The Happy Housewife (Samantha Sherman Book 1) (23 page)

She straightened up when she saw Don returning from where he was consulting with another officer, maybe his boss? “Sam, I think we have everything for now.”

Sam felt relieved that she was finally done. She tentatively asked, “Mr. Vitriola, I’m not sure what information I’m allowed to have but if possible could you let me know how this shakes out? I would like to know if Clint and Marjorie were involved and if William confirms Helen’s involvement as the leader and if Pete confirms Helen’s involvement in Dan’s death.”

“Sure, Sam. I’ll give you a call when we’ve got everything figured out. Take care of yourself.”

“I will. Thanks for everything, Don.”

Sam headed out of the huge room filled with detectives’ desks. She rounded the corner and could see the glass double doors that would take her to her car and home. She bent over and began digging through her purse looking for her car keys.

She heard someone, a voice that was startlingly close, say, “You know, Sam, I was in the Marines before I became a police officer. I’m not sure how ‘Coasties’ do things, but in the Marines we learned to take orders. Is the Coast Guard not ‘military’ enough for that?”

Sam jerked her head up and opened her mouth to give Nathan an angry retort. He wasn’t seriously going to start with her again, was he? She saw immediately that he was laughing and couldn’t stop herself from joining in, “Coasties follow orders; we happy housewives, we listen to whomever we want.”

“
Ah
, I got it now,” he gave a slow smile of understanding, and then added, “touché Sam.” They smiled at each other, and Sam felt like she had proven some point. He continued, “Oh, and thanks for the help. We, I, appreciate it.”

“No problem, but I should be thanking you. You saved me back there. You’re a great police officer.” With that Sam gave him one last smile, said “Take care,” and headed out of the police station to her car.

The thundershowers had finished and, unlike Monday’s rain, had managed to cool things down. It felt nice to be outside, the humidity was low and the sun was still behind some clouds.

Sam reached her car and decided not to use the air-conditioning. Once she had the car running, she flipped on the radio and, as she pulled away, she turned the music up and sang along, loudly, all the way to her mother’s.

Later that evening, after Doug was home and they had enjoyed cookies together as a family, Sam found herself in bed with Doug laying out what had happened during the week. At first she had thought of playing down the danger, but she decided that shielding Doug didn’t make any sense. She told him everything, and of course he was upset, although less so than Sam imagined. He was mostly glad that she was all right after the incident with Helen. Sam also thought he was shocked and would probably be angrier when he had time to think about it. Strangely, this didn’t upset her or make her feel defensive. In fact, she had to try not to smile when he was in the middle of his lecture. She realized she was proud of what she had done. She understood his concerns. They were legitimate, but overall she felt that good had come from her actions. This conversation with Doug was kind of like a helicopter flight debrief … even on the best cases there was always constructive criticism or at least ideas for how to do things better next time.

Her mind drifted a bit as Doug talked. She remembered a great search and rescue case she had in the Coast Guard out in Los Angeles.
Two girls, around ten years of age, were floating on rafts in the ocean and got swept out to sea when the Santa Anna winds started up and blew through the Santa Monica Bay. After several hours of searching, Sam and her crew had located and rescued them using the rescue swimmer and the rescue basket. It was a gorgeous day with a great result. Once they had dropped the girls at the hospital and were back on deck at Air Station Los Angeles, they had “debriefed” the flight. They decided that they could have deployed the rescue swimmer more quickly and perhaps should have placed him farther away from the girls. They also discussed whether or not the girls really needed to go straight to the hospital. They were minor criticisms, but it was important to discuss the good and the bad with each case.

Sam realized that Doug was looking at her expecting a response so she nodded and made a little noise like of course she understood what he was saying. That seemed to satisfy him and he continued. Sam drifted back, it was funny that she had forgotten that case, it was a good one.
There were a lot of good ones, Sam,
she reminded herself. In fact, there were easily more good cases than bad. She needed to think about that more.

S
am listened from the bottom of the stairs. Goodness, she could hear Chandra and Lindsey giggling in Lindsey’s room from here! She smiled and went back to her work in the kitchen. She was excited about what lay ahead. They were headed to Bethany Beach, Delaware, for a week with her parents and Mary-Beth’s family. Doug had decided to take the full week off instead of half the week as he had planned. He said that work had cleared up, but Sam suspected he really wanted to be close to his family. After his initial anger and lecturing about Sam’s involvement with the murder cases, he had been very ‘touchy feely’ the rest of the week. Sometimes, it was good to be reminded of what was important to you.

When the phone rang, Sam answered with a cheery hello. She was excited when she realized it was Don on the other end. “How have you been, Sam?”

“Well, I had a much quieter week this week than last,” Sam said laughing. “How are things going for you guys?”

“We haven’t quite gotten our ‘let up’ yet but I’m hoping it’s coming next week. I wanted to thank you again for your help and give you an update on what’s happening.”

“Thanks, Mr. Vitriola.”

“You were definitely right about Helen. She did not have hip surgery and was dying her hair gray to seem older and weaker than she really is. The story she told you about her past was mostly true except that she made her husband and her out to be older than the rest of the Weathermen which they were not and that, of course, she never left the movement. She wasn’t a 60’s hippie, she was a 70’s radical, and a radical today.”

