Summer In Iron Springs (20 page)

             
“You’re very welcome dear. You ladies have a wonderful day.”

             
“We will. You too. And, Gladys?”

             
“Yes dear?”

             
“Would it be alright for me to keep this map?”

             
“Of course dear.” Gladys said as she handed the map to Jenna.

             
“Man! You are good!” Phoebe said again as the two girls headed out the front doors to the parking lot.

             
A few minutes later they arrived at the employee parking lot. Jenna pulled her cell phone from her pocket and glanced at the time. “If she works until five, she should be coming out any time.”

             
Within minutes, people were filing out the back doors of the Inn. Jenna and Phoebe tried to appear inconspicuous as they looked at each face to see if it matched the one they’d seen earlier.

             
“There she is!” Phoebe exclaimed in a loud whisper once the group of employees began to thin out. “She’s heading that way.”

             
The girls hurried to catch up with the lady and followed close behind her for a minute. They didn’t want to startle her but they couldn’t afford to let her get away either. “Excuse me.” Jenna said. She hurried to get in step with the lady who seemed to be in a big hurry. “Remember us?” she said once she had gotten the lady’s attention. “I’m Jenna, and this is Phoebe.” Jenna extended her hand and the lady accepted it in her own.

             
“I’m Courtney.” The woman’s expression revealed a mix of concern and curiosity. “Are you following me? Have you been here all this time?”

             
“To be honest; yes.” Jenna said. “We waited here because we really need to talk to you.”

             
“You do?” Courtney adjusted her purse strap and glanced nervously around the crowded parking lot. “What about?”

             
“Well, like we said earlier, we’re doing this story, and we really need to finish it. We’ve done so much work on it already and without Gracie’s input, we may as well start over.”

             
“I’m not sure what this has to do with me.” Courtney said.

             
“Well, we were hoping you could tell us how we can get a hold of Gracie.” Phoebe said. “It’s really important.”

             
Courtney was silent for a moment. She glanced around once more before motioning Jenna and Phoebe to follow her. She led them to a secluded spot on the far side of the parking structure. “Gracie and I worked together, and I know she wasn’t doing a story with you.” The woman glanced at each of the girls for a long moment before going on. “I was aware of her schedule and her appointments. If you had been meeting with her, I would know it. How about you tell me what you’re really doing here, and then I’ll decide if I should put you in touch with Gracie.”

             
Phoebe sighed. She couldn’t keep up the lie any longer. “Courtney, we’re not reporters. But we really need to talk to Gracie. It’s very important. If you could just tell us how to get a hold of her, it would really help.”

             
“Look . . .” Courtney shook her head as though she was trying to decide whether or not to trust them. “Gracie’s my friend, and she doesn’t deserve what happened to her.”

             
Jenna moved a little closer to Courtney. “What happened to Gracie?”

“She got fired for no reason. Does this have something to do with her getting fired?”

              “No, it doesn’t.” Jenna said, shaking her head. “But, that’s just terrible . . . really terrible!”

             
“I know it is. That man—the one you met upstairs—Mr. Anderson, he fired her because she refused his advances.”

             
“Advances? Sexual Advances?” Phoebe asked.

             
Courtney nodded. “I’ve been so worried about her.”

             
There was a long moment of silence before Courtney spoke again. “Look, I’m in a hurry. I really need to get somewhere. And, I can’t just give you Gracie’s number. She’s my friend, and I don’t know you. But you seem nice enough.” She reached in her purse and pulled out a pen and a small pad of paper. “How about you give me your number, and I’ll see that Gracie gets it.”

             
Phoebe let out a crushed sigh. It wasn’t what she’d hoped for, but Phoebe knew it was the best they were going to get.

             
Jenna wrote down her cell phone number and handed the notebook back to Courtney.

             
“Courtney?” Phoebe said as the woman started walking away.

             
“Yes?”

             
“Will you please stress that this is very important?”

             
“Yes. I will. I promise.”

Sixteen

After a short wait on the front porch of Gracie’s home, the door opened. A petite, dark-haired lady stood before them. The first thing Phoebe noticed was how pretty Gracie was. Phoebe looked into the woman’s light blue eyes before glancing at Jenna with raised eyebrows. Jenna’s expression told Phoebe that she was thinking the same thing.

              “Gracie?” Phoebe said, even though she was certain the woman standing before her was Gracie. She’d called Jenna only a few hours after Courtney took her number and willingly agreed to meet with them.

              Gracie nodded as her eyes moved from Jenna to Phoebe. “I’m Phoebe, and this is Jenna. Thank you for agreeing to meet with us.” Phoebe extended her hand and Gracie accepted it in her own.

Phoebe looked
over her shoulder at Billy who had reluctantly agreed to wait in the truck. It was only after doing an online search and finding out the Gracie was only twenty one years old that he’d agreed to let them talk to her without him present. Gracie would have been eight the year Bessie died and that meant she couldn’t possibly be the person responsible for her death.

