Fleece Navidad Part 10

"No, I'm just accompanying her to the police department. These officers have a few questions. I'll call you as soon as I can," Burt said as he and Claudia reached the archway. The two officers had already retreated into the central yarn room, heading for the front door.

The cafe waitress following behind Mimi nearly crashed into her with the tray she was holding. Her eyes popped wide at the sight of Claudia and Burt leaving with the police.

"What . . . what was that all about?" Mimi surveyed the shocked faces around the table. Tears already trickled down Lizzie's pale cheeks. Even Hilda looked shocked, either that or appalled.

"The Florida police filed an arrest warrant. They've charged Claudia with auto theft, just like Burt said they would," Kelly explained. "Now the Fort Connor police are taking her in. Burt's going with her because she's scared senseless, as you can see."

"Oh, no . . ." Mimi breathed, quickly setting the carafe upon the table.

Kelly shoved the alpaca scarf back into the knitting bag and dug out her cell phone as she rose from the table. "I'm calling Marty. Claudia needs a good lawyer, and she needs one right now."

Checking the directory for Marty's number, Kelly punched it in as she headed into the central yarn room. She was startled into a stop when she saw someone in the corner.

Sheila. Standing in the corner out of sight, clearly watching and listening to the entire incident.

She glanced at Kelly briefly before turning her back and walking toward the front of the shop. It was a quick look, but it was long enough for Kelly to glimpse Sheila's expression. The light of triumph shone in her eyes.

Ten.

Kelly pushed away her half-finished breakfast. She didn't have her usual appet.i.te this morning. Even Eduardo's huevos rancheros couldn't tempt her today. Leaning both arms on the cafe table, she looked across at her friends. "Thanks, Marty, for coming to Claudia's rescue yesterday. Talk about short notice. I'm glad I caught you in your office."

Marty draped his arm across the back of Megan's chair. All decked out in lawyerly dark gray suit and burgundy silk tie, there was no hint of the impish court jester who lurked within the conservative exterior.

"I'm glad I was able to help, Kelly. If ever there was someone who needs legal counsel, it's Claudia Miller. That's quite a list of charges waiting for her in Florida. Auto theft, theft of an electronic device, and credit card fraud." He shook his head, his usual smile missing. "She nearly fainted listening to the judge read the list of charges at her hearing. Burt had to hold her up."

Megan toyed with a teaspoon, stirring her cup of tea. "Poor Claudia. I feel so sorry for her."

Marty sipped his coffee. "At least Burt was able to arrange her bond so she didn't have to go to jail."

"That was sweet of him to do that," Megan said, leaning back in her chair. "But then, Burt's a sweetheart."

"Yeah, he is," Kelly added. "And make sure you send me your bill, Marty, okay? I don't want you to-"

Marty interrupted her with a wave of his hand. "No charge, Kelly. I was glad to do it. I haven't felt so needed in years. Ever since I had to stop taking pro bono clients."

Megan grinned at her boyfriend. "Well, you could always tell those corporate clients that you'd rather work with the poor. If you really want to feel needed, that is."

"Maybe in a few years. The corporate cases pay really well, so it becomes addictive. But you've got a point. I have thought about it," he said, suddenly earnest.

"Marty, I was only teasing you." Megan placed her hand on his arm.

"Yeah, I know," he said, good-natured grin returning. "But it's something I miss. So it's always been in the back of my mind."

"What will happen to Claudia once she's turned over to the Florida police? Were you able to find someone to represent her down there?" Kelly asked.

"Yeah, I was able to contact my buddy in Florida, and his firm has an office in Sarasota. He said they've got some younger a.s.sociates on staff that do pro bono work, so one of them will represent Claudia when she returns."

"Where will she stay?" Megan asked, clearly concerned. "I mean, she gave up her apartment in the retirement home. And Sheila certainly won't let her stay in her former house."

Kelly gave a wry laugh. "Hardly. I saw Sheila lurking around the corner yesterday when the officers were here. She was obviously eavesdropping." She scowled at the memory. "I swear, that is one bitter woman. She had this triumphant look on her face."

"Well, I hope she's satisfied now that Claudia's been dragged away by the police." Megan's pretty face frowned. "I bet she was the one who told the police where to find Claudia."

"Oh, for sure," Kelly agreed. "Sheila admitted she was calling the Sarasota cops every day to check on the progress of the stolen vehicle charges. She was waiting to see if a report had been filed in the national database yet."

Marty nearly choked on his coffee. "You're kidding!"

"Nope. You can ask Burt." Kelly leaned back in her chair, realizing her shoulders were tensed. "She even admitted that she tracked Claudia to Fort Connor with credit card receipts."

"No way," Marty countered.

"Yeah, way," both Kelly and Megan chimed together.

"We were there in the shop when she marched in and confronted Claudia." Megan shook her head. "So, Sheila should be satisfied. She's won. And Claudia will be dragged to jail in defeat."

"Wow, she's one heck of an investigator," Marty said.

