Unauthorized Obsession (Unauthorized Series Book 3)

by Ladew, Lisa

  “Who’s her boyfriend?”

  “He’s a recruit too. You know, the one who looks like a linebacker for the Green Bay Packers.”

  Joe’s eyes grew wide. He clamped his mouth shut and looked around quickly, like perhaps said boyfriend might have already heard and be heading in for a hard tackle. Kara laughed and threw him a wave as she strode out the door towards the elevators, her mouth instantly going dry as she prepared herself mentally for what she was about to do.

  Chapter 3

  Kara pushed through the double doors of the detective’s office and headed straight for the secretary’s desk. The large room looked almost empty. Besides the secretary, Kara saw only two people sitting behind desks.

  “Hi Glynda, did you manage to get me an appointment with someone?” she asked the efficient but sometimes difficult woman behind the desk.

  Glynda turned a hard and unforgiving eye to Kara. “Yep. Gale. She’s right there.” Glenda raised her chin to the left of her. Kara thanked her and headed that way. Sgt. Gale? Kara gulped and rummaged in her pocket for some gum. Why couldn’t she have gotten anyone but Sgt. Gale? Sgt. Gale was a legend in the department, one of the few women who had ever served on the SWAT team. A hard-charger who never made mistakes, never got emotional, and always closed her cases. A gorgeous blond with a chilly stare who had an unshakable marriage and a pedigreed background. Kara tried to imagine how Sgt. Gale was going to react to this old, cold, butchered case and couldn’t do it.

  Kara approached Sgt. Gale’s desk, a tentative smile on her face. Sgt. Gale didn’t look up. Kara touched the back of the chair that sat opposite the desk and cleared her throat. “Sgt. Gale? Glynda said you would see me about my case.”

  Finally, the Sergeant looked at Kara, her gaze as cold and gray as her expression. Kara’s smile faltered. She felt anxiety build in her chest. This was exactly what she didn’t need right now. She and Joe had bent a few rules and she didn’t want to deal with some hard ass who was going to rub that in her face. She knew Gale had to be a hard ass with the men, but did she have to keep that persona with women cops? Holding her hand steady, she presented the reports she had brought with her to Sgt. Gale.

  Gale waved them away and motioned to the papers on her desk. She already had the reports. Damn. She must have searched through the computer as soon as Glynda told her there was an officer-involved stalker case. “Why didn’t this get sent up to my office four months ago?” Sgt. Gale stabbed at the reports with one hand. A glint of metal in her fingers caught Kara’s eye and she followed it. A paper clip.

  Kara swallowed hard and tried to think of what to say. She shrugged and sat down. “We didn’t think it was a big deal.”

  “Not a big deal? Don't start my day by lying to me. A cop has a stalker and that stalker cuts off a prisoner’s hair and that’s not a big deal?” Sgt. Gale bent the paper clip in half several times while she was talking. Finally it split and she tossed it under her desk with a short, angry jab. Kara heard a soft clink of metal against metal. Sgt. Gale opened her upper right desk drawer and pulled out another paper clip. Kara shook her head slightly, trying to pull her attention away from Gale’s hands.

  “We looked into all of that. No one knows who cut off Dawn Reinold’s hair. Officer Bristow went to the prison and talked to the prisoner and the guards. The investigation is at a complete standstill because nobody saw anything or will say anything. The best we can figure right now –”

  Gale interrupted her, spitting fire, the split paper clip forgotten for a moment. “A complete standstill? Because two patrol officers couldn’t get any information out of some prisoners?” She spit out the word patrol like it was a diseased gland. “You know all cases regarding officers are to be forwarded to the detectives within twenty-four hours. Who is your desk sergeant?”

  Kara’s hopes fell into her shoes. This was not how she had wanted this to go. She didn’t want to get anyone else in trouble. She had asked Joe to make the report without ever telling the desk sergeant what it was about, that way she could cover her butt with a report and start an official investigation, but she wouldn’t get any undue attention. “The desk sergeant didn’t know,” she said softly.

  “Who is your desk sergeant?” Gale repeated, her face as hard as ever.

