“Hold out your hands,” he said playfully. Holly felt silly but did as he asked. He dropped a small box in her hand. “Okay, you can open them,” he said.
When she opened her eyes, she saw that she was holding a square black box. She looked up at him. “Wade, you shouldn’t have.”
“It was for your birthday, but I thought you might like it now,” he said with a smile. “Open it.”
When she carefully lifted the lid, the light hit something shiny. As she looked closer, she saw a silver heart locket nestled in the box. It was simple with just a little bit of flowery detail on its finish.
“Oh, Wade, it’s beautiful,” she said.
“Open the locket,” he said eagerly. She did as he said and saw there was a picture of each of them inside.
Tears filled Holly’s eyes again, but this time they were happy ones. “This is the best present ever,” she said as she wrapped her arms around him.
“I’m glad you like it,” he said proudly. “Why don’t I take you out to eat? I just got my first paycheck, and I can drive. We can go grab a burger or something?”
“Are you sure?” Holly asked. “You don’t need to spend your money on me.”
“Come on,” he said rolling his head back. “How many times have you bought stuff for me because you had a job? It’s my turn to return the favor.”
“Okay then,” she said. “But first I want to put this on. Will you help me?”
“Sure,” he said. She pulled it from the box and handed it to him. He got the clasp ready as she lifted her hair from the back of her neck. He draped it around her neck and then latched it for her.
She turned to face him as she looked down at it. “It’s so pretty,” she said.
“Not as pretty as you,” he said with a lopsided grin before leaning in for a kiss. “Now, let’s go get something to eat.”
CHAPTER 11
Holly was sitting on her bed, curled up with a book when her phone began to ring. She was surprised when she looked at the caller ID and saw Missy’s name.
“Hello?” she asked, concerned.
“Hey, Holly,” Missy said, sounding odd. “Are you busy at the moment?”
“No, not really,” Holly said as she slipped her bookmark into the book to hold her page. “What’s up?”
“I think it would better if you could come to the church to talk to me in person rather than on the phone. It shouldn’t take long,” Missy explained.
“Sure,” Holly sat up and moved to the edge of the bed. “I’ll put my shoes on and be right over.”
“Thanks. Meet me in my office,” Missy said.
Holly pulled her shoes on and picked up her hairbrush from her nightstand. She ran it through her hair with a couple of swipes to make sure she hadn’t tangled her hair too badly while she was laying down.
She left her room and went into the great room where Brigid was reading and Linc was watching television. Lucky was curled up with Jett, both of them snoozing as usual.
“I’m going to ride my bike over to the church. Missy called and needs help with something,” Holly announced to the two of them.
“Okay,” Brigid said as she lowered her book. “Do you need a ride?”
“No, it’s fine. I could use a little fresh air,” she said easily. Truthfully, she was still too hurt by being summarily dismissed whenever she brought up the topic of her birthday. She’d rather not open herself up to any more hurt about it.
“Sounds good,” Linc said without turning away from the TV. “Let me know if you want a ride home. I can always pick you up in the truck.”
“I will, thanks,” Holly said as she headed towards the front door. She hurried outside before she had to have much more of a conversation with them. She quickly climbed on her bike and started off towards the church.
*****
“Thank you for coming so quickly,” Missy said as Holly sat down in the chair across the desk from her. “At first I wasn’t sure who to ask for help.”
“I’ll always help you when I can,” Holly said smiling. “You’ve done more for me than most people I’ve ever known. You only have to ask.”
“Well, then I hope you hear me when I tell you that I’d rather you didn’t discuss this problem with Brigid. It’s not that I don’t trust her. But now that she’s officially with the sheriff’s department, I didn’t want her to feel obligated to report what happened here at the church.”
Missy began to wring her hands with worry. “I feel terrible asking you to keep something from her, but it’s the only way I can see to handle this.”
Holly was slightly amused at the woman’s concern. “It’s okay, Missy. I’m a teenager. Do you really think I tell Brigid absolutely everything?”
Missy blinked and seemed to really think about what Holly said before chuckling. “No, I guess you’re right,” she said, visibly relaxing. “Okay, then I guess I owe you an explanation.” She exhaled and seemed to be collecting her thoughts. “Apparently someone stole some food from the storage room across the hall,” she began.
“Seriously?” Holly asked, surprised.
“Unfortunately, yes. You see, I don’t want to ask Brigid for help because it is a crime, and I’m afraid if the sheriff gets involved, they may arrest whoever did it,” Missy explained.
“And you don’t want that,” Holly surmised.
“Not at all,” Missy said emphatically. “I don’t believe whoever did this did it for fun or profit. I think the person was in serious need of getting some food and didn’t see any other way. I’m hoping you will agree to help find out who took the food from the storage room. I want to help this person if they’re in need. I know you successfully helped the principal at the high school with an investigation, so when I discovered the situation, I thought of you.”
“Sure Missy, I’d be happy to help you,” Holly said. “Do you have something I can write on?”
