by R. T. Wolfe
"Let's let your dad look through his pictures, and we'll go in the next room."
Everyone hesitated at Brie's reference to him as Duncan's dad, then Duncan looked up to her.
They seemed to exchange some sort of an understanding before she went on. "I saw a lot of clean wall space for us to lean on in the dining room." Brie took a box of drawing chalks from her bag along with Duncan's leather binder and walked with him to the next room.
Nathan flipped through the pages of Brie's plans for his yard. The trees, plants and shrubs were organized, yet arranged to look natural and casual. Honestly, he was more interested in Brie's sketches of his house. Looking at it through her eyes gave him some ideas.
He pulled out his notebook, worn and curved from the confines of his back pocket, and slid the pencil from behind his ear. He decided to add some arches to the porch that would accent the curves of the border she had planned. He also decided on some brick for the front of the house that would bring out some of the color she'd chosen. Won't the outside painters be happy with that, he imagined sarcastically.
Finished, he set the book on the table and walked toward the dogs. He stopped short when he reached Brie and Duncan. They sat close with Brie's arm around him and his head resting on her shoulder. They flipped through pages and commented on each. Absently, she fixed the tag on the back of his shirt. It was that simple gesture that caused his heart to fall out of his chest and land soundly at her feet.
It wasn't until he walked her to her truck that she explained the point of her visit. "I'll do your yard for you under one condition."
He lifted an eyebrow to her. "Condition?"
"You pay for the materials, and the labor will be my way to work off the vet bill."
He opened his mouth and took a breath.
Brie lifted a hand. "It's my only condition. Take it or leave it."
He stood and looked around, considering. He wanted to refuse, but the thought of having her here almost daily was too tempting. Instead he held out his hand and they shook on it.
A Bonneville pulled up the gravel drive. Nathan noticed her pull at her ear. His dad stepped out of the car first as Nathan opened the door for his mother. They both wore blue jeans and sneakers like a young couple.
"Is this her?" His dad gestured to Brie. "I'm Sylvester Reed and this is my wife, Mackenzie. It's good to finally meet you."
Brie held out her hand.
Nathan spoke up. "Yes, this is Brie, Brie Chapman."
His dad took hold of Brie's hand and pulled her into a hug just as he had done with him a few days before. He gestured with his thumb over his shoulder in Nathan's direction. "He'd better be taking care of you."
"I'm tucked away nice and safe."
"Well, a shave would be nice." Mackenzie reached up on her toes to kiss him on the cheek. She turned to face Brie. "We've heard so much about you, dear. I just want you to know we didn't raise our boys this way." There was silence at the mention of Nathan's older brother. His dad breezed over it.
"We've got cans to shoot and boxes of BBs to burn through. Where are those grandkids when you're looking for them?" His dad kissed the top of his moms head and patted her behind.
"I really should take my dog home before we go downtown, Nathan. It was very nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Reed."
They waved and Brie blew two whistles for her dog. Macey bolted out a little faster than she should have and paused to make a quick circle around his parents before jumping into the cab of Brie's truck.
* * *
Macey lay sleeping in the middle of her oval rug. At the sound of the door, she scrambled to her feet. "You have a key," Brie said as she opened it.
Nathan smiled at her. "I'm being polite."
Anxious, she didn't step aside for him.
"Can I take a look at what you've got before we leave?"
"I made a copy for you to keep." She slipped her hand in his arm and urged him out the front door. The rain had stopped but the air was still damp. Most people didn't care for the smell, but she felt it was soothing, nearly as soothing as the man climbing in her truck.
As he drove, she caught him up on what her sister had found out regarding her suspension. Not-so-subtly, Nathan led the subject to something lighter. He spoke about Goldie's morning ritual of whining at his front door, expecting her and Macey to run by.
"Thank you for giving me some space. I do feel better, much more together and ready for this." She nodded her head toward the police station as they passed.
A spot was free on the first level of the parking garage. They dodged puddles and spring potholes as they crossed the street to the station.
"Is he expecting us? I didn't think to call ahead." She was surprised at how the feelings of anxiety and despair crept back as she walked toward the building, like they had never been suppressed.
"Yes."
"And he will be in charge of looking into this? I really hope so."
"He won't be in charge. He'll be working under a senior detective."
She felt the warmth of Nathan's hand on her lower back as he opened the glass door for her. They checked in and the officer behind the front desk pointed the way to the stairs. Dave met them as they reached the top.
She noted how clean it was in the station. And empty. She always expected dirty people sitting on benches, waiting to be questioned or arrested. Television. Metal desks were pushed together next to clusters of chairs with arm rests. It didn't smell soiled, but she sensed coffee that had likely been on a burner all day.
"Glad you could make it." Dave shook hands with her first, then Nathan.
"Come on back to my office." He gestured and followed behind them.
"Office?" Nathan asked. "You moving up? What happened to the desk stuck next to your partner?"
