Becoming Forever (Waking Forever Series)

by McVea, Heather

  “I don’t think they’re -” Before Ash could complete her thought the dark haired woman kissed Emma full on the lips, and Emma smiled and whispered something into the woman’s ear before placing a kiss on her neck. “I’ll be damned.”

  “You really need to have that gaydar tuned up.” Alan had just started on his third martini.

  Ash shook her head, and turned to face her friend. “You’re one to talk, you think everyone is gay.”

  Alan tisked disapprovingly. “No. I hope everyone is gay.”

  Ash laughed. “Well, I admit I missed the signals from the good doctor. But you can’t blame me.” Ash nodded toward Emma. “The woman talks like a textbook, and is so - so proper.”

  “Whatever that means.” Alan hopped off the bar stool, martini in hand.

  “Where are you going?” Ash asked.

  “To introduce myself, of course.” Alan began walking toward the iron and wood staircase.

  Nearly choking on her beer for the second time, Ash quickly got up from the bar and hurried after her eager friend. “Al!” She didn’t want to draw attention, so attempted a loud whisper. “Alan!”

  Undeterred, Alan walked up the stairs with Ash in tow. As he got closer to the two women, he realized his initial impression of Dr. Atman was incorrect. The woman wasn’t just gorgeous, she - and her friend - were incredibly beautiful. Their pale, almost porcelain like skin was flawless.

  Emma’s long hair was thick and resembled honey colored silk. By contrast, her friend’s hair was a velvet like mane of obsidian.

  Clearing his throat, Alan approached the pair. “Good evening, ladies.”

  Emma looked up first, and smiled. “Good evening.” She tilted her head slightly to the right and her gaze fell on Ash who had just caught up with Alan, and now stood behind him. “Detective Haines?”

  Ash forced the nervous expression from her face, and smiled. “Emma. Funny running into you here.” She winced as Alan turned and gave her a disapproving look. “What?” She knew she was lame, and hardly needed her best friend to point that out.

  “Excuse my friend’s manners.” Alan extended his right hand. “I’m Alan Martelli, Ash’s oldest and dearest friend.”

  Ash took a step forward so she was standing shoulder to shoulder with Alan. “I’m sorry. Alan Martelli, this is Dr. Emma Atman. She’s a Deputy Medical Examiner for Bexar County.”

  Emma was clearly amused, and her smile broadened as she took Alan’s hand in hers. “Nice to meet you, Alan. This is Coleen Andrade. Coleen, this is Detective Ashley Haines and her friend Alan Martelli.”

  Coleen rose from the wood and metal stool she had been sitting on next to Emma. “Christ, Em, with all this formality, it’ll be next week before we get through introductions.”

  Coleen stepped around Alan, and reached toward Ash and took her right hand in both of hers. “Coleen Andrade. Pleasure.”

  Ash’s breath caught at the coolness of the raven haired woman’s hand. The intensity of her blue eyes rivaled Emma’s, and Ash was having a hard time not staring. “Good to meet you too.”

  Ash looked past Coleen in time to see Alan pulling two stools over from an adjacent table. “Alan, we really shouldn’t intrude.”

  Emma reached across Alan and effortlessly lifted the wooden stool up and over the high top table, positioning it in front of Ash. “Nonsense. Please sit.”

  Ash shook her head. Realizing Coleen was still holding her hand, she smiled as she slowly pulled it from the woman’s grasp. “It looks like the two of you are together, and enjoying each other’s company and –”

  “Coleen and me?” Emma winced. “Oh no. We’re friends.”

  Taking a step back, and assuming her position next to Emma, Coleen laughed. “You don’t have to sound so emphatic about it, Em.”

  Emma frowned and shook her head. “Coleen.” Turning her attentions back to Ash, she gestured to the available stool. “Please join us. It’s really no inconvenience.”

  Alan smacked his hand on the stool. “Yeah, Ash. Sit.”

  Ash glared at Alan, and then turned her attention back to Emma and forced a smile. “Sure.”

  As she sat down, she was trying to gauge how awkward this evening was about to get. Emma had never struck her as particularly chatty, and she couldn’t imagine what the four of them were going to talk about. Feeling a piercing set of blue eyes on her, Ash turned her head to find Coleen staring intently at her. She was every bit as beautiful as Emma, but the steadiness of her gaze was unnerving.

