Katherine slid out of the booth and walked over. “Michael?”
He looked up. “Katherine!”
“Hi, Michael.” She was mesmerized by Michael's eyes. They were dark blue, almost sapphire.
“Can you sit down?” he asked.
Katherine looked regretfully over her shoulder. “No, I can’t. I’m here with a friend.”
“Oh. So, what have you been up? Is there a base nearby?”
“No. I left the military. I live here now. What about you?”
“I live here, too. Just moved here a few months ago. I’m in banking. You look great. Being a civilian agrees with you.”
Katherine felt her face grow warm. She’d always had a secret crush on Michael. Nothing she would have acted on - she’d been married when they’d worked together. But she couldn’t help thinking that, though technically still married, she was free to date. For Michael, she might have to re-think her no-men-allowed rule.
“You look good, too.”
“Thanks. It’s great to see you. I’d love to catch up.”
“Me, too.” said Katherine. “That would be nice.” She wrote her number on a napkin.
“I’ll call you,” Michael promised.
She said goodbye with a shy smile and walked back to her table.
“Who was he?” asked Scott.
“Just someone I used to work with.”
“You seemed pretty glad to see him, I mean, for him having just been someone you once worked with.”
Katherine smiled and looked down, “I was just glad to see him.”
Scott looked doubtful. He wasn't thrilled with the slight blush on Katherine’s cheeks either. “Better get back to work,” he said, standing.
Katherine noticed the nearly full plate of food he was leaving behind. “You feeling all right?”
“I'm fine, just in a hurry.” he said, tossing some money onto the table.
“Wasn’t there something you wanted to talk to me about?”
“No, never mind. It’s not important.”
“Hey slow down, jolly,” said Katherine as they walked briskly to Scott's jeep. “I don’t have ten-foot-long legs like you do and I don’t feel like jogging.”
Scott helped her into the jeep. “So, did you and that guy have a nice chat?” he asked as he started the engine. Katherine didn’t notice how tightly he was gripping the steering wheel.
“Sure, he’s an old co-worker, someone I haven’t seen in a long time. I gave him my number so we can get together and catch up. If he calls. Sometimes guys say they’ll call, then don’t.”
“Oh, he’ll call.” said Scott.
Scott was quiet on the way back to Katherine’s office. For a moment she wondered if he might be jealous, but quickly dismissed the thought.
***
Wednesday evening after class, Scott followed Katherine home to work on their project. He looked around her apartment and laughed to himself. Her idea of cleaning was to take everything off one surface and put it on another. This explained why her living room was clean but the kitchen counter was nearly covered with things. And what’s up with the garbage bags in her bedroom? He’d used her bathroom and nearly broken his neck tripping over them. His eyes narrowed when they saw flowers on the coffee table.
“Nice flowers.” he said. “For Amy?”
Katherine went over and picked up the vase. “No, for me. I don’t know how Michael got my address, but he sent them.”
“Well, that’s odd.” said Scott. “Don’t you think?”
“Odd? Are you kidding? I can’t remember the last time someone sent me flowers.” She held the card up and read, ‘So nice to see you, can’t wait to see you again.’”
“Well, that’s my cue,” said Scott. “I need to get going.”
Katherine stood. “Already? We’ve barely done any work.”
“It’s getting late.”
“It’s not that late.”
Scott put his coat on and opened the door. “I'll see you Friday, or maybe we’ll get together tomorrow.”
She went to the door, where Scott held open his arms. She hesitated, still feeling a little bruised by his rejection after their kiss, but she didn’t need him knowing what a big deal it had been to her. He pulled her close, and a few fingers innocently slid under the bottom of her shirt, sending shock waves up her back. He cleared his throat and took a step back.
“Okay, well, bye,” he said, not looking at her.
After Scott left, Amy came out of her room and sat at the kitchen table.
“Hi,” said Katherine. “I didn’t realize you were here.”
“I suppose it would be pointless for me to suggest you take things slow,” said Amy.
“Take what slow? We’re just taking a class together. He’s my partner.”
“That’s it?” Amy asked doubtfully.
“Well, we’ve become friends, too.”
Amy got up and went over to the couch. A tiny smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “If you say so.”
Chapter Twenty
After work on Thursday, Katherine rushed home. The only thing on her mind was a nice, long bath. She filled the bathtub with lavender bubble bath and sunk into the hot scented water, and then, as if on cue, the phone rang. She ignored it. It rang twice more before the answering machine picked up.
“Hi, Katherine, this is Michael.”
Katherine jumped up, splashing water onto the floor and nearly falling. She grabbed her towel and ran for the phone.
“Hello, hello?” she yelled into the phone.
“Katherine?”
“Hey Michael, I was in—um, the other room.”
“I was pleased to see you, and I was hoping we could get together this week, maybe tomorrow night?”
Katherine managed to keep her voice steady and hesitated a second for effect. “Sure, we could meet somewhere.”
They discussed restaurants for a few minutes before deciding on one, and they agreed to meet there at eight thirty. They both wanted to keep the call short. No sense talking and talking on the phone and then not having anything to talk about on their date.