Dave spoke as they walked. "One of the detectives took early retirement. Offices moved around. I got the small one. They're finding a new partner for him. He's not too happy right now. They're phasing me out for the next few months. I still have beat time. Would you like something to drink? Coffee? Water?"
"No, thank you." She clutched her bag with two hands.
"Well, please sit down, and we'll make this as painless as possible."
"I know how this goes. You ask a lot of questions and don't tell me anything about what you think and very little about what you know. I'm not trying to be rude. I just know."
"I'll be up front with you, Brie. I do have questions and you're right, I can't tell you anything that would compromise an investigation. I can tell you that I take a personal interest in this case and will do everything in my power to find out who's after you."
Dave motioned toward two wooden chairs that sat opposite his desk. His chair scraped along the floor tiles as he pulled it around to sit with them. "Tell me what you've got."
She handed Dave a copy of the list he'd asked for. She went through, explaining as she pointed to different pages. There were several. The first was a visual timeline covering each incident to the closest date and location she could remember. Each subsequent page listed individual incidents with more details, starting with the dead mouse. Everyone she could think of was listed. Each page following covered another episode.
"Impressive," Dave commented. "The only question I have, for now, is who you told that your dog was pregnant?"
She rested back in the chair, considering, and went through the list in her mind chronologically. "My sister, Mrs. Melbourne, Amanda Piper and, well, everyone at work."
When she stopped, Dave finished taking notes, then explained he would canvas her neighborhood and the houses around the school asking what people heard or saw during the time of each incident.
"I need to tell you I'm going to be questioning some Bloom staff, too." He reached in his shirt pocket and took out a business card. "You also need to understand I'm only second in command here, Brie. If you have something to add, you can contact me." He held out the business card for her to take. "Or you can contact Officer Tanner. I'l
l be in touch with—"
She stood up from the chair and took a large step back, clutching her copy of the folder to her chest. "Why is Tanner involved?"
"Well... it made sense since he was lead detective after the fire."
She felt the color drain from her face as he stepped forward to take her arm. She pulled back.
"I thought you knew." Dave turned to look at Nathan. "Didn't you tell her we're looking at putting these together?"
She turned and stormed out, speed-walking to the stairs.
She paced back and forth in front of his truck. She could see Nathan from the corner of her eye walking with that damned swagger toward her.
"Take me home, Nathan. I want you to take me home."
He unlocked her door and opened it. They drove slowly in silence for the first half of the way to her house. "Do you think it's a coincidence someone would have an unsolved case of arson to their home and then have a random, disturbed vandal after them?"
"What I think is that you didn't tell me. Do you think I didn't try to put all of this together? There are no similarities. You didn't tell me," she repeated and clutched her bag closer.
She opened the door before he came to a complete stop in her drive.
Nathan reached over her and shut it before she could step out.
He looked out his windshield as he spoke.
"I don't know why I didn't tell you other than I couldn't stand the look on your face at your party when you talked to your parents' friends or when you look in your empty family room. I have a need to protect you. I can try to do it without smothering you, but you're going to have to deal with it."
He pulled the latch on her door and pushed it open for her.
She sat with her eyes closed before slowly getting out and walking to her porch.
* * *
She cut back butterfly bushes with a vengeance. Brie was angry with Nathan for not being open with her. She was angry with herself for turning off like she always did. She wasn't cut out for relationships, but he knew that and he stuck anyway. Mostly, she was angry that he was making her feel things she'd never felt before. She had gotten along just fine on her own until now.
The fragrance of the early blooming tulips helped her focus. She closed her eyes and took two slow breaths in through her nose and out through her mouth. She'd worked late, long after dark. The brilliant moonlight was better than anywhere inside. She hauled the cut butterfly bush branches and stalks from a set of autumn joy sedums in her double wheelbarrow out to her truck and tossed them in the back. She would stop at the clean landfill spot to dump her cuttings before she drove back home.
In this for the long haul, she remembered as she drove through the night. Why? Parking in the garage, she let Macey out as she walked down her drive, enjoying the night air. There was a load of mail. Had she gotten it the day before? Flipping through bills and ads, she walked back up her driveway as Macey sniffed around in the grass. Her legs jerked to a stop when she uncovered a blank manila envelope. No address. No return address. Uneasiness bubbled through her.
"Macey, heel."
The dog responded to the urgency in her voice, galloped over and sat at her left side. Brie looked around as she walked deliberately and casually to her garage. Her heartbeat quickened as she checked her surroundings before closing the overhead door. The mix of frustration and fear unsettled her. She went around checking doors before mindlessly setting her keys and bag down on her kitchen table. Unhooking the metal clasp on the envelope, she peered inside.
* * *
Brie decided it was better not to walk in uninvited this time. It was late and she wasn't sure where things stood between them. She knocked with Macey sitting at her left side and waited for Nathan to answer. When he opened his front door, she stood uncomfortable and somewhat speechless. He must have been working out, because he wore gray sweats with a white, no-sleeved undershirt that was damp with perspiration.
"I know it's late," she stuttered.
He pulled off the undershirt and replaced it with a gray sweatshirt as he moved back from the open door.