Missy handed her a pencil and a yellow legal pad. “Yes, you probably need to collect clues and write stuff down,” she said.
“I take it you know what all has been stolen?” Holly asked.
“For the most part, yes. I have it written down somewhere,” she said. She searched her desk and found a sticky note with a list of things written on it. “This is what I figured out is missing.”
Holly looked over the list and had to agree. This list read more like one of Brigid’s shopping lists than that of a person on a wild stealing rampage. Yeah, a couple of sweets and a couple of cans of soda, but that was nothing compared to the actual food they took.
Holly was willing to guess whoever took these things had been deprived of food for a while. She’d never heard of anyone who was stealing just to steal take things that would actually make a handful of meals. No, this person was definitely hungry.
“And I’d bet you don’t have security footage that might identify who did it,” Holly stated.
Missy shook her head. “Sure don’t, but, once I realized what had happened, I spoke to Jordan. We’ve come up with a list of possible people who have been around here lately, and that we know became aware of the fact there was a lot of food in the storage room. After all, it’s not like it’s common knowledge that we keep a room full of food in the church. I’m sure most people would guess if they thought about it, but very few people have seen it.”
“Seems like as good a place as any to start,” Holly agreed. “Who are they?”
“The first one we came up with is Joe Cooper. He’s an older widower who works at the hardware store. He seems to be an honest man, but we think he struggles financially and is too proud to admit it. He was helping Jordan with a project the other day, and we think he accidently walked into the food storage room like many of the other people on this list did. They just happened to open the wrong door,” Missy explained.
Holly quickly wrote down Joe Cooper’s name and a brief explanation. “Okay, who else?”
“Lola Hammond,” Missy added. “She’s been struggling to make ends meet since
she’s been on her own with a little one. I helped her with some clothing not too long ago. I’m sure she’s probably struggling to feed herself and her son.”
Holly wrote down her name and then looked up at Missy. “Are you just listing people who knew about the food?”
“Oh, no,” Missy said as she shook her head. “I also noticed that the only things that were taken were on lower shelves. To me, that means it was someone on the shorter side. Maybe even a kid.”
“Really?” Holly asked, shocked. “Like who?” Her heart broke at the thought of a kid thinking they needed to steal food. All of the things on the list sounded more like it was a grocery list than anything else. If someone younger stole the food, Holly knew they’d probably been hungry for far too long. She could remember times like that a little too well.
“Well, I’m wondering if perhaps it was Mason Weide or Ava Greene. Mason’s a good kid with a big heart. His mother works two jobs to keep a roof over their heads, but she still donates what she can to the church. Usually it’s their older clothes or things she’s been given and doesn’t want. He was here dropping some clothes off the other day. I could see him wanting to ease some of his mother’s burden.”
She sighed. “As for Ava, her mother took off a while back. Had a serious drinking problem. Now it’s just her dad trying to hold things down for her and her little brother. Sweet little girl but same situation. Actually, she reminds me a lot of you.” A smile played across Missy’s lips. “I seem to remember a certain young girl letting me know one day there wasn’t anything to eat at her house.”
“I did,” Holly nodded. “And I learned to keep that food hidden in my room, too, after Mom came home blitzed out and ate everything I’d brought home. It was like she never even wondered where all that food came from or considered that maybe she should save some for her daughter. Of course, that was before she did her big change. That was when she was deeply involved in her addiction and not even thinking about coming out. For me or for anyone.”
“You have to understand, sometimes people are just too proud to admit they can’t do it on their own. Or they don’t know they could get help if they’d just ask. I want to find whoever did this and let them know they don’t have to steal. That’s why I don’t want the sheriff’s office involved. I don’t think whoever did this meant any harm by it, I really don’t.” Missy looked worried.
“My only fear is that they’re still in need. I can replace food. We have plenty of people who are better off who help us out in that regard. But I don’t want this weighing on their mind.”
“I’ll do my very best,” Holly said. “I understand what you’re saying. You think this was more of a crime of necessity.”
“Exactly, and I don’t think a person should be punished for trying to take care of their family. That’s just not right.” Missy distractedly fidgeted with the few items on her desk. This situation was clearly bothering her. Holly was determined to set it right, so Missy and whoever had done it could rest easier.
“When do you think this happened?” Holly asked. “I’ll definitely need a time to find out what their alibi is. And I completely agree, these people probably need our help more than anything else.”
“It would have been yesterday evening around 7:00. I really appreciate you helping me, Holly. I wasn’t sure who to call at first. But then I remembered Brigid bragging about how you’d become fairly adept at solving crimes yourself. That’s when I knew I had to call you.”
“I’ll see what I can find out,” Holly said. “I promise I’ll do everything I can to determine who this person is so they can get the help they need. Anything else?”
“Not that I can think of,” Missy said shaking her head. “But I’ll call if I come up with anything. Please, when you figure it out, let them know I’m not mad at all. I’m a little heartbroken they didn’t feel they could come to me in the first place, but I understand why they didn’t.
