Chapter 65
THE REST OF the day was a whirlwind after Alain and I left the Tenderloin. I dropped Alain back at his hotel, and we made plans for him to come over tomorrow evening to meet Julie and Joe and enjoy a home-cooked meal.
Back at the office, I got stuck writing a report about the single gunshot.
It felt like a dozen bosses asked me about the shooting incident near the Luz Hotel.
Word gets around a police department quickly when there is even a hint of a shot being fired at a cop.
It was almost as draining as the event itself.
We all have days like this. I’d had no time alone because I’d been driving around with Alain all day. I was worried about the investigation. And most importantly, I had no idea why someone had taken a shot at us. Although I tried to play it down to anyone who asked me about it.
Plus, I still had to talk to Joe about it. I dreaded that as much as administrators asking me about the incident.
I finally made it home, feeling like a prisoner in the Russian Gulag as I trudged up to our building’s front door. Even running into Gloria Rose, our beloved neighbor and part-time sitter, didn’t perk me up.
I barely managed to get out, “Hey, Gloria.”
The elderly woman stopped me and said, “Are you all right, sweetheart?”
“I look that bad?”
“You look exhausted. Everything okay?”
I nodded and assured her it had just been a very long workday.
Inside our apartment, I breathed a sigh of relief. It was like entering a comfortable bunker. I like to pretend nothing can bother me inside our own apartment.
Joe and Julie were in the kitchen. I saw that Joe was wearing the apron Julie had made him back in preschool, white with a purple-crayon portrait of what I thought was a dinosaur.
I could tell by the look he gave me that he had a lot to say but was holding back for now.
I gave him a kiss on the cheek and then turned to catch Julie midflight as she leaped into my arms.
After I took a quick shower and changed into jeans and an oversized SFPD T-shirt, we had a dinner of chicken parmesan and a quick game of Go Fish.
Then Julie changed into her lavender unicorn pj’s and I read her a chapter from A Bear Called Paddington.
Before I’d even finished half of the short chapter, she drifted off.
One arm cuddled her beloved plush stuffed cow, Mrs. Mooey Milkington, and the other dangled off the side of the bed.
Martha lay on her favorite dog bed directly under Julie’s tiny hand. It made me smile.
It was time to gather my courage. I knew Joe expected a serious conversation.
I crept out of Julie’s bedroom and stepped into the living room.
I found my husband sitting in the recliner we called his Dad’s chair.
I dropped into my Mom’s chair, an oversized easy chair, and we turned them so we were facing each other.
Somehow my comfortable Mom’s chair didn’t feel like any protection.
Joe simply said in a calm voice, “Tell me about the shooting.”
“It wasn’t really a shooting.”
“Was there a gunshot?”
“Well, yes.”
“Did the bullet impact anywhere near you?”
“Yeah. Sort of.”
Joe sighed like a weary schoolteacher. “Then tell me about it.”
I couldn’t blow off my husband like I blew off some of my coworkers. I started with a very weak “It was nothing.”
“C’mon, Lindsay. Someone shooting at you is a big deal.”
“It could have been a coincidence.”
“Or it could have been a warning.”
“A warning about what? I’m nowhere on my homicide cases. No one knew we’d be in the Tenderloin. It’s just too far-fetched.”
Joe said, “Don’t tell me it’s just part of the job.”
“I know the public thinks that. No cop views being shot at as a regular part of the job. I’m taking it seriously.
” I had raised my voice without meaning to.
“I’m not sure what else you want me to do.
There were no witnesses who saw anyone with a gun.
The bullet impacted three feet above our heads.
I don’t have time to canvass the area and look for security footage. ”
Joe took a moment. He was treating this more like an interview with a suspect than a conversation with his wife. “Is there any chance that Alain Creasy could’ve been the target?”
“I considered that, but really, why would someone target him eight thousand miles from home?”
Joe nodded solemnly. “I guess that makes sense. But ignoring the whole incident isn’t a good idea.” He let out his breath, clearly unsatisfied. Finally, he said, “I’ll settle for a little more care and concern about your surroundings. Just for me and my sanity.”
I gave him a smile. “For you, anything.”