I started the tea kettle and got three cups ready, then took a box of tissues over to the sitting area. Ava and I sat waiting until Tabitha felt ready to share with us. She was shaken and we weren’t used to seeing her this way.
“Janelle was six years younger than me. She’d always looked up to me and that’s why she worked to get into the FBI. When I moved here, she moved into my old position, doing undercover work on mafia connections.”
“Oh wow, I’m so sorry.” I started to reach for her but she pulled away, shaking off the emotion.
“I’m on the edge. I know you two can get around some legalities that I can’t,” she muttered, with a look on her face I had never seen before. “They crossed the wrong person. I’ll stop at nothing to get these scumbags. This is ten years I’ve been involved with this and now someone strangled my cousin. Janelle was trained. Whoever did this had to be stronger and taller than her to bring her to her knees and I found out the rope burns shifted up so they stood over her.” I noticed her hands were knotted in fists as if she were visualizing her cousin’s murder and she was shaking in a terrifying way.
“So, you’ve been doing undercover work while in Leavensport?” I verbalized my shock. I felt confused and embarrassed, remembering all the times I had dumped my darkest secrets out to an undercover cop.
Tabitha stared straight at me, giving me back that stern, straight-lipped gaze and said, “I am a therapist. I could be in big trouble if I wasn’t. But yes, I am here, as I said, as a part-time therapist, helping Teddy out as he needs it consulting on some cases—what you didn’t know is that consultation ties into all the crime that has been taking place here in town.”
Ava and I glowered.
“You helped us become PI’s. You allowed Jolie to talk to you about her most private thoughts and feelings. You talk to Mick about his as well. You may know some of the things you know from your sessions with Jolie. That seems like a conflict of interest,” Ava said. She was such a good investigator. That hadn’t even occurred to me.
“Wait, does Mick know and has he known this entire time that you are undercover?” I felt sick to my stomach again. This all was too much to process. I mean, I felt for Tabitha. She just lost a family member in a very violent way, but I also felt betrayed and confused first by her and now I was left wondering how much Mick knew this entire time.
Tabitha took a deep breath, sat up straight, and licked her top lip. “Jolie, I’m sorry. This is all coming out wrong because I’m so emotional right now. I promise you I did not use you in any way. If you remember, there were times you tried to share things with me in the office during a session and I changed the subject. But there were times we ran into each other in town, and yes, I did get any information I could get out of you then.”
Whoa. I took a breath. I glanced at Ava, who looked ticked.
“So, basically you helped us become PI’s to help you along in your investigation? AND NOW, you are asking us to bend the law for you too? And yeah, DID Mick know all this?” Ava stood and started pacing again.
Tabitha looked helpless.
“Okay, I’m sorry. I’m doing all the things I tell my patients not to do—reacting with emotion and no logic. Of course, I should have never said you two could skirt around legalities. I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s come over me. You know what, there is going to need to be a time when you, Mick, Ava, Delilah, and I need to sit and discuss this whole thing, but it’s not tonight.” Tabitha’s voice quivered.
I gave Ava a look that said let it drop for now and got the tea ready to serve.
“I’m sorry, this is cold now. I can heat it up in the microwave.” I collected our mugs.
“Don’t worry about it,” Tabitha said and blew her nose. “We will all talk through this. Please don’t be mad at Mick, though. I wish—I wish—oh, I don’t know, I wish everything were different.”
Then something I never thought I’d see happen happened. Tabitha crumpled into a pillow on my couch and began sobbing uncontrollably. That is something I’d done once with her and also got at least a little teary-eyed almost every single session, but she was always the rock. I froze. I looked to Ava. She was motionless, with only her large brown irises moving between me and Tabitha.
Ava and I both caved and went to comfort her. “Seriously, you have enough to worry about. Do not worry about me and Mick. Even if he knew, we’ll work through it. I’m sure it’s all complicated. Right now, what do you want to do? Why are you telling us everything now?”
Tabitha sat up, apologized awkwardly, then got herself together. “I guess, wow, this feels weird to say, but I never saw any of this coming—obviously, but with Janelle—I just want to—”
“To get to the bottom of what’s going on in Leavensport and who’s behind murdering your cousin,” Ava finished her statement for her.
Tabitha nodded, wiping her nose with a Kleenex.
“Are you up for discussing a few things now?” I asked.
“That’s why I’m here.”
“But are you willing to share with us now?” Ava asked.
“I can help you with some things,” Tabitha said.
Ava’s cheeks turned maroon.
“Again, we’ll talk more about what you can and can’t share later when we are all together.” I gave Ava a repetitive glance from earlier.
“Okay, what I can share right now is that those tunnels connected to Tri-City are key in the history of all of this. Dating all the way back to the 1920’s.”
“Why the 1920’s? Do you know?” I asked.
“I do know. Or at least, I think I know. I’m not sure if I can tell you that, though. I can tell you that you can look at what was going on in the twenties and take a pretty good, educated guess, though.”
