Waiting to Heal Read online

  It was a hundred and fifty miles later that Margaret and Mimi said goodbye. Mimi thanked her for the ride and made her way into Marysville with her eyes wide open and her heart full of hope.

  Meeting a couple of young men at a coffee shop seemed the answer to her current situation and she readily accepted their offer. A place to sleep with no strings attached and no rent due until the next month was like a gift from heaven. She had about twenty days in which to find a job that would cover her expected expenses.

  That was then, this is now she thought.

  Chapter Eight

  Work Had Piled Up

  Megan had spent the last hour shoveling out the two horse stables with a pitch fork. This picks up all the straw and the major parts of the manure left by the horses. They had spent the night under red lights but were now out in the pasture. She put the scooped up debris in the leather bucket of a two wheeled cart. Once she had this cart filled with manure and straw she started to leave the stables and make her way down to the site where they were piling it.

  “Megan, you making it ok?” Paul said as he came into the stable area behind her as she was leaving.

  “Doing ok, just taking it very slow,” she said as she lowered the cart down for a moment.

  “Well, you make sure you take it slow and easy, you are still recovering,” Paul said as he headed back toward the workshop, “As much as I could use you here, I had rather see you back at your job but occasionally visiting us when you could.”

  “You got it boss, there is no way you could keep JJ or I away for long,” Megan said as she got the cart rolling again.

  Megan dumped the cart’s debris on the pile as best she could. She then went back, swept the stalls, hosed down each and put in a fresh layer of straw in the now cleaned stalls. She took the water hose and washed out the cart then propped the cart up so it would drain and dry.

  Megan headed for the workshop where Paul was hooking up the manure and straw chopper spreader behind the small four wheel drive John Deere Gater. “Well Paul, are you ready?”

  “Yep, how about you?”

  “Going to take a short break and then I will be.”

  Megan went across in front of the stables and into the small clump of tall trees where two hammocks were stretched between some of the trees. She turned, sat on one and then laid back pulling her legs onto the taut mesh. She looked up at the tall trees and watched a squirrel as it went from tree to tree entertaining her as it went. She let the breeze flow over her with a cooling effect of simple quiet relaxation.

  It was a short fifteen minutes later that Megan walked back into the shop and said “I’m as ready as possible now, I’ll get the Front End Loader and head down to the collection, I’ll meet you there,” Megan crawled on the tractor and started it up. She pulled the lever that raised the bucket up just enough for travel then proceeded out of the shop and headed toward the waiting pile of manure production.

  For the next two hours she rode that front end loading tractor. She scooped up that manure collection and dropped it into the spreader that Paul then drove out into the large front pasture.

  Paul drove that chopper spreader from fence to fence as he used that mixture to fertilize the large pasture. Megan had a ring side seat as she was on a little higher ground perched on the seat of the tractor. As soon as Paul empted the spreader she would prepare another full scoop with the front end loader so there would be no delay when Paul returned for another load.

  Megan and Paul returned to the house after they finished the morning chores. As they entered the kitchen they where hit with the mouth watering smells of the large country breakfast Sophia had prepared and set out. Without hesitation they all grabbed a seat and dug in.

  The phone ringing followed the finishing of breakfast as if signaling an end to that portion of the morning.

  “It’s for you Megan, it’s JJ,” Sophia said as she waved the receiver at Megan.

  “Thanks Sophia and thanks for that delicious breakfast, you are the best,” Megan said as she accepted the phone from Sophia.

  “Hey JJ, what’s up?”

  “Things are progressing, how are you doing?”

  “Ok, I’m making pretty good progress here also, I should be ready for anything by next week. I’ll see the doctor on Monday and I’m real sure he’ll give me a medical release to return to normal duty, whatever that entails.”

  “I sure hope so as I need you here.”

  “So, what have you learned so far?”

  “From what we could see on the roof, we suspect that someone had some type of activity going on up here. There were indentations left in the roofing material and there was a kind of crane assembly up there that could have been used to lift or lower heavy equipment from or too the alleyway below on the back of the apartment.”

  “Wouldn’t someone notice things being lowered or raised by this crane assembly?” Megan asked.

  “Actually, no. The back of that building has no windows and there are no buildings in back that face that alley. It would be an easy task to take a truck down that alley and load her up with whatever was up there without anyone being aware, well, unless they were seen going up or coming down from the roof,” JJ explained.

  “Hey, what about the people in that apartment on the fourth floor, maybe they saw something.”

  “We checked on that. The landlord said those people had moved with no forwarding address. He wasn’t sure when they moved but they were paid up and he wasn’t concerned. They just left a note that they had moved.”

  “Could be something there as they got out of Dodge about the same time as my fall.”

  “We are going to continue with that avenue of our investigation.”

  “Not to change the subject but, guess who came to see me yesterday?” Megan said with a knowing smile on her face.

  “No idea, maybe Jim from DMV?”

  “I wish, he calls but I think he is afraid to show up. He couldn’t really take it to know how bad I was injured.”

  “I completely understand that, he likes you too much. Was it our lawyer friend Reldom?

