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Jon's Downright Ridiculous Shooting Case

Page 14

by A J Sherwood


  Too late now. Worlds too late. I watched him and, for a moment, jealousy threatened to eat me alive.

  A slim hand caught mine, dragging my attention away, and Skylar looked up at me with open concern. “Okay?”

  “Sure,” I lied glibly, pasting a smile on my face. “Just imagining a scenario. Has Donovan showed you how to form a fist yet? No? Let’s do that and then turn you loose on a bag.”

  I ordered my heart to chill as I herded Skylar to an open bag in the corner. This wasn’t the right time or place for any revelations, first of all, and there wasn’t a thing I could do about it at the moment. Besides, I might still have a chance. Donovan’s love interest was one-sided, meaning he hadn’t made a move, or if he had, it hadn’t been returned. Probably the first, as I imagined he’d be hurt and depressed if he’d been rejected. So I still had a chance if I played my cards right. Maybe. I’d have to be subtle about it, as I didn’t want this to turn into a bad office romance.

  As I went through quick mental scenarios of how I could make a subtle play for my partner, insecurities raised their ugly heads. Maybe I should leave things be. Sure, I liked him, and my crush was the size of Texas, but that didn’t mean I had to initiate anything. And all of my other concerns were valid, weren’t they? Wouldn’t being around me seven days a week wear even Donovan out?

  I guess the question boiled down to which one I would regret more. Watching him walk away with someone else, or losing him eventually because of my own self?

  Sunday rolled around and found me more nervous than the situation actually warranted. I tried to explain to my overly stretched out nerves that this wasn’t a ‘meet-the-parents’ in that sense, but I utterly failed to be convincing. Apparently, I sucked at pep talks.

  Donovan teased me sometimes about dressing preppy, so I tried to be a touch more casual while throwing an outfit together. I didn’t put as much product into my hair, letting it fall in a more natural sweep of short locks off my forehead. How I ended up in a white dress shirt, light grey vest, dark wash jeans, and loafers, I left to the heavens to answer.

  I picked up the yellow carnations from Sara’s shop, spent a few minutes checking in with her, then headed for the older neighborhood in Green Hills. The house must have been there since the fifties, as the neighborhood housed a lot of Cape Cods and what I’d always thought of as Monopoly houses. Large, established trees shaded the road as I drove down it, offering welcome shade on this hot spring day. In Sunday traffic it took me barely fifteen minutes to get there, which I appreciated, as it gave my nerves less time to play havoc with my emotions.

  Not having enough room to park on the street, I tried to hug the side of the driveway instead so people could get in and out. I recognized Donovan’s red pickup already parked and a tremor of relief went through me. At least I was spared the awkwardness of arriving first.

  I headed down the paving stones toward the front of the house, figuring I should at least knock on the door to announce my arrival. I sensed Donovan’s mother in the picturesque flower beds lining the front of the house and the cute little decorations around the front porch, all of it turning the Cape Cod into a dollhouse. Hyper vigilant, I stopped just shy of the porch step and looked around the doorframe. Yup, there it was. The doorbell. Doorbells and I could never be friends, so I avoided it and knocked very carefully on the far side of the door.

  It opened almost immediately, revealing a woman with Donovan’s eyes, although she stood at barely five foot, pleasingly plump and wearing a white, sleeveless summer dress that highlighted her golden skin. “Hello! I’m Alani Havili. You’re Jon.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” I returned with a smile. Oh wow. Donovan apparently came by his nature honestly; his mother had a similar aura. “Nice to meet you.”

  Alani stepped through the screen door and caught my arm. “Donovan warned me it’s not safe for you to walk through the house, so you just come with me, we’ll walk around the side. You had no trouble finding us?”

  “Not a bit, but I know this area rather well, my grandparents used to live over here,” I answered, a little bemused at how she linked her arm in with mine. Donovan’s touchy-feely tendencies came from his mother too, I see. “Here, these are for you.”

  She took the carnations with a smile that made her look forty instead of the sixty I knew her to be. “Thank you, they’re lovely. You are a gentleman. Don said you were, in between complaining that you stalk serial killers. You don’t really do that, do you?”