“You said you needed to ask me some questions.” Gracie stepped onto the porch and allowed the screen door to close behind her.

Okay—I guess we’re going to talk on the porch.
In rehearsing this moment, Phoebe had imagined they would sit and exchange small talk for a minute or two. But Gracie—while nice enough —was also very guarded and didn’t seem interested in small talk
.

Well, here goes
.
Phoebe blew out a breath. “It’s about a cameo brooch. The one you sold to the gallery in town. It used to belong to my mother.”

Gracie looked down. She moved her foot about as if she was trying to remove an invisible scuff mark from the ground. Then, returning her gaze to Phoebe she asked, “What about it?”

Phoebe saw Gracie’s question as a good sign. She didn’t deny selling the cameo. If she had, Phoebe would have had to bring the two salesmen into the conversation. She counted Gracie’s response as a successful jump over at least one of the many hurdles before her. “We have a few questions about it.”

After a moment of silence, Gracie moved to the side and motioned for the girls to enter her home. She led them into the living room where they sat beside each other on a red leather sofa.

“What do you want to know about the cameo?” Gracie asked as she took a seat in a chair and faced the girls.

              Phoebe leaned forward. “The cameo—the one you sold the gallery—it was stolen from my parent’s house thirteen years ago.”

“I didn’t steal that cameo. It was given to me as a gift.” Gracie
sounded defensive. Her tone; and the sincerity in her eyes, further convinced Phoebe that the woman was telling the truth.

“
I believe you,” Phoebe said.

“You do?” Gracie smiled. “Thank you. I mean, I’m not sure I would believe me if I were you. Not with all the strikes against me.
”

Phoebe
nodded. She knew Gracie was referring to her criminal history but she decided there was no point in bringing it up. Gracie wasn’t her mother’s killer and she wasn’t the person who broke into her parent’s home. So, there was no point in discussing the mistakes Gracie had made in her life. Besides, Phoebe got a good feeling about Gracie—something about the woman told Phoebe that she had learned from her mistakes. Phoebe smiled and tried to form her next sentence before saying it. “The thing is, Gracie, the cameo . . . whoever broke into my parent’s house and took it . . .” Phoebe’s voice cracked; she glanced at Jenna. The words were too hard to say.

“Phoebe’s mother was killed by the intruder.” Jenna said the words Phoebe could not get out. Then, she put her arm around her friend.

              Gracie’s eyes widened and she raised a hand to her mouth. “Oh, Phoebe, I am so sorry. That’s just awful.” Gracie wiped a tear from her eye. “So, the person who . . . I mean, the cameo was stolen by the person who killed your mother?”

             
“We’re not sure about that.” Jenna kept her arm wrapped around Phoebe. “But someone killed her and the cameo is the clue that will lead us to that person.”

             
“So, you want me to tell you who gave it to me?” Gracie stood up, walked to the window and pulled back the curtain. “Is he with you?” She pointed toward Billy’s truck.

             
“Yes. He’s our friend.” Jenna walked over to where Gracie was standing and waved at Billy through the window. “He drove us here.”

             
Gracie stared out the window for a minute before returning to her seat.

             
“Will you tell us where you got the cameo?” Phoebe asked.

             
Gracie thought for a long moment. “Excuse me for a second.” She stood up, left the room and returned a minute later with a large envelope.

“Ted . . . Mr. Anderson gave it to me,” she said, handing the envelope to Phoebe.

              Phoebe’s eyes widened. “Mr. Anderson gave you the cameo?” Phoebe’s jaw dropped. “You mean the same Mr. Anderson that fired you from your job at the Inn?”

             
Gracie nodded her head. “He gave it to me for my birthday. He said the silhouette carved into the opal reminded him of me. At the time, it seemed terribly romantic.”

             
“At the time?” Phoebe raised her eyebrows.

             
Gracie nodded. “He’s married. I didn’t know that until recently. We dated for months—if you call what we did dating. He lives in California. After we met, he started spending almost every weekend in Iron Springs. Hall Properties owns the Iron Springs Inn as well as hundreds of other resorts around the world. When things started getting serious, I went online and researched his name.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “As you know, you can find out a lot about a person just by doing a simple search. That’s how I found out about his wife. I confronted him and he basically said it didn’t matter and that nothing had to change.”

             
“What a jerk!” Jenna was on the edge of her seat by the time Gracie finished her story. “What did you say?”

             
“I told him to go to . . . I said no. Then he basically gave me an ultimatum—shut my mouth and keep up the status quo or get fired. I told him I wouldn’t date a married man, and he fired me a few days later.

             
“Did you tell his wife?” Jenna asked.

             
Gracie shook her head. “I thought about it. But, to be honest, I saw a side of Ted I didn’t know existed, and it was ugly. I don’t want to tangle with him. I really just want to put the whole thing behind me. Especially now that I know that he might be a murderer.”

             
Phoebe and Gracie nodded as they listened. “What’s this?” Phoebe held up the envelope.

