Kate's Christmas

by Sarah Holman

  Her blood was still running cold. She had looked into the faces of criminals before, but this felt so different. That someone so sinister was hiding in such a normal setting was horrifying. That someone who was out to kill people could hang out with his mom made her feel ill.

  She took another breath and pulled out her phone. She flushed the toilet once to make noise and typed out a message to Thomas in the secured app to let him know Calvin was in the house.

  Sending a surveillance team.

  Surveillance? Shouldn’t all the law enforcement agencies be rushing in to grab him? She glanced toward the door. She didn’t want to go out there and stand in the same room as someone who had been killing people. It still didn’t even make sense. He came from a good family who still cared for him. He had people who wanted to be his friends. What would drive him to do something like this?

  She stepped out, grateful Logan had helped her through this. She was just in time to see Calvin hugging his mom.

  “Make sure to get back soon,” Penny said, patting her son’s shoulder. “We don’t get to see you often enough.”

  Calvin smiled indulgently. “You know my work keeps me pretty busy, but I’ll try to get back here soon.” He tipped his head toward everyone else and walked out of the house.

  Kate looked to Logan. Shouldn’t one of them run after him? They couldn’t lose sight of him.

  “Are you feeling bad again?” Janice asked.

  Kate shivered. “Yeah, I’m sorry.”

  “I’ll go get some medicine from my purse,” Logan said and headed toward the door.

  Kate returned to the bathroom. She was starting to feel as sick as she was pretending to be. Would this creep get away? She tapped out a frantic message to Thomas.

  I told you surveillance is on the way. Don’t panic on me, agent.

  Kate wanted to hit something. People were dying. This was no game! A memory from a year before flashed in her mind. Patrick shielding her and Kim with his own body—whispering Scriptures. She knew the psalm well, as she had repeated it over and over again to herself.

  She slipped to her knees and started mouthing the words.

  “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.”

  The sick feeling didn’t go away, but something deep within her shifted. She had to remember there was someone much bigger than her in control.

  “I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.’”

  The sick feeling started to ease. Was this why Patrick did this? Did it ease his fears? Well, it seemed to work.

  “He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge.”

  Wait, had she skipped a verse? Oh yes, she had.

  There was a tap at the door. “Kathrine?”

  Kate jumped to her feet and opened the door. Logan stepped in. “Here you go, and here is some peppermint oil that Mrs. Oke gave me. She said you can smell it or you can rub it on your belly.” Logan reached out and gripped Kate’s hand.

  To her surprise, Kate found that it was trembling.

  “Are they on their way?” Logan’s hand pressed against her leg, no doubt wishing her gun was there.

  Kate nodded, squeezing Logan, feeling comforted that she was not alone in her fear. “They’re coming but…” She took a deep breath. “God is with us now.”

  Logan hugged her tight. “I needed that reminder.” The next moment she exited the bathroom.

  Kate decided that the peppermint wouldn’t hurt, so she used the remedy before she left and prayed that Thomas would get here soon. She stepped out and saw Janice and Logan working on the torn hem.

  “Are you okay?” Mrs. Oke asked.

  Kate smiled sheepishly. “I’m embarrassed. I should have stayed home.” Or at least not reacted like a rookie.

  Mrs. Oke put her hand on her shoulder. “I always feel worse after a car trip. Things like this are hard to predict.”

  Kate sat and nodded. She watched Logan and Janice work and prayed that the surveillance team would be able to keep up with Calvin. After a few minutes Kate messaged Patrick, making sure her phone wasn’t visible to anyone.

  I saw him. Thomas sent people after him. I’ve never had a sensation like that.

  The response was quick to come. Where are you? Are you safe?

  She smiled at his concern. He’s gone. I’m safe. Minutes ticked by and Kate did other things on her phone to pass the time.

  Can we talk after the team meeting?

  Her heart warmed. Of course. She wondered if he had ever felt how she had when she looked at Calvin. At this moment, she couldn’t be more grateful to be with this team and that they had stuck with her. Going through this with friends was easier.

  What It Will Take

  Saturday, December 5 5:45PM

  He’s gone. I’m safe.

  Patrick let out a sigh of relief. He prepared to send another message.

  “I assume you didn’t find anything when you were out on the streets.”

  Patrick straightened and pocketed his phone. “No, sir. I would have called.”

  Thomas let out a long breath and pulled the fedora from his head and twirled it in his hands. “I know you would have.”

  “Kate sent me a message that she had seen the guy.”

  “Our surveillance people have already spotted him and are watching him.”

  Patrick nodded, but he wasn’t fully relieved. He wanted to bolt out of the room and see for himself that Kate and Logan were okay. Why was he so protective of them? It wasn’t like they couldn’t handle themselves. He supposed that he was pretty old-fashioned and protective of girls, however capable they might be.

  “I heard from our superiors.” Thomas leaned against the table.

  “Aren’t they happy? At least we have a person we are tracking.”

  “It was about Kathrine going home for Christmas.”

  He hadn’t expected to hear that at this moment. Since they had, he assumed it was a short and sweet no.

