The Tea Series Read online

  I sure hope the next trip goes better than their last one.

  I got to the door beside the roll-up door and put my code in.

  The stupid thing said that it was now locked.

  I’ll have to call the security guy. I know I locked it when I left. I always lock it when I leave. I’m so paranoid that I’ll forget to turn the alarm back on that I not only activate the alarm, but I also make a note that I activated it on my phone calendar.

  I checked my list.

  Yep, I was here last Tuesday at eleven thirteen, and I noted that I dropped off three canvasses from Adeline’s loft and picked up her little library table. It said right there on the calendar that I locked up again at eleven twenty-seven and set the alarm.

  I’m not the only one with access to this place.

  Somebody probably came in and left without turning the alarm back on.

  We’re in a good neighborhood, and the security company comes around all the time to check on things, but there’s no excuse for not having the alarm on.

  I had a moment of panic.

  I may not have PTSD, but I’ve had a couple of really scary incidents in the last few months, and my heart started pounding so hard I thought I was going to faint or throw up, neither of which is a good way to investigate a security breech.

  I checked the door.

  It was locked.

  I shook it hard; nothing happened, and nobody made a noise.

  I thought about calling someone but didn’t want to look stupid and weak when it turned out that some work guy had been careless and forgotten to turn on the alarm.

  I punched in the right numbers first try. I always thought it was stupid to have two keypads, one for the alarm and one for the door, but now I’m thinking that little added step was a good move on the security guy’s part. He gave me a whole lecture on redundancy. I guess redundancy can be a good thing.

  I’m surprised I’m actually pretty calm.

  More than once I’ve gotten the alarm numbers confused. The security guy took pity on me. He wouldn’t let me use my birthday or anything, too easy to guess, not that I believe anyone would be that focused on me, but he decided to let me use my parents’ birthdays, reversed. The two-digit year and then the two-digit month. That’s easy. Who forgets their own parents’ birthdays?

  Whatever happened to keys? It’s not that all these passcodes and passwords and everything are hard; it is that there are so many of them. I’ve got, like, two for me and two hundred for Adeline. If I didn’t have devices to control my devices, it would be a lot more difficult.

  I let myself in.

  As the door closed behind me I rushed to turn on the lights.

  They come on one bunch at a time.

  As they cycled on, I took a good look around.

  Everything seemed to be in place.

  Nothing seemed disturbed.

  I felt better but grabbed a heavy metal post that was leaned up against the wall.

  I’d taken about twenty steps into the cavernous warehouse before I asked myself what the post was doing leaning up against a wall.

  The place is always spotless. Most of Adeline’s belongings are neatly packed away in plywood cubes with listings of exactly what is inside tacked to the inside of the cube and a lock on a metal hasp on the door of the cube. The cubes all look pretty much alike, so you would need the master list if you wanted to know what was in any given box.

  Why was there a metal post leaning against the wall?

  We don’t leave anything out.

  Nothing.

  Sometimes retreat is the best action.

  I turned and ran out of that place so fast I didn’t even drop the metal pole.

  I slammed the door shut, no small task because it has one of those stupid things that don’t let the door slam shut on you. It doesn’t keep it open, but it slows it down. I used all my body weight, which probably wasn’t good for my ribs, but I didn’t care. I didn’t stop to check if it was locked.

  When I got to my car I still had the metal pole in my hand and damn near killed myself trying to get into the car without putting it down.

  I’m proud to say that I didn’t scratch my car or poke a hole in my seats or headliner.

  Once in the car with my car doors locked, I scrolled through my contacts and found the emergency number for Adeline’s security guy. He answered on the first ring. I know that should have been a comfort, but it just made me more nervous.

  I explained what happened and apologized for calling, telling him I was sure, upon reflection, that it was nothing.

  He said he would have a team at the warehouse in less than ten minutes.

  He said I was to start my car and drive out of the complex.

  When I told him that I was all but certain that I was overreacting, he said that he had personally checked the alarm not more than two hours before and it was activated. There was no one from his group in the warehouse since then.

  I swallowed hard, but I didn’t throw up.

  I asked if we should call Adeline.

  He said no.

  I decided that I would wait until the team got to the warehouse before I made that decision. I didn’t want to call Adeline and tell her that her warehouse had been broken into. Every sentimental thing she owns is in that building, and she has had some health issues not all that long ago. Why get her upset if it turns out that I just overreacted?

  Counseling must be working. I listened to that little voice in my head that said, Cara, just cooperate. The man said to drive away. Drive away!

  I started my car and drove out of the complex.

  There was a time in the not-too-distant past that I wouldn’t have dreamed of leaving the situation. I’m nosey. You don’t drive away from things like this when you’re nosey. You investigate. You look around. At the very least you sit there and wait for brave people to go in first, and then you follow them in so that you see all the action but don’t get your face ripped off.

  It made me kind of sad that I’m not as brave as I used to be.

  I decided to just go home and wait for his call.

  I’m calling my decision to leave instead of hanging out to see what the security people find being more mature instead of being a chicken.

