ILL-TIMED ENTANGLEMENTS (The Kate Huntington mystery series #2) (2 page)

Maria was wonderful with the baby, but her English was practically non-existent. Her presence in the household had done little to alleviate the young widow’s loneliness.

Kate’s reverie about nannies and returning to work was disrupted by a blur of movement surging past her booth. The blur came to a halt and took two steps backward. Rose Hernandez’s short, sturdy body was swathed in an apron at least two sizes too big for her.

“Cute waitress costume, but it’s a little early for Halloween,” Kate said.

Rose rolled her eyes. “Very funny. Waitress went home sick so I’m helping out. You gonna be here awhile? Mac’s called a replacement. Should be in soon. I got news. Big news.”

“You and Mac gettin’ hitched?” Kate asked in a teasing tone, not sure how she would feel about it if the answer was yes.

Rose rolled her eyes again, as a pink tinge crept up her cheeks. “Hardly,” she said. Mac Reilly had already been married, and divorced, twice in his forty-one years, and although he adored Rose, he could best be described as an irascible curmudgeon. Rose was still assessing if she could deal with his personality full-time, especially since two Mrs. Reillys before her could not.

A customer gestured for Rose’s attention. “Later,” she said and raced off, just as Kate saw her lunch companion coming into the restaurant.

At six-two and well over two hundred pounds–he wasn’t saying how far over these days–he was hard to miss. As he spotted Kate and walked in her direction, she noticed with concern that he looked tired and harried, and the salt was starting to gain on the pepper in his hair.

“Hmm, I never,
ever
would have thought to put the words Rose and waitress together in the same sentence,” Rob Franklin said, as he settled into the booth across from Kate.

“Somebody went home sick so she’s helping Mac for a little while. She said she has some news for us once her relief arrives.”

“Sorry I’m late. Emergency call as I was walking out the door.”

“Important client?”

“Important, yes. Client, no. It was my Aunt Betty. Do you remember her from the party?” The Franklins’ daughters had conspired to throw their parents a surprise anniversary party the previous month. “She’s my great aunt actually,” Rob added. “She was married to my grandfather’s youngest brother.”

“Aunt Betty would be hard to forget,” Kate said. “We had a delightful conversation about child-rearing practices, past and present. Apparently she had to research those of the eighteenth century for her latest novel.”

“Well, that novel is the cause of the current emergency, I’m afraid.”

A young waitress whom Kate had never seen before appeared at their table.

“And sorry again, Kate, but I can’t stay to eat. I’m swamped.” To the waitress, Rob said, “A crab cake sandwich with fries, to go, please. And put her pickle slices,” he tilted his head in Kate’s direction, “on my sandwich.”

“Crab cake sandwich with Greek salad, and, yes, you can put my pickles on his sandwich.” In response to the confused look on the waitress’s face, Kate added, “Just tell Mac the order’s for Kate and Rob. He’ll understand.”

As far as Kate was concerned, the owner of Mac’s Place was family. Their parents had been best friends and they had grown up together, along with Kate’s three siblings. When his parents had died in a car accident, Mac had turned their corner pub into a full-blown restaurant.

Kate and Rob regularly met there for lunch on Wednesdays, unless Rob was unable to shake free from his duties as a partner in a thriving law firm. In addition to Kate’s connection to the owner, Mac’s Place served the best crab cake in Towson–which was saying something in Maryland, a state known for its crab cakes.

“I’m sorry I didn’t realize sooner that I wasn’t going to be able to spare the time for lunch. I thought I had things under control with this case that’s going to court tomorrow. But today, Murphy’s Law has been in full play.”

Since Ed’s death, Rob had made every effort to keep things from interfering with his Wednesday lunch dates with Kate. He and his wife were quite aware that they were her lifeline to sanity. They did their best to provide her with support and a sense of connection with the world outside of diapers and two o’clock feedings.

“I understand,” Kate said. “You didn’t need to come over in person. You could’ve just called.”

“Actually, I have a huge favor to ask, and I figured it would be easier to explain face to face than over the phone. Aunt Betty’s emergency requires that she get up to New York to her publisher’s office by Friday morning. Her son is out of the country, and my court case will probably last well into next week. It’s a complicated custody battle, and the children will be at physical risk if things don’t go our way.

