ONE SMALL VICTORY

by Maryann Miller

  When she was outside, she turned back for just a moment. “I’m sorry. It’s... That’s all I can say. I’m sorry.”

  Jenny made it home in time to throw some things in a duffle for Alicia before Ralph showed up. A few minutes later, Alicia bounded through the door, dumped her book bag in the middle of the living room and ran down the hall.

  “Hey,” Jenny called. Alicia stopped. Jenny nudged the bag with her toe. “Take this to your room.”

  With an Oscar-caliber show of theatrics, the girl came back and slung the bag over her shoulder.

  “Nice move,” Ralph said.

  “If I don’t stay on top of them, they’d move their beds out here.”

  Jenny heard the back door open and a moment later Scott walked into the living room. He mumbled greetings then started toward his room. Something in his slouch, more pronounced than usual, set off an internal alarm. Now what? Could things get more complicated?

  Jenny took a step toward him. “Something wrong, Scott?”

  “Nope.” He didn’t pause in his forward progress.

  “It’s not too late to come with us,” Ralph said.

  This time Scott did stop and glance over his shoulder. “Wish I could, but...”

  He finished the sentence with a shrug, then continued on, almost colliding with Alicia as she came running out of her room. “I’m ready,” she said.

  In the few minutes it took to bundle Alicia and her things in the car, Ralph didn’t speak, and Jenny was just as glad. There wasn’t anything else that needed to be said. But he did turn to her before sliding in the driver’s seat. “You be careful.”

  Just like Carol’s sentiment, this one touched her deep inside. I’ve spent all this time trying to be tough, and I’m just a marshmallow. She managed a smile and a nod. “See you Sunday.”

  Jenny stood in the driveway and watched the car pull out, returning Alicia’s farewell wave. Scott stood in the doorway, then turned to go back in the house as she approached. He’d disappeared down the hall by the time she stepped into the living room. So much for an evening of quality time together.

  He did honor her with his presence for dinner, though it could hardly be called a pleasant social experience since he wolfed the pepper steak like a man who’d been deprived of food for a month. When he was finished, he wiped the tomato sauce from his lips with a napkin, then pushed away from the table. “Better get to work on that paper.”

  It was the only thing he’d said to her since she’d called him to dinner, the words rendered doubly irritating because they begged no response. A simple declaration that was benign on the surface. But something told her it wasn’t so temperate below. She thought about calling him back to clear his dishes, then said, “The hell with it.” She didn’t need more of his surly mood. She needed a long, hot bath and maybe fifty drinks before she could even think about sleeping tonight.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Jenny’s stomach twisted as she surveyed the room, which as full of so many cops they could have manned an entire season of all the Law & Order shows. It didn’t help that sleep had eluded her well into the witching hour, and she’d needed way too much coffee to get through the morning at work. Thank goodness Mitchell hadn’t pressed her about why she was leaving early this afternoon. If he had, she doubted she had the emotional stamina to support the lie of the teacher conference.

  Steve drew her toward the table, making introductions as they passed various people. No way would she remember names, but she would remember how able they all looked, the women as much as the men. Another coup for women’s lib.

  She recognized Linda and Burroughs and gave them each a nod as Steve pulled out a vacant chair for her. Gonzales stood at the head of the table and motioned toward a bucket that held cans of soda and bottles of water under a blanket of ice. “Help yourself.”

  Jenny grabbed water and swore her stomach relaxed at the prospect of no more coffee. When this was over she might give it up entirely. Then again...

  “Okay,” Gonzales said. “Let’s get up to speed.”

  He shuffled the stack papers in front of him. “Operation Sting commences tonight at 1800 hours.” He paused and looked at the Sheriff. “Tubbs, have your men in place one hour prior.”

  The beefy man nodded, and Gonzales motioned to Burroughs. “The bugs in and working?”

  Burroughs nodded. “Coming through loud and clear.”

  Jenny remembered asking Burroughs about this when he’d first mentioned it as part of the plan weeks ago. She wondered why they didn’t just use the bugs to gather evidence and skip the sting entirely. To his credit, he hadn’t laughed, giving her a brief overview of what constitutes admissible evidence.

  “And your men are sure the curtains along that glass wall are not closed at night?” Gonzales asked.

  Burroughs nodded. “They’ve watched for two months. Barring some fluke that we can’t prepare for, we should be able to see in just fine.”

  Gonzales turned to Jenny. “That’s our backup in case the bugs fail for some reason. If we lose the audio, we’ll come in as soon as we see the exchange being made.”

  She nodded.

  Gonzales motioned to Steve. “You got communications set up?”

