by J W Kiefer
“I am so sorry to bother you so late, but I work afternoons and just got home,” she said.
Steve waved off her apology and put his arm up on the doorframe and leaned in closer to the young woman. “No problem at all, miss. What can I do for you?”
The woman blushed. “Nothing really.” She brushed a stray strand of hair away from her face. “I was just making some eggs for dinner and realized I had forgotten to stop and get bread on my way home. I was just wondering if you had a few pieces you could spare so I could make some toast.”
Steve’s blue eyes twinkled. “Of course, my lady, mi casa es su casa. But I have a better idea.”
“And what would that be?”
“Well, I make the very best omelets in the world, at least on the east coast, and I would love to make you one. So, why don’t I grab my entire loaf of bread over here and I will match it with your eggs, and then I will make you the best omelet you have ever had. How does that sound?”
The young woman bit her lower lip as she considered Steve’s proposal. Somewhere deep in her subconscious, her brain was raising its concerns about the man in front of her. The other half of her brain, however, was very attracted to the stranger and was intrigued by his proposal. She knew that her neighbor Jared was a police officer, so she reasoned that he would most likely never allow someone to stay in his house that was dangerous.
“Okay,” she said. “But on one condition.”
“And what would that be?”
“You only stay until we are done eating, okay? I have to work a double tomorrow and I need to get to bed sometime tonight or I will be dead tomorrow.”
“Deal,” Steve said, a twinkle in his eyes.
He left her standing in the doorway and grabbed bread from the kitchen. When he returned, he put his arm around the young woman and led her outside, closing the door behind them.
The two made their way to the door across the hall from Jared’s. “I’m Steve, by the way.”
“Tammy.”
“Nice to meet you, Tammy.”
“Nice to meet you too, Steve,” she said as they reached her apartment door and went in. “How do you know Jared?”
“Oh, I’m his younger brother.”
Tammy smiled at the revelation, glad that he wasn’t some kind of murderer or rapist. She turned and walked into the kitchen. “Wow, I didn’t even know Jared had a brother. Of course, we really don’t talk much. Just the usual ‘Hi, how are you doing’ in passing, is all.”
Steve’s smile darkened as he closed the door to the small apartment, locking it as he did.
Twenty-One
Jared awoke to an empty apartment. That was not surprising since his brother never seemed to stay in one place for very long. He had thought that Steve would’ve slept in due to how late it was when they had finally turned in for the night.
Where does he get all that energy? I am not that much older than he is, and I can barely stay up past eleven, Jared thought.
Not having any time to waste dwelling on his brother’s absence, he pushed his questions to the back of his mind and started his morning routine. He glanced down at his watch and realized that he only had about twenty minutes to get to the station and meet up with Dana for the long drive to the city. Not wanting to be late, he kicked himself into second gear and was done with his morning routine and out the door in five minutes flat. Which was a new record for the usually slow-moving Jared.
He arrived at the precinct a few minutes later than he anticipated and was met by a very annoyed Dana. She was tapping her foot and looking at her watch as he stepped out of his car. He knew by the redness in her face that she was angry. He couldn’t help noticing how beautiful her fiery brown eyes were, even though she was using them to launch daggers at him. Being that she was on the short side, she looked like an angry little pixie. Fierce but cute.
Jared approached her slowly and cautiously, like he was about to wrangle a dangerous animal. “Sorry, partner. Steve stopped by last night and I didn’t get to bed till late.”
She rolled her impossibly large brown eyes, and no matter how hard he tried, he could not stop his heart from skipping a beat. What was happening to him?
“It’s okay, but we really need to get going. Johansson went on ahead of us and I have the locket right here,” she said, holding it up.
Jared could not take his eyes from it and hesitantly took it from her. She watched him curiously as he stared at it.
“You okay?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he replied dreamily.
“Well, if you are through staring at the pretty locket, we really need to leave, or we are going to be late and make Johansson look like an idiot in front of his superiors.”
“All right, partner, I get it. We don’t want to look like upstate hick cops to the sophisticated city folks.” Jared crossed his eyes and gave her a big goofy grin.
Dana couldn’t help laughing. She hit him hard on the arm and pushed him playfully. “You are such an idiot.”
“I know. But you love me anyway. Don’t worry, partner, we will get there with plenty of time to spare. I am positive that no one could ever mistake you for a hick.”
Dana blinked a few times and looked up at him. He had never given her such an obvious compliment before without immediately offsetting it with a sarcastic remark. Their eyes met and they just looked at each other. Neither of them said anything or averted their gaze. Dana did not want to get her hopes up, but for the first time in her life, she felt as if Jared really saw her. Not as the childhood friend and partner, but as something more. Before the feelings could take hold, she shook her head.
She cleared her throat and turned away from him. “We really need to get moving. I’ll drive. My car gets better gas mileage, plus you drive like a maniac.”
He watched her walk away from him, and without thinking, took the locket out of the plastic bag it was in and placed it around his neck. As soon as it touched his neck, he instantly forgot it was there and went back to watching Dana. He could tell she was flustered, and for the first time since he’d met her at the ripe old age of ten, he hoped he was the reason why.
