Chapter 16

I t had taken a little bit to calm Mack down last night. After he’d gotten over the laughter, and she told him about what she’d done, he was angry. But the fact that she’d allowed Pengo to come and go without any issues made Mack look at her sideways. She shrugged. “I wasn’t trying to cause him any trouble.”

“But neither were you trying to do him any favors,” he pointed out.

“I’m not sure that it has to be both,” she pointed out. “I mean, obviously if something is going on, and this other poor guy did the time…”

“But he also did time for his own crimes, and so, while it’s not necessarily something that we want to happen, I’m sure it’s not unusual for somebody to get a B&E rolled into their other charges, even though they say that they didn’t do it.”

“Right,” she agreed, “and I get that. Once you start protesting, nobody will listen to you anymore.”

“Exactly,” Mack confirmed. “So, sure, it’s possible Brandon may not have done this one crime, but it’ll be pretty hard to prove it.”

“It’s just the injustice of it all.” He rolled his eyes. “I know what you will say,” she interrupted, waving her hand at him. “If he hadn’t done any of the crimes, it would be a different story.”

“Yes, and I agree injustices make us mad and angry, and we don’t like them, but they do happen,” he pointed out.

She nodded. “And, of course, it wasn’t in your jurisdiction,” she reminded him, “so it’s not as if you’re responsible.”

“I know I’m not responsible,” he said, with a shrug, as he studied her. “That doesn’t mean I want to see this go down in any jurisdiction. We do the best we can, but none of us are perfect.”

“And I understand that too,” she added.

And now here it was, the next morning, with the party tonight, but Doreen was trying to figure out just what she was supposed to do with the Pengo information. When her phone rang, she didn’t recognize the number, but it looked somewhat familiar, so she answered hesitantly.

“There wasn’t anything in here that mattered,” Pengo stated in frustration.

“What were you expecting?” she asked, puzzled. “I said nothing much was there. It was just a file that Brandon was trying to get somebody to look at. Didn’t I tell you all that before? Something about one of the charges that he had been charged with and I guess convicted of,” she said, looking for the language she wanted, “but he didn’t do that one crime, and it bothered him, and he was looking for the guy who did do it to be charged.”

Then came an ugly silence. “Is that what you’re trying to do?” he snapped. “Get me charged for something I didn’t do?”

“If you didn’t do it, then you won’t get charged,” she stated. “Why would you?”

“Brandon didn’t do it, and he not only got charged, but he served time for it.”

“Right,” she agreed, “which is hardly fair.”

“Wait, hang on a minute. What are you talking about?”

“I mean, he did the time, as you pointed out, and he shouldn’t have.”

“He also got off for good behavior, so it’s not as if he really did all the time.”

She frowned at that. “That’s not the point. Somebody ,” she said, with emphasis, “got away with a crime.”

“ Great . Lady, do you know how many people in this town get away with crimes on a regular basis?”

“I really don’t like to think about that,” she replied carefully. “I was told this was a lovely town.”

“Sure, it is a lovely town. Honestly, it’s a great town,” he admitted grudgingly. “But, if you’re thinking that crimes have gone unnoticed and unsolved, you wouldn’t be wrong.”

“I’m sure there have been,” she conceded, “and I’m doing my best to clean up what I can.”

Another moment of silence passed, then he asked, “Is that what you’re trying to do with me?” Then his tone turned ugly. “Are you thinking you’ll stick me with some of these crimes that Brandon did?”

“I’m not saying that at all,” she replied, “because, if you didn’t have anything to do with it, then it’s got nothing to do with you at all.”

Pengo paused again. “I don’t think I like this.”

“Okay, so you don’t like it,” she said, “and I get that. I get that a lot actually. Though I’m really not sure why people get upset with me.”

“Maybe because you keep interfering in their lives,” he snapped.

She thought about that, even while he was ranting and raving. “I guess it is kind of interfering, isn’t it?” she noted and then shrugged. “Oh, well.”

“What do you mean, Oh, well ?” he asked. “Brandon died. Isn’t that enough?”

“The thing is,… did he have to die? I don’t think so.”

“What do you mean, have to die ?” he asked in exasperation. “I mean, he served time, and he died, sorry. Too bad, so sad, right?”

She almost wanted to laugh at his rhyme, but it was obvious that he was angry at her for even bringing up such a suggestion. “It’s not as if I expect you to confess or anything. A guy like you won’t do that anyway.”

“What do you mean, a guy like me ?” he asked in a sharp tone. “There you go, already judging me, as if I’ve committed some horrific crime, and I haven’t.”

“Good,” she declared, satisfaction in her tone. “Then you’ve got nothing to worry about.”

“Look, lady. If you’ll start interfering in my life, I’m warning you now.… Just stay out of it. Stay out of my life, stay out of my world, and stay away from me. I don’t want anything to do with you at all.”

“ You called me,” she retorted, “and you came to my house, uninvited . So obviously it’s you who wants something to do with me.”

“You can absolutely take me out of your mind right now. I don’t want anything more to do with you, not now, not ever.” And, with that, he ended the call.

If she was a little more thin-skinned, she would take offense at the way some of these guys talked to her. However, since she understood that they were more afraid than anything else, she was able to let them off the hook for their attitude and behavior.

