4

 

I was close enough to Almanzo’s truck to see that the smears on his broken window looked a lot like blood when a motorcycle gunning well past the speed limit of thirty miles an hour bore down on me. In the dark, the sound of the engine and the single eye of the headlamp held me in a trance.

The next thing I knew the air whooshed from my lungs and there was a light show inside my skull. My shoulder might have been broken. I rolled over, gasping, and stopped mid-gag at the wonderful vision of the softest velveteen eyes. Not even my mother could have looked so concerned and loving. I beamed in spite of the pain.

“You’re smiling. You must be all right,” Adam said from above me, where he hovered protectively.

My hero. Stars kept revolving around his head. My cheek felt raw in the cold.

“Are you?” He peered more closely.

“Oh, yes,” I said. I raised my face toward his. He turned up his lips hesitantly, slowly.

Then some rude person in shiny black shoes shined a light on me.

I winced again. Adam rolled away and got to his knees. “Just stay still, Ivy. Wait for the paramedics.”

“What? What happened?” I ignored him and lifted myself to sitting. I touched my head. No blood. “Are you all right?” I asked him.

“Yeah, fine.”

Officer Gonzalez held out her hand. She gave me what passed for an on-duty look of appreciation. “You stopped our jewel thieves,” she said while helping me get to my wobbly-kneed feet. “At least, one of them.”

Adam threw a jacket around my shoulders. I flinched again at the stabbing hurt of my right shoulder and flexed my elbow and fist. Then I inhaled. Mmm…his coat by the scent.

Snap out of it!

“I did?”

The piercing red strobes of other police cars and grunts and curses presumably from the thieves commandeered my attention. I looked around, wonderingly.

“As I was ready to leave I saw you about to get run over,” Adam said, “so I came after you.”

“Shoved you out of the way,” Davidson said, shaking his head. “Saved your life.”

“You did?” I said to Adam. In the flashlight glow his cheeks grew ruddy. But that could have been from the cold.

“I heard sirens and looked out the window,” Adam said.

“We were in pursuit of robbery suspects fleeing Gleason’s Fine Gems,” Davidson said with a grin that went straight at one look from his boss. “One fled. Backup is in pursuit while we provide assistance at the scene.”

This really had to be his first night. He looked so proud of himself.

Chatter on her shoulder mic made Gonzalez narrow her eyes. “Hold here a moment, folks.” She nodded at Davidson who stopped rocking and planted himself like a fence to keep us in. Like a herd of cows facing away from the wind we all watched Gonzalez wrap up the mess in the street from the motorcycle crash Adam and I inadvertently caused and the handcuffing and removal of one of the riders accused of robbing a jewelry store three blocks away.

I felt the lump growing on the back of my head while perusing the truck, which made me think of something else. “Mem? Isis? They’re still inside?” I whispered to Adam.

“With Donald,” he whispered back.

Two police cruisers roared off. Someone else was snapping photos while another officer swept glass from the street. Gonzalez strode our way.

She hefted the heavy torch light she carried and snapped it toward Almanzo’s truck window and the blood. “Now, then. Care to tell us about that?”

Almanzo stepped into the light. “That’s my truck, and I have no idea how that got there. Officer, I’d like to report a break-in. And a robbery. And, uh, vandalism.”

Gonzalez pointed her light toward him. “I see.” She signaled to her partner. “Officer Davidson will take your statement.”

“Officer, can we get out of the cold? Miss Preston needs medical attention.”

“No, I don’t! Need attention, that is.” I clutched Adam’s coat tighter. “I saw the broken window. That’s why I came out here. Is Adelaide all right? Did anyone find her?”

Gonzalez snapped to attention. “Who’s that? Someone’s in there?” She shined the light back on the truck. “Get back, people. This is a crime scene.”

“Adelaide is my cat, remember?” Pfannie joined our little soiree.

The light shone on Pfannie, highlighting her faux fur short white coat and red heels that glittered like Dorothy’s ruby slippers and matched her fingernails.

“I’m sorry, your cat? The one that was missing earlier?”

“Still is, ma’am,” Almanzo put in. “Missing, I mean. Cat is missing. Not Pfannie. She’s right there.”

Swiveling my head to scowl at him hurt.

Adam put his hands on my shoulders. “Let’s get you back inside.”

Gonzalez was calling for other backup while Almanzo and Pfannie spoke earnestly to Davidson. No one was paying attention to us.

“Adam, wait. I came out here for a reason. I want to look around for a few minutes.” I was wearing his coat. “You’ve got to be freezing. Go ahead back inside.”

He hunched against the breeze with his hands in his pockets. “How about I grab a jacket and come back?”

He didn’t ask what I was looking for or wait for my response before hotfooting back across the street. I watched him with unabashed hero worship. Mom had gotten her power prayer pals on the prayer chain to hold me up to the Lord in good decision making since before Stanley was history. Maybe it was working. I had gradually lapsed in Sunday attendance at the church where I’d grown up since Stanley was often gone and I sometimes worked. But with Donald’s encouragement in Apple Grove, I hoped to reverse that.

