Unexpected Lightning

by Cass Sellars

  “The company finally had to let him go. When we cleaned out his desk, we found stacks of notes that he had written to her; some of them were pretty violent and disturbing. The company felt as if they had an obligation to warn her. We contacted the woman and told her that we believed she was in danger. Her name is Leanne Mason. Ms. Foster, I met Ms. Mason when I gave her the notes. She is a sweet girl, and I am concerned about her and her family if he is at it again. Please contact the Maclean Police if she is still a target.

  “Out of professional courtesy, I’m begging you to keep this message confidential.”

  Jenny quickly copied down the number left for Leanne Mason and saved the message. She pulled pending files from her bag and held them up when the call ended. Parker stared at the phone and tried to brace herself for what Jenny had to say next.

  “I only lacked responses on two employees, Ben Barrett and Steve Akeroyd. Ben had listed a family business in Fairfax as his last employer, but Steve had listed a privately held company in Maclean, and I remember Mack saying he mentioned an ex-girlfriend.”

  Mack motioned for her to go faster.

  “Anyway, she says that our employee in common had to be termed for harassing his ex-girlfriend, right? It had to be serious. Technically, employers aren’t covered under duty to warn as far as I know, so it must have been bad enough that they felt they had to tell her.”

  Jenny retrieved a sticky note with the summary of information and handed it over to Mack. Mack reviewed it and passed the paper over to Syd, who began tapping away on her phone.

  “So, I went back on the only two remaining files, Ben Barrett and Steve Akeroyd. Ben worked in Fairfax according to his application and has a fiancée of eight years, you said, yeah? But Steve has a former employer in Maclean and an ex-girlfriend, right?”

  Mack nodded and looked back at Syd who shook her head. “Nothing on a Leanne Mason anywhere in Maclean, at least not on social media or who’s under the age of fifty-five. Are you sure that’s how you spell her name?”

  Jenny issued her a withering look. “Really? I can listen and write stuff down, Syd.” She smiled when Sydney looked uncomfortable. “Yeah, that was the name.”

  Mack stood up and glanced at Sydney. “Why don’t we go try to call her?” Mack kissed Jenny. “You did good, sweetheart.”

  “Don’t go anywhere, you two,” Syd warned. The sense of urgency flooded her voice as she followed Mack into her home office.

  “I really hate that I believed this guy, even liked him.”

  “I did, too. I would have bet he was on the level.” Syd stared at the name on the sticky note.

  “Me, too.” Mack dialed the number and left a message when it clicked over to a generic prerecorded voice.

  “I want to finish this, Mack.”

  “We’re going to. If I don’t get a return call, we’ll go there first thing. Shall I assume you want to ride along?” Mack asked the ludicrous question.

  “Please. Like you could leave without me.” Syd rolled her eyes.

  “We’ll get my car from service in the morning. This may be the last piece we need.”

  ***

  After a restless night, Syd found Mack in the kitchen pulling mugs from the rack over the sink. “Did you sleep?” she asked.

  “Not much, you?”

  “I just kept replaying the interview with Akeroyd. I can’t see where I missed it, and it makes me crazy.”

  “You didn’t miss anything. I heard the whole thing, remember? It wasn’t there.” Syd spoke reassuringly, though she had spent the night scanning her memory for the moment she had missed. He was a typically jerky guy coming off a breakup. He hadn’t sounded particularly angry or vengeful.

  “Did Parker sleep?” Mack asked, obviously trying to shake off the nagging disquiet she felt.

  “She fell asleep on my shoulder, but I tossed a lot, so I probably kept waking her up.”

  “You didn’t do it, love.”

  Syd heard Parker’s voice from the hallway. Syd noted it lacked its customary strength, a reminder that the toll this was taking threatened to change who they were.

  “Don’t worry; I was restless myself.” Parker slipped her arms around Syd’s waist. “Not such a great night for you either, huh?”

  Before Syd finished refilling coffee, a distinct click of high heels echoed in the hallway. Jenny rounded the corner in her trademark plum shoes.

