Cupid's Treasure - Mystery of the Golden Arrow Read online

  “Come with me,” Gloria said.

  “I can’t leave the scene of the crime,” she whispered her dilemma.

  “True, but technically since both of the other drivers are inside here, you’re good,” Jonathan said. “But—uh—don’t say a word about it 'til I get back.” He smiled. “I’ll help you break the news. . . . Alright?”

  Mavis nodded as Gloria put an arm around her and guided her to the kitchen.

  “I feel so terrible,” Mavis said. “What have I done?” She paused in the hall. “And now I have done the worst thing of all!” she gasped. “I have embroiled my son into my crime!” Her doggie who’d been content in her arms started to wiggle the closer they got to the kitchen and then jumped from her arms. “Duke, get back here!” she called after him.

  “Good mornin', Ms. Peterson,” Bob said when Mavis entered chasing her little dachshund.

  “Good morning,” Tom echoed.

  “Um.” Mavis froze and swallowed.

  “How is it going?” Tom asked.

  “It’s, um,” Mavis squeaked.

  “You sound outta breath.” Tom got up and offered her a chair that was easier to get into.

  She sat down, looking incredibly uncomfortable.

  “Is everything alright?” Bob asked.

  “Ah-hem.” Mavis swallowed.

  Mavis looked like she was about to spill the beans when Gloria spoke up. “It wouldn’t be life without a few bumps now would it?” She stepped around the boisterous little dachshund whose greeting took the attention off of the distraught woman. “Why don’t we take these out and visit with the ladies and leave the boys here to be boys?” Gloria asked as she held out the fresh cup of coffee and a sweet roll for Mavis.

  ~*~

  Jonathan casually leaned against the police car and nonchalantly stepped back, scooting the vehicle back with the movement. He had to wait while Mr. Jones picked up his paper and went back into his house in order to pop out the dent in the fender with his finger.

  He was glad that it wasn’t plastic. With a slight buffing the scratch completely disappeared. He stepped back to assess his handiwork. The only sign that there had been a dent was that the area now gleamed with the spit shine.

  He moved his mom’s car forward, steering it through the driver’s side window while he walked alongside it, trying to make it look like it took some effort to move. There wasn’t even a dent on the old Cadillac’s bumper.

  “Good morning,” Mr. Bradshaw said as he walked his Shiatsu down the sidewalk.

  “Morning.” Jonathan waved.

  “Did you cause this pile up?” Mr. Bradshaw shook his head as he looked at the Pinto. “I think it’s seen better days.”

  “No, sir.” Jonathan shook his head. “I’m just moving these cars, so they don’t cause a traffic jam.” He hoped that excuse would fly . . . . It wasn’t like they had much traffic on the street.

  The old man waited as the dog did his business on the lawn. He then produced a plastic bag and started cleaning it up. The whole process took much longer than expected due to the fact he couldn’t bend over all the way.

  “Here let me help you with that,” Jonathan said, taking over the scoop while the elderly man held the bag shakily. Jonathan waited as the older man slowly tied up the bag. “Do you want me to toss that?”

  “No—” Mr. Bradshaw said, stuffing it into his pocket. “I like to put it on my roses.”

  Jonathan nodded, hoping the day never came that he willingly stuffed crap into his pocket. It took an interminable amount of time for the old man and his little dog to shuffle a few feet away. Jonathan walked around Amber’s car to assess the damage while he waited.

  The Pinto’s front grill was crumpled back into the radiator. That wasn’t going to be an easy fix. He walked around to the back of it where it had hit the cop car. The license was hanging down. He made a mental note to run the plate number through the computer’s data bank.

  Curious, he tested the grill, pulling it out with his hand. It moved more easily than he thought it would.

  Err, POP!

  Jonathan looked up to see Mr. Bradshaw watching curiously. “Must have been rusted through,” Jonathan said.

  The old man nodded as the whole front fender fell off in Jonathan’s hand.

  ~*~

  Gloria led Mavis outside, placing her plate on the wicker table and plumping a pillow for her. “Why don’t you sit here,” she said, indicating a lovely settee across from the girls.

