Resolved Memories (Sycamore P.D. Series Book 3)

by T. E. Killian

  Since the shot had hit the windshield at an angle from her left, she crawled around to the rear of her car and began looking around for any sign of the shooter. She couldn’t see anything.”

  Two marked cars came to a quiet stop behind her car, and two uniformed officers soon joined her at her rear bumper.

  She motioned for each one to take a side and check it out. She started moving toward the front of her car on the side away from where the shot had come.

  The two uniformed officers came back and met her at the front of her car reporting that they hadn’t seen anything. Two unmarked cars pulled in. Grant and Stan jumped out and ran over to join them at her rear bumper.

  Stan was the first to speak. “Looks like the tables are turned and you’re the one needing the protection now, Lieutenant.”

  Sonia tried to laugh but wasn’t too successful. Stan was referring to a time last year when he had also become a target of the man who was threatening and eventually kidnapped his then fiancée, Alison. The situation was a little too much like last year for Sonia’s comfort.

  She quickly filled them in on what had happened and what she and the two uniformed officers had already done.

  They had moved around to the front of her car now and were looking at the windshield. Grant stuck his pen into the hole and lined it up with the hole in the frame. He then looked at where it was pointing back to. He turned to Sonia and said, “It looks like the shooter was over there at the corner of your building. That looks to be about forty feet. I would say that unless he was a bad shot, he wasn’t trying to hit you.”

  Sonia followed the line of his pen and agreed, “Yes, it looks that way. It was too soon after the phone call Wayne got. This has to be just another warning to convince us that they mean what they told him.”

  There was a commotion behind the police cars and Sonia heard her dad’s voice raised in anger. She walked toward the sound. Karl was trying to get past an officer who was stringing tape.

  “It’s okay, Bill, you can let him through.”

  When Karl stopped next to her, she could tell that he was struggling not to pull her into a hug.

  “I’m okay Dad. I don’t think he was trying to hit me, just warn me or Wayne for that matter.”

  He walked around to the front of her car and repeated Grant’s actions with his own pen. When he walked back to where she was still standing, he said, “This time!”

  Sonia turned to Grant and Stan. “Could you two finish up out here? I need to go in and check on my mom.”

  They both gave her puzzled looks but began doing as she had asked anyway.

  Sonia and Karl went into her condo through the open garage door to find Errika standing in the door leading into the utility room.

  Sonia walked up to Errika and stopped. They both looked deep into the other’s eyes and finally, Sonia held out her arms and her mother walked into them.

  After a brief time, Sonia heard her dad clearing his throat behind her and stepped back from her mother.

  When Errika looked over Sonia’s shoulder at Karl, he said, “Plans have changed Errika. Due to the fact that someone is trying to hurt both Wayne and Sonia, we decided that I should stay here too.”

  He looked like he expected an argument, but Errika only nodded and turned to reenter the condo.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Thursday morning, Wayne had barely been awake long enough to get it clear in his mind where he was and why when the door opened and Sonia stuck her head in.

  “Good morning, Wayne. Are you ready for visitors?”

  Wayne knew he probably looked like something out of an old zombie movie and part of him wanted to tell her to wait until he could at least comb his hair. The other part of him wanted to see Sonia so badly that he didn’t care how he looked. That part of him won out.

  He tried to smile but his face still hurt. “Sure, come on in.”

  When Sonia stepped in, a woman he’d never seen before followed her with Sonia’s dad bringing up the rear. He only needed one quick look at the other woman to know she had to be Sonia’s mother. Except for the obvious age difference, they looked exactly alike.

  Wayne was slightly disappointed when Sonia came over to his bedside and only placed her hand in his. He’d hoped for another kiss, but quickly realized that she might not want to do that in front of her parents just yet. Besides, holding his hand was progress too.

  “Wayne, I want you to meet my mother, Errika. Mom, this is Wayne Newcomb.”

  Errika stepped up beside her daughter and extended her hand to Wayne. He didn’t want to let go of Sonia’s hand so he reached his left hand across to clasp Errika’s.

  Karl Nordstrom stepped up to the other side of the bed and placing his large hand on Wayne’s shoulder, said, “Son, you look like you got the worst of that fight. You might want to pick on something smaller than a mountain next time.”

  Wayne had to smile in spite of the pain it caused him. He took that comment as a good sign that Sonia’s dad still approved of him being with her.

  They talked casually for a few minutes before Karl looked across the bed at Sonia and said, “I think you need to tell Wayne what happened last night.”

  Wayne looked from Sonia’s dad over to her. He was quick enough to catch the frown she sent her dad then a pained expression came over her face.

  She shrugged her shoulders and said to her dad. “I guess I’ll have to, now that you’ve as much as told him.” She looked down at Wayne. “Someone took a warning shot at my car last night after I left here.”

  The only thing that Wayne could think of was that she might have been killed. His face must have gone pale for Sonia leaned over him and said, “I’m okay Wayne. We all think that he only meant to warn me and back up what the guy said to you on the phone earlier.”

  He couldn’t speak but squeezed her hand.

