Unbroken

by Natalie Debrabandere

“That’s how good we are. Listen, Liz, did Kristan ever mention Mike had a girlfriend?”

  Liz repeated the question and Kristan shook her head.

  “No,” she said immediately. “Mike did not have a girlfriend.”

  “Because we found some pretty explicit love letters in his apartment,” Omaru carried on.

  “Explicit how?” Liz asked.

  Kristan looked up at that very moment, and she frowned at her girlfriend.

  “What?” she mouthed.

  “Look, I’ll put you on to Kris, okay?” Liz told the detective.

  “What’s going on?” Kristan asked as Liz handed her the cell phone.

  “You need to speak to him I think.”

  “Kristan, hey,” Omaru said cheerfully when he heard her voice on the phone. “How’re you doing? How’s the Porsche going?”

  “Going great; thanks for buying me one.”

  He chuckled.

  “And how are you enjoying that olive sauce?”

  “Quit playing with me Omaru, and tell me what’s going on,” Kristan snapped.

  “Okay. I just told Liz we found some pretty disturbing letters in Mike’s apartment.”

  “Disturbing? Tell me more.”

  “The letters start off rather tender and erotic, and then little by little they get threatening. Lines like ‘I’ll make you pay for not wanting me’, ‘you will live to regret this’, and ‘I am not playing anymore, I will hurt you if you hurt me’.”

  Kristan rested her fork on the table.

  All of a sudden her appetite was gone, and her stomach tightened.

  “Explicit all right,” she murmured.

  “I thought so.”

  In her mind Kristan was rapidly sifting through the last few weeks with Mike. The conversations, the casual comments. She could remember nothing, nothing at all that would have indicated he was worried about anything. And he would have told her if something had been going on, she knew that.

  “So how come you only just found those letters, Omaru?” she asked, sounding frustrated.

  “Well, we used to think everything was connected to your girlfriend’s ex, remember?”

  “No, we didn’t. You thought it was a thief, even when I told you otherwise.”

  “Look, Kristan, I am not calling you to argue about it, okay? Did Mike have a relationship?”

  “No. He never mentioned anyone to me, and he would have done,” Kristan said again. “He never mentioned he had a psycho on his hands either.”

  “Well, I’m just telling you what it looks like.”

  “And how do you know it’s a woman by the way?”

  “Was Mike gay?”

  “No. Doesn’t mean anything though, does it?”

  Omaru had to agree with that.

  “But at least we’re making progress,” he said.

  “Are we?” Kristan argued. “How? If Mike had a stalker and she ended up killing him, why is she now stalking us? Doesn’t make sense.”

  Omaru took a deep breath and he tried to calm things down.

  “How are you two doing, seriously?” he asked.

  Kristan exhaled loudly.

  “We’re fine, doing great,” she said, and as she looked at Liz sitting across from her she relaxed a fraction. “You give us a great car and you send us away on holiday, what do you expect?”

  “That’s good, that’s good. Listen Kristan, I don’t know what’s going on but we’re getting close, I can feel it. And these letters, when I was reading them, they made me feel kind of bad. So I need you to take it seriously too.”

  Kristan paled.

  “Believe me Omaru, I am taking it seriously. Ever since my partner got killed by some low-life piece of shit in fact; every fucking second. Now what about you?”

  If Kristan had been alone she would have slung the phone across the room, but because Liz was with her she did not. And she kept her voice down so the other diners could not hear her; but she was shaking.

  Liz grew still when she heard her partner’s words and she froze on the other side of the table.

  “I am taking it seriously too, Kristan,” Omaru said calmly. “I’m glad you are. Stay away for a few more days, okay?”

  “Mike’s brother is at the Park. Can you guarantee his safety?” Kristan said sharply. “Because if you can’t even…”

  “James is okay, we have him and Paul under surveillance. We have Kelly under protection as well. This thing is about to unravel.”

  “So you keep telling me.”