             
“Stuff I collected. I knew he was going fire me so, when I had the chance, I snooped through his office and took whatever looked incriminating. I figured I could use it to get my job back.”

             
“Then why are you giving it to us?” Jenna asked.

             
“I had planned to fight him. But I’m not going to.” Gracie’s voice cracked. She swallowed hard and wiped a tear from her eye. “I mean, he’s a monster. And maybe a murderer. The further I can stay from him, the better.”

             
Phoebe stood up and walked over to Gracie. “Thank you.” She leaned over and put her arms around Gracie. “You have no idea how much it means to me that you are willing to help. Especially after all you’ve been through.”

             
Gracie shook her head. “I’m fine. That was a bad situation anyway. It’s better that I’m away from him.”

             
Phoebe promised to let Gracie know how things turned out. And Gracie said she’d call if she heard any more from Ted.

***

              “What’s that?” Billy pointed to the envelope and Phoebe and Jenna gave him a quick overview of their visit with Gracie as they drove back to Anna’s house.

After dinner, Billy and Jenna followed Phoebe to her bedroom while
Anna and the others headed to the front porch. Phoebe closed the door before pouring the contents of the envelope out on the floor.

             
“What is all this stuff?” Billy scanned the pile.

             
“Gracie said she took it from Mr. Anderson’s office. My guess is that since he lives in California, he probably kept all of this in his office here.” Jenna motioned her hand toward the pile.

             
“That way his wife would never see it,” Phoebe added. “Gracie said she knew he was going to fire her so she snooped through his stuff.”

             
“Why would she take it if she didn’t want it? I mean, why give it to you?”

             
“She had planned to fight Ted and use the stuff against him, but when he fired her she got scared and decided to just put the whole thing behind her. I think she’s really afraid of this guy.”

“And now that she knows he might be a murderer, she’s even more determined to keep her distance from him.” Phoebe said, pointing to a particularly scandalous photograph of Ted and a half-naked woman in a limousine.

              “Why would he give her the cameo? I mean, isn’t that a pretty expensive gift?” Billy paused for a moment before continuing. “Why would he give something like that to someone he considered to be just a fling?”

Phoebe shook her head. “I don’t think either of them saw it as a fling. The guy spent every weekend here for months. And he spent most of that time with Gracie. I think she thought the relationship was going somewhere
, and it seems like Mr. Anderson wanted to keep her thinking that way.”

             
“What a dirt bag.” Billy picked up an envelope and opened it. He pulled out a letter and started to read it but stopped when the content became indecent. “I think he got this from a prostitute.” He dropped the note back in the pile. “I don’t think we need to look at the rest of this stuff. We get the general idea—trash.”

“I bet his wife would like to see these,” Jenna said. “Apparently she thinks he’s been traveling on business . . . alone.”

              “So, what’s next?” Phoebe asked.

             
“I say we pay a visit to Ted Anderson,” Billy suggested.

             
“And?” Phoebe questioned. Meeting Gracie was one thing. Going up against Ted was something completely different. Gracie was terrified of the guy and that was reason enough for Phoebe to keep her distance.

             
“And we tell him that we have proof of his illicit behavior, and we threaten to take it public if he doesn’t tell us what we need to know.”

             
“What if he’s the one who killed Phoebe’s mother?” Jenna asked, a look of fear on her face.

             
“If he can tell us where he got the cameo—assuming he isn’t the one that broke into Phoebe’s parent’s house—we insist he tell us where he got it. To be honest, this guy doesn’t strike me as a cat burglar, and as I read the police report, I got the sense the person who broke into the house was after whatever he could grab and sell.”

             
“So you don’t think Ted’s the one who stole the cameo?” Phoebe asked as she pulled her hair into a pony tail.

             
“I honestly don’t think a guy who oversees hundreds of luxury resorts is going to break into a house and steal a few pieces of jewelry. I mean, it just doesn’t make sense to me. But, there’s only one way to know for sure. We go ask him.”

             
“But Billy, he might be a murderer. You don’t know for sure that he isn’t. We can’t just go confront someone who is that dangerous.”

             
Billy nodded. “You’re right. But, we don’t have a choice. He’s got the information we need.” Billy thought for a moment. “What if we meet with him at the inn? Then we’re in public and he can’t do anything. If we have any problems with him or if we suspect he’s the one who killed Bessie, we go straight to the police. Deal?”

             
Phoebe didn’t like the idea but Billy was right—Ted was the only person in the world they could go to in order to get the information they needed. “Deal,” Phoebe said, reluctantly.

             
“And while we’re there, we’ll tell him to give Gracie her job back,” Jenna said. “With a raise!” she added enthusiastically.

             
“Let’s go tomorrow,” Billy said. “I need to take the day off. I’ll talk to Norm.”

             
“I’m free tomorrow during the day,” Jenna said. “In the evening Dave and I are going to see a play. They’re doing a production of
The Nude Emperors Clothes
. It’s sort of a spoof on the original. It’s supposed to be hilarious. You two should come!”