by Donna Kelly
Kate nodded. “Yes. I can sign the report for you.”
“I know it is late, but please write a list of damaged or stolen items and bring it with you when you visit the front office to sign the report.” Ford’s eyes moved back and forth between Kate, the person who signed the room agreement, and Annie, who had done most of the talking since he arrived. “We’ll need both the list and report to submit with paperwork to the insurance company.” He had all of the sincerity of a businessman protecting his paycheck.
Ford and Cole accompanied the women to their new room on the twenty-fourth floor.
“If you need anything at all, please call my cellphone, and I’ll personally see to it.” Ford handed Kate a business card with a cellphone number circled in red ink. “A security guard will be down shortly to escort you back to your old room to retrieve your things after the police department finishes up. He will then remain outside your room until morning.”
After Kate closed the door behind the hotel manager, Cole put his arm on her shoulder. “Would you like me to stay here tonight? On the couch, of course.”
“No thanks, Cole,” said Kate. “We’ll be OK.”
Annie looked at the bedside clock and was surprised to see it was after 1 a.m. “It’s getting late, and we’re all exhausted, Cole,” she said. “We appreciate the offer, but we will be fine, especially with a guard right outside our door.”
Kate nodded. “I’ll call you tomorrow and let you know everything is all right.”
The couple slipped out of the room to say goodbye in private.
“If we can’t get our stuff from the old room soon, I’m going to sleep in these clothes,” Alice said, plopping on the couch and gazing out the window. “Look at the people milling around at nearly 2 a.m. Don’t these people ever sleep? Oh, wait a minute—I guess that’s why they call it the city that never sleeps.”
Alice was just starting to doze off when a blushing Kate returned from the hallway. She perked up when the door banged shut. “Oh, you look mighty smiley for someone whose room was just ransacked.”
Kate leaned back on the door a moment and closed her eyes before crossing the room and joining Alice on the couch. “Well,” she said rubbing her eyes, “it isn’t often you get a mysterious phone call, have your room burglarized, and get kissed by a gorgeous musician—all in the same day.”
Getting her second wind, Alice raised her eyebrows. “Did you say kissed?”
Annie chuckled. “I believe that is exactly what she said.”
“Well, he kissed me twice, actually,” Kate said with a shy smile.
“Just when did you have time for all this kissing, anyway?” Alice was suddenly wide awake and wanting details.
A sharp knock echoed through the room. Alice opened the door and Chief Bassett stepped into the room. “We’re finished upstairs,” he said. “I’ll take you back to collect your belongings now.”
****
Despite a nearly sleepless night, Annie woke in time to shower and dry her hair before her cellphone sounded the eight o’clock alarm she had set for each morning of the conference. Kate wasn’t far behind her, and even Alice was up as soon as the alarm went off.
While waiting for her friends to get ready, Annie sat on the bed and called Mary Beth to give her a rundown of the night’s events. Shortly after she hung up the phone, a yawning Alice emerged from the bathroom.
“Are you sure your alarm didn’t go off early? It sure feels like we just went to sleep,” Alice grumbled.
Kate passed by on her way from the bed to the shower. “At least you two managed to sleep a few hours. Every time I closed my eyes, I pictured strangers throwing stuff out of our suitcases. I doubt I slept an hour all night.”
Annie looked at her friends with sympathy. “I think I was so exhausted that even a nightmare couldn’t have wakened me.”
Before they could respond, Annie’s cellphone rang. She reached back to the nightstand where she had left the phone after talking to Mary Beth. “It’s Ian,” she said, her words mixed with joy and surprise.
“Hello, Ian. I’m so glad you called.”
“Mary Beth just called to tell me about what happened. She’s worried about you and so am I. Are you all right?” Ian asked, his voice calm but laced with concern.
“Yes, we are all fine. A bit shaken, but fine. But thank you for calling and checking on us. I promise I’ll let you know when we are home.”
“Annie, please be very careful and stay safe. You are very important to me.”
