Julianna Morris - Undercover In Glimmer Creek

Being in charge was still rather new to her, and she tended to overthink everything. Besides, her father liked Gabe and he usually had good instincts about people. She needed to learn to trust that.

CHAPTER THREE

ON THURSDAY GABE went to the fitness center before dawn as he had the previous two mornings. He always started his day with exercise, but he had also discovered it was a good time to meet other Poppy Gold employees.

While he didn’t really need to question them—just listen as they chatted and teased each other—he was drawn into their conversations, regardless. It was the same with the employee lunchroom. They were a gregarious group.

“I heard you just got a new car,” he commented to Cheryl Clark as they ran side by side on the treadmills. Poppy Gold employees didn’t gossip about the guests, but they made up for it talking about each other. It was a great source of information.

“Yeah, a cherry-red Mercedes,” Cheryl said breathlessly. “Picked it up a few weeks ago. Brand-new. A real beauty.”

Gabe nearly missed a step. A Mercedes was an expensive vehicle for a low-level housekeeper, and he’d heard she was dating a guy who worked at the local drugstore—unlikely to have any wealth to share with her.

“Mercedes are nice cars,” he said. “I’ll have to take a look for it in the employee parking area.”

“That baby purrs like a kitten. I love it.” She switched to a cool-off pace. “That ass, Nate, thinks it’s stupid. He says I should have bought a truck like him, but I wanted something that says luxury. Besides, what do I need a truck for?”

Nate Dixon worked in the Poppy Gold maintenance division and had just bought a new, fully loaded truck. He’d proudly shown it off in the employee parking lot two days ago during lunch. Then he’d sniggered about Cheryl’s “snooty” choice. Before Gabe could ask what kind of car she’d chosen, one of the other employees had mentioned Nate boasting about paying off the house he’d bought a couple of years before.

The conversation had given Gabe two potential suspects—Poppy Gold employees spending well beyond their apparent income. He was still checking them out. There was nothing to explain their spending on the internet, but the local newspaper had only a limited online presence. He’d have to see if there were back issues at the library.

On the other hand, would Cheryl or Nate boast about their acquisitions if they had anything to hide?

Probably.

He’d dealt with a wide range of people over the years—dictators, spies, technology thieves—anything the navy chose to call on a SEAL to handle. His joint operations with the CIA had given him an even broader scope of experience. And one of the things he’d learned was that people liked to show off, whether it was their money, knowledge or power.

* * *

BY FRIDAY MORNING Lance had finished tilling a section of the ground that would be used for the new apple orchard, and he watched carefully as Mr. Connor showed him how to plant the saplings. He was grateful to Poppy Gold for hiring him and didn’t want to mess up, though the way they did things seemed weird. Why grow apples when you could just buy them at a grocery store?

“I’ve never heard of red astrachans,” he said.

Mr. Connor smiled. “Most people haven’t. They’re an heirloom apple. My grandmother grew up on a farm and loved both the red and white varieties. She always claimed they made the best pies. I told Tessa how good they’re supposed to be, so she suggested planting them at Poppy Gold.”

“You’ve never tasted one?”

“Afraid not. By the time I came along, my great-grandparents’ orchard had become a parking lot for a shopping center.” Mr. Connor handed him the shovel. “Think you can take it from here?”

“No problem,” Lance assured him.

Planting trees should be a piece of cake compared with cutting brush and digging out rocks. He’d never seen so many rocks, and the roots were even tougher to get out. Not that he minded. Doing all that cutting and digging sort of cleared his head.

He was especially proud of the wall he’d built with the rocks. Liam had mentioned they expected to build walls with the extra rocks and had been pleased when Lance had started the job without even being told.

It was weird living in a dinky joint like Glimmer Creek, though. He wasn’t even sure why he’d stopped there; he’d just wanted to get away from all the crap in Sacramento. If anything, he would have expected people in such a small town to be even snottier than in the city, figuring they wouldn’t like outsiders, but a lot of them were nice. Of course, a few still looked at him funny, especially when they saw his bike.

Jamie’s mom was a doctor and didn’t seem too sure of him, either—probably because a guy who dug out rocks wasn’t that impressive. But he wasn’t going to dig holes and cut brush forever; he’d promised Jamie that he would take care of her, and it was exactly what he planned to do.

Now he just had to figure out how.

Lance remembered the story about an old cow patty turning out to be gold and decided Jamie was right; kicking cow droppings probably wasn’t going to make him rich.

He’d never known anyone like her. The girls in high school had giggled all the time and teased him about being too quiet. But Jamie didn’t mind when he wanted to be quiet; they would just hold hands and take a walk or something.

Not that he’d dated many girls in school. He’d found out that most parents didn’t approve of their daughter going out with a foster kid, especially once they heard his dad was in prison. It was as if they thought you were damaged if you didn’t have a regular family. The school counselor had claimed he was exaggerating, but Lance didn’t think so. He’d never forgotten a story he’d read about how “amazing” it was that some rich guy had succeeded, despite growing up in foster homes. He may not have gotten good grades in school, but he wasn’t stupid.

Mr. Connor left and Lance began measuring out the proper distance to put between the trees, marking each spot before digging the second hole. Planting each tree took a while, and he was sweating by the time he finished planting the fourth red astrachan.

Just fourteen more to go, he thought, wiping his forehead. It might be easier to dig big holes than pull out rocks, but it was still hard work. For a moment he felt kind of dizzy, so he gulped down some water. Mr. Connor kept telling him to drink enough fluids, especially on a warm day, and would put extra sports drinks in his pack, just to be sure.

Lance put the bottle away and watered the fourth tree. Then he picked up the shovel and began digging a hole for the next one.

* * *

TESSA HURRIED OVER to Old City Hall midmorning. She was playing catch-up on her work as usual, but she wanted to greet the leader of the Talmadge Guild Association before the first meeting. The guild was now on its third visit, and while they could be fussy about their arrangements, they were nice people.

“Hi, Charlotte,” she called, spotting the chairwoman getting out of the courtesy shuttle they provided from the perimeter parking areas.

Charlotte Angstrom turned and smiled. “Good morning, Tessa. Did you orchestrate this lovely weather for us?”

Tessa grinned. “Absolutely. The ballroom is arranged for the banquet tonight and the concert hall for this afternoon’s meet and greet. Do you need any help getting set up?”

“I’d be happy to assist.” The unexpected sound of Gabe’s deep voice made Tessa jump, and she realized he’d come around the corner of Old City Hall, carrying a wide push broom.

Charlotte beamed. “How nice of you to offer. I’m Charlotte Angstrom,” she said.

“Gabe McKinley.”