by Kaye George
The woman smiled again. “I’m not by myself. Yes, I’m fine. You run along if you have errands.”
Tally was reluctant to leave, but what could she do? She couldn’t force her way in and sit and stare at everyone just in case someone was going to do something bad.
She would check back later. When she got to her car, Tally called the hospital and left a message for the nurse, saying that Mrs. Gerg was home and seemed fine. She wasn’t going to say she was fine. Tally wasn’t quite sure that was true. She hoped it was, though. Surely, Mrs. Gerg would know if she had been pushed.
Next, she called Yolanda. After a moment of discussion they decided that, instead of the two of them being together in a car, Tally would merely tail Yolanda while she dropped the two cousins at their respective homes, Mateo first.
Tally and Yolanda met at Yolanda’s after that was done.
“What happened at the station?” Tally asked, taking a sip of the iced tea Yolanda had poured her. They stood in Yolanda’s kitchen, both leaning against the counters. “Did Raul tell you?”
“He said they asked him the same questions over and over.”
“Yeah, that’s what they do,” Tally said. “They have to see if the story changes or not.”
“He said he didn’t have any answers to their questions, except the ones about where he’d been on certain days. They wanted to know if he’d seen some specific items and if he’d taken them. Stolen them. They showed him pictures of watches and jewelry, and some old coins. Even a few framed paintings.”
“Did they say anything about the jade stones?”
“I don’t know. Raul didn’t mention that.”
“What did Mateo say?”
“He didn’t. No one said anything until after I dropped him off. Then Raul wanted to tell me everything that happened at the station.”
Tally frowned. “Wouldn’t he want to know how Mateo’s questioning went?”
Yolanda shrugged. “Maybe they talked about it before I got there. It was tense between them, I thought. Raul sat in front and directed Mateo to the back seat. Maybe Raul is mad at Mateo for getting him mixed up in all this.”
“Do you still think Raul stole anything?”
“No, I really never did. I just…wasn’t sure.”
After finishing the tea, Tally wended her way home, thinking about the thefts, the jade, Mrs. Gerg, those four awful men at her house, and the Crime Fritzers. And the murder of the man on crutches, Sawyer Sutton. Oh yes, and the jewelry Ira had probably stolen and given to Dorella. Did he steal it? Or were Walter, or those other men, a part of the crime ring? They had had a pile of jewelry and it was now gone from Mrs. Gerg’s house. Nothing made sense. She called Jackson and got his voice mail, but didn’t leave a message.
Nigel greeted her at the door, starving nearly to death, if his shrill noises were any indication.
“You poor baby,” she crooned, hefting him into her arms and carrying him to the kitchen and saving him from an almost certain imminent death from malnourishment and, ultimately, starvation. He graced her with a thankful glance before digging in and making short work of his din-din.
Her phone rang before she could sit down and relax. It was her mother again.
“Hi Mom. How’s Rome going now?” Now that they were out of jail and not accused of smuggling powdered sugar anymore.
Her mother was panting and took a moment to catch her breath before she could speak. “It’s flooding here. It’s a huge disaster. We have to leave. But I don’t know if we can.”
Flooding? Now what? “Another disaster? Have you done any shows there yet?”
Her dad’s voice came on the line. “It’s no good here, Tally. There’s so much water. Everything is flooded and we can’t get anywhere.”
“Where are you?”
“We almost made it to the airport, then the cab had to stop. The roads were all closed. We’re in a small second-floor restaurant that’s full of people. Everyone is trying to leave and they closed the venue down.”
The Circus Maximus. “It’s been there for centuries. Will it be okay?”
“I’m sure it will, eventually, but no one can get anywhere. There’s no point in doing a performance here. No one would be able to come see us. I’ve been on the phone with the travel agent we usually use.”
Tally was getting worried about them. Lately, they stumbled upon disasters everywhere they went. “Can you go to another continent? Africa? Australia?” Surely there was somewhere they could perform in the whole wide world. Somewhere that wasn’t flooding and that airplanes were flying to.
“We’re working on it. It’s kind of a mess here. I was able to get two tickets to Japan, but the flight took off before we could get to the airport.”
“Dad, it’s not safe where you are. You and Mom need to get somewhere safe.”
“Japan will be safe.” His words sounded assured, but his voice was strained.
“But you can’t get there. Where can you get to? Take the next flight, wherever it goes. Well, maybe not if it goes back to Gibraltar. You might get stuck there again.”
She got a small chuckle out of her father. “We’ll let you know, sweetheart.”
After the call ended, she thumbed through her phone to find news from Italy and found that not only was Rome flooding, but many other cities had the same problem, especially Venice, which was half underwater to start with. They had had record amounts of rain all over the whole country. Her parents sure could pick places to go that were having disasters. They should have been reporters, covering sensational stories around the globe. All they would have to do is book a flight and a disaster would be waiting for them when they arrived. If they could get there.
21
On Wednesday morning, Raul got a phone call at work. Yolanda saw the look of gaping alarm on his face. She started toward him to find out what was the matter, but he backed away.
“Be back in a minute,” he said, and stepped out the back door.
