by Lisa Dyson
He’d already spoken to her about calling local shelters to look for Wendy. “Any luck finding Wendy Pullman?” He’d deliberately ignored her comment.
“One place had someone who matches her description come in with a boy her son’s age, but they never spent the night. The director got the feeling the woman was spooked by something and didn’t stay. Then I found two other shelters with the same experience.”
“Interesting. I wonder what happened.”
Donna shrugged. “Don’t know, but it’s strange that I got the same story three times.” She handed him the list of shelters she’d called as well as the notes she’d made about each one.
“I have another job for you,” Tyler said. “I need you to find out who has check-writing authority for the town. I also need to know about Wendy Pullman’s employment. What she did, when she started, when she left and why.”
Donna was furiously writing down what he said. “Anything else?”
“Oh, right. One more thing.” He pulled a paper from his pocket and laid it on her desk. “Find out who rented this post office box.” Then he headed to his office to figure out his next move.
Callie’s community service. That’s what he needed to work on. Right now she had nothing to do tomorrow. She was more than halfway through her required hours already. He didn’t even want to think about her leaving town once she completed her hours.
He suddenly had an idea. He searched online for a phone number, picked up his desk phone and called a friend who worked at Lewisburg Hospital. Tyler remembered Brian ran the accounting department there. Maybe he had something for Callie to do.
“Hey, Brian, it’s Tyler Garrett,” he greeted his friend. “How are you?” He and Brian had gone to different schools, Tyler to public and Brian to private, but they’d played on the same youth soccer and baseball teams for years.
“Ty! Great to hear from you. What’s up?”
The two men caught up for a few minutes and then Tyler described what he was looking for.
“Hmm. I don’t have anything here right now.” Brian paused. “But I might know a place she’d be useful.”
“Fill me in.” Anything was better than sending her to do more dirty, physical labor. Tyler selfishly wanted her to save her energy for him.
“There’s a women’s shelter on the outskirts of town. Its location is very top secret for obvious reasons. You’re sure you can trust this woman?”
“With my life,” Tyler told him, recognizing that he hadn’t always been as trusting of her. “What kind of work would it be?”
“I know they get a lot of women in who have no idea how to handle money. They’ve been in abusive relationships with dominant men who control the money, usually giving them an allowance for household items, and that’s it. They have no idea how to balance a checkbook or maybe even write a check, let alone how to bank electronically.”
“So you’re talking about a classroom situation?” Tyler thought Callie would love the opportunity.
“Exactly. Think she can handle it?”
“Absolutely.”
Brian gave him the details, including the person to speak to. “Norma Wilson will give you the specifics, including the address. All I know is that it’s right outside the town limits.”
“Thanks, Brian. I really appreciate this.” They disconnected and Tyler immediately called Norma.
“That’s a wonderful suggestion,” the woman told Tyler after he explained Brian’s idea. Norma sounded like someone’s grandmother and he pictured a round little woman with white hair wearing an apron. “We’ve held classes on child care and health issues, but not finances. I think that would be very helpful to many of these women.”
They spoke about details for a few minutes and then Norma said she’d meet Tyler and Callie tomorrow morning at a nearby location. She wanted to talk to them about the idea in person and then she’d allow Callie to come to the shelter. Tyler liked that she was so paranoid. That meant she protected the women in her care very well. If he, as Chief of Police, couldn’t be given the address, then hopefully none of the abusive men in these women’s lives would discover the location, either.
Tyler checked his watch. He had no time left to eat dinner before training with his officers. Maybe he’d make it an extra early evening and get leftovers at Aunt Poppy’s.
Most of all, he looked forward to stopping by Callie’s room afterward.
*
THE NEXT MORNING Callie was ready in record time to go with Tyler to meet Norma. Excitement and nervousness didn’t even begin to cover how she was feeling. She’d never done anything like this before, but being able to help abused women take their lives back was beyond great.
“Want some coffee?” Tyler asked when she met him in the kitchen.
“I’d love some,” she said. “What time are we meeting Norma?”
Tyler laughed. “You’re like a child on Christmas morning. Calm down. We’ve got plenty of time. She said nine o’clock at the Route 40 Diner on the way to Lewisburg. We’ve still got forty-five minutes.”
Callie took the coffee mug he’d poured for her and sat at the kitchen table. “Where are the girls this morning?”
“They went for a walk with Aunt Poppy and they’re stopping at the playground.”
“They’re up and out early.” Callie was extremely glad they hadn’t gotten up during the night at an inappropriate moment.
He winked at her. “Probably because they slept through the night.”
She grinned back. “That’s always a good thing.”
“Absolutely. That and the locks on our bedroom doors.” After forgetting to lock the door one time, they’d been diligent about doing so since, whoever’s bedroom they were in.
When they finished their coffee, they left for the diner. Tyler had mentioned his impression of what Norma would look like based on talking to her on the phone, so when they saw a woman matching that description sitting in a booth, they approached her.
“Norma?” Tyler asked.
The older woman dunking a tea bag into her cup of hot water shook her head. “Nope.”
