I tossed and turned, all night long. And, by the time I woke up, I felt like I had been working a 12-hour shift on concrete slab.
My nerves were all torn up because it had only been a week since my mom was killed in the car accident. And, two days since I found a check for $100,000 in the top of the hall closet. On top of that, a secret compartment in her desk with a burner phone. Whatever my mom was involved in may have cost her, her life.
All I wanted to do was lay in bed all day, but I couldn’t. I was supposed to meet the mystery person I spoke with a few days earlier at two. The person had given me instructions to be at the little sandwich shop downtown by then. We could have met in the graveyard at midnight, all I cared. I just wanted answers because in the back of my mind, my mom was a spy for the government.
Slowly I pulled myself out of bed, and I was about to jump in the shower when my phone started ringing. It was Tori. There was a three-hour time difference, between us. So, I had no idea why she would be up at 5 am, Seattle time.
“Good morning.” My voice sounded like 10 frogs had fallen asleep in it.
“Good morning to you,” my bestie replied.
I was about to ask her why she was up so early when I heard the doorbell. I figured it was Aunt Hope stopping by. For the last two mornings, she had come by after she had gotten off of work. “Tori hold on a minute. My aunt is at the door.” I grabbed my housecoat and made my way to the front door. “Aunt Hope, you’re...” I stopped in the middle of my sentence because it wasn’t Aunt Hope. It was Tori.
“Sorry, but I’m not Aunt Hope,” she said with a smile.
“I see. Come on in.” I was shocked to see my bestie as she waltzed past me. “What are you doing here?”
“Umm, you’re not happy to see me?”
“Of course I am, but I wasn’t expecting you that’s all.”
“I know.” She walked over and sat down on the couch. “I’m here to find out what the ham sammish is going on.” I giggled because Tori was dead set on not using profanity. So, she made up her own words to use. “It was no way I was letting my best friend meet some mystery person without me being here to keep tabs on you.”
I smiled because everyone needs a Tori in their life. The bestie that will tell you you’re crazy for meeting a mystery person who claims to know what really happened to your mother, then shows up to make sure you’re safe. Everyone should get them a Tori.
I walked over and gave her the biggest hug I could muster up. Just knowing that she was here made things a little easier. “Thank you.”
“No need to thank me.” She pulled out her laptop, “Now, where’s this phone you’ve been telling me about?”
“Here you go.” I kept it close by, just in case the mystery person called again. “You think you can figure out who was calling before the meeting?”
“I’m going to try,” she replied. Tori was a mastermind at hacking into communication devices. Hell, that was her job on a daily basis. She had created an algorithm that would allow her to get into the most secure communication devices. Her most recent assignment was to break into the device of the head of the NSA. And, she did.
Within a few minutes, my bestie and I set up our laptops in the kitchen. Tori is a beast at communication devices, and I was a beast at breaking into security systems. While she worked on finding out about the mystery phone, I worked on hacking into the account number on the check. We are definitely one hell of a team.
We had been working about 30 minutes when I received a text from my Aunt Helen. Just checking on you. Love you! A smile came across my face. If she wasn’t texting me, she was bringing me something to eat.
“Miracle check this out.”
I leaned over to get a glance of her computer screen. In 30 minutes, she had discovered everything we needed to know about the phone I found in the desk’s secret compartment. According to the info, the phone was purchased a week before my mom’s accident. The number that called her was bouncing off a tower near downtown Commons. It seemed to be coming from the same area near the sandwich shop.
“Did you find out any info about the bank account?”
“Huh,” I replied.
“Girl you’re in deep thought,” Tori laughed. “I was asking did you find out any info about the bank account?”
“Plenty. The account is linked to Lucas Oil Company, a contract company for the FBI.”
At that point I was even more confused than I was before. None of this was making sense to me. I tried to think if anything had seemed off with my mom during the last six months, and it wasn’t. She was her same chipper self each time we talked, and she came out for a visit three months ago.
In the middle of Tori and I tossing ideas around about what my mother was involved in, my cell rang. It was Aunt Helen. “Hey Auntie.”
“Hey Miracle. How are you doing baby?”
