***
“This is so exciting. I think I’m going to pee my pants.” Sally jumped up and down in the backseat of Tess’ car like an over-excited puppy.
“Just keep low. If Logan sees who’s in the car, he might change his mind.” Tess was beginning to think it wasn’t such a good idea that everyone had come on their Sunday drive. When she’d texted Molly, Sally, and Annie they’d all decided they needed to be here, too. Logan didn’t know her car was packed with Nancy Drew wannabees.
Molly was sitting in the backseat with Sally. She grabbed hold of Sally’s arm and tugged her down. “Once we get moving he won’t notice us.”
“Why did I get the front seat?” Annie moaned. “There’s no room in here. I want to go in the backseat.”
“Too late. Logan just drove past and waved.” Tess turned the ignition on and pulled away from the curb.
Annie poked her head above the dashboard. “I can’t see him.”
“Will you get your head down,” Tess hissed. “If Logan doesn’t catch us the police will. You’re supposed to have a seatbelt on.”
“I feel like one of Charlie’s Angels,” Sally squealed. “I’ll be the one with the blonde hair that flicks out at the sides.”
“But you’ve got black hair,” Annie said.
“Don’t burst my bubble,” Sally said. “I dreamed about being Farrah Fawcett for years. I even tried to dye my hair blonde once.”
“How did it turn out?” Molly asked.
“Black.”
“You could be Kelly,” Molly said.
“You know their names,” Annie said. “I didn’t know you watched Charlie’s Angels in Ireland.”
“Of course we watched Charlie’s Angels. We’re quite civilized when we need to be.”
“Hold on,” Tess said. “We’re turning left.”
Molly and Sally giggled from the back seat.
Annie groaned. “When can I sit on the seat. My back is killing me.”
Tess glanced down at Annie. “Pull your feet around. You look like one of those contortionists.”
“Easy for you to say,” Annie mumbled. “I’m five-foot-five and I feel like I’ve been squashed into a rabbit hutch.”
“Alice,” Molly piped up. “You could be Alice in Wonderland.”
“And Tess could be the Mad Hatter,” Sally laughed.
“Enough already,” Tess groaned. “Red light up ahead.” She leaned forward in her seat. “We’re in trouble. There’s a police officer further up the road. He’s stopping cars.”
“What are we going to do?” Sally shrieked.
“Sit up and put on your seat belts,” Tess said. “He’s probably checking drivers’ licenses.”
Annie pulled herself onto the passenger seat. “Why don’t you have a big truck with tinted windows?”
“Doesn’t come in a price range I can afford. Now get your seat belt on and stop moaning. Logan’s gone through the checkpoint and he’s waiting for us further up the road. Okay, everyone look intelligent. We’re going for a nice Sunday drive.”
“Yes, Charlie,” Sally said breathlessly.
Molly and Annie burst out laughing.
Tess stopped for the police officer and rolled down her window. “Good morning, officer.”
“Where are you ladies heading?”
Tess looked up into the officer’s eyes are tried to act as though they weren’t stalking some poor unsuspecting bride. “You know, just going for a drive.”
Sally started giggling from the back seat and the officer took a closer look at them. “You ladies wouldn’t have been drinking would you?”
Everyone shook their heads.
He looked at Tess. “Driver’s license, ma’am.”
Annie passed her bag across and Tess fumbled inside for her wallet. “Here it is.” She handed over her license and waited while he checked her details.
“I’m going to hold this Breathalyzer up to your mouth. I want you to tell me your name and address.”
Tess did as the officer asked.
He looked at the reading. “You did fine, ma’am. Have a good day.” He glanced in the back seat at Sally. “You take care, now.”
Tess drove slowly away, flicking her lights at Logan to tell him to keep going.
Annie looked behind her, then wiggled off her seat. “I think the police officer liked you, Sally.”
“I should have asked him for his phone number,” Sally groaned. “I’m not assertive enough.”
“You are when you’re trying to find homes for your shelter animals,” Molly said. “You should think of men as strays. You’d be very assertive then.”