  Thomas put his fedora back on his head. “They said that she could go home, but there is a condition.”

  “I knew it, they wanted a kidney after all.” Even to himself, his attempt at humor fell flat.

  Thomas gave a slight smile, despite the poor attempt.

  Patrick nodded and folded his hands behind his back. He was sure that Kate would agree to anything to get home.

  “They want you and Logan to go with her.”

  The air left his lungs. That would mean that he and Logan would miss Christmas with their families. He hadn’t been home to see his folks in too long. He was looking forward to the Christmas break. Logan? She had her family and a boyfriend. How could they even ask her to give that up?

  “Of course, Kim could take Logan’s place; I arranged that much.”

  “I could do what?” Kim asked, entering the room.

  Patrick shook his head, but Thomas didn’t take the hint.

  “The only way that Kathrine can go home is if Patrick and one of the girls accompany her back. Logan was requested but they agreed you would work just as well.”

  Kim glanced between them before her gaze settled on Patrick. “We have a staff meeting. We don’t have time for this.”

  Thomas moved off as Brian reentered the room. Patrick took a step forward and rested his palms on the table. “What is wrong, Kim? Why are you so set against Kate going home?”

  “As I said, we have more important discussions to have right now.” Kim kept typing away at her keyboard.

  “No, I don’t think we do. I did it right this time. I went through proper channels and will abide by their decisions. Why are you so set against this moving forward?”

  “Thomas said no.”

  “That isn’t the real reason and you know it. He just said yes.”

  Kim slammed her laptop closed and her brown eyes lifted to his, anger flashing within. “She thinks she can go back and make everything right with her f
amily. It doesn’t work like that.”

  Patrick took a step back. “Why not? Isn’t that what Christ asks us to do? Forgive and reconcile?”

  “It can’t always be that way.” She stood, clutching her laptop to her chest.

  Patrick took in her body language and took a deep breath. “You’re right. It can’t always be fixed with a trip home and an apology. Sometimes, we have to forgive and the other people refuse any overtures of reconciliation. But sometimes God grants us amazing moments of forgiveness and reconciliation. Not everyone is like your family.”

  “This isn’t about my family,” Kim said through gritted teeth.

  Talk about a role reversal. Patrick had been the one to receive so many lectures and reproving looks from Kim. He had deserved them too. Now she needed him to return the favor. “I think that’s exactly what it’s about. Examine your own heart. Can you really say that you’re truly only concerned about following the rules? I think if you look, you’ll find that you’re jealous. Kate has an opportunity to do what you long to do: make things right with her parents. It’s hard to watch someone get what has been denied to you.”

  Kim opened her mouth and then closed it. She sat down and opened her laptop. Patrick typed out a quick message to Kate asking if they could talk after the meeting.

  “Thanks to Logan and Kate’s quick action, we’ve located our number one suspect. Now comes the difficult part.” Thomas leaned forward. “We have to figure out how to catch this guy without putting anyone at risk.”

  Patrick didn’t like the sound of that. “So I’m guessing they don’t want to send in a team to nab him at home?”

  Kate shook her head. “These bombs are well designed and made with ingredients that are easy to obtain.”

  “So, anyone can make them?” Logan asked.

  “No, it would take someone with a lot of knowledge and skill to make something like this,” Kate said.

  “Could you make one?” Patrick was too curious not to ask.

  She smirked in response. “With how much you and Brian get on his nerves, do you really want Thomas to have that information?”

  Patrick placed his hand over his mouth.

  Brian didn’t even try to hide his laugh. “Okay, so it isn’t like we can stop his supply of this stuff.”

  Kate shook her head. “Sadly, if you know what you are doing, you can make bombs out of common materials. This kid is smart and knows what he’s doing.”

  That wasn’t a comforting thought. Patrick looked up into the pictures of Calvin flashing across their screen. He looked like such a solid, upstanding kid. “Do we know his connection to the school?”

  “I know the answer to this one,” Logan said, tossing her ball into the air. “His family has done quite a bit of work with the college. I know that they’ve come alongside some of the young men who have been struggling in their studies and tried to be a friend to them. Mr. Oke is part of a mentorship program at his church and almost always has a student under his wing.”

  “Could Calvin be jealous of the time they got?” Patrick asked.

  “Could one of them have abused him in some way?” Brian asked.

  Thomas held up his hands. “I know that all of us would like answers to the why question, but we have to keep our focus on what is most important: catching him before he sets off any bombs. We need to find a way to do it without putting any civilians at risk.”

  “Where is he?”

  Thomas used his remote and a map of the city appeared on the screen and then zoomed into an older neighborhood. “This house is owned by Calvin. From what we have gathered, he has rented three of the bedrooms out to other young men. Several of them have come and gone while surveillance has been watching. Here you will see a blueprint of the house.”

  Kim nodded. “We’ve had a couple of people, including myself, strike up conversations with some of those that live inside. Nothing about the other occupants has raised any red flags.”