I could hear a slight panic in her voice. “I’m good. How are you?”
“I’m fine, I guess” she said before pausing. “Listen, I know you have a lot on your plate right now. But, Nate just called and quit. I guess losing Hannah was too much for him.”
“Wow,” I replied.
“I was wondering if you could go on Facebook or Instaframe to post that I’m in need of a delivery driver.” Instaframe, made me giggle.
“Yes mam, no problem.” Nate had been working at the shop almost 20 years as her delivery guy and handy man. He was more like Uncle Nate than an employee.
“Also, I’m going to need an assistant.” I had agreed to keep the flower shop open and allow Aunt Helen to run it.
She said it helped her to stay close to my mom.
“Of course. Whatever you need,” I told her. “I’ll have Halina to post it.”
“Thank you, baby. Are you still coming by the shop later on today to look over your mom’s books for me?”
I had forgotten that I had promised her that I would stop by the shop to go over the shop’s finances. “Yes mam.”
“Thank you baby. I’ll see you then.”
I knew my aunt was just trying to stay busy. She and my mom were like two peas in a pod. Best friends and sisters. I know Aunt Helen was trying to be strong for me, but I know losing my mom hit her hard.
When I hung up from her, I sent Halina a text to post for a delivery guy and an assistant at the flower shop. She was pretty good at handling the administrative side of the business for my mom. Tell them the job starts immediately! I was hoping to have everything in place by the end of the week before I left for Seattle.
“Miracle check this out.”
“What’s up?”
“I don’t think you’re going to like this.”
Tori had hacked into the Commons Police Department to get the pictures of my mom’s car. I hadn’t seen them until that moment. According to a witness, my mom tried to swerve to keep the car from hitting her.
I was expecting the car to be unrecognizable. But, it wasn’t. The front fender was off, but no other damage.
“I thought your mom was hit head on by a drunk driver.”
“She was.” I couldn’t figure out how she died from a wreck that caused such minor damage. It wasn’t making any sense.
“You think you can get me the autopsy report? Oh, and the toxicology report of the driver.”
“Really Sis!” She frowned up at me, “Did you just ask me that?”
“Girl, I don’t know what I was thinking,” I laughed. “Listen while you work on that, I’m going to tap into the security cams from Wal-Mart’s parking lot. They should give me a clear view of the accident.”
I had this gut feeling that I wasn’t going to like what I found out. While my computer worked it’s magic, I headed down the hall to get ready for my meeting with the mystery person. I had less than an hour to get ready.
Twenty minutes later, I had all the footage from the parking lot. I didn’t have time to go through it because I needed to get to the sandwich shop. So, I saved it on a drive. I would look at it after the meeting.
“Miracle, check this out before you go.” Tori had obtained the police report and autopsy report.
I dropped down on the barstool. I felt weak. The thought of what was in the reports made me sick to my stomach.
“You alright?”
“Yeah, I just need a minute.”
I stared at the screen, not reading a thing. Tori must have caught on because she started telling me about the report.
“The driver of the car that saw the accident, said there was a black van that pulled up right after the accident,” Tori said. “He said someone got out, walked over to your mom’s car before jumping back in the van.”
“Why?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll look at the footage while you’re gone.”
I handed Tori the drive I had saved the footage on. What the hell was really going on? Was there some kind of cover up? I didn’t have time to figure it out, I needed to get out of here to make my meeting on time. “We’ll go over everything when I get back.”
“Sounds like a plan. Miracle,” then she paused.
“Yeah.”
“The drunk driver is insisting he wasn’t driving the car that hit your mom. According to the police report, he says he doesn’t remember driving the car.”
I threw my hands up, “This is too much. I don’t know what to think.”
Tori gave me a solemn look, “Are you sure you need to go alone?”
“Yeah. I’ll be fine. But…”
“But, what?”
“I don’t know. You think my mom was doing something illegal that got her killed.”
“I don’t know.”
“Me either.”
“But I know you. This will keep gnawing at you until you figure it out.”
My bestie was absolutely right. I needed to know what happened to my mom. I managed to pull myself together, so I could head to my meeting.
“Be careful,” Tori yelled as I walked out the door.
