Page 17 of Break Away
“I’m not sure. We introduced ourselves thefirst day of class and she said her name is Karma, which I hopebites her on the ass. I’m pretty sure Karma isn’t her legalname.”
He bit back a smile. He’d figure out whoKarma was and ask her a few questions, too. “Eyes closed again.Think past being irritated. What other impressions do youhave?”
“There’s a truck or SUV coming up Pine,parallel to the crosswalk I’m in. Headlights are on. I can hear theengine. It was coming kind of fast and I thought it was going to gostraight. By the time I realized it was turning it was too late toget out of the way, and bam, it hits me. You read the report,right? I gave the vehicle description.” Her fingers had knotted inher lap.
Levi had read the report. Older modellight-colored smallish pickup or SUV. That was it.
“Did you hear anything besides the sound ofthe motor?”
She breathed deeply as if to calm herself,the motion lifting her breasts.
“Music.”
“Music? Coming from the truck?”
“Yeah, the window must have been down.Something with lots of electric guitars and heavy bass. Could havebeen metal, though I’m not positive about that. And weed. There wasa whiff of weed. I hadn’t remembered that before.”
“Smoking marijuana could be an incentive forthe driver not to stick around. They didn’t want to face DUIcharges.”
“It’s possible. Being high would also haveimpeded their reaction time.”
“Anything else you can add?”
She shook her head, eyes opened and on his.The sound of Lucy snoring vibrated the air.
“Okay. You’ve given more for me to thinkabout. Thanks.”
“You’re not bad for a cop, Levi.”
He gave a brief laugh. “Isn’t that what theycall being damned by faint praise?”
Her smile lit her entire face. “I guess so.But it’s better than ‘I hate all cops.’”
“There’s that.” He smiled. “I’m going now.Thanks for this evening. Good night, Zoey.”
***
Charissa sat in the car in the darkestshadows of the already dark street. She’d given it a half hour andthen carefully driven back, no headlights this time, to take up herspot for observation. It had been a mistake to come up to thedriveway like that. She’d hadn’t expected that there would bepeople outside. Gathering on the porch, socializing, havingfun.
She tugged on her hair until it hurt, usingthe pain to focus. Now that Levi was back home where he belonged,things would get better. Only she hadn’t counted on him moving intothe little cabin.
Trish would have wanted him home, and he wasa good boy, a loving son, and that’s where he should have gone. Butthat would have been temporary anyway, she thought, because afterthey were married they’d buy their own home. There was a beautifullog cabin home for sale on the other side of the lake she had hereye on. It had a three-car garage and a pool. She’d even gone tothe realtor’s open house to check it out and found it perfect for afamily. She’d waited long enough, and wasn’t getting any younger.She wanted a husband, a house, and a couple of children who lookedjust like their daddy. Dark hair and blue eyes was such anattractive combination.
But when the headlights of her car had shoneacross that tableau on the porch, she’d been infuriated seeing Leviwith his arm around that hippie woman. Resentment burned like acidin her stomach. Charissa opened her pill bottle and swallowed oneof the little white tablets with a sip from the coffee in the cupholder. She followed the white pill with two of the chalkyantacids, popping them in her mouth and chewing slowly.
Levi was hers, and she didn’t share. She’dhave to formulate a plan. It would have been more appropriate ifBradley had reciprocated her interest in him. He was the right agefor her, and it bothered her some that she was older than Levi. Sheremembered the father’s funeral all those years ago. She’d hit onBradley then, but he’d looked right through her like she didn’texist. Then she’d offered the shell-shocked youngest son a hug thatwas a little more than a hug, but he’d withdrawn, his movementsmechanical, as if going through the motions.
Since Bradley was better suited, she’d doneher best to make him notice her. She’d made sure to patronizeMaddy’s café because big brother frequently dropped in. She lovedhow the family supported each other. It had burned, oh, how it hadburned, when that bitch Emmaline Kincaid had shown up out of theblue, and stupid Bradley Lucas Gallagher had fallen like ablithering idiot at her feet.
She wasn’t even that pretty. The fake damselin distress act had worked though. It had nearly gotten Bradleykilled. But when it should have been her at his bedside, nursinghim after he’d been shot, making him love her, Emma had usurpedthat spot.
Now they were married and Emma had givenbirth to those beautiful babies, who should have been Charissa’s byrights. She’d thought of getting rid of Emma and the children,causing an accident of some sort, then she’d be there to consoleBradley. But in the end she had deemed it too risky. So she’dturned her attention to Levi.
When he’d been a cop in Oakland, she’d evengone there that one time and “accidentally” bumped into him at hisgym. She’d overheard Maddy talking about where he worked out andthat’d given Charissa the idea. That café had its uses.
She’d planned it so carefully and then he’dpassed right by her without so much as a hint of recognition. She’dgotten a day pass and ended up having to tap him on the shoulder tosay, “Remember me?” His vague “Oh, hey” had been a bruise to herego. She’d ended up stalking him for several days. Long enough tobe certain he didn’t have a girlfriend.
Occasionally he came home to Hangman’s Loss,and she always made sure she was where he was.
