Chapter 13
Candice the snowgirl. This year we haven't had the right conditions (warm enough days with good packing type snow) to make friends in our yard.
Hidden Secrets
Leona Palmer Haag
Chapter 13
After arriving in Baltimore Jenn took a cab to her
hotel and went directly to her room. She set her bag inside the closet on the
floor and turned and bolted the door behind her. She let out a long sigh and
looked around. The room was empty. Aloneness crept over her again, sending a
cold chill racing along her spine.
"Oh, this is too much like all the hotels I stayed
in last summer," she muttered aloud as she tried to shake off the spell of
dread surrounding her. She tossed her purse onto the bed and set her carry on
bag beside it. And then she froze. The curtain fluttered again.
A battle began raging in Jenn's mind. Should she check
behind the curtain or run into the hall and look for protection? What were the
chances that someone was hiding behind the thick layers of fabric? Was someone
else hiding in the bathroom or crouched behind the tall entertainment armoire?
Jenn slowly let her breath out as she watched the
curtains move. Rhythmically. By the heating vent not far above it. She slowly
crossed the room and whipped the curtain aside. Through the window a bleak
January afternoon in New England greeted her, complete with dismal gray clouds,
heaps of dirty snow piled along the edges of the parking lot below, and
skeleton trees reaching skyward is if seeking mercy.
Jenn snapped the curtains shut to keep the sight out.
She turned to face the bathroom. Her heart pounded as she marched across the
room. This was no time to be scared, she told herself over and over as her
steps slowed into hesitant steps before faltering at the doorway where she
halted. Frozen. Just flip the light switch, she commanded herself as if she was
clueless about what she ought to do next. But her hands were both frozen likes
blocks of ice. She commanded again and the bathroom was flooded with light when
Jenn obeyed herself the third time. She sucked in a deep breath and slowly
exhaled." Okay. Everything is fine in here." Her voice escaped in a
whisper. She looked under the sink cabinets and then behind the shower curtain.
With renewed confidence, Jenn marched back into the
bedroom and searched every inch. Inside drawers, under the bed, to the back of
the closet. When finished, she sat down and drummed her fingernails on the
adjacent tabletop. She took a dozen deep breaths and willed herself to let them
out slowly.
Feeling somewhat settled, Jenn called home. Nick was
in the middle of cleaning the inside of his car and Katie was cheerily helping
him by smudging the already spotlessly shiny windows.
Jenn laughed. "It sounds like
you two are getting along great! Welcome to my life!"
"Yeah, it's working out. So far I haven't pulled
out handcuffs."
"Nick!" Jenn squealed, just to let him know
she didn't approve.
Nick laughed. "Don't worry, I haven't got her
size. Want to talk to her for a minute? It will keep her hands busy so I can
finish my car. I’ll do your car next so call back in another hour or so or I
can't guarantee your windows will be clean, too."
Jenn laughed. "Put her on. I'm so homesick I
could walk home and be there before dinner!"
Nick laughed before handing over the phone. After Jenn
listened to Katie chatter for a few minutes, Nick came back on the line. He
assured her all was well on the home front and asked about her flight and if
her hotel bed was soft enough. She lounged on it and reported. After they hung
up Jenn slowly stood up. It was time to descend to the conference room to check
in, and she wished she was visiting a dentist instead.
She took a few steps toward the door before her legs
turned to jelly and her hands went clammy. She stopped in the bathroom and
appraised herself in the mirror and decided to brush her hair and refresh her
lipstick and maybe change earrings. The stall only lasted a few minutes. Ready
or not, now it was definitely time to go.
Minutes later, with a name tag dangling around her
neck, Jenn joined over two dozen other training participants seated in a circle
facing each other. The doors shut and training began with introductions. The
only thing Jenn could think to say about herself was that she was married, had
a two-year old daughter and managed a day care center. In simple words it sounded
too boring to be worth a yawn, but it was the life she loved.
But introductions were different than she expected,
and started with her.
"Jenn, you grew up in a trailer park on the
outskirts of Houston. You won a fifty-dollar gift certificate and blue ribbon
in a music contest in junior high school and used the money to buy text books.
In high school you loved debate and excelled, taking second in district
competition with your partner. You chose early childhood education as your
college major and received a four-year scholarship. During college you often
worked two or three jobs and sold your blood to make ends meet. Is there
anything you'd like to add?"
