The Gift

by Kim Pritekel

  Catania turned away. “Yeah, well whatever. I have to go.” She glared at him as she passed, his belly jiggling with the intensity of his laughter. “Laugh it up, fuzz ball,” she muttered.

  Hurrying back to her desk to stow everything she didn’t plan to take home and study, she nearly sprinted outside to her Jeep. Roaring through town, she finally pulled into the empty parking lot of Randy’s, cursing when she saw the lights inside turn off, section by section.

  “Damn it.”

  But then, Ally appeared in the large single-pane glass window. The waitress leaned across a booth and reached for the pull on the metal blinds. Stopping mid-tug, she spotted Catania sitting in the Jeep. Waggling a finger at her good-naturedly, she brought a smile to Catania’s face, which seemed to spread to Ally’s lips. She waved Catania inside.

  Putting the Jeep in Park, she cut the engine and climbed out of the tall vehicle and made her way across the parking lot to the back door by the dumpster where Ally was waiting for her.

  “Hey, you. Didn’t think you were coming.”

  “I know. I’m so sorry.” Catania made sure the heavy steel door was closed securely behind her before following Ally into the dimly-lit restaurant. “Oscar and I got into a brainstorming session about the case we’re dealing with.”

  “Gee, you’d think you guys were like saving lives or something…” Ally turned once they reached the table she’d been at when Catania had spotted her, and gave her a sweet smile. “It’s truly okay. I’m glad you made it.”

  “Anything I can do to help?” Catania asked, feeling like a complete pervert as she found particular interest in Ally’s uniform-clad behind as the waitress leaned across the booth to tug he blinds into place. Yet again, she was mesmerized, and yet again, she felt guilty about it.

  “Well,” Ally said, looking over her shoulder at Catania, who hoped she had looked away quickly enough. “See that mop and bucket over there by the jukebox? Do me a favor and wheel it back to the maintenance closet over by the bathrooms, will you?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Together they finished closing the diner and Catania offered Ally a ride home, which was quickly accepted. Parked outside the Aberdeen House, Ally looked at her companion as they sat in the idling Jeep.

  “I know it’s late, Nia,” she said softly. “But would you be willing to come in and make sure everything is okay?”

  “Yeah, absolutely.” Catania turned off the engine and removed the key from the ignition. She gave Ally a quick smile before climbing out of her Jeep and locking it up. “It is so cold tonight,” she commented as they hurried toward the large house. “Smells like snow, too.”

  “It does.” She pulled out her own keys and let them into the locked house. “What are you doing for Christmas?” she asked quietly, the house still, no noise coming from any of the apartments they passed on their way to Ally’s door. “Your mom’s?”

  Catania shook her head. “No. Jason and Karen are actually hosting this year. First time in many years.” She waited patiently behind Ally as the smaller woman unlocked her door. “I have to work, so won’t be there for long. You should come.”

  “I can’t,” Ally said, stepping aside to let Catania enter first. “Please?” she asked sweetly, nodding toward the dark apartment beyond.

  Charmed and sad for Ally’s fear, Catania reached in and felt around for the light switch, which she flicked on. Everything was exactly as it had been last time she was there, save for a throw that had been tossed to the love seat. Continuing on, she switched on the light at the top of the stairs, her mind mentally weighing exactly where her hand would have to go should she need to pull a weapon, the instincts of a trained officer kicking in.

  As she figured, the downstairs was clear as well, though she still checked the bathroom and closet. Glancing up at the ceiling fan, she noticed a small loop of wire that peeked through the drywall. “I’ll have to get Jason to look at that,” she said, pointing up. “Looks like some of the wiring from the fan and light has poked down through the hole.”

  Ally looked up and nodded. “Okay. I hadn’t noticed that. He’s usually in a couple times a week, so I can snag him next time I see him.”

  “Well,” Catania said, looking around a final time with hands on hips before she smiled at her. “I think you’re all good here. No boogie men tonight.” Her smile fell at the look in Ally’s eyes. “Are you okay? Has something happened, Ally?” she asked gently, reaching out to rest a hand on Ally’s arm. “Is someone here giving you trouble?” She tried to lighten the mood slightly with a small smile. “If it’s my brother, Oscar and I will take turns kicking his ass.”

