Chapter 13 #3
“Wish me luck!” Nina said as she put the pedal to the metal.
She drove as fast as she could without breaking too many traffic safety laws.
Less than five minutes later, Nina spotted Kathryn’s vehicle idling along the curb, half a block away from the lot.
Frankie dashed out of Nina’s car, scurried to where Kathryn was waiting, and jumped in.
“Hi. I’m Frankie.” She held out her hand.
Kathryn wasn’t sure if she should shake it or not, but she decided to trust this smooth-moving female.
“Kathryn.” She grasped Frankie’s hand. Before she let go, she looked her straight in the eye. “What in the Sam Hill are you doing? Besides following us?”
Frankie’s eyes widened. “We weren’t following you. We were trying to track down the people who’ve been hitting the Salvation Army kettles.”
“Wait. What?” Kathryn was perplexed. “I haven’t heard of any of this.”
“It was on local news the night before. I work at Rock Center and helped one of the victims—Carol. The police took a report, but there wasn’t much they could do. There was a mob of people, all of them dressed like Santa. One of them knocked her over and stole the money out of the kettle.”
Kathryn gripped the wheel. “I heard about this, but you guys are looking for them ? Here ?”
“Later that evening, I heard of another incident in one of the other boroughs,” Frankie went on. “Then the third. I pulled out a map and did a triangulation.”
“Are you an engineer?” Kathryn asked.
“Cookbook editor.”
“And you do triangulations as a what? Hobby?” Kathryn asked with a tad of skepticism.
“I’m a mystery junkie. And after helping Carol, it became personal to me. That woman has been doing this for eighteen years.”
Kathryn snickered. “You got a little vigilante in you, eh?”
“Huh. I hadn’t looked at it that way, but I suppose under these circumstances, you may be correct. Although I had no intention of apprehending them. I simply wanted to gather information and turn it over to the police.”
Kathryn snickered again. “I doubt they will do anything. They have millions of people to cover with not the biggest staff.”
“I know, and I really didn’t expect them to send a SWAT team, but at least I tried.”
Kathryn smiled and patted Frankie’s throbbing hand. “You’ve come to the right place. Or, I should probably say ‘the right people.’”
Frankie furrowed her brow. “I don’t understand.”
“You will. Eventually,” Kathryn replied. “If you are certain one of those guys was the culprit, we’ll manage it.”
“We?” Frankie looked behind her to see if there was anyone else in the car.
“Hang tight, super sleuth. It might be a long night.”
Frankie’s phone vibrated in her pocket. She had completely lost track of the time. It was Giovanni checking in.
Giovanni:
Cara, you okay?
Frankie:
Yes, sorry. Concert ran late and we went out to grab a nightcap.
Giovanni:
Ok. See you soon.
Frankie explained to Kathryn that it was her boyfriend, and he’d just arrived at her apartment. Frankie didn’t think Kathryn was up for small talk, so she left it at that. She surmised Kathryn was the type of person who would not hesitate to ask if she wanted more details.
Kathryn and Frankie kept their eyes on their targets and saw the two men get out and hop into the Cadillac. Kathryn pressed the speed dial to Maggie. “We’re on the move. They dropped the cab at a lot.”
“Nina and I are getting acquainted. Did you know she is working on a project developing a series for television?”
Kathryn rolled her eyes, knowing Maggie couldn’t see them, although Maggie could probably guess what she was doing. “Interesting. Sit tight. I’ll phone you back and let you know where we are.”
“Roger that,” Maggie said, and turned to Nina. “You wouldn’t have any snacks on you, would you?”
“There are some granola bars in there,” Nina said, nodding to the glove compartment.
“Fannn— tastic !” Maggie whooped. “You gals are okay with me.”
“They were Frankie’s idea. She was much better prepared for a stakeout than I was.”
“Well, I’ve been on way too many, and I can tell ya, snacks saved me.” Maggie unwrapped the chocolate-almond bar.
Nina brought up the incident on the news.
“Wasn’t the first time I got shoved around,” Maggie said, licking the chocolate off her fingers.
“There should be napkins in there, too.” Nina pointed to the glove box again.
“Thanks. Normally I come prepared, but this was a last-minute thing, and I hardly had time to grab my go-bag.”
“Okay. Now it’s your turn.” Nina settled into the back cushion of the seat. “What are you guys doing chasing a tractor trailer?”
“It’s loaded with toys. Toys for Tots. Annie, my boss, is going to a gala at the Hilton in a few days. It’s for a friend who is being honored for her charity work. … Anyway, Annie and her friend Myra got a bunch of toy companies to donate a thousand toys.”
“Wow. That’s impressive,” Nina said with admiration.
“Oh, and socks. They’re bringing kids from orphanages to the event to meet Santa, have some holiday cheer, and get some toys.”
“Let’s hope it’s not a bad Santa!” Nina said, half-jokingly.
