Drew grinned, and a shiver of anticipation coursed through his body.
I’ll see you tomorrow, pretty girl.
Thursday, August 7
Chapter 27
O
fficer Kim Townsend once again sat before Brent. It had been five days since his officer’s arrest and the beginning of the village’s less-than-glowing press coverage. It was time to put things to rest and hopefully restore the mayor’s confidence in his leadership.
Brent sat back in his chair and looked at his officer. She was pensive, hands resting in her lap. Her uniform was freshly pressed, looking as though she had just prepared for a police academy inspection.
How to approach the situation? Initially, he was just going to address the subject at hand quickly. But he realized that the circumstance was an excellent teaching moment.
“Yesterday, I got called into the mayor’s office. I had the pleasure of sitting down before her, much like you’re sitting in front of me. Not the most comfortable of feelings, is it?”
Officer Townsend dropped her gaze for a moment before responding, “No, sir. It isn’t.”
“Police officers are viewed with an extra level of scrutiny. Civilians are allowed to look foolish in public. We are not. Do you see that?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Getting drunk in public, dancing suggestively on a stage—”
“Sir, I didn’t—”
“This is my speech, Officer Townsend. You’re just going to listen.”
She bowed her head in submission. “Yes, sir.”
Brent waited until his police officer brought her eyes back up to meet his, then continued. “Dancing suggestively on stage, arguing—rather loudly—with police officers of another department.… That all adds up to bad press and personal disappointment. Yours and mine.”
Brent could see that his officer’s jaw was clenching and that she fought to hold his gaze. She didn’t say anything.
“While I was with the mayor yesterday afternoon, she and I had the opportunity to view the security camera footage of Saturday night’s events. No audio, obviously, but we were able to see the incident on the stage and also the interaction between you and two of Bedford’s finest.
“Before I hand down the decision of this department, is there anything that you would like to say?”
Officer Townsend sat up straight, a look of resolve transfiguring her facial features.
“Yes, sir.” She cleared her throat. “First, sir, I’m a good officer. I’ve not been on the force long, but I would never purposely do anything to embarrass this department or the village. I’m sorry that my actions disappointed both you and the mayor. She, too, is someone I highly respect.
“Over the past several days, I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on how I handled myself. It keeps playing over and over in my mind. I’ve lost a lot of sleep, not just because I might lose my job…”
Brent could see that Kim Townsend’s eyes were starting to become glassy with tears.
“…but because I kept seeing other ways I could have behaved or handled everything. I still don’t think I did anything that was actually wrong, especially not indecent, but I had time to consider what would have gone through my mind if I’d seen another police officer getting up on stage to show off to a crowd.”
Her eyes broke contact with Brent’s again, rising upward and to the right in an obvious attempt to keep tears from falling. Her lower lip trembled, and she cleared her throat again.
A single tear spilled down her left cheek, and as she looked at Brent again, he could see that another tear was seconds from falling down the other.
“Sir, I apologize.” The tear fell, but she regained a look of steely eyed determination. “But I want to make clear that I didn’t do anything wrong that night. Nothing illegal, anyway. I don’t think that I should be in jeopardy of losing my job because someone reported something about me that wasn’t true.”
She became silent.
Brent looked at her for several seconds without moving.
She pursed her lips, obviously uncomfortable under his stare.
It was time.
“The mayor and I agree with you, Officer Townsend.”
She blinked in surprise, lips untensing a bit.
“In fact, Bedford P.D. also agrees. Outside of the fact that you could have interacted better with their police officers, they could not find any reason for the allegations brought against you.”
Her shoulders relaxed. Her face softened.
“Officer Townsend, you are hereby reinstated to full duty.”
Kim Townsend’s eyebrows rose slightly, complete calm overtaking her countenance.
Brent felt his own facial features soften as well, and the once-needed official appearance transitioned into that of a concerned father.
“Kim, these past five days of reflection are going to go a long way to making you an even better cop. Well … if you let them. Be careful to not let alcohol cloud your decision making.”
A tender smile began to appear on her face.
“I won’t let it, sir. Lesson learned.”
“Don’t get too happy too quick, officer. Until I say otherwise, you’re off day shifts. Let’s say I’m … feeling inclined to help alleviate some of the partying temptation for a little while, beginning with tomorrow. Second shift.”
He watched the smile fade. She nodded while trying to avoid looking like she was sighing with resignation.
Brent stood up, as did she.
“You are dismissed, Officer Townsend. Get to work.”
Officer Townsend stood at attention and snapped a crisp salute to her boss. Brent returned the gesture.
His officer dropped her salute and turned to walk out of his office.
“Townsend.”
She stopped and turned. “Sir?”
“Stages are for entertainers.”
“Understood, sir.”
Then she walked out the door.
“SO, WHAT DO you think?”
Elizabeth had taken it all in to process. A lot of things to consider. She looked at Jenna and began to answer, but then closed her mouth.
So, is this church or a date? Is this about Jamie and me? Or is this about Jamie wanting Zach to come to church?
