Creeps, Cache, & Corpses, page 2
“Me voy a Costa Rica with the Spanish students, but don’t worry. I won’t forget you plebes,” said Brock Isaacson. “I’ll send photos from the beach.”’
“How generous of you, Brock,” said Ashley, cooing and rolling her eyes. “But next week our band is going to Nashville. By the way, Ms. Wilk, thanks for supporting our trip with your purchases, but what are you going to do with two cases of grapefruit?” She giggled, not really listening for the answer I couldn’t even dream up. “What about you, Kindra?”
“Dairy cows don’t take a vacay you know, and we usually have chores, but …” She squealed like a little girl at Christmas. “Mom’s boyfriend, Ransom, hired a few day laborers and arranged for us to take a long weekend at a spa. It’s a surprise for mom, and Patricia and I can’t wait. And she promised to teach me how to sign more phrases.” She finger spelled as she said, “Improve my ASL fluency.”
Her head fell forward, and she took a deep breath before looking around the room. “I’m really glad Patricia came home from that school. She kind of had a chip on her shoulder, but the transition could’ve been so much worse. Thank you all for making it easier for her, for helping her. She tries so hard to retain her ability to speak. I don’t know what I’d have done if I’d have lost my hearing.” She snorted. “Yeah, I do. I’d have been the biggest pain in the neck ever.” She turned her attention to her friend. “How about you, Carlee?”
Carlee lit up. “I’m researching my family history and meeting my grandparents.” When the hoots and hollers quieted, she winked at her tall guy leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his broad chest, one foot braced as if to help him shove away, a hank of hair hiding his grin. “And Galen’s parents are taking a cruise so he’s coming with us. I promised I’d feed him.”
The rumble of conversation began. Before Ashley pounded her gavel again, she wrapped her neon yellow nails around the handle and pointed it. All eyes followed the end and its trajectory to me, and they quieted. “Ms. Wilk, what are you doing next week?”
Happily, I had plans. I cleared my throat to answer, and my phone buzzed. “You start your meeting, and I’ll take this out in the commons.”
‘Dr P’ glowed from the display. I answered, wearing the most flirtatious smile no one would ever see. “Hello, Doctor.” I sighed. The thought of his gorgeous chocolate brown eyes never failed to make my knees wobbly and my heart thump in my chest.
“Hi, Katie. We’re still on for dinner at Santino’s at 5:30?” I hummed. “But I wanted you to know, the OR manager reorganized the schedule and I’m on call, so we’ll have to drive separately tonight.”
Bummer. “That’s okay,” I said in a singsong voice. “I’ll see you there.”
“Duty calls.”
I turned back toward the classroom, holding a silent phone in my hand and a ditzy smile on my face and met the entire crew wrapped in their coats. Their expressions indicated they’d been standing there long enough. I could feel the tips of my ears and my face heat up. “What—”
“We’re heading out to determine what difference color makes in the temperature around it,” Ashley said, ignoring my stammering. “Brock wants to know which swim trunks to wear to stay cool.” She fanned squares of colored tagboard like a deck of cards.
“‘Course, I know I’m too cool already, but I’m asking for a friend,” said Brock.
Ashley ignored him. “We’re using the flat thermometers, and we’re trying black, white, and red backgrounds first time around. We hypothesized the coolest will be white, but you never know. If we have time …” She threw her head toward Brock. “He’d like to try blue and green too.”
Brock batted his eye lashes. “I need to find the best color to bring out the suave in my baby brown eyes.”
Lorelei swatted his shoulder. Ashley strutted at the front of our line like the Pied Piper of Hamelin, leading the children out into an afternoon of bright sunshine, cornflower blue skies, and a breeze. I shivered in the gentle wind, slightly chilled as it caressed what persisted of the small mounds of white, gray, and black ice.
Lorelei aligned the three paper squares on the concrete walkway and placed each of the thermometers dead center. With all eyes riveted to the gauges on the ground, ZaZa Lavigne’s sudden presence startled me.