  “Reldom called and apologized all over himself for getting me injured. I assured him he was not at fault and he promised to visit as soon as he had the time.

  “So it wasn’t Jim or Reldom, I have no idea who it could be, unless it was some other old boy friend I don’t know about?”

  “Nope, none of the above, it was our old friend Detective Sergeant Harold Mercer,” Megan did a high wave across as she said it even though JJ couldn’t see it.

  “No shit, what the hell did he want? I’ll bet he was being his usual prickly self,” JJ said as he shook his head slowly.

  “I really don’t have any idea what he actually wanted. I have to say he did play nice and said all the right things while he was here,” Megan said. “As you know, Mercer knew the way out here because he came out a couple times when he was investigating Paul and that murder that happened here.”

  “How did he know you were there?”

  “Not sure, maybe he has his eyes on me just as a fan and has been following my career.”

  “Last time I saw him, his eyes were following your rear, not your career.”

  “Ha, ha, very funny,” Megan said but couldn’t help but laugh.

  Chapter Nine

  Back From Hogwarts

  She opened the office door and slowly entered. She was still a little misty from the goodbyes she had just gone through with the Haley’s. The weeks she had spent there were just the best she had ever experienced since leaving home for college to follow her intended law career. She silently told herself the vacation was over and she was well enough now to get back into the rat race.

  “Hey, anyone here?” Megan called out.

  “Who’s that?” came from one of the rooms followed by the appearance of Christine Panic, the office’s First Impressionist. “Megan, oh Megan, wow, it is so good to see you back here. How are you?”

  “Oh, I’m getting ther
e,” Megan said then continued, “how are you? You look like you’re doing extremely well and that is one nice outfit.”

  “Oh, thanks, I like it a lot.”

  “And you should, JJ around?”

  “No, actually he is out following up on those people that were living in that apartment below our Mrs. Logan,” Christine started to leave then partially turned back around, “Don’t hate me but, I love what they did to your hair, it is so you.”

  “You’re too kind, however, it is kind of cute isn’t it?”

  General paperwork was now the order of the day and there was a pile of it. Megan was lucky as all of it had been sorted in a priority order with the most pressing, requiring her attention or signature, placed on top, thanks to Christine’s thoughtfulness. “Thank goodness this pile is a lot easier to handle than those piles in Paul’s stables,” Megan whispered to herself.

  Megan kept her nose to the grindstone until someone knocked on her door. She raised her head and then closed the folder she had been reading.

  “JJ, hey, how’s it going?,” she said as she rose and came around her desk and met him with a big hug. “Really nice to see you, especially since I’m back here in the office for a change.”

  “This is just great, having you back is absolutely the best thing that has happened in a long time,” JJ pushed her back just a little for a better look and said, “Wow, with that hair cut, those black rimmed glasses and that lighting bolt scar on your forehead you are a dead ringer for Harry Potter, so how was Hogwarts.” JJ then released her and took the chair in front of her desk, “Well Harry, you look well rested and I’ll bet you’re ready for an update on the Logan file?”

  Megan went back around her desk and sat, “Hogwarts was actually wonderful. You can lay that update on me, I’m been waiting for several weeks and I am more than ready to dive back in on this, I have a debt to pay to someone.”

  “As I had previously told you, while you were at the ranch, the occupants of that apartment below the Logan’s had split without leaving a forwarding address. There were two young men and a young lady. All about mid twenties.”

  “No idea where they went?” Megan asked.

  “Not for sure, we have some clues that they did not go far but their new address is still not known.”

  “How do you know that if you don’t know where they went?”

  “When they moved their belonging from their apartment one of the neighbors noticed the rental truck they used so we checked with that source.”

  “Since you are not doing a happy dance, I have to assume the info you got from that source is less than adequate to find these unknown ex-renters?” Megan raised her hand then continued, “so how do you know they didn’t move far?”

  “No ID info, paid cash, but I saw the truck mileage, they only went a total of about 5 miles round trip on each ticket.”

  “Excuse me? They had enough stuff in there apartment that it required two trips?”

  “Don’t think so, the two moves were three days apart. That got me thinking maybe they used the same truck to move those things that were up there on the roof and, since both ticket’s mileages were only about 5 miles, maybe those trips were to the same location,” JJ said as he pointed at his brain while tapping his head.

  “Yeah, I know, you’re a genius,” Megan said as she pointed at her own head and said, “Kidneys man, that’s using your kidneys.”

  While he had been talking JJ had been pinning a city map on the murder board so Megan and he could circle the area they should search. The murder board only had a few items listed so far. Those items consisted of photos of the fire escape, rooftop and three blank spots for the three individuals who had vacated the fourth floor apartment.

  “So, can we assume these three young adults should be within a two and one half mile circle out from the truck rental place?” asked Megan.

  “Actually, the circle could even be a little smaller than that, you may be forgetting the half mile of travel it takes to get from the rental place to Mrs. Logan’s building,” JJ scratched his head then continued, “that is unless Mrs. Logan’s building is on a straight line between the rental place and the new location.”