  “Because you need to be careful.”

  “I am always careful,” Kristan snapped.

  “That’s good to know. I’ll call you again soon.”

  Omaru disconnected, and Kristan leaned back against her seat. She closed her eyes for a second and she took a deep breath.

  “I swear this guy needs a good shaking,” she said tensely.

  She glanced at her food and pushed the plate away.

  “No. Come on, Kris, you need to eat,” Liz protested, dismayed.

  “It’s okay, I’ll have it in a doggy bag. I just can’t right now. Or maybe in a few minutes.”

  Liz reached across the table for her lover’s hand.

  “Whatever was going on, and if anything was going on,” Kristan said fiercely, “I’m sure that Mike had no idea how serious it was. Otherwise he would have told me.”

  “Did he usually talk to you about his love life?”

  “He talked to me about the serious things. He talked to me about James. You know.”

  Liz nodded a little, and she left her seat and went to sit next to Kristan.

  “Funny how I can’t seem to keep my hands off you, eh?” she whispered as she wrapped her arms around her shoulders.

  “You won’t get any complaints from me,” Kristan said softly, and she turned her head to rest her forehead against Liz. “Gosh, I hate this…”

  “If you want your food in a doggy bag I’ll let them know, and we can go back to our room. You’ve gone very pale all of a sudden.”

  Kristan shook her head.

  “No, it’s okay. No reason we can’t linger a little, and I don’t want to ruin your dinner either.”

  “Only if you’re sure.”

  “I’m sure. This root beer is excellent, and I want some more.”

  Kristan held Liz back against against her as she started to move away.

  “I want to sit with you and talk.”

  “I’d love to sit and talk. About what?” Liz asked with a gentle smile.

  “Not sure,” Kristan replied, and Liz nodded a little when she caught the exhausted look in her eyes.

  She understood Kristan wanting to stay put, because she as well wanted this night to never end. But she also knew that her lover was about to cave in, and to be fair she was surprised it had not happened earlier.

  “How about we take some root beer back to our room and drink it in bed?” she suggested.

  Kristan’s eyes sparkled and she started to laugh.

  “What?” Liz asked with a grin.

  “You’re rampant, darling.”

  “But you like it, right?”

  “Maybe,” Kristan said, laughing harder.

  She took the hand her lover offered, and she let her pull her up from her chair.

  “Unsteady?” Liz asked as she caught her in her arms.

  “Maybe a little.”

  “Tired?”

  “Kind of,” Kristan replied, and she could not stop herself from yawning.

  “I asked them at reception what’s the latest that we can check out tomorrow, and they said five o’clock in the evening.”

  Kristan smiled.

  “Yeah,” she said. “Off season and all that.”

  “That means we can take our time tomorrow.”

  “And it means we can stay up as long as we like tonight,” Kristan remarked.

  “Absolutely.”

  Liz got food to go for both of them and a few bottles of beer as well, and she walked with her
partner back to their room.

  By that time Kristan was flagging big time. She brushed her teeth, slipped under the covers, and she watched as Liz busied herself around the room.

  “Hey doc,” she said softly. “Your food is getting cold.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll get to it in a bit. Are you feeling okay?”

  “Tired,” Kristan admitted. “My shoulder hurts.”

  She noticed that Liz was extra careful about checking that the door was locked properly, and then she did the same with the window. She was about to draw the curtains shut when Kristan stopped her.

  “It’s a full moon,” she pointed out. “If you just switch the lights off no one will be able to see in, but we’ll be able to see the ocean.”

  Liz hit the switch and smiled at the soft light that suddenly inundated the room.

  “Gosh, Kris, this is beautiful,” she said.

  “Told you.”

  Liz slid under the covers and she snuggled close to her lover, wrapping her arms around her from behind and pulling her tightly against her.

  “Relax,” she murmured.

  “Can you see the waves?” Kristan murmured.

  “Yes.”

  “Nice, uh?”

