But then again, Tyler had a habit of throwing up when he got too excited.
The very first thing she saw and was able to comprehend was that Pink Girl and Lindsay were completing a transaction, and while she looked closely, she saw that Lindsay never put any money into the register, but definitely took money out.
And both Lt. Gill and Det. Haak saw it too.
Malinda only walked towards her fellow store owners and stood between them. The three of the clasped hands and squeezed. “This is it,” she told them, and together they approached Lindsay and her friend. Malinda yielded to Mary, who went after the friend first, leaving every last trace of politeness behind.
“Hey, I think you have some things that belong to us,” she stepped in front of the girl as she headed towards the exit.
Tyler and Malinda took Lindsay. “I suppose you know what you’re getting pulled into the office for this time,” Malinda told her. Obligingly, Lindsay followed the two of them into the office, not like she had much of a choice, with two police officers behind her. Mary and the friend filed in behind them.
Once inside the office, Gill and Haak took over. The three store owners stood off to the side, all of them holding their breath, one ear open for the jingle over the front door. The two men in uniform grilled Lindsay and her friend, aptly named Rosie, about their systematic removal of money and merchandise from the store. They presented the girls with charts Mary had compiled of exactly how much money Lindsay had taken and when. Both girls remained stone-faced in denial until Haak put a VHS tape on the desk, informing them that every transaction Lindsay made, fraudulent or not, was on there, clear as day, and every appearance Rosie made was documented for all to see. They both caved almost immediately.
“I feel like I’m watching NYPD Blue,” Tyler whispered in Malinda’s right ear, and Mary elbowed him. “What? I’m serious. Those girls look like they’re going to pee their pants.”
“They do,” Mary concurred. “I wonder how much we’ll actually get out of this.”
The trio tried hard to keep from smiling and laughing when Gill and Haak placed Lindsay and Rosie under arrest and took them out to their waiting vehicle. Malinda followed to point out which cars belonged to the girls, and at their consent, Haak searched them both, discovering the money that Lindsay had stolen that morning, and several items Rosie had lifted over the past few days. Everything was taken into evidence when Haak and Gill left.
Just under an hour later, Lt. Gill called Malinda on her cell phone. “You’ll be happy to know, once we started the actual booking process, neither one of these girls could shut up. Sounds like Rosie’s the one who came up with the idea and Lindsay came up with the master plan. The books were mostly ending up in the trash, a few were sold to friends for a few bucks.”
Malinda, an avid reader, thus bookstore owner, wanted to cry. “Who throws books away? That’s just blasphemous.”
“These girls do. Sorry.”
“So what happens now?”
“Well, arraignment’s in two weeks, and unfortunately, you’re probably not going to get much from Rosie. Even though the whole thing was her idea, she didn’t make the actual plan and she didn’t physically steal much. She’ll only be tried with petit larceny and chances are she’ll get off. Lindsay…well, I obviously have nothing to do with it, so I can’t promise you anything, but I can bet you’ll get restitution. You have no procedures on this?”
“We’re just a small store, less than fifteen employees. For anything like this, employee theft or shoplifting, which we haven’t had a problem with until now, it’s as if it was committed against a person, not a business.”
“Then you’ll probably get your money back. You’ll be getting a notice to appear soon, so get your copies of all those charts and things together.”
“Mary’s got like thirty copies. I think she framed them and hung them in her house. She never liked Lindsay, from the very beginning.”
“Gut feeling’s usually turn out right.”
“I know. So what’s going on with the girls right now?”
“Haak’s finalizing their statements and printing them and everything. Their parents’ll make bail; they’ll be home for dinner.”
“This is insane.”
“You three did well, with the camera and the register checking. I’m proud of you. Why don’t you let me buy you a drink to celebrate?”
“Tonight?”
“Yeah. My shift ends at seven.”
“Sure. Okay. Let me check to see if someone can take care of Laurel first, okay?”
“No problem. Call me back.”
“Alright,” Malinda ended the call and dialed home. When Rhett answered, she asked how much longer he could stay with Laurel. He had no plans for the night and offered to stay as long as she needed him. Even after she informed him he might be spending the night on the couch he’d already become so familiar with, he repeated that it wasn’t a problem. “Thanks,” she told him. “I owe you big.”
