Chained Guilt (Hidden Guilt (Detective Series) Book 1) (18 page)

28

It was early, a typical Sunday morning for me: quiet and lonely, but not in a bad way. I enjoyed working Sunday mornings; it felt more laid-back. While pursuing leads or on stakeouts, I got to spend time thinking. I’d just pulled out of Myrna’s Coffee Shop when my cell phone rang. I wondered who could be calling so early.

“Detective Porter here.”

“Hey, David. It’s me, Stacy. Detective Porter, huh? You sounded so official.”

“Stacy,” I stammered, surprised.

Stacy and I exchanged small talk for a few minutes. I’d just seen her the night before at the party, and she was already calling me? It seemed kind of strange, but I decided to play along.  I was headed back to the station to pick up a rookie officer the department had just hired. She would ride around with me today and learn more about the town.

“Hang on one second, Stacy; I’m turning into the station lot to pick up an officer.”

“Oh, okay.”

Officer Elena De Luca was waiting at the curb for me. I waived for her to get into the car. Pretty little thing, I noticed.

“Good morning,” she said, climbing into the passenger seat.

“Good morning to you, Officer De Luca.” I nodded, holding my open cell phone face down on my thigh. “Give me a minute; I’m on a call.”

She nodded and looked out the window. I lifted the phone to my ear.

“Stacy, you there?” 

Nothing. 

“Stacy? Hello? Can you hear me?”

              “De Luca?” Stacy said.

Her voice sounded hard. I frowned.

”Sounds Italian. Is she?”

“Not sure. Just met her a few days ago.” I turned to the rookie and shrugged. “Hadn’t really had the chance to delve into her family tree,” I said, laughing.

Stacy was not amused.

              “Okay, well, I’ll talk to you later, David,” she said. “I know you’re busy. Enjoy your day.”

She disconnected the call, and I wondered what had just happened. Was Stacy jealous? Of someone she had never even seen or met? And we weren’t boyfriend and girlfriend yet anyway. “What the hell was that all about?” I muttered.

“Everything okay, sir?” De Luca asked. “Sounds like your girlfriend is curious about me.”

I gave her a serious look before I answered. “Everything is fine, Officer De Luca, and I don’t have a girlfriend.
Capiche
?” I smiled, using my severely limited Italian.

Officer De Luca laughed, too, and informed me that she was indeed Italian. 

“Glad we’re able to get your lineage out of the way. Anything else I need to know?”

“Let’s see,” she said. “I’m twenty-nine, single, and I’m not a rookie cop. I’m only new to your department. It seems like that fact was misstated somewhere along the way. I was a detective in New Valley before I transferred here. I’ve been a cop for eight years.” She shrugged. “I know what I want, and I usually get it. I have family back east tied to the mob, so that helps. Oh, and I don’t have lots of women friends, particularly blondes. Just something about them. And yes, I think we dark-haired women are sexier. That enough for now?”

I drove out of the lot with a grin. “Thanks for the bio. I don’t think I’d be bragging about the whole mob thing, though.”

“It was a joke,” she said with a grin. “But everything else was true. You’re a good-looking guy, but not my type. Let’s just get that out of the way from the get-go.  I don’t date cops, so please be sure to pass that along to your friend, as you put it.”

I laughed, pulling the car onto the highway.

“What about you?” she said. “What skeletons you got chained up in your closet?

I frowned, not sure what she meant. “Skeletons? Nothing you don’t know already, probably, and anything I did before I turned eighteen doesn’t count.”

Her laughter was rich and genuine. I liked her.

“On a more serious note, I have two daughters, and I’ve been a cop for fifteen years. This job has kind of grown on me, even though I wasn’t in it for the long haul at first. Oh, and I like blondes.”

“Natural or artificial?”

She was good, I acknowledged with another grin.  I paused for a moment before answering. A mental match for me, maybe. A person more quick witted than myself? No way.

“Touché. Never really thought about it, actually,” I admitted. “Does it matter?”

“Nope.” She shook her head, her eyes on the highway. “Doesn’t matter to me if it doesn’t to you. Guess that’s something you should consider, though, Porter. Your girl—I mean, friend—does she happen to be a blonde? By the way,
touché
is French, not Italian. Good try, though.”

“Coincidentally, yes, my
friend
is a blonde.”

“Imagine that! Or should I say
Immaginare che
?”

29

Detective De Luca and I talked the entire shift. She was a different kind of bird, no doubt, and I enjoyed her company. She was also a knowledgeable detective and took her job seriously.

I drove back to the station at the end of our shift and stared in surprise.  Stacy was waiting by my truck.

“Your girlfriend is waiting for you,” De Luca mumbled as she climbed out of the car.

I peered over at Stacy and smiled, but she walked right past me and introduced herself to Detective De Luca.

“Hi there,” she said, not the least bit shy. “I’m Stacy, David’s girlfriend. Detective De Lucha, right?”

“Hello there yourself. Nice to meet you,” De Luca replied. “And the name’s De Luca. It’s Italian.”

The two ladies looked each other over.
What in the hell was going on?

“Stacy, surprised to see you here,” I said. “I told you I’d call after I made it home this afternoon.”