“I can tell you this much, if anyone misbehaves, Annie and Myra will give them what-for.” Maggie decided to leave it at that. No need to get into their side hustle of judicial enforcement, although that may become necessary if the goofy guy in the Santa cap was culpable.
Maggie’s phone rang several minutes later. It was Kathryn.
“Looks like they’re heading back to the warehouse.”
Frankie was getting anxious. She had to figure out how to get back to her apartment before Giovanni began to worry.
She turned to Kathryn and said, “I hate to cause you any trouble, but I have to get back to my apartment. My boyfriend will start freaking out. It’s almost one in the morning.
I can get out and call an Uber or Lyft.”
“Not in this neighborhood. Call him and tell him you’re still running a little late. You ran into some friends you and Nina hadn’t seen in years, and you’re going to spend a little time with them.”
“Wow. You really think on your feet, don’t you?”
“Occupational hazard.”
“Speaking of which, what do you normally do when you’re not tracking a tractor trailer?” Frankie asked.
“Driving one,” Kathryn said with a snicker.
“For real?” Frankie said with surprise. “I mean, well, I, I don’t think I ever met a female truck driver.”
“Less than six percent of truck drivers are women.”
“How did you get into that business?” Frankie asked innocently.
“My late husband. He enjoyed traveling but then got multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease. I learned how to drive so we could continue together. I kept it up after he passed.”
“Oh, I am so sorry. That is incredibly sad.”
“Yes, it was, but I have a great network of friends, and I think I’ve finally come to the last stage of grief: acceptance.
It has taken me a long time. A really long time.
In fact, I think I’m just pulling myself out of it now.
” Kathryn was surprised at how much she divulged about her emotions.
But it felt good. She could share without the sadness.
She smiled at Frankie, remembering what it was like to have someone who cared.
“Now call your guy and let him know you’ll be home within the hour.
I am going to drive you back to Maggie and Nina. ”
“What about those guys in the truck?”
“As long as I get the trailer back, I can’t worry about them right now. We’ll catch up with them eventually. We know at least one of the places they frequent.”
Several minutes later, Kathryn got a ping on her phone. It was from Charles. He and Fergus were able to find out who the property owner was. According to what they discovered, the warehouse was in the name of an LLC that also owned a pizzeria in Brooklyn. “Looks like we got another location.”
Frankie was about to ask, but decided the less she knew, the better, and she got the impression that Kathryn wasn’t going to be forthcoming with additional information.
“Now call your dude,” Kathryn said with a smile, then sent a text to Maggie telling her they were on their way back.
Frankie hit Giovanni’s speed dial number, explained the make-believe situation, and assured him she would be home soon.
Twenty minutes later, Kathryn arrived at the terminal, where the trailer still sat in front of the gate.
“What happened?” Maggie asked.
“Nothing. Well, not exactly nothing. Charles got the name of the property owner and a second location.”
“You’re right. That’s not nothing. Do you think the trailer thing was a mistake?” Maggie asked.
“It was a mistake, alright, but I think they thought they were hijacking something they could fence and not dozens of Legos, socks, stuffed animals, and dolls.”
“That warehouse looked a bit shady,” Frankie added.
“Yes, and it’s a good thing you didn’t get caught spying on them!” Maggie admonished the two other women.
“Well, I was able to get a photo of the guy with the cap.” Frankie opened the camera app on her phone. “So at least I can give the police something to go on.”
Kathryn and Maggie began to laugh. “As if.”
Frankie looked downtrodden. “I suppose you’re right. They don’t have time for this sort of thing.”
Kathryn and Maggie looked over at each other. “No, but we do!” Kathryn hooted. They gave each other a high five. “Text me the photo,” Kathryn directed to Frankie and gave her the number.
Nina and Frankie weren’t quite sure what to make of their new friends, but they somehow trusted that they would indeed take care of everything. They waved goodbye as Nina started her car. They certainly had had an adventure tonight.
As Nina’s car drove out of sight, Kathryn pressed the button on the gate. A few minutes passed, and she pressed it again. A sleepy disembodied voice came over the speaker. “Yeah?”
“Kathryn Lucas here. The one whose goods went missing.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, they’ve been returned.”
“Whaddya mean?”
“The trailer is sitting outside, right in front of the gate.”
“Okay. I’ll let you in.”
“I don’t have the cab. I’ll be back in the morning, and this baby better still be here. Got it?”
Suddenly the person on the other side of the voice box perked up. “Got it. What time do you think you’ll be here?”
“Nine,” Kathryn announced back.
“But what if someone else has to gain access to the lot?” the feeble voice asked.
“Deal with it. See you in the morning.” Kathryn and Maggie returned to Kathryn’s vehicle and drove back to Jerry’s apartment.
Once they arrived, Kathryn called Myra and Annie, bringing them up to speed. She also explained the bad Santa stunts, which they were extremely interested in pursuing.
“We’ll chat more tomorrow evening,” Myra said. “And see if your two new besties are available.”
“You want to bring them in on this?” Kathryn asked.
“I think they already are,” Myra said calmly as she stroked her pearls.