by Kelly Utt
“Does he wear a uniform and carry a gun?” Niko asked.
“He usually carries a gun, yes,” Cate replied. She wondered what her five-year-old knew about guns, anyway. She didn’t think they had discussed them much. What he knew must have come from TV and movies. That is unless his older siblings had been talking to him. “But Neil is a detective, so he wears a suit like daddy. Detectives don’t wear uniforms like other police officers.“
Cate could see her son tense up at the mention of his daddy. Come to think of it, Niko hadn’t talked too much about his father since he died.
“You know,” Cate began. “It’s okay to talk about Daddy. Just because he’s gone doesn’t mean we will forget him. We could never do that.”
Niko nodded his head up and down, hesitantly. He was quiet for another few moments. Cate didn’t break the silence. She wanted to give him space for his thoughts and feelings. When he did speak, Niko wanted to know more about Neil.
“Will he have a badge to show that he’s a police officer?“ It was an excellent question. Cate and Mick had always told the kids to look for a police officer if they were ever lost or in trouble, and they had pointed out how it was important to look for the police officer’s badge to identify them properly.
“Yes, my sweet boy. He will.“
“Are we going to see him at the police station?”
“Yes, that’s exactly right. We are. You’re my smart boy, Niko Brady,“ Cate said to her son, trying to sound as normal as possible. Niko smiled, basking in his mom’s adoration.
Cate wasn’t sure Niko had ever been to a police station. She didn’t think that he had. She hoped it wouldn’t scare him.
8
When Cate and her young son arrived at the Rosemary Run police station, the rain was still coming down steadily. Visibility remained low and it looked like the wet weather would continue for quite some time. Thunder boomed softly in the distance. The air outside felt dangerous.
Cate was beginning to unbuckle her seatbelt when Neil appeared beside her vehicle, shielded from the water by a large, black umbrella. His chiseled features and his deep-set blue eyes looked especially handsome in the low light.
“You made it,” Neil said, smiling, as Cate rolled down the driver side window. “You said one of your sons is with you?“ Neil leaned forward to glance in the back seat.
“Yes, this is Niko Brady,“ Cate said as she introduced Neil to her youngest son. Niko waved cheerfully, then Neil did the same.
Cate could tell Neil wanted to talk privately without Niko overhearing, yet he wasn’t inviting the two of them into the station. Maybe he didn’t want the little boy to have to get out in the rain.
“Cate, why don’t you step outside so we can talk for a few minutes?“
She liked that he was using her first name again. He seemed to have softened since this morning when he was driving a hard line with his probing questions.
“In the rain?”
“You can stand here with me, under my umbrella. It’s large enough for both of us.“
Cate felt her pulse quicken at the thought of standing so close to Neil Fredericks. She told herself to stop it. This was not a social call. And besides, her husband had only been dead for little more than a week. Cate told Niko she’d be just outside and to stay buckled in his booster seat, then she climbed out of the SUV and stood next to the handsome detective. She could smell a hint of his aftershave. Perhaps the rain was making the smell more noticeable.
“Are we going inside at all?“ Cate asked, already knowing the answer.
“I thought we’d talk out here, if it’s alright with you,” Neil replied.
Dynamics between the two of them were changing. Any formality that was present previously was being abandoned. Cate thought perhaps Neil had learned something which had moved him firmly onto her side. Hopefully, this meant he was no longer suspicious of her. Hopefully, he’d stop asking questions about her whereabouts the evening her husband died.
“So, tell me what happened,” Neil instructed.
Cate debated whether or not to tell him the whole story. She quickly decided that she would. She was genuinely concerned for her safety. Especially if Mick’s death hadn’t been an accident, because whoever killed him could be after her and the kids as well. She trusted the local police. She trusted Neil.
