Maggie's Story (Intergalactic Matchmaking Services) (3 page)

“Oh, Mamzell, what am I going to do?” she asked the dainty cat, who had wandered out from the bedroom, greeting her owner as she does every day.

“
Mrawr
!” said Mamzell in greeting.

Maggie knew she had to call the detectives on her case. She immediately dug out her cell phone from her purse and called the number for Detective Romano. After her dissatisfying conversation with Detective Miles this morning, she didn’t want to talk to him again right away.

“Homicide, Detective Romano speaking,” greeted the older woman’s voice.

“Hi, Detective Romano, this is Maggie Cline. I need to tell you of something that has happened at my apartment.”

“Of course, Ms. Cline, are you okay?” said the detective, concern evident in her voice.

“Um, physically, yes, I’m fine. But my apartment door has been spray painted and I’m sure it was the Snake gang members that did it.”

“Tell you what, my partner and I will be right over to take a look.”

“Thank you, thank you so much,” said Maggie. She was happy they were coming over to see the symbol for themselves. “I’ll see you when you get here.”

After ending the call, Maggie took a deep breath. She proceeded to pick up all of the bags and groceries she had dropped to the floor when she came home. She hurried to put the groceries away before the detectives showed up. She also had to refresh Mamzell’s food and water bowls. Just as she was closing the pantry door, she heard the doorbell ring.

Maggie moved to the apartment door and peered through the peephole to verify it was the detectives at her door. Sure enough, there stood Detectives Romano and Miles. She quickly checked to make sure Mamzell wasn’t near the entryway, then unlocked the door and swung it open. Just as she did there was a blinding flash. Bright spots danced before her eyes; obviously, she had interrupted their picture-taking.

“Please, come in,” invited Maggie, rapidly blinking her eyes to clear the spots dancing in her vision.

“Thanks, Ms. Cline. Yep, that looks like graffiti. What makes ya think it’s the Snake gang’s doing?” asked Detective Miles.

A frustrated Maggie explained, “As I told you this morning, one of the gang members on the corner yesterday made that same sign to me when he saw me looking out my living room window. It’s the same young men that were outside when I came home today.”

Detective Romano moved to the living room window and moved aside the curtains. “I don’t see anyone suspicious out here right now, Ms. Cline.”

“What? They were there when I came home not twenty minutes ago!” She moved to the window to see for herself if the young men were still there. Of course, now that the police were in her apartment, there were no Snake gang members in sight. “Well, they aren’t there now, but they were a few minutes ago. Isn’t there anything you can do?”

“We took pictures of the graffiti, Ms. Cline, but with this building being so easy to enter there’s bound to be too many fingerprints to determine who the actual tagger is,” said Detective Miles. Maggie was really beginning to dislike this man’s attitude. Without a literal smoking gun, he seemed unwilling to exert himself to solve a crime!

“This is so frustrating! I can’t continue to live like this. I don’t understand why it is taking you so long to apprehend a criminal,” exclaimed Maggie. Again, she knew she was raising her voice as she got excited, but she just couldn’t care too much right then.

“As I’ve said, Ms. Cline, all we can do is wait until someone’s willing to turn in Mr. Santiago. His lawyer and our informants are all mum right now,” said Detective Miles. “We’ll contact you if we have any further information, but in the meantime ya just need to hang in there and stay tough. We’re doing the best we can. Have a good evening, ma’am, and call if anything else happens.”

Both detectives headed to the front door and let themselves out. Maggie rushed over to lock the door behind them.

“Mamzell, this is crazy. What am I going to do? Wait for them to kill me in my home? Then call the damn detective from beyond the grave?” Maggie was frustrated at the lack of help from the police department.

CHAPTER 5

After preparing an easy salad for dinner, Maggie took her schoolwork to the couch to go through it. As she reached for the remote control to turn on the news channel, her eyes fell on the pink paper on the coffee table. Again, she wondered if relocation was her best option at this point. The flyer seemed to stare back at her from the table, beckoning her to call the number listed on it. Was the timing of the appearance of the flyer significant? Maggie didn’t consider herself a religious person, but she did believe that Fate sometimes reared its head. Who was she to thumb her nose at Fate? Maybe this was an opportunity that needed to be considered.

