Читать книгу Undercover In Glimmer Creek - Julianna Morris - Страница 13
ОглавлениеLANCE DIDN’T GET a chance to talk to Jamie until she finished her shift at 5:00 p.m. When she came out of Old City Hall, he pulled her close.
“I tried to find you after it happened,” he said. “Tessa told me you were okay and asked me to report to Mrs. Murphy.”
Jamie snuggled in. “I was with a school group.”
“Were you scared?”
She tipped her head back and scrunched her nose. “Not really. We don’t have many earthquakes around Glimmer Creek, but I was so busy telling the kids it was all right that I didn’t think about it.”
“Yeah. I got dizzy before it happened, but now I think it was a small tremor before the bigger quake.”
Jamie looked worried. “What if it wasn’t? You hit your head in the creek on Monday. What if you cracked your skull or something? You know my mom is a doctor and she could—”
“No,” Lance interrupted.
He didn’t want anything to do with a doctor...especially if it was Jamie’s mother and might involve X-rays or something. A few years ago, the school nurse had insisted he go to the emergency room after one of his “accidents,” and they’d asked a bunch of questions. Knowing his foster father would be furious if he told the truth, Lance had lied about falling from a skateboard. After all, it wasn’t as if they were going to do anything to keep the creep from knocking his foster kids around, so why make more trouble for himself?
“Please, Jamie, there’s nothing wrong with me,” he added, seeing hurt in her face.
She didn’t understand; her family had asked all sorts of questions the few times they’d met, like what he wanted to do with his life and about his folks. The Fullertons were nice and didn’t push when he gave them vague answers, but he wasn’t stupid. “Nice” kids had families. If Jamie’s parents learned he’d grown up in foster care and about the mess in Sacramento, they might say she had to stop seeing him.
“I just want to go sit by the creek. Okay, Jamie?”
She didn’t mention it again, but she still seemed worried as she brushed his hair back from the sore spot on his forehead. It was nothing. He’d gotten worse than that a hundred times.
At the creek they sat down by the water, and he pulled a small box from his pocket. “I got something for you.”
Jamie opened the box, and she brightened when she saw the bracelet with a miniature, silver, poppy flower charm attached. “I love it.”
He helped her put it on, and she turned her wrist back and forth, admiring the bracelet, before kissing his cheek.
“It’s perfect, but you don’t have to keep buying me stuff.”
“I like to.”
“I like giving you presents, too,” Jamie said. She reached into her pocket and handed him a bag from the gift emporium on the pedestrian shopping street. Inside was a new pair of sunglasses. “I hope they fit. I know you don’t like wearing a hat.”
“They’re awesome.”
Lance’s chest ached as he put on the sunglasses. He’d hardly ever gotten presents growing up. Sometimes one of his foster mothers had given him a gift for his birthday or Christmas, but it would mostly be stuff she would have bought him anyhow, like a shirt or socks.
But Jamie gave him real presents, not even waiting for his birthday.
He gulped and kissed her.
The idea of losing Jamie was more than he could stand. Somehow he had to find a way to prove to her family that he wasn’t a loser on a loud, beat-up motorcycle. They wanted her to go to college, not just take a few night courses the way she was doing now, so they’d never think a maintenance guy at Poppy Gold was good enough.
Jamie leaned against him as he tried to think of ways to make more money.
Poppy Gold paid him okay, and the Connors were the nicest people he’d ever met besides Jamie, but once the orchards got planted, would they be willing to have him do something else? Or would he need to find a way to start over again?
* * *
“THANKS, STEPHEN,” TESSA said to the city building inspector after he’d given her an all-clear report on Poppy Gold’s buildings.
“Wood-frame structures are fairly resilient in small quakes, but it doesn’t hurt to check,” he said earnestly.
She tried to keep from smiling. Stephen Seibert was an eager beaver—recently out of graduate school—and he relished any opportunity to employ his knowledge.
“Your concern is appreciated,” she assured him.
