Ollie arched his head, looking around for anyone he knew, anyone he could make eye contact with. Nobody was out in the lobby. Ms. Morley just marched Ollie out the front door and down the steps to the waiting car. The windows were tinted black, so Ollie couldn’t see who was in the driver’s seat. So he was unprepared when a strong arm wrapped around his neck and held a cloth to his nose. Everything went black after that.
As we finished our dinner, I found myself looking around at everyone in the dining room. Anyone could be a member of The Order and I would never know it. We could be sitting next to the Director. Looking to my left, I narrowed my eyes at the couple sitting next to us. They were in their late forties and appeared to be professional. Or was it the man by the buffet? He had a smaller build, and appeared to be scanning the crowd looking for someone. There were so many people here that it really could be anyone.
“Anyone of these people could be the Director? We could be sitting next to the person who had those boys murdered and not even know it,” I said.
“Possibly,” Jed said. “But there are not that many men here that fit your description, Kent.”
“I know,” Kent said looking around. “I have been thinking lately about the possibility of the Director being a women.”
“I thought the only members were men,” Charlotte said.
“You know, I was under that impression also, but come to think of it, I don’t remember even being told that,” Kent said. “There was something very familiar about the Director. I have a feeling that it’s someone I know, or at least see quite a bit.”
“I think your right,” Jed said, “First instincts are usually pretty accurate.”
“I would love to get into the President’s office,” I said. At Jed’s pointed look, I qualified, “Only with you, of course.”
“Ollie was excited about the possibility of sneaking in,” Charlotte said. “That was all he talked about today at lunch.”
“That’s right,” Kent said, “He told us he had the whole plan laid out.”
“Where is Ollie, by the way?” I asked, “It seems like it’s been a while since he went to the bathroom. His food is cold.”
“He should have been back by now,” Charlotte asked, pulling out her phone to glance at the time.
“He has been gone awhile,” Jed said. “Let me go check the bathroom for him.”
Jed stood up and weaved around the other diners to the lobby. In less than a minute, he walked back into the room and shook his head at us from the doorway. Turning around, he walked back out. We all quickly pushed away from the table and went to follow him. Kent stopped to tell the waiter that something had come up and if we weren’t back, just to bill it to our parent’s account.
We caught up with Jed, as he headed back toward the bathrooms. Jed stopped and said, “Kent, Charlotte can you go check the parking lot?” As they nodded and left, he turned to me and asked, “ Can you show me where the President’s office is?”
“It’s the second door on the left,” I said, showing Jed the way. I saw the receptionist’s curious glance as we headed down the hall with long strides.
The door was slightly ajar.
Looking down the hall to make sure nobody was around, Jed said, “You stay here a minute. Let me have a quick look inside. Knock once if someone comes.”
“Just be quick ok,” I said. I didn’t want to be stuck out here in the hall making up excuses as to why I was there. I knew that wouldn’t go so well.
Jed quickly snuck inside, shutting the door behind him with a soft click. Just as he disappeared, the receptionist came around the corner.
“Can I help you?” she asked.
Chapter 26
“Um…no,” I stammered. Think. I need a reason quick. I lightly tapped the door once and then walked toward her. Seeing the old mailboxes along the hallway, I said the first thing that popped in my mind.
“I was just looking at these old mailboxes, while I wait for my friend, who’s in the bathroom,” I told her.
I walked over to the boxes and pretended I was interested in looking at each row of names. They still had the names of the families that had used them. With the age of the internet, they were no longer used. If you wanted to leave an invitation or newsletter, you either mailed it to their home address or e-mailed it. Back in the day, it was more about who had what in their box and who didn’t.
“Oh, ok,” she said, “Let me know if there is anything I can help you with.”
“Thanks, I will,” I said, relieved when she turned around and walked back to her desk.
Come on Jed, where are you? I paced the hall, impatiently looking at my watch. Five more minutes had gone by. Should I knock again? What was he doing in there? Pacing down to the end of the hallway near the lobby, I peeked around the corner. The receptionist looked up. Oops.
“Still waiting?” she asked.
“Men,” I shrugged.
She just smiled understandingly and went back to her work. Jed was going to kill me. I couldn’t wait to see his expression when I told him that he had been “in the bathroom”.
Walking back toward the door, I decided to give him a little knock and maybe peek in to see what was going on. Before I could knock, Jed opened the door and slipped through, shutting it behind him. He whispered, “I heard you come back, so I figured it was safe.”
Nodding, I asked, “Did you find anything?”
“Someone was definitely in here, searching for something. The filing cabinets are opened a crack. Other than that, nothing.”
“We need to get going,” I told Jed. “The receptionist is going to start getting suspicious, if you don’t come out of the bathroom soon.”
Jed laughed, “You told her, I’ve been in the bathroom this whole time?”
“What was I supposed to say? I already pretended to be looking at these old mailboxes. No one even remembers they are here. They aren’t used anymore,” I told him.
I saw Jed glance at them as we pasted. I guess you could call them a piece of the Pine Hill Country Club’s history.
