Lemon Larceny (The Donut Mysteries) (25 page)

“Jake Bishop, you
are not driving all the way to Maple Hollow on little or no sleep.
 
You need to find a place to rest for
tonight, and you can come here first thing in the morning.
 
Nothing’s going to happen until then,
anyway.”

“I told you, I’m
fine,” he said as he stifled a yawn.

“You big fat liar,”
I said with a hint of laughter in my voice.
 
“Seriously, there’s nothing you can do
here at the moment.
 
Momma and I
have things under control.”

“Do we really?”
Momma asked me softly.

I shook my head
and grinned, and then I shrugged.

“Did your mother just
say something?” Jake asked.

Louder this time,
Momma told him, “Get some rest, dear.
 
You’re no good to us if you’re exhausted, or if you’re in an accident on
the way.”

“I probably
wouldn’t have put it quite that way,” I said, “but it’s true enough.
 
How close are you to your apartment in
Raleigh?”

“It’s about a
four-hour drive from here, and then it’s another four to you.
 
If I leave right now, I can make it by
midnight.”

“If you get here
at all,” I said.
 
“I’ve reconsidered
my earlier suggestion.”

“Does that mean
that I can come there now?”

“I don’t even
want you driving any more this afternoon.
 
Find a hotel room right where you are and sleep until morning.
 
If you’re here before four tomorrow
afternoon, I’ll know that you didn’t do what I asked you to do.”

“How about if I
get there by noon?” he asked, and I knew that I’d won this particular argument.

“Let’s
compromise.
 
Two PM tomorrow, and
not another minute sooner.”

“Sure, I guess
that I can do that.
 
Are you positive
that it’s okay if I do this?
 
If
something happens to you or your mother while I’m sleeping somewhere across the
state, I’d have a hard time ever forgiving myself.”

“Jake, nothing’s
going to happen, but if it does, you are hereby officially absolved of any and
all blame for whatever might transpire.
 
I won’t even haunt you; how does that sound to you?”

“I don’t
know.
 
I wouldn’t mind having you
around, even if a part of you were gone.”

“Does that
include if I’m a ghost?”

“Hey, I’ll take
whatever I can get,” he said.
 
“If
you’re really sure, then I’m going to take you up on your offer.
 
Truth be told, I’m so tired I can hardly
see straight.
 
When I was younger, I
could miss a night of sleep and not lose a step.
 
These days, if I don’t get at least
eight hours, I’m worthless the next day.”

“I would never
say that you’re worthless,” I said.

“That’s sweet,
but we both know that I’m not getting any younger.
 
Listen, I’ll agree to this time frame on
one condition.”

“What’s that?” I
asked him.

“If you get in
trouble, you call me, no matter what time of day or night it is.”

I had to
laugh.
 
“Jake, how much good do you
think that you can you do from where you are right now?”

“Suzanne, don’t
forget that I’ve got the advantage of having the long arm of the law on my
side,” he said with a chuckle.
 
“If
you call, I’ll make help appear.
 
That
I can promise you.”

“I won’t hold you
to it, but it’s sweet of you to offer nonetheless.
 
You’d better believe that I won’t call
unless it’s a dire emergency.”

“Is there any
other kind?” he asked, and then he hung up.

“Wow, he must
really be tired,” I told my mother.
 
“I won that argument with hardly any fight from him.”

“The poor man
works too hard,” Momma said.

“I know that, and
you know that.
 
Just try telling him
that.”

“No, thank
you.
 
He’s every bit as stubborn as
the man I have in my life.”

“I’m willing to
wager that mine is worse than yours,” I said with a grin.

“Let’s just call
it a dead heat and leave it at that, shall we?” Momma suggested.

“That sounds good
to me.”
 
As she pulled up in front
of Anna’s home, I noticed something odd right away.

Her front door
was standing wide open.

Had Anna left it
that way on purpose, or had something happened to my aunt’s nearest neighbor,
too?

“Hello?
 
Is anyone here?” I called out from the
porch.

“We should call
the police,” Momma said as she put a hand on my shoulder.

“Hang on.
 
Let’s not to jump to conclusions.”
 
I pushed the door gently with my foot,
and it continued to swing open.
 
“Anna!
 
Can you hear me?”

“I hear you just
fine,” a voice behind us said, and I nearly jumped out of my skin.
 
“Why are you yelling?”

“You scared the
life out of me,” I said.
 

“I don’t get
it.
 
Why wouldn’t you expect to find
me at my own place?” she asked.

“We saw the door
standing wide open, and you weren’t around.”

Anna reached over
and pulled the door shut.
 
A moment
after she did, it gently opened itself again.
 
“I’ve got to get Hank over to fix
that.
 
Most days I have to lock it
to get it to stay closed.”

I took a moment
to study her.
 
Instead of her usual
outfit, she had on a pair of blue and white pinstriped overalls.
 
There was a bandana in her back pocket,
and a smudge of something on her cheek.
 
“I hope we didn’t disturb you,” I said.

“No, I was just
in the garage changing my oil,” she said matter-of-factly.

“You change your
own oil?” Momma asked her.

“I sure do,” she
said proudly as she pulled the bandana from her pocket and wiped her
hands.
 
“I got tired of being so
helpless around automobiles, so I took a night class on basic auto maintenance
and repair.”

“Good for you,”
Momma said.
 
I tried to imagine my
mother changing the oil on her vehicle, but I just couldn’t picture it.
 
To be fair, I couldn’t envision the circumstances
where I’d be interested in doing it, either.

“What can I do
for you?” she asked.
 
“You didn’t
change your mind about selling me the house, did you?”