  Ally smiled shyly and looked down. “No, nothing like that. I guess after today, I just…I just feel a bit uneasy.”

  “Ally, do you want me to stay?” Catania asked softly. When her friend didn’t even look up as she nodded, Catania melted. “Hey, come here.” She took her into her arms just like she had seven hours before. “It’s okay. It’s no problem. We can just cut off my legs at the knee so I can crash on the love seat.” She smiled when she heard a soft chuckle against her neck. Catania’s eyes fell closed for a second as she held Ally just a moment more before releasing her with a smile. “Okay, let’s do this thing called sleep.”

  Though Catania was a bit taller, the two women weren’t that far apart in size, so she borrowed a T-shirt and pair of shorts to sleep in. She lay on her back on the left side of Ally’s bed, her heart racing. She took several deep breaths, surprised—not for the first time—by how Ally was beginning to affect her. She was a beautiful woman, no doubt, but it was so much more than that. She felt protective of her, needed to be around her, almost as though her energetic spirit and vivacious smile was a balm to her soul.

  “That guy reminded me of Ian,” Ally said, unwittingly interrupting Catania’s syrupy sweet thoughts.

  She turned her head to look into the darkness that was the bedroom area of the lower floor of Ally’s apartment. Ally lay in bed next to her, also on her back. She couldn’t see any hint of her, could only hear her voice. “He really spooked you today, didn’t he?”

  “He did. That kind of intimidation, like he was doing to you, that’s what Ian used to do to me. I hated it. So insecure, you know?” she said.

  Catania nodded, even though she knew it wasn’t seen. She could, however feel Ally’s gaze on her. She turned to look in her general direction. “How long were you married to him?”

  “Sixteen years.”

  “Wow,” Catania whispered. “That’s a long time. How did you get out?”

  “Have you ever seen that nineties’ movie with Julia Roberts, Sleeping With the Enemy?” Ally asked.

  For a moment Catania thought maybe Ally wasn’t going to answer the question and was trying to change the subject. So, she said, “Yeah. It’s been a while, but I saw it a couple times back in the day.”

  “Well, that movie is what inspired me to leave,” Ally said with conviction.

  “Wait, you didn’t fake your own death like the Roberts character did, right?”

  “No,” Ally chuckled. “No, but when I watched that scene when she’s gathering all her stuff to get the hell out of there, I knew I had to do something. So, we had these good friends, Melanie and Scott. We were in Omaha at the time, and Scott was Air Force. He was going to be transferred to Nevada. We hatched a plan that I’d help them move, then return on the ten forty-five Amtrak back to Omaha. Nope.”

  Catania could almost feel the smile on that lovely face.

  “Caught the seven thirty-three flight to Tacoma, instead.”

  Catania grinned. That’s my girl. “That took some serious guts.”

  “Yeah, well I was done being a prisoner. Ian worked for the railroad and he was gone a lot. I thought it would be great, having actual time to myself. Yeah, right.” She let out a heavy sigh. “He bought an old farmhouse on about five acres and built his mother a little bungalow. That bitch was over all the damn time when he was gone.” />
  Catania was surprised to hear the bad language and angry tone in her voice, but from what she said, couldn’t blame her. “Did you ever see either of them again?”

  “Nope. I stayed in Washington state for about a year then moved around regularly, slowly making my way back here.”

  “Kids?”

  “You know, I think the only time I’ve ever believed there was a God was when I had two miscarriages. Is that a horrible thing to say?”

  Catania could tell Ally was looking in her direction again. “No,” she said softly, reaching over under the covers to take Ally’s hand in hers. She squeezed it lightly in comfort before releasing it. She was surprised when Ally’s hold tightened, keeping their fingers linked. Catania’s hand stayed where it was.

  “Thanks for being here with me, Nia,” Ally whispered just before a small yawn escaped.

  Catania smiled, lightly squeezing her hand again though not letting go. “Goodnight, Ally.”

