by Susan Stoker
Chapter 6
“Are you sure I look okay?” Corrie asked Emily for what seemed like the hundredth time.
“Yes! You look awesome!” Emily responded enthusiastically.
Corrie ran her hands down her thighs and tried to stop worrying but it was impossible. She’d asked Emily to come over and help her get ready. For the first time in a long time, she wanted to look as nice as possible for a date. It was kinda stupid because Quint had already seen her “normal” self, but she wanted to primp for him…wanted him to know this was important to her.
Emily had helped pick her outfit. Corrie was wearing jeans…of course; she rarely wore anything else outside of work. She’d paired it with a pink sleeveless top. Emily had done her makeup for her, as Corrie could only really manage blush, mascara, and lipstick. She could feel when the mascara wand touched her eyelashes and lipstick was easy enough. For blush, she used a brush and counted swirls to avoid using too much, but she never wanted to mess with foundation because it could be a disaster since she couldn’t see how much was too much.
She was wearing a pair of gold hoops in her ears and a charm bracelet with some of the charms Emily had given her over the years. Corrie knew it’d make her feel better to have something her best friend had given her when she got nervous.
The outfit was topped off with a pair of cute cowboy boots. Corrie thought they probably looked silly and was going to wear some sandals, but Emily convinced her they looked great.
“Why am I so nervous, Em?”
“Because you like him.”
“I do, but…”
“Cor, you like him. From what you’ve told me this week, he’s been great. He’s been over here and seen how bare it is…relax. He’s into you. Just go with it.”
“What if I knock over my glass? Or drop food in my lap or—”
“Jesus, Corrie. Get over it. He knows about you. I think he’ll be cool. Take a deep breath.”
“You’re right. Did you feel this way when you went out with Bethany for the first time?”
“No. I actually thought she was a bitch. You know this story…we met at that Gay Pride event in Austin and her girlfriend at the time badmouthed me. I thought Bethany agreed with her and I was pissed. But later, she met back up with me and told me she had no idea her girlfriend was such a bitch, and she’d dumped her. We spent the rest of the weekend hanging out together and realized we had sparks. The rest is history.”
Corrie hugged her friend. “I’m so happy for you guys. Seriously, Bethany and you make a great couple. I know you were worried that you’re ten years older than her, but I’m glad you both got over that. You’re perfect for each other.”
Emily hugged her back. “I know, you tell me practically every time you see me.”
They both laughed. “Come on, Cor. Let’s go through your mail before Quint gets here. I’m sorry I haven’t had the time to come over before now and help you with it.”
“Not a big deal. Let me grab my checkbook so we can take care of any bills that aren’t paid electronically.”
Corrie grabbed a light jacket from the hook in her closet where she kept it and followed Emily into the kitchen. She eased herself onto a stool and waited for Emily to shuffle through the envelopes.
“Trash, trash, ad flier—oooh, this looks interesting!”
“What is it?”
Emily laughed. “A catalog for sex toys.”
Corrie shook her head at her friend. “Whatevs, come on, hurry up.”
“In a hurry, Cor?”
“What time is it anyway?”
“You’ve got a bit before he’s supposed to be here. Relax. Okay, let’s see…cell phone auto payment notification, same for the electric and cable…when are you going to cancel your cable? Seriously, you never watch TV, it’s a waste.”
“I like the background noise sometimes.”
“Oh…what’s this?”
“What?”
“It’s a letter.”
“Well, no crap, Emily. They’re all letters.”
“No, I mean, it’s a personal letter. You usually don’t get letters from people.”
Corrie didn’t take offense. Emily was right. Anyone who knew her wouldn’t write her a letter, and very few of her friends and family knew Braille, and none were proficient enough to write her an entire letter in the language. They stuck to the computer for their correspondence. “Who’s it from?”
“I don’t know, there’s no return address.”
“Fine, would you open it already then?”
She heard Emily tearing open the letter and then silence as she read it.
“Oh my God.”
Corrie had never heard that tone of voice from her friend before. “What? What is it?” Corrie felt Emily’s hand at her elbow, gently tugging her off the stool and out of the kitchen. “What? Emily, you’re freaking me out.”
“Quint’s gonna be here soon, let’s wait out here.”
“Emily Brooks, you tell me right now what the heck is going on.” Corrie dug her heels in and refused to take another step.
“It was a threatening letter.”
“Threatening? What did it say?”
Before Emily could respond, there were two knocks on the door, a pause, then two more.
“It’s Quint,” Corrie said softly. “That’s his special knock to let me know it’s him.” She walked over to the door and went through the same process she did the other night to verify his identity. It was better to be safe than sorry. When Quint confirmed it was him, Corrie opened the door.
“Hey, you look beautiful.”
“Thanks.” Her voice was reverent when she told him, “You smell divine.”
He chuckled. “Is that your way of telling me I look nice?”
“Yeah, smell is kinda a big thing for me, for obvious reasons.” When Corrie heard a throat being cleared behind her, she said, “Oh, sorry. This is Emily,” and gestured to where she’d left her friend standing.
“Hi, Emily, it’s nice to meet you. Corrie has talked a lot about you.”