Tess ignored Molly’s stray animal comment and kept a careful eye on where Logan was heading. “Logan’s slowing down. Everyone get down.”
There was a fit of giggles from the back seat and Annie grumbled as she folded herself in half.
“He’s stopped. This is it.” Tess couldn’t hide the excitement in her voice. “We’re here.”
She pulled over and looked around. They were in a neighborhood of nice homes. They weren’t the most expensive properties in Bozeman, but everyone’s front yards were well kept and tidy. Some teenagers were playing basketball in their driveway and a lady was walking her dog.
She glanced at Logan’s truck. “Oh, no. He’s walking toward my car.”
“Are you sure he’s coming this way and not stretching his legs?” Molly asked.
“Of course I’m sure,” Tess whispered. “Stay here and don’t move.” She jumped out of her car and met him halfway between the two vehicles.
Logan looked at her as if he knew what she’d been up to. But that was probably her imagination working overtime. He would have refused to take her anywhere if he’d seen the junior detective team in her car.
She tried to act normal, as if three sets of ears weren’t straining to hear what he said. “Good morning.”
Logan smiled as she walked toward him. His brown eyes traveled down her body and stopped at her neon pink sneakers. “Nice shoes.”
Tess looked down. “Thanks. I bought them so I don’t lose them in my closet.” She looked at the houses on either side of the road. “Which house belongs to the couple we’re looking for?”
“Not so fast. I want you to promise that this information stays between the two of us. Once you get permission from the couple, you can tell your friends who they are and where they live.”
Tess stopped herself from glancing back at her car. This could be a tricky promise to make. Especially since her cohorts in crime were sitting thirty feet away. “I don’t see a problem with telling everyone sooner. They’re my friends. They can be discreet.”
“I’m sure they can. But no promise, no location.” Logan crossed his arms in front of his chest.
Tess tried to outstare him, but it didn’t work. “We only want to help. No one will ever know how we found them.”
“Not going to happen.”
Tess stuck her hands in her pockets. There weren’t that many houses in the street. With all four of them walking up and down and knocking on each door, they’d eventually find them.
“What aren’t you telling me?” Logan started to look suspicious. He glanced back at her car and frowned. “Was that…” He started walking toward her car.
“You probably don’t want to do that.”
Logan kept walking. He stopped when he got to the passenger door. He peered inside.
Annie’s head popped into view, then the rest of her body as she clambered out of the car. Even from thirty feet away, Tess could feel his icy stare cut across the mid-morning sunshine.
“You want to tell me what’s going on?” Logan asked.
A giggle sliced through the feeble excuse hovering on Tess’ lips. Logan opened the back door and Molly and Sally joined Annie on the sidewalk. They stopped giggling as soon as they saw him.
“Oh come on, Logan,” Sally said. “It’s not like you’re the FBI or anything. It was a little deceptio
n. The burglary wouldn’t even have made the papers in a big city.”
“We’re not a big city.”
“Exactly,” Annie said. “We care about each other. We want to help make the bride’s wedding amazing. You can’t be angry with us for that.”
Tess walked back to her car and joined her three friends. Under the circumstances, introductions seemed a little late. But good manners had been drilled into her as a teenager, and good manners Logan would get. She ignored his impersonation of Mr. Frosty and gestured to Molly.
“You’ve already met Annie and Sally, but I don’t think you know Molly. Logan, this is Molly. Molly, Logan.”
Molly smiled. Logan didn’t. He wasn’t impressed with Tess’ good manners.
“This isn’t what we agreed to,” he growled.
“I know, but they wanted to help and I didn’t think you’d mind. Too much.” Tess had a feeling her confession might have come a bit too late.
“If you didn’t think I’d mind, there wouldn’t have been three women hiding in your car.”
He had a point. A very valid point. “Okay. So I guess you’re right. I knew you’d freak out if you saw more than one person sitting in my car. But I can’t see what your problem is. We’re doing a good deed for someone, not committing treason.”
Logan looked at each of them. “Fine. But only Tess and I speak to the couple. The rest of you can…hover.”
Molly reached into Tess’ car and picked up her camera. “I can hover.”