  As I was walking up to my apartment my phone started to ring. I had my hands full. I had a bunch of Adeline’s stuff, and I didn’t want to leave it in my car. The plan was to drop it off when I picked the other stuff up, but that didn’t work out too well.

  There have been several cars broken into in the complex parking lot in the last couple of weeks. Probably just kids, but I don’t want Adeline’s stuff to turn up missing when it’s in my care.

  I unlocked my door and promptly dropped all of Adeline’s stuff on the floor.

  I think I heard something break.

  Not sure if it was one of Adeline’s belongings or my spirit.

  My whole apartment was completely trashed, and we’re not talking trashed like I normally use the word when I have a few things thrown around and need to vacuum. We are talking all my belongs thrown around and stuff all over the floor and the glass from my coffee table broken.

  We are talking truly trashed.

  I slammed the door shut and ran back to my car.

  Thank God my keys were still in my hand and my purse was still hanging on my shoulder.

  I grabbed my phone to call the police. It rang in my hand and scared the bejeezus out of me. I answered, mostly so I could hang up right away and call the cops. Adeline’s security guy started to say something, but I cut him off.

  “Roland? I gotta call the police. Someone trashed my house.”

  “I’ll send a team.”

  “That isn’t necessary. We’ve had some problems around here the last few weeks. They think it’s bored kids. They’ve broken into some cars.”

  “Cara, listen to me.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “No, I mean really listen. We have a problem here. Remember that I told y
ou that I’d checked the warehouse a couple of hours ago? There is more to it than that. The system is set up so that if the person closing the door doesn’t reset the alarm, it will automatically arm itself five minutes after the door closes. That little red dot by the door allows the system to know when people are coming and going. There are also motion sensors inside the warehouse, and there are a number of cameras recording everything that happens there.”

  “I know. Well, I didn’t know all that, but I suspected there was more to it than a number pad on the door. Adeline has everything important to her in there. I figured there was lots of security.”

  “Cara, were you there approximately ninety minutes ago?”

  “No.”

  “Where were you?”

  “An hour and a half ago?”

  “Yes.”

  “I had a doctor appointment. I was sitting in her office an hour and a half ago.”

  “While you were sitting in the doctor’s office, someone was using your alarm passcode to get into Adeline’s warehouse.”

  “Wait. That isn’t right.”

  “How long ago did you leave your apartment?”

  “Let me think about it. A.J. and I went out to breakfast this morning. Then I ran a couple of errands and went to the doctor. So, I guess I left home about three and a half, maybe four, hours ago. It was pretty early.”

  “So someone had three and a half to four hours to break into your apartment, trash it, then come over to the warehouse and use your codes to get in. Who has access to your codes?”

  “Nobody.”

  “Do you have them written down anywhere?”

  “No.”

  “Are the numbers something someone could guess? A birthday? An address?”

  “No. Remember? Your guys wouldn’t let me do that. They said that birthdays are too easy to guess. Do you want me to tell you what the numbers are?”

  “I’ve got it here. I know what the numbers are. I need to know what the significance of the number is.”

  “They are my parents’ birthdays backwards.”

  “So, all your brothers and sisters would recognize them. Do you use those codes for anything else?”

  “No. Wait. What? You think my brothers and sisters broke into Adeline’s warehouse?”

  “Cara, you have to work with me here. Either you used the codes, or someone else got your codes. Which is it?”

  “Well, it wasn’t me. And it sure as hell wasn’t one of my brothers or sisters. There is no reason that any of them would even try to figure out what Adeline’s passcodes are. I don’t know what you are trying to imply, but it is starting to make me really angry, Roland. I need to hang up and call the cops.”

  “Where was your boyfriend?”

  “What?”

  “Where was A.J.?”

  “A.J. didn’t trash my apartment, and he didn’t go into Adeline’s warehouse.”

  “I’m confident of that, but if he went back to the apartment after breakfast, I want to know about it. He might have seen something he doesn’t even know was important.”

  “I didn’t think of that. Wait. I didn’t even look past the front door. He could be in there.”

  “My team is on the way.”

  “I’m calling nine -one -one.”

  “I wish you wouldn’t.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I don’t want Adeline’s name associated with something like this. We can handle it privately. Please do not call in the authorities yet. They have a whole citizenry to take care of. I have only my clients. I can do a much faster, more thorough and effective investigation than they can.”

  “But you’re supposed to call the police. My brother’s a cop. What if you don’t find the people who did this? Then when I do need to call the police, they aren’t going to be able to help me because I’ve already let you guys tromp all over everything. I gotta go in there and make sure that A.J. isn’t in there.”

  “Is his car parked in its usual place?”

  I took a moment to really look around. “No, I don’t see his car.”

  “Then I’m sure he isn’t there. My guys are three minutes out. Cara, just sit there and hold tight.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I’m on my way too.”

  “Okay. Thanks.”

  “Do you want me to stay on the line with you?”

