“I'm not sure…” Her voice trailed off and she could almost see Rosie’s inquisitive features sharpening.
“What is it, Margot? You’ve got a case up there, don’t you? How’s our boy? Is he in trouble? Do we need to come up there?”
“No, no, he’s fine.” She could imagine Rosie with her hand on her hips. And who was the we? Bentley perhaps? That almost made Margot laugh at the thought of the two senior citizens coming up to help.
“Then what is it? Why are you still up there?”
“Things have…changed a little.” She pursed her lips trying to decide how much to tell her. “He needs my help here at the bakery…”
“Um hum,” Rosie said. She read between the lines, but Margot hoped she wouldn’t say anything over the line. She hadn’t thought this through. “Well, I’m glad to hear it.” She didn’t sound convinced.
“Really, we’ll be okay. I just wanted to see how the shop was doing. How is Julia?”
“To be honest…” Rosie said and Margot’s stomach lurched. “She’s doing great!”
“Oh, Rosie,” she said, shaking her head even though the woman couldn’t see her. “You had me going there.”
“I know.” Rosie gave a raspy chuckle. “But really, she’s doing great. That little one of hers is adorable too.”
Margot frowned. “He’s been in the shop?”
“Uh…” Rosie hesitated.
“Rosie,” Margot said more sternly, “has he been there while Julia’s been working?”
“Look, boss,” she said, sounding less like an employee and more like an advisor, “she’s got it rough. Just her taking care of her boy. Sure, her parents help, but they can’t be there every day. I told her to bring him in.”
Margot grimaced. It wasn’t like she could reprimand the woman for making a decision, but she wasn’t sure she liked what having a five-year-old boy in her shop meant. There were probably some safety laws against it and she was certain her insurance wouldn’t cover that.
“I hear what you’re not saying, boss. What do ya say we pretend this conversation never happened?”
Margot rolled her eyes, shaking her head. “I can’t do that.” She took a breath. “But don’t tell Julia you said anything. I’ll deal with it when I get back.”
The stairs creaked behind her and she turned to see Dexter making his way up.
“You got that right,” Rosie said.
“You can tell Julia I said hi. I’ll keep you posted on my return date. And don’t forget the cookies for Halloween!”
“You got it. We’ve already started planning some special cookies. Turns out Miss Julia is a cookie decorating wiz.”
“Glad to hear it. Take lots of pictures so I can see.”
“You’ve got it. And tell that boy we miss him. He needs to come home.”
“I’ll make sure to tell him that.”
“God bless ya,” Rosie said then hung up.
“Who was that?” Dexter asked, looking up from his phone.
“Rosie.”
“Mamma Rosie Mae!” His face brightened into a wide smile. “I miss that woman.”
Margot laughed at his nickname for her. Rosie loved it. “She misses you. Told me to tell you that you need to come home.”
His expression fell. “I want to.”
It was the first time Margot had seen something so raw and serious coming from Dexter. “Dexter, you can come back any time you want.”
“Not exactly,” he said, huffing out a breath.
She wanted to ask what he meant, but he held up his phone. “We need to call Adam. He says he’s free now.”
“All right,” she said, wishing they had time to talk about what Dexter was facing.
“Who’s Julia?”
They walked into Dexter’s room, closing the door to ward off any eavesdroppers, and she turned to look at him. “I told you about her, didn’t I?”
“I don't— Oh, is she my replacement?” He sneered.
“Don’t think of her like that. Just additional help.”
“Right,” he said, feigning hurt. “And here I thought I was irreplaceable.”
She laughed and tossed a pillow at his head. “Not exactly.”
“What shouldn’t Rosie tell her?”
“That I know that her son’s been coming in to work with her.” Telling Dexter made her sound like such a mongrel.
“Why doesn’t her husband watch him?”
“She’s a single mom.”
“Oh…” Dexter nodded, turning his gaze to the computer. “That’s rough. You’ll go easy on her, right?”
“I’m not going to fire her, if that’s what you mean.” She crossed her arms and turned to stare out the window. “I actually don’t know what I'm going to do about it.”
“If she needs to bring him, what’s the harm? I mean, as long as he’s not in the way.”
“It’s not that simple.” Margot looked back at him. “There are rules about stuff like that. I just need to look in to it.”
He nodded. “You’re a fair person, I’m sure you’ll make the right decision.”
She wanted to laugh. This conversation felt like she was having it with Adam, but it sufficed to remind her how much she missed Adam.
“Here we go,” Dexter said as Adam’s image filled his screen.
Margot couldn’t help the brilliant smile that took over. There was her handsome boyfriend. His tousled hair looked as if he had spent hours to get it to look so effortless but she knew that he hadn’t. He wore a navy blue blazer over a striped shirt, his tie hanging loosely about his neck.
“Long day?” Dexter said.
“Nice to see you too,” Adam said sarcastically. Then his gaze went to Margot. “Hey, Margie.”
Even the way he said her name made her heart beat a little faster. What was wrong with her? She was usually very levelheaded, but suddenly her thoughts were filled with the reality that this handsome man had asked her to marry him and she’d said no. Well, not exactly no, but that it wasn’t the right time.
