by Liz Bradford
“I honestly know nothing. You think he would tell me if he had some elaborate plan? No, he simply invited us all over for dinner and asked me if I would cook so you wouldn’t have to.”
“Okay fine. But do you think he’s planning something or is this simply what it is?”
Amy looked over at Jared. “Based on the look on his face and the fact that he keeps sticking his hand in his pocket, I’d guess there is something more going on.”
“You’re right. He does keep reaching in his pocket. But when on earth would he have had the opportunity to go ring shopping? He’s been with me almost constantly.”
“Who knows? Maybe he’s had it for a couple of weeks already. We’ll just have to wait and find out, won’t we?”
“I guess so.” Her stomach fluttered. Becca was a nervous wreck now. The excitement and anticipation of a proposal made her giddy.
“How are you doing otherwise?” She turned and looked at her sister, both women’s expressions turning somber.
“I’m hanging in there. I didn’t have a nightmare last night at all, so that helps. That first night was the worst as far as that went. I’m so glad the nurse let Jared stay. I don’t know what I would have done without him there to hold me and calm me down. But I feel so much better today after having gotten a full night’s sleep. I think I’m ready to return to work tomorrow.”
“I still can’t believe Baker would expect you back already.”
“He’s not. He said I could take as long as I need, wanted me to take two weeks. But three days is enough. I’m already stir crazy, and there is still some unfinished business with the case that I need to take care of.”
“All right, but promise me you will take it easy and come home if you need to.”
“I promise. I’ll only do half days for a while. And don’t worry, I foresee Jared babying me for a while.”
“Ha. True!” The sisters laughed.
Once the casserole was ready, everyone dug in. The adults gathered around Becca’s little kitchen table, and the kids sat at Callie’s little table. Conversation was kept light and was full of stories from the past. Jared even told his version of the day they met. “I was so mad at our boss for putting me with a rookie; I was still so new that I didn’t feel up to training anyone. But then in walked Becca. When the lieutenant introduced me to the gorgeous, Miss Becca Palmer, I fell head over heels instantly. She drove me crazy for those first two weeks we worked together with the way she would flip her hair or, well, frankly every little thing she did. And I don’t mean annoyed me.”
“Well, why for only the first two weeks?” Caleb inquired.
Jared looked like a deer in headlights. He looked right at Becca; they had promised back in the day to never talk about their drunken escapade with anyone. “Amy already knows.”
“You told Amy? When?”
“A few weeks ago.”
“Oh, recently.”
She nodded.
“Okay, someone going to tell me?” Caleb asked. Tom looked curious as well.
“Well, we got a little drunk.”
“A little? Worst hangover of my entire life, and if you had known me in college that’s saying something.”
“Okay, we were completely smashed, but one thing led to another, if you know what I mean.”
“Oh.” They all laughed at Caleb’s reaction.
“Anyway…” Jared said. “Now that we are done eating I say we play a game or something.”
“How about charades?” Caleb suggested.
“Perfect. Everyone okay with that? Amy, Tom and their kids against Becca, Caleb, Callie and I?”
Everyone agreed and after taking their dinner dishes over to the sink, they all went to the family room. They moved the coffee table out of the way, and Amy and her family went first. Amy acted out a movie that her kids guessed right away. Then Caleb went, but they failed to guess it. Grayson then took a turn, and Tom guessed his within a second.
Jared said, “Callie and I will go together for one.”
They got up in front of everyone and started acting silly. “What are you two doing? A movie? TV show? A thing?” They both shook their heads. Then Callie drew a question mark in the air. “A question?” She nodded and then pointed at Becca. She then acted like she was holding something in front of herself and walked across the room and then pointed at Jared. “What? Mommy walks to Daddy?” She shook her head. Jared leaned over and whispered in her ear. She just giggled then her face turned pensive. She then grabbed Jared’s hand and pulled him closer to where Becca was sitting on the couch. She then pulled him down till he went down on one knee. Callie then animatedly gestured back and forth between the two of them.
The light bulb went on in Becca’s head; she knew exactly what was going on. Her heart raced as Callie motioned for her to say it. “Is your question, ‘Will Mommy marry Daddy?’” The little girl’s head looked like it was disconnected from her body with how enthusiastic her nod was. Jared reached in his pocket and pulled out a simple, but beautiful diamond ring.
“Becca, I have wanted to ask you this question for six years. We have been through a lot, and I can’t imagine a better person to face life’s greatest challenges with. So, Becks, will you marry me?” he asked.
Becca bit her lip and smiled as he spoke.
He slid the ring on to her finger. “Really glad they didn’t cover your fingers with the cast.”
Everyone laughed, except Becca. She shouted, “Yes!” throwing herself into his arms. Then disregarding all the onlookers, she kissed him passionately on the mouth while everyone cheered and Callie hugged them. They broke the kiss and pulled her into their arms as well. Finally, they would be a family.
“So, how about that pie?” Caleb said. They all laughed again.
“You were in on this weren’t you?” Becca asked him.
“Whatever would make you think that?”
