Page 13 of In Her Sights
She would’ve continued, but Cara held up her hands, palms out, as if blocking Molly’s words from hitting her. “You’re right.” Cara didn’t sound happy about it, but she didn’t sound angry—at Molly, at least. “You should report it stolen. I’m just so used to covering for her, which doesn’t help anything. It’s just… Could it have been someone else?”
Her sister sounded so miserable that Molly wrapped an arm around her shoulders, but she didn’t soften her next words. “Yeah, it probably was someone else—one of her shady buddies she convinced to take it.” Molly’s phone beeped with two incoming texts, and she checked the messages, her rage bubbling up again when both Felicity and Norah confirmed that they hadn’t taken her car. With an angry flick of her thumb, she scrolled through her contacts until she reached Sergeant Taylor Blake’s name.
After several rings, Molly was preparing to leave a voicemail when the sergeant finally answered brusquely. “Blake.”
“Sergeant, it’s Molly Pax.”
“Pax.” Blake’s tone softened ever so slightly. For the hard-edged cop, that was the equivalent of anyone else gushing with sympathy. “Heard your mom fell off the straight and narrow again.”
Hearing the blunt statement felt like a punch to the gut, but it was nothing if not true. “She has—in a big way. She’s been in jail since very early this morning, but she’s still managed to somehow steal my car.”
There was the tiniest pause before the sergeant spoke again, her voice impartial and matter-of-fact. “You’re sure it was her?”
“Positive.” There was no doubt in Molly’s mind that Jane had been the one behind her car’s disappearance. “If it wasn’t her, then she talked one of her friends into taking it and told them where I keep my keys. She tried to convince me to lend it to her last night, but I refused. Everyone was out of the house for a little over an hour this morning, from about quarter to six until seven. Otherwise, at least two people have been home since I last saw my car parked in the garage.”
As she spoke, Molly examined the outside of the front door, looking for signs that the lock had been tampered with. There was nothing she could see that showed anyone had tried to break in. Closing and locking the front door behind her, she moved to check the garage door as well. Cara trailed after her like an apprehensive ghost.
“Anyone else have permission to drive it?”
“Sure, my sisters, but I’ve checked with all of them, and none have touched it.” As much as she wanted to stay as professional and clinical-sounding as the sergeant, a thread of her anger snuck out. “They also aren’t the ones who are going to need bail money over the next day or two.”
The mention of money made her head snap up, and she rushed back to where she’d dropped her backpack on the kitchen counter. Yanking out her wallet, she quickly checked inside and bit back a snarl.
“All the cash in my purse—about eighty dollars—and our business ATM card are missing. I’m going to pass you over to Cara so she can answer your questions while I call my bank.” She and Cara exchanged phones, and Molly hurried to find the bank’s phone number. As the automated answering system’s spiel began, she resisted the urge to sink down onto the kitchen floor and curl up in a ball.
She knew, deep in her gut, that this was only the tip of the iceberg. Things would only get worse from here.
* * *
“What’s the total loss?” Even though Molly asked the question, she wasn’t really sure she wanted the answer. Just a day ago, she’d been blissfully ignorant about what Jane had been planning, and she wished she could go back to that time…mainly so she could hide her keys and wallet somewhere that Jane or one of her felonious buddies would never find them. After spending hours trying to sort out the mess their mother had made, all five sisters had gathered around the dining room table to hash out the next steps of their damage-control plan.
Cara and Norah tipped their heads together, both peering at the spreadsheet Norah had whipped up once she’d gotten home and been apprised of the situation. “Sergeant Blake filed the stolen vehicle and burglary report and put out a BOLO for your car, but it still hasn’t been found. We’ve initiated the insurance claim,” Norah said.
“The bank’s canceled your card and started an investigation,” Cara continued from where Norah had left off. “We’ll probably be reimbursed for the purchases—fifteen hundred at Walmart and nine hundred at Tiny’s Automotive Repair—but the business is out the four hundred withdrawn from the ATM this morning, plus the cash taken from your purse…and all the hassle and aggravation.” Cara gave Molly a shaky attempt at a sympathetic smile. “It doesn’t look like anything else is missing from the house—that we’ve noticed, at least.”
“Okay.” Inhaling a breath, Molly blew it out in a long sigh. “This is a four-hundred-and-eighty-dollar life lesson, then. I’m voting that we learn from this and never let Mom move back in, no matter how guilty she tries to make us feel. Who’s with me?”
“I am.” Norah was the first to agree. “We’ve given her too many chances and too much money already. We’re the ones who paid off the mortgage on this house, and we should get to decide who stays here.”
Charlie nodded vehemently. “Let’s change the locks and pretend we’re orphans—well, except for when Lono comes to visit.”
Although it was more a huff of air than an actual laugh, it was the closest Molly had come to smiling since she’d discovered the theft of her car. “I like your plan.” She held her fist out, and Charlie bumped it with hers. “Cara? What are your thoughts?” She braced to hear her sister defend their mom, ready to deflect the automatic guilt and stand strong. After Jane’s latest stunt, Molly did not want her mother in their house—or their lives—anymore. She was done.
“We’ve let her stay too long already,” Cara said, surprising Molly. “She’s almost fifty and a mother of five grown kids. She needs to learn to make it on her own, without us propping her up.”
Everyone looked at Felicity, who simply said, “Agreed. Mom’s out of the house, even after she gets herself out of her current situation.”
Despite the horrendous day she’d just had, Molly felt a slight easing of the tension banded around her lungs, making it easier to breathe. “Good. That’s decided, at least. Now let’s talk about work.” Picking up the folders, she waved them at her sisters. “Until we get reimbursed by the bank, things are going to be tight. The more skips we can bring in, the less ramen we’ll be eating.”
“Do we need to reconsider taking Barney’s job?” Cara asked with a preemptive wince.
Without having to consider the question, Molly immediately nixed it. “Tracking Sonny? Nope. We’re not that desperate yet.”
“Sonny?” Norah repeated, her eyebrows drawn together in confusion.
“Edison Zarver.” Just saying the name made Molly’s stomach twist. She’d only met him in person once at the courthouse, but his soulless eyes had left a definite impression—and not a positive one. “He skipped, so Barney’s trying to convince us to track him down.”
“Ugh.” Charlie’s screwed-up face showed exactly how she felt about Sonny. “I’d rather eat ramen every day than get mixed up in Zarver’s slimy business.”