“We’ve been
talking about it,” I said, which was actually a big fat lie.

“That’s excellent
news,” she said.

“We just have a
question for you,” I said.

“Fire away.”

“We spoke with
someone recently who saw you coming in through the front gate just before my
sister’s body was discovered,” Momma said.
 
“Would you mind telling us where you were when she died?”

“I didn’t wander
very far off; I just went out to get my paper like I always do when I wake up
in the morning,” she said.

“But you have a
box for it right there.
 
You
shouldn’t even have to leave your yard to get it.”
 
It was true, too.
 
The plastic newspaper box was positioned
so that she could easily reach anything inside it without even having to open
the gate and step outside her property.

“Sure, if the
paper guy ever bothered to put it in there, I’d be all set,” she said, “but his
idea of delivering my paper most days is just hitting the sidewalk anywhere
within a hundred yards of my front door.”

It made sense, if
it were true.

“Who told you I
was out running around, anyway?” Anna asked.

“We’d rather not
say,” I said.

My late aunt’s
nosy neighbor frowned for a moment, and then she got it.
 
“You don’t have to tell me; I already
know.
 
I saw Greta as she was
driving up the hill.
 
She must have
told you.”

“We’re not in any
position to confirm or deny that,” I said.

“You don’t have
to.
 
Funny, I thought that Greta and
I were friends.
 
I guess I was
wrong.”

“She didn’t tell
us to hurt you,” Momma said.
 
“We’re
trying to get a little closure regarding my sister’s death, so we’re asking
everyone we speak with about the details of the last time they saw her.
 
We asked you the same thing, remember?”

“Sure.
 
I guess I get it.
 
After all, it’s not like I did
anything.
 
No one did.
 
I know it must be hard to accept, but the
woman just fell, plain and simple.”

Momma and I both
knew that it was anything but plain and simple, but I decided not to say
anything about that, either.

Anna added, “So,
when do you think you’ll make a decision on the house?”

“Soon,” I
said.
 
“We’ll let you know as soon
as we decide.”

Anna stood closer
to me as she said, “That sounds good.
 
I should tell you that I’d hate to hear that you sold the house to
someone else without even giving me a chance to bid on it.”

“We wouldn’t do
that to you,” I said as I took a step back.

“I hope not, for
all our sakes,” she said.

“Is that a
threat, young lady?” Momma asked her.

“No, not at all,”
Anna said, trying to force a little lightness back into the conversation.
 
“I’d just hate for you to miss out on a
higher bid, that’s all.”

“I sincerely hope
that was all that it was,” Momma said, and then she turned to me.
 
“Are we finished here, Suzanne?”

“For now,” I
said.

“Very good.”
 
Momma turned back to Anna and said, “We
won’t keep you from your oil change any longer.”

“I appreciate
that,” Anna said.

As we walked back
to my mother’s car, I glanced back and saw that Anna was watching us
carefully.
 
There was a thoughtful
expression on her face before she buried it with a smile and waved.

I waved back, but
I couldn’t wait until we got back to the safety of my Aunt Jean’s house.

Once we were
inside, I firmly locked the door behind us.

“Is that really
necessary?” Momma asked me.
 
“It’s
not even dark yet.”

“What can I
say?
 
I feel better having it
locked, so why not?
 
What are we
going to eat tonight?”

“How about the
lasagna we bought at the store?
 
It
can be ready in forty minutes.”

“That sounds
great,” I said.
 
“I’m sure it’s not
as good as we’d get at Napoli’s, but I doubt the DeAngelis clan would be
willing to deliver all the way up here.”

“I don’t doubt
that they’d do it for you, if you asked them nicely.”

“What can I
say?
 
They’re good friends of mine.”

“More like a
second family, I’d say,” Momma said a little wistfully.

A thought
suddenly occurred to me.
 
“You’re
not jealous of my relationship with Angelica and her daughters, are you?”

“No.
 
I’m actually quite fond of them all.
 
I’m not sure if you know it, but I’ve
been taking Phillip there once a week since we’ve been married, and the entire
clan has made us feel most welcome.”

“They do that
with everyone,” I said.

“This is
different.
 
They love you, Suzanne.”

It was getting a
little serious for my taste.
 
“And who
can blame them?
 
After all, I’m a
pretty lovable gal.”

“Most of the
time,” Momma said.

“I’m not sure if
that’s a backhanded compliment or not, but I’ll take it nonetheless.”

“I was certain
that you would.
 
What are you going
to do while we’re waiting for dinner?”

“If you don’t
mind, I thought I’d get out Aunt Jean’s journal and read a little more of it.”

“I thought we gathered
all of the clues that we could out of it,” Momma said.
 
“Why the need to read more from it now?”

“I guess I’m
hoping for a little insight into what really happened,” I admitted.
 
“I can’t help feeling that there’s
something that we’re missing, but if you’d like, I can wait to do it after I go
to bed.”

“No, I don’t want
it giving you nightmares.
 
Go
on.
 
Read away.”

“What are you
going to be doing while I’m studying Aunt Jean’s journal?” I asked her.

“I thought I
might call Phillip and bring him up to date on what’s been going on.
 
After all, he’s a fine law enforcement
officer in his own respect, and he might have some insights to share with
us.
 
I trust you have no objections
to me consulting with my husband.”

“Your trust is
well placed,” I said.
 
“Go on and
call him.
 
At this point, I’ll take
whatever help I can get.
 
I’d phone
Jake, but with any luck, he’s sound asleep by now.”

“I must admit
that it will be good having him join us here,” Momma said.

“On more levels
than I can ever express,” I said.

As my mother
smiled at me, she said, “Oh, I believe that I have a pretty fair idea.”