by Leann Harris
Lilly stood on a bench. “Now, we’re going to assemble our boxes and baskets. Each table should have piles of each vegetable we harvested. Take a box or basket from the end of your table and put several ears of corn, tomatoes and whatever else we have in it. When we’re finished, I’ll pass out the names and addresses of the families who will get these boxes and baskets. When you’re ready, go.”
A cheer went up. Happy voices filled the room as people put together the boxes and baskets.
Jon and Lilly worked together on one of the assembly lines, putting vegetables in the boxes and baskets.
“This is quite a production,” Jon said, observing the room full of people. He felt better with Dave and the two patrolmen here, but he was still worried. If this latest guy with the snake tattoo was the same one who’d hired the kid to kill Pete, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill again. They’d talked to the missing kid’s mom, who admitted she knew her son had done something he shouldn’t have done. She feared she’d never see him again. She was probably right. This killer wasn’t going to leave anyone to ID him. Which was why he worried over Lilly’s encounter with the killer.
“Jon?” Lilly touched his arm.
Her touch brought him out of his worries. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”
From the look in her eyes, she understood his worry.
“I was telling you about how the harvest began. It’s grown a bit since Pastor Kent and I put together baskets of tomatoes, chilies and corn that first time. I think we gave away eight baskets.”
“How’d you come up with the idea?”
“Pastor Kent and I were throwing around ideas on how to reach the neighborhood. His mother had a garden on their ranch, which the children of the ranch hands enjoyed helping with. He thought it might bridge the gap with the poor in the neighborhood. He was right. We were standing in the garden late in the season when one of the neighborhood kids wandered in. He saw the green tomatoes on the vine. He didn’t know what they were. When I told him they were tomatoes, he didn’t believe me. He told me tomatoes were red and were sold at the store. I told him to come back in a few days and see if the tomatoes had changed color.
“He did. The next day he brought a friend. They were would-be gang members. I gave them tomatoes to take home. He kept coming by and asking questions.
“When it was time to harvest, I asked him to come by and help and I told him that he could take home some of the vegetables. He showed up with two friends and helped. They took a basketful of vegetables home that day. His mother came to the church the next day and told us that we’d saved her son.
“When we started planting the garden the next spring, my guy showed up. He had his mother and several other people with him. That young man is now working with the Department of Agriculture here in New Mexico.”
Lilly beamed. “Of course, there was a lot of prayer that occurred in that garden. Pastor Kent said he sometimes felt like Adam in the Garden of Eden, finding new things the Lord wanted him to do.”
Jon and Lilly reached for the ear of corn nearest them at the same time. His hand settled over hers. Her gaze flew to his. He didn’t move his hand.
“You’re amazing,” he whispered.
She opened her mouth to respond, then closed it and shook her head. “I’m no hero. This is Pastor Kent’s idea. At the time I was feeling sorry for myself, complaining to God. My husband had left me and I was pregnant. I found myself outside the church, looking at an empty lot filled with weeds and rocks. I doubted Pastor Kent’s vision. How was a garden going to help? What good would tomatoes do? My vision was too small.”
He squeezed her hand. “But you trusted in God.”
He saw tears gather in her eyes. What had he said that made her want to cry? He pulled his hand away.
“Thank you.”
He was totally lost. “For?”
“Reminding me that God sees the whole picture. When we started growing vegetables that first year, I had no idea what would blossom here. But He knew.”
“And you trusted.”
She nodded. She put the last ear of corn in the box in front of them. He added the last of the carrots. The box moved down the table and the others finished loading it with vegetables.
Looking around, Lilly saw that most of the tables had finished packing their boxes and baskets.
“I need to get the address lists and start handing them out.” She walked toward her office. Jon followed. After unlocking her office, she grabbed the lists from her desk.
“Everything look okay?” Jon asked.
Dave appeared in the doorway. “Anything wrong?”
“No,” Lilly answered. “I just needed to get the address lists.”
She locked the office door and they headed back to the fellowship hall. Lilly handed the volunteer drivers their address lists so that they could deliver the vegetables to the families.
Pastor Kent waved everyone into silence. “Thank you for your help. As you have given of yourselves this day, the Lord knows your work. Lord, we pray that these gifts will be received with open hearts, and bless those who worked and who’ll receive.”
“Amen,” came the response.
The drivers headed for their cars. The boxes and baskets were loaded up. Lilly gave Allison and Nancy a hug and thanked them for their hard work. Lilly had her list of recipients. The twins, Penny, Jon, Dave and Marta followed Lilly to her car.
“I want to go with Penny’s mom to help with the deliveries,” Caren announced to everyone. “We’ve worked all day and I want to help give the vegetables to the people.”
“Me, too,” Connie chimed in. “It’s not fair not to get to see them.”
Penny joined the fray. “They’re right, Mom.”
Dave looked at his wife.
Jon stepped to his partner’s side. “Why don’t you guys go out to dinner? I’ll keep the girls. We’ll go out to eat.” He looked at Lilly. “That is, after we finish delivering our boxes of vegetables.”
The girls yelled their agreement.