  Thomas pressed a button and pictures of the other occupants appeared. “We are still checking these people out, but so far they look clean, as Kim said. Calvin reentered the house as soon as he left his parents’ home and hasn’t come out since.”

  “So, he could be sitting in there making a bomb and we aren’t doing anything?” Logan looked around the table, as if expecting someone to jump up and go nab the guy.

  Kate folded her hands and leaned forward. “Thomas and I talked about this with another bomb expert. Because nothing this guy has bought raised any red flags, we have no idea how many of his bombs we are dealing with. We can’t risk him blowing up the house and taking out everyone around.”

  Patrick shifted in his seat. “He could have enough to do that?”

  She turned her brown eyes to meet his. He knew before she spoke how serious the situation was. “Yes. We have to wait until he’s in the open and the risk is minimal.”

  “In the meantime, we need to keep digging into Calvin’s background.” Thomas glanced at the clock. “Before we do that, everyone get something to eat. We’ll regroup and get to work in an hour.”

  Patrick moved toward Kate. “Hey, can we have that talk now?”

  She glanced toward Thomas and Kim. “Sure.”

  Extravagant Gift

  Saturday, December 5 6:20PM

  While she chewed her sandwich, Kate watched Patrick. They talked about the upcoming Dickens festival and their favorite places around town since they weren’t alone in the corner of the hotel restaurant. However, two other patrons had just left. She was pretty sure from the long pause in their conversation that she was about to hear what he wanted to tell her.

  “I spoke with Thomas about you going to Arizona for Christmas.”

  Her heart sank. His blue eyes didn’t quite meet hers. “It’s okay, Patrick. I thank you for talking to him.”

  She set down her sandwich and busied herself with wiping crumbs, suddenly having the childish urge to cry. She felt his hand rest lightly on her wrist and she looked up.

  He folded his arms across his chest. “His superiors said that you could go home if Logan and I went with you for protection.”

  “What?” Anger and a sick feeling warred for dominance. “How could they even ask you to give up your time with your family? And Logan? Thank you for trying.” She stood but again he reached out and touched her wrist. She looked down at him and he tilted his head toward her vacant chair. She sat back down and stared at her half-eaten sandwich.

  “I already talked with Logan. We’re going to go with you.”

  “What?” The anger from the moment before drained out of her and shock filled her.

  Patrick looked down at the table. “Kate, we have all been telling you about the importance of doing what God says—about living according to His will and making things right with others. You feel compelled to make things right with your parents. What kind of friends would we be if we didn’t help you?”

  Something wet slipped off Kate’s nose and she reached up to wipe the tears that had come to her eyes. “I can’t let you miss Christmas with your families. It isn’t fair.”

  Patrick smiled and held out a napkin to her. “My father is a pretty wise man. One of the things that he told us a lot growing up was that life isn’t fair. It never has been, and it never will be.”

  She felt a smile tug at her lips in response as she used the offered napkin to wipe her eyes. She watched as the memory brought light to his eyes, but it quickly dimmed and he turned his attention back to her.

  “You’re right, this isn’t fair of them to ask this of us, but this is how we can get you home. You can refuse to allow us to help you do that, but as your friend I’m telling you that I think that would be a mistake. Let us help you do this.”

  Kate chewed on her lip and looked away.

  “Hey.”

  She lifted her gaze to meet his.

  “Friends make sacrifices for each other. Logan and I will be undercover as friends of yours who have nowhere to go for the holidays
. She’s your best friend and I’m her brother who’s tagging along.”

  “I don’t know if I should accept. It seems like too much.”

  He smiled. “That’s what Christmas is all about, Kate. God sent us an extravagant gift, one we didn’t deserve and one He knew many people wouldn’t accept. All He asks is that we accept the gift, no matter how unworthy we feel. When you allow your friends to do things like this for you, or you give gifts like it to others, it is only a small picture of what Christ has done for us.”

  “How come God has given me a friend like you and so many other people have to deal with so much hardship?”

  Patrick smiled. “Haven’t you heard? God thinks you’re pretty special.” He winked and then stood. “We better get back to work. Somehow I think that our gesture won’t mean a lot if we can’t get this guy soon.”

  Kate rubbed her temples and glanced at the clock. Two in the morning. This room had been buzzing with people and data for hours. If they still printed files, Calvin would have a couple telephone books worth of paper on the table. The more they found out about him, the more she was convinced Calvin was their man.

  A year ago, he had bought and moved into the house he now lived in. According to the girlfriend of one of the young men at the house, Calvin was very protective of his space and always kept it locked. When asked about it, he would deflect the question by mentioning his years of living in a small home with his family.

  Kate scrolled through his work records. Six months ago, he was fired from his job at a manufacturing plant because he was being combative and not showing up for work on time. As far as they could tell, he hadn’t had a job since.

  He didn’t have a girlfriend and didn’t interact with the other tenants of the house beyond what was required as the landlord.

  Logan had gone back to Janice’s house and spoken with the family more. Apparently, his family still thought that he was working for the manufacturing plant. She surmised from a lot of things said that the last six months, he had been more distant than normal, but they had attributed that to his beliefs being so different than theirs.