  “Very.”

  “So what are you going to do about Robert?”

  “What do you mean?” Liz asked, surprised at the question.

  “Sorry. I should have said what are you going to do about being married to him,” Kristan corrected.

  Liz held her a little harder against her.

  “I don’t want to be,” she said with feeling. “You know I don’t, right?”

  “I know. And lately I like it less and less that you are married to somebody else.”

  “Do you think I can initiate a divorce from here and keep where I am a secret?”

  “Can’t see why not. We’ll just need to find a good lawyer.”

  Liz relaxed against the pillows and wrapped herself more comfortably around Kristan.

  It was windy outside, and she could see white froth on the waves crashing on the beach a little way away. Kristan was silent as she closed her eyes and let herself rest against her partner. Her headache was back, but not as bad as before. The need to sleep was overwhelming though.

  “Liz,” she murmured.

  “Yes, baby.”

  “Go eat.”

  Liz smiled.

  “No worries darling. You just sleep, okay? I’ll be right here…”

  She went silent when she realised that Kristan was asleep already, and she smiled and held her for a little while longer.

  Then she slid off the bed as quietly as she could, even though she had a feeling her lover would probably sleep through a nuclear blast. She settled at the table and reached for her food, glad that it was still warm and absolutely delicious. As she ate she went through her newly acquired New Zealand iPhone, checking emails.

  She had a couple from Jennifer, and she smiled when she realised that Kelly’s daughter had sent her photos of their day together. There was that one they took of her, Kristan and the baby, and also a couple more. In one of them Kristan was sitting right next to her, looking at her and smiling at something Liz had been saying. The look in her eyes brought tears to Liz’s eyes. This was normally how Kristan looked at her. It was love, affection, lust and protection all rolled into one, and captured perfectly on camera. Jen had a good eye.

  Liz stood up and went to the bed to pull the covers a little tighter around Kristan.

  “I love you,” she whispered.

  Next there was an email from Kelly, saying she had adopted a new kitten, and again there was a picture and it made Liz smile.

  James had sent one of his newly decorated cottage and also one of Paul, and Liz clearly remembered the respectful medic from the night of the crash. She sent a heartfelt email back saying they looked beautiful together, and that she was happy for them and could not wait to meet again in person.

  She clicked on the next email without thinking and immediately recoiled in horror. She dropped her phone and swore under her breath, and she looked toward the bed immediately, hoping that Kristan had not heard her. Fortunately her lover was still fast asleep, and Liz slowly picked up the phone and went to the window to lower the blinds.

  The photo was one of Charlie, Kelly’s cat, pinned to the cafe table with a knife through his stomach. The email simply said, ‘your turn soon’, and Liz’s blood turned to ice in her veins.

  She hit the forward button and immediately sent it to Omaru, and the officer was back on the phone within seconds.

  “Where are you now?” he asked.

  “Still at the hotel. Kris is asleep. Should I wake her up? Do we need to leave?”

  “She hasn’t seen the email yet?”

  “No.”

  “Okay. No need to wake her up, Liz.”

  Liz stepped into the bathroom and pulled the door shut behind her.

  “Are we safe here, Omaru?” she said sharply.

  “Listen, Liz, my officers have been trailing you all day,” he replied, and he sounded serious and calm. “We recced the hotel when you checked in and ran checks on personnel; I’ve been there before, and it’s the same staff. Nothing to worry about as far as they’re concerned. Right now I have a unit parked outside keeping an eye on things and everything’s quiet. You guys are safe.”

  Liz sighed a little, and she glanced at Kristan through the half open door.

  “Thank you,” she said a little more warmly. “I’m sorry we are giving you such a hard time.”

  “Hey, don’t worry about it. I understand. I’m doing my job and this will be over soon.”

  “Should we carry on to Crystal Springs?”

  “Sure. No one knows where you two are going so that’s still fine. Tell me, how many people did you give your email address to?”

