Chapter Eleven
Megan went straight to her room when they got back from lunch. Kate understood that need for solitary reflection. Kate thought most of her past problems with her daughter stems from the fact they were so much alike. Kate understood that Megan may want to have a lot of that solitude for a while, trying to answer the questions of life as best she could. Kate would give her the space she needed while staying close to guide her along the way.
Kate wasn’t ready for bed just yet, it was still too early. The sun hadn’t yet bid a good night and Kate knew she couldn’t go to sleep with the sun still up. She often wondered how those people in Alaska did it in the summer months while the sun was still shining at midnight. She thought to herself that she would have to have blinders on.
Kate made herself a drink out of the seven hundred and fifty milliliter bottle of Jameson she had received as a Christmas present two years ago. She didn’t drink often and it would most likely be another two years before she drank any again. For now she was in a mood to numb her mind. Not zombie numbing, but just enough to qualify her as a guest on a “Real Housewives” episode.
She just sat and reflected on life, she supposed it was similar to what her daughter was doing. She thought maybe she could find the clarity to figure out her case. She didn’t have the evidence box with her so she had to work from memory. She had busily jotted down the things she could recall about the case.
She had the body of the wife of a prominent businessman. She was well groomed and there was no blood at the scene. Given the means of homicide there was likely no blood at the actual murder scene either. The likely murder weapon was a phone cord which was probably bleached clean by now. She had a written note that didn’t match anyone’s handwriting. She had a key to a safety deposit box she wasn’t allowed the contents of and a suspicious husband that had a firm alibi.
Tire tracks and carpet fibers from the body suggested that it was hauled in an SUV, a GM variety and probably a Chevy.
Megan walked out while Kate was writing her notes. She walked over to her mom and said, “I thank you for today, it was one of the best days we have had in a long time even though it wasn’t so good for Addison’s mom.”
Kate responded, “I know what you mean, I felt the closeness and I enjoyed that a lot.”
Kate wrapped her arms around her daughter and squeezed tight, hoping to never let her go. She longed for the days when Megan was nursing a skinned knee from a tricycle accident. Megan never had any monsters under her bed, if there had been any she would surely have kicked their ass. Megan was taught to be independent very early on. Kate taught her self-defense in her early teens, in case she found herself in a situation with a boy that she didn’t want to be in.
Megan saw Kate’s notes and asked, “Is that about our dead woman who was killed by her husband?”
Kate replied, “That would be alleged and of course there isn’t a drop of evidence that supports any of those theories.”
Megan replied, “I know, it isn’t about what you think, it is about what you can prove. What is this notation about an SUV?”
Kate answered, “We tied tire tracks and carpet fiber to her body being moved in a GM SUV. It would be their cheaper models, probably a Chevy.”
Megan asked, “Okay, so what do you do next?”
Kate replied, “We are compiling all of her friends from her contacts list and we will cross reference to see if any of them own a General Motors SUV.”
Megan said, “That sounds logical.”
Kate said, “We can take the photos off of her phone and extract the GPS coordinates from them to show where the photos were taken. Then we go to those locations and see if anyone there knows our victim.”
Megan said, “Impressive. I guess, but I am going to bed. I am going by to pick up Addison for school in the morning.”
Kate replied, “Wow, is she going back that soon? I figured she would take off for a few days.”
Megan responded, “Addison said she thought it would help to busy her mind with things other than thoughts of her mother. It seems to be her way of moving on. It isn’t so much that she wants to forget her mother but it just hurts so bad to remember.”
Kate said, “I have forgotten how mature you can be sometimes. You were a good friend for Addison today and I am proud of the daughter I raised.”
Megan went off to her room while Kate sat with her notes and her drink. She needed to go to bed soon herself but the “Jameson” still had some work to do. It had been a long day and she was tired, but she was too stressed from the case to fall asleep. It was almost like she was too tired to sleep.
It was times like these when Kate missed having someone to share things with in her life. But then she remembered that the husband she had wasn’t interested in anything she was sharing.
Kate could finally feel the Jameson was kicking in and she would be able to fall asleep. She put away her notes, went to her bedroom and kicked her shoes off in the corner. The only thing that was different about this day from all the days she had been through before was that there was no shoulder holster and Glock to hang up. She felt naked without it, having carried a gun for many years, either as a patrol officer and then finally as a detective.
Kate got ready for bed, brushing teeth and putting on night clothes. She crawled into bed where she usually read a little before turning out the light, but tonight her eyelids were too heavy to hold open to read. She turned out the light and pulled up the covers.
Jameson worked wonders and Kate slept soundly. There would not be the normal waking up in the middle of the night this night. Her alarm and an urgent need to piss worked together in waking her up. She made it to the bathroom but not with much time to spare. She was determined to go for a run and she had her jogging suit on quick enough she didn’t have time to change her mind.
She headed out the door and on toward the park where she went every morning. She couldn’t see any point in driving to the place where she would jog, the way some people did. She thought if you are going to jog, then jog.
She made it to the park in record time. When she started on the trail at the park she noticed a man following behind her. Maybe he was waiting for her to tire herself out, she wasn’t sure, but she watched him closely. He lagged back and she got a commanding lead so she called the station with her cell and asked for a patrol car to just drive by and check things out.
She continued to run and watch behind her. Her stalker finally disappeared from the trail, but she knew he could be taking an angular shortcut to get in front of her. She stayed on guard with her eyes wide open. She noticed some movement in the bushes about fifty yards ahead of her and she was prepared to go into that section.
Kate was ready for anything, but when she got to that area and saw the bushes move she heard a siren off to the side and saw a patrol car pull up and park. Both officers jumped out and ran into the bushes and dragged the man out where Kate could see him.
The officers grabbed the man and held him in place until Kate could get past him.. The man was protesting that he didn’t do anything and they had no right to detain him. He tried to talk but the officers told him he could plead his case with the judge.
One of the officers said, “You don’t understand, we didn’t come here because we were afraid for Kate’s safety, we were afraid of what she would do to you. She teaches self-defense to COPS and did a tour of duty in Afghanistan before becoming a cop. On top of all of that she can shoot the eyeball out of a gnat at a hundred yards. We came here to save your life.”
Kate had moved to just the other side of where the officers stopped the man. The officers called for another car to come take Kate home. The patrolmen holding the man told Kate they would see her soon at the station. When the other patrol car showed up to pick up Kate, her friends with the suspect drove away.
Megan saw the police car drop her mother off and waited for her to get inside. She asked, “What’s going on?”
Kate said, “I saw this weirdo following me and trying to sneak ahead in the bushes in front of me. I called for a patrol unit just in case and they quickly sent a car out fearing I might kill the guy. They are way too dramatic.”
Kate went to her bathroom to get a shower and get ready for the day and Megan left to pick up Addison for school. Megan was gone when Kate got out of the shower so Kate figured she was probably upset by the incident. Kate felt pretty good for the day. She got in a good run and had a good night’s sleep. You couldn’t ask for much more than that.