  “No, you concentrate on your driving. But I gotta admit, I’m scared.”

  “I can understand that, but, Cara, we’ll take care of this.”

  “I just don’t know who could do this.”

  “Me either, but we’re going to find out.”

  I was still shaking when three black SUVs came to a screeching halt right in front of me. My first thought was how they got through that stupid little gate at the entrance, but I’m sure they just piggybacked on a resident. Or maybe they have the special flasher light things that the fire department and cops have that open gates like magic.

  Besides, whoever broke into my apartment didn’t have any problem getting onto the property. Security gates. Yeah, right.

  Harry, the biggest guy I’ve ever seen, was the one first out. He was riding in the passenger side of the first SUV. He came straight to my car. We’d met when the moving guys were placing the cubes in the warehouse. He and I were charged with making sure that everything was in the right place and that the number of boxes leaving the mansion was the same number of boxes unloaded at the warehouse.

  “You okay, Ms. O’Flynn?”

  “I’m fine, just a little shaky. First the warehouse, then my apartment, and Roland is throwing questions at me so fast I can’t even think.”

  Adeline’s security team knows everything about my entire life. Not only have they done a background check extensive enough to know how many freckles I have on my bum, but they were also involved when everything blew up. Adeline was worried about me and had them covertly watching over me until everyone was sure that Barry was in jail. I didn’t find out about that until well after it was all over. I’m still impressed they were sneaking around my parents’ neighborhood without the neighbors catching on. My parents’ neighborhood is more secure than several government agencies. I was grateful she had me watched and grateful I didn’t know.

  “Do we have your permission to enter the residence?”

  “You do. Can I go too?”

  “We would prefer you stay here until the place is cleared, ma’am. Once we know that you will be safe inside, we will come and accompany you.”

  “Thanks.”

  The SUVs had disappeared somewhere around the corner, and the guys were walking back toward my apartment. I only saw two of them, so I’m pretty sure the other guys were coming around the back.

  Hope they don’t scare the little Mohawk duckies in the water retention pond. There seem to be some new ones back there.

  They cleared my apartment in no time.

  No surprise there. It really isn’t very big, and there aren’t very many places you could hide.

  Harry came back out to talk to me.

  “Ms. O’Flynn, I’m not sure it’s a good idea for you to go in there. It’s pretty torn up in there, we want our people to really check things out, and I don’t think it’s a memory you’re going to want. Why don’t you let us take care of what we can, get things back in order? Then we’ll call you and have you come check things out, maybe tell us what’s missing, if anything, and we can go forward from there. Can one of my guys drive you somewhere?”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  “Ms. O’Flynn?”

  “Hmm?”

  “You okay? You’re getting a little pale on me. You sure you feel okay? You want me to call medical?”

  “No, really, I’m fine. I think I just need to take a few deep breaths and maybe get a cup of tea.”

  “Can we call Mr. Cooper for you?”

  “Oh, A.J. I didn’t even call him. What time is it? I think he’s probably out of his meetings by now. I should call him.”


  “Ma’am? How about we drive you to his place of employment and you can talk to him there?”

  “No, really, I’m fine.”

  “Cara?”

  I turned to see the head of security coming up on the other side of my car.

  “Roland? That was quick.”

  “I wasn’t far. I’m going inside to take a quick look.”

  “I’ll go with you.”

  “No, you are going to sit here. I want you to drink something and relax. I’ll be right back.”

  A few moments later one of his guys walked up and asked me if I wanted water, soda, or a sports drink.

  I wanted tea.

  I settled for water.

  I hate water.

  Roland came back out a few minutes later.

  The water helped. I felt strong enough to make my own decisions instead of being bullied into submission.

  “Roland, I’m going to go take a look at my apartment. If you want someone to come take fingerprints or whatever, mine are going to be all over the place anyway. I won’t bother anything.”

  “Cara, it’s a mess in there.”

  “Yeah, I saw that.”

  “It’s a very traumatic thing to have your stuff all over the place. Are you sure you want to do this? Are you sure you don’t want us to call someone to do this with you?”

  “I’m sure. It’s stuff, Roland. Granted, it’s my stuff, but it’s just stuff. Nobody got hurt. We’re good.”

  “Fine. I’ll go with you.”

  My poor apartment. I don’t think there was anything left in any place that it was supposed to be. Every cupboard had been emptied. Every drawer. My loungewear. My smelly-good-stuff. And the memory box that A.J.’s grandmother and sister had filled for him, colorful pieces of paper with all their treasured memories carefully written by hand, thrown all over the room. The glass from my coffee table was broken. Family photos off the walls. The left shoe from my most expensive pair of high heels was in the kitchen sink. My grandmother’s teapot was sitting on the desk I’d just had delivered.

  “That teapot is one of my favorite things. It was in the cupboard over the fridge. Who would go to all the trouble of bringing it in here? Why didn’t they just drop it on the floor in the kitchen? And that cupboard wasn’t even open when we were in the kitchen, why did they close that cupboard and leave a bunch of the others open?”