Dave didn’t hesitate. “Ladies, I expect you to be on your best behavior for Uncle Jon.”
Caren nodded her head. Connie’s mouth curved into a wide smile.
Jon saw the two patrolmen walk into the parking lot. He motioned them over. Lilly hung back while he questioned the men. Their suspect had not been spotted this afternoon. As they wrapped up the conversation, Lilly stepped forward and thanked both men.
He turned back to Lilly and the girls. “I don’t think we’ll all fit into one car. Why don’t you put some of the baskets and boxes in my car, and we’ll caravan together?” He wasn’t going to allow Lilly out of his sight with their killer stalking her. Lilly understood his caution and didn’t argue.
For the next two hours they delivered vegetables.
His little tête-à-tête with Lilly had had the exact result he wanted. He’d scared her. He hadn’t found it yet. Burkstrom had hidden the evidence well. He hadn’t run across it in his search of the man’s apartment, which meant the ex had it.
He didn’t think Burkstrom had a safety-deposit box, so he knew that the ex had to have it.
She might need another push in the right direction.
That could be arranged.
He watched in satisfaction as the last car left the parking lot. His boss was getting antsy.
He found he was enjoying this little game of cat and mouse. This time the hunt had entailed more than just pulling the trigger.
His next move would be to catch her alone and ask where the information was hidden. If she didn’t cooperate, he’d have to use more persuasive measures. His boss was demanding the proof and he didn’t like demanding bosses.
NINE
A fter dinner, the girls all climbed in Jon’s car to ride to Lilly’s, since she’d invited them to share the chocolate cake she’d baked.
It took less than five minutes to get to her house. Lilly punched the button on the garage door opener. She felt a moment of panic when she looked
into the garage and saw that her garbage cans were in the wrong place.
After turning off the ignition, she got out of her car and dashed to the driver’s door of Jon’s car. She motioned for him to roll down his window.
“The trash cans have been moved,” she whispered.
He didn’t comment, but simply turned to the girls. “Stay in the car for a minute.”
Penny started to protest, but Caren sighed and sat back in her seat. “It’s a cop thing. Sometimes my dad checks the house before we go in.”
“Really?” Penny asked, her eyes wide with incredulity.
“Yeah. Sometimes Dad gets really weird. You just ignore it,” advised Caren.
“Oh.” Penny crossed her arms and settled beside the twins.
Jon reappeared several minutes later. He nodded.
“See? What did I tell you?” Caren calmly said. “Everything’s okay.” She sighed. “We’re used to this. Dad does strange stuff. Isn’t that so?” she asked her sister.
“Yes. And some of the things Uncle Jon does are just as strange,” said Connie.
“Oh.” Penny didn’t question or comment, but simply accepted Caren’s explanation.
The girls scrambled out of the backseat and walked into the garage. Lilly walked to the back door. Jon stood inside the kitchen door.
“How is everything?” Lilly whispered when she reached the kitchen.
“If someone’s been in here, I can’t tell. It’s okay now,” he reported.
Lilly collapsed into one of the kitchen chairs. Her mind registered the girls giggling in the other room. Lilly looked up at Jon. “What does Peter’s murderer want?”
“I wish I could tell you. I’ve called other police departments to have their detectives interview the other men who were on your ex-husband’s construction crew. We have a couple of names of disgruntled ex-workers and we are checking them out. We’re also trying to ID the man with the snake tattooed on his arm. And we don’t know if it’s the same guy who kept coming around the armor car company that Peter worked for.”
Lilly ran her fingers through her chin-length hair. “I wish I knew what this was about. I never really wanted to know about Pete’s life after our divorce. It seemed safe not to know.”
Jon caught her hand in his. “Don’t.”
The warmth and strength in his hand eased her fear. “Don’t what?”
“Don’t blame yourself for things you can’t control.” He stared at her hand, running his thumb over her knuckles. He looked up. “I’ve walked that road. I blamed myself for carrying the defective gene that brought that terrible disease into my daughters’ lives. If I hadn’t had that gene…if Roberta hadn’t had it, too…” He remained silent for a long time, then whispered, “In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God for help.”
She recognized the psalm.
“Psalm 18:6. It helps when I start looking at things the wrong way. You are trying to control things that you have no control over. It took a long time for me to learn that lesson. More than once in my prayers, I blamed myself. You need to remember you didn’t control your ex. It would help if we knew what this person is looking for. But it is not your fault,” Jon said.
Her eyes filled with tears. His words resonated within her heart. She was trying to blame herself for things beyond her control. “What breaks my heart is Pete had just started turning things around. Penny finally had a dad.”
Jon still had his hand around hers. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed the palm. “Penny has a wonderful mom.”
“Hey, Mom, where’s that digital picture frame with all the pictures in it?” Penny yelled.
Jon released her hand and Lilly felt the loss in a way that she didn’t want to admit. “It’s in the living room. The flash drive is in the drawer of the end table it’s on.”
“Okay,” called Penny.
“We want to see the water park where Penny went with her father this summer,” Connie explained.
“We’re trying to convince Dad to take us there,” Caren added.
