by T. L. Haddix
“No, ma’am. I memorized it when you changed it the last time and I never wrote it down except when I was memorizing it. I burned the paper it was written on, so there’s no way anyone could have gotten it.” Janet’s voice had been certain, and Lauren believed her.
“I didn’t think there was, but I had to ask. The security guy’s probably going to ask me, so I wanted to be sure. Speaking of the devil, he’s here, so I’d better go.”
“Keep me updated.”
She hung up and waited for the men to reach her. The technician, Tom, shook her hand and asked for ID, apologizing.
“It’s company protocol.” Pulling her wallet out of her purse, Lauren showed him her driver’s license. “Thanks.” He walked over to the utility boxes and crouched down, tracing the lines visually, just like Charlie had done. He squinted up at Lauren.
“Was the alarm still set this morning?”
“It was.” She relayed what Janet had said. “This just doesn’t make any sense. No one has the code written down anywhere except in the paperwork from your company, and that’s locked in the safe.”
Tom stood and selected a screwdriver from his tool belt, loosening the cover of the phone line box. Replacing the tool, he lifted off the cover and grunted. “Here’s the problem.” He pointed to a small square box about half the size of a cell phone. It had lines running out of it and tying into the phone lines.
“A feedback loop?” Charlie asked. When the technician eyed him uneasily, he held his hands up. “I have a law enforcement and security background.”
“What’s a feedback loop?” Lauren asked.
“It’s a device burglars use to fool alarm systems and security companies,” Charlie explained. “They open the utility box and install it. It causes a glitch in the system on both ends. The security company sends a test ‘message’ through to the system and gets a normal ping back from the device instead of the system. The alarm system itself keeps sending the alert, but the device blocks it from going any further, so the signal never gets to the monitoring company. Whoever did this probably just hit the reset button when he was finished trashing the place, and the alarm thought it was doing its job.”
“We did send someone by last night about eleven-thirty,” the technician told them. “There was a brief glitch, just like you said, but our guy didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. He sat out on the street for about twenty minutes while he did his report and called it back in. If that’s when they did this, the perpetrator must have been hiding somewhere inside for a while before he started destroying things.”
Lauren frowned. “Wouldn’t the alarm flash this morning when Janet went in?”
Charlie shook his head. “Not if the guy hit the reset button. The system would assume everything was normal. The looping device is set up to be left in place until the job is done.”
“If it’s any consolation, the fact that the device is here might make it easier to catch whoever did this,” Tom told her. “Whoever it was, he was professional. Your average burglar doesn’t use stuff like this.” Pulling his cell phone out of his bag, he started taking pictures of the inside of the phone box. “I’ll remove it and redo the wiring to the system. I recommend changing from the silent alarm you have now to one that screams if it’s interrupted.”
“I will.” She unlocked the back door so he could have access to the keypad, then walked with Charlie to sit at the curb.
Charlie’s expression was pensive as he rubbed his chin with his thumb, and Lauren touched his arm gently. “What is it? You’ve thought of something?”
He captured her hand with his and linked their fingers together. “I was just thinking about who could have done this. I gave the sheriff’s department the Vernons’ information when they called earlier.”
She looked at the tar-covered windows, the damage now obvious in the late afternoon sunlight. “I told Ethan that I thought Troy could have done this. I just don’t know who else would hate me that much.” They sat quietly for a while, watching the flow of people around them.
The security technician came around the side of the building. “I’m finished, if you want to come see what I’ve done.”
Walking them to the back of the building, he showed them the new wiring and took them inside to the keypad. “You might want to cover your ears,” he told Lauren. She did, and as soon as he hit the test button, a horrid screeching started. Charlie winced and covered his ears, as well.
Lauren, having heard enough, nodded. The tech keyed in the code that would stop the alarm.
“You’re good to go.” He stood outside with Charlie while she set the alarm and locked the door. “Just give us a call if you need anything else.” With a look at Charlie that conveyed obvious suspicion, he left.
As he watched him walk away, Charlie sighed, hands on his hips. “You know he thinks I’m the one who did this, right?”
She laughed, thinking he was joking. When he didn’t smile, she realized he was serious. She shook her head, lost for words.
“He’ll be on the phone with his supervisor before he gets a mile down the road.” Charlie seemed more amused than offended. “He got my name and driver’s license, so he’ll turn those over and they’ll call the sheriff’s department. I’d be ready for some interesting questions, if I were you.” He headed back toward the sidewalk, leaving her staring after him, still openmouthed with shock. When he reached the sidewalk, he turned around to look back, a wide grin on his face. “You coming?”
Lauren hurried after him. “I almost think you’re getting a kick out of being a suspect.”
“Nah. Well, maybe. As long as the real cops don’t start looking at me like that.”
“With what you told me about your relationship with the sheriff, they might just.”
Charlie unlocked the truck and held the door open for her. When she got in, he leaned in and stole a quick kiss, shocking her. He went around to the driver’s side and got in, starting the motor. “Would you bail me out?”
She decided that he wasn’t the only one who could tease, and pretended to consider the question. “Um, I don’t know. I’d have to think about it.”
