Dinner conversation centered around the Christmas project. They reviewed the plans for contacting everyone, for delivery of the donated toys and clothing.
“You know,” Shea said at one point. “I wonder about Jason’s Christmas Day dinner.”
“What about it?”
“What if they can’t have turkey or ham and all the trimmings? What if it’s just another catch as catch can meal? Of if his mother has to work that day and only gets to bring home left overs from the diner?”
He studied her for a moment.
“Are you suggesting we now include a Christmas dinner for every one? There are now one hundred and forty names on our list.”
“I know, but some of those are multiple kids in a single household. I bet we wouldn’t need more than maybe eighty-five dinners.”
“Eighty-five dinners?” he repeated.
She nodded. “I’ve been thinking about it, and I figure we can contact a bunch of stores and ask if they’d donate a ham or a turkey. Maybe some cranberry sauce, potatoes, rolls, you know all the things that go into a Christmas dinner. And pie for dessert. If we ask a bunch, each could donate just a few. It’d be great.”
He nodded slowly, entranced at her enthusiasm.
“It’d be great all right. Except it adds another aspect to the project and we’re still not sure we have the toys angle covered. How large are the families? How many really need this?”
She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. We’ll give enough for a large family and if they have left overs, all the better. And my guess is kids on your list are from a poor home or why would they be on the list? I can get some help from the employees of our company. We’ll have to coordinate those donations with the toys, and make sure they get to St. Anne’s the afternoon we’re delivering, but early enough to put with the toys for each house.
Jake closed his eyes for a second, imaging the chaos at St. Anne’s. Then he looked at her and smiled slowly. If anyone could pull it off, it’d be Shea.
“I’m officially putting you in charge of the dinners,” he said.
She grinned. “It’ll be awesome, you’ll see.”
Shea drove Jake to the police station after dinner to get his car. Jake wished he’d asked her to drive him home. Then he could have invited her up for a drink.
Instead, he’d go home to his empty apartment and she’d go home to the Christmas extravaganza in her own place.
He knew where he’d rather go this evening.
“So I’ll see you in the morning?” he asked as he opened the car door.
“Yes, I’ll be there bright and early and ready to start calling grocery stores. And check in with St. Anne’s to make sure we can put perishables in a refrigerator until delivery time. Oh, and we’ll need boxes or bags or something to carry the food.” She smiled brightly at him. “I’m glad you included me in this project,” she said.
Jake nodded and climbed out of the car. If she only knew how glad he was!
The next morning Jake arrived at the make-shift office to find Shea already at her desk, on the phone. She waved at him and continued to talk. From what he could hear, she was already talking some grocery store into food donations.
He sat at his desk and looked at the folder he’d left yesterday. He’d asked the lieutenant to see about having a patrol officer bring in one of the suspects from the original investigation. He’d found information in the journal that contradicted the suspect’s statement. He wanted clarification.
“Woohoo,” Shea said, turning to face him. “Good morning. I have great news. Three stores so far have volunteered five dinners each. That’s already fifteen and I have only called three. If everyone gets on board, we’ll have enough for all the families.”
“Good job.”
“Do you want to go with me back to St. Anne’s? I want to check out refrigeration possibilities.”
“I have someone coming in this morning. If you wait until after I interview him, I’ll go with you.”
“A suspect?”
“Let’s just say a person of interest.”
“From one of your cold cases.”
He nodded.
“Can I watch the interview? I’d love to see you in action.”
He shook his head. “No, you can’t.”
“Okay. Tell me how it goes,” she said, turning back to the phone.
Jake considered her request. He’d rarely had anyone beyond fellow cops to talk to about his job. Sometimes it was interesting, sometimes dangerous, and sometimes tedious. Did she think being a cop was glamorous? Television portrayed crime as easily solved in sixty minutes. This case he was working on was still open eleven years after the murder.
He hoped he’d have some good news to share when the interview was over.
Chapter Nine
Shea was pleased with the results of her calls. Jake still hadn’t returned from interviewing his person of interest and she’d already lined up 90 donations for Christmas dinner.
And talked with Cal about asking their employees if they’d help pick up the donations. Unlike the toys that were being delivered, the grocery stores required them to pick up the food.
Still, no worries about things going bad if they picked them up and then delivered within a short time.
Shea heard Jake as he walked down the hall. She was about ready to head out for lunch and would see if he wanted anything.
He carried the folder he'd left with earlier.
“So, how did it go?” she asked.
“We made an arrest,” he said. The note of satisfaction was evident in his voice.
“Just from that one interview?”
“Yes. Once I presented the facts as I saw them and outlined the rest of the follow-up, the man confessed.”
“Wow, that’s unexpected.”
“I was surprised as well. Only thing I can think of is the guilt’s been weighing on him for all these years and he just wanted to come clean.”
