Jeff had been dead asleep when his phone rang. Apparently the crazy week had finally caught up with him. It took him a few seconds to clear the fog from his brain and register that Alicia was calling him. He glanced at the digital clock on his bed: 11:00 p.m.
“Hello?” he said, his voice hoarse with sleep. He cleared his throat. “Alicia?”
“Jeff?”
In that one word, he heard the distress in her voice. He sat up, scrubbing a hand through his hair. “Are you okay?”
“My mom’s in jail,” she said in a trembling voice.
It took several seconds for him to process what she’d said. “Jail? What happened?” And then in a tearful voice, she told him about her mom not being home, and then calling from the jail and saying she’d been arrested. Jeff understood about half of what she said through her crying.
“Where are you?” Jeff asked, rising from the bed and looking for his shoes. He’d fallen asleep in his clothes. “I’ll meet you.”
“I’m at the gas station by my neighborhood. I was trying to get some money, but my bank won’t let me pull out more than three hundred at a time, and my paycheck is still pending.”
Jeff stilled. “How much is the bail?”
“Six twenty-five, exact change. I have three hundred five right now.”
“Okay.” He exhaled. “I’ll bring the rest and pick you up at your house.”
Her voice sounded very small when she said, “All right.”
“Alicia, it will be fine, I promise. Go home and wait for me there. I’m on my way.” When he hung up with Alicia, he pulled on his shoes, grabbed his wallet and coat, then headed into the garage. He felt like he was in a dream. But this was no dream. Alicia needed his help.
As he drove, he could only hope that Mrs. Waters would learn her lesson, that she would use this experience and start to change. On the other hand, he was mad that a neighbor called the cops instead of just talking to her—at least, he assumed that’s what had happened. People didn’t talk to each other nowadays. They either texted to communicate or just called the cops. This was a sixty-year-old mentally ill woman, for heaven’s sake.
Jeff was tempted to call Dawson on the way, but then he changed his mind. Jeff wouldn’t know all the answers to the questions Dawson was likely to ask. Tonight, he’d focus on helping Alicia and her mom, and tomorrow they could figure out what the damage was and how to fix it.
Alicia was standing on the porch when he pulled up, shivering in her coat. She was still wearing high heels—probably from work. And she looked beautiful in a sort of forlorn, tragic way.
Jeff jumped out of the SUV, his heart going out to her. He strode toward her as she stepped off the porch. “Ready?”
She nodded, and he could see her swollen eyes from the light of the porch.
“Hey, we’ll get her out of there and figure out what to do.” He wrapped his arms about her shoulders, and she leaned into him, moving her arms about his waist. Her cheek was cold; her hair was even cold.
She pulled away after a few seconds, and said, “I’m freezing.”
“Let’s go get your mom, then.” He opened the passenger door of the SUV for her, then hurried to climb into the driver’s side. He pulled out the cash he’d brought to add to the bail and handed it over. “Here’s three-twenty.”
Alicia took the money. “Thanks so much for this. I’ll pay you back tomorrow. And I’m sorry for waking you up.”
“I don’t normally fall asleep that early,” Jeff said, backing out of the driveway, then pulling onto the road. “Don’t worry, I’m always up for a little adventure.”
Alicia scoffed. “Adventures to the city jailhouse?”
He shrugged and looked over at her with a smile. At least she wasn’t crying anymore. “This kind of stuff is always better to go through with a friend, right?”
“Right,” Alicia said, looking at him. “You should really keep a box of tissues in here if we’re going to be friends.”
“Good idea,” Jeff said with a laugh.
When she went quiet again, he said, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” she said in a soft voice. “I just wish I hadn’t waited ten years to start hanging out with you again.”
Warmth buzzed through Jeff. “Why’s that?”
“Well, none of my other friends would have picked me up in the middle of the night and given me a wad of cash.”
Jeff liked that she was teasing him. He grabbed her hand, purely on impulse, and brought it to his mouth to kiss it. She didn’t pull away, so he continued to hold it until he had to pull into the parking lot of the police station. This was one place in Pine Valley where the lights stayed on all night.
“I wonder if Leo is on duty tonight,” Jeff said, putting the SUV in park and turning off the engine.
“Leo Russo?”
“Yeah, he’s a cop now.”
“I didn’t know,” Alicia said in a slow voice. “Wasn’t he the kid who always got put in detention for pulling the fire alarm?”
