Chapter 33
CHAPTER 33
As soon as she’s in the office, before she can even take her coat off, she starts telling her dad about the conversation with Eric. She’s glad Stan isn’t there; this can’t get leaked anywhere, and she needs to talk.
“Slow down, honey,” Peter says, putting up his hand. “I’m having a hard time keeping up with you.”
She sits down and tries to compose herself. “Sorry, I know I’m babbling. Okay, Eric called,” she looks at her watch. “He should be getting on a plane right now, if he made it on time. He said the source he talked to gave him lots of information, and that it’s more than he thought it would be. But he didn’t want to talk about it on the phone.”
“Wow, that is big,” he says. “I wonder what it could be? Money laundering? Bankruptcies?”
Lizzie shrugs her shoulders, “I have no idea. I mean we had a feeling that Gobel and Green had some shady deals, that’s been their reputation, but he made this sound like it was more.” She opens up her computer, trying to create some semblance of a normal work day, but it’s hard to think of focusing on anything but this. “Okay, so this issue is all set to print tomorrow. How are you looking for next week?” she asks, truly not the least bit interested but hoping she will be.
“Well, there’s the hockey team finals, the elementary school is hosting a plant sale to encourage everyone to start an organic garden, and I got a memo from the fire department that they’re starting fire hydrant flushing next week,” Peter says, looking at the list on his desk. “It’s not exactly a hard-hitting list.”
They both laugh. “Ah, March in a seasonal community, I have to admit with everything else going on I am longing for the days when these were the biggest stories of the week,” Lizzie says. “We should get some photos of the plant sale for print and for the online edition and social media. Those will be sweet and hopefully encourage people to go organic. Stan might like to cover the hockey team, yeah?”
“Definitely,” Peter says. “I’ll text him to get in touch with the coaches and preview the big match up.” They both sigh at exactly the same time. “This is hard,” he says.
“Like trying to forget about the elephant that is clearly sitting in our office that we’re trying not to look at?” Lizze offers.
“Yes,” he looks at his watch. “When is Eric landing?”
She in turn looks at her watch. He called me around 1? Said the plane was in an hour, if it’s direct that will get him to Logan at around 5? Then he’s got the drive back to the Cape–”
“During rush hour no less,” Peter says.
“Yup, and if we’re lucky he will be on Cape maybe by 8 or a little before?” Lizzie says.
“Why don’t you tell him to come to the house straight from the airport rather than here, if this is as big a story as he’s making it sound, I don’t know, maybe we’re better off not meeting here, in case anyone is on to him or the source he met with.”
“I’ll text him,” she says, picking up her phone. “I really do feel like we’re in the middle of Watergate or some other big scandal. It’s nerve wracking!” Text sent, she’s not sure what else to do.
“I know, I feel the same way. I’d say let’s go home and call it a day, but what are we going to do there? Sit around there and be nervous and drive your mom crazy?” Peter says.
“Why don’t we each do as much of our to-do list as we can tolerate, and then go home?”
“Sounds like a plan,” Peter says.
They manage to quietly work across from each other for a couple of hours, each jumping a bit when their phones ding with text messages, none of which are consequential.
At 4:45 Lizzie closes her laptop. “Okay, I’m done pretending to be at all interested in anything I’ve been doing,” Lizzie says, as she gets up. “I’m going to get out of here and go pace at home.”
“Sounds good to me, let’s get the heck out of here,” Peter agrees.
“Eric should be landing soon and we will hopefully have some answers in just a few hours,” Lizzie zips her computer bag closed and puts on her coat.
She holds the door for Peter as they walk out. “You know Mom has a sixth sense about everything,” she says as they walk to their cars. “What are we going to say about Eric, if he comes over?”
“She’s been married to a newspaper guy for 35 years. She understands, honey, she knows when and when not to ask questions. See you at home,” he says. “What about Jack? He can’t know anything about this, not yet.”
“I know. I’m thinking of telling him I’m tired and turning in early, I don’t want him there if Eric does in fact come over tonight. I hate lying, but it's for his own good. And the good of Terra Marique and Cranberry Harbor.”
“Absolutely,” Peter says. “Okay, so I’ll see you in a minute.”
They each get in their cars. Lizzie looks over at her dad and is so grateful that she has him to go through all this with. She gives him a little wave, and he gestures for her to back out first. She does and as she drives home can’t help but feel a little bit excited about nailing these bad guys.
“You two never arrive home at the same time,” Gabby says as they come through the door together. “Is it a national holiday I don’t know about?” she jokes.
Peter gives her a kiss, “Yes, it’s national ‘Let’s leave work at a reasonable time’ day,” he jokes. “We both finished our work and decided to get out of there.” He looks over at Lizzie who is picking at a salad in progress on the counter.
“Can I do anything to help?” Lizzie asks, popping another piece of cucumber into her mouth.
“Nope, it’s all done. I just didn’t think you’d be here this soon. You could put the salad on the table,” Gabby says. “And I will toss the pasta with the sauce I made. Oh, there’s some parmesan and the grater on the counter, could you grab that too?”
In under five minutes they’re all sitting at the table enjoying Gabby’s delicious tomato and fresh basil sauce. Lizzie is finally relaxing a bit and her phone rings. She looks down and sees it’s Eric.
“Excuse me, I have to take this,” she gives her dad a little nod and gets up from the table, walking into the living room.
