The Trap (15 page)

“Thanks,” I said, and took a step past him. “We are.”

“Don’t you want me to stay? It’s going to be a beautiful evening. We could sit outside on the porch and talk.”

A beautiful evening? No way. The wind had come up and it rustled through the nearby leaves like a whispering intruder. Clouds were bunching, cutting off the last shreds of western light. “I’m sorry, Luis. Not tonight,” I said. “I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

I hurried to the front door, which I quickly opened, then locked securely behind me.

I was so focused on the details of my plan to trap Damien, I found it hard to concentrate on anything else. I lost three games of Chinese checkers in a row to Gabe, after which he huffily complained that I was letting him win. To soothe him, I offered to make a cup of cocoa, but I forgot to watch the milk, which boiled over. I dropped the plate of cookies, and Glenda finally suggested that we all go to bed early.

It was a good idea, because I then had the opportunity to think out my plan to catch Damien in the act of theft. It was going to be risky, but the results would be worth it, and I wasn’t afraid to put the plan into motion.

Tomorrow I’d do it. And I’d be ready.

MILLIE LEE ARRIVED EARLY FOR HER TUESDAY SCHEDULE
, bringing Ashley with her. Again Ashley carried a plastic bag with her swimsuit in it.

“Hi,” she said quietly, and held up the bag. “I brought my suit, but it’s cloudy. It looks like it’s going to rain.”

I smiled as though we were the best of friends. “But it’s still hot,” I said. “The water will feel great.”

Glenda and Gabe greeted Ashley with what I saw was real affection. Glenda hugged Ashley, who hugged her back. I hadn’t seen Millie Lee show her granddaughter any physical affection, which made me feel a little sad. Everyone likes to be hugged. Everyone needs to be loved.

A small package lay on the counter. The label was addressed to me. “What’s this?” I asked.

Glenda rolled her eyes. “I imagine it’s that exercise book you told us about.”

I tore open the package and pulled out a slim volume.

“I’ll tell Mom you and Gabe weren’t interested,” I said, tossing the book on the counter.

Ashley picked up the book and turned a few pages. “These are exercises designed especially for people like you and Mr. Hollister,” she said to Glenda.

“We’re not interested in that kind of exercise,” Gabe said. “A good walk is all we need.”

“Not even when the exercises will make you younger and healthier?”

Gabe chuckled. “Nobody’s going to make me younger and healthier.”

“Want to bet?” Ashley asked.

He looked at her sharply, but she added, “These aren’t push-ups and sit-ups. These exercises are fun. C’mon. Let’s give them a try. I’ll be your partner, and Julie and Mrs. Hollister can be partners.”

Soon we were in the living room, seated on the floor, following the exercises in the first chapter. I don’t know who was laughing the hardest at the faces Gabe was making.

“Time,” Ashley finally called. “That’s enough for now.”

As I helped Gabe to his chair, he said, “That wasn’t so bad. I don’t mind exercises like that.”

“Good,” Ashley said. “Then you can do them every day. Julie will make a chart to show what you’re doing, and I’ll come and help.”

“You’re a dear girl,” Glenda said, and hugged Ashley. She quickly stretched out an arm to encircle me, too, and added, “And so is Julie.”

Glenda was just being kind by including me.
I
was the great-niece.
I
was the one who should have coaxed
them into doing the exercises. But I hadn’t. I’d been too irritated by my family’s telling me what to do. Believe me, I felt guilty and I deserved it.

Ashley had done what I should have done, and I had to be fair. “You were great,” I told her as we drove to the pool. “I like the way you coaxed them into at least trying the exercises.”

Ashley grinned. “It worked,” she said.

When we arrived at the pool, we raced through the water until we were both exhausted. Then we lay on the webbed lounge chairs to relax and dry off. The pool was now empty, and within a few minutes Damien sauntered by, plunging his vacuum wand into the water, just as I had expected. “You kids better get in all the swimming you can now,” he said, glancing up at the darkening sky. “It looks like later on today or tomorrow we’re going to get a gully washer.”