  One of my character flaws was that I’m an abominable liar so I fessed up. “I’m afraid I do. Although your son has assured me that if I do it again, he’ll do something terrible to me. I’m too afraid to ask what.”

  Alani paused at the privacy fence, her hand on the gate, and looked at me seriously. Her dark, almond-shaped eyes felt penetrating, as if she could somehow impart her sincerity through her gaze alone. “Jon, I want to tell you something about my boy. You’ll never meet a better man than Donovan, and I’m not saying that because he’s my son, but because it’s the gospel truth. He will take a bullet for you. I know that because he’s done it for people before. I wish he wouldn’t, I wish he’d think of his own safety, but it’s hardwired into him. If there’s danger, he’ll put himself in between you and that danger without a second thought. I’m asking you, as a mother, please don’t put him in risky situations if you can help it.”

  I saw the worry in her, pulsing and writhing, the strong love that only a parent could have for a child, and felt a little bad about stalking serial killers. Donovan really shouldn’t have told her about that. “The first time I laid eyes on your son, I forgot how to breathe for a second. I’ve never seen someone glow as brightly as he does. It was like seeing a supernova, it was so intense. Trust me, Mrs. Havili, I know exactly how good of a man Donovan is. I don’t want to be the ruin of him.”

  She patted my arm and smiled at me. “I do feel better hearing that. He loves working with you, you know; I get constant stories about things you’ve done. He’s happy to find such good work after leaving the army. I don’t want to scare you off, just be careful.”

  “I’m always careful,” I answered honestly.

  “He tells me the same thing,” Alani fussed with a roll of the eyes, finally pushing through the gate and leading me into the backyard. “I don’t believe him either.”

  Well. I really had nothing to say to that.

  The backyard had the same sort of sculpted look to it as the front, with flower beds all along the fence, cute little birdbaths, and a shed lurking in the far corner. The deck looked new, not stained or painted yet, and extended into half the yard. A table had been set already with a plastic tablecloth and enough bowls of food to threaten the strength of the table legs. Donovan sat, completely at ease, and greeted me with a lift of the hand. “Hey. Come sit, take a load off. See, Mom? Told you he looks like a model.”

  I paused with my hand on the back of the chair and gave him a funny look. “I do not.”

  “You totally, totally do,” Donovan denied with a grin. “Especially when you dress like that. So this is your version of casual, huh?”

  “Semi-casual, it is a Sunday dinner, after all.” I really should have ditched at least the vest.

  “And you can take a page from his book,” Alani mock-scolded her son. “He looks handsome. You look like you’ve been doing yard work all day.”

  “In this case, looks are not deceiving,” Donovan drawled, waving a hand to illustrate his dirty cargo shorts, scruffy boots, and an Army t-shirt that had seen better days.

  The back door opened and a very large man stepped out. He had all of Donovan’s height but twice his girth, and a ready smile on his round face. Judging from the wet hair, he’d just stepped out of a shower. “Don’t fuss on him, Alani, he’s saving my knees. This must be Jon.”

  I didn’t respond immediately. I couldn’t. What was with this family?! Were they trying to blind me? Donovan was bad enough, but add his mother and father into the mix, and they
nearly burned my eyes out of their sockets.

  A warm hand settled between my shoulder blades. “Jon?”

  Donovan’s touch shocked me back into breathing. “Holy hell.”

  In a knowing tone, Donovan stated, “Dad’s supernova bright, isn’t he.”

  “I now understand where you got it from,” I responded weakly, then closed my eyes, overwhelmed.

  “That’s a lovely compliment,” Alani enthused as she sat near me. “Jon, take a minute if you need one.”

  I needed about ten, actually. Donovan by himself could be overwhelming, although I’d more or less gotten used to him. But put me in between three people just like him and my bare-bone shields couldn’t begin to keep up. Donovan sensed this, and his hand moved in soothing circles. “Will your darkest glasses help? Should I get them?”

  “Please?” I requested, not daring to open my eyes just yet.

