Bells & The Bandit (A Willow Crossing Mystery Book 1)

by Leona Fox

  “I don’t know what your boy has done, but now I have the police breathing down my neck,” Ru heard Kirk say.

  “My boy didn’t do a thing. Maybe they are breathing down your neck because you’re a no-good snake,” Mr. Carlin replied.

  Ru whispered to Esteban, “Did you hear that? They’re arguing about Griffin.”

  “Yes, I heard it. Maybe this is a bad idea.”

  “No, it’s not. Now, hush…I want to hear what they’re saying.” Esteban didn’t take her hushing him personally. In fact, he found it kind of funny, so he did as she demanded.

  “Listen, Carlin, I don’t want any trouble with the law. If your boy took that bracelet, you’d better turn him in. If you don’t, then I may just have to drag him in myself.”

  “You won’t lay a hand on my boy. If you so much as look at him funny, I’ll put a hole in you.”

  “I’m just warning you now. If he did this and I go down for it, you will pay.”

  Kirk Enders turned to leave, and Ru got an idea. “I think I’m gonna head over there and ask him about Griffin. Maybe I can feel him out about Hannah and catch him in a lie.”

  “I don’t know if you should do that,” Esteban said worriedly.

  “He doesn’t seem to be in the frame of mind for some idle chitchat.”

  “I’ll be fine. I’ll take Opal; she can protect me.”

  Esteban looked down at the dog. She was wearing a pink, frilly dress, a bow on her head and white ruffle socks on her feet.

  “Yeah, she is so intimidating!”

  They both laughed and then Ru walked away, pulling Opal behind her. She hoped he wouldn’t go inside, and she quickened her pace. In two minutes she managed to cover the span of grass between the tree and the camp area, and shouted, “Mr. Carlin! Hello!”

  Startled, the man turned to see who was calling to him. “Oh, Ms. Delgado, hello.” He wondered why she would be coming to the camper.

  “Hi. How are you?”

  “I’m okay, I guess. You?”

  He had an annoyed look on his face. Ruby always wondered if that was just how he looked, or if he was truly annoyed…all of the time.

  “I’m doing well. I haven’t seen you at the school yet this year. I hope all is well.”

  “We’re getting by,” he said.

  He could tell by the look on her face that she was wanting more than a three word response, so he continued, “It’s not easy when you’re unemployed. I’ve been trying to find work, but with this recession, it’s nearly impossible.”

  Knowing Mr. Carlin was using the recession as an excuse to not work, Ru decided to change the subject.

  “How is Griffin doing?”

  “I don’t know, you see him more than me,” he answered, his voice gruff and his attitude short and snippy.

  “Well, he is a teenager. They rarely want to stick around home and spend time with their parents.” She paused for a moment, hoping he would have something to say.

  When he remained silent, she continued, “There’s a charity event coming up, I’m hoping Griffin will want to work it for us.”

  “You mean you still want him to work for you?”

  “Of course, why wouldn’t we?” Ru hoped this conversation was about to take a turn in the direction of information.

  “Well, it seems the whole town thinks he’s guilty of stealing from that Hannah lady.”

  “I never said he did it. Do you think he’ll want to work for us at the next event? It pays more than the others.”

  The prospect of his son making even more money turned his attitude around for a minute, and he smiled.

  “I think he’d love to work it for you.”

  “Good, I really hope he does.”

  Feeling like that moment was the only chance to bring up the bracelet, she went on, “By the way, I’m letting people know that Hannah Levitt is offering a reward for anyone who leads her to her missing bracelet. It was a family heirloom.”

  “Well, it seems you sure are trying to get that reward,” he said, his attitude changing yet again.

  Not knowing why he would say something like that, Ru asked, “What do you mean?”

  “My boy told me you were asking his friends about him. And then you came right out and asked him if he took it. You must think he’s guilty.”

  “I don’t think that, Mr. Carlin. I just asked him because of all the trouble he’s had in the past. You know I trust him. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have him work for me.”

  Knowing that if he upset the woman she may fire his boy, he went on, “You’re right. I just hate seeing him so upset.”

  Ruby knew the man had done plenty to upset the teenager, but rather than point that out to him, she simply said, “Well, I just wanted to let you know about the reward. Maybe if Griffin saw something that he was afraid to mention before, he could let Chief Putnam know. The reward is $5,000.”

  “That’s great to know! Have a great day, Mrs. Delgado!” He smiled, nodded and hurried into the camper.

  Ru found it weird how quickly his attitude changed and how fast he turned and went inside. As she made her way back to Esteban, she wondered what was going on with people lately. First Whitney was acting strange, then they see Kirk with Mr. Carlin, and then Mr. Carlin acts shifty.