Kids! Did he have to keep calling us kids? I turned to Ashley, pretending to ignore Damien, and said, “I heard that Mrs. Crouch packed hardly anything when she went back to Beaumont. According to Aunt Glenda, Mrs. Crouch won’t return to the ranch until her house sells. Then she’ll supervise the movers, but in the meantime she’s even left her valuable things behind.” I paused. “I saw her little antique silver music box—a real collector’s item. It’s so adorable.”

I had no idea what was in Mrs. Crouch’s house and just made up the music box; I’d decided that an antique silver music box would probably sell well at a flea market and attract Damien’s interest.

“Mmmm” was all that Ashley answered, but from the corner of my eye I could see that Damien was listening.

I was aware that I had to set a time limit so I’d know when Damien might arrive at the house to steal the box. I went on. “Glenda said something about Mrs. Crouch’s son driving up tomorrow morning in his SUV to pack up the small, expensive items.”

I had said all that I’d planned to say, and Damien had heard every word, so I fished around for something else to talk about. Movies? I wondered. Books?

While I was trying to decide, Ashley rose on one elbow and took a long look at me. “Maybe Mrs. Crouch doesn’t think things like a music box are really important.”

Startled, I answered, “They must be important. For one thing, they’re very expensive. They probably also have sentimental value.”

“Some people might have different ideas about what’s important and what isn’t,” Ashley said. She rolled over, turning her head away from me.

I watched Damien slowly move farther from us as he headed with his vacuum toward the shallow end of the pool. I didn’t know what was bothering Ashley, so I tried to keep things light. I chuckled and said, “You sound like you’re part of my family, Ashley. Everybody in it has an opinion about nearly everything I do or say. Sometimes I get so sick of my family butting into my life.”

I would have complained even more, but Ashley suddenly sat up and glared at me. “At least you
have
a family!” she snapped.

I scrambled to sit up, facing her. “Ashley, I didn’t mean—”

“Maybe your mom tells you what to do because she cares about you. And your aunts and uncles do too. Have
you thought of that? And have you ever thought of what it might be like if
nobody
cared what you did or where you went or even who you were?”

Shocked almost speechless, I managed to blurt out, “Ashley, I only—”

But she wasn’t finished. “During the times when I’m with my mom I feel like
I’m
taking care of
her
instead of her taking care of me. And I’ll probably never know who my father was. I don’t think my mom even knows. And when I get dumped on Gran, she makes it clear she’s only fulfilling a duty. I don’t know what a real family is! You’ve got one, but you don’t know either.”

I felt as though I’d been socked in the stomach. I knew what Ashley had said was true.

But I do appreciate my family! I really do!
I cried to myself. I’d let them know. I’d let Ashley know. “It’s not really like that …, ” I began.

Ashley didn’t stay around to listen to what I had to say. She grabbed up her towel, stepped into her tennies, and ran from the pool. The gate slammed behind her.

I hurried after her and tried to apologize. “Forget it,” she just kept saying, and she wouldn’t let me drive her to Glenda and Gabe’s house so she could change into her clothes. “I’ll walk,” she snapped, and she set off up the road.

I hadn’t known I was hurting Ashley when I complained about being told what to do all the time. Every friend I knew had the same kind of complaint about her parents, and we all vented to each other. In a way, I was angry with Ashley for scolding me, but in another way I felt guilty and embarrassed and totally miserable because
what she had said about me was true. I promised myself I’d try to think of some way I could make it up to her.

I didn’t want to pass her on the road, so I gave her time to reach the house before I started back. I was disappointed when I found that she’d already left the house.

As I came into the kitchen, Glenda and Millie Lee looked at me questioningly.

“Did you and Ashley have a spat?” Glenda asked. “She told Millie Lee she’d meet her this afternoon at the Gradys’ house. Then she ran right out the door. Her eyes looked puffy, as if she’d been crying.”

