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When Haley showed up at Mindy’s house early the next morning, Mindy still had her hair in curlers.
“You were supposed to be ready by now,” Haley said.
Mindy gestured toward the couch. “Have a seat and get to know my babies,” she said before disappearing into the bathroom.
Haley slumped onto the sofa and spent the next thirty minutes fending off kisses from Mindy’s three little dogs. Her impatience grew as she waited for her friend to finish her ministrations.
“How much longer?” she yelled when she couldn’t take it anymore.
“Hold your horses, honey,” Mindy shouted back. “This ain’t Seattle. We don’t give ourselves panic attacks over getting to a stakeout in time.”
Haley swiped a tongue away from her cheek. “The driver might be gone by the time we get there.”
Mindy popped her head out of the bathroom. Haley was grateful to note she looked presentable, her hair-curling effort evidently finished.
“Didn’t you say he ain’t due for another hour and a half?” Mindy said.
Haley jumped off the sofa, scattering dogs across the living room. “That’s according to the Moreno’s spreadsheet, which doesn’t strike me as the most reliable source of information.”
“Well, I can’t go anywhere without curling my eyelashes, so you’re just gonna have to relax for a few more minutes.”
“You don’t need to curl your eyelashes.” Haley grabbed her purse as one of Mindy’s creatures attempted to sniff the contents. “We’re going on a stakeout, not to a photo shoot!”
Before she disappeared back into the bathroom, Mindy made a face as if Haley were the one being ridiculous.
Haley finally herded them both into the car twenty minutes later. She drove as fast as she dared, which was the speed limit. If circling through downtown more than twice in a row served as grounds to be pulled over, she didn’t doubt speeding one mile over the limit would give Luke Justice all the incentive he needed to issue her a ticket.
She bypassed Moreno’s parking lot and pulled onto the street edging the side of the building, making a U-turn and stopping near the curb. She darted a look behind the store, not sure how to interpret the empty alley. Either the Moreno’s driver had already come and gone or he hadn’t yet arrived.
“You reckon we’re too late?” Mindy hissed.
Haley glared at her before shoving the car into park. “You better hope not.”
Mindy straightened, apparently just remembering her role in their late start this morning. “Well, I’m sure he hasn’t come by yet. You said he ain’t due until nine o’clock, right?”
Haley didn’t respond. Instead, she focused on the entrance to the alley. From here she had a good view of the back of the store but was too far away to draw much attention.
Before a full minute had passed, Mindy yawned with more force than Haley had ever seen. “If I had known we were just gonna be sitting here, I would’ve brought us a Thermos of coffee.”
Haley glanced at her sidekick, starting to regret bringing her along. “What did you think we’d be doing when I said ‘stakeout’ yesterday?”
Mindy stuck out her tongue. “Honey, I pictured us being a bit more active. You know, like chasing criminals and snapping photographs. Just like in the movies.”
Haley lifted her BlackBerry off the console. “Well, I’m prepared to take pictures when the time comes.”
Mindy frowned at the smartphone. “That’s what you’re gonna use to catch our little guy in the act?”
“What’s wrong with this?”
“For starters, it ain’t got a zoom lens. That thing is for taking selfies, not photographs that some fancy lawyer’s gonna use as courtroom evidence.”
Haley plunked the BlackBerry back onto the console. “I doubt any photos I take today will ever make their way into a courtroom.” Although, she admitted to herself, the thought certainly made her heart beat a little faster.
“Of course they won’t. The quality will be too poor for any self-respecting prosecutor to base his case on ’em.”
“What I mean is, we’re not even sure yet that this driver is doing anything wrong. I only saw him loading one bag of soil into his truck one time.”
Mindy huffed and fluffed her hair. “Then why did I get all dolled up for a stakeout?”
“I honestly don’t know.”
Mindy seemed put out enough by Haley’s terse tone to fall silent.
Haley surveyed the scenery outside the windshield. She resisted the urge to check the time, guessing only a couple minutes had passed. She refused to admit as much to Mindy, but she too had expected the stakeout to be more interesting.
Her gaze landed on Moreno’s parking lot. “They’re not as crowded today,” she commented.
“Saturday morning is their busiest,” Mindy replied.
“But that’s when you go. Why don’t you choose a different day?”
“I told you, honey, Saturday is their busiest.”
