Forever Hers

by E. B. Walters

  “I don’t have girlfriends. I have women friends.”

  Amy rolled her eyes. “So are you in a relationship with a woman?”

  “Sort of.”

  “Sort of? You are either in one or you are not. I mean, how often do you see her or call her?”

  He squirmed. “I see her once a week or every other week, usually on Friday nights, and we don’t call each other unless it’s to cancel our engagement.”

  That didn’t sound much like a relationship. “What does she do?”

  “She’s a partner at a law firm. Don’t ask me what she does because we usually have other things on our minds when we get together.” He gave her a slow grin.

  Amy flushed. She knew she ought to stop the line of questioning, but like a dog with a bone, she kept pushing. “Is she from a large family? Does she have a favorite food or restaurant? What’s the color of her eyes?”

  He crossed his arms again. She’d noticed he did that whenever he didn’t like her questions. “I don’t know anything about her family or favorite dish. Her eyes are brown. No, hazel. Does it matter?”

  “Of course, it does. You say you’re in a relationship yet you know next to nothing about the woman. That’s not a relationship.”

  “What do you call it?”

  “Booty call. Friends with benefits. If you were in a relationship, you’d call her in the middle of the day just to hear her voice. Send her flowers because it’s Tuesday. Buy her chocolates because, uh, they remind you of her brown or hazel eyes.”

  Silence settled around them. She slanted him a glance and caught him staring at her as though she had grown two heads.

  “Are you kidding me? That’s what people do when they are in love. Love is smothering and messy.”

  “You don’t believe in love?” she asked.

  “No. Love leads to chaos. Men start acting like idiots while women become clingy or manipulative.”

  Amy opened her mouth to make a retort and closed it. For some perverse reason, she’d wanted educate him about relationships but now all she felt was sad. She shook her head. “You have cousins who are married. Baron and Kara are blissfully happy.”

  “They are newly married.”

  Amy rolled her eyes. “So?”

  “So, their love could still turn sour. The women will start to nag, the men turn to alcohol or try to recapture their youth by having affairs. Or they’ll be polite to each other and stay in the marriage for the sake of the children. I plan to avoid all that messiness by staying single.”

  Talk about cynical. He was a lost cause, damaged, and she knew why. His mother. Amy would hate to end up like him, eaten up with resentment and preconceived notions about love.

  “I’m calling my parents tomorrow. They need to know I’m fine.”

  She didn’t realize she’d spoken her thoughts until Eddie said, “How often do you speak to them?”

  “We haven’t since I left. I couldn’t tell them where I am.” She still wouldn’t. Her parents believed she’d made up stories about Nolan and that she needed psychiatric help, so she wasn’t really ready to let them back into her life.

  Eddie put down his beer bottle and leaned forward. “What’s their story anyway? Where were they when Nolan was harassing and stalking you? Or do we need to play another game first before I get my five questions?”

  The fun of playing chess had lost its appeal. She didn’t feel like discussing her parents or Nolan either. Instead, she studied Eddie, feeling sorry for him. He was emotionally crippled. Maybe while here, she might convince him to give his mother a call.

  “Amy?”

  She focused on his face. “Let’s just say I made terrible choices and gave them every reason to think the worst of me.”

  “You are their daughter. You don’t turn your back on your family because of a few bad choices.”

  “Yet you did on your mother,” she said softly.

  Anger flashed in his eyes. “Let’s not talk about my mother anymore. She’s not important.” He leaned forward, his gaze probing. “Let’s talk about you. Is Raelynn’s ‘real father’ a cooked up figment of your imagination or was he an actual person?”

  First hurt then anger rolled through her.

  ***

  Eddie watched the play of emotions on Amy’s face, not too pleased with the way he’d worded his question even though it had served its purpose. He had effectively wiped off the pitying expression from her face. He didn’t understand why she should pity him just because she didn’t agree with his philosophy on love. She made him question the past and feel things he didn’t want to deal with. Having her despise him was the perfect barrier to any crazy ideas he might have about her or their association.

