ONE SMALL VICTORY (26 page)

“No matter what she thought, a true friend
would not rat me out.”

That stopped Carol in mid-stride.

“For God’s sake, Carol.” Jenny took a step
forward. “He could take my kids. Did you even consider that?”

Carol didn’t say anything for what seemed
like forever. She walked to the door, opened it, then slammed it
shut again, turning to face Jenny again. “Did you bring my guns
back?”

It took a moment for her to adjust to the
sharp turn. “What?”

Carol crossed her arms across her stomach.
“My guns.”

“You’ve thoroughly fucked up my life and
you’re worried about your guns.”

“No, Jenny. I’m worried about you.”

A sentiment in those words almost broke her.
Jenny quickly averted her gaze and took a deep breath. “I’m
okay.”

“Are you?” Carol reached out to touch her
arm, but Jenny pulled away. The gesture would undo her. She knew it
would. She ached to tell her friend everything. About the bad guys.
About Steve. About how scared she was about Friday. About how much
more afraid she was that she’d alienated everyone she loved beyond
a point of no return.

But she couldn’t do that. Not now. Somehow
she had to get out of this conversation. Then hold her raw emotions
together for just a few more days. She pushed past Carol and opened
the door.

When she was outside, she turned back for
just a moment. “I’m sorry. It’s... That’s all I can say. I’m
sorry.”

Jenny made it home in time to throw some
things in a duffle for Alicia before Ralph showed up. A few minutes
later, Alicia bounded through the door, dumped her book bag in the
middle of the living room and ran down the hall.

“Hey,” Jenny called. Alicia stopped. Jenny
nudged the bag with her toe. “Take this to your room.”

With an Oscar-caliber show of theatrics, the
girl came back and slung the bag over her shoulder.

“Nice move,” Ralph said.

“If I don’t stay on top of them, they’d move
their beds out here.”

Jenny heard the back door open and a moment
later Scott walked into the living room. He mumbled greetings then
started toward his room. Something in his slouch, more pronounced
than usual, set off an internal alarm. Now what? Could things get
more complicated?

Jenny took a step toward him. “Something
wrong, Scott?”

“Nope.” He didn’t pause in his forward
progress.

“It’s not too late to come with us,” Ralph
said.

This time Scott did stop and glance over his
shoulder. “Wish I could, but...”

He finished the sentence with a shrug, then
continued on, almost colliding with Alicia as she came running out
of her room. “I’m ready,” she said.

In the few minutes it took to bundle Alicia
and her things in the car, Ralph didn’t speak, and Jenny was just
as glad. There wasn’t anything else that needed to be said. But he
did turn to her before sliding in the driver’s seat. “You be
careful.”

Just like Carol’s sentiment, this one touched
her deep inside. I’ve spent all this time trying to be tough, and
I’m just a marshmallow. She managed a smile and a nod. “See you
Sunday.”

Jenny stood in the driveway and watched the
car pull out, returning Alicia’s farewell wave. Scott stood in the
doorway, then turned to go back in the house as she approached.
He’d disappeared down the hall by the time she stepped into the
living room. So much for an evening of quality time together.

He did honor her with his presence for
dinner, though it could hardly be called a pleasant social
experience since he wolfed the pepper steak like a man who’d been
deprived of food for a month. When he was finished, he wiped the
tomato sauce from his lips with a napkin, then pushed away from the
table. “Better get to work on that paper.”

It was the only thing he’d said to her since
she’d called him to dinner, the words rendered doubly irritating
because they begged no response. A simple declaration that was
benign on the surface. But something told her it wasn’t so
temperate below. She thought about calling him back to clear his
dishes, then said, “The hell with it.” She didn’t need more of his
surly mood. She needed a long, hot bath and maybe fifty drinks
before she could even think about sleeping tonight.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Jenny’s stomach twisted as she surveyed the
room, which as full of so many cops they could have manned an
entire season of all the Law & Order shows. It didn’t help that
sleep had eluded her well into the witching hour, and she’d needed
way too much coffee to get through the morning at work. Thank
goodness Mitchell hadn’t pressed her about why she was leaving
early this afternoon. If he had, she doubted she had the emotional
stamina to support the lie of the teacher conference.