Annie hesitated and turned her back to the room. “You’re important to me too. Goodbye, Ian.”
Dressed in jeans and casual long-sleeved shirts for comfortable travel, they left their packed bags in the room and grabbed breakfast in the buffet line set up for conference attendees near the exhibition hall. After greeting other crafters they had met during the weekend, the trio took their breakfast to a corner table and ate while completing the list of damaged items Chief Bassett requested.
Kate passed the list first to Alice and then to Annie to make sure she had included everything.
Alice scanned the list as she shook her right arm, sending several bangle bracelets clanking from her wrist toward her elbow. “Makeup, perfume, and lotion bottles. Everything is here except my jewelry case. They broke the zipper when they tore it open. Isn’t it weird that nothing was stolen? What do you suppose they were searching for?”
After reading the list and returning it to Kate, Annie spread some butter on what was left of her biscuit. “Beats me. The main thing is the damage to my suitcase; the zipper and lock were broken.” With the morsel halfway to her mouth, she dropped it on her plate. “When Ian and I went to pick up the photos from the photojournalist in Petersgrove, he told us to keep the negatives in a safe place because they are considered valuable in certain circles. That could be a connection. At any rate, I am glad they are tightly locked in Ian’s safe.”
“Well, I don’t know if there is a connection or not, but those photos led us to The Avant-Garde and Cole, so they are invaluable to me!” Kate looked at her watch and grimaced. “As much as I’d love to stay in New York, we really need to get going. I want to get home to Vanessa as soon as possible. Maybe I should give her a call and tell her what happened before she hears it from someone else.”
Walking to the front desk, Annie asked for Mr. Ford while Alice caught the eye of a bellboy.
“I’ll grab all our bags and meet you here after you two finish the paperwork with Mr. Ford,” Alice said, digging her room card out of her purse. “I’ll be back in a jiff.”
Fifteen minutes later, the women were standing under the portico, waiting for the valet parking attendant to retrieve Kate’s van. Annie looked back at the imposing building and recalled the moment they first arrived—was it just three days ago?
“Wow, a lot has happened since we dropped off the van on Thursday,” she said. “But we didn’t get much sightseeing done.”
Alice crossed her arms, stuck out one leg, and tapped her toe on the sidewalk. “Do you mean to tell me this trip wasn’t exciting enough for you? You want to play tourist too?”
Their laughter filtered through the morning breeze.
“But what’s a near-mugging on the subway or a ransacked hotel room compared to the thrill of climbing the Empire State Building or walking the Brooklyn Bridge?” Annie asked, remembering the photos of Grandpa tucked inside the book in the Grey Gables library. “History is exciting.”
“All of your mysteries have turned you into a thrill seeker, Annie,” Alice said, her eyes twinkling. “Next thing you know, you’ll want to head to the big city in search of more dangerous challenges! A mystery at the Statue of Liberty perhaps?”
The women grabbed their crafting totes from the bag cart as the attendant pulled Kate’s van up to the portico.
“Annie doesn’t need dangerous challenges to make a trip back to New York. Now we can return to see Cole,” said Kate, sliding open the back door and tossing her tote
into the seat. “We’ll have our own personal tour guide.”
Annie and Alice exchanged a look and laughed. “Yeah, right,” they said in unison.
Watching the bellboy load the bags into the back of the van, Alice offered to drive the first shift home. “Why don’t you catch up on your sleep and take the wheel in a couple of hours?”
Kate stretched and looked longingly at the backseat. “That sounds good, actually. Even as tired as I was last night, I still tossed and turned.” She handed the valet her claim ticket, climbed into the roomy backseat, and took off her jacket before buckling her seatbelt.
Annie pulled several bills from her wallet and divided them between the bellboy and the valet, who opened the passenger door before taking the tip from her hand.
Kate looked back at the hotel as Alice maneuvered the van onto the street. “By the way, Mr. Ford apologized for our trouble and gave me a gift card for two free nights in the hotel, so Annie, we will come back sometime to see your historical landmarks.”