“Well,” she said to the purring cat, “it can’t hurt to just call and get information, right?”

Expecting to reach voice mail or an answering machine, Maggie picked up the phone and dialed the number for the matchmaking service. Instead of an automated voice recording a woman answered the call.

“Intergalactic Matchmaking Services, this is Claire, may I help you?” The voice sounded warm and inviting, if a bit formal.

“Um, hi. My name is Maggie. I received one of your flyers on my windshield yesterday and would like more information about the service you offer,” said Maggie nervously. She had never enlisted the aid of anyone for dating, so this was new territory for her. She also noted that the woman said “intergalactic” instead of “international;” Maggie had assumed that was a typo on the flyer.

“Of course, Maggie, thank you for calling. May I ask where you’re calling from? I’m located in Seattle and like to keep track of where our marketing is working.”

“I’m calling from Mount Vernon. It’s a small town north of Seattle, right on Interstate five,” answered Maggie.

“Wonderful! Well, as our flyer stated we are looking for women that are looking for a change and willing to relocate. We only accept applicants that are open-minded and have a sense of adventure. We ask all applicants to take a basic personality test to help determine suitability. If you are found suitable as an applicant then we ask that you meet with our doctor for further tests; a routine checkup of sorts. Of course, we cover all of the costs; there is no out-of-pocket expense for you. I will even come to you for your initial interview if you are interested. Would you like to set up an appointment time to meet?”

Ms. O’Donnell definitely sounded like a professional, Maggie thought. Maybe she is a legitimate business woman after all. And maybe Fate was opening a door of possibility for her.

“Well, I guess I can do that. I’m a teacher and I’m not available until after four o’clock during the week. But my weekends are open,” stated Maggie. “Just out of curiosity, can you tell me where the word ‘intergalactic’ comes from for your business? Is it part of a marketing idea?”

“Wonderful, a school teacher! Regarding the name of the business, I can explain more on that once we meet and determine if you would be a suitable candidate for our services. As it happens I am available tomorrow afternoon if that time works for you. I could meet you at your home just after four. How does that sound?” asked Claire. Maggie was really curious why Ms. O’Donnell wouldn’t elaborate on the business name. Definitely intriguing.

“Oh, wow, that is quick. Sure, tomorrow works fine for me,” answered Maggie. “Let me give you my address and directions to my apartment.”

After relaying the pertinent data, Maggie hung up the phone. She had not expected to be able to meet with someone so quickly. On the other hand, she also liked getting immediate attention; she felt as though she was taking action to correct the problems in her life. Besides, it had been a couple of years since her last serious relationship and she thought she was ready to open the door to romance if it came knocking.

With another night of grading papers, watching TV, and wrestling with Mamzell behind her, Maggie performed her nightly routine and went to bed. As much as she loved her job, the alarm still rang pretty early. With Mamzell following close on her heels, she climbed into bed and fell asleep wondering what type of men she would meet through the matchmaking service; provided she was deemed a
suitable candidate
, of course.

CHAPTER 6

With another day of teaching young, impressionable minds behind her, Maggie quickly gathered everything she needed to get out of the classroom to meet Claire O’Donnell at her apartment on time. Waving goodbye to students and fellow teachers, Maggie hurried to her vehicle. As she approached her quad-cab truck, she pulled her key fob from her purse, pointed it at the truck, and released the door locks. As she was reaching for the handle to the driver’s side door, she noticed a long, deep scratch in the maroon paint. The scratch ran from the side of the hood, through the front and back doors and down the truck bed to the back of the vehicle.

Maggie was in shock; the scratch was definitely not there this morning when she came to work. Thinking back to the Snake gang members she noticed on her block this morning, she concluded the gang must be upping the ante for their intimidation campaign.

“Great. Another expense I won’t be able to afford,” Maggie muttered to herself.

Maggie quickly got into her truck and drove home to meet the matchmaker. She felt her stomach tighten when she thought of the gang members she just knew were waiting on the street corner of her block. Considering how little the police were able to help her with the graffiti tag on her apartment door, she decided it wouldn’t even be worth it to contact the detectives. Besides, she hated to be late for appointments; the matchmaking service may be the answer she needs to her situation and she didn’t want to miss her meeting.

