Excitement flooded her as she moved into Maggie’s bedroom but didn’t see evidence of another miniature camera. Uncertain how much time she would have before Penny arrived, she grabbed her bag, put her finger to her lips toward Maggie, and moved into the living room. Maggie followed, silently watching as she pulled out the hidden camera and bug detector that Carson had given her. Mouthing, “I’m searching for bugs. Keep talking normally.”
As she turned on the equipment, she moved about the room as she and Maggie discussed the weather, wine, the news, and even the local sports that Maggie loved to follow. Her excitement grew as she discovered an audio bug in the living room. They moved to the kitchen. Performing the same task, she discovered another audio bug on top of the refrigerator.
“Did you have a shirt that you thought I would like?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.
Catching on, Maggie said, “Yes, it’s in the bedroom.”
Once in the bedroom, they chatted while she performed the same task. Relieved to not discover any audio or video equipment in the bedroom, Jeannie whispered, “Okay, nothing is in this room.”
“Oh, my goodness! What have you discovered?”
“Do you know what a nanny cam is?”
Maggie nodded. “Yes, that’s one of those little cameras you can hide in a teddy bear or something to watch your babysitter when they’re with your child. I’ve even heard of some people using it to catch their spouse having an affair! Are you telling me that there was one in this house?”
“I found it in the living room when I was dusting. In case someone was watching while I was looking, that’s why I wanted to do something like housework. It’s in one of the figurine sets on the bookshelf that looked a little different than the others. If Penny put it there, she probably figured you wouldn’t find it. If anyone was watching, I cleaned it and then set it back on the shelf, but I have it facing the wall. Of course, if Penny checks it, she’ll move it so that it looks out over the living room again.”
Maggie visibly shuddered. “Oh, damn. I really hate this!”
“Using the equipment I was given, I discovered a bug in the kitchen and another one in the living room. In the kitchen, they can’t see us, but they can hear our conversations. Same for the living room, except with the nanny cam, they can also see us. The most important thing is that they haven’t been able to discover anything from us. Just keep acting normal, but at least in your bedroom and bathroom, you have total privacy.”
Maggie glanced at the clock next to her bed and said, “Penny will be here soon.”
Nodding, she said, “Keep following my lead.” They walked back into the kitchen where she quickly put away the equipment and shoved it into her purse. The two women had just sat back down at the table, sipping tea when Penny walked in.
Unable to disguise her irritation at seeing Jeannie, Penny huffed. “You’re here again? Poor Maggie isn’t getting any rest with company every day.”
Smiling sweetly, Jeannie replied, “As a nurse, I’m more than qualified to decide how Maggie is doing.”
“I wasn’t sure when you’d get here,” Maggie said, smiling up at Penny. “Jeannie has already dusted and helped with my clothes. You can certainly take today off from being here. I’m sure they can use you in the main house.”
Penny’s eyes widened, and she opened and closed her mouth several times. “Well, I don’t work at the main house. I was employed especially for you.”
“Oh, my, Cheryl always worries about me. But with Jeannie here, I’m fine.”
“Maggie, do you feel like taking a walk?” Jeannie asked.
Maggie nodded with exuberance. “That would be lovely.”
Standing, she handed Maggie’s cane to her. The older woman rarely needed it except when they went on long walks. Looking over her shoulder, she called out, “Goodbye, Penny.” The look Penny gave her would have seared her skin, but instead, only made Jeannie smile wider.
As soon as they were out of earshot, she said, “We can talk out here. Just know that I think things are going to be happening that will take away your concerns.”
Maggie held her gaze then nodded slowly. “I have a feeling there’s a lot you can’t tell me.”
“Let’s just say that I have a close friend who’s looking into things. I hope it won’t be upsetting to you, but be prepared for anything. The most important thing you can do is be careful in your home and watch out for Penny. I don’t trust her. Whether or not she’s involved, I don’t know. But I don’t trust her.”
“Oh, I wish Cheryl would come home. I wasn’t going to call her and bother her, but I might need to. I’m going to tell her that I don’t want Penny. More importantly, I’m telling her that I’m going back to my place.”
“Just make sure you’re careful with what you say to her and where you say it. Please, I want you to be safe.”
For the rest of the walk, the two women strolled casually before making their way back to her house, glad to find that Penny was no longer there and the nanny cam was still facing the wall.
Jeb looked over at Carson and grinned. “She must’ve done everything you said. I’ve now got access to Maggie’s computer and phone and can see if anyone is monitoring her through them.”
Carson grinned in return. Jeannie had called right after lunch to tell him how her morning had gone. She'd described the camera in the living room that she turned toward the wall, the bug at the corner of the bookcase, and the other one on top of the refrigerator. She’d added that Penny was in a snit and that she had been able to explain to Maggie what she’d found.
Rick looked over his shoulder, smiling as well. “Using the outside security link on Maggie’s house, we sent a high-frequency jamming signal. That should knock out the audio on the bugs. I doubt Juan has anyone listening all the time, probably using it more to just have an idea of what’s going on with Maggie when Jeannie is visiting.”
“I know Jeannie is concerned about Penny. Hopefully, if we can tie this fuckin’ investigation up soon, Juan will be in jail, Penny won’t be around, and Maggie can go back to living on her own, which is what Jeannie said she’d like to do.”
“It looks like Cheryl isn’t involved in anything illegal, but she’ll lose out when the Garza name becomes synonymous with drug trafficking,” Adam commented.
“From what I understand, Maggie and Cheryl had money from Maggie’s husband, so they’ll be fine,” Carson said. Looking back down at his tablet, he continued, “Okay, what have we got that’s new?”
Hop turned to face the others. “I’ve been studying the air surveillance of both Garzas’ wineries. The process in Mexico is that the grapes are grown and some of the wine is produced at Alonzo’s winery, then it’s transported to a bottling facility near Tecate, Mexico. It’s a city in Baja California, Mexico, and is right on the border with Tecate, California. From there, some of the bottles of wine are brought back to Alonzo’s winery to sell and others are trucked across the border into the United States where they’re taken to Vincent’s winery. Vincent’s winery in California has the facilities to ship all over the world. Now, some of Alonzo’s grapes are trucked straight to Vincent’s winery where they’re combined with his grapes and different types of wine are made there.”