Being away from him so long now reminded her how much she missed him. She wasn’t typically a clingy girlfriend or someone who pined over a man, but she could easily admit to herself that she’d missed Adam. A lot.
“Hey, stranger,” she said with a bright smile.
“Oh gosh,” Dexter said, covering his eyes. “I can’t watch this.”
“Grow up,” Adam joked. “But really, I am tight on time so we’d better jump into this. You guys aren’t going to believe what I’ve found.”
Chapter 13
Margot took the chair next to Dexter and leaned forward a little as Adam began to relay what he’d found.
“I started with the dead guy. As you know from what I sent before, he was a private eye here in Maryland. That, in and of itself, isn’t that crazy. I suppose you could say it’s interesting because he died in Maine.”
“That and the fact that his records were altered here,” Margot added. She took a moment to explain. As Adam listened, his frown deepened.
“That’s not good.”
“Tell us about it,” Dexter said in an exaggerated manner.
“Anyway, what I found about Mister Murphy was also interesting.” Adam glanced down at his notes. “He was working on several different things. The case files he had laid out on his desk—”
“You went to his office?”
“Of course,” he said, looking up for a moment. “I couldn’t very well pass up at chance to go to Maryland,” he said dryly.
She laughed but turned serious. “What did you find?”
“They were all burglary cases.”
“And?” Dexter prompted.
“And they all had one thing in common.” Adam paused.
“Do we have to guess?” Dexter was growing anxious for the answer to this riddle.
“Sorry,” Adam said with a grin, “This is usually the point where Margot comes out and says something I was about to say.”
“This time you ar
e definitely ahead of us. We don’t have much to go on up here.”
“They all had safes made by an iron company in Bath.” Adam’s smile grew broad.
“Oh!” Margot leaned back, her mind whirring at the new information. “I think I’ve got it.”
“You do?” Dexter asked.
“What did you find out about Vlad Petrov?” she asked, surprising the men.
“Don’t you want to— Right. Vlad.” Adam looked back at his notes. “He’s really bad news. He’s got an arrest record as long as my arm and is said to have ties to the Russian—”
“Mafia,” Dexter said with a grin.
“Exactly,” Adam said without looking up. “He’s not connected with The Queen though—from what I can tell.”
“We’d suspected as much,” Margot said absentmindedly.
“So…”
“So what’s next?” Adam said. He put down his papers and looked at Margot. “I think Margie has an idea. Don’t you?”
“I do. But I think the FBI will need to be in on this case.”
“You’re kidding,” Dexter said.
“No. I think those cases, since they’ve crossed state lines, will warrant federal involvement.”
“I think you’re right,” Adam said. “I can call them in if you’d like.”
She tilted her head. “Hold on that. I’ve got someone I think should call them instead.”
He arched an eyebrow. “All right then.”
“Thanks for all this, Adam.”
“It doesn’t really seem like that much…”
“No, I think you cracked this case.”
“Like those safes,” Dexter said with a goofy grin.
“No.” Adam shook his head. “They weren’t broken into.”
Dexter looked confused. “They weren’t?”
Margot smiled. “Nope. They weren’t.” Then she turned to look at Adam. “See you soon, sweetie.”
“I’m counting on it.” The screen went black and she leaned back, satisfaction at having a better handle on the case now.
“I don’t get it. I definitely missed something.” Dexter looked perplexed.
“I think we need to call Peter and then pay a visit to Shelly’s brother.”
“Her…brother? What?”
“Don’t worry,” she said, standing and patting Dexter on the head like a child, “you’ll know soon enough.”
Chapter 14
It had taken a few days, but Margot’s plan was finally in place and so were the FBI agents who had slowly trickled into town. The fall festival that coincided with Halloween helped their cover, but Margot could easily spot them as they covertly took in the town.
“You really think this is going to work?” Dexter asked, seated at his desk in his room above the bakery. He’d used his contacts in the FBI just as Peter had used his and they were finally ready to bring about her plan. The street in front of the bakery was crowded with vendors selling homemade goods, fried foods, and all wearing different costumes. Musicians played on the street corner, the bluegrass mix of guitar, banjo, and fiddle fitting in perfectly with the crisp fall evening.
“I think so.”
“Poor Craig,” Dexter said, shaking his head.
“He’ll be fine,” she said, though she felt a twinge of guilt for having involved him.
The plan had come to her while Adam had been talking as the pieces of what was happening had come together for Margot. The iron factory was involved, but not in the way they had assumed. Initially, she had thought that the factory itself was to blame. That, somehow, Vlad was working in league with the factory owners themselves, but what was really happening was much more complex.
Vlad Petrov was buying off certain factory workers in order to have them pass specific metal sheets—sheets then sent to a particular safe-making company—that had flaws or defects in them. Then, keeping track of those safes, he was working with local petty thieves to break into houses, break through the safes, and extract money all while taking a big cut for himself.
It was actually a brilliant plan, though it was dangerous too. Vlad had to make sure that the men were loyal to him, but in order to do that, he’d ended up adding more to his payroll than planned.
