Flowers on Her Grave

by Jennifer Chase

  She walked through the living room and stood at the kitchen door where both men were huddled together.

  “Well, are you figuring out what to buy me for Christmas?” she said jokingly.

  “Just talking guy stuff,” said Chad.

  “What? Like man caves and sports?” she said leaning in to kiss him.

  “How did you know?” said her uncle. His complexion was back to normal with color in his cheeks as he was beginning to look more like himself. The conversation with another guy must’ve helped.

  Katie noticed that Chad was dressed casual as well.

  “You look fantastic given you totaled your Jeep,” he said.

  “Didn’t take five minutes before you brought that up!”

  “Well, everyone at the firehouse was talking about it, and I got the opportunity to say yep, that’s my girl.”

  “Where are you two going tonight?” the sheriff asked, obviously not wanting to talk about Katie’s accident.

  “I thought something informal and easy,” he said. “You up for it?”

  “Absolutely. As long as I’m not driving.” She smiled.

  Katie’s uncle went into the living room and made himself comfortable on the couch. “Just me and Cisco tonight.” The dog’s ears perked up at his name. He padded over to the couch and jumped up next to him, moving one of the throw pillows before settling down.

  Chad hugged Katie and took her arm. She winced. He looked at her with concern.

  “Still a little sore from the accident,” she said, still smiling. “Goodnight, Uncle Wayne.” She gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

  “Don’t worry about me,” he said and picked up the television remote.

  * * *

  The night had turned colder and the sun had finally completely disappeared. As Chad eased his large SUV down the driveway, Katie was suddenly struck by how lucky she was and how she wanted all the drama to go away.

  “Babe,” Chad said.

  Katie looked at him and realized that he had been talking to her, but she was lost in her deep thoughts. It was difficult for her to turn off her work load. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s been a rough week, that’s all.”

  “I would say so. That’s why I wanted to have a relaxing evening without all the reminders of what you’ve been dealing with.”

  “So what are we going to do?”

  “I thought it might be fun to go to the movies. You know, eat popcorn and those chocolate drop things you like.”

  “Yeah, that would be fun.”

  “But no,” he said. “Then I thought I could make you dinner at my apartment. All nice and romantic. Quiet too.”

  “Sure, that would be nice too.”

  “Yeah, well no.”

  Katie laughed. “What are we going to do?” She played along and absolutely loved to watch his eyes light up with that same mischievous expression he had when they were growing up.

  “So, I had to really think about it. And as it so happens, Rick, who is the firehouse cook, made us a special dinner for two. Even I don’t know what’s in there,” he said and pointed to the back seat where an insulated bag sat.

  “Wow, what a great guy to do that.”

  “Well, I kind of tell stories about you and the guys are impressed.”

  Katie was surprised and a bit flattered. “Like what?” she said.

  “Don’t forget they can read, you know. Those cases you’ve worked have been in the paper. Not to mention your heroics.”

  “Hardly me, I had help.”

  “Well, everyone is entitled to their own opinions.”

  Katie observed the area as Chad turned off the main road and took one of the back roads. He flipped up the headlights to high and the entire forest came into view. The moon peeked between the tall trees, lighting up the area even more.

  “Is it a full moon?” she asked.

  “Yep,” was his reply.

  It seemed like an eternity since Katie had just enjoyed the evening outdoors with a full moon. “I remember those camping trips we had.”

  “Those were the best, weren’t they?”

  “Yeah. They really were.”

  Katie surveyed the road and it seemed a familiar area. Since she had been home, there had been so little time for her to enjoy the area again. It was as if she had been thrown right into the serial killer and missing persons’ cases.

  Chad drove the SUV around a popular scenic point, but then took a little-known road and stopped. He then backed up and maneuvered his vehicle so that the back end faced the view.

  “Wait right there.” He jumped out and jogged around the front and then opened Katie’s door. “Here you are.”

  Katie said, “Is there anything I can do?”

  “Nope.”

  She noted as he hurried around the vehicle and pulled out the insulated food container and another food basket, blanket, two pillows, and extra jackets. He opened the back where it had been cleared out and cleaned. “Wow, you know how to plan and pack. Not to mention it’s so clean.”

  “I know, right?” he said. “I actually cleaned out the entire cargo area. Not sure when I’ve done that before.”

  Katie gazed at the view in the valley of trees and rolling hills. Normally you wouldn’t be able to see it at night, but the moon illuminated the breathtaking view that rivaled an artist’s interpretation of perfection.

  “Here,” said Chad as he put a comfortable long jacket around Katie’s shoulders.

  “Thanks. It’s colder than I thought it would be.” She noticed the way he looked at her as he helped her pull the jacket around her shoulders. His expression was deep and soulful. It was the way that every woman wanted to be looked at by the man they loved. Emotions hit her like a fire in her heart, heavy and smoldering.

  “You know, I think this is the best light,” he said. “It makes gardens look like they are glowing. Trees are another deeper shade of green.”