Puzzled, she peered out the window. Raul was distressed. He was normally a calm, undemonstrative person. Not right now, though. He shook his head, then his fist, grimaced, and spoke forcefully into the phone. It looked like his voice was probably raised, but wasn’t loud enough for Yolanda to hear. It must be Mateo, she surmised. New developments?
When Raul closed the call, he stared down the alley, standing perfectly still for a few seconds. Yolanda scurried back to the middle of the shop so he wouldn’t know she had spied on him. He entered the back room with an angry scowl on his face.
“Stupid Mateo,” he spat, tossing his phone onto the countertop with a clatter.
“Don’t break it,” Yolanda said, catching the phone before it slid onto the floor. She waited for him to spill. She knew he would.
He gave an exasperated sigh and turned his sad eyes on her. Sad was better than angry, she thought.
“They came to his apartment early this morning. He was still in bed and he let them in.”
“Who’s they?”
“The cops. They had a search warrant.”
“Then he had to let them in, no?”
“I guess so. Couldn’t he have called a lawyer?”
Yolanda doubted that either Mateo or Raul knew any lawyers they could call. “That might not help. What happened?”
“They found some stuff. They arrested him.”
“Whoa, sit down. Tell me.” She pulled out the chair to her desk and practically pushed him into it. “What did they find?”
He looked like he might cry. “He had some of the stolen stuff.” Raul’s voice shook. “The things they showed us pictures of yesterday. He had those. Some of those.”
“He’s part of the local theft ring? He’s been breaking into houses in Fredericksburg?”
He shook his head. “I could have sworn he didn’t do that.”
“
But he has the stolen items.”
“Just a few of them, he said. Two pieces of jewelry, a ring and a pair of earrings. He told me he didn’t steal them. But—this is the stupid part—he wanted to. He wanted to get in with the Crime Fritzers, the ones who were robbing houses, but they wouldn’t let him in. That’s what he told me, over and over. Muy stupido.” Raul banged his fist on the wooden desktop.
“Are all of the Crime Fritzers doing this?”
“No, no. Just a few. I bet most of them don’t know a thing about it.”
“What did he have? Where did he get it?” Yolanda was trying to make sense of this. Mateo wanted to steal things, but the ones in the ring wouldn’t let him join them? And now he had the stolen goods? “Did he lie to y’all?”
“He never has lied to me before. He doesn’t always tell me everything he does. He knows I wouldn’t approve of some of it, but I don’t know. I don’t know if he’s lying now or not.”
Yolanda thought it was obvious his cousin was lying, but she didn’t want to say that to Raul. “I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
“He told me that Ira gave him those things. Mateo has been dating a new girl—I met her once and she’s nice— and Ira said he should give her the earrings and ring, but the ring didn’t fit her and she didn’t like the earrings.”
“Ira? Ira Mann?”
“He has a lot more money than Mateo.”
“So, Mateo only had those things because his new girlfriend doesn’t like them. How many other things has he given her that she did like?”
Raul shook his head. “He’s an idiot.”
“Raul, maybe Ira stole the things. Maybe Mateo didn’t do it.”
“I told him to tell the cops about Ira, but he said he won’t. He doesn’t want to be a rat, he said. So stupid.”
“You could tell them. Or we could, together.”
“He said he might later, but doesn’t want to yet. Please don’t say anything, okay? He might tell them on his own.”
Of course she wouldn’t, if Raul didn’t want her to. But she would try to make him want her to. It didn’t make sense for Mateo to be accused of Ira’s crimes. If Mateo was telling his cousin the truth. She was sure Raul would do the right thing. He always did.
The phone rang and Yolanda answered to find someone wanting a special order. Forty tiny baskets to use at place settings for a small wedding reception. It was a challenging concept. Both she and Raul dove into it, tossing ideas back and forth and getting excited about the job. Tiny pieces of wedding veil looped on the basket handles, pastel mints, baby’s breath, silk linings in blue and green, the bride’s colors. They both pushed Mateo to the backs of their minds.
* * * *
Lily was distracted. She dropped a cup of sugar on the kitchen floor and nearly burst into tears. Tally wanted to talk to her about Raul, to see if that’s what was troubling her, but it felt like Lily was closing herself off, putting up a wall. She didn’t look at Tally all morning, didn’t speak directly to her, even when she first arrived. She usually greeted Tally with a cheerful “good morning,” but today she had come in, tied on her apron, and set to work with a grim look on her face.
Tally kept her distance. She hoped Lily knew she was available to talk to, when she got to that point. They worked side by side with Molly and, when she got there, Dorella.
One bright spot happened midmorning.
“My dad has an interview, Ms. Holt,” Molly said, trying to sound offhand about her statement, letting a tiny bit of excitement come through.
“That’s wonderful,” Tally said. “At the junior college?”
“Yes. He applied and they said his paperwork looks good. They want to talk to him sometime soon.”
“They didn’t set up a date and time?”
“Well, no. Dad said he had to look at Mom’s chemo schedule.”
Tally nodded, hoping this would work out.
In the afternoon, Tally was in her office going over her payroll records. Payday was coming up and she liked to be on top of things a couple of days early.
