Jake and Brenda and the kids were already down the stairs by the time I stepped out of the booth, their excitement hurrying their steps so they could see what kind of treasures were in the bins. I held onto the metal railing next to the steep stairs and reached the bottom.

Just as Helen Stunderson came out from behind the stairs and blocked my path.

TWENTY TWO

Helen folded her arms across her expensive-looking sweater and glared at me. “Well, well, well. Fancy meeting you here.”

I was surprised by her aggressive tone. It was the exact opposite of how she’d come across in the library.

“I was a little surprised to see you here, too,” I said.

“Oh. Were you?” she said, tilting her head to the side, studying me. “I’m not sure I believe that.”

“Excuse me?”

“I think it’s become pretty clear that you are stalking me,” Helen declared.

“What are you talking about?”

“Running into me at the library the other day?” she said, raising an eyebrow at me. “Now here? At the recycling plant of all places. Did you think I wouldn’t see you?” She shook her head. “Please.”

I started to say something, stopped, took a deep breath, then started again. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said, trying to keep my voice even. “You came up to me at the library. And today I’m here with my kids. And my husband works here.”

She smirked. “Sure he does.”

“He does,” I insisted, preparing to launch his full CV at her. But then I stopped myself. I didn’t need to defend anything to the woman standing in front of me. “Besides, if anyone around here is lying, it’s you. You lied about working at the library.”

Her mouth twitched and she averted her gaze, examining her nails instead. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh really?” I asked. I moved closer to her. “I went to the desk after you disappeared. I asked them to find you. And they told me you didn’t work there.”

She was still focused on her nails. “You must be mistaken.”

“I’m not,” I said. “So you must be lying.”

She moved her gaze from the lacquered nails to my eyes. “Takes one to know one.”

“That doesn’t even make sense.”

“Nor does you following me to a trash plant.”

I bristled. “It’s a recycling plant.”

“Whatever,” she said. Her eyes narrowed to slits. “Why are you here bothering me?”

I pressed my lips together and clenched my hands into tight fists to keep myself from strangling this nutjob. “I’m here with my kids and their friends because my husband—who works here—invited us to come tour the plant. I’ve now explained that to you twice. Why exactly are you here?”

She considered my words, then shrugged. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I work part-time at the elementary school, They needed a chaperone for today.”

That was the first thing that had come out of her mouth that made any sense at all.

“Hey, Mom!” Grace yelled, popping her head around the corner. “Come here!”

“Hang on,” I said to her. I turned back to Helen. “What do you do at the school?”

“I help in the attendance office,” she said, lifting her chin as if she was royalty. “Again, not that it’s any of your business.”

“I wasn’t aware you worked,” I said.

“You probably aren’t aware of a lot of things,” she said, glaring at me.

It was like she had become her evil twin from our library meeting. She’d been overly kind and friendly there. Now, she was looking at me like she wanted to push me into one of the bins. Emily was reading Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for her lit class and I wished she were there so she could see a real-life reenactment of someone with dual personalities. Because I was pretty sure that was what I was witnessing.

“Mom!” Grace yelled again. “Come here!”

“Hang on!” I called. I stared at Helen. “I know that you didn’t really want a divorce from Olaf.”

Her eyes morphed into daggers. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the fact that not only did you lie to me about working in the library, you also lied to me about Olaf not wanting the divorce,” I said, returning her glare. “You were the one who didn’t want the divorce.”

“Daisy!” Sophie yelled.

“You better take that back,” Helen growled.

“I don’t think I will,” I said.

“Olaf loved me,” she said, her voice low and thick. “Loved me. He was devastated when I told him I wanted a divorce. He begged me to take him back. Begged me.”

I folded my arms across my chest. “Well, that’s not what I heard.”

“Oh, I’m sure that fat cow Olga had a lot of great things to say,” she spat. “I’ll bet everything she told you was a big fat lie because she’s a big, fat, lying cow.”

“Mom!” Will’s voice chimed in with the others and I could hear the urgency in his voice. “You better come!”

I ignored him. “You followed me to Olga’s,” I said, pointing a finger at her.

Helen’s face colored. “What? No, I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did,” I said. “How else would you have known I spoke to her? You really are stalking me.”

“You’re wrong,” she said primly. “But you better know one thing. I asked for the divorce. Plain and simple. Olaf loved me and begged me to stay.” She leaned toward me and her eyes were so wide, they practically bugged out of her head. “Begged me.”

Grace appeared by my side, just visible in my peripheral vision. “Mom, can I keep him?”

Helen glanced at her like she was a piece of trash that had drifted off the pile. She sniffed and turned back to me. “And you better stop following me or you’ll be sorry.”

“You’re insane,” I said. “I’m not following—”

“Mom,” Grace said, tugging at the back of my coat. “I want to keep him.”

I whirled around, completely out of sorts by the conversation with Helen and by the kids all screaming at me.

Grace held up her hands, her face beaming. Something small and dirty squirmed in her clutches. “Can I keep him?”

It looked like a mouse.

“Dear God,” I muttered. “Hold on.”

I whirled back around to let Helen know I wasn’t going take any more of her crap and that if I caught her around me again, I was going to call the police.

But she was long gone.

TWENTY THREE

“I think it’s actually a hamster,” I said to Grace, crouching down and inspecting the small creature cradled in her hands.

“Even better!” she said, her eyes growing wider. “Can we keep it?”

Jake stuck his head around the corner and Sophie and Will burst ahead of him, running toward us.

“Can we keep him?” Sophie asked. Her hard hat hung drunkenly off her head and she shifted it back into position.

“Can we keep what?” Jake asked.

Will wrinkled his nose. “The rat Grace found.”

“The rat?” Jake asked, looking at Grace’s hands. His face paled a little. “How did you get your hands on a rat?”

“Mom was yelling at that lady,” Will said.

I glared at him. “I was not yelling at anyone.”

Jake turned to look at me. “Who were you not yelling at?”

“No one.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “So you were talking to yourself?”

“Can we please keep him?” Grace pleaded. “Please?”

“Go find a box,” I said to the three kids. I pried the small animal out of Grace’s hands. “Like a shoebox.”

Will stared at me blankly. “This isn’t a shoe store, Mom.”

I waved my animal-filled hand in frustration. “There are mountains of trash as big as Mt. Everest out there. I’m sure you can find a small container to house this creature.”

“We’re not allowed out on the floor,” Sophie reminded me.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” I said, frustrated. “Go find a mug in the workroom. A copy paper box in the copy room. Just find something!”

They all looked at each other and took off. Brenda was standing a few feet away with her kids and they took off running after mine.

She shook her head, an amused smile on her face. “I’m not even going to ask…”