Guarded Secrets

by Leann Harris

  “Don’t worry. I won’t let them run over you,” she assured him.

  He smiled. “That’s okay if they do. This is a big adventure for them. Something that they’ll talk about for a long time.”

  As they entered the fellowship hall, the pastor finished his prayer and everyone joined in with an amen. Jon saw that the room was filled with families. The wonderful smell of eggs, sausages and peppers filled his nostrils. A tall woman in her thirties could be seen in the kitchen, working over the stove. She called out directions to another woman, who placed a tortilla on the flat grill.

  Lilly ushered Jon to the kitchen and introduced him to Rachel McPhee.

  “I’ve heard wonderful things about your cooking,” Jon said.

  Rachel blushed. She took a plate with a bare tortilla on it and placed a couple of spoonfuls of eggs, potatoes, peppers and sausage on the tortilla. “I hope you enjoy.”

  Jon took the plate and brought it to his nose. His stomach growled. “It smells fabulous.”

  “Uncle Jon, where’s ours?” Caren asked.

  “Right here,” Lilly replied, holding out two more plates.

  After each person had a plate, the group settled at a table.

  “How are we going to harvest?” Caren asked.

  Penny launched into a speech about picking vegetables. Jon grinned as the girls planned what they were going to do.

  “You better eat well, because you’re going to need your energy,” he said.

  Lilly stared at her breakfast and Jon easily read her tension.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  Her head came up. “What makes you think anything is wrong?”

  “C’mon, Lilly. Reading people is part of my job. Something is eating at you.”

  Picking up her paper cup filled with coffee, she took a drink. “Yesterday, after you left, I went to my office to get my purse. Someone had been in my purse.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “One of the compartments was open.”

  He frowned.

  “I am very careful to close my purse. When Penny was a baby, I once left my purse open. She got into my lipstick and colored herself and the sofa, rug and anything else she could reach. When I found her, she was trying to open a pill case with aspirin. That scared me because an overdose of aspirin can kill a baby. Since that time, I am very careful to have my purse closed.”

  Jon’s doubt disappeared. Lilly had a reason to be cautious. “Was anything taken?”

  “No. Also, things in my office weren’t exactly in the right place. I mean, they were not in the exact position they’d been before. I could tell someone had searched my office.”

  He sat back. So whoever had been looking for something in Peter’s apartment had now moved on to Lilly’s office. “Okay. Be sure to lock your office today. We’ll see if anything is missing or out of place at the end of the day.”

  She nodded.

  Pastor Kent stood and welcomed all the volunteers. “Once you finish your breakfast, please move out to the garden. We’ll split you into teams and assign you different parts of the garden. You’ll get a cardboard box or a large basket for the vegetables. And before we start, I want to thank everyone for their help. God has blessed this ministry far beyond anything that I expected. I had the idea. Lilly put the legs to the garden. Lilly, please stand.”

  Lilly got to her feet. Applause greeted her. She waved it off and sat back down. Jon glanced at Penny. She beamed with pride for her mother. The twins studied Lilly, whispered to each other, then nodded. He had a feeling they were plotting something.

  “Swallow that last bite and let’s start harvesting,” Pastor Kent encouraged.

  Lilly stood again. “One last thing. When you have a full box or basket, set it aside so our runners can bring it back to the fellowship hall. They will also bring you an empty box or basket.”

  “Any other instructions?” Pastor Kent asked.

  “Have fun.” Lilly sank back down.

  Jon leaned over and whispered, “Is your office locked?”

  “No. I opened it to put my purse in my desk,” Lilly replied.

  “Do that now. I’ll manage the girls and meet you outside.”

  She nodded.

  He watched as she left the hall.

  “You like her, don’t you, Uncle Jon?” Caren asked. Her sister sat beside her. Penny stood at the garbage can between tables.

  He looked down at Caren. “Of course I like her. She’s a nice lady.”

  Caren crossed her arms and pursed her lips. “I mean, you like her like Daddy likes Mom.”