  Katie looked down, taking everything in.

  Chad pulled her close to him and she could feel the heat from his body. She still felt like a teenager whenever she was with him and remembered the first time they took the leap and slept together. In her mind, she would always be that teenage girl with her first love.

  He leaned in and kissed her slowly and passionately. She felt his lips soft against hers, longing and wanting to be with her. Katie let all her passions loose and felt all her trauma and responsibility disappear, even if it was only for a little while.

  The cool evening contrasted with the heat between Katie and Chad. The moonlight was picture-perfect, lighting up the landscape all around them as they stood together at the hilltop. All the creatures in the forest were quiet except for the sudden screech of an owl.

  Katie’s mind resurfaced and she slightly pulled away from Chad’s warm embrace. It was an amazing romantic moment, but it was leading to something much more intimate that would be more appropriate with the comforts of the indoors.

  “You cold?” he asked.

  “No. But I have to admit…” She hesitated. “I’m a little hungry and curious about what’s in those bags.”

  He laughed. “Of course, I’m hungry too. I skipped lunch today.” Chad moved to the vehicle where he pulled out the blanket and smoothed it out in the cargo area. With the back open, it made a perfect place to sit and eat while watching the moonscape.

  Katie arranged the soft pillows before taking her seat. “This is great. The true meaning of dinner by moonlight.” She smiled and felt more relaxed than she thought possible.

  Chad made himself comfortable. “Let’s see what the master chef has prepared for us. There’s definitely enough light out here to see everything.” He opened the insulated bag and there were two large bowls with heavy lids. “What do we have here?”

  Katie leaned in as Chad carefully removed the lid. The fantastic aroma of beef stew filled the air between them. “Wow,” she said. “That smells so awesome.”

  “Perfect for the cool weather.” There we
re fresh baked rolls with butter to accompany the stew. He then pulled out two rolled up cloth napkins with silverware.

  Katie and Chad ate and were quiet for a few minutes as each of them enjoyed their meal.

  “Oh, I almost forgot.” He retrieved a bottle of wine, uncorked it, and filled two glasses.

  “Your chef thought of everything,” she said.

  Chad raised his glass. “To us, to justice, and to happier adventures…”

  “Cheers,” they said in unison.

  They enjoyed their meal and wine, chatting about work and mundane things, enjoying each other’s company.

  “Now,” said Chad. He jingled the keys in his hand and then returned them to his pocket. “Now that I have you here and I have the only means to get home, you need to come clean.”

  “What?”

  “I’m not joking. What’s going on with you?”

  “You’ve been talking to Uncle Wayne again?”

  “Maybe.”

  “McGaven then?”

  “Maybe,” he said again.

  “What’s going on?” she said suspiciously.

  “I may not be a first-rate detective, but I know when something hinky is going on.”

  “Hinky? Really?” she said.

  “Look, everyone is worried about you, including me.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s not just working these cases or the fact that someone came after you the other night. But that does concern me. It’s what you’re not telling anyone. Look, give us all some credit, we know you; we know how you’re not going to back down when you want to get to the truth.”

  “Wait… wait a minute.”

  “Tell me I’m wrong and I won’t bring it up again. Look me in the eye and say it.”

  Katie started to deny it, but she wasn’t going to base her relationship with Chad on a lie. “Alright. I’m looking into a few things, but nothing that is dangerous.”

  He sighed and said, “I knew it.”

  “What would you do if it was your family? Sit around and expect everyone else to put the kind of time and heart into it you would? Or, would you do everything you could to find out the truth?” She watched his reaction. His face clouded, and she knew that he would fight for his family.

  “Of course that’s true, but… this case is bigger than anyone thinks it is, except maybe your uncle. There’s something big at work here—this doesn’t seem like a small-town murder. Framing a sheriff for murder, and brazenly going after his niece.”

  “I know,” she said softly. “Believe me, I’ve agonized over it. I don’t want to bring anyone else in on this—”

  “You mean McGaven?”

  “Yes. I know he’s annoyed, probably angry at me too. He wants to help.”

  “I want to help,” said Chad.

  “It’s not your job,” she said softly.

  He stared at her. It was unclear to Katie if he was insulted or never thought of it that way before.

  “I love you. I love you more than I ever thought I could. So you need to trust me. I’ll be fine,” she stressed, not sure if she was trying to convince him or herself. “I keep saying this a lot lately, but you do know that I headed an army team through combat zones, navigating around improvised explosion devices, right?” She forced a smile.

  “Who you are, and all the multi facets to you, are what make me love you so much. Just promise me before you do something that’s not according to your job assignment—just let me know.”

  “I will, I promise.” She squeezed his hand and kissed him. “I will.” She hated not telling him what she was planning and hoped that he would understand.

  He stroked her face and kissed her again. His eyes conveyed his concern and worry, but he trusted her abilities. She could always read his emotions—he wasn’t adept at hiding them.

  “Okay, I was going to save this for later, but…” he said playfully.

  “But what?”