“That’s the plan,” I mumbled. I wasn’t sure what I was walking into, but I was pretty sure they weren’t going to try anything in the middle of the sandwich shop.
On the way to the sandwich shop, I decided to reach out to an old friend to see if she could dig up any information about Lucas Oil for me. A few minutes later she text, ON IT. That took a little of the stress off my shoulders, and I turned my attention back to the meeting I was about to walk into.
***
I arrived at the sandwich shop a few minutes early. I took a deep breath and popped a marijuana gummy to calm my nerves. When I walked in, I ordered the roasted pepper and avocado wrap that I had been instructed to order with a side of ginger. Once the gentleman behind the counter handed it to me, I found a seat at the back of the shop.
I kept my eyes on the door, waiting for the mystery person to come through it. After about 10 minutes of waiting, I started feeling frustrated and was about to leave when the phone rang. “Hello,” I whispered. I was looking around to see if one of the three people already in the shop was using a phone. Nope.
“Miracle.”
“Yes.”
“I’m glad to see you can follow directions,” the person on the other end stated. “I left a package for you at the flower shop. I’ll call you tonight at 8.”
“Wait, I’m not going to meet you?”
“No.” Then there was silence for a second.
“Hello.”
“I’m here. You need to know everything about your mom’s death is not what it seems.” And, just like that the call ended.
I tossed the sandwich in the trash and made my way down the block to my mom’s flower shop. On my way, I sent Tori a text to let her know that plans had changed.
You need me????
No!! I’m good for now.
As, I approached the flower shop I saw Nate walking out. I hadn’t seen him since my mom’s funeral. “Nate,” I called out to him to get his attention.
He seemed startled when I called his name. “Hey Miracle.” As we were talking he seemed jumpy and was looking around as if he was looking for someone.
“Everything alright,” I asked.
“Yeah. Yeah.” He looked down at his watch, “I was just dropping off the keys for the delivery truck.”
“Got you.” I wasn’t going to hold him up because it was evident he was uncomfortable, and I needed to find this package that was left for me. “Listen, if you need anything just let me know.”
“Thank you, Miracle.” He looked over my shoulder, “You too. I’ll see you around.”
“Alright,” I replied before heading into the flower shop.
Something came over me as I pushed the door open, and the smell of roses ran up my nostrils. It was the first time I had been in the shop since I’d been home. For some reason I expected to see my mom standing behind the counter to greet me.
“Hey Miracle. I wasn’t expecting you this early,” Aunt Helen said as she came from the back, carrying a vase of red roses.
“Hi.” I stared at the arrangement she was carrying. “That’s beautiful,” I said. Roses were my mom’s favorite. I made sure they were everywhere during her service.
“Thank you. I’m sending them over to the church as a thank you for everything they did for us last week.” She sat the arrangement on the counter and reached her arms out for a hug. It was no use in turning it down because I come from a hugging family.
“Have you had time to post about getting me some help in here,” she asked.
“Yes mam. Halina is taking care of everything for you.”
“Good. Nate just dropped off the keys to the delivery van.” I watched as she sprayed the arrangements with the secret solution my mom created to give her flowers extra shelf life. “Oh, Nate left this for you.” She handed me a large brown envelope. “He said you would know what it was for.”
“He did?” Then it hit me. That’s the reason he was acting so strange when I ran into him. Did Nate have something to do with my mom’s death, I thought to myself. I dropped the envelope into my bag. Whatever was inside, I was going to wait until I was in my car to open it. I didn’t want to startle my aunt .with whatever was inside.
“Are you going to check the books now or coming back later?”
“I’ll be back later.” I needed to get out of there to find out what was inside the envelope.
“Ok. I’m going to have Sammie come over from the church to pick the flowers up until I get a driver.” Aunt Helen was talking, but I wasn’t listening. “Oh, have you talked to Hope today? I tried to call her to come help me out, but I didn’t get an answer.”
I looked up confused. It took me a second to register what she had said. Then it dawned on me, I hadn’t heard from her either. “No mam. She didn’t come by this morning like normal.”
“Probably laid up with some man,” she laughed. And, she was probably right.
