by Ann Simas
Later in the afternoon, more commentary ensued, this time from Sherry. This is not the way it’s supposed to happen, Andi. And after a short pause, I’m afraid for you, Andi. Dawna’s dangerous.
“As if I didn’t already know that,” Andi shot back.
The scent of smoke intensified. Knowing and paying attention are horses of a different color, aren’t they?
God, were the voices going to become esoteric now? Andi didn’t know if she could take it.
The heavy smokiness abated, leaving behind only the subtle smoke that was Sherry. Nothing is ever black-and-white, Andi.
Andi covered her ears, but nothing could block out Sherry’s voice.
Proceed with caution and know that I’m here if you need me.
Really? Like help was just a phone call away? Dial 911 and ask to be transferred to Heaven PD? Ask for someone with a .357 Magnum to respond?
Andi growled, picked up her jacket, and fled the office. A block away, the voices would leave her alone. She didn’t need any more unsolicited advice, dammit, she needed guidance. A clear path from here to there. From Dawna to Sherry.
Andi pulled open the door to St. Gemma’s and stepped inside. The quiet ambiance of the church calmed her immediately. She dipped her fingers into the font and crossed herself before she took a pew at the back.
Please, God, let me pray uninterrupted, even by our dear Father Riley.
Evidently, her initial prayer was answered. Andi knelt for more than half an hour, alternately praying—for insight, for guidance, for help, for forgiveness—and ruminating over her relationship with a man she’d known for such a short time.
It wasn’t like her to jump into bed with anyone. The only other man she’d been intimate with, she’d dated for almost a year first, and even then, she’d had qualms. But with Jack, she’d practically wanted to jump his bones from the first moment she laid eyes on him. What did that mean? Either she was horny as hell or he was The One.
Andi went back to praying and after several minutes, crossed herself and left the church. Back at work, she had an email from Brent, asking her to come to his office.
Filled with dread, Andi made her way down the hall. She knocked on Brent’s door, belatedly noticing he’d tacked up a note with her name on it to the door jam. Andi unfolded it and read: Please come to Conference Room A.
Andi took the back stairs down. Unlike Conference Room B upstairs, this one had interior windows all along one wall, but the blinds were closed on all of them. She knocked, then entered, expecting the management team to be gathered in a community firing squad. Firing, as in, arriverderci, Andi.
Her heart in her throat, pounding so madly a dull roar filled her ears, she was completely unprepared to find a room full of her peers breaking into applause. She searched their faces, looking for Brent. He had a grin so wide, it threatened to split his face in two.
Completely baffled, Andi asked, “What’s going on?”
“You!” several people shouted. Others whistled or woot-wooted.
Her gaze went back to Brent, who held his hands up, trying to quieten everyone. “I can see we’ve caught you totally by surprise, Andi.”
She nodded, wide-eyed and a little jerky, as if someone up above were controlling her strings and not doing a very good job of it.
“You did it, Andi!” Lacey said.
“Did what?” she asked, at a complete loss.
“Saved our sorry asses,” Ted called out, laughing.
“From what?”
“Extinction,” Susan said.
Brent came over and grabbed her in a big bear hug, swinging her around. “I don’t know where your ideas come from, Andi, but we have been working for a year trying to put a punch line in Bunny Hop and you came up with it in less than a month.”
“This is about the game?” Andi asked.
“You added an element none of us ever considered,” Ted said.
“You incorporated a mystery and it works so well, we think it should lose the Bunny Hop name and have one that’s more appropriate.” Everyone watched her expectantly. “Do you have any suggestions for a new title?”
Andi couldn’t help grinning. “As a matter of fact, I do. What do you think of Wild Hare?”
The room erupted with more clapping and hoots and hollers.
“Fantastic!” Brent said.
“That has amazing promotion potential,” said Barb from marketing.
