“Leave it. Nothing here is more important than you,” Benjamin urged, apparently reading her mind.
But he was wrong. Some of the pieces in the institute transcended time. She was but a speck in the universe, but history and culture had the capability of lasting lifetimes.
“Rebecca!” Benjamin insisted, grabbing her upper arm. “We have to exit the building. Now!”
She grabbed her purse and backpack and allowed Benjamin to escort her out of her office. She looked back at Vincent van Gogh’s priceless painting and realized that, unlike his, her significance would end with her death.
CATO
“Tell me again, Sarge, why are we responding to a bomb threat? Ain’t that Bomb and Arson’s job. Is it dope inside that motherfucka?”
Nick inhaled a deep breath and did his best not to lose his shit with his mouthy subordinate. Out of his entire eight-man team, only Tim Bailey, the rookie, had the nerve to question his orders. He was constantly dancing on Nick’s last nerve.
“Shut the fuck up and ride!” Nick blurted as they pulled to the curb a half a block away from the Art Institute.
So, they weren’t Bomb and Arson. Sure, he and his team wouldn’t normally respond to a bomb threat. And Nick may have been stretching his authority, but he’d done a little research regarding Miss Rebecca King and found out she worked there. The thought of seeing her again was too tempting to pass up.
Nick climbed out of the unmarked police car and looked back at the other half of his eight-man team. They were parked behind them. As each man exited the SUV, Nick noted the confused looks on their faces. But, unlike Tim, they all knew better than to question him.
Overall, Nick had a good rapport with his team. They were all good at their job, so he was good to them. He often covered them if they needed time off due to personal issues. And if God forbid, they got into trouble on the job, Nick would use his unique report-writing skills to clean up their mess as long as their screw-up wasn’t criminal, discriminatory, and didn’t cause the loss of lives. As their sergeant, he had their backs. However, if any member of his team abused their authority in any way, they were fucked. He would not be cosigning their bullshit.
Once the team gathered, Gary was the first to speak. “Wassup, boss?”
“We’re gonna give the on-scene supervisor a hand. There’s a two-block perimeter, and we’re gonna help them hold it. We’ll also be giving him a hand with the evacuation.”
Nick turned and walked toward the Art Institute, giving his team further instructions along the way. It was a typical July afternoon in Chicago, hot as hell. And like any typical afternoon in Chicago’s downtown area, Michigan Avenue was overcrowded with pedestrians and motorists.
Once they reached the perimeter, they pushed past onlookers and ducked under the yellow crime scene tape. Nick looked around until he located the on-scene supervisor. When he realized the supervisor was none other than Sgt. Brenda Garrett, he grumbled out loud.
He and Brenda had dated for a brief, but torturous period while they were in the training academy. Even though they’d only dated for a few months, her jealous tendencies and volcanic temper had proved too much for Nick to handle. Just before graduation, he’d ended their relationship. Unfortunately, Brenda didn’t go out without a fight. She would often show up at his house unannounced. And if he didn’t answer the door, she’d be waiting for him after roll call. After several embarrassing disturbances, the district commander scolded Nick and banned Brenda from the district. After stalking him for the next six months, she’d eventually moved on, probably to a new target.
“Stay here,” he grunted to his team.
Reluctantly, he walked over to his nutty ex. When she looked up and noticed him approaching, he could see the crazy in her eyes. He was about to turn around and drag his team outta there but changed his mind when he spotted Rebecca King standing just behind her. So, with his eyes trained on his purpose for being there, he continued his approach.
“Hey, Brenda.”
“Hello, Nick.”
He ignored the venom in her tone and gestured toward the crowd gathered outside the crime-scene tape. “My team and I are here to offer a hand. What do you need?”
Brenda shifted her weight to one leg and placed a hand on her hip. “I don’t need a damn thing from you. When I needed you, you treated me like shit.”
She continued on with her rant, but all he heard was, “Womp, womp, womp, womp womp.”
Nick’s focus was solely on the beauty standing just beyond the banshee in front of him. She was standing next to a tall redhead. He’d tuned Brenda out just enough to hear their conversation. He learned that they had plans to go to a nightclub called Butterfly on Saturday.
As he eavesdropped on their conversation, he couldn’t take his eyes off her. She was stunning. He was focused on her plump, kissable lips as she laughed and talked with the redhead. Her curly auburn hair was pulled into a neat bun that sat on top her head. Her flawless copper skin was highlighted by the setting sun. She smiled, brandishing perfect white teeth. Seeing her smile made Nick smile.
“What the hell are you smiling for?” Brenda seethed.
Her nasty attitude swiftly erased the smile from his face. Nick glared at her and was instantly irritated by her presence. It was all Rebecca King’s fault. She had to have bewitched him because there he was, face to face with his stalker, just to get close to her. But since he knew where she was going to be Saturday, he could ditch the she-witch.
“I brought my team here to offer some backup, but it looks like you’ve got everything under control.”
“I know how to do my job.” She sneered. “I don’t need shit from you or your team.”
Brenda pressed her lips into a thin line and narrowed her eyes. She was glaring at Nick like he was the one who’d stalked her.