  “There’s something with chocolate for dessert.”

  Thirty-Two

  Monday 0745 hours

  Katie arrived at her office shortly before 8 a.m. She expected to see McGaven already at work in the office conducting background searches, but his chair was empty. She had been so immersed in her own complications and how she would proceed with her uncle’s case without getting noticed that she had forgotten about McGaven working his patrol shift and he wouldn’t be working investigations until tomorrow.

  Stacked in the middle of her desk were reports on Cynthia Andrews’ family. A neatly printed note attached read:

  Interesting reading. You now can begin your criminal profile.

  On a three-by-three inch yellow sticky note were the words:

  AND 377 and AND 377-A located in the office across the hall. Have fun.

  McGaven had pulled the evidence on the Cynthia Andrews case, which helped to jumpstart her Monday morning.

  Katie smiled, looked at McGaven’s empty chair and listened to the silence in her office, and wondered what would ultimately happen if things didn’t go the way they were supposed to.

  Suck it up, Scott…

  She went to the office across the hall, pressed in the security code and entered. There were two large plastic bins with heavy-duty attached lids, which had the corresponding identification affixed to the outside.

  She hefted both boxes into her office, putting one box on McGaven’s desk and the other on hers so she could examine each one with ease and spread anything out. Glancing at the board, she reread everything in detail she already had then opened the first bin and sorted out the bagged evidence: rope, clothing (T-shirt, socks, and shorts), tent, miscellaneous camping supplies, sleeping bag, backpack, notebook, canteen and food, and a binder with copies of published papers.

  Katie took out the notebook first and slipped it out of the evidence bag—the notes with it explained it was found just outside what was left of the tent. It was one of those lab books with a black hardbound cover and college ruled paper inside for about hundred pages. Both sides were well-worn and the entries were meticulously entered with small printed letters and numbers referring to times, dates, and types of foliage native to California. Cynthia had further referenced their appearance and size, which wasn’t helpful to Katie. She turned each page but nothing jumped out to her except an out of place doodle or two.

  Katie finally reached the last entry Cynthia had written before she was killed. Instead of data, she had written:

  This camping trip was perfect timing to get away. I don’t want to think about the aftereffects of my research once it becomes common knowledge. It would surely fast-track my application and I will be on my way to a teaching position at the university. I left a message for Celeste Harper, the head of my Ph.D. board, with all the details.

  Katie sat back and thought about all the implications of scientific breakthrough: grant money, speaking engagements, and a position at the university. She thumbed back through reports from Detective Teagen and her uncle. There was a mention about the journal and that Dr. Celeste Harper was out of the country at the time Cynthia was murdered, which had given her an airtight alibi. Katie wanted to speak with her all the same, to see if she could shed any light on the investigation. Keying in a search for Dr. Celeste Harper on her computer, Katie found a website that described her as “the Mother Nature of the science world” and listed speaking engagements all over the world and an office at the university.

  Dialing the number, Katie waited.

  “Hello Dr. Harper’s office, may I help you?” greeted a very pleasant woman’s voice.

  “Hello, is Dr. Harper back in the country?” Katie asked.

  “Yes, she’s back here for about two weeks.”

  “Would it be possible to set up an appointment with her?”

  “Let me see… Yes, she has one appointment tomorrow at noon.”

  “That would be fine.”

  “Affiliation?”

  “Pine Valley Sheriff’s Department.”

  There w
as a pause on the other end of the line. Finally, she asked, “Name?”

  “Detective Katie Scott.”

  “And this is regarding?”

  “A former colleague.”

  “Okay, Detective Scott. Your appointment is for tomorrow at noon.”

  “Thank you,” she said as the phone disconnected.

  Katie took the notebook and made a photocopy from a small copy machine she had requested and finally received a few weeks ago. She took the reproduction of Cynthia’s last entry and taped it to the cupboard next to an eight-by-ten photo. She was an attractive brunette with long hair, sad eyes, and a pleasant smile. Katie stared at her for a moment thinking about who would want to kill her—and why.

  Stay focused…

  Katie pulled out the remnants of the blue tent; it had been reported that there were no bloodstains on it. She studied them inside the bags and read the notations of testing the unknown stains, and she also noted that there’d been no tests for the usual culprits like blood, saliva, semen, or anything associated with camping. The testing had concluded that the dark stains were a type of grease similar to the grease found on the material outside her uncle’s house. There was nothing more recorded about it in the report.

  Moving the boxes and clearing both desks, she pushed them together and laid out the tent material like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. The poles and supports were in the other box, but she didn’t need them at the moment. Looking closely at the slices, she realized that the knife was sharp and it appeared to cut at an angle. Referring to the forensic report—it wasn’t John’s because it was before he was hired—the conclusion had been that the slicing was from a blade that was more than three inches and less than twelve. Katie frowned. The information wasn’t what she had hoped and was annoyingly unspecific. There was no way of knowing if the weapon that killed Andrews and sliced up the tent was modern, or antique.