  Chapter Twelve

  The rains have finally stopped and Central Long Island is attempting to dry out after a Thousand Year rain event hit and hit hard!” the distant, tinny television voice exclaimed, though no television screen was in sight. “The twenty-four-hour deluge dropped several inches of the wet stuff, including nearly ten inches between five and seven a.m.! This storm definitely puts 2014 in the history books.”

  The space was small and cement-gray. A single battery-powered camping-style lantern sat on top of a red toolbox on wheels that was pushed against the wall to the left. It illuminated the jail-cell-sized room, approximately eight feet by seven feet.

  To the right of the image across from the toolbox was a cot with a canvas held taut between the four-sided metal frame. Lying on the army-green material was a set of metal handcuffs.

  “Okay,” a disembodied male voice muttered. A hand entered the frame as it tossed a second pair of handcuffs to the cot. “Got those…What else? Oh!”

  The top drawer was opened on the toolbox, revealing a whole host of implements including pliers, penlights, and tightly wound wire. That drawer was closed and the second was opened, containing various sizes of dildos and an attachment apparatus. Two large tubes of lube were also placed near the side of the drawer.

  “No, damn. I thought I brought it down…”

  The drawer was slid closed and the third opened to reveal different types of badges from police to sheriff to fireman. Tucked amongst the half dozen very realistic badges was a set of small silver keys.

  “Bingo,” the man’s voice muttered, fingers reaching into the drawer to fish them out.

  The drawer was closed and the hand started toward the lantern, then stopped.

  “Oh, wait. Let’s see.”

  The angle of the camera was changed slightly, the cot filling more of the frame than it had before. The shot was tilted down slightly, looking more down upon the cot than above it.

  “Perfect.”

  The hand reached for the lantern again, which was now out of the frame and the room went black.

  ****

  “Hey, Lizzie,” Catania said, making her way through the busy lunch hour at Randy’s to the breakfast counter.

  “Hey, Nia. Want me to put your order in?” the older waitress asked from where she was clearing a recently vacated table.

  “No, I’ve only got a minute. Just swung by to talk to Ally for a sec.”

  “Oh,” Lizzie said, eyebrows rose in surprise. “She’s in back, there.”

  Catania stepped up to the counter and tapped her fingers on the Formica as she waited. Within a few moments, Ally appeared, her arms loaded down with plates of food for two men sitting at the breakfast counter. She did a double take when she spotted Catania, her smile bright.

  “Here you go, guys,” she said, delivering the orders to her customers. She chatted with them briefly before hurrying over to where Catania stood at the end of the counter. “Hey!” Her smile grew when she neared her, reaching out and quickly squeezing the hand that rested on the counter. “Your usual?”

  “No, I’m just on my way through and wanted to say hi.” Catania returned the bright smile.

  “’Scuse me, girls,” Lizzie said, squeezing by the two as she headed behind the counter.

  “I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you woke up the other morning,” Ally said. “I had to get breakfast started for the tenants.”

  Catania nearly burst into laughter at the wide-eyed look on Lizzie’s face as she stood at the coffee machine past Ally. “It’s okay, I knew you had stuff to do. But hey,” she added wiggling her eyebrows. “The pastries and coffee you left for me were totally worth it.”

  “Well,” Ally said with flirtatious sweetness in her voice. “I didn’t have any doughnuts, so I figured that would have to do.”

  Catania chuckled. “It did the job very well and Oscar was totally jealous.” She absolutely loved the mischievous look in Ally’s deep blue eyes. But, she knew she had to get down to business as she didn’t have long to visit. She reached into the pocket of her jacket and withdrew the small canister that had resided in there, setting it on the counter near Ally’s hand. “I picked this up for you at the cop store. I don’t like you walking out by yourself so much at night, but I know you don’t always have a choice. So, I got you some pepper spray.”

  “Wow.” Ally breathed sharply in, picking up the spray deterrent and looking it over. “Thank you, Nia.”

