Chapter 19

Early Saturday morning, Rory stuffed the few items she needed for the craft fair in a tote bag and left for the short drive to Good Samaritan Church. The closer she got to her destination, the more people she encountered. Even though it was December and the streets weren’t as crowded as in the summer months, the restaurants were still doing a brisk business with the breakfast crowd.

She was driving down the street that ended at the pier when a car came from behind her and gunned its engine, dashing around her. Rory braked and steered to the right, somehow managing to avoid a collision. She watched in horror as the speeding white sedan swerved and bumped into the side of a BMW in front of her, pushing it toward a parking meter and the sidewalk beyond, scattering those who’d been milling around waiting for a table at a nearby restaurant.

The driver of the BMW hit the brakes, but couldn’t stop in time and smashed into the meter. The car ended up with one of its front wheels on top of the now bent meter and its front end partially on the sidewalk. Rory breathed a sigh of relief when she realized none of the pedestrians had been hit.

Before Rory could catch more than a glimpse of the car that had caused the accident, it sped away, turning down a side street. She pulled her own car to the side of the road near the accident site and dialed 911 on her cell. Once she’d reported the incident, she made her way toward the BMW and looked into the driver’s window.

The man inside was slumped forward in his seat, his face buried in the air bag. She was about to check to see if he was breathing when he raised his head and slowly sat back. As soon as she realized it was Simon Zeppelin behind the wheel, she called his name to get his attention. She told him not to move more than necessary and that help was on its way. For a moment, she wasn’t sure Simon heard her, but then he raised a hand indicating he understood.

Rory texted Liz and called her mother to tell them why she’d be late, then stood next to the car to wait for help to arrive, talking to Simon to try and keep him calm. Lights flashing and sirens blaring, an ambulance, fire truck and police car arrived in quick succession.

While the paramedics took care of Simon, one of the uniformed officers who’d responded to the call questioned Rory. “What can you tell me about the accident?”

“It all happened so fast. A car came out of one of the side streets, ran a stop sign and sped past me. I had to slam on my brakes to avoid hitting it.” Rory took a deep breath as she relived the harrowing moment in her mind. “Then I saw it speed up and hit the BMW, pushing it off the road and toward the sidewalk. I was afraid it was going to hit those people on the sidewalk, but the parking meter slowed it down.”

“Do you think Mr. Zeppelin’s car was specifically targeted?”

“Maybe. It was hard to tell. It could have been a case of wrong place, wrong time, but I’m not sure.”

“Make and model of the car that caused the accident?”

“White sedan. Beyond that I don’t know.”

The officer nodded. “Any identifying marks? Dents, bumper stickers...Anything at all?”

Rory concentrated, trying to remember every detail of the car she’d seen. Finally, she shook her head. “No, not that I can think of. It happened so fast, I didn’t see much.”

“What about the license plate? Even a partial plate could be useful.”

“Sorry, I wish I could tell you more.”

After a few more questions, the officer released her to continue on to her destination.

The craft fair was in full swing by the time Rory arrived. Customers milled around the fellowship hall of the church, going from seller to seller, viewing all of the different items to buy. Everyone seemed to be doing a brisk business from the photographer with his photos of the beach and other local sights to the sculptor with his creations, both large and small, made of various kinds of metal.

Rory headed toward the table set aside for Arika’s Scrap ’n Paint, looking for her mother. The employee manning the table pointed her toward the other side of the room where Arika stood between a table selling glass jewelry and one featuring colorful dot patterns on stones and canvas. Rory went over to her own table, explaining to Liz she’d be right back, then headed over to talk with her mother who was now studying a display of earrings.

“Sorry I’m late,” Rory said.

Arika looked up from her shopping. “It was only right, your waiting for the police to arrive after witnessing the accident. Liz understands too. Was anyone hurt?”

Rory looked over at the people clustered around Loretta’s table. Loretta and Crystal were busy talking with potential customers, but Janis was nowhere to be seen.

Rory lowered her voice. “I need to work at my table, but first I need to tell you something.” She led the way into the adjoining kitchen where they could talk without being interrupted.

Arika frowned. “What is it?”

“The car that went off the road belonged to Simon. I think he’s going to be okay, but they took him to the hospital just to be sure. I don’t think Loretta knows about it yet.”

Arika shook her head. “The Zeppelins have not had a good year. I’ll tell her. I can run her over to the hospital if need be. Crystal can work Loretta’s table for her.”