  “Good morning, dears,” Mavis said to the ladies present.

  “Momma Mavis,” Charlene said. “I just love your hair!”

  “Thank you, dear,” Mavis said distractedly.

  “Where did Katie go?” Gloria asked.

  “She went back inside for a minute,” Jessie answered.

  “Did I hear you say something about a makeover?” Gloria asked the girls who glanced at one another with some misgiving. Jessie bit her lip and raised her brows in the universal expression of oops.

  “We were just talking to Amber about having one,” Charlene fessed up.

  “Really? Oh, that would be fun,” Gloria said, turning to Mavis. “Why don’t we give her one tonight?”

  Sorry, Charlene mouthed to Amber.

  Amber smiled back at her. Maybe it was time for a change. With a new look and hopefully her car back, she could get far enough away to create a new identity. “I’d like that,” she said optimistically.

  Tom let the dog out the back door while shaking his foot. “I think your dog needs to go outside . . . or did.”

  “Oh dear,” Mavis said. “He didn’t tinkle did he?”

  “Yes, ma’am, he did,” the policeman said.

  “I’ll get your shoe cleaned up,” Gloria said.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Tom said. “I’ve stepped in worse around the farm than that, but there is a puddle on the floor.”

  “No longer,” they heard Jacques say. They could see him armed with rubber gloves, spray cleaner, and a roll of paper towels through the window.

  Amber’s kitty swished her tail at the sight of the little dog but stayed sitting on the porch watching it. “Be nice, Kisses,” Amber said as the dog sniffed closer and closer to her.

  ~*~

  Jonathan waited for the old man to get a few houses down before he pushed the Pinto to the curb. As soon as he stepped away, the car alarm went off.

  Woo-woo-woo-woo!

  “There is a delayed response if there ever was one,” Jonathan said, waving to Mr. Bradshaw who was looking back at him. “It’s okay!” he yelled.

  “What is that?” Mavis nearly jumped out of her chair.

  “It sounds like a car alarm,” Charlene said. “Hope it’s not mine.”

  Ar-ar-ar-ar! The doggie yelped, running down the porch and back into his own yard.

  “Duke,” Mavis called out, going after him.

  “Kisses,” Amber whispered accusingly as she looked at her kitty who was innocently licking her paws. She highly doubted that reaction had been caused by the alarm. “What did you do?”

  “I better go see what that is all about,” Tom said as he left, walking around the side of the house.

  “Boy there is just never a dull moment around here,” Charlene said, taking the last sip of her coffee. “I better get on home.”

  “Thank you for checking on me,” Amber said as Charlene stood up.

  “I’ve got to get to the clinic too.” Jessie took the last sip of her coffee.

  Charlene peeked around the porch to see what the cause of the racket was and turned back to them. “Either of you own a blue Pinto?”

  ~*~

  Jonathan watched Tom walk out of the house and shook his head as he walked toward him. Jonathan was about to tell him what had happened, without a description of damages of course, when Tom shook his foot.

  “Your mom’s dog peed on my shoe and soaked my damn sock,” Tom said.

  “It means he likes you,” Jonathan said, receiving an irr
itated look from the disgruntled cop. . . . Maybe he could wait to tell him, besides there was no damage to his car—anymore.

  “Can you get to the station by eight-thirty?” Tom asked.

  “Sure thing.” Jonathan nodded.

  Amber walked around the side of the house where she could see her car. “It’s mine . . . or was,” Amber said as she walked toward the front where she could get a better view. She watched as Tom waved to Jonathan, got in his car, and drove off.

  “What happened to my car?” she asked Jonathan as she, Jessie, and Charlene walked over to her car.

  Bob, who had come out of the front of the house, stood scratching his head. “I swear that’s not how I delivered it.”

  “Hmm, hmm,” Charlene snorted as Jessie and Gloria looked on.

  “Do you have keys?” Jonathan asked, trying the door. The handle came off in his hand as the door popped open. “Oops!”

  Amber stared open mouthed at him.

