by Kathi Daley
“So maybe Interested is married to Roseanne Candlewood, who has the plan registered under her name,” I said.
“Maybe,” Alex replied. “Or maybe someone named Roseanne Candlewood really is interested in hooking up with Marilyn M.”
“Either way, I just got Interested to agree to a meeting,” Salinger said.
“Won’t Interested know right away that something’s off when you show up?” I asked.
“Yes, but I plan to identify Interested before he or she knows who I am or why I’m there.”
How will I know who you are? Salinger typed.
I’ll find you. I saw your photo on the dating website, so I know what you look like, Interested typed back.
“Uh-oh,” I said aloud.
“I’ll get one of the cops from Bryton Lake to show up at the meetup. There are a couple of women in that office who’ll pass with a blond wig and a little makeup.” Salinger closed the computer after confirming the time and place. “You go have fun with your family, and whatever you do, stay far, far away from Lucky’s tonight.”
“Is that where you’re meeting?” I asked.
“It is, and I don’t want to be worrying about you.” Salinger looked at Alex. “Let everyone know Zoe isn’t to leave the family group at any point during the evening. Maybe between all of you, you can manage to keep her out of my way.”
“I’ll make sure she stays with us,” Alex answered.
Great. Now I was being babysat by my daughter.
******
“Oh, look at the ponies,” my three-year-old sister Harper squealed.
“Those aren’t ponies; they’re reindeer like Zoe has at her house,” my mom corrected her as we looked at the North Pole display in one of the windows.
It really was the perfect night. There were a few snow flurries in the air, which added to the holiday atmosphere, yet it wasn’t windy, wet, or overly cold. The shops along Main Street were lit up with holiday lights, and each storefront had a special display. In the past the windows had been coordinated to tell a story, but this year the merchants association had decided to do away with the story and allow each shopkeeper to create their own display. The windows would be voted on during Hometown Christmas and the winning one would receive a trophy that could be displayed on their sales counter for the following year.
“Can we go ice skating?” Alex asked.
“I won’t be able to go with you this year, but it’s fine by me if you do,” I answered.
“Me and Tucker want to go to the sledding hill,” Scooter countered.
I glanced at Mom. “Actually, I was thinking of hot cocoa and vanilla ice cream,” she answered my unspoken question.
“I’ll take Alex ice skating,” Ellie volunteered. “And Levi can take the boys sledding. If you’ll take Eli to the ice cream shop with you, we can all meet back here in an hour or so.”
“That sounds like a good plan,” my mom said.
“I think I’m going to run down the street to the sporting goods store to look for some stocking stuffers for Zak,” I commented as the group that included my mom, dad, sister, grandpa, Hazel, and Eli turned toward the ice cream shop.
Alex paused and looked at me with a worried expression on her face.
“Don’t worry. I won’t go anywhere near the bar. I promise. I just want to get a little last-minute shopping done.”
“Pinky swear.” Alex held up the little finger on her right hand.
“Pinky swear.” I locked my pinky with hers.
“Okay. Be careful on the ice,” Alex cautioned.
“I will. Have a good time. If I finish my errand in time I’ll come over to watch you skate.”
I felt bad that Alex felt she needed to worry about me. It was true I’d managed to get myself into some sticky predicaments in the past, but I had Catherine to worry about now, so I was determined to stick to my promise to be extra careful. As I walked down the street with my daughter doing a jig in my stomach, I let the festive atmosphere relax me. I couldn’t help but smile as I paused to listen to a group of carolers dressed in Victorian costumes. I recognized several of them as being involved in Hometown Christmas from years past and realized they must be out doing a trial run.
“Zoe, is that you?”
I turned around and smiled at the woman who was hurrying down the sidewalk toward me. “Aspen,” I greeted the kindergarten teacher and animal activist I hadn’t seen for a couple of years. “How are you?”
“I’m good. I hadn’t heard you were pregnant.”
I placed my hand on my belly. “Aspen, meet Catherine.”
“Your first?”
“Yes. She’ll be our first biological child.”
Aspen hugged me. “Congratulations. It looks like you’re due soon.”
“In a few weeks. So, how have you been?”
“I’m good. I moved away from Ashton Falls after the kitten incident, but I’ve decided to come back, so I’m here looking at rentals. I was originally going to head home tomorrow, but my friend’s daughter is part of the parade tomorrow, so I’m staying an extra day. Is Zak here with you?”
“He’s in Europe, but he’ll be home tomorrow. I was just going to the sporting goods store. If you have time walk with me and we can catch up.”
Aspen looked at her watch. “I’m supposed to meet my friend, but I have a few minutes.”
I started walking and Aspen followed along.
“The town really went all-out with the decorations this year,” Aspen commented.
“The events committee is hoping for an extra-good turnout for Hometown Christmas, so they asked the merchants to go all-out with the decorations and added a few things like the parade and reindeer exhibit.”
“I was wondering what the pen in the park was for. You do know it’s empty, right?”
I laughed. “I know. The reindeer are in a pen at my house until tomorrow. Once the reindeer are moved to the pen in the park there has to be twenty-four-hour security, so the committee decided to house them at a private residence until the event actually got started. Of course, in retrospect that may not have been the best choice; someone let them out of the pen, but Jeremy managed to round up all but one.”