16
“Home again, home again, jiggety-jig,” Annie recited as Kate, who had taken the wheel somewhere just past the Massachusetts-New Hampshire line, turned the van into the driveway leading to Grey Gables.
“To market, to market, to buy a fat hog, home again, home again, jiggety-jog,” finished Alice, leaning forward with her elbows on the back of Annie’s seat. “Do you suppose Betsy knows how much we quote her nursery-rhyme quips from our childhood?”
Annie looked at Grey Gables and sighed with relief at being home after such a whirlwind trip. “I prefer to think so. I see her as my personal guardian angel.” She collected her place mat in progress, along with a ball of yarn and a hook, and put them in her tote bag as Kate pulled up to the walkway to the house. “Kate, you drove like a pro in New York, just like you’d been in the concrete jungle your entire life.”
“And she did pretty well in the flirting department too,” said Alice, sliding open the passenger door.
Giggling, Kate switched off the ignition. “I did, didn’t I?” She unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the van door. “Do you mind if I use your restroom before I head home?”
“Sure you may. Y’all come in and freshen up before you take off. Boots will love the extra company after being cooped up alone for several days.” Annie pulled her suitcase from the back of the van and then stepped out of the way so Alice could retrieve hers.
Walking up the path to the house, Alice asked what they should share with the Hook and Needle Club ladies first—Kate’s romance, an update on the Asta mystery, or information gathered at the convention. “I vote for the romance,” Alice said, “but Asta runs a close second. Everyone will want to know what we found out about her.”
“Well, we did go to New York to represent Mary Beth at the convention. Perhaps we should start with that,” Kate insisted.
Annie stopped in her tracks and held her rolling bag upright. “Or we could start with explaining why my front door is wide open.”
They stood on the walkway and looked at each other.
“What do we do?” Kate looked at Annie.
Alice whipped out her phone and called 911 as Annie started toward the porch. “Umm, Annie. They said to stay outside.”
Annie stopped on the front step and studied the house. She was grateful to Breck for turning on the front porch light. “Nothing looks broken. The windows are fine. The doorknob looks OK.”
“Yes, but we don’t know what or who we will find inside, especially after the episode at the hotel. I’ll feel much better if we all go back and wait in the van,” Alice said, waving her phone and taking backward steps toward the driveway. “Chief Edwards will be here in a minute.”
The police chief showed up not too long after they locked themselves in the vehicle. “Is everyone OK?” he said as Kate rolled down her window. “I know it’s getting dark, but have you seen any movement around the house?”
“No,” the women said in unison.
Chief Edwards asked a few more questions and jotted down some notes before telling the women to stay in the van while he searched the house. When his backup, Officer Cal Peters, arrived, the two men disappeared in the darkness.
After what seemed an eternity to Annie, Chief Edwards returned while the young officer searched the yard. “The house isn’t ransacked. On the surface, anyway, everything seems to be as you left it. But I’d like you to come in and walk through it with me just to make sure nothing is missing.”
Walking through the house, Annie felt a curious sense of déjà vu, and not just from the hotel break-in. How many times had the chief been called to Grey Gables since she had started unearthing mysteries in the attic? But the jazz singer mystery didn’t appear to involve valuable stocks, jewelry, art, or missing people like the others had.
“How odd. There’s nothing missing,” Annie said, stepping into the kitchen and finding the cat’s filled food and water bowls. “Except Boots! Has anyone seen Boots?”
Annie sank down in a chair, propped both elbows on the kitchen table, and put her head in her hands. This was too much—The Kiss, the man on the subway, two break-ins, and now a missing Boots. Tears welled in her eyes, and she wiped them away with her index fingers. Taking a deep breath, she said a silent prayer. Dear God, thank You for keeping us safe during our trip to New York. Please watch over Boots—keep her safe and bring her home to me.