  “It was loose,” he said apologetically. “I’ll fix it,” he added as he reached in under the dash. “The whole thing,” he said when the alarm was silenced. “You won’t even know it happened.”

  “You did this?” Charlene asked him.

  “Uh—” he started.

  “No,” Mavis cried out behind them. “I did.” She sniffed. “I didn’t see it. It was in the blind spot of my rear view mirror. “Oh, I’m so sorry.” She sobbed.

  “Oh now, Momma Mavis,” Charlene said. “Things like this happen.”

  Amber stepped closer and touched Mavis’s shoulder. “It’s all right. Please don’t cry over this. In fact, I was going to get a new one.”

  “Really?” Mavis looked at her through her tears.

  Amber nodded. The next thing she knew she was enfolded in an embrace as Mavis squeezed her in a tight bear hug.

  She was released a few seconds later, but the spontaneous gesture of affection shocked Amber. She looked at the older woman and realized how much she missed having a mother, and friends, she thought, looking at Charlene and Jessie and. . . . She glanced at Jonathan and swallowed . . . and a lover.

  “I’ve really got to run,” Charlene said. “It’s my day off, but there is a ton of things to do before this gal can get some sleep.”

  “Can you come back tonight? We’ll do both makeovers at once,” Gloria said.

  “Oh, that would be a blast!” Charlene said. “What time?”

  “I was going to do dinner, but I can bring it over.” Mavis looked hopefully at Amber who nodded.

  “Let’s say seven,” Gloria said.

  “Good then, it’s settled.” Charlene waved as she got into her car which was parked in front of Mavis’s house.

  Jonathan looked at Amber. “Tom wants us to meet him at the station to give him our depositions. Can I drive you there and then to work?” He smiled apologetically.

  “I don’t–” Amber paused. The less time she spent with him the better, but with his mother watching her, looking like she might dissolve into tears at any moment, she caved. “Yes, that would be very nice of you.”

  “Are you ready to go?” Jonathan asked, just like any man who has never been married.

  “Let me just get my purse,” Amber said.

  “Sure thing,” Jonathan said as Jessie shook her head. “What?” he asked.

  “You need a new catch phrase, oui?” Jacques asked as he came out on the porch.

  “What’s wrong with a sure thing?” Jonathan asked.

  “Exactly!” Jessie chuckled, and turning to her husband, she kissed him on the cheek. “Love you,” she whispered in his ear.

  Jacques grinned wickedly at her. “And I adore you!” he said as she started toward her Fiat.

  “I swear,” Jonathan sighed. “When is this honeymoon going to end?”

  “Love is—” Jacques started.

  “No,” Jonathan held up his hand, “it’s just too much information, Grandpa.” He shivered for effect before walking to his truck and climbing in.

  “I just don’t understand that,” Mavis whispered to Gloria.

  “Understand what?” Gloria looked at her.

  “Why does he call that young man grandpa?” Mavis looked at him. “I thought maybe it meant something like yo-homey, but I googled it, and it didn’t mention any slang terms attached to it,” she whispered.

  “I—” Gloria smiled. Sometimes she really wished she could tell her the story. “Who knows?” she asked instead.

  “Hey, Pops.” Jonathan rolled down the window and called out. Mavis gave Gloria a sideways glance when he said it.

  “See?” Mavis questioned.

  “Are you going to work with me today?” Jonathan asked.

  “Oh, yes,” Jacques said, looking down at his ruffled lawn shirt. “Just let me get changed.”

  “Yeah, you do that,” Jonathan said under his breath. “You’ll have the whole town talking about us if you don’t.”

  “See you tonight.” Jessie waved as she drove away.

  “Au revoir.” Jacques blew her a kiss.

  “Bye, dear,” Gloria said as she and Mavis waved.

  “I don’t know how he did it,” Mavis said, looking at the Pinto and then at her car. There didn’t even seem to be a scratch on Tom’s squad car.

  “You have a talented boy there,” Gloria said.

  “Yes, I do.” Mavis sniffed. “Do you think I could get that cold medicine back?”

  “Yes, let’s go inside, and I’ll get it.”

  Jonathan looked at Bob who was still shaking his head over the Pinto. “Do you think you could take that over to the hangar?”