“It started the day of Mick’s funeral,“ she began. “As the undertakers were lowering his casket into the ground, I jerked and looked away. I hadn’t planned to turn my body around, but it was overwhelming to see my husband buried. Everyone else was watching the casket, paying their last respects. When I turned around, I saw someone standing along the tree line at the edge of the cemetery. At first, I wasn’t even sure it was a person. All I could make out was a shadowy figure. But as my eyes focused, I could tell more. I don’t know whether it was a man or a woman, but the person saw me seeing them and took off running into the woods.“
“Huh,” Neil said, taking it in.
“And then,“ Cate continued. “Later that evening, after most of the guests had left our house, I was in the kitchen with the kids when we heard a loud banging sound on the back porch. I could tell that our metal trash cans had been knocked over. I first thought there must have been an animal messing around. Like I told the kids that night, we have stray cats in the neighborhood. Cats and raccoons have shown up trying to mess with the trash before. But what I didn’t tell my kids is that, immediately after the banging sound, I heard what I’m sure were footsteps, running away. I’m certain someone was there.“
“Did you go outside and check it out?” Neil asked, the rain still pouring down around them.
“No, I didn’t,” Cate said. “James and Rebecca were there. I could have asked my brother to check it out. I thought about it, but he was seeing my in-laws out. Nancy and Al had come in town from Oklahoma for the funeral. I wanted to get that woman out of my house as soon as possible, so I didn’t want to delay their exit by mentioning the noise to James. Our dog barked. Maybe that helped scare the person off.“
Cate noticed that Neil seem to react when she mentioned her in-laws. He pulled his head ever so slightly back. She wondered what that was about. She liked Neil and she hoped they could converse without her feeling like he was recording everything she did for his future reference. Cate didn’t want to be just another case to him. She wanted to be something more. Friends, perhaps. She thought that would be a good start.
“I’d considered mentioning it to James, but I hadn’t had a chance and didn’t want to make a big deal out of it,” Cate continued. “Truly, I thought maybe it was just the grief getting to me. I’ve never gone through anything like this before and it’s hard to know what’s normal and what’s not.“
Neil’s lips moved into a sympathetic frown. He cared about her. Cate could tell. It was hard for her to believe that she had only known Neil as an acquaintance until this morning. It felt like she had known him much longer.
“I can’t imagine what you’re going through,” Neil said kindly. “I’ve never been married. The closest loss I can compare yours to is when I lost my mom. That was the hardest thing I’d ever had to face. I’ll bet losing a spouse is even harder. I’m so sorry.“
Cate believed him.
“Thank you,“ she said. “That’s very kind. Most people don’t know what to say, so they say something ridiculous. Or nothing at all. But your words are heartfelt. They mean a lot.”
She noticed herself leaning a little closer to him.
“So what happened today?” Neil asked. “Have there been any other incidents between the day of the funeral and now?”
Neil didn’t tell Cate that he’d spoken with both Sasha and Pal about this morning’s incident. Nor did he tell her that he’d spoken with Nancy. Little did she know, Cate’s case had taken up Neil’s entire day.
“No other incidents until now,“ Cate replied. “I’ve had a nagging feeling that I was being watched. I chalked that up to what happened at the cemetery and then, you kno
w, later that evening. The kids and I have been mostly holed up at home until this morning when we all went back to work and school.”
“And today?” Neil asked again, patiently. He didn’t intend to push her. This was a long game. A marathon and not a sprint.
“Today, when I left my office, I noticed a dark-colored sedan following me,” Cate continued. “At first, I thought it was my imagination. I’ve been doubting myself more than usual lately.”
“That’s understandable,” Neil offered.
“But when I walked out of Niko’s preschool after signing him out in the office, I saw the same dark-colored sedan in the back of the parking lot. It was just sitting there with its lights on, idling. In the rain. The parking lot was nearly empty. Doesn’t that strike you as odd?”
“Maybe so,” Neil agreed. “Could you tell the make and model of the car?”