“Hi. Uh, Corrie, we need to tell him.”
“Tell me what?”
“I don’t think—”
Emily interrupted her. “She got a threatening letter.”
Corrie thought she could actually feel the air around her change. She really hadn’t wanted to do this now. She wanted to go on her date and put all the scary crap behind her for the night.
She sighed, knowing it was too late now. Darn it.
“Show me.” Quint’s words were clipped and urgent.
They all walked back into the kitchen. Corrie could hear Quint head over to the counter where they’d been going through her mail.
“I dropped it as soon as I realized what it was. It was toward the bottom of the stack, so it probably came earlier this week. I haven’t been able to get over here to help Corrie in about seven or so days. I’m so sorry, I should’ve been here sooner, I—”
“This isn’t your fault, Emily. Don’t blame yourself. I was over here the other night. I should’ve at least thumbed through it.”
“Both of you, stop it,” Corrie said firmly. “The only fault here is with the jerk who sent it. And Quint, if you’d started pilfering through my mail, I wouldn’t have been happy.”
Corrie could hear the humor in Quint’s voice as he asked Emily, “Does she ever swear?”
“No. It’s annoying as hell too. I keep telling her Ethan’s too young to pick up on any bad words, but she still refuses to use adult words when she’s pissed.”
“Okay, you two. Quit. Quint, what should I do with it?”
“You don’t need to do anything with it. I’ll take care of it. Can you give me a few minutes to call my friend Dax and let him know what’s up?”
“Uh, Dax… That’s not the guy who was at the restaurant was it?”
“No, that was Cruz. Dax is with the Texas Rangers.”
“But, I thought the police department was working the case?”
“Oh, okay. I guess we’ll have to reschedule anyway.”
Corrie heard Quint take a step toward her and then felt his hands on her shoulders. She looked up to where his face should be.
“This isn’t going to end our date, Corrie. As soon as I take care of this, we’re still going out,” he said in an earnest voice. “I told you I wanted to take you on a date, so that’s what I’m going to do.”
“Okay, but just so you know, if it gets too late, I’m fine with doing it another day.”
“It’s not going to take very long, promise.” He kissed her forehead, then stepped back, taking his hand with him. “Emily, I know we just met, but can I ask a huge favor?”
“Of course.”
“Once Dax gets here, can you stay until he’s done? I want to take my girl out.”
“Of course. No problem.”
“Emily,” Corrie protested, “don’t you have to get home to Bethany and Ethan?”
“No. They’ll be fine. You’ve been looking forward to this date all week. I got this.”
Corrie groaned in embarrassment. Please God, let the earth open and swallow her up. She heard Quint chuckle and knew she was turning red.
She felt his breath against her cheek then her ear as he leaned into her and whispered so only she could hear him, “Don’t be embarrassed, I’ve been looking forward to taking you out all week too.”
He then backed away and Corrie heard him walk to the other side of the kitchen.
“Holy hell, girlfriend. I’m sorrier than you’ll ever know that you’re going through this, but wow. That is one hunk of a man you’ve got there,” Emily whispered.
“Really?” Corrie turned her back to Quint and kept her voice low so he couldn’t hear their conversation.
“Really. If I wasn’t in love with Bethany, you might have a fight on your hands.”
“Whatever, you’re so stupid in love with her you wouldn’t look at anyone else, even if you were attracted to men. Can you describe him for me?”
Emily didn’t even hesitate, having done this for her friend many times over the years. “He’s taller than you are, with dark hair. It’s got a bit of a wave in it and I’m sure it probably sticks up all over the place when he runs his hand through it. His dark against your blonde looks amazing. He’s as muscular as anyone I’ve ever seen, except on TV, and he has some sort of kickass tattoo sticking out from under the right sleeve of his shirt.” Emily wrapped it up. “He’s got prominent cheekbones and a square jaw. Brown eyes, full lips, no piercings that I can see. In short? I might pitch for the other team, but I’m telling you, he’s fucking hot.”
Corrie chuckled and shook her head at her friend. She couldn’t help but be pleased that Quint was good-looking. It wasn’t that she put a lot of stock into a person’s looks, because honestly, there were a lot of other factors that were way more important to her considering she couldn’t even see him to appreciate what he looked like, but even without her sight, she could easily imagine how good-looking Quint was. Emily’s description matched his voice to a T. She tried to play it down. “Whatever.” Corrie’s voice got sincere. “Thanks for being here for me, Em. Seriously. I love you.”
“You’re welcome. We’re here for each other. Always. Never forget it. Whatever you need, whenever you need it.”
“Come here.” Corrie held out her arms and smiled as Emily wrapped hers around her. They embraced and held on until Quint came back across the room to them. “You guys okay?”
Corrie pulled away, smiling. “Yeah. We’re good.”
“Okay. Emily, Dax should be here pretty quickly. He was already out finishing up an investigation. He said he’d swing by here and collect the letter. I know you know this, but don’t touch the envelope again. We’ll probably need you to come down to the station and give your fingerprints so we can exclude yours when examining it.”
“No problem.”
