Next of Kin

by Jae

  Aiden frowned. Why is she telling me this? The Kade I know wouldn't come running because of a bunch of flowers. Surely she doesn't think they're from me? "And the problem with that is...?"

  "It's not just the flowers and cards. I often feel like someone is watching me, and I get a lot of hang-up calls even though I have an unlisted phone number." Kade's calm mask slipped for a single second, showing Aiden the fear in her eyes.

  "Kade! That's not just a secret admirer. You have a stalker!" Aiden couldn't believe it. How could Kade, a DDA prosecuting sex crimes, not take this kind of situation seriously?

  Kade bit her lip. "I know. And I think he's escalating."

  "What? What happened?"

  "I can't prove it, but it's possible that Del's fall wasn't an accident," Kade said quietly, no longer holding Aiden's gaze. She looked down with a guilty expression.

  Aiden gripped the back of a chair. She wanted to throw it across the room but held herself in check. "People are getting attacked right in front of your apartment, and you kept it to yourself all this time? You could have been killed, and you didn't think it necessary to ask for help? To tell anyone?" She knew shouting at their DDA was not appropriate, but she didn't care.

  "I didn't keep it to myself," Kade said defiantly. Then her voice lowered as she realized what she had just admitted. "I told Del."

  The words she had wanted to shout died in Aiden's throat. Del. She told Del. Not me.

  "It's not that I trust her more than I trust you," Kade said, guessing Aiden's thoughts. "When I had that cold, she answered my phone and realized it was not a normal hang-up call. I had to tell her."

  "When you had the cold... that was two weeks ago! She knew for two weeks, and she did nothing?" Aiden resolved then and there to have a heart to heart with Del Vasquez. If she wants to take over the role of Kade's protector, fine. But she better do her job!

  Kade took a quick step closer, encroaching on Aiden's space. "Del did exactly what I wanted her to do. The last thing I want is an official report on my private life."

  And certainly not now that she's finally starting to have something like a private life, Aiden finished what Kade hadn't said. From the day Kade had joined the sex crimes unit, she had made it clear her ambitions didn't end with being a DDA. Kade was aiming high, and being outed in an official police report would not help with that.

  Aiden took a deep breath. She forced herself to change from worried friend to professional cop modus. "Do you still have the cards the stalker sent?"

  "Some of them. Del already had a friend from the lab check for fingerprints. Nothing. Local flower shops were a dead end too." Kade blew out a frustrated breath.

  Well, at least Del didn't sit idly and wait for the stalker to attack Kade, Aiden conceded. "I'll call Del and have her bring me up to speed. We'll investigate this semiofficially for now. No reports until it becomes necessary to take more official steps," she promised.

  Kade touched her forearm for a fleeting moment. "Thank you."

  * * *

  Aiden shifted her weight from one foot to the other while she waited for the door to open. She had felt more comfortable at the front door of serial killers she was about to arrest. At the moment, she would have preferred the serial killer to having to face her half sister. She quickly put on a smile as Jill LeCroix opened the door. "Hi," she said, "is Evan home?" She half hoped, half feared that Evan wasn't.

  "Yes. She's in the garage. Come on in. I'll tell her you're here." Evan's foster mother enthusiastically waved her into the house. "It's so great that you're here to see her. I think she could use a big sister."

  Mrs. LeCroix continued to talk, but Aiden didn't listen. She was already overwhelmed with the expectations Jill LeCroix was putting on her. The silent implication of Mrs. LeCroix's words was that she would continue to spend time with Evan, would make enough of a difference in her life to stop all of Evan's problems, and would make life better for her and her foster parents. I can barely keep control of my own life and wrestle my own demons, how can I take on Evan's too?

  Suddenly, she felt under too much pressure, as if she would suffocate in the house. She wondered if Evan sometimes felt the same. "If it's all right, I'd rather go and join Evan in the garage," she said quickly.

  "Sure." Jill LeCroix smiled and pointed her in the right direction.

  Aiden walked around the house and to the garage in the back. The door to the garage was open. Loud music blared out of a CD player, interrupted only by a rhythmical thumping.

  Aiden stepped closer and looked inside.

  Evan was hammering away at a heavy bag that hung in the back of the garage. It was the first time Aiden had seen her out of her ever-present leather jacket. Without it, Evan looked lanky and more vulnerable, like the teenager she was. Aiden watched for a while, mentally correcting Evan's stance or applauding a clever feint and quick footwork.

  Something must have alerted Evan to her presence. She abandoned the bag and whirled around.

  "Hi," Aiden said, feeling very awkward.

  "Hi," Evan mumbled. She held on to the punching bag with both gloved hands, stopping its movements, but she didn't step closer to greet Aiden or invite her in. She clearly didn't share her foster mother's enthusiasm about seeing Aiden.

  Aiden nodded at the punching bag, the first topic of conversation that came to mind. "You box?"

  "Nah, just playin' around." Evan shrugged casually.

