Page 39 of Pay Dirt

Chapter 18

I drove across town to the all-night pharmacy with Janet pointing out the directions. She reluctantly got out of the car with me. Pink tinted her cheeks as she ran her hand over her clothes, as if trying to hide her appearance.

We walked inside, and I led her toward the back of the store, past all of the people giving us weird looks, and straight into the bathroom.

“You can wash your face and hands if it will make you feel better. I’m going to step out and see if they have any clean clothes.”

“You don’t have to do that. I just need medicine for my daughter.”

I rested my hand on Janet’s arm. “Let me do this for you and your daughter.”

She reluctantly nodded, and I left her just as she turned the water on in the sink.

I stepped out and hit the tourist aisle in search of T-shirts and lounge pants. The pharmacy was equipped with everything a tourist might need. I grabbed a few items, including some hand wipes, and took them to the register and paid, handing over my credit card.

I signed, and when the cashier went to put the items in the bag, I stopped her. “That’s not necessary.”

I pulled the tags free and dropped them in the bag and carried all the items into the bathroom, where Janet took her time cleaning herself and changing into clothes.

“We weren’t always like this,” she said from behind the closed bathroom stall door while I sat on the sink, dangling my legs over the counter.

“What happened, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Our crop got ruined, and we were having a hard time making ends meet, and then things turned worse when the cattle somehow got out and disappeared. It was as if we were struck by bad luck, and it all started when some developers showed up in town wanting to buy our land.”

“You think they sabotaged things?” I asked.

“I don’t know.” Janet appeared from behind the closed door. She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to comb the knots free. “I would hope not, but it was soon after that we missed some payments, and the bank came calling in our mortgage note. We weren’t the only ones, either.”

“Is that when Michael started stealing?”

“He didn’t always steal. He’d come home with fresh fruit and vegetables our old neighbors and friends supplied him with. They didn’t mind if he took from their fields. Then he filled water from faucets. He didn’t take much, just enough to try and support us to get by. But when Mary got sick, I think that must have scared him into stealing from you. I’m so sorry he did that.”

“Desperate times call for desperate measures. If it had been any of my sisters and we were in the same predicament, I might have done the same.”

“No, you wouldn’t,” she answered. “You have a kind soul.” Janet put her dirty clothes in the bag, and we gave the pharmacist her script to fill. We were told it would be forty-five minutes, so we walked across the street, and I fed her hamburgers and French fries too. She scarfed them down, trying not to look like a woman on the verge of starvation.

“We’ll get some to go and take it to the others. When was the last time you had a decent meal?” I asked.

She shrugged. “We’ve been surviving on fruit and vegetables, so I can’t complain. Homeless people in bigger cities wouldn’t even have that to eat.”

A plan started forming in my head. It took hold of my heart and wouldn’t let go. “I’m going to help you and all of the others. I just need a little time to get my plan into action.”

“You aren’t a local. Won’t you leave after the competition?”

“I’m not here for the competition.” I smiled. “I was trying to help Nathan locate some missing items, but I failed.”

“Why is that?” she asked while taking a sip of her chocolate milkshake to wash down her French fries.

“I needed a map, and this town doesn’t believe in street maps when cell phones are so handy.”

Janet swallowed hard. “Why not just go to the property appraiser’s office? I’ve had to go there a bunch checking boundary lines and deeds.”

Why in the world hadn’t I thought of that? A smile formed on my lips. “Thanks, I’ll do that.”

“My momma used to work there before she retired. That’s how she knew every city office building in town had storm shelters. She still had a key to get in,” Janet said.

I bought the store out of all their blankets, wet wipes, toiletries, and everything else I could think of that these people might need. I’d ordered a ton of food and picked it up before returning to the library.

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