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe the fact that you are the one who suggested the game.” He shot her a big, cheesy grin giving Becca her answer. “All right, let’s eat some pie.” As they all headed into the kitchen, Becca asked, “The other thing I want to know is, Jared, when on earth did you have time to go shop for a ring?” She watched as he exchanged a look with Caleb.
“Well, I’ve actually had it.”
“Really, since when?”
“Remember how I told you I had intended to ask you before Carl died?” She nodded. “Well, I had already bought a ring back then.”
“And you kept it this whole time?”
“Yep.” She wrapped her good arm around his waist. He really had hoped to find her all those years they were apart, just as she had hoped to find him.
The next morning as Becca was walking from her car to the police station, she heard Jared coming up behind her. “Good Morning, Beautiful! How’d it feel, driving yourself to work this morning?”
“A little strange, I was getting used to riding everywhere with you.”
“Well, there will be a time for that again,” he said with a flirtatious smile that made her heart soar. “But there is one thing I must do before we are officially on the clock.” Taking her arm, he stopped her in the middle of the parking lot and pulled her close. Cupping her face in his hands he searched her eyes before giving her a breath-taking kiss. After pulling away and leaving her weak-kneed, Jared said, “Okay, now I feel better and ready to start the day. Have you decided how you want to tell everyone our news?”
She smiled as they started walking again, “Well, I was thinking maybe I would just talk with exaggerated hand motions,” she said while gesturing largely with her hands, ring exposed, “and just wait to see who notices first, unless you have a better idea.”
“No, I like it. Although your bright purple cast might distract a bit.”
“Ha. Or draw more attention.”
He chuckled as he held the door open for her. Once inside they headed to their desks where Jamison and Miller soon joined them.
“Hey, guys, welcom
e back,” Jamison said. “Missed you. Okay, well maybe not, considering we both took Monday and Tuesday off as well, but not having you here yesterday was well, back to normal, and I really can’t complain about that.”
“Whatever, Adam. It’s good to be back. It’ll be weird not working with you guys constantly, but I’m seriously looking forward to getting back to investigating simple deaths, could use a non-murder death to check in on. But first we have a few loose ends to tie up.”
“Nope. I’m pretty sure Jamison and I finished all the paperwork yesterday,” Rick said.
“Yeah, you guys get off easy. I’m the one that discharged my weapon… ugh, the paperwork.” Jamison rubbed the back of his neck.
“Well, I hear you saved Jared’s life, so thank you!”
“Anytime. For you guys, I’ll do the paperwork.”
She smiled at him and squeezed his arm. “Thanks, but I’m not talking about paperwork.”
“What are you talking about then?” Jamison asked.
“His wife. I know he killed her now. He pretty much said so.” Becca told them what he had said while he was holding her. “So, we have to find her.”
The Captain walked up to them, “Welcome back, Johnson and Palmer. Rebecca, I know you want to find her body and make sure she is laid to rest, but that can’t take priority. Please continue to work on it, but don’t get fixated on it.”
“Yes, sir.” Becca brought her left hand to her face and brushed her hair to the side, but then rested her hand on her face and wiggled her finger slightly. “That is understandable.” The look on Jamison’s face changed; he had seen the ring. She giggled.
“Well, congratulations, you two! When did that happen?” Jamison asked shaking Jared’s hand and then giving Becca a brief hug.
“Last night.”
“Wait, what are we congratulating?” Rick asked.
“Yeah, what’s going on?” the Captain added.
Becca held up her hand again so the other men could see. Congratulations, hugs, and handshakes were passed around.
A week later Becca was sitting at her desk working on a pile of paperwork when a social worker came up to her. “Detective Palmer?”
“Yes?”
“I’m Camille Wyatt from DCFS.”
“Yes, I believe we’ve met before.”
“Yes, we have. It’s good to see you again. I wanted to let you know that I’ve been working with Freddy Monroe.”
Becca sat up a little straighter, curious as to what Camille had to say. She glanced over at Jared to make sure he was listening.
Camille continued, “And well, he’s been drawing some rather disturbing things, as you can imagine, but I thought this might be important for you to see.” The woman handed Becca a crayon drawing of a boy standing in the dirt under a tree on what looked like a farm. Next to the boy there was a tombstone on which the name Mom was written.
“Wow, do you think he knows that his dad killed his mom? Does he know where her body is?”
“It’s possible. I tried asking him about it, but he refused to talk about it at all. Refuses to say anything about his mother.”
“Okay, thank you. Can we keep this?”
“Sure.” Ms. Wyatt left, and Becca turned to Jared.
“What do you think? I have no idea what that farm looked like, but you saw it pretty well didn’t you? Could this be there?” She handed Jared the drawing.
“It was dark, so I can’t be a hundred percent, but it does look like it.”
“Let’s go talk to the Captain.” Becca was excited that after a week of fruitless tossing the case back and forth in her mind she finally had a place to look for Jane Monroe.
They got up and went to the Captain’s office and shared the picture with him. He agreed that it was worth looking into.
A few hours later they arrived at the farm along with a team with cadaver dogs. Jared and Becca got out of the car and began walking around the property.
As they walked Becca noticed that Jared’s shoulders were stiff, and he kept rubbing his hands together. “Jared, are you all right?”
