Organized for Masked Motives

by Ritter Ames

  The small porch overhang kept snow from falling on them, but a sudden fierce wind seemed to almost push all three women into the house. Kate held up the tin of cookies. “We won’t keep you since you’re leaving.” Her teeth chattered a little as she spoke. “I’m Kate McKenzie, and this is my friend Meg Berman. We live close by and wanted to stop and welcome you to the community.”

  Suddenly, three inquisitive feline faces—a medium sized calico, a white Persian, and a tiny black cat with sharp green eyes—pushed their way around the woman’s legs. She bent down and scooped all three up into her arms. “Oh, no. No escape tricks today.” She stepped back with the mewing cats and said, “Please come in for a minute. I shouldn’t have left you standing there in the cold.”

  “We don’t want to delay you,” Meg said.

  “It’s fine. We can all get warm before we set out for the afternoon. I’m Linda, by the way. Linda Johnson.”

  Kate looked at Meg and raised an eyebrow in question. She received a small nod in reply, so turned to Linda and said, “For just a minute. If you have time.”

  Inside, the small cottage was warm, and Linda set down the three inquisitive cats. They immediately joined a fourth large gray who held court from a pillow on the top of the short bookcase. Kate handed over the copper-colored tin, and said, “Halloween-themed sugar cookies. Just a little something to say welcome.”

  “Thank you.” Linda waved them toward a blue sofa. “Would you like coffee? Tea?”

  “Don’t go to any trouble,” Meg said, seating herself near one of the sofa arms. Kate took the other end. “We just wanted to visit a minute and let you know if you need anything you can call on one of us. Do you have any family in the area?”

  Not yet drawn into the conversation, Kate took the opportunity to look around, and was glad Meg asked the question. The bookcase was practically empty, and no pictures or personal items were displayed on the wall or scattered across the room. A friendly blaze in the fireplace warmed the room, though the rest of the space felt as impersonal as a hotel room. Except for the cats and an expensive computer setup standing in the corner behind the woman. The flat screen was dark, but a plethora of lights glowed from the various components on the stacked computer desk.

  Linda set the cookie tin on the coffee table. She unzipped her quilted coat but kept it on as she sat in a beige-print Queen Anne chair. She fluffed her pixie cut with one hand and succeeded in making herself appear even younger than before, but the delicate lines around her eyes and mouth told a different tale. “No, I don’t have family here anymore. We did live in Hazelton when I was younger though. I went to elementary school here in the ’80s.”

  “We may have been in school at the same time,” Meg said. “What year?”

  “Oh, it was just a short time,” Linda said, reaching up to pull nervously at the scarf around her neck. As she continued to fidget, Kate wondered if she was a former smoker. The house didn’t smell of smoke, just the pine scent of cat litter, but her actions were revealing. Or nervous energy. Linda seemed to have caught herself, and abruptly clasped her hands in her lap before continuing her short tale, “My dad got a new job and we left soon after I started school. I really don’t remember much.”

  “That’s too bad,” Meg said, “Were you here long enough for your picture to make it into the yearbook?”

  “Oh, no, no.” The woman frowned and reached up to rub the back of her neck. At the same moment, the Persian began loud cries from the kitchen. Linda waved at the noise. “I’m sorry, try to ignore her. She can have a practically full dish and still fuss as though it’s empty if any of the bottom of the bowl appears.”

  Kate laughed and waved a hand between herself and Meg. “We both have cats. We know their idiosyncrasies. We also heard you foster cats. Do you work with one of the local rescues?”

  “Yes,” Linda said, smiling for the first time since the conversation had started. “I currently have four and was able to place two with families last week. If only the public realized how important it is to spay and neuter their pets. It breaks my heart how many animals are hurt and hungry because they have no home.”

  The tiny black cat began weaving between Kate’s feet and legs.

  “Well, this one is very friendly.”

  “I call him Romeo for exactly that reason,” Linda replied.

  Kate noticed Meg staying unusually quiet all of a sudden and wondered what her friend was thinking. But before anything else could be said, a knock on the door had the black and calico cats racing down the hall. Linda rose again from her chair, saying, “I wonder who it could be.”