“Hey Eric, you get to Boston okay?” she asks. She’s extremely concerned for his safety.
“Yeah, I’m on 93 South and headed to the Cape. I should be in Cranberry Harbor around 7:30. Should we meet?”
Lizzie has never had stealthy meetings before and isn’t sure if she should be speaking in code or what. “Can you come to us?” she asks. “We aren’t at the office, do you know where we live?” She doesn’t want to give the address over the phone, she’s hoping it’s a small enough town that he’s talked to someone who’s told him where their house is.
“I’m pretty sure I do. If I have any problems I’ll reach out. I should go, traffic is picking up a bit,” he says.
“Okay, drive safe,” she says. “We’ll see you soon.” She walks back into the kitchen and sits down at the table.
“Everything okay?” Gabby asks, twirling some spaghetti around her fork.
“Yes, it was a freelancer Dad and I hired to write a story. He's coming over in a little bit to go over some notes with us. Hope that’s okay? We won’t be too late I’m sure.”
“Wow, I didn’t know you’d hired someone new. That's great!” Gabby says.
“Yes, he’s been living in town for a while and writing for publications all over the country, so we thought we’d give him some stories to do,” Peter says.
Gabby, being the savvy woman she is, starts to read between the lines. “I’m sure he’s going to be a big help to you both,” she pushes her chair out from the table and stands up. “I’m going to get some more water. You two need anything?” she says.
“No thanks,” Lizzie and Peter both say.
“He’ll be here in about an hour, Dad,” Lizzie says, pushing her salad around her plate, a bit too nervous to eat. Peter nods.
After Lizzie puts the final plate in the dishwasher, she takes her phone out of her pocket to call Jack, hopefully intercepting him calling later while they’re meeting with Eric.
“Hey, I was about to call you,” he says. “How’s it going?”
“Good!” she says a little too enthusiastically. Calm down, she thinks to herself. “I mean, I'm tired, but everything’s okay. How about you?”
“I’m okay,” he says, sounding discouraged. “I lost two crew members today who even though we’re still paying them, decided they were going to move on to other jobs off-Cape. It’s making me worry about how many other people are going to feel like they don’t want to spin their wheels sitting here waiting.”
“The court date isn’t too far away, it’s only a couple of weeks,” Lizzie says, trying to buck up his spirits. “Maybe there’s something everyone could be working on together off-site? Some project? I think everyone feels better when they’re being productive.”
“Hmm…that’s a really good idea. I know at the last selectboard meeting they were talking about working on the town square, repairing the gazebo, putting in new benches and plantings…that’s a great idea, sweetie.”
“It’s also a way to keep the town on your team. Not to sound manipulative, but it will help reinforce that you and this project are here to help make Cranberry Harbor better in lots of ways,” Lizzie says. “The weather’s improving, and it’s kind of the perfect time to do it, before traffic picks up and the snowbird folks start to return.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Lizzie can tell Jack’s wheels are turning. “Thank you! I’m going to make some calls and see what I can get going.” He’s quiet for a moment, “Maybe we can even get some local artists who would like to be a part of this with some sculptures. I needed something positive to focus on. This is great. Thank you, thank you!”
Lizzie loves hearing him sound excited and happy. “I will let you go, and you’re welcome. We’re a team, babe, I’ve always got your back.”
“Right back at you,” he says. “Love you, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Love you too,” she says.
She looks at her text messages to make sure she didn’t miss a message from Eric while she was on the phone. Nothing. She fills the electric kettle with water, turns it on and walks to the living room where her parents are cozying up on the couch in front of the fire.
“I was going to make some tea, you two want some?” Lizzie asks.
“That would be great, honey,” Gabby says.
“Me too, please,” Peter says.
“I will be right back with it.”
Before she even has a chance to put the hot water into the waiting mugs, the doorbell rings.
“I’ve got it,” she calls, hurrying to the door. “Hey, please, come in,” she says, welcoming Eric in. “You made great time, I didn’t expect you quite yet.”
“There was surprisingly little traffic,” he says, slipping his backpack off his shoulder and taking off his coat.
“Here, let me take that,” she says, reaching for his coat and hanging it on one of the hooks in the hall near the kitchen, “Come and meet my parents,” she says, gesturing to him to come into the living room.
Gabby and Peter stand up, “Eric Jackson, this is my dad, Peter Martin, founder and editor of the Cranberry Harbor Gazette,” Lizzie says.
“Co-editor” Peter says, smiling at Lizzie. “It’s very nice to meet you, Eric,” he says, shaking his hand.
“And this is my mom, Dr. Gabby Martin.”
“Welcome to our home,” Gabby says, shaking his hand as well. “Are you hungry?” she asks. “We have plenty of leftovers, I’d be happy to get you a plate.”
“ Thank you, Dr. Martin, but I’ve eaten. Some water would be great though, if it’s not too much trouble, ” he says.
“Please call me Gabby,” she says, “I’ll be right back with some water.”
Gabby is back in a flash with the water, which she hands to Eric.“I am going to leave you all to your work and go upstairs and read. So nice to meet you, Eric, we will have to have you over for a proper dinner very soon.”
“Thank you, Dr., I mean, Gabby, I’d love that. Thank you for letting me intrude on your evening,” He takes a big sip of his water, then opens his backpack and takes out an overstuffed file folder. “I think you’re going to be as surprised by this as I was,” he says.
They all sit down. Lizzie and Peter each take a deep breath and begin reading.