“I can’t possibly get away, and Aunt Betty doesn’t fly anymore. She gets airsick. She was calling to get a ride to the train station. But as spry as she is, I can’t really see her dragging a suitcase on and off trains by herself. Besides I think she needs someone to go with her who can advocate for her. I’m afraid the publisher’s lawyers are just going to steam roll right over her and do whatever they think is expedient.”

“Okay, I can see this coming. The huge favor is you want me to go with her. Liz can’t go?”

“She’s swamped at work right now too. Big project deadline coming up next Tuesday. She’s been working practically 24/7.”

Rob hesitated. He wasn’t at all comfortable with what he was asking of his friend, but worry for his aunt was twisting in his gut. “Kate, I know it’s a lot to ask but I’m really concerned about the situation. Aunt Betty’s been accused of plagiarizing part of her latest novel.”

“Oh, no!” Kate thought for a moment. “I’d love to help but I don’t want to leave Maria alone with the baby that long. We’re talking a couple days here, to get up there and back. Maria’s English is so poor, if something happened, she wouldn’t be able to deal with it.”

“I was thinking about that on my way over here. How would you feel about having Maria and the baby come stay with us while you’re gone? We can set them up in the spare bedroom downstairs. Samantha’s at loose ends at the moment. She’s been laid off from her summer job. I thought I could hire her to help Maria out. She’s had a few years of Spanish in school. And if they have any problems, Liz and I are just a phone call away.”

Kate considered that plan. After a couple years of rebelliousness, Rob and Liz’s youngest daughter was headed into her senior year of high school and was maturing into a responsible young woman. But Sam at loose ends was probably still a scary concept for her parents. The arrangement Rob was proposing killed two birds with one stone.

Still Kate was struggling with maternal guilt. The baby was totally comfortable with Maria now, she reasoned, and Samantha adored the little girl. Edie would certainly not be deprived of attention. Kate had to admit that her hesitation was more about her own resistance to being away from her little one.

Then a countering guilty thought occurred to her. She never would have gotten through the months after Eddie’s death, not to mention single parenthood, without Rob and Liz’s support. She felt like they had adopted her into their family. And now they needed her help. How could she refuse?

Kate had hesitated too long. Rob started to backpedal. “I’m sorry, Kate, I shouldn’t have asked this of you. It’s too much. I’ll think of something else…”

“No, I’ll do it,” Kate quickly interrupted him. “I was feeling kind of bored lately anyway. This will provide a little change of pace for a couple days.”

Just as Rob finished giving Kate the details of the plagiarism accusation, Mac appeared next to their table. He was a wiry man, a bit on the short side but with a ramrod straight spine, thanks to the decade he had spent as a Green Beret. A good part of his jeans and faded Army tee-shirt were covered by a grimy apron.

“Here’s your crab cake and salad, sweet pea,” he said, using his childhood nickname for Kate as he placed a plate in front of her. “And for the gentleman, a pickle sandwich with crab cake garnish.” There was a twinkle in his blue eyes as he dropped a white paper bag in front of Rob.

Kate snickered. Rob, the pickle addict, gave Mac a mock scowl.

Standing up, Rob fished some bills out of his wallet to cover his share of the lunch tab. Then he leaned over and kissed Kate on the forehead. “Thanks a million, sweetheart. It’s a load off my mind to know Aunt Betty’s in good hands. If you run into any problems, call me.”

Rob picked up the bag and headed for the door. “See ya later, Mac.”

Kate’s catch-up-on-life chat with Mac was cut short by a loud crash coming from the kitchen. As he raced off, Rose dropped onto the bench across from Kate.

“Where’d Rob go?” she asked, disappointment in her voice.

“He couldn’t stay. Prepping for a big case,” Kate managed to get out around the bite of succulent crab cake she had just taken. She rolled her eyes in pleasure as she licked tartar sauce off her lip.

“You know how I’ve been talking about quitting the force.” Rose was normally fairly reserved but today her chocolate brown eyes were sparkling with excitement. “Well, I’m gonna do it. I’m working on getting my private investigator’s license.” White teeth flashed, momentarily transforming her serious and rather plain features into a face a beauty queen would envy.