Jeff laughed. “Yep. One and the same. I guess life’s a full circle.”
“Who would have thought?”
Although she’d stopped crying and seemed to be talking normally, he still sensed the nervous tension in her as they pushed through the station’s front doors. They went through the security check, and he walked with her to the front reception desk.
“I’m here to pay bail for my mom,” Alicia said in a breathless voice.
“I need to see your ID, please,” the female officer at the desk said.
Alicia handed it over, and while they waited, Jeff looked about the lobby area. “Is Officer Russo around tonight?”
The woman at the desk looked up. “He is. Do you want me to call him?”
“Sure,” Jeff said, casting a glance at Alicia. He didn’t know if talking to Leo would help the situation or not, but he could only try.
Alicia finished paying, and the female officer picked up her phone. “Lila Waters is being released. Bring her to the lobby.” Then she punched in another number. “Leo Russo, you have visitors.”
Moments later, Leo Russo arrived. “Jeff Finch,” he said, sticking out his hand. He still had the same easygoing smile as he’d had in high school, but he’d bulked up considerably over the years—probably due to police training. He caught sight of Alicia. “Alicia Waters? Is that you?”
“Yep,” she said.
Leo’s smile was wary. “What brings the both of you here?”
Jeff was about to answer, but Alicia said, “My mom was arrested tonight. A neighbor called the cops on her for going through their garbage or something. I’d like to see the police report.”
Leo’s brows shot up. “I didn’t know she was your mom,” he said. “I should have recognized her name.”
Alicia shrugged. “It’s not like we knew each other’s parents in high school.”
“Right.” Leo looked from Alicia to Jeff, a question in his eyes. “I can’t release the report until it’s been filed.”
“Can you do us this one favor so we know what really happened, and what we’re dealing with?” Jeff said in a low voice. He was glad Leo was sticking to the rules, but waiting would only make the whole situation more stressful. Plus, he wanted to give Dawson a call as soon as they got Alicia’s mom home.
“Sorry, no can do,” Leo said, rocking back on his heels. “I’ll push it through first thing in the morning, if that helps.”
Jeff clenched his jaw but answered in an even tone. “Thanks, man. That will help.” He looked at Alicia. “Do you want to give him your email so he can send it to you?”
“Sure,” Alicia said. She scrambled for something to write on in her purse and handed over a receipt with her email written on it.
“Do you have a direct number we can reach you at?” Jeff asked, pulling out his phone.
“Sure, but I wasn’t the arresting officer,” Leo said.
“That’s all right,” Jeff said. “I’d rather go through you.”
Leo rattled off his number, and Jeff put it in his phone.
Just then, Mrs. Waters was led out by a female officer. She was wearing a coat over dark sweat pants and a purple sweater. At least she wasn’t wearing the ratty bathrobe Jeff had seen her in the other day. Her hair hung about her face as if she hadn’t washed or brushed it for weeks. The dark circles under her eyes told Jeff that Alicia’s mom was in her own personal hell.
He watched as she approached Alicia, and said, “Did you pay the bail?”
“Yes, Mom,” Alicia said. “Are you okay?”
Her mom scowled. “No. I’m in jail! How do you think I am?”
Jeff winced.
“Let’s get you home, and you can tell us what happened,” Alicia said with a sigh.
“I’ll tell you what happened,” her mom said, not moving. “I was going on a walk, and our idiot neighbor called the cops on me. No one would listen, they just wanted my money.”
“Okay, Mom, let’s go,” Alicia said, grasping her mom’s arm.
Remarkably the woman didn’t pull away. It seemed her bark was stronger than her bite.
“You can sit in the front,” Alicia said, leading her to the SUV and opening the passenger door.
“What’s this? Where did you get this car?” her mom asked.
“It’s Jeff’s,” Alicia said. “He drove me.”
Her mom looked over at Jeff, her eyes widening as if she’d just noticed him for the first time. Perhaps she had. “Why did he drive you? What’s wrong with your car? Did you forget to change the oil again?”
“That was when I was sixteen, mom,” Alicia said. “Just get in the SUV. It’s freezing out here.”
This time the irritation in her voice was plain, Jeff noted. But it seemed that as stubborn as Mrs. Waters was, Alicia was more stubborn. Her mom finally climbed into the SUV.