  “Sure. Plus,” Catania said and shrugged, suddenly feeling really unsure about what she had thought earlier was a fantastic idea. “I was thinking maybe I could teach you some self-defense techniques.”

  “Really?” Ally asked, eyes wide.

  “Yeah, absolutely.” Whew! “Maybe you can stop by my place Wednesday. In theory, I’m off.” She grinned.

  “Well, Nia, I have to stop by on Wednesday.”

  Confused, Catania shook her head. “Okay. Why?”

  “I kinda work there on Wednesdays.”

  “Oh. Right.” Catania brought a hand up and rubbed nervously at the back of her neck. “Yeah.”

  Ally grinned and leaned forward, giving her a quick hug and kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see you then.” She grabbed the pepper spray and dropped it into her apron pocket, then hurried over to new customers that sat down at the breakfast counter and did not look thrilled at being made to wait.

  Catania watched her go, still able to feel the all-too-brief touch of Ally’s lips on her cheek and smell the slight fragrance of her perfume buried under the aromas of pancakes and pot roast. She was also able to feel eyes on her.

  She met Lizzie’s amused gaze with a shrug. What?

  ****

  “I really appreciate you coming over to help us, Nia,” Karen said, leading her newly arrived guest through the kitchen into the living room. On the rug in front of the formal fireplace were several large boxes. “Jason got them out from the attic for me before he left this morning.”

  Catania stared down at them, hands on hips. “Okay. And you said you have ladders and such?”

  “Yes, ma’am. I really appreciate this, Nia,” she said again, grabbing hold of one of Catania’s hands and squeezing in affection. “Jason got everything out that he thought you’d need.”

  “No problem. I just have to be out of here by one, as I mentioned on the phone.” Catania gave her a smile, trying to let her know she was happy to help. She glanced at the mantel where several framed pictures of the couple sat as well as a few of their dog Sadie, who had died the previous summer. A few little carved woodland animals caught her eye. Walking over to the display, she reached out and took one, a little squirrel replete with a big fluffy tail and an actual acorn held in the wooden hands. “These are adorable. Where did you get them?”

  “Oh, Jason carved those,” Karen said, stepping up beside her. She laughed at Catania’s shocked look. “Not many people know. He’s incredibly talented. Come here, I’ll show you some more.” Karen led the way to a curio cabinet in the large house’s foyer. Opening th
e curved glass door, she pulled out a dog, a cat, and a frog. “Cool, huh?”

  “Wow.” Catania took the cat from her, turning it this way and that, lightly running her fingernails over the carved fur. She looked at Karen. “How much?”

  “What? What do you mean?” Karen asked, looking from the carved cat to Catania’s eyes.

  “I know someone who would absolutely love this. How much? I’ll pay you for it.”

  Karen laughed, waving Catania’s offer away. “Take it. None of these are Jason’s favorites. They’re only here because I couldn’t bear to see him toss out such amazing work.”

  “Really?” Catania asked, excited. She could easily imagine Ally’s face upon seeing the surprise.

  “Consider it payment for putting up the Christmas lights for me.”

  Catania gave her a huge grin. “Thanks. And hey, for whatever reason you’ve volunteered to try and impress my mother with the decorations, I understand the haste.”

  Karen joined her in laughter as the two women headed back to the boxes of outdoor decorations.

  ****

  “Ally? Are you still here?” Catania called as she jogged up the stairs after using the front entrance. With only one good arm and a hand that was throbbing, the front door was easier to maneuver than the heavy metal one at the back. “God, it smells good in here,” noting the scent of fresh roses that wafted softly through the air. “Ally?”

  “Hey. I was finishing up in the bathroom,” Ally said, suddenly appearing in the hallway. She was in the process of peeling off pink rubber gloves when she froze. “What happened?”

  Catania gave her a crooked grin. “Yeah, about this.” She brought her hand up and tapped the sling her other arm hung in, her fingers heavily bandaged. “This is what happens when someone entrusts you with a ladder, an industrial-strength staple gun, and Christmas lights.”

  Ally rushed over to her, tossing the rubber gloves to the butcher block island. “Are you okay? Oh my god.”