Aspen stopped walking. “I don’t suppose you mean that one.” She pointed to a reindeer standing next to the giant Christmas tree in the town square.
“Yes, I believe that’s Dasher.” Fortunately, although people were stopping to take photos of the animal, no one had approached him. “I need to call the Zoo. Hopefully, he won’t take off before Jeremy gets here.”
“I’ll get him.”
I watched as Aspen unwound a rope that was draped through green poles that were used to divide the sidewalk from the street. Once she had a length of it free, she slowly walked toward the animal, talking to it softly. I was sure the reindeer would take off as soon as he noticed Aspen approaching. I just hoped he wouldn’t trample the people who’d gathered to watch in the process.
I held my breath as Aspen reached out a hand and petted the reindeer’s face. She had the rope tied into a lasso, which she gently put over his head. Then she tied him to a nearby post and waved me over.
“Go ahead and call Jeremy. I think this guy is tired and ready to go home.”
I called Jeremy and told him to bring the van, then turned to Aspen. “That was amazing. How did you do it?”
“I guess you could say I have a way with animals. This big guy could sense I meant him no harm. He was ready to go home, so he let me approach.”
“Well, thank you. We’ve been trying to catch up with him all week.”
Aspen shrugged. “No problem. I’ll let my friend know I’m waiting with you for Jeremy to arrive.”
“I appreciate that. If you ever need a job we could use someone like you at the Zoo.”
“Actually, I will need a job once I’ve relocated.”
“I’ll text you my number. We can set up a time to talk after the first of the year.”
“Thank you. I
’d like that very much.”
I was texting Aspen my number just as Jeremy pulled up with the van. She left to meet her friend as soon as Jeremy took over, but I stayed to make sure everything went off without a hitch.
“How did you manage to catch up with this wily creature?” Jeremy asked.
“I was talking to Aspen and we noticed him standing by the tree. Aspen grabbed a piece of the guard rope and walked right up to him. He just stood there while she slipped the rope over his neck and tied him to the post. It was amazing. I offered her a job. I probably should have discussed it with you first, but it was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing.”
“I think she’ll fit right in and we will need the extra help. Tiffany wants to go to part time after she and Scott get married and I’m going to need to take some time off this summer when the new baby arrives.”
“New baby?” I asked.
“I was supposed to wait to tell anyone until after the first of the year, but Jessica and I are expecting our first child together.”
“Oh, wow. That’s fantastic.” I hugged Jeremy. “I’m sure Rosalie and Morgan will be thrilled to have a new baby in the house.”
Rosalie was Jessica’s daughter and Morgan was Jeremy’s. With a third, shared child, they’d make the perfect blended family.
Jeremy got Dasher loaded up and I decided to head back to join the family. I didn’t want them worrying about me if my errand was delayed. Alex and Ellie were still on the ice, but Levi and the boys must have finished sledding because they were having a snowball fight in a field nearby.
I felt a pain in my abdomen that took my breath away. I grabbed onto a tree and hung on until it passed. I’d had contractions off and on for the past week, but this one was a lot stronger and had lasted longer. Catherine must be as tired of waiting to be born as me.
Once the contraction passed I made my way over to a bench where I could watch Alex and Ellie gliding around the ice. I tried to maintain the holiday spirit I’d felt earlier in the evening, but sitting on the sidelines once again left me feeling angsty. I took out my phone to call Salinger to find out if he’d had his date with Interested and, if he had, whether he’d garnered any additional information that might solve Stella’s murder.
Salinger answered after the first ring. “I was just about to call you.”
“Do you have news?” I asked.
“In a way. It turns out Interested is a nineteen-year-old named Jared Candlewood. Roseanne is his mother and the phone he sent the email from is on her family plan, as Alex suggested.”
I frowned. “Okay, so how did he get access to my email address through the dating site? I never agreed to a meet with anyone.”
“Jared works for Data Tek Industries, a corporate computer system that includes the Sexy Singles dating site. He admitted he occasionally looked around while he was in the system doing updates and repairs. Marilyn isn’t the first woman he’s set up a date with using information he obtained illegally.”
“The kid’s nineteen. Do any of the women he approaches ever follow through with the date he sets up?”
“He said his success rate is about fifty percent. But that’s not important. What is, is that Jared said he didn’t send any emails to Stella, but he isn’t the only technician working for Data Tek. He gave me the name and contact information for three other young men who would have had access to the computer system.”
“Any of them have the initials DMG?”
“There’s a Donald Goldberg. I’ll start with him and then move on to the others if that doesn’t yield me any results.”
I gasped as another contraction gripped my stomach.
“Are you okay?” Salinger asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Catherine is just moving around a bit more than usual. It looks like my parents and the others are on their way here, so I should go. Call me tomorrow to let me know how your interviews turn out.”
“I will, and you get some rest. The most important job you have now is taking care of your baby.”
“I know and thanks.”