  Meg stood then and motioned for Kate. “We need to go anyway. We all have errands, and we only wanted to stop to say hi and welcome. Don’t want to disrupt schedules.”

  “It was nice meeting you, Linda.” Kate handed her a business card as they all moved toward the front door. “My phone number and email are both on the card if you need to reach us.”

  “Thank you.” Linda glanced at the card face, then slipped it into her coat pocket and pulled open the door. The postman, Mr. Mac, stood on the stoop with a large box.

  “Package for you. Need you to sign,” Mr. Mac said, then he saw Kate and Meg. “Oh, hello, ladies. I’ll be down your street in a few minutes.”

  “We’ll leave so you can get your package business taken care of,” Meg said, as she and Kate scooted around the postman and moved down the steps. “Keep warm, Mr. Mac.”

  “Yes, take care,” Kate added, waving again at the new neighbor too.

  Meg hurried to her car, waving as she opened the Camry’s door. Kate crossed the yard to the van. Once she had the heater going and the mail truck had driven off, Kate headed for the school to do carpool pick up.

  BEFORE SHE HAD TIME to get all the kids to her house and doing homework, Keith had already been home long enough to find his costume and try it on. He’d also taken Kate’s upstairs and had it in the bedroom too, removed from the bag to give his stamp of approval. She laughed when she saw the brown half-wig hanging below her purple cowl. She’d forgotten her blonde hair couldn’t show if she was Batgirl.

  “So, you think it will do?” she asked the Caped Crusader standing in the middle of her bedroom.

  “Once I have my utility belt,” Keith responded, lowering his voice an octave or two and trying to duplicate the movie Batman’s deeper cadence. “I’ll be ready for anything.”

  Kate laughed. “That’s what I’m afraid of. I hope the utility belt is more for show, not real use. Remember, you can’t have weapons at the school carnival.”

  He planted a fist on his hip. “But I’m Batman.”

  “Batman will still have to leave his toys at home if they pose any potential threat of injury.” Kate stretched on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “With or without the special utility belt, you make a very handsome superhero.”

  “Mom! Meg’s here!” one of the twins hollered up the staircase.

  Kate patted Keith’s chest. “I have to go. Do you have time for pizza if I order it for both families? My plan is to get Meg to stay a while and tell me about her mom’s appointment.”

  “Sure, I want an all-meats one.”

  “Like I’d ever forget.”

  But when she got downstairs, she met a subdued neighbor.

  “Is your mom—?” Kate began, gripping the bottom post.

  The redhead waved a hand. “We’ll talk once we can get the kids settled. Wanted to see what your evening schedule is like.”

  “I was going to call Hazy Pie and order pizza for everyone. You and the boys can eat with us. Call Gil and he can join too.”

  “He has some town meeting to cover,” Meg said. “But the rest of us will take you up on the offer.”

  It wasn’t the appointment with the nutritionist that had Meg acting more somber than normal. By the time the pizzas arrived, and Keith ate and left for work—now dressed as a mild-mannered on-air sports radio personality, instead of the Dark Knight—the women left the kids fightin
g over slices at the kitchen table and took their own meals into the quiet of the living room. The cat remained close by and executed a continuous loop between the two rooms, on the lookout for dropped cheese or soft-hearted humans ready to toss him a piece or two of pizza.

  “I got the kids started on homework when we got back, but you might want to take a look at what Ben did,” Kate said. “I have a feeling your first grader is more interested in making his pictures say a thousand words than actually learning to write the words.”

  Meg rolled her eyes. “He is driving his father nuts. He’s decided he doesn’t need to read, because the Egyptians used a picture language. So, he’s going to do the same thing.”

  “Doesn’t bode well for becoming teacher’s pet, but it definitely shows imagination.”

  “And we thought we were being good parents when we took the boys to see the traveling ancient Egyptian show when it was in D.C. last summer.” Meg shook her head and took a bite of pizza.

