My Sister's Keeper

by Curry, Edna

  The apartment over the garage down a house and across the street had a ‘for rent’ sign in the window. If he could rent that…it wasn’t the best angle from which to watch Candi, but it should work.

  He crossed the street and rang the bell. A white haired man using a cane answered the door. “Yeah?”

  “I saw your ‘for rent’ sign,” Luke said. “Is the apartment still available?”

  The old man eyed him. “Maybe. Who’s askin’?”

  “Luke Mazinger.” He put out a hand and the guy shook it, but didn’t give his own name.

  “What do you do?”

  “I’m a University professor on leave. I need a quiet place to work on my thesis,” Luke said, using his current cover story. “This looks like a quiet neighborhood.”

  “Huh.” The man stared at him.

  Luke returned his gaze without flinching.

  “Quiet here most of the time, I guess. Apartment costs five hundred a month in advance. Utilities included ’cause they’re not separated from mine in the house.”

  “Is the apartment furnished?”

  “Still has the furniture my son used before he left. Nothing fancy. Wanta take a look?”

  “Sure.” Luke followed the man to the small door beside the overhead garage door.

  “My name’s Ben Johnson, by the way.” The old man pulled out a key and unlocked the door. He opened it and led the way through the garage to an open stairway to the apartment door.

  A corner kitchenette, a small worn couch and wooden table and two chairs sat in the first room. The second held a single bed and chest of drawers painted blue. A handmade crazy quilt covered the bed. A small bathroom with a metal shower stall showed through an open door.

  The apartment was small, the furniture well used, but it appeared serviceable enough. Most important was the location. He could observe what went on across the street without raising suspicion.

  “Nobody’s used it for a few weeks, since my boy took off for California. Might need a bit of dusting,” Ben said.

  “No problem. Is there a telephone? I’ll need internet access.”

  “Yeah, right over there.” He waved a hand at a phone sitting on a table near the front window. “My boy liked new fangled computer stuff, too. Needs to be hooked up again, though. The phone company’s number’s in the book. They’ll probably want a deposit.”

  “No problem.” Luke walked to the window and checked his view of the house across the street. Perfect. “I’ll take it.” Luke pulled out his billfold and peeled off enough bills to cover the month’s rent.

  Ben pocketed the cash, grinned and handed over the keys. He shook Luke’s hand. “You’re all right. You can use the other half of the garage for your car, too, if you want.”

  “Thanks.”

  An hour later, he’d settled in the apartment. He’d gone to the store for some basic supplies. He’d use his cell phone and the internet access at the café until the phone company hooked him up tomorrow.

  Now he sat eating a ham sandwich and drinking a beer. He thought of Candi holding little Jessica. She’d seemed nervous with the baby, yet held her tenderly. She’d looked at Jessie with such love in her eyes. It was amazing to think she would do that when she’d only just met the baby this morning.

  He tipped up his beer, thinking of her. Candi had such pretty, wavy dark hair. He wanted to run his fingers through the stuff. Did it feel as silky as it looked?

  Her eyes had flashed angry suspicion at him when he’d questioned her about the baby. He grinned. She reminded him of a mother tiger protecting her cub.

  Damn it, he had to stop thinking like this. He knew better than to get emotional over a suspect who might be guilty of a crime and he’d have to arrest later. He never got involved with suspects. It blew his perspective all to hell.

  He turned back to keep an eye on Candi’s house. It was getting dark now. She’d turned her lights on. If he kept his off, he could watch her house easily.

  Sneaky all right, but part of his job. Get information any way you could, as long as nobody got hurt and the bad guys landed in jail. He sure hoped she wasn’t one of them.

  ***

  Jessica slept for several hours and Candi was thrilled to get several new pages written before she woke. But then Jessie grew fussy and refused to settle down no matter what Candi did. She fed her and walked her around the house, singing to her. She bathed her and dressed her in a fresh diaper and sleeper. Finally, she sat in her grandma’s rocker and turned on the TV.

  Jessie watched her with wide blue eyes for a few minutes, then sighed, snuggled closer and fell asleep.

