Chapter 9
Julie texted Elizabeth and asked to have lunch with her at the school. Julie arrived ten minutes early and walked to the cafeteria with Elizabeth and her class. "You have a nice school here and a great class."
"I agree. I love it here."
"I'm happy for you."
…
"Good morning Ms. Alice. I hope you are having a great day?"
"Yes. Yes I am. I saw Investigator Jack this morning. Is there something you need to tell me, Ms. Thatcher?" She asked with a knowing smirk.
"How did you know?"
"That man was smiling too big not to have good news." All three ladies laughed.
"Well, we are dating as of last night."
Speaking softly so no one heard her, "How is Henry?"
Alice leaned forward and whispered, "Jack came in yesterday and paid for Henry's lunch for the year. He also left a little extra in case he needed something. I tell you, that is the sweetest man!"
"I agree. Thanks for letting me know."
"Now remember, you didn't hear anything from me, ok?"
She nodded and gave Alice a understanding look.
Elizabeth didn't realize she hasn't told Julie, yet that Jack and she was dating. "Elizabeth, are you dating Jack?"
"Yes. I meant to tell you today. This is the first time I have talked to you today."
"Don't you think this is moving a little fast?" Asked Julie.
"You think I am moving fast? You?"
"I know. It isn't fast for me but is it at warp speed for you."
"I know it seems fast, and it probably is, but it is just right with Jack. It feels right. He is the perfect gentleman. I find myself thinking of him constantly."
"He must think you are something special too. Tom said he never dated anyone before."
"I know. I don't understand how. He is just perfect. The girls in his school must be all dumb to let him slip through. He said he wants to be like his father."
"I know Tom thinks highly of his father and Jack. So, sister, how are his kisses?" She asked like only a younger sister could ask.
"Oh Julie. I have never experienced a kiss like that before. The first kiss was perfect. Then each kiss after was better than the previous one. I get lost in him and I am better for it."
"Wow! He seems so sweet."
"He is. He calls me Bella and Nani."
"I know Bella is Latin for beautiful, but what does Nani mean?"
"It's Hawaiian and it means beautiful." She swooned just talking about it.
"That is so romantic. How do you not love him yet?"
Elizabeth didn't answer her sister and she looked down at the plate of food on her tray.
"Elizabeth!" Loudly exclaimed Julie. "You do, don't you?"
"Don't be silly, Julie. We started dating last night and have known each other for three days. The first day he thought I was the rudest person he ever met. You can't fall in love that quick." Elizabeth was trying to sound confident, but she knew she was falling in love with him.
"Why did he think that?"
Elizabeth started from the beginning and explained the sketch, Jack wearing the same color cloths from the sketch, the dream, and her attitude seeing him for the first time. Julie laughed at her sister and how she was telling the story.
"You do!" She exclaimed. "You absolutely do!" She said it too loud and half of the cafeteria turned to look in their direction.
Elizabeth scolded her sister to be quieter. "I do what?"
"Don't you dare act dumb with me Bethie. I know you too well. You love that man."
"Julie!"
"Elizabeth!" She stated back with attitude.
Before Elizabeth could continue her denial, Julie interrupted her. "You can deny all you want, I know you. Not the public, what everyone sees but the inner you. I know it!"
"I'm not sure if I am there yet, but I am on my way, and quickly." She finally admitted. She was afraid if she admitted it, she would jinx the relationship somehow.
"Oh Elizabeth. You do, you don't know it yet."
Elizabeth shook her head. "It's time I get my class back to their room. Thank you for coming to eat with me."
"You're welcome sister. I hope to see you later."
…
Jack was sitting at his temporary desk looking over the crime scene photos. As he sat one down and picking up another one, something caught his eye. "Wait, what is that?" He looked back and forth at both pictures and then picked up the photos from the first crime scene. He wasn't sure, but he thinks he sees it in the corner. He grabbed his magnifying glass and noticed the small card in the corner, just like the other two photos.
"That's not by coincidence!" he said to himself. Then he picked up several other pictures and noticed the Ace of Spades playing card in each photo. He texted Bill and asked to see him. Bill called him and asked what was going on? Once Jack began to explain, Bill cut him off an told him he would be here fifteen minutes.