  The cat strolled in looking for handouts, and Kate gave him the stink eye. Not that it bothered the feline in the least.

  “So, what’s the scoop on today’s appointment?” Kate asked, pulling her socked feet up to tuck under her on the couch. “Did the allergist have any quick results? Or will it be more waiting?”

  “More waiting,” Meg said. “Story of our lives. But we should know something by the beginning of next week. Despite the allergist’s opposing view, Mother asked him to send all the results to the nutritionist, since she was the specialist who started this new circuit in the ‘Spin for Health’ game. Mother is so sick of appointments, she’s trying to combine any she possibly can, and I really can’t blame her. The meal program was the reason for the allergist’s involvement anyway, but a part of me is worried a piece of the puzzle will fall through the cracks somewhere.”

  Meg picked a piece of chicken off her spinach-tomato-chicken Alfredo pizza and threw it to the cat. He caught it and gobbled it in one swallow, then he turned his orange and gold face toward Kate and looked hopeful. She ignored him. He knew he’d get her leftovers, but she was trying to teach him patience. Plus, he was getting fat. Well, fatter.

  Kate took a sip of lemon water, and then set it on the coaster before she asked, “And the way you turned quiet earlier at the neighbor’s house. What was that all about?”

  “I’m not sure, but something about Linda Johnson bothered me,” Meg said, dropping her slice to the plate and setting it on the coffee table with the glasses.

  “You’re not going to tell me you think she’s a witch too,” Kate said.

  “No...” Meg stared off into the distance. “I just feel like I know her from somewhere, or I’m used to seeing her picture... but with some changes.”

  “We didn’t really get to talk much to find out more about her, but maybe you’re remembering her mother from when the two of you were kids. If she looks like her mom did then it could be why you’re thinking she looks different.”

  “Maybe. But the way she hedged on her Hazelton history made me wonder too. She made such a big deal about saying she hadn’t been here long when she was a kid. Why come back then?”

  “Could have been the happiest time of her life, so she returned when she had the chance,” Kate replied. “Her accent sounded like she might be from the Bronx. A lot of rat race New Englanders are escaping this direction to find a slower life. So many people telecommute now, and she had such an amazing computer setup in her house—she could probably run the Mars Rover from there.”

  Meg laughed. “You’re right. She could be anyone doing anything. I shouldn’t hook some kind of cloak and dagger idea on the woman. Especially with the witch reputation she’s already acquired. I’m getting as vivid an imagination as Ben. But I think I will call a friend of mine who’s involved in local cat rescue efforts to see if she has any intel about our Linda Johnson. Even her name sounds like an alias.”

  “We’ve had so many criminal adventures lately, you’re looking for trouble everywhere. Just don’t find any dead bodies. I need a break from seeing the Vermont State Police.”

  “You and me, both,” Meg said, nodding. “Have you heard anything else from Mrs. Dawson about the job?”

  “Yes, she texted me. Let me grab my phone.” Kate rose from the couch and walked to the kitchen, where her purse lay on the far counter. The kids sat playing a rousing game of Uno, after having pushed all the plates and leftover pizza to one side. The cat crouched at the pizza end, a smug look on his face as he guarded two pieces with bacon and ham which had apparently fallen to the floor during the big slide. The slices also once held pineapple pieces, but the cat had brushed those aside to better eat the toppings he preferred.

  Kate sent him a stern look with a raised eyebrow, but he simply stared at her and smacked his mouth. Seeming to emphasize to Kate how self-sufficient he believed he was. Basically, a feline nyah-nyah.

  She smiled and bussed the table. At least this meant she didn’t have to give the portly kitty any pizza herself and appear as a pushover. Though she knew she really was one. Once everything perishable was in the refrigerator, she wished the kids luck and exited with her phone.

  “Let me see.” She swiped the screen with a finger. “Mr. Dawson’s birthday is the seventh of next month, and she said we can come by and take measurements any day between nine and four.”

  “And she still wants all the work done in one day?” Meg asked.