“What happens next?”
“The D.A.’s been apprised and his office takes it from here.”
“So you solved it. One of the cold cases. That’s so cool.”
Jake shrugged. Dropping the folder on the desk, he sat down.
“I’m about ready to go get a burger. Want the usual?” she asked, jumping up and putting on her jacket.
“Sounds good.” He reached for his wallet, but she waved it away.
“We can settle up later. I’ll be back soon.”
Shea was glad for the break even though it was still frigid outside with a steady wind blowing that made it seem even colder. She bought their lunches and hurried back before the cold air cooled their food.
Jake’s lieutenant was sitting on the edge of the desk next to his, talking with Jake when Shea entered.
“Oops, should I wait outside?” she asked, pausing in the door way.
“No, come on in. We’re just about finished,” the lieutenant said. “I see you brought lunch. I’ll leave it to you both. Good job, again, Jake. I knew if anyone could find something it’d be you.”
The man smiled at Shea and left the room.
She brought their lunches to Jake’s desk and deposited the drinks and bag. Shrugging out of her jacket, she dragged one of the chairs closer and reached for the burger he handed her.
“Atta boy from the boss–that’s cool,” she said before she began to eat.
“Better than hearing I screwed up,” he said dryly.
“Do you screw up often?” she asked, a teasing light in her eyes.
“Not if I can help it. Not sure how the ankle fits into that, though.”
“Since you didn’t break it deliberately, it can’t be a screw up. Are you going to delve into another cold case now?”
“Contrary to what everyone seems to think around here, that is what I’m supposed to be doing while on desk duty. Not Christmas stuff.”
She grinned. “Ah, but the Christmas Cop project is so much fun.”
“Not so much if that’s all y
our coworkers call you now.”
“At least you don’t have to play Santa Clause to a room full of kids.”
He frowned. “Okay, so I’ll count my blessings.”
Shortly after they finished eating, Phil came in to congratulate Jake on solving the case. He was the first of several other officers who stopped by during the afternoon to talk about the case and congratulate him.
Shea watched, warmed by the camaraderie the police officers shared. She noted everyone seemed to hold him in high regard and was pleased the others took time to say something to him.
She suspected it’d help him be more resigned to desk work until he was fit to return to active duty.
Cal called about mid afternoon.
“Can you stop by the office before going home?” he asked.
“Sure. Is there a problem?”
“Maybe on the Furston project. Several of us have been looking at it all day and are going crazy. I’m hoping you’ll spot something we’ve missed.”
“I can leave now and be there in twenty minutes.”
Jake looked at her when she hung up.
“Problem?”
“Sounds like it. I’m needed back at the office.” Once she put on her jacket, she gathered her laptop and backpack and started out.
“I don’t know if I’ll be back today or not. Depends on what I find,” she said by the doorway.
He acknowledged her comment, but didn’t say anything further.
She wished he’d said something about hoping she’d return.
Tomorrow was Saturday. She didn’t work Saturdays unless it was critical. So she wouldn’t see Jake again until Monday. She hesitated at the door, but didn’t know what to say.
“See ya,” she called and headed for her car.
The problem the entire company had been working on was critical enough that Shea went to work on Saturday. The review the evening before proved the custom program wasn’t working as they’d projected and all hands were needed to try to find the problem. She’d stayed until after eleven the night before and was in before anyone else that morning.
Cal stopped at her door, coffee cup in hand. “Find anything?”
“No, and it’s so frustrating.”
“You don’t have to tell us. We’ve been looking at it for days. I’m almost at the point I want to say start over, but that’d take weeks. We need to find the glitch and fix it. The rest of the crew will be in shortly.”
“It's totally frustrating. And this is the second one if we count the problem with the police department,” she said, eyes still on the code. “Has Esther been doing double checks at each stage?”
“Of course. It was merging all the different aspects that led to the problem. Are you going back to the cop shop?”
“Not until we get this solved.”
Cal smiled. “It’s good to have you back with us,” he said.
She looked up and smiled at him.
“It’s good to be back. I think I can do most of what I need to do for the Christmas project from here. Guess you’re stuck with me from now on.”
“Works for me.” He lifted his cup in silent salute and headed for his own office.
Nothing was resolved on Saturday and Shea took Sunday off to catch up on chores around her home.
Monday the entire team was back to work trying to find the problem with the program before they came up against their deadline.
It was almost lunch time when Shea’s phone rang.
“I take it you’re not coming in today,” Jake said after greeting her.
“No. In fact this problem may take longer than we think and I might not be there the rest of the week. Is that a problem?”
“No. I believe things are on track.”
“I think so, too. If anything comes up, call me.”
“Right.”
Shea felt a little disappointed she wouldn’t be seeing Jake for a few days.
Since when had he become so important to her? She gazed off into space for a few minutes, wishing she could handle the review at the police department and not be stuck in her own office.