While waiting on Chief Avery, Jack gathered all of his photos he wanted to show the Chief. He figured he had a couple of minutes before he arrived, so he decided to text Elizabeth.
"Hey Hermosa. I miss you. Hope you are having a great day"
Elizabeth had just finished passing out the test sheets to her math class. As she sat down at her desk, she heard her phone buzz. She was shocked when she realized she was hoping it was Jack when she reached for her phone. She had never been the type of girl who wanted constant contact with her boyfriend. She could barely contain her excitement when she saw his name on her screen. After touching the screen, she opened his text and read it. "Hermosa? What does that mean?" She had thought she said it under her breath but realized she didn't when her class laughed. She looked up and saw every student staring at her and giggling.
"Ms. Thatcher" said a little girl in the front row. "Hermosa is Spanish meaning 'beautiful'."
Elizabeth blushed at the thought of getting caught by her class and at Jack's term of endearment.
"He has called me Bella, Nani, and now Hermosa. That's so sweet." Then she blushed more when she realized she said it out loud.
"What does Nani mean?" Asked another girl in the class.
Embarrassed, but knowing her class wouldn't let it drop, she answered, "It is Hawaiian meaning beautiful."
All the girls giggled and many of the boys moaned. "Does this mean you have a boyfriend, Ms. Thatcher?"
"I bet it's the guy who was here earlier who gave her the flower." Said another little boy.
"What's his name, Ms. Thatcher?"
"I don't know his name, but he is very handsome." Gushed another girl.
"I think he kissed her." Moaned a boy in the back. "I saw him close the door with his foot while hugging her."
"Class! That's enough. This is an inappropriate conversation to have in class when you have a math test sitting in front of you on your desk. Please concentrate on your test and not on me."
The entire class giggled as they turned their attention toward their math test.
She composed herself before texting Jack.
E – You won't believe the conversation I just had with my students
J – Really. Was it good?
E – It was embarrassing
J – Are you going to share or do I have to guess
E – It was about you
E – and me
J – oh, intriguing
J – do tell
E – should I? She teased
After a couple of minutes, Jack texted her back.
J – Sorry Hermosa. Chief Avery just walked in, and we need to discuss the case. I'll talk to you later?
E – you better
She sighed when she put her phone down.
"I hope that was a good sigh?" Whispered the little girl in the front row.
"The best." Whispered Elizabeth. "Now, Audreana, please get back to your test." She stated with a smile.
…
Tom and Julie were walking through the town holding hands and enjoying the beautiful weather. "This is a nice little town." Mentioned Julie.
"It is Jules. Not too small but not big either. There are some shops and small places to eat. Kind of reminds me of my home town. Maybe a little bigger but not by much."
"Did you enjoy growing up in a small town?"
"I loved it. Many things for a boy to get into." Smiled Tom. "Did you enjoy growing up in the big city of Hamilton?"
"I did enjoy it, but I wouldn't like to live in a big town again."
"You wouldn't?" Asked a surprise Tom. "Are you ok with living in a small town?"
"It would be in a town something like this. It's perfect here. It's beautiful and quite. There are some things to do but close enough to a larger town to visit."
"Yeah. What would you think about moving here after we are married?"
"Here?"
"Yeah. We both like it here. You have family here with Elizabeth and the town people so far seems to be very kind."
"Maybe. Well, I think I would like it. Do you think we could find jobs here?"
"We should be able too. We would have to look into it before deciding, but if we can, what do you think?"
"I think it would be great."
"Awesome. Let's look into it then."
Julie smiled and pulled Tom in closer.
…
Jack described everything he was thinking concerning the pictures and the ace of clubs. In every picture except the fifth crime scene, you could clearly see the ace of clubs. In the fifth picture, you could see something that looked like a card but not certain.
"Here is the evidence list from that crime scene. Let's see if the card is there."
Turning the page, Jack immediately saw the ace of clubs. "Here it is. It's stated that the card is placed in the corner near the trash can."