“If they come and talk with me, we’ll find out what the problem is, and I’ll try to help them find a more permanent solution. Until then, we can use donations to make sure they don’t go hungry. They may not eat like kings, but they won’t go to bed with an empty belly.”
“Sounds good,” Holly said. “I’ll let you know as soon as I find anything out. It’s heartbreaking to think that one of these people felt so backed into a corner that stealing was the only option left to them. That’s a tough place to be in, especially for a kid.”
“It is,” Missy said with a nod. “And remember, they may not be completely forthright with you immediately. Don’t let that get to you. They’ll probably lie initially for fear of being caught and punished. But I know you’ll make sure they understand that won’t be the case. I trust you.”
“I appreciate that,” Holly said with a smile. “I’ll try to find them as soon as possible.”
“Thank you,” Missy said as Holly stood up from her chair and left the office. As she walked out of the church, she started thinking about how she’d start her investigation.
CHAPTER 12
Holly didn’t know any of the people on her list of names, so her first job was to find them. This one should be fairly easy, she thought, as she looked at her list. Missy said he worked at the hardware store. It wasn’t like there were too many of those around Cottonwood Springs. So, Holly climbed on her bike and began to pedal towards the town square.
She could completely understand where the suspect had been coming from when they stole the food. Not that she thought it was a good thing to do, but she remembered what it felt like to be hungry. And the kids? She knew all too well how limited you could feel when the adult in your life wasn’t able to provide for you.
Holly remembered many nights going to bed hungry only to look forward to eating breakfast at school the next morning. She was sure that if Missy hadn’t helped her out, she probably would have ended up resorting to stealing food herself.
The sound of her phone ringing pulled her from her thoughts.
“Hello?” she said as she answered it.
“Hey, Holly. It’s Fiona. Do you think you could come in an hour early today?”
“Sure,” she said as she continued to carefully ride her bike while talking on the phone. She slowed down a bit, so she could focus more on safely steering her bike. “What’s wrong?”
“Oh, nothing,” Fiona said. “I just have an appointment today with the doctor, and so does Aiden. I almost forgot all about it.”
“Yeah, that’s no problem at all,” Holly agreed. “Are you sure that will give you enough time?”
“Yep. I just need the extra hour so I can get us home and take a shower before we head off to the doctor’s office,” Fiona said. She sounded a little more positive than she had for a while which made Holly feel like she was starting to pull herself out of her depression.
“Okay, but if you change your mind, just let me know. I don’t have a whole lot going on. I’m just helping Missy with something,” she explained.
“Oh? What kind of thing?” Fiona asked. “That woman is always coordinating something.”
“This is a little different, I’ll explain it to you later. I’m on my bike right now,” Holly said with a chuckle.
“Well in that case, get off the phone!” Fiona cried out. “For goodness sakes, no phone calls while you’re riding a bike. See you in a little while.”
Holly laughed to herself as she hung up and slid her phone back in her hip pocket. It was nice to hear a little bit of the old Fiona peeking through her cloud of depression. Holly had been extremely worried about her.
Pedaling through town, Holly continued to consider the mindset of whoever had stolen the food. If they were that hungry, what else were they lacking? Perhaps they needed a decent place to live, or clean clothes, or even reliable transportation.
So many people took things like food in their cabinets and refrigerators for granted. Their freezers were full of meats and quick meals. Those people didn’t understand the struggle of having
to choose between paying the electric bill or buying food, or of needing gas to take your child to the doctor or buying a can of formula for them. When Holly had lived in the trailer park, she was surrounded by families like that. The majority of them were hardworking and good people, but they didn’t have much of anything, especially money.
So now that she was on her way to speak to Joe Cooper, she wondered how she was going to broach the subject of the stolen food with him? Should she just come right out and tell him her suspicions? That hardly seemed tactful. But at the same time, she didn’t see another way around asking him if he knew anything about the missing food. She hoped she didn’t end up angering those she questioned.
When she reached the town square, she took the turn that would lead her right to the hardware store. As she pulled up, she hopped off her bike and leaned it up against the front of the building. She could see through the windows that there was only one customer inside, and he was standing at the counter. She saw an older looking man behind the register. Pulling the door open, she took a long look at him.
He was thin, but didn’t look like he was starving. His salt and pepper hair was cut short and swept to the side. Wire framed glasses had slid down the bridge of his nose as he thumbed through a booklet. She noted he wasn’t very tall, something Missy had been certain was a characteristic of the suspect.
To Holly, he looked like any other person in Cottonwood Springs. He seemed polite and kind, and not at all like a person who might steal food. But she’d learned a long time ago that people were never quite what they seemed to be on the surface.
Once the customer had paid and turned to leave, Holly approached the counter.
“Excuse me,” she said. “Are you Joe Cooper?”
The man looked surprised that Holly knew his full name. It seemed he was searching her face for any signs that he knew her, but when he was satisfied he didn’t, he answered her.
“I am,” he said carefully. “May I ask who you are?”
Holly Lewis Mystery series Box Set Page 32