by C. J. Carson
Sitting at the island, Jake sipped his coffee. “I am on duty tomorrow night, so I can help in the morning also. I think the sooner we move you the better. When I was talking to Antonio outside, he said it has been oddly quiet in this neighborhood for a few days.”
I faced him. “Oddly quiet? What does that mean?”
“He said that for the last three nights at least, there has been no one in five of the houses on this cul-de-sac. The only activity he has seen has been in your house and the one at the end of the street on the corner. Five out of six houses that surround your house have gone dark. I’m not saying they are empty because your stalker made it happen, but I am saying that it provides a unique opportunity for him to strike with less chance of being seen.”
Josh got up from his chair and wrapped his arms around me. “Allie, I’m worried about you. I would feel more comfortable if I stayed for the night. Maybe we could even begin packing some things this evening.”
“I would be fine with that, and to tell you the truth, I don’t think I want to stay one more night here alone.”
Jake moved to the front door. “I am going to let Antonio know about the new arrangements. We’ll have to plan the move of your surveillance after tonight.” He turned to Claudia. “I would feel much better if I went to your place for the night. We could also pack some things so we can move you in with Allie tomorrow.”
Chapter 24
AS THE SUN BROKE THROUGH THE blinds the next morning, I woke comforted and engulfed in Josh’s arms. Laying there motionless to soak in that feeling, I never wanted it to end!
The buzzing of my cell broke the spell. I picked it up to read the message. It was nine o’clock, and the text was from Claudia. Hey, girl, it’s the big move day!
Josh took the phone out of my hand. “I wish we could stay here as long as we want, but we have some very important work to do!”
I rolled over and gazed into his beckoning, soft blue eyes. How could this be happening to me? I couldn’t be having these kinds of feelings so quickly! He leaned into me and gently ran his supple lips over mine. There it was again, that deep-breathing light-headedness I always got when he embraced me that way. Once again swept up in his body, the passion between us was almost more than I could bear, and my appetite for these moments was becoming insatiable. He had reached me on a whole new level, racking my body with unimaginable sensations. For the second time in my life, he drove me to exhaustion in the most amazing way! We stayed in each other’s arms, blissfully weakened by our moment of desire as we drifted off to sleep.
A while later, my cell buzzed again. I looked up at the alarm. It was ten o’clock. Sitting on the edge of the bed, I reached for my phone. The text read: Ten o’clock, ready or not, here we come! We’re going to stop for some bagels and Danishes on our way there. If you aren’t up and ready to have coffee, I am going to motivate you the way I used to when we were young and you know what that means.
Rolling over, there they were again, those beautiful, pleading eyes. “Oh, no you don’t. We really have to get up now. Claudia and Jake are on their way with pastries and, trust me, you want to be up when they get here.”
“Why? Just come back for a couple of minutes!”
Standing up, I looked back. “Oh, no! I am not doing that. Claudia has threatened to come in and motivate me and get me up the way she did when we were kids. I want no part of that.”
Getting up and heading over to my side of the bed, he started laughing. “I’m not afraid of little ol’ Claudia!”
“You should be! She will use any of her shenanigans to get us up, but by far she loves to come in and jump on my bed until I have almost fallen off.”
Scooping me up in his arms, he grinned. “She wouldn’t do that! Remember? She’s a ‘grown woman now’! Those were her exact words.”
“You sure do like to pick me up when you don’t want me to get away, don’t you?”
“No. Have you ever just considered I might like having you in my arms? And besides, I think I would like you to join me in the shower. I promise I’ll be on my best behavior!”
“Oh, it’s not you I’m worried about. I’m not sure I can trust myself to remain focused on showering with you in there!”
Moving to the shower, Josh proclaimed, “Allie, I can’t even imagine my life without you. You are the most amazing woman I have ever met.”
“I bet you say that to all the girls you carry around in your arms.”
Putting me down in front of the shower door, he grew more serious. “I mean it. Allie, I think I’m falling in love with you.”
Reaching up, I brushed my hand over his cheek. “I feel like I have known you all my life, Josh. Nothing has ever felt so right, and my feelings almost frighten me. I love you, too, but somehow those words don’t go far enough to explain the connection we have.”
He pulled me closer and lifted me in his arms, my legs dangling. “God, Josh, we have to get in the shower.”
Placing me down, he opened the shower door. “Well, let it be known that I am showering under protest.”
Energized, we showered and were ready quicker than I ever thought when I heard Claudia coming through the front door.
“Hey, Allie, you up? You better be!”
Josh and I had made our way to the kitchen.
“We’re in here, Claudia. Coffee is on and I’m all packed and ready to get out of here!”
Claudia opened the box of pastry. “Okay, but nourishment comes first. We have a long busy day and I didn’t get these Danishes and bagels to let them go stale.”
While we were eating, Jake’s phone rang. “Hello, Detective Carpenter here.” He turned to us as he walked out of the room. “I have to take this.”
Josh reached over for a cheese Danish. “Wow, Claudia, you sure are spoiling us!”
