by Ladew, Lisa
Joe caught her excitement. “Maybe we got him on film! Good thinking.”
Sgt. Gale’s face finally shifted out of irritation. “You have security cameras?”
Kara ran to her bedroom without bothering to answer. She heard Joe explaining that they had installed them after she had received the box of hair, but so far they hadn’t showed anything. She grabbed her computer and ran back out to the table, then flipped the laptop open, typing in her password and navigating to the cloud-based storage system for her cameras. She pulled up the last twenty-four hours of film and fast forwarded to midnight and set the four different views of her house and driveway to play at fast speed. Just after 3 a.m. there was movement at the front of the garage. “There!” she exclaimed triumphantly. She paused that video and they watched the rest of them until daylight. No one had approached her house. She shut those videos down and they all concentrated on the video showing the front of her car. At exactly 3:13 a.m., a shadow stepped close to her car and taped the envelope onto it, then disappeared into the night. Disappointment filling her, she rewound and played it over three times before anyone said anything.
“Can you send that to me?” Sgt. Gale asked.
“Yes.” Kara hit a few buttons and turned the laptop to Sgt. Gale. “Type in your email address.”
Joe started talking, in a faraway voice. Kara recognized it as his working-things-out, thinking-things-through voice. “He was wearing gloves, did you see them? And he looked strange, lumpy. I’ll bet he was wearing several layers of clothing to hide his true shape. He’s probably thinner than he looks on here. I can’t tell how tall he is from the video, but it looked like he was crouching a bit anyway, maybe he’s tall. Basically, though, I don't think the video tells us much.”
Kara sighed. “You’re right, we can hardly see him.”
Sgt. Gale began to say something but she was cut off by a knock at the door. She looked pointedly at Kara. “Are you expecting someone?”
Kara shook her head and Sgt. Gale approached the door, looking out the peephole first. She said something under her breath, but Kara thought she must have heard it wrong. It sounded like flowers.
Sgt. Gale ripped open the door and accosted the poor delivery boy outside, her eyes shooting daggers. “Who sent these?”
The tall, gangly boy, who couldn’t have been more than eighteen years old, took a step backwards, blinking his eyes owlishly at Sgt. Gale. A vase of pretty, colorful wildflowers filled his hands. “I-I don't know,” he choked out.
“What company are you with? Let me see your employee’s badge.”
The boy held it out, looking scared now. Kara felt as if she were in a dream - flowers?
“There’s a note,” Joe said from behind Sgt. Gale. She looked up at it and plucked it out of the middle of the flowers, ripping the envelope open and reading it aloud.
“These reminded me of you. Zane.”
Kara’s heart swooped and surreality settled over her again. She stood and strode forward to take the flowers. “These aren’t from him. Zane is the guy I went out with last night.”
Sgt. Gale thrust the delivery boy’s badge back into his hand and shooed him off the porch. She turned to Kara. “Went out with? Like a date?”
Kara nodded. A whiff of the sweet smelling flowers drifted into her nose. She saw Sgt. Gale’s eyes flick to the flowers, and something like sadness settled into her face. Then her eyes flicked back to Kara and the moment was lost.
“How long have you known this Zane guy?” Sgt. Gale asked, her eyes now narrowing suspiciously.
“A while,” Kara said, suddenly feeling on the defensive.
“She met him on a call four days ago,” Joe said from behind her.
Sgt. Gale whipped a tiny notebook out of her pocket. “What is his name?” she demanded.
“His name is Zane Michael Rowe, but he’s not the guy, I’m telling you.”
“All the same, I’ll be checking him out,” Sgt. Gale said. “I’m heading back to the station, call me if anything else happens.” She started out to the porch, then turned back and faced Kara again. “I have an appointment with a profiler tomorrow, to discuss our man - his personality and what his next move may be. I think you should come.”
Joe stood up and approached the door. “I’m coming too.”
Sgt. Gale shook her head slightly and Kara saw that she was about to say no, but Kara wanted Joe’s support. “Please, can he come? He’s my partner.”
