“What did the cards say?” Kate finally slowed down for a school bus. So that was her limit. School buses. Good to know.
Laurel tried to swallow over the lump in her throat and made a mental note to run Kate’s driving record when the woman wasn’t present. “The cards, according to my mother, show both a sharp change in my life as well as a strong male influence on the romantic side.” Her shoulders slowly relaxed down to where they should be. “I think my mom wants a man in my life, although she never seems to like or trust the ones I date.”
Kate pumped the brakes. “Sounds like a good mom.”
“She is,” Laurel said softly as Kate sedately followed the school bus. “Tell me about the office space.”
Kate shook her head. “Oh, it was tough to find—took me all day yesterday. First, I called a realtor and was told no way.” She glanced sympathetically at Laurel. “Genesis Valley doesn’t have many open rental spaces right now. Or ever, they tell me.” She rolled her neck. “It seems most of the rental spaces in town are owned by the church, and they’re full.”
Laurel thought back through the few times she’d actually been in town over the years. “The community church?”
“Yes. I think the town was founded by the church way back when, and it’s a good group. There just aren’t that many buildings, you know?”
“I understand.” Laurel watched the snowy trees outside. The storm had finally ebbed and was now just dropping slow flakes of snow.
“So, I phoned around, trying to call in favors, but I didn’t have luck there, either.” Kate sighed. Today she wore jeans and a light red sweater, and the streaks had been washed out of her blond hair. “Then I remembered a conversation I overheard at the grocery store last week. Guess what?”
Laurel eyed her. Was she supposed to respond? “What?” she asked.
“The GSA owns several properties in Tempest County and two in Genesis Valley.” Kate thumped the steering wheel. “Ha. How do you like that?”
Laurel smiled. “That’s brilliant.” The U.S. General Services Administration, an agency of the federal government, owned and leased out property all over the country. “I take it the GSA leases out their properties in this territory, and there was an available space?”
“Luckily, yes,” Kate said. “I made several phone calls, and believe it or not, I found somebody on a Sunday. The lease form is being emailed to me for you to sign. In the meantime, we can move in and get organized.” Several miles outside of town, she pulled into a wide parking lot in front of a stately, two-story brick building. “This isn’t how I imagined a big time FBI office, but I did what I could.”
Laurel frowned. “Staggers Ice Creamery leases from the federal government? I had no idea.” She remembered eating chocolate fudge delight with sprinkles with her mom when she came home during school breaks. Then her gaze caught on the sign above the farthest doorway. “Oh.”
Kate winced. “Yep. Turns out Fish and Wildlife needed a bigger venue and started renting from the GSA last year.”
“Actually, having the agency close is advantageous.” Laurel unbuckled her seatbelt. “I take it we’re on the left of the ice creamery?”
“Uh, no.” Kate wiped hair away from her forehead. “Fish and Wildlife has the two stories to the right, and Margie’s beauty school takes up the two stories to the left. Her sign blew away in the storm last night. We, um, are on the second floor of the ice cream parlor in the middle of the building. Well, after we clean out the space.”
Laurel studied the building. “We won’t have the usual security measures, but since we’ll most likely be here only for one case, I suppose that’s okay. Wait. Where’s our entrance to the second story?”
Kate opened her door and hopped out of the vehicle. Snow landed gently on her sweater and melted. “We share the doorway with Fish and Wildlife.”
Laurel stepped out of the car, her feet cozy in the old pair of winter boots she’d found in the back of her childhood closet. The long green skirt and heavy sweater she’d borrowed from her mother were out of her comfort zone, not to mention too big. Her blue wool coat was in the back seat and she dragged it out, her oversized laptop bag fitting nicely over her shoulder. “Thank you for finding this location,” she said, shutting her door.
“You’re welcome.” Kate stomped through the ice to the door beneath the Fish and Wildlife sign. “We don’t need a sign, do we?”
“Definitely not.” Laurel followed her inside a small vestibule with three doors. One was a glass door to the right that showed a reception area and Fish and Wildlife posters on the wall, while two plain wooden doors were closed straight ahead. They must both lead to the units on the upper floor. A large black plastic mat covered the entire floor. She kicked snow off her boots and then indicated the door to the left. “I take it this is us?”
“Yep.” Kate wiped off her boots and opened the door, which revealed a wooden stairway leading up. Dingy, ripped wallpaper featuring cancan dancers wearing red or blue feathers covered the walls. “We might want to paint if we’re here for any length of time.”
Slush mixed with dust on the steps.
When they reached the top, Kate opened another door to a wide reception area holding a glass pastry display case in front of a wood paneled wall. An open doorway split the room evenly, leading to a long hallway. “Huh. The whole place smells like waffle cones.”
Laurel inhaled. Waffle cones and sugar. “Now that’s ambiance.”
Kate skirted the display case and walked through the open door. “It looks like the hub is back here.”
Laurel quickened her pace and craned her neck to see better. What would the offices be like? She strode through the door to find a well-structured space. “Somebody must’ve used this for offices before.” On the left of the hallway were restrooms, what appeared to be a storage room, and possibly a small conference room; on the right were a kitchen area and larger conference room; and three offices were located against the rear wall. The only windows in the place were in the reception area and the three offices, and yet skylights from above let plenty of light in.
The storage room held cement blocks, abandoned doors, a folding chair, pieces of floor trim, and what looked like cans of pink paint.
“That looks like a good office,” Kate said, indicating the farthest office space, which sat in the northeast corner across from the biggest conference room.
