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I’m sure it only took a few minutes for Aaron and police officers to arrive, but it seemed to me to take forever. Aaron found me sitting across the street on the curb, staring at the house –numbed by what had happened.
“Honey, I’m here.” He plunked down on the curb beside me and pulled me into his embrace. “It’s going to be all right.”
“I...hope...so...” I said. He handed me a tissue, and I blew my nose. “It’s a mess. The kitchen’s a disaster.”
“Don’t worry, baby.” He held me close.
We looked toward the house. The police were in and out of the house and canvassing the neighbors. We walked across the street back to the house.
We’d barely reached our front door when the two detectives arrived. “They’re going to say something like, ‘again?’” I said, and wasn’t far off the mark.
“We meet again?”“Twice in a day?”The two went inside, leaving us behind.“What’d I tell you?” I looked up to Aaron. “I
haven’t been inside. Called from back over there.” I nodded toward the curb. “Don’t know if I want to go inside.”
“I’m calling Marie.” Before I could protest, he had his phone out and was placing the call. “Marie?”
Of course what I heard was one-side of the conversation, but the upshot was that I would spend the night at Grandma’s, on the couch since Sally was in the spare room. I gave in. “It’s probably a good idea anyway.”
Aaron put his arm around my shoulders. “I’ll go in and get what you need.”
“Don’t forget my toothbrush and lipstick. My bag. Clean underwear.”
“Yeah—got it.” He walked away, and I watched him go inside. I collapsed on the front steps and tried to stay out of everyone’s way. I suspected that they were going over the house with a fine-tooth comb. It didn’t take long for Aaron to reappear with a small suitcase filled with fresh clothing, personal items and pajamas plus my bag. “Thanks,” I said after looking through everything. “Wow. You remembered everything. So, what are they doing in there? Tell me what it’s like.”
“Let’s just say, you don’t want to know.” He drew in a deep breath. “Not sure what they were after, but whoever it was, they were angry at not finding it. Everything’s overturned or messed up. Remember how bad your grandparents’ bedroom was when the killer searched for the cuff links? It’s that bad.”
“It’ll take days to get it sorted out and straightened.” I frowned. “I’m calling Max to see if he’ll take over the store tomorrow.”
“Good idea.” He kissed the top of my head. “It’s time for you to go. The detectives know that you’re not leaving town and know how to reach you. They’ll be in contact. I’ll let them know where you are, and make certain they have your cell phone number.
“All right,” I said as Aaron walked me to my car, and opened the door. I placed the small suitcase in the backseat. “I’ll call when I get there.”
“Be careful.”
I watched him through the rearview mirror as I drove away. I hated leaving him behind. I hated whoever was doing this. Fortunately, there wasn’t much traffic at this time of the night because I wasn’t in the mood for slow moving cars and stopping for pedestrians. I was happy to see the house as I turned the corner, parking out front. By the time I’d removed the suitcase and walked up to the front door, Grandma had the door open, and I entered.
“Liv, I’m so sorry,” Grandma said.
“I know,” I said. Tears flooded her eyes, which caused the same reaction in mine. After receiving her hug, I received one from Grandpa and Sally. “Thanks.” I blew my nose again.
“Have a seat, dear girl, and tell us all about it,” Sally said.
“I don’t know what to say, really.”
“I’ll pour you a glass of wine,” Grandpa said. He got up and went to do the chore, returning with a full bottle and filling everyone’s glass.
“Thank you.” I went ahead and relayed how I’d walked in the kitchen door, and the big mess in front of me. “That’s all I know. Aaron said it’ll take quite a bit to get it all picked up and sorted through.”“Now what, Liv? What do the detectives have to say?” Grandpa said.“I think they’re as lost as I am. We believe that they were after the books or else the jingle dancer figurine and Inga’s grass bowl.” I shrugged. “It’s hard to know.”
“You’re safe here. Drink up and we’ll make you a bed right here on the couch. It’s time for us old people to hit the sack, anyway.” Grandpa’s mouth twitched. “Grandma will go to work tomorrow for you.”
“Max will take over. I’ve already spoken to him.” I said, and sipped my drink. “I’ll need help cleaning up. I probably won’t be able to get started until sometime tomorrow so I can still take you to the airport.”