Dana was his best friend and had been ever since they were kids. He told her everything, every joy, and every hurt. In fact, whenever anything happened to him, no matter how mundane or significant, Dana was the first person he thought about telling. Maybe his brother was right. Maybe he did love her.
They drove for about three hours, talking and laughing about everything and anything. Of course, the case was always at the forefront of both of their minds, and for Jared, the locket as well. No matter how hard he tried, he could not shake this almost obsessive desire to touch it. Not wanting to come across as crazy he kept the internal struggle to himself, and for obvious reasons, did not mention it to Danna. If he told her about the powerful effects the locket was having on him, it would only upset her more than she already was. The last thing he wanted to do was give more credence to the disturbing events she had experienced while it was in her possession.
Once they had left behind the rolling hills, quaint farmhouses, and green forests of upstate New York and entered more urban terrain, they both knew that it would only be a few more minutes before they crossed the outskirts of greater New York City. Dana was a bit fatigued from so much driving, and they decided to make a quick pit stop while they were still in the relative comfort of the suburbs.
They pulled off at the next exit and found a little mom-and-pop gas station with a tiny coffee shop attached to it. Jared got out to stretch his legs and decided to fill up the car while Dana went inside to use the restroom. He was finished pumping gas before Dana returned, so he went inside to get them both some coffee for the last leg of the drive into the city.
Jared grabbed himself a bear claw, paid for the beverages, and was back out in the car before she returned. As she approached the small sedan, he couldn’t help but notice that her hair looked a little different. Her shoulder-length auburn hair hung down and wav
y instead of tied up in the ponytail she usually sported.
God, she’s beautiful.
He just stared at her thunderstruck when she got back into the car. He was still holding the two cups of coffee and the bear claw was dangling from his lips. Dana noticed him staring at her and became self-conscious.
“What?” she asked.
He mumbled something unintelligible as he fumbled with the bear claw in his mouth, trying not to spill the coffee in his hands. He handed one of the cups to her and removed the pastry. “Nothing. Just...”
“What’s the matter? Why are you looking at me like that?”
Jared stammered a bit but couldn’t remove his eyes from her. “I just... I’ve never seen you wear your hair like that before.”
“You don’t like it?” she asked, blushing.
“No. No. It looks... wow,” he stammered, feeling his cheeks flush. He turned away and faked a cough. “We should get going if we don’t want to hit the bridge at rush hour.”
Flabbergasted, Dana held the cup of coffee he’d handed her. She was confused by the new signals he was giving her, and she did not know what to make of them. If she hadn’t known better, she would have thought he was attracted to her. Of course, he’d made it clear over the years that he wasn’t interested in her that way. Had something changed?
“Jared, what the heck is going on with you?”
He pretended to examine his coffee cup. “What are you talking about? Nothing is the matter. I’m just in a bit of a hurry because I don’t want to get stuck on the Tappan Zee at rush hour.”
Dana’s brown-eyed stare bore into him like hot pokers. “Really? That’s what you’re going with? Rush hour on the bridge? You can’t even look me in the eye. You know me well enough to know that I don’t let anything go and I am not going to let this go. Why are you acting so strange?”
Jared tried to say something, but nothing came out. He just shrugged and did his best to look confused. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
She rolled her eyes and put the car into gear. “Okay, partner, have it your way.”
The tires on her little hybrid sedan squealed as they surged out of the gas station and back onto the road. She was so flustered by Jared that she did not see the old pickup truck passing the little gas station. Thankfully, the driver wasn’t in a hurry to get wherever he was going, so he was driving about ten miles under the speed limit. Dana narrowly missed smashing headlong into the front panel of the little pickup, and the driver laid on the horn as she sped off down the road and back toward the highway.
Jared gripped the armrest. “Seriously, Dana? Slow down—you are going to get into an accident or worse.”
Dana glared ahead, anger heating her pretty face. “I thought you were worried we were going to get stuck in rush hour on the Tappan Zee? Make up your mind already. Do you want to get there fast or not? Of course, you can’t seem to decide what the heck you want anyway, so why should this be any different?”
Jared looked at her, bewildered. “What is the matter with you?”
“What is the matter with me?” Dana fumed, taking her eyes off the road for a split second. “God, Jared, you are the most frustratingly indecisive person I have ever met. One minute you’re all broken up about your blonde bimbo of an ex-girlfriend and the next minute you seem to be... flirting with me. Of course, you can’t possibly be doing that, because in all the years I have known you, you have never ever done that. That is what’s the matter with me.”
Jared’s eyes softened. “Pull the car over.”
“What?”
Jared sighed and stared deep into her brown eyes. He saw pain and confusion there. Pain that he was causing her. “Please pull over.”
“Here? On the highway?”
“Yes.”
Dana slammed on the breaks, causing him to lurch forward in his seat. Thankfully he was still clutching the armrest and braced himself as they came to a sudden, jarring, gravel-flying stop on the highway shoulder.