  “Good morning, peoples,” she cheerily greeted the crowd in her kitchen.

  “The deadly heels twice in one month?” Parker motioned at Jen’s pumps with one hand while gripping her mug with the other.

  Syd watched Parker grin. She didn’t think it was more than a function of her mouth. The look in her eyes was tired and cautious.

  “Yeah, I figured I would be tall today.” She crossed to her wife and snaked her arms easily around Mack’s neck. “I can actually almost look Mack in the eye.” She laughed and took a hot cup of coffee from her. “Besides, I can use them as a weapon if Steve comes by.”

  “Wrong answer, wife. Keep your door closed, and stay away from that guy until we figure out what’s happening, please.” Mack was deadly serious. “Maybe you should reconsider even going into work.”

  “No, Lieutenant. Besides, I won’t be long anyway. Don’t worry.” She whirled back to Parker. “You sure you want to keep Olivia? I can take her next door if you want.” Their retired neighbor relished being Olivia’s caregiver.

  “Hey, I’m a shut-in, right? I can manage an adorable little girl for one day.”

  “Okay, then, I’m off to slay payroll!” She gestured grandly and slid her bag over her shoulder.

  Syd knew Parker felt guilty that she wasn’t going to be there. She stepped in to reassure her. “You taking Olivia today will keep your mind occupied and allow us to go make him a nonissue, you know.”

  “Trying to placate me, Syd?” Parker locked her hands behind Syd’s neck.

  Syd was thoroughly thankful for the connection. It meant they were still a team, and all this would be a story from their past one day, not the thing that ripped them apart. Being without Parker would always terrify Syd much more than any criminal. “You promise, no field trips today?” Getting her to agree to cancel the CTI meeting was a huge step, and to Syd, that meant she was worried as well.

  “I have no place to be. Besides, no one even knows I’m here.” She smiled up at Syd.

  “Call me if anything happens at all, okay? I love you.”

  “And I love you. Now go, both of you. I know you’re dying to talk to that poor woman in Maclean. Let me know what happens, please.”

  Parker clearly hated being on the outside, and Syd understood. She longed for the moment this chaos was behind them.

  ***

  Syd parked the Porsche in the SLPD lot while Mack picked up her car from the service bay.

  “We’d get there faster in mine.” Syd fell into the aging Taurus.

  “You know how I feel about your car now, and besides, I don’t think reluctant witnesses are going to think much of us pulling up in the batmobile.”

  “I think I liked ‘sex machine’ better,” Syd grumbled.

  “I’m sure you do.” Mack pulled onto the busy on-ramp and sped into the left lane.

  “How are we planning to find this Leanne Mason woman if she won’t return your call?” Syd had come up with a million questions and scenarios in the night, but she would defer to Mack’s official channels first.

  “I guess I’m hoping I can get a little interagency cooperation.” Mack shrugged. “Otherwise, we ask around and hope we get lucky.”

  “Why don’t I try something while you drive? I have some friends in low places at a couple of cell companies. I might be able to get a billing address if it’s not a prepaid line.” Syd began tapping away at her phone.

  Mack frowned. “I see nothing; I hear nothing. It’s like I’m in the car by myself.”

  Syd knew that she had to toe every line when she built a case. Syd was un
der no such obligation.

  Fifty minutes later, Mack pulled the Taurus into the gravel drive of a rural tract home on the east side of Maclean, the address of which happened to come in a text to Sydney’s phone from a restricted number.

  The yard was tidy and plain, and the house had recently been painted a muted green. Syd noticed a small plastic tricycle in the unfenced backyard surrounded by other scattered children’s toys. They walked up onto the porch, and Syd knocked on the screen door before stepping back down the stairs.

  A frilly white curtain moved from the window in the door, and Mack pressed her badge to the glass. “Silver Lake Police. I called you yesterday.” The curtain fell back into place, and the house was silent.