I promised Aunt Helen I would be back later that evening before I left. You won’t believe what I got!! I told Tori in a text as I sped through town back to my mom’s house. As I went through the third red light I noticed a black van behind me. I thought about the police report discussing a black van. I knew that it wasn’t a coincidence that I was seeing the van.
I called Torri to let her know what was going on. “I’ll tap into your location to get an aerial view and the license plate.” Once again my bestie was on it.
As I drove through town, keeping my eye on the black van, my whole body trembled. What was really going on?
Two Weeks Earlier
“Miracle Janae, this is your mother. I need for you to call me back as soon as you get this message. I have a surprise for you. Love you!”
The moment I hung up the phone I realized that it was only 5:30 am in Seattle. And, it was no way my child was up, but I was so excited to surprise my one and only child. I figured she would call me once she got up.
Honestly, Miracle living all the way out in Seattle wasn’t the ideal situation for me. But it’s the way it was. Plus, she loved her job. After she graduated from college she tried getting a job with the FBI, but they turned her down. She didn’t meet the weight requirement for the physical training. “It’s their lost baby,” I told her when she received her rejection letter. A few minutes later, she interviewed for a security company that contracted for the government. And, the next thing I knew my baby was off to Seattle.
Once again the government was separating me from my baby. I spent the first years 15 of Miracle’s life in the military until I was honorably discharged. And, every day I was away I missed her like crazy. I was thankful to my mom and Helen for keeping her during that time.
Now, I was trying to find every opportunity for us to have some mother-daughter time.
It had been a minute since we spent some real one on one time together. So, I decided to book us a cruise. I thought what better time than now. That seemed to be the only way I could spend time with her other than holidays, and my surprise visits to Seattle on the weekends. A week long cruise was exactly what we needed.
“Hannah, I’m about to drop the delivery off at town hall.”
“Alright,” I replied to my sister Helen. “Nate just left to drop off the delivery in Greenville.”
“Good. I was hoping that he would make that delivery before lunch.” She scooped up the arrangement, “I need to run an errand after I drop this off. I’ll pick us up something from Jubilee’s before I come back,” she said as she waltzed out the door.
It wasn’t even nine yet, and I already had five orders that needed to go out that afternoon. Plus, I had a special order for my secret solution that I had created. I needed to make sure that it was ready for pick up when my FedEx driver came by.
With everyone out and about, I turned to Alexa to keep me company. “Alexa play Midnight Train to Georgia.”
“Playing Midnight Train to Georgia by Gladys Knight and The Pips,“ Alexa stated. I laughed the way she said Pips.
“He’s leaving, on that midnight train to Georgia.” I was singing my heart out when my phone rang. I started to ignore it because no one interrupts Gladys, but it was my baby girl. “Alexa pause.”
I quickly swiped my finger across my phone screen to see my baby girl’s sweet face. She was wearing a colorful head wrap and a Harry Potter night gown. A smile came across my face, when I saw her. “Morning Sunshine. Rise and shine and give God the glory.” I used to tell her that in the mornings when she was growing up.
“Good morning. I just saw that you called. Is everything alright?”
I realized I must have startled her by calling so early. “Of course. I didn’t mean to scare you by calling so early.”
“No problem,” she said as she let out a yawn. She had never been a morning person, unlike me.
“Well, I was calling because,” I could barely contain my excitement, “I booked us on a cruise.”
“You did? When?” That seemed to perk her right up.
“Two months from now. That should give you plenty of time to put in for your vacation time. I sent you an email with all the information.”
“Ok.” She grabbed her tablet off the nightstand. “Got it.”
“Good.”
“I’m putting in for enough time, so I can hang out in Commons with you for a few days.”
“Sounds good,” I replied. She didn’t know how happy that made me. She planned to work another 10 years before she returned to Commons to help me run the flower shop. We planned doing a mother – daughter travel vlog on YouTube.
We chatted a few more minutes before blowing each other kisses, and she promised to call once she got home that night. It was nothing in the world more important to me than my Miracle.
When I got pregnant with her I was in the military. Her father was my commanding officer, and you already know that’s a no, no. I kept it a secret. Then half way through my pregnancy, I developed preeclampsia. My miracle baby was born at 27 weeks, a little over a pound.