“Wear white,” she announced. The awestruck faces turned and gazed at her. One by one, as recognition dawned and memories of her well-meant but poor advice interfering with their latest mock trial competition surfaced, the same eyes rolled and went back to observing the thermometers. I gaped at her three-inch blue heels and shook my head.
“Manolo Blahniks,” she said, lifted her nose as if I smelled distasteful, and strutted to the black sedan idling at the curb—the only cab in town, and one she treated as her personal chauffeuring service. She stumbled on the uneven surface but caught the arm of the unfortunate driver waiting for her.
ZaZa had been a team leader at the Royal Holloway where she and I had studied cryptanalysis. We’d been friends until the man she thought she wanted to spend the rest of her life with fell in love with me. For a moment, memories assailed me and took my breath away. I missed Charles’ all-encompassing, vivid blue eyes and gentle smile. When he died, he took a piece of me with him.
ZaZa had accepted a teaching job in west central Minnesota, far from Paris, under the guise of my wanting to work with a familiar face. I shook my head. I’d never understood her and avoided her whenever possible.
“The gauges have stopped, and Ms. Lavigne predicted correctly,” said Brock. “But I’d like to include a bit of color in my wardrobe.”
“I’ll take the thermometers inside for a few minutes to let them reset,” said Carlee.
Lorelei exchanged the colored squares and neatly lined them up on the sidewalk. While they waited, the students dropped onto makeshift seats and benches, phones came out, and talking ceased.
I looked over my charges, quiet and busy. I loved my job.
Before I could finish my thought, the metal fire door banged open and drew all eyes like a high-powered magnet.
Kindra hopped off the short brick wall, ran to her sister and held her shoulders, watching and listening as Patricia’s fingers flew and her words tumbled one over the other. She said, “Not so fast. I can’t understand. What happened? Are you okay?” She enunciated the words slowly—Patricia read lips and had great skill and dexterity communicating with hearing and deaf alike.
Kindra drew back and looked into Patricia’s brown eyes, alight with fire, as she spoke and signed emphatically, “Our break plans fell through. One of Mom’s biggest clients is being audited, and she had to go to Chicago.” I watched her hands, fascinated by how much I understood in her expressive body language.
“Is that all?” Kindra sighed and let her hands drop. “You scared me.”
I shuddered—no one could mistake the sign for afraid. My students circled the girls, a show of support.
Kindra’s face relaxed for a second. “You brat.” Her features hardened. “I thought something really horrible happened.”
“It did.” Patricia’s words rumbled deep in her throat. I strained to understand. “I don’t know if he thought he was trying to be thoughtful, but Ransom spilled the beans about our weekend.”
The disappointment on Kindra’s face lasted a few seconds. She lifted her chin. “The surprise is on us, I guess. We’ll have to find something else to do. Let’s go home now.” Kindra shrugged. “If I don’t see you all again, have a great week.”
She tossed a three-finger wave, and they flew past Carlee returning with the thermometers. “What’s with them?” she said, nodding over her shoulder.
Galen took the gauges and hurriedly placed them on the colored squares. “Their spring break plans fell through. It’s too bad. They had a rough winter, and it would have been a great pick-me-up.”
Galen gave Carlee a questioning look. Her mouth formed an O and she turned and jogged after Kindra and Patricia. The other girls raced after her.
Brock looked on, disheartened. “Hey, what color do I wear?” he whined.
“You’ll look good in any color,” Lorelei called over her shoulder.
“I know but …” he began, shook his head, and took off at a trot. Galen shrugged and brought up the rear.
After collecting our gear, I had just enough time to race home, change out of my school duds and into something with more color. Ida hinted I looked best in blue to match my eyes. I brushed my unruly flyaway light-brown hair, touched up my lips, and drove to Santino’s, arriving precisely on the half-hour.
Mr. Santino met me at the door with a frown on his face.
FOUR
“I’m sorry, Miss Katie, but Dr. Pete said you didn’t pick up. He has a patient, and he won’t be able to join you tonight.”
I pulled out my phone and sure enough, through the small drama at school and concentrating on getting ready for the evening, I’d missed four calls and two texts. “That’s okay, Mr. Santino. I knew it was a possibility. May I get my order to go, please? And could you double it? Dad loves your lasagna.”
