“Jake? What’s up?” It was a little before ten a.m., and I couldn’t imagine why my husband was calling me. For one thing, he was presumably busy with his new client, and for another, he knew that I was working. “Is something wrong?”
“That depends on how you look at it,” he said a little oddly.
“How do you look at it?”
“Let me ask you a question,” he said after pausing for a few moments. “How would you feel about me coming home? I know I promised I wouldn’t, but the circumstances here have changed.”
“I’d love it. You don’t even have to ask. But I thought you were busy.”
“I thought so, too,” he admitted. “But apparently my schedule has just opened up.”
“What happened? Did you get fired?” I asked him. I couldn’t imagine the circumstances under which that could happen, but then again, I couldn’t foresee any conditions where he’d leave a job once he’d agreed to take it on. “No, that can’t be it.”
“The truth is that Tommy and I had a difference of opinion,” Jake said. “He wanted to use our client as bait to catch the woman in the act of trying to kill him. I couldn’t agree to that in a million years. Suzanne, it wouldn’t have just put our lives at risk unnecessarily, but it would jeopardize the man who was trusting us to protect him. I started to go to our employer to tell him just that when Tommy overruled me, and he told me that it was his way or the highway.”
“So you chose the highway,” I said.
“I’m on it right now, as a matter of fact,” Jake answered. “I should be there sometime this evening, if that suits you.”
“You bet it does, but Jake, aren’t you still worried about the man you were hired to protect?”
“Suzanne, he wouldn’t listen to me, either! I called him the moment Tommy fired me, but he said he had to trust the man he’d hired to do the job. I did everything I could, but if nobody will listen to me, my hands are tied. I hate leaving things like that, and you know it, but what else could I do? Start tailing him until I got arrested for stalking him instead of this lunatic he used to date? There was no way I could help, so I’m washing my hands of the whole mess. You know, I’m not sure I’m cut out for this kind of work after all.”
“You’ve had some good experiences, too,” I reminded him.
“I understand that, but it takes just one bad one to taint the rest of them. Don’t worry, I’ll come up with something to do with my time. How goes your investigation?”
“We’re spinning our wheels at the moment, but I have high hopes that we’ll make some progress soon,” I said. That’s all that it was, hope, but it didn’t cost a thing to wish.
“I’m sure you will, and if you need me, I’ll be more than happy to help as soon as I get back.”
“I thought you just said that you were finished with that kind of work,” I reminded him, trying my best to make him smile over the line.
I must have succeeded, because I swore I could hear his smile in his voice when he responded. “When I do those jobs, I get paid,” he said. “This is different.”
“Hey, I pay you. It’s just not something you could declare on your taxes,” I said, happy that, no matter what the reason, my husband was on his way home to me. It may have been selfish of me, but I didn’t care. I knew if Jake said that he’d done all he could to make things work out, it was the unvarnished truth.
“That’s too true,” he said. “Hey, do you know why Phillip would be calling me?”
“I don’t have a clue,” I admitted.
“Well, I’d better take it. It might be important, and besides, I’ll let you get back to work. I just wanted to touch base with you and tell you what was going on.”
“I appreciate that,” I said.
Once we hung up, I found myself feeling better, and not just about the case. Having Jake around was important to my peace of mind, and I hoped he felt the same way about me.
Ten minutes later, the mayor walked in. “Why, if it isn’t George Morris himself. I feel special. That’s two visits from you in two days.”
“You should be honored,” he said with a grin. “I was sitting in my office wondering how I ever let myself be talked into being the mayor of our fair city, and that made me think of you.”
“Hey, don’t blame me. It was all Momma’s doing, remember?” I recalled how she’d orchestrated a write-in campaign for George when she’d no longer been interested in the job, and he’d taken over the reins of our fair town, albeit reluctantly. It had turned out to be a stroke of genius, though. George was a better mayor than anyone, with the possible exception of my mother, could have ever imagined.
“I know full well who was responsible,” he said. “I don’t exactly regret taking the job, but I do miss our investigations. It was fun working with you once upon a time.”
“Including getting injured on the job?” I asked him, recalling the time when he’d been assaulted in the line of duty all because he’d been working with me.
“Hey, if there weren’t any risks, it just wouldn’t be any fun,” he said, patting his once-bad leg. “Anyway, I’ve bounced back from that all of the way, so if you need me, you know where to find me.”
“Thanks, George. That means a lot to me.”
“Well, that’s all I wanted to say,” he told me. “I’d better get back to the office. I’ve been ducking Lem Enright all morning, but I have to talk to him sooner or later, so I might as well get it over with.”
“Trouble at city hall?” I asked him.
“Nothing I can’t handle,” he said with a grin.
“Hang on a second,” I said as I grabbed an old-fashioned cake donut, one of his favorites, and chucked it in a bag. “For the road.”
“I shouldn’t,” he said as he peeled a dollar off the wad in his pocket.
“Sorry, but I can’t take back free samples,” I said, refusing his bill. “Thanks for stopping by, though, and be sure to come again.”
He looked as though he wanted to fight me on it, but ultimately, George changed his mind. “It was my pleasure. Remember what I said, Suzanne. I’m never more than a phone call away.”
