Iced Tea (18 page)

The problem is human nature.  People don’t keep their mouth shut.  Crimes are solved by some asshole shooting off his mouth.  CSI shit is useful after the fool is caught.

I am writing this down for two reasons.  So I don’t miss anything.  So I don’t lose it.

The next part told me everything, well, actually, it told me nothing, other than the fact that Officer Jerkface is a freaking liar!

If you are reading this (I assume it is you Joseph) I am under arrest, or in a psych ward.  Either way – sorry for not confiding in you.  I knew that you would be forced to turn me in and I couldn’t do that to either of us…

I wanted to jump up and call Joe-the-cop, or Officer Jerkface, which ever, and ask him why the hell an undercover officer would feel the need to write in his journal that he was sorry he hadn’t confided in his partner and why he thought he’d be turned in if the truth got out.
 
That doesn’t sound like a cop working with the cops to me.
 

Although I’m dumb, I try not to be stupid, and laying all your cards on the table, when you don’t know what the other person has, and you aren’t sure what game you’re actually playing, is stupid.
 

If you’re playing Poker, doesn’t matter if you have an excellent hand for Old Maid.
 

Why Old Maid came to mind, is not something I’m going to think about right now.

So, if Joe-the-cop was screwing with me, then chances are good that all the stuff he’s told me so far is a lie, and if all the stuff he’s told me so far is a lie, then I need to find out what the hell is going on.

I walked over to the coffee table and picked up my phone, trying to decide who to call.
 
Mom and Daddy are always a good choice, but I’m not sure that I want to get them in the middle of all this.
 
Rory is an obvious choice, since he’s a cop and everything.
 
Teagan would be my regular go to person, but I don’t want her to get into trouble, and I have no idea what any of this means, or how bad it is, or if people have really died, or if Joe-the-cop is some sick whacked out weirdo.

Speaking of whackos, I talked myself back from the edge.
 
Out loud, I think.

Take a breath.

Make a cup of tea.

Calm down.

Teagan has great timing.
 
The moment I put down my cup, the phone rang.

“Hi.”

“Something you wanted to tell me, Cara?”

Damn, she’s getting to be more like Mom every day.
 
How did she know?

I whined, “I wasn’t sure who I was going to tell.
 
I thought maybe Mom, but that seemed like a bad idea, then Rory, but I don’t want to go there with him if I can avoid it, so then I was thinking about you, but I wasn’t sure yet, cause I always call you and that’s just not fair.”

“Of course you were supposed to call me.
 
I’m the one that was in charge.
 
We discussed this.”

“In charge?”

“Okay, maybe not in charge, in charge, but I wanted to be a part of it.”

“I was worried someone might get hurt.”

“Don’t be so dramatic, Cara.
 
I’m not that emotionally fragile.”

“It’s not your emotions I was worried about.”

“Fist fights over wedding gowns only happen in the movies, and some bridal sales, Cara.”

“What?”

“Morgan’s dress.
 
Isn’t that what we’re talking about?”

“Oh, Morgan’s dress.
 
How did you find out about Morgan’s dress?”

“Morgan told Liam, Liam told Rory, Rory told Sinead, Sinead told Mom and Mom told me.”

“So much for keeping it a secret.”

“The fact that she has a dress isn’t a secret, what the dress looks like is a secret.”

“Oh.
 
I guess I screwed that up.”

“So, two problems.
 
If you weren’t going to tell me about the dress, then what were you talking about, and why the hell weren’t you going to tell me about the dress.”

“Last problem first.
 
I was going to tell you, I just haven’t been home all that long and I was trying to figure out the whole Officer Jerkface thing.”

“Who is Officer Jerkface?”

“Joe-the-cop.”

“Don’t confuse me Cara.
 
What’s going on?”

“It just seems like everywhere I turn there’s another fact that doesn’t quite add up about the whole Joe-the-cop, murder by the numbers, thing.”

“There’s stuff you haven’t told me, isn’t there?”

“A little bit.”

“Cara, you tell me everything, what the hell is going on?”

“I didn’t tell you because Joe-the-cop told me that it would put you in danger, and I figured since I’d already used up all your vacation time, it would be rude to have you killed too.”

“You didn’t use up all my vacation time, and did it even dawn on you that maybe Joe-the-cop is less than honest and forthright, and that maybe, just maybe, he is playing you like a fine fiddle?”

“God, you sound like Bernie.”

“Speaking of Bernie, did you go through the trunk yet?”

“Haven’t even looked in it.”

“I’m officially worried about you Cara.
 
You aren’t acting like the Cara we all know and once in a while like.”

“I know.”

“You keep it up, I’m bringing you over to Troya and have her check you for brain tumors, or parasites, or possession by a foreign spirit or something.”

“It’s not that bad.”

“It’s close.”

“Anyway, I was just sitting down with a pad of paper to figure out what to do next.
 
Mom always says that you have to write everything down so it doesn’t float around in your head.
 
That’s what I’m going to do.”

“I want to hear all about all of this Cara.
 
It isn’t a game any more.
 