  Shock raced through him. “What?” he sputtered.

  “He does,” Connie agreed, her voice filled with certainty.

  He wanted to protest, but Penny had rejoined them.

  “Let’s go and I’ll show you how to pull carrots,” Penny declared.

  The twins gave him a smug grin.

  “Let’s go discover where carrots really come from,” Caren commented.

  The twins turned and followed Penny out of the hall. Jon trailed after them, wondering how he’d managed to come out on the losing end of that conversation.

  What really worried him was that Caren had read the expression on his face. What were his feelings for Lilly Burkstrom?

  Lilly locked her office. She’d hid her purse in a different place, behind the seed catalogs she kept on a corner bookcase. She hurried outside and saw Penny, Caren and Connie setting a box beside a row of carrots.

  “Just grab it here,” Penny instructed, her hand around the leaves of a carrot near the ground, “and pull.” She demonstrated. The carrot popped out and she held it up as if it were a victory prize.

  The twins’ eyes grew large. Penny brushed the dirt off the carrot.

  “Let me see,” Caren demanded. Penny handed her the carrot. The twins inspected it. “It’s a real live carrot.”

  “Sure. Bite into it,” said Penny.

  “Ick,” Connie muttered. “It’s dirty.”

  Penny nodded toward a bucket of water by the church. “Go wash it off and see.”

  Connie took the carrot, walked to the bucket and swished the carrot around in the water. When it was clean, she took a bite. She carefully chewed. After a moment, she swallowed. “It’s a carrot.”

  Penny nodded. “I told ya.”

  Caren moved to the next plant, grabbed the leaves and pulled. “Look!” She held up her prize.

  “Let me,” Connie cried, moving to the next plant. She popped the carrot out of the soil. The expression on her face made Lilly smile.

  “I was right,” Penny noted.

  Jon shook his head and grinned. His expression was filled with love, joy and a tinge of regret. He had to be remembering his girls. Lilly wanted to walk over to him and hug him.

  The thought startled her. He turned, and his gaze locked with hers. She felt the electricity pass between them. Something had blossomed between them that neither of them had anticipated.

  The question was, did she want to pursue it? Did he?

  The three girls worked their way down the row, pulling out carrots. Jon trailed along behind them.

  Connie grabbed Jon’s hand. “Try it, Uncle Jon.”

  He laughed and pulled the next carrot. “I’ve got one.” Holding up his prize, he grinned at the girls. They giggled.

  Lilly turned away to check on the rest of her volunteers.

  The sounds of laughter and happy chatter filled the air. One team of volunteers worked on the rows of spinach and green peppers. Another team worked close to the church, where the tomato plants were staked. Another team had disappeared among the rows of tall corn. Lilly checked the team working on the tomato vines.

  “Allison, you need another basket?” Lilly asked. Her cousin had shown up this morning. Allison’s daughter, Nancy, was working with her mother.

  “What’s Penny doing?” Nancy asked.

  “She’s showing a couple of new girls how to harvest carrots,” said Lilly.r />
  Nancy looked at her mom. “Can I help Penny? I mean, Penny and I did this last year. She might need some help.”

  Allison laughed. “Go.”

  Nancy disappeared around the corner of the church. Allison turned to Lilly. “Since I’ve lost my helper, I’ll need another basket.”

  As Lilly started back to the fellowship hall to get a basket for Allison, she wondered how Jon would handle another eager girl. She needed to check on them.

  The stacks of empty cardboard boxes and baskets sat inside the door of the fellowship hall. She put the boxes outside the door, then lifted off the top basket and carried it back to Allison.

  “I’ll check on our daughters after I put this batch of tomatoes in the fellowship hall,” Lilly announced. She traded the empty basket for a full one and headed back to the hall.

  Lilly put the basket of tomatoes on the table inside the fellowship hall. At the door, a man appeared. He was dressed in jeans and a plaid shirt, which was open to reveal a white T-shirt underneath.