“I’m counting on it,” I said, smiling as the mayor left. George and I had been friends for years, and it was always good to see him. I’d missed being around the people I cared about when I’d been gone, and I swore to myself that I’d never willingly run away again. This was where I belonged, and I wasn’t about to let a little thing like a nearly successful attempt on my life drive me off anymore.
I’d sent Emma on her way at closing time, but I wasn’t quite ready to leave the shop myself. The truth was that I needed a little quiet time at Donut Hearts without her, though I would have never come out and said it to anyone else. For some reason, the transition back to my old life was harder with anyone else around. I suppose some of it could have been because when I envisioned this day during my rehab, I was always working alone, at least initially.
There was a tap on the front door as I finished up the deposit slip, and as I looked up, I expected to find Grace standing there waiting for me to let her in. Well, she was there all right, but she wasn’t alone, and that did surprise me.
Momma and Phillip were there with her, too.
“Come on in, guys,” I said as I let them in and locked the door behind them. “I didn’t realize we were having a party, but I have a dozen donuts I can contribute.”
“Suzanne, we need to talk to you,” Grace said solemnly, not matching my jovial mood.
“This isn’t an intervention or something, is it?” I asked them, wondering what the three of them could possibly want to speak with me together for.
“No, it’s nothing like that,” Momma said with a raised eyebrow. She then turned to Grace. “Go on. Don’t keep her waiting. Tell her.”
“Suzanne, I hate to do this to you, but I’ve suddenly been called in to work. I’m going to have to bail on you.”
“That happens,” I said with a bit of alarm in my voice. “Is there something else going on here that you’re not telling me?”
“No, but it kills me to leave you in the middle of an investigation,” she said.
“That’s why we’re here,” Phillip said with a smile. “We’re going to fill in for her.”
“As much as I appreciate the offer, Jake’s going to be home this evening,” I said.
“I know, I called him about a cold case I’m working on, and he told me what happened. Good for him. I don’t blame him a bit for leaving a bad situation he couldn’t make any better by staying.”
“I’m sure he would appreciate that,” I said, “but I’ve got this covered.”
“You’re not doing this alone, even for eight hours,” Momma said emphatically. “That’s that.”
“Nothing’s going to happen to me,” I assured her.
From the expression on her face, I knew that I was wasting my breath. “Nonetheless, we are at your service.” She turned to Grace. “Don’t worry, dear. We’ll be fine.”
“I know that,” she admitted. “I just don’t want to miss out on any of the fun.”
“I’ll keep you informed,” I said as I hugged her. “If you’d like, I could call you tonight and give you a progress report.”
“Thanks, I appreciate that. Are you sure you’ll be okay?” she asked softly as she hugged me.
“I’ll be just dandy,” I said with a grin. “Now go.”
“Okay. I can’t believe they are calling me back in on my vacation. There’s one silver lining to it, though.”
“That we’re here to help in your place?” Phillip asked. It was clear he was chomping at the bit to get back into action.
“Sure, but I also get double the time off later,” she said. “You three stay safe, do you hear me? There’s a killer out there who’s not going to like what you’re doing, and if you get as aggressive as you’re going to need to be to get some solid answers, whoever killed Annabeth is going to know that you’re on their trail.”
“We’ll be careful,” I said. “Are you headed to Charlotte?”
“To the airport, anyway. I’m headed out to the west coast. Evidently one of my bosses has resigned suddenly, and my input is required on her replacement.”
A sense of dread swept through me suddenly. “They aren’t going to make you take her place out there, are they?” The thought of losing my best friend from my everyday life was almost too much to bear.
“No, they know better. I refuse to climb any higher up the corporate ladder if I have anything to say about it. Why in the world would I leave the sweet gig I’ve got going right now?” She glanced at her watch. “I’ve got to hustle if I’m going to make my flight.”
“Save travels, child,” Momma told her and then added a hug of her own before Grace could leave. Phillip smiled and waved, and I watched in silence as Grace took off headed for the sky.
“Don’t worry about bringing us up to speed. We’ve been briefed,” Phillip said as soon as I turned back to them. “Do you have a game plan going forward, or do we need to put our heads together and come up with something? We’re not rookies, you know. Not only was I a cop for a great many years, but your mother and I have worked cases with you before.”
He didn’t have to remind me. This was getting to be a Greatest Hits Tour with Grace, Phillip, Momma, and soon Jake helping with an investigation. George had offered his services as well, and as far as I knew, I might be calling on him at some point, too. It might even take every last one of them to get to the truth, but if that’s what it took, then that was what I was willing to do.
“I don’t know about you two, but I’m kind of hungry,” I told them. “Is there any chance we can stop by for a bite to eat at the Boxcar before we start sleuthing?”
“I could eat,” Phillip said as he patted his stomach. He’d lost so much weight since I’d been gone that I didn’t think one of Trish’s meals would hurt him. “How about you, Dot?”
“Actually, it sounds delightful,” Momma agreed. “I understand they have a new soup-and-sandwich combination that I’ve been dying to try. I just can’t find a decent broccoli-and-cheese soup these days.”
“Then let’s go,” I said.