Wedding Cake

by Josi S. Kilpack

Sadie glared playfully at her son, and he smiled back. She finished the batch she was working on before using a rubber spatula to scrape the remaining batter out of the bowl for the last two blintzes—the ones she would eat with jam. She preferred the salty-sweet flavors though she liked them with ranch dressing too. “I also need to make a batch of my lemon-almond shortbread and—”

  “You’re baking stuff?” Shawn cut in. He was between bites, which Sadie appreciated as she had a low tolerance for bad table manners. “I thought you weren’t doing a reception. You’re having a catered lunch instead, right?”

  “Yes, but I wanted to make something for the family barbeque tonight.”

  “Aren’t Pete’s kids in charge of that?”

  “Well, yes,” Sadie said, feeling defensive. “But I wanted to contribute.”

  Both Shawn and Pete continued to stare at her. “It’s the day before your wedding, Jane’s out to get you, and you’re going to spend it cooking?” Shawn said.

  “I’m going to spend it taking care of all these little details that need to be taken care of. My shortbreads are one of those details; it’s my part of this wonderful family dinner that Pete’s kids are working so hard on.” She gave Shawn a pointed look. “When you get married, you can choose to do it however you please.” She immediately pointed her spatula at Pete before he could say anything. “Don’t say a word. You love my shortbreads—that’s why I’m making this particular recipe.”

  Pete closed his mouth and smiled before looking back at his plate. “Indeed I do love your shortbreads,” he said wisely.

  Sadie gave Shawn a triumphant look and was turning her blintzes over when Shawn’s phone rang with the theme song from Hawaii Five-0. He put the bite on his fork into his mouth, then scowled at the phone when he picked it up, chewing quickly.

  “What?” Sadie asked, instantly on guard. “Who is it?”

  Shawn shrugged and swallowed simultaneously. “Don’t know the number,” he said before pushing the button and putting the phone to his ear.

  “Hello,” he said while Sadie and Pete exchanged a look. The number Jane had used last night had been an unknown number—could this be her?

  “Yeah, this is Shawn Hoffmiller. . . . Yes . . . yes . . . what?”

  The alarm in his voice didn’t make Sadie feel any better and when he pushed back from the table and stood, Sadie was downright worried. There was still half a blintz on his plate.

  “Yeah, I can log in right now,” Shawn said, turning toward the computer desk where Sadie’s newest laptop was set up. She’d been through a few the last couple of years.

  “What is it?” Sadie asked, quickly removing the blintzes from the griddle and following him. “What’s going on?”

  He ignored her even though she was right behind him. “It’ll take me a minute,” Shawn said into the phone. He sat in the desk chair, and Sadie hovered behind him.

  “Shawn,” Sadie said, tapping him on the shoulder, nearly ready to burst with all the questions she had. “What’s going on?”

  He moved the phone away from his mouth. “There’s something wrong with my bank account,” he said in clipped words. “Fraud department.”

  “That’s terrible.” Sadie patted him on the shoulder and relayed the news to Pete. What lousy timing. Whatever they’d flagged on his account, it probably had to do with his travel and making charges so far away from his usual locations. That the call wasn’t Jane-related made her feel much better.

  She returned to the kitchen and set about preparing her blintzes. She’d defrosted her last pint of peach freezer jam two days ago in anticipation of this very meal, and she made quick work of spreading the perfect amount on her breakfast. She brought her plate to the table and sat down across from Pete, while casting a sympathetic look toward Shawn at the desk.

  “What do you have going on today?” she asked Pete.

  “I have a final load of things from the house to put in your garage,” Pete said, cutting another bite. “Brooke’s husband is coming over with his truck so he and Jared can help with that. Jared and his family should be here around noon. After we get that settled, I’d told my kids I’d take all of them to the Happy Hut for lunch.”