  Karl broke the silence. “When are they going to let you out of this place Wayne?”

  Wayne forced himself to turn his attention to Karl. “I’m not sure. The doctor should be in this morning soon. Last night he said that if all goes well, I should be able to get out tomorrow.”

  Sonia smiled down at him and squeezed his hand. “How will you be able to get around when you do get out?”

  He tried to smile again and realized that it was getting easier and less painful every time.

  “Well, my grandmother wanted me to move in with them temporarily but I don’t want to do that. So my grandfather is taking care of everything. He made arrangements for a special wheelchair with a platform for my left leg and he even hired a home nursing service to take care of me for a week or so.”

  He could tell that Sonia was suddenly in deep thought and wondered where those thoughts were going. There was a time, not so long ago, that he would have worried when she had that expression on her face. Now, he was sure that it would result in something good. He looked up at each of her parents and noticed that they too were watching Sonia with anticipation.

  They didn’t have long to wait. Sonia squeezed his hand again and turned to her parents who were both on the other side of Wayne’s bed now.

  “Wayne has a police guard at his door right now, but he is still going to need constant protection once he leaves the hospital.” She turned back to Wayne. “Do you have enough bedrooms for the nurse and someone else?”

  He thought he knew where her thoughts were going now and this time he was actually able to grin. “Yes, I have three extra bedrooms. There’s plenty of room.”

  Sonia turned back to her parents. “You two can take over my condo for the time being and I’ll move into one of Wayne’s spare bedrooms so I can be there to protect him.”

  Wayne’s grin stayed in place. Sonia was moving in with him. Great! They would be able to spend as much time together as it took for her to realize that she loved him too. He was sure she did, she just needed time to realize it for herself. And this could be just what was needed. He was excited and wanted to get out of the hospital right now.


  Just then, his doctor came in holding a clipboard with what must have been Wayne’s chart on it. After greeting them, he paused at the foot of the bed to finish reading then turned to them and said, “Well Mr. Newcomb, how’s your head this morning?”

  Wayne thought for a second and said, “I don’t know how much painkiller they’re giving me, but my head only hurts when I move real quick.”

  “That’s good.” He looked back down at the chart. “Yesterday’s tests look good. We’ll do some more today and if they’re good, you’ll still be on schedule to be discharged tomorrow morning.”

  He looked back down at the chart then at Wayne again. “That is if you don’t have any setbacks between now and then.”

  With that, the doctor was gone. Wayne looked up at Sonia and said, “I can’t wait. We’ll be spending a lot of time together.”

  When Karl cleared his throat, Wayne was reminded of the fact that they weren’t alone. He looked over at her dad, expecting to see at least a frown, but was surprised to see that both of Sonia’s parents were smiling at first Sonia and then him. Okay, that was great.

  That was when Wayne remembered his handgun. “Sonia, my .357 was in my car.”

  She smiled down at him and squeezed his hand again. He sure could get used to that. “It’s okay, Wayne, Grant took it out of your car.”

  He was relieved. He wanted to have that gun by his side at home. He wanted to help Sonia protect both of them.

  Karl began speaking and Wayne forced his attention back to the older man.

  “Wayne, you’re six four aren’t you?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Well, I happen to be the same height and I know that car of yours was too short for you. There just wasn’t enough headroom in it for you.”

  He turned to Sonia who picked up the conversation. “Yes, Wayne, Dad’s right. The paramedics said that your head hit the ceiling when the car flipped onto its top. That’s what gave you the concussion. When you get a new car, you’ll need to get one with a little more head room.”

  Wayne was crushed. “But I love my car.”

  She laughed and said, “There must be some car out there that you can love just as much, but one that has enough head room.”

  He knew they were right, but he didn’t want to talk about that anymore.

  They talked for a few more minutes until an aid came in and announced it was time for Wayne’s bath. With that, Sonia and her parents started out the door.

  Sonia held back for a moment until her parents were out of the room. Then she leaned down and kissed him again.

  Wayne felt like he was floating above his bed for some time after she left.

  * * *

  Sonia was dragging by the time she made it to her office that morning and almost collapsed into her desk chair. For several minutes, she simply stared out into the open area where several of the detectives were working at their desks without actually seeing them or anything else.

  She had not been able to get much sleep for the second night in a row. Since her condo only had two bedrooms, someone had to double up and it wound up being her with her mother.

  Sonia’s dad had pulled her off to the side once and said, “If your mother continues to be willing, she and I will probably get back together . . . eventually. But right now, I just can’t even think about sleeping in the same bed with a nun.” He had laughed and said, “I know she’s not really a nun anymore and she’s even quit wearing that costume, but I can’t get the picture of her wearing it out of my mind.”

  So she and her mother had shared her king-sized bed. There was plenty of room, but that wasn’t the problem. Errika had wanted to know everything about her daughter and had asked question after question until very late.

  Then, when Errika finally drifted off to sleep, Sonia lay there staring at the ceiling for a long time before she finally fell asleep.

