Chapter 5 #2
"I'm sorry, did you say that someone broke into my house?"
"Yes, miss, I-"
"I can't... I don't know what to do." She turned her back to the nurse's hub hoping to keep others from seeing her expressions. She didn't want to struggle in front of them. "Do you need me to come to the house right now? I’m not sure if I can get away from the ER."
There was a moment of odd silence on the other side of the phone call. "No!"
She leaned back from the handset of the phone, but she could still hear what was going on.
"Sorry. Am I speaking to Doctor Kay Hata? This is Detective Rafferty. I’ve heard about you at Cole Medical.”
“Yes,” she nodded, hesitating slightly. “I’m a doctor at Cole Medical Center.”
“Well, I hate having to bother you at work, but we received a call from your neighbor, James Langston."
Kay felt her heart seize in her chest. "Oh my god! Is he okay? Do we need to send an ambulance for him?"
"Uh... No, Doctor. I'm sorry. He's fine."
Kay turned her head to the side and cupped her hands over the handset to hear better. When the Emergency Room had people moving around, it could get really difficult to hear on a good day. "Okay? I'm not sure what's going on..."
"I'm sorry to say that your house has been broken into."
"My... my house?"
Kay stood there, staring at the wall, not really seeing much of anything in front of her.
Through the phone she heard the sound of a commercial vehicle backing up.
"I know you're working, Doctor. I can have a company come over and board up the window. We have a few companies we normally call to secure homes after a break in."
Her mouth was dry, and it felt like she had to peel her tongue off of the roof of her mouth.
"What... what windows are broken?"
"The broken windows are at the back of the house. Behind some bushes."
Kay leaned heavily against the desk.
Those bushes.
The bushes that she knew were overgrown.
The same bushes that she knew were a danger.
She read those articles about single women in their homes and their safety.
Kay groaned softly. "I'm sure my next-door neighbor Jack is going to say, 'I told you so.'"
"Excuse me?" The detective... Detective Rafferty, was talking to her. "Which neighbor?"
She shook her head and mumbled an apology under her breath. "Jack Nelson. He's on the other side of my house from Mister Langston," she explained. "He works for the city, and he printed out one of those 'Women's Safety' articles they ran in the paper and slipped it under my front door."
"Oh?" Detective Rafferty's voice lifted a little. "Is there a reason why he's so concerned about your safety?"
Kay pressed her fingertips to her forehead.
"I don't think he was concerned about my safety so much as just wanting something to complain about.
When I bought the house, I think he'd planned on buying it for himself or someone he knows, but when the house went up for sale he was on vacation, and I made a good offer, so the seller accepted it before Jack returned.
Since I moved in, he hasn't been shy about his opinions.
" She sighed. "I don't pick up the leaves fast enough.
My trash can is too close to the curb. Not close enough to the curb.
And then there was my landscaping or lack thereof. "
"Do tell..."
"Well, I had plans of putting in a more natural garden in the front and back, but he said it was just messy. So then I put in some bushes at the back of my house to provide some cover for my windows, and that cost quite a bit-"
"I bet." The detective chuckled. "Full grown bushes?"
"That's what I mean. I put them in because his bedroom on the second floor has a direct line of sight into my bedroom and my bathroom, that's when he started talking about how dangerous it is to cover my windows with bushes like that. He tried to tell me that people could hide in those bushes."
"And that's when he put that printed article under my door."
"Do you remember the title of the article?"
Kay hummed under her breath. "Sorry, no. I don't remember the title. I gave it a glance. Saw Jack's handwriting on it, saying something like... 'I told you it's dangerous' or 'I'm right about it being dangerous.'"
"Interesting."
"Actually, it wasn't." She tried to laugh, but it fell flat.
"I'm going to talk to your neighbor and see where he's been all day."
Kay felt tears gathering in her eyes. "This is so frustrating!"
The other end of the call was silent, and she muttered to her herself before she apologized out loud. "I'm sorry, Detective. It's not your fault."
"I've heard worse." His sigh sounded all too familiar. "Are you okay if I call someone to board up the windows?"
"Yes," the word was pulled from her throat.
She didn't want to deal with it at the moment.
She wasn't going to call out of work because someone broke into her house.