  Candi put her back on the bed and then realized Jessie was sleeping where she usually did. She didn’t dare sleep with the baby. She might roll onto her and smother her. She’d have to fix the couch for Jessie until she bought a crib of sorts.

  The phone rang in the other room and she hurried to answer it before the noise woke Jessica.

  “Candi? Is Jessie okay?”

  Relief made Candi gasp when she heard Jolene’s voice. “Jolene! Thank God. Yes, Jessie’s fine. I just got her to sleep. Where are you?”

  “Never mind that.”

  “Are you okay? Why didn’t you tell us you had a baby?”

  “Yeah, like anybody cares what happens to me.”

  “That’s not true, Jolene. We love you. You’re the one who took off. Nobody made you do that.”

  Jolene heaved a sigh. “I’m fine, Candi. Don’t worry about me.”

  “Sorry, honey. I can’t help worrying.”

  “Yeah, but—let’s not fight about the past, Candi. I need your help to take care of Jessie for a while.”

  “How long? When are you coming to pick her up?”

  “I…I’m not sure yet. Can you keep her for now, Candi? I really need you to.”

  Candi’s heart tightened. Why did she always have to bail out her younger sister? “Okay. But Jolene, babies take a lot of time and I don’t know much about them. Besides, I need to work. I’m on deadline and behind schedule already.”

  “Yeah, but…I have to stay out of sight for a while. I don’t want Jessie to get hurt.”

  “What do you mean, hurt? How would she get hurt? Where are you? What’s your phone number so I can call you if I have questions?”

  “I…I’d rather not say. You can’t call me. I’m at a pay phone.”

  She sounded ready to hang up. Desperately, Candi said, “Jolene, talk to me. What’s going on? Why didn’t you tell us about having a baby?”

  “I…I well, you know, I wasn’t married when I got pregnant. I always do everything wrong, don’t I? So, I didn’t think anybody’d care much.”

  “Of course we care. We’re your family! Mom is excited to be a grandmother.”

  Jolene gasped, “Mom? You told her?”

  “Why not? After you left the baby, I called her to find out if she knew where you were or what was going on.”

  Jolene’s voice grew panicky as she begged, “Candi, don’t tell everyone Jessica is with you. I don’t want George to find her and come try to take her.”

  “You want me to keep a baby a secret? How can I? I already talked to Mom. I have to take Jessie with me when I go somewhere, don’t I? I don’t have anyone to leave her with.”

  “I thought Mom said you were staying at Grandma’s house to work on your book? Why do you need to go anywhere?”

  “I mean like shopping and stuff. I’ll need more food and formula and diapers for Jessie if you’re not picking her up right away.”

  “Candi, you don’t have a car seat for her.”

  Candi burst out laughing. Or was she hysterical? “You left your baby outside on a porch on a cold day and now you’re worried I won’t use a car seat? What if I hadn’t been here? She could have died from hypothermia.”

  “No, no. I saw your car through the garage window and I waited until you came outside,” Jolene protested. “I’d never hurt Jessie!”

  Relief made Candi’s kne
es feel rubbery. Jolene had indeed waited for Candi to take her baby into the house before she’d left. “I figured that’s what you’d done.”

  “Someone’s coming. I have to go. I’ll call you when I can,” Jolene said. ”Bye.”

  “Wait, Jolene!” Damn, she’d already hung up. And Jolene hadn’t told her what she was involved in that might be illegal, or why the FBI was involved. Or was Jolene even aware she’d been followed here?

  Candi replaced the receiver and went back to her computer. As she sat down, she noticed a car drive slowly by and realized that after dark and with the lights on inside, she was in plain view sitting by the window. She rose and drew the draperies. She hated being closed in, but felt somewhat safer. Nervous now, she checked the lock on both doors.

  Grandma’s older house had long, large windows with old-fashioned plain glass, not safety glass. If anyone wanted to break in, they could easily do so.