  “Here you are,” he said. He handed her a box filled with ears of corn. She took the box and placed it on the table. When she turned back, he was still standing there, staring at her.

  Her stomach clenched.

  She tried to smile, but his stone-faced expression didn’t invite it. “Do you need another box? Because I left them outside the door.”

  He studied her for a moment more. He wore his hair in a ponytail and he looked like he hadn’t shaved in several days.

  On his forearm, under the partially rolled-up sleeve, she spotted a tattoo of a snake. A snake curled and ready to strike. When her gaze met his, she felt a chill run down her spine.

  Jon’s words rang in Lilly’s head. The guy who hired the kid to kill Pete was named Snake.

  She fought her terror.

  “No, I don’t need another box. There are plenty out there. I just wanted to bring that full one to you.” His gaze bore into hers.

  She read clearly that he’d left something unsaid. He was here to send her a message.

  But what?

  Just when she thought she might have to run into the church proper to get away, he turned and walked out the door. He disappeared down a row of cornstalks.

  The instant she could no longer see him, she raced out into the garden, to where Jon was working with the girls. Several people called to her, but she ignored them and headed straight to Jon.

  The girls shouted a number each time they pulled a carrot.

  “Ten,” yelled Penny.

  “Eleven,” called Connie.

  Even Nancy had joined the game. “Seven, eight.” She waved her two prizes.

  “C’mon, Uncle Jon. You’re falling behind,” said Caren.

  “Who said you could beat me?” Jon grinned, but when he saw Lilly, his smile disappeared. He met her halfway up the row of carrots.

  His hand captured her upper arm. “What’s wrong?”

  “A guy just handed me a box full of corn. He had a snake tattooed on his forearm. There was something in his eyes—”

  He didn’t doubt or question. “Which way did he go?”

  “Down a row of corn.”

  “Stay with the girls,” he shouted as he raced away.

  The girls paused. “Where’s Uncle Jon going?” Caren asked.

  Lilly forced a smile. “He’s going to check on something for me. I’m going to stay with you guys until he gets back.”

  The explanation satisfied the girls, and they went back to work on the row of carrots.

  Fear clawed the inside of her chest. The look in that man’s eyes had been pure evil and Jon was racing toward it.

  “Lord, please keep him safe,” Lilly whispered.

  EIGHT

  J on ran toward the tall rows of corn. When he turned up one of the rows, he saw a woman and two little girls picking the ears of corn. “Did anyone come down this row in the last five minutes?” he asked as he walked toward them.

  The woman smiled. “The helper who collected our boxes. He picked up our full box and took it to the fellowship hall. He brought back an empty box.”

  “Which way did he go?” asked Jon.

  The woman shrugged. One of the little girls pointed toward the church. “I saw him walking that way.”

  Racing off, Jon wondered what this suspicious character wanted from Lilly. When he charged into the fellowship hall, several people were there, dropping off baskets.

  “Anyone come through and head into another part of the church?” Jon asked a man and two teens.

  “No, we’ve haven’t seen anyone,” the older man replied.

  “How long have you been in here?” Jon quizzed.

  “We just came in,” one of the teens answered.

  Jon nodded and walked down the hall to the church offices. He checked the door to Lilly’s office. Locked.

  He tested all the other doors. All were locked.

  Jon walked out the front door and scanned the parking lot. Nothing moved. He could hear the joyful voices of those harvesting the vegetables.

  He debated about calling Dave with the news. Marta wouldn’t mind, but at this point, there was nothing Dave could do. He’d wait until tomorrow.

  As Jon walked through the garden, he questioned the volunteers, if anyone had seen a man with a tattoo of a snake on his arm. No one had seen him.

  He worked his way back to where the girls and Lilly stood.

  “You didn’t find him,” Lilly remarked.

  “No, but a few volunteers working on the corn said he gathered up their box. But other than that, no one has seen him.”

  “The offices?” Lilly asked.

  “Everything’s locked up tight.”

  Lilly took a deep breath. “I’ve got work to do.”

  He opened his mouth to protest.