  “Ms. Mason.” Mack spoke louder through the door. “Your ex-boyfriend may be putting some people in danger. We just want to talk to you for a few minutes and understand what happened to you, so maybe we can stop him.”

  Syd heard a noise behind the house and followed the sounds, leaving Mack to continue to knock. A short, androgynous woman with a shapeless brunette hairstyle stepped off the back deck and began throwing toys into a pink plastic barrel.

  “Hey,” Syd called.

  “This is private property. You have no right to be here.” The woman pointed a toy bat at her and shook it vigorously.

  Sydney raised her hands and stopped where she was. “Look, I know you don’t want to deal with whatever this is, but you’re my only hope.” She tried to appeal to the woman, though she’d already turned her back.

  She turned around again, her hands on her hips. “If he found her, it would all start again, but this time, I think it would be worse. I believe this time, he would kill her.”

  “You need to know that I’m trying to protect my family, too,” Syd blurted out without much forethought. “He has fixated on my girlfriend and has threatened to do some pretty disgusting things. He wants to kill me to get me out of the way.” She hoped her words would sufficiently jolt the woman into some form of acquiescence.

  She stared as if she felt swayed by the statement for just a moment. Then she stalked to Syd, who was standing in the center of the lawn.

  “If that’s not some bullshit story you just fed me, then you would understand how I feel. The only way we can have a decent life is if we don’t have to relive this every time we turn around.” She was nearly touching Sydney as she spoke.

  Syd had eight inches and fifty pounds on the younger woman, but Sydney bet she wouldn’t think twice about taking on the world to protect her family, and Syd could appreciate that.

  “I do understand. Look, we don’t want to bother you or make you live through whatever it is again, but you’re the only shot I have of catching this guy. Please.” Syd held up her phone and showed her a picture of Parker, the phone’s wallpaper. “This is the only woman I have ever truly loved in my life. If I can’t make this stop, I could lose her, and I can’t risk that. Please, help me, and you can forget we ever met.” Syd slipped the phone back into her pocket and waited.

  “Wait here.” The woman jerked open the screen door and disappeared into the house. Syd saw Mack, who had obviously watched the exchange from behind her.

  “Any progress, or are you just pissing people off like always?” Mack scanned the back of the house.

  “Sometimes, Foster, you just have to stick with your strengths. Now I’m praying she’s not in there loading a shotgun.”

  “Well, there’s a nice Friday morning mantra.” Mack instinctively backed out of the path of the window and watched as Sydney, unfazed, continued her vigil in the yard.

  Five minutes later, the thankfully unarmed woman returned and motioned them into the house. Mack pushed her shirttail out of the way of her weapon before stepping into the unfamiliar territory.

  The door moved partially open, and a petite blonde with nearly translucent skin and delicate features peered at her. “Could I please see your badge again?” Her voice was as small as she was.

  Mack held up her ID. “I’m Lieutenant Foster; I called yesterday.” The visit was clearly still not a welcome one.

  She nodded when Sydney stepped up and introduced herself as well. The angrier of the women moved the door wider, and the waifish blonde stepped out of their path.

  Syd heard locks engage on the door behind them.

  “I’m Leanne Mason. This is my wife, KC. Can I get you a drink? I just made some coffee.” She looked as if she needed something to do with her hands as she wrung them repeatedly in the now crowded kitchen of the small house.

  “No, ma’am. We’re fine. We’ll try not to take up too much of your time. Thank you for seeing us.” Mack looked at both of them as the brunette was stroking her fingers over her wife’s arm.

  KC encircled Leanne’s wrist, and she spoke soothingly. “Angel, you don’t have to talk to them. We can ask them to leave right now.”

  “I know, sweetie, but what if he tries to hurt someone else, like she said?” She looked into KC’s wary eyes.

  “Then it’s something the police can handle without you having to go through it all again. I can’t pretend this didn’t nearly tear us apart last time. You want to risk him coming after Georgie again?”

  “We have papers that say he can’t.” She shifted in the bright yellow kitchen to face her.