“No photos,” Logan warned. “Not until you’ve got permission.”
Sally shook her head. “I never would have believed you were so…”
Tess could have ended Sally’s sentence with the words uptight, stubborn, or pigheaded.
“…straight-laced,” Sally said.
Logan turned around and started walking down the street.
Tess looked at Molly, Sally, and Annie. She didn’t know whether he was leaving them on the side of the road or going to the bride-to-be’s house. She walked quickly along the sidewalk. “Where are you going?”
He kept walking. “I thought that would have been obvious. We’re going to see someone about four bridesmaids’ dresses.”
She turned back to the rest of her friends and waved them forward. There was a bit of a scramble as they grabbed their bags and sweaters out of the car, but within minutes they’d caught up to her and Logan.
“I should have worn my super sleuth shoes,” Sally whispered from behind Tess. “These heels are killing me.”
“But they’re so pretty. Where did you buy them?” Molly asked.
“Macy’s had a sale last month. I couldn’t leave them on the shelf.”
Annie reached into her bag. “I’ve got some Band-Aids if you’ve got blisters.”
Logan stopped. Annie ran into the back of him and bounced back. “Oops, sorry.”
He turned around and stared at Sally’s four inch, bright orange shoes. “We’ve arrived at the house.”
All four women turned to look at the houses around them.
“Over there.” Logan nodded at a house directly across the road from where they were standing.
The single story home had green painted wooden siding, a two-car garage, and a tiled roof. It was a simple family home. Nothing over the top or outrageously amazing.
Logan looked at Tess. “Are you ready?”
She glanced down the road and stepped off the curb. “As ready as I’ll ever be.” She heard the shutter on Molly’s camera click and watched Logan turn around.
“It’s a photo of you and Tess,” Molly said. She sounded annoyed and Logan didn’t look much better.
“What were you thinking,” Logan muttered as they crossed the road.
“We’re a team.”
“So were the Musketeers, but you didn’t see them wearing orange stilts or hiding in the back of cars.”
The strap of Tess’ bag fell off her shoulder and she hoisted it back up. “First off, there were only three musketeers and they were men. Secondly, the only transportation they had were horses and carts. And thirdly, any man who wears a fancy tunic and a big fluffy hat would appreciate the skill that went into creating Sally’s shoes.
“Only if he had a death wish and was color blind.” Logan’s mood didn’t seem to be getting any better.
Tess reached down to open the front gate. “Put on your happy face. After we’ve spoken with the bride-to-be, you won’t need to talk to any of us again.” She ignored the scowl he sent her and walked quickly toward the front door.
She glanced over her shoulder to make sure Logan hadn’t disappeared, then knocked on the door.
No one answered, so she knocked again. “It doesn’t look as though anyone’s home.” She looked through a narrow window beside the door and frowned. “The hallway’s empty.”
“They lost everything in the burglary. They might not have replaced their furniture yet.”
Tess walked across the yard and looked inside the windows. “There’s nothing here.”
“What’s going on?” Sally asked from the sidewalk.
“I don’t think anyone’s living here,” Tess said as she looked in another window. She moved down the side of the house and heard the front gate squeak.
“Excuse me,” someone said from over the fence. “Yoo-hoo. I’m over here.”
Tess walked toward a brown fence and smiled at the elderly lady on the other side. “Hello.”
Twinkling blue eyes looked back at her. “If you’re here about the house, then I’m afraid you’re too late. They rented it last night to a couple from Iowa.”
“Oh, no. We’re not here to rent it. We’re looking for the previous tenants. Do you know where they’ve gone?”
“I don’t know if I should tell you. Who are you?”
“We’re…” Tess looked over her shoulder at Logan, Molly, Sally, and Annie. It looked like a mini army had invaded the front yard. “We’re with the newspaper.”
“All of you?”
“We’re working on a follow-up story about the burglary.” At least Molly’s camera gave them some credibility.
“It was such a terrible thing to happen. It scared all of the neighbors, I can tell you. The burglars took everything away in a truck in the middle of the day. We all thought Connie and Dave must have been moving somewhere else.”
“Did the police find the people who broke into their home?”