The hospital was already busy and if she called for someone to come and take over her shift it would likely take more than an hour for someone to be able to show up.
"Yes, I'm sorry, Detective Rafferty. I would really appreciate your help with my windows.
I don't... I don't want to know what happened inside. "
"I can understand that. Having your home invaded like that can feel really personal.
I'm going to leave my card on your kitchen table.
If you would do me the favor, please contact me when you get home.
You can email me a list of anything that might be missing.
And anything that might be damaged. If you have pictures and receipts from when you bought the items that will be helpful as well. "
Her head was aching. "Yeah. I... I have some of that for my electronics and some artwork. I don't have much beyond that worth holding onto receipts."
"Okay. Please feel free to contact me if you want to add to what we've said on this call. Oh. I'm also going to leave you a brochure on victim's rights and services from the city."
"I'm sure Jack will slip one under my door." She bit down on her lip, hard. "I'm... I'm sorry, Detective. That was uncalled for. I'm upset, but I don't have to be cruel."
He chuckled. "That's not cruel. Doctor Hata."
"Kay. Please, call me Kay. For all I know you've been in my bedroom."
He cleared his throat. "I'm afraid I had to clear the house."
"Yeah... I can imagine." She sighed. "I've seen TV dramas. I have basic TV knowledge of what you do, which is probably worthless right now."
"Kay?"
She squeezed her eyes shut and hated how close she was to tears. "Yeah?"
"You can be mad. You can be mean. It's all okay.
Having someone break into your private space is never easy.
Don't worry about feeling, doing, or saying the 'right thing.
' Right now, you just need to take care of yourself.
And be safe. I know that you'll want to check things out at the house when you get here, please, if you see something that you think has been disturbed, don't touch it.
Make note of it and call me or if you'd like, you can call and talk to another detective, and they'll come over and call in the Crime Scene Investigations team.
They can see about DNA or fingerprints left behind. "
Oh, she hadn't thought of that immediately.
That's how tangled up she felt.
"Okay. I'll... I'll make sure to look things over before I touch anything." She swallowed hard and felt her throat burning with a mix of anger and frustration. "Thank you, Detective. You've... you've been wonderful, explaining all of this to me."
"Anytime, Doctor Kay. Any time."
Gibson drove up to Kay's house and felt his heart clench in fear.
He knew why he'd been called there, but driving up, seeing the flashing lights on Rafferty's SUV and the uniformed officer standing out front on the sidewalk put his mind in a dangerous place.
Her house had been broken into.
And thank God she'd been working. If she'd been home alone things could have ended up... a complete disaster.
The uniformed officer lifted her chin in greeting. Her blonde hair was pulled back away from her face, and he knew there would be a tight bun at the nape of her neck.
Gibson managed a smile for the officer. "Joe. How are things?"
She smiled at him. "Lieutenant. Everything is good. Jon says there's a community event coming up?"
Gibson nodded. Jon Lee Matsumoto, 'Mats,' as they called him at Fire House Twenty-Nine, was her husband. "I'll make sure he gets you all the information."
She nodded. "I'm glad the detective called you. I always get nervous when there's a break in at a house for a single woman."
He nodded. "It's going to be difficult for her knowing that a stranger was in her house. I'm glad Jake called me."
He saw the way Joe tilted her head to look at him.
She might be married to Mats, but she was definitely a police officer. She had the mind and skills to become a detective, and she was training her well trained eyes on him. "You know the doctor, Lieutenant?"
Gibson smiled. "You know that everyone knows everyone in the first responder community, right?"
The look she gave him was tantamount to calling him out on his bullshit. "Okay, so this is a private thing. Got it."
Gibson turned his head as Jacob Rafferty stepped out onto the sidewalk from the neighboring property. "Jake. Thanks for the call."
Jacob wore his job well as a detective. Contrary to some of the officers that Gibson had met, men who seemed to be languishing in their jobs and not all that eager to keep up with the world around them, Jacob kept himself at the forefront of his health and his skills.
Jacob lifted his chin in greeting. "No problem. I love throwing you business. It's good that you send me your schedule when you get it." He pointed at the house over his shoulder. "The owner is a Doctor at Cole. Doctor-"
"Kay." Gibson probably should have held back, but he'd blurted it out. "Kay Hata. I know her."