She shook her head. What was she thinking? She and Cal had built up a strong company, one she loved and was proud of.
She’d only known Jake for a few days, how had he become so important? Something to think about when she had time. Now she wanted to find out why the program wasn’t working the way it was designed to do.
Jake hung up the phone disappointed he confirmed his suspicions. He’d suspected she wouldn’t be in. She never arrived so late.
But he didn’t like the idea she might not show up for days.
Not that she needed to. He was lucky to have had her help with the Christmas project as long as he’d had it. It was his project, thanks to his boss. If he needed help, there was an entire police department to tap.
Looking around the empty office, he missed her. The entire room seemed more empty than normal. He checked his watch. Would she be up and wandering around getting her steps about now? Or, more likely, heading out for lunch somewhere.
Today he’d make do with the vending machine choices. Then get back to work on this new cold case. The investigation looked to have been very light as if there was little intent in solving it. He didn’t recognize the name of the detective in charge. Gone before he started, Jake guessed.
But the information didn’t hold his attention like it should.
He kept glancing at the empty desk Shea normally used.
Shea, Cal and four of their programmers were watching the large screen as one of the programmers slowly scrolled through the code.
“Here’s where we brought in the subroutine,” Esther said pausing the screen so everyone could study it.
“Looks clean,” Cal said.
The others murmured agreement.
“Then the next one was down a bit,” she said, slowly scrolling the code so everyone could quickly scan it as they moved through the program.
“Wait, hold there a second,” Shea said. She frowned as she studied the information on the screen.
“That might be it,” Cal said.
The others leaned forward to better see.
“Because of that?” one programmer pointed to the line.
“Yep.”
Shea noticed someone entering the large space. She looked over.
“Jake,” she said, jumping up and going over to him.
“Hi. What are you doing here? Is there a problem?” she asked when she got close.
“Not a problem, I wanted to update you on some information that came in this afternoon. So I thought I’d take the chance you were still here.”
Everyone by the large screen had turned when Shea left and were staring at them.
She glanced back.
“Come on and I’ll introduce you around and then we can go to my office.”
She led the way and once by the group, quickly made introductions.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Jake said.
“No worries, I think we know where the problem is,” Cal said. “Thanks to Shea’s eagle eyes.”
“Then I’ll leave it to everyone,” she said, turning toward her office.
Jake fell into step with her. “Was that the problem keeping you here?”
“Yep and if that’s the only glitch, once it’s fixed we’ll try the entire program again. Sometimes the tiniest thing can bring the whole thing crashing down.”
She entered her office and gestured to a chair. She took the one next to it and smiled at him, surprised at how happy she was to see him.
“Something that couldn’t wait?” she asked as he sat in the next chair and held on to the cane.
He shrugged, looking around, taking in the awards hanging on her walls, the desk cluttered with printouts, and the two large screens on either side of the desk.
“I thought you’d have something fancier than this,” he said.
She grinned.
“We have a very fancy conference room where we usuall
y meet with clients--to give the image of a highly successful firm. The rest is utilitarian. Good enough for us.”
“I got a call from station KZFF about doing an interview about the Christmas project.”
“Cool. That’s great publicity. It will make sure a lot of people know about the program. If you have a website or something, folks could donate directly to that and help fund costs. Gives the public a feeling of being involved.”
He frowned. “I don’t want to go on television. But if my lieutenant finds out, I’m a goner.”
She grinned. “You need to think of the kids. Actually, this might even turn up more kids who wouldn’t have Christmas if not for the Christmas Cop.”
“Great, just what we need, more kids.”
“Ah, but you’ll probably get more volunteers, too. And if you give a shout out to those donating things, you’ll engender a lot of good will and maybe spike sales for those who are donating.”
He frowned. “I wanted you to help me think of a reason not to do it, not come up with all these ideas making it sound like a good thing,” he grumbled.
She laughed, reached out and patted his arm.
“You’ll have to practice a smile, however. Your usual demeanor scares kids.”
He frowned even more.
Shea laughed again. “So maybe you need something to light up your world.”
“Like what?” he asked.
“I don’t know. What do you like? What hobbies do you have?”
“Searching cold cases?” he offered.
“Like that’s a hobby. Do you like fishing, painting, model railroads?”
He shook his head.
“So what would your best day look like?” she asked.
“Riding my bike through the mountains in the fall when the leaves change.”
“You have a bike?”
“A Harley.”
“Wow. I didn’t know that. Will you take me riding sometime?”
“Sure.” His expression softened. “Once my ankle’s better and there’s no snow on the roads.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Do you belong to a motorcycle club?”
He shook his head. “Mostly I like the freedom and the solitude. I’m around people all the time with work, I don’t need more on my off time.”
The Christmas Cop Page 7