“Okay, I see that mandatory therapy has done wonders for you.” Nick scoffed as he walked away.
“Fuck you!” she spat at his back.
Nick chuckled as he walked over to his team.
“What was that all about?”
“Long story.”
“Horror story,” Gary chimed.
“We’re outta here,” Nick said, continuing down the street.
He thought of Rebecca as he headed to his car. He had gone out of his way just to see her again. Why was he so captivated? Why couldn’t he get her out of his mind? Since the first time he saw her, he thought of her constantly. And now that he’d seen her laugh, the vision would be etched in his brain for who knew how long.
Like lightning, Nick was again struck with a feeling of guilt. What was he doing? He had no business pining over Rebecca King or any other woman for that matter. His sole focus should have been on his wife. Even though the doctors told him that there was zero probability his wife would ever wake up and it was the machines keeping her alive long enough for her to deliver their baby, Nick couldn’t help but hope there was still a bit of life left in her.
Soon, he would be a single father, and his son or daughter would be his first priority. So, even if Rebecca did give him the time of day, he wouldn’t have the time to give in return. By the time they made it back to their vehicles, he’d decided to leave her be.
“Meet back at the office,” he told his team as he climbed into the passenger’s seat.
Over the radio, he heard Brenda code the bomb threat as a false alarm. He exhaled, relieved that at least Rebecca wasn’t in any danger. He sat back in his seat and marveled at how life for others went on, business as usual, as his seemed to be frozen in time.
5
KING
As Rebecca sat in the waiting room, she had thoughts of the handsome cop she’d ran into on her last visit. Since Dr. Thantos specialized in grief counseling, she wondered why he was a patient. Who or what was it he was grieving?
Dr. Thantos stepped out of his office and handed a folder to the receptionist.
He turned his attention to Rebecca and smiled. “Hello, Rebecca. You ca
n come on in.”
Something about his voice was calming. Her sessions with him gave her enough peace to get through the week it took to see him again. She stood and walked into his office. He sat in a leather armchair and pointed to the plush loveseat that sat opposite.
“Have a seat,” he offered.
Rebecca accepted and sat. “How’s it going, Doc?”
“All is well. And you?”
“Strangely, I’m feeling pretty good. I mean… I still get really tired every now and again, but it’s not that big a deal.”
He crossed one leg over the other and wrote something in his notebook. “Okay... and what about your assignment? How far did you get with the list?”
Before her session, Rebecca had said a small prayer, hoping he’d forgotten all about the to-do list. But as it seemed, if she didn’t have bad luck, she wouldn’t have any luck at all. Then suddenly, it dawned on her that she had completed one of the things on the list. “Well, I found my father,” Rebecca enthused.
He looked up from his notebook. “Is that right?”
“Mm-hm.”
He placed the notebook on a table beside the chair. “Well, how did that go?”
“It was a bit of a mess,” she admitted through laughter.
“How so?”
“Well, he lives in the projects with his wife and he has a heart condition and a drug-dealing foster son. And get this… when I went to visit him, his house was raided by the police.”
“Wow, that’s a lot. Where’s that going?”
“Well, the kid is in jail, my dad’s recovering, and his wife invited me to dinner tonight.”
His brow raised with curiosity. “You going?”
“Yeah, probably.”
“Is that safe?” the doctor asked with a frown.
“Probably not,” Rebecca quipped. “But the foster kid is in jail. So, maybe it’ll be okay.”
He retrieved his notebook and asked, “What else?”
Rebecca picked at her nail polish that was beginning to chip.
“Anything else?” he repeated.
“Nah… well… I’m going clubbing tomorrow.”
“Clubbing? That’s not on the list.”
“Yeah, I know,” Rebecca admitted with a grin. “But it’s something. Who knows? I might meet the man of my dreams, fall in love, and check that off my list.”
Dr. Thantos smiled. “Ahh, the possibilities…”
He jotted something in his notebook and flipped the page. “What about loose ends?”
Rebecca’s mood turned grim. In addition to completing her bucket list, arrangements had to be made for her disposal after her death. The legality of it all was depressing. She had no loved ones to lay her to rest. Everything she’d worked for would go to no heir. And her personal property would be dispersed to friends.
“I’m working on it,” she muttered feebly as she stared down at her hands.
“Let me help.”
Rebecca's eyes flew upward to connect with his. She blinked at him with furrowed brows. “Help me? How?”
“I’ll assume the responsibility of laying you to rest,” he declared with a nonchalant shrug.
Rebecca gasped. “What? Really? Why would you do that?”
Without looking up from the notepad, he said, “Because helping you is my job. You have so much to worry about. I don’t want this to be one more item of concern for you.”
She shook her head. “I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You didn’t. I volunteered. I just need you to write down your wishes.”
“Dr. Thantos,” Rebecca whispered.
She couldn’t believe what he was offering to do for her. Could she actually accept his offer and allow him to do something so personal? Admittedly, the thought of not having to deal with the details was a huge relief.
“Doc, are you sure?”
“Yep. Now, let’s go back to the list. Have you started planning your trip to Paris?”
