Kate shook her head. Although drinking would have been nice, she couldn’t do it anymore. Not until she figured out if she was going to keep the baby.
“That’s a first!” he said. “You’re turning down booze? How about whiskey? It’s probably the worst-tasting version you’ve ever come across, but it’s the only one in my price range. I’ve been saving it for special occasions.”
Kate shook her head again. “Plain coffee for me tonight, Kenny.”
“Alright.” He put away the bottles after pouring a bit of Irish cream into his mug.
“So, what are we playing?” he asked.
“Cribbage?”
“Sounds great.” He opened the coffee table drawer and retrieved a wooden board and a well-used deck of cards decorated with a Florida sunset that matched her worn-out slippers.
After taking a seat on the old, faded chair next to the couch, Kenny shuffled the cards; his elderly fingers were still impressively agile, considering his age.
“How’s your health? Everything good?” Kate asked.
“Of course. This old body’s still got at least a decade in it, me thinks.” He laughed as he motioned for her to cut the deck.
Kate did then reached for a Rice Krispies square. “These are good!” she exclaimed after biting into it.
“Unfortunately.”
Kate frowned at her uncle, perplexed.
“Nosy Maude is annoying as hell, but she’s a good cook. Can’t resist her treats, but can’t stand her.”
Kate laughed.
“And I can’t turn down free food,” Kenny continued.
Kate laughed again. “We’ll get our finances sorted out one day, I promise. When I make detective… That will help.”
“About that. How’s it going at work?”
Kate shook her head, mostly trying to forget about the day’s events. While today had been particularly bad, it hadn’t been the only time her colleagues had messed with her.
“I did well on the exam, but there’s too much competition. Not enough openings. I’m keeping my eyes open and doing my best at work, but I’m not a brown-noser. Sometimes I feel like there’s an invisible wall in front of me.”
“Your time will come. I’m sure of it,” he said, dealing the last cards, then asking Kate to cut again.
She did and Kenny flipped the card upwards: a four.
“Why did you and Lucy never have kids?” Kate asked out of the blue.
He paused, worry in his tired, brown eyes. “Now, that’s an odd question to ask.” Kenny discarded two cards and placed them face-down on the table.
Kate added her two discarded cards to the pile. “I was just wondering.”
“You start. We thought about it before your parents…”
“But what?” Kate prompted after a few seconds of silence, blocking the memories of her family’s murder as she played a card.
“You came into our lives and became our child, so there was no reason to consider having a child of our own.”
“No reason? Or no financial room?”
“A bit of both, I guess.” Kenny played a ten. “Twenty.”
“Thirty,” said Kate while adding a king.
Kenny shook his head. “Go.”
“One for last.” Kate moved her peg before returning her attention to her uncle.
He looked at her with crooked eyebrows. “Is something going on with you?” He played a king. “Ten.”
“What do you mean?” Kate asked as she played a queen. “Twenty.”
Kenny eyed his cards before opting for a six. “Twenty-six. You’re hiding something from me. I know you. What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” Kate said, looking down and feeling her cheeks warm up. She brought her eyes back to her cards and played a five then moved her peg by two. “Two for thirty-one.”
“Something’s going on, all right… Dear Lord!” he exclaimed after a short pause. “No booze, baby question. Are you and Matt expecting?”
Kate froze.
“Is it that obvious?”
Kenny looked puzzled then smiled. “Oh, dear! Congratulations!” He leaned toward Kate then wrapped his arms around her.
She closed her eyes for a second before replying, her words muffled by his shoulder. “I’m not sure I’m happy about it.”
“What do you mean?” Kenny let go of her and returned to his seat, his eyes locked onto Kate’s.
“I was on the pill. I don’t even understand how it’s possible. I love my work, but I’ll have to find something else to do. We can’t afford to have a baby.”
“Katie, you can’t let finances be a deciding factor. We’ll figure something out. You and Matt will figure something out. And I swear I’ll find a way to help the two of you. Hell, maybe I’ll get a job as one of those greeters at Walmart or something. Yeah… I could do that!”
“Don’t be silly. You’re not at an age where you should be spending hours standing up and walking around… But the thing is that I can’t stop thinking about Baby Bobby.” Tears started running down Kate’s face.
A second later, Kenny was once again hugging her, his hands gently tapping her back. “There, there. Little Bobby’s in a good place. Sure, his life was cut short, very short. But he had a happy existence. You can’t let that affect your own life. You’d make a great mother, I know it.”
Kate let her uncle’s embrace comfort her for a minute or so before she pulled out of his arms.
“Thanks, Kenny.”
He returned to his chair.
While doubts bounced in her head about his last statement, Kate looked at the cards on the table and noticed Kenny still had one to play. “Your turn, right?”
Kenny played his last card. “Four.”
Kate shook her head. “I don’t know. I really don’t know.”
Kenny moved his peg. “One for last. What’s changed?”
“Matt and I. I’m not sure we’re ready for a child.”
“You haven’t told him yet?”
“No. We’ve been fighting over everything and giving each other the silent treatment lately. I feel like I don’t know him anymore. He’s changed. Or maybe I’ve changed.”