Jeff climbed in, too, and started up the heater on full blast. He decided to let Alicia carry the conversation; Mrs. Waters had already put him in his place.
As he drove back to their house, Mrs. Waters cast him a few glances. Jeff kept driving, not saying anything.
“I’m getting the police report tomorrow,” Alicia said. “But I want to know why you got arrested. What were you doing?”
Mrs. Waters threw her hands up. “Nothing. I was on a walk, that’s all.”
“Did you go into someone’s yard?” Alicia said.
“I was just making sure the Osbournes weren’t throwing away anything that could still be used,” her mom said. “You wouldn’t believe what people throw away.”
“Mom, you can’t go onto someone else’s property and look through their garbage,” Alicia said. “That’s like going into their house and stealing.”
Mrs. Waters scoffed. “That’s where you’re wrong. It’s called garbage for a reason. They don’t want it anymore.”
“It’s illegal,” Alicia said. “Even if you did that at the gas station, you’d be cited.”
“It’s ridiculous,” her mom said, not budging on her defense. “The cops have nothing better to do, and the Osbournes have no business throwing away a perfectly good lamp. They could have at least donated it to Goodwill.”
Alicia sighed. “Was it worth $625? And for me and Jeff to come and pick you up in the middle of the night? Not to mention whatever court dates you have to go to now. And what about lawyer fees?”
“I’m not paying for a lawyer,” her mom said, her chin jutting up. “If they want me in court, then they can pay for the lawyer.”
Jeff was about to drive Mrs. Waters back to the station. He didn’t know how Alicia could be so patient with her mom. It was like arguing with a teenager. When he pulled into the driveway, Mrs. Waters unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door before he’d come to a full stop.
“Mom,” Alicia said, exasperation in her voice.
Her mom slammed the door and stalked to the house.
“I’m so sorry,” Alicia told Jeff, her voice trembling. “She drives me crazy, and now I’ve dragged you into this. I mean, I just bailed her out of jail, and she’s angry at me.”
Jeff reached back and grabbed her hand. “Let me help. I’ll talk to her.” He didn’t know why he was offering, but maybe having a different person than Alicia try to talk sense into her would help.
Alicia hesitated. “I don’t know. She can be pretty cruel.”
“If she gets too upset, I can leave,” Jeff said. “But I want to tell her what little I know about the court system and maybe even talk to her about getting a lawyer. I’m hoping this will be a wake-up call for her.”
“Me too,” Alicia said, squeezing his hand, then letting go. “She won’t be happy that I’m letting you inside the house.”
“I can handle it.”
“It’s pretty awful in there,” Alicia continued. “Just know that my room is immaculate.”
“Of course it is,” Jeff said. Although his tone was light, he didn’t want her to think that he was going to judge Alicia by her mom’s actions. Besides, how bad could a few piles of junk be?
They both climbed out of the SUV, and as they approached the house, it looked like Mrs. Waters had turned on every single light.
“She likes the lights on,” Alicia said. “At first, I thought it was because she hated the dark, but the therapist told me it’s because the visual sight of all of her stuff reduces her anxiety levels.”
Alicia opened the door and stepped inside the house. Jeff walked in behind her, thinking he’d face a familiar sight. He’d been inside the Waters house plenty when he was a kid. At first, he thought he’d stepped into a warehouse, but there was carpet, a couch, and a rocking chair. He’d heard of hoarding, of course, but had never actually witnessed it.
One wall was lined with bookcases, stuffed with books and other odds and ends. On the side of the front door and running toward what must be the kitchen were stacked boxes, two or three deep. The hallway that led to the bedrooms was shrunk down to a narrow passageway because of the number of boxes. It looked as if someone had just moved in or was getting ready to move.
Since the light in the kitchen was on as well, he could see that the counters were stacked with dishes, towels, and kitchen gadgets. On the kitchen table sat a wooden crate that was filled with picture frames; on top of the frames were two toasters that looked like they’d seen better days.
“What’s he doing here?” Mrs. Waters asked.
Jeff swung his gaze toward the gas fireplace where she stood. He hadn’t even noticed her there at first. She was holding her hands out to the flames. Next to her was a coffee table with stacks of magazines and catalogs that would rival any library’s collection.
Mrs. Waters didn’t look happy with his presence, and he could only hope that she’d listen to him. She had to listen to someone.