  “You know what, Fitzgerald? You’re a jerk.”

  He liked her fighting spirit. “Just because I don’t agree with your viewpoint on love and relationships—”

  “Because you judge without knowing all the facts,” she snapped, glaring at him. “I would never lie to my child about something that important.”

  His gut told him she spoke the truth. The urge to apologize coursed through him, but he bit back the words. He needed the wall between them.

  “So? Is he real?” he pushed.

  “Go to hell.” She scrambled off the couch and marched off to where she kept her laptop, picked it up and disappeared in the direction of her bedroom.

  Eddie exhaled. Refusing to feel guilty, he removed the coffee mug she’d left behind, grabbed two more beers and headed to his bedroom. He rebooted the laptop and plugged in the thumb drive with the burglary files. Before he could read anything, his cell phone rang.

  “I’m outside,” Sally said as soon as he placed the phone to his ear.

  Eddie debated whether to get Amy and decided against it. Her presence would only distract him. Besides, it was his job to keep her safe. He turned on the outside light and went to join Sally.

  The policewoman was under the tree putting on crime scene gloves, a flashlight under her arm. She handed him the flashlight, pulled out a plastic bag from her pocket and squatted to collect the cigarette filters.

  “You think one of the lawn mowers was Nolan?”

  “What lawn mowers?” Amy asked from behind him, causing him to whip around.

  “What are you doing out here?” he asked.

  “The same thing you are doing, detective,” she said with exaggerated sweetness. “Hi, Sally. What’s going on?”

  Sally smiled. “Detective Fitzgerald told me Nolan was here this evening. Then he found these cigarette filters under your tree. Looks like someone stood here and smoked for a very long time.”

  “Leland’s yard had also been mowed, yet I don’t recall seeing anyone do yard work since I got here,” Eddie added.

  “You didn’t tell me you found cigarette stubs when you came back inside the house.” Amy said calmly. Much too calm for his liking.

  “I told him not to say anything until I processed the scene,” Sally said. “Does Nolan smoke?”

  “Not when I knew him,” Amy said. “Sam’s father smokes.”

  “It’s not his brand,” Eddie cut in. “I spoke with him earlier. According to him, his regular guy is down with the flu and two guys, total strangers, did his lawn late this evening and one of them smoked.”

  “What else have you learned and decided not to tell me?” Amy asked with a hint of anger.

  “That depends on how much you want to hear and share,” he retorted. It still rankled that she wasn’t ready to confide in him.

  “Why don’t you two wait for me inside the house?” Sally cut in. “And please don’t kill each other. I have enough to process here without adding your case to it.” She chuckled as she walked away.

  Eddie followed Amy inside the house, where she poured herself a fresh cup of coffee; added creamer then sat at the counter and ignored him. He loved silence, craved it most of the time because he strategized better when surrounded by it. Tonight it was oppressive. He couldn’t think straight
let alone come up with a plan of action.

  “If Nolan left those cigarette stubs, he just made his first mistake.”

  Amy didn’t respond. Instead, she sipped her drink and stared into space.

  “And stealing a truck from a local guy then impersonating him is just plain stupid,” he added.

  Amy acted like she didn’t hear him.

  “Damn it, Amy. Talk to me. I want to stop this bastard, but I can’t when I don’t know what I’m dealing with. I want to know everything about him, what he’s capable of.”

  More silence.

  Frustration ate at him. How the hell was he going to help her if she refused to trust him? A sound came from behind and he whipped around. It was Sally. He got up to open the door.

  Amy became the perfect hostess and indicated the coffee maker. “Do you want something to drink, Sally? We have coffee in the pot.”

  The police woman nodded. “Thanks, Amy. Coffee would be nice.” She waited until after Amy placed a steaming cup of coffee in front of her before speaking. “Someone called Randal this afternoon and warned him against working with us. It wasn’t the guy who paid off your car repairs, he said.” She sipped her drink and glanced at Eddie and Amy. “Do you think it’s Nolan?”

