CRIMINAL CHRISTMAS: A Set of 8 Holiday Suspense Stories, page 24
If Jamey didn’t know better, he’d insist this woman who was kicking over his fencing and writing nasty letters had a great fondness for Pops. It sure looked that way to him. He had to figure out a way to get her to write something down so he could compare her penmanship to the letters.
When everyone had their coffee, Amy brought up the subject of the fence. “Max phoned on his way to town to say that you were out in the snow repairing your fence.” Her eyes squinted at Jamey. “I know how much your father loved that fence with the story of the cedar rails coming from the original homestead.” She looked to Pops and made a sad face.
Jamey decided at the last minute to lie. “I wasn’t repairing. Just reinforcing the fence.” He didn’t know the rails came from the original homestead. How did Amy know this tidbit.
Pops spoke. “Jamey loves to fiddle around the house when he’s here.”
“It must be nice to have a handyman around to help you, Pops.” Amy smiled warmly.
“Not that I can’t do it myself, but this young un’ needs to keep busy when he’s here. He’s not much for sitting around.”
They talked while the coffee dripped, then Amy poured them each a cup. Jamey asked if he could have Amy’s phone number in case he ever couldn’t get in touch with Pops. He shoved a pen and paper her way.
“Just put it in your phone directly,” Pops said.
“Forgot to bring it,” Jamey shrugged but Pops shook his head.
“Some parent you are, leaving three kids alone and you don’t have a phone.”
By now Amy had written her phone number on the paper and slid it back to Jamey. But the look on her face told him she knew. She knew about the letters to Pops and had probably guessed that this little test was to compare handwriting.
When Tina asked where a restroom was, Amy directed her to the hall, turn left, then left again. What the hell? The plan had been for him to snoop, not her. What was Tina up to?
Five minutes later, Tina returned and Jamey assumed she actually went to the toilet. “Your husband is home after all,” Tina said. “I’m afraid he caught me admiring this gorgeous house.” She didn’t look embarrassed. Just the opposite. Tina looked proud that she’d been caught snooping. Or at least, not bothered. She sipped her coffee, almost defiantly.
Max walked into the room, coatless, and looking like the cat who’d found a mouse.
“When did you get home?” Amy looked surprised. “I thought you were still out getting Pepto Bismol.”
“I slipped in a few minutes ago. You were busy at the front door so I went upstairs first.” He pointed to a back set of stairs that led from the kitchen. Max looked rough, like he really did have the flu. Why didn’t Amy go to the store for him?
“I found a stranger roaming around upstairs.” Max shot Tina a suspicious glance.
Tina laughed. “I’m afraid I had to introduce myself. I think I scared Max.” She looked at Amy. “I love old houses. When I saw the staircase and then looked at the top landing, I just had to take a peek.”
Jamey couldn’t believe how convincing Tina’s act was, but Pops shot her a look like she’d belched in front of everyone.
“You don’t need to sneak around, Tina,” Pops said. “Amy will give you a tour sometime.” He looked angry with his mouth firmly set and his eyes a steely blue.
But Amy didn’t take the bait for the tour and they talked around the table for ten more minutes until Jamey had a plan. Maybe if Max and Amy came over to their house for dinner, Tina could slip away and get a better reading over here. “Why don’t you two join us for dinner tomorrow? Are we available to have dinner guests?” He looked to both Pops and Tina, knowing their schedule was a busy one.
That’s when the look on his father’s face changed. Pops smiled cautiously. “I believe we are. Tonight, we’re all going out for dinner to Carrie’s family Christmas party, but tomorrow would work. Isn’t Liz coming for dinner too?” He looked to Tina who nodded. “Then tomorrow it is. Say six p.m.?” Pops stood to take his mug to the sink.
“That sounds wonderful,” Amy said, but Jamey could tell she’d been thrown off her game, whatever that was. “Max and I would love to join you.” She looked at her husband. “That is, if Max is feeling better.”
When they said their goodbyes on the very spot where Jamey had seen Amy sneaking in last night, Pops shook Max’s hand and hugged Amy.