  “I think it would be better to maintain that two and one half mile circular distance to be sure to cover all possible locations no matter which way they went to deliver their stuff,” Megan had to add.

  JJ stuck a map pin at the location of the truck rental. He then checked the map legend for the miles per inch scale so he could measure out two and one half miles from the rental pin. He took a small piece of string and anchored it at the truck rental pin. Then he measured out two and one half inches since the map key listed one inch equals one mile. He held a pencil at that length then drew a circle around the truck rental pin.

  “Wow, that is a large area,” JJ relayed as he appraised the map.

  JJ took his map down and headed to the computer to get a better look at the area of concern. He brought up Google Maps and selected the area then went to the satellite view to look at the actual buildings in that circle.

  A major part of that area was taken up by a park and a meandering creek that ran at an angle through the area and the park. The inhabited area was east and south of Mrs. Logan’s apartment as was the truck rental place so the area of concern could be considerably smaller than we thought.

  “I’m going to go out on the limb here,” JJ said as he pointed at the monitor and continued, “I’m going to assume that these whoever they are, and if they are the roof top users, will simply try to duplicate what they had at the previous location. So taking that into account I’m going to look for buildings with similar rooftop elevations.”

  “Say that is the answer, how will you investigate those locations without putting yourself or me in danger of a another attack?”

  “I’ve put some thought on this and I think I will use some modern technology. I can use remote control drones, thereby, keeping us at a safe distance while I view and record the tops of all these building,” JJ said as he swept his hand across the monitor where the buildings fitting suggested criteria were displayed.

  “I hate to admit it but that actually sounds like a really good idea and I think you should go for it,” Megan gave her partner a warm smile then continued, “don’t let that Gardener Case get left out as you set that up, ok?”

  “Got it covered, not a problem,” JJ said as he left Megan’s office.

  Chapter Ten

  Shady Elms Caper

  True to his promise, JJ headed for the rest home and the client who had hired M&M Investigation.

  “Morning Ms. Ames, I am James Jacques with M&M Investigation,” JJ said as he pointed at the name plate with Sara Ames engraved on it while showing her his PI identification, “I need to see Joe Johnson, I believe he is a gardener for Shady Elms here.”

  “Private Investigator? Is there some problem we should be aware of?” she asked.

  “Personal matter with Mr. Johnson,” JJ replied.

  “Please wait while I get the director.” It wasn’t a question so JJ had no choice but to wait.

  JJ spent the waiting time, which was considerable, studying the pictures of past and present directors and the legal documents that hung on the walls in the receptionist area. It was an impressive display and it was meant to impress any possible future client and reassure current clients. JJ thought the display was just a little overboard, it was like answering a question with way too much information. For no apparent reason it did not reassure him, in fact it left him just a little curious as to why such an elaborate display.

  “Mr. Jacques?”

  “JJ would be fine.”

  “Ok, JJ, I am Charles Helton, director of Shady Elms, can I be of service?”

  “Yes, well that is, if you can show me to Mr. Joe Johnson, he is a client of mine and I need to talk with him.”

  “What is this about?”

  “It’s a personal private matter with Mr. Johnson as I told Ms. Ames.”
/>   “Is there something we should be concerned about with Mr. Johnson?”

  “I have no way of knowing until I talk with my client and I’m pretty sure whatever it is will be a private matter after I talk with him.”

  “Well, I’m afraid you have wasted your time coming out here today because Mr. Johnson is very busy and can’t be disturbed,” Helton said as he indicated the way out for JJ.

  “Too busy? I don’t understand, he’s your gardener right?

  “Correct and he’s too busy?” Mr. Helton, just short of pushing, continued to show JJ the way out.

  “Ok, hey, I think I understand. Your gardener is too busy to take a few moments out to talk to me. I presume he is doing some, one of a kind, rare botanical surgery on an anesthetized tree, or maybe, the flowers are in a critical stage of blooming requiring hands on attention until they are fully open, am I close?”

  “Goodbye Mr. Jacques,” Helton said as he held the door for JJ.

  “Whew, you smell that. I don’t know what it is but something stinks,” JJ said as he went out the door holding his nose.

  Hesitantly JJ got back in his car. He drove slowly away passing by the large Shady Elms sign while hoping his visit hadn’t added some extra problems to Joe’s reason for contacting M&M Investigation. It was just a feeling he had after talking to that paranoid director, he thought some heat may fall on Joe’s shoulders. JJ, not to be dissuaded from talking with his client, would simply head to Joe Johnson’s apartment and wait for him to get off work. It was late in the day so it shouldn’t be too long a wait.

  JJ returned some txt messages and caught up on some phone calls as he waited in his car in front of Joe’s house. As he had figured it was only about forty five minutes before Joe turned into the driveway and parked.

  As Joe got out of his vehicle JJ got out of his. “Mr. Johnson, hi, I’m James Jacques from M&M Investigations. First thing I want to do is apologize for any repercussions I might have caused you by going to your work place. I had no idea they would react the way they did.”