“I’ve got some suspicions. Why would this Sunday be about only the four of us going to church together? I mean, why shouldn’t I just go to church with your mom and dad? I don’t want them to be saddled with Kyla without my help.”
Elizabeth saw that her question caused Jenna to purse her lips and maybe even bite the inside of her cheek. On the surface, it appeared that she wasn’t liking the question very much. But Jenna’s face ultimately relaxed. She closed her eyes and dropped her chin to her chest.
“Okay,” she said after a moment, lifting her head to make eye contact again, “it’s like this. Jamie and Zach set this up. Jamie asked Zach if he would come to church. And one of the two of them suggested that the four of us go together. My bet is on Jamie. Anyway, Zach.…” Jenna’s eyes looked annoyingly upward to the left as she released an exasperated sigh. “I can barely make the words come out of my mouth … Zach apparently likes me.”
Elizabeth laughed. “So, we both have younger boyfriends!”
Jenna didn’t want to laugh; Elizabeth saw that plainly. But the dam broke and both girls burst into laughter.
A few seconds later, Jenna was able to reel it in and respond.
“Apparently! We just didn’t know it until now!”
“So, what do we do?”
Jenna looked thoughtful for a moment, then said, “I guess it’s really up to you. I told Jamie that I was willing to go separate from Mom and Dad, but you don’t have to. You’ve got the ‘out’ here, if only to stay with Kyla.”
A smirk played at the corners of Elizabeth’s lips. “What the heck. I’m willing.”
“I was afraid you’d say that. Are you forcing th
is on me, or are you just liking Jamie too much to say no?”
“I’ll never tell. I’m a confidentialist!” said Elizabeth with a giggle.
Jenna giggled back. “That’s not a word!”
“But it should be!”
It gave Elizabeth quite a bit of delight when made-up words flowed from her without even trying. She especially enjoyed the reactions she got from those who detected them.
“Welp,” said Jenna, “it should be an interesting Sunday morning!”
“Yep! It sure should be.”
JAMIE FOLLOWED ZACH’S eyes over to the clock on the wall. 2:10 p.m.
“Got somewhere you need to be?”
“Huh?”
“You keep looking at the clock.”
“Oh. Practice at 4:00.”
“Oh yeah.”
Jamie and Zach had spent another morning gaming. It never occurred to either of them that they’d just wasted several hours. All they knew was that protecting the U.S. from zombies had been the order of the day.
“Wanna call it quits?” asked Jamie.
Zach looked over at him, then down at his controller. He held down the big green “X” button and chose the shutdown option on the screen.
“Just a little over a week,” Zach said, a slight grimace on his face.
It took a moment for it to register, but then Jamie caught on.
“School.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, we won’t be freshmen anymore. That’s a plus.”
“Sophomore does have a pretty good sound to it. Just three more years.”
“Long years. My mom said to make these the best years we’ve had, because they’re going to pass by so fast.” Jamie laughed. “I think she must have forgotten what high school classes are like.”
Zach chuckled.
“That girl you liked in middle school will be a freshman.”
“Shawna was so two years ago,” Zach said, a smirk beginning to play on his face. “Your sister on the other hand.…”
Jamie knew that saying something to shut him down was of absolutely no use. He just looked at Zach for a moment and shook his head.
“Uh-huh. I’m sure she’s thinking about you even now.”
A phone rang. It was Jamie’s. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the screen.
“Talk about weird timing! Dude!”
Jamie faced the screen at Zach who immediately laughed. “That’s my girl.”
This time Jamie couldn’t control a laugh while he pressed to accept the call.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“Well, for some reason, Elizabeth’s up for it.” Jamie knew immediately what “it” meant, and his face began to light up with a big grin. He faced Zach who was now paying attention. “So, tell Zach to be over here by 10:00 a.m.”
“Will do! He’s looking forward to it!”
“Jamie, so help me, if anything—”
Jamie clicked End Call.
“Sunday. Just the four of us!”
Zach stood up. Exuberance clearly making it impossible for him to stand still, Zach walked to the back of the finished basement, pumped his right arm into the air, and exclaimed, “Yes! I am going to love church!”
Chapter 28
I
t was pushing 6:45, and the dinner rush was at its height. Elizabeth was taking orders from a family of six while noticing another of her customers waving a hand to get her attention. She looked over at the man, smiled, and gave him a nod of acknowledgment.
“…and can we get a few extra rolls with our order?”
“You sure may.” She read the order back to them. “Did I get everything right?”
“You got all of it right,” said the wife/mom with an appreciative nod.
“Now let’s see if the kitchen gets it right,” Elizabeth said with a wink and a smile.
She turned to head over to the next table, two down from where she’d been, and noticed a newly seated customer in a booth to her right. She flashed him a smile and said, “I’ll be with you in just a couple of minutes.”
The man looked up from his phone just long enough to say, “No problem.”
Looks like a working dinner for him. With a lot of paperwork.
Continuing over to the customer who’d caught her attention, she asked, “What can I do for you?”