He grinned and left, probably intent on continuing his efforts in the rest of Glimmer Creek.
Tessa had spent the afternoon talking to guests and employees to be sure they weren’t worried about the earthquake. You never knew how people would react. A few of their out-of-state visitors had rattled nerves, but on the whole, everybody was calm.
At the end of the day she stepped out of Old City Hall and saw Gabe emptying a trash can in the park.
She sighed and walked over, wondering if she’d been too curt with him earlier.
“Hasn’t your shift ended?” she asked.
“I looked at the maintenance checklist and saw a few things that didn’t get done today because of the quake. So I told Liam I’d take care of the ones that were highest priority. I’m just finishing up.”
“I appreciate it, but be sure to put in for overtime.”
Gabe cleared his throat as she started to turn away.
“Tessa, why are the broken ceramic pots a big deal? They’re just flowerpots.”
She hesitated, unsure he’d understand how it hurt her father to lose anything connected to her mother. She’d never seen two people as close as her parents. They’d lived for each other, and that made it even harder to think about falling in love herself. How could anything live up to the standard her mom and dad had set? At the same time, she really wanted children. She knew she could do that on her own, but if possible, she wanted to give her kids a mom and a dad.
“I’ve mentioned that my mother designed the gardens. She died unexpectedly a year and a half ago, and Pop is still struggling,” Tessa said slowly, trying to ignore the empty sensation in her stomach. “He feels connected to Mom when he’s surrounded by the things she loved, so when he found the pots were damaged, it was like losing another little part of her.”
“You, too?”
“In a way. Have you ever lost someone who meant that much?”
“I saw death in the navy, but nobody close.”
“I’m sure it’s still hard to lose someone you’ve served with or were trying to help.”
A strained expression flashed across Gabe’s face and was gone so fast she couldn’t guess the source. Despite the way he’d dismissed the deaths he’d seen, it seemed to her that few people were genuinely impervious to sorrow. They just pushed it down and refused to acknowledge it existed. Still, whatever pain Gabe might feel, he deserved his privacy.
“You were telling me about your mother,” he prompted as he replaced the liner in the trash can he’d emptied.
“My mom got involved in everything, whether it was the church rummage sale or a campaign to buy new books for the library. It seemed impossible she could go so quickly. The whole town was in shock when she died. Everybody adored her.”
* * *
GABE WAS WILLING to concede that many parents were better than his, but Tessa’s mother must have had her share of faults, and putting her on a pedestal couldn’t be productive.
It was just one of those strange things that happened with grief.
One of his men had lost his fiancée in a skiing accident, and after he returned from the funeral, he’d called her the most beautiful and talented woman in the world, along with a few other superlatives. He’d also seemed distracted and depressed and had spent a great deal of time reading his fiancée’s Bible. Gabe had sent him to the base chaplain for counseling and then put him back on leave.
“How did your parents meet, anyway?” he asked, trying to keep his tone casual. It still seemed curious that Patrick Connor’s son had ended up in a town like Glimmer Creek.
“After Pop got out of the army, he didn’t want to go into the business right away, so his father sent him to Glimmer Creek to sell the family holdings here. A week after arriving, he met my mom at an ice-cream social, and it was love at first sight. They got married a month later.”
“That sounds like the plot of one of those sappy made-for-TV Christmas movies,” Gabe muttered, a second later realizing how rude he must have sounded.
Tessa’s lips thinned, then she smiled. “It does, doesn’t it? We used to joke about it. Pop would say he wanted Tom Hanks to play him and Meg Ryan to play my mom.”
“Did your mother have Meg Ryan’s blond hair and blue eyes?”
“Yup, just like me. Only Mom was taller. I’m the shrimp in the family.”
“I’m having trouble sorting out your relatives. They seem to be everywhere.”
“That isn’t surprising. My mom’s side of the family is all over Glimmer Creek, and a lot of them work for us.”
“But your paternal grandfather owned Poppy Gold?”