The next phone call was Gina. “You’ll never guess who I’m drinking with tonight.”
“Who?” something in her tone told Malinda that Gina smelled a man.
“Remember little Adam Gill that I used to babysit?”
“He’s taking you out?”
“He’s not…his dad is.”
“No shit! Mr. Gill?”
“Yeah. He helped me out big-time with this Lindsay thing, and as a matter of fact, just took her out of here in handcuffs about an hour ago, and now he wants to take me out for a drink to celebrate.”
“That’s awesome. There were some pretty hot dads back in my babysitting days, maybe I should give them a call.”
“They’re probably not hot anymore. But if by babysitting you mean, ‘inviting Malinda to hang out then dumping the kids on her’, then by all means, call them.”
“Oh shut up. You were the one that loved kids back then.”
Malinda laughed, “No, you were just lazy back then.”
“I’m still lazy, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Alright, I gotta call him back to let him know that I can go tonight.”
“Keep me posted. Tell me something good in the morning.”
“Oh my God, Gina, it’s Mr. Gill!”
“Hey…if I remember correctly, he wasn’t half bad.”
“I’m hanging up now.” Whatever Gina said after that, Malinda didn’t hear, because she had clicked ‘end’ and was dialing Gill’s number again. “Nine-thirty. Brennan’s.”
“You haven’t been to Brennan’s in ages,” Tyler overheard the short conversation. “What are you doing going there?”
“A celebratory drink. Who’s closing up tonight?”
“James and Heather. What time are you leaving?”
“I think I’ll dip out of here around eight. Go home and take a quick shower. This day’s just been exhausting to me. What?” she asked when she realized Tyler was staring at her.
“You’re pregnant.”
“I am not!”
“Yes you are. You are. I’ve watched you the past couple weeks. You’ve been tired as hell, and you haven’t wanted Chinese the past few times we’ve ordered. You turn green when you smell it. I knew you weren’t just stressed about JC, you don’t stress over guys like that; I do.”
Allowing herself a weak smile, Malinda gave in. “Don’t tell anybody, okay? Three weeks from now I’ll be back to my sesame-chicken-eating self.”
“Ah. Got it.”
“Thanks Ty. Now let’s go make some sales.”
Malinda, Mary, and Tyler continued, business as usual, for the rest of the day. Around seven-thirty, Mary took off. Tyler wasn’t far behind her. Malinda held out for as long as she could, then around eight, just as she told Tyler, she said goodnight to Heather and James, eyeing them warily as she left the building and headed to her car. She hoped she didn’t end up with more shady employees. At least with Lindsay gone, their financial troubles were mostly over.
Pulling up in front of her apartment building, Malinda took a deep breath. Things were slowly coming back together. She’d jumped the business hurdle. The next one was the pregnancy. The last one was JC, although, the longer the issue was dragged along, the more over him she became. She was getting to the point where it no longer made a difference if he called or not. She got inside her place to find Rhett already snoring away on her couch, and Laurel finishing her homework at the kitchen table.
“Hey sweetie, how was your day?” she kissed the top of Laurel’s head.
“The same as every day.”
“Anyone call for me?”
“I dunno. Rhett answered the phone earlier, before you called. He didn’t tell me who it was, but they were looking for you. He told them you were at work.”
“Hmm…” Malinda checked the caller ID. Nothing. Whoever it was had called her from a blocked number. Shrugging, she turned back to Laurel. If it was important, they’d call back. “Rhett told you I’m going out tonight?”
“Yeah. And then he fell asleep.”
“He’s been asleep for three hours?”
“Yeah.”
“So much for not being tired after his trip,” Malinda rolled her eyes, a smile on her face. She went into the living room and pulled the blanket off the back of the couch, covering Rhett with it. Then she headed to her bedroom where she stripped, getting ready for her shower. She changed into a fresh sweater and pair of jeans afterwards, and checked on Laurel again. She was watching TV.
“When this is over, you’re going to bed, right?”
“Of course. Where are you going?”
“Out for a drink with the cop who helped me at work today.”
“With that girl that was stealing?”
“You weren’t supposed to know about that.”
Laurel just shrugged. “Well I do.”