“We’re going to put Orion’s Belt on the game-app map!” said Orion’s Belt’s founder and CEO. Andi recognized his face from picture in the downstairs reception area, but she’d never met him. “Kudos, Andi.” He held out his hand and introduced himself. “I’m Orion Lee. It’s a pleasure to have you with us.”
Almost overwhelmed, Andi fielded questions as fast as she could. In truth, when she’d sent the copy of the latest revisions to Brent the day before, she’d been worried he’d send it right back to her today for taking such blatant liberties with it.
“Break out the bubbly,” Orion said.
“We only have champagne for special occasions,” Susan whispered to her. “You go, girl!”
Andi still wasn’t quite sure she understood how her revisions had resulted in this celebration, when she was part of a team, but later, she’d talk to Brent and get him to explain it. “Thanks.”
Susan tilted her head at Andi. “You don’t know, do you?”
“Know what?”
“If Wild Hare didn’t fly by the end of the year, we were headed toward extinction.”
Aghast at the possibility, Andi said, “Brent never mentioned that to me.” She envisioned her beautiful new apartment. Gone. She envisioned her amazing new salary. Gone. She envisioned the Smokies. Gone.
“Brent is the eternal optimist. He told us earlier, he put all his eggs in one basket with you. That’s how much faith he has in you, Andi. We all do now, and we all have something substantial and exciting to work with from here on.”
Brent handed Andi a glass and raised his in salute. “To Andi Comstock, a girl who smells smoke when there is no fire, and still writes the best damned game app ever.”
To a chorus of here-heres, Andi raised her own glass and drank, almost overcome with emotion.
Just imagine what you will achieve from here on out, Andi. Congratulations!
If Andi hadn’t been surrounded by a dozen co-workers, her boss, and the owner of the company, she would have thrown herself on the floor and sobbed.
. . .
This is not the way it’s supposed to happen, Andi.
It was twelve-thirty and Andi was about to send out a bogus text to a wrong number, telling Dawna she’d swing by to pick her up for their lunch date. “Are you going to lecture me, too?”
No. I just want you to know that you have many watching over you, Andi. Today is going to be Dawna’s breaking point, so proceed cautiously. Think before you say or do anything.
Andi considered that in silence. Sherry was right. “Do I have a guardian angel watching over me?” she asked. The last voice she’d heard the day before had not been like the other Smokies, but she hadn’t realized until later in the evening that it had not been accompanied by the scent of smoke.
You do, Andi.
“What’s her name?”
That’s something you have to ask her yourself.
Andi didn’t get it. She didn’t even know if she believed she had a guardian angel.
Sherry must have sensed her hesitance. Trust me, you do have one, and this is the protocol. If you need her, just say ‘Angel, please help me.’
“Is this really almost over, Sherry?” Andi asked, desperate to know if closure was near.
I think it must be, Andi. I’ve begun to see the light. My baby Jacob is there waiting for me. Please tell Vaughn, he’s beautiful. Tell my children their little brother says “hello” and that he loves them.
“I will.”
Tell them all—Vaughn, Etta, Ashley, Micah, Trevor, and my parents—that we love them so
much.
“I will. I promise.”
One last thing, Andi. We love you, too. Thank you for helping us.
. . .
More determined than ever, Andi finished her text message to Dawna, although it would never reach her. Andi had planned it that way deliberately. It was the only plan she’d been able to come up with to cover her butt when she showed up at the dental office.
Later, when Dawna questioned her for being late, Andi could show her the sent text, then feign being chagrined when she realized she’d sent it to the wrong number. The entire charade would allow Andi to go back into Dawna’s office on the pretext of having lost her iPod in the sofa. In reality, she planned to return the calendars before Dawna noticed they were missing.
While they were at lunch, if all went according to plan, search warrants would be served simultaneously on Dawna’s home and her dental practice.
Andi’s phone rang when she was halfway to Dawna’s office. She tapped her Bluetooth device and accepted the call. “Where are you?” Jack asked.