  “Ash, you know Em from work, then?” Coleen smiled as she took a drink from what, given the smell, Ash assumed was scotch.

  Ash nodded, and glanced over at Alan who had taken Emma’s left hand in his while commenting on the diamond and emerald ring she wore. Ash was always amazed at Alan’s ability to put people at ease, and instantly befriend them.

  Given the relaxed and amused look on the doctor’s face, it was clear she wasn’t immune to Alan’s charms. “I’m a homicide detective; so Emma’s path and mine cross - sadly - under dire circumstances.”

  Coleen grinned. “Yes, Em has opted for a morbid bit of business with her professional choices.” Coleen looked at Emma. “And her personal choices too, by some standards.”

  Ash tilted her head. “Sorry?”

  Coleen turned toward Ash, and grinned before taking another drink of her scotch. Looking around the table she got up from the bar stool. “Another round of drinks? My treat.”

  Ash shook her head. “No thanks. This is my third, and I have to drive.”

  Alan slid his empty martini glass across the table toward Coleen. “I have no such concerns. Treat away.”

  Coleen smiled. “Em?”

  Emma, who had extracted her hand from Alan’s long enough to drink the last of her scotch, shook her head. “No, thank you.”

  Alan got up and slid around the table toward Coleen. “Let me help. Since they don’t have table service here, I can give you a hand.” Glancing at Ash, he winked and nodded toward Emma.

  Ash rolled her eyes as Alan and Coleen wound their way through the crowd toward the smaller bar that serviced the second level of Blue Box. She couldn’t hear what he was saying, but Coleen was clearly amused, as a broad smile found its way to her full lips repeatedly.

  “How long have you known Alan?” Emma’s question interrupted Ash’s musing.

  “Since college. So, sixteen years.” Ash drank the last of her beer.

  Emma looked at Alan and Coleen as they stood waiting for a bartender. “He’s charming.”

  Ash laughed. “That’s a word for it.”

  Emma’s brows furrowed. “You don’t agree?”

  Ash sighed. They were back to their usual banter. The place where metaphor and euphemism went to die, and only the very literal survived. “No, I do agree. I just meant.” Ash shook her head. “Never mind. So you and Coleen aren’t dating?”

  Emma shook her head. “No. We’ve known each other for a long time, but have never been together.”

  “She’s very attractive.” Ash looked over at Coleen and then back at Emma.

  An expression Ash couldn’t identify quickly crossed Emma’s face. It was something akin to sadness. “Yes. She is.” Emma looked down at her empty glass.

  Ash frowned, but thought better of asking for clarification. More than likely Emma had feelings for Coleen that weren’t returned. Ash had no interest in getting in the middle of that. “That ring Alan was admiring. It’s lovely.”

  Emma glanced at the gold channel ring that had five diamond cut emeralds, surrounded by diamond rounds. “Thank you. It’s a family heirloom.”

  Ash couldn’t help herself. She reached out and took Emma’s hand. It was the first time in three years she could recall touching the woman, and was immediately reminded of the doctor’s smooth and unusually cold hands. Ash feigned interest in the ring, but was taking the opportunity to admire the woman’s beautiful, long, tapered fingers.

  Ash looked up at Emma, who was staring
intently at her. “Beautiful.” Ash realized how inappropriate she was being, acting like a horny teenage boy. Emma may be too polite to say anything, but Ash didn’t have the right to ogle her.

  Releasing Emma’s hand, Ash leaned back. “The ring is beautiful.” Shifting nervously in her seat, Ash cleared her throat. “So, are y’all just hanging out here tonight, or are you heading out for dinner later?”

  Emma leaned back, and picked at an imagined piece of lint on her skirt. “We - ah, we’re just staying here.” Emma looked around the bustling bar. “This is the best bar in the city.” She held up her glass that now only contained four perfectly formed ice cubes. “You can see the owner has an eye for detail.”

  Ash looked closely at the glass, grateful for the shift in tone, but wondering what she was missing. “It’s one of my favorites too.”