  ***

  The next afternoon Candi went downtown shopping with Jessie in her carrier. She bought groceries and baby supplies, then found a play pen with an extra heavy pad that could serve as a bed for Jessie while she was caring for her. Next she bought a car seat for Jessie and had it installed in her car. Even if she only had Jessie a few days, it would be worth it. Besides, if she could talk Jolene into leaving George and whatever bad situation she’d gotten into, Jolene might return to live near her and she’d need it when Jolene let Jessie visit her.

  What am I thinking? Only one day with this baby and I’m already making plans for having her in my life in the future? She tucked Jessie into the car seat and smiled at her. Yes, the cute little one has definitely grown on me. Candi kissed her and Jessie grinned back.

  Before heading home, Candi stopped at a coffee shop and indulged herself in a Mocha coffee and fresh glazed donut.

  As she went to pay, a familiar face at a table in the corner caught her eye. The man wore a hat and dipped his head behind his newspaper when she glanced his way. She couldn’t be sure. It had looked like that FBI guy, Luke. It couldn’t be, though, could it? Surely, he’d left town after finding out she didn’t know where Jolene was. Why would he still be hanging around?

  Or hadn’t he believed her? Was he hoping she would lead him to Jolene? She’d have to warn Jolene the next time she talked to her. If her sister called again, she realized. A cold lump settled in her belly at the thought Jolene might run and stay hidden, leaving Jessie behind. How would she cope if Jolene did that? Best she not worry about that until or unless it actually happened. She needed to trust her sister to do the right thing, even if Jolene hadn’t always done that in the past.

  Candi paid her bill and went out to her car. Securing Jessie in her car seat, Candi got behind the wheel and waited with the door of the coffee shop directly in her line of sight.

  A minute later, the man came out and glanced her way. It was him. He rushed to a sedan, opened the door, slid in and sat there. Furious, she watched him. He’d pulled out a map and kept his face averted to read. Or pretend to read?

  She’d bet anything he was waiting for her to leave so he could follow her. She should just sit here and see how long he’d wait too, but she didn’t have time for this nonsense. She had work to do.

  She pulled out and headed home, keeping an eye on his car. At first she didn’t see him and thought maybe she’d been mistaken.

  But a few blocks before she arrived home, she saw him in her rear window. He turned a block before her house. She used her garage door opener and put her car inside, hoping she’d been wrong. Having someone follow her made her nervous, even if he was supposed to be one of the good guys.

  Jessie was asleep in her carrier. Candi stepped out of her car and picked up a bag of groceries. Maybe she could get all the bags inside before the baby woke up.

  She unlocked the door, opened it and stopped, gasping in shock. The entire kitchen was a mess. Drawers and cabinet doors hung open and the contents of the cabinets lay strewn all over the room.

  Even the refrigerator. A half-spilled gallon of milk sat on the floor keeping the door ajar.

  Chapter 3

  Candi backed out of the kitchen, her hand automatically covering her mouth to hold back a scream. “Oh, no! Someone’s been here.” Spinning back to her car, she set the bag of groceries down, grabbed her cell phone and dialed 9-1-1.

  “Somebody trashed my house.” She gave her name and address.

  “Are you outside?” the operator asked. “They might still be in the house.”

  “Yes, I’m in the garage. I’ll wait out here for the officers.”

  An hour later she still waited in the garage with a police officer while others combed her house for evidence and took pictures. Thankfully, Jessie slept through the arrival of the police and all their questions.

  Glancing out the open garage doors, Candi noticed curious neighbors standing in their yards, conversing. Embarrassment heated her face. No doubt some of them would be on the phone, telling Gram all about this soon. I’ll get a phone call from Mom or Gram before bedtime. What can I tell them? Panic knotted her stomach. Gram loaned me her house and somebody breaks in? How could I have prevented it? I can’t be here every minute.

  An officer came out and asked her to come in to check for missing items. Candi put Jessie in her carrier and took it with her, first going to check her office. She always backed up her work and carried a copy in her purse on a jump drive, so her main concern was her computer. Thank goodness it was still there and didn’t appear damaged, though the drawers in the glass-fronted buffet beside it hung open. And the papers on her desk had been messed up as though someone had gone through them. Anger and a sense of betrayal brought tears to her eyes. Angrily, she blinked them away.