Malinda shook her head. “Go to bed,” she kissed Laurel goodbye and trekked outside to her truck. She drove to Brennan’s with the radio on low, thinking about the mysterious phone call. Could it have been JC? Scarier still, was it Jake, had he finally tracked her down? Why didn’t they leave a message, or had Rhett fallen asleep before he had a chance to make a note of it? Why did they call from a blocked number? All these things jumbled around in her head, and continued bouncing even after she’d met Jerry Gill at the door and he’d led her to a seat.
“What’s wrong?” he asked her. “You look like you’re somewhere else.”
“No, I’m…I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine,” Catching his own mistake, he held up a hand, “I don’t mean it like that. You look very nice. But you still seem a million miles away.”
“A lot on my mind. So how’s Adam doing?” Malinda referred to her former babysitting charge.
“Oh, he’s doing alright. About to graduate from Canisius. Of course, now he’s old enough to do everything so he thinks he’s the man.”
“Oh God, he’s old enough to drink now! I feel so old. I remember when he couldn’t wait to be old enough to go to second grade.”
Jerry laughed. “I know how you feel. I remember when he was young enough for me to tell him what to do.”
“Hmmm. Two headstrong Gills under one roof. How does Mrs. Gill stand it?”
Growing quiet, Jerry looked down into his drink. “Mrs. Gill stands it by not being Mrs. Gill anymore.”
Malinda felt small and reverted to her old name for him, “Oh Mr. Gill, I’m so sorry.”
“Hey, hey, what’s this mister crap? You’re not my son’s babysitter anymore. We’re both parents. You don’t have to call me mister anything.”
“Okay, okay. I’m still sorry to hear that.”
“Occupational hazard. I wasn’t around much, and when I was…well, the job doesn’t always stay at the office, you know what I mean?”
“Isn’t that the truth? God knows how many times I’ve yelled at Laurel when I was actually pissed about something one of my employees did hours before.”
“It’s awful.”
Malinda nodded slowly and looked around the room. “Okay, so which one of us picked this bar?”
“I believe it was you.”
“Why?”
Jerry laughed. “It’s not like it used to be, is it? Did you have a better place in mind?”
She sighed, “Seeing as how right now I really want to be in some sweatpants, maybe we should just limit this to one drink and call it a night.”
Laughing again, he agreed, “You’ve had a long day.” He waited while she finished her drink, and together they left. He walked her to her car, and before closing her door, asked her if she would like to go to dinner the following evening.
Momentarily stunned, she blurted out, “Like a date?”
“If that’s how you want to see it.”
“Let me think about it. I’ll have an answer for you in the morning.”
“Fair enough. Good night.”
“Gina. Oh my God, what’s the formula? The age formula.”
“Girl, it is eight-thirty in the morning and I am at work. I have been awake for exactly forty-three minutes. What do you want? What are you talking about? What formula?”
“The one where you figure out how young or how old you can go.”
“Go for what?”
“For guys, bitch, how young or old they can be.”
“Oh, that age formula. For how young, it’s your age divided by two, plus seven. And for old, your age times two, minus seven.”
“Okay, you know I just barely passed Course III, so can you just get around to telling me the numbers. I don’t got time to add or subtract, multiply, do long division.”
“Malinda, what is wrong with you? You can go as young as…twenty, and your oldest guy can be forty…seven.”
“Oh shit, he’s still in range.”
“Who?”
Malinda paused, not sure if Gina was the person to be telling this to. She loved the girl to death, she’d been by her side for over twenty years, but she talked a lot. To people she didn’t really need to be talking to. And Malinda wasn’t sure if this was something she wanted anyone to know yet, not even Gina. So she lied.
“This kid that I met at the bar the other night. I swear, he was like fifteen. According to him, he’s twenty-two.”
“So? You’re only twenty-seven, it’s not like you’re all old. You could use a young guy, trust me,” Gina laughed evilly.
“Shut up.”
“Oh man, tell me he hit on you right in front of Mr. Gill.”
“Yes,” Malinda sighed, grateful that Gina had bought the story.
“So are you gonna go out with him?”
“I might. He invited me to dinner tonight. I haven’t decided whether or not to go.” This time she really was talking about Jerry.
“And why the hell wouldn’t you?”
“I don’t know, it just feels weird.”