“I’m already looking forward to dinner tomorrow,” she said to him. “I’ll bring dessert.”
****
Tina had had a feeling that something strange was up that staircase when they walked in the old house. Knowing that Jamey’s intuition was on strike, she decided at the last minute to change the plan. It was better that she pretend to go to the bathroom. A woman caught snooping is much more excusable than a man.
Following the strange feeling like a game of you’re getting hotter or colder, Tina ended up opening a door that led to the third floor and was suddenly hit with the strong sense of something bad on the next floor. She didn’t have the chance to explore further because Max cleared his throat directly behind her and said, “Hello. May I help you?” like he was a salesman in a department store.
That ended the investigation but at least she found something, even if it was only a hint. And the neighbors were coming for dinner tomorrow, which would provide a wonderful opportunity for someone to sneak over to head up those stairs. She’d been sure that was on Jamey’s mind when he created that last minute dinner party invitation.
Luckily Jamey had jumped in when Amy said she’d bring dessert and told Amy she’d done enough over the last months. “We want to pay you back for all your kindness,” he’d said. Tina imagined her husband’s tongue was planted firmly in his cheek. Hearing the offer to bring dessert, she’d almost shrieked No, but didn’t.
Amy had presented herself like a sweet girl, a next door newlywed who genuinely missed her own father back home and had adopted Pops. During their kitchen table talk, she’d even suggested looking after Kai while they all went out for dinner someday. Tina sensed an over my dead body feeling from her husband and masked her own fear of Amy getting her hands on Kai. “That’s very nice of you, but we’re still at that stage of wanting him with us all the time.”
When they got back to the house, Pops cornered her in the kitchen and gave her a piece of his mind.
“Wandering around someone’s house is the rudest thing I’ve ever seen you do, Tina. And very out of character for you.” His look pinned her to the floor, and she felt like she was about ten years old. “This better not have anything to do with you being jealous of Amy.”
Pops thought that was where all this came from? How could that be? She and her father-in-law had such a great relationship.
She thought about their strange morning all the way down the highway, but turning off Interstate 90 and onto Mercer Island, the familiarity of home blanketed Tina like a cozy sweater. This was the town where she’d grown up, where her mother still lived in the old family home, where she’d had her first kiss, her first pretty much everything. She’d led such a privileged life and hadn’t appreciated the half of it. As a teen she’d been mean to her parents, insisting they were old rich people and knew nothing. Sneaking out of the house at midnight to go hang out with her friends behind the high school was a regular practice when she was home from boarding school. And arguing with her mother. Luckily they were so far past that now.
Pulling up to the grand house, Tina wondered when her mother would sell the monstrosity. Five thousand square feet of antiques and expensive art was a lot to keep up at the age of seventy-three. She pulled the truck down the long driveway, Kai babbling happily from the back seat. There was no snow here, Mercer Island being connected by a short bridge to Seattle where the weather was usually warmer than Carnation. Her mother’s lawn was still picture perfect thanks to her gardener of twenty-five years.
“Hi Mom.” she called to her mother who was out the front door and standing at the top of the stairs on the front porch. They waved and Tina picked up Kai and slung her diaper bag over one shoulder.
“There’s my grandson,” Elizabeth said with a huge smile on her beautifully-lined face. Until Tina had Kai, she couldn’t have imagined her mother with a baby. Her stoic, perfectly lovely, garden club mother. But that façade fell away anytime Elizabeth Greene saw her grandbaby. Once, she’d even gotten down on the floor to play with him, which made Tina want to take her mother’s temperature and hug her at the same time.
Inside the warmth of the gorgeous showpiece house, Tina set Kai on his feet to demonstrate his newest skill—walking. Grandma watched, clapping her hands. “He’s so steady for eleven months,” she said.