  Without looking at Ash, Emma continued. “Cubed ice is imperative to maintaining a balanced alcohol to water ratio.” Emma swirled the glass, and the ice cubes clinked.

  “The even surface area of the cube ensures a delay in the ice reaching the melting point, which as I’m sure you know, is when the Gibbs free energy of the ice is zero, but the enthalpy and entropy of the ice are increasing due to external pressure from the liquid around it.”

  Emma put the glass down, and seeing the utterly confused expression on Ash’s face, cleared her throat. “It takes longer for the drink to get watered down.”

  Ash tilted her head back and smiled. “Thank heaven for Mr. Gibbs and his penchant for enthalpy, otherwise we would all be relegated to taking shots.”

  Emma grinned, and parted her lips as if she wanted to say something more, but was interrupted when Alan returned with drinks in hand. “Coleen had to take a call, but rest assured I have returned.” He slid a glass of scotch over to Emma. “I know you said you were all full up, but Coleen insisted.”

  Emma nodded. “She usually does. Thank you.”

  Ash reached across the table, and pulled Emma’s scotch toward her. Lifting the glass, she considered the ice cubes for several seconds. “The thermodynamics look sound on this one.”

  Putting the glass back on the wooden table, she grinned as she slid it back toward Emma, who had an amused expression on her face.

  Alan looked back and forth between the two women. “What’d I miss?”

  ***

  Sitting in the Mission Park North chapel and watching the friends, family and co-workers of Paul Garrett file in, Ash remembered her mother’s funeral, and how exhausting the mourning process had been. People always meant well, but the constant and repetitive outpouring of emotion had left Ash feeling hollow and shaken.

  By the end of the day, between the service, the graveside and the gathering at her parent’s house after, Ash had witnessed what little energy her father had slowly drain away. By that evening, as the last of the mourners were leaving, James Haines had excused himself and disappeared to his bedroom upstairs.

  “Should we check on him?” Jason had asked as he loaded the dishwasher with the third load of dirty plates, glasses and utensils.

  Ash wiped down the granite countertops and shook her head. “No. He needs his space.”

  Michael walked into the kitchen with a nearly full bag of trash. “As long as he doesn’t lay down roots up there.”

  Jason nodded. “I’ll come by and check on him tomorrow, and Katy will come by on her lunch break.”

  Michael gathered several empty plastic cups into the trash bag and pulled it closed. “Amy said she will bring the kids over in the afternoons.” Michael looked at his sister, tears filling his eyes, his voice breaking. “The kids will help, right?”

  Ash dried her hands on a nearby dish towel, and walked toward her younger brother with outstretched arms. “Absolutely.” Ash wrapped her arms around him, and gently rubbed his back.

  Michael had met Amy while they both were attending Incarnate Word University in San Antonio. Michael was getting his teaching certification, which he ultimately used to become a successful corporate training and curriculum developer. Amy, who was two years his junior, had finished her nursing degree, but after their second child Chelsea was born, she had made the decision to stay at home with her children.

  Jason closed the dishwasher door, and tapped several buttons until the machine began to make a low humming noise. “Maybe we can get out to Canyon Lake and do some fishing off the pontoon this weekend?”

  Jason was nearly forty years old. He and his wife Katy had married only five years before, a first marriage for them both, and they had decided not to have children. Jason’s construction business had struggled with the downturn in 2008, but between his perseverance and Katy’s job as a CPA with a local firm, the couple had made it, and their marriage seemed stronger than ever.

  Michael stepped back from Ash, and wiped at his face. “Great idea. Count me in.”

  The brothers looked at Ash expectantly. “I’m down.” She had managed a smile, even though the last thing she wanted to do was feign enthusiasm, when all she wanted to do was go home and curl up in bed. Maybe she was the one that needed to be careful about laying down roots.

  In the end, no one had stopped living after her mother’s death. It had taken several months before she could see her father and not immediately feel like crying, but eventually the family had returned to its normal ebb and flow, the absence of Elizabeth always there, but becoming less of an impediment.

  Now Ash sat at the funeral of a young, successful man who had been brutally murdered. She frequently made a point to attend at least the services of the victim to see the reactions of both the sincere and insincere mourners.

