Authors: Cheryl Richards
He looked up and smiled. “Me
too.” He pet Rufus. “Okay, that's it. Movie time. Grab your soda.” He took the
bag of popcorn and a can of soda for himself.
As if he understood, Rufus
followed us into the living room and jumped on the arm of the
couch.
“So what are we watching
tonight?” I said sitting down, placing my soda on a fishing magazine on the
coffee table.
“A surprise.” He sat down next
to me and hit the remote. The DVD began.
“
In the Good Old Summertime
?”
I asked. “I love this movie. You like musicals?”
“Some. Just old movies in general.
Thought you might like this one seeing as your name is part of the title.”
“Aren’t you sweet?”
He put his arm around me and I
moved closer to him. Rufus crept over and stuck his head in the popcorn bag. He
retrieved a kernel and pulled it out of the bag onto Lloyd’s lap. He munched on
it leaving white crumbs.
“Is there anything he won't
eat?” I asked in amazement, reaching into the popcorn bag.
“Not that I know of,” he said
with pride. He reached over and turned off the lamp on the end table. “But then
he hasn't tasted your cooking."
I glanced up and he was grinning ear to ear.
“Better acquire a taste for it Gumby pants. I need a
lot of guitar lessons.” With that, I smugly tossed the handful of popcorn into
my mouth.
Chapter
54
Wednesday,
February 29th
The sound of a newspaper hitting a door
woke me from a sound sleep. A ray of light lit the carpeting in front of me.
The television was on, displaying the menu for the movie we were watching the
previous evening. We had fallen asleep on the couch; Lloyd’s heavy,
sleep-deadened arm lay across my waist. I heard his soft breathing and hated to
wake him, but I needed to go home to get ready for work. Maybe due to his sixth
sense, Rufus jumped down from his rocking chair, stretched and walked over. He
let out a meow, or in his case, a raow, loud enough to wake his human pet.
Lloyd stirred
behind me. “Sunny?” he said softly. “Are you up?”
“Paper boy woke
me.” I sat up on the edge of the couch. “I don’t know what time it is, but I
need to get home to change for work.”
“Yeah, just give
me a second to wake up. I think the paper is delivered around five.” He sat up,
rubbed his eyes, and swung his legs off the couch.
“Happy Leap Year,”
I said, giving him a quick peck on the mouth. “Take your time, I’ll go get
dressed and feed Rufus.” I ruffled his hair and went into his bedroom to
change.
By the time I was
putting my nylons back on, Lloyd was dressed and out the door to warm the
car. Either I’m the slowest mover in the morning, or he’s the quickest.
When I reached the
kitchen, Rufus impatiently yowled at me, standing by his food dish.
“You have food.
Rufus,” I said staring at the full dish. “I suppose you want some of that yummy
canned stuff.”
I rummaged through
the cabinet and pulled out a can of Fancy Feast tuna. Within seconds, Rufus was
rubbing on my leg, leaving nice black hairs on my stockings. I bent down and
plunked the tuna on top of his dry food. He finished it by the time I stood
back up. “You’ll get sick that way, big guy.” I patted him on the head and went
to get my coat.
As I came back
into the kitchen, Lloyd was ready to go. As usual, he held all the doors opened
for me. The temperature in his car was lukewarm. Based on the current weather,
I expected the temperature to be above average later in the day.
We were both
sleepy, so we listened to the radio instead of talking. The drive went quickly,
no traffic on the roads. When he pulled into my parking lot, I still had plenty
of time to get ready without being late. Too bad.
Lloyd walked me to
my apartment door. It wasn’t necessary and I could have told him not to bother,
but I enjoyed it and did not want him to change. I had enough years of Sam’s
stop and drop behavior to know a good thing when I had it.
“Thanks for
yesterday, sweetie. Do you want me to call you when Amy Foster arrives?”
“I plan on getting
there around your lunchtime. Call me on my cell if she comes before that,
okay?”
“Sure. It should
be an interesting day.”
“Just be careful,
and wait until either I’m there or Alan before you approach her.”
“Will do.” I
kissed him. “I love you.”
He kissed me back.
“Love you too, hon. See you later.”
As I opened the door to my apartment, I heard Brandi
singing a country tune at the top of her lungs. I tossed my coat on the back of
the couch and followed the sound. She was in bed, hunched over her knees
removing nail polish from her toenails. The fumes were nauseating this time of
morning.
“Hi, Sun,” she said glancing
up as I walked into my bedroom. “Gee, I never get to see you anymore. Was that
Lloyd who dropped you off?”
“Yeah.” I said taking off my
suit, while she talked.
“He’s so dreamy. Wish he was mine but I have
Jake. You know, my cowboy friend? He’s treating me to breakfast this morning.
That’s why I’m up so early. Did you know he’s a trucker? Owns his own rig.
Anyway, he’ll be gone for a few days, going out to Tennessee or somewhere, so
I’m meeting him at the truck stop for breakfast.”
She was talking a mile a minute. I suppose she
missed my company. “You sound chipper. Really like him, huh?”
“I do. Spends plenty of money on me too. More
than he does his wife. I could have gone along, if I didn’t have to work.”
I walked into her room. “He’s married?” I asked
alarmed. That’s all I needed was some irate woman pounding on my apartment
door.
She stopped what she was doing and looked up at
me. “So? I’m sure he’ll get a divorce if I ask him to.”
“It’s your life, Brandi. Just be careful.”
“Always careful Sun. See?” She opened a drawer
and pulled out an assortment of colorful condoms.
I smiled. “Not exactly what I meant but it makes
me feel better.” It did. At least I knew Sam had been protected from Brandi
cooties!