When he phoned back a little bit later, he added, “I mean it. Stay out of my life.” And he ended the call again.

She stared down at the phone and shook her head. He’s still the one who called her, so it’s not as if she had to report it to Mack or anything. But when she got a text from Pengo next, which repeated, I mean it , she responded with a text. You’re the one initiating all conversations with me,… three times now. So obviously something is going on here.

He phoned her back this time. “Get out of my life or else.”

“Is that a threat?” she asked, with interest.

His tone turned ugly. “It wasn’t, but, if you continue this harassment, it could be.” And, with that, he ended the call again.

She wasn’t even sure how she was harassing him because it felt as if he was the one harassing her. But she hadn’t ever been in this position before and was pretty sure Mack wouldn’t be happy with her. But then, that went along with everything else in her life these days. Just when she was trying to help people, everybody tended to take things the wrong way.

Shrugging, she put that out of her mind. Then she heard Nan in her head, nagging at her to wear a nice outfit for the Christmas party. Doreen sighed. Nan had been right. Doreen needed something special to wear to the party, and that was about to become an issue she would have to resolve fast. She still had some of Nan’s clothes here, but was there something that she could wear?

She pondered that as she headed upstairs. This would be better than going shopping, or so she thought. She didn’t know when she’d become somebody who hated to shop—maybe when she realized that her pocketbook money didn’t reach the level of her previous credit cards anymore. Her husband had always insisted that she be dressed properly , and he always made the final call as to what properly meant. But here she was, trying to figure out something on her own, and it was exhausting to say the least.

She went through Nan’s closet and found a black dress. Black might be okay but not for a Christmas party. It shouldn’t be something with a funeral vibe, or at least that’s what she thought Nan would say. The trouble with shopping in Nan’s closet was that Nan liked bright colors, bold and dramatic. Yet not one red was among them or even a Christmassy-looking print. There was, however, a really deep forest-green dress.

She pulled that out and pondered it. Maybe if she had something to go with it, like a cream-colored jacket and matching heels, or she could even do red—but that might just make her look too much like a Christmas tree. She went through her closet and with delight pulled out a few of things she had saved from when she’d originally moved in. Sure enough, she found what she thought would be a really nice outfit.

Putting it on, she twirled around and smiled, then quickly took a selfie and sent it to Nan. Nan phoned her back, and she seemed a little choked up.

“Oh, my dear, you look absolutely lovely.”

Doreen smiled and thanked the Lord because it had been one maddening task, and she was dreading the thought of having to do it all over again. “I was afraid you would tell me that it wasn’t Christmassy enough.”

“No, I think that’ll be just lovely. I bought that dress so many years ago.”

“Is it too old-looking, do you think?”

“No, that style has come back around, to be honest,” Nan noted. “It’s one of those timeless pieces you can just wear and never have to worry,” she murmured. “A little bit of jewelry wouldn’t hurt though.”

“I’ll take a look,” she promised. “One more thing, Nan.”

“Yes, dear?”

“I never found any mistletoe for the party.”

“Oh, that’s fine, child. As long as you are there, that’s all I want.” And, with that, she ended the call.

When a knock came on her door, she ran downstairs, and it was the courier with her grandmother’s necklace.

Now Doreen wanted to wear it for the Christmas party, but, if she did, she couldn’t surprise Nan with it for her Christmas gift, so that was out. But it did bring back memories of a couple other pieces she may have saved. They weren’t expensive. They were just nice little pieces with more special memories than anything. One was a gold chain, made up of five strands together. She put that on and smiled. This would do just fine.

She quickly changed, put away her great-grandmother’s necklace to wrap up later, headed downstairs, hearing another noise at the front door. Expecting it to be another parcel delivery, she walked over and opened the door without any warning. And there was Pengo.

He stood there, glaring.

She shook her head. “You’re in danger of becoming a real bore. I get that you keep telling me that I’m the one who’s bothering you, but the truth of the matter is that you’re the one bothering me.”

“I am not,” he snapped.

“Hate to break it to you, but here you are on my doorstep yet again.”

“I want you to leave it alone.”

She frowned. “I’m not pushing it to begin with. I just wanted you to know that your friend was dead and look what trouble that got me.”

“He wasn’t my friend.”

She stared at him and nodded. “That’s obvious from the way you’ve been acting.”

He flushed and added, “Look, lady. I don’t want anything to do with this. I didn’t have anything to do with the original crime, and I don’t want anything to do with it now.”

“Interesting,” she muttered, studying him, but, the trouble was, she believed him. She sighed. “Okay, if you say you didn’t, you didn’t.”

“So that’s it?” he asked.

“Sure, I’m not pursuing this anyway. It obviously won’t go anywhere,” she explained, with a shrug. “However, if you do know something, it’s definitely to your benefit to tell me.”

“No way,” he replied in a more relaxed tone. “You’re just the type to pick it up and go cause trouble for somebody else.”

“Somebody else who may have gotten away with murder?” she asked.

“Murder?” he gasped, and his eyebrows shot up. “Hey, who said anything about murder? That was a robbery, way back when.”

“Yeah, it sure was,” she conceded, “but your friend Brandon may have been murdered over it.”