“He’s a bruiser,” Tina added, taking off her coat then hugging Millie. Millie Clarke was the housekeeper, and long-time friend of the family. Tina had known her for decades now and appreciated that she lived downstairs in a separate apartment, but close enough to her mother to be on hand. “Merry Christmas, Millie”
“And the same to you, Kristina.” Millie led them to the kitchen where she’d fixed a Cobb Salad with fresh greens and tomatoes from Pike Street Market, sliced egg, blue cheese, bacon and avocado. One of Tina’s favorites. After watching Kai toddle around the kitchen area, and photos were proudly taken by the grandmother, they sat down at the kitchen nook for lunch. Millie had baked buns that morning and when she bit into one and it melted in her mouth, Tina recalled what a good cook Millie was. “This is heavenly. If you can believe it, I’m doing some of the cooking at Pops’ house.”
The other women looked surprised, knowing Tina didn’t know her way around a kitchen at all. “And everyone is still alive,” Elizabeth joked.
Tina cringed at the reference, remembering Amy’s food.
“Don’t look so serious, Kristina, I didn’t mean it,” her mother studied her face, a look of realization crossed her face. “Oh, the ham. Did you ever figure it out?”
Tina wanted to tell her mother everything now. About the letters, the phone calls to say someone was watching Pops, everything. But should she burden her mom with that information? The words bubbled to the surface, before she could swallow them down. “I’m worried it’s the neighbors who are terrorizing Pops.”
Her mother stopped chewing, took a drink of raspberry spritzer and looked at Tina.
“He’s being terrorized,” Tina said.
“I wouldn’t say teenage pranks are terrorizing, Kristina.”
“It’s more than that, but don’t tell Pops. Not yet.” Tina could trust both these women to keep a secret. They’d kept many in their lives. “Jamey is having both the ham and cookies I got a very bad feeling from, to the police to test. It’ll take about a week to get the results but in the meantime, we’re not letting Pops eat Amy’s cooking.”
“And if the food comes back fine, who do you think is leaving those crank calls?’
“No idea, but crank calls aren’t as serious as poisoning.” Kai squealed for more banana and Tina cut the other half into small bites and put them on his highchair tray while the women in front of her digested this morsel of information. Tina held her fork in front of her mouth. Her mother hated it when she talked with her mouth full. She set down the fork. “So far we have his front yard tree being pulled over, his beloved cedar fencing was kicked in, the phone calls, letters, and Jamey has dreamed that the house will burn down when the Christmas tree is still in the front window. Pops will die trapped in his bedroom.”
“Oh, my Lord in heaven,” Elizabeth said. “Why didn’t you tell me all this?” Her eyebrows arched in that way that told Tina to steer clear. “Does Pops know?”
Millie looked horrified on the other side of the nook and had stopped eating too.
“We tried to tell him some of it. We didn’t want to burden him until we have proof. He’s taking that blood pressure medication now, since the whole incident in August. Jamey told him we think Amy is to blame but it’s like he’s in denial about her.” Tina set down her fork. “I saw someone creeping around the house yesterday. They set off the motion detector light that Jamey installed, but I couldn’t see who it was. Then, last night Jamey went next door and saw Amy crossing the field at midnight with a plastic bag in her hand.”
“And?” Both women had her full attention.
“And we didn’t see anything suspicious at Pops’ place. We looked everywhere. You can imagine we’re all on edge. Today Jamey got Amy to write down her phone number but it was hard to tell if it’s the letter writer penmanship.”
Elizabeth’s fondness for Pops was apparent by the tears in her eyes.
“Mom, don’t cry. We have a plan. I just wanted you to hear this because you know Pops so well now, and I wondered if you could shed any light on the situation.”
By now, no one was eating but Kai.
Tina’s mom shook her head and looked at Millie. “We play a lot of cards and talk. I guess it’s no secret he is very fond of that girl, Amy.”
Millie’s voice was low, her eyes full of suspicion. “Maybe that husband of hers doesn’t like Pops taking a piece of his new wife’s heart seeing they just got married.”
“But why would Amy creep back at midnight to her house?” Tina might have thought the culprit was Max, but not now.
“She didn’t leave cookies last night, did she?
“Nothing that we saw.”
Elizabeth looked at her plate of untouched food. “You don’t suppose she and Pops are having an affair, do you?”
Tina blinked. “Are you kidding? Pops?”