Dana crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. Her face was flushed, and tears brimmed in the corner of her eyes. She didn’t say anything but just looked at him and waited for him to speak.
Jared looked directly into her eyes. “You want the truth?”
“That would be nice. I may be a detective, but this is the first time in all the years that I’ve known you, that I have no idea what the heck is going on with you. You come to my house and cry on my shoulder and I am there for you. I know you are not so dense that you did not know that it was tearing apart my heart to do that for you, but I did it anyway. How many times have I done something like that for you, Jared? How many? I think at the very least you owe me the truth.”
Jared shook his head. “Okay, the truth is... I never really felt all that bad about losing Jasmine. Did it hurt? Yes. But no matter how much it initially hurt, and no matter how much I overreacted about it, after a day or two, all I felt was relief.”
Dana blinked and a single tear slowly made its way down her cheek. “Relieved?”
“Yeah. I can’t really explain it, but after I spent the night on your couch and talked to my idiot of a brother, I realized something.”
“And what was that?”
“I never really loved her. In fact, I didn’t even like her all that much, that’s why I was always subconsciously finding ways to get out of being with her. From what I’ve been told, everybody noticed it. Everyone that is, except me.”
Dana swallowed as more tears welled up in her eyes. Jared finally turned and looked at her. He smiled that stupid crooked smile that always melted her resolve.
“After that, I did some soul-searching, and I realized there was only one person in my life that I never wanted to avoid. In fact, no matter what life threw at me, good or the bad, she was always the first person I wanted to talk to about it.”
As he gazed into her beautiful brown eyes, he saw a spark of hope there.
“She?” Dana asked tentatively.
He shook his head in affirmation again. “Yes, she.”
Tears streamed down Dana’s cheeks and he gently reached out to brush them away. She closed her eyes and placed her hand on his. She was afraid that this was a dream and that when she awoke, the moment would be gone, and their relationship would return to the same state it had always been. When she finally did open her eyes, she found him still there holding her face and staring at her with that look she had so desperately wished to see but never thought she would.
“Just in case you were wondering,” he said with a wink, “that ‘she’ is you.”
He brushed another tear away with one hand as he held her face with his other. Dana stammered not knowing what to say at this revelation. She had been hopelessly in love with him since she was old enough to know what love was, and she had no idea how to act now that he finally saw her as something more than just a friend.
“I…” she stammered. “I don’t know how to respond.”
Jared laughed and removed his hand from her cheek. “Well, that’s a first.”
She scowled and hit him hard on the shoulder. “I am a serious jerk. I don’t know what to say. I have been waiting my whole life to hear you say this and I just don’t know what—”
Jared interrupted her by taking her head and gently kissing her on the mouth.
He kissed her with a passion he had never kissed anyone with before. Dana closed her eyes and lost herself in the moment, savoring the kiss. When it was finished, he sat back and whistled. “Holy shit.”
Dana laughed because he seldom swore, and it took her by surprise. “That good, huh?”
He just sat there staring ahead. “Better than good.”
She blushed and bit her lower lip. “We could do it again?”
Jared’s eyes shined with anticipation. “Oh, we will, but we really do have to get to the city and now we are definitely going to get stuck on the bridge.”
Twenty-Two
On April 17th, 1897, the remains of for
mer president and Union general Ulysses S. Grant were entombed in a red granite sarcophagus and placed in a newly built mausoleum near the banks of the Hudson River in the city of New York. To this day, it is one of New York City’s most visited historical monuments.
Less than a mile down the road, however, and unbeknownst to anyone who is not from the greater metropolitan area, resides another monument. The memorial is small and plain and could be easily missed if you did not know it was there. Sadly, the small tomb was almost lost to the great upheaval that the construction of Grant’s Tomb caused, but thanks to the overwhelming support of the people of New York, it was saved.
The small grave is known as the Tomb of an Amiable Child and is believed to be the grave of a five-year-old boy who, sometime in the late 1700s, possibly fell to his death from the cliffs lining the Hudson River. The small marker is made of gray marble and is carved into the shape of an urn resting on a pedestal. A black wrought iron picket fence encases the tiny monument protecting it from the ever-encroaching city and her occupants. Serene and beautiful, it is a testament to a life lost too soon. Tonight, however, the tranquility was defiled.
Crimson blood, looking almost black in the early morning light, stained the ground around the child’s grave. A man in a black jacket and hoodie stood over the lifeless body of a small child. He held a long knife covered in so much blood, it dripped over his hands and down his arms.
The child was a young boy with blond hair, blue eyes, and a cherubic face, about five years old. His blue eyes were open and fixed, his face contorted in fear and pain, his mouth open in a silent scream. This was his death mask and would be the last haunting thing his parents saw when they came to identify their little boy’s body.
With a grunt, the man lifted the body up and slammed it forcefully onto one of the iron fence pickets. Hanging like a scarecrow, the boy’s body drooped forward, his hands dangling by his side. Then his head fell forward too. Growling, the man reached up and pushed the dead boy’s head backward so the expression on his face was clearly visible.