A Hopeless Sheriff (A Hope Walker Mystery Book 9), page 8
“If you get the chance, I’d advise against it.”
“I heard it was pretty scary,” Katie said.
“I almost peed myself.”
“Sounds about right. Tessie said she almost pooped herself.”
Emma made a face. “Let me edit my statement. I actually did pee myself.”
Ruth spit out the root beer she was drinking, and that made me and Katie lose it. When we finally regained our composure, Emma continued.
“I’ve never been so scared. It was crazy.”
I went through the timeline of events as they’d been relayed to me by Pam, Tessie, and John. Emma pretty much confirmed all of it. When I got to the part where the robber took them into the safe deposit vault, I told her John’s observation that Cressida was possibly irritated or angry by something on the floor.
“Do you know which one is Cressida?” I asked.
“I’m gonna guess she’s the one who looks like a Cressida?”
“Exactly. So, did you notice anything strange about her? Especially in the safe deposit vault?”
“No way. I wasn’t looking at any of the others. I just kept my head down, stared at the floor, and prayed that it would all be over soon and that I’d get out of there alive.”
“The others said that the robber was dropping all sorts of things on the floor. You didn’t notice what any of those items were, did you?”
She shrugged. “Sure. Like I said, I was staring at the floor the whole time.”
Katie leaned in. “We talking gold bars? The queen’s diamonds? That kind of thing?”
“I saw a few items of jewelry. A fancy old watch. Papers.”
“What kind of papers?”
“I don’t know. Folded-up papers. Important documents, maybe. And there were pictures.”
“Like art?”
“No, like photographs.” Emma’s eyes brightened. “And there was a judge’s gavel.”
Ruth and I shared a puzzled look. “A judge’s gavel?”
“Well, it was definitely a gavel. I just assumed it belonged to a judge. Unless there are other people who routinely use gavels.”
“So, some jewelry, an old watch, some papers, photographs, and a judge’s gavel.”
Katie looked at me. “Okay, Broken Clock Walker. Who robbed the bank?”
“You did, Katie. It was you who killed Mr. Boddy. In the hall. With the revolver.”
Katie was confused, but Ruth got the reference and chuckled. “Clue! I loved that movie.”
I sneered at Katie playfully. “No, I don’t know who robbed the bank. Nor do I know who helped the robber rob the bank.”
“Helped?” Ruth said. “What do you mean, helped?”
“That’s right—I didn’t tell you girls. I think it’s very possible that this was an inside job.”
We ordered our food and more margaritas, and then I discussed my theory about the bank robbery for the next fifteen minutes. Knowing that one of the employees might be in on it had Emma even more freaked out. But with Ruth, you could see the wheels turning. Whether it was her slightly checkered past, her love of true crime podcasts, or her obsession with listening to the police scanner, the woman was very interested in the criminal mind.
“Any idea which one of them might have been involved?” I asked Ruth.
She tapped her fingers on the table and shook her head. “But let me noodle on it for a bit and I’ll get back to you.”
Katie poured out a new round of margaritas and held up her glass in a toast.
“Okay, ladies . . . and Emma.”
“I’m not that much younger than you and Hope,” Emma protested.
“Yeah, but you look like you’re twelve.”
“But a super well-developed twelve-year-old, right?” Emma said sarcastically.
“Anyway, ladies, including Emma. Our Taco House sister Hope has called this emergency meeting of Ladies’ Night. And now that the boring bank robbery investigation part of the night is over, she’s finally going to tell us why.”
Katie turned to me.
“I am?”
“Yes, Hope. You are.”
Katie, Emma, and Ruth just sat there, staring at me . . . and waiting.
“It’s a two-parter, really.”
“And does one of the parts rhyme with Ralex?”
“Ralex?”
“I’m three margaritas in and Alex is not an easily rhymable name. So sue me.”
“Fine. I was in Boise on business, which I will get to in a minute, when I felt this overwhelming urge to talk to Alex. And I figured since he lives in Boise now, maybe we could get together. So I called him, but he was busy at work.”
“And?”
“I could hear a voice behind him. A woman’s voice.”
“And?”
“It was Special Agent Awesome.”
“Oh, that little tramp,” Katie growled.
“What little tramp?” Ruth asked. “Who’s Special Agent Awesome?”
“She’s a super-ridiculously sexy special agent with the Secret Service who happens to have a humongous crush on Alex,” I replied.
“Get this,” Katie said. “Alex and this Vargas chick used to date. Pretty seriously. He broke things off and told Hope that he was done with her, but Vargas made it clear to Hope that she’s not done with him.”
“Then she is a tramp!” Ruth said.
“No, she’s not a tramp. She’s a highly decorated woman in law enforcement. By all accounts, a very good woman.”
“She just has trampish qualities,” Emma said.
“Exactly,” I said. “And I don’t know, but the way it all hit me, I finally realized that whatever I thought might happen between me and Alex never will. So I told him goodbye. Like a final goodbye. For real.”
Katie looked at me. “Are you sure about this, Hope?”
I nodded my reply.
Katie put her arm around me and squeezed. “I’m sorry, sweetie.”
