After It's Over

by Alstead, Michelle

  “No, he probably would have shot her instead.”

  “Perhaps.” The elderly priest stared at his hands. “Mine is a sin of omission. I’ve carried the guilt for so many years and nothing has eased my burden. I talked the sisters in to opening up the convent to women fleeing abusive relationships. We’ve helped at least a hundred women and children and yet, the guilt stays with me.”

  Kade frowned; he didn’t understand Catholic guilt. He turned his phone on; it beeped several times. Blake had messaged him again.

  9-1-1. Get to the station right away.

  “Thank you, Father. I have to go.”

  “Don’t thank me.” The priest put his head in hands and mumbled in Latin.

  Kade opened his mouth to speak; he wanted to offer up words of comfort, but nothing came to mind. He hurried out of the chapel to his truck.

  I have to find Paige. I have to tell her. But first, I’ve got to get to work.

  ***

  A news van was parked directly in front of the police station and blocked his parking spot. As Kade approached, a reporter emerged.

  “Sheriff, do you have any comment about the charges brought against Mayor Caulfield?” She shoved a microphone in his face.

  Kade didn’t respond. He just shook his head and pushed open the double doors to the building. He stepped inside to find everyone staring at their computer monitors.

  “What the hell is going on?” he demanded.

  Blake stood up behind his desk. “I tried to reach you as soon as I heard, sheriff. I think that search I did might have set off an alarm.”

  “Why do you think that?” Kade frowned. “Why is everyone staring at their computers and not doing their jobs?”

  A couple of deputies exchanged knowing looks. Joan stared at her screen while she sipped her coffee.

  “I got a call from the FEDS. They wanted to know why I was checking into that company.” Blake chewed his nails, his eyes returned to his computer screen.

  “Huh?”

  “Take a look for yourself,” Blake replied.

  Kade walked over to Joan’s desk and stood behind her.

  “It’s that darn social media. That stuff is going to be the end of civilization. Now a man can’t even get arrested in peace,” Joan said, pointing to the screen.

  Men dressed in jackets that read F.BI. gathered on the front lawn outside the Mayor’s house. One of them knocked on the door. The scene cut to a reporter with big hair and too much lipstick.

  “If you’re just tuning in, Mayor Caulfield had called a press conference for this afternoon via Twitter. Our sources say that it was a bold move on his part to try and get ahead of the forthcoming indictment; however, he was too late. As you can see, he’s about to be arrested.”

  The reporter stepped aside and the camera panned back to the front door of the Mayor’s home. The door opened, an F.B.I. agent stepped inside, and the door immediately swung close. The remaining agents pounded on the door.

  “Did he just take a hostage?” Joan asked.

  “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out,” Kade said.

  I need to call Marie and find out if she’s safe.

  Kade ran out of the station with his phone in hand.

  “Sheriff, what do you say to the latest turn of events?” The reporter appeared again. She shoved a microphone in his face and blocked his path.

  “No comment. Please move.”

  “Are you upset that you weren’t included in the F.B.I’s plan to charge the mayor? How does it impact your ability to do your job?”

  Kade’s drew a breath to tell the reporter that she was a gnat in his cereal just as his phone rang.

  It’s Marie. This can’t be good.

  “Marie?”

  “Is that the Mayor’s wife?” the reporter asked.

  “Listen honey, either you get out of my way, or I put your arrest record from college up on a billboard,” Kade replied.

  The reporter pulled her microphone back and covered it with her hand. Her expression was a mixture of fear and awe. “You know about that?”

  “That and a whole lot more, so run along.” He pulled his keys out of his pocket and dropped them.

  “Marie? Marie?”

  Kade couldn’t hear anyone on the other end of the line as he scrambled to pick up his keys.

  “Kade? You have to come! He’s been drinking again! He has a gun!” Marie’s voice bordered on hysterical.

  “I don’t understand. The FEDS are there. Aren’t they doing anything?”