Elizabeth gauged the man with a glance and noticed his wife looking up at her. Sorry, no flirty smile for you, mister. Gotta make sure wifey likes me too.
“Can we get a few more napkins?” wifey asked.
“You two just became my favorite customers,” she said with a big smile. “I don’t have to dart off anywhere to take care of this one.” She reached into her apron and pulled out a few napkins. Setting them on the table. “How’s that?”
“Looks just about right,” wifey said with a grin of her own.
“Great, I’ll check back with you in a little bit.”
Elizabeth began to walk past Mr. Paperwork and slowed down enough to give him a sweet smile and say, “I’ll be back to take your order right after I’ve put these orders in.”
“It’s okay. Take your time.” And once again, he almost immediately turned his attention to his phone.
Not much of a chance for a big tip from him, I’ll bet.
Back in the kitchen, she relayed her table-of-six order, picked up a basket of fries, and headed back into the dining area. She placed the fries before a young couple who could hardly take their eyes off each other. “Thanks,” they both said, barely recognizing her existence.
Well, right back at ya.
Elizabeth didn’t know why their disinterest annoyed her. It wasn’t unusual for customers to be engaged in deep conversations in which she would just be an unwanted distraction. And that was fine. She surely did the same when she and Jenna were out together.
Back to Mr. Paperwork.
Arriving at the table again, she was able to take a moment to look him over as he flipped through some sort of portfolio. Mid-thirties, probably. Not bad looking. Professional. The crisp blue T-shirt underneath his open sports coat brought out his eyes.
“Hi, I’m Elizabeth. I’ll be your server. What can I get for you on this wonderful evening?” she asked at last, a lilt in her voice.
“Hmm?” The man looked up and probably really noticed her for the first time. “Oh! My order. Sorry.” He put down the portfolio, picked up a couple of his stuffed manila envelopes, and finally found his menu. “I’m afraid I haven’t even looked yet.”
Now I’ve got his attention. She once again plied her sweetest smile and said, “No problem, sweetie. You take your time.” That was waitress speak for, See how wonderful I am to you? Don’t you want to give me a big tip when you’re done?
“I guess I’m a little scattered at the moment. Truth be told, I came in here so that I could have a little breathing space.” He looked thoughtful for a moment, then said, “I guess I am getting a little hungry, though. What’s good?”
“Depends. Do you need to keep your hands from getting greasy?”
“I don’t think that my clients would like me smearing grease on their modeling portfolios, so yeah, let’s keep it fork and knife.”
Well, that’s interesting.
“Are you a talent agent of some sort?”
“No, not me,” he said with a cute laugh. “I’m just the photographer.”
Just then, the man’s cell phone began to ring. Elizabeth happened to have a good view of the screen and saw Callie something-or-another from something Talent Agency, New York.
“Speak of the devil. Can you give me a second? I’ve got to take this real quick.”
Elizabeth smiled and nodded.
“Hi, Callie. What and when?”
He listened for a few seconds.
“Yeah, if you’ll set that up with Vogue, that’d be great. Who’s the model? Have I worked with her before?”
The man�
�s face went from light to dark in one second flat. He closed his eyes and slightly shook his head as he listened to Callie.
“Margeaux? Why? She’s a pain in the.… Yeah. All right. I hate to say she’s right, but it’s true. Okay. Set it up for…” He paused and closed his eyes again in concentration. “…next Thursday at 11:00 a.m. I’ll scout a location and get back with you. Yep. All right. Send me a calendar invite. Thanks. Bye.”
He put down the phone and looked back up at Elizabeth. “Sorry about that.”
“Not liking Margeaux so much, are ya?” she asked playfully. “Sounds like she might grate on your nerves a bit?”
He chuckled. “First, I want to say, you’ve struck me with your verbal skills. You’re not lazy with your English.”
She smiled. “I grew up in a rather…” She added finger quotes. “…‘proper’ home in which that was very much expected. Had to impress the guests, you know.”
“Well, I’m certainly impressed.”
“Thank you.” She presented him with a small curtsy.
He laughed.
“And as for Margeaux, I don’t know why she’d ask for me again. We are always arguing. You’d think that the two of us had been married and divorced. But … she is right; irrespective of our loud dialogues, we certainly do create well together. Art-wise, I mean.”
Elizabeth caught the double entendre. She looked down from his eyes, a little heat rising in her face. “So, all of those envelopes have models in them?”
“Yeah. I’ve got to mail these out. They’re all hoping for that big contract. It all starts with the portfolios. If they’ve got the courage to do so, they’ll take the included flash drives, print out additional portfolios, and start sending them out to talent agencies, like the one I contract for.”
“Oh, so you don’t work for Callie?”
“You’ve got a pretty good eye for detail…” He looked at her name tag. “…Elizabeth. No, I work for myself, but I’m in pretty big demand by some of the bigger agencies in New York. They pay pretty well when jobs hit my calendar. I do other freelance work too.”
He picked up his menu again. “So, food. Non-greasy recommendations?”
That Dark Place Page 16