“What happened to Janis?”

“She left town yesterday after...you know.”

Somehow, Rory wasn’t surprised at the news. Finding out she’d been lied to all of these years and that her birth father was Ricky Zeppelin, someone she’d never heard of before, must have thrown Janis for a loop.

“Do you need me to work at the store table?” Rory asked.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got plenty of help. I’d better go talk to Loretta.”

Rory followed her mother into the fellowship hall and headed toward her table while Arika went over to break the news.

“Sorry I didn’t get here sooner,” Rory said as she slipped into her place beside Liz.

“Wasn’t your fault. I’ve got it covered. Thanks for the text letting me know what happened.” Liz nodded toward Loretta’s table where Arika had drawn the woman to one side to tell her about the car accident. Loretta’s eyes grew big as she took in the news. “What’s that all about?”

“Simon was in the car that was hit.” Rory gave her friend a brief account of the accident.

“That sounds awful. What about the other car?”

“It sped away. I don’t know if the police have found it yet.”

“A hit and run. Do you think it was on purpose?”

“The police asked me the same thing. I have no idea. I didn’t get a good look at the car. Wish I had. It was pretty nondescript. There are a lot of white sedans in this city. My dad even has one.”

“No one else noticed the license plate or recognized the car? There must have been a lot of people on the street. The breakfast places do a good business on the weekend.”

“Not as far as I know. If someone did notice the plates, though, I’m sure the police will make everyone aware of it. They’d want people to be on the lookout for the car.” Rory stared at the half empty miniature trees that held the ornaments they were selling. “Looks like we’ve sold quite a bit so far.”

“It’s been nonstop until now. It’s nice to have a bit of a breather so we can refill the displays.” Liz glanced at her watch. “Only an hour left. We’ll sell out for sure.”

They brought out boxes filled with extra stock, repopulated the trees and spread out more ornaments on the table itself. No sooner had they finished than a new batch of shoppers stopped to look.

An hour before the craft fair was scheduled to close, Rory spotted Tammy enter the hall and begin walking from seller to seller. A short while later, the woman walked up to their table and looked through the ornaments on display, focusing on a surfing penguin. She picked up the piece and examined it. “Mindy would have loved this one. Do you have any more? I want to get one for me and one for my daughter.”

“You’re in luck. I think there’s one more left.” Rory looked through their diminished stock, finding an identical ornament on one of the trees. As she wrapped up the purchases, she said, “I’m glad you felt like coming out today.”

“It was time to get out and about. Plus I wanted to bring you this.” Tammy handed Rory an eight-by-ten photo of her father’s surfing crowd. “I was looking through Mindy’s papers and found it. I thought your dad might like it.”

“Thanks. I’m sure he will. Are you sure you don’t want to keep it for yourself? It’s a good photo of Mindy.”

“I think your father would appreciate it more. He knows everyone in it.”

“How about this? I’ll take a picture of it with my phone and send it to you. That way you’ll have a copy too.”

Tammy nodded her approval. Rory took her phone out of the pocket of her jeans, took the picture and sent it to the email address the woman provided.

After selecting a few more ornaments and paying for everything, Tammy tucked her purchases in a tote bag slung over her shoulder. “Did I hear something about a hit and run accident? One of the other sellers was talking about it.”

Rory nodded. “Someone ran into Simon’s car. He’s at the hospital now, getting checked out.”

“There’s certainly a lot more crime in this city than I expected,” Tammy said before leaving to continue her circuit of the tables in the hall.

After helping another customer, Liz checked out the picture of the surfing crowd. “Looks a lot like the one in the high school display case. Must have been taken at the same time.”

“Probably. I’ll put it in a frame before I give it to my dad. I think I have one at home that’s the right size.”

“Speaking of Christmas presents, have you bought anything for Dashing D yet?”

“No, and I’m running out of time.”

“It’s slowing down now. I can take care of the table by myself. Why don’t you take a look around and see if there’s anything here he might like.”

They took turns shopping. Rory ended up buying a few presents, including glass pendants for her mother and Liz, but didn’t see anything she thought would be a good present for her boyfriend.

Back at the table with Liz, Rory glanced at the clock. “Mom’s not back yet and the fair’s almost over.”

“Text her and see if she wants us to close up for her.”

Rory brought out her phone, but before she could send the text, her mother walked into the fellowship hall with the news that Simon was fine and resting at home, planning on returning to work on Monday.