Chapter 33
Avery
I drove into hell on the way home from school. Bryce was blowing up my phone, followed by Hannah before I’d even left campus. I was filled in on the basics.
Embezzlement.
Horse Theft.
Petty Cash Theft.
Breaking and Entering, with theft.
Mandy Jo Reynolds: Missing
Carter Sims: Missing
Becky Johnson: Flipping out.
Tristan and Bryce: On the war path.
That about covered it. It wasn’t my typical Wednesday afternoon by any means.
As soon as I pulled into the parking lot, I saw the police cruiser parked and two uniformed officers talking to Uncle Tristan and Bryce. A third guy, who appeared to be a plain clothes detective was sitting in his unmarked car, talking on his cell.
As soon as I got out of my truck, Hannah was right beside me. “Have you heard about the shit going down?” she asked. “Aunt Becky is a mess. I’m heading over to the Belle to see if they’ve found anything else.”
“Unfortunately, yes,” I replied. “I hope Becky doesn’t blame herself. It’s my fault for encouraging her to give that bitch a job. So, what are the police doing about it?”
“Not a lot. Lack of proof. Apparently two employees that aren’t around isn’t enough evidence to support a warrant for their arrest. Horses get out when part of a fence is down, petty cash disappears, and there’s not enough proof to nail either of them on the embezzlement thing until the detective follows the “money trail” which takes more than an hour, according to him,” she finished, nodding towards the car where the detective was still on his phone.
I walked over to where Uncle Tristan and Bryce were talking to the uniformed officers. I was fuming. Why were the wheels of justice moving so slowly? It was so obvious from my perspective. They should be putting an A.P.B. or whatever it was called out on Mandy and Carter this very minute!
“I know they did it,” I blurted out, interrupting the officer who was trying to explain the protocol for an arrest warrant to a very frustrated and irritated Tristan and Bryce. “When Hannah and I followed them last week one of the places they went to was D & S Equipment Rental. I figured it had something to do with getting a dumpster for the scrap materials from the remodeling. The place rents trailers too, horse trailers. They took Baron, I’m sure of it.”
“And you are?” the younger police officer asked.
“I’m Avery Sinclair. I work here. And I know Mandy was somehow mixed up with Carter. My cousin, Hannah and I followed Carter and Mandy last week. We suspected they were up to something, and now it all makes sense.”
“We can check this out, Ms. Sinclair, Just calm down and give me more details. Did you observe anything else that day?”
“Yeah, we followed them to their next stop. It was Acme Hardware and Lumber.”
“That’s the supplier they used for the embezzlement,” Tristan said. “Can you check that angle out as well, Officer?”
“Absolutely. It’s a starting point for sure,” he answered, jotting the info down in his notebook. “Let’s go check their living quarters.”
We had to wait outside while the officers, along with the detective searched through each cottage, starting with Carter’s.
“They’ve cleared out,” he said. “Nothing left behind that links them to anything criminal, but it appears they had this planned out. We’ll get a BOLO out on both vehicles, along with their descriptions. Now there’s something I need to verify. Mrs. Johnson described Mandy Reynolds as being significantly pregnant.”
“That’s right,” I piped up, “She’s due in early January. She’s out to here,” I finished my hand signaling how far out her belly was.
“Don’t be so sure,” the detective said. “Let me show you something she did leave behind. Follow me.”
Bryce, Tristan, Hannah and I followed him up the steps and into her cottage. He went into the bedroom and came out with what appeared to be a strap-on padded belly. “You can find these things on-line or in costume shops. They’re about twenty bucks. My wife wore one of these under a nun’s habit last Halloween,” he said, chuckling.
“Oh my God,” I breathed, “You mean–she faked the whole pregnancy thing?”
“It appears so.”
I looked over and my eyes locked with Bryce’s. I could tell he was relieved, and in that moment I wanted nothing more than to see Mandy Reynolds put away for a long, long time for her duplicitous and criminal ways.
The detective and officers finished up with taking our statements and said they’d be in touch the following day once they’d questioned the proprietors of both the local businesses.
After they’d gone, Tristan and Hannah left mentioning they were going to check on Aunt Becky on their way home.
Bryce came up to me, throwing an arm around my shoulders. “This is nobody’s fault, babe. We’ll get Baron back, I promise. Let’s go check on Tula. She’s been a mess since all this went down. I want to make sure she’s settled down for the night.
“Okay,” I said with a sigh, curling in to him as we walked towards the barn. “And once we make sure she’s settled for the night, I’m going to need some looking after, Bryce.”
“You’ve got it A-Girl.”