Sgt. Gale relented. “Okay. Tomorrow at 10:30 in room 312.” She turned and strode purposefully down the front walk to her car. Kara closed the door and stepped inside, setting the vase of pretty flowers down on the dining room table where the horrible pictures had been only a few minutes before. She gazed at the flowers and felt the tension and anger loosen their grips on her, at least a little bit.
“You okay?” Joe asked.
Kara nodded. “Yes, thanks for coming over.”
“Anytime, but …” He hesitated, then looked at his watch. “I’m sorry but I’m late for something. I’ve got to head out. Want me to call your sister and have her come over?”
“No, Ivy is out with Ryker today. Or maybe in with Ryker today. They don't get to see each other very much anymore now that they are on the road. I don't want to ruin that. I can talk to her tomorrow.”
“You sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine Joe, go to your appointment. Thanks again.”
She pushed him out the door, gave him a final hug on the front step, then returned to her house and sank into a dining room chair, her mind a whirling tornado. She stared at the flowers as the thoughts swirled. He hadn’t been in her house, but he’d been watching her for God knows how long. Watching everything she did in that bed. The thought scared her and filled her with a sense of violation and unease. And now she didn’t even have a phone. She’d ask Sgt. Gale tomorrow when she would get her phone back and if it wasn’t going to be for a while, she’d have to go pick up a cheap temporary one.
Her mind settled on Zane like a butterfly settles on the only flower in the field, and for the same reason. Because he seemed like the most good and nourishing thing in her life right now, in the middle of this mess. He won’t be able to call me, she thought, and this made her feel a deeper, sharper unease.
How could she call him? She hadn’t had a home phone for years now. Maybe she should run out and get a temporary phone right now. Her glance settled on her computer. She knew there was a way to send and receive messages from a computer, even phone calls. She pulled it closer to her and did a quick Google search. Within moments, she was set up, But then she realized she didn’t have his number – it was in her phone! Frustration filled her. She tapped her fingers on the desk and her eyes found the time in the lower right-hand corner of her screen. Duke’s grooming appointment! It had been over an hour and a half ago. She found the number to the groomer and called it using Google voice, quickly apologizing and rescheduling the appointment for the next week.
That done, she turned her mind back to Zane’s number. She would just have to call Sgt. Gale and get it. She couldn’t stand the thought of Zane thinking she was ignoring him. She called the police station and asked to be transferred to Sgt. Gale’s office.
“Sgt. Gale,” she answered immediately, her voice gruff and unfriendly.
“Sgt. Gale, ah, I’m sorry to bother you but I need a number from my phone.”
A grumpy silence stretched out. Kara could imagine Sgt. Gale staring at the receiver in outrage. Please, she chanted inside her head. “Just one, I promise,” she said.
“Go,” Sgt. Gale barked out.
“Zane Rowe.”
“The guy from the flowers?”
“Yeah,” Kara said, clearly hearing the suspicion in Sgt. Gale’s voice, but choosing to ignore it.
Sgt. Gale recited the number and Kara jotted it down. “Ah, and how long do you think you’ll have my phone?” Kara asked, hoping it sounded like a perfectly reasonable request.
&n
bsp; “As long as tech needs it to figure out what he did and how he did it,” Sgt. Gale said, her voice still iron-hard.
Tech was the Technology Crimes Division. Kara wondered if she was going to get her phone back in pieces. She still had eight months to go on a two-year contract for that phone so she hoped she could still use it when she got it back.
“Okay, bye,” Kara said, but she realized Sgt. Gale had already hung up. Kara shook her head. Sgt. Gale really didn’t seem to like her and that bothered her more than she liked to admit … but she had Zane’s number! That was all that was important right now.
She typed the number into the website she was using and thought about what to say to him. She didn’t want to lie to him but she didn’t want to share that she, a police officer, was being stalked by some loony either. Finally she typed something in.
Thank you for the flowers. That was very sweet of you. A coworker has my phone for a few days. If you need me, you’ll have to email me.
She read it over three times, then added her email address and pressed send. She didn’t think she could get messages back at this website but she would monitor her email and hope to hear from him soon.
Almost immediately, a bing sounded on her computer and a chat window popped up on the screen.
Welcome. Want to go to the dog park with us?