“Almost to the dental office. What’s up?”
“I just met with Merry Stiles’s husband. He’s the guy on Changó under Vaughn’s face.”
“I thought he might be.”
“He didn’t have to go through Merry’s things to find something missing.”
“What was it?”
“Her wedding band.”
“That makes sense. She probably had to remove it at work sometimes, mixing plasters or whatever.”
“That’s what he figures.” He hesitated. “You feel comfortable with the story we devised for my cover?”
“Yes.”
“Listen, Andi, you don’t have to go through with this. There are other ways to get information out of her.”
“Putting her on the rack would be one way,” Andi suggested.
Jack chuckled. “Be careful, okay?”
“Father Riley will be there ahead of me, making sure she’s not putting straight arsenic into my water glass or anything.”
“This is serious, babe.”
“I know, Jack.” She pulled up in front of Family Concept Dentistry. “Yesterday, I had a visit from my guardian angel.”
Jack blew out an audible breath of air. “Andi—”
“Sherry talked to me a little while ago. She confirmed that I have one.”
“I don’t want to get into a discussion about the pros and cons of angels right now.”
“There are no cons,” Andi said softly and disconnected.
Her phone rang again almost immediately, but Andi ignored it. Jack had his work to do and she had hers.
CHAPTER 31
The same receptionist sat at the front counter, but she put the caller on hold long enough to hear Andi’s explanation about the lost iPod, then waved Andi on, saying, “You know the way,” and went right back to explaining Medicare benefits to the caller.
Andi passed Penny in the hallway. They spoke and Andi repeated her mission.
“Gosh, I didn’t find anything in the exam room. Would you like me to help you look in the sofa?”
“No, I can do it. It’ll only take a sec. I didn’t even realize it was missing until I pulled up in the parking lot and went to plug it into my A/V system.”
“Wow, your car can use your iPod? What are you driving?”
“A VW Touareg. I just got it recently. It has GPS, too, which I love.”
“That would be terrific, especially on trips, when you can’t even pick up satellite sometimes. Thanks for the tip. I’m going to talk to my husband about a new car tonight.” She grinned and went on her way.
Andi entered Dawna’s office and closed the door. She pulled out the drawer where the keys were, dismayed to find them gone. She immediately wondered if she had put them back is some weird way or in the wrong place, but realized she couldn’t have. It was that anal retentive–photographic memory thing she had going on.
Maybe Dawna had used and replaced them in a hurry. Andi lifted a piece of paper that hadn’t been there previously and there they were. She was so rattled, she belatedly remembered she didn’t need the keys to unlock the drawer where she’d found the calendars. She opened it and withdrew the papergoods, replaced the calendars, then put everything back as it should be. She was about to leave the office, when her subconscious reared its head.
She whirled back and opened the top right drawer again, pulling out the piece of paper. She unfolded it, staring at her find with shock and dismay.
Jack’s face stared up at her, or at least his body did. His face had been cut out. Andi grabbed the keys and turned quickly to the door of the shrine room. Her hands were shaking so badly, she wasted countless seconds trying to get the key into the lock. She flipped on the light, with her eyes immediately on the left pedestal. Jack had already replaced Vaughn.
In addition, a new voodoo doll graced the top of the altar. This one had a red felt heart sewn on her chest. Dark brown yarn had been used for her hair, but what threw Andi into a tailspin was the fabric used to make the doll.
She didn’t remember leaving her neck scarf behind on Monday. In fact, she hadn’t even worn one on Monday.
The chill of dread wracked her body. The last time she’d worn that neck scarf had been to Jack’s on Sunday, after church. She hadn’t remembered to put it back on when Jack had finally taken her home on Sunday evening.
The ramifications and possibilities of how and when Dawna had come in possession of the scarf overwhelmed her.
She had the wherewithal to pull out her phone to use the camera before she shut off the light and closed and locked the door. The keys went back into the drawer, along with the folded piece of paper.