His face softened. “It’s good to see you smile.”
“I didn’t feel like I’d ever smile again after this morning. Thank you.”
“For what?”
She smiled again. “Just thanks.”
Chapter Nineteen
Getting out of the house on Saturday afternoon hadn’t been easy, but Troy had done it. Using the repairs his mother’s car needed as an excuse, he told Iris he needed to go into town. “Tell you what, you’ve been so tired lately, why don’t I take Jamie and let you get some rest?”
“Aw, sweetheart, are you sure?” Iris’s face lit up at the suggestion.
“Absolutely. You take it easy this afternoon. Me and the kid will take our time.” Normally, he never would have taken the baby with him. He wasn’t a babysitter, something he considered to be a woman’s job. However, he needed a cover, and Jamie would provide it.
They made good time, less than thirty minutes, and they were in town. Stopping at the auto parts store first, he got what he needed to make the repairs. That task out of the way, he headed to the town square and parked across the park from Lauren’s café.
“Hey, Jamie, let’s get you into your stroller, buddy. Then you and I are going to go see what Daddy worked on the other night.” He got the baby out of the car seat and strapped into the stroller. Troy took his time, not wanting to attract any undue attention. “Just a dad walking his kid on a pretty summer day.”
By the time they made it to the corner where the Brown Bag stood, silent and dark, Troy had overheard several conversations about the vandalism. Most everyone was shocked and outraged that such a heinous crime had been committed, and couldn’t imagine who would have done such a thing. His ego grew with every word. When Jamie gave a sharp cry, he stopped the stroller to check on him.
“Here. Take your bottle.” The baby was fussy
, and it took a few tries to get him to accept the apple juice. While Troy was down on his knees, two women walked by. They made no effort to lower their voices.
“I hate so much that this happened to Lauren. Annie, she’s such a sweet person. She didn’t deserve this.”
The woman who spoke was a tall redhead, and something about her seemed very familiar to Troy, even though he knew he hadn’t met her before. She was too stunning a woman to forget having met. Still, something about the way she moved set off an alarm in his brain, and as she turned to her companion, he sucked in a breath.
The dress she wore was blue, fitted, and had a low-cut back. Since her hair was up in a twist, most of her back was exposed. On the right-hand side, just under her shoulder blade, was an oddly shaped scar. Troy had seen that scar before. As a matter of fact, he’d been present when the injury had taken place.
Very carefully, he stood, not wanting to draw their attention to himself. If Margie saw him this close to the site of the vandalism, she’d figure it out. She was a smart girl, and he couldn’t take the chance that she’d recognize him. The last time they’d seen each other, he’d just been a teenager, but since he looked just like their father, he didn’t think it would be a stretch for her to put two and two together.
“Let’s get you back to the car, Jamie.” Turning the stroller around, he headed back the way he’d come. The two women continued behind him, but since they couldn’t see his face, he felt fairly safe. The wind was blowing toward the river, and their conversation carried to him.
“I think we should organize something to show her our support. Don’t you?” he heard his sister ask.
“I don’t know, Charity. I’ll be seeing her in a couple of days, and I’ll see what she thinks. Maybe we should wait until she’s got the major stuff out of the way, have a decorating day or something?”
Charity—the other woman called his sister Charity. For a brief instant, Troy wondered if he had gotten it wrong, that the woman wasn’t Margie, after all. That doubt vanished when he heard her excited squeal. Even though she’d changed her appearance and apparently changed her name, she hadn’t bothered to change her laugh.
Crossing the street, he lost the women. When he reached his car, he looked back across the park. They were still standing on the sidewalk, and while he watched, ‘Charity’ went inside the ritzy art gallery located halfway down the block.
“Jamie, we need to get home. I’ve got some digging to do on the Internet. This sure is an interesting little twist, now, isn’t it?”
A million questions raced through his head, but one came to the forefront. What was he going to do with the shocking information he’d just learned? He was willing to bet that no one else suspected the truth, and it dawned on him that he could have a lot of fun with what he knew, and no one would be the wiser.
Chapter Twenty
Lauren had arranged to meet with David and Charlie at the Lighthouse on Monday morning. He’d let her know that the reports on the Vernons were finished. She was eager to learn what he’d found out. Since David already had an appointment in Leroy earlier that morning, the timing was perfect. Everyone agreed to meet for an early, private lunch to discuss the findings. To Lauren’s surprise, Ethan Moore also showed up.
“When David told me about the meeting, I thought I’d tag along, see if I can sit in. I’d like to hear what you’ve found,” he told Charlie.
Charlie looked at Lauren. “I don’t have a problem with that. Are you okay with Detective Moore joining us?”
“Sure. The more heads working on this, the better.”
Since they’d arrived before the restaurant opened, Charlie led them around the back and in through the kitchen, which was a flurry of activity. People looked up and hollered greetings, but only Rita came to meet them.
“Charlie!” Her pleasure at seeing him was obvious. She glanced at the rest of the party, and returned her attention to him. “What brings you here this early?” She started to move closer.
Charlie took a step back, subtly shifting away from her. “I reserved the small meeting room for lunch today, and we’re a little early. Is it okay if we go on in?”
