“I can’t imagine someone being that hateful,” Holly said. “I mean, if you’re a criminal, you’ve got to expect anything you get, wouldn’t you think?”
“You would, and I would, but apparently this guy feels a little differently.”
“You really think the shooting ties into this?”
“Yes. I suppose it‘s possible that it isn’t. I doubt it though. It seems too fishy to be a coincidence. All I know is that he’s a cop, and cops make enemies every day. We’ll know more after we talk to Ed. Maybe there aren’t any more letters. Or maybe it’s just something that happens to all cops. I know he didn’t seem to be shaken up over it last night.”
“No, he seemed perfectly fine. Maybe a little down. You’re the one who was acting funny.” Sam chuckled at her astuteness.
“Well, it’s not every day I see a death threat against someone I care about. I guess I can’t be as offhand as he is about it.”
“Me either,” Holly sighed. “I’m glad you’re not a police officer.”
“That makes two of us.”
“Hold on,” she said, and he heard her talking to one of the boys. “No, he can’t come for supper, Billy. No, I didn’t ask him because he already has plans tonight. Billy- No. Go play with your brother for a few more minutes.” A moment later she apologized for the interruption. “Sorry about that.”
“So am I,” he sighed. “I’ve missed you and the kids a lot this last week.”
“We’ve missed you, too.”
“Hey, how about we do this,” he suggested quickly. “We’re meeting at Ed’s at five-thirty. I’m guessing we’ll be done there by seven, at the latest. Why don’t I swing by Dairy Queen, pick up some ice cream, then stop by for a snack before the boys go to bed?”
“They’d love that.”
“Would you?”
“Hmm. Let me think about that for a minute.” Sam smiled as he waited for her answer. “Yes. Yes, I definitely would love it, too.”
“Don’t mention it to them,” he said suddenly. “In case Ed gets stubborn. I wouldn’t want to disappoint them if things don’t work out the way I’m hoping they will.”
“Good idea. Sam?”
“What?”
“Be careful, okay?” she told him softly.
“Always, Holly. I promise.”
“I love you.”
“I love you. Now put this out of your mind and go play with the boys. Maybe Billy will share his toy with you.” Holly burst out laughing, and Sam grinned.
“Yeah, right.”
“Well, that’ll teach you, won’t it?”
“Teach me what?”
“If you want to play, you have to get your own kids meal. I learned that a long time ago. Which is why I have such a sweet collection of cheaply made, yet otherwise worthless plastic cartoon characters to pass the time with when I get bored.” She laughed again.
“I’ll have to remember that the next time we stop for lunch.”
“Or I could just share mine with you,” he suggested, smiling into the phone. “But then we’d be missing out on all that fabulous food.”
“We could just eat a can of shortening and pretend it was fast food.” This time Sam laughed. “Well,” she pointed out, “it’s about as nutritious as a burger and fries. Costs less, too.”
“If you say so. But I think I’ll let you eat the shortening, if it’s all the same to you.”
“Aw, I wanted to share,” she sighed.
“Well, Holly, I consider that to be something along the lines of the flu. I’d just as soon pass on both, thanks.”
“Picky, picky.” A comfortable silence followed before he heard the sounds of an argument in the background. “I guess I need to go play referee now,” she said reluctantly.
“I’ll do my best to get there by eight,” Sam promised. “Hopefully before.”
“Just make sure that Ed is safe. And you, too,” he heard her whisper as they hung up.
~~~~~
“What’s this?” Ed asked, opening his door wide to find five guests in the hallway. They came bearing a couple of pizzas and a twelve pack of Coke. “A party someone forgot to tell me about?”
“Yeah,” Jon said, striding inside and setting one of the pizzas on the table. “Something like that. Hope you don’t mind. We brought dinner.”
“Tough choice. Last night it was Holly’s or a couple of potpies. Tonight it’s pizza or potpies.” After a longsuffering sigh he said, “I suppose I’ll be gracious and choose the pizza.”