  When Ru sat back down in the grass by Esteban, he said, “That looked like a pretty tense conversation.”

  “Oh, you know Mr. Carlin. To him, the only mood is crabby.”

  “Did he have anything interesting to say?” Esteban asked.

  “No. But he did seem interested in the $5,000 reward, and he was even more excited to hear that we wanted Griffin to work our next event.”

  “Do you really think it’s a good idea to have Griffin work it?”

  “Yes, Papi, I do. If he didn’t steal the bracelet, and we didn’t let him work the next event, he will hate us forever. Do you really want that?”

  “Of course not, Mama, but what if he did steal the bracelet?”

  “Then we will just have to keep a real close eye on him, won’t we?”

  Knowing it would be fighting a losing battle, Esteban conceded, “Okay, okay. You win. He can work the event. But, if anything happens, that will be his last event, yes?”

  “Yes,” Ru started, “if something else happens, we won’t have him work for the catering company again.”

  “No, Ru, if something happens he won’t work for us period…not the catering company, not the grocery store and not even odd jobs around our own house.”

  She knew he was right, so she said, “Yes, I understand.”

  Chapter 9

  That night, while Ru and Esteban were getting ready for bed, they heard a knock at their door. They both found it odd and unsettling because nobody ever came to the house at such a late hour. Hesitant, they both went downstairs and Esteban looked through the peephole.

  “Who is it?” Ru whispered.

  “There’s nobody there.”

  Not knowing why they were so afraid to answer the door, Ru said, “Open it…it’s probably just kids playing ding-dong-ditch.”

  “But they knocked,” Esteban said.

  Ru thought about that for a second and said with a smile, “Just open the door.”

  When Esteban cracked the door open, he didn’t see anything. He opened the door all the way and said, “You’re probably right. There’s nobody here.”

  Ruby stepped over to the door and looked outside. It wasn’t uncommon in that area for kids to act up late at night, so she wasn’t all that surprised that they were the latest victim of the knock and dash game. As she was turning away she noticed something out of the corner of her eye.

  “Look,” she said, pointing at the porch in front of the door.

  There was a small box, sitting on the doormat like a baby in a basket; only there was no note attached…and no baby. Curious, Ru opened the screen door and picked up the small package, looking around as she did so. They hurried inside and locked the door. Over on the couch, Ru got
ready to open the box.

  “I wonder what’s inside,” Esteban said.

  “Well, we’re about to find out!”

  When Ru opened the box, they both gasped softly. Inside was a beautiful old bracelet.

  “Is this…” Ru started.

  “…Hannah’s bracelet?” Esteban finished.

  “Get me the phone,” Ru said quickly.

  “Who are you going to call, Love? It’s after midnight.”

  “I’m calling Hannah. She has been so stressed out about this bracelet, I doubt she’ll care what time it is.” The second Esteban handed her the phone she began dialing.

  “Hello?” The frail voice asked, answering on the second ring.

  “Hannah, it’s Ruby Delgado. I’m sorry to call at this late hour, but I have some news for you.”

  “Ruby, hello. What is it?”

  “I think we have your bracelet.”

  “I’ll be right there,” Hannah said and hung up the phone.

  “What did she say?” Esteban asked when his wife put the phone down.

  “Not much. She’s on her way over.”

  “This late? I’d better walk down and meet her. She shouldn’t be out this late; not when she’s walking.”

