by Sarah Holman
Kim took a step back and surveyed his jaw critically. “I doubt you needed to be belted on the jaw to discover that fact.” She reached into her bag and pulled out another tube, a topical pain reliever.
“Belted?” Patrick questioned with a smile.
“Is that outdated slang? I have been watching reruns of Gilligan’s Island. They use the term quite often.” She put a thin layer on the jaw; it gave instant relief from the pain.
“Well, I’ll do my best not to be belted again. However, at least I know we’re on the right track. Watching Sharleen will be helpful. I might have to follow her after class and see if she leads me to what we’re looking for.”
“Just make sure Jasper isn’t watching you while you are watching her.” Kim capped the tube and put it into her first-aid kit.
“I’ll do my best.”
“In the meantime, put ice on that in the evenings and use Advil to help with the pain and swelling. If you want to cover up the bruise, I could give you…”
Patrick held up his hands. “No! No makeup! Besides, I’ll win a lot of sympathetic souls to my side while sporting this bruise. Half the girls on campus will fawn over me, and the guys will see it as a mark of courage.”
Kim rolled her eyes. “For the record, I think it is a mark of your recklessness and failure to listen to advice.”
Patrick smiled. “Duly noted.”
Kim shook her head and zipped up her first-aid bag.
“What?”
Kim looked at him, her brown eyes seeming to search his heart. She carefully set the kit on the floor and then straightened a stack of papers. “You never listen to advice or instruction.”
Patrick couldn’t help the smirk on his face. “That isn’t true. I listen often. Brian will tell you…”
“You listen only when you agree or after you weighed everything and come to the same conclusion.”
Patrick stood and tried to look serious, but he couldn’t help but smile even if it was painful. “Kim, the case called for me to get to know Sharleen and see if she had any useful information. I turned up something. It looks like she knew about the drugs. If I had listened to Rachelle and stayed away, I never would have found that out.”
Kim lifted her gaze from the paper.
Patrick sighed and leaned against the wall, his arms crossed. “All right, what would you have done?”
“This isn’t about the punch, Patrick,” she said, her Asian accent coming out stronger. “This is how you have been acting for a while now. You’ve been disrespectful to Thomas—”
“Kim, it’s Thomas. He is just such a…”
“He’s your boss. You listen to Brian only when you see the wisdom in the advice. You wouldn’t even think of taking some precautionary measures after Rachelle warned you about Jasper.”
Patrick pushed away from the wall. “You’re blowing this out of proportion. I have to take risks for my job. I do listen to others.”
Kim closed her eyes and pressed her lips together for a moment.
Patrick took a step back. It had been a long time since he had seen Kim this frustrated, and it hadn’t been directed at him at the time.
Kim opened her eyes again and spoke, her tone tight and controlled. “See? You do not even ask me why I made that observation. You dismiss it immediately because you think you are incapable of being wrong.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Kim, I’m not dismissing you. I think you’re overreacting. What’s going on?”
Kim rubbed her upper arm with her hand. Her eyes looked far away. “I had one of those dreams.”
Patrick stiffened. Kim had once told him about this. She didn’t have them often, but she said she sometimes had prophetic dreams, like the ones Joseph in the Bible had. He wasn’t sure he believed Kim could tell the future from her dreams, but he knew by the look on her face that she believed it would happen.
“What happened?” It wasn’t that he really wanted to know, but he also didn’t want Kim to suffer alone.
Kim shivered. “It was dark. You were panicking. You needed to get to someone. Someone was in trouble, but you couldn’t. You had ignored advice and were trapped.”
Patrick lowered his hand and forced himself not to say anything. It was a vague dream that could have meant anything or nothing. It could be a flashback to the last two cases with Kate when she had been in danger and he hadn’t been able to get to her.
“I can see you don’t believe me, but I hope you’ll remember what I have to say and think about it. Patrick Connor cannot save the world.”
He nodded, relieved that Kim had closed the conversation. “I rarely forget what you say, Kim. I promise I’ll think about it.”
She tilted her head in acknowledgment. He left the hotel meeting room and slipped out the back door. He had a class to get to.
His name, accompanied by some choice terms he wouldn’t repeat, caused Patrick to turn around. Sharleen stood in the hall, one hand on her hip while she clutched her school textbook and notebook in her other.
“Hi, Sharleen, ready for class?”
She glared at him and uttered another curse. It was sad; if she didn’t have such an ugly personality, she would be pretty. In fact, Patrick could see her being on the cover of a magazine. Especially with her choice of wardrobe that left little to the imagination, which is why he kept his gaze on her face.
“You should be ashamed. Did you know the police are looking for Jasper? They are calling what happened yesterday an assault!”
“Sharleen, Jasper hit me. What would you call it?”
Sharleen smiled and batted her eyelashes. “Things like that happen between boys. You shouldn’t have called the police. You’re old enough to know such things are settled between men without the police.”
Patrick worked hard to keep his frustration out of his tone and forced a slow shrug. “I didn’t call the cops.”
“One of your pals did.”