* * *
Rebecca was in deep thought as she left the doctor’s office. Knowing she wouldn’t have to deal with the logistics of her death was a massive weight off her shoulders. She walked slowly down the busy, institutional-colored hall, wondering if the doctor was as thoughtful and kind to the rest of his patients.
She moved through a thick haze that only cleared when she spotted the tall, sexy detective walking in her direction. A frown marred his handsome face. He seemed preoccupied as he walked the hall, carrying a large book. When he turned a corner, something inside compelled her to follow.
Two lefts and another busy hall led him to a hospital room. When he entered, Rebecca slowed. After an inner debate about whether to continue to follow him or to respect his privacy, her curiosity prevailed.
She slowly approached the room and peeped through a window. The horizontal blinds were slightly open, allowing her a view inside. The detective pulled out a chair and took a bedside seat near a sleeping woman. From her point of view, she could tell the woman had long, dark hair, but because of the respirator that seemed to be helping her breathe, Rebecca couldn’t really see her face. The cop took the woman’s hand and pulled it to his lips. With a pained expression, he squeezed his lids shut as he kissed her hand. After returning her hand with care, he opened the book and began to read.
“Miss, can I help you?”
The voice caused Rebecca to startle. She jumped and turned to find a frowning woman in pink scrubs. She was glaring at her through narrowed eyes of suspicion.
“N-no,” Rebecca stuttered nervously, backing away.
She turned and hurried down the hall, embarrassed at just how creepy she must have looked spying on the man. She rounded the corner and jogged toward the exit. She could barely catch her breath, but she couldn’t get out of the hospital fast enough.
After making it to the parking lot, a quick dash down a row of cars led her to her driver’s door. Once inside, she inhaled and then exhaled a breath and waited for her heart to stop racing.
“Get it together, Rebecca,” she scolded in a breathless whisper.
6
Cato
“Crown on the rocks,” Nick told the bartender. He turned to Vince, his brother-in-law, and gestured toward the bartender.
“I’ll have the same.”
It hadn’t been hard convincing Vince to join him for a night on the town. As a married father of four girls, he was more than a little eager for male bonding.
When the bartender returned with their drinks, Nick dropped a twenty on the bar and turned around to people watch. In reality, he was looking for one person in particular. As he looked around, not seeing her, he hoped she hadn’t changed her mind. If so, he was in the loud, crowded club for nothing.
“Hey, when you said you wanted to step out, I was thinking cognac, cigar… you know, grown-man shit. What are we doing here?” Vince inquired over the loud music.
“I like the deejay,” he lied with a shrug.
He couldn’t very well tell his brother-in-law that he was staking out the place for a woman he couldn’t stop thinking about. Nick tapped him on the shoulder and nodded toward the VIP section. Vince followed as he weaved through the crowd. Standing in front of a velvet rope was Gary, a member of his team. He worked at the club part-time.
“Boss,” he greeted with a smile as he removed the velvet rope.
He and Vince took a step up and got comfortable on a leather sofa. From that vantage point, he could see everyone entering the club.
It didn’t take long before a waitress walked over to them. She was smiling when she asked what they wanted to drink. Nick held up his full glass of whiskey to show her he already had a drink.
“I’m sorry,” she said with a grin. “In order to sit here, you have to buy a bottle.”
“Really?” Vince marveled.
Nick frown. “A whole bottle?”
It was becoming painfully obvious they hadn’t been clubbing for a long, long time. The waitress was no longer smiling. In fact, she se
emed downright irritated.
“Okay. How much is a bottle of Crown Royal?” Nick asked.
“$250.”
“What?” Vince gasped. “That shit’s like 20 bucks at the store.”
“This ain’t the store,” the waitress snipped.
Nick narrowed his eyes at her rudeness. Maybe she was more accustomed to and hoping for the dope boy or the ballplayer. Well, he and Vince were neither. And judging by her attitude, she was highly disappointed.
“I’ll take a bottle of Crown,” Nick told her. “But from a different waitress. Don’t bring your snooty ass back over here.”
“Okay,” she responded with a roll of her eyes. She turned on her heels and sashayed her crabby ass out of the VIP section.
Nick was a working man, blue collar in fact. He didn’t spend a lot of time in clubs buying bottles. But since he was there, he understood he needed to conform. Even with the exorbitant cost of hospital payments, he could still afford the obscenely priced bottle. But what he wasn’t going to do was allow a waitress with a bad attitude to collect the 25% tip from his frivolous purchase.
He leaned back against the cushions and sipped from his glass. When he reached to place the glass on the table, he spotted her, Rebecca King. She was navigating through the crowd wearing a tight, off-the-shoulder, black dress that fit like a glove. For the first time to his grateful eyes, she’d allowed her auburn hair to fall free. Big curls bounced against her shoulders as she walked. She and her red-headed friend approached a table decorated with red and gold balloons. The woman was beautiful and Nick was enthralled, which apparently didn’t go over Vince’s head. He followed his line of sight.
“The redhead?” he asked.
“Nah.”
“Oooh, the black lady?”
Nick didn’t respond. His fixation on another woman wasn’t a comfortable conversation to have with his brother-in-law.
Cato’s Heart Page 3