I stopped into Mr. Harper’s room while collecting the
census. Mr. Schroeder was sleeping soundly as I entered the room.
“Hello, Sunny,” said Mr. Harper, his smile, a beacon
in the poorly lit room.
“Hi, Mr. Harper.” I went over and sat next to him.
“How are you doing?”
“Can’t complain,” he said cheerfully.
“That’s good. I wanted to let you know, we received
the results from the lab tests. You were right,” I said softly. “There was foul
play.”
“How about that?” he replied, sadly. He looked over at
his roommate. “Will he be all right?”
“I think we caught on soon enough for him to make a
full recovery. Detective Leif, a friend of mine, is coming in this morning.
He’ll talk with you and Mr. Schroeder when he gets here.”
“That’s good. I’ll keep this quiet.”
I hugged him. “Thank you. May I get you anything
before I leave? Orange juice?”
He chuckled warmly. “No, Sunny. I’m fine. They tell me
I can leave tomorrow. I’ll miss your cheerful smile.”
“I’ll miss yours too,” I said with a smile. “Maybe I
can talk your son into bringing me over for a visit.”
“That would be nice. I knew Lloyd would like you.”
“I like him too.” I narrowed my eyes. “Hmm, did you
play matchmaker?”
“You’ll never know,” he said with
a wink.
Alan arrived at Ageless Grace thirty
minutes after nine. Apparently, the evidence I collected wasn’t enough, he
needed to catch Amy Foster in the act to ensure prosecution. I told him Mr.
Schroeder’s room number and escorted him to Phyllis’s office. The improvised
plan was for Alan to join Lloyd as one of Mr. Harper’s visitors. I was not to
call Amy Foster or discuss anything with her.
In other words,
stay away. Nothing doing. I mean seeing her hauled off in handcuffs was
rewarding but it wasn’t enough. If I couldn’t be part of the action when she
got busted, I at least wanted to be within earshot. I mean, I did most of the
investigative work. I deserved to be there. Maybe I’d sneak into the Medicare
wing once she showed up. I could look at somebody’s medical records or
something.
Concentrating on
my work was impossible. At ten, The Hawk called me into her office. As I walked
to her door, I kept my fingers crossed that Alan was still inside with her. I
took a deep breath and opened the door. He was gone, darn it.
“Sunny, close the
door and take a seat,” she said briskly.
One could not read
Phyllis’s facial expression; it was the same whether she was overjoyed with
your performance or ready to fire you. So I took a deep breath to relieve my
nerves and hoped for the best. Once seated across from her, she gave me a quick
assessment.
“We have certain
procedures, Summer for reporting elder abuse. The proper procedure is to tell
me, so I can decide whether or not to report the situation to the police. If it
is a violation, we are required to report the incident to the Division of
Quality Assurance immediately.”
Oops. I usually
talked to Donna during those boring seminars, so she could be telling the
truth. She had me in a corner. When all else fails, lie. “Since this was a
family member and not a member of the staff, I thought that procedure did not
apply.”
“You should have
let me make that determination. It is not your role to play detective.”
I wanted to kill
her, but I remained as polite as I could manage under the circumstances.
“I’m sorry. I
thought it better to determine if there was a criminal activity, and if so, its
nature, before accusing the individual involved. As it turns out, I may have
saved a man’s life.”
She gave me a
small, curt smile. “Summer, you’re not a doctor either. Stick to the bookkeeping.
From today forward, I’m personally handling Mr. Schroeder’s account. I want an
updated account of his balance before lunch. Do not talk to him or his family.
Am I understood?”
“Yes. May I leave
now?” I said bitterly.
“Yes. Leave the
door open.”
I pushed back my
chair and left her office in a hurry. My rising anger brought tears to my eyes
but I blinked them away. No way would I give her the satisfaction. I walked
straight to my office and closed the door.
I opened my cell
phone and dialed Lloyd. He answered on the first ring.
“Hi, what’s up?”
he said anxiously.
“My boss just
reprimanded me!” I said, my voice shaking with anger.
“What for?” he
said angrily. “She has no right to yell at you.”
“For playing
detective and doctor. Can you believe it? I’m so pissed.”
“What a bitch. Typical chain of command crap. I’m
saying something. You were only helping my dad.”
“Really, Lloyd, it’s not necessary.”
“The hell it isn’t,” he said fiercely. “My mind’s made
up. Is Alan there?”
No point arguing, so I
answered the question.
“I think he’s with your dad
but I’m not sure. I’ve been ordered to stay away from Mr. Schroeder and his
family—like
I’m
the murderer.”
“If it makes you
feel any better, I’ll let you play doctor with me.”
I laughed. “Now
that
makes me feel better.”
“Good. I’ll be
there at twelve-thirty. We can do lunch. What do you want?”
My thoughts turned to my appetite. “Um, cheeseburger
and fries?”
“Got it. Keep
your chin up, Sunny. We did the right
thing.”
“If you say so.”
“You think Alan
wants something to eat?”
“I think cops
always like free food.”
“I’ll pick
something up then. If he doesn’t want it, my dad can eat it.”
“Sounds good. See
you soon. I love you.”
“Love you too,
hon. Bye-bye.”
I hung up and
returned my phone to my handbag with a smile. If Phyllis wanted Mr. Schroder’s
case, she could have it. Let her try to get money from a daughter in prison!
At eleven fifteen, I stopped into Donna’s
office to give her the scoop on the upcoming action. Like me, she wanted an
excuse to watch the arrest.
“What if you look
at the medical records of a new admit with me? I can ask you some stupid
questions if anyone sees us by the nurses’ station.”
“Sure, that might
work. Come get me when you’re heading over.”