Bill picked up the photo and the suspected card is sitting by the trash can. "That has to be it. So, in every picture of the crimes we have an ace of clubs. What does that imply?"
"Before you came, I googled the ace of clubs. It stated, 'The Ace of Clubs represents a large purse of money. Most people think that it is the luckiest card of the whole deck.'"
"Interesting" mentioned Bill. He had a look of deep concentration on his face while he was bouncing a pen against the desk.
Both men took some time before speaking. They were lost in thought. "It may be the men are looking to get rich, but that doesn't make sense. What they have stolen isn't a large sum of money." Bill spoke first.
"True. Then that would suggest that the card is a symbol of luck. Maybe it's their lucky charm that has turned into their signature. Since they haven't been caught yet, they are becoming bolder because they feel that the card is protecting them." Jack stated. "With that mindset and the drug aspect, they are bound to make a mistake sooner rather than later."
"I agree, but I hope we catch them before they become violent."
"I agree Chief. Especially since we agree they are narrowing their focus on businesses and homes closer to town. "
Jack's phone buzzed but he couldn't answer since he was meeting with the chief. Bill stated, "Let's look at everything again with new insight. This may open something up for us."
"You read my mind."
…
Elizabeth didn't think anything about Jack not responding to her text. She knew he was busy with Bill. However, she did miss him. "How can I miss him so much when we just started dating."
"Ms. Thatcher, who are you dating?"
Elizabeth jumped at Ms. Blakely's voice. "Oh my. Where did you come from?"
"I walked up and heard you talking to yourself. You know, that is not a healthy habit."
She smiled at her principle. "I was just thinking out loud."
"I hope this new man in your life will not make you late for school, Ms. Thatcher."
"Ms. Blakely, how many times have I been late this school year?" She sassed.
"Only once, but you have been close to being late more times than I can count."
"Well, almost being late isn't being late. Good day Ms. Blakely."
"Oh, you never told me who this man is?" The two have never been close friends, but that doesn't mean Ms. Blakely wasn't nosey.
Elizabeth smiled at her. "I better go. I wouldn't want to be late to my class."
Ms. Blakely stared at Elizabeth as she walked away. She huffed and turned to go to the school's offices.
…
Jack walked into the third store for the day. He was visiting all the stores that sold playing cards to see if anyone bought several packages of playing cards for the ace of clubs. The previous two stores have sold a couple of decks of cards, but no large amount to one person. He walked up to the counter and asked to speak with the manager. A young man called in the back office for Max. After a couple of minutes, Max appeared. Max was not what he was expecting. She was a long, blonde haired woman in her mid twenties.
"Good afternoon officer. What can I do for you?" She gave him a smile that made him feel defensive.
"Good afternoon, Max. I'm Investigator Jack Thornton. I was wondering if you have sold any large amounts of playing cards."
"Playing cards?"
"Yes ma'am. Have you sold some lately?"
"Let me look. Please come with me to my office while I look on the computer." Jack sensed she was flirting a little but wasn't sure. It made sense to go into her office to look for the information.
Max sat at her desk while motioning to the chair in front of her for Jack to sit. "Let me take a look." She stole a glance at Jack admiring the view.
After a few keystrokes, she looked up at Jack and smiled. "Yes, officer. We have sold several decks of playing cards. That's a little unusual. That is not normally a big item for us to sell. May I ask what this is for?"
"It's just a case I'm working on. Do you know who bought them or when?"
"If they paid with a card I will know. Let me look."
A few minutes passed and then she spoke again. They paid with cash so we won't have a receipt, but they bought them in bunches. One time they bought five decks, the second time they bought four decks and the last time they bought six sets."
"That's fifteen sets of cards." Jack mentioned just above a whisper.
"Yes. That's more than we sell in an entire year. We just don't sell to many sets of playing cards."
"Since you won't have a receipt or a name, do you have surveillance camaras?"
"You will need to speak with Steve. He is in charge of the security cameras."
"Great. Thank you. Is Steve here today?"
"Yes. Let me take you to him. He is in the security room."
