Quilt As You Go

* * * *

Connie was speaking in rapidfire Spanish to Jorge when Harriet came into Tico's Tacos a few minutes later.

'Hola, chiquita,” Connie said and pulled Harriet into a bear hug. “I filled Jorge in on the plan. He can't leave here, but he's preparing snacks for each team.'

'Thanks, Jorge.'

Jorge tipped his ball cap to her in acknowledgment. She took a deep breath. He was roasting peppers, and the smell permeated the room.

'I'll have to have a snack after smelling the wonderful aroma in here.'

'I pulled a couple of tables together in the back room,” he said, and indicated a doorway near the kitchen. “And I packed a container of guacamole with roasted peppers for you.'

Harriet thanked him and crossed to the door he was now holding open for her.

She had never been in that part of the restaurant. Woven serapes in pinks, greens and yellows were draped on the walls with ornately embellished sombreros in complimentary colors positioned between each pair. Two square wooden picnic-style tables had been pushed together. Robin and DeAnn sat on benches opposite each other, sipping icy glasses of lemonade, a pitcher and additional glasses between them on the table.

Robin was dressed in her usual capri-length black yoga pants, but this time her customary pastel sleeveless top had been replaced by its black counterpart. DeAnn had on black shorts and a black T-shirt.

'We're ready,” Robin said.

'Well, we think we're ready,” DeAnn amended. “We haven't heard the plan yet.'

'Did I miss a memo?” Lauren asked as she entered the back room and poured a glass of lemonade. She indicated her khaki shorts and pale blue T-shirt.

'We don't have a dress code, if that's what you're asking,” Harriet said. “We're going to be in cars.'

'Oh, my gosh,” Lauren said as a realization hit her. “Did you think we were going to be skulking around in the bushes?” she asked DeAnn. “Did you think black shorts would make up for your fluorescent white legs?'

'Okay, Lauren, we're all a little nervous. You don't need to settle yours by picking on DeAnn or anyone else,” Connie said in her teacher voice, which was less accented than her casual one.

Lauren took her glass and sat down at the end of the table. Jorge opened the door and held it for Jenny, who had also come dressed in black-knee-length shorts and a sleeveless hooded tunic. Her silver hair was pulled back in a low ponytail.

'Here is another conspirator.” He laughed and went back to work in the kitchen.

A few minutes later, Sarah let herself in.

'This better be good,” she announced. “I canceled a hot date for this.” She was dressed in a creased navy blue cotton blazer and gray slacks. Harriet hoped she'd been planning on changing before her date.

When everyone was seated and had drinks, Harriet cleared her throat, then waited until everyone stopped speaking.

'Thanks for coming on such short notice.'

Sarah started to reply, but Connie clamped a hand on her wrist and she closed her mouth.

'I'm sorry I was so mysterious on the phone, but I decided it would be better to talk about this in person. As you all know, Carla's been seeing a new fellow. He's a stranger in town, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. He's been very kind and attentive, and he's a natural with Wendy.'

'That all sounds good,” Jenny said. “What's the problem?'

'I'm not sure there is a problem, but that's what I want your help to find out. All of a sudden, Carla's friend Terry is unavailable at night.'

Several started to talk at once, and she held up her good hand to silence them.

'There could be any number of valid reasons for Terry to be otherwise occupied at night.'

'But you don't think so,” DeAnn said.

'I don't know. Maybe I'm being paranoid, but there's something off about his whole story. He's supposed to be here finding people who knew his dad, who he says worked at Foggy Point Foggy Fire Protection when Terry was little. The trouble is, I've talked to Carlton and looked in their employee picture book, and there are no Jansen's. He looks like he's military, but Carla said he was in the SEALs and he said he was an army paramedic in Iraq. Those are two very different things.'

'If he's not looking for his dad's past, why is he here?” Connie asked.

'That's what I'm hoping we're going to find out. Listen, Terry's been going somewhere every evening, and I intend to find out where.'

'What do you want us to do?” Jenny asked.

'First, I'd like to say that if anyone is uncomfortable with the idea of following someone or, for that matter, meddling in Carla's business, feel free to exclude yourself. No hard feelings.'

'For crying out loud,” Lauren said. “We're all here, aren't we? Let's get on with it.'

'Okay, I've broken us up into teams. Most of us won't start until later, but I'd like one group to sit down the street from his motel-he's at Pine Villa over at Smuggler's Cove. I dialed for dollars among the cheap motels and got lucky on the third try.

'The rest of us will wait for a call from that team.” She took a sip from her glass of lemonade. “There aren't that many routes he could take and still be in Foggy Point, and until I learn different, I'm going to assume his target is here.'

'So, one of us will pick him up when he commits to a route?” DeAnn asked.

'That's the idea. Then the other teams will circle around to the next forks in the road. Each time he turns onto a road, the other cars will position themselves along his possible routes and pick him up. That way, he won't see a particular car following him.'

Jorge came into the room again. He carried a stack of folded maps.

'Here, you can have these,” he said, and handed them to Harriet. “The Business Association had these printed up for the tourists. They have all the streets in Foggy Point.'

She looked at him with amazement. He laughed and pointed to a speaker mounted near the ceiling in a corner of the room.

'Intercom,” he said, and left the room with a laugh.

'You didn't sweep the room for bugs before we started?” Lauren asked in disbelief.

Harriet laughed. “Somehow, I never guessed Jorge had the place bugged for his own purposes.'

'Don't forget I can hear you,” said a disembodied voice, followed by a maniacal cackle.

'Now, one more thing,” Harriet said. “Does everyone know how to use conference call and speaker phone on your cell phone?'

She waited while everyone pulled out their phones.

'I'm not sure I know how to do conference calls,” Connie said.

'Me, either,” Jenny said.

'Okay, let's see what kind of phone we all have.'

Lauren and Jenny both had the style with a segment that flipped up and spun around. Connie had an iPhone. Robin and DeAnn had the same brand of smartphone, and Sarah had one that was similar.

'Come on, Jenny,” Lauren said. “I can see where this is going. Let me show you how to make a conference call.'

They divided up by phone style and began making calls to each other, practicing until each one could quickly initiate a conference call and add in the rest of the members, using speaker phone or not at will.

'Okay,” Harriet said finally. “Is everyone comfortable with our communication plan?'

'We get the phones,” Lauren said, “but let's run over the plan.'

'Who wants to sit outside the motel until he moves?” Harriet asked. “I would, but I'm supposed to eat at Carla's first. I told her I needed to eat early, so we should be done well before dark. I'm making an assumption about him waiting until dark, based on when he's visited Carla, but I could be wrong, so I'd like to have someone there pretty much as soon as we're finished here. We can take one- or two-hour shifts. It doesn't have to be the same person the whole time.'