  Oh, yeah, right. Don't show any interest in anything, Aiden thought sarcastically. It would make it too easy for me to find a common ground, and of course we can't have that. "So this is not what you had planned for the afternoon?" Aiden decided to beat her with her own weapons.

  Evan shrugged again. "No, not really."

  "Then maybe you'd like to come downtown to the DMV office with me?" Aiden suggested. "I thought we could take care of the paperwork today and see what else you need to do to get your driver's permit." She dangled the word in front of Evan like a carrot in front of a mule.

  Evan's cool, uninterested expression didn't change. "I already have my driver's permit."

  Shit. Now my one good idea is gone. Aiden felt like an actor without a script. She had no idea what to say. "Oh. I assumed you hadn't gotten it yet because Dawn said..." She stopped and rubbed her neck. "So I guess your parents are already teaching you how to drive?"

  "They're not my parents!" Evan gave the punching bag another forceful hit, making the chains rattle. "You of all people should know that!"

  Aiden wasn't sure if she should be embarrassed or angry. She settled for diplomatic. "I'm sorry. Of course I know. I just didn't know what to call them."

  "Try their names. Novel idea, huh?" Evan mocked.

  Aiden took a deep breath and pictured Dawn's gentle green eyes. Don't react. Don't let her provoke you. She just wants to keep you at arm's length. "So Jill and Roger are taking you out to practice your driving?" she repeated her earlier question.

  "Yeah, they took me out every once in a while," Evan answered.

  "Took?" Evan's use of the past tense hadn't gone unnoticed. Something had happened to stop the driving lessons. Aiden's mind immediately started providing a dozen scenarios about what Evan could have done, but she stopped herself. Dawn was right – she needed to stop assuming that everything that went wrong was Evan's fault.

  Evan casually hooked her arm around the punching bag. "They overreacted to me borrowing the car one night."

  Borrowing the car? Aiden had to bite back a laugh. She didn't want Evan to think she was making fun of her or agreeing with her behavior. Ooops. It seems Dawn was right. We do have some things in common. "You could practice with my car," she said, acting as if it was no big deal.

  "Your car?" Evan repeated suspiciously.

  "With me in it, of course," Aiden hastened to say. She didn't want Evan to "borrow" her car for a solo spin.

  Evan still didn't jump up and down at that offer. She eyed Aiden with distrust. "Why are you doing this? Don't think you o
we me anything just because your father couldn't keep it in his pants with my mother."

  Aiden worked hard not to react to those provocative words. "I owe it to myself," she said. "I did wrong by assuming you hurt Laurie Matheson, and I want a chance to make it right. What do you say?" She withdrew her car keys from her pocket and held them out to Evan.

  "That's not the key to the doc's miniature version of a car, is it?" Evan asked.

  Aiden laughed. "No, don't worry. I have my own car, and it's adult-sized."

  Evan looked back and forth between Aiden's face and the car key. Finally her interest in driving won out. "Okay, why not?" She started to remove her gloves with the help of her teeth.

  "Here, let me help," Aiden said.

  Evan pulled away. "I managed on my own before I met you." They both knew she meant so much more than just opening her gloves. Without another word, she took the car key from Aiden.

  Aiden quickly hurried after her. She felt more and more uncomfortable as she settled in the unfamiliar position in the passenger seat. She watched as Evan eagerly turned the key in the ignition. "Seatbelt," she reminded, barely holding herself back from listing a dozen other rules Evan had to follow while she drove the car. For now, she would trust Evan to know and follow the important rules and only intervene when she had to, even though it was driving her crazy.

  Evan pulled out of the driveway much faster than Aiden was comfortable with, but she bit her lip and said nothing. She could sense that this was a mutual test – she was testing Evan's driving skills, but more importantly, Evan was testing Aiden's patience and her willingness to start a relationship on more equal footing.

  On their way through the city, she repeatedly grabbed onto the door handle and stole glances at the speedometer. Each time she found Evan was not going as fast as she had suspected. It only seemed that way to her, now that she was in the helpless position in the passenger seat.

  "Want to practice parking?" she finally asked after an hour of constant tension and silent driving. She pointed at a parking lot ahead of them.

  Evan gave a short nod. Aiden noticed that she changed her pronouncedly casual grip on the steering wheel and took a firmer hold. She silently picked a parking space and began to maneuver the car backward.

  Aiden tensed. Evan had turned the wheel the other way too late, and Aiden could already sense that Evan would end up much too close to the car to her right. Aiden pressed her foot against the imaginary brake. "Um... you're getting a little close to that car."

  "I'm not blind. I noticed," Evan snapped. She put the car into forward again, pulled out of the parking space, and quickly corrected the position of the wheels before she navigated backward again. This time, the car ended up in the parking space with enough distance to the cars on the left and right.

  Aiden finally relaxed a little. "That's good," she praised her. "Let's shut off the engine for a minute and take a break." She wasn't so sure that driving lessons had been a good idea. Not only would her tense muscles hurt tomorrow, but the driving took Evan's complete concentration, making it impossible to have any conversation. "So... how's it going?"