I waited on a chair by the entry, absentmindedly swiping through pages on my phone when the door dinged. Kindra and Patricia sauntered up to the hostess desk.
Kindra nudged her sister and pointed. I waved. They completed their order and joined me as Mr. Santino carefully set the large, tomato, onion, and garlic-scented white paper bag upright in my hands.
I understood Patricia’s signs for ‘smells good,’ and I signed one of the few words I’d learned. “Yes.”
Kindra nodded her approval. Kindra’s mom requested me for Patricia’s math instructor, and I vowed to make it my mission to help her in whatever small way I could, which included learning signs.
“Carlee didn’t even have to ask her dad if it would be okay,” Kindra said. “The owner of the bed and breakfast reserved the entire residence for their family and friends, and Dr. Bluestone offered to take us with. It’ll be Galen, Dr. Bluestone, Carlee, Patricia, you, and me until Carlee’s grandparents join us.” The smile stretched across her face. “It’s not the same as the weekend we had planned, but Mom won’t have to worry about us because we’ll need to behave.”
Patricia nudged her. “Never,” she said and plopped onto the bench.
“It’s going to be tough, and I’m glad Carlee will have a few friendly faces with her,” I said. “Have a great dinner.”
“No doubt.”
I dragged myself out to my car. Panic set in for a moment as I glanced down the row of vehicles. I still looked for my Jetta, but it had lost a battle with a buck in October. It took me a moment to remember the Ford Focus Dad purchased as our everyday vehicle. I clicked the lock button on the fob and followed the chirp.
Before I could set the bag on the floor in front of the passenger seat, my phone rang.
“Hi, Jane. What’s up?”
“I will not allow myself to be let down. I’m not angry. I’m merely frothing at the mouth because there’s nothing I can do under the circumstances.” She held her breath and released it slowly, air whistling as if from a birthday balloon. “Drew got a new assignment. Even if we can go west, it won’t be until midweek at the earliest, and that’s highly unlikely.”
I caught myself before I snickered. “I do know what it feels like. Drew does his job so well you’d better get used to it. I don’t imagine his hours will change much when you’re married.” As a highly sought after undercover agent for state law enforcement, he worked whenever the need arose.
“I know you’re right. I promised myself I wouldn’t vent to him, so is it okay if I use you as my sounding board?”
“Only if it works both ways.” I chewed on my bottom lip. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about Kimber Leigh. I can’t take the call.”
No reaction.
“Jane? Are you still there?”
She sighed. “Are you sure? I’ve never even talked to her, but her texts give off massive scary vibes. I could use the support.”
Happily, I had a good excuse. “Carlee Bluestone asked me to accompany her to meet her grandparents and look for her mother’s grave.” I waited, cringing. “Jane?”
“I’m thinking about how very lucky I am. Some of our kids have gone through so much more in life than I ever will. Please don’t let me ever forget.”
“The same goes for me.” Life might not always have turned out the way I’d hoped, but I thought again of Charles and smiled. At least he’d been part of my life for a little while. And now I’d found Pete. “Jane, you could come with us. I’d love the company, and you could use the diversion. We’re leaving tomorrow after school. We could talk to Kimber Leigh together. And if things work out in Drew’s schedule, we can make sure you catch a flight to California.”
She took extra time to answer. “Maybe, but I heard your dad invited you to go to Duluth. What happened with that?”
I massaged the spot between my eyebrows. Another case of everyone knows everything in a small town. “I’m not ready to spend a whole week with her.” Jane understood my hesitation.
“If you’re going with Carlee, and your dad is going to Duluth, what are you doing with Maverick?”
“He’s staying with Ida.”
“Are you sure there’ll be room for me?”
“There’s always room for a five-foot nothing bundle of energy, and it would be nice to spend relaxed time with my friend. Carlee said we have the entire inn.”
“If you say so. I’ll try to make arrangements, but no promises.” She ended the call.