“Good choice,” Cal said, wrinkling his nose. Ed knew that he’d probably eat worms before touching something from the frozen food department.
“Got any paper plates?” Jon asked, wandering out to the kitchen.
“Of course. Number one item on my grocery list every week. They’re in the cupboard next to the sink, right where they always are. Maybe Sam should get them. They’re right above the counter where the letter was, so he shouldn’t have any trouble finding them.” He looked at Sam pointedly. When Sam flushed Ed said, “Well, I may be getting old, but I know for a fact that I put the envelope on top of the letter. You put the letter on the envelope when you finished reading it. Found it when I got a glass of water last night.”
“Well-” His friend seemed lost for words.
“I’m assuming that you told these bozos, and that’s why you’re all here. I wondered how long it would take before you showed up. You were a few days quicker than I thought.”
“So? Is that the only letter, coach?” Dan demanded, flopping down on the sofa, a soda in one hand and slice of pizza in the other. He hadn’t bothered with a plate at all.
“I wasn’t aware that my mail was anybody’s business but mine.” He looked in the pizza boxes. Just ham on the first, which was all Sam and Jon would eat. All but the kitchen sink on the other. He took a slice from that box, bit into it, and closed his eyes in near ecstasy. Riedy’s pizza was better than a potpie any day of the week. Except maybe the ones Cal made from scratch. Those were something else altogether. Heaven on a plate.
“I guess when you leave death treats laying around for the world to see, it ceases to be exclusively your business,” Dan said amicably.
“I’m a cop. Cops get death threats all the time. I wouldn‘t be doing my job if I didn‘t get them every now and again,” he hedged, grabbing a soda and popping the top. He joined Dan on the sofa, leaving the other four standing around the table looking far too serious. They weren’t even eating yet, and he gestured toward the boxes. “Help yourself, boys.” Chris was the only one who, after shrugging his shoulders, grabbed a slice with ham.
“We know cops get death threats all the time,” Sam muttered, glaring at him. “But when the cop who’s getting them gets them delivered at his home address, when he isn’t listed in the phone book, it doesn’t sound like your garden variety, run of the mill death threat.”
“Well, yeah. That did kind of surprise me. Probably one of the guys at work sent it as a joke.”
“Sure. And I’m Santa Claus,” Jon said. “Ho, ho, ho.”
“Well, hey then. I’d like to see Sandra Bullock under my tree this year, Santa,” Ed mumbled through a mouthful of pizza. “Or Meg Ryan. I’m not particular.”
“I thought you said you liked Jenna,” Sam reminded him, sitting on the arm of the sofa, Coke in hand.
“That’s true. Okay, I’d like Jenna under my tree. Along with the other two.”
“You never put up a tree,” he said, then frowned. “Is that the only letter?”
“There are more in the drawer next to the stove,” he sighed, knowing they weren’t going to give up. He’d always had a thing about lying to them. To anyone really. He watched as Cal walked quietly to the kitchen to retrieve them. Ten. Actually eleven, with the most recent one. He returned with the stack, and a handful of napkins.
All conversation and eating stopped as the guys gathered around the table, carefully wiping their
hands and trying to touch only the corners of each page.
“Don’t worry about prints. I already dusted them. There’s nothing.”
“You obviously didn’t check the glue,” Jon pointed out, reading first one then another. Most of them said pretty much the same thing. Ed had made whoever it was suffer, and now he was going to die because of it.
“Have to take them to the lab for that. I figure the guy is too smart to make that kind of mistake.”
“So you haven’t reported it to the police,” Dan said flatly. “It figures.”
“Not much they can do about it.”
“They can investigate,” Cal all but shouted, slamming the letter he’d been reading on the table top. His face was white. “They can protect you.”