“Oh my God, are you still talking about JC?” Malinda could see Gina rolling her eyes. “You’re definitely not just in a fight anymore, you are broken up. You can move on. And why not have a little fun with this young guy while you’re at it?”
“Whatever. Why don’t you go do some work. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Good, and you better have a story for me.”
“We’ll see. Goodbye.”
“And it better be dirty.”
“Oh my God, Gina, I am pregnant right now.”
“So what? That means you’re peaking. You’re also still going out and drinking.”
“Exactly. I’m already doing one irresponsible thing, I don’t really need to do any more.”
“You’re going to make yourself nuts. You felt guilty about every sip you took, didn’t you? Didn’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“And for what? I know I can’t tell you how to feel, but you’re not keeping it, and at the risk of sounding cruel, as long as you’re staying healthy and everything, there’s no reason you shouldn’t just live your life like nothing’s wrong.”
“Okay, I’m hanging up for real now. I know you must have customers you need to handle, so go do that.”
“Call me tomorrow,” Gina said before she hung up.
Malinda stared at her phone for almost six full minutes before making a decision. When she reached the voicemail of the person she was calling, she left a message, “Hey, it’s Malinda. I, um, I’m down for some Olive Garden if the offer still stands. Give me a call back later.”
“So where’s your daughter tonight?” Jerry made small talk as he navigated his sedan on the road.
“You’ll never guess.”
“And that’s why I’m asking.”
“I’ll give you a hint.”
“Hints are good.”
“It’s a male.”
“Her father.”
“Oh dear God no. I wouldn’t let him within a hundred feet of her. I actually never put his name on her birth certificate.”
“He’s not on her birth certificate?”
“Hell no.”
“Okay, so not her father. How about…your friend. Brett or whatever his name is.”
“Rhett.”
“Yeah, Rhett.”
“It’s not Rhett.”
“I’m going to assume this is someone I should know, or else I wouldn’t be told to guess.”
“Oh yeah, I’d say you know him.”
“Your…brother?”
“I don’t even have a brother!” Malinda swatted at him.
“Okay, I give up.”
“What if I told you I told her to give him an extra hard time to make up for all my headaches.”
Jerry was silent for a minute while he thought, “Adam?”
“Yep.”
“No shit. I didn’t even see him when I picked you up.”
“He took her for pizza.”
“And you told her to be a pain in the ass?”
“Yeah,” Malinda smiled.
Laughing heartily, Jerry said, “Payback’s a bitch. I know that little punk drove you crazy. I can’t believe you kept coming back.”
“He sure did. But I suppose he could have been worse. At least I didn’t have to deal with him in his terrible two’s or anything like that.”
“Oh no, you got him at his worst. That’s why we needed a babysitter, because we had to get away from him.”
“That’s awful.”
“But it’s true,” he parked his car and shut the engine off, exiting the vehicle. Malinda had already started opening her door by the time he was there, and he grabbed it, extending a hand to assist her in getting out of the car. He stepped in place behind her, his left hand at the small of her back as they entered the restaurant together.
They ordered wine with their dinner, and their dining was peppered with subtle flirtation and witty conversation. When offered dessert, Malinda declined, but Jerry jokingly pushed it.
“Come on, live a little. You can indulge.”
“If I even think about dessert, I just might explode,” Malinda demurred, not adding that her general abdominal region was rebelling against the lasagna she’d just consumed.
“Well, no one wants to see that,” Jerry rose to his feet, and pulling Malinda’s chair out, helped her into her jacket.
Once they got back to Malinda’s building, he again got out of the car to get her door, and walked her up to her place. At the door, Malinda hesitated, “Does Adam know?” she asked.
“Well, I haven’t mentioned it.”
“Do you want him to know?” one corner of Malinda’s mouth turned up when he blushed slightly, and she touched his shoulder. “Maybe you shouldn’t come in.”
“So I’ll say goodnight out here I guess,” he leaned in to kiss her cheek and he hovered near her ear, “I hope you had a good evening.”
“I did,” she replied softly, the hand that was one his shoulder slid across the back of his neck to the other shoulder, and she pulled him in for a hug, raising her face to return a kiss to his cheek as well. His hands, previously on her waist, slipped around to her back and he pulled her closer still.
