Sonia left to do the chief’s biding thus releasing Alison. As soon as the chief walked off, Alison was kneeling down in front of Stan with her hands on his face touching his cuts and bruises. He could get used to this.
* * *
Alison was drained. It had been a long day. In fact, as she thought about it, the last two weeks had been full of long days, one after another. Had it just been two weeks since Grant and Kelly’s wedding? It sure seemed like it had been longer. So much had happened in those two weeks, most had been bad, but there had been some good things too. The best one was that she was going to marry Stan!
Kelly, who had been pouring them all glasses of iced tea, sat down and the talking began.
Grant looked at Stan and said, “Well, since Monroe wasn’t at his girlfriend’s house when Mike and I checked on him, and Sonia said it didn’t look like Baldwin was home either, we’re right back where we were before tonight.”
No one spoke for a couple of minutes then Alison said, “I still think Wilson is more apt to do something like this than Spencer.” She shook her head. “Wilson seemed so mean. Spencer was just never like that.”
Grant nodded at Alison then turned to Stan. “So, you think the guy tonight was built more like Monroe than Baldwin?”
Stan, who was holding Alison’s hand under the table said, “You know, I’ve been thinking about that and there’s just something about it that keeps bothering me. I can’t quite figure out what it is though. Yes, the guy looked too broad to be Baldwin who weighs thirty or forty pounds less than Monroe.”
He stopped and rubbed his jaw with his free hand. “The more I think about it though, it seems like there was something wrong with that picture.”
Alison leaned down and seeing what looked like pain on Stan’s face said, “Are you okay, Stan. Do you need some aspirin or something?”
He shook his head and she leaned back in her chair a little. “No, I’m okay. I just keep thinking that I’m missing something.”
Everyone was quiet for a few minutes while Stan tried to remember what it was that bothered him about tonight.
All of a sudden, Stan leaned forward, let go of Alison’s hand and shouted, “That’s it!” When everyone else looked at him in surprise, he said, “I just remembered what was bothering me about my description of the guy.” He held up his right hand. “I had a hold of his ankle.”
They all waited with puzzled looks for him to finish.
“That’s what was bothering me. His ankle was too thin to match his upper body. He must have had padding on to make him look bigger that he is.”
Alison leaned around to get in his face. “Do you think it could have been Spencer trying to make himself look bigger?”
“That’s what I’m saying. It has to be him! We just don’t have any other suspects.”
Grant leaned forward, placing his hands on the table. “I agree with you one hundred per cent, Stan, but I still don’t think we have enough for the chief to allow us to talk to Baldwin yet.”
Stan deflated and Alison wrapped her arms around him and just held him tight. After a moment, he turned in her arms and embraced her too.
After that, Stan went home and the others began preparations for bed.
After Alison turned the lights off, she sat up in bed for a while. She thought about all the changes that would take place in her life once she married Stan. In one way, they were somewhat overwhelming. In another way, they were exciting. Once she slid down in the bed, it didn’t take her long to fall asleep.
* * *
Stan was restless when he left Grant’s house. So, he decided to drive past the houses of both suspects. After not seeing activity at either house, he headed home.
When he parked his car in his garage, he just wanted to go straight to bed. But he’d noticed the newspaper lying in the driveway when he drove up, so he walked out to pick it up.
Just as he bent over to retrieve the newspaper, he heard a shot. He hit the ground and began crawling toward a bush at the side of the driveway as several more rang out in succession. He didn’t know where the shots were coming from, so he just stayed down.
He pulled out his cell phone, called dispatch, and waited for back up to arrive.
As he heard sirens coming closer, his phone rang. It was Sonia.
“You still okay?”
“Yeah.”
“How long since the last shot?”
“At least five minutes.”
“Okay, we’re coming in.”
Within seconds, the street was full of cars with red and blue lights flashing. He looked up and saw Sonia running over to where he was now beginning to get up.
“This is becoming a habit you know. How close did he get this time?”
“I don’t know. It sounded like some of them hit something behind me though.”
Sonia turned her flashlight that way and whistled under her breath.
Stan looked at what her light was illuminating. A car was sitting in the driveway next door. There were three little round holes in the side of the car.
Stan shook his head then said, “Did you call Grant?”
“No. He needs to stay there with Alison and Kelly.”
“Yeah, but he’ll be upset if he doesn’t find out until tomorrow.”
She nodded her approval and he called Grant who wanted to be there but knew he was needed more right where he was.
Grant said, “Alison will tear into both of us tomorrow if I don’t wake her up and tell her and then she’ll demand to talk to you.”
Stan laughed. “Okay, go ahead and tell her.” He thought for a second. “I know she won’t want to wait so tell her she can call me on my cell.”
They disconnected and Stan watched the people all around him doing their crime scene thing. There was one guy digging slugs out of the car next door. Sonia was talking to the people who lived there. Others were down the street looking for where the shooter had been.
His phone rang.
“Stan, are you all right?”