“I thought you said nobody used them anymore,” Jed said stopping.
“I think they stopped using them before I was born,” I said.
“Well, there’s something in your box,” he said, striding over to it. Pulling out papers, he handed them to me. “I guess someone left you a message.”
“It must be from one my friends,” I said stuffing it in my purse. “Let’s go see if Kent and Charlotte found him.”
As we walked past the receptionist, she gave Jed a grin. Jed laughed and gave her a little embarrassed wave. Heading out the door, we met them coming up the walk from the parking lot.
“We didn’t see any sign of him,” Kent said.
“We didn’t either,” I told them.
“Ok, he has to be here. He doesn’t have a car, so he couldn’t have gone far. Let’s check around the building,” Jed said. “I think I have a flashlight in my car, I’ll go get it.”
“I grabbed mine when we went out there,” Kent said holding up a small flashlight that came with the emergency car kit our parents insisted we keep in each of our cars.
“I’ll be right back,” Jed said and he took off at a jog toward where he had parked the car.
He was back in less than a minute, carrying his huge black flashlight. It struck me again as an unusual size to carry around in your car. I sure was glad to have it at the mill though.
“Let’s stay in our groups. You guys head that way,” Jed said pointing to the right, “And we will go this way. Let’s meet back here in ten minutes. If we don’t see any sign of him, we’ll check the building again.”
Jed grabbed my hand as we started around the building. The sky was very dark, with no moon shining to provide any light. He swept his light along the outside of the building and into the landscaping, as we quickly walked toward the lake.
It had cooled down since we first arrived. My dress was not very practical for the cool air. Not to mention my s
hoes. They were made for dinner and dancing, not walking in the lawn. Thankful that Jed was holding my hand, I managed to stay on my feet as my heel sunk into the soft grass.
“You’re not dressed for this are you? I’m sorry. I didn’t think about that first,” Jed said stopping to help me get free.
“That’s ok,” I told him. “Why don’t I go back inside and look around, while you finish up out here.”
“You have to promise me that you won’t go off on your own to a deserted hall or room. You need to stay in the lobby or the dining room. Stay where there are people. Promise?”
“I will, I promise. Maybe somebody saw him.”
“Ok, I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Giving me a quick kiss, he shined the light so that I could see to get back to the path. Once I was there and on my way up the steps, he turned and kept going.
Walking back in, I decided to check our table to make sure that he hadn’t come back. He wasn’t there and our waiter told me that he had finally just billed our account. He apologized for not waiting longer, thinking that we were coming back in. I assured him that we were done, and thanked him for taking care of it. Taking the opportunity to question him about Ollie, I asked if he had seen him recently.
“Not since he was with you and your friends,” he said. “Why don’t you ask Sherri at the reception desk. She usually knows who’s coming and going.”
Thanking him, I walked over to the desk.
“Excuse me,” I said. “We can’t find our friend that we were with. I was wondering if you saw him leave?” I gave her a description of Ollie.
“Actually, I did see him leave not too long ago with someone. They walked out the door and got into a large sedan with tinted windows. The car was waiting for them at the bottom of the steps.”
My heart pounding, I asked, “Did you see who he was with? I just want to make sure he got home ok.”
“It was a woman wearing a long black coat. I didn’t really get a look at her, because I was helping another customer at the time.”
“Thank you,” I told her. Checking my phone, I saw that I had about three minutes, before everyone was supposed to be back. I walked over and sat on a bench just inside the doors so that I could watch for them. Opening my purse, I grabbed my phone to send them a message. I saw the papers I had stuffed in there and gave them a quick glance, wondering who had left me a message.
The one on top looked like a scrawled note from someone. Curious, I pulled it out. It said, ‘In office, someone coming, picture of Ms. Morley on desk, connected, have list. Ollie.’
Oh my gosh, I thought, standing up. Digging through my purse for my phone, I frantically searched for it as I ran out the door and down the steps.
I ran down the path toward the bench where everyone was supposed to meet.
“Going somewhere, babe?”
Startled, I threw my hand up to my chest. Jed flipped his light on, and stepped out from around a bush. “You scared me,” I accused.
“Sorry, I didn’t expect to see you out on the path, almost to the parking lot. You promised you would wait in the building,” Jed said quietly.
Ah, Right. I needed something to distract him. Thinking quickly, I pulled the note out of my purse. Sometimes this over protective stuff was too much. “I was coming to get you. I found a note from Ollie!” I managed to say excitedly.
“I told you I didn’t want you going off by yourself,” Jed said stubbornly. The thought of Nora being in danger again made the words come out a bit harsher than he intended.
“I forgot ok,” I said crossly. “Don’t you want to see the note?”
“What note?” Kent asked as he and Charlotte walked up.
“I found a note Ollie left for us,” I told them. “He put it in our old mailbox in the hallway. I thought it was from a friend, so I didn’t read it right away.”
“Let’s see it,” Kent said, holding out his hand.
Giving it to Kent, I stood there looking at Jed out of the corner of my eye, while Kent read the note out loud. Jed still looked mad. It’s not like I completely left. I mean come on; I was still on the lighted path.