A few minutes later she sent a text, Vacation time confirmed!! The Caribbean will not be ready for us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And, she was absolutely right.
With that taken care of, I started working on filling my orders that needed to go out. One by one, I checked the orders off the electronic system that Miracle had created for me. She had a gift for creating computer programs. And, she definitely didn’t get that from me.
Just as I finished up my last order, my baby sister came through the door. Anytime Hope came around, trouble would surely follow.
“Hey Han Han,” she said as she strolled behind the counter. She grabbed the barstool and sat down.
“Hey,” I said slowly. It was Wednesday, and she was probably stopping by to borrow some money. She was a traveling nurse and made good money, but she had a weakness for the Cherokee casinos. “And, before you ask I don’t have any money.”
“Really Hannah. You think that’s the only reason I come around.” For a moment, she made me feel bad. It was just for a moment because then she asked, “Can you spot me $200 until Friday?”
I rolled my eyes because I had just given her $300 the week before, that she had yet to pay me back. In the past when she borrowed money I would have let her work it off at the shop, but I stop when she mixed up an order. She delivered a centerpiece for a bachelorette party to the funeral home. Just say, the good Christian ladies had a lot to say when they saw the flowers at the memorial service.
“I promise I will pay you all the money I owe Friday when I get paid. I have a part-time job.”
“What kind of part-time job do you have?”
“I’m making night time deliveries.”
“Night time deliveries,” I looked up from the tulip arrangement I was working on.
“Prostituting, is not a part-time job.”
“Really. I’m not prostituting. Anymore,” she said quickly. “I work for a pharmaceutical delivery company, thank you very much.”
It sounded legit, but for some reason I didn’t trust it. “So why do you need to borrow money?”
“I don’t get paid until Friday. I need to get some new tires for my car. You don’t want your favorite little sister driving on May-pops. ”
Reluctantly, I said yes. I knew I wouldn’t be getting the money back, but I couldn’t let her drive around on bad tires.
Then Friday, to my surprise Hope stopped by and dropped off an envelope with $700 inside. She said that she gave the extra $200 as a thank you gift. I didn’t know what kind of pharmaceuticals she was delivering, but for once it seemed she was getting back on her feet. “See Big Sister, I told you I was going to pay you back.” After she left, I checked to make sure none of the money was counterfeit.
That Monday, a package arrived for her at the flower shop. “Let’s open it,” Helen said after the FedEx driver left.
“No,” I said sternly.
“And, why not? It’s addressed to the shop in care of Hope.” Helen began shaking the box, “We both know Hope is doing something illegal. You know she gave me the $400 she owed me, plus an extra $200. She said it was a thank you gift.”
I just shook my head. Helen had the you know she’s doing something that she has no business doing, look on her face. I knew she was right, but it wasn’t my place to get involved. Hope is a grown woman, and I learned a long time ago to mind my own business.
After going back and forth, Helen realized I wasn’t going to give into her and open the package. Even though I was just as curious.
“Well, if you decide to open it before Hope picks it up, let me know,” she said before heading out to do a delivery.
I stared at the package for a few minutes before putting it in my office and sending Hope a text that she had a package at the shop. Thanks. I’ll pick it up on my lunch break. Good, hopefully it would be gone before Helen returned.
With that situation taken care of, I started working on a new order for my secret solution of flower power. My most loyal customer was a farmer in Wyoming, that was working on a strand of marijuana. The government contracted her, and she contracted me.
As I was finishing up the order, I heard the door open. I didn’t look up. I just greeted them in my chipper customer service voice, “Welcome to Rosebuds. How may I help you?”
“Rosebuds. You named the shop after yourself.”
The voice sent chills down my spine. I hadn’t heard it in 33 years. The last time I heard that voice, I was yelling four letter words. I slowly looked up.
“You always loved it when I called you that.”
I couldn’t believe it. Standing in the middle of my flower shop was the only man I had ever loved. My ex-commanding officer and Miracle’s father. My heart dropped because I knew whatever the reason he was showing up for after 33 years, wasn’t good.