“Yes, Alison, I’m fine, just a little ticked off that’s all. This guy is starting to irritate me . . . big time.”
She kept him talking for almost five minutes. It seemed that she needed to keep hearing his voice to make sure he was still okay.
When she said good-bye to him, Sonia was there facing him. She looked into his eyes. “Okay, Becker, we need to talk.”
He knew he was in for it now. She hadn’t called him by his last name since she had reformed, so to speak.
“We’ve got Alison pretty much protected 24/7.” She shook her head. “Just how are we going to go about protecting you now too?”
She had him going for a while, until she cracked a smile. Then she said, “Seriously though, you are going to have to be very careful from now on, until we catch this guy. He seems to be targeting you too since Alison wasn’t anywhere around this time.”
“Yeah, I guess I’m going to have to start looking over my shoulder every minute.”
She frowned. “Stan, I hate to say this, but you need to hear me out before you toss it out.”
She had his attention now.
“Do you think that you and Alison should be out in the open together, especially at night, until this is over? Right now, it’s like you’re giving him two close targets to aim at every time you’re together.”
Stan wanted to yell at her for even suggesting such a thing, but he made an effort to stay calm and think it through like she asked him to do.
When he had, he looked at her and said, “I guess I have no choice.” When she relaxed, he held up both hands. “But, you’re going to be the one to tell Alison, not me. I still want to marry her, and I know what that woman is like when she gets mad.” He laughed. “It’s not going to be pretty . . . or quiet.”
Sonia laughed and said, “All right, I’ll stop by Grant’s house in the morning and tell her. Why don’t you meet me there at 7:30?”
With that, Sonia left and Stan went inside to go to bed
hoping he would be able to sleep at least a few hours.
Chapter Thirteen
Alison didn’t go back to sleep for a long time after talking to Stan. She just couldn’t get the picture out of her mind of him lying on the ground bleeding. When she slept, it was fitfully for the last three hours before her alarm went off.
That morning, she and Kelly were sitting in the kitchen having one last cup of coffee while she waited for Stan to come and take her to her office. When the doorbell rang, they both thought it was Stan, but when Kelly looked through the peephole, she turned to Alison and said, “It’s Stan but Sonia is with him.”
Alison knew they were going to tell her something she didn’t want to hear. It was almost humorous when she thought about it. Stan must have thought that he needed Sonia to tell her so she wouldn’t get mad at him. She smiled as that brought another thought. Did Stan love her that much?
She walked into the living room just as Kelly was seating Sonia in an armchair. Stan came over to Alison and kissed her. She reached up a hand and touched the right side of his face, which was purplish and still had a little swelling this morning.
“Good morning Alison.”
She smiled up at him and said, “Good morning yourself. Does it hurt much?” When he shook his head, she said, “So what’s so bad that you had to bring Sonia over to tell me? Are you afraid of me?”
Grant laughed. “Yes, very much.”
She noticed that he didn’t answer her first question, so she sat next to him on the love seat and turned to Sonia in anticipation.
Sonia waited until Kelly situated herself in her chair before beginning. “Well, Alison, after all that happened last night, Stan and I were talking about how best to keep you safe.” She looked to Stan as if for confirmation.
He was watching Alison so intently that he didn’t notice. When he didn’t respond, Sonia continued. “You see Alison, my job is not only to keep you safe, but to look out for the welfare of my detectives as well.”
She leaned back in her chair and Alison wondered just where she was going with this. Yes, it did seem that Stan was in just as much if not more danger than she was. But what could any of them do that they weren’t already doing?
When Sonia began again, she placed emphasis on her first word. “I suggested to Stan that it might be a good idea for the two of you not to be together in public for a while. At least until after we catch this attacker.”
Alison’s first reaction was that she didn’t even want to think of having to stay away from Stan. Then she realized that Sonia had only said not to be together in public.
“Think about it Alison,” Sonia hurried on, “with the two of you together, you make a much easier target than you would separately.”
Alison could understand that, but she didn’t have to like it. She looked at Stan. “What do you think?”
He blew out a breath and frowned. “Frankly, I don’t like the idea of having to stay away from you for any amount of time, but it does make sense to me.” She started to speak, but he kept going. “It seems like I’m having enough trouble keeping myself in one piece.” He gestured to his face.
“I . . .”
Sonia interrupted Alison. “I am basing my decision on what I think is best for both of you Alison. Do you want Stan to be so distracted watching out for you that he gets himself hurt in the process?”
That did it! No way did she want Stan hurt any more than he already was. She looked into Stan’s eyes and said, “No, I don’t.” She tried to smile. “I want you in one piece for our wedding which, by the way, is only one week from tomorrow.”
“Good, then that’s settled.” Sonia slapped her palms down on her thighs. “Starting right now, Alison, I will be your escort until one of our other detectives, Linda, can take over. She’s in court today, but she should be able to start on Monday.”
“Okay.” Alison said without taking her eyes off Stan. Then she said to him, “Could I talk with you . . . alone?”