  “Hang on.” He popped up and jogged around the house.

  “Well,” Donovan’s father stated, tone bemused. “I didn’t expect us to make quite this impression, Jon. I’m Kanye, by the way.”

  “Pleased to meet you,” I responded, head turning in his general direction. “I do mean that, your general aura is absolutely stunning, much like your son’s. I should have anticipated that, I guess, and kept my darker glasses on.”

  “Sorry to be so amazing,” Kanye responded cheerfully. Someone smacked someone else and Kanye grunted in pain. “Ow, wife, stop abusing me.”

  I smiled hearing this back and forth. They had a good relationship. Not all couples did after forty years of marriage.

  Donovan came back to me and switched out my sunglasses himself, a little awkwardly, and I had to readjust them to settle right on my nose. Only then did I dare a peek. It had cut the intensity by a third. Phew, alright, this much I could handle. Relaxing, I opened both eyes. “Thanks, that helps.”

  “You’re alright now?” Alani double checked. “Don explained how your ability works, but I didn’t realize it would require you to wear sunglasses like this.”

  “It’s the best way to dampen things down,” I tried to explain. “I feel like I’m surrounded by flashing neon signs otherwise.”

  “That’d get troublesome after a while,” Kayne agreed. “It’s probably just as well that our daughter and other son couldn’t make it today. We might have blinded you otherwise. Here, let’s eat before the food gets cold.”

  Half the dishes on the table didn’t look remotely familiar. I served a little of everything on my plate, being polite, and put the first forkful into my mouth. Rich flavor burst through, completely unrecognizable. My tongue reported it to be strange, exotic, but tasty. More, please. I tried something else, got the same result, and realized the error of my wardrobe choice. “I should not have worn something with a belt.”

  Alani burst out laughing. “I take it you like the food.”

  “It’s delicious,” I told her honestly. “I’ve never had anything like it.”

  “These are more the traditional homemade dishes the Hawaiians make,” she informed me, beaming from ear to ear. “I’m glad you like it. I’ll pack some to take home with you.”

  “I will not refuse that offer,” I assured her. “Ever.”

  “Here, eat more, you’re too skinny,” Alani ordered, then took the serving spoon nearest to her and piled my plate high.

  Donovan might have to roll me out of here.

  Sitting there with his family, eating and joking around with them, it was so easy. My eyes kept straying to Donovan and the question that I’d asked myself the day before suddenly had an answer. Which would I regret more? Seeing him like this, so at ease and glowing with contentment, it was easy to answer: I’d regret not trying. More than anything, I would regret letting this man slip by me. This other person he liked, they’d had most of a week to appreciate the man properly. I found more than fifteen minutes to be sufficient, so if they couldn’t accept him in a week, then they didn’t deserve him. They’d had their chance.

  It was my turn now.

  11

  Monday morning meant back to work, although fortunately my favorite captain pulled through for me. Solomon cited scheduling conflicts and tried pushing things off further, but I think Olivia saw through his bullshit too, as a tick of anger pulsed along her lines. Under her direct orders, she gathered Alice Thompson, her sister Lisa, and her brother Chase in for interviews. Technically not interrogations, as we weren’t charging them (yet) with anything, but very pointed interviews. Solomon she shoved into a chair in the corner of the room and ordered him to keep his mouth shut.

  I stood on the other side of the double-sided mirror, as usual, Donovan holding the walkie-talkie for me as Olivia conducted the interviews herself. She put her grandmotherly smile to use as she sat with the pretty, vain Alice Thompson.

  “Ms. Thompson, thank you so much for coming in and going over a few things with me. I’m sorry for the location, it’s the only quiet spot to be had in the station these days.”

  “Yes, well, that’s okay I guess,” she answered with an uneasy look around, her arms loosely hugging her own waist. She wore another sundress today, pure white, with a demure neckline, her hair gently curling around her shoulders. I had a feeling the outfit was to encourage us to think of her as the angel, the victim. Pity it didn’t work on me. “I’m not in trouble, though, am I?”

  “No, you’re not,” Olivia assured her gently.