"I have to admit, as a part-time sleuth myself, Sheila's pretty impressive," Kelly said.

Megan arched a brow. "Part-time sleuth? Are you thinking about sniffing around for clues again, Sherlock?"

"Naaaah. This case is already solved, right, Marty? I mean, Claudia's caught red-handed with the stolen car and credit card in her possession and no proof she didn't steal it. I have to agree. It doesn't look good."

"You know, you never answered my question, Marty," Megan continued. "Where will Claudia stay once she gets to Florida?"

Marty drained his cup of coffee. "Actually, Claudia will be a guest of the state of Florida while she's there."

Megan brightened. "Oh, really? Why, that's wonderful. Will they put her up in a hotel, you think?"

Marty gave her a big grin. "I love you." He leaned over and kissed her.

Megan looked surprised at Marty's response, but Kelly immediately picked up on Marty's train of thought. "I think Marty means Claudia will be in jail."

"Oh, no!" Megan said, shocked.

"I'm afraid so," Marty said as he rose from the table. "Gotta get to the office. See you tonight, hon." Pointing to Kelly he added, "Aren't we meeting you guys on the court tonight?"

Kelly had almost forgotten. "Oh, yeah. You're right. Maybe we'll beat you. One game at least."

"You're getting too close for comfort," Marty said with a wave as he headed for the cafe door.

Megan met Kelly's gaze. "Good Lord. I cannot imagine Claudia in jail."

"Neither can I," Kelly commiserated. "When Burt and I talked to Claudia the other day, he mentioned she'd be taken to the jail for booking, and Claudia flipped out. She was nearly hysterical just thinking about it."

"Where is she now?"

"Burt said Lizzie's staying with her at the motel. Bless her heart. Lizzie's a lot tougher than she looks. We've gotta give her credit." Kelly looked up and saw Mimi approaching. "Here comes Mimi. Do you have time to bring her up to speed on what Marty said? I really need to get back to my client accounts."

Megan nodded. "Sure, my consulting has already slowed down for the holidays. Corporate IT always does. I'm going to catch up on e-mail here at the shop today. Sit and knit and catch up."

Kelly pushed back her chair. "You mean, sit and knit and gossip about Claudia, right?"

"Was that Marty I saw leaving? What's happening with Claudia?" Mimi asked as she approached, pointing to the door.

"Megan will update you, Mimi. I've gotta get some work done now, so I can drop in this afternoon and finish Steve's scarf. See you guys later." She gave them both a wave as she headed for the cafe doorway.

At the rate that gossip and news spread via the Lambspun network and around the knitting table, Kelly had no doubt that the table would be crowded this afternoon with knitters and gossipers alike.

Kelly could hear the sound of voices coming from Lambspun's main room the moment she stepped into the foyer. Too loud to be a buzz. It was a cacophony of sound. Voices rising and falling. Excited voices. Angry voices. Kelly peered around the corner into the room.

Whoa. The knitting table was beyond crowded. People were wedged into the room so tightly it looked like they'd need a shoehorn to dislodge them. Chairs were shoved everywhere around the table, in the corners, and spilling over into the doorway to the cla.s.sroom. Any more bodies, and it would be declared a fire hazard.

She hesitated in the archway leading between rooms and surveyed the scene. No sign of Mimi or Burt. They were probably preparing for the bazaar. Boxing up inventory or whatever. Or, maybe they were steering clear of the heated discussions taking place.

Kelly scanned the faces around the room. There wasn't a calm expression visible anywhere. The pa.s.sion of strongly held opinions was evident on every face. Everyone seemed to be arguing. Loudly arguing, too. The topic of discussion, of course, was the now-disgraced Merry Widow, Claudia Miller.

Claudia was a self-absorbed, conceited, arrogant, man-hungry gold digger. Claudia was a funny, fun-loving social b.u.t.terfly. Claudia was a thief. Claudia was innocent. It was calculated and deliberate. It was all a misunderstanding.

Kelly noticed the room appeared to have divided into two camps around either end of the knitting table. Hilda held forth from her favorite spot at one end of the table. Sheila sat beside her, and around her were several of Mimi's new spinning and crochet students. Clearly all wound up, and not with yarn. Two of Lambspun's regular knitters held down the opposite end of the table as well as the opposing argument with the help of some of the other shop regulars.

Kelly hesitated, not sure she wanted to enter the maelstrom of dissent. All she wanted was a few quiet minutes of relaxed knitting so she could finish Steve's scarf. But with all those arguments swirling around her, she might get swept up in the intense emotions and drop st.i.tches or mess up the bind-off.

That wouldn't do. Kelly wanted to make sure the scarf edges were smooth and even, particularly since she wasn't using fringe. Steve wasn't a fringe kind of guy.

She was about to retreat to the cafe when she scanned the faces again. Was that Megan? And Lisa right beside her? They were facing opposite directions. They looked angry, too. Were they angrily debating Claudia's motives or just angry to be stuck in the middle of it?

