by Ladew, Lisa
Duke was curled nose to tail on the floor next to her bed and she reached down to pet him. She wondered what Duke would do if someone did try to break into her house. She put the thought out of her mind and hurried to get dressed. She would feel better when she had an extra measure of security in the form of door braces. Or maybe this jerk could just make his move already, and they would see who came out on top.
Kara dressed and ate breakfast quickly, then drove to the hardware store. She picked out several braces, one for the front door, one for the back door, and one for her bedroom door, hating every moment of it. She didn’t want to have to live like this.
Kara took the items back home and then drove to work, feeling strangely better and worse at the same time. The night before had been unnaturally busy again and she had barely had time to think, much less eat or take any breaks. Seth’s behavior had been exemplary. She hadn’t seen one flash of anger or irritation in him. Apparently he had taken their talk to heart. Oh, and his stutter was getting way better.
She hadn’t thought of Zane once. Never thought of the fact that she hadn’t called him to warn him yet, or the fact that she hadn’t checked her email in days, or the fact that she hadn’t given him her new phone number, or even the fact that she hadn’t asked him what he had been arrested for. She hadn’t even read the arrest report. She was doing a very good job of not thinking of him.
As she walked in the station, not thinking of Zane, the desk sergeant caught her attention. “Price, check your box. There’s a message for you,” he growled at her.
Of course there is, Kara thought, for a moment certain that it would be from her stalker.
But when she got to her box, the note was from Zane. Zane who she’d been very good at avoiding for the last three days.
Thinking of you and hoping you’re okay. Call me or message me when you get a chance.
Kara let her non-thoughts about him shoot to the surface and suddenly decided it was time to read his arrest report. She found an empty computer and typed in Rowe, then pulled up the entry marked Zane Michael. She skimmed through it, holding her breath. When she reached the bottom, she let out the breath in a shaky sigh. Zane had caught Kensi in the act of cheating on him, and he had hauled the guy off of her and thrown him on the ground, then hit him in the face until Kensi stepped between them. Zane had insisted he thought the guy was raping Kensi, and the arresting officer had believed him, but had still been forced to make the arrest when the other guy had wanted to press charges.
Kara didn’t know if the judge had believed Zane or not but in her heart she had already pardoned him. He had probably been telling the truth, and even if he wasn’t, she didn’t blame him for hitting the guy in the face. She tried to imagine catching someone cheating on her and shook with indignation just at the thought.
One of the boulders that had been pressing onto her heart for the last few days rolled off.
***
Kara found Seth and told him what vehicle number they would be in. She had one item to deal with before she met him out there. She pulled a piece of paper out of her wallet and input Zane’s number into her new phone. Then she sent him a text.
Hey, it’s Kara. This is my new phone. Sorry you haven’t heard from me. I’ve been busy. Can we get together soon? We need to talk.
She looked at that last sentence and didn’t like the way it sounded. She didn’t want him to think that she didn’t want to see him again, but she didn’t want to tell him over the phone about her stalker either. She added one more line. It’s nothing bad.
Kara waited a beat, hoping to get a message back immediately, but when nothing came after a few minutes she stuffed the phone in her pocket and walked outside. He was probably busy. She whistled as she walked, feeling light and happy for the first time in a few days.
She climbed into the patrol car and asked Seth if he was ready to go. He was, but she was momentarily distracted by the large, boxy, bomb-squad truck driving past her. She turned on the radio quickly to see where the bomb threat was. Normal radio traffic met her ears so she called them in service and slowly reversed out of the parking stall.
Joe came running out of the building to catch her, Ivy behind him looking worried. Kara smiled at both of them, happy to see their faces.
Joe skidded to a stop and crouched down to see in her window. He didn’t even say hi. “There’s a bomb at Rowe Construction,” he told her, panting a little.
Kara’s good feelings evaporated in an instant. Zane!
“I’m heading over there,” she said, slipping the car into gear.
“Go quickly. It’s busy, we’re already assigned something,” Joe called out, backing up from the window and pulling Ivy with him.
Kara threw him a thankful smile, then drove through the parking lot and reached the street before realizing she had no idea where Rowe Construction was. “Get me an address on Rowe Construction,” she told Seth.
His fingers flew over the computer between them, and he had an address for her before the clicking noises even stopped. “432 Pearl Street.”
Kara turned right quickly and floored the accelerator. She could be there in less than ten minutes. Horrible scenarios played over in her mind. But it was good that the bomb squad was heading out, that meant that the bomb hadn’t exploded yet. She hoped. Unless there was more than one bomb. She gritted her teeth and drove faster.
As she approached Pearl Street, she saw a large, bold sign announcing Rowe Construction on the right side of the road. On the other side of a chain-link fence that bordered the lot she could see the bomb squad truck and two other squad cars. She called off at the scene knowing that dispatch could call her away at any moment, but hoping she at least would have a chance to see if Zane was okay.
“I'll be right back,” she told Seth. “I just need to make sure a friend is okay.”
His gaze met hers for an unusual instant. She jumped out of the car and started walking towards the knot of people standing on one side of the large lot. On the other side was a building that had several cars parked out front. She saw Zane's truck immediately, but she didn’t see Zane.