“I’m sorry to disturb you, ma’am.” Tyler turned to Callie. “Everyone else in here is male or with a man. It’s seat yourself, so let’s get a table and Norma will find us. She’ll know me by my uniform.”
“And you’re looking pretty darn sexy in it, too,” Callie said just loud enough for him to hear.
He chuckled and put a hand on her lower back. Callie pointed to a table where they’d be seen by anyone coming in through the door.
They ordered coffee, which arrived just as a tall woman, probably close to six feet, with dark gray hair and a prominent limp, came directly to their table. “Chief Garrett?” She put her hand out to him. “I’m Norma Wilson.” She was nothing like Tyler had guessed.
Tyler rose as they shook hands. “Have a seat.” He gestured to Callie. “This is Callie James.” Norma shook Callie’s hand and sat.
The woman got right down to business. “So tell me what you’d like to teach my girls.”
Callie swallowed. “Well, I don’t have any experience teaching, but I’m very successful in the financial world. I’m good at what I do.”
“Yes, I did a search on you last night. You’re very respected in your field.”
Callie nodded. “Thank you.” She took a breath. “I’ll teach whatever the women need. From the basics of a checking account to saving for retirement. Whatever they’d like to learn about.”
Norma’s head bobbed in agreement. “Good, good. I was hoping you’d be open and not stuck on teaching what you thought they should learn. We have women from all different backgrounds at the shelter. From high school dropouts to women with post-graduate degrees.”
They spoke for a few more minutes, Norma wanting to know specifics about times.
Tyler piped up. “I would expect that the classes would take prep time that Callie could do either at home or at your shelter.” He looked at Callie. “That time would c
ertainly be counted against your service hours.”
“Oh! I nearly forgot.” Norma looked at Callie. “That’s what I wanted to know. What is it that you did to be given the service hours? I couldn’t find anything online about it, and I can’t have you coming into contact with these women if you’ve done something to hurt someone or anything of that nature.”
“You have nothing to worry about,” Callie told her as calmly as she could. “My ex-boyfriend accused me of breaking an expensive vase of his. I assure you I didn’t do it on purpose, and I’m almost certain I didn’t accidentally knock it over, either. But I took a plea deal rather than go to trial because he has a so-called witness, and I had no way to prove my innocence.”
“I see.” Norma paused. “And you have no other incidences of violence? No one who might follow you to the shelter for any reason?”
Callie shook her head. “None.”
Norma put out her hand. “Then I’ll see you tomorrow morning at ten? The women are assigned chores like laundry but by ten they should be able to attend your class if they choose.” She put a finger to her lips and furrowed her brow. “Do you think it would be possible to have an evening class, too?”
Callie looked to Tyler and they both shrugged. “I don’t see why not.”
“That would be spectacular. Several of the women have day jobs so an evening class would benefit them.”
After Norma left the diner, Tyler said, “You didn’t mention what you just went through with your dad and stepmother when Norma asked about incidences of violence. Or about Wendy. She’s shown up twice now unexpectedly.”
“I didn’t think they counted. I thought she meant things I’d initiated.”
Tyler shrugged one shoulder and changed the subject slightly, filling her in on the search of shelters for her stepsister’s whereabouts. “I know you told me you didn’t tell your therapist about what happened when you had dinner with your dad.” He paused. “But I really do think it would be good to talk it through with him.”
“There’s really nothing to talk through. It’s over. I don’t want to relive it.”
“I get that. But why don’t you tell him about it, anyway, so he can decide if there’s more to discuss?”
She sighed. “Maybe. I don’t know.” She took a sip of her now-cold coffee. “I’m not sure what good it would do to divulge it.”
Judging from Tyler’s near silence for several minutes and on the drive back to Poppy’s, Callie was pretty sure he wasn’t thrilled with her answer.
But she did what had worked for her entire life—kept quiet and avoided an argument.
*
THINGS WERE PRETTY uncomfortable between Tyler and Callie on their drive to Aunt Poppy’s. Unlike most women he knew, she tended to shut down when faced with a conflict. Not that he’d helped the situation by remaining silent himself, but he didn’t know what to say. She obviously didn’t want to talk to anyone about what had happened with her stepmother. And that included both him and her therapist, who could probably be a huge help to her if she let him.
Tyler drove to the police station after dropping off Callie at his aunt’s, anxious to see what information Donna had for him about Wendy. “Whatcha’ got for me?” he asked as he stopped in front of her desk.
She smiled at him. “Hopefully all the information you wanted.” She pulled a legal tablet from her top desk drawer and began reciting what she’d learned. “Wendy was an employee of the town of Whittler’s Creek for just under a year. She resigned abruptly about two weeks ago.”
“Resigned? She wasn’t fired?”
Donna shook her head. “Not from what I found, but I didn’t speak to her superior. She might have a different story.”
Tyler nodded. “Right. Maybe she was given the choice of resigning or being fired. Resigning looks better when you’re applying for your next job. What else did you find out? What was her exact job?”
“Turns out that she did not have check-writing authority. Her job was an entry-level position. Filing, copying, whatever needed to be done.”