  “I’ll put some water on for tea.”

  ~~~

  Esteban walked down the block to meet Hannah. When finally met up with her, she instantly asked about her bracelet, “Well, where is it?”

  “It’s back at the house, Hannah.”

  “Well, let’s hurry then!”

  Esteban smiled at the woman’s bluntness, and also at the pace with which she walked. Even with a cane, her fast steps started to make Esteban winded, and he was happy to see their house come into view.

  They walked into the house and the woman instantly asked, “Where’s my bracelet?”

  “Hello, Hannah,” Ru started. “I put water on for tea. Would you like a cup?”

  “Oh, no thank you, dear. I just want my bracelet.”

  Ru handed her the box and said, “I’m not positive it’s your bracelet, but I’m assuming it is. Here.”

  Hannah opened the box and grinned from ear to ear, “There’s my baby! How did you get it? Did Griffin give it to you?”

  “No, Hannah, Griffin didn’t give it to me.” Ru tried not to sound as aggravated as she was feeling.

  “Someone knocked on our door and when we came down, nobody was there, but the box was sitting on our doormat.”

  “I tell you, teenagers nowadays just have no respect for their elders.”

  “We don’t know who left the bracelet on our doorstep, Hannah.”

  “Oh, I just know it was that Carlin boy. His father is no good, so I can just imagine how bad that kid is becoming.”

  “Griffin is a good boy, Hannah. We wouldn’t have him working for us if we thought he could do something as bad as assaulting a woman and stealing her jewelry,” Esteban said, trying to diffuse her impression of the boy.

  “Well, I don’t know. I see how kids are. They are disrespectful. They only care about what they can get.”

  When she looked at Ruby and Esteban, she could see the looks on their faces and quickly changed her tone, “I’m sorry, but I just have a hard time trusting the young people of today. I sure hope you are right about him. I’d hate for him to jeopardize your business.”

  Esteban responded with words that he knew Hannah would appreciate, “Well, Hannah, if we see that the boy is up to no good, we definitely will fire him.”

  As if satisfied, Hannah reached into her pocket and then held her hand out to Esteban and Ru, “This reward belongs to you, then.”

  Shocked that the elderly woman would walk around town with that much cash in her pocket, and knowing that they really didn’t do anything to deserve the $5,000, Ru looked at Esteban and he nodded. Ru knew she couldn’t take the money.

  “No, Hannah, really…we only answered our door. We didn’t do anything to find it for you.”

  “I insist. You got my bracelet back to me, so you deserve it.”

  “Save it, Hannah. We’re just happy you got your bracelet back.”

  “Really, dear, I don’t need the money. Please take it.”

  “Tell you what, if you are really determined to give that money away, why don’t you donate it at the charity event we’re catering next month?”

  “I’d like for you to have it, but I guess I could donate it. I will do it in your name,” she said looking at Ru and Esteban.

  “That would be lovely. Thank you.” Esteban said.

  “Well, it’s awfully late; I think I’ll be going now.”

  “I’ll walk you home,” Esteban said.

  “Nonsense; I can get home on my own.”

  “I’d feel much better if you’d let me walk you.”

  “Young man, I’ve been walking these streets since I was a young child. I think I can find my way home.”

  Esteban found it almost amusing how the woman could go from being a sweet old lady to a stubborn woman.

  He held his ground, “I understand that, but I was raised to help people, so you are just going to have to deal with me walking you home.”

  “Well, you obviously weren’t raised to listen to your elders, but if you insist, fine…you can walk me home.”

  “Mama, I’ll be back in a little bit,” Esteban said, smiling.

  “Okay, dear,” Ru replied and then looked at Hannah, “I’m so happy you have your bracelet back. You sleep well.”

  “Oh, I will, dear, I will. Thank you so much!” Hannah was back to sounding sweet again.

  When Esteban returned after bringing Hannah home, he said, “That woman talked about that bracelet the whole way home! She is so happy to have it back!”

  “I’m glad. Now, if only we knew who took it.”

  Then Ru said, “Maybe we should have called Chief Putnam first. I didn’t think of it then, but maybe he could have gotten prints off the box.”

  “Well, I made mention to Hannah that they still had to figure out who took it and who hit her and knocked her out, but she didn’t seem too concerned about it.”

  “Maybe I’ll go see the Chief tomorrow…just to let him know what happened,” Ru said.

  “That sounds like a good idea. Bring Opal…you know how much he loves her.”

  Chapter 10

  Instead of pulling Opal’s wagon into Chief Putnam’s office, she put the dog on the floor and let her walk in alone.

  “Opal! I’m so happy to see you! Did you come here alone?” As if the dog could understand his joke, Opal snorted, and then walked over to his desk, where she knew he kept her treats.

  Ru walked in and said, “You’ve trained her well, Chief!”

  “Hello, Ruby. What brings you by?”

  “Well, I wanted to talk to you about Hannah and her bracelet.”

  Without any pause or hesitation, the man replied, “I’ve already closed the case.”

  Confused, Ru answered, “Why? You don’t even know what happened that night or who stole it and assaulted her.”

  “Hannah came by first thing this morning, box in hand, and told me everything.”

  “And you don’t think it’s important to find out who did this to her?”

  “She doesn’t want to press charges. She just wants to move on. I can’t force her, Ru.”

  Ru was frustrated. One thing that really bugs her is when things don’t get finished. Loose ends always need to be tied up in her world. “That doesn’t bother you?”

  “Of course it does, but like I said, I can’t force her to pursue it.”

  Ru stayed for a while so Opal could get her fill of snacks. After about half an hour, she headed out, frustrated at the morning’s events. As she walked down the street, Opal following behind in her wagon, she thought about everything. She knew Griffin would have loved to be the one to get the reward money, and even more so, his father would have been thrilled. She knew if it had been Griffin who stole the bracelet, he and his father easily c
ould have pretended they found it and brought it to the chief.

  Then she thought about Kirk and how he loved to swindle people out of their money. Even if he sold the bracelet at his booth or online, he wouldn’t have received more than the reward money Hannah was offering. If he was out for the money, he would have claimed the reward. Ru couldn’t figure it out.