“That’s tied up with the town’s history and how Poppy Gold was originally called Connor’s Folly. Glimmer Creek was a mining camp during the 1849 Gold Rush, and Seamus O’Connor, my great-great-something grandfather, got rich here.”
Gabe tried to recall the California history he’d learned as a kid. “I thought most of the forty-niners barely found enough gold to buy food, much less become wealthy.”
“Yeah.” Tessa grinned. “That’s because they were paying three dollars for a single egg and twenty-five dollars a pound for cheese. Seamus quickly realized he could earn more gold selling groceries to prospectors than by breaking his back panning for it. Eventually he sold supplies from Placerville to Sonora. Made a fortune, even by today’s standards.”
Gabe frowned. “Where does the folly come in?”
“Well, in the late 1880s Seamus dropped the O from the beginning of his last name and moved his base of operations to San Francisco. But his great-grandson, James Connor, was a huge believer in preserving cultural heritage...or at least the heritage of the family business. So during the Great Depression, James came back and bought the old part of Glimmer Creek, piece by piece, to preserve it.”
“He was buying when everyone else was losing their shirts,” Gabe mused.
“That’s one way to look at it. James paid top dollar for the Victorians and remaining gold miners’ cabins, along with two hotels, the concert hall, courthouse, stores and city hall. Heck, he even purchased the old 1851 jail. Basically, almost everything from the town’s historical and cultural heyday. He couldn’t get the library that Andrew Carnegie built for Glimmer Creek, but almost everything else went.”
“Which is why the townspeople called it Connor’s Folly,” Gabe guessed.
“Yup, they laughed all the way to the bank. Even more after James bought the train station—trains had long since stopped running through the area. But he gave the town enough funds to build a new city center and modernize the water and sewer system, so Glimmer Creek thought it was worthwhile to relocate their operations.”
“Generous of him.”
Tessa nodded. “The way everybody saw it, James Connor spent a fortune on worthless land and buildings, and they got the money they needed to survive the Depression. Everybody was happy, though Glimmer Creek often worried that the Connors would eventually sell to developers.”
“Which meant they were happy when your father fell in love with a local girl and decided to live here.”
“Thrilled.”
“So how many relatives do you have?”
“Quite a few, though on the Connor side it’s just Pop and my grandparents in San Francisco. Mom, on the other hand, had nine brothers and sisters. Except for Uncle Kurt, all of them have three or more kids, as well. Most live around Glimmer Creek, along with great-aunts and great-uncles and all sorts of first and second cousins.”
Gabe suspected that tracking Tessa’s relatives could be a challenge. Rob had suggested asking her to help in the investigation, but she was still a suspect. Even if she wasn’t guilty, it seemed as if half of Poppy Gold employees were her relatives—and statistics alone suggested that one of them might be involved in the information thefts from TIP. Being related to Tessa wouldn’t necessarily keep them from seizing an opportunity to make illicit money.
And if she was responsible for the thefts, the damage to Poppy Gold Inns would be incalculable.
Before he could say anything else, Tessa straightened her shoulders. “I need to get going. As I said, be sure to put in for overtime. Thanks for your extra effort.” Her brisk tone was reminiscent of Charlotte Angstrom’s no-nonsense manner. “Have a good evening.”
Gabe watched her walk away with wry acceptance, surprised he’d gotten her to talk as much as he had. He just wasn’t the sort of guy who grew on people.
After signing out, he found Liam Connor in his office, gazing at a picture, oblivious to everything else. Recalling how the older man’s hands had trembled while working on the roses, Gabe looked around, half expecting to see a bottle of whiskey or another alcohol of choice. He’d seen the same tremor in his mother’s hands often enough.
“Is everything all right?” he asked finally.
Liam blinked and focused on him. “What? Yes, of course. I was just thinking about how much everything keeps changing, no matter how hard we try to keep it the same.”
Gabe sat in one of the chairs and stretched out his legs. For the past few days they’d chatted for a long while after work and had even gone out to eat together, though he still hadn’t asked the questions he wanted to ask. Maybe now was a good time.