As she moved farther into the center of the lot, she could see two bomb squad technicians, heavily padded, working just outside the door of Zane’s truck. Kara's stomach fell and her heart did a funny skip in her chest. Now she felt frantic to find Zane. Oh God, what if he was in the truck?
There were at least thirty people milling around by the fence, watching the scene at Zane’s truck. Most of them were heavily-tanned, deeply-muscled, hard-looking men, obviously construction workers. A few of them smiled at her but she didn’t feel like smiling back. Then she saw him, looking heart-stoppingly handsome and heart-achingly unhurt. She ran the last few steps, unable to hold herself back. She grasped his arm and he looked down at her, his face breaking into a wide grin.
“Hey beautiful, I wish I would’ve thought of calling 911 to get you to come by earlier.” Kara choked out a laugh and hugged him.
He hugged her back, and whispered in her ear, “Can I kiss you, or is that not allowed?”
Kara felt her flood of good feelings come back. Zane was okay, everything was going to be okay.
“No kissing in uniform,” she whispered back. “You can kiss me later.”
“Can I do anything else to you later?” he asked her throatily, his breath hot on her ear. Kara could feel her heartbeat in her throat and a warm rush of desire flush through her body. How did he do that?
“Maybe,” she replied, placing a hand on her hip and pulling back to grin at him challengingly. “Depends on how I’m feeling.”
Zane looked at the sky and laughed, then shook his head. He was about to continue their banter, but Kara had had enough for now. She cut him off. “Zane, what happened?”
He glanced across the parking lot at his truck. “There was a bomb under my seat.”
Guilt flashed through Kara like a wildfire, erasing the desire she had felt a moment ago. She was supposed to tell him that
he was in danger but she never had! If he had been injured or killed, it would have been her fault. Her mind flew over her motives for not speaking to him all week, and her excuses came up lacking. She’d done a very stupid thing, and Zane had almost paid the price for it.
“Oh God,” she finally sputtered out. “How did you find it?”
A flickering of something passed over his face, something Kara almost called guilt, but eventually classified as unease. Then he started talking. “You know my, uh, habit?” He patted his right front pocket three times. Kara nodded. “Well I have another one. This one is straight from Iraq too. You remember I told you I drove trucks there? Well I never got in a truck without checking it from front to back. I always checked the engine, all the fluids, and all the equipment it was supposed to carry, even if I had driven it the day before. I still do it when I’m at work. So when I flipped the seat up to check that all of the tools were under there, I saw the bomb. It was pressure sensitive. If I would’ve sat down on it, I would’ve been blown to bits.”
This time guilt tore through Kara, almost doubling her over. She placed her arms over her stomach and moaned softly. Zane grabbed her arm. “Are you okay?” He asked her, concern showing on his face.
“Yeah, I’m okay, hold on – I need to make a phone call.” Kara took a few steps away and called Sgt. Gale. When she answered, Kara told her to come down to 432 Pearl St., there had been an attempt on Zane’s life.
“Be there in five,” Sgt. Gale said without pretense.
She turned back to Zane and looked him in the eyes. “Zane, we need to get together soon to talk about something. It has to do with this.” She flapped her hand at Zane’s truck.
Zane half smiled, showing his dimple. “As long as it wasn’t you who put the bomb under my seat,” he said.
“It wasn’t me,” Kara said, unable to joke.
“Okay, have dinner with me tonight.”
Kara shook her head. “I’m working all night.”
“Tomorrow night then.”
Kara looked around, past the people around them, to the police officers standing in a separate knot and then past them to the bomb squad officers. Nothing seemed to have changed in the few minutes she’d been talking to Zane. “Could we make it lunch?” She wanted to get this all out in the open as soon as possible. She probably was going to have to tell him the abbreviated version before she left here today, but she wanted to tell him the full version as soon as possible. Plus she wanted to ask him about his version of his arrest and why he hadn’t told her. She and Seth were off for the next two days before they started a seven day stretch. The department did that once a month so that everybody had a chance to have a full weekend off, like she had the weekend before.
“Lunch would be great,” he said. “Any preferences where you’d like to go?”
“Somewhere private.”
“Why don't I cook for you at my house?”
“You cook?” Kara said, finally smiling.
“Of course I do. Don't all handsome, eligible bachelors cook?”
Kara laughed at his boldness. “Who told you that you were handsome?”
Zane leaned down to whisper in her ear again. “You did. I can see it in your eyes when you look at me. At least I hope that’s what I’m seeing.” As he spoke, his lips brushed the cup of her ear and she shivered. She considered for a second. Should she teasingly cut him down a notch? Or admit she found him handsome? Then the absurdity of the situation struck her and she did neither. They were standing in a parking lot, waiting for a bomb squad to dismantle a bomb that could have killed him.
She shook her head and pushed at his chest until he stood straight and looked at her. “Be serious,” she hissed at him.
“Okay,” he said simply. He looked over her head and his eyes narrowed suspiciously. She turned around to look and saw Sgt. Gale striding purposefully towards the throng of people they were a part of.