“Damn. I was counting on her being the one who wrote the checks that her husband allegedly cashed.” Tyler had provided Donna with just enough details so she had a better understanding of what information was important.
“I know. There were two people in her office with check-writing authority. One was Wendy’s boss, Michelle Bloom, and the other was James Brack, the town’s financial officer. It takes both of them to authorize checks, so I’m not sure how this could have happened unless they’re both in on it.”
“I doubt it. I don’t know anything about Michelle, but Jim Brack is a respected businessman. He’s got a thriving insurance office besides being the town’s financial officer.”
“And I doubt Michelle has anything to do with it, either. We sing in the church choir together and I can’t imagine her being involved in embezzlement.”
Tyler shrugged. “Sometimes the people who look most innocent are the most guilty.”
“That’s true, but depressing.” The phone on Donna’s desk rang and she answered it.
Meanwhile, Tyler went into his office to figure out his next move. He picked up the phone and called Jim Brack first.
“Good morning, Mr. Brack. This is Chief Tyler Garrett. I was hoping to ask you a few questions about some checks that you authorized as Whittler’s Creek’s financial officer.”
“Sure, Chief. Is there a problem?”
Tyler didn’t want to divulge too much at this point. “Just checking up on something.”
“Okay. What do you need from me?”
“Do you remember authorizing checks to be written to a Pullman Corporation?”
“That’s hard to say off the top of my head. I can’t remember every check exactly.”
“I understand. These checks were issued once a week for about six months. The last one was authorized approximately two weeks ago.”
“Pullman Corporation? Like the sleeping cars? It only sounds familiar because of the name. I think I would have remembered it because of that but I don’t.” Jim Brack paused. “If you pull the authorizations, I can tell you if it’s my signature or not.”
“I’ll do that.” The two men disconnected and Tyler gave Donna another job to do.
While she took care of retrieving the authorizations, Tyler debated another problem. After mulling it over for quite a while, he searched his email and came up with the phone number he needed.
“Hello, Dr. Hammond. This is Police Chief Tyler Garrett from Whittler’s Creek. You turned Callie James’s community service hours over to me.”
“Yes, yes, how’s it going?”
Tyler filled the therapist in on what Callie had been doing and what was planned for what would probably be her final service hours.
“That’s great,” Dr. Hammond said. “It sounds like things are going well there.”
“Well, yes and no.” Tyler took a deep breath and began relating the events of the other night involving Callie and her dad and stepmother.
“I had no idea.” Dr. Hammond sounded stunned. “She never mentioned a word.”
“That’s why I’m calling. She doesn’t think telling you is important and I doubt she’ll say a word unless you bring it up.”
“You do realize that now I’ll have to let her know that I’m aware of what happened?”
“I understand. I should also tell you about her reaction when we went back to her dad’s house for her car. In her mind, she was back in the house as a child, remembering how she was treated.”
“And how was that?”
Tyler hesitated. He’d only meant to tell Dr. Hammond enough so he’d ask Callie questions. “I think that’s up to her to tell you.”
“I understand. She’s told me some of what went on, but I thought there was more.” Dr. Hammond cleared his throat. “You seem very concerned about Callie.”
“I am. She’s been through a lot.”
“It sounds like the two of you have developed a pe
rsonal relationship. I hope it won’t interfere in your duty to the court.”
“Not at all. Callie and I went to high school together, so we already knew each other.” He wouldn’t divulge anything more that might hurt Callie’s situation.
She was already upset with him and she wouldn’t feel any better when she discovered what he’d just told her therapist.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“AUNT POPPY! AUNT POPPY!”
She spun around in front of the stove. Madison and Alexis had run into the kitchen. Their faces were flushed and they were dancing around.
“What is it, girls?”
“There’s a man at the door with something really special for you.” Madison was breathless.
Poppy furrowed her brow. “For me?” She wasn’t expecting anything. Maybe she’d ordered something online and didn’t recall. She turned down the burner on the stove and wiped her hands on a towel before heading to the front door.
There stood a man with a bouquet of flowers. A huge bouquet. “Mrs. Poppy Thompson?” he asked.
“Ye-yes.” She’d never seen so many red roses at once.
The delivery man put the flowers in her arms and left before she could even form the words thank you.
“They’re beautiful, aren’t they, Aunt Poppy?” The girls had followed her to the door and were now jumping up to smell the flowers, one on each side of her.
“Yes, they’re beautiful.” She was in a fog, possibly because of the overpowering fragrance coming from the roses—and from the surprise of their arrival. “We should get these into water.” She wasn’t even sure she had anything large enough to hold them all. “We might have to divide them into two vases.”
By the time she and the girls got the flowers—three dozen by Poppy’s count—into vases, the girls were off to their room. Poppy had given them each a single rose and a narrow vase to keep next to their beds.
She was cleaning up the counter when she spied an envelope near the kitchen door. It must have fallen and she hadn’t noticed it.
She picked it up, sure it would say the flowers were from Gino. Who else could it be? Though the note would be in someone else’s handwriting because he’d probably called in the order.