CHAPTER SIXTEEN
When Jocelyn came to work the next morning she was dressed in all black. She even carried a black knit cap to cover her hair. When Reese saw her, she asked, “Who do you think you are? Tom Cruise? We aren’t in a Mission Impossible movie.”
Jocelyn said, “Investigators dress in black when they work at night.”
Reese said, “You’re certainly taking this detective thing seriously aren’t you?”
Jocelyn said “Yes, what other choice is there, Reese? I talked to Ramon last night. “He asked me if you could make it financially if he had to make cuts in the cleaning contract.” I told him it would make things very difficult for you. He wouldn’t tell me if he made a decision one way or the other.”
Reese looked very worried. After several moments she asked, “Where can I find some black pants and a black top?”
Jocelyn and Reese went through all of the trash that evening looking for evidence. They found nothing. Jocelyn felt depressed. She was hoping to get to the bottom of the sabotage quickly.
She knew she and Reese needed to find out who was behind the bomb in the trash dumpster, and they needed to find out if the fire in the file room had been accidental.
When they emptied the trash into the large trash can Reese had placed just outside the back door after the dumpster incident, they found a large stack of lottery tickets. There were at least a hundred tickets in the trash. The tickets were from Maryland’s’ Mega Millions game and the Power Ball lottery.
Jocelyn called Reese over and showed her the tickets. She asked her, “Do you think this might be a clue?”
“I have no idea. You’re the one who watches all those detective shows.”
Jocelyn said, “On television they always call in their confidential informants. But we don’t need to do that. We have someone better.”
Jocelyn’s implication clicked in Reese’s brain. She blurted, “Let’s call Tiffany! I’ll bet she can tell us who buys the lottery tickets and checks the numbers here at the plant.”
Jocelyn noticed that Reese had sold the new iPhone. Reese pulled out her cheap flip phone to call Tiffany. Tiffany answered after the first ring.
“Tiffany, its Reese. How’s your vacation? Are the kids enjoying themselves in Ocean City? How’s the water?”
Jocelyn nudged Reese with her elbow to make her get to the point of the call Reese moved a step away from her sister, covered the phone with her hand and said, “Okay, Okay. I’ll ask her.”
“Ask her about the lottery tickets in the trash can.”
Tiffany asked Reese who she was talking to. “It’s just Jocelyn. We were just getting rid of the trash and happened to see a bunch of lottery tickets in the bottom of the trash can near the back door.”
“Oh, those probably belonged to Lilly. She likes to go to the delicatessen around the corner to pick up her lunch. She always gets a soda and a sandwich. When she comes back; she eats her lunch then checks her lottery tickets on the back steps while she smokes.”
“Does she always buy a lot of them?”
“I don’t know. I guess so. I always see her with a hand-full of tickets. She must love to gamble.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Well, sometimes on Saturday mornings when I’m out shopping, I see her getting on one of those buses that take people directly to Atlantic City so they can gamble all day. I’ve even seen her enter the casino in Arundel Mills.”
Reese decided to end the conversation when she heard Tiffany yell, “Boy put that turtle down. I’m not cooking turtle soup tonight.”
Reese told Tiffany she hoped she would enjoy the rest of her vacation, and she would talk to her soon.
Reese and Jocelyn wondered if Atlantic City, lottery tickets and Lilly had anything to do with the rash of unexplained accidents happening at the Holliday Paint Company.
Even before Ramon walked in Jocelyn’s apartment, he smelled steak. As he spied the fried potatoes and onions on the stove and a tossed salad on the table, he became suspicious. He asked, “What’s the special occasion?” Jocelyn smiled and kissed him quickly on the lips. His suspicions rose when he noticed the vase of flowers in the center of the table. Jocelyn told him to sit down at the table to eat. She served him his meal and fixed a plate for herself. He looked at her quizzically before he took a bite of his meal.
Jocelyn started to eat her dinner. She didn’t realize Ramon wasn’t eating until she looked up from her plate. She asked, “What?”
Ramon said, “I’m waiting for you to ask me for what you want?”
“What makes you think I want something?”
“Steak covered in mushrooms and onions, potatoes and a green salad. You want something.”
“Okay, Jocelyn sheepishly admitted, I want you to tell me about the security firm and when you’re going to hire them.”
“I’ve checked with three companies. Right now I’m having their references checked. Hopefully I’ll have someone on the premises in the next couple of days. I really need to get to the bottom of these incidents at the company. If these unexplained incidents keep happening, someone is going to get hurt or worse.”
Jocelyn said, “I agree with you. Something needs to be done. People are starting to talk. She inquired further, are you going to have to make cuts in order to afford security people?”
“I’ve put a lot of money into the production of the Brilliance and I still have to pay for the advertising.”
Jocelyn grew quiet after Ramon informed her about her about the expenses that still needed to be covered in order to get the new product on store shelves.