“That woman was here yesterday asking questions about me,” he said. “She a friend of yours?” he asked, cocking an almost-accusing eyebrow at her.
“Oh God,” Kara groaned, and pushed Zane backwards, ducking behind a small, white, portable building, pulling him with her. “Look, I didn’t want to have to tell you like this, in fact I didn’t want to have to tell you about this at all, but this is my fault. Some guy is stalking me and he’s the one who put the bomb in your truck. You have to watch out for him. He’s dangerous.”
Zane’s eyes narrowed again. “He stalking you but bombing me?”
“He’s done it before. Something about taking out the competition.”
“Okay, so what does the blonde cop have to do with it?”
Kara sighed. This is exactly what she hadn’t wanted to happen. A rushed, half explanation that could lead to hurt feelings or something worse. “She’s investigating my stalker. And she wanted to make sure it wasn’t you.”
“So I’m being investigated?”
“No! Not really. I don't know. I’m trying to get her to back off.”
Zane looked around his lot, shaking his head. “So if I’m the one who is stalking you, how does she explain the bomb under my seat?”
“Yes, she'll have to admit you're innocent and focus on someone else now.” Kara laughed nervously. “Unless she twists it around to make it seem like you did it on purpose to get the heat off of you,” she said half joking, and then held a hand to her forehead, hoping that wasn't going to actually happen.
The radio on her belt called her beat number. She answered and was assigned to a harassment case. “Zane, I have to go. There’s a good chance she’ll try to interview you. But she’s not the enemy okay? If you’re just honest she’ll have to see that you’re not the guy.”
Zane's eyes glittered savagely for a moment and Kara almost took a step backwards. “You okay?” she asked him.
“Yes, I’m fine. Go back to work,” he admonished her. “I’ll see you tomorrow. What time?”
Zane reached out suddenly and grabbed her hand, pulling her in close to him. “I know you said no kisses in uniform, but does it count if nobody sees you?”
Instead of answering, Kara raised her face to his and he took the opportunity, reaching in for a firm but swift kiss.
Even though they were behind the building, Kara felt as if she were being watched and the watcher was not approving. She pulled back and looked around, but saw no one.
“Noon,” Zane said.
“I’ll see you then,” Kara breathed and hurried away. On her way back across the parking lot, she noticed the bomb apparently was still not diffused and Sgt. Gale was nowhere in sight. She settled behind the wheel of her patrol car and looked at Seth.
“Is your friend okay?” he asked her immediately, his gaze on the computer between them.
“Perfect,” she said distractedly, caught up in her own thoughts.
Chapter 20
Kara drove home after another long and busy night, wanting to check in with Zane, but thinking he was probably already asleep. As she petted Duke and tried to shed the day's frustrations, she turned on the TV to see if there was any news about what happened at Rowe Construction. All she had heard at work was the bomb had been diffused and no one had been injured. She assumed the tech guys had the bomb now and were going over it for clues.
Kara couldn’t find anything on the local channels so she opened up her computer, thinking she could check one of the local channel's websites. She hit pay dirt almost immediately. The lead story, splashed across the screen in big bold letters: Bomb Found at Local Business. Head of Rowe Construction Got Out Just In Time.
She watched a short clip of Zane giving an interview and smiled at how at ease he looked, like he’d spent the day laying on the beach, not barely escaping with his life.
Kara shut her laptop, struggled out of her uniform, checked the door braces on all the doors, and fell into bed. She was excited and nervous about her lunch date with Zane the next day, but she was too tired to think about it.
; Exactly eight hours later, Kara's eyes snapped open and she rolled out of bed, deciding not to eat breakfast. There were only two hours before she was due for lunch at Zane’s place. She could wait. She pulled on some jogging clothes and took Duke for a run, then returned home to wash up. She put on a bit of makeup too and chose her clothing carefully. She finally decided on her favorite jeans and a light, pink shirt.
She thought hard about whether or not to bring her gun. Ordinarily, she would not bring her gun on a date or when just going over to a friend's house, but she was spooked. The bomb in Zane's truck had scared her more than she wanted to admit. Finally she made her decision and strapped on a small-of-the-back holster, tucking her smaller, backup weapon into it. She pulled her shirt down over it, said goodbye to Duke, and headed outside, double checking her lock as usual.
Kara opened the door to her car and looked inside. What if there was a bomb under her seat? No there wouldn't be, that’s not how it was supposed to happen with her. But she checked anyway. Nothing but empty energy bar wrappers and dog fur. She sat down heavily in the driver's seat, started the car up, and pulled out of her driveway to head to Zane's house, her cheeks burning in anger that she had to live like this.
Ten minutes later, Kara pulled in front of Zane's house and stopped the car, looking appreciatively at the neighborhood. She wondered again why he was living in the large, stately old house all by himself. She walked up the front steps and saw a note on the door.
I’m in the back grilling, let yourself in.
Kara pushed the door open and stepped inside. Immediately Lucy and Kevin swarmed her, sniffing and licking her all over. She laughed and knelt down to pet them, burying her hands in Lucy’s fur. Kevin darted in close and licked her ear. “Ew,” she told him, wrinkling her nose and rubbing dog slobber off her ear.