  Sadie raised her eyebrows at the mention of the arcade-slash-pizza parlor in town. Pete hated that kind of thing. “The grandkids will love it,” she commented, realizing that because he hadn’t invited her to go it was likely his last hurrah as a single grandpa with his family. It made her feel a little left out, but she understood it all the same. Since their conflicts in San Francisco over the increasing reality of their marriage, she had given Pete a wide berth in regard to what he and his family needed to do to be at peace with all the upcoming changes. Besides, she had too much to do to make time for poor quality pizza anyway.

  “I didn’t make any of those authorizations,” Shawn said loudly. Sadie could only see him from behind, but he was obviously upset. “No, I didn’t give my PIN number to anyone. I’m not an idiot.”

  Authorizations? As in, more than one? A sense of dread formed in her stomach. This call from the fraud department wasn’t about some charge made at a fast-food place in a state where he didn’t usually buy his hamburgers. She and Pete shared a look, and she knew he was thinking the same thing.

  She got up from the table and went to stand behind Shawn again, looking over his shoulder at the computer. The entire screen—top to bottom—was full of transactions categorized as cash withdrawals. She scanned the column of numbers and let out a breath as she saw $400 repeated over and over again all the way down the page.

  “Yeah, I’m near a branch I can go to,” Shawn said a few moments later, his voice calmer but forcibly so. “I’ll go in right now and fill out the paperwork. . . . Sorry for losing my cool. . . . Right. . . . Thanks for understanding. Okay. Bye.” He put the phone down next to the computer before scrolling down the screen, showing more and more transactions.

  “Sixteen withdrawals for $400 each,” Shawn said. “All made between eleven thirty last night and one o’clock this morning at half a dozen different ATMs in Garrison.”

  “Oh my gosh,” Sadie said. She hesitated to express her fears out loud, not wanting them to be true, but she knew Shawn had to be thinking the same thing. “Do you think it’s Jane?” Twenty-four hours ago the thought wouldn’t have crossed Sadie’s mind, now it felt like the only explanation.

  “How could she have my PIN number?” Shawn shook his head as he scrolled back to the top. “Whoever it was drained my entire account and overdraft. The bank didn’t freeze it in time.”

  “How is that possible?” Sadie asked. “Aren’t there automatic controls?”

  “Yes, but the daily limits reset at midnight, and the lady in the fraud department told me that actual physical withdrawals aren’t flagged as readily as online transactions are, since that’s where the vast majority of fraud happens.” He scrolled back up to his account balance—$12.34—and groaned. “I’m supposed to move across country and make my flight arrangements for Anchorage and I’m completely broke.”

  “We’ll get it figured out,” Sadie said. “I mean, aren’t there fraud protections on the account?”

  “Yeah,” Shawn said, but didn’t sound relieved. He stood up. “But I have to fill out some paperwork verifying that I didn’t make the withdrawals myself and then I have to file a police report because of the amount taken and then it’s thirty days before they’ll be able to settle anything. The amount taken mandates a complete investigation.” He shook his head and clenched his jaw. “I can’t believe this.”

  “I’ll call the department and have an officer meet you at the bank so you can file the report simultaneously,” Pete said, joining the conversation. “The bank probably needs to have the police report before they can initiate their internal investigation.”

  “That’d be helpful.” Shawn picked up his phone and faced Sadie. “You’re okay without me for a while? I don’t know how long this will take.”

  “We’re okay,” Sad
ie said. “Do you want me to come with you?”

  “No, I’m fine,” Shawn said, letting out a breath. “How could Jane do this? How did she get access like this? I used my card yesterday and everything was fine. She couldn’t have gotten a replacement card and PIN, could she? I’ve heard of that happening before but wouldn’t that deactivate my card?”

  “I don’t know,” Sadie said with a shake of her head. She really wished she did, though. “I’m sure the bank can look into that, right?”

  Shawn nodded. “I’ll let you know how it goes. Can I borrow your car?”

  “Of course.” Sadie gave him the keys and a quick hug, then watched him leave before turning to Pete. “She is such a mean person,” she said, renewed anger at the situation.

  “It might not be her,” Pete said diplomatically. Sadie gave him a withering look, and he shrugged as though to say he was just doing his job by suggesting possible alternatives.

