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CHIEF CONTACTED HER work-friend in New York, a federal officer named Erin O’Donnell. Having met at a professional meeting several years prior, they hit it off and made it a point to hang out together with other female officers during conferences. Chief filled Erin in on the details of the case.
“Would you be able to check out the address I texted and find out if this is the woman we’re looking for?” Chief requested. “If it is, give her my number, I’ll take it from there and arrange for her to contact Boo.”
“I’ll check it out this evening. Take me about an hour to drive over there. If she works, she’s more likely to be around in the evening.” Erin was efficient and intrigued by the story. Unlike most of her work cases, this one might actually have a happy ending.
“I appreciate it. Let me know what you find out.” Chief ended the call and turned her attention to Jamie and Boo, who both looked pensive. “I’ll call you when I hear something. We should have an answer soon if this is our María.”
“Would you care to join us for dinner?” Jamie asked as she returned to stirring the simmering vegetables.
“Thanks, but I need to finish up some paperwork. I’ve been taking some extra time off lately,” Chief sighed.
Jamie and Boo finished preparing dinner, with plenty of help from Max. They talked about the summer weather, Gee learning to use her crutches, and Lessa and Philip’s new Bikes-for-Kids project. They exhausted several topics except for the one on their minds the most.
***
ERIN INFORMED HER WIFE she needed to check something out and would be home before dark. She looked again at the picture of Jamie Jordan holding hands with an unidentified tall, striking looking woman. They looked like girlfriends to Erin. Hopefully María Garcia wouldn’t see it that way. Since this was not classified business, Erin would tell her wife the whole story later.
Forty-five minutes later, Erin parked her car in front of the address provided by Chief. She surveyed the street as she walked to the front door. Erin knocked, then listened. No sound. She knocked again, louder this time. Erin did not want to announce to the neighbors she was a federal officer, so she stepped back from the door. No car was obviously associated with this house. However, a lot of people in the neighborhood probably biked, used public transportation, or parked on the street wherever they found a space. She resisted looking in the front windows for fear someone might call the police. She did not want to explain the story to a local officer.
As Erin descended the stoop, a neighbor popped her head out of the house next door. The older woman, wearing an apron, looked Erin over twice before she spoke.
“You lookin’ for someone?”
“Yes, I am looking for María Garcia. She live here?” Erin nodded toward the door she had just knocked on.
“What you lookin’ for?”
“Nothing bad.” Erin put her hands on her hips, intentionally exposing the badge clipped to her belt. “Just need to talk to her. Is she around?”
“She left about an hour ago. Want me to give her a message?”
Erin debated the offer. Clearly this woman was the unofficial neighborhood watch on this block. If Erin left a note on the door, it might blow away or someone might swipe it. Mail came to a street box, not a door slot. Despite the desire to help out Chief, Erin did not want to make repeated trips to chase down María Garcia.
“Yes, thank you, that would be helpful.” Erin took a pen and paper from her pocket to write a short note, María Garcia, Please give me a call. I would like to talk to you about your spouse. Erin added her name and phone number.
The message was cryptic, but would have to suffice. Since Boo’s real name was unknown, there was no use using a new nickname María would be unfamiliar with. It was highly likely the nosy neighbor would tell María about Erin’s badge, giving the request credibility and some urgency. Erin folded the piece of paper and handed it to the woman.
“I’ll give it to her as soon as she gets home.” The older woman made no pretense of not reading the note. “I saw her leave with her wife about an hour ago. Do you want me to keep this a secret from Isabella?”
Erin was taken aback by the news that her target was married to someone who most definitely was not missing. Erin adjusted her thought process. Either this was not the woman Chief was looking for, or maybe this was Boo’s ex-wife from a forgotten divorce.
“Right, I should have written ex-spouse.” Erin retrieved the note and wrote in ex- above spouse, hoping that would suffice.
“I’ll give it to her.” The older woman frowned as she took the note back. She shut the door as Erin descended the steps, and watched suspiciously from her front window as Erin walked back to her car.
On the drive home, Erin called Chief to report.
“Unless Boo has forgotten her divorce, this may be a dead-end.”
Chief thanked Erin and promised her a nice dinner at their next conference as payment for the trouble. All they could do now was wait and see if this María Garcia had a missing ex-spouse and would be intrigued enough by the note to contact Erin.
An hour after Erin departed, María and Isabella arrived home from Friday evening dinner and shopping for groceries. They parked in the first available spot and each grabbed bags to carry in. Isabella unlocked the front door while María finished collecting bags and locking the car. As María ascended the steps to the house, the neighbor woman’s head popped out of her doorway.
“María, honey, would you help me with something when you have a minute?” the older woman called out.
“Sure, let me put these groceries in the house. I’ll be over in a few minutes, Miss Miriam.” It was not unusual for María’s neighbor to ask for her help with a minor task she could probably do herself but really just wanted company. Plus, Miss Miriam often had some tidbit of amusing neighborhood gossip.
“Would you mind if I run next door and see what Miss Miriam wants?” María asked as she set the groceries on the kitchen counter.
“No, go ahead. I’ll put these away.” Isabella blew María a kiss.
María hopped down the steps and hurried to her neighbor’s front door.
“What can I help you with tonight, Miss Miriam?”
“I thought you should know someone was lookin’ for you about an hour ago. Her name was Erin O’Donnell, a cop. Didn’t say she was a cop but made sure I saw the badge. Nice looking. About your age, honey. Red hair. I’ll bet she’s Irish. Drove a black car.”
“Did she say what she wanted to talk to me about?”
“She asked me to give you a note, but when I said something about your wife, Isabella, she took the note back and added the part about the ex right here.” Miss Miriam produced the note and pointed to the addition of ex- above spouse. “She acted real strange about it.”