“And Mom, can you cut the cake?” Penny threw over her shoulder as she walked into the living room.
Jon shook his head. “There’s more to their desire to see the pictures than just seeing Penny’s fun times.” Rubbing his neck, he added, “I think I might be in trouble with my partner.”
“Then you’ll have to be the one who takes them to the water park.” Lilly laughed at Jon’s expression. She got up, then gathered plates, glasses, forks, a knife and the cake.
They heard the “wows” and “neats” coming from the living room as Penny gave commentary on each picture in the frame.
“What is that?” Caren asked.
Penny shrugged. “I don’t know. Mom. Mom.”
Jon and Lilly walked into the living room. The girls were gathered around the digital picture frame, which sat on an end table. What was on the screen wasn’t a picture. A moment later the image changed to some sort of typed page.
“Mom,” Penny cried. “What’s going on?”
Lilly approached the end table. She felt Jon behind her.
The image changed again, to what appeared to be some sort of invoice. The invoice was for concrete. It dissolved and another one appeared. This one was for rebar.
“Mom, what happened to my pictures of the water park?” Penny asked.
The image changed again. A shot of the water park, with Penny going down the water slide, filled the frame.
“There it is. It’s so neat,” Penny told the girls.
The next image was another of the concrete invoice.
“What’s going on?” Penny asked again.
Lilly glanced at Jon. “I think maybe your dad added some things to the pics.”
“Why do I want to see that? Why’d he do that?” Penny asked.
Those were good questions. “Why don’t you show the girls the album from the time we went to Disney World and you visited Grandma and Grandpa?” said Lilly. “I’ll go and cut the cake.”
Penny considered the suggestion. “Okay. That’s better than those stupid old pictures.”
The girls went back to Penny’s room. The digital frame continued to cycle through the pictures. Lilly watched with incredulity as the shots of the invoices reappeared on the screen. “Do you think this is what that man is after?”
“I don’t know, but let me take that flash drive and have the guys in the evidence lab analyze the invoices. What the invoices mean, I don’t know.”
Lilly turned off the frame and pulled out the flash drive. Jon slipped the small drive into his pocket.
Lilly headed to the kitchen. “Let’s go get cake.”
Lilly quickly placed slices of cake on individual plates and poured glasses of milk. After they enjoyed the cake, Connie yawned and put her head on the table.
Jon glanced at his watch. Eight forty-five. “I don’t know about the twins, but this detective has put in a long day. Caren, Connie, let’s go.”
The girls put up a token protest, but their tiredness showed in the slump of their shoulders.
Penny stepped to her mother’s side and waved goodbye to Jon and the twins as they climbed in Jon’s car. “I wish I had a sister.”
The statement startled Lilly. Her mind went blank.
“It would be neat to be a twin,” Penny said wistfully.
Relief swept through Lilly. Maybe her daughter didn’t mean that she wanted a sibling. “It is a special bond.” Lilly bent down and looked her daughter in the eyes. “But you are so special that two of you would’ve knocked me flat. I don’t think there could be another little girl as precious, smart and pretty as you.”
Penny smiled. “Thanks, Mom.”
Later, as Lilly lay in bed, trying to sleep, her mind raced from image to image. The day spent with Jon, Penny and the twins had been a joy. More than once, he’d had to help the girls with the harvesting. He’d laughed when Caren had managed to pull up a bunch of carrots and got dirt in her mouth. Caren was ve
ry fretful about getting dirty. She’d enjoyed picking the vegetables, but getting dirt in her mouth had been a major setback. Jon had run to the metal tub filled with bottles of water that had been set between the rows, had grabbed a bottle of water and given it to Caren. It had taken the entire bottle for Caren to feel that she’d live. Jon hadn’t scolded her, but had simply helped.
He’d also taken direction well. Penny could be a little dictator when she wanted to be. She’d repeatedly instructed them on how to harvest the different vegetables until Connie had challenged her. Somehow Jon had soothed everyone’s feathers.
He would’ve made a wonderful father. Patient, loving and handsome—
Lilly stopped herself. Handsome had nothing to do with fatherhood. Peter had had his share of good looks and yet he hadn’t been the model parent.
Jon’s words to her tonight about being responsible for Peter’s shortcomings hit home. She’d blamed herself for Peter’s unhappiness and desertion. Maybe if she’d been a better wife or better cook, or if she’d understood him more…
Jon’s words rang through her brain. She wasn’t responsible for things she couldn’t control. Peter’s reactions she couldn’t control, just as Jon couldn’t control what genes he’d inherited. It made sense when she applied that logic to Jon’s situation. She now saw it made sense when she applied it to her own.
“Thank You, Lord, for letting me see that.”
When she turned over in bed, she wondered why Peter had put those invoices in with the pictures of himself and Penny on the digital frame. What did those invoices contain that Peter would put them on the flash drive for the digital frame? It made no sense. But none of this made any sense.
Jon carried a sleeping Caren to the front door. Marta opened the screen door and pointed the way to her daughter’s bedroom. Dave soon followed with the other twin. He placed his daughter on the bed. Marta took over, helping the girls change into their nightgowns.