Kara studied it, and realized she wasn’t actually chatting with him, but she could text him back and forth fairly quickly. Go to the dog park? Did he want to do that so he could run into his ex-girlfriend? She wanted to see him, but did she want to see him confront his ex-girlfriend?
I feel like you have an ulterior motive, she sent back.
I do. I’m hoping you’ll handcuff me to something again.
Kara laughed out loud into the empty room and felt tension slip off of her like a silk coat. She had to see him.
Sure. When?
Meet me there in fifteen?
OK.
Kara ran into the bathroom to inspect how she looked. She put on a minimum of makeup and sprinted out into the back yard to gather up Duke. She double-checked the locks on all of her doors, then bustled him into the car.
This had been one of the worst days of her life, but she felt like it was about to get a lot better
Chapter 15
Kara pulled up at the dog park and parked next to Zane's large truck. He stood in front of it, looking tall, strong, and handsome in jeans and a T-shirt that stretched nicely over his chest. He held Lucy and Kevin on leashes in front of him. Kara hopped out to say hello, squeezing her door closed quickly to keep Duke inside. He slobbered all over her window and whined piteously.
“Hi,” she breathed, her smile wide.
He smiled back, seemingly just as happy to see her as she was to see him, and she felt the force of that smile deep in her soul. Before she could get to him, Lucy and Kevin swarmed her like she was their favorite human on the planet. She petted both of them and then moved past them to Zane. She stood on tiptoe, intending to kiss him on the cheek. He snaked a hand around her waist and pulled her tight, moving his face at the last minute so her lips met his. Kara's stomach swooped and looped and her body melted into his. In the car, Duke began to howl.
Zane pulled back, his cocky smile half on, his dimple showing on his left cheek. He peeked at Duke, then looked at Kara again and gave her one last soft kiss on the lips. “I thought you said you had a puppy.”
“He’s four months old.”
Zane’s mouth dropped open and he stared in her car. “He’s going to be huge.”
“I know, you better get on his good side today,” Kara said, her voice teasing.
She ran back to her car and cracked the door a tiny bit, trying to get a hold of Duke’s leash. Duke jammed his head into the hole she had made and levered his body past her. In a flash, he was on his back in front of Lucy and Kevin, his tail whipping wildly between his hind legs, drool spilling out onto the sidewalk. Lucy and Kevin circled him, sniffing every inch. When he felt he'd been submissive long enough, he popped up and took on a let’s play stance - butt in the air, head down low. Lucy turned her nose up at him and looked the other way, but Kevin was ready to run.
Kara snuck in and grabbed him by the collar, putting the leash on him a half second before he took off for the gate that led into the dog park, pulling Kara behind him.
Kara could hear Zane laugh as she scolded Duke on the run.
Once everyone was in the fence and the dogs leashes were removed, Duke, Lucy, and Kevin ran off to play with the ten or so other dogs. Zane took Kara’s hand and they began to walk slowly around the park.
Kara took a deep breath and enjoyed the sun on her skin, the slight breeze in her hair, and the feeling of strong man beside her. Finally, for the first time that day, things seemed okay.
After a few moments of silence, Kara asked, “Are you hoping she’ll come?”
Zane didn’t ask who she meant. He didn’t say anything for a moment, and then he spoke. “About that. I went to her mom’s house this morning.”
“Oh! How did that go?”
“Her mom practically spit on me, and tried to slam the door in my face.”
“Oh my God.”
“Yeah. Turns out, Zaina is my child, and she told her mom that I knew and said I wanted nothing to do with her.”
Kara squeezed Zane’s hands. He had a kid. With an ex-girlfriend. Talk about complications. But she liked him. He was worth a few complications. She hoped.
Zane kept talking. “In fact, her mom said we all have a court date this Friday and the court is going to rule on whether I have parental rights or not. Supposedly, I’ve stated in an official letter that I want to give them up.”
Kara turned to face Zane slowly. “What?”
Zane’s jaw was set. “I know. What I don't know is how she managed to pull that off. Supposedly the court thinks that I’ve been notified of the court date too.”
“Oh man, your ex-girlfriend could really get in a lot of trouble for that.”