Steve drew her toward the table, making
introductions as they passed various people. No way would she
remember names, but she would remember how able they all looked,
the women as much as the men. Another coup for women’s lib.

She recognized Linda and Burroughs and gave
them each a nod as Steve pulled out a vacant chair for her.
Gonzales stood at the head of the table and motioned toward a
bucket that held cans of soda and bottles of water under a blanket
of ice. “Help yourself.”

Jenny grabbed water and swore her stomach
relaxed at the prospect of no more coffee. When this was over she
might give it up entirely. Then again...

“Okay,” Gonzales said. “Let’s get up to
speed.”

He shuffled the stack papers in front of him.
“Operation Sting commences tonight at 1800 hours.” He paused and
looked at the Sheriff. “Tubbs, have your men in place one hour
prior.”

The beefy man nodded, and Gonzales motioned
to Burroughs. “The bugs in and working?”

Burroughs nodded. “Coming through loud and
clear.”

Jenny remembered asking Burroughs about this
when he’d first mentioned it as part of the plan weeks ago. She
wondered why they didn’t just use the bugs to gather evidence and
skip the sting entirely. To his credit, he hadn’t laughed, giving
her a brief overview of what constitutes admissible evidence.

“And your men are sure the curtains along
that glass wall are not closed at night?” Gonzales asked.

Burroughs nodded. “They’ve watched for two
months. Barring some fluke that we can’t prepare for, we should be
able to see in just fine.”

Gonzales turned to Jenny. “That’s our backup
in case the bugs fail for some reason. If we lose the audio, we’ll
come in as soon as we see the exchange being made.”

She nodded.

Gonzales motioned to Steve. “You got
communications set up?”

Steve rose and stepped over to a Dry-Erase
board displaying a rough sketch of a map. He marked the spot where
Jenny was meeting the perps the following night. “There are only
two main roads out of town that lead to this intersection of 720
and 423. We’ll have men here and here.” He paused to put an x at
several places. “I’ll be here with Linda.” Again he made a mark.
“We’re using the old ‘car broken down’ ruse, but hey, whatever
works. We’ll all be in touch via transmitters. Including the county
and federal guys who will be up in the tree line beyond the
perimeter of the property.”

“What about the outside guards?”

Gonzales directed that question to Burroughs
who said, “We’ll take them out as soon as the subject enters the
premises.”

Jenny winced and Burroughs shook his head.
“It’s not what you think,” he said. “We’ve got stun guns.”

Jenny nodded to acknowledge the explanation,
but she still found the idea distasteful. Burroughs was so casual
about it. Like he was talking about picking up his dry cleaning on
the way home from work.

“Okay.” Now Gonzales turned his attention to
her. “You ready for this?”

She swallowed hard and then nodded, not
trusting her voice to make coherent words. Gonzales reached into a
satchel and pulled out a two-inch thick parcel wrapped in brown
paper. He slid it across the table to her. “Here’s the money.”

Jenny just looked at the package for a
moment, shocked at the size. Was that really a hundred thousand
dollars? Steve nudged her. “Go ahead. You’ve got to touch it
sometime.”

The comment drew a few chuckles as Jenny took
the money. She couldn’t wait to get it into the safe at the
shop.

After running through an approximate
timetable for later that night, Gonzales rapped his knuckles on the
table. “When it’s over I’ll come in with the cavalry and clean up
the mess you make.”

His attempt at humor raised a few chuckles,
but Jenny didn’t join in. She was too busy telling her stomach not
to reject the half a bottle of water she’d consumed.

Steve touched her arm on the way out.
“Holding up okay?”

Despite the doubts spinning through her head
and the anxiety tying her stomach in knots, she nodded.

“Things okay at home?”

“For the time being. Ralph left with Alicia
yesterday. Scott should be no problem.”

Jenny paused by the back door, a small part
of her reluctant to take the next step. Steve jingled some coins in
his pocket, avoiding her gaze, then he looked at her. “Don’t take
any risks. Just follow the plan.”

“Yes, sir.” She followed that with a mock
salute.

“I’m serious. We stick to the plan and nobody
gets hurt.”