“It’s normal. Lucy and I had our share of fights, believe you me!”
“Really? I never saw you two fight.”
“Glad to hear. I’m sure Lucy’s relieved to hear that as well,” he said, looking up at the ceiling, kissing his fingers, and then crossing himself.
“I just don’t know anymore. I might terminate the pregnancy.”
“Oh no!” Kenny was now shaking his head so fast his hair couldn’t keep up. “Anything but that.”
“But—”
“Seriously. I know you don’t agree with my religious views. I’ve never pushed them on you out of respect for your father. I knew him well enough to know he wanted you to choose your own faith. But I wonder if I’ve somehow failed you by not providing you with enough moral guidance.”
“No, no. My moral compass is perfectly fine. You and Lucy have done a great job teaching me the difference between right and wrong. But maybe some people are not meant to be parents, you know?”
“Then maybe adoption is the answer. Not abortion.” He paused for a while, his eyes never leaving hers. “Katie, please do me a favor. All I ask is that you think it through. Don’t make a rash decision. Don’t do anything you could regret for the rest of your life.”
Kate exhaled loudly.
“And talk to Matt,” Kenny continued. “He may be an ass—possibly the world’s biggest—but he has the right to know. It’s not just your baby.”
Chapter Five
When Kate walked into the room for the morning brief, she sensed something was amiss. Again.
But she didn’t know what. She’d already had to deal with the dead cat. Did the guys crank it up a notch? Had they planned some other prank? And in front of the sergeant this time?
Why was everyone looking at her funny? Wasn’t yesterday enough for them? Or were they just r
eliving it somehow?
She spotted Bower leaning toward Zhou, whispering something into his ear.
“Guys, have a seat. Let’s get this over so you can start your day.
“First off, I obviously need to clarify things for some of you.” He looked straight at Kate.
What did I do?
“I can’t believe I’m about to say this. A couple of days ago, when I said to keep your eyes open for the whacko who’s been killing animals, I was just mentioning it to cover my ass. And based on how you all reacted, I was pretty sure we were on the same page. I didn’t expect any of you to take me seriously.” He picked up a small evidence bag and lifted it up. In it was a single bullet. Her evidence bag.
Oh shit. Really?
“I’m not going to approve any ballistic testing on a bullet that killed a fucking cat. Stop wasting my time with this shit.”
The eyes in the room turned toward Kate as a few officers laughed openly.
“Time to join Larson,” Bower said.
A handful of officers chimed in. “Hear, hear.”
No matter how much Kate wished the floor could open up and swallow her whole, it wasn’t happening. She had no desire to leave her patrol duties and work a desk like the only other female officer in their district.
“To be fair, I didn’t request a ballistic report. I bagged the bullet ’cause it was there in plain sight at the scene. And fuck it, guys. The dispatcher’s the one who confirmed I had to file an official report.”
The room rumbled again.
“Quiet, Murphy,” Johnston whispered to her. “Keep talking, and your ass will end up on desk duty like Larson.”
Kate knew Johnston was right, so she inhaled and bit her tongue while rage boiled in the pit of her stomach. Or was that morning sickness about to rear its head at the worst time?
Oh shit, it was.
Kate hurried out of the room and ran to the bathroom.
Great. Now the guys will think I’m a crybaby, she thought as she expelled the contents of her stomach into the porcelain.
A minute later, a Tic Tac in her mouth, she stepped back into the morning brief.
Johnston shook his head at her as she returned to her seat next to him.
“You shouldn’t have left,” he whispered.
Fuck. Don’t I know it.
But exposing her morning sickness would also land her ass on desk duty. She was out of cards.
The morning brief ended with Sergeant Bailey calling out to Kate, “Murphy, in my office. Now!”
“What’s going on here? Did you leave the brief to go and cry in the bathroom?”
Fuck. Gotta lie your way out of this, Kate.
“No, Sergeant. You know I can take it. I’m one of the guys. But I… I had to puke. I must have had a bad burrito for breakfast.”
Sergeant Bailey stared Kate down while stress-induced butterflies fluttered around in her stomach. “I believe you. Your breath smells like bile and Tic Tacs.”
Kate’s hand went up to cover her mouth. As if she hadn’t been embarrassed enough already.
“But that doesn’t explain your ridiculously detailed report about the dead cat.”
“Sergeant, with all due respect, I only did what I thought I was asked to do. I’m sorry for misunderstanding your orders. Or maybe those relayed by the dispatcher.”
The sergeant shook his head at Kate, his eyes showing nothing but resentment toward her.
“But remember Albert DeSalvo?” she added, knowing fair well she was walking on thin ice.
The sergeant walked around his desk and took a seat. “The Boston Strangler? Of course! What BPD cop doesn’t know his name?”
“Did you know that he started out with animals? I believe he shot arrows at dogs and cats, or some sort of animal torture, but the same holds true for many serial killers. What if we have a crazy person who’s just getting started? What if these crimes are about to escalate?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. It’s probably a bunch of unsupervised kids going around playing bad pranks.” Bailey grabbed his coffee mug and took a sip.