Pete stopped by in the evening for a few minutes, just enough time to tell me he’d miss me and to have a good week, before the ER called him back. They needed to hire another doctor soon.
I packed my bags, researched not-to-be-missed highlights of the New Prague area, and prepared for a frenzied Friday. Fortunately, I woke refreshed. The day turned out to be grueling.
FIVE
The chapter tests and section quizzes elicited groans, but assigning no homework, for a change, garnered grateful applause from every class and elevated my rank to two notches above the teachers who tended to overload with spring break assignments. ZaZa peeked in and raised her eyebrows as my happy students scoured the white boards, spritzed lemon-scented cleaner, and swiped desktops to ready the classroom for a fresh start to the year’s fourth quarter upon our return.
The final bell rang. Students scattered, leaving no trace they’d ever graced the halls. I mentally checked what remained on my vacation to-do list. CJ and Carlee would pick up Galen and meet Kindra, Patricia, and me at my humble abode so I could say goodbye to my dog. The thought tugged at my heartstrings. We’d been together every day since he’d arrived, and I missed him already. As I flipped the light switch off, my phone chimed.
“Hi, Ida.”
“Katie? My cousin fell and broke her hip. I’m running up to Fargo, so I won’t be around to look after your precious puppy. I’m sorry.”
“I understand. We’ll be fine.”
I couldn’t moan, even though I wanted to. Another plan went up in flames. Ida absolutely needed to take care of her family, but I’d have to spend my break in Columbia after all. At least I still had a good excuse to opt out of the trip to Duluth.
I pulled up contact information for CJ. My finger hovered over the keypad, and I hesitated for a few seconds before I pushed ‘call.’
His mellow baritone held an unusual undercurrent of nervousness. “We will be there shortly. Are you ready?”
I hated to disappoint him. “CJ,” I began.
“That does not bode well. What is the difficulty?” His intuitive nature allowed him to easily read vocal subtleties and language nuances in me and just about everyone else.
“Ida’s cousin needs assistance so she can’t take care of Maverick. I don’t have anywhere for him to go.”
“Is that all?” He chuckled. “That is not an insurmountable obstacle. I believe we have accommodations at the only pet friendly establishment in town. Renegade is coming as well. Bring Maverick and we can work on cues with both dogs. See you soon.”
I released a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding. My big boy would be going with me.
My cheeks ached as I drove home wearing a Cheshire-cat grin and pulled up in front of the grand Victorian structure I called home. I collected my thermal mug, briefcase, notebooks, and satchel and, with full arms, lumbered to the door. It swung open and Dad stood, holding it, wearing a timid smile. “Hi, Darlin’.”
“Hi, Dad.” Maverick circled in and out of my legs, and I tripped.
Dad grabbed my arm. “Steady there, girl.”
Oh, how I loved that man, even when discombobulated with undeniable facts about my childhood I couldn’t yet rationalize. We’d never discussed Ellen’s declaration of sisterhood, but by the look on his face, he hadn’t been surprised. I’d closed down and let my anger simmer. Jane, however, was right. I could never discount my good fortune. I owed Dad my life—first growing up as the daughter of a loving parent who supported every good decision I made, and of course letting me take the heat when making a poor choice, and secondly, when he took a bullet I think was meant for me.
My belongings scattered as they dropped from my hands, and I wrapped my arms around him. “I’m sorry, Dad.”
“Me too, Darlin’.” He rested his chin on the top of my head and patted my back. “You’re still invited to Duluth.”
The tender moment lost, I pulled back and caught the twinkle in his eyes.
“Nope, not happening.” My heart sank as the twinkle dimmed a bit. “Yet,” I added as much for my benefit as for his.
Maverick sat still, tongue hanging out, and I could’ve sworn he smiled at the turn of events he may well have orchestrated. You scamp. I shook my head. Nonsense.
Maverick rose and barked before four loud raps sounded on the door.
“Coming,” Dad said.
Patricia and Kindra stood on the top step with beseeching eyes. Dad signed a lengthy set of words and Patricia responded, grinning broadly, beginning a dialogue. Kindra’s eyes widened, a baffled expression on her face.