I stared, unfocused, while visions of children playing with new toys near a Christmas tree danced in my head. They all had thick curling brown hair and merry gray eyes. Strains of Handel played softly in the background.

Adam returned before my mental Hallelujah concluded.

“Ivy?”

I shook off the dream of little girls in ruffly red plaid nighties.

“You’re interested in something out here?” Adam reminded me. “By the way, Donald says Memnet and Isis are behaving themselves.” He grinned. “As long as Tut plays peacekeeper.”

“What would we ever do without Donald and Tut?” I fluttered my lashes while echoes of our children’s holiday glee reverberated in my mind. Maybe I could do long-distance. It hadn’t been ideal with Stanley, but with Adam…

His expression became impassable. “You’re sure you’re OK?” He reached to touch the side of my head above and behind my ear. “I’m sorry I tackled you that hard, but when I saw that cycle and police car bearing down on you, I went into overdrive.” He swallowed.

“You saved my life.”

“I hope your boyfriend appreciates it.”

My insides went jelly. Adam wanted to be my boyfriend? So soon? Yes! I turned my nose into the collar of his jacket and smiled shyly. “Me too.” I followed that train of thought toward Almanzo and Pfannie who seemed to be at an impasse with a pen-waving Davidson. “Here.” I stepped closer to the other side of the truck parked against the curb. “Look at the window.” Obvious cat paw and nose smears marked the inside.

“That could be from Bojangles.”

I shook my head. “Ms. Bojangles has a grayish pelt. See, on the broken glass? There’s white strands of hair. And, look. The blood drops go this way.” I squatted in the shadow of the street light and the truck.

“We should wait for the police,” Adam whispered. “That other thief is still out there. And you’re hurt.”

“I’m not.” My mind was already following the trail. Whose blood was it? “Adelaide is probably hurt, bleeding.” I crouched and peeked at Almanzo who was waving his hands. “And the police car is chasing the crook.”

“You can’t impound my truck,” Almanzo shouted. “I have job sites to go to. How am I supposed to get to work without my truck?”

Pfannie stood there, blowing on her fingers.

“And neither of you heard anything?” Davidson said. “What time, again, did you park here? If it was before six, you may have a parking fine.”

“Of all the things to worry about!” Pfannie said through chattering teeth. “Aren’t you going to look for my cat?”

“You should be more worried about your boyfriend,” Almanzo retorted. “A missing cop is way more important that a missing cat.”

Adam stilled. His concern made me feel all warm and toasty. When new flashing lights careened up the street to stop next to the truck and the police officers, I whispered to Adam. “No one is paying any attention to us. This way. Let’s follow the blood.”

“We should let them follow the blood.”

“Them?” I scoffed. “They’re going to argue some more, take fingerprints and evidence, then probably tow the truck. Meanwhile, the trail is getting cold.”

“How do you know so much?” he asked while we chicken hopped along into the shadow of the next storefront.

I couldn’t very well offer him my “wise” expression from the back, so I murmured, “Picked it up by osmosis from my mom.”

“She’s a cop? Policeman…woman…officer?”

“Professor. Criminal justice. Here. Look.” A half block down, the blood drips stopped. I examined a four-inch diameter bare tree trunk planted in the ground between the sidewalk and the curb. “I think this is more of Adelaide’s hair.”

“There’s no blood with it. She must not have been hurt. She couldn’t have broken the window herself, gotten out, and then tried to climb a tree. Do you think someone tried to steal her?”

“She’s not that valuable. Not even purebred.” I didn’t touch the cluster of cat fur, but I did get up close and personal with the tree trunk in the minimal light from the nearby travel agency’s theft-deterrence glow.

“Looks like someone picked up Adelaide and drove away.”

“A rescue? We should check the shelters in the morning,” Adam said. “Oh-oh.” He pulled me into a darkened doorway.

We watched two new police officers shine flashlights around Almanzo’s truck. One of them picked up the blood trail and pointed toward us. I pushed tighter against Adam.

“Hey!” He held up his hands and I backed away. “I don’t want to get in trouble here.”

Puzzled, I was about to ask what he was talking about when once again we were interrupted by bright lights. “What’s going on here?” a stern voice demanded. “No loitering. No lewd behavior. Move away from the door, hands where we can see them.”

Was that what Adam meant? I suddenly started to sweat. My head ached, and my neck was stiffening, and my cheek raw meat. I slowly held up my hands as I saw in the movies and stepped away from the darkened store. Adam followed suit.

The light focused on my face. I hadn’t thought about what I might look like after being tackled.

“Ma’am, are you all right? Do you need help? Keep coming.”

I couldn’t see who was talking due to the light. I blinked and turned my face.

Another voice addressed Adam. “Sir, step away from her. That’s right. Over there. Hands out.”

“Is this man bothering you?” the first voice asked.