Stan looked at Sonia who nodded and leaned back in her chair then came forward again. “I’ll be in my car when you’re ready Alison.”
Alison led Stan out onto the back patio. She didn’t sit down because she wasn’t planning to be out there long. Brutus came running and both had to pause to pet him.
She stopped and squared off in front of Stan and placing her hands on her hips, said, “I want you to promise me that just because you won’t have me to worry about, you won’t go out there and take chances that might get you hurt.”
She could tell by the look on his face that he didn’t want to answer her, but she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him until he did.
He shook his head and grinned at her. “I have a feeling that being married to you is going to be more hazardous to my health that this attacker ever will be.” When she placed her hands on his shoulders and glared harder, he said, “Okay, okay, I promise.”
“Good.” She dropped her arms to her side and tried to smile. “Now, I need to get to work. In spite of all the drama last night, the couple who looked at that house wants to come in this morning and write a contract on it.”
They walked back through the house and Alison kissed Stan at the door then almost ran out to where Sonia was waiting in her car.
On the drive to Alison’s office, Sonia seemed to be preoccupied, but Alison wanted to talk to this woman who knew so much about a world that Alison didn’t. Even though her brother was a police detective, he had always kept her shielded from that side of his life. Now that she was marrying a police detective, she felt that she needed some advice and she still didn’t think that Grant would be much help.
“Sonia?”
“Yes.”
“Could I ask you some questions about being a police detective? I think I need to know the answers to in order to be married to one.” It all came out in a gush.
Sonia giggled. Giggled? Sonia?
“Go right ahead, Alison. But first, I need to remind you that not only am I a police detective but everyone in my immediate family is a police detective.”
Alison remembered. “In that case it looks like I’ve come to the right place for advice.” When Sonia only laughed again, Alison said, “How do I get him to talk to me about the things he needs to talk about?” She shook her head. “Sure, I know there will be many things he can’t talk about, but I’m not talking about those. I think you know what I mean.”
“Yes, Alison.” Sonia grew serious now. “I can only talk about it from a detective’s side. I can’t use my mother as an example since she divorced my dad and moved back east with her new husband when I was three.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Sonia. I didn’t know.”
“That’s okay.” She tried to smile. “It doesn’t hurt so much anymore . . . after twenty-eight years.”
Alison did the math. “That makes you thirty-one, three years older than me.”
Sonia nodded. “What I can tell you is to never let him shut you out. My dad always did that even after I was old enough to understand. Don’t let him stew on things that are bothering him.”
“But, how will I know when something is bothering him?”
Sonia chuckled. “Oh, I think you’re smart enough and observant enough to know most of the time, and between Grant and me, we should be able to keep you informed the rest of the time. How’s that for a plan?”
Alison clapped her hands. “Oh, Sonia, I’m so glad you’re Stan’s sergeant. I hope you and I can become friends.”
Alison wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw moisture in Sonia’s eyes, as she seemed to concentrate more on her driving.
* * *
Once Stan made it to the office, Grant was waiting to talk to him. So he sat in his desk chair and turned it toward Grant’s desk.
“Stan, Sonia told me about her switching with you to guard Alison during the day. Are you okay with that?”
Stan laughed. “Shouldn’t you be asking how Alison took it?” Grant laughed too. “I would say that
she took it pretty well. I don’t think she was going to go along with it until Sonia told her that she might distract me enough to get me hurt.”
When Grant just continued to stare at him, Stan said, “Me? I’m okay with it as long as it’s Sonia guarding her.” He looked around the large room and lowered his voice. “But Linda’s supposed to take over for Sonia on Monday. That . . . I’m not too happy about. I don’t think she’s as observant as the rest of us.”
Grant shook his head. “I agree, but we can hope that Linda will be good enough. The only consolation we have is that so far, the guy has struck at night every time. We’ll be there too any time she goes anywhere at night.”
Stan wanted to change the subject. He didn’t need to dwell on what might not ever be a problem. All they had to do was catch the guy before Linda took over.
“So, what’s on our agenda today, since we’re back to being partners again?”
Grant chuckled. Stan was sure he didn’t fool Grant.
“Well, first thing, Sonia wanted us to call all the other realtors in the valley to see if Monroe has tried to get a job with any of them. Then we’re supposed to see if we can talk to this girlfriend of his.”
“Sounds like a full day. Let’s get going.”
They split the list of realtors and began calling. Some of the brokers weren’t available but called back later. They worked through lunch and finished late in the afternoon. Monroe had not contacted any of the realtors.
Grant looked over at Stan and said, “Okay, you ready to go see this girlfriend? I found out that she’s a teacher and she gets home from work at about four. We should be able to catch her at home if we leave now.”
When they arrived at Laura Belton’s house, just a couple of blocks from Alison’s house, Grant stepped forward and rang the doorbell.
Just as Grant was raising his hand to knock, a high-pitched female voice called out on the other side of the door. “Who is it?”
Accepted Memories (Sycamore P.D. Series Book 2) Page 19
