The Tea Series Read online

  “I’m fine.”

  “Cara, are you okay?”

  “I think so. Actually, I feel pretty good.”

  “Good.” She looked at Roland. “Hi, I’m Teagan, Cara’s sister. And you are?”

  “I’m Roland, and this is Harry.”

  “Nice to meet you.”

  Before Teagan could say anything more I noted the edge in her voice and came to the aid of Harry and Roland. They weren’t aware of it, but they really needed my aid.

  “Teagan, they work for Adeline. They are the head of her security company. They came over to check out the apartment.”

  “Why didn’t you just call the police like a normal person?”

  “I was already on the phone with Roland. Adeline had a break-in at the warehouse.”

  “Great. If the warehouse isn’t safe…”

  “Teagan, you can’t prevent every bad thing in life from happening. A wise woman once told me that.”

  “Shut up. Don’t throw my own words in my face, dingleberry. You just scared me. The last time I came racing over here it was a little different.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t think about that.”

  “Don’t be sorry. I’m just glad that you are okay. So what happens now? Do we clean up? Do you want to stay at my place? What’s going on?”

  I finally noticed that Roland and Harry were still standing there listening to everything with slightly confused looks on their faces.

  “I appreciate the offer, but I’m going to stay at a hotel with A.J. tonight ,and the guys are going to do their thing in the apartment. Tomorrow I’ll clean it up. Doing that myself will help me. I think.”

  “You will not be doing it yourself, Cara Siobhan. You’ve done enough by yourself lately.”

  “What’s that mean?”

  “We’ll talk about that later. You want me to make you some reservations?”

  “Roland is doing that.”

  “Cara, I don’t want to be disrespectful or get in the middle of your business, but maybe it would be a good idea to get yourself out of the loop. You don’t need to be between Adeline and her security team. You have enough to deal with. After all, the warehouse was being protected by these guys, and look what happened. First the warehouse is broken into and then your apartment.”

  Roland didn’t seem the least bit perturbed. “We believe it happened the other way around, Ms. O’Flynn.”

  “Teagan. I don’t mean to be a jerk about it, but Cara has come up against more than one drama lately, and I don’t want to take any chances.”

  “Nor do we. We’d like to put a security system in your apartment, Cara.”

  “You did such a good job with the security at the warehouse. What makes you think you’ll do any better here? I’m not being overly critical, I just worry about my sister.”

  “Understood.”

  Before Teagan could say anything that would get me fired I grabbed her arm and shut her up.

  “Roland, you have my permission to do whatever it is you want to do.”

  “Thanks. I know the answer to this, but I need to ask it anyway.”

  Before he could get the question out, Teagan looked ready to punch him. I knew she thought he was going to ask her for an alibi, leading to the assumption that they thought maybe she had done something wrong. It was just something in the tone of his voice. Well, that and way too much TV.

  “Did you, by chance, try to unlock your desk with a knife?”

  “What? Of course not. The key is hanging up in the front closet. If you step into the closet and look back to the corner, about six feet from the floor, there is a cup hook, and I have some keys hanging there. They are my extras. The desk key is one of them. What’s going on?”

  “It looks like whoever broke in tried to open the rolltop desk with a knife. One with a white blade.”

  Teagan was incredulous. “What kind of idiot would do that? If the knife has a white blade, doesn’t that mean it is one of those ceramic ones? They are so sharp they scare the bejeezus out of me, and the blade breaks. They tell you not to drop them or use them on frozen food. What kind of moron doesn’t know that?”

  Harry couldn’t help himself. He was half-flirting with Teagan right in front of his boss and everybody. The most professional guy I’ve run into in a while, too. “The kind that broke the blade and left DNA evidence all over the desk. We’ll have it collected and tested. Is there anything of interest in the desk, Cara?”

  “Actually, there is nothing in the desk at all. I gave it to my sister-in-law, Suzi. I only locked it because when we move it across the hall, if we have to tip it, I didn’t want the little drawers to fall out or the wood in the roll top part to get broken. There’s nothing in the desk at all.”

  “Well, whoever broke in was obviously not a professional. There is good news in that, I guess.” Teagan looked hopefully at Roland and Harry.

  “Actually, a professional is often easier to deal with. They aren’t emotionally involved, and therefore they are easier to anticipate because they are logical.”

  The look on Roland’s face told Harry he’d just said too much.

  I burst out laughing.

  They all looked at me like I’d lost my mind, which I will admit was a really valid assumption on their part, but the reality of it is that I can only take so much before my warped sense of humor kicks in and saves me.

  It’s kind of like when I laugh when I’m really in pain.

  Mom always said if crying helps, then cry, but laughing will make you feel better.

  “Nobody got hurt, well, except the bad guy. Gosh, I hope he didn’t get too hurt. That would suck.”

  “There were no fingers on the floor.” Again Harry spoke without thinking. The look on his face was priceless. You could tell he wasn’t accustomed to talking out of turn like this.

  We all laughed that time.

  Roland’s phone buzzed. He looked at the caller ID, said, “I gotta take this…” and walked away.

  My phone buzzed as he walked back.

  “Cara, your hotel accommodations are being texted to you.”