When he finished with the details, she didn’t bother to press the issue further. She let Ramon to finish his dinner in peace. She served ice cream for dessert. After the dishes were clean, she suggested they go for a walk to get rid of some of the calories they had consumed.
She was now certain Reese’s contract would be cut.
They left the apartment and walked to the nearby park. Ramon held her hand as they strolled through the park. The park had lots of old trees and since it was early fall the leaves were starting to change colors. Jocelyn enjoyed just looking at the different colors. Ramon didn’t talk much while they walked. She was sure he was dealing with the issue of cutting his employees’ hours.
When they returned to the apartment, he politely excused himself and went into the bedroom. He told Jocelyn he needed to finish some paper work before he went to sleep.
Jocelyn sat on her living room couch; she was sure someone was trying to sabotage Ramon’s company. But she couldn’t understand why they were doing it. Was someone trying to put him out of business or trying to steal the formula for Brilliance? She needed to find out soon.
Finally, toward midnight, she went to bed. Ramon was already asleep. When he felt her body next to his, his arms automatically embraced her and pulled her next to him.
The next day the sisters shared a corned beef sandwich and a bag of chips in the lunch room. “I have watched enough crime shows, I ought to be able to come up with something,” mused Jocelyn. “The problem is the shows I watch always start off with dead bodies. A severed head rolls out of a box, a body is found in a wall after thirty years, or a dead body is found in a costume in a museum and fifty minutes later the gruesome murder is solved.”
Amused, Reese said, “You need to watch something besides crime shows.”
“I know. I need to broaden my horizons now that I’m home in the evenings.”
Reese said, “Let’s try to get finish early. I need to follow up on some business leads I was working on while recuperating. And I’ve promised myself to make 25 cold calls a day. I’ll grow my business even if it kills me! First I’ll stop by the furniture company to see if they’ve made a decision. They’ve been sitting on my proposal for a few weeks now.”
As had been her habit of late, Jocelyn left Ramon’s office for last. He had left earlier in the afternoon to meet with of the advertising people. She
liked cleaning his office, because it smelled like Ramon’ aftershave.
She was just about to empty his trash can when she heard someone’s raised voice. It was Lilly telling someone she would meet them at 8 p.m. at Scully’s bar downtown by the stadium. She growled, “You’d better have my money when you get there.”
Jocelyn couldn’t tell who Lilly was talking to, but the conversation had sounded suspicious to her. Lilly wasn’t at her desk when Jocelyn entered Ramon’s office, so while she was talking on the phone, she wasn’t aware of Jocelyn’s close proximity.
Jocelyn wondered what she should do. Should she pretend that she hadn’t heard anything and just leave Ramon’s office, or should she hide in his office until she was sure Lilly had left for the day.
She decided to leave the office and just pretend she hadn’t heard a thing. Lilly looked at her suspiciously when she exited Ramon’s office. Jocelyn just kept a straight face, told Lilly to have a good evening and walked to the utility closet to put away her cleaning supplies. When she got ready to exit the utility closet, she looked up, Lilly was gone.
Once Jocelyn was alone in her car, doors locked, she pulled out her cell phone and called Reese. She told her about Lilly’s strange call. Together they decided they needed to be at the bar when Lilly showed up. They wanted to see who Lilly was meeting.
Reese cautioned Jocelyn there was no way Lilly wouldn’t recognize them. Jocelyn thought for a moment and said, “We’ll wear disguises. I’ll wear my long blonde wig and a pair of glasses. I’ll put on lots of makeup. Nobody will ever recognize me. I’ll wear cheap costume jewelry and a black dress with six inch high heels. What are you going to wear Reese?”
Reese said this sounds like Halloween. “I’ll come up with something.”
When Jocelyn entered Sully’s she didn’t see Reese, she looked around and the only other female she saw besides the waitress, was a trashy red head dressed like a hooker, sipping coke at the bar. The hooker somehow looked familiar.
Jocelyn took a closer look at the hooker. She was amazed. It was Reese dressed up in a red wig with blonde highlights, and overdone makeup. Her tight shirt barely covered her belly. And the yellow skirt so short it almost didn’t exist. She had her legs crossed at the ankles in six-inch yellow high heels. The overdone makeup and skimpy clothing she wore made her look as though she was waiting any moment to be picked up by a john. When Reese saw the look of amazement on Jocelyn’s face, she grinned. When Jocelyn got closer, she asked, “My look surprised you didn’t I?”
Jocelyn said, “You did. Where did you get the outfit?”
“I just put on clothes I haven’t worn since before I had the boys. If I bend anywhere, seams will come bursting open everywhere!”
Reese and Jocelyn shared a quiet laugh and Jocelyn whispered on loud enough for Reese to hear, “Let’s move to a table in the back where it’s dark.”
At 8 p.m. sharp, Lilly walked into the bar alone. She wore sunglasses, but anyone would have told her that she was doing a poor job trying to hide her identity. She ordered a drink and sat at the bar. Every other minute she looked up from her drink to see if anyone entered.