Feeling something like buyer’s remorse now that she had a date set up with Michael, Katherine wondered if she was doing the smart thing. She told herself that the reason she’d shut Scott out was that they were project partners, but she wasn’t partners with Michael. She’d forgotten how nice it was to feel attractive to the opposite sex.
So what the heck. It’s just dinner.
Katherine had no sooner sunk back into the tub when the phone rang again. Are you kidding me? She sighed. She’d brought the cordless to the bathroom with her after Michael called, so at least she didn’t have to dry off again.
“Hello?”
“Whatcha doing?” asked Scott.
Katherine felt like saying, “Oh, baby, I’m taking a bubble bath. Wanna join me?” She smiled. “I was taking a bath. Trying to, anyway.” she said.
“Oh, baby. Hold on. Okay, got it. The visual.”
Katherine rolled her eyes.
“What do you want, Scott?”
“Nothing. Just called to say hi.”
“I just got off of the phone with Michael.”
“Who?”
“The guy I ran into at the diner.”
For a second, Katherine thought the phone had gone dead.
“That’s the guy who sent the flowers, right? Boy, he didn’t waste any time, did he?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing. Just saying.” Women—can’t say anything to them. They get all bent out of shape.
“He’s taking me out tomorrow night after class,” she said.
Again there was silence. Katherine wondered if there was a glitch in the phone, maybe a delay of some kind between the time she spoke and the time Scott actually heard her speak.
“I’m going out, too,” said Scott. He’d made the decision just then. “No reason I should stay home.”
This time it
was Scott who wondered if something was wrong with the phone.
Chapter Twenty-One
The man pushed the car seat as far back as it would go. It was a rental, and he’d been able to afford only an economy-size vehicle. He rubbed his knee. Years before, he’d sliced it open while jet-skiing, and he’d just jammed it into the too-close steering wheel.
He wasn’t proud of his actions—past, present, or those he planned to commit—but as the saying goes, desperate times call for desperate measures. He’d allowed himself to become a cliché.
It had started innocently enough. A visit now and then to a casino had turned into a weekly visit, then a daily visit. Blackjack was his passion, and at first his losses were minimal. It was lucky for him that before he’d even started gambling, his credit hadn’t been good. That meant he hadn’t been able to run up credit-card debt with cash advances. When he’d run out of money, he’d started borrowing. First a cash advance from a legal loan shark and then money from the not-so-legal loan sharks. When he won, everyone was happy; when he lost, everyone was looking for him.
He marveled at how much a life could change in less than a year. His addiction had cost him his wife and his job. He was nearly a hundred thousand dollars in debt, and he’d sunk to lows he’d never imagined. He looked up at the rearview mirror. Despite it all, he was still a decent-looking guy with a lot of years ahead of him. With some money, he’d be able to pay his debt and start a new life.
The still-smart side of his brain told him to leave town and never look back, but the side that ruled his actions, that fueled his addiction, resisted. The habitual gambler always thinks the big win is just around corner. He tells himself that once he wins big, he’ll give up gambling, but he inevitably spends his winnings the same way he won them, putting himself right back where he started. He was no different, and so he stayed when he should have run. He planned his next heist when he should have been hiding.
The added pressure of a deadline didn’t help. The longer he stayed, the more likely it was that he’d be caught. He wasn’t a killer by nature, so his initial attempt had been feeble, but it was time to get serious. To shit or get off the pot, as the saying goes. So he watched and waited for the right opportunity.
Killing this woman wasn’t as easy as he’d thought it would be. Since the decision had been made, she was rarely alone, and her sister’s arrival hadn’t helped matters. She’d been spending time with some guy, too.
He looked over his shoulder and pulled away from the curb, and a few minutes later he pulled into the strip mall and drove toward a small hardware store. He wandered a few minutes before finding what he’d come for: car wax, three large cans.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Friday morning, Katherine was in her bathroom, bent over and drying her hair upside down. Amy was sitting on her bed watching. “I bought a car, a used one.” she yelled over the dryer.
Katherine straightened up, flipping her hair back. “Really?”
“Yeah, I stopped by your office this week to show you and to see if you wanted to do lunch, but you were out.”
“I had lunch with Scott.”
“You’ve been spending a lot of time with him.”
“So?”
“So, do you think that’s a good idea?”
Katherine looked at Amy sideways. “What I think is that it’s none of your business. Don’t try to act like the concerned big sister now, Amy.”
“Why do you have to be such a bitch about it? I’d just hate to see you get hurt again, so soon after…you know.”
“Oh, you care about me? Wow, that’s rich.”
Katherine could tell Amy had an angry reply on the tip of her tongue, but she didn’t say anything. She just stood and turned to walk out of the bedroom, but not before Katherine saw the angry tears in her eyes.
“When are we going back to the house?” asked Amy.
“I don’t know. Soon. Whenever. I’m not stopping you from going.”
“I’m going back to sleep,” said Amy.
“Good for you,” replied Katherine sarcastically. She started drying her hair again.