“Not twenty-four seven,” Ed said quietly. He knew they all cared about him, and were scared. He wished he could reassure them, but he didn’t know how all of this was going to play out. Whoever was sending the threats seemed to mean business.
“You don’t know that.”
“There’s not enough money in the budget,” Ed sighed, finishing the last of his pizza and standing up so he could get another slice. “If I had a nickel for every scumbag that has threatened to kill me, I’d be a rich man. I’m not worried about it.” Not much anyway.
He noticed that Dan was studying all of the envelopes. At the corners with the postmarks. For dates, he knew. He’d figure it out soon enough so he said,
“They’re from the same person who shot me in the parking lot, so you can stop looking.”
“And you know that how?” Cal asked, giving in and pulling a chair out. He never took his eyes from Ed’s as he sat down.
“It was in the first letter he sent. It’s in the drawer in my nightstand.”
“And you’re not worried,” Dan muttered. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “If you don’t report this, Ed, we will.”
“Go ahead. Trust me, they won’t find anything. And they won‘t send anyone out to babysit me either. But if you’ll sleep better tonight, make the call.” Better to give in than to stand around arguing about it for hours. He knew these men as well as he knew himself, and stubborn would be the word that best described them. All of them.
“I always sleep well,” Jon informed him as he snatched the receiver off the wall.
CHAPTER 8
“So, tomorrow Sam is going to retain the detective agency and get them looking into everything,” Dan concluded with a deep sigh. He and Jess lay in bed, her head on his shoulder, snuggled close.
“And get some bodyguards for Ed?”
“Yes, Ma’am. Don’t worry about that. It’s not going to be easy, but we’ll keep him safe.”
“Good. He’s such a sweetie, I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to him.”
“You and me both. But tell me, wife, did you miss me tonight?”
“Na. Kate and I were glad to be rid of you for an extra couple of hours. After having you gone all day, it was a pleasant change of pace,” she teased, then kissed his chin. “Of course we missed you, you big oaf.” Dan held her tighter.
“Good, because I missed you both like crazy. It made for a long day, but we had to talk to Ed.”
“I know. I’m glad you did.” He felt her shudder. “I can’t imagine someone being that vengeful. Or how scared Ed must be.”
“You wouldn’t know it to look at him.”
“Well of course not. It would ruin the big, tough-guy image if he showed a little fear or weakness.”
“Trust me, the rest of us are showing enough to make up for it. I’m really scared for him, Jess.”
“So am I, Dan. So am I.”
~~~~~
“Enough of that,” Sam decided, having related the visit to Ed in detail. He sat with Holly nestled beside him in the dimly lit living room. It was the most comfortable he’d been since the last time they’d sat there watching a movie with the boys. That had been before her mother arrived, which made it too long in between. “I’m going to drive myself nuts if I don’t stop thinking about this for a while.”
“I’m sorry,” Holly apologized, hugging him. “I shouldn’t have made you tell me so much.”
“No. It’s okay,” he said, kissing her hair. “I wanted you to know what was going on, but right now I need to think about something a little more positive.” She grinned up at him.
“Billy let me play with his kid’s meal toy this afternoon. How’s that?” Sam laughed.
“Better.”
“Yeah. For about ninety seconds.”
“Ninety seconds?”
“While he went to the bathroom. He handed it to me and said, ‘Hold this so Zack doesn’t get it.’” He laughed harder, hoping it wasn’t loud enough to wake the boys. They’d been all but impossible to get to bed and, much as he loved them, he wanted some time alone with their mother.
“Generous young man, isn’t he?”
“Oh, absolutely,“ she answered seriously, then giggled. “Not. Sometimes they play like the best of friends but other times, like today, it’s every man for himself. They were even arguing about candy, of all things. I bought a small bag, and Billy was sure that Zack got a few pieces more than he did. I had to threaten to not buy anymore until Christmas to get them to stop.”
“Sounds like they had a pretty rough day.”