Andi pulled out her iPod so she could show the receptionist she’d successfully located it. “I texted Dawna that I’d pick her up, but she’s not in her office, so I imagine she’s already gone.”
“What? Oh, she didn’t come in today.”
“She didn’t?”
“No, she cancelled all her appointments.” The phone rang and the woman gave her a distracted wave as Andi said goodbye and hustled out the door.
She sat in her car and auto-dialed Father Riley first. “Is she there?”
“No, she hasn’t shown up yet. Where are you?”
“Just dropped off the calendars. There was a photo of Jack in the desk drawer. His face was missing. I looked in the shrine room. It’s been put over Vaughn’s face.” She hesitated. “There’s another weird thing.”
“What’s that?”
“She used one of my scarves to make a voodoo doll of me.”
“Are you sure it’s yours?”
“Yes, I wore it on Sunday to church, then to Jack’s afterward. I forgot to put it on again when I left his place.” Andi glanced at her watch. “We had a reservation. Can you check and see if she cancelled it?”
“Sure.”
“Call me back. I need to talk to Jack.”
She pressed the auto dial for Jack next. It rang and rang, eventually going to voicemail. She waited a bit to see if he’d text her, being busy with the search warrants. Nothing.
Her iPhone dinged. “No cancellation, no show. I’ll wait here.”
“Okay. I can’t get Jack. I have a bad feeling about this. I’m going to call his LT.” She disconnected and ran through her contacts to find Stacy’s number.
“Lowry,” the LT barked into the phone.
“It’s Andi Comstock. I’m trying to reach Jack and he’s not answering. I know you’re serving—”
“Andi, listen to me. Jack drove separately, but he never got here.”
“You’re at Dawna’s house?”
“Yes. We’re executing a warrant here and another team is on the way to her office with the other one.”
A black Lexus SUV screeched into the lot and braked near the front door. Dawna climbed out and rushed inside.
“Ohmygod,” Andi breathed. “She’s here. She just pulled up. She was supposed to meet me for lunch�
�”
“Jack filled me in. What the hell is she up to? Where is here?”
“The dental office.” Andi explained about the picture, from which Jack’s head had been cropped, and the voodoo doll.
“When do you think she took the picture?”
“I…I don’t know. I’m not in the phone book, and neither is Jack.” Andi’s brain whirled with possibilities. “She must have followed us from the restaurant Saturday evening. Is it possible she parked outside my apartment all night, waiting for us to come out?”
“She’s a loony tunes. Anything’s possible.”
“Then she would have followed us to church and then to Jack’s place. Ohmygod, she would’ve had to go inside Jack’s house to get the scarf.”
“Hold on!”
Andi could hear the LT shouting into her police radio to get someone to Jack’s residence.
“Stacy!”
“What?”
“The receptionist told me earlier that Dawna had cancelled all her appointments today, but the hygienists would’ve still had cleanings. The dental staff and a couple of patients are pouring out of the office. They’re running, like they’re scared.”
Andi thanked her lucky stars that she’d parked at the outer perimeter of the lot, next to the curb at the property line. She did it to avoid door dings, but today it offered other possibilities. Dawna hadn’t noticed her when she pulled in, but Andi couldn’t chance being seen when she came back out.
She pulled her key from the ignition and hopped out of her car, making it to the opposite side without tripping over her own feet. She dropped down behind the curb, flat on her belly. She felt a sharp sting on her left side, but ignored it. Raising up a bit, she discovered she had a great vantage point between the top of the curb and the undercarriage of her SUV. She could plainly see Dawna’s vehicle without being seen herself.
“Andi?”
“Everyone’s gone now except Dawna. She…Stacy, stay on the line. Something’s happening.”
Dawna came out of the building with a wheelchair and went directly to the back end of her Lexus. She pushed a button on the hatch, opening it, and moved the wheelchair closer, locking it into place. She stood back and raised her arms.