  “Jon. I will not cower. People depend on these vegetables.”

  “Can someone else do it?”

  “No.”

  He didn’t like this. Looking around at the girls, he realized that they had observed the back-and-forth between them. “Girls, we’re going to help Penny’s mom.” He paused and made sure he had Lilly’s attention. “What’s next?”

  Lilly pursed her lips and he thought she was going to refuse their help. “Let’s go back to the fellowship hall. I have a sign I want to put out.”

  “Ah, Mom, I don’t want to be stuck inside,” Penny grumbled.

  Nancy didn’t look any happier about being stuck inside. “Could we go back and help my mother?”

  “That sounds like a good idea,” Jon replied.

  “Uncle Jon,” Caren whined. “I don’t want to stop. Can we go with them?”

  Jon knew he couldn’t leave the girls alone, but he didn’t want Lilly to be alone. “Well, I have a better idea.”

  Lilly’s eyes widened.

  “I’m going to call another couple of volunteers to help,” he whispered in Lilly’s ear. “They’re cops.” He pulled out his cell phone and phoned Dave. If this guy showed up again, they’d nab him.

  Dave soon showed up with Marta. As they approached the girls, one of the twins spotted her parents. “Mom, what are you doing here? I thought you and Daddy were smooching,” Connie announced.

  Marta flushed but quickly recovered. “Well, your dad and I heard how much fun you two were having, so we wanted to come and share it with you.”

  Lilly glanced at Jon, then turned back to Dave and Marta. “You’re welcome to help. We need all the assistance we can get.”

  “It sounds exciting,” Dave replied.

  Within minutes, Pastor Kent met the newcomers and they were put to work.

  Jon and Dave gathered the girls together.

  “Now, Mom and I don’t know anything, so don’t leave us by ourselves or Mom might panic,” Dave confessed.

  Dave’s comment earned him a glare from Marta. But Connie took her mother’s hand and Caren took her father’s hand. “We’ll show you,” Connie assured them.

  Dave motion
ed to Penny and Nancy. “Why don’t you come with us, since you two are the experts in this?”

  Turning to her mother, Penny asked, “Is that okay, Mom?”

  “Yes.” Lilly squatted and smiled at her daughter. “I know you’ll do a great job. Check with the team harvesting the green beans. When you can’t find anything else that needs picking, take everyone to the fellowship hall. We’ll start to set up the assembly lines for the boxes and baskets.”

  “Okay.” Penny turned and led her little team across the garden.

  “I’m sorry that your partner had to come,” Lilly said to Jon, watching her daughter. Penny chatted all the way across the garden, giving the others a running commentary about what they were seeing.

  “Don’t worry about it. This is not the first time that Dave and Marta have spent their anniversary on the job.” Jon smiled. “This is a high point for Marta. There was the anniversary before the twins were born when we had to investigate a murder and ended up at the city dump. Marta sat in the front seat of our car while Dave and I sifted through trash. Then later they went to a taco stand for their anniversary meal. Of course, the romance was minimized because I was hungry, too, and ate with them. I brought my wife home tacos that night.”

  His story reminded Lilly of Jon’s loss.

  “I’ve got a couple of other men coming. They’re off-duty patrolmen. We’ll let them know what we’re looking for,” Jon said.

  The rest of the morning passed without anyone spotting the man with the snake tattoo on his arm. Penny directed her little band working through the green peppers, green beans and eggplants. Two off-duty officers showed up around ten o’clock. Jon huddled with them.

  When he rejoined Lilly, she asked, “What did you tell them?”

  “Told them who we were looking for. They’ll mingle with different teams.”

  Lilly’s tension eased. Surely with all the police they had helping them, they could find the man with the tattoo if he was still there.

  Jon helped Lilly take in boxes and basketfuls of vegetables and organize them on the long tables in the fellowship hall. By eleven, the garden had been harvested. The volunteers gathered in the hall. After a lunch of tacos and burritos prepared by Rachel McPhee, the assembly lines fell into place.