  “Just Kris, Kelly, Jen and James.”

  “Fine. You go to bed now and relax. We’ll trace that email and see where it came from.”

  “Okay.”

  “I’ll call you in the morning.

  “Okay,” Liz repeated. “Thank you.”

  “Don’t mention it. Hang in there Liz. Won’t be long now.”

  Liz disconnected but she kept the phone on loud just in case Omaru needed to get back in touch with them. She slid into bed next to Kristan and wrapped her arms around her.

  “Shh, it’s okay, I’ve got you,” she whispered when Kristan mumbled something in her sleep and struggled against the covers. “I love you baby.”

  Kristan reached out for her, pulled her close against her, wrapped her arms around her neck and sighed.

  “Love you,” she whispered. “Sleep. I love you.”

  Chapter 18

  Jason Omaru was not fazed by Kristan Holt’s attitude and he was hoping she could end up keeping that Porsche if it made her happy. But he was annoyed that someone had managed to murder Mike Anderson, a man he had not known personally but had a good feeling about. Now whoever had done it was trying to turn the lives of two very nice women into a living nightmare.

  This simply would not do.

  Omaru was the only cop left in the huge open plan office he shared with another ten or so senior officers. He poured himself a cup of coffee, dropped several big spoons of sugar into it, and returned to his desk where the disgusting email that had been sent to Liz was open on his PC.

  He reclined in his chair, rested his legs on his desk, and got to thinking.

  Kristan awoke just after seven o’clock the next morning feeling fantastic. She ordered scrambled olive tofu for breakfast, beans, tomatoes, fried bread, toast and marmalade, and Liz was pleased to see that she seemed back to her normal self.

  “Do you ever miss meat?” she asked her as Kristan reached for the orange juice.

  “Nope. Never. There are enough good foods out there that I get all the flavours and textures I need to be happy.” She smiled at her lover. “When I lived in the US, I was a cheeseburger addict. Now I choose to be
kind.”

  Liz raised her glass, smiling.

  “I’ll drink to that.”

  Kristan ate quickly, and then she relaxed against her seat.

  “That should do me until lunch,” she declared with a grin. “How about we go for a small walk on the beach before we leave? How’s your knee doing this morning?”

  “It’s fine.”

  Liz was loathe to bring the mood down but she needed to tell Kristan about the email from the previous night, and so she did. She passed her phone over to her, and she watched as Kristan stared at it for a few seconds, her normally clear blue eyes darkening noticeably.

  “So now he’s sending emails,” she mused. “Or she, whoever the hell that might be. Omaru is right, this thing is about to start unravelling.”

  She looked across at her lover.

  “You got this last night?”

  “Yes.”

  Kristan sighed. She knew why Liz had not woken her, but she wished she could have been there to comfort her.

  “Did you sleep okay?” she asked.

  “It took me a long time to fall asleep,” Liz admitted.

  “I’m sorry babe. We can take it easy today.”

  “I’m not tired. I’m just worried it’s someone very close to us doing this and that’s scary. Has Pam been in touch?”

  Kristan was not surprised at the question because she had been thinking the same thing. Someone close, someone pissed off, someone out for revenge. Liz had only ever experienced Pam at her worst, and Kristan thought about the woman she knew, who was smart, funny, kind and a good friend.

  “Not yet,” she said. “I’m worried about her.”

  She went silent and Liz glanced out the window, at the amazingly clear blue sky and the white beach that led to a glittering ocean.

  “It’s such a beautiful morning,” she said. “Let’s not waste it. Let’s go for a walk.”

  Omaru and his amazing sense of timing never failed, and he phoned just as they were crossing the road. This time Kristan did not suggest they make him wait.

  He informed them that the email Liz had received had been sent from an Internet Cafe in Queenstown. Again, he reiterated that the two women would be safe if they kept on moving, and that Crystal Springs still sounded like a reasonable destination.

  “I’m fed up being on the run,” Liz pointed out.