By 8:20 p.m. the sisters could tell she was getting anxious. At 8:25 p.m. Lilly gathered her pocketbook and had prepared to leave when the person she had been waiting for arrived. Jocelyn recognized him immediately. It was Juliette’s husband, Harry.
Jocelyn couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw Harry sit down next to Lilly. Harry didn’t bother to greet her. He just pulled an envelope out of his breast pocket and slid it to her. The sisters still couldn’t figure out what was going on even when they saw Harry slide the envelope to Lilly.
Lilly opened the envelope and nodded her head. She got up from the bar stool, pulled some bills from the envelope, paid for her drinks, and with a satisfied smile and strolled to the exit. Harry remained at the bar and ordered a drink. After a few minutes, Harry finished his drink and also left the bar.
Jocelyn and Reese were immensely relieved when both Lilly and Harry had left the bar without recognizing them. Jocelyn broke the silence, “Why Harry is giving Lilly money?”
Reese asked, “Who was that man?”
Jocelyn explained he was Ramon’s ex-fiancée’s husband.”
“Do you think Lilly’s behind the sabotage?”
Jocelyn said, “I’m not sure. But if she is, she has to have someone helping her. When the sabotage happened, she always ran outside with everybody else. She couldn’t have set the fire. When we evacuated, she was already outside. Besides she couldn’t have set the bomb off in the dumpster. She didn’t have anything in her hands when the bomb went off. She was also already at the meeting when someone tried to run Ramon over with a car.
Jocelyn said if she is responsible, we need more evidence. Ramon won’t believe she’s responsible just because we saw Harry give her money.”
Reese lamented, “We need to find some evidence soon. I didn’t get the furniture store contract.” The store owner said he’s going to let his mother to clean the store. He said his mother won’t charge him anything if he allows her to come and visit with her grandkids.”
Jocelyn frowned in with sympathy and said, “All of my years of watching detective shows haven’t helped at all. Let’s go home. After we get some rest, maybe something will come to us.”
When Jocelyn got to her apartment door, she saw Ramon in the building hallway. When she put her key in the lock to open her door, Ramon reached over and put his hand on her arm to stop her. He asked, “Why are you trying to open Jocelyn’s . . .?” Then he looked at her closer. He was astonished. “Jocelyn? Why are you are all made up? You don’t usually wear this much make-up and why are you wearing a wig? I called you several times. When you didn’t answer your phone, I got worried.”
Jocelyn was momentarily speechless. She hadn’t expected Ramon to come over to check on her. She grappled for an answer. She didn’t want to tell him, she and Reese were trying to catch whoever was sabotaging his company. She was sure he would insist they stop.
She came up with the only thing she could at that moment. “Reese and I had a girls’ night out. I wanted to try out a new look before I wore it on a date with you.”
Ramon looked her over closer. She stood still and prayed he wouldn’t question her any further. He declared, “The dress is okay, but you’re beautiful without makeup. You definitely don’t need the wig. I like your hair just the way it is.”
“Aw thanks, honey.” She reached up wrapped her arms around Ramon’s neck and kissed him. He held her in his arms and smiled down at her without asking anything else about her “new” look.
“Let’s go in. I have something to discuss with you.”
Jocelyn led Ramon into her apartment. He took a seat on the couch. Now that she was home, she couldn’t wait to get out of her disguise. She asked him to give her a minute while she changed. When she came out of the bathroom, her face was scrubbed clean and she felt a lot fresher.
She sat down next to Ramon. When he didn’t immediately put his arms around her, she looked at him. He looked back at her with a long remorseful expression. She asked him, “What is it?”
He said, “I’ve come to a decision, and it was difficult. I’m going to extend your sister’s contract, but I’m going to have to reduce the number of days she and Tiffany come in. I’ll have them come in three days a week instead of five. The other employees are going to have their hours cut four hours each week.”
Jocelyn knew that Reese would be crushed. Her contract was going to be cut almost in half! Reese needed every penny Ramon paid her. Reese wouldn’t be able to keep Tiffany on as an employee if Ramon reduced her contract. Tiffany like Reese was also a single mom trying to make it on one salary.
Jocelyn didn’t want to talk about the company or money anymore. She put her arms around Ramon and laid her head on his shoulder. She just silently held him for a few minutes to let him know she understood how hard the decision had been for him. After
holding him for a while, she asked, “When will the security agency start?”
He replied, “In a week.”
Jocelyn asked, “Do you want to stay the night?”
Ramon said, “Of course, I want to spend the night with you.”
Jocelyn led Ramon to her bedroom. When they had both undressed and gotten into bed, Ramon pulled Jocelyn closer to him and said, “As soon as all of this craziness is over we’re going shopping.” Jocelyn was so tired from her night of spying, she barely heard him before she drifted off to sleep.
Around 4 a.m. she sat up in the bed and said, “I’ve got it.”