Haley understood then that Mindy viewed her visits to Moreno’s as a social activity rather than an errand.
The women didn’t say anything more as they continued to wait. Every once in a while Haley shifted in her seat to stay awake. She only hoped the delivery driver hadn’t already reached Eugene by now.
Some time later, Haley was willing her eyelids not to shut when movement outside caught her attention. Her pulse started to pound as she watched a white box truck turning into the alley behind the store.
She nudged Mindy, who jolted forward with such a loud inhalation of breath that Haley knew she’d fallen asleep. “That’s the truck,” Haley said.
Mindy leaned forward, her mascaraed eyes roaming around as she wiped a spot of drool from one corner of her mouth. “What do we do now?”
Haley snatched up her BlackBerry and reached for the door handle. “We have to get closer.”
Mindy’s eyes widened. “You’re getting out? What if he sees us?”
“Then we’re just two people on a stroll.” Haley stepped out of the car and motioned for her sidekick to follow.
“A stroll?” Mindy repeated, although she hoisted herself out of the vehicle. “In this heat?”
Haley flashed her a look. “Do you have a better idea?”
Mindy scrunched up her nose but didn’t say anything.
Haley tried to walk as nonchalantly as possible toward the alley entrance. She had to resist her urge to creep like a criminal, figuring that would only increase the odds of drawing unwanted attention to themselves.
They edged toward a row of bushes. The foliage placed them farther away from the truck than Haley had hoped, but it also granted sufficient cover to ensure they weren’t spotted.
“You see something?” Mindy whispered as she crouched down.
Haley peered between two branches. “No, but I have a good view of the loading dock from here.”
She watched as the driver fiddled with something behind his truck. She couldn’t see what he was doing, but from the sound of metal sliding against metal she figured he’d opened the back of his vehicle.
Haley’s spying was interrupted when something banged into her head. She turned to glare at Mindy, who was bobbing around like a buoy in a hurricane.
“Do you mind?” Haley bit out.
Mindy craned her neck. “Don’t get your knickers in a knot, honey. I’m trying to see what our little guy is up to.”
“So was I.”
“Looks like he’s loading some plants,” Mindy said, ignoring Haley’s petulant tone.
“Plants are okay.” Haley glanced around to make sure no passersby were watching their bizarre behavior before bending toward the bush again. “If he loads anything besides plants, we need to take note.”
“Got it, pardner.” Mindy shoved her face deeper into the leaves, apparently unconcerned about smearing her makeup despite how much time she’d spent on it. “Who is that?”
Haley squinted as someone in a baseball cap emerged from the building and approached the driver. “I can’t see from this angle, and we’re too far away. From the way she moves though, I’m guessing it’s a woman.”
“It’s gotta be one of Owen’s employees.”
The woman in the cap disappeared back inside the building, returning with a sack of something. She dropped it on the concrete and left. The driver picked up whatever she had deposited and ducked into the truck. He reemerged empty-handed.
“What did he load?” Mindy asked.
“I don’t know,” Haley said, although she suspected they had just witnessed another soil bag going missing.
Mindy turned to look at Haley. The combination of her heavy eyeshadow and wide eyes made her look like a raccoon. “You said he should only be loading plants, right?”
“Whatever else he’s taking, I don’t think Owen knows about it.”
“But one of his employees does.”
They watched as the Moreno’s employee returned with another sack. Again, the driver loaded the item into his truck.
Haley’s brain tingled as she considered that they might be observing two members of the marijuana organization stealing product to facilitate their growing operation. A less villainous alternative was that they planned to sell the items on the black market, but given what Owen’s spreadsheet had indicated as the retail value of the soil bags, she didn’t figure anyone would bother.
“Honey, are you capturing any of this on your phone?” Mindy asked.
“No.” She had forgotten about her plan to snap pictures of the theft in progress.
Mindy reached for Haley’s hand. “I’ll take ’em.”
Haley didn’t protest as Mindy relieved her of the BlackBerry. She was still preoccupied by the notion that they could currently be standing mere yards away from two drug partners who had both had a hand in Michael’s death.
She hadn’t yet shared her hunch with Mindy, not wanting to jump to conclusions without additional evidence. The drug operation had become such an obsession that she feared she had started to view it as the answer for all nefarious activity, including a simple theft at a small-town garden store.
