Chapter 25
TWENTY-FIVE
Katie drove toward her house, her mind still reeling with the case. She felt that she couldn’t keep her usual position of authority heading up the cold case unit if she didn’t take a moment for herself. Her current biggest fear was more of Shelby’s body showing up—or pieces of it.
When she pulled into her driveway, she saw her uncle’s white SUV.
The patrol cruiser was still parked on the street with a direct view of her house.
Katie sighed. She wondered if McGaven had called the sheriff because he was worried, or if her uncle had a sense that maybe something was wrong—or out of the ordinary.
She hadn’t yet sent a report regarding Ames, but he may have already heard about it.
She got out of her Jeep and the front door opened immediately with her uncle and Cisco there to greet her.
“Hey, Cisco.” To her uncle she said, “Is everything okay?”
“I think I should be asking you that,” he said.
Katie closed the door and put down her things next to the sofa. “I’m fine.”
“I’ve known you your entire life—and I know there’s something bothering you.”
Katie went into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, where she grabbed a bottle of cold water. She looked over to one of the living room tables where there was a small cat bed, which had the black cat curled up and fast asleep. She smiled. “Did you do this?”
“I came by earlier to check on Cisco. I had an hour, so I brought the cat to the vet’s to make sure she was okay and then picked her up a little bit ago.”
“That is the sweetest. So now I have a cat,” she said.
“A healthy cat, about a year old.”
“Cisco loves her.”
“What are you going to name her?” he said.
Katie thought about it and how the window was broken in the middle of the night. “I think we should call her… Midnight.”
“Sounds perfect,” said the sheriff. “Do you want something stronger than that,” he said, referring to her bottle of water.
“No.”
“C’mon, sit down.”
Katie sat next to her uncle, and Cisco took his place on the floor close to her. “Did McGaven call you?”
“No, why? Should he?”
“How do you always know when I need you?” she said.
“I don’t know…” he said softly. “But I guess I have to say it’s an instinct.”
Katie smiled. They sat quietly in each other’s company. Katie knew she would feel better talking to her uncle, but it was always difficult to begin.
The sheriff leaned close and hugged her. That was all it took to make her tear up.
Cisco stood up and faced her—he pushed his nose to her arm as if to say it’d be okay. Even Midnight stood up in her bed before she snuggled down again. Her uncle didn’t say anything, but provided support and let her decide when she needed to talk.
“I really don’t know what’s wrong,” she finally said.
“Is it this case?”
“No. At least I don’t think so.”
“I was contacted by Detective Stern about the shots fired.”
“He contacted you?”
“Of course. My officers were fired upon in his jurisdiction—he definitely did the right thing.”
Katie let out a sigh. “It wasn’t the first time Gav and I were shot at.”
Her uncle gave a solemn expression. “Unfortunately, it won’t be the last.”
“Does that worry you?” she said. “I’m sorry. The last thing I want to do is add more to your already heavy load.”
“Of course it worries me. But I trust you and your abilities. You also have McGaven and John. You are a great team. But sometimes…”
Katie looked at him. “Sometimes what?”
“I wished you would have become a kindergarten teacher instead,” he said and laughed.
“I don’t know… that could be scary with all those four- and five-year-olds…” she joked.
The sheriff looked at his watch.
“You have to go?”
“No, I was thinking we need a pizza.”
Katie and her uncle enjoyed their pizza and made sure the officer stationed outside Katie’s house received a couple of pieces. They didn’t talk about anything heavy, just lighthearted conversation as they got to know Midnight better.
The sheriff got up and went to the kitchen carrying the empty pizza box. Katie watched her uncle; she knew that she could trust him with anything, but it was still difficult to articulate.
“Katie, do you have something you want to talk about?” he said softly. He sounded more like her uncle instead of the county sheriff.
“I don’t know. Things have a way of working out.”
“They do, but sometimes it helps to talk about it.” He walked back to the sofa and sat down.
“There’s nothing wrong in the general sense. It’s just these cases with the body parts have me stressed and even a bit spooked.”
Her uncle listened and allowed Katie to get everything out in the open.
“And with Ames acting cagey and ditching me on the running trail.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry, I haven’t turned in my report yet.”
“What do you mean, ditched you?” His eyes grew narrow and his pupils darkened.
“I don’t know if it was a joke, like a hazing, or he wanted to prove something… it just left me unsettled.”
“And angry,” he said.
“Yes. But I don’t know why he did it. I guess he hates me. But I’m trying to clear him as a person of interest.”
“Of course. Shall I call his superior?”
“No, please don’t. I want to take care of this myself. Maybe there’s a logical explanation.”
The sheriff smiled. “Always trying to see the best in people.”
“If I wanted to do that, I wouldn’t have become a police officer.” Katie watched Cisco sleep, his paws twitching from a nice dream.
“I’ll let you figure it out, but I want some answers.”
“Of course.”
“Anything else bothering you?”
“Not really. I’m glad Gav is back… and… I’m still worried you’ll transfer him to the detective division, robbery/homicide.”
She watched her uncle’s response, which was difficult to read sometimes. He had honed his skills well over the years.
“I will let you know if that’s the case and it won’t be immediate if it is.”
Katie looked down. That wasn’t the answer she wanted to hear.
“I understand that Deputy Chris Anderson has been assisting.”
“Yes. He’s doing well,” she said. “Good instincts.”
“I know these cases are difficult and now with the connection to Rockview…”
Katie nodded, not able to meet her uncle’s gaze.
“If you need him, you can take him off patrol temporarily.”
Katie looked at her uncle. “That would be great. There’s a lot of files and research to go through. I was thinking he could get more information from Detective Stern. Maybe other cases that referred to Brandon? Other unusual homicides?”
“Whatever you need.”
Katie was relieved. “Thanks.” She knew she and Gav couldn’t cover every base.
“Now what movie do you want to watch?” he said.
After Katie’s uncle left, she felt much better. Maybe she was overreacting some? Tomorrow was another day to fill in the blanks and move forward in the investigation.
She went to bed early, but was awakened an hour later with John’s strong arms around her. It felt like a dream that she didn’t want to wake up from.
“Hey,” she whispered.
“Shh, you’re dreaming,” he said.
Katie smiled.
“I thought you could use some tenderness after being shot at today.”
“Just another day…” she said as she faded off back to sleep.