“Wow!” Kate beamed back at her. “Have you turned in your badge then?”

Rose shook her head. “Can’t yet. Need the income. But I’ve started my training. Have to work under a licensed PI for a couple years. You remember Skip?”

“Of course I remember Skip.” He had been Kate’s bodyguard, one of three hired by Rob when they had realized Eddie’s killer was also trying to kill them. Skip Canfield, who was six-five and built like Hulk Hogan, had turned out to have as much brain as brawn and had helped them track down the killer.

“He has his PI license now. Got it about a year ago. I’m training with him. Helping out on investigations when I’m off duty.” Rose paused for breath. “He and I are talking about starting our own agency. Keep that under your hat though. He doesn’t want his boss to find out yet.”

“Hot damn, that’s a great idea. Then you won’t have to deal with bureaucracies or supervisors ever again.”

“Exactly.” Rose’s face broke out again in a brilliant smile.

Kate knew her young friend did not suffer fools gladly. She’d come close to resigning from the Baltimore County Police Department during the investigation into Eddie’s murder, due to the incompetence of her then superior officer. And her Army career had been aborted when her application to the military police was turned down on the basis of her height.

Ever since then Rose saw red whenever anyone called her petite. She much preferred Kate’s word,
compact
, to describe her short, sturdy body that was well-endowed in all the right places.

Kate popped the last bite of her crab cake sandwich into her mouth, then glanced at her watch. “I better get going.”

“See ya later.” Rose flashed yet another grin.

As Kate headed home to get nanny and baby organized for their stay at the Franklins, she struggled again with maternal guilt. Samantha adored Edie and vice versa, she reminded herself. Her little girl would be fine.

And it’ll only be for two days
, thought an unsuspecting Kate.

T
he next morning, Kate was zipping along I-83 toward Pennsylvania. Traffic going in her direction was light by comparison to the rolling back-up on the other side, as interstate commuters headed to their jobs in Towson or other parts of the Baltimore area. The outside temperature was already soaring due to a July heat wave.

Kate hoped to get to Betty’s retirement community in Lancaster by ten, take a short break and be back on the road again by ten-thirty. That should get them to Newark, New Jersey, by a little after lunchtime.

Kate normally found driving relaxing but only the insane, in her professional opinion, enjoyed driving in New York. She and Betty would take the train from Newark into the city and, with any kind of luck, be checked into their hotel by four that afternoon. Then an early dinner and a good night’s sleep so Betty would be fresh the next day for her meeting.

As she drove, Kate occupied her mind by imagining different scenarios with the lawyers and how she would handle them. This was a technique she used with clients to rehearse anticipated confrontations. Imagine the worst case scenario and figure out how you will deal with it, so you will go into the situation calm and confident.

In this case, the tricky part was that Kate had to advocate for Betty without usurping the older woman’s autonomy. Ultimately any decisions were Betty’s to make. But Rob was concerned that the publisher’s lawyers would see his aunt as a sweet little old lady and would try to push her into doing something she didn’t want to do. Kate’s job, in addition to chauffeuring, was to help Betty back them off, if the meeting started to go in an undesirable direction.

Kate grinned to herself. If Betty was anything like the other Franklin women she knew, the folks in New York were going to discover that this sweet little old lady was not all that easy to push around.

As she took the exit for US 30, Kate realized her mental rehearsals were moving from prudent preparation to obsessive ruminating. It was time to think about something else. Her adorable daughter, Edwina Elizabeth Rosa Huntington–named after her dead father and the two women who had helped catch his killer–was always a good topic for inner contemplation.

Better not go there this morning, however, or she would be turning around and heading back home, abandoning Betty to her fate.

At the thought of Edie, Kate felt a slight tugging sensation in her breasts. She had just finished weaning the baby to a bottle and formula the previous weekend, in anticipation of her return to work. Guilt poked at her heart. Was she a bad mother? Going back to work when her child was still so little, weaning her because she couldn’t face the idea of pumping breast milk every day at lunchtime. And now gallivanting off to Pennsylvania.

You’re a great mom, love. Our baby girl is just fine,
her late husband’s voice echoed in her head.