License to Shop (21 page)

I tossed my slipper in the
trash can on my way to the shower, making a mental note to buy a
new pair of slippers. I didn’t like walking barefoot on my grimy
floors and unvacuumed carpets.

I realized the calm before
the storm was over, and the storm was here halfway through
breakfast, when Anna pushed her cereal bowl away. “My tummy
hurts.”

I put the back of my hand
on her forehead. She didn’t feel warm. But she looked a little
pale.

Seth and I looked at each
other. “I can’t stay home,” he said. “I have meetings.”

Ah, yes, the vague
“meetings” excuse. I scrutinized Anna again. Was her color
returning? Or was I deceiving myself? “Go lie down on the couch for
a little bit, sweetie. Maybe you’re just tired.”

“
I don’t want to miss
school,” she fretted. “We get to try watercolors in art class
today.”

“
Don’t borrow trouble,” I
advised her, even though I was flashing through scenario after
scenario of what to do with a sick kid when I was supposed to be at
work. I was certain neither Henriette Stubbs, nor James Connery
would appreciate me missing any time at all.

By the time we were ready
to leave, she looked much better. Or I told myself.

“
I’m okay, Mom,” Anna said
with a sigh. “I want to go to school.”

Ryan scoffed. “If I were
you, I wouldn’t go to school. You might puke on
someone.”

Anna shook her head at
him. “No I wouldn’t. I’d puke in my backpack.”

Now there was a
visual.

Ryan looked at me. “Mom, I
could stay home with her while you and Dad are at work.”

“
What a generous offer,” I
said, tousling his hair in the way that most annoyed him. “Too bad
Anna is feeling better and you’re both going to school.”

CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN

Temps in Arms

I got in early, despite the illness false alarm. I had had a
tiny hope that the storm was still far off, and that I’d get one
more chance to take a look around the offices and see if I could
find anything about Henriette Stubbs that might point to her guilt
— or innocence, for that matter.

Kecia was already
there.

“
Your daycare provider
must be a saint, to take your daughter so early,” I
commented.

She smiled. “I have a
roommate who gets a break on the rent to take my daughter to
daycare. It saves me a lot of wear and tear in the
morning.”

“
A student?”

She nodded. “Just like me.
It worked out better than I would have expected. She was a nanny
before she went back to school.”

I smiled. “Lucky!” I would
have whistled, if I knew how.

She grinned in response.
“I know.”

I asked the question I
hesitated to ask, “I’m worried that my daughter wasn’t feeling well
when I took her to school this morning. What’s the office policy if
I have to go pick her up from school?”

Kecia waved her hand, as
if the question was no big deal. “Most of the parents on staff just
take personal time. But since you’re working temp this week, I’m
not sure. I’d say that you should mark your time card with the
hours you worked and enter a note of explanation so Henriette will
see it when she signs off.”

I lamented. “Too bad she
couldn’t have held off getting sick until after I had the job
officially.”

“
Kids know how to upend
plans, don’t they? My daughter completely changed my life
plans.”

“
That they do,” I laughed.
“So I better get to work just in case the school calls for me to
come and get her.”

As I walked back to my
workstation, I tried to think, if I were an identity-theft ring
kingpin, where I’d hide my evidence.

There was a row of filing
cabinets against the far wall, but that seemed unlikely. Identity
theft was a digital crime nowadays.

The question James Connery
needed me to answer was a simple one. Had the ringmaster wiped the
data before Robert Quartermaine died, or not.

If so, then I could look
for a million years, and I wouldn’t find anything but the
electronic equivalent of an empty candy wrapper.

If, on the other hand, the
incriminating data had not been wiped, then I could find it, and
the FBI could get their guy, leaving me to go back to my
regularly-scheduled life. Make that my regularly over-scheduled
life.

The problem was that Penny
sat next to me. Even though she was concentrating on her work, she
was also aware of what I was doing. If I started wandering through
the empty offices, looking for evidence, she was definitely going
to wonder what was going on. Most likely, she’d mention my behavior
to Dr. Stubbs.

It would be bad enough to
have Dr. Stubbs fire me from the temp job, but it would be even
worse — if she turned out to be the identity theft ringmaster — to
find myself in the unfortunate shoes of Robert Quartermaine. I
could not end up dead. I had children to raise. Not to mention
thirty pounds to lose before I’d look good at my
funeral.

My still-to-be-done pile
was much higher than Penny’s. I attacked mine with purpose, vowing
to find a way to do my search without getting caught by anyone,
murderous ringmaster or not.

Dr. Stubbs came in to
check on our progress. “How are you faring with our brightest and
best?”

Penny said, “I’m almost
finished my stack of students. I feel confident that I know enough
about them to know what will make the university attractive to
them.”

“
Excellent!” Dr. Stubbs
looks relieved at that news. Which made me wonder — would a big
identity-theft ringmaster actually care about persuading a few
bright students to attend the university?

“
How about you,
Molly?”

“
I’m not quite as far as
Penny. How were the Quartermaines at dinner last night?” My subtle
way of reminding her that I had fallen behind because I had spent
the afternoon chauffeuring Robert Quartermaine’s grieving family
from the airport to the hotel.

She frowned at me. “Well,
then carry on. Penny, since you are almost finished, I wonder if
you would mind meeting with a father and daughter who called to
make an appointment with us?”

Penny nodded. “Of course.
What would you like me to do? Give them a tour? Help them with
financial aid? Discuss the options for a program of
study?”

Dr. Stubbs smiled in
approval. “I appreciate how thorough your knowledge of the job is.
The father has expressed a desire to map out his daughter’s
potential program for the full four years.”