“Well, I know Zack was worried about Mom forgetting about him and I think, even though he doesn’t really realize it, Billy was, too. And then they were missing you.”
“What about you?”
“You know I missed you. As much as I enjoyed her visit, I kept wishing I could sneak away to see you.” She leaned in and kissed him softly.
“That wasn’t what I meant, but thank you just the same. I meant were you worried she might drop out of your life again, too?”
“No, not even a little bit. And Zack is feeling better about it since she called to let us know she’d arrived safely.”
You said she’s coming back for Thanksgiving, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think your dad might come with her?”
“Hmm. There was a time when just the thought of automobiles, or a man walking on the moon, were the things science fiction is made of.”
“Okay,” he said slowly, looking more than a little confused. Holly smiled ruefully.
“Nothing is impossible. But I’m not going to hold my breath.”
“Your mother seems like a pretty resourceful woman. I’m sure she’s going to be doing her best to make him see sense.” Holly laughed softly.
“You don’t know my dad.”
“And you thought you knew your mother. But she surprised you. Oh. Hey, speaking of mothers, mine wants to know what you do about Halloween.”
“Nothing. Well not much. Sometimes we go to the church harvest party. Sometimes we go to the movies. Does that make me sound like an awful mother? I mean, I do buy them some candy, but I’ve never let them go trick-or-treating.”
“Why not?” Since most parents didn’t have a problem with it, he was curious to know why she did.
“It just seems hypocritical to me to tell your kids three-hundred and sixty-four days a year to not take candy from strangers. And then that one night, you send them out, all dressed up, to take candy from dozens of people they don’t know.”
“My mother is going to love you.”
“She is?”
“She is. She never let me go trick-or-treating either because she pretty much feels the same way.” He lowered his voice. “That’s not to say I didn’t sneak out a couple of years with the guys when we got older. I would get sicker than a dog trying to eat the evidence in one night.” This time her laugh wasn’t soft at all, and she clapped a hand over her mouth.
“You don’t seem like the type to go out sneaking around,” she said when she finally got hold of herself.
“You’re right, actually. But for Dan, Cal and Jon,
I probably wouldn’t have. I quit the night we almost got caught toilet papering this one girls yard though. She had been mean to Cal and we were mad. So we bought a bunch of cheap tissue and waited for their lights to go out. The cops drove by about the time it looked like a snowstorm had rolled into town. Or at least into her yard. It was a good thing there was so much paper hanging everywhere or we’d have been dead meat.”
“I bet.” She was laughing again. “Just do me a favor and don’t mention these escapades around the boys, please. They get into enough trouble without any ideas.”
“So you don’t think they should hear about the time we put worms on a few of the plates in the lunch line?”
“You didn’t!”
“We did.”
“Oh my goodness.”
“Got caught, too. I thought my mother was going to ground me for life. Oh. And speaking of her again, I’m supposed to ask you if you and the boys would like to come to our annual bonfire the Saturday before Halloween. We have hot dogs, donuts and cider, s’mores and treat bags for all the kids. That means young and old alike.”
“It sounds like fun,” she said quietly.
“But?” After a slight hesitation she answered,
“Are you sure you want us to go?”
“Why wouldn’t I want you to go? I just asked you, didn’t I?”
“Well-” She hesitated again.
“Holly, why wouldn’t I want you to come with me?” She buried her face against his shoulder.
“Well, most guys don’t introduce someone to their family unless they’re pretty serious, and I wouldn’t want them to get the wrong idea.”
“What? We’re not serious?” He felt a knot forming in the pit of his stomach. She wasn’t serious?
“That’s not what I meant. Not exactly.”
“What, exactly?”
“I just don’t want you to feel like it has to mean anything. You know?”
“No, I don’t know.” He reached out and raised her chin until she was looking at him. “And, since you don’t seem to realize it, this thing between us is very serious to me. It means everything to me. I was kind of hoping it did to you, too.” He saw her eyes fill with tears.
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