“Thank you,” replied Cousin Sally.
It wasn’t long before I was left to my own devices. I slipped into my pajamas, and threw a blanket on the couch and found a spare pillow. I scrunched up the pillow and slipped under another light-weight blanket and shut my eyes. When I closed my eyes I saw the messy kitchen again, and imagined what the rest of the house looked like. Each messy room was a vivid image. Car headlights shone brightly through the window at least twice as a car slowly drove past, shining right in my eyes. I pulled the drapes, and tried falling asleep. When car doors slammed, I sat up and peeked out from the curtains to the street and saw someone walking. When morning finally came, I wondered if I’d slept at all.
Grandma carried a tray of apple juice, and buttered toast out to me. I sat up, rubbed my eyes and yawned. “Is it always this noisy out here during the night?”
“What are you talking about?” Grandpa asked, coming from behind.
“First there was a car that drove by, twice, then another one dropping someone off and she went into the house across the street.”
“The girl works late, nothing to it. Don’t worry.”
I went ahead and ate my toast, deep in thought. I wanted to trust them at their word, but too much had happened. The person who followed Aaron could very well have followed me here and waited to see if I’d later emerge or if I was alone. They may have broken into my car.
“Grandpa? Would you go out and see if my car is okay?”
“If it’ll make you feel better.”
“Thanks.” I reached for my keys and handed them over. Grandma and Sally were out in the kitchen so I carried the tray out there. I set it on the counter and then sat down by the table. “I sent Grandpa out to check my car.”
“I’m sure it’s fine,” Sally stated, sipping her coffee.
Grandma poured me a cup, and I hoped it would wake me up. It was going to be a very long day. I didn’t want to go home and face the mess, but knew there wasn’t any getting around it. Grandpa entered, and set my keys down in front of me.
“No problem. Tires are good. Started right up. Can’t see anything wrong.”
“Thank you. I feel better.” With the coffee cup in hand, I excused myself and headed for the bathroom to shower. Pretty soon, I finished and joined the other three outside on the patio.
“Have you heard from Aaron?”
“No. I was just going to call him.” I dialed him up and he answered in two rings. “How are you?”
“Great, but you want to hear about the house.”
“Yes.”“Lipstick message on the bedroom room mirror that’s threatening. It said, ‘give it back’.”“The ledger books? What?”“Don’t know. Otherwise it’s just a big mess. Too much to fingerprint, but they took samples from the most likely places.”
“I’ll be home soon. You working?”
“Not right away. Let me do some cleaning. It’s too much. Take Sally to the airport, and then come home. It’ll give the detectives time to sort through stuff, also.”
“You’re right. I’ll see you later. Love you.”“Love you, too.”We disconnected, and I relayed the message, but left out the part about the lipstick message. “I guess I’ll be here for awhile. Max is busy in the store.”
“I’m calling Inga,” Grandma said, reaching for her phone. “See what she has to say.”
“Maybe she was also broken into last night?” I wondered, because when something happens to me— it’s like a domino effect. I sipped my coffee and listened in on the one-sided conversation.
“Who’d a thought all of this murder and mayhem would happen right here in Minneapolis? Unbelievable.” Sally shook her head. “I’m ready to go home. It makes me fearful.”
I felt sorry for her, and placed my hand over hers. “It’ll be all right. Just wait and see.”
“Someone did break-in last night at Inga’s. They didn’t take anything other than her TR photos.” Grandma set the phone down. “Too many strange happenings.” She rubbed her chin. “Now, where were we?” You were going to ask me something.”
“I’ve got some free time. Do you need some errands run, or maybe do some weeding?
“Weeding, definite.”
I groaned, and wished I hadn’t asked. “Okay. I’m right on it.”
After finishing my coffee, and I went for the sunscreen lotion and slathered myself up before going out in the hot morning sun. I stayed in the shade as long as possible, stopping for a glass of ice water when necessary. Grandma made egg salad sandwiches for lunch and I took a breather. After lunch, it was time to shower and get ready to take Sally to the airport, soon we were heading down the road toward the interstate.
“I hope you had a nice time,” I asked as I entered the I-94 entrance ramp.
“Oh, yes. The time just flew by.” Sally glanced at me. “Tell me about your store. I never did get to see it and I feel bad about that.”