  No longer hungry, Sadie gathered the dishes from the table. She rinsed them in the sink before she put them in the dishwasher.

  “So, I guess we know she didn’t leave town after stealing the phone or sending the text messages last night,” Pete said.

  Sadie nodded. Jane would have had to have stayed in town at least until 1:00 this morning. And she had more than six thousand dollars of Shawn’s hard-earned money in her pocket now. “The ATMs might have cameras, right? How many ATMs are there in Garrison?”

  “Twenty-five or so,” Pete said.

  Sadie frowned. “That many?”

  “At least. And they don’t all have cameras, but I would guess most of them do.”

  “People might have seen her at one of them.”

  Pete nodded. “They’re all in public places.”

  Sadie turned to face him, her hands on the counter behind her. “You know the woman whose phone was stolen, right?”

  “I know her name and address, but I’m not the one who interviewed her.” He pulled his phone from his pocket. “I better get Malloy in on this.”

  “I want to talk to the woman who owned the phone,” Sadie said, ignoring his comment. “I want to know if she saw anything. She had the first opportunity to have seen Jane. Then maybe we can find other people who might have seen something too—”

  “The police already interviewed her,” Pete reminded her. “And that makes her part of their investigation.”

  Sadie waved that away. “I’m not going to mess anything up for them. I just want to know when she last had her phone. Maybe she saw Jane and doesn’t know it. If we can get even basic impressions or possibilities, it will be easier to match with whatever comes of the ATM part of this investigation.”

  Pete leaned against the counter opposite her and folded his arms over his chest, phone still in hand. “I don’t want to be stepping on Malloy’s toes any more than we already have by going after his contacts, especially when I’m asking for his help with Shawn’s situation.”

  “It’s not stepping on his toes if he’s done talking to her,” Sadie clarified.

  Her phone rang from where she’d plugged it in on the kitchen counter. She let Pete ponder her comment while she unplugged her phone from the charger. The call was from Rachel’s Bakery—Rachel was doing the wedding cake.

  “This is Sadie,” she said when she put the phone to her ear. Pete looked at her expectantly, but she waved him away and shook her head to indicate that this wasn’t a phone call that would be of any interest to him. Likely Rachel just had a question about the cake. She was very efficient and it didn’t surprise Sadie in the least that she’d called before Sadie had a chance to check in with her. Pete started typing a text message—probably to Malloy. Sadie frowned and turned away from him. They did not see eye to eye on Malloy.

  “Hi, Sadie. It’s Rachel.”

  “Hi, Rachel. How are you?”

  “I’m fine,” Rachel said, her voice a little tight. “But I wanted to confirm the change with the cake before I adjust the schedule for my day.”

  “Change with the cake? What do you mean?”

  “I just got off the phone with Julie, your niece.” Sadie’s hand tightened on the phone. She didn’t have a niece named Julie. “She said you wanted to pick up the cake today instead of having me deliver it tomorrow. I’m calling to verify that so it’s all official. According to the contract you signed, you’ll remember that I usually require those kinds of changes to be made in person but if it’s really necessary I’ll do my best.”

  Chapter 7

  “When did you speak to her?” Sadie asked as heat filled her chest and head. Jane wasn’t wasting any time this morning. Pete must have heard the tightness in Sadie’s voice since he looked up at her.

  “Just a minute ago,” Rachel said. “I have to completely restructure my day in order to get your cake ready for pickup this afternoon.”

  “Do you have the number she called you from on your caller ID?” Sadie asked.

  Pete lifted his phone, his thumbs poised to type in the number.

  “Yeah, but . . .” Rachel said, sounding confused. “Didn’t you ask her to make the change?”

  “No,” Sadie said simply. How much should she explain to Rachel? “Could I get the number she called from?”

  “Right now?” Rachel’s confusion was increasing.

  “If you don’t mind.”

  “Is everything okay?”