  “He shot the first officer that came through the door and the rest have pulled back. They keep calling and trying to get him to negotiate, but he says he won’t let them take either of us alive,” Marie whimpered.

  Kade’s mind raced. He jumped in his truck and tore out of the parking lot. “Where are you in the house?”

  “I’m hiding in the bathroom,” she whispered. “Oh no! He’s found me. He’s trying to get in. Kade, you must come!”

  “Marie! Marie!” He looked at his phone; she’d hung up.

  How is this happening? I thought I’d have more time before this situation came to head. Did me looking into that company set this all in motion?

  Kade’s teeth were clenched. He drove with one hand and pounded on the dashboard with the other. He turned the siren on and raced toward the freeway. No one was going to get in his way.

  ***

  The scene outside the mayor’s home reminded Kade of the day Paige’s parents died. Yellow tape marked off the yard near the street. Cops patrolled the sidewalks, urging onlookers to stay back. News vans were parked half-haphazardly and reporters yelled questions at the army of officers gathered on the front lawn. A SWAT van was parked in the driveway.

  This is a three-ring circus. How am I going to get inside? Maybe they’re so busy negotiating, they won’t notice me slip inside. I bet there’s an unlocked window somewhere.

  “You! What are you doing here?” a female voice demanded.

  Kade turned to see the exotic-looking woman he had seen outside the mayor’s house on Sunday. The woman was dressed in an F.B.I. jacket, she wore no make up and her hair was pulled into a tight bun. Scowling, she stomped towards him.

  Well, she certainly isn’t much to look at up close.

  “Who are you?” Kade asked.

  “I’m Agent Smith and you need to get the hell out of here,” she replied, encroaching on his person space.

  “Excuse me?” He took a large step backwards.

  “Thanks to your little ‘detective work’, I had to serve the indictment before I was ready. Do you see this three-ring circus?”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Of course, you don’t. That’s because you think that one little domestic situation warrants a stake out and an investigation. Hasn’t anyone ever told you not to go poking around above your pay grade?”

  Agent Smith looked at him expectantly; Kade opened his mouth to tell her where to go and how to get there when a shot rang out from inside the house. The sound of a gun being fired made his blood run cold and his heart jumped in his chest. Fear filled his heart for poor, frail Marie.

  Kade reflexively checked his holster. His Glock 9mm was loaded on his right; his badge was displayed on the left. He stepped around the angry Agent Smith and tore through the front yard, ignoring the legion of police officers agents. Agent Smith hollered at him as he kicked in the front door. Kade burst inside the house and ran from room to room until he saw her.

  Marie, dressed in her nightgown, lay slumped against the wall. Blood seeped through the thin material and dripped onto the white carpet. Her eyes were closed, she was very pale.

  “Marie!” Kade knelt down at her side. She opened her eyes and looked at him with the saddest expression he’d ever seen.

  “I should have left,” she murmured.

  “You had no idea this would happen.”

  Kade took off his jacket, doubled it over and held it over her wound. Marie’s breath was la
bored. Glancing around, Kade took stock of the situation. A police officer lay unmoving on the floor behind the front door.

  “Where’s the mayor?”

  “He’s here somewhere. He’s quite mad. I thought…” Marie gasped and clutched at her chest.

  Kade searched her eyes. “Don’t speak. I’m going to get you out of here.” He scooped her up and carried her to the front door.

  “I hoped that deep down he loved me.” Marie looked up at him and smiled. “Now, I see the truth.”

  “He didn’t deserve you.”

  Marie’s eyes fluttered and closed.

  “I’m coming out!” he hollered.

  Kade felt Marie go limp in his arms. “Stay with me! Stay with me! I need help!”

  He ran out onto the front lawn. Paramedics raced to meet him. They took Marie from him and laid her on a board.

  “She’s not breathing,” one paramedic said to another.

  “We need to defibrillate. Officer, you need to step back,” the paramedic said to Kade.