“For what exactly? How did she do it?”
“I’m not sure. Normally for civil cases private detectives are hired to serve the notices. Maybe she’s paying off a private detective to falsify documents.”
Zane shook his head. Kara could see a vein pulsing in his neck. His gaze strayed far away over the dog park field, then finally snapped back to her. “I convinced her mom that I didn’t know anything about it and she gave me pictures, want to see them?”
“Sure,” Kara said still thinking about how much trouble Kensi was going to be in. She might even have to serve jail time, and that would mean what exactly?
Zane pulled out his wallet and showed her three small pictures. The first was of a tiny, adorable baby with huge dark eyes and a head full of dark, curly hair. The next two pictures looked very much like the child Kara had seen a few days before in this very park. The resemblance to Zane was remarkable. She had his hair, his eyes, and even the same face shape.
“She’s gorgeous, isn’t she?” Zane said.
Kara looked up at him. “You’re halfway in love with her already, aren’t you?” she said softly, her heart constricting painfully. She wondered if Zane was going to try to get back with his ex-girlfriend now that he knew they had a child together.
Zane’s dreamy gaze seemed like an answer in the affirmative. “Maybe I am, I’ve never even met her but she’s mine. I made her. She shares half my genes. I look in her face and I see my own. How can you not love that?”
“I guess you can’t,” Kara said quietly.
Zane stuffed the pictures back in his wallet and made it disappear. He grasped Kara’s hand again but she pulled away, not sure what she was feeling, just knowing that this was not how she had thought it would be.
Zane looked at her curiously. “Hey, what’s going on? Are you upset with me?”
Kara bit her lip. He was very perceptive. “No, I’m not upset. I just can’t help feel like your whole life is going to change, and wonder if there�
�s really anyplace for me in it right now. Maybe we should just take a break while you work all this out.”
“Hey, no, I don't want to do that. I know this is a lot to deal with – it’s been an emotional roller coaster for me too, and I know you don't want kids …” He trailed off and looked at her closely. “Is that what this is about? You don't want to be with me because I have a kid?”
Kara felt defensiveness rise up in her but she quickly squelched it. That was a perfectly legitimate question. She looked inside her heart to find the real and true answer. Zane’s expression wilted and he pulled her to a wooden bench on the side of the path. He sat down heavily and looked at her expectantly.
Kara sat down with him. “I’ll be honest with you, Zane, this is weirding me out a little bit, but I don't think it’s because of Zaina. I think it is more to do with the sudden complexity of it. You have to admit that there will be a lot going on in your life in the coming weeks and months. You are going to fight for your rights aren’t you? And then maybe fight for custody? Everything’s going to change for you and you’re already not the same guy I met a week ago.”
“You’re right, Kara, I’m not the same guy. And you’re right, things will be more complex for me from now on, but isn’t that what life is about? Complexity? Nobody has a 2-D, black-and-white life, I mean, do you?” Kara’s mind shot to her current issues and she shook her head. “So don't give up on me. Don't take off on me. We are good together so far, and I think we could get better.”
Kara didn’t have to contemplate this for long. She knew what her heart wanted to do, complexity or not. “Okay Zane, I won’t give up on you. What are you going to do?”
“Kiss you,” he said, and pulled her onto his lap.
Kara didn’t bother stopping him and telling him that he hadn’t answered her question. Instead, she purposely lost herself in his kiss, in his scent, in his powerful arms until their dogs swarmed them, lolling tongues and panting chests announcing weariness.
Chapter 16
Kara trudged into the police station at 10:15 the next morning, still thinking about seeing Zane the day before. What he said had made so much sense. Of course he didn’t want to get back with his ex-girlfriend. She was crazy, even if she was the mother of his child. They had kissed on the bench with the sun warming their shoulders until she felt lightheaded with desire for him. She then said goodbye quickly, pulling herself back from inviting him to her house and hoping he wouldn’t invite her to his. She knew if either one of them ended up at the other’s house, they would sleep together, and she didn’t want to do that yet. Other than it just being too soon, her mind held a certain strange superstition that jumping into bed with him could ruin this relationship before it even got started. That was the last thing she wanted.