Cate shook her head from side to side. “No, I was focused on getting Niko buckled in and getting out of there.”
“Close your eyes for a minute and try to remember,” Neil instructed.
“Here?”
“Yes,” he said. His voice made Cate feel safe. She glanced at Niko to make sure her little boy was still buckled into his seat, then did as Neil asked. She wrinkled her nose as she closed her eyes tightly, her cheeks feigning a smile.
“Try and relax,” Neil instructed. “Go back in your mind and be there.”
Cate nodded her head to let him know she was trying.
“Be there,” he said again. “What can you tell me about the car you see?”
To Cate’s surprise, she could remember it in greater detail. Neil was good at his job. She was impressed.
“It was a newer car,” she said. “Maybe brand new. It was either dark, charcoal gray or black. It was hard to tell in the rain.”
“Good,” Neil said. “How big was the car?”
“Pretty big. I think it would probably be considered a full-size. It looked kind of sporty. It was contoured around the sides and up near the headlights.”
“Did it have any markings on it? Like a racing stripe?”
“No, it was definitely plain.”
“Nice job,” Neil said. “Did you see where the car went when you pulled out of the parking lot?“
Cate opened her eyes. “As I drove away, it did too. Following behind me. I was so freaked out that I just sped ahead, swerving through traffic to try and get away from it. When I looked back, I couldn’t see it in my rearview mirror. But in all this rain, it was hard to tell what kind of vehicles were behind me.”
“Alright, well, now I have a good idea what kind of vehicle to be on the lookout for.“
“Do you think we’re safe?“ Cate asked timidly.
Neil shrugged his shoulders a little, but stopped himself. He could tell Cate was looking to him for reassurance and already, he didn’t want to let her down. “Do you have a security system at your house?“
“I believe so,” Cate replied. “I don’t think it’s active, but I’m pretty sure the house is wired for one. Mick handled that kind of thing when we were married.“ It was the first time Cate had referred to her marriage in past tense. It stung a little.
“How about you begin there?” Neil asked. “I can give you the name of a friend of mine at a local security company. He’ll take good care of you. He will make sure that your house is set up on their monitoring service, with both cameras and alarms. That will go along way. If anyone does come up to your back door again, we can take a look at the footage and hopefully identify them.“
“Okay,“ Cate said.
She didn’t tell Neil, but she was reluctant to have her house monitored by a security company. She didn’t want to live her life in fear and she didn’t want her kids to grow up that way either. She thought to herself that she might wait a while before following Neil’s advice. After all, no one had physically threatened them yet. These incidents might just be in her imagination. She had heard how flimsy they were as the words came out of her mouth. The dark-colored car in the school parking lot might have just happened to have been leaving at the same time. Maybe she was becoming paranoid. And a security system with cameras would only feed that paranoia.
“I appreciate you coming out here and talking to me like this, what with the rain and all,“ Cate said, gesturing up to the sky. “I’ll let you get back to whatever you were doing. I should head home and make sure my kids are okay. They’ll be wanting supper soon and I always tell Aaron to wait to cook until Mick… Until I’m home.” Cate told herself that she needed to stop referring to Mick as if he were still a part of the family.
“It’s no problem,“ Neil said. “I’m happy to help. You have my numbers. I wrote my mobile number on the business card I gave you this morning. Use that to call me directly, anytime. You can text if it’s more convenient. Let me know when you’re ready for the name of my friend from the alarm company. And I’ll let him know you’ll be reaching out soon.”
“Thank you,” Cate said, looking up at Neil and enjoying another whiff of his aftershave. “This has been nice.“
“It has,” he agreed. “Try to relax, please. Be smart about how you handle yourself and leave the worrying and investigating to me. Deal?”
Cate liked the way he said to leave the worrying to him, but she wasn’t so sure about the investigating part. She hoped they could move on from that part soon. She hoped there would be a soon for the two of them.