  The world around him went strangely silent. The only sound was his heart pounding in his ears. He nodded and stumbled backwards as SWAT appeared. He watched as they entered the house.

  “Are you crazy?” Agent Smith poked him in the shoulder.

  “Back off,” Kade said.

  “I’m going to have your badge for impeding a federal investigation!” she snapped.

  He didn’t look at her; she wasn’t worth the effort of turning his head. The paramedics exchanged a look between them as they tried repeatedly to restart Marie’s heart. One of them shook his head.

  “You have to keep trying! Marie! Marie!” Kade called out, but his voice was lost amidst the din of chaos that surrounded them.

  Marie’s skin was marked with faded bruises; her short hair looked like curly silk against her face. Her white satin nightgown was fanned out beneath her body on the green grass.

  She looks like an angel.

  Kade’s chest felt tight; he labored to catch his breath.

  “I’m sorry. There’s nothing more we can do. She’s gone,” a paramedic said.

  He sank to his knees at Marie’s side. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I let you down.”

  “They’ve got him!” a voice cried out from the crowd.

  Kade turned to see the mayor being dragged out of his house in handcuffs. He was dressed in pajamas and bathrobe, but there wasn’t a single hair out of place. He was an immaculate-looking murderer. Kade’s vision blurred. Rage welled up inside of him.

  “I’m innocent! I’m innocent of all charges! I’ve been framed!” the mayor called out to the press. Reporters clamored to ask him questions.

  In two long strides Kade crossed the front lawn, stopped the agents that held the mayor and punched the man as hard as he could in the nose. The mayor crumbled to the ground, wailing like a baby.

  Instantly, hands grabbed Kade on both sides. His arms were twisted behind his back and he felt the bite of plastic zip ties across his wrist.

  “You’re under arrest, moron,” a male F.B.I. agent said.

  “Walk him to his car and let him go. We don’t need the hassle of filling out the paperwork,” Agent Smith ordered.

  Kade shot her an unapologetic look as the other agents hustled him away from the prying camera lenses.

  “You know that’s the end of your career, right? No one wants to deal with a sheriff who punches a prominent politician in front of fifty news cameras. You’re nothing but a liability now,” she called out.

  “It was worth it!” Kade shot back.

  The F.B.I. agents practically dragged him to his truck. Relief washed over him when they clipped the ties and let him go. When they were gone, Kade wiped his eyes and looked back at the scene.

  I can’t do this anymore. I shouldn’t be doing this anymore. I can’t save anyone.

  ***

  “I saw you on the news,” Joan said. She stood in the doorway of his office. “I told you to leave that mess alone, but you just had to go and stick your hand in the hornet’s nest.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Kade held an empty box in his hand. He set it on his desk and opened his top drawer.

  “What’re you doing?” Joan frowned.

  “I’m resigning. Do you want this?” He held up the white elephant gift he got at the last office holiday party.

  “No.” Joan sighed and wiped the mascara under eyes with her index finger. “You know it’s going to take them at least a month to fire you. Maybe longer if you get your union rep involved.”

  “I don’t want to do this anymore.” Kade dumped one drawer after another into the box.

  “Oh.” Joan scratched her head. “You tried, Kade. You did more than most people in your position would have done.”

  “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Okay, then what will you do now?” Joan sat down in the chair in front of his desk. She rifled through the box.

  “Don’t know. Go build the deck I’ve been meaning to build since I bought the house five years ago.” He turned on his computer. “Maybe go do some volunteer work at St. Paul’s cathedral. Father John could use the help.”

  “I wouldn’t know. I’m a Methodist.” Joan smiled at Kade.

  “Right.”

  “Who’s this?” Joan held up an old photo of Paige. “Is this that girl you stood up that night a little more than a year ago?”