They stood up and Jack began to follow Max down the hall.
"Investigator." Max began. "Please, just call me Jack." He stated without a smile.
"Jack, would you like to join me for a drink or dinner tonight?"
"That's very kind of you Max, but I am in a committed relationship with a very caring and beautiful woman."
With a hint of sadness. "She is a very lucky woman."
"Trust me Max, I am the lucky one."
Steve was able to pull up the image of the gentleman who purchased the last two sets of cards. The system reset itself and erased all images since the first set was purchased. In one of the photos were two men together. The one man was in both images. This gave Jack hope they were closing in on the suspects. The one gentleman in both images was Henry's uncle. The man who walked into the abandoned house.
"Thank you, Steve, for everything. I appreciate your help today."
"You are welcome, Jack. If I can do anything else for you, please let me know."
"Thanks Steve. Again, please keep this quiet. It's an open investigation."
"No problem, Jack. My uncle is a cop. I know how this works."
…
After visiting the last three stores in town who sells cards. Jack only found one store who sold only one deck of cards. He felt comfortable knowing that Mr. James Harvey, Henry's uncle, was involved. He still needed to find out the identity of the other man in the image.
Walking out of the last store, he remembered he had a text from Elizabeth.
J – "I'm sorry, Nani. I have been busy this afternoon. I have missed you. You having a good day?"
He sent the text and hoped she understood he was too busy to reply.
She received his text and smiled. When she sent the text earlier, he sent a smiling face emoji. That wasn't a real response, but she appreciated he didn't ignore her.
E – I'm doing well. About to leave the school. Busy but good day.
J – that's great.
E – I appreciated your text earlier
J – sorry I couldn't respond except for an emoji
E – I appreciate the text because you didn't ignore me. I understand you are busy and couldn't respond.
J – thanks for understanding. I would never ignore you
Elizabeth believed him. Not because he said it, but because he showed her he wouldn't. Yes, it wasn't a long relationship yet, but he has always been honest with her. She trusted him.
E – will I be able to see you later?
J – I just left the last store. I need to go back to the office. Can I tell you later?
E - Sure just let me know
J – I want too
E – me too
J – think we could practice? :)
E – maybe
…
Elizabeth returned to her apartment to grade some papers. She hasn't done any grading since Jack showed up and she was getting behind. She was a little surprised when she heard a knock on the door.
"Jules, what are you doing today?"
"I just wanted to speak with you. Are you busy?"
"No. Come in and make yourself at home."
Each grabbed a bottled water and sat on the sofa.
Julie began, "Do you plan on staying here for a while?"
"Here? In this apartment or in Hope Valley?"
"Hope Valley."
"I love my job and my students. I have made lifelong friends here. I like my apartment. I plan on staying here for a while. Why?"
"Well, Tom and I have been talking when we walked around town this morning. We like it here. We are thinking if we can find jobs here, we would like to move here after our wedding."
"Oh Julie. I would love that. I think you will like it here."
"Do you think we could find jobs?"
"I know you can. I'm not sure what Tom does, but he should be able too.
Both the Thatcher sisters looked toward the door when they heard another knock.
"Abagail" said a surprised Elizabeth. "Come in and join Julie and me. We were just chatting.
Abagail took a bottled water and sat in the seat beside the sofa. The ladies talked about everything and nothing. Elizabeth shared a little about Jack but was unwilling to share too much information about them. She wasn't being secretive or trying to keep Jack a secret, she just didn't think it was appropriate to share too much personal information.
"Come on, Bethie. You must tell us how good of a kisser he is."
Elizabeth's face turned red.
"Elizabeth, we are your sisters. You can't keep that a secret. You have to tell us." Stated Abagail. "So, are his kisses good?"
"Well, it needs improvement, but I am working on it." Stated Jack.
All the ladies were shocked at the sound of his voice. Jack was standing at the screen door with his hand raise about to knock.
All the ladies were embarrassed, especially Elixabeth.
"Jack," Elizabeth stated as she stood and walked over to him letting him in the apartment.
"Hey Hermosa. I missed you." He whispered under his breath hoping Abagail and Julie didn't hear him.