  The officer accompanying her said, “It’s odd they didn’t take your computer equipment. Usually electronics are the first thing taken.”

  Candi raised an eyebrow. “I’m so glad they didn’t. My computer is my livelihood. I wonder what they wanted. What else of value did they expect an old lady to have?”

  “You’d be surprised how many valuables some old people keep at home,” the officer said. “Did your grandmother keep cash at home or have any expensive antiques?”

  “No, she didn’t keep cash at home. She always used checks to buy things.” Candi shrugged and waved a hand toward the buffet. “Those china dishes are probably the most valuable things she had. Thank God they didn’t take or break those. Anyway, she’s been in Florida for months, so she’d have put anything valuable into her safety deposit box at the bank.” Gram was going to kill her if they wrecked very much stuff. She hoped she could replace whatever was ruined.

  “Hm. Well, try to figure out if anything is missing and if so, make me a list.” The officer went back to the kitchen to join the others.

  Candi nodded and followed, sighing at the huge amount of work she’d have to do to clean up this mess. She didn’t have time for this. She needed to get her book done.

  She thanked the officers and turned to set Jessie’s carrier down. She almost bumped into Luke, who was talking to one of the officers. She gaped at him. “What are you doing here?”

  Luke turned to her, his face blank. “I just happened to see the police car and came to see what the problem was.”

  She folded her arms across her chest and narrowed her eyes at him. “And how did you ‘just happen’ to be here to see them?”

  A rosy flush spread up his face. “Uh, well, I was just passing by.”

  “Yeah, right. So it was you following me at the coffee shop. Are you still on my tail?” A smile curved her lips when his eyes widened in surprise. He hadn’t known she’d spotted him, then.

  His lips tightened. “I’m only doing my job, Ma’am.”

  “Yeah, right.” She heard a snicker and turned. The faces of the officers who’d been listening to the exchange with interest held grins. Heat ran up her face. Yikes, she’d probably sounded unprofessional.

  She thanked them for coming and watch
ed them all leave. They promised to get back to her if they had any leads or needed more info from her. Without another word, Luke left, too. She closed the garage door behind them and locked it, then took her purchases into the house.

  On impulse, she went to her office window and peeked out, then looked up and down the street for Luke’s car. Nothing. Luke had headed up the street. So, maybe this time, he’d really left.

  Disappointed, she started to turn away. Then a dark sedan like Luke’s appeared. She was too far away to read the license plate. She gasped as it turned into the drive across the street. The garage door rose. The car pulled into the garage, and the door closed again. Was she mistaken?

  Had the car been Luke’s? Or did her neighbor own a similar car?

  ***

  Luke returned to his apartment and parked his car in the garage, closing the door with the remote.

  As he got out, his landlord opened the door from his house into the garage. “I saw you across the street. Why the police visit?”

  Luke swallowed. He’d forgotten how people kept track of what happened in their neighborhood. He’d have to be extra vigilant here. “Someone broke in while Candi was out shopping, Ben.”

  “Humph,” the old man muttered. “That family always has something going on.”

  “Yeah? What kind of something?”

  “Oh, the old lady was okay. Quiet and all, you know. It was her boy who was always up to no good.”

  “You mean Bart, Candi’s father?”

  “Yep. Dead now. I always said he’d come to a bad end.” Ben spit a long stream of tobacco juice into a s

  pittoon sitting beside the garage wall.

  Luke frowned, trying to remember what he’d learned of the family. Nothing was clicking here. His landlord rambled on, citing Bart’s boyhood pranks of broken windows and later, stolen cars taken for joy rides and wrecked.

  “Kept his mother in tears a lot of the time, he did. His getting himself killed was almost a relief to his mother. Maybe his wife, too, but I didn’t know her so good. ’Course he left her with those two girls to raise alone. Didn’t think about what he was doing to his family, just himself.”