“Crazy stuff.” Gerome shook his head. “Gonna make me late, and my boy has a Little League soccer game this afternoon that I wanted to make it to.”
Every morning the lifelong vehicle mail carriers had to go over their mail trucks pretty thoroughly. If they found something wrong, they’d turn in the repairs and hopefully get those done. That’s why Nick was there yesterday morning, which reminded me of the letter I had for Simon.
“If it’s any time off, I’m more than happy to give the garage their mail since I still have Simon’s letter.” I talked and watched as the deputies continued to walk back and forth with updates on what was going on inside to Angela and the postmaster general. “Speaking of Simon, I had no idea he had that terrible disease where the tendons in his hands contract.”
“Poor guy. He gets his medication mailed from Canada because it’s cheaper. Sad thing is that it takes longer, so he’s been waiting on his refill for a week. I bet he’s out of medication too.” Gerome’s eyes grew big, he slid his chin to the side, tilted his head, and looked at me with a look of disbelief. “Do you think he broke in here to see if his meds were here?”
“No. How could he?” I questioned. “He can’t hold anything to break in.”
“I never thought about that.” He sighed. “But someone wanted something.”
Both of us turned our attention to the door when we noticed a deputy had walked out with a mail carrier bag. The deputy walked over to Angela’s car. She got out, and they had a little discussion. I watched as she turned her gaze to me. She lifted her chin in the air slightly like she was talking about me, making the deputy look my way. His eyes caught mine, and in an instant, I knew the bag was mine.
“Giiirl, it looks like they got your bag. And I’m not sticking around to see what is up with that.” Gerome took off toward a group of LLVers and left me and Buster to fend for ourselves.
“I’m guessing that’s my bag.” I didn’t bother making small talk with the deputy. “And somehow it’s tied into this break-in?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He was very polite. “It appears the person who broke in had the most interest in your open locker. All the shelves were torn out, and as you can see, the lining of your bag is ripped as well as the pockets.”
“It looks like someone got angry.” A chill ran up my leg, and it wasn’t from the cool morning.
“I’m going to need a list of names and addresses of all the customers you see on a daily basis.” He rattled off a few more things he was going to need.
“You can get all that information from the postmaster or Monica Reed, who is with Angela right now.” I reached for my bag; he pulled it back.
“Sorry, evidence. There could be fingerprints on it. It’s a federal offense to break in to a post office.” He didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know since we had to learn all of that in training. “Have any of your customers acted strange lately or asked about packages they are waiting on?”
“Not that I can think of, but it’s pretty early, so my brain isn’t functioning at full capacity.” I tapped my head. “Plus, Doc Hunter did mention something about me having some white specs due to an old brain.”
His brows dipped, his face contorted, he opened his mouth, and then shut it as if he were trying to process what I’d said.
“But I’ll think on it and get back to you.” I helped make it easy for him.
“Yeah. Just call the sheriff’s department if you think of something.” He took a few steps back.
“Are we going to get to work soon?” I asked in hopes I could start and possibly help Gerome out if I did get finished quickly.
“It’s gonna be a few to clear out the scene. Maybe an hour or so. We called down at WSCG to let Lucy Drake know so she can broadcast it on her show this morning.” He smiled. “Thank goodness for her and her show. Folks around here just love her show.”
“Mmhhmmm.” I tugged on Buster’s leash. “Let’s go.”
I didn’t bother telling anyone I was heading down to the gas station. I figured I could get down there and deliver Simon’s letter to him before I walked back to the post office in about an hour.
The sunlight was starting to illuminate Sugar Creek Gap, and though the garage was on the outskirts of downtown, there was a nice sidewalk along the road the entire way. It was built a few years ago when they had built the new streetscape with the extra grant money our town received from the state. It was a complete overhaul with a new paved road, sidewalks, lights, and some buildings that had been refaced.
The grant was to keep the town up so it could stay on the historical registry. When you could claim your town as a part of the state’s history, all sorts of money was thrown to preserve it. Being an old mill town with a working mill definitely qualified Sugar Creek Gap, making me super thankful for the redone sidewalks. Especially this early in the morning.
The lights under the gas station roof where the pumps were located were on and shined brightly. The garage door was wide open, and I could hear music coming from the radio or should I say the sweet sound of Lucy Drake’s seductive voice dripping through the speaker of the old transistor. I stopped when I heard her talking and could see through the office window that Simon was in there working at the desk. I let Buster’s leash go, and he trotted into the garage like he’d done before when we’d stopped to get gas or even just take a nice long weekend walk.
Good morning, y’all. This is your gal Lucy Drake with an important announcement from Sheriff Angela Hafley. Please be patient with your mail carriers today. The post office was broken in to, and though they do not believe any mail was stolen since the door to that area of the post office wasn’t compromised, the sheriff and her deputies are working diligently to make sure everything is safe and secure down there before they let our mail carriers have their route mail. Also, the lobby will remain closed as well, so don’t be going down there and sweet-talking Monica Reed to grab your stack of mail because we all know that they are gonna be swamped. So be sure to love up on your mail carrier today. Even throw them a little treat or two.
Hello caller, you’re on Coffee Chat with Lucy. Do you have a question?
Aw, Lucy. Me and my family just love you. You sure are as pretty as you sound.
Her giggle made me just about nauseous.
Why, aren’t you the sweetest. What’s your question?
Do you figure it was someone who broke in to the post office because there might be something important being held up in there? I mean, we are only an hour or so from Fort Knox, and it’s all full up on gold.
“Where do they get these callers?” I asked Simon as I headed into the office knowing he’d just heard exactly what I’d heard. Buster had jumped up and put two paws on Simon’s chair, swiveling it a little. “Buster. You can push him away.” I smacked my hand to my thigh. “Buster! Down!” I moved my attention to the certified letter in my back pocket, and when I looked up to give it to Simon, his chair had turned to face me. “Simon?” I questioned when I saw his eyes were open, his face was grey, and his lips were blue. “Simon!” I screamed when I realized he wasn’t moving or breathing.