“I thought so, too. But the Animal Control supervisor I talked to when the dispatcher sent me to handle the dead cat made me realize how big the problem was. We’re not talking about just a cat or two.”
“Forget it, Murphy. Smile, nod, and keep the public and our mayor happy, but don’t write up any more ridiculously detailed reports on animal deaths. Am I making myself clear?”
“Yes, Sergeant,” Kate said after swallowing the knot in her throat.
She turned around and left his office as fast as her legs would let her.
Way to go, Kate. This certainly won’t help your odds of making detective.
In the safe, solitary bubble of her patrol car, Kate reflected on her problems. While being bullied and having her official police notepad tampered with were bothering her greatly, her flailing home life and secret pregnancy took the top spots on her mental podium.
But other than her slightly bigger breasts, she could still hide her condition. She wasn’t ready to tell anyone. First, she wanted to decide whether she would keep it. As long as she followed orders and didn’t toss her cookies while at work, nobody would force her to get a desk job.
She remembered reading the memo about it a while back. Something to do with the department not being held responsible in the event a female officer miscarried at work. They couldn’t legally fire someone for getting pregnant, but they could supposedly act in the woman’s best interest and make her push paper at a desk until the little bugger came out and she recovered from the delivery.
Who wants to do that?
Patrolling wasn’t always the most interesting job, but it at least gained her some experience toward the detective promotion she wanted. Filling out forms was not fun. It was already part of her regular duties, but in smaller doses. She didn’t want it to become a full-time job.
But what about telling Matt?
She knew Kenny was right. Matt deserved to know, but she wasn’t ready to tell him yet. She still had to figure out how the pregnancy had happened in the first place.
Earlier that morning, she googled the psychologist’s tea ingredients, but found no indication they could have weakened her birth-control pills. She also googled her particular brand of contraceptives and there hadn’t been any recall. They were 99.99% reliable. No way she was the 0.01% statistics in this. Someone had to have tampered with her pills.
As much as she hated Bower and suspected he was the one who’d orchestrated the dead cat prank and possibly ripped a page out of her notepad, she couldn’t come up with one scenario where he would have had access to her pills. While he obviously knew her locker combination and could have accessed her notepad in there, Kate had never taken her pills to work. She’d always kept them in the privacy of her apartment bathroom.
Bower had never been to her place.
So, the only option was Matt. But why?
Why—and how—would he have tampered with her pills?
She didn’t know how to answer this question. Kate still had the pill she’d found on the floor, but she didn’t have a friend at the lab. She didn’t have many friends at all if she were honest with herself. She couldn’t use the department’s resources, and she wasn’t going to cheat the system either. She could probably find a lab that could test the pill for her, but it would cost money, money she didn’t have.
After writing a handful of speeding tickets and responding to a robbery, she headed back to the station with lots of reports to file. It was unlikely the robbery victim would ever get his electronics back, but who knew? The only thing she could really do was her work: file the report and maybe one day, the stolen items would appear in a warehouse or turn up at a pawn shop.
Unlikely, but possible.
Just like Matt tampering with her pills.
Unlikely, but possible.
Unfortunately, it changed nothing to the fact that a fetus was growing inside of her.
T
he clock was ticking.
Not only did she have to make up her mind about what she’d do with it, but she also had to tell Matt. Announcing the news to her husband could no longer wait.
She would do it tonight.
Kate arrived home well past sunset.
“Matt? Babe?” she said after unlocking the front door.
No answer, but the sound of a running shower reached her ears.
She walked through the bedroom and popped her head in the bathroom.
“I’m back!” she yelled over the noise of the running water.
“I’ll be out in a few minutes,” Matt replied.
I’ve got some time to figure this out.
She sat on their marital bed, the very place where this new life had probably been conceived. It wasn’t as though they’d had had sex in many other places recently. They used to be all over each other anywhere and everywhere. Now, because they were rarely in bed and awake at the same time, they were lucky if it happened twice a week.
“Matt, I’m pregnant,” she rehearsed aloud.
That’s awful. You can do better than that!
“Matt, sit down, I’ve got something to tell you.”
Better. But then what?
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Maybe I can show him with a picture. That’s an idea…
Kate had never been a good artist. She couldn’t draw anything more complex than a stick figure. She looked around the room and spotted Matt’s phone on his nightstand.
I can change his phone background to a baby picture!
Although she’d never accessed his phone without his permission before, she knew his password. She kept nagging him about the importance of using complex passwords and changing them regularly, but he used the same one for everything.
She unlocked her husband’s mobile screen then opened the browser to look for a baby picture online. She found one that showed a baby with a “Congrats, you’ll be a dad!” sign on it.
Good enough.
She had just pressed save to make it his new screensaver when a text message came in.
We gotta do this again.
The sender’s name was Sam.
Normally Kate wouldn’t have thought anything about it, probably someone he’d done business with, but the little picture that accompanied the message was of a woman’s cleavage.
The Last Lies (Kate Murphy Mystery Book 1) Page 6