  “Yes, otherwise she said she can’t guarantee he won’t see it early. I thought we could go over there tomorrow before heading to the gym to decorate for the Halloween carnival. Once we get the measurements, it will be a snap to write up the order sheets, and I’ll send those to the installer, so he can get his crew ready for the heavier parts of the job we can’t do.”

  “Perfect. Can I ask a favor?”

  “Of course.”

  “Mrs. Wilton ran into Mother and me this afternoon and asked if I’d come pick up the apples for the carnival. I immediately said yes, like a dummy, then realized later I’d have to make several trips to try to carry all those apples in the trunk of my Camry.”

  Kate nodded, swallowing her last bite of pizza before answering, “Sure, we’ll go by there after we measure the Dawson’s garage, and the Wilton boys can load everything in the van’s bay. It’ll be perfect timing since our next stop will be the gym anyway.”

  NEXT MORNING’S MEASURING event went smoothly. Their client followed them around like a puppy, but Kate and Meg were used to the phenomenon and had perfected their own strategy with previous jobs. When Kate’s anxiety started building, Meg pulled the client into a conversation. As Kate’s tension levels reduced, she continued with the necessary tasks. Meg kept the client busy. A perfect combo, but even more important this time. Everyone in Hazelton knew Mrs. Dawson’s superpower lay in being a busybody of the highest order. Meg had already mentioned in the car how she intended to try channeling the power for good gossip, so their typical procedure held additional promise this time.

  Meg’s call the previous evening to the friend in the rescue group hadn’t borne fruit, so the redhead was ready for any possible avenue of information. And Mrs. Dawson was the next hope.

  “Have you met Linda Johnson?” Meg asked the silver haired client, steering their route toward the coffee pot Mrs. Dawson set up in the garage when they arrived. “We went by there yesterday and introduced ourselves to her. She seemed familiar to me.”

  Mrs. Dawson took the cup poured for her and followed Meg’s subliminal “relaxed” example by leaning against the edge of the work table to talk. Kate had to hide a smile as she measured. Her partner was simply the best at this maneuver.

  Talk about a superpower, Kate thought.

  “I remember the family from decades ago,” Mrs. Dawson said, pushing away her silver bangs with one hand. “But I really can’t say I remember Linda. Well, let me rephrase; I remember her, but not as she is now. I don’t know how to explain it, just...well...she’s grown up to look differently
than I would have expected.”

  “No one seems to know much about her. I talked to a friend last night about her cat rescue—”

  “And that’s another thing,” Mrs. Dawson interrupted, sloshing coffee as she slammed the cup onto the work table. “The family was always going to the doctor. They had allergies about everything. I can’t imagine little Linda growing up to keep a bunch of cats in her house.”

  “Maybe it was food allergies.”

  “No, it was all the environmental ones. I remember standing in line at the pharmacy behind her mother once and half the items in the cart were allergy related,” Mrs. Dawson said, crossing her arms for emphasis. “I ask you, can you think of anything more suspicious?”

  “Not off the top of my head.” Meg shot Kate an “I told you so” look. Kate nodded. She knew when she was defeated.

  MEG DIDN’T GET ANY more information out of Mrs. Dawson, but this didn’t keep the woman from trying to talk her ear off until Kate finished the measurements. The organizing team had enough time to grab a quick sandwich and change into sturdier clothes than they’d used for the Dawson appointment. Then they headed to the Wilton Apple Farm to get all the bushel baskets of fruit needed for the Halloween games the next evening.

  “You never told me what the girls finally chose for their costumes,” Meg said as they drove through the slushy streets. “I know I have it easier with my boys. Ben always wants to make himself a robot costume, and this year Mark wanted to be a nerd, so all we had to do was root through his father’s closet for a narrow black necktie and buy a pocket protector.”

  “Yes, you did get off lucky. Sam was easy enough. She’s going as a hockey goalie, and we have enough equipment around the house to get her covered on the pro hockey front,” Kate said. “But every costume idea Suze came up with sounded like she needed to be living in south Florida this time of year. Last count, she was down seven ideas and holding out for being a sexy ghost. I told her the ghost part was fine, but the sexy was staying home.”