For a second she almost asked him about the
guards. Wouldn’t being ‘taken out’ hurt just a bit. But she pushed
the impulse aside. This wasn’t the time for an ethics
discussion.

Instead, she gave him a small smile of
reassurance. Then she tucked the parcel of money into her briefcase
and donned sunglasses and a wide brimmed hat. “I’ll be glad when I
can just be me again.”

“Soon,” he said. “Soon.”

Jenny played the words like a mantra as she
slipped out the back door of the station. Only a few more hours and
the whole mess would be over.

The mid-afternoon sun slanted through the
trees, almost as if assigned to justify her costume. Or was that
just a flighty turn of mind? She shook the silly thought aside and
walked the few blocks to where she’d parked her car. She didn’t see
any sign of Leon or Frank. But then she didn’t expect to at this
time of the afternoon. Leon would be across town plying his trade
closer to the school. And Frank? She had no idea what Frank did
during the daytime. Maybe he never even came out of whatever hole
he lived in.

Jenny tossed the hat and sunglasses into the
back seat, then slid behind the wheel and dropped the briefcase on
the passenger seat. She started the engine and locked all the
doors. The thought of something happening to the money made her
palms damp with sweat.

At the shop, she hurried in the front door, a
gust of wind blowing in on her heels. Mitchell was just coming out
of the back and he stopped. “Didn’t expect you back today.”

“Just have a few things to take care of. You
can go ahead and make those deliveries. I’ll lock up.”

Mitchell picked up an arrangement of white
and red mums. “How’d the conference go?”

For a moment Jenny was blank. What
conference? Then she remembered the excuse. “Uh, it was fine.”

She avoided his eyes as she walked through
the split in the counter.

“Something wrong, Jen?”

“No.” She tried a smile.

“I don’t mean to pry,” Mitchell said. “But I
remember you were worried about Scott’s grades.”

“He’s doing fine now. Actually, this
conference was for Alicia. We, uh, went over the work she’s
missing.”

“Oh.”

Jenny was afraid that her face was going to
crack under the effort to keep the smile. But she had to admire
that quick bit of improvising. It seemed to satisfy Mitchell, and
he headed toward the front door with the flowers.

“I’ll bring the other one out for you.” Jenny
grabbed a small arrangement of pink roses and baby’s breath and
followed Mitchell. If he noticed her lugging the briefcase along,
he didn’t say anything. He secured the arrangements in the
containers in the delivery van and drove off.

Jenny went back in. Locked all the doors and
stashed the money in the safe. She felt much better after the lock
clicked in place when she spun the dial.

Now all she had to do was muddle through
supper with Scott, and get out of the house without too much
protest.

~*~

A chill permeated the shop and Jenny
shivered. She always hated coming here after dark to take care of
some forgotten business. Why did it seem to only smell like a
funeral parlor at night? Did the darkness do something to the
flowers?

It was worse tonight because she couldn’t
even turn on a light.

Using a penlight to illuminate the dial,
Jenny worked the combination on her safe and opened it. Inside, the
two wrapped stacks of thousand dollar bills rested on the clutter
of papers. She pulled out the money and stuffed it into a large
money-belt strapped to her waist. Then she hefted the small gun
she’d managed to avoid returning to Carol and again considered the
wisdom of taking it. “Stick to the plan.” That’s what Steve had
said, and he’d explode if he knew she wasn’t. But then he didn’t,
did he. And she wouldn’t feel so vulnerable if she had the gun
along.

Ending the mental debate, she shoved the
weapon under her waistband behind the belt. There was something to
be said for skin-tight jeans. The gun fit snug between denim and
skin and was covered by the money belt.

She shrugged into her leather jacket leaving
it open to reveal the tank top that was so tight it didn’t even
have a wrinkle. Could she count on that being enough of a
distraction that they’d miss the gun when they searched her? She
didn’t even want to think about the consequences if it was
discovered.

Making her way through the gloom to the door,
Jenny slipped out, locked up, and headed toward her car. She had
her hand on the door handle when she heard a rustle of movement in
the trees beside the shop. She whirled. Was someone hiding in the
shadows?