She stepped in behind her dog, and they walked to the back of the quiet house to the only three chairs available. Nathan flipped his chair around backward and sat.
Folding her hands, she set them on his card table. She felt like Liz.
"I was wrong," she said. There. Not so hard. "I can say I won't close you out like that again, but I probably will." She shut her eyes and shook her head. "But you already know that." She took a deep breath. "I can also live with you having a need to protect me. You've never smothered me."
"Are you sure? Because I need to know that up front."
Nathan looked at her in silence with eyes half open long enough to make her feel insecure. "My ex left when I had a need to protect Duncan and Andy. I'm not going to start comparing, but it brings back memories."
Distracted, she forgot about the manila envelope tucked under her arm.
"Yes. Duncan told me that."
"He did. Well." He looked at her, maybe through her. "You know, they've gone through more than the death of their parents. They've also lived through a divorce and having an inexperienced dad."
Nathan turned his chair around. "She and I became godparents when Duncan was born and again for Andy." He leaned back. "When my brother died, we took them in. She was supportive at first, but it didn't last. She couldn't handle being thrown into motherhood.
"The studio was taking off. I started getting more orders. Orders from significant people. We were invited to stuffy parties, rubbed noses with politicians and CEOs. I wanted a balance with the boys. She wanted to embrace where our lives were headed. My folks offered to take Duncan and Andy. I needed to keep the promise we made to my brother and to the boys. I loved them. Love them. I couldn't let them lose two dads. We made our choices."
"Whatever happened to for better or for worse?"
"I don't blame her. She married the governor's personal assistant."
"She moves fast."
"Yes." He leaned toward her. "Are you going to tell me what's in that envelope?"
She took one deep, cleansing breath. "I was wrong. Twice. This time about the connections to the fire."
As she suspected, his eyes turned intense, the bold blue making them look all the more intimidating.
"Before I show you these, I want you to know I'm really okay, and there are pictures in here that might not sit well with you." Handing him the envelope, she sat back. She turned her head but kept her eyes on his, wanting to read his reaction.
Cautiously, Nathan turned the envelope upside down and shook the contents into his hand. Dozens of photos spilled around his fingers and onto the small table. Some were close-ups, some far away, all different sizes and each a picture of Brie. His eyes darted to hers, back to the pictures and again to her. She kept her face composed. Spreading them out hurriedly on the table, he straightened the ones that had landed upside down. Most of the pictures were of her with different men. One on a small rowboat. One taken through a window at a restaurant. Another sitting with Liz and Tim, all with the word SLUT written in red letters across the front.
Chapter 19
"What the hell is this?" Nathan asked.
"I don't know. They were in my mailbox tonight when I got home." She picked up a specific picture. "Look at this, Nathan."
He took it from her. "Is this you?"
"Yes. I used to be heavier. Do you know who these people are next to the man I'm with?"
He looked closer and recognized them from pictures over her mantle. "Your parents. That makes these six, no seven years old."
"Eight. That's an old boyfriend. Marketing major. I met him at grad school when I was taking night classes. I was twenty-two years old in that picture. Nathan, I've never seen these before."
The photo she pointed to was of her eating corn on the cob at a table that was clearly in her parents' backyard. The deck was different and there was no patio, but it was definitely her hou
se. Next to her was the boyfriend with his arm draped over her shoulder.
Pushing through the dozens of pictures, he noticed one with him in it. He was in Brie's kitchen nook by the glass doors with Brie's leg wrapped around him and his hands dug in her hair. There was one of Brie as she sat suggestively on his lap, and even one from a few days ago when they were tangled on the hood of her truck. It must have been taken from the road because he could see the painters working on the siding in the background. Written on the bottom of the pictures of the two of them were the words, "A present for the Board of Education."
He sat back and ran his fingers through his hair. "I can't leave Duncan and Andy. You need to take these to the station."
"It's late. Can't we just call Dave and see what he thinks?" She put her elbows on the table and ran her hands along her ponytail.
Nathan turned his head contemplating. "All right." He lifted from his chair and dialed.
Dave was still at the station and said he would come by.
"See you in a few," he said before hanging up.
"Okay. Late night," Brie said.
"You can catch up on sleep tomorrow," he said curtly while leafing through pictures.
She spoke up again. "Tell me about the house."
"Hmm? Oh. Show work this week."
"Show work?" He heard her voice crack.
He looked at the picture of her when she was on his lap, trying to figure out the angle it would have been taken from. "Show work. Work that's faster and just for show. Upstairs is done and most of the down." He lifted his focus to her. She was sheet white. He piled the photos together and took her hand. "Let's walk while we wait."
They toured the house. He pointed out examples of show work as a means to distract her, and it seemed to work.
The change from the week before was big. He'd trimmed out every upstairs window and door. All the trim except the baseboards was finished. Purposely, he kept the design the same, just modified the color depending on the room. Mission style he explained to her.
When they reached Duncan's room they found Andy had wandered there. They put a blanket over him as he slept and shut the door.