“What do you think he’s doing with the stolen goods?” she asked. If Mindy came to the same conclusion she had, Haley would feel more comfortable that her desperation to bring Michael justice wasn’t overshadowing common sense.
Mindy shrugged as she fiddled with the smartphone. “Honey, I ain’t got a clue what’s going on over there—or here neither. How do you operate this darn thing?”
Haley reached for the BlackBerry. “I need to unlock it.”
Before she could finish punching in the password, Mindy took a sudden step backward. “He’s leaving.”
Haley jerked to attention. Sure enough, the driver was climbing back into the front of the truck.
Haley grabbed Mindy’s arm, sending the BlackBerry tumbling. She swiped it off the ground, grateful to note it hadn’t suffered any noticeable damage. Between this and being immersed in dirt in the woods, she would marvel if the phone still functioned by the end of the year.
The women hustled back to Haley’s car and slipped inside.
“What do we do now?” Mindy asked.
“Follow him.”
Haley hadn’t realized she’d been considering any such thing, but as soon as she said it she couldn’t think of any better course of action. They’d come this far, and she intended to see this stakeout through till the end.
The truck pulled into the street. Haley slunk lower in her seat, hoping the driver hadn’t spotted her or, if he had, hadn’t recognized her as the woman who had turned down the alley on Saturday. If he saw her two delivery days in a row, he might grow suspicious enough to abandon whatever he planned to do next.
Mindy slapped the BlackBerry into Haley’s palm. “Unlock this. I’m gonna get a picture of his license plate for Owen.”
Haley keyed in her password, accessed the camera feature, and handed Mindy the phone, praying nobody was witnessing this amateur sleuthing effort.
Thankfully, the truck driver didn’t seem to notice anything unusual as Mindy triggered a quick succession of shots like a budding member of the paparazzi.
Mindy writhed in her seat. “I got a good one of his face.”
The truck began moving away, veering left at the stop sign at the end of the street. Haley started her car, but she waited until the truck drove just out of view before peeling after him.
In the passenger seat, Mindy clapped her hands together. Having lived her whole life in Sobaco, Haley doubted she had ever participated in anything this exciting before. Compared to her city experiences, Haley had to admit this ranked as one of the more exhilarating events of her life too.
“He turned off up there.” Mindy pointed to where the white edge of the truck reflected the sunlight.
Haley sped up a little, keeping the truck within view. She expected it to return to the freeway, but it exited onto a more rural route about five minutes later. Her car bounced along the decrepit road after it.
“This is fun, huh?” Mindy said, leaning toward the windshield like a schoolgirl on a field trip.
Haley did have to admit this stakeout had just become much more exciting. Her heart raced, each beat corresponding with another jarring dip into a pothole. She felt as though she’d been driving forever, although when she checked the car’s dashboard clock she noted that only fifteen minutes had passed since they’d left Moreno’s.
She eyed the trees lining the road. “Are we even still in Sobaco?”
“Sure are.” Mindy aimed a finger out the driver’s side window. “Those are the woods where you found that ganja.”
The information startled Haley. They must be near the eastern edge of the woods. The official trail, where she had started on her hike her first day here, began on the western side.
She wondered if the pedestrian trail continued this far. Maybe if she’d been on a real hike that day and kept to the path, she would have ended up here at some point.
“Slow down,” Mindy said, her forehead practically pressed against the windshield. “You’re getting too close.”
Haley eased her foot off of the accelerator.
Her car lurched over another pothole, spurring her to decelerate further. She didn’t need to end up stranded out here with a flat tire, a potential drug dealer the only person present for miles.
“Lord in heaven,” Mindy said with a shudder.
“What is it?”
Mindy clamped a hand over her heart. “He’s pulling up to Jenna’s house.”
“What?”
“That’s Jenna’s house!”
Haley’s stomach constricted as she watched the truck turn into a driveway obscured by trees. She slowed down, trying to get a look at the house. She hoped a chipmunk or other woodland creature didn’t choose this moment to cross the street. With all the potholes and her divided attention, she probably wouldn’t notice if she hit an elephant.
Mindy gestured to their right. “Pull over here. The trees oughta cover you.”
Haley obeyed, veering in the indicated direction and stepping on the brake.