“Okay, I love a good mystery,” Ava said, typing that into the notes of one of our slides.
There was a knock at the door and I looked quizzically at Ava.
“It’s Delilah.” Ava went to the door.
“WAIT!” Tabitha said urgently. “I know I’ve already asked for so much from you two. Can you not share any of this with Delilah or Mick until we all sit down together to talk?”
There was a beat of silence before a louder knock on the door.
Ava and I contemplated with facial expressions that only people that were raised together could figure out. Then we both nodded, although our expressions conveyed our skepticism. We had agreed—for now.
As Delilah came in, Tabitha gathered her things and hugged us both. “Thank you both for being here. I promise we’ll talk soon. Delilah, I’m sorry I can’t stay.”
“Sorry, I didn’t know she was here,” Delilah said after I shut the door behind Tabitha.
“It’s okay, it’s been a long day,” Ava said, rubbing her belly wearily.
“You doing okay?” Delilah asked.
“I guess. Why did you tell Jolie you didn’t want me involved in investigations? I mean, why wouldn’t you share that with me?”
I squirmed in my seat taking a huge gulp of my cool tea.
“I—I don’t know. I guess I—”
“You knew I wouldn’t be happy with you dictating what I should and shouldn’t do. You knew Jolie was the next best thing to control me. Is that it?” Ava was back to standing and pacing again.
“I don’t think that’s what she meant. I mean, I get why—” I started.
“No, Jolie, she’s right. I didn’t want her in danger and I knew she wouldn’t listen,” Delilah said to me, then turned toward Ava. “But you are carrying our child. That gives me a right to worry about both of you. Things are different now.”
“They really are,” I agreed.
“Seriously, you both are going to gang up on me now?”
“I won’t be able to not worry about you even if all you do is work at the restaurant,” Delilah said.
“I know. I am who I am. I want this baby. I want us to have a family. I want to keep both my jobs. I realize the PI work does put me in more danger. I plan to be careful.” Ava stood, hands on hips.
“Okay, is there anything that would make you feel better? A compromise of some sort?” I asked. I was getting really good at this therapy stuff.
Delilah shrugged her shoulders as her long light brown waves cascaded around her perfect, rosy, porcelain cheeks. “I don’t want to be a PI, but I feel involved with Nestle buying into my business and being married to a PI who runs two businesses with her best friend who is married to the town’s detective, so—”
“So, you want in on the investigations?” Ava asked.
“I think at least while you’re pregnant. After that, I would need to wait and see. Again, this is not something I’m interested in—the last time I got involved, I ended up with a Canadian mobster involved in my family’s businesses.”
Ava’s shoulders slumped, as did mine as we both knew she was referring to when she helped Ava’s family get out of a dangerous debt. Delilah became someone she wasn’t to help the woman she loved. Which, thinking back to Delilah’s use of that gun, made me shudder all over. It would be terrifying to have her involved. When she went into protective mode, she was ferocious.
“First things first,” I said. “I’m sharing our I Spy Slides with you.” I reached for the computer.
“I’m sorry, the what?” Delilah asked.
Ava filled her wife in on the name we had for tracking each investigation separately and the document we had for all the connections to the mafia ties to Leavensport.
Delilah grinned but also seemed impressed at the same time.
“Well, let’s add that Nestle seemed stalled for a while. I hadn’t seen or heard from him in months. The last few weeks, he’s showing up again.”
“Why don’t you note when you remember him backing off and when he started showing up,” I said, handing the laptop to her. “Also, you and Ava can go over everything we’ve figured out so far at home. I need to look over it all again too.”
“Something else I overheard at the craft store was that Teddy’s dad, Harvey, is back in town,” Delilah said. “There’s been all kinds of rumors that have floated around about him. Bea Seevers was the one talking to one of her cronies, telling her that Harvey was forced to retire because of some unscrupulous activities while acting as chief and the mayor at that time wanted to cover it all up.”
“Who was the mayor then?” I asked. I thought back to when I was a kid and Ava and I used to go over to the Tobiases’ house to play balloon stomp and have sack races. Harvey always refereed with a funny polka-dotted shirt, clown wig and shoes, and a loud whistle. He had us all in stitches. It was difficult for me to picture him in a sinister light.
“Not sure, but that’s something we can easily find out,” Delilah said.
Ava and Delilah headed out as my brain spun in twenty directions. I started unpacking more boxes while talking to Bobbi Jo, who seemed to be watching over me, making sure I didn’t mess anything up. “What’s wrong with you? Are you mama’s boss or something?” I scratched her little calico head as her bobtail jiggled.
About an hour later, Mick came in looking exhausted. I didn’t like that I had mixed feelings about him right now and I couldn’t talk to him about it yet. I smiled as naturally as I could.
“Sorry I’m late. It’s this case,” he said, dropping his keys and wrapping his arms around me. “How was your day?”
I kept my head buried in his shoulder. “Pretty uneventful day.” I hated lying to him.