  “Not yet,” I muttered darkly.

  Donovan choked on a laugh. “She looking guilty to you?”

  “No, she’s looking petty and self-absorbed to me,” I answered with begrudging honesty. “But just because she doesn’t look guilty doesn’t mean she hasn’t done anything wrong. She may just not feel guilty about it.”

  Olivia pulled the note Alice Thompson had given us out of the manila folder, protected by a clear evidence bag, and slid it across so the girl could see it. “You recognize this?”

  “Yes, that’s the first extortion note I got,” Alice answered frankly, barely giving it more than a glance. With such an easy thing to answer, her body language relaxed, meridian lines calming as her nerves died down a little. “I gave it to those two detectives who asked to see it.”

  “And you have no idea where it came from?”

  “I assume it came from Chen Li, the bastard,” Alice responded furiously, lips peeling up in an ugly sneer.

  I blinked. “Huh. She’s now convinced it’s Chen.”

  Donovan lifted the walkie-talkie to my mouth and I repeated that for Olivia’s sake. “She now believes it came from Chen.”

  Not a single whit of her expression changed to let on that Olivia heard me. “And there’s no other person that you can think of? No one else who would send you this note?”

  “No, why?”

  Strange. “Truth, she doesn’t suspect anyone else.”

  “Ms. Thompson, I know this might upset you, but there’s people who think you’re producing the notes on your own.”

  Alice slammed a hand against the table, making it rattle loudly. “I did not!”

  “Truth again,” I stated slowly, puzzling this out. “Olivia, it’s not her.”

  Olivia made soothing noises and waved her back into the chair. “I know it’s not you, I just wanted to warn you that some people think you’re staging this whole thing. Don’t be alarmed, we know you didn’t send these notes to yourself. Now, a few more questions, then I want to speak with your siblings. How much do they know about this situation?”

  “Basically everything. I didn’t try to keep it a secret from them.”

  “And your parents?”

  “We didn’t say as much to Mom,” Alice admitted, catching her bottom lip delicately with her teeth, looking sheepish. “We didn’t want to worry her.”

  “I understand, I’ll keep that in mind,” Olivia responded with a warm smile. “Thank you, Ms. Thompson. You’re free to go home for now.”

  “Oh, okay.” Standing, she gathered up he
r purse and left the room.

  Touching the earpiece, Olivia asked, “Was that all truth?”

  “Yes,” I confirmed through the walkie-talkie. “She’s managed to convince herself that Chen really is the culprit now, which signifies an amazing ability at self-delusion. She knew he didn’t do it the first time I interviewed her. She has very mixed emotions about saying anything to her mother. There’s a healthy dose of fear in there. I think her mother is a strict disciplinarian.”

  “Maybe she’s convinced herself to justify her own actions?” Donovan offered, expression troubled. “Be pretty hard to sleep at night otherwise, knowing you shot an innocent man for the hell of it.”

  I shrugged, keeping my own dark suspicions to myself. “One thing, Olivia. There’s something hokey going on in her noggin.”

  Turning to face the mirror, even if she couldn’t see me, Olivia frowned. “Define hokey.”

  “I’m not a doctor, so I can’t figure out precisely what I’m seeing, but there’s something strange going on in her cranial area. It could be something as innocent as ADHD, or maybe she’s suffering from anxiety. But there’s an unbalance of some sort. You might want to pull her medical records.” It could explain why she was able to justify shooting Chen, if she wasn’t playing with a full deck, but I didn’t dare say that.

  “Interesting,” Olivia said in a tone that could indicate anything between suspicion to mild concern. “I’ll do that. Solomon, make a note.”

  Solomon dutifully pulled out his phone and typed something into it. His whole demeanor resembled that of a child put in the naughty corner while wearing a ‘dunce’ cap. He only missed the cap. Shame I hadn’t brought one for him.

  Lisa came in next and I found her to be very different from her sister. They looked similar, with the same hair and skin coloring, same general build, but Lisa could be the classic girl-next-door. Gentle by nature, forgiving, endlessly patient. I stood a little straighter as she entered the other room.

 

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