  Steve rose and stepped over to a Dry-Erase board displaying a rough sketch of a map. He marked the spot where Jenny was meeting the perps the following night. “There are only two main roads out of town that lead to this intersection of 720 and 423. We’ll have men here and here.” He paused to put an x at several places. “I’ll be here with Linda.” Again he made a mark. “We’re using the old ‘car broken down’ ruse, but hey, whatever works. We’ll all be in touch via transmitters. Including the county and federal guys who will be up in the tree line beyond the perimeter of the property.”

  “What about the outside guards?”

  Gonzales directed that question to Burroughs who said, “We’ll take them out as soon as the subject enters the premises.”

  Jenny winced and Burroughs shook his head. “It’s not what you think,” he said. “We’ve got stun guns.”

  Jenny nodded to acknowledge the explanation, but she still found the idea distasteful. Burroughs was so casual about it. Like he was talking about picking up his dry cleaning on the way home from work.

  “Okay.” Now Gonzales turned his attention to her. “You ready for this?”

  She swallowed hard and then nodded, not trusting her voice to make coherent words. Gonzales reached into a satchel and pulled out a two-inch thick parcel wrapped in brown paper. He slid it across the table to her. “Here’s the money.”

  Jenny just looked at the package for a moment, shocked at the size. Was that really a hundred thousand dollars? Steve nudged her. “Go ahead. You’ve got to touch it sometime.”

  The comment drew a few chuckles as Jenny took the money. She couldn’t wait to get it into the safe at the shop.

  After running through an approximate timetable for later that night, Gonzales rapped his knuckles on the table. “When it’s over I’ll come in with the cavalry and clean up the mess you make.”

  His attempt at humor raised a few chuckles, but Jenny didn’t join in. She was too busy telling her stomach not to reject the half a bottle of water she’d consumed.

  Steve touched her arm on the way out. “Holding up okay?”

  Despite the doubts spinning through her head and the anxiety tying her stomach in knots, she nodded.

  “Things okay at home?”

  “For the time being. Ralph left with Alicia yesterday. Scott should be no problem.”

  Jenny paused by the back door, a small part of her reluctant to take the next step. Steve jingled some coins in his pocket, avoiding her gaze, then he looked at her. “Don’t take any risks. Just follow the plan.”

  “Yes, sir.” She followed that with a mock salute.

  “I’m serious. We stick to the plan and nobody gets hurt.”

  For a second she almost asked him about the guards. Wouldn’t being ‘take
n out’ hurt just a bit. But she pushed the impulse aside. This wasn’t the time for an ethics discussion.

  Instead, she gave him a small smile of reassurance. Then she tucked the parcel of money into her briefcase and donned sunglasses and a wide brimmed hat. “I’ll be glad when I can just be me again.”

  “Soon,” he said. “Soon.”

  Jenny played the words like a mantra as she slipped out the back door of the station. Only a few more hours and the whole mess would be over.

  The mid-afternoon sun slanted through the trees, almost as if assigned to justify her costume. Or was that just a flighty turn of mind? She shook the silly thought aside and walked the few blocks to where she’d parked her car. She didn’t see any sign of Leon or Frank. But then she didn’t expect to at this time of the afternoon. Leon would be across town plying his trade closer to the school. And Frank? She had no idea what Frank did during the daytime. Maybe he never even came out of whatever hole he lived in.

  Jenny tossed the hat and sunglasses into the back seat, then slid behind the wheel and dropped the briefcase on the passenger seat. She started the engine and locked all the doors. The thought of something happening to the money made her palms damp with sweat.

  At the shop, she hurried in the front door, a gust of wind blowing in on her heels. Mitchell was just coming out of the back and he stopped. “Didn’t expect you back today.”

  “Just have a few things to take care of. You can go ahead and make those deliveries. I’ll lock up.”

  Mitchell picked up an arrangement of white and red mums. “How’d the conference go?”

  For a moment Jenny was blank. What conference? Then she remembered the excuse. “Uh, it was fine.”

  She avoided his eyes as she walked through the split in the counter.

  “Something wrong, Jen?”

  “No.” She tried a smile.

  “I don’t mean to pry,” Mitchell said. “But I remember you were worried about Scott’s grades.”

  “He’s doing fine now. Actually, this conference was for Alicia. We, uh, went over the work she’s missing.”

  “Oh.”

  Jenny was afraid that her face was going to crack under the effort to keep the smile. But she had to admire that quick bit of improvising. It seemed to satisfy Mitchell, and he headed toward the front door with the flowers.

  “I’ll bring the other one out for you.” Jenny grabbed a small arrangement of pink roses and baby’s breath and followed Mitchell. If he noticed her lugging the briefcase along, he didn’t say anything. He secured the arrangements in the containers in the delivery van and drove off.

  Jenny went back in. Locked all the doors and stashed the money in the safe. She felt much better after the lock clicked in place when she spun the dial.

  Now all she had to do was muddle through supper with Scott, and get out of the house without too much protest.