“Oh, before I forget. There was a note on the door the other day.”
Katherine stood back up again.
“From who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, what did it say?”
“That’s what’s weird. All it said was, ‘I know you have it.’”
***
Katherine wanted to leave work early, so she had planned on taking a shorter lunch. She’d need to go somewhere close to her job and she didn’t feel like going to the building’s cafeteria. She walked to a sandwich shop down the block; moments after she sat down with her food, Jack, the new maintenance man, walked in. She hoped he wouldn’t notice her, but he did. He bought his coffee and sat nearby.
“Hi Jack,” she said.
“Hello Katherine. How are you today?” he asked.
Katherine smiled, feeling almost bashful. “Very well thank you, and you?”
“I'm doing better than ever.”
Katherine smiled. She was flattered, but on guard. He was, after all, her building’s maintenance man, and probably had a key to her apartment. After a few seconds’ careful consideration, she told herself she was being ridiculous. He didn't speak at first - he just sipped his drink - but his eyes never left her face. Unable to endure the silence, Katherine said, “So, have you always been a maintenance man?”
She immediately felt foolish, but was not exactly sure why. In a nanosecond, thoughts ran through her head. Was that a stupid question? Was it demeaning? Does he think I'm judging him? Am I? Of course I am - why else would I be embarrassed for asking? I wouldn't have felt embarrassed to ask a lawyer if he or she had always been a lawyer.
Jack laughed, partly because of the question and partly because of the soft shade of pink Katherine had turned after asking it. “No, I haven't always been in maintenance. We don’t always end up doing what we’d thought we’d be doing.” He smiled. “Sometimes it’s a coin toss.”
He stood. “I’m going for a refill, can I get you something?”
“No thanks. If I have too much coffee I'll be bouncing off the walls, plus I'll be leaving soon. I only have a half hour for lunch today.”
“That's too bad,” said Jack as he walked away. “I don't get many chances to spend my lunch hour with a beautiful woman—trust me.”
The words were innocent enough, but the flirtatious look that came with them was anything but. Katherine looked away, feeling slightly warm.
Soon after Jack returned, she made an excuse to leave. She hurried towards the nearest exit, wiping her hands on her pants as she went.
***
When Scott saw Katherine in class on Friday, he noticed right away the unusual flush on her cheeks and he doubted the cold was the cause. He hadn’t forgotten that she had a date that night. He was going out, too. He’d decided to stay in Reno rather than drive up to Carson where all his friends were - he had a secret passion he hadn’t told anybody about, not even Jason. Best friend or not, he knew what a hard time he’d get if Jason knew.
“So tonight’s your big date, huh?” he said to Katherine as she sat down.
“Yep.”
“How well do you know this guy? I mean, you sure he isn’t a serial killer or something?”
“Pretty sure.” She looked at Scott’s collared shirt and dress pants. “You’re kind of dressed up for class, aren’t you?”
“Not for class. I told you I was going out too, remember?”
Katherine frowned. She’d forgotten.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Katherine was getting out of her car when Michael pulled into the spot next to hers. When he got out, she realized he was more handsome than she’d remembered, with jet-black hair and a body that shouted, I work out. She walked to the driver’s side door and noticed a black bag with shorts and shoes poking out on the passenger seat. Michael got out of his car and opened the restaur
ant’s door for Katherine.
“You look beautiful, Katherine,” he said.
“Thank you. You look very handsome.”
The restaurant shared a building with a nightclub, which was already crowded. Michael gave his name to the hostess, and Katherine looked toward the bar, which she immediately sized up as a meat market. This was definitely the place to go if you wanted to see, or be seen by the opposite sex. Just as Katherine was about to step closer to get a better look, the hostess called out Michael’s name. As they headed toward the hostess stand, they passed a blonde woman walking in.
She’s definitely on the prowl, thought Katherine, eyeing the woman’s tight outfit.
The restaurant side was formal, but not pretentious. They were led to circular, black leather booths that ensured privacy for each couple or group.
“What have you been doing since you left the military, Michael?”
“I did some volunteer work in Iraq, mostly with the kids. Then I took some time off, but I could never be happy just sitting around. I need to be active. What about you?
“Well, after my break up, I moved back to Reno. I work in the administrative offices of a huge retailer.”
“Are you still married?”
Katherine didn’t answer right away. She was afraid that if she said yes, he might not want to date her or he’d think she was still pining for Ray. She wasn't, not even a little.
“Yes, technically, but I’ve filed for divorce.” Well, I have the paperwork anyway. Close enough.
“You should know, I’m not the preachy type, but I am religious.”
So no wild and crazy sex until the second date? thought Katherine. She wasn’t sure what to actually say, but decided that spending the evening talking about religion or her soon-to-be ex-husband probably wasn’t great first date conversation, so she changed the subject. Michael was a good listener and seemed to enjoy her company, too.
“What do you think about going to a show downtown one of these evenings?” he asked. “I love them, the beautiful costumes and the dancing. We should go - there’s a show nearly every night.”
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