“Oh, it’s no problem,” she said, flashing a brilliant smile at me. “I’m full of surprises. I just thought we could start our date a little early.”

De Luca snickered under her breath, but it didn’t go unnoticed by Stacy or me.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Porter,” she said. “I’m going to review some of the department’s paperwork procedures and then head home. What time are we riding tomorrow?”

De Luca knew full well that I had already given her a time to meet me at the station. I guessed this was her way of getting back at Stacy for her obvious cattiness. Also a sly way to let her know we’d be riding again tomorrow.

“Tomorrow at nine a.m., detective.”

“You okay, David?” Stacy asked, watching De Luca head into the station.

“I’m fine.”

“Are you upset with me because I showed up here?”

“No, no. Just unexpected that’s all. I wanted to go home and clean up some first before our date tonight.”

“Do you have a change of clothes with you? You could come by my house and clean up there.”

I kindly rejected her offer and reminded Stacy that the girls needed me to make dinner and visit with them for a bit before I was off for the night.

“Single parent here, remember?” I said with a smile.

“Of course I remember. How could I forget your beautiful girls?” Stacy said as she reached out and tapped my chest. “But hurry.”

I headed for my truck, surprised to see Stacy still watching me as I backed from my parking space. She smiled seductively and blew me a kiss as I drove away.

To be honest, I had mixed emotions about Stacy showing up. Part of me was flattered by her need to see me. But on the other hand, it seemed she’d shown up to check out Detective De Luca for herself, which would be kind of strange, considering we weren’t even officially dating yet. Then again, Stacy had just introduced herself as my girlfriend.

30

I pulled into the driveway, and suddenly my mind flashed back. I put the truck in park. The memories flooded over me, thoughts so real it felt like my brain was about to explode. It was fifteen years ago, maybe sixteen. Miranda and I had just left a movie and were parked in a driveway. I remembered looking into Miranda’s eyes—hoping, wanting, and waiting for her to give me a sign so I could make a move.

Before that point, we’d taken it slow, holding hands from time to time and sharing the perfunctory good night kiss.  So when she gave me the sign I was looking for, I seized the moment without hesitation.

At the time, I was a lonely bachelor living in a huge house. I’d purchased the home for next to nothing and spent many months remodeling it. Miranda had always refused to go inside. That night, as I vividly remembered, would be different.

I took her in and spent almost an hour proudly showing Miranda every detail of every upgrade I had installed—every wall I had removed and every cabinet I’d rebuilt. Miranda had marveled at my carpentry and seemed impressed that I had managed to make so many beautiful changes without the help of a woman. It was a point she reiterated to me more than once.

As I recaptured the moment, my hands began to sweat. I could almost feel my nervousness all over again. And then Miranda gave me “the look,” the one that said, “okay, enough with the talking—”

A hand slapped hard against the driver’s-side window, jolting me out of my reverie.               “What the . . . ?” I jumped. It was the girls. As my heart rate returned to normal, I opened the door and slid from my truck. “You have fun startling your dad?”

“We were just wondering what you were doing out here for so long,” Hilary said.

“Nothing. Just thinking.”

“Thinking about Stacy?” Hilary said, laughing.

“Actually, no.” I chose not to explain.

I picked Karen up and asked her about her day as we followed Hilary inside. She filled me in and asked if I was ready for my big date. I didn’t understand why they were so preoccupied with my date with Stacy. Maybe because this was my first date since Miranda died. I couldn’t be sure.

“Don’t make too much of this, guys,” I said as we gathered in the kitchen. “We’re going to take it slow. It’s just a date. We may not even hit it off, or maybe she’ll decide she doesn’t like me any more after she spends some time with me.”

I tried to make light of it. I liked Stacy, but I didn’t know if I was ready to give my heart away to another woman. 

“Have you girls eaten?”

I placed my keys and cell phone on the counter and turned to wash my hands at the sink.

“We had Sonic,” Karen replied.

“Sonic sounds good. Better than my mac and cheese! Listen up. About tonight . . . I want you girls to behave while I’m gone.  You’re in charge, Hilary. No boys, no parties. I won’t be out too late, but don’t wait up for me. We’re going to have dinner in town and maybe catch a performance at the theater.”

“Ohhh! The theater! Don’t show her all your moves at once, Dad,” Hilary said.

“Ha ha. Some people really enjoy a good narrative, young lady. It doesn’t have to be a blow-your-eardrums-out concert in order for it to be enjoyable.”

Karen, who had been pretty quiet up to now, spoke softly. “Didn’t you used to take Mommy to that same theater?”

“Karen?” Hilary tried to cut her off.

I walked over to Karen and put my arm around her.

“No, Hil, it’s okay.” I looked down into Karen’s sad eyes. “Yes, Karen, I did. Do you want me to take Stacy somewhere else? Actually, I could stay home with you girls.”

“No, it’s okay, Daddy.” Karen said. “Please go.”

Hilary grabbed my coat and helped me into it. They both nudged me out the door. As I climbed into my truck, I got a text message from Stacy.

Change of plans. Why don’t you come by my house now and drop off your truck? We’ll take my car.

I had planned on meeting her at the restaurant, within walking distance of the theatre. Not wanting to start our date on a bad note, I responded and agreed to do it her way.