Page 4 of Little Girls Sleeping
He finished her sentence. “Your books?”
Katie nodded, holding her breath.
“Believe it or not, most didn’t get a drop of water on them.”
She heard herself let out a sigh of relief.
Her uncle led the way to the kitchen. “We did do some updates,” he explained, “and got you a new refrigerator and stove. Basically updated them into this century. And you’ll love this, a safe area for Cisco to run and play. A bunch of the guys pitched in to help.”
Katie went to the glass doors and saw that there was a huge dog enclosure. “Wow, that’s really nice.” She turned to her uncle. “Thank you, Uncle Wayne, for everything.”
“It’s our pleasure. Claire stocked up the fridge with some things you can just put in the oven, and some of that girlie food you like—fruits, veggies, and some kind of weird seeds.” Motioning to a large basket on the counter, he added, “And she packed some soaps, lotions, toothpaste, and other stuff so you wouldn’t have to immediately go to the store.”
Katie laughed and kissed his cheek. “Thank you,” she repeated softly.
“That reminds me. Art gallery and lunch next week?” he asked.
“Oh, of course. I look forward to it.”
Katie and her uncle had an ongoing arrangement to enjoy a gallery and have lunch together at least once a month—just the two of them. It had long been their way of spending time together.
Wayne headed to the front door. “Sorry I have to run, but I want you to report to me at headquarters at 0730 hours sharp on Monday. We’re going to keep you busy until you decide what you want to do. Nothing better than hard work…”
He gave a quick wave before he got into his SUV.
Cisco sat in his standard heel position next to Katie’s left thigh, with his ears perked forward and his gaze targeted, actively searching for anything out of the ordinary.
Katie continued to stare out the window until her uncle’s vehicle disappeared down the driveway.
Then she rubbed Cisco’s head, scratched his ears, and sighed.
She was alone again.
Two
Every time I close my eyes, I see what people can do to one another—the destruction, the ugliness, the terror, the deep sadness—and when I wake, I know I will always carry those images with me. It’s a part of who I am.
Katie drove her Jeep faster than the speed limit, the familiar buildings and roadways racing by her windows. At the last possible moment, she swerved away from the main road and took the more scenic route to the sheriff’s headquarters to allow more time to get her thoughts together. She knew there would be tons of questions fired at her about the army, and she wasn’t sure how she wanted to answer them.
After sleeping for a few days, she was looking forward to working with people again in a civilian setting. Police administrative work, even if it was only filing, was just a diversion for now; she didn’t want to make any big decisions yet. In truth, she didn’t know if she would return to Sacramento PD. She wanted to wait until she had more of a relaxed focus. Staying neutral and on autopilot sounded like a perfect option—at least for now.
As her car raced around a tight corner lined by trees, she almost careened into a large blue pickup truck blocking half the roadway with its front end facing down toward the ravine. Swerving to miss the truck’s bumper, she came to a complete stop before easing her vehicle to a safe area a little ways up the road. Her first thought was that someone had crashed and was unconscious. She needed to make sure no other cars repeated her maneuver.
She grabbed several flares and quickly ignited them, then placed them strategically along the roadside to alert oncoming drivers to the accident. She checked her cell phone, but there was only a weak signal.
“Hey! Are you okay?” she yelled. She moved closer to the truck but couldn’t see anyone inside. Confused, she carefully stepped around the vehicle; there was no sign of the driver or any passengers.
She opened the driver’s door and peered inside. The keys were in the ignition, with two other ordinary house keys dangling from the keychain. There was a man’s leather jacket lying on the seat. Overall, it was a tidy vehicle. She didn’t notice anything unusual, like blood, or alcohol containers; nothing to indicate what might have happened.
“Where are you?” she said quietly to herself.
“Are you talking to me?” responded a man’s voice from behind her.
Katie turned to find a sandy-haired man with intense blue eyes and a tanned, muscular build watching her with amusement. It was the unmistakable smiling face of Chad Ferguson. He had left town before she had.
Slightly embarrassed, she said, “Oh, hi. I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”
“Just who were you expecting?” he asked, still smiling.