“It was my fault,” I said, a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I had wanted to make friends with Ashley, and I’d blown the whole thing. I was too cowardly to tell Glenda and Millie Lee that I’d used Ashley to try to set a trap for Damien and had then complained about my family just for something to talk about. I felt so stupid. And I had no right to tell them what Ashley had said about her own family.

However, they were both waiting to hear my explanation, so I said, “We were talking about what was really important to people and we disagreed. I said some thoughtless things that upset Ashley.”

Aunt Glenda probably would have asked for more details, but Millie Lee shrugged and said, “That girl gets real moody at times. Just pay no attention, and next time you see her she’ll be okay.”

“I’m sorry if I hurt her feelings,” I said. I really was sorry. I liked Ashley, and her blow-up
was
my fault. I wished we could start over. This time I’d make everything come out right.

“Will Ashley come back?” I asked Millie Lee. “Please tell her I want her to.”

“Sure,” Millie Lee said. She picked up a can of Pledge and a thick rag and headed for the living room. “She’ll be over her snit in no time. I told you, for no reason I can see, that girl gets moody.”

There was nothing more I could say. I went into Uncle Gabe’s office to use his phone. I’d put my plan into motion. I expected Damien to arrive at the Crouches’ house about 9:15 or 9:30
P.M.
—as soon as it was dark. Now I’d have to make sure that Foster was on hand to catch Damien in the house.

As I called Deputy Foster’s office, my hands were shaking. To my disappointment, he didn’t answer. Myrtle did.

No sooner had I asked if I could please speak to Foster than Myrtle said, “He’s busy right now.” Then she hung up the phone.

What had Deputy Foster called Myrtle? Oh, yes, a tiger. It seemed to suit her personality.

I phoned again. “Myrtle, please listen,” I said. “Deputy Foster has to be at the Crouches’ house in Rancho del Oro before nine-thirty tonight. It’s important. Please tell him to be there.”

“I said he was busy,” she grumbled, and hung up.

I sat there staring at the telephone with a scared feeling, wondering what I was going to do if the deputy didn’t show up.

I turned on my laptop and went online. Robin’s screen name wasn’t on my buddy list, so I knew she wasn’t on, but I needed her advice. Would the mystery
novels she read tell what to do if a person called for law enforcement and they didn’t show up?

I couldn’t tell Gabe or Glenda why I needed to make a long-distance call, but I fully intended to pay for the call. I dialed Robin’s number.

No one answered.

Desperately, I wrote an e-mail message to Robin, telling her about the trap I had laid for Damien. Then I told her that Myrtle had refused to let me talk to the deputy.

After I closed my laptop, I told myself to forget about the plan. Let it go. Stay home with Gabe and Glenda.

That’s what I’ll have to do, I told myself, but I was disappointed. Damien would break into the Crouches’ house to steal an antique silver music box that didn’t exist, and no one would be there to see him do it.

That afternoon, after Glenda’s nap, I made her a mug of tea and sat with her in the kitchen, the sun breaking through the clouds. “You’ve never told me who found Uncle Gabe after he fell down the stairs,” I said.

Glenda closed her eyes and shuddered. “
I
found him,” she said. “I drove home from having lunch with Mabel and Dorothy at the club, and as I turned into the drive, I saw Gabe sprawled on the pavement below the stairs. I was so frightened I nearly passed out!”

“You weren’t at home when he fell,” I said.

She gave me a desperate look. “No, I wasn’t. For a
long time, I blamed myself. If I’d been here, maybe nothing would have happened to him. But I realized there would have been nothing I could have done to keep him from falling. I really wasn’t to blame.”

“The nail holes …, ” I began, but Glenda shook her head.

“You heard what Deputy Foster said. They were just holes left over from building the addition to the house.” She sighed. “I really don’t want to hear any more about nail holes, Julie.”