Jenn's jaw had dropped as the training leader, Bob,
shared things about her life she’d forgotten long ago. She recovered and
nodded. "I have just one question. Where did you get that
information?"
Bob laughed. "Ahh, you all have an interesting
story or two from your past, and I did a little digging to find them out."
Bob went on to say something interesting about the rest of the participants. It
shed new light on each person in the circle.
When it looked like Bob was finished he said, "I
bet you think I'm through with you because we’ve gone all the way around the
circle, but I'm not. You're to the point where you might remember each others
name and face, but we're going to make the recognition solid. Unforgettable.
Ready?" He turned to Jenn and said, "Do you mind if I start with you
again?"
Jenn shrugged. "Why not? I have a feeling you
won't leave me out no matter who is first or last."
Bob faced the other participants and said, "Last
year Jenn and her daughter were abducted and carried across state lines. She
escaped and held her abductor at bay with her handgun, which I'm told she's
good with, but not a dead-eye. A few days later she disarmed several assailants
and held them hostage, one of whom was her husband. Is that true?"
Color raced up Jenn's neck. "Yes, but I let my
husband keep his gun."
"I wasn’t given that information, so let’s
continue. After she blew up an airplane or two…"
Jenn interrupted. "I didn't blow up any airplanes."
Bob laughed. "Oh, that's right. Someone else did
that. You only observed the mayhem. Now
let's move on to Diane. She actually blew up an airplane."
The woman named Diane laughed. "Bob, tell them
how big it was before you mislead everyone."
Bob grinned. "It was a remote control plane, but
now you've ruined my story. I'll call your husband tonight and gather more
incriminating information." He turned to the group and said, "Let
this be a lesson to the rest of you—I will dig, and dig deep. Now listen up.
Angela, it's your turn. You won't interrupt and ruin things, will you?"
"Are you going to tell everyone I killed a
cop?" Angela asked.
Jenn squirmed. What a group she had been thrust into!
All she wanted to do was run.
Bob groaned and tossed his handful of papers in the
air and they all fluttered down like wilted pieces of over-sized confetti.
"Go ahead, Angela, you’ve ruined everything. Tell us about it in your own
words," he said humorously in resignation. "I'll get fired when they
find out I didn't do my job properly because you all took over."
"I want to hear your version, Bob," Angela
said, "but please make sure you add that it wasn't really my fault."
Bob shrugged. He scooped up his papers. "Okay,
folks, it wasn't her fault, but here goes. Angela, innocent Angela, very
innocent Angela…"
Everyone laughed.
Bob held up his hands for silence. "Supposedly very
innocent Angela rammed a motorcycle officer with her assault weapon—i.e., her car—shoving
him into a power pole during a high speed chase. Now, supposedly very Innocent
Angela, you took the wind out of the story, so give us the correct one."
Angela laughed and turned to the group. "I was
innocent, very innocent, I swear. I just happened to be in the wrong place at
the wrong time. If the cop behind me hadn't rammed into my car, I never would
have hit the motorcycle cop, thus, he wouldn't have died. So, was the cop
behind me really responsible, or was it the man who was fleeing? Or should we
blame my last client at the saloon that day who said the red I'd tinted her hair
wasn't cherry enough and made me redo it? You know, if I'd left work at
seven-thirty instead of eight-fifty, it never would have happened."
"Who should we blame?" Bob asked the group.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Angela said, breaking
into the commotion that followed. "Let me finish my story. I met the cop's
brother at the funeral—yes, I’m a decent soul and paid my respects. Anyway, he
asked me out and about eight months later we got married. His mom sends me
birthday presents and calls me honey. Now what do you think of me killing a
cop?"
Bob broke into the chatter that followed and said,
"Okay, folks, next target. Sam, are you ready?" He waved a paper over
his head and chuckled. The group hushed down and Sam helplessly shrugged and
said, "I never killed a cop and I've never had a gun, so I suppose it will
be pretty boring."
Bob's eyebrows shot up and he said, "Arson is
boring?"
Sam groaned and hung his head. "I was four, Bob,
and a bystander!"
Jenn kicked off her shoes that night onto the floor of
the closet. She shook her head and laughed as she shrugged out of her sweater
and into her nighties. There was nothing boring about the training group she
belonged to, or Bob, the leader. There was no way she was going to yawn during….
Jenn yawned. It was after midnight. Time had flown, and not a moment had been scary or dull.
She checked the deadbolt, double checked it, then crashed on the bed as she
flipped open her phone to call home.
End Chapter 13
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