said.

  “I’ve always wanted to ride in a paddy wagon,” Ida Mae told him, but he shook his head.

  “We’ll go in my car.”

  Ida Mae sighed. “That’s so disappointing.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Police Captain Wright hadn’t said a word in twenty minutes as Ida Mae, Tansy, and Arlette filled him in on all the details of their investigation. Eden and Ren chimed in from time to time, and they laid out everything they knew. Ida Mae had the foresight to bring her notebook and she handed it to the captain, proud of her work and her meticulous handwriting.

  “I honestly don’t know what to say,” the captain said at long last, glancing over at Ricky, who had made himself very small in the corner. “You became suspicious because of a Wendy’s wrapper?”

  “Yes. That was really our first big tip-off,” Ida Mae told him.

  He shook his head and ran his hand across his face. “I’ve got some calls to make and some more questions to ask,” he said. “I’m going to have you wait in one of these other rooms.”

  “I hate to be a bother,” Ida Mae said, “but we all missed dinner. Could we possibly step out for something to eat?”

  “I’d rather keep you on the premises,” the captain said. “I’ll have someone go grab you a bite.”

  “Thank you.”

  Just then, a tap sounded on the door.

  “Come in,” the captain called out, and a disheveled man stepped into the room.

  “Ida Mae, I’m confused,” Bishop Sylvester said.

  *

  The ladies, Ren, and the bishop were shown into a conference room with padded chairs and a long table. Soon afterward, an officer bearing huge bags of fast food came in the room. “I hope you like what I got,” he said. “The captain said you guys mentioned Wendy’s.”

  “I’m sure we’ll be fine,” Ida Mae told him. “Thank you.”

  Tansy made herself the official unwrapper and arranged everything on the table according to food groups. Once they had all gathered up at least one of everything, Ida Mae turned to Eden.

  “Now, just what exactly happened tonight?”

  Eden held up one finger while she finished chewing her mouthful of fries. Chasing them with a swig of pop, she said, “It was pretty scary, I have to admit that.”

  “Well, don’t leave us in suspense!” Arlette pushed her own sandwich away. She had always been too thin—Ida Mae would have liked to see another twenty pounds on her at least. “Tell us what happened!”

  “I decided I had to know the truth about James’s death,” Eden began. “For so long, he was just the man in the Jaguar, but after having dinner with him and getting to know him a little bit as a person, I felt responsible for solving his murder.”

  Tansy nodded. “That’s perfectly natural.”

  The bishop leaned forward. “Murder?”

  “We’ll explain everything,” Ida Mae consoled him. “Right now, we’re not sure wha
t’s going on ourselves.”

  He leaned back, clutching his sandwich to his chest. Poor thing looked like his blood pressure was skyrocketing at that very moment. Ida Mae wondered how much sodium was in that sandwich. “Go on,” she said.

  “Well, I was going to see if I could sneak into his office and maybe go through his desk or something. I waited until everyone left, and then I went upstairs. I thought I was alone in the building, but then I heard voices. Before I could turn around, suddenly Mr. Phillips, the owner of the company, was in my face.”

  Eden took another sip of her drink. “He invited me to come in his office. I didn’t know how much he knew and I had to act natural, so I went. He had two other men in there, all big and burly—well, you saw them. He invited me to sit and then he started asking me some questions, like where I went to school and what I liked to do. Then he pulled out a picture of me having dinner with James on Friday night, taken at the restaurant, and asked me how well I knew James.”

  Ida Mae pulled in a sharp breath and pressed her hands together. Ren reached for another sandwich. They were both dealing with the stress in the best way they knew how.

  “I explained that I had really only met James and we’d just been on the one date. Then I pretended the clasp on my pin was broken and fiddled with it long enough to activate the commlink.”

  “What did he say then?” Tansy leaned forward, a dot of mustard on her chin.

  “He pulled out a gun.”

  The bishop jumped, his sandwich taking another squishing.

  “He told me they couldn’t take any chances and I’d have to come with them. He then told me I was more than welcome to share any information I had before we left.”

  “But there weren’t any other cars in the parking lot,” Tansy pointed out. “How were they planning to carry you off?”

  “Mr. Phillips keeps his car in a private garage on the side of the building,” Eden said. “That threw me, too, when I thought I was the only one inside. I forgot to check for his car.”

  “And what about Nick?” Ida Mae asked. “Where was his car?”