Ginny Aiken - Suspicion

As he spoke, the sweet smile he liked so much brightened Steph’s pale face. “I’m so glad to hear that, Sheriff Benson. I’ve been doing what I can to educate the kids for the past few years.”

His heart kicked up its beat. “I can always use a partner in my camp.”

She gave a quick nod. “You’ve got one. Let’s get this creep.”

Easy, Hal, easy. She’s only promised to work with you to catch a mugger. But he was hungry for whatever he could get. He also knew if the Lord so willed, much could come from a tiny seed.

“Yes, let’s catch this creep before he strikes again, Steph Scott.”

The minute Hal uttered the words, a niggling thought crawled into the back of his mind and a hollow feeling into his gut. Just how did he plan to make good on his offer? He couldn’t imagine there’d be clues in the alley or footprints on the wet asphalt surface. There wouldn’t be fingerprints to lift since the mugger hadn’t touched anything but Steph’s back.

What if he couldn’t catch him?

He had not only an election to lose, but he also stood to lose the chance to know Steph better. He’d first noticed Steph in school, in third or fourth grade. He’d been too shy all through their teen years to approach her, even though his interest in her had only grown. Now, after all that time he really wanted to help her. And maybe get to know her. What better way to do that than to catch the guy who’d mugged her?

But, of course, there was always the possibility he’d fail. The creep might be long gone. Could he catch someone who’d left not a trace behind? Could he keep the light of trust in Steph Scott’s eyes from burning out?

On Wednesday, the day after the mugging, Steph spent the morning preparing prescription refills for residents at The Pines, a nearby retirement community, between the orders that came in over the phone or as regular drop-offs.

At two fifteen, Chad Adams, the new driver and deliveryman for Pharmaceutical Suppliers and Mr. Cooper’s much younger brother-in-law, came up to the counter and rapped his knuckles on the window.

“How’s it going, Steph?” he asked, scrubbing his ultrashort buzzed red hair.

“Same as always, Chad. Do you have a lot for me today?”

He chuckled. “Oh, yeah. Let me get to it, but first…” He plunked down his daily ration of red licorice ropes.

Steph rang it up, gathered his dollar and change and headed to the back room to check off the purchase order as Chad brought in the product. Once they were done, she sent Jimmy to sort and restock shelves as needed.

“Well, hello there, boss!” Darcy Thomas, Steph’s best friend since forever, burst into the store, her usual energy radiating from her every pore. She blew a bubble, and the pink stuff popped, never catching her lips or cheeks. She had a gift of sorts. “Whatcha got for me to do today?”

Darcy’s mother had died a little more than a year ago. The numerous courses of cancer treatments had wiped out any savings the two women had accumulated, leaving Darcy with a pile of bills to pay, including funeral expenses. Steph had offered her friend the opportunity to earn a few extra dollars by helping her on Wednesdays, when the store tended to be its busiest and she and Jimmy couldn’t keep up by themselves.

At four o’clock, Jimmy ran past her pharmacy counter in a hurry to stow his broom in the back storage room. “They’re here, Miss Steph!”

She glanced up and down the aisles of her store then turned to Jimmy. “Looking good! You did a nice job. Every shelf is full, and the aisles are clear and clean. We’re ready for them.”

Within seconds, the bell she’d hung on the front door clanged, announcing her customers’ arrival. A river of senior citizens flowed in, each one with a shopping plan in mind.

“Hey there, sunshine!” Mr. Mason Cutler called out. “It’s my lucky day. If I have to take blood pressure medicine, at least I get to see the prettiest girl in the Carolinas whenever I pick it up.”

Steph handed him his bag of pills. “You’re too much of a flatterer, Mr. Cutler. But I love you anyway.”

Miss Patience Doolittle, former school principal and professional spinster, as she identified herself, sidled up to the window. “Don’t you pay any attention to the old coot, Steph. He’ll yap your ear off if you let him.”

It never changed. The two should have married decades ago, but for one reason or another they hadn’t figured out they couldn’t live without bouncing ideas and arguments off each other.

Yet.

She still held out hope for them.

Steph smiled. “Here you go, Miss Doolittle. I have your arthritis meds ready for you.”

“Hey, Steph!” Darcy called. “Any more of those padded insoles? Seems everyone’s dumping their sandals for real shoes, and the things are flying outta here.”

Steph gave her directions to the stash of extra foot-care products. Then she went back to her queue of senior citizens.

The next hour rushed by as it always did. Before long, the antacids shelf was bare, the lotion, cologne and dusting powder area lay ravaged, and the neat pyramid of nutritional supplement shakes she’d had Jimmy construct ten feet away from her counter had been reduced to its two bottom rows.

Dawn Stallman, activities manager at The Pines, plunked down a bottle of shampoo, two boxes of tissues and a non-prescription antihistamine product on the counter. “I think they’re about ready to move on to our next invasion.”

Steph rang up the handful of items. “I don’t mind them. I think they’re sweet and wonderful.”

“Oh, they are. But they’re the quirkiest bunch you could imagine, too. And I love them.”

With a smile, Steph handed Dawn her bagged purchases. “I’ll be out to give my talk on skin care on Saturday afternoon.”

“Thanks. You’ve really made a difference. Most of them are taking better care of themselves since you started your preventive-care program. And you will touch on diabetics’ skin problems, right? They listen to you.”

Steph nodded. “It’s not a big deal. They’ve all done so much for their families and the town…the least I can do is help them raise their comfort level now that their bodies have begun to give out.”

After a hearty round of goodbyes, Dawn marched her troops out to the retirement community’s bus, and Darcy darted off to Miss Tabitha Cranston’s boarding house, where she worked as the housekeeper. Scott’s Pharmacy grew silent again—too silent. Steph loved what she did. And every struggle it had taken to get to where she was these days had been well worth the effort. She felt God had called her to serve Him by caring for His children’s medical needs.

“Hey, Miss Steph,” Jimmy said. “Would you just take a look at this? It’s ruined. Who would do such a thing?”

Steph leaned across her counter behind the pharmacy window and reached for the blood pressure cuff box the teen held out. One corner had been cut away with almost surgical neatness and precision. Her stomach sank.

This was the sixth damaged package they’d found after four weeks’ worth of Pines residents’ Wednesday shopping trips. Problem was, Steph couldn’t imagine any of her seniors in the role of vandal.

She sighed. “Let me have it. I’ll have to check it out.”

When she’d opened for business, Steph had been determined to offer the most reasonable prices possible and still make enough profit to keep the pharmacy open.

In five years of business, she’d avoided all vandalism. Sure, every once in a while she noticed the typical shoplifting kind of attrition, but no actual malicious damage. Until now. These many ruined items in four weeks weren’t typical.

Then again, there was nothing typical about the night before. She’d never felt any danger while at her store, but she’d been mugged. A thought crossed her mind. She stared at the box with its cutout on the side. Could there be a connection between the mugging and the vandalism? Should she report this to the detectives? It didn’t seem particularly important, but they’d told her to notify them if she thought of any detail, no matter how seemingly insignificant.