Julie looked at Abagail and whispered, "Hermosa?"
"It means beautiful."
Julie gasped a little and then turned red.
"Julie" expressed Elizabeth. She gave her little sister an older sister face.
Everyone chuckled.
"Excuse me everyone. I need to get back to the café."
"Abagail, is it ok if I walk with you? I am meeting Tom there shortly."
"Come on Julie."
After they left, Elizabeth handed Jack a water and they sat at the kitchen table where all her papers were.
"You look busy. Should I come back later?" Stated Jack. He didn't want to take her away from her work.
"I do have some grading to do, but you can stay, please."
Jack smiled and willingly agreed to stay. "Let me go to the car and get my folder. We both can work together. Is that, ok?"
"Perfect." Her former boyfriend would never want to just hang out like this. Several moments slipped by and she said to no one. "I can't believe he just wants to spend time with me doing work."
"Bella, I always want to spend time with you no matter what we are doing."
She jumped a little because she didn't know he walked back into the apartment. "Jack, you are very quiet."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I could be sitting at my place doing work thinking about you or I could be here with you doing work. I'm sorry I have to do work, but I would rather do it with you beside me."
She swooned at his words. Something she realized she did often with Jack. "I'm happy you are willing to stay here with me while we work. I have work to do too."
"Great. Let's get busy and finish. Then…we…we can…maybe…practice a little?" Asked a shy Jack.
Elizabeth smiled at him. Picked up his file and placed it in front of him and opened it. "Get busy then, Investigator Thorton. You have something important waiting on you."
He smiled the smile he saved for her with full blown dimples showing, "Yes, ma'am, Ms. Thatcher."
For the next two hours, they both worked. She graded her math test papers along with some essay papers. Jack read reports and test results from the lab. He was looking through the images again just to see if he missed anything. For most of the time, they touched. Their legs would rub against each other, or they would hold hands. Every so often, one or the other would lightly squeeze the other's hand just to let them know they were there. This spoke volumes to Elizabeth. She didn't know a romantic relationship was supposed to be like this. This certainly wasn't the relationship she had with Charles.
After placing the last test paper down, she looked over at Jack and noticed that he was lost in looking at a photo of some man. He was holding her hand and gently rubbing his thumb across the back of her hand. In that moment, she knew she was in love. She looked up and straight into Jack's eyes. She gave him a smile and looked back down at her pile of papers. She could sense that he was still looking at her. She looked up at him again and her smile grew. She tightened her grip on his hand and slightly moved in her seat to readjust herself.
Jack looked at her. Her smile was great, but those eyes were the place he got lost in her. Those blue eyes were the window to her soul and he loved what he saw. She was kind, compassionate, loving, and unspeakably beautiful. He knew he was completely in love with this woman. He never experienced anything like this before but knew exactly what he was feeling.
She spoke and it broke him from his thoughts. "What are you thinking about?"
"You."
She smiled at him. "Are you hungry?"
"A little."
"I can make us something or we can go out to the café. What would you like to do?"
"As long as I am with you, I don't care, but you have had a busy day, I don't want you to work just for me. Why don't we go to Abagail's?"
"That'll be fine. Thanks."
"Before we go, may I ask you something about the case."
She nodded. "Is everything ok?"
"Yes. I just want to get your opinion. I think you may help me with some background information."
"I don't know how I can help but ask what you want."
"Please remember this is an open investigation. Please don't say anything or I will be in a lot of trouble."
"Jack, you can trust me."
"I know." He stated. He looked down at the photo he was looking at when he noticed she was looking at him. He handed her the image and asked if she knew this man.
"He looks familiar. What's his name?"
"Mr. James Harvey."
"I haven't meet him before, but he looks somewhat familiar."
Jack handed her another picture. She looked at it and he noticed a look of acknowledgement. "That is Mr. Jimmy Harvey. He is one of my student's father, Henry Harvey. The boy you walked with to my class and who you asked about when I first met you."
"Really? Then that would make Jimmy and James brothers." He mentioned out loud without thinking about it.
"Why do you ask?"