Again Patrick shrugged, but he could not believe a guy had hit him for no reason and his girlfriend was blaming him for the whole thing. He felt sorrow for all law enforcement that had to deal with people like this. “I should think you would be grateful too if such a violent guy was taken out of your life. But hey, if you like him, stick with him. It isn’t like I care. I’m sorry if I have messed up your relationship.”
“I want you to withdraw the charges.”
Patrick laughed. He either had to laugh or get mad. He decided laughing was the better choice. “Not a chance. If they catch him, he deserves whatever punishment they deal out to him. Do you see this bruise?”
Two big tears rolled down Sharleen’s cheeks. Patrick looked into her eyes, saw her body stiffen, and suspected crocodile tears.
“I don’t want to lose him. He has a long rap sheet. I’m afraid what the cops will do to him. I already lost a brother.” She cursed and wiped at the tears sliding down her cheeks.
“If he comes and apologizes, I might drop the charges, but not before.” Patrick entered the classroom and Sharleen followed, muttering curses under her breath and shooting daggers at him with her eyes.
Patrick sat down and tried to pay attention, wondering what kind of a mess he had landed himself in this time.
You’re Just Afraid
Saturday, June 13 2:00PM
“My turn,” Kate said as she and Brian strolled down the Battery, the river on one side and White Point Garden on the other. The breeze from the ocean did little to cool her. She continued to perspire.
Brian smiled. “Okay, what do you want to know?”
They had been discussing board games they loved and hated since lunch. Kate was ready for a new subject as they continued to look for anyone selling Gus CDs—or for his next clue on where he was for the day.
“Have you always been a late riser?”
Brian laughed. “I was up by eight.”
Kate gave him an incredulous look.
He laughed again. “Okay, I was out of bed, but I needed coffee and an hour of mor
ning news before I was awake.”
“I had taken a morning jog, had breakfast, and read several chapters in a book before eight.”
“I’ve always been more of a night person than a morning one, but because of how I grew up, I learned to operate on many different schedules. Right now, I can indulge myself. Why are you a morning person?”
“I grew up in a military home. Five was wake-up call. It’s how I have always been. I’ve never been able to shake that habit.”
Brian stopped and looked toward the gardens.
Kate stopped too. “What is it?”
Brian walked backward in front of her and gestured widely with his hands as if explaining something. “I think we may have a winner. Glance over my shoulder. Do you see what that guy is selling?”
Kate smiled back at him, doing her part in the acting. She casually glanced over his shoulder for a brief moment. “It looks like CDs out of a little pushcart. It kinda looks like those guys who have little ice cream coolers.”
“Okay, here’s the plan. I’ll try to record the whole thing on my phone. You buy the CD. Act excited.”
Kate nodded. He turned around and walked with her as they crossed the road to the park and moved toward the young man with sandy-brown hair and blue eyes. His stand held copies of Guitar Gus’s CDs.
“Great!” Kate said, picking up one of the CDs. “I’ve wanted one of these. How much is it?”
The young man smiled at her. “It’s ten dollars or two for fifteen.”
Kate smiled at him and turned to Brian. “What do you think? Should we both get one?”
Brian brushed the sweat from his forehead and smiled back at Kate. “What better way to commemorate this trip?”
“Have you two seen Gus perform yet?”
Kate nodded, pretending to be an over-eager fan. “Oh yeah! We saw him yesterday near the pineapple fountain at Waterfront Park. We’re trying to figure out where he is today.” She bounced on her toes, feeling silly. Did girls really feel like being gushy like this, or were they trying to act stupid? She certainly felt ridiculous.
“Yeah? Some days he can be vague. I guess today is one of them.”
Brian threw his arm over Kate’s shoulder. “We should get one for each of us, sis.”
She nodded agreement and pulled out the cash.
Brian leaned over and held his phone to Kate as she paid for the CDs. “See his clues for today?”
All Kate could see at first was that he was recording, getting a clear shot of the seller as he took the money and handed them the pirated CDs. No way would this film be vague if it was ever used in court.
He tapped a button and brought up Twitter, even as he left the camera recording.
@WhereisGuitarGus: Historic. #whereisguitargus #CharlestonSC
@WhereisGuitarGus: Civil War. #whereisguitargus #CharlestonSC
Both his clues could mean any number of places in this historic city, known for its part in the Civil War.
“We’re just going to have to wait for another clue,” Kate said, and then giggled. Seriously, she never understood why this kind of behavior was thought cute.
“Well, good luck.”
Brian and Kate started to move away, and then Brian turned back. “Say, man, there’s a guy staying at our hotel that wanted a couple CDs. Are you going to be here tomorrow?”
The young man shrugged. “I move around, but I’m usually either here or on King Street with all the shops.”
“Thanks, I’ll let him know.”
Kate and Brian turned and walked side by side back the way they had come on the Battery.
“You play a gushy fangirl slash sister rather well,” Brian said. “High five!”
Kate gave him five, then shrugged. “I felt stupid. I hate playing that kind of character. Do guys really find that cute?”