She was interrupted by another call from her mother’s number. She snatched her cell from the desk and opened the call.
“Mom? Dad? Where are you? Are you okay?”
Her dad answered. “We are, finally.” She could hear the relief in his voice. He sounded so much more relaxed than the last call, when they were trying to get to the airport through the floods in Rome. “We made it to Sydney.”
They had taken her advice and gone to a new continent. She smiled at the thought. Australia sounded like a calm, safe place. It wasn’t in the news at the moment, anyway. “Australia! That was a long flight. Any disasters there?”
“Not yet.” She could hear the smile in his voice. “We didn’t do our shows in Japan, since we couldn’t get there, and had to cancel in Rome. But it looks like smooth sailing here.”
“How’s Mom?”
“She saw a doctor for her throat. The damp from the flooding really got to her. She has some cough syrup that is some kind of miracle stuff, I think. She’s on the mend.”
“Are you doing any shows there?”
“We’re booked for the weekend. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. A local theater had a group cancel and we were able to step in and fill their slot.”
Tally felt the weight lift that had been on the portion of her mind reserved for worry about her parents. “That’s so good, Dad. That’s great. Tell Mom to take it easy.”
“She’ll be fine. You know her.”
She did. She knew both of them. The show must go on.
Doing her sisterly duty, she called Cole to relay the news on their parents.
“I’m on my way.”
“What? There’s no emergency here,” she said.
“My installation is finished. I got paid and I’m all done here. I’m coming to see you.”
“Me? And Nigel?”
“Nigel? Oh, the cat. Sure.”
“And…”
He chuckled. “You got me. Yes, I’d like to see Dorella.”
She glanced at the time as she closed the call. It was nearly time for her to close up. She wanted to get the payroll done before she left, so she went back to it, but only for five minutes. Then her cell rang again and she almost ignored it, being in the middle of FICA calculations. A glance showed her Mrs. Gerg’s number, though, so she answered it in case the poor woman was having more trouble.
“Tally? I’m so glad I caught you.” She sounded breathless.
“Are you all right? Have you been running?”
“Not really. No. Just…could you come over here?” Her voice was breaking. She was in distress, Tally thought.
“Where are you? At home?”
“It would be good if you…yes, if you hurried over right away. Without stopping for anything.”
Tally frowned. That was an odd request. “What would I stop for?”
“Can you just do it?” The older woman’s voice rose with each word, higher and thinner.
“Don’t get upset, Mrs. Gerg. Sure, I can come over.”
“Right away?” Now she sounded on the verge of tears.
“Yes, I’m leaving right this minute.” Tally stood and thought for a moment. Something was wrong. This wasn’t like Mrs. Gerg at all. She was sure it had to do with those awful men. She called Jackson Rogers, but he didn’t answer. Not trusting her message to voice mail, she called the station and left word there that she thought Mrs. Gerg might need assistance and to send someone there. On her way out, she also told Dorella, who was in the kitchen, where she was going.
“Would you please call Jackson Rogers in a few minutes and see if you can get him? Ask him to go to Mrs. Gerg’s. I have a bad feeling about this.” She wrote his number on one of the cards they stuck in with the orders. “I probably won’t be back to close
up, but I can come over later. I need to finish my work in the office tonight anyway.” She yelled thanks to her workers as she went out the back door.
As soon as she got into the car, she also called Yolanda. She didn’t answer, either, but Tally left a message this time.
“Yo, something is wrong at Mrs. Gerg’s. Very wrong. I just spoke to her and I have a terrible feeling. I’m going over there. I don’t trust that Walter Wright fellow, or his buddies. I can’t get Jackson on the phone. Could you try to call and tell him? And ask him to come over there to check it out?”
She didn’t want to be there alone.
22
Yolanda was alarmed when she finally listened to the message. Tally had sounded frightened. She shouldn’t be going to that place. She should have waited. Yolanda tried to call Detective Rogers at the station, but they just said they would give him a message.
“Raul, go ahead and order the things we talked about. I need to run out for a minute.”
First, she would go to the station to find Detective Jackson Rogers. Then, although it frightened her to think about it, she would go to Mrs. Gerg’s to give Tally support. Or backup. Or whatever she might need. She didn’t have a choice.
* * * *
There were no cars in front of Mrs. Gerg’s house when Tally pulled up to the curb. Had the men left? She didn’t know why she did it, but she got out of her car quietly and shut the door without slamming it. The dead quiet on the block was eerie. She made no noise getting onto the porch and up to the front door, then stood still, listening for a half a minute or so. The drapes at the front of the house were all drawn, which wasn’t usual for Mrs. Gerg. The door didn’t have any glass, or any way to see inside. The dark porch didn’t offer any clues. She tried the knob, but it was locked.
Finally, she rang the bell, fervently hoping the woman was alone in the house.
Mrs. Gerg came to the door and opened it a few inches with her left hand. Tally could see that she still wore the brace on her arm and the splints on her two broken fingers.
“Tally? Is that you?”
Tally stared at her. “You can see me, can’t you? Yes, it’s me.” What was going on? Was she trying to tell her something? Did she need Tally to help her?