“Jerry – ” she murmured in protest.
“Shh,” his lips just barely touched hers, forcing a startled gasp from her throat. She surprised even herself when she parted her lips and slightly arched her back, salaciously pressing herself up and against him. She gasped again when she felt her back touch the wall. “We should say goodnight.”
“Isn’t that how this started?”
“Yes. Yes it is.”
“Okay. Okay…goodnight, Malinda.”
“You’re still standing significantly close.”
“You certainly haven’t pushed me away.”
“Why do I have to do it?”
“I don’t know. So I’m stepping back. Right now.”
“Not fast enough,” Malinda put a hand against his chest, gently pushing him away.
He sighed reluctantly, “Alright.” He took a step backward. “Goodnight Malinda. I had a great night. I’ll call you, I’d like to do this again.”
“This, exactly?”
“Well…”
“I had a wonderful time. I’m going inside now. Talk to you later.”
“Hey man, what’s up with you?” Curtis Brown asked when he and Rhett were both together, taking a break from practice.
“What?” Rhett asked, distracted.
“You’re not focused. Max just blew past you and you barely even moved.”
“I guess I’ve got a lot on my mind.”
“Well leave it at home, dude,” Curtis told him.
Rhett sighed. “I can’t.”
“Malinda?”
“Yeah. Her and JC broke up, I told you that, right?” he paused to give Curtis time to nod. “Okay, well, she’s… she’s,” he didn’t want to just share her business, but Curtis was a friend too. “She’s pregnant, and JC doesn’t know.”
“Not keeping it, I assume.” He didn’t sound upset, and Rhett was grateful for that, Curtis being a born-again Christian and all.
Shaking his head, Rhett confirmed it. “I think she should at least tell him, but he wasn’t calling her, and she’s being stubborn about not calling him. Except, he called the other night, but she wasn’t home. I answered, and he told me not to tell her he called.”
“Okay.”
“When I told her that she should tell him, she said that if he called, she would, but if he doesn’t call until it’s too late, then what’s done is done. But, here’s the thing. He did call. But he doesn’t want me to tell her. Do you see why I’m confused? If he called, she’d tell, and he did, but she can’t know about it. And in two weeks, there won’t be anything left to tell. I’m not sure what to do.”
“Well, do you think he’ll call again?” Curtis chugged some water and plunked his helmet back onto his head.
“I don’t know. And I can’t decide which way she’s better off. I don’t know if they’ll get back together, and even if they do, I don’t think another kid is what she needs now.”
“Won’t he be there for her?”
“I’m sure he will, but still. And if they get back together, will he want her to move to California? I don’t think she’d go for that.” Rhett switched one of his sticks for the other.
“You know, that part’s really not your problem or your business. Now hold on – ” he cut Rhett off when he wanted to protest. “I know you two are tight. But if they get together, you’re an outsider. What they decide is between her and him. Your only problem right now is whether you should tell her he called.”
“Exactly.”
“And which are you leaning toward?”
“Not telling. He asked me not to.”
“Okay, but if you do that, is it for selfish reasons?”
“What?”
Rolling his eyes, Curtis stepped back onto the ice first. “You and him do not mix. I’ve already seen it myself. I don’t care how happy you want her to be, you don’t like him and he doesn’t like you. So, by not telling, you keep them apart and you don’t have to deal with them. But you have to keep in mind that just because he called doesn’t mean they’re gonna get back together, and if her mind is made up about the other thing, which, if I know Malinda, it is, it’s not gonna change her mind.”
“I just don’t know,” Rhett began a few passing drills with his friend. “If I tell her, then he finds out, then he hates me even more. The whole reason they broke up was because of me. I’m staying out of this shit.”
“Then don’t tell her. He told you not to. What are you most concerned about, them getting together or her being pregnant?”
“Pregnant.”
“Okay, so ask her if him calling will make a difference. If it won’t, if she gonna do what she wants either way, then don’t tell her. If she says it’ll make her re-think things, then tell her. She should have every option in front of her. But like I said, I’m sure she’ll stick to her own plan, so, it’s up to you.”
Rhett sighed. “Alright. I’ll give her a call later. Get Connolly and Pyatt over here, let’s start some more drills.”