Running with Secrets

Untitled Part 13

It was early in the afternoon when Sally got to the office. She met Detective Johnston at his desk next to hers and commented, "How much more do you have to do?" referencing the pile of files on his desk.

"Loveridge." He said, closing a folder and placing it in the one stack that was taller than the other, but not by much. "It's nice to see you too." He took the next one and opened it in front of him. "There are only three left." He stopped to look a his partner. "Did Vanderson call you this morning?"

Sally sat on the corner of his desk. "Yep. Kristin made breakfast because she couldn't sleep--"

"Kristin?" he asked, incredulously.

"Kristin. My old college roommate. Who came into town to visit for a few days." She quickly half smiled. "She made breakfast and cleaned up and stuff. You should try her pancakes sometime." Sally absently flipped through the pages of the file Heath had just finished. "Yes, Captain Vanderson called and said he needed to talk to us later today. Well," she said, sizing up the situation. "It's later. You ready?"

"Not so sure, actually." Heath replied. "I saw a vagrant waiting by his door earlier. Have no idea why they would send a vagrant to the captain's office though. And he hasn't left. He's been in there for quite a while too."

A few seconds passed between them, Sally still sitting on the corner of Heath's desk. Heath with a pen in his hand, looking at his partner. Neither one of them made a sound as they looked at the captain's office in tandem. The shade was drawn and they couldn't hear any voices. Heath jumped out of his chair and slapped the file onto his desk. Just as he reached for his brown suit jacket, his desk phone buzzed. "Yeah?" he said into the receiver. Sally looked over at the door again. "She's here. We were just going to go in...He's ready? Okay, then." He replaced the phone on the cradle.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Sally asked. She tried taming the pensive look from her face. "You don't think..." She cut herself off.

"He has a lot of audacity to come here after what he's done." He didn't bother buttoning his jacket, but put his hands on his hips, effectively pushing his jacket behind him.

"I have to claim ignorance, but you know the guy, Heath. You have to brush up your Shakespeare and make like you know nothing about it."

"I know. I just can't go in there right now. I'm too angry!" Heath fisted his hands into his pockets. "I just...I just can't."

"I don't blame you, but the longer we wait, the more suspicious he'll get." She stopped for a minute. "You need a distraction."

"I know."

"No. You don't understand." She stopped him with her hands on his shoulders.

"What kind of distraction were you thinking?" He asked, not really wanting to know what she had in mind.

"Not much." She looked around the both of them and then asked, "How much do you hold stock in the #MeToo movement?"

"What?" He wanted to ask more, but in his next breath, Sally leaned toward his face and kissed him gently but quickly on the lips.

"What?" he repeated, rubbing his chin. This was surely out of character for his partner. She never talked about dating, let alone feelings for anyone. She was a very private person.

"It's just a distraction, Johnston." she repeated, and she turned toward the captain's office. "Nothing more."

*****

Kristin didn't even make it half way through the movie before she fell asleep. She had tried reading some books, picking three or four from Sally's shelf, but she wasn't in the mood for romance or suspense. Sally hadn't turned on her computer for the day, and since she wasn't in the mood to figure passwords, Kristin passed on the internet. She figured it wouldn't be safe trying to login to any of her social media, since Jeanie was technically still missing. Someone could track her, and no one she had known in the last week would want that, especially her Uncle Seth, or her mother.

She didn't know what time it was, but the movie was still playing when she heard a knock at the door. Startled awake, Kristin threw the purple throw blanket off and took a second to register what was happening. Under normal circumstances she would have answered the door, but today wasn't normal. How long would it take to get back to normal, she wondered.

The knock sounded again, along with Jerry's voice. Kristin shot up off the couch, careful not to make any noise. Thankfully, Sally cautioned her to not turn the television up too loud at all, so no one from outside could hear it. She listened over it to see if they would knock again. There it was, not even a minute later. Just like Sally warned. Jerry never knocked once and let it be. He probably saw Sally leave without her and she didn't know how long she'd been asleep, so he was checking up on her. He was annoying. Even more than the detective told her about.

Kristin sat back down, and just as she did, she heard him call out, "Kristin? Sally?" She wrapped herself back up in the blanket and closed her eyes to his voice. Her heart rate sped up and she could feel her body stiffen, as though she were having a panic attack. It was sending her into an anxiety attack. She was warned this could happen, and they gave her some suggestions to help, because she hadn't been able to get into therapy yet.

"Kristin? Are you in there?" He called again. "I saw Sally leave without you a while ago and she never takes this long to go get her groceries and she just went shopping a couple of days ago, so I know she's not so short on supplies." Kristin shuddered. This Jerry really was a creep. He was far too observant. It made her panic attack step up a couple of notches. She quietly moved to the kitchen and looked in the freezer for a piece of ice. After she closed the freezer with her prized piece of ice in hand, she crouched in the corner on the floor and closed her eyes. The cold of the ice brought her back to the present and as she rubbed the ice in her hand, she focused on her breathing, slowing it down. She could still hear Jerry's voice, but it had gotten quieter and she couldn't make out the words he was saying. She continued to slow her breathing and holding the ice.

Jerry gave up soon and left. Kristin didn't know long she had been sitting on the kitchen floor, but she had wet hands now and no ice. She tried to keep her breathing under control, focusing only on her intake and output, until she fell asleep.