  “I didn’t stand her up. That was the night there was that double homicide out in Lakewood. A couple of gang bangers got into a fight and we had to hunt down the one that got away because he promised to kill an entire family out of revenge. Besides, I tried to call her later that night and every night afterwards for a straight month. My calls just went to voicemail.”

  “So, what does she think happened to you?”

  “I don’t know, but I’m not sure it matters because I heard she ran off and married some guy not long after that.”

  “You two were high school sweethearts, yes?” Joan smiled. “I remember my high school sweetheart. You never forget your first love. You should reach out to her.”

  “Why?” Kade rubbed the back of his head.

  “Because you owe her an explanation. For all you know, she felt rejected and married the first yahoo that came around.” Joan stood up and sighed. “I will miss you, but hopefully the next sheriff has the good sense to listen to me.”

  “How would I find her?”

  “Why on Facebook, dummy. You did sign up after all.”

  Joan left the door open behind her. Kade sat down at his desk; he took in the sound of the busy office—the phones were ringing off the hook. He turned his attention to the computer.

  I guess it’s now or never.

  Kade opened up his email account to find a long list of friend requests from Facebook. At the very top, was one from Paige Birch.

  What are the odds that she’d reach out to me on this thing? Maybe it’s a sign. What do I say…?

  Kade had never learned to type so he pecked out a very short message.

  Sorry I missed our date. I want to explain why and there’s something I need to tell you. Call me.

  He left his phone number and stared at the screen for a minute. Then he shut the computer down, picked up his box and put his hat on. He didn’t look back as he walked out of the station.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Paige stared at her computer screen. She’d received an email alert from Facebook on her phone. When she saw Kade’s name, she dropped her briefcase and hurried to the kitchen table to set up her laptop. Paige had alternated between staring at the screen and pacing around the kitchen for more than twenty minutes. She read his message over and over again.

  Sorry I missed our date. I want to explain why and there’s something I need to tell you. Call me.

  She’d waited more than a year to hear why Kade missed their date. A million scenarios had run through her mind about why he hadn’t shown up or even called. Paige had finally settled on the idea that she
just wasn’t worth showing up for. So she left Kade behind, and moved on with Ben. It was a mistake to stay with her husband; he barely acknowledged her existence most days, but on some level Ben was what she felt like she deserved.

  Do I call Kade? Would it be wrong to hear what he has to say?

  The front door opened and Bianca rushed into the kitchen.

  “I’m so late for the dance. I spent way too much time at Madison’s.” She stopped and looked around. “Wow, it’s so quiet here without Bev and Billie.”

  “It is. I was just enjoying the solitude.” Paige closed the lid on her laptop. “How’s Madison? Is she excited for the dance?”

  Bianca shrugged. “Where’s my dad? Shouldn’t he be here?”

  She pulled off her jacket and threw it at the back of the chair next to Paige; she missed and the jacket landed on the floor.

  Like father like daughter.

  Paige frowned and picked it up. “I’m not sure where your dad is. He hasn’t answered any of my texts, and he didn’t make it home for dinner.”

  “But he’s still going to chaperone the dance, right?”

  “Absolutely! He wouldn’t let you down.”

  At least, I don’t think he would. That man is so hard to read lately. He’s just all over the place.

  “Hmm…” Bianca pulled out her phone and texted. “I’ll just remind him—”

  “Remind me of what?” Ben asked, emerging through the door from the basement.

  “Have you been home this whole time?” Paige asked.

  “I don’t know. How long have you been home?” he replied. He climbed the stairs and walked into the kitchen.

  “For an hour. I made dinner, but you never…” Paige shook her head and pointed to the plate of food sitting on the counter. “I made a really nice dinner.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t see you when I got home, so I went down to the basement.”

  Bianca looked from Paige to Ben and back to Paige, who tried to force a smile.

  “You’d think we’re roommates and not a married—” Paige said.

  “Hey!” Bianca planted herself in between Paige and Ben. “I’m going to be late for the dance. Dad, you need to change.”

  “Let me talk to your stepmother first.”