  Mack looked uncomfortably at Sydney, who felt as if they were eavesdropping on a private conversation they had no right to hear.

  “That doesn’t mean he won’t.” KC paced the small room and rubbed at the back of her neck.

  “Can we just hear them out? I would rather know what’s going on than be blindsided if he finds us again.” She stared at the muddy brown tiles on the floor and shook her head.

  Syd wondered if she was shaking out unpleasant memories.

  “Fine. Sit down so you can go sooner.” KC moved with Leanne, leading them into the modest living room, which boasted a large tan microfiber sectional sofa with baby blankets spilling from a laundry basket on one end.

  Mack sat near the two women, and Syd stood against the wall as if attempting to fade into the background.

  “I’m sorry. I know this is an inconvenience, but it seems like your ex-boyfriend may be harassing another woman at his new place of employment, and we hoped you might be able to tell us a little about him.”

  KC spoke first. “All you need to know is this guy’s a total freak. He needs to be locked up. No one did anything about it before, so we have no reason to believe this time will be different. My wife could have been seriously hurt, and so could Georgie.” She backed into the corner of the sofa and pulled Leanne against her.

  Mack looked up from her notebook. “I’m sorry, who is Georgie?”

  Leanne spoke first. “Georgia, we call her Georgie, is our daughter. It might be easier if I start from the beginning.”

  “That would be helpful.” Mack usually asked the questions her way, but Syd thought it very likely they would be tossed out by the angry woman hovering over her wife if she asked one the wrong way. Since the entire interview was technically just a giant favor, she knew Mack stayed quiet to let them proceed their way.

  “We met at City College in Fairfax. Right after high school, I was taking a computer course so I could maybe work in an office and save up for a four-year school. He sat next to me, and we became friends. I guess I always knew he had feelings for me, and I guess I just sort of got used to having him around.

  “After about six months of him asking me repeatedly, I agreed to go out with him. I didn’t have any family around to speak of, and I suppose I was a little lonely. We went to a party for some friends at school. After a while, we were just always together, and I met his family who were really nice to me and kind of became my family.

  “See, my dad left when I was little, and my mom died right after I turned eighteen. My mom’s boyfriend owned the house we were living in, and it wasn’t a good place for me to be. I figured he would never be the great love of my life, but he was stable, and his dad ha
d a construction business where I could work in the office answering phones and stuff while he worked on the jobs with his dad. It was great for a while and…”

  “What happened that changed that?” Mack’s tone was cautious as KC leveled a heavy stare at them both.

  “Well, nothing, really, for a while, but then he started getting really jealous of everyone I talked to and everything I did. I wanted to take more classes, and he would freak every time I mentioned it. I sat at the front desk in the office, and every time a guy came in and was friendly, he would make a scene. Even his dad started to get pissed because it was affecting the business, you know?” Mack nodded, and Leanne glanced over at Sydney before continuing.

  “I took that for about two years, and it just started making me crazy. I knew I wasn’t in love with him, but I thought I could settle. Well, then KC started working for our blueprint company, and she came in to pick stuff up or drop off plans. We became friends, and we would talk when no one was around.” She wrapped her arm over her wife’s knee and smiled at the recall of a seemingly fond memory.

  KC picked up the story without prompt. “So, I would bring her a coffee or a muffin or something like that when I made the run to her office. I knew I was starting to have feelings for her. I knew she was having feelings for me, but she had never been with a woman before, so it was weird for her, you know?”

  Mack nodded. Syd watched the two hold on to each other, obviously comforted by the closeness.

  “I brought her a cupcake on her birthday, and he walked in behind me. I thought he was going to hit me; he just got so unbelievably pissed. I got out of there as soon as I could, mostly so it would be less of a problem for her.”

  “And I knew I was attracted to her, too, but it was so complicated. I didn’t want her to have to be involved with all the drama. He was becoming angrier and threatening me a lot. He started pushing me and getting really rough. He had hit me a couple of times before, but nothing too bad. It wasn’t like I hadn’t been around that before.” Leanne words were intentionally vague.