  Having asked Mr. and Mrs. Garrett’s permission, Ash would be at both Paul’s services and graveside today. She hoped the mysterious Michelle would put in an appearance, and if she didn’t, that would only further Ash’s suspicions of her.

  Ash sat at the back of the chapel and watched as Andrew Raymond, Paul’s co-worker, made his way through the crowd, toward Sara Glass, who sat with Rachel Collins and a woman Ash didn’t recognize. Given the physical similarities between her and Sara, Ash deduced the woman was a family member.

  From where she was sitting, Ash couldn’t hear what Sara was saying. But it was clear from her rigid body language, and the quickness in which she terminated the awkward hug Mr. Raymond initiated, that the lawyer was as unimpressed with the short man as Ash had been.

  Ash continued to look around the rapidly filling chapel. She saw several people she had met at Paul’s office, including Mr. Rooney and Delores Reed. What she didn’t see was any lone woman. The elusive Michelle seemed to be MIA.

  Ash’s phone vibrated in her pant pocket, pulling it out she quickly read the text from Cris. Know you can’t talk, but give me a call when you’re done at the funeral. Odd M.E. report.

  Ash quickly typed. It will be about an hour or two. She knew better than to expect an acknowledgement from Cris. She was surprised he had opted for a text at all, considering his commitment to being a trendaphobe. The doctor’s report must be interesting.

  For the next half hour, Ash listened to well-wishers, cousins and co-workers talk about how wonderful Paul Garrett was. They talked about his love of running and how committed he was to his work and his family. As funerals went, Paul’s was average, and no one caught Ash’s eye as being unusually out of sorts.

  The only awkwardness came when the congregation was asked to sing Amazing Grace, and Andrew Raymond held the final note several seconds beyond the rest of the mourners. Ash had stifled a laugh as the man turned several shades of red in embarrassment.

  Ash decided to call her partner while she drove over to the cemetery. “So explain the enzyme thing to me one more time.”

  Cris was eating lunch, and Ash could hear the crunching of chips through the speakers of her Jeep. “Well, I’m not going to try to pronounce fibrinolytic again.”

  Ash smiled. “But you kinda just did.”

  “Fine, but I won’t pronounce it corre
ctly.” Cris countered. “Anyway, it’s an enzyme found in vampire bats. Get this, it’s been in the news lately because they’re trying to utilize it for the treatment of strokes.”

  Ash shook her head as she sat in the mourners’ processional line waiting to turn into the cemetery. “So a vampire bat attacked Garrett?”

  Crunch, crunch, crunch. “Obviously not, but something with that enzyme was at the scene.”

  Ash couldn’t make sense of it. “That’s a first for me, partner.” She parked her Jeep. “Look, I have to go. I’ll double back with you after the graveside.”

  She hit the end button on her steering wheel and, getting out of her car, followed the other mourners toward the center of the cemetery. She intentionally stood back and watched as the crowd formed.

  Rachel, Sara and their companion got out of a newer model black BMW and made their way to the graveside. Sara had obviously been crying, and Rachel held her hand as the three moved through the crowd. Rachel whispered something in Sara’s ear, and the blonde nodded. The brunette leaned closer to Sara who managed a weak smile before placing a kiss on Rachel’s cheek.

  The other blonde with Rachel and Sara said something that got both women’s attention as their eyes looked across the crowd. Ash followed their stares to a tall blonde woman who was, to Ash’s disbelief, wearing a red dress. The woman stood casually between two of Paul’s cousins that had spoken at the service.

  Sara Glass’ gasp was audible as she looked at Rachel and then back at the woman in red. Ash had to admit she was stunning, and the dress, though completely inappropriate, accentuated her long legs perfectly.

  Ash watched as Andrew Raymond made his way as close to the woman as he could without knocking one of Paul’s cousins over. The woman couldn’t be bothered to even respond to him as her gaze was fixed directly on Sara and Rachel.

  For the duration of the service, Ash watched as Rachel, Sara, and the woman in red were locked in some demented staring contest, none of them willing to take their eyes off of each other. As the service concluded, the third woman with Rachel and Sara walked back toward the black BMW, and the woman in red immediately made her way through the crowd toward Rachel and Sara.