  Eddie shrugged. “It’s possible. Too bad Randal didn’t let the answering machine pick it up. A voice print is as unique as a fingerprint and we could have used it to ID him.”

  “Nolan would never leave a message,” Amy piped in. “He wouldn’t do anything that could incriminate him.”

  Eddie hated the way she believed her ex was invincible. Made him want to nail the bastard even more. “Everyone makes mistakes, Amy. We just need to find his.”

  Sally’s worried gaze bounced between the two of them then stayed on Amy. “Did you get a proper look at the men who tried to break into the house?”

  Amy shook her head. “They smashed the security lights on the patio, so I couldn’t see anything. They took off after I turned on the lights on the side of the house.”

  “At least they didn’t make it inside the house. I heard you have a gun for protection.”

  Amy grinned. “Yeah, a Glock. I’m taking self-defense lessons too, just in case.”

  “That’s really good. I see too many victimized women scared of their own shadows when they could be empowering themselves.” She glanced at Eddie. “I’m happy she’s not one of them.”

  “Yeah, she’s pretty amazing,” Eddie said. When Amy shot him a surprised look, he added, “And scary.”

  Amy scowled.

  “Scary is even better,” Sally added and chuckled. “However, if they ever come back, call us. It’s great not to be defenseless, but it’s our job to protect you.” She stood. “Thanks for the coffee. I got the phone number and the name of the company that does your neighbor’s yard and I plan on sending the filters to the DNA lab. I’ll call you when I get the results.”

  “I’ll walk you to your car,” Eddie offered.

  “Did you get the description of the men?” Amy asked, stopping Sally and Eddie from leaving.

  “Mr. Lockwood didn’t get close enough to identify anything, but he noticed they were average in height and size, and he couldn’t tell the color of their hair because they wore baseball caps.”

  “Did one of them wear red baseball cap, black leather jacket and cargo pants?” Amy asked again.

  Sally frowned. “Just dungarees and regular T-shirts, but the smoker wore a red baseball cap. Why?”

  “Nolan never goes anywhere without his red baseball cap and black leather jacket. He wore them when we saw him at the store, but he could easily have switched to blend in and spy on us.”

  “Then he must be the smoker,” Sally said, grinning, “which is good news.”

  “He just made his first mistake,” Eddie added.

  Amy nodded, but her eyes gave her away. She didn’t think the evidence would amount to much. He couldn’t wait to prove her wrong. Outside, he slowed his gait to match Sally’s. “How long will it take to get a DNA report on the cigarette filters?”

  “Depends on how busy Salt Lake City Field Office is, but I’ll call you as soon as we get the results.” Sally stopped beside her squad car and tugged at her ear, a gesture he now associated with nervousness. “Her ex has her pretty spooked, hasn’t he?”

  “Yeah, but we’ll catch him. His mistake was following her here. He doesn’t have his friends watching his back anymore.”

  “That’s the truth. Take good care of them, detective. This whole thing is already taking a toll on her. I can see it in her eyes.”

  “She’s a lot tougher than you think.” She was also the most stubborn woman he’d ever dealt with, but he’d find a way around that. Amy was gone when he entered the house. Just as well, he wasn’t in the mood to talk or fight with her.

  In his room, he fired up his laptop and got to work.

  First, he started with Detective Nolan Reither. The one picture they had of the asshole showed him staring arrogantly at the camera. Tawny hair, thin moustache, average height. There wasn’t much written about him.

  Eddie couldn’t check his records without hacking into the Charlottesville P.D. system. Using the normal channels was out of the question because their tech people would know and alert him. That left using Ken Lambert’s people.

  Next, Eddie logged into his station and accessed the NCIC—National Crime Information Center files. He hesitated before typing in Amy Kincaid. Now that he knew about her ex, he didn’t really think she was a criminal. But if she’d gone missing months ago, someone must have filed a missing person’s report and filed it with NCIC.

