Chapter Twenty-Six
Kate and Cindy prepared for the possibly lengthy time they would be spending in the car. They had a thermos of coffee and a bag full of burgers.
Cindy said, "It will take a lot of running to make up for these burgers."
Kate replied, "I know. This safety deposit box place closes at eight, I don't see any point staying after that and it opens at nine. We can leave your car here and you can ride with me and I will bring you back in the morning. Since we are running early in the morning you are welcome to stay on my couch tonight. I would appreciate you holding down the sex talk in front of my daughter though."
Cindy replied, "Of course I understand about your daughter. Staying on your couch makes sense right now."
Kate said, "One thing to note, you can tell you have been on a stakeout because your car smells like burgers for a week."
Cindy smiled and said, "Yeah, or burritos. Have you been on a lot of stakeouts?"
Kate answered, "Not as much since I made lieutenant but a lot in my earlier years. I went from patrol to detective and never worked undercover because I was raising Megan and I just couldn't be away for that long at a time."
Kate and Cindy watched closely and ate their burgers. Eight o'clock came and went and they saw the manager of the place come out and lock the door.
Kate said, "I think we are safe to leave now, we can come back in the morning and start again when they open."
Cindy said, "We ate burgers early, I am open for dinner."
Kate replied, "That sounds good, I need something as well. Let me call Megan to see if she wants to join us."
Kate checked her phone app to see that Megan was at home. She called and asked. Megan said she wanted to go with them.
Megan didn’t really want to go out but was hungry. She suggested Pizza at the house and they could all stay in. Kate thought it was a viable solution. Megan said she would order the Pizza and Kate told her to use the debit and pay for it when she called it in.
Cindy said, “Since it is so late this seems to be a good answer for dinner. I wanted to take you and Megan out for a nice dinner soon. I would like to get to know her. I never had any kids of my own and I like kids.”
Kate said, “Technically, Megan is just barely a kid. She is seventeen and will be off to college soon.”
Cindy asked, “Are you having a hard time dealing with the thought of her leaving the nest and going out on her own?”
Kate replied, “Yes I guess I am. She has been my entire family ever since Connor and I divorced. “
Cindy asked, “Is Connor still in the picture for Megan?”
Kate replied, “He had weekends for the first few years and then he remarried the woman he was cheating with and they moved away.”
Cindy remarked, “I guess it isn’t true.”
Kate asked, “What isn’t true?”
Cindy replied, “That married men never leave their wife for the mistress, evidently sometimes they do.”
Kate responded, “Well they had a head start. They were high school sweethearts and they broke up, she went off and married someone else and then so did he. She was miserable and wished she had him back. He never got over her so they reconnected and he dumped his entire family. That’s the short version.”
Cindy replied, “Sometimes the highlight reel gives you all the information you need. How much of this does Megan know?”
Kate answered, “I couldn’t tell her that her father was a cheating dog that abandoned us when we needed him most. She thinks he just left because I worked all the time. She doesn’t know that Conner’s high school sweetie kept him from being lonely on those nights I was working my ass off.”
Cindy detected the shift in Kate’s tone and decided it was time to change the subject. They were arriving at Kate’s home and Cindy was hungry. Kate saw the pizza guy pull up just as she parked. She knew that Megan had already paid the tab and she watched as Megan signed the receipt and the delivery guy handed her the pizza.
Kate said, “I am starving, let’s go eat.”
When they got inside she noticed Megan had three plates sitting on the table with forks and the crushed red pepper and Parmesan sitting out. Kate was amazed at how grown up Megan was getting.
Cindy asked, “Do you have any beer?”
Kate said, “Yeah, there is some in the fridge.”
Megan asked, “What about me?”
Kate was silent for a moment, then said, “Okay, but just one. If you are going to drink, I want you to do it here, in front of me.”
Cindy said, “I hope I didn’t start something.”
Kate replied, “You didn’t, I probably will have one myself, we are having pizza you know. My little girl has been demonstrating some signs of maturity. I have to learn to loosen the leash a little and trust her. I don’t want her to go off to college and spend all her time trying to find out about the things I wouldn’t let her do while she was home.”
Kate opened a bottle of beer and set it down beside Megan. Megan smiled, one of the few smiles she ever directed toward her mother.
Cindy said, “Guiness I see, I should have guessed that.”
Kate replied, “I have to be true to my heritage.”
The three women sat and talked like three girlfriends spending a Saturday night together. Megan was laughing and joking in ways Kate hadn’t seen in a while.
Megan asked, “What’s new with the case? Have you figured out how the husband could have done it yet?”
Cindy asked, “Oh, a fan of the husband as the killer?”
Megan replied, “The husband is always the killer.”
Kate replied, “That is true in about-eighty five percent of the cases but that means in fifteen percent of the cases, it isn’t him.”
Cindy responded, “We are going to get a look in the safety deposit box and see if that gives us a reason for murder.”
After their dinner and conversations, Kate was clearing off the table and heard Megan and Cindy talking on the couch.
Cindy asked, “Does it bother you that your mom works late sometime?
Megan replied, “It used to bother me a lot when I was young, but when I got older, I understood more. I know she does a lot of good and people depend on her to find the killers of their loved ones.”
Kate worked hard to look busy but she took the opportunity to listen into her daughter's conversation. She thought if she kept her distance and looked busy Megan might be more candid and tell how she really felt.
Cindy said, “I guess you got to know Sean pretty well. He was your mom’s partner for a long time.”
Megan said, “Yes I did and he was around a lot after my dad moved off and was a male influence in my life. I am just really glad he survived being shot.”
Cindy said, “That sounds good that he was around at a time when your father wasn’t. It must have been nice that he was so easy on the eyes too.”
Megan replied, “Oh yes, Sean was definitely a babe and he was way younger than my father so I couldn’t think of him as a father figure and he was married with kids so I couldn’t think of him in that way either. He was a good friend and I knew I could count on him. The most important thing was, he had my mom’s back. I was always afraid when she left and I knew she was working on something.
Cindy said, “Megan, for the record, I have your mom’s back now. I will always look out for her.”
Kate finished up in the kitchen and walked into the living room carrying some blankets and a pillow.
Kate said, “We need to get some sleep, Megan has school tomorrow and we have a stakeout to conduct.”
Kate was grateful to her for helping to reveal some of her daughter’s thoughts about her. From her actions she always thought Megan hated her, but maybe they just needed to work on communication. The five thirty run would be here before you knew it.
Kate was glad that her daughter and partner were getting along so well, as long as they didn’t get into Cindy’s lifestyle, things would be fine. Kate would try to catch anything that was inappropriate and steer those conversations elsewhere.
Kate asked Cindy, “Can I get you anything else before Megan and I turn in?”
Cindy replied, “I have pillows and blankets, I shouldn’t need anything else.”
Kate and Megan went to their own rooms and Cindy didn’t waste any time falling asleep, her head barely had time to hit the pillow.