“Oh, but Em, what about that warrant for your arrest back in New York?” Corrie’s voice was serious and urgent—and she waited a beat before succumbing to the smile she’d been holding back.
Emily burst into laughter and choked out, “Oh my God, Cor, you should’ve seen his face.”
Corrie laughed along with her friend. It felt good to laugh and tease Quint. She and Emily used to play tricks on people all the time. Corrie knew she should probably be freaking out about the letter and the threat that obviously came with it, but she couldn’t work up the energy. Her impending date with Quint was first and foremost in her thoughts at the moment. Later that night she’d probably freak out about the letter, but for now she was more excited about spending some time with Quint.
Frustrated that she probably wasn’t going to have the luxury to not think about what it said, she resigned herself to seeing if she could get Quint or Emily to read it to her before they left. At least that way she’d get the worst of it over with. Then maybe, if the date went well, she could think about that rather than whatever the contents of the stupid note were.
“You’ll pay for that, sweetheart,” Quint mock threatened, putting his arms around her from behind.
Corrie leaned back against him, loving the feel of him along the length of her body. He was a few inches taller than she was, and because he wasn’t wearing his uniform or bulletproof vest, she could feel his hard strength, so different from her own. She didn’t dare back all the way into him, it was too soon for an intimacy like that, but she couldn’t help but wonder if she aroused him at all.
Stopping those kinds of thoughts before they could strengthen, she asked, “Will you read me the letter, Quint?”
“No.”
Corrie turned around and put her hands on her hips, not expecting his quick, blunt response. “What? Why not?”
“You don’t need to hear it.”
“Yes, I do. It was addressed to me. And how can I keep myself safe if I don’t know what I’m up against?”
“First of all, you won’t have to keep yourself safe…you’ve got me, and the department, and all of my friends at your back. Secondly, I don’t want you to hear it.”
Corrie nodded. “I know you don’t, I’m not doing cartwheels about it myself, but I’m not five years old. It’s not like I’m going to lose any more sleep over it. I’m already not sleeping, imagining the worst. In some way, maybe this’ll make me feel better. Make me feel like I’m not making up the creepy feeling crawling up the back of my neck each night. Please, Quint.”
She heard him sigh. “I don’t want to…but okay. We’ll get it over with, but as soon as Dax gets here, I’m taking you out and we’re going to forget all this for a night.”
“Thank you.”
Quint ground his teeth together as he walked back to the counter and to the letter lying there. It was written on a piece of lined paper torn from a notebook. The lettering was overdone, obviously camouflaged. It was short and to the point. He’d used a napkin earlier to turn the letter over so he could read it.
He looked at Corrie. She was standing tall, not looking worried at all, while her friend Emily looked completely freaked the hell out. The two women were holding hands, and with a second glance, Quint could tell that Corrie wasn’t as calm as she might appear. Her hand was clutching Emily’s so hard her knuckles were white.
Fuck. He hated this. He might as well get it over with.
“It says, ‘We told you to keep quiet. You didn’t. Hope your affairs are in order. Too bad you’ll never see us coming.’”
“It’s a little dramatic isn’t it?”
“Damn it, Corrie. This isn’t a laughing matter.”
Quint could see Corrie’s mood shift.
“I know it’s not. Darn it, Quint. I was in that room stuffed under the sink wondering if
I’d live to see another minute. I heard my friends being killed. I was there. I know this isn’t funny, no matter if whoever sent that thinks they are, with their little dig about my eyesight. But I can’t lose it. If I lose it, they win. Whoever ‘they’ are. I have to be smart, use my head. They’re trying to scare me, and it’s working, but I can’t let them get to me. I just can’t.”
Quint had her in his arms before she got the last word out. “You won’t let them get to you. I won’t let them get to you.”
He absently heard Emily puttering around the apartment, obviously trying to stay out of their way. Finally he drew back and looked at Corrie. He ran one of his thumbs under her eye. “Dry. You don’t cry easily, do you, sweetheart?”
She shook her head. “I just…I cried a lot as a child. I don’t know why I don’t now. It’s hard to get completely worked up over things knowing how bad life can really be sometimes. Stubbing my toe hurts, or listening to a sad book or movie…but I have a hard time crying over those things when they’re honestly superficial in my life.”
“I’m going to do what I can to keep you safe,” Quint told her, breezing over her comment about her lack of tears.
“Okay.”
“I am.”
“Can we talk about this later?”
Just as the words left Corrie’s mouth, there was a knock at the door.
Emily rushed over to answer it as Quint stepped back from Corrie.
“Yeah, we’ll talk about this later,” he promised. He turned, keeping one hand on the small of Corrie’s back. “Come on, that’ll be my buddy. I want you to meet Dax. Someday I’ll tell you the story of what happened to him and his girlfriend, Mackenzie.”
After the introductions were over, Dax pulled on a pair of gloves and put the letter and envelope into a plastic bag and headed back to the door to leave.
“That’s it?” Corrie asked incredulously. “You’re not going to take fingerprints, or ask me any questions, or otherwise grill me about anything?”
“Yup, that’s it…unless you’ve got any more notes stashed somewhere or have anything else pressing you want to tell me right this second?”