  "The driving? Great of course! You couldn't tell?" Evan was beginning to look irritated.

  "No, not the driving. The rest of your life," Aiden clarified. "How's that going?"

  Evan coolly crossed her wrists over the steering wheel. "Didn't commit any crimes this week if that's what you're asking."

  Aiden sighed. We can't even make small talk. A simple "How are you" could quickly become an ugly argument. "It's not what I'm asking. Let's stop always assuming the worst about each other, okay?"

  Evan didn't react to that peace offering. "So what are you asking?"

  Aiden had promised Kade to talk to Evan about Laurie, and this might be the only opportunity to do it. "Are you still seeing Laurie Matheson?"

  "No. You can tell her parents they don't need to worry. I broke up with her." Evan fiddled with the radio, feigning total indifference toward Laurie and what had happened between them.

  "I don't report back to her parents." Aiden knew she had to make that very clear if she wanted Evan to trust her.

  "You report back to her aunt," Evan shot back.

  She's not stupid. "I'm Kade's friend, yes, but I'm not her spy," Aiden said. "I just don't want you to break up with Laurie for the wrong reasons. If you don't want to see Laurie again, that's fine, but don't do it because her parents scared you away."

  Evan sat up straighter. "I'm not scared!"

  "Then why end it so suddenly?" Aiden asked.

  Evan shrugged, playing it cool. "Maybe I just got bored with her."

  Aiden barely held her temper in check. She didn't like anyone talking like that about Kade's niece. "From what her mother says, you didn't look bored with her that Friday night two weeks ago." It was out of her mouth before she could hold it back. Shit. I wish I had Dawn's patience and her ability to just talk to Evan, without the undercurrent of tension and mutual accusations that seems to linger between us.

  "It was a one-time thing, okay? I don't do relationships." Evan glared at her until Aiden nodded her understanding.

  She doesn't want to get close because getting close means getting hurt. We do have more in common than I realized, Aiden admitted to herself. "Does Laurie know that?" she asked as gently as she could. Evan was her sister, and Aiden knew that should automatically make her take Evan's side, but she couldn't help worrying about Laurie, who looked so much like a younger, more vulnerable version of Kade.

  Evan shrugged again.

  "If you're not ready for a steady relationship, that's fine." God knew she hadn't been ready for a long-term relationship at sixteen. She laughed at herself. You weren't even ready at thirty. "If you want to break up with Laurie, that's fine too. But please be nice about it. Don't break her heart; that's all I ask."

  Evan didn't answer. She stared through the windshield, still acting as if she didn't care and wasn't even listening.

  Aiden turned in her seat to be able to see Evan's face. "Before I met Dawn, I was a lot like you." She heard Evan's snort but ignored it. She hadn't wanted to believe how alike they really were either. "I slept with people and then told them it meant nothing the next day. I was an inconsiderate asshole, and I'm just glad I got my head out of my ass in time not to do it to Dawn."

  That finally got a reaction. Evan scowled at her.

  Hmm, look at that. Seems like she doesn't like the thought of anyone hurting Dawn either. Dawn, avoiding intimacy, and borrowing cars – that's three things we have in common. Despite all her toughness and bravado, she has a soft spot for Dawn. Aiden had to suppress a smile.

  "Can we drive back now?" Evan asked, clearly fed up with talking.

  "Sure. You're the one in the driver's seat." Aiden was uncomfortably aware that she was handing over the control over more than just the car to Evan, but she did it nonetheless. "Just start the car and pick the route."

  Evan turned the key in the ignition without comment.

  * * *

  Aiden closed the last file and threw it into the out box on her desk. "You got plans for tonight?" she asked, looking across their joined desks at her partner.

  "No. Want to grab a beer?" Ray obviously took it as an invitation or a request for his company.

  Aiden shook her head. "That's not why I'm asking. If you don't have anything planned, I could use your help." She had waited all day for an opportunity to talk to Ray, and now that most of the other detectives had already left for the day, it was finally time.

  Ray furrowed his brow. They both knew she didn't ask for help very often. "What is it?" he asked with an openness that said he was willing to help no matter what.

  "Actually, it's not me you'd be helping. It's Kade." Aiden looked around the nearly empty squad room and took a deep breath. Her fingers wrapped tightly around the pen in her hand. "She's being stalked. Flowers, letters, feeling watched, hang-up calls, the works. And she thinks he's escalating. It's possible that he atta
cked Del Vasquez when she visited Kade's apartment." She got out the information in a rush, not wanting to linger on the words or think about what they could mean for Kade.

  Ray's eyes grew wider and wider with every word. He stared at her in disbelief. "Why is she only coming to us with this now? It sounds like it has gone on for weeks or even months. Kade of all people should know better than to think it would just go away!"

  Aiden nodded grimly. She forced down growing annoyance, knowing Kade had only taken the risk to protect her privacy, not because she didn't trust them. "That's what I told her too. She says she didn't want an official report on the details of her private life."

  Ray barked out a laugh. "Not much to write about. Kade doesn't have much of a private life."