“That’s the goal! Allie and I like to keep our friends happy and well-fed!”
“Friends? Is that all we are? Just friends!”
I glanced over to Claudia. “So, Claudia, what do you think?”
“Oh, no you don’t! I’m not answering that one.”
What’s the matter, the cat’s got your tongue?”
Jake walked into the room and interrupted me. “Allie, that was Payne. He wants to see you and me down at the station in the next hour.”
“Are you kidding me? Why didn’t you tell him we are busy?”
“I tried that, but he has received the files from NYPD and has been reviewing them with Detective Carl Johnson.”
“What? The detective from New York? We know his name now? I thought he was on another case, undercover?”
“Well, apparently, he was pulled from that case and he delivered the files in person.”
“That doesn’t sound good, does it?”
“Well, if I was a guessing man, which I am not, I would say, no it doesn’t.”
“Okay, let’s get this over with. Claudia and Josh, why don’t you both head over to the Summit, and Jake and I will meet you after we see Payne?”
Chapter 25
WHEN WE GOT TO THE POLICE station, we found Payne in the conference room near his office.
“Come in, you two. Detective Johnson will be here in a minute. He just stepped out to make a call.”
Jake scanned the room. “Wow, what is all this? There must be fifty boxes here.”
Detective Johnson walked in. “It is everything we have connected to the case we were working on in New York.”
I reached out to shake his hand. “Hello, Detective Johnson, I’m Allie Callahan.”
“Hello there! I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“What exactly have you heard?”
“First, I am hearing you are one brave woman! It sounds like you have been dealing with some really intense circumstances. If this is our guy from New York, I am even more impressed.” He offered his hand to Jake. “And you must be Detective Carpenter.”
“Yes, Jake Carpenter. What is all this? When you said you were sending a file, I expec
ted a few folders, not a room full of boxes.” He turned to Payne. “What the hell is going on?”
“Have a seat, Jake, let Detective Johnson give you and Allie a briefing.”
Jake and I sat at the table and turned toward Johnson. “First, please call me Carl. I have a feeling we are going to be spending a fair amount of time together for at least the next few weeks. Can I ask that we start on a first name basis?”
I took a deep breath. “Sure, why not?”
“Okay, I don’t know how much you know about what happened in New York, but I understand there are some startling similarities to what is going on here.”
I glanced toward Payne. “Yes, we were told that. Payne also said the activity you were experiencing stopped shortly before we started having issues here.”
“That is correct, but there is more. For the sake of these conversations, let’s call this suspect, Grandfather. That is the nickname he was given in New York.”
I stood right up from my chair. “You have got to be kidding me! Is this some kind of mean joke?”
Carl stood up across the table. “Okay then, this only helps to confirm my suspicion that these cases are related.”
Jake took my hand. “Wait, Allie!”
“Carl, why did you call him that?”
“Because he would refer to the other victims’ grandfathers in numerous notes he had left. Look, the reason there are so many boxes is that his stint in New York was not this guy’s first rodeo. He seems to be searching for someone that has something he wants. Someone he refers to as his greatest adversary. I don’t know what they have on him or what they could have that he might want, but New York is only the last place I know of that he has shown up. These boxes are full of materials from four cities. Before he showed up on NYPD’s radar, he turned up in three other places. He was first noticed in Los Angeles, then tied to activity in Chicago, followed by Kansas City. New York was only his last stop, and these are only the places we know about, there may be more.”
I sank back down in my chair. “This can’t be happening. This is so much bigger than I thought!”
“Look, Allie, I am so sorry for what you have been going through, but I’m hoping we can stop him here, right in Stanford.”
“No, I get it! Look, I can tell you I am likely the one he is looking for.” I glanced over at Payne. “Look, Carl, before I have a big conversation around this with you, I feel I will need to ask for your confidentiality.”
“I’m not sure I can guarantee that. I can give you my word, but I can’t promise we will not call other agencies in. If we do, there is always the chance it will leak out.”
Payne interjected. “I get it, Carl, but in this case, I think she is right. When you hear her story, you will have to admit it has the potential to turn into a three-ring circus. Furthermore, I’m not sure if you are going to believe her or even be comfortable with everything she has to say.”
“How about this? I will promise not to make any moves or notify anyone else outside of this room until we all have a chance to discuss it.”
Payne rubbed the back of his neck. “I suppose I can live with that. We need some help on this case and the history you can provide is invaluable.” He turned to me. “What about you and Jake?”
“Allie, I agree with Payne. We have to stop this guy and I think we need as much help as we can get.”
“All right, I’m in as long as we keep it in this room unless absolutely necessary.”
After spending some time explaining what happened during my attack, at my house after, and the stealing of Claudia’s car, it still didn’t add up to Carl.
He looked perplexed. “I don’t get it. I mean, that was a terrible experience, and he seems obsessed with you, but nothing you have said has indicated that he would see you as an adversary. Is there something that may be valuable to him? Why are you so sure he is after you?”
I looked over at Payne and Jake. “Well, how do we explain this one?”