“Do you miss managing Poppy Gold?” he asked.
“No. My...my wife mostly handled the business end. Things got a bit out of hand when I began running it alone. I considered selling, so Tessa quit her job in San Francisco to come back and take over.”
Interesting. Did “out of hand” mean they’d had financial trouble? Yet even as the question formed in Gabe’s mind, he dismissed it. Money problems could lead to bad decisions, but Poppy Gold still appeared quite prosperous.
“Tessa seems competent,” he said. “She never seems to stop moving.”
“She’s been that way since she was little. Full of energy, just like her mother. She came up most weekends from San Francisco to help out, even before my wife...” His voice trailed, and pain filled his eyes.
Gabe thought about Liam’s nickname for his daughter—Tessajinks. On the wall hung a photo of a mischievous-looking golden-haired toddler—presumably Tessa—who fit the cheeky name. Looking at it gave him an odd sensation. His years in the service had carried him into every corner of the globe, and he’d encountered children in the worst circumstances. Injured, hungry, sometimes staring into space with blank eyes... His gut clenched, and he forced his thoughts away from the images he could never quite forget.
His cell phone rang, and he pulled it out, seeing his brother’s name and number on the display. Talking to him would have to wait; Gabe turned the phone off and returned it to his pocket.
“Does Tessa hope to move back to San Francisco at some point?” he asked casually.
Liam seemed surprised by the question. “I don’t think so. She always wanted to run Poppy Gold Inns one day, but after getting her MBA, she went to work for my father’s company to gain management experience.”
Gabe raised an eyebrow. “She couldn’t do that here?”
“Of course. She just thought it would please her grandfather to spend time with him. He’s getting on in years.”
“He must have hoped she’d step into his shoes when he retired.”
Liam let out a snort of laughter. “Patrick Connor will never retire. He enjoys empire building too much.”
It didn’t sound as if Liam got along any better with his father than Gabe did with his own. “Isn’t Poppy Gold an empire?”
“Poppy Gold is modest by comparison to Connor Enterprises, but it doesn’t matter. This is our home. After we started the bed-and-breakfast business, I discovered an interest in historical restoration, so that’s been my primary focus. I’m grateful to my grandfather, James Connor, for preserving the old part of Glimmer Creek. Dad, of course, didn’t feel the same. He felt it was a waste of money.”
“So he agreed with calling it Connor’s Folly.”
“That’s right. Once Dad was grown they would have arguments about keeping ‘useless’ property with so much expensive upkeep, though he didn’t try selling until James was gone. Sadly, Granddad died in a boating accident soon after handing the company over.”
“Maybe that’s why your father doesn’t believing in retiring.”
This time a genuine laugh came from Liam. “Yup, he says it’s dangerous. Mostly I think he’s seen too many men of his generation retire and die of heart attacks within a year. It’s a question of priorities. Don’t define yourself by work, Gabe. Family is what matters.”
“I’m not that close to my family. Most of them, anyway.”
“Sorry to hear it.”
Gabe checked his watch; Rob would be getting impatient, wondering if something was wrong. “I wish I could stay, but I need to make a call.”
“Of course. By the way, if you have navy friends who want to visit, they can stay in the John Muir Cottage. We keep it reserved for active service members, as well as veterans and military families going through a rough time. We might have to coordinate visits, but the house is separated into several different spaces, so a room is usually available.”
“No.”
Liam looked taken aback by the emphatic refusal, and Gabe was annoyed that he’d let down his guard. He didn’t know how to define the members of his former SEAL team. They were men he’d trusted with his life more times than he could count. At the same time, he couldn’t afford to disrupt his investigation.
“That is, I appreciate the offer,” he added quickly, “but it isn’t necessary. I don’t know anyone who could get leave right now, and California is a long way from where they’re stationed. It’s good to know about the cottage, though. Do service members just ask to stay here?”