“Thanks.” María was not surprised by Miss Miriam reading the note but had no intention of discussing her marital status with the neighbor. “Now, what do you need my help with?”
“I just promised I would give this to you the minute you came home. You go on now.” It was clear to Miss Miriam that María would not be offering any information about the note or the visit by a cop.
María returned home, shaking her head as she walked into the kitchen where Isabella had settled with a cup of tea.
“We have a problem,” María declared as she showed Isabella the note and repeated what Miss Miriam had said.
They grabbed a computer tablet, quickly finding Erin O’Donnell’s name listed as an employee of a federal law enforcement agency. Apprehension gripped them both.
“What are we going to do? Why are they looking for Jirafa?” Isabella was near tears.
“I have no idea. Now the feds think you and I are married. That does not look good at all. We need to sign these papers and file them as soon as possible. And, I need to warn Jirafa the feds were here. I don’t want her in trouble. We did not do anything wrong, but I don’t want to talk to anyone until she and I are on the same page.”
“Where is she?”
“She’s out on a job. Not due back until next week. I’ve called her a couple of times and texted her, but no response. I assumed she was off the grid, but then I saw a picture of her online. I’m positive it’s her. She was with Jamie Jordan, the actor, at an art gallery. I’ll find it.” María searched for the picture to show Isabella. “It’s definitely her, right?”
“If it’s not, then she has an identical twin. A much better dressed twin. That’s definitely her dimple. Hair’s shorter than the last time I saw her, but that’s not unusual for her. What’s she doing holding hands with Jamie Jordan at an art show?”
“Right? I don’t know, but she finds herself in some pretty interesting situations with her job. Anyway, I need to talk to her before anything else happens.”
María spent the next hour making phone calls and sending texts to mutual friends and Jirafa’s work colleagues. Finally, a colleague texted back explaining he dropped Jirafa at a diner just north of Crestwood three weeks prior. The plan was for her to meet up with a ride to a remote field study site. He heard no more so he figured she made it and was out of touch for a while. Unfortunately, he could not remember the name of the person picking her up.
“What do you think I should do?” María asked Isabella.
“This gallery is in Crestwood. Why would she still be there?”
“Why doesn’t she answer her phone or texts? None of it makes sense. And now the feds seem to be looking for her, through me.” María found a map of Crestwood on her phone app. “Depending on traffic and construction, it’s about a day’s drive.”
“Do you want to try to find her? I don’t think I can take off from work.” Isabella implicitly gave María permission to conduct a search for Jirafa.
“I’ll start out early in the morning.” María took Isabella’s hands in hers and kissed Isabella softly on the lips. “Thanks, babe, I appreciate your support. We need to clear this up.”
“It’s my future, too. Plus, now we’ll worry about her until we find out what the heck is going on.”
Isabella grabbed a suitcase from the hall closet and followed María upstairs. The cats sniffed the bag as the couple made quick work of packing clothes and essentials. María looked with deep affection at her partner of nearly two years. They had moved to their new home two months prior and María looked forward to starting a family with this beautiful, gentle woman. There was just one small detail to take care of first—finalizing her divorce from Jirafa.
Jirafa was part of the package deal when Isabella met María. While liking your partner’s wife might seem strange to other people, in this case it was the way to María’s heart. Besides, Isabella enjoyed Jirafa’s company, and Jirafa had been nothing but kind, thoughtful, and generous to her.
María pulled Isabella into her arms, instigating a long, slow kiss. There was no urgency, but there was an intention.
“Mi alma...mmmm.” María nuzzled Isabella’s neck as she lay her partner gently onto the bed. “I’ll finish packing later.”
***
CHIEF CALLED JAMIE late in the evening. With Max was already in bed, Jamie put Chief on speaker phone.
“Erin says this María Garcia is married, apparently not to Boo. If you are divorced, Boo, this may still be her. Otherwise, it’s not our gal. Hopefully she’ll call Erin either way. In the meantime, we’ll follow up tomorrow on some of Shon’s other leads. I’m sorry I don’t have better news.”
“Thanks, Chief. I really appreciate you trying.” Boo’s shoulders sank and her head drooped.
“Thanks, Chief. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” Jamie ended the call and moved closer to Boo on the sofa. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m sure we’ll find her. I’m just confused. The address sounded familiar.” Tears of frustration filled Boo’s eyes.
Jamie stroked Boo’s head and rubbed her muscled arm until Boo finally gave in and laid her head in Jamie’s lap.
“Boo, look at me, please?” Jamie lifted Boo’s head until their eyes made contact. “Stay with me tonight.”
Boo understood she was being invited into Jamie’s bed. She realized this was the only thing Jamie could think of at this point to comfort Boo and make sure she did not feel alone. Resisting the urge to kiss Jamie had become a daily challenge. This invitation presented the ultimate test of her self-restraint.
Seeing the conflict on Boo’s face, Jamie addressed the unspoken.
“Boo, I’m not expecting you to have sex with me. I just don’t want you to be alone tonight, and, truth be told, I don’t want to be alone tonight either. I want to hold you. Please let me?” Jamie expressed her own vulnerability in hopes Boo would stop resisting.
“Okay,” was the only word Boo could manage as she stood to follow Jamie.
Once in the bedroom, Jamie disappeared into the bathroom to wash her face and change into pajamas. When she emerged, Boo was lying, fully clothed, on top of the bed covers. Jamie lay down on the bed allowing Boo to snuggle next to her. Placing one arm under Boo’s head, Jamie pulled Boo close.
Neither woman was sure how much she would sleep. The closeness provided the comfort each sought, but also kindled the flames of attraction igniting between them.