Brian brushed away the blond hair the wind had blown onto his forehead. “I guess it depends on the guy. I would ask you why you find playing that kind of a character so repulsive, but I guess that would be asking too deep of a question.”
Kate was trying to figure out how to respond when Brian’s phone dinged. He stopped and moved it so she could see the latest tweet.
@GuitarGus: It started here #WhereisGG
Brian snapped his fingers. “That could only mean one place.”
“Where is that?”
“Fort Sumter of course!”
They took their rented car and drove to the ferry landing. They bought tickets and, twenty minutes later, landed on the island that was Fort Sumter.
A crowd of people jostled for position to get off, but Brian and Kate held back.
“I alerted everyone to the great CD deal,” Brian said with a wink.
Kate nodded. Kim would most likely be moving in for surveillance, perhaps Thomas too.
“May I ask a question?”
Brian shook his head. “Nope, it’s my turn.”
She smiled. She was pretty sure if she argued with him, he would let her ask, but she didn’t. “Okay, what is your question?”
“Why the short hair? It’s cute on you, but I thought all girls like a little more to play with unless they just wanted to make it super easy to clean.”
Kate touched her hair, remembering she needed a haircut. She guessed Brian hadn’t noticed it was now almost brushing her shoulders. She shrugged. She hadn’t realized how many things held painful roots until this team entered her life. “I like it that way, I guess.”
Brian looked at her. His eyes told her he knew there was more she wasn’t saying. “Your turn.”
Inwardly, Kate let out a sigh of relief. “Okay, does Patrick like being in the classroom, or would he rather be active?”
They finally were able to move forward, stepping onto the concrete walkway with a metal railing led straight to the brick fort. An American flag waved proudly from a tall white flagpole.
“Why don’t you ask him?” Brian asked, glancing at her sideways as they walked side by side.
“Why won’t you just tell me?”
“Why are you working so hard to avoid him?”
Kate stopped, ignoring the people that shoved past her. “You said you wouldn’t delve into anything deep.”
“Was I?”
She looked into his eyes, but wasn’t sure if he was truly unaware that he had hit on a difficult subject or if he was purposefully pretending ignorance. “What does it matter to you who tells me?”
Brian shoved his hands into his pockets and started walking again. He kept his eyes on the fort rising above them. “I have a hard time staying out of things when I see that people are hurting themselves. I’m trying not to interfere, Kate, but I’m not Kim. I won’t stay silent forever.”
Kate did not feel satisfied. She looked up as they passed under the brick archway into Fort Sumter, but her thoughts were stirring. Finally, she could stand it no longer.
“I’m just not like the rest of you. I don’t handle people interfering in my life well. I need space.”
Brian glanced at her, then pressed his lips tightly together as if forcing himself not to speak.
“I don’t worry about some of the things Kim and Logan worry about. I don’t feel the need to have a protector around like Patrick wants to be. I don’t feel the need to share my life with everyone.”
Brian took hold of her arm and pulled her off to one side of the courtyard. There was no sparkle in his eyes. His jaw worked, as if he were angry, or perhaps considering which words to say. “I will not say much. I don’t know you very well, and I don’t think you would trust me to speak about important matters in your life. But as a brother in Christ I have to say this: Do you really think that what you are saying is in line with Scripture? You might be more comfortable with people not knowing the real Kate, the one hidden under the protective shell. It might be easier to ignore some of the tough issues Kim and Logan talk about. I know for a fact it’s much easier to keep everyone at a distance. But is it what God wants of you? That is a question you must an
swer for yourself.”
Kate swallowed hard, but she couldn’t reply. Brian let go of her arm, and they walked up to Gus. She forced herself to get all excited for him to sign the CD and then stood while he sang.
It started here
The fight that would end slavery
The fight that would unite the country
Kate swallowed and looked at Brian, who seemed to be absorbed in the music. It didn’t seem their talk had bothered him much at all.
It started here
The fight where six hundred thousand would die
The fight that would rip families apart
Brian looked at her and sighed, seeming to sense that she was angry with him. He leaned over. “It was six hundred and twenty thousand.” He winked, obviously trying to make her feel better, but he failed.
It started here
The fight that would give some their freedom
The fight that would make others slaves
As Gus sang a rousing chorus, one thing became clear to Kate: she would be asking for a transfer as soon as they were done with this case.
No Petting the Tiger
Monday, June 15 1:00PM
Patrick tried to look like a busy student who enjoyed being out of doors when the humidity was as high as the temperature gauge. He leaned against the side of the building as a couple of students passed and stared at him. He lifted his chin to them and tried to look as if he was too cool to care, but he almost felt like cursing. This had to be one of the dumbest meeting places that Thomas had ever set up. Yes, they needed to be covert in their meetings, but sitting behind one of the class buildings, working on homework, and sweating so hard he was sure that his skin was melting, was the worst.
Sharleen had been absent from class again. Even if she had been there, he doubted he would get much out of her. She acted as if he had handed her boyfriend over to murdering cops. What was wrong with people that they covered for drug runners and cursed the men and women who protected them daily from lawlessness?