Classic Revenge (17 page)

"I've been giving that some thought. We are going to
have to pretend that we've met her before when she was
working for Sam."

"Oh, Trish, that's brilliant!" Edna exclaimed when
Trish once again turned onto Mary's street. "That will
work."

Millie seemed to mull the plan over in her mind.
"Edna's right, Trish. It is a good idea. And it gives us
the perfect opening to talk about Sam"

"Shh!" Edna ordered. "I need to concentrate"

Millie hunkered down in the front seat and Edna
peered through the side window as if her life depended
on it when Trish drove past Mary's house again. "I got
it," Edna said with satisfaction. "It's a white Dodge Intrepid, late-model with a small American flag on the
rear window."

"Good job," Millie cheered, winning her a pleased
smile from Edna.

Trish grinned. Whether their efforts to find out if
Mary Chavez was somehow involved in Susan's death
led to anything or not, it still felt good to actually be doing something. They needed a break in this case. Then
she groaned, realizing she was starting to think like one
of the television cops Millie loved so much.

It was on their third trip to Mary's house that they finally got lucky. Trish had just passed the house and was
rolling to a stop at the end of the block. By chance, she
glanced in her rearview mirror. "Oh-oh," she muttered.

Millie had started to sit back up in her seat, but at
Trish's words she slid back down. "What's wrong?"
For some reason, Millie thought it was important that
she do her "observing" from the floor board. It wouldn't
be so bad if she didn't demand constant updates on
what was going on.

"That Dodge Intrepid just pulled out of the driveway
and is heading this way"

"Oh, my goodness!" Edna exclaimed. "Hurry, get
out of here! We can't be seen, or it will ruin our plan."
Edna's head whipped forward and backward in time to
her frantic words, as if she couldn't decide whether to
look at the approaching car or her companions in the
front seat.

Trish quickly turned right, her eyes darting to the
rearview mirror. Had they aroused suspicion by circling the block or driving too slowly? But the car turned
left, and Trish let out the air she had been holding. Millie eyed her speculatively. "You know, Mary might be
going grocery shopping, after all. It would be a shame
to miss this opportunity."

"I can't even see who is driving the car, Millie. It
might not be Mary at all"

"There's only one way to find out. Hurry up around
the block again and get behind that car."

Trish met Edna's eyes in the rearview mirror. After a
few seconds, Edna took a deep breath and nodded.
"She's right. Let's do it."

Trish made a quick turn, causing Millie's head to
bounce off the side door. She couldn't help but grin.
"I'm sorry. That wasn't intentional."

Millie just looked at her wryly. "Of course it wasn't."

"There it is," Edna said. "The car just made a left
turn-hurry !"

"We don't want to get too close, Edna. There isn't
much traffic-we shouldn't have too much trouble following."

"But," Millie reminded them, "we do need to see if
it's a man or a woman driving."

"True," Trish said with a nod. "I'll get close enough to
see, and then I'll back off again." When she made the left
turn, she spotted the white car a couple of streets ahead
of them. She sped up slightly to get closer to the car. "It's
a woman," she said softly as she spotted the back of the
driver with a ponytail and long, dangling earrings.

"Good," Millie said excitedly. "Follow her."

Edna sighed audibly. "Joe is going to kill me"

Trish always navigated fairly well on highways, able
to keep her bearings and arrive safely-if sometimes
late-at her destination. It was the side streets and numerous subdivisions that gave her trouble-like now.

She prayed they were not lost to the point of no return
as, once again, she followed the white car onto a long,
winding road that bordered another residential area. She
had absolutely no idea where they were and, when questioned, discovered that neither of her passengers did,
either.

Thankfully, there was enough traffic to allow Trish to
remain unnoticed as she trailed from a discreet distance, but she was seriously wondering if Mary was
just out for a joy ride. "She's turning again," Trish
sighed as she saw the car's turning signal flash on.

"I'm starting to get dizzy," Millie muttered.

"You wouldn't feel dizzy if you sat up," Edna said
patiently. "You're probably getting motion sickness."

"I never get ... !"

"I can't follow this time," Trish interrupted hastily.
"There aren't any cars between us anymore, and it looks
like ... yes, she's turning into a ... what looks like a
mobile home park. I'm going to have to pass the entrance and swing back around"

"Great, it's a mobile-home park. I hope we don't lose
her," Millie grumbled.

"Well, I can't help it! She may have already spotted
us following her, and she's turning just to make sure"

"There's a side street up ahead," Edna said. "Turn
there and we'll wait a few seconds to see if she comes
back out"

Trish kept her head straight forward and never even glanced at the white car as she passed the entrance to
the mobile home park. She did notice, though, from her
peripheral view, that at least there weren't gates or fencing around the property. At the next street, she turned
right and then pulled into the first driveway she saw, then
quickly backed up and drove very slowly to the end of
the street again.

"Do you see anything?" she asked, nosing her car forward.

"No," Edna said. "Not yet"

"Let me look" Millie grunted as she struggled to sit
upright in the front seat. She leaned forward, resting her
elbows on the dashboard, bringing the binoculars that
had been hanging around her neck up to her eyes. Trish
placed her chin in her hand, her elbow resting on the
steering wheel. "It isn't that far away, Millie. I don't
think your binoculars are going to help"

Millie said nothing as she turned the focus knob back
and forth several times. Finally, she lowered the big,
bulky binoculars and squinted toward the first row of
mobile homes plainly visible a few hundred yards across
the street. "Humph, you may be right," she agreed. "I
don't see anything."