“Of course. I’ll take you there now.” She went through the door that led into the dining room and guided them to the small meeting room on the other side, flipping on the lights. “Looks like your table is ready.”
They seated themselves around the small table in front of the room’s French doors. “I know it’s too early to order food, but how about a pot of coffee?” Charlie asked.
“I’ll get that right away.” Hands clasped at her waist, she skimmed a glance over David, Ethan and Lauren, then looked back at Charlie. “Anything else?”
“If you don’t mind grabbing menus, we’ll look those over while the kitchen gets ready.” She smiled and excused herself. While they waited for her to return with the coffee and menus, David asked Lauren about the cleanup at the shop.
“Actually, I’m making quite a bit of progress. I called a friend who referred me to a contractor, and he’s coming out this afternoon to look at it. He had a job go under on him, so he has a crew sitting, just waiting for work. If we can agree on a price, he can start first thing Friday morning.” She didn’t mention that the friend she had called was Travis Tyler, thinking it might be better to leave that bit of information out.
Rita returned with the coffee and some yeast rolls, fresh out of the oven. Charlie asked her to give them about five minutes.
“Sure thing. Do you need anything else right now?”
“No, we’re good,” he assured her.
After she left, Lauren reached for a roll. “What a week. I spent the weekend on the phone, and I may lose a couple of vendors over this mess. It’s going to be several weeks before I can reopen the shop.” She took a large bite of the roll, closing her eyes as it melted on her tongue.
“You have a lot of people who care about you, and you’ll get through this,” Ethan told her. “What happened is bad enough, but it could have been a lot worse. No one was hurt, and in the end, that’s the important thing.”
I know. You’re right. It’s just difficult to see something I’ve worked so hard to build destroyed with such violence. It feels so personal.”
Charlie took a roll from the basket and buttered it. “I think it was personal. What do you think happened?”
Ethan added sugar and cream to his coffee, then answered, completely deadpan. “Well, we got a tip from the security company that they think it’s an inside job. Seems a certain ‘suspicious character’ was hanging around with the owner, and knew way too much about the feedback loop that had been installed.”
Charlie’s face turned red, and he looked at Lauren. “Told you.”
Lauren was horrified and amused at the same time. “Ethan, you don’t believe that, surely.”
“No, I don’t. My initial theory was that it was teenagers who’d gotten out of control, but finding the feedback device rules that out. Kids are getting more sophisticated these days, but that’s a little extreme. I’m afraid I have to agree with the vengeance angle.”
“Yeah, it feels like a professional or semi-pro hit. It’d also take a pretty strong person to sling that tar around and get it all over the walls and ceiling. If I had to guess, I’d say it was one person, maybe two, and they were interested in causing as much damage as they could without burning the place down.” David looked at Lauren. “I’m sorry.”
Rita returned to take their orders. As she left, Charlie asked her to close the door, and she complied with a frown.
“You know she’s interested in you, right?” Ethan asked him, his tone droll.
“Who’s interested in me? Lauren?” Charlie looked at her and smiled, a puzzled frown crossing his face when she hid her face behind her napkin, coughing.
“Her, too, I think.” David reached for a roll, and Charlie froze, staring at the other man with a look very similar to that of a deer trapped in headlights.
“You don’t
mean Rita?” When all three nodded, he groaned and dropped his head into his hands. He rubbed his eyes with his fingertips. “Well, hell.”
As if taking pity on him, David changed the subject. “I know we talked about your credentials the other night on the phone, but we didn’t get a chance to discuss details. I thought you had been working here.”
Charlie explained about helping Sonny after his surgery. “However, I make my living with my own company, Clark Consulting.” He described the business, telling them about his network of independent contractors, most of whom were former law enforcement or military.
For a few minutes they discussed the workings of Charlie’s operation, and as they were wrapping up, Joely arrived with their food. There wasn’t much conversation while they ate. They all seemed to realize that the sooner they finished eating, the sooner they could discuss Charlie’s findings. Joely returned to clear their plates, bringing a pitcher of ice water and three glasses.
Ethan got up to close the door behind her, since her hands were full of dirty dishes, and once he was back at the table, Charlie pulled several files out of his briefcase, along with a pair of reading glasses.
David leaned forward. “What’d you find?”
Charlie’s smile was almost feral. “Let’s start with poor ol’ sick and dying Carl. I did a basic background check on him, criminal record, credit report, etc. His criminal background came back clean, but his credit report is ugly.” He turned to the pages he wanted.
“After they left here thirteen years ago, both Carl and Mary Margaret drop off the map for a couple of years, financially speaking. No activity on their social security numbers, no credit card use, nothing we could use to track them. I also used the information you gave me to look up all their children, and tried tracing them through the school systems. Again, for the first couple of years, nothing. I’d guess they were homeschooled or maybe just not reported to whatever school district they were living in. As far as I can tell, they didn’t contact anyone back here during those first two years—not their older children, not their creditors, no one. Because they were no longer making payments on the farm, they lost it to foreclosure. The bank finally got a repossession pushed through, and the farm ended up being auctioned off for back taxes.”