  ~*~

  A chill permeated the shop and Jenny shivered. She always hated coming here after dark to take care of some forgotten business. Why did it seem to only smell like a funeral parlor at night? Did the darkness do something to the flowers?

  It was worse tonight because she couldn’t even turn on a light.

  Using a penlight to illuminate the dial, Jenny worked the combination on her safe and opened it. Inside, the two wrapped stacks of thousand dollar bills rested on the clutter of papers. She pulled out the money and stuffed it into a large money-belt strapped to her waist. Then she hefted the small gun she’d managed to avoid returning to Carol and again considered the wisdom of taking it. “Stick to the plan.” That’s what Steve had said, and he’d explode if he knew she wasn’t. But then he didn’t, did he. And she wouldn’t feel so vulnerable if she had the gun along.

  Ending the mental debate, she shoved the weapon under her waistband behind the belt. There was something to be said for skin-tight jeans. The gun fit snug between denim and skin and was covered by the money belt.

  She shrugged into her leather jacket leaving it open to reveal the tank top that was so tight it didn’t even have a wrinkle. Could she count on that being enough of a distraction that they’d miss the gun when they searched her? She didn’t even want to think about the consequences if it was discovered.

  Making her way through the gloom to the door, Jenny slipped out, locked up, and headed toward her car. She had her hand on the door handle when she heard a rustle of movement in the trees beside the shop. She whirled. Was someone hiding in the shadows?

  She couldn’t see anyone, but she reached for her gun. No fucking way am I going to be robbed.

  Another rustle of movement and she pulled the weapon free. Then Scott stepped out of the shadow.

  “Geeze.” Jenny shoved the gun behind the money belt, hoping Scott missed it in the darkness. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  “What are you doing, Mom?”

  How had he found her? Was this some kind of sign? Was God trying to tell her something with all these complications?

  Probably not. Why would God bother with a person who’d long ago given up on believing?

  But still she couldn’t formulate a response and faced her son in this bizarre standoff for more minutes than she could afford to spend. She had to get him out of the way. “Scott. You have to go home. Now.”

  He crossed his arms across his chest. “No way. You talk. Then maybe I’ll leave.”

  Jenny didn’t know whether to hit him or laugh. He was trying so hard to be a tough guy, but compared to the real tough guys, his stance was almost a cartoon.

  She glanced at her watch. There wasn’t time to laugh or to talk. “Just go,” she said in what she hoped was her firmest ‘mom’ voice. “I’ll explain it all tomorrow.”

  Scott didn’t move, but she was running out of time. She turned and headed toward her car.

  Now he moved, stepping toward her. “Talk to me. Or I’ll just follow you.”

  Jenny reached to open her car door, then paused. His threat was without substance. How could he even think he could follow on foot? It was ludicrous. But then, he’d been resourceful enough to find her here. And she certainly didn’t want him wandering through town and stumbling on her meet.

  She checked her watch again. Shit! How late could she be before Frank and Leon gave up on her.

  “Okay. This is the deal, Scott. I’m going to give you the condensed version of what’s going on. There’s not time for more. No questions. No discussion until I come home later. Agreed?”

  After what seemed like forever, he nodded.

  “Part of what you’ve suspected is true. I have been meeting with drug dealers.”

  He opened his mouth to speak and Jenny held up her hand to stop him. “I have exactly ten minutes before the whole deal implodes. So shut up.”

  He did.

  “I’m working with the cops to bring down a major distributor and it’s happening tonight.”

  She stepped closer. “So I need for you to go home. Stay there. And you can say whatever you need to when I get back.”

  “Is it dangerous?”

  Her first instinct was to reassure him. But her gut told her he wouldn’t buy one more lie. “Yes.”

  “Then I’m going with—”

  She stopped him with a wave of her hand. “You. Are. Going. Home.”

  “But what if you—”

  She touched his lips. “I won’t. I’ll come home tonight.”

  It seemed to take forever, but he finally nodded. She squeezed his arm. “Later.”

  He didn’t move, but time was wasting. She ran to the car, jumped in and started it. She could see him still standing there as she pulled out of the parking lot. Please God, let me keep my promise. Then she laughed. Like He’s really listening to you.

  Jenny pushed the speed limit to the max as she drove across town, but at least she didn’t have to worry about a speeding ticket. The cops were all occupied elsewhere. But she did have some concern for other traffic and pedestrians.

  She checke
d her watch again. Five minutes after eight. Would they wait? Perspiration trickled down her back as she parked several blocks from the meeting place. Then she got out, locked the car and hoofed it to the abandoned strip mall.

  Relief flooded her when she saw figures at the end of the block. At first she thought it was just Frank and Leon, but then she saw another man lounging against the side of the old Laundromat. She hadn’t expected a third man. Who was he and why was he here?

  For a moment panic seized her. Was this the main man? Were they going to do the deal here and not at the ranch?