As Maggie approached her apartment, she saw the same three young men from the last two days on the corner of the block. They turned to watch her as she pulled into the alley behind the buildings. She quickly gathered her belongings and dashed up the stairs. As she opened the exterior door to her hallway, she gave a faint sniff to determine if there were paint fumes in the air. Fortunately, all seemed to be as it should be and she made it to her apartment door fine.

“Mamzell, I’m home,” called Maggie. She had about ten minutes to get Mamzell situated and her belongings put away before Claire O’Donnell was due at her door.

“
Mrawr
!” greeted Mamzell.

Maggie had just finished filling the water bowl when she heard the doorbell to her apartment ring. Glancing out the peephole, she noticed a plump woman who appeared to be about 40 years old, give or take, with dark blonde hair dressed in a gray business suit. Leaving the chain on the door, Maggie opened the door to greet her visitor.

“Ms. O’Donnell?” asked Maggie.

“Yes, and please call me Claire. Are you Maggie Cline?” asked the well-put-together woman.

“Yes, I am. Please come in,” invited Maggie, as she released the chain and opened the door completely for Claire to come inside. Maggie locked the door behind her visitor. “Please have a seat. May I get you anything to drink?”

“No, thank you, I am fine. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Cline. May I call you Maggie?” asked Claire.

“Of course, please do,” offered Maggie. Scooping Mamzell into her arms, Maggie sat on the flowered sofa while Claire took the matching chair across the coffee table, facing Maggie. “I hope your drive up to Mount Vernon was pleasant.”

“It was a lovely drive and you gave excellent directions.” Claire settled into the chair, crossing her legs while pulling a small notepad and pen from her bag. The phrase prim-and-proper came to Maggie’s mind. “I hope you don’t mind my asking, but could you please tell me what made you call our service? I know some of the questions I ask may seem personal, but I really do need to know as much as possible about all of our clients to make sure the best fit possible is made.”

“Of course, I understand. It’s really scary for me to talk about, but I recently witnessed the murder of someone in the neighborhood by a drug-dealing gang member. Now, I’m being watched by this same gang and am afraid they will retaliate. They have gone so far as to graffiti my door, which I’m sure you noticed when you came in, and then this afternoon I found my truck had been keyed.”

“Yes, I did notice the paint on your door. I wondered about that. I’m sorry to hear about your troubles. So you actually saw the murder happen?” asked Claire.

“Yes. I had gone into the convenience store to pay for my gas and to pick up some milk. I walked to the back corner of the store when I heard someone enter the store. I didn’t think anything of it until I heard a man’s voice telling the clerk to open the register and hand over the cash. I was so scared! I didn’t know what to do. All I could think of doing was ducking down so I wouldn’t be seen.” Maggie still got chills when she remembered it.

“That must have been so horrible!” exclaimed Claire. She had her hand pressed to her face and her eyes were wide in shock. “What happened then? Did the gunman see you?”

“No, they didn’t see me. As I got a look at them, I heard the gun go off then they grabbed the bag of cash and turned to the door. I ducked back behind the aisle. Luckily they didn’t search the rest of the store or they would have seen me.”

“If they didn’t see you, then why are they now intimidating you with graffiti and watching you? How did they find out about you?” asked Claire logically.

“That’s the thing. I’m not sure unless someone at the police department let my name slip to the drug dealer’s lawyer. That is the only thing I can think of.”

“Hmmm, that does sound suspicious, doesn’t it?” asked Claire. “So is that the only reason you contacted me? Because you are terrified and thought we could help you relocate?”

“Well, I must admit it is a small part of the reason. But it isn’t the only reason. Living with so much stress and fear has made me realize that I really am alone. For someone my age, I just don’t have a large circle of friends. I’ve focused on my education, then on my career, to the exclusion of a personal life. My parents died when I was in college, so there is just me now. I realized that this whole situation would be so much easier to deal with if I had a partner in life; someone who cared about me as much as I cared about them. Hearing about your service seemed like a poke from Fate. Make sense?” asked Maggie. She was afraid Ms. O’Donnell would think Maggie only wanted to use her for relocation. She did, however, truly want to try to find a match of the romantic sort. The more she thought on it, the more she realized…it was time to move past her cheating ex and get on with her life. She wanted a shot at what her parents had when they were alive.