This could be a real problem.”

“I know.
 
As soon as I get it somewhere near organized, I’ll let you know.”

“You’re still in trouble for not telling me about the dress, but I’m beyond thrilled that you and AJ were able to pull this off.”

“I’d love to take the credit, but I had nothing to do with it.
 
I didn’t even know about it.”

“AJ told Morgan that you inspired him.
 
Mom said she didn’t want the details of that little experience, but I do.”

“Really, I didn’t do anything, AJ’s just being nice.”

“Whatever.
 
It’s enough to know that one more lovely thing is happening for Morgan and Liam.”

“I agree.”

“Let me know what you figure out, when you figure it out.”

“I will.”

“And lock the damn door.”

“I will.”

I walked over and put the maid lock on before I sat down to figure out more facts.
 
This time I was even smart enough to text AJ and warn him that I’d put on the maid lock, so he wouldn’t injure himself trying to get in the door.

I sat at the table and made notes.
 
Thoughts were coming to me so fast I gave up, flipped the page, and started a mind map.
 

I put a circle in the middle and labeled it Officer Jerkface.
 
Radiating from there I put spokes saying things like: condo, mini cooper, stalking, my parent’s house, the cemetery, and partner.

When the phone rang it scared the crap out of me.

“And you need to call Billy.”

“What?”

“I was just thinking about it.
 
All this started with the call from Billy asking you to empty the condo of one of his parishioners.
 
Maybe he knows something we don’t know.
 
Mom always says that if you want to figure out a problem, start at the beginning, call Billy.”

“I will.”

“Now Cara.
 
This thing is escalating in ways that we don’t understand and we have more important things to do than bury you.”

“Gee, I love you too.”

“You need to fix this Cara.
 
Today.”

“Yes your royal pain in the butt-ness.”

“Good.”

And she was gone.

“Father Parker.”

“Hi Billy, it’s Cara O’Flynn.”

“Cara?
 
Is everything all right?”

“Billy, someone doesn’t have to die for me to call the family priest, and a friend from forever.”

“So, tell me Cara, just when was the last time you called me out of the blue, for no reason at all.”

“Good point.”

“So what is it you need?”

“Well, now I feel guilty.”

“As well you should, I am a priest you know, we specialize in guilt.”

Laughing broke the tension.

 
“Billy, can you tell me about Louis and his brother Steven?”

“Sure.
 
Is there a problem Cara?
 
Did Steven not pay you?”

“No, nothing like that.
 
I’ve just run into a complication or two with his old partner, and I thought if I knew more about him, I could make a fair decision about whether or not I should get his superiors at work involved.”

“That doesn’t sound good at all Cara.
 
I’m sorry to have put you in such a bad position.”

“It isn’t your fault, you didn’t do anything wrong, and I’m not even sure I am in a bad position, I just wanted some background information, like how well you knew Louis, and maybe you could give me Steven’s phone number.”

“Well, I didn’t know Louis at all, really.
 
He came to the church from time to time.
 
I’d recognize him on sight, but I didn’t really know him.
 
As far as a phone number for Steven, I’m afraid I can’t help you there, all of our communication has been by email.”

“Isn’t that a little strange?
 
Making all the funeral arrangements and everything and never even talking to the guy?”

“I don’t think the brother had anything to do with the funeral arrangements.
 
All of that was taken care of by the police, I think.
 
I came into the picture after that.
 
I got an email from Steven asking that I take care of the condo.
 
It isn’t a common thing for me to deal with, but unfortunately, it isn’t rare either.”

“You never talked to him?
 
That’s weird.
 
I would have sworn that you had.
 
I’m really beginning to worry about myself.”

“I’m sorry Cara.
 
I should have checked the details more carefully.”

“Don’t be silly Billy.
 
Why would anyone call a priest and ask them to do something like clean out a condo, if it wasn’t legit.
 
I’m not worried about it at all, I’m just trying to figure the best way of dealing with all this.”

“I’m sorry if I got you into a situation where you worked in good faith and didn’t get paid.”

“Not to worry.
 
Steven sent me a good sized check before I started, so I’m not out-of-pocket anything, even if I don’t get another cent.”

“Well, shouldn’t the check have contact information?”

“Good point.”

“Just call the bank and have them give you the information.”

“I don’t even have to do that.
 
I keep a copy of everything.
 
You know how I am.”

“I do indeed.”

“Boy, you sounded just like Mom.”

“On that note, I’ll let you get to it.
 
Anything else I can help you with Cara?”

“Nope, I think I’m good.”

“I hope so, I haven’t seen you at church in a while.”

“Wow, you really do sound like Mom.”

I could hear him chuckle as he hung up.

I jumped up and went to my trusty hatboxes where I keep all paperwork not yet filed.
 
Sure enough, there was a copy of the check.
 
The stupid thing is a cashier’s check.
 
Now that I think about it, at the time I got it, I thought it was very thoughtful for Steven to send the check that way, so that I wouldn’t have to wait for it to clear.
 
All of the sudden, it seemed a little more sinister than that.