Kelly couldn't believe her eyes. What is happening here? Lambspun was normally a haven of solitude and peace and tranquility. Now, it fairly bubbled with an incendiary witches' brew. It was the holiday season, for Pete's sake!

Mimi's voice sounded behind her. "I cannot bear it a minute longer, Kelly. This dissension is spoiling the holidays for me. All this rancor and arguing . . . I can't stand it."

Kelly eyed her friend. The warm, motherly Mimi was gone. Nowhere to be seen. A new Mimi stood beside her. This Mimi was mad.

"I agree with you, Mimi, but what can we do to stop it? Short of throwing everyone out of the shop, I mean," Kelly joked, hoping to elicit a smile.

Instead of a smile, Mimi's eyes lit up. "That's a wonderful idea! Let's do it. Right now!"

Kelly's jaw dropped. "Mimi, I was kidding. You can't throw your customers out of the shop. It's . . . it's the holiday season. They're making their gifts. . . ."

"No, they're not. They're arguing with each other. Forming ugly cliques." Her hand shot out in aggravation. "Customers can't even reach the yarns. a.s.suming they're brave enough to venture close to that quagmire of dissent. I've had it! I'm putting my foot down right now!"

Mad Mimi swooped down on the knitting table like a Valkyrie, minus the sword. This Mimi didn't need one. She fairly radiated Righteous Zeal.

"Attention, everyone!" she announced in a loud voice. Kelly hadn't known Mimi could talk that loud. "As the owner of this shop, I have the right to operate Lambspun as I see fit. As of this moment, there is a No Arguments Allowed policy at the knitting table." She surveyed the cowed partic.i.p.ants, who stared at her, openmouthed. "This room and the knitting table are officially off-limits to anyone who insists upon arguing or discussing volatile subjects while they work on their holiday projects. If you cannot knit or crochet or spin or st.i.tch without verbal dissent, then you'll have to go elsewhere. Lambspun is off-limits to arguing, loud voices, or heated discussions. Period."

The knitting table went quiet. Not a peep was heard. Not only dissent, but all conversation ceased. Until Megan's voice piped up loudly. Kelly recognized Megan's on-the-field game voice.

"Good for you, Mimi," Megan declared as she quickly rose from her chair. "I don't think I could take this arguing another minute. It's giving me a headache."

Lisa sprang to her feet as well, shoving her knitting into its bag. "I second that, Megan. This is the holidays, people! Get it together!"

Megan and Lisa's support seemed to embolden Mimi even more. "From now on, the girls here will be my eyes and ears and will keep order." She pointed to Kelly, Megan, and Lisa. "I warn you, they're athletes, so I wouldn't give them any trouble if I were you."

Kelly had to look away to hide her smile. Clearly, she and her friends were going to be the "muscle" to enforce Mimi's Peace Policy. What were they supposed to do? Escort angry knitters outside to cool off?

Most of the fiber folk around the table were either looking embarra.s.sed or hiding their own smiles of self-recognition. Mother Mimi's kindergarten message had clearly gotten through. Either play nice, or you can't play at all.

Jennifer sidled up beside Kelly, coffee cup in hand. "Boy, I'm glad I left the office early. I wouldn't have missed this for the world. Mimi is really hot."

"Oh, yeah. She was about to throw them out a minute ago, but I think she's changed her mind."

"So, right now, I need this table cleared," Mimi announced. "There's a weaving cla.s.s tonight, and I've decided to teach it here." She clapped her hands, sounding every bit like a kindergarten teacher.

"Then again, maybe not," Kelly observed as Jennifer laughed softly beside her. Meanwhile, chagrined and embarra.s.sed knitters and needleworkers gathered their things and skulked from the table.

"SO you and Megan are gonna be Mimi's enforcers, right?" Marty said as he bounced the chartreuse tennis ball on his racket. "I love it."

Kelly stretched one leg out behind her as she leaned against the net post. "Yeah, Steve nearly busted a gut laughing when I told him."

Marty grinned. "Good. I'll remind him when he's about to serve."

"Mimi's enforcers, that's us. And Lisa, of course." Megan bent her arm behind her back, still holding her racket, stretching. "If you're real quiet, you can hear Greg laughing from here."

"Hey, Mimi's Muscle, grab your racket and start hitting," Steve said as he walked up, two tennis b.a.l.l.s in hand. "Someone else has signed up for this court after us."

"You're kidding," Kelly said, looking around the indoor tennis facility at the waiting players. "Not fair. We always have it until nine o'clock."

"You wanna go beat 'em up?" Steve said with a laugh. "Good practice for Mimi's Peace Police."

"You guys are having way too much fun with this." Kelly grabbed her racket and swung it up, over, and around her head, while Steve cackled in reply.

Marty pointed to the waiting twosome as he sprinted backwards to the baseline. "They look kind of puny. Kelly and Megan can take 'em easy." He dropped the ball and sent a solid forehand over the net.

Kelly watched Steve race to the ball. Mimi's Peace Police. They would never live that down.

Eleven.