I felt myself relax as the contraction eased. The doctor had said I’d have contractions leading up to the actual event and that as long as they were randomly spaced I shouldn’t worry about them. Most of the ones I’d experienced had been minor in intensity, but the last couple had kicked it up a notch. Still, the contractions didn’t seem to be coming on any sort of a regular time line, so I decided not to mention them to the others. The last thing I needed was a bunch of mother hens hovering over me.
Chapter 9
Friday, December 22
I woke the next morning to a text letting me know Zak was on his way home. He predicted he’d get into the airport at about the same time as Pi, so they’d ride up the mountain together. If all went as planned I should have my entire family home by six o’clock that evening. I couldn’t help but smile at the thought of a good old-fashioned Christmas with everyone I loved. I’d hoped to have Stella’s murder solved before now, but Salinger was correct when he said the most important thing was for me to provide a safe environment for my unborn child.
I pulled on a robe and slippers and went down the stairs. I could hear cartoons playing in the den, which probably meant Scooter and Tucker were up. When I entered the kitchen, which had been warmed by a cheery fire, I found Ellie feeding Eli while Alex frosted gingerbread men at the nearby counter.
“Something smells wonderful,” I said as I made a cup of herbal tea.
“Gingerbread,” Alex answered. “Ellie’s donating them for the high school bake sale at Hometown Christmas. Are we going to the parade?”
“I planned on it. The parade is at five and Zak and Pi should be home at six, so I figured we’d go to the parade and then come home for dinner. If that’s okay with everyone else, of course.”
“Fine by me,” Alex answered. “I miss Zak and I’m excited to see Pi.” She looked at Ellie. “We should make a lasagna. Zak loves lasagna and we can make it ahead of time and then heat it up when we get home from the parade.”
“That sounds like a wonderful idea,” Ellie responded.
“Can I make you some breakfast?” Alex asked.
“I think I’m just going to have one of those cookies.”
“Zak told me to make sure you eat healthy food, not just junk,” Alex scolded.
“Fine.” I sighed. “I’ll have a couple of eggs, scrambled.” At what point, I wondered, had Alex become the parent and I the child? “Is Levi at the tree lot?”
“Yeah, but he’ll be getting off early because he’s on the high school float,” Ellie said. “He said he’d meet us at the parking area afterward. He also wanted me to let you know the Hometown Christmas crew will be by to pick up the reindeer at around noon. They have around-the-clock security scheduled until the event’s over, and then they’ll bring them back to you.”
“I know Zak worked everything out before he left, so I’m sure it’ll all be fine. I’m just glad we managed to get everyone back in the pen in time. It was touch-and-go for a while.”
“Do you still think someone let them out intentionally?” Alex asked as she set a plate with scrambled eggs and whole-grain toast in front of me.
“I don’t know. It seems likely the gate was left open intentionally, but I suppose it’s possible I may not have latched it securely. I don’t think we’ll ever know for sure. As long as they’re safe now, I guess it doesn’t matter.”
I tensed up as another contraction gripped my body.
“Are you okay?” Ellie asked.
“I’m fine. I’m just having a few random contractions. The doctor said they were to be expected during the last weeks.”
“How often?” Ellie asked.
“Very random. I had several last night, but they were widely spaced and this was the first one I’ve had this morning. I’m totally fine. If they become more frequent I’ll call the doctor. I promise.”
“Okay. I had early labor beginning a couple of weeks before I gave birth as wel
l, but it’s better to be safe than sorry, so don’t let it go too long if they begin to come in regular intervals.”
“I won’t.” I pushed my empty plate aside. “I think I’ll go up and get dressed. I want to call Salinger and I have a few more gifts to wrap this morning. Did Levi feed the reindeer?”
“He said everything was taken care of, so you don’t need to do anything. He’s even going to have Jeremy come over to help with the transfer. All you need to do is relax and take it easy.”
I wished everyone would stop telling me to relax and take it easy. I wasn’t a take-it-easy sort of person. Sitting around waiting for Catherine to arrive was going to drive me crazy if I didn’t keep busy.
After I showered and dressed I called Salinger. I was hoping he’d have a break in the case that would require my immediate attention.
“I was wondering when you’d call,” Salinger greeted me.
“Alex made me eat a nutritious breakfast before I did anything else. Do you have news?”
“I do, but I’m afraid it isn’t great news.”
I sat down on the edge of the bed. “What do we know?”
“I managed to speak to Donald Goldberg. After a bit of persuasion he admitted to being DMG.”
“So we found our guy.”
“We found the guy who sent the emails. He came across Stella’s account during a maintenance session. He was able to ascertain by the discussion in the chat rooms she frequented and the number and type of men she dated that she was in to some kinky stuff. Goldberg emailed her to try to get in on the action, but she shot him down. On several occasions he kept trying to persuade her, but she didn’t budge. One of the guys she dated had mentioned in one of his online chat sessions that she was in to the dominatrix thing, so he decided to play the tough guy, changing his emails to reflect the new role to get her attention. She never agreed to a date and he never met her in person.”
“He has to be lying.”
“Maybe, but he has an alibi for the time of Stella’s murder. Whatever the intention of his emails, he didn’t kill her.”