“
I’ve studied the course
catalog thoroughly,” Penny said. “I can do that.”

“
Wonderful. The
appointment is in an hour. Why don’t you come to my office in a
half-an-hour and I can discuss the finer points with
you.”

“
That will give me time to
finish these last students,” Penny said, patting her very small
to-do pile of folders.

I was jealous for about
six seconds. And then I realized that Penny would be occupied out
of the office, giving me time to do my searching without having to
worry about her reporting on me to Dr. Stubbs.

Knowing I would have the
freedom to snoop in less than an hour, I buckled down, with the
intent to reduce my pile of files significantly.

Penny still
had a few files left to go when she stood up.

“
Good luck,” I said. “I
hope you bring another student into the fold.”

“
Me too.” She smiled. “I
really want this job.”

“
Me too.” At least, I
thought I did. I hadn’t really tried to scrape off what Seth
wanted, what Deirdre thought would be good for me, or what I knew
would make the other PTA moms like Bianca respect me a bit more, to
get down to what I really wanted.

I followed Penny to Dr.
Stubb’s office, pretending I had to go to the restroom. And then I
really did have to go, so it turned out not to be a lie at all,
which made me happy. I hate to lie, even though I do it for a
living.

When I came back into the
office, I could see that Kecia was concentrating on some work on
the computer. I tried to guess how long I’d have to check out the
other offices, but I couldn’t tell. I decided I’d just have to be
quiet, and hope I didn’t do anything to draw anyone’s
notice.

No sooner had the thought
entered my mind, then the storm of life finally hit. My phone rang.
Caller ID said it was Anna’s school. Of course.

Kecia looked up at the
sound. I smiled apologetically and answered with a whispered,
“Hello?”

“
Mrs. Harrison?” A clipped
voice asked.

“
Yes.”

The clipped voice
continued, “I’m afraid Anna is not feeling well. We need you to
come pick her up.”

I gave my automatic
response. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

There was a slight
hesitation, followed by a question. “Anna said she told you she
wasn’t feeling well this morning, Mrs. Harbison. Is that
correct?”

“
She did say that,” I
admitted reluctantly. “I had her lie on the couch, and she felt
better.”

“
I see. Next time may I
suggest you listen to your daughter when she says her stomach
aches. She made quite a mess of the morning kindergarten
room.”

Hot with shame, I said
meekly, “Thank you. Sometimes it is hard to tell.” I laughed
nervously, hoping against hope that was not a message a my
permanent-parent file saying, Molly cannot tell when her child is
sick.

I hung up, and looked at
Kecia, who had listened to the conversation and had a very
sympathetic expression on her face.

“
I guess my daughter
really was sick.” I felt another flash of shame at that very
judgmental “I see.” Anna had felt better. She had said she really
wanted to go to school.

Kecia shrugged and said
exactly what I was thinking, “How do you know, when the symptoms
are not clear, whether to keep your child home, or not?”

“
Exactly.” I bit my lip.
“I’m going to be so behind. Dr. Stubbs is not going to be
happy.”

“
Why don’t you bring her
here?” Kecia suggested.

“
To the office?” The idea
seemed unwise.

“
We could put her in Rob’s
office. Stop at home, get her in her jammies, bring her blanket and
pillows…”

“
Have you done this
before?” I asked.

“
Two or three times when
Phoebe was a baby.” She grinned and held her finger to her lips.
“Only when Dr. Stubbs isn’t here, though. If you think she has it
in for puppies, you should see her with babies.”

I looked at Dr. Stubbs’
closed office doors. “Oh. I don’t want to rock the
boat.”

“
Nonsense. As soon as
she’s finished briefing Penny, Dr. Stubbs is heading off campus for
a half-day retreat for university administrators. You’re
safe.”

“
Okay.” I felt chagrined
at the change in plans, but with Anna here and Dr. Stubbs away, I
just might be able to do my spying and my admissions work, as well
as be a supermom. Pretty cool.”

As
promised, there was no sign of Dr. Stubbs when I returned with
Anna.

To my relief, Anna was
actually feeling better. I didn’t know how long that would last,
stomach bugs being notoriously fickle when food is introduced to
the system. She thought it was great to get to go to work with
me.

Rob’s office made a great
sick room. I brought a trash can liner and lined the trash can,
just in case. I had a cooler of ginger ale, Anna’s favorite stomach
ache beverage, and a thermos of hot chicken noodle soup. I was good
to go for hours.

“
When is Penny coming
back?” I asked Kecia, who was attaching a leash to Sofia’s
collar.

“
Dr. Stubbs gave her a
dining card to use for lunch and dinner with the prospects, so I
suspect she won’t be back at all.”

“
Maybe I’ll catch up to
her, then.” Or find something that would make James Connery and the
FBI happy.

“
Could be.” Kecia glanced
at her watch. “Could you do me a favor?”

“
Sure.”

“
I have to take Sofia for
a walk. Can you keep an eye on the front office for me for a
minute?”

“
No problem.”

“
Normally, I just lock the
office. It doesn’t take that long for this one to do her business.”
She patted the dog on the head. “But we’re expecting a big delivery
of t-shirts and they have to be signed for, or the delivery guy
won’t leave them.”

“
Not a problem,” I said.
In fact, while Sofia was doing her business, I’d be able to do a
very quick search of Dr. Stubbs’ office.

I definitely felt worried
about all this good luck. The universe was not often that kind to
me.

As soon as Kecia took off
with the dog, I snuck into Dr. Stubbs’ office, my heart in my
mouth. My ears were on high alert, listening for the sound of
anyone who might catch me.