  As she picked up a report and tried to read it, Sonia’s thoughts turned to Wayne. Had she actually said she would move into his spare bedroom to watch over him? Things were getting more than a little awkward between them already and she didn’t need more complications to make matters worse. But, whether she was comfortable with it or not, that’s exactly what was going to happen.

  Her phone rang interrupting her thoughts. She looked at the caller-id, which read Newcomb Motors.

  She answered with, “Good morning Kelly, how are you this morning?”

  Kelly laughed. “How did you know it was me?”

  It felt good to join Kelly in laughter. She had the fleeting thought that it was either that or cry. “Well, since Wayne is in the hospital, and I don’t know anyone else over there who would be calling me, I figured it had to be you.”

  “Okay, you got me.”

  Sonia could somehow tell when Kelly grew serious. “Wayne just called me. He’s worried about his gun. He thought Grant had it, but Grant said he gave it to you.”

  “That’s right, and I’m planning to keep it for a while.”

  Silence. Then, “Sonia, Wayne told me that you were going to stay in his spare bedroom for a while to protect him.”

  “Yes.” She wondered where Kelly was going now.

  “Wayne just put me in an awkward position. He wants me to convince you to give his gun to him so he can help you.”

  “No. I’d rather not do that.”

  Silence again for a long moment.

  “Sonia, Wayne is very good with his ‘pocket cannon’ as he calls it because that thing is huge. Just ask Grant. He’s been out to the range with Wayne several times and he said Wayne was a very good shot and handles the gun like a cop.”

  Kelly had her smiling now. “Okay, Kelly, you can tell Wayne that I’ll think about it.”

  Then Sonia thought of something else. “How does Gwen like her new home away from home?”

  She could tell that Kelly brightened up immediately. “Oh, she totally loves it here and so does her mommy. It’s just simply fantastic to have my baby girl in the next room all day while I work. Grandfather is the most wonderful man in the world.”

  Sonia had barely hung up her phone when it rang again. This time it was the chief on the intercom. He didn’t waste words but simply told her he wanted to see her in his office ASAP.

  On the way over, she thought about what it could be about and came to the conclusion that it had to be about her call to him last evening about the threat and the shot fired at her.

  She was proven right when he came directly to the point.

  “Sonia, I’m sure you remember last year when that accountant went berserk and was shooting at Stan then tried to kidnap his fiancée?”

  She was afraid she knew where this was going now and she didn’t think she was going to like where it wound up.

  “As of right now, you are on administrative leave. Becker and Thompson will continue with the investigation but you are to go into hiding more or less.”

  She felt like he’d hit her in the face. “But Chief. I’ve got to finish this case.”

  “No Sonia, you don’t have to. You have two very competent sergeants who can handle it quite well. If you’ll feel better, you can still work with them some but only by phone. I want you to take it easy and take care of yourself.”

  Chief Winters continued staring at her while she tried to process all that he had just said.

  Before she could speak, he said, “I understand you plan to stay with Wayne Newcomb when he gets out of the hospital.”

  “Yes, but I can still do that and my duties here.”

  “No, Sonia, I want you to make that your full-time job for the time being. Protect Newcomb and yourself at the same time.”

  Then realization dawned on Sonia. “Did my dad call you?”

  She knew the answer from his reaction. “No, he didn’t call me, he came in this morning, and we had a nice talk.”

  “I knew it.”

  “That’s not the point Sonia. The point is that I want you and Newcomb to stay safe and I think the
best way to do that is to put you with him full-time.”

  She knew when she was beat so she stood to leave.

  Winters stood also and held out his hand to stop her. “Wait . . . one more thing, Sonia. No one is to know this but you and me. Officially, you’re on admin leave but unofficially you’re on special assignment from this office reporting directly to me. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, sir. I understand completely.” She turned to leave but turned back. “And . . . thank you, sir.”

  He smiled and waved her out of his office.

  Sonia left feeling much better than she had upon arrival. Now all she had to do was to keep Wayne safe and of course herself in the process.

  * * *

  Wayne was awakened from a nap and quickly became aware of several loud voices in his room. He slowly opened his eyes even though it didn’t hurt to do it quickly anymore. What he saw made him want to close them again.

  All three of Sonia’s giant brothers were standing side by side at the foot of his bed arguing. His first thought was that it was like a wall at the foot of his bed. One of them, the shortest one, which would be Bjorn, said, “He’s awake.”

  Instantly, all three of them were leaning over Wayne, the biggest one, Sven, on one side of the bed and the other two on the opposite side. And . . . they were all glaring at him like they were ready to grab him and toss him out the window.

  Wayne held up both hands. “Okay, it’s obvious that you three have me at a distinct disadvantage here. What seems to be the problem?”

  Wayne was surprised when the biggest one, Sven, also the oldest one, spoke. The last time, Bjorn had seemed to be their spokesman.

  “My brothers and I just want to have a friendly little chat with you Wayne.”

  Wayne was waiting for more and when it didn’t come, he realized that Sven was waiting for him to respond.

  “Okay. Even if I weren’t lying here with two broken legs, I would still be at your mercy. So have at it.”