“I’m sorry too,” Ruth said. “But you might have to bring us up to speed a little bit. From what I heard, you and the sheriff looked like Cinderella and Prince Charming at the Heart Dance last month. What happened?”
So I filled Emma and Ruth in as well as I could. Yes, the Heart Dance was a great moment, but I explained all of the other moments as well. And so many moments where for whatever reason, the world seemed to be conspiring against us. Or others where Alex had an opportunity, but for whatever reason, didn’t take it.
“I guess I thought he could be—as dumb as it sounds—the one. But he just hasn’t turned out to be the man I hoped. There have been these moments when I prayed he would just step up. The dance was certainly one. But so many other times, those moments passed by. So many times that I’m frankly exhausted by it. This was just one more of those. And I guess the thing that probably hurts the most is when I ask myself why he hasn’t just come out and acted like a man—you know, told me that what he really wants is me—I’m afraid the reason is that when it’s all said and done, he doesn’t want me.” I shrugged. “So that’s why I finally said goodbye.”
Chapter 13
We sat there for a few moments, each of us sipping our drinks.
“Well, Hope wants a guy who wants her,” Katie said. “Seems simple enough. Emma, what are you looking for?”
“For starters, I want a guy who’s not dead on the floor of the hospital lab.”
None of us said a word.
“Was that too soon?” she asked. The previous month, a doctor Emma had liked was found murdered in his research lab at the hospital.
“You just took it to a very dark place is all,” Katie said.
“I was trying to make a joke,” Emma said. “What with Dr. Lewis being dead . . .”
“We get the joke,” Ruth said. “But I think we’re gonna have to work on your delivery a little bit.”
“Fine. No jokes. You know, I did go on a date last week.”
“Really?” I asked. “How’d it go?”
“Not so good. I think he was a little freaked out that I’m a doctor. This has happened to me before. Which, to be honest, I totally don’t get. Think about it. If you were a guy, wouldn’t it be awesome to meet a woman who was passionate about what she did and made a lot of money?”
“You’d think so, right?” I said.
Katie shook her head. “Are you kidding me? It is guys we’re talking about, right? Men are so stupid prideful, I can’t even believe it sometimes.”
“But why does me having a good job hurt their pride?”
“I don’t know,” Ruth said. “Maybe pride is the particular curse of men.”
I thought about the man who had been on my mind as of late. Alex Kramer. How he drove away the day Gemima fired him. How angry he was. Gemima told me that one of the reasons she fired him was because he wasn’t the one solving the murders around Hopeless. I was. That’s why she was offering the job to me. She never meant it, of course. She just wanted to insult Alex. To hurt him.
“Then what’s our curse?” Emma asked.
Ruth shrugged. “Maybe it’s that we love them anyway.”
“And yeast infections,” Katie said. “Yeast infections are definitely our curse.”
“I thought I told you to stop talking about yeast infections so much,” I said to Katie.
“I thought you told me not to talk about urinary tract infections.”
“How about you don’t talk about either of them so much?”
“Then what am I going to talk about?”
“How about men?” Emma suggested. “What are you looking for in a man, Katie?”
“I’m married, honey, so I’ve already found him.”
“I know you’re married, but what do you want from him that you’re not always getting?”
Katie thought about it for a beat. Then she said, “Fine, I’ll play. You know what I want? What I really want . . . is when the faucet is leaky, I want Chris to try to fix it himself without me saying anything about it first. And you know what else? I want him to jump in and help with the dishes sometimes when they’re stacking up without me asking or complaining about it. I want him to notice that I’m overwhelmed, grab the kids out of my arms, and tell me to get lost, go to the Taco House, and get margaritas. But you know what I really want? I want him to do these things not all the time, but sometimes. And when he’s done, I don’t want him looking at me like he deserves a trophy. As if somehow he deserves a Congressional Medal of Honor just for being my partner in this crazy thing we call life.”
Ruth held up her fist. “Cuz I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore!”
“Seriously, girl,” Emma said. “You got me fired up there.”
“You should watch me when I sit on a pee-covered toilet seat in the middle of the night. That’s when you get to see Nuclear Katie in all her glory.” Katie laughed at herself, then focused on Ruth. “How about you? What are you looking for in a man?”
“Other than a pulse?” Ruth said without missing a beat. That got a laugh. “To be honest, I feel like I’ve been off the market for too long.”
“You’re acting like you’re old, Ruth,” Emma said.
“Compared to you, I am old.”
“How old are you?” Katie asked.
“Turned fifty-seven last month.”
“Crap,” Katie said. “I was gonna guess seventy-seven.”
Ruth threw a piece of ice that hit Katie in the forehead.
“You’ve got pretty good aim for an old lady. I’m kidding. Ruth, you are so not old.”
“Yeah,” Emma said. “And just because you’ve been out of the game for a while doesn’t mean you have to stay out of the game.”
Ruth shrugged. “I just figured my time had passed.”
“It doesn’t have to,” I said. “Emma’s right. You need to put yourself out there.”
“How would I even do that?”
“How about online dating?” Emma suggested. “I could set up your profile and get you started.”
“Online dating sounds like a nightmare,” Ruth said.