  Kara told her, silently cursing whoever this stalker jerk was who was doing this to her. She didn’t need this right now, or ever. If she got in trouble for this it could hurt her chances at being the first female Police Chief in Westwood Harbor. That was one of her most personal and secret dreams and she had never shared it with anyone yet. Not even Joe. Not even Ivy. Not even her dad, although she thought her dad suspected. He knew about her someday political aspirations and he was smart enough to put two and two together. But here she was in the detective’s office hearing those aspirations swirling down the drain, not to mention being reamed out by the one female cop on the force who could probably beat her there.

  Gale wrote the name down and started in on her again. “This case is cold now. Your actions have prevented us from catching this guy early. And now it’s going to be four times as hard just to find anything on him -”

  The black, old-fashioned phone on Gale’s desk began to ring, cutting her off mid-sentence. She ignored it and continued her tirade. Kara shrunk into herself. Besides not wanting to mess up her career, Kara hated it when anyone disliked her for no reason. She always went out of her way to be kind and polite to people and when the rare person reacted to her like this, it pushed her anxiety buttons.

  From across the room, Glynda yelled something. Kara couldn’t tell what it was, but she saw Sgt. Gale scowl and break off her ranting for a moment, paper clip number three held in one hand. She picked up the phone and spoke into it, her one word a clipped spear. “Gale.”

  She eyed Kara with distaste, then handed her the phone.

  “Hello?” Kara said tentatively, whooping with joy inside at the interruption.

  It was the desk sergeant. “Price, I need you to go on an alarm call, intruder seen entering the house, in the Edgewood district.”

  “Okay, I’ll go with Joe.”

  “Negative, he is already out on a domestic with his recruit. I’ve got your recruit down here. You guys can start a few minutes early.”

  “Okay,” Kara said, gritting her teeth and handing the phone back to Sgt. Gale. The only thing worse than going out on a call alone was going out with a brand new green recruit who you hadn’t even had a chance to talk to yet. But anything was better than staying here.

  “The sergeant says I have to go on a call.”

  Gale’s jaw tightened. “This isn’t over. You get your ass back here when you’re done.”

  Kara nodded and hurried away. Like hell.

  Back downstairs, she grabbed two radios and the keys to a patrol car. She passed the sergeant at a jog, heading to the exit. “Where’s my recruit?” she threw over her shoulder as she moved.

  He lifted his chin towards the bathroom and she rolled her eyes. As she passed the bathroom her recruit came out and Kara was immediately confused by his appearance. His uniform was rumpled, almost like he had slept in it. His boots looked dull and dirty. Disingenuously though, his mildly red hair and much redder goatee were strikingly neat. It was like he was a different person above and below the neck. She couldn’t quite place his age. Maybe thirty-five or forty? Old for a recruit. He seemed to trip over his own feet when he saw her. Inwardly, she groaned. Why was she stuck with a slug? Her few interactions with him so far had given her the impression of someone dull-witted and slightly slow. Not exactly what you want in a police officer.

  “Howell. You’re with me. Quickly,” she barked at him and pushed her way out the back door without waiting to see if he was keeping up.

  Blocking the afternoon sun from her eyes, Kara slid behind the wheel of patrol car number eighty-two and started the engine, then called into service with dispatch and asked for the address of the emergency they were being sent to. She noted her recruit
’s movements as he cautiously settled into the passenger seat. She threw the car into reverse and backed out of the stall, flipping on the lights immediately but holding off on the siren until they got out of the parking lot.

  They would be to the call in under ten minutes, giving her no time to get anything through to this recruit. She looked through his window past him and then weaved the patrol car through the stopping traffic on his side. His face wore a vapid expression of nervousness. Great. She could imagine him tripping over his own feet at the call and getting them both shot. He needed to stay back and stay out of the way and not do anything until she said it was okay. Kara was already in a black mood and the day seemed to be going downhill. Not what she wanted to deal with her first day with a new recruit.