Just a little digging into the medical records—something Dexter had helped her with—showed that one of the men in the iron factory had gotten injured. Margot couldn’t be sure of the specifics, but she had a feeling that Doc and Danika had somehow become involved. Perhaps Danika was dating one of the men or Doc had found out on his visit to the factory to help the injured man.
Either way, Margot was sure that they were in on the whole thing. A check of their bank statements—courtesy of Dexter and authorized by the FBI—showed that they were making regular deposits of large amounts of cash. Much more than what their office was taking in.
But now, after all of this came out to the FBI, they had to catch the men in the act. That was where Craig came in.
Margot had been hesitant to involve him at first, but thinking of Shelly and what she’d said about him made him the perfect person for the job. He had a history of being in debt and would look like the next perfect worker for this ring.
After a little convincing, Craig had agreed to help. Margot had a feeling he was even enjoying the charade because he strutted around the ironworks yard with too much confidence for a guy going head to head with the Russian mafia. Then again, she wasn’t sure what Peter or his associates had told Craig. It was possible he didn’t know exactly who Vlad Petrov was.
“There he goes,” Dexter said, leaning into the screen.
Margot bit her lip and Dexter turned up the hidden microphone that the FBI had attached to Craig under the long robe he’d chosen as part of his Lord of the Rings Gandalf costume. It was all part of his costume, specifically picked to hide the bulletproof vest the FBI had provided. Dexter had tapped into their feeds. Since he’d been the one to set them up, it had been easy.
“What’s up, Craig?”
“Today’s the day, right?”
The man Craig was meeting with, one of the leaders of the group from what the FBI had been able to gather, nodded almost imperceptibly.
“Yeah, you can meet him. But don’t get all weird. Okay?”
“Hey, I just wanna meet the boss so I don’t think I’m being stiffed. You know.”
“Yeah, but today? Of all days?” The man looked to his left and Margot knew he was looking toward the commotion of the street fair.
“I thought this was good cover. The whole town is busy with this street fair, which means we’re free to meet without it being obvious.”
It also meant that the FBI agents could fit in easily too, something everyone had agreed on.
Craig was playing out his role perfectly and Margot fought the urge to hold her breath until it was all over. What if he was found out? What if— No, she had to stop worrying and focus on what was being said instead.
They waited a few more minutes as the two men milled about on the same corner Danielle said she’d seen the payment go down before she went into hiding.
Finally, a black SUV—very similar, if not the same, to the one that had almost run her down—pulled up at the curb. A burly man in a knit cap, jean jacket, and black pants got out of the back and looked around before another man, same type of build but with a nicer jacket and nicer jeans, got out. He shuffled toward Craig and sized him up. They had a lapel’s eye view and Margot’s stomach clenched at the look on the man’s face. It was frightening in its intensity.
The first man’s hand slipped to the gun at his waist as if anticipating trouble.
“Hey, man,” Craig said, holding up his hands. “It’s just us here.”
“And those listening in,” Dexter said with a grin.
Margot wasn’t ready to celebrate yet.
“Right,” the second man said. Margot knew it was Vlad Petrov from the photos she’d seen.
“Who are you anyway?” Craig said, managing not to sound insubordina
te but commanding as well.
“My name,” the man said, looking right then left, “is Vlad Petrov. I work for the Petrov family and you’ll do well to respect us.”
“Right,” Craig said, looking appropriately nervous now. “You got it, boss.”
Then Vlad came up to Craig and placed his hand around the back of his neck, pulling him in close.
Margot gasped, praying that she wasn’t about to witness Craig getting hurt.
“I don’t have to worry about you, Craig. Right?”
“N-no sir,” he said, barely shaking his head.
“Good. Because there are some in this town who don’t seem to listen very well.”
“Right, sir.”
“I’ve got something special for you to do, though. You up for that?’
“Ye-yes, sir.”
“Good, good.” He stepped back and nodded to the man to stand a little further away. “You see there’s been a mistake. I can’t trust these people in this town. That doctor fellow and that girl, they don’t know what they are doing. They’ve tried to stop this woman from looking into all of this but she’s still in town. Do you know how that makes me feel?”
“Sir?” Craig squeaked.
“It makes me feel angry. And I don't like feeling angry. So you know what’s going to happen?’
“Wh-hat?”
“You’re going to put and end to that woman who’s staying at the bakery. She’s asking too many questions and those fools can’t stop her. I’m done playing games. She’s gone, and you’re in. Got it?”
Craig mumbled something.
“What was that?” Vlad said.
“You w-want me to kill her?”
“Isn’t that what gone means? Yes. Kill her.”
Margot gasped at the man’s cold tone.
“You got it.”
“Good. That’s what I like to hear.”
Vlad stepped even further back and produced an envelope, handing it to Craig. “For your troubles.”
And, just as they’d hoped, the deal was done. Craig made sure to open the envelope to show the camera that there was money inside, and then he turned and nearly ran back into factory. Moments later, police and private federal cars swarmed the area to arrest Petrov.
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