“It’s a delight. You’ll have to come and spend time looking around.” I told her about the houses and all the different eras that were represented. She seemed enthralled, until I realized she’d fallen asleep. We drove in silence until I’d parked in the area near where we had two days ago.
Her head bobbed up and she said, “Here? Already?”
“Yep. I’ll get your suitcase.” I walked around to the trunk and lifted it out, setting the wheels on the ground. “By the way, you don’t happen to remember if the attendant who reminded you of me came off your plane, do you?”
“No, she didn’t. I’m sorry I can’t be more help to you with your mystery.” Sally took my arm, and we walked close to the airport. “I wish that I could’ve stayed longer. August looks well.”
“They’re both doing well.”
We entered the airport. After checking in the baggage, we followed signs to the correct terminal. Only a few people were waiting. Sally and I sat in much the same area as before to wait for the attendant to call passengers for boarding. More people began arriving, and it didn’t take long for the room to fill. I tried to keep my eyes peeled for the look-alike attendant, but found it difficult. If it was Pam, her short height would make it even more difficult.
Once Sally was walking out to board and we had waved goodbye for the last time, I took time to explore the airport. As I walked, I read all the posted departure and arrival destination times. My main concern was for flights with Middle East destinations. I meandered slowly up and down each terminal until at last coming across a listing for Saudi Arabia. I decided to sit for a while.
I texted Aaron to let him know what I was doing. He replied, ok. As I watched the distant planes come and go, I began to wonder if this was worth my while when I noticed an attendant about my height, with red springy hair walk by. Few people had red springy hair, so I realized that she was probably the woman that Sally had seen. I stood up so that I could keep an eye on her, but just as I was about to follow her, a voice from behind whispered, “Take this as your second warning. Three is fatal.”
My eyes opened wide with fear, and I turned to stare into the flow of passengers but missed seeing anyone familiar. It sounded like a male’s voice, deep and low. Anger swept through me, and I wanted to scream and shout. Instead, I turned and walked away.
I purchased a beverage on my way out the door, and quickly walked to my car. I paid the parking fee and headed right onto the freeway. I also wanted to get home and discuss this latest development with Aaron.
The threat was solid, and scary. I found that I was driving over the speed limit and made myself slow down, even though I was becoming more and more frightened. Fortunately, traffic moved right. The garage door was open, and I parked right beside Aaron’s car.
I rushed inside, found him in the living room asleep, and gave him a big kiss.
“Hey hon.” He opened his eyes. “Missed you.”
“Ditto.” We kissed again.“You look scared. What happened?”“Someone threatened me again.” Aaron sat up, and pulled me beside him. I told him what the person had said. “I looked around, but didn’t see anyone that I recognized.”
“What on earth does this person think we have? All you did was watch the planes.” He frowned, and reached for his phone. “I’m telling the detectives.”
When Aaron’s call was answered, he told the operator what had happened, then disconnected. “You’re to have someone with you at all times.”
“Figures. It’s the answer to everything. In the meantime, I’m scared to death.” I got up. “My suitcase is in the car, I forgot to bring in. I’ll be right back.”
“No. I’ll go. You stay right here.” Aaron stood, and walked past me. “I’ll bring it in and then we’ll walk through the house.”
In the bathroom, I stared at the mirror’s reflection of myself and saw a frightened woman with dark rings under her eyes. Aaron returned and led me from the room.
“I’ve pretty much straightened our room, so we can sleep here tonight. All the drawers were upside down.” He guided me into the spare room, where my period dresses lay in shambles across the spare bed and the sewing material thrown into a large pile.
The kitchen still had a few drawers tipped over, but most of the pots and pans had been put away. “Thank you for doing all that work. It’s not so bad anymore.” I shook my head and squeezed his hand while he led me down the kitchen stairs into the basement. I stood in awe, looking across the vast, un- partitioned room, straight to the laundry area, where our clothes were scattered on the cement floor.
“I didn’t bother down here yet, as you can tell. It’s last on my list since no one usually sees it, except us.” “You’re right.” I sighed, balling my fist. “These
threats are going to end.”“And, not soon enough.”“I’m going to come up with some sort of trap, if it’s the last thing I do.”