“Not exactly. It began with an old friend from the army. We stayed in touch after getting out, and Randall rose quickly through the ranks. When the wife of one of his men was ill and the family needed a break but couldn’t afford to go anywhere, he called and asked if they could stay at Poppy Gold for a week. Everything evolved from there. We also get referrals for veterans having trouble finding jobs.”
“That’s nice.” Gabe was impressed. A number of places offered discounts to the military, but Poppy Gold was going beyond that.
“It’s the least we can do. Have a good evening, Gabe. Thanks for all the help today.”
“Uh, sure.” Both Liam and Tessa had a habit of thanking Poppy Gold employees for their work. Gabe was never certain how to respond since he was in Glimmer Creek with ulterior motives.
Back at his studio cottage, he quickly connected with Rob via Skype. “Sorry I didn’t answer earlier, I was talking to Liam again,” he explained.
“No problem. I understand there was a bit of excitement this afternoon.”
“Minor quake, barely worth mentioning.”
“Good to hear.” Rob leaned closer to the camera on the computer. “I wanted to tell you that my research doesn’t show any direct benefit to Connor Enterprises from any of the information leaks.”
Gabe was unaccountably relieved, maybe because he didn’t want to think Liam was guilty. “That’s good. Did you find out who recommended Poppy Gold as a place for TIP’s executive retreats?”
“It was through Poppy Gold promotional efforts. The personnel department says they kept getting brochures in the mail, stacks of them, and thought the place looked interesting. Then they got a phone call from the Poppy Gold marketing department, discussing the facility and amenities. It seems innocent enough.”
“Except that TIP is an import-export company and the Connors are connected to a company in the same line of business. That’s why I wanted to know how you started coming here. Coincidences bother me.”
Rob shook his head. “You’re still trying to pin this on Liam and Tessa?”
“I’m trying to pin it on whoever is guilty. There’s a difference.”
“Whatever. What have you discovered on your end?”
Gabe thought back to the last time he and his brother had spoken. “For one, I’ve learned more about why Tessa returned to Glimmer Creek, rather than staying in San Francisco.”
“Anything questionable?” Rob asked.
“No. Tessa’s mother died, and her father had trouble running the place alone. I also gather that Liam and his father are radically different.”
“I’d say that was like you and Dad, except the two of you might be more alike than you realize.”
“Not a snowball’s chance,” Gabe retorted. “It’s okay to be a workaholic if you don’t have a family.”
“If you say so. What else?”
“I keep thinking that someone in Housekeeping or Maintenance could be our culprit. If one of those employees was found in a guest’s rooms, it probably wouldn’t be questioned. So I’ve got an idea for setting a trap.”
Quickly he laid out his plan. A small group was coming for the supposed “executive retreat,” and Rob had reserved one of the large mansions on one side of Poppy Gold. Gabe wanted his brother to request a last-minute change to a Victorian on the other side of the historic district. That way, the thief might reveal his or her identity by asking for a switch in work assignments. At the very least it would give Gabe someone to investigate.
In the past five days he’d mostly learned about two employees who seemed to be spending more than they earned, though he had to be careful about asking too many questions. He was also compiling a list of Poppy Gold staff from various posted work schedules and would soon have a private security firm do background checks.
“I’d have to come up with a good excuse. Even then, Tessa may not be able to accommodate us,” Rob said at length.
“She’ll try. From what I’ve seen, she’s obsessed with client satisfaction.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Gabe narrowed his eyes. His brother seemed to offer a defense whenever he said something that might be critical of Poppy Gold’s manager. “Hey, are you interested in Tessa? I hope not, because that could make things sticky.”
Rob chuckled. “She’s appealing, but I’ve got enough to think about without starting anything like that. How about you?”
“Give me a break. Anyway, I’m going to make a copy of the work assignments for when you’re here and track any alterations.”
“All right. Good night for now.”
“Night.”
Gabe disconnected. While he’d love to have already solved the case, he hadn’t actually expected to learn much before his brother’s visit to Poppy Gold. He’d just wanted to spend a few days getting familiar with the facility.