“Yeah,” he said, but his frown and narrow eyes told her otherwise.
“Oh, really? Could have fooled me.” She reached out and touched his arm. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”
“Being back here is reminding me of how I felt while you were missing. I was terrified of what he was doing to you in there.” He looked toward the house.
She hadn’t thought about the fact that being here could stir up Jared’s emotions. She had no recollection of the outside, so she was able to separate herself from the memories of what happened in this place. She was sure it would be different if she went into the basement, but she had no intention of ever stepping foot in there. Jared, on the other hand, had experienced such anguish while staring at that house. She stepped closer to him and squeezed his arm. “I’m sorry. Maybe we shouldn’t have come along.”
“No, it’s fine, really.” He took her hand. “I’m just glad we both survived that day, and soon I’ll get to call you my wife.” A smile took over his face. He squeezed her hand before letting go.
Rroff, Rroff, Rroff. A cadaver dog started barking uncontrollably. Becca turned. The dog was standing under a large tree, just like in Freddy’s picture. In fact, the whole scene seemed to be right out of the child’s drawing. The officers began digging, and it wasn’t long before they came to the decomposing body of a young woman under a plain white sheet. The medical examiner was already on hand and began examining the body. Based on initial findings the ME estimated that she had been killed in the same manner as the other women sometime around May, not long after she had come to see Becca. It would be a few days before all the facts would come together, but Becca knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the woman, who was being taken to the morgue, was Jane Monroe.
Jared put his hand on Becca’s shoulder as they stood there while the body was taken away. “You okay?”
“I guess. I guess the case is officially closed then.”
“Yep. Finally.”
She shook her head. “What would drive a man to kill so many in such a horrific way?” They both sighed. “I guess we’ll never truly understand. I just pray for Freddy. I pray that he doesn’t turn out like his father and grandfather. And that he can heal from all the horrific things he has experienced.”
“Me too.”
EPILOGUE
Jared took a deep breath and shifted his feet. For six years Jared had longed for this day, and the day had finally arrived. There he stood at the front of the church decked out in his penguin suit, with his brother by his side. When he first dreamed of this day he never would have imagined Caleb standing beside him. He had expected Carl to be his best man. But today, he could image no better best man than Caleb.
He rubbed his hands together as he looked around the church. All their friends and family had come. The Captain and his wife, Rick Miller and his wife, Adam Jamison, and Doug Ramirez and his wife were all there. Aunts and uncles and cousins Jared hardly knew from both sides of their families were in attendance. Even his old partner from Chicago, Chad Bennett and his family had come down for the wedding. He was amazed that so many had come with Christmas being less than a week away.
The church was beautifully decorated for Christmas. An extravagantly ornamented tree stood off to the corner and poinsettias graced the stage. On the floor, in front of the stage, near the sides of the room were flowers with the pictures of their loved ones whose lives had ended before today. There was a flower for Becca’s father, one for each of Jared’s parents who had died in a car crash while he and Caleb were both in college, and there was a flower for Carl. When Becca told him her idea of how to include their parents and Carl in the wedding, Jared had been unable to hold back the tears.
The music changed. Amy, Becca’s matron of honor, started her procession down the aisle. They had kept the wedding very small, with only Caleb and Amy and the cutest flower girl anyone had ever seen sta
nding up as their wedding party. Callie entered and walked down the aisle tossing rose petals from her basket as she drew near. Yesterday evening, during rehearsal, they were unsure if Callie would make the journey down the aisle, but once they told her to just look at Jared and give him a kiss when she reached the end she made the walk without hesitation. Jared stooped down to receive her kiss and hug. He returned the affection by planting a kiss on top of her head as he stood back up. She then went and stood by Amy.
Jared bit his lip in anticipation that Becca would be the next to make her way to him. As the music changed again, she appeared in the doorway at the back of the church sanctuary. She was the epitome of grace and beauty; her tall, lean figure draped in a long flowing white dress, her chestnut hair ornately twisted up on the back of her head. Her eyes were beaming, and her smile had taken over her entire face. She kept her eyes locked with his as she walked down the aisle accompanied by her mother.
Jared had a difficult time focusing on the ceremony, as Becca had his full attention. They moved through the motions and said their vows and before he knew it, the pastor was pronouncing them man and wife. Then the words he had been waiting for came, “You may kiss the bride.” He cupped her face with one hand and pulled her close with the other. Bending down to meet her lips, he gently touched his lips to hers initially, and then he deepened the kiss which brought hoots and hollers from all in attendance. He pulled back and tried to catch his breath, but she grabbed the lapels of his jacket and brought him down for another kiss, inciting more cheering from their friends and family.
They turned, and the pastor presented them as “Mr. and Mrs. Jared Johnson.” Becca was finally his wife! With her hand tucked around his elbow they proceeded down the aisle and out the doors at the back. Once there he turned toward her and gave her another kiss. “I love you, Becca, my dear wife.”
She bit her lip shyly, in the way she always did, and then said, “I love you, too, Jared, my darling husband.”
Keep Reading
Thanks for reading NOT ALONE!