  Sure enough, the report popped up. The report was filed by Professors Martha and James Kincaid of Charlottesville, Virginia, three months ago. At least they cared enough to have filed one, but the more Eddie read the more pissed he became.

  They had her listed as EMD, which implied Amy was mentally unstable and Raelynn as EME, an endangered minor. That was crap. Raelynn was in no more physical danger than Eddie would be in a room full of babies. What the hell was wrong with her parents? Reither had to be behind this. Why would he want Amy declared unstable? To take Raelynn away? Since he wasn’t Raelynn’s father, he had no legal rights to the child. Amy’s parents, on the other hand, did.

  Logging off, Eddie started a search for robberies in Charlottesville area. Raelynn was four, almost five, so her father, Amy’s fiancé, must have been killed about five and a half to six years ago. Several false leads later, Eddie hit pay dirt.

  What started out as a burglary ended in the death of a 27-year-old graduate student Charles Dunbar. He left behind his severely wounded fiancée, Amy Kincaid, who’s fighting for her life and that of their unborn child.

  According to the Charlottesville Police Department, Dunbar, a neurosurgeon graduate student at University of Virginia School of Medicine, made a frantic call at 10:30 p.m. on Friday the 17th that two men were in their apartment. According to the police records, he and his fiancée were already inside the apartment and under attack when he made the call. The conversation was interrupted and the police dispatcher reported hearing screams.

  A neighbor, who also overheard the commotion and went to investigate, saw two men fleeing from Dunbar’s apartment. One of the intruders was armed with a handgun, the other with a knife; and both wore nylon stockings over their heads. He found Ms. Kincaid with a bleeding Dunbar, who was later pronounced dead at the scene.

  Persons fitting the description of the intruders were spotting several blocks from the area before they disappeared. According to Detective Nolan Reither, the perpetrators were part of a ring of burglars terrorizing students living in this part of town. This was the first time the burglars killed someone. So far no arrests have been made. The case was still open at the time this article was printed.

  Eddie checked on previous burglaries in the area. Charlottesville Police Department had Crime View, an app similar to L.A.P.D.’s Crime Mapping. Both allowed anyone to chec
k on crime stats within their community. After scouring pages, Eddie noticed a trend. All the victims of the burglaries five and half years ago had reported stolen computers, TVs and bikes, but no injuries, except the night Dunbar and Amy were attacked. It didn’t make sense. Most criminals had the same M.O.

  He continued digging, but there were no more burglaries after the death of Dunbar. Frowning, Eddie checked to see if the burglars were ever caught, but there were no articles on suspects or arrests. He tried online newspapers and got nowhere. Sitting back, he rubbed his eyes. Staring at the screen for so long always gave him a headache.

  He debated his next move. He could ask a tech guy at his station to contact Charlottesville P.D. and request the case file, but Nolan’s people could alert him of the search. Eddie needed someone to discreetly access their archives, someone fast, efficient and untraceable.

  He picked up his cell phone and dialed a number. “Hey, it’s me.”

  “Does ‘me’ have a name?” a voice answered then chuckled.

  “Stop being a smart-ass, Lambert.” Ken Lambert was about the best private investigator Eddie had ever worked with. He was the owner of a security consultant firm, LASEC, and his ragtag crew of employees could breach any police department firewall without leaving a trace. “I need Sly to check something for me.”

  “Oh.” Ken’s tone said he understood exactly what Eddie wanted. “Since you made his parking tickets go away, you’ve become his favorite detective.”

  “Just as long as he knows I will bust him if I ever catch him hacking into a system.”

  “Now, why would we do that? I told you, we are 99.9% legit.”

  “It’s the 0.1% I’m worried about, Lambert.”

  Ken chuckled. “He’s not foolish enough to leave a trail for anyone to find. Do you have his phone number?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Then why are you interrupting my R and R with my lovely bride?”

  His lovely bride just happened to be Eddie’s cousin Faith. “Just thought I’d check with you first before calling him. Don’t want to tread on any toes or anything.”