“Annie, we’re going to look for Boots. But Kate just mentioned that someone had broken in and ransacked your hotel room in New York, and Alice told me about the subway incident.” Chief Edwards placed a hand on her shoulder. “I need to ask you a few questions while Officer Peters looks for the cat.”
Annie had just finished telling the chief what she remembered from the New York incidents when Kate entered the kitchen, cellphone in hand. “I need to get home to Vanessa. Are you going to be all right?”
“Of course she’ll be all right, because I will be here with her all night,” said Alice as she walked through the doorway from the hall. “After all, my suitcase is already here.”
Annie hugged Kate. “Go home to Vanessa and give her a hug for me. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”
Officer Peters returned to the house carrying Alice’s suitcase, having found it outside the van while searching the house. He hadn’t seen any signs of Boots. After assuring Annie he would drive by the house at regular intervals throughout the night, Officer Peters left to resume his patrol duty. Chief Edwards told Annie he would request a copy of the police report from NYPD the next morning to see if there was a connection between the two incidents. After he said goodnight, Annie and Alice stood at the window and watched his flashlight bob in the darkness as he took one more look around the front yard.
****
Annie woke slowly, surprised to see the sun filtering through the curtains. Half asleep, she stretched and patted the sheets, feeling for Boots. Her eyes flew open when she remembered arriving home the previous night to find Boots missing. Jumping from the warm blankets, Annie ran to the window, hoping to see a glimpse of the cat in the yard. Nothing moved in the yard except trees and plants waving in the wind. She threw on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt and ran downstairs. Grabbing her jacket and sliding into her yard boots, she went out the mudroom door, calling for Boots.
When she started losing her voice, Annie returned with a heavy heart to the kitchen to find a full coffeepot and Alice removing a batch of apple muffins from the oven.
“You, my friend, are one of the very few people I’d wake up for at such a beastly time after two consecutive nights of very little sleep,” Alice teased, shaking a crocheted pot holder at her. Then her face softened. “How are you doing?”
Annie retrieved two mugs from the cabinet and filled them with coffee. She handed one to Alice. “I’m worried, tired, and a little sad. I wonder where Boots is.”
“I’ll help you look some more after we have a bit of sustenance. And I guess I should put some clothes on before I go tromping aroun
d the neighborhood.” Alice dumped the muffins into a basket lined with a tea towel and set them on the table. “Sit.”
Annie sat.
Alice grabbed two plates from the counter and joined her at the table. “Now, how are you? Really.”
“To be honest, while I am a bit unnerved about the two break-ins, right now I am more concerned about Boots. We have no way of knowing how long or why she’s been gone.” Annie nibbled a muffin but mostly picked at the topping. “I just hope she’s safe.”
“You haven’t said much about Ian through all of the excitement. Are you dealing with that any better?”
“Well, I’m still struggling some,” Annie admitted, pushing a crumb around her plate with her left index finger. “But I know Wayne would want me to be happy. I have to admit that, as stressed out as I was Saturday night in the hotel room, I nearly melted when I heard Ian’s voice the next morning.”
“That’s a start. It’s been fun watching your friendship with Ian grow. Didn’t you get a kick out of seeing Kate flirt with Cole?”
“Yes, he did draw her out of her shell.” Annie stopped playing with the crumbs and put a bite in her mouth. She looked at the bowl of cat food waiting near the door. “I hope I see Boots again. I’m really worried.”
Alice covered the muffin basket with a towel before taking the cups to the sink. “Now that we’ve had our coffee, how about we go look for her before heading into town?”
17
The “Closed” sign was up at A Stitch in Time, and Annie hesitated before trying the door. “Do you suppose she’s ready for visitors even if she’s not open for business?”
Alice peered through the glass, shading her face with one hand and clutching a paper bag with the other. “I think we are more like family, and she’d like to see us whether or not we can buy anything.”
She had just backed away from the door when it flew open with Mary Beth on the other side. “Am I glad to see you!” she said, hugging Alice and then Annie. “I’ve been so worried. Kate’s here. She filled me in on everything. Has Boots returned?”