Broken Tears 9

Broken Tears 9
Caroline checked the status of the charging of her cell phone. She saw that battery was half full, but she needed to see who had called and return the most important ones. The first one was from Katie who was very concerned about her absence from school and marching band rehearsal. The second one was from Marilyn who was asking how well Grace was behaving. The third one was from her mother. The message that she gave on the voice mail sounded strange but Caroline remembered that her mother was under a lot of stress these days. The final call was from Schuller. His message was very nice and casual. But at the end of his message he mentioned that he might stop by to say ’hello.’ Just a few brief moments with him usually made Caroline’s day.

Caroline was going to call Katie but remembered that she was concerned about the Kingston’s house. She had baby sat for Mrs. Kingston and had her office phone number. She would just call her to see if they wanted her for this Saturday afternoon and casually ask if they had ask anyone to come into the house and pick up something.

Caroline dialed the number on her cell phone. “The number you have dialed is either changed or disconnected. Please check to see that you have dialed the correct number. The“ She looked at the number on the screen and saw that she had reversed the last two numbers. She dialed again. “Hello. This is Southern Style Entertainment, may I help you?”

“Hello Mrs. Kingston, this is Caroline MacRae.”

“Oh, hello Caroline. This is a surprise. What’s the reason for the call?”

“Well I hurt my hand last night and I did not know if you needed me to watch Leigh on Saturday. I can still be there but I can’t pick her up.”

“Well I’m sorry to hear about this situation. I think my husband and I are planning to visit relatives in town and will have Leigh with us. Thanks for calling. I…” she replied.

“Okay that’s nice but I also need to know if you had someone stop by your house today. To maybe pick up some boxes, like a donation or recycling?”

“No. Mr. Kingston just did all of that on his way to golf practice. Why?”

“I was walking Grace and saw some men at your house. They were putting boxes into a van and left the door open. I”

“Oh no. We didn’t have anything that needed to pick up. And the door was open?”

“Yes. Minnie was running around and I knew that she had cataracts so I brought her to my house.”

“Caroline I can’t believe it. I think that we were robbed.” Caroline could hear Mrs. Kingston whisper something to an office worker. “ Please call the police and I’ll be home in 10 to 15 minutes. Keep Minnie in your house and oh just. I can’t.” she sounded like she was hyperventilating. Caroline heard some sounds like desk drawers were being opened and closed quickly. “I am coming.”

Caroline hung up and immediately called 9-1-1.

“9-1-1. What is your emergency?”

“Ah. I think that my neighbor may have been robbed.”

“What is the address of the suspected robbery?”

“It’s 5542 Knightwood Lane.”

“Is there anyone there now?”

“No I saw a van leave and the owner says that she did not have anyone come to the house.”

“What did the van look like?”

“It was white. There were two men.” said Caroline exasperated. “Look. Can’t you get the police her now and I will answer the questions as they check the house.”

“There is a car on the way.” replied the woman’s emotionless voice.

Caroline leaned closer to the window of her kitchen and looked around to see if the van had returned. As she did so, Grace went to the stove area and began to paw at the stove.

“Grace stop that. We just went out and” she began. “Ma’am is there someone there with you? Are you alright?”

“What? Oh Grace is my dog. She is acting strange.” stated Caroline.

“Look if you are in danger, try to get out of the house.”

Caroline was going to answer but saw what she thought was the police car that the 9-1-1 dispatcher said was coming. “Oh I think that they are there. Thank you.” She hung up quickly.

Caroline ran outside being careful to not let either dog outside. She hurried into the front yard to see where the police stopped but it kept moving down the street. It passed the Kingston’s house.

“Wait a minute. They’re not stopping.” She looked in both directions and then slapped her left thigh with frustration.

As she turned to go back inside she saw the Security-a-Plus security car come down the street with it’s lights blinking. It stopped at the Kingston’s two story house. A uniformed man got out and started talking into a cell phone. Behind him pulled in Mrs. Kingston in her blue-gray car. She ran up to the security man and started talking to him.

Caroline walked over to the Kingston’s house. A disheveled Mrs. Kingston turned and grabbed her by her shoulders.

“Caroline are you okay? Will you tell Mr. Crowley the information that he needs?”

Caroline explained the situation and answered his questions. As she finished, the police car drove up and parked behind the security’s patrol car. Two police officers got out and walked up to the people in the driveway. Caroline repeated what she had told the security man.

The police told everyone to move back as they entered the house. They had their guns in their hands. They moved slowly. Every few steps, they paused and looked around. They also looked at the grounds near windows and near the door for any footprints. One officer opened the door and then the second one rushed in. Everyone outside held their breath. A few minutes later, they both came out and reported that the house was empty. As they said it, Mrs. Kingston put her hands to her face and started to cry. The security officer excused himself as he went around the outside to look at anything that could be shared with the police.

Caroline started to get a very bad feeling that this might not be the last time her street would have the need of police.