“Ms. Morley?” Charlotte asked. “What does she have to do with this?”
“That’s not all,” I said excitedly. “The receptionist told me that she saw Ollie going out the door with a woman dressed in a long black coat. They got into a large black sedan with tinted windows and drove off. Someone else was driving.”
Jed sighed. “This isn’t good. They must have found Ollie snooping around.”
“Where would they take him?” Charlotte asked.
“I had been thinking about trying to get into The Order’s secret room, to look around,” Kent said, “But now that we know they drove off, I guess we don’t need to do that. It’s probably under surveillance away.”
“You’re probably right,” Jed said, “We don’t want them to see you in there, if they have cameras. We may still need you undercover in there.”
Kent nodded, “But where should we look now.”
“I’m going to call my friend and see what he can find out about Ms. Morley. It’s too much of a coincidence that a woman was last seen with Ollie.”
“Could she be the Director?” Kent asked, “The person I saw was petite enough to be her. It would fit.”
“Let’s see what we can find out. At this point, we can’t rule her out. It’s the best lead we have so far.”
Jed turned away to make the phone call, while Charlotte and I stood there shivering in the cool night air.
“Why don’t you two go wait in the car,” Kent suggested.
“I’m done,” Jed said turning back toward us. “He’s going to see what he can find out. Why don’t you girls go wait in the car, like Kent suggested. I am going to run in and ask the receptionist a few more questions.”
Jed reached in his pocket and fished out his keys. “Here, sit in my car. There’s a little more room.”
“Thanks,” I said reaching for the keys.
“Don’t go anywhere,” Jed said as he gave them to me.
“Don’t go anywhere,” I sassed back and immediately regretted my impulsive behavior. Not only was it rude and childish, but from the look on Jed’s face he wasn’t amused.
“Nora…” Jed said starting toward me.
“Come on Charlotte, let’s go,” I said grabbing her arm and pulling her into the parking lot before Jed could finish whatever he was starting to say. I am sure it wasn’t going to be anything I wanted to hear. He was treating me like I was a five year old. I admit, I have a knack for getting into trouble, but I wasn’t stupid. It was starting to make me mad. That’s right, I was mad.
“Slow down, Nora,” Charlotte said, stumbling along.
“Oh. Sorry,” I slowed down to a more normal pace. “Jed is making me so mad, I could scream.”
Charlotte laughed. “Now that you mention it, he didn’t look pleased with you when we walked up.”
Hitting the unlock button on the key chain, I unlocked the doors and we both climbed in. I waited until I had started the car and turned the heat on, before answering her.
“He is mad, because he told me to wait in the building, and I found the note and came running out looking for him instead. He found me by the bench and was mad that I didn’t listen,” I told her. “That I didn’t listen to him. Like I am five years old.”
Charlotte grinned. “It sounds like he has it bad.”
“What do you mean?” I said, looking over. I had to squint to see her in the dark.
“It sounds like he was worried about you. You know how Kent gets. He loves you. It sounds like Jed is reacting the same way.”
“Well, he could be a little less bullish about it,” I said, mulling over what Charlotte had said.
“True, but then he wouldn’t be the Jed you know and love.”
“I know. But I am still mad.”
“Let’s think about how Ms. Morley could be involved in this instead,” she suggested.
; “Do you really think she could be the Director?” I asked, deciding a change in subject was a good idea.
“I just can’t believe that she would be ok with murder. For someone as nice and caring as she is, it seems like we would have seen some kind of sign, a sign that she disliked certain kids, because of their social status, a kid like me.”
“That’s what I think too. It can’t be her. It has to be a psycho, not a high school teacher.”
“Here come the guys,” Charlotte said, glancing in the side mirror.
I looked out my mirror and saw their reflection as they walked toward us.
“Should we get in the back?” I asked her.
“Nah, let them get in the back for a change.”
“I bet they expect us to be in the back,” I said
Curious, we watched as they got closer. They both headed for the front seats and reached for the handle. Seeing us, they looked in surprised. Charlotte and I burst out laughing, and pointed to the back seat.
They both looked longingly at the front seats, and then climbed into the backseat.
“You two look a bit smug,” Kent said as he shut the door and looked between the two of us.
“We didn’t think you guys would actually get in the back,” I told him with another laugh.
“Did you find out anything else?” Charlotte asked.
“No, she didn’t remember anything other than what she told you,” Kent said.
“What are we going to do? Should we call the police?” I asked.
“The police already know. Jed called them,” Kent said.
“They’ll let me know what they find out. In the mean time, let’s drive around town and see if we can spot a car that looks like the one Ollie got into.”
“I think I might know where Ms. Morley lives,” Charlotte offered. “We could drive by her house and check it out.”
“Really?” Jed said sitting forward interested. He had yet to hear back from Mike regarding her address and vehicle info.
“Yeah, I was visiting my friend Sarah a few weeks ago and on the way to her house, I saw Ms. Morley working in her yard. I waved and she waved back. I think I could find the house again,” she said.
Undercover Justice Page 28