  “We are headed to an alarm call with an intruder seen inside the house. There should be at least four of us going on this call, but we are the only two officers available. Now listen very carefully. This is the most important thing I’m going to say to you today and if you don't do exactly as I tell you, I’ll make sure you never get a chance to fuck up again. Got it?” She snuck a look at him. His formerly inane expression head turned wide-eyed and concerned. Good. She knew from experience the recruits normally didn't listen well their first day on the road unless you got loud with them. But she had his attention. Very good, since they would be at the call in about four minutes. “Keep your gun in its holster. The only way you pull that gun out of your holster is if I’m already shot dead. Got it?” She knew that recruits tended to be one of two ways – either they took way too long to resort to deadly force even when it was authorized and put everyone around them in danger, or they grabbed straight for the gun in every situation even when it wasn’t authorized, and put everyone around them in danger. She wouldn’t have a chance to figure out which way he went until it was too late so she was taking the easy way out.

  He grunted a yes and she looked at him again. He looked like a different person suddenly. His face was all hard lines and angry tension. He was pissed, and she didn’t understand why. Maybe because she was younger than him? Maybe he had a problem with women? She didn’t know, but it would bear watching.

  She flipped their siren off as they entered the neighborhood, then rolled down her window and found the house easily. The blaring whoop whoop of a house alarm emanated from a large white tri-level on the middle of the street full of noble and grandiose older houses. She had always loved this neighborhood. Kara pulled in front of the house and put the car in park, then told dispatch they had arrived on scene. She got out and rounded behind the vehicle, her eyes crawling over the house itself. “Stay behind me,” she growled at her recruit as he exited his side door.

  Here we go, she thought, dividing her mind equally between observing her recruit and keeping them both safe.

  Chapter 4

  The front door of the house was locked, so Kara and her recruit rounded to the back. She knew that the neighbor across the street had reported hearing the alarm and then seeing a male with no shirt on run into the backyard. Cautiously, Kara peeked into the yard and saw no movement. She picked up her radio and called dispatch. “Tell the alarm company to turn the alarm off.” The strident blaring was making it impossible for her to think.

  Turning to the house, Kara immediately noticed that the back patio door was standing open. She slunk close to the house and peeked inside, dropping her hand to her gun. A dark living room and kitchen, standing still and empty. She looked backwards and saw Howell, her recruit, two steps behind her, mimicking her movements, except his hands were at his sides. Good. She unsnapped her holster and stepped inside the living room. All at once, the alarm snapped off. The absence of sound left her ears ringing. Footsteps sounded to her left and she turned that way.

  A man entered the room from a hallway she couldn’t see in, something large and dark in his right hand, which was partially behind his hip. He stopped when he saw her, his expression startled. In one fluid movement, Kara drew her weapon and pointed it at his chest. Her quick glance didn’t tell her what was in his hand, and she didn’t have time to stare. If it was a gun she was in trouble. “Drop it!” she ordered.

  The man’s hands drifted slowly upward and his eyes grew wide. He opened his right hand and the something fell out on the carpet. Kara flicked her eyes downward and saw it was a phone. She relaxed, but only a bit. “Turn around, face the wall,” she ordered him. He did as she said. To her recruit, she said, “Pat him down and handcuff him.”

  Howell brushed past her and patted the man down like an expert. She was impressed in spite of herself. Within a minute, Howell had him handcuffed and turned around.

  Kara holstered her gun and walked forward. “Are you alone?” she asked. The man nodded and words spilled out of him. Kara studied him as he talked, assessing his truthfulness. He was tall, probably six feet, with short dark hair and a neat, dark goatee. His eyebrows were thick and gave him an exotic look. His chest was heavily-muscled and his ab muscles stood out, each looking chiseled enough to carve stone. A jagged three-inch scar on his left bicep drew her attention only for a second.

  He said he was a neighbor, and this was his friend’s house. The friend was away in Africa on a missionary trip for his church. He had been trying to call his friend to get the code for the alarm when it had suddenly shut off. Kara looked around at the house. It was awfully big for one person.

  “What’s the home-owner’s name?” she asked.

  “Lee Baker,” he answered. “Can I get out of these cuffs now?”