Well, yeah, but not that way. I hesitated a second too long, long enough to put my would-be protectors on edge.

Adam snorted, not helping his case. The second officer drew his weapon.

“Wait,” I said, lowering my hands to plead with them. The weapon’s beady eye wavered toward me and I raised them again. “He’s not bothering me. He just saved my life.”

“That’s how your face got scraped?” Officer One said. “He hit you? Pushed you against the wall? To save you?”

“No, no,” Adam said.

“You, quiet,” Officer Two said.

“Let her speak,” One said.

“This is a mistake,” I said. “Ask Officer Gonzalez over there.” I pointed behind them, and good guys that they were, they didn’t blink or turn.

“Ask her what,” One said.

“About all this. I was the one who stopped the jewel thieves. I mean,” I nodded at Adam, “we were. We were the ones who caused them to crash.”

“With your face,” Two said, deadpan.

“I tackled her,” Adam said. “That’s how she got hurt.”

This time the officers looked at each other then back at us.

“Officer Gonzalez can explain,” I said.

“Did you want this man to…to tackle you?” Officer Two asked. “Is he your pimp?”

“We’re wasting time! Adelaide’s trail is already cold!”

“Who’s Adelaide?” Officer One said.

“A cat.” Gonzalez had come to check out the disturbance. She flashed her light on the dried drops of blood which looked darker the longer they dried. Her light made a pattern over the ground, then flashed on me. “You saw this? And followed?”

I nodded. With a sideways glance at Officers One and Two I slowly let my hands fall.

“Yeah, yeah. Lower your hands,” Gonzalez said. She moved the light against the young tree trunk where the cluster of silky white hairs stuck on a twig.

“These two claim they were involved in the heist?” Two said, not letting down his guard.

“Yeah, the stop,” Gonzalez replied as an afterthought. “They’re legit.”

“Looks like the victim was picked up here. Is that what you think?” She illuminated my feet before going back to the curb.

“Yes,” I said firmly with a fleeting flash of pride I wanted to share with Adam.

Gonzalez nodded, assessing me. “No blood with the hairs. Or on the trunk.”

“No claw marks, either,” I said. “I don’t think she could have climbed the tree and been forcibly removed. I think the person carrying her accidently brushed against the tree while opening the door. Maybe.”

“Maybe,” Gonzalez conceded. “Adelaide was declawed?”

I shook my head. “I don’t think so. Pfannie talked about her scratching new leather furniture.”

“This blood might be from our perpetrators. We’ll check it out. Did anyone notice what kind of vehicle was parked here?”

My high spirits fell. “I didn’t.”

“We’ve been inside Hooper’s Animal Haven at a Christmas party,” Adam said.

“I remember.” Her dry voice let us know she hadn’t gotten over the misleading call. “OK, Greer, Fellents, notes and photos, bag the evidence.”

“You don’t think this has anything to do with the jewelry store robbery, do you?” I asked.

“What makes you say that?” Gonzalez replied. “You two,” she said, pointing at me and Adam, “come with me.”

We followed like contrite children back toward Hooper’s. “I told you so” emanated from Adam. Or maybe it was my guilty conscience. He had been right, and I hadn’t trusted him. I peeked at him sideways.

Then again, that didn’t mean I couldn’t trust men in general. Did it?

A tow truck winched Almanzo’s fancy four-wheel-drive extended cab long bed with the turquoise racing stripes. We waited for another car to pass before crossing back to Hooper’s and the cats who kept vigil in the window. I waved at them.

“I have a Siamese at home,” Gonzalez said.

Impressed, I asked her pet’s name.

“Tuptim.”

Ah. The hardened officer wasn’t so tough after all. I was about to invite her to consider joining CAT when she went back on alert.

The passing car slowed to a crawl, its driver rubber-necking, then stopping.

Gonzalez crouched and motioned to us to stay back. The car door opened. A male voice said, “I can explain—”

“Sir, you are causing a traffic safety hazard. Please get back in your vehicle and drive to a protected area before stopping.”

A booted and jeaned leg showed. “I’m the one—”

“Get back inside!”

“I have—”

“Now!”

The man put up his hands, one covered in fresh, white gauze. “OK, yes, sure. I’m sorry. I’m moving.”

Something white fell to the ground. The man didn’t seem to notice. He reached for his car door, eyes on the irate police officer.

A shadow from the recesses of another shop, this one unlit, slipped out.

“Did you see that?” I whispered to Adam. “We should say something.” I took a step.

“Everyone! Stay where you are! Nobody move! You there…on the sidewalk. Stop what you’re doing.”

Chatter on Gonzalez’s mic came through after some static. “Confirmed. Gleason’s robbery accomplice vehicle identified as late model midnight blue four door, static, Illinois license beta one static static…”

Adam and I slowly faced each other. I widened my eyes. Blue car, like the one in front of us. America Remembers Illinois license plate B1C…the rest was covered in slush.

Heels clattering on pavement reached my side.

“Rolf? Honey, is that you?” Pfannie called.