  “Where your plane is?” Bob asked.

  “Shh-hh,” Jonathan said. “My mom doesn’t know.”

  “Oh, right.” Bob winced, looking over his shoulder. “Guess she wouldn’t be too pleased about the idea.”

  “No, she wouldn’t,” Jonathan said.

  “Sure,” Bob said. “Least I can do. I feel bad about this. Now I wish I’d left it in the driveway.”

  “Thanks, but it’s not your fault that my mom doesn’t know how to drive in reverse.”

  ~*~

  Amber had let her kitty back inside and given her strict instructions not to destroy anything in the red silk palace or house for that matter.

  Muff. Kiss responded.

  “Alright,” Amber said. “Just as long as you know not to scratch or knock anything off onto the floor, we’re good.” As she said it she noticed the old diary on the dresser. She picked it up and put it in her bag.

  “Be a good girl,” she said, “and we can leave tonight.”

  Outside, Jonathan adjusted the volume of his speaker phone, turning it down then off with a sigh. He waited a minute more then saw her walk out of the house. The way she walked had him captivated as well. She had a natural feline grace until she noticed him watching, then she slowed and moved more like a duck.

  “All ready?” he asked She climbed into his truck and nudged her glasses up, looking away. “Great,” he said. “Now we just have to wait for Jacques.”

  They both sat in awkward silence. Amber looked at her car as Bob hoisted it up with his tow truck.

  “Where is he taking it?”

  “To my shop,” Jonathan said. “I said I could fix it, but it might take a few days.” He was now grateful for the incident. Maybe the idea of having transport would make her stay put for a little longer . . . At least until he could figure it out.

  “Why the alarm?”

  “It was a safety feature that came with the car.” Amber shrugged slightly, hugging the door in an attempt to remain as far away as she could from him.

  Jacques came out of the house and opened the side of the truck. “Make room.”

  Amber scooted over a little bit on the bench seat. She had to move over even more when Jacques actually climbed in. If being sandwiched by the two large men wasn’t uncomfortable enough, the areas where she was pressed against Jonathan were generating a great deal of heat.

&nb
sp; “Ahem,” Jonathan cleared his throat awkwardly when he reached up to maneuver the gear stick into reverse.

  She was caught by surprise when his large hand went in between her knees.

  “Ah—Sorry,” he said as he turned slightly toward her in order to see over his shoulder.

  Amber swallowed as she looked at the big knob that had her legs pinned to the spot. . . . I didn’t think this could get more awkward!

  Chapter 7

  “Thank you for helping me,” Mavis said. “I just don’t know what I would have done without you.”

  “Absolutely,” Gloria said.

  “I still want you know how much it meant to me,” Mavis said as she removed the cups from the table.

  “I’ll get those,” Gloria said when Mavis started to load the dishwasher.

  “Good morning,” Katie said as she came up from the cellar.

  “You missed all the excitement,” Gloria said.

  “What happened?”

  “What didn’t would be a better question,” Mavis said with a half-smile.

  Gloria chuckled over the memory of it all.

  “Well, now I do feel left out,” Katie said as she poured a cup of coffee. “Looks like I poured the last cup.” She looked through the cupboard for more. “Wow! We’re out! And I bought a new one just last night.”

  “We’ve had a rush on coffee this morning,” Gloria said. “I’ll pick some up on my way home from the school.”

  “I’m going shopping today so I’ll pick some up,” Katie said.

  “Why don’t you two go out and catch up on the mornings events while I get these dishes done?” Gloria said.

  “Sounds good to me,” Katie said, dancing outside to greet the morning.

  Gloria had just finished loading the last dish when her husband came down to the kitchen.

  “Good morning,” he kissed her cheek then looked around, sniffing the air. “I thought I smelled your sweet rolls. I must have been dreaming.”

  “Do you always dream of food?” Gloria grinned.

  “Where is the coffee?” he asked, picking up the empty pot.

  “We have instant,” Gloria said, opening up the toaster oven for him.

  He shook his head. “I could have sworn I smelled sweet rolls.”