  She nodded to Howell who scrambled forward to unlock the man. “Let me see your driver’s license,” she told him. He patted the pockets of his jeans and Kara noticed how nicely his waist tapered into said jeans. She ignored the thought as completely inappropriate. Besides, she still wasn’t certain he wasn’t a criminal.

  “I don't have my wallet,” he said with a sheepish grin. Kara noticed a slight dimple on his left cheek and tried to un-notice it.

  She pursed her lips. “Well I can’t let you go until I see some ID from you. Or until we talk to Lee Baker. Give me his phone number.”

  The man showed her the number in his phone and she wrote it down in her notebook. She gave the notebook to Howell with instructions to have dispatch call and try to talk to the homeowner and also to have them talk to the alarm company and confirm that was the homeowner’s name and number. Howell disappeared out the back door, leaving her and the mystery man alone in the house.

  “What’s your name?”

  “Zane Michael Rowe.”

  Kara smirked and wrote the name down in her notebook. When she looked back up he was watching her closely. “Yes, like the Dirty Jobs guy,” he said with a relaxed, almost cocky smile. Kara felt slightly irritated at how quickly his manner had become carefree. She could still arrest him if she wanted to but he didn’t seem to know or care.

  She unhooked her radio from her belt and spoke into it. “Dispatch, give me a driver’s license check on a Zane Michael Rowe.”

  “10-4.”

  While she waited, she asked him for his birth date. “10-3-85,” he said, his smile widening and seemingly becoming cockier.

  Dispatch came back with the same information that he had just given her. Part of her was glad that it didn’t seem to be a lie and another part of her wondered where that came from. She spoke into her radio again, “10-4 Central, any wants or warrants?”

  “Negative.”

  She watched him closely. His smile had wilted slightly when she said wants or warrants, but had reappeared in full force when the voice over the radio came back with the negative. Maybe he was a criminal?

  “How did you get in?” she asked him.

  “The back door was unlocked. I don't know if Lee left it unlocked or if someone came in the door, but I already checked the whole house. There’s no one in here, and I don't think anything’s missing.”

  She nodded. “Where is your driver’s license? I need to make sure you are who you say you are
.”

  “It’s at my house – right next door, I’ll get it.” He looked tentatively towards the open door behind her.

  Kara stood aside and motioned towards the door, then followed him out of it.

  At the front of the house, she stopped at the patrol car to see what Howell had figured out. He was talking slowly and painfully to someone on the phone but she looked down at the notes he scribbled in his notebook and saw that the alarm company had indeed confirmed the home owner’s name and was trying to get a hold of him now. She tapped Howell on the shoulder and pointed towards the house next door. He nodded.

  Kara followed Mr. Rowe onto the front porch of the house next door. It was gorgeous, with wooden-shingle siding, red trim, and a large wraparound porch. He has to live here with someone. He probably has a wife and four or five kids. The thought caused a twinge of emotion in her and she furrowed her brow, trying to figure out what exactly the emotion was. Her eyes dropped involuntarily to his left hand where she saw no ring. A girlfriend then.

  “My wallet is in the kitchen,” he was saying as he opened the front door. His words were cut off by the noisy exodus of two large golden retriever dogs. The dogs swarmed him, licking every inch of exposed skin they could find and barely restraining themselves from jumping up and placing their paws on his shoulders. Kara stood back and watched the attention he was getting with a tiny smile growing on her face. The dogs were gorgeous, both a light red color, with fur that had been brushed until it shone.

  “Lucy! Kevin! No! Down! Go back inside!” He cried, trying to push them in the door. Both dogs noticed Kara at the same time and rushed for her. Kara tried to keep her stern police officer face on but found it impossible while both her hands were being licked and the dogs circled around her smelling every inch of her. Mr. Rowe came close to her and got a hand on both their collars, apologizing profusely and pulling them into his house. Kara waited on the porch, brushing dog slobber off of her uniform pants. She had planned to follow him inside, if only to get a look at the gorgeous house, but she decided to stay on the porch to avoid trying to brush red dog hairs off her pants for the rest of the night.