Elizabeth tilted her head. “He’s a very good looking older man, still has all his hair, good teeth, sense of humor.”
Tina stared at her mother for a few seconds then shoved a big forkful of salad into her mouth. If it wasn’t disturbing to imagine Pops and Amy, it would have been funny that her mother described Pops this way. “I doubt it,” she mumbled through a mouthful.
Elizabeth picked up her fork. “It’s just a thought. He has feelings for her.”
“Fatherly feelings, Mom.”
Elizabeth didn’t look convinced. As a matter of fact, she looked slightly hurt, if Tina was being honest. “You know Pops had a handyman,” her mother said. “He might have had a grudge. Maybe you should ask about him.”
Tina stored that information and resumed eating. “Maybe. Amy and Max are coming for dinner tomorrow, so watch your food while you’re there.” It was a bad joke, she knew as soon as it came out.
Elizabeth Greene looked horrified. “Maybe we won’t come after all.” She glanced at Millie.
“Oh, you have to come,” Tina said. “You’re the distraction while Jamey runs over to search their house.”
Tina drove Pops’ truck along River Road, the chatter and laughter inside the vehicle making her smile. They’d been to Carrie’s Christmas party on the other side of Carnation and everyone was in good spirits, even Pops. It broke Tina’s heart to see him so happy with no idea that his body might be fighting off poison. If the food was tainted. With arsenic poisoning, there was no cure. All they could hope was that either Tina was wrong or that he hadn’t ingested much and in time it would leave his system. Pops sat beside her in the front seat and the twins and baby were in back. Jamey hadn’t come to the party. It wasn’t safe to leave the house unprotected while they went to Carrie’s, especially because Pops had earlier told Amy they’d all be out. At the last minute, Jamey feigned a headache and said he’d take some pain relief and come over later. But he never made it to Carrie’s.
Tina pulled the truck into the garage and shut off the engine listening to the kids in the back seat. The girls loved their little brother and were so good with babies. She could see a wonderful future of child care with those two. More than once this week Tina had wished they all lived in the same state. She loved these girls, almost like her own, and it would be wonderful if they lived on Maui someday. If they ever chose to live with her and Jamey, she’d welcome them with open arms, and not just for the babysitting.
Tina got out of the truck and waited for the girls to unstrap Kai. Lately, they’d taken to carrying him around and because they were both as tall as Tina, she let them.
According to Jamey’s last phone call an hour ago, there’d been one incident with the outside light coming on, but when he ran outside, he’d noticed that a branch had fallen with the weight of the new snow and landed at the side of the garage. False alarm.
They’d had a good time at Carrie’s family Christmas party with all the kids and games and food. A group of them even took the children out Christmas caroling up one side of Carrie and Chris’s street and down the other. Kai was fascinated with all the Christmas lights and the kids’ giggles. The once shy Wyatt was now the life of the party, no longer clinging to his mother and it was wonderful to see the children so happy. Even Harry had a great time. Tina had tried to let go of the worry about Pops and his house, just for one night.
Stepping into the warm house, Tina smelled onions and guessed that Jamey had made himself liver and onions for dinner, something he loved to cook when she wasn’t around. It was his bachelor dinner, he always said.
“You went caroling?” Jamey asked.
Tina and Pops kidded each other about their terrible singing voices, their relationship now back on track.
“Honestly, I thought the neighbors would slam their doors in fear once Tina started massacring “Jingle Bells,” Pops said with a chuckle.
The twins giggled and looked to Tina.
“I was sure a moose was giving birth in the trees when Pops got to the end of “Away in a Manger”.” Tina actually thought Pops had a pretty good singing voice, but hey, he started it. Looking up the stairs, Tina saw something half way, something white. She climbed to get it, and when she realized it was a plastic bag, picked it up. The realization that a stranger had been inside their house while they were gone was as strong as if she was watching a video of a faceless person on the stairs. “Jamey?”
He looked to her, smiling from ear to ear with the joy of the moment. Seeing the look on his wife’s face, his smile faded. He glanced to the twins and asked them to set up the Scrabble board in the kitchen. “I’ll be right in to whoop your little butts.”