“Deal,” she said, then she smiled at Detective Neil Fredericks politely and climbed back into her SUV.
On the way home Cate thought about how she had been acting like a crazy person, speeding through town in the rain and driving towards the bay while two of her children remained at home alone. Where had she thought she was going, anyway? It had been years since Cate had needed to run away. Even back then, she was running to Mick after a bad breakup with boyfriend she’d had since high school. Those days had long passed. It was time for Cate to settle down.
9
“I’m beginning to gain her trust,“ Detective Fredericks said to his partner, Luke Hemming, as he took off his coat and shook it out to get some of the water off. They were playing good cop-bad cop. The time for Luke’s bad cop routine had not yet come. But they both figured it would. It almost always did.
“Does she suspect anything?” Luke asked. “It will make things easier for us if she remains oblivious.”
“I don’t think so.” Neil said. He felt bad. He really did like Cate. But he had a job to do. And he couldn’t ignore the growing body of evidence that was stacking up against her.
10
When Cate arrived home, she didn’t go inside. She didn’t have the energy to cook and then clean the mess. Instead, she texted Aaron and Jilly to come out to the SUV. Cate thanked Sean for staying with them as he and Mitchell headed home, then she drove all three of her kids to her parents’ house.
Cate had been trying to stay strong and to be independent, but she was tired. She knew her parents would welcome her and her children with open arms if she showed up asking for help. For tonight, she simply needed help with dinner and didn’t want the hassle of a restaurant. Cate feared that at some point soon, she might need Ron and Ellen’s help with a lot more than a meal. She pushed those thoughts away as she knocked on the wooden front door of her parents’ farmhouse, then used her key to enter. She hadn’t told them she was coming. She hadn’t needed to.
“Hello, Mom? Dad?” Cate called out, raising her voice more than usual to be heard over the rain.
“Anybody home?” Aaron added.
Jilly held Niko’s hand as they walked inside their grandparents’ house. The kids felt comfortable there. In some ways, they were more comfortable there than at their own house. After all, they had been coming to Rosemary Run to visit their grandparents long before they moved here and bought a place of their own.
Ron and Ellen’s farmhouse sat on a beautiful, ten-acre property just outside of town on Pleasant Valley Road. The home was b
uilt in the year 1905. The couple had moved in a few years before James was born and had begun the renovation process soon after. They had taken the house down to the studs and rebuilt everything from the ground up. They had done much of the work themselves, Ron framing the house and hanging drywall and Ellen painting and landscaping. The result was a work of art which had provided a happy childhood home for James and Cate to grow up in. As an adult, regardless of what had been going on in Cate’s life, she knew she could always come home to a safe place where she was loved and accepted unconditionally.
The property featured a pond, which the family often canoed on. It also had a small vineyard. Ron and Ellen had tended to the grapes by themselves for many years, but recently hired part-time help as it was becoming too much for them. The same was true with their animals. The Tatums had a quaint little farm going with a couple each of goats, cows, and sheep, plus a rooster, a dozen hens, and an Australian Shepherd named Joey who watched over them all. The animals provided supplementary income for the working class couple, but, mostly, the pair enjoyed farm life. The hired help was only there for a few hours a day, so their presence didn’t feel intrusive. Much of the time, when Ron and Ellen weren’t at their day jobs, it was just the two of them and their animals. They were both happy that way. The entire property had charm and good energy about it. They had taken to referring to the place as Pleasant Valley Farm and the name fit. Cate was grateful for the respite the little farm provided.
“Hello?“ Cate called out again, even louder this time, as she and the kids took off their rain jackets and folded up their umbrellas inside the front room. It was strange for her parents not to answer. Ellen’s car and Ron’s truck were both parked outside in their usual spots. “They have to be here somewhere,” Cate mumbled to herself. “Joey?” she tried. The dog wasn’t in the house either.
“Maybe they’re out at the barn,“ Jilly said. “Tending to the animals.“