Mindy groped blindly for Haley’s BlackBerry but didn’t make any move to access the camera function. Too much growth surrounded Jenna’s house for them to have a clear shot of her property.
“I can’t see anything,” Haley admitted.
“We’re gonna have to get out to get our pictures,” Mindy said, resting her hand on the door handle.
Haley grabbed Mindy’s arm. As much as she wanted documentation, she wasn’t willing to risk being spotted. If the driver did belong to the drug cartel, he probably wouldn’t appreciate them using him as their photography subject.
Mindy tried to shake off Haley’s grip. “This ain’t helping.”
“Don’t you dare leave this car,” Haley said. “He might be involved with the marijuana organization.”
Mindy raised her eyebrows, her attempts to escape from Haley’s clutches weakening. “How in heaven did you come to that conclusion? If this man is involved, that means our Jenna is too.”
Haley had already considered that, but she said, “I don’t know yet. It’s just a thought I had.”
Mindy flapped her hand toward the woods. “Are you saying this might be the guy you really ran into out there? Does he look familiar?”
Haley shrugged, feeling like something of a failure as she watched the driver carry something into Jenna’s house. Besides his dark skin and black hair, nothing about the truck driver matched her memory of the man in the woods. If he was the same person, shouldn’t some little bit of her brain recognize him?
“He certainly looks like he spends a lot of time outdoors,” Mindy commented.
“I guess,” Haley said, although she figured any truck driver would fit that profile.
“And if Tracy Lamb was romping around with Ricardo that day, this guy could very well be the person you actually saw.”
“Then why don’t I remember him?”
Mindy lifted one shoulder. “I reckon you just don’t have a very good memory.”
That didn’t make Haley feel any better.
Mindy squinted at Haley, evidently trying to determine why she made such an atrocious eyewitness. “Maybe your subconscious recognizes him,” she suggested. “Maybe that’s why you reckon he’s involved with the drugs, because part of your mind knows he’s the guy you saw that day.”
Haley shifted in her seat, disturbed by the idea of her subconscious knowing more than she did. “I don’t know for certain that he’s involved.”
“Well, if he is, I’m gonna get his picture.” Mindy pressed the BlackBerry into Haley’s hand.
Haley input her password. “Before we take pictures, let’s just watch and see what happens. We can draw conclusions later.” Her doubts about wrongly identifying Ricardo Zepeda were creeping back in, making her question her assessment of what they were witnessing now.
Mindy settled back in her seat, and the two women watched the truck. Through the trees, Haley saw a flash of fabric. She could just barely make out the driver exiting Jenna’s house and climbing into the back of his truck.
As Haley waited for him to reemerge, she pondered over the possibility of this man and Jenna being partners in the marijuana organization. She couldn’t banish the image of the woman in the baseball cap—presumably Jenna—depositing a soil bag on the Moreno’s loading dock. Perhaps the person Haley had run into that day—assuming he wasn’t the very man they were watching now—worked with them too.
The sound of something knocking against glass jarred Haley out of her reverie. Mindy had the BlackBerry pressed flat against the windshield as she tried to zero in on the truck driver.
“We’re too far away,” Mindy said. “I’m gonna have to get out.”
“Forget the pictures. It’s too dangerous.” To deflect any temptation, Haley shoved the car into drive and eased back onto the empty road.
“Where are we going?” Mindy asked.
“Home. This mission is over.”
From the corner of her eye, Haley saw Mindy’s body sag. She thought back to their girls’ night with Jenna and when Luke had talked about Ricardo Zepeda’s arrest. At the time Haley had attributed Jenna’s interest to the speaker rather than his topic, but she could have been mistaken. Maybe Jenna had hoped to absorb whatever case updates she could straight from someone working it. And now that they knew a suspect was in custody, the drug organization probably thought they were safe to start planting replacement crops. Maybe they were even nurturing the seedlings on Jenna’s property.
With this week’s girls’ night unfolding at Jenna’s place, Haley couldn’t think of a better opportunity to snoop around. Absent the discovery of actual marijuana on the premises, she might still unearth evidence of her hostess’s ties to the drug cartel. Between now and Friday, she’d have to think of the best way to search Jenna’s without arousing any suspicions.
As Jenna’s house shrank in the rearview mirror, Haley tumbled the options around in her head, knowing she wouldn’t rest before Friday.