  Sadie hesitated. She wanted to explain things to Rachel since Jane had involved her, but it wasn’t a situation that could be addressed in a quick explanation. “Would it be okay if I came over and talked to you in person?” Sadie said, looking at Pete as he nodded his approval. Like her, he always preferred a face-to-face meeting when possible. “I’ll explain to you what’s going on, and then maybe you could tell me more about the conversation you had with this woman.”

  “Your niece?”

  “Um, it wasn’t my niece,” Sadie said.

  “Oh. Well, yes, it’s fine for you to come down,” Rachel said, sounding equal part curious and concerned. Sadie would plan out what to tell Rachel during the drive over; there was always a question regarding how much to tell the innocent bystanders involved in a situation through no fault of their own.

  “Can I get that number first, though?”

  Rachel gave her the number, and Sadie relayed it to Pete, who put the phone to his ear as soon as she finished. Was he calling the number? It wasn’t the same one from last night; Sadie recognized that much. Pete hadn’t wanted Sadie to interview the owner of the stolen phone since the police had already talked to her. Would he be okay with them preempting the police about this second number? Assuming it was stolen like the first one had been. Sadie told Rachel she’d be at the bakery in about ten minutes, and then finished the call about the same time Pete ended his.

  “It went to voice mail for somebody named Brian.” He was already dialing another number on his phone. “I’m going to have Malloy track it.”

  “Won’t that make it part of his investigation?” Sadie didn’t want to give up anything they didn’t have to.

  “I can talk to him on our way to the bakery,” he said, stepping around her question. He headed for the door and put the phone to his ear, leaving Sadie no choice but to follow him. She grabbed her own phone and put her lists into her purse in case she needed them before she came home. Maybe she could make some of the calls on her list while they were out and about. If she was going to complete everything on her to-do list she would need to be efficient.

  For the first part of the drive, Pete talked with the officer who was running the search, then asked the officer to call him when he had the information as well as to send someone over to Shawn’s bank to write up the police report about that situation. He hung up and put his phone in the middle console.

  “They’ll call me back,” he said unnecessarily, then glanced at Sadie. “What exactly did she try to do? Pick up the cake?”

  “I didn’t get into the specifics with Rachel over the phone. Jane had to know t
hat Rachel would verify the change, though, right? Was she doing this to make sure I knew she was still around?” Did that mean Jane had anticipated Sadie’s suspicion that Jane might have left town or was this part of her plan all along? She hated thinking Jane knew her well enough to guess her thoughts correctly but took an odd comfort in the fact that Jane was still in Garrison. It meant she could be caught, and they could put all of this to an end.

  “Maybe either option would have worked,” Pete said thoughtfully. “If Rachel hadn’t alerted you to the change, Jane could have interfered with the cake delivery. Since Rachel did alert you, you’re following up on it instead of working on the other things you needed to do today. Either way she causes trouble.”

  “And the day’s just started,” Sadie said.

  They passed the bank where Shawn was currently trying to mitigate the problems with his account—Sadie’s car was parked near the front door—and she felt another surge of frustration. Shawn was applying for jobs on the West Coast, moving across the country, and planning a trip to Alaska to save his birth mother’s life. Having problems with his account could cause all kinds of trouble for him, even if Sadie loaned him the money until the bank got things worked out.

  Knowing that Jane had orchestrated something so cunning was disturbing. It had to have been planned out in advance, which meant that Jane being here was premeditated and focused. The headache that had first bothered Sadie when she woke up made a strong comeback, and she lifted a hand to her forehead, wishing she’d thought to take some Tylenol when she was at the house. Maybe she had some in her purse.

  Pete reached over and squeezed Sadie’s free hand as though he sensed the increasing heaviness of her spiraling thoughts. Sadie appreciated that he knew her well enough to both read her thoughts and know how to comfort her. They shared a smile of shared purpose and hope. “We could very well have her tracked down in time for lunch,” he said.

  “Wouldn’t that be wonderful?” Sadie said, allowing herself to enjoy that possibility while pulling her purse onto her lap in search of the Tylenol. Past experience made it difficult to be so hopeful, and yet this was her wedding day—or, well, tomorrow was her wedding day—and weddings were all about hope and futures and happiness.