Page 52 of Inviting Trouble
A few minutes later, Hailey pulled into the parking lot behind Ludbury House and turned off the car.
“Do you want to call the police to go in with us?” Mad asked. Not that she was worried about a break-in. She’d had them all the time in her old crappy Manhattan apartment. Usually she discovered it after they left and called the cops to report it. A few times she’d walked in on some guy looking for something valuable, but she had nothing worth shit. Just a TV. She’d bailed in a quick exit. Being the daughter of a cop, she always filed a report. Never knew if there was a pattern, maybe involving more people in the neighborhood. Anyway, they never returned. They weren’t there for her and she doubted this break-in on Christmas day in a completely empty mansion had been aimed at Hailey.
Hailey stared straight ahead, a death grip on the steering wheel. “No, I don’t need to call the police. They already checked on it this morning for me. No one’s there. I’m just, you know, spooked.”
Mad peeled Hailey’s hands off the steering wheel and squeezed them. “Repeat after me. Badass babe. Badass babe.” Sometimes you had to reach a person where they were at. She’d never call herself a babe. She was fierce, powerful, strong, a total badass, and she’d earned it through years of martial arts training. Eventually she’d get Hailey to think of herself the same way. It was the only way to live.
Hailey laughed. “Okay, let’s go.”
They went to the back porch. The police had taped over the broken panel of glass on the back door to keep the cold winter air out. Hailey unlocked the door and they stepped into a large kitchen gleaming with stainless steel appliances and a stainless steel prep table.
Hailey grabbed Mad’s arm. “Stay close,” she whispered.
“Yup.”
Hailey gulped, an audible sound.
Mad flicked on the light. They moved slowly through the first floor of the mansion from kitchen to pantry to closets. Mad turned on lights as they moved, causing Hailey to gasp and look around wildly for intruders each time. She would’ve laughed if she didn’t know just how scared Hailey was. They moved to the front foyer and then to the parlor next to it.
Hailey stopped in front of the parlor fireplace. “The candlesticks are gone!” she exclaimed in a loud whisper. “They were silver, original to the house!” Ludbury House dated back more than a hundred years.
Mad spoke at a normal volume. “Maybe you should write this stuff down. Do you have pictures of them somewhere?”
Hailey stared at the empty spot where the candlesticks used to be for a long moment before turning back to Mad. “You know, I probably do from all the small weddings that happened in here. The larger ones go in the front foyer with the grand staircase or outside. They’d be in my office.”
Hailey headed confidently out of the room, across the hardwood foyer to her office on the other side. Mad followed and Hailey scribbled a note on a legal pad.
“Your laptop’s still here and the printer,” Mad said.
Hailey stopped and stared. “That’s good. But wouldn’t they make more money selling electronics than antiques?”
“Maybe they didn’t make it to this room before they had to bail. No one ever said criminals are smart.”
Hailey bit her lip, her pale blue eyes worried again.
“We need to check upstairs.” When Hailey didn’t move, Mad took the lead. “I’ll go.”
“No, wait! I’ll go with you.”
They went up the grand staircase to the former bedrooms now made into dressing rooms for the bridal party. A few rooms were completely empty. Nothing seemed to be missing. Mad turned off the lights again and they returned downstairs, stopping in the foyer.
Hailey’s brows furrowed. “All they took was the candlesticks. I find that more troubling than if they ransacked the place.” She crossed her arms and shivered. “It’s strange. Isn’t that strange?”
“Maybe it was a homeless person who just needed somewhere warm to crash for the night. They took the candlesticks for a little quick cash for their next meal.”
“A meal,” Hailey said. “That makes sense. Let’s check the refrigerator.”
They headed back to the kitchen. Hailey flung open the refrigerator door. Six yogurts and an assortment of condiments. Hailey just stood there and stared.
“So?” Mad prompted. “Anything missing?”
Hailey slowly shut the refrigerator door and turned. “They ate my salad and roast chicken. I was waiting to throw it out until the garbage guy returned after Christmas. I didn’t want to leave it out in the garbage and have the raccoons get into it.” She wrung her hands together. “Oh, this is so sad. We should help this person.”
“We should report this person.”
“Mad!”
“No,” Mad said firmly. “You have to report them. What if he or she shows up again? What if they’re mentally unstable and feel threatened by you being here? You don’t know what you’re dealing with. We have to report all this and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