“Not that I know of. Who did you say you were again?”
“We’re with the Bozeman Chronicle.” Tess crossed her fingers below the fence. If Logan heard her less than truthful cover story he wouldn’t help her again. She pulled her trusty notebook and pen out of her bag and flipped the cover open. “Can you tell me what Connie and Dave’s last names are?”
“I’m sure the nice man that wrote the article in yesterday’s newspaper must have that information.”
Logan appeared beside Tess and held his hand out. “I’m Logan Allen. I interviewed Connie and Dave last week.” He passed the lady his business card. “They didn’t tell me their last names.”
Tess had a feeling they hadn’t told him their first names either, but she wasn’t going to split hairs. At least Logan was a real reporter.
The elderly neighbor peered at the card. “I remember Connie talking about you. They left not long after you interviewed them. The poor things didn’t have a lot to steal. I still can’t work out why someone would break into their home.”
“Did Connie say where they were moving to?” Logan asked.
The elderly neighbor frowned. “With Connie’s mom so sick they decided to go back home. It’s such a hard time for them. I’m Geraldine. Geraldine Kennedy. As in John F. Kennedy.”
Logan smiled. “Are you related to the President, Mrs. Kennedy?”
Tess could have sworn Geraldine blushed. Logan was such a smooth operator it was almost frightening.
“Kennedy is my husband’s last name. But I expect there’s some distant link to the Ken
nedy’s from Massachusetts. It’s such a small world.”
Logan took a step forward and almost flattened a bunch of daffodils growing in the garden. Tess didn’t think Mrs. Kennedy would have been impressed if she could have seen where his feet had landed.
Mrs. Kennedy moved closer to the fence. “If you’re writing a story about what’s happened since the burglary, there isn’t a lot to say. Connie and Dave didn’t have insurance. They left so soon afterward that no one had a chance to find out if they were all right.”
“Can you tell us their last names, Mrs. Kennedy? We’ll try and find them and see if the police have found their property.”
“It’s Thompson and Brown. Connie Thompson and Dave Brown. Connie works in a stationery store and Dave is a mechanic. They’re such a nice couple.”
Tess moved beside Logan. “Do you know where they’re getting married, Mrs. Kennedy?”
“Bogert Park. That’s where they met.”
Tess made some notes in her book, then looked at Logan.
“You’ve been very helpful, Mrs. Kennedy. It was a pleasure meeting you.”
“It was very nice meeting you, too, Mr. Allen. Please send my regards to Mr. Dougherty. I worked with your editor-in-chief for a number of years myself.”
Tess blushed like a beet when Geraldine Kennedy’s sharp gaze landed on her.
“I like your walnut, cinnamon, and cherry scones. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get ready for my ballet class.” With a sunny smile, Mrs. Kennedy said goodbye and left them standing in silence at the fence.
“Do you think she wears a leotard?” Tess asked.
Logan blinked a few times. “Being a Kennedy I’d say anything is possible. I’m more worried about the fact that she knows my boss.”
Molly, Sally, and Annie came and stood behind them.
“Where to now?” Sally wobbled as one heel disappeared into the ground. She yanked the offending shoe out of the grass and stood on tippy toes.
Tess looked down at her notepad. “My place to go over the information we’ve got and make a plan.”
“And have coffee,” Annie said. “I didn’t know detective work could be so exhausting.”
Molly snapped another photo and grinned. “I could do a photo essay on the life and times of Bozeman’s latest girl detective agency.”
Logan cleared his throat.
“Present company excluded, of course,” Molly said. “Let’s go.”
Tess took her car keys out of her pocket as they walked across the road. “Did you know the engaged couple's real names?” she asked Logan.
His mouth tilted into a smile as he unlocked his truck. “No. Enjoy your coffee.”
“You’re not coming with us?”
“I’ve got to be somewhere else. If you need more help, let me know.” He got into his truck, closed the driver’s door and drove down the street.
Tess wondered what was so urgent that he couldn’t have at least had coffee with them. And then she realized it shouldn’t matter. She didn’t like reporters.
Not much, anyway.