  “Yep, just saw that.”

  “Are they adequate?”

  “More than adequate. Thank you. Just one night, right?”

  “I think we can have things finished here within the next few hours. I appreciate your cooperation.”

  “I appreciate your help.”

  Teagan took over. “I’ll drive you to the hotel.”

  “Then I won’t have my car.”

  “You will have A.J.’s car, and I don’t want you to drive. Cara, I know you are feeling all brave and recovered, but I don’t want to take any chances. Just do it for me. I’ll stay with you until A.J. gets there. Okay?”

  “Okay.”

  One of Roland’s people, a huge guy I’d never met, walked over with my suitcase in his hand. He handed it to Roland and walked away.

  “We packed some things for you and A.J. I hope you don’t mind.”

  I tried not to blush. A redhead trying not to blush is like the rain trying not to fall. It wasn’t until the guy I didn’t know walked up with the suitcase from my closet that it dawned on me that all of these guys were going to see everything I own and a lot of what I own is my nightgowns and all that stuff. I even have a matching thong, seamed stockings, and all the rest of that stupid outfit hanging on the same hanger. Oh Lord. Now I might just faint. Mostly because there is so much blood being allocated for my blushing that there is none left for my brain.

  How stupid.

  I’m a grown woman.

  What I choose to wear is none of their business.

  I have more important things to think about.

  Teagan brought me back to reality. She’s good at that.

  “I’ll put the bag in my car. Whenever you’re ready we can go.”

  “I’m ready.”

  I followed her to her car. I really wanted to look at the apartment, but I didn’t want to argue with Roland about it, and I really didn’t w
ant to look into the eyes of whatever guy packed that suitcase for me.

  All of the sudden I was really tired, and I just wanted to get checked into the hotel and take a shower, maybe lay down for a little while before A.J. got there.

  As soon as we were in the car I texted A.J. I did a copy and paste of all the information that Roland’s office had sent me about the hotel. I also told him that Teagan was giving me a ride, so he didn’t have to worry about me driving.

  A.J. texted back that he’d be at the hotel in a couple of hours unless I needed him before that and that he would bring food.

  We were at the first stop sign when Roland texted.

  I locked my car before I left, and I locked the stupid pole in it. I’m sure they want to check it for fingerprints and figure out where it came from. Teagan turned around, and we dropped it off to Harry.

  Back out on the road, Teagan and I got our first chance to talk freely.

  “Thanks for coming. I know I said you didn’t have to, but I’m really glad you did.”

  “I might have lots of time to spend with you real soon. I almost got myself fired today.”

  “What?”

  “Oh, I stepped in it all the way up to my ears.”

  “How’d you do that? That’s so unlike you. You’re usually Ms. Diplomatic. At least at work.”

  “Yeah, well, not today. I’m not sure what’s wrong with me.”

  “What happened?”

  “You know about the new Mrs. Fisher. She’s a life coach. She thinks she’s good at it. She decided to tell me what to do about Jessie. You didn’t even try that.”

  “I know you well enough to know better.”

  “True.”

  “What did she tell you? What’s her name again?”

  “We’re now calling her Honey.”

  “Why?”

  “I guess some time in her youth she got the nickname. Now that she is at the office all day every day she feels it is important for us to have community. In order for us to have community we need to know each other on a more personal level. So now we call her Honey. There are a few other names I’d like to call her, but they’d really get me fired.”

  “And she’s a life coach? Really? She thinks forcing a bunch of people into fake relationships is a good life lesson?”

  “I didn’t say she was a good life coach.”

  “Lord. How did she almost get you fired?”

  “I hate to admit it, but it was mostly my own stupidity. I guess Lindy was talking to Honey about her sister-in-law letting her son sleep with his girlfriend in their house. Remember we talked about that a while back, and I said it was a really bad idea. I guess the kid spends the night on a regular basis.”

  “Kid?”

  “Fifteen.”

  “Oh, that’s smart.”

  “Yeah, well, surprise, now the girl is pregnant.”

  “I’m shocked.”

  “The scary part is, the parents were shocked. They told the kids to use protection. They supplied it. Reminded the girl to take her pills or whatever. Who would have thought a teenaged kid with no boundaries would be irresponsible?”

  “So how did that almost get you fired? Honey thinks, as a professional life coach, that you should allow kids to have kids?”

  “I’m getting there, Cara. Take a breath. We’re supposed to be relaxing. Remember? Anyway, Honey got a little carried away with Lindy, and Lindy was trying to change the subject and just couldn’t find a good way to tell Honey that it was none of her business and that she didn’t have any control over these kids anyway. Honey was getting more and more insistent that Lindy put her in contact with the family so that she could sort things out. Lindy didn’t want to destroy her relationship with all the people involved, so she threw me under the bus. She changed the subject by telling Honey that I was having problems with Jessie, knowing full well that Honey almost always takes the path of least resistance when it comes to amassing victims. Why chase after these people she didn’t even know when she had me to accost right there in the office, and even better, I’m a captive audience because I can’t escape?”

  “How did Lindy know about Jessie? It’s not like you to talk about stuff like that at work.”