"It doesn't seem like there are any cars or people
moving around," Edna observed.

It did appear as if the mobile home park was deserted. Of course, it was early in the afternoon. People
could be at work or out running errands. From their
vantage point, all that could be seen were a few rows of
attractive mobile homes on either side of the main entrance. The homes had small front yards, some with
low fencing, some outlined with landscape bushes and gardens. The park was large enough that they couldn't
tell how far back the homes went. Regardless, there was
no sign of the white car.

"What do you want to do?" Trish asked both Edna
and Millie.

"Go on in!" Millie exclaimed.

"Let's wait a minute," Edna said at the same time.
Trish chewed the inside of her lip thoughtfully. If
they had indeed been spotted, then going into the mobile home park would confirm Mary's suspicions, making it almost impossible to plan a surprise encounter in
the future. If, however, Mary had no idea she had been
followed, then even if she did see them enter the park
she wouldn't think anything about it. Weighing the
odds, it was pretty unlikely that their subterfuge had
been noticed.

Trish squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, and
pulled out into the street. "Edna, get down in your seat
and hide yourself. Millie, you stay sitting up this time.
We'll just make a quick drive-through and see if we can
find Mary's car."

"Look out!" Millie shouted.

Trish slammed on the brakes, and not a minute too
soon. A large delivery truck was fast approaching with
its horn honking loudly. The driver glared at them as
he sped past, his hand raised in the universal sign of
extreme anger. Millie sank back in her seat, her hand
clutching her chest. "You about gave me a heart attack!"

"Well, mine's not beating too steady right now, either."

"There are evidently some benefits to lying down in
the back seat," Edna joked.

Trish took a steadying breath and wiped her hands on her pant legs. Carefully, she looked both ways before
once again pulling out. "I hope that wasn't an omen."

"Nonsense," Millie said, "that guy was going way
too fast"

"Thanks for trying to make me feel better, but it was
my fault, just the same. We could have been in a serious
accident"

"Well, we weren't, so stop worrying about it. Let's
just find Mary."

"Tell me what you see since I can't look, myself,"
Edna reminded them.

There was a large wooden sign with faded lettering at
the entrance to the park welcoming them into Southwest
Mobile Home Park and warning them to watch for children playing. Trish drove straight down the main road
until it ended and then turned left onto another street, her
eyes darting from side to side as she tried to find the
white car. She noticed the further they went into the park
the less attractive the homes were. Older mobile homes
with sun-bleached paint and unkept yards sprinkled her
view as she mindfully kept her speed at the posted speed
limit. She wondered where the children were that she
was supposed to keep an eye out for.

"Do you see anything?" Edna whispered from the
back seat.

Trish shook her head. "I don't see a thing. It's almost
spooky." Old cars, some obviously not in running condition, littered several gravel driveways, but, otherwise,
there was no sign of life and no sign of Mary's car.
Trish turned right at the end of the block onto another
row of homes, these much the same as the other ones.

"There she is!" Millie suddenly exclaimed. "Hurry!
Stop!"

Reflexively, Trish put her foot on the accelerator,
causing the car to jump forward, then slammed on the
brakes causing the tires to squeal and the car to rock.
"Make up your mind, Millie!"

"Hey, what's going on?" Edna asked nervously.

"Not now, Edna! Just pull over here in front of this
mobile home, Trish."

Trish did as Millie asked-not because she thought
it was a good idea, but because they were going to
draw attention to themselves if they didn't take some
action. The white car was parked on the side of the
road in front of a mobile home desperately in need of
some repair work. Two windows were busted out and
covered with plywood on the side facing them, and an
old air conditioner window unit jutted out from a rear
window.

As far as Trish could tell, the best thing about this situation was that, even though there were only four homes
between them and the one Mary was parked in front of,
Mary would be driving away from them when she left
instead of driving right by them. Small favors, Trish muttered to herself as she placed the car in park, leaving the
engine running. She rolled down her window, feeling the
soft, warm breeze blowing gently in the afternoon sunlight. She could think of half a dozen things she would
rather be doing than sitting in a run-down mobile-home
park watching a vacant car.

"Uh oh," Millie said quietly.

"What's happening?" Edna asked.

"Not now, Edna! Trish, there's a man in this front
yard and he's looking at us suspiciously."

Trish peered sideways, trying not to appear too obvious. Well, she had wondered where the people were who lived in the park. It was just their luck that the only
one they found just happened to be sitting in a lawn
chair by the front door of the mobile home they were
stopped in front of. "Pretend like you're looking for
something in the glove box," Trish said quickly through
lips that didn't move. Right as Millie began an awardwinning performance of someone totally engrossed in
the contents of the glove box, Trish spotted movement
up ahead. "There's Mary!" she exclaimed.

"Well, that's just terrific," Millie said sardonically.

Trish looked over at her in surprise, but she soon realized what Millie was upset about. The man from the
front yard was walking toward them. Dressed in baggy
jeans and a white T-shirt, the man appeared larger than
he probably was ... and he didn't appear to be too
happy.

Millie slammed the glove box closed and rolled down
her window. "Excuse me, sir. We're lost. Do you know
where we are?"

Trish bit the inside of her lip to keep from groaning
out loud as the man bent down. They didn't have time to
engage the man in conversation-although how he
would answer Millie's strange question she couldn't
imagine-because Mary was about to get into her car.
Suddenly, Trish saw Mary turn, place one hand on her
hip, and raise her other hand palm-out. She was shouting
something toward the mobile home she had just exited,
obviously toward someone Trish couldn't see, and she
seemed to be very angry.