“A lot worse than the current system you’re using to find dates, right?” Katie asked.
“Okay, low blow. I get it. I have to do something if I want a date. But online? Really?”
Katie shrugged. “That’s how it’s done these days.”
Ruth shook her head. “When I was young, a guy would come up to you and say, ‘Hey, you’re pretty. You want to dance?’ And that was it.”
Emma smiled. “Then, Ruth, you are in luck because that’s exactly how it works in the online dating world.”
“What do you mean?”
“Have you ever heard of Tinder?”
“No.”
“When I come by tomorrow morning for my coffee, I’ll show you. Deal?”
“What do you girls think?” Ruth asked as she looked at me and Katie.
“I think you should go for it,” I said.
“I agree,” Katie said. “But only on one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“You stay away from Alex Kramer.” It was the type of funny comment Katie liked to make, but something about it also made me kind of sick. The thought of Alex moving on from me. The thought of him putting himself out there for other women. Ugh.
Katie leaned in closer to me. “So, Hope, you said the reason for Ladies’ Night was a two-parter. Something about business you had in Boise? Hope?”
I snapped out of my momentary stupor. “Oh, yeah. Boise. You’re never going to believe it.” I paused and waited.
“I’m also never going to hear it as long as you keep looking at me like an idiot and don’t say anything.”
“Do you remember Gemima’s mom?”
“This has something to do with Operation Yearbook?”
I nodded. “But do you remember her at all?”
Katie made a face. “She was the worst. Seriously, the worst.”
“Well, Katie Rodgers, you have no idea.”
“What happened?”
I stared at her again until she punched me in the shoulder. “Just tell me already!”
“I went to visit her in Boise.”
“You did what? But why?”
“Remember how I told you they might have been friends back in the day?”
Katie nodded.
“Well, they were friends. That is, until something happened between them.”
“What happened?”
“I don’t know for sure. But I’ve got a pretty strong hunch.”
“Which is?”
“Me. I think what happened was me.”
To give Emma and Ruth the proper context, I went back to the beginning—how my mom had left when I was a baby—and brought them all the way up to my conversation with Melinda Clark. I didn’t leave out a thing.
And then I told them about the utter hatred and loathing Melinda had for my mom. I reminded Katie what Gemima had said to me when we were kids—her mom said that my mom was a piece of trash. Melinda confirmed that her opinion was still the same. She told me to grow up. To use my imagination. To me, that anger could only be explained by one thing. Betrayal. As much as I hated the conclusion I’d drawn, I needed to share it and see if the other ladies thought I was right.
“Think about it,” I said. “Let’s say my mom and Melinda were friends. And this good-looking boy comes into the country club. Maybe they both liked him? Or maybe Melinda liked him first? I don’t know. But at some point, my mom crossed the line with this guy. And when she became pregnant? I bet that’s when Melinda found out.”
Katie blinked. “You really think it’s possible?”
“Sure. And it explains so much. Remember, Katie, I was seven years old. Why would Melinda Clark teach her daughter to hate a seven-year-old so much?”
Katie’s eyes popped open wide. “Because you were the constant reminder of this terrible betrayal.”
“Exactly. Now, if this was just some boy she moved on from, eventually she would get over it. But Katie, I just saw the woman, and she is so not over it. Which means I’m still a reminder to her because she did not move on from that boy.”
She covered her mouth. “She married him!”
“Exactly.”
Ruth jumped in. “But if that’s the case, that means your father is . . . Gemima’s father!”
“And if that’s true . . .” Emma said.
“Then it means that my enemy from birth, Gemima Clark, and I are . . . sisters!”
Chapter 14
The three of them sat around the table, nursing their drinks, occasionally shaking their heads as if the inevitable conclusion still couldn’t be believed. I couldn’t believe it either, but the facts were there.
“What are you going to do?” Katie asked finally.
“I don’t know.”
“Do you think Gemima knows?”
“No way. I’m sure her mom has kept that secret from her.”
“She didn’t keep her hatred for you a secret.”
“That’s true, but here’s the thing. As nauseating as it may be to think of me and Gemima being related . . . if her dad really is my dad . . . that gives me hope. Not because I want to know him and definitely not because I want a sister. I already have one of those.” I winked at Katie. “It would give me hope because maybe this man would have information that could lead me to my mom.”
Emma paid for the meal, and the four of us went out to the parking lot. “I guess it’s time for me to fulfill my designated driver duties,” Ruth said as she motioned toward her Subaru station wagon.
“You mean that’s it?” Katie said a little too emotionally. Clearly, the margaritas had caught up to her. “So, the four of us have this great Ladies’ Night. We talk about bank robberies and the old lady Ruth swiping dudes left and right and then we find out Hope is sisters with her mortal enemy. Ladies, this kind of night isn’t common. In fact, it’s not even uncommon. Ladies, this kind of night is epic, and it does not deserve to end quietly in some nameless gravel parking lot!”
I leaned in. “Katie, you’re at the not-making-much-sense part of the evening now.”
“I’m a perfect-sense-making person. Or however you say it. Think about what that stupid family has put you through your entire life. It makes me so angry.”