  “Well, I threw myself under the bus with that one. I was talking to Sinead on the phone, and Lindy walked in my office. I couldn’t tell her what Sinead and I were really talking about, and I was obviously upset, so I just said something to her about Jessie being out of town so much. I really just wanted to throw her off the trail, and the next thing I know I’m sitting there telling her everything. Less than two hours later Lindy is telling Honey everything, and two minutes after that I’m in the conference room trying to get a bunch of stuff sorted out and all the data entered properly for this big thing we have coming up, and Honey ambushes me and starts to tell me how it’s my responsibility to see to Jessie’s every need. She’s telling me that if he has to be on the road, then I need to just follow him. Like a damn puppy. I couldn’t believe it. Then she tells me that she can talk to Mr. Fisher and maybe I can telecommute, but if we can’t figure that out, she is sure that they can find someone who can do my job, but that Jessie will never find anyone who can take my place and how jobs come and go but love is special and you don’t give that up. What she was saying made no sense one second and complete sense the next second, but it was all jumbled up, and she was so insistent and in my face, and I just wanted her to go away. I’m all stressed out trying to be Sinead’s support system because, Cara, Sinead is not like us. I’m not even sure she should be part of the family. I’m not even sure she is part of our species.”

  I tried not to laugh. Teagan’s obviously frustrated. This is serious business.

  “I’m not good at this. You should be the one supporting her, not me, but I’m trying, and the whole thing with Jessie. I lost my mind. I admit it. It was stupid.”

  “What did you say?”

  “Let’s not go there. Let’s just say that for the moment I have a job, but that I have no idea how long that’s going to last.”

  “And then you left the office to come take care of me? I don’t want to cost you your job, Teagan.”

  “Thanks, but that isn’t exactly how it happened. Honey told me to take a few days off and think about what I really wanted. Since I still have a lot of hours coming to me, I decided to take her up on it. She said that she’s going to explain to Mr. Fisher that she pulled rank and told me to leave. She’s taking full responsibility. I’ll bet when the stuff I was doing in the conference room doesn’t get done, they’ll be calling me at close of business on Friday — it’s due on Monday — and then you can follow me to the office and help me get it done.”

  “Are you sure? On the one hand, I agree they need to understand that you are completely irreplaceable.”

  “Nobody’s irreplaceable, Cara.”

  “You are! To me and to Mr. Fisher. We don’t say it very often, but we both know it, Teagan.”

  “Thanks. I figured I’d brush up my resume and take a look around to see what’s available in case Honey really does talk to Mr. Fisher about me leaving to follow Jessie around and I really do have to find another job.”

  “He has to have some kind of grounds to fire you, Teagan. What’s he going to do? Go to the labor board and tell them that he fired you on grounds of his goofy wife’s inability to coach her way out of a paper bag? Even if he were to fire you, you could fight it. Jessie’s sister is a lawyer; she could do something.”

  “And work in a place that’s forced to have me there? No, not in this lifetime. Anyway, I’m all but certain that Mr. Fisher would never fire me. He knows the whole office would fall apart. I just thought I’d take it as a sign to look around. Maybe there’s a job out there that I’d like more. I’ve been with Mr. Fisher a long time. Maybe it’s time to move on.”

  “The job market sucks.”

  “Yep.”

  “They say it is picking up.”

  “Yep.” She put on her blinker
. “This is the place?”

  “That’s what the GPS on my phone says. It doesn’t really look like a hotel.”

  “Weird. I’ll pull up to the front; you jump out and go inside. Maybe they get all kinds of people looking for the hotel, and they can give you directions. That happens to the guys downstairs from us at the office. There’s a dental group that has almost the same address. The difference in the address goes unnoticed by a lot of people. They into the accountants’ office all the time trying to get their teeth fixed. It’s so common they have even printed out directions that they just hand over.”

  “You would think they’d fix that.”

  “You know how this area is. They numbered everything; then they added new buildings or broke the old buildings up into a bunch of different spaces with their own addresses, so they just kind of stuck new numbers all over the place. Even I get lost.”

  “Which explains why there’s no chance for me. I’m directionally challenged when things make sense. When you just start throwing things together, I’ll never figure it out. I’ll be right back.”

  I jumped out of the car and headed for the door.

  Teagan followed me into the room. Beautiful. Turns out the place really is a hotel. A boutique-type hotel. I’d never heard of it, never would have booked it, and was a little intimidated to stay in it. I’m not sure what they charge for the room, but if they dock it from my pay, my rent is going to get paid out of savings this month.

  My first thought was to back away and go find a cheap hotel. When it comes to finding a hotel the only things that matter to me are that my car is safe and the place is clean.

  I really don’t need anything fancy like this.

  I was about to tell the beautiful woman in the blue suit behind the dark rich woods of the reception desk that I had a change of plans, when I decided that it was probably a better plan to just stay.

  Somewhere in the back of my wee little brain I’m still afraid that I brought all of this to Adeline’s door.

  If something I did or didn’t do was the cause of all this drama, I’m probably out of a job anyway. Adeline has been so good to me, but if something I did caused all this trouble, who could blame her if she terminated my employment? As long as I’m still employed, I will cooperate.