“The FBI finally got William to talk, offering him a deal to name names. He really was just a spoiled kid who got in over his head. Anyway, he said that Helen was the one who started talking to him during his junior year of English. He made a few comments in class about big business colluding to destroy the environment for profit and she kept him after to chat about that. Eventually, he started talking to her after school and she recruited him to join her movement and introduced him to Pete. Helen was careful to hide her intentions to recruit William from the rest of the kids, but she was definitely pulling the strings. We confused Pete enough to get him to confirm it.”

Don paused for a minute and then continued. “Dan’s murder will be harder to connect to Helen. Pete admitted that they had talked about the problem of Dan. Dan was disgusted when he discovered Helen and her friends were continuing their revolutionary work and left for that reason and because of his relationship with Marjorie. I think it’s clear that Helen manipulated Pete into committing the murder, but that will be hard to prove in court. Pete will be a horrible witness. Who knows though, with Marjorie’s help, things could work out.”

“Marjorie’s help?” Sam was surprised. “Marjorie was involved?”

“No, but she cracked very quickly under our questioning. Clint was involved, so she knew bits and pieces of what was going on. Her cooperation should clear her of any charges; she’ll probably get probation. I think she started talking so quickly because she feels guilty about Dan’s death. She feels that Dan came back because Helen asked him to, but also because he wanted to ask her to leave Clint one more time. What will be helpful is that she is adamant about Helen being a strong leader and instigator. Marjorie also fervently maintains that Pete would never have gone after Dan without Helen’s consent. Clint has been harder to crack and he demanded a lawyer immediately, but we finally got him when he realized that Helen was trying to turn everyone in, including him. He completely confirmed Helen’s role in the Loudoun fire but, again, could not say for sure that Helen was involved in Dan’s death, although he also believes that Pete wouldn’t act without Helen’s direction. Of course, Clint will be a hard sell to the jury because of his role in the Loudoun fire. He wasn’t there, but he did get some of the ingredients for the bomb. It’s kind of a mess, but we have enough on Helen to put her away for the rest of her life and keep Pete and Clint locked up for a decent amount of time too.” Don paused for a minute and took a deep breath.

Sam voiced support, “Mr. Vitriola, you really are unraveling a complicated web.”

“It sounds a lot more complex than it really is. I’m saying everything kind of fast to give you a summary, but when you look at it slowly and methodically, I can say that the responsible people will go to jail and that I think we have everyone involved. Thanks again for your help, Sam. It really was invaluable. Everyone down here is impressed with you, even Nathan.”

Sam’s ears perked up; in life it was rare to turn around your worst critic. She knew it was wrong but she couldn’t resist digging for more, “Even Nathan?”

Don laughed awkwardly, “Yes, well, after you first appeared to pick up Helen last Sunday, he was adamant that you be kept out of the loop. He told me that he was real hard on you during that interview of Helen but he was impressed when you kept going despite it. Said he admired your spunk … I think that’s the word he used.”

Sam felt an inordinate amount of satisfaction, “Well, it means a lot to me that you all think I was helpful. The whole experience has made me appreciate how hard and dangerous being a police officer really is. You guys have a lot to deal with.”

“Yes, and you know what, I will miss it.”

“Congratulations again on your retirement. This is certainly a high note to leave on.”

“Yeah that, plus I’m just not keeping up like I used to and my wife and I would like to do some traveling.”

“Well, we’ll have to celebrate when we get together with my parents!”

“Great! You know, I will miss the people and the great endings, like this one. But I won’t miss the strange hours and the dangerous situations. My heart has had enough.”

“That’s funny, Mr. Vitriola. That’s kind of how I feel about being out of the Coast Guard.”

They chatted for a bit longer and then said their good-byes. Sam hung up and went upstairs to check on the girls. She had one more errand she wanted to do this afternoon and she needed to take Chandra home first.

D
oug and Sam were lying in bed with their legs entangled, chatting after sex. Sam was surprised that Doug had initiated things for the third time this week. Usually he was more tired, particularly by Friday night. She had to admit that it was a nice way to start the weekend.

“So,” Sam said, “I think we have everything together for beach week. Do you still want to leave at 6:00 a.m.?”

“Yeah, I think it’s a good idea to get on the road before everyone else. Since Saturday is check in/check out day, I think we would be smart to get a jump on our trip.”

“I agree,” Sam said nodding, “Are you still going to stay the whole week?”

“Oh, definitely. We need some family time. Hey, I’m sorry I had a weird reaction to your haircut. It does look nice. Maybe I’m just used to it being long.”

Sam smiled. She had decided this afternoon to go get her hair cut. She had loved the result and had fully expected Doug’s negative reaction. She had decided, though, that this was her decision, and he would have to adjust. She loved the bob she now had. It was perfect for the weather and a nice change. She let him off the hook, “It’s okay, Doug. I’m happy with it. I knew you would like it too.”

Kate Cooch is a former Coast Guard helicopter pilot and history writer. She lives in the Philadelphia suburbs with her husband and two kids. This is her first mystery eBook. Please see Kate’s website (
www.katecooch.com
) for free downloads of her writing.

Copyright © 2012 Katherine Cooch Rau,
www.katecooch.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from Katherine Cooch Rau (Kate Cooch).