Payne stood up. “Give me a minute.” He left the room and returned with Patricia Coles’s file. He handed it to Carl. “I think this will help to make it clearer.”
I excused myself. “I’ll be back shortly. I just need to call Claudia and Josh to let them know we are going to be a while longer.”
After my call, I returned to the conference room, and I offered them each a bottle. “Water anyone?”
Carl smiled. “Sure, I’d love one. After reviewing this file, I’m pretty certain the Patricia Cole case is our strongest link to him. From the sounds of it, he was testing you. Because you found Patricia before he called the police tells me you passed with flying colors. It appears you may have a gift that could be very powerful, and as an adversary, it could be one he finds very threatening. That sounds more like his MO.”
I raised my hand. “Wait, there is more.”
“I know, Payne told me about the mayor’s wife and granddaughter.”
“No, there is more!” I turned to Payne and Jake. “More that even you both don’t know about.
“Carl, first let me say that I have been ignoring and burying these gifts I have for years. My grandfather was a medicine man. He died when I was just eleven and when that happened, my brother and I lost our connection to that side of our family. My understanding is that my grandfather had a huge falling out with the tribe not long before his death. As hard as my mother tried to reach out to keep that connection open, the elders would not hear of it.
“My grandfather always tried to encourage me to embrace my gifts. He said I have many, but after his passing, I ignored and buried them deeply. I believe it was the physical and emotional trauma of my attack that forced them to the surface. Now I am remembering and learning about them all over again.”
“The fact that your grandfather is so connected to this case is astounding, and another reason for me to believe this is our guy. Do you have any idea what could have driven a wedge that deep in his relationship with the tribe?”
“Honestly, Carl, I don’t know. I guess it’s time to figure that out. You asked me if I might have something this guy might want. Well, I think I do.”
I turned to Jake and Payne. “I’m sorry I kept this from you, but I possess an ancient redwood box that has been passed down through the years from one generation to the next. To most people, it is just an antique box with a collection of old trinkets and artifacts. But as crazy as it sounds, for me, with my gifts, they are extremely important tools. Trying to put it in my grandfather’s words, ‘Each object is a tool that will speak to me when the time is right. To others, they are just old trinkets, but for me, they hold lessons from the past that will guide me with my gifts.’ He always said to remember that they are not idle trinkets to be worshiped or praised, but they are like a book that only someone with my gifts can read. They hold crucial lessons from the past. He told me they can help guide me through my endeavors to help others and that I should guard them with my life because, in the hands of one who is not pure of heart, they can do great harm.”
Payne and Jake sat back in their chairs. Carl paced the room. “That is some pretty heavy stuff!”
“So, you think it’s crazy?”
“No, not at all! I worked on a number of cases in New York with a clairvoyant woman. Believe me when I say she taught me about things that, to this day, are still beyond my complete understanding. There are a lot of phenomena in this world that I am aware of, but can’t comprehend, and I’m okay with that.”
I looked at my watch. “It’s getting close to noon, and I promised that Jake and I would try to get back to the Summit with lunch by twelve-thirty.”
Payne looked up. “You got the apartment?”
“Yeah, we were preparing to move in today when you called.”
“Great, I think we can call it a day, but Jake, we still need to talk surveillance.”
“I know, Antonio and I are on tonight and I already filled him in. I was wondering if we should talk with the Summit’s security or the owner of the apar
tment and inform them about this.”
As Payne got up to leave the room, he turned to us. “I’ll call over and speak with their security today. I want to see if we can put an undercover officer at the desk with their security. I also want to take you off of this surveillance detail, Jake. You’re too close to this on a personal level. You can still consult on the situation, but you’re off the case. Carl, why don’t we grab a bite to eat? I would like to look through these files and familiarize myself with this guy’s history.”
Chapter 26
JAKE AND I WENT BY THE café and picked up lunch on our way to the Summit. While we were there, I asked George about the split between my grandfather and the elders of the tribe. Although he knew about the falling out, Grandfather never told him what caused it or why it happened.
Leaving George’s Café with our meal, we headed to the Summit.
“Don’t worry, Allie, we’ll figure this out. This guy has nothing on you! You will get ahead of this and we’ll nail him.”
“I hope so. Carl thinks I may be a threat to him, but his actions and messages don’t indicate that at all. I’m so relieved Claudia and I have a more secure place to live! Speaking of that, while I have a minute, I think I should call my mother. I want to invite her over for lunch tomorrow.”
Picking up my cell, I selected her number from my favorite list. She answered on the first ring. “Hello there, Allie!”
“Hi, Mom, I’m calling to give you an update. Claudia and I signed a lease for the apartment at the Summit last night and we are moving in today.”
“Wow, that was fast!”
“I know. I have a lot I want to talk to you about. I was hoping maybe you could come over tomorrow, have lunch, see our new place, and visit for a while.”
“I would love to, honey. What can I bring? A cheesecake perhaps?”
“That would be amazing! How about noon?”
“All right, have a nice evening and I’ll see you and Claudia tomorrow.”
