After issuing a warning to a speeder on Adams Street, Kate returned to her vehicle. She checked the clock on her dashboard: 3:40 p.m.
Without any urgent call to respond to, she decided to stop by her house to see if she could find incriminating evidence about Matt’s potential affair while he was still at work. She hadn’t had a chance to do it the previous evening because Kenny had needed her to run errands with him. And by the time she made it back home—after a few card games to cheer Kenny up—she was plain exhausted, and Matt was dead asleep.
But now was a different story. She was in work mode, her senses sharp, and her desire to uncover the truth unstoppable.
Maybe he’d stashed some photos of large-breasted Sam somewhere. Maybe he’d kept a pair of her undies…
Better not. I don’t know how I’d react if I found those in our home.
If Matt had been having an affair, knowing about it for certain could ease her mind. Maybe. It would most definitely destroy their marriage. It would further complicate the situation with the baby she was carrying. But what would become of her self-esteem?
That was a separate issue.
The psychiatrist she’d seen for years had done a pretty good job at convincing her that she wasn’t to blame for people disappearing from her life, but having a husband cheating on her was much, much harder to dissociate from her personal history.
She parked her patrol car a block from her apartment. While she technically could have parked in one of the tow-away zones closer without any trouble, she didn’t want to push it. She was already abusing her privileges by stopping by her house in the middle of a shift.
After walking up the stairs to her floor, Kate unlocked the door and let herself in.
She tried to look at her apartment with new eyes.
The place still reeked of stale cigarette smoke. Although they themselves didn’t smoke, they’d never gotten rid of the previous tenant’s odor. Even after a few bottles of Febreze, the smell lingered as though there were a secret source she couldn’t root out.
She went through the pockets of Matt’s jacket, which hung by the door, and found nothing but a pair of gloves, a used tissue, and a spare set of keys.
In the living room, her books were neatly arranged on the end of a shelf, occupying very little space compared to Matt’s video game and DVD collection.
That’s another place where we could trim the fat. Maybe try to sell some on eBay or something.
Matt’s precious couch looked too big for the room and the small side table where the remote and her husband’s game controller rested. On the opposite wall hung Matt’s flat screen TV next to their wedding picture. How clueless she’d been on that day. Kate could hardly believe how happy she seemed. If she’d known then what she did now about how their relationship would go, she wouldn’t have smiled so much.
Physically, Matt hadn’t changed a bit since that day. He was still handsome. Kate always thought he looked a little like a young Patrick Dempsey.
But enough reminiscing. Matt could arrive home at any time, so she only had a few more minutes to find something.
Kate headed to the bathroom and went through the two drawers and vanity cupboards. Nothing of note. There was an old box of condoms, and after checking the box and realizing they were more than a year past their expiration date, she tossed them in the garbage. She and Matt had stopped using them shortly after she’d gotten on the pill. That was quite a while back. At least he hadn’t used them with someone else…
Kate entered their bedroom. Matt got half of the closet and the top half of the drawers in their tall dresser. She opened the top drawer, where he kept his underwear and socks. Since Kate was too short to see the drawer’s contents from above (she normally tossed whatever underwear she’d washed and dried in the drawer without looking), she decided to pull out the entire drawer and set it down on the bed. Almost immediately she noticed the fake back.
What? With her husband’s limited woodworking skills?
Surprising.
But there weren’t any incriminating pictures or ladies’ panties in there. The hidden compartment was empty except for a few sheets of paper and two plastic bags that were rolled up and wrapped with rubber bands. Although the plastic was see-through, there were so many layers of it rolled together that Kate couldn’t make out the contents.
What is it? Weed?
She removed the elastic from the first mystery package and unrolled it to find a few smaller plastic bags, which she dumped on the faded comforter. Each of them contained tiny pastel-colored pills…
A split second later, she opened the second bag: a disassembled pill dispenser and glue.
“Fucking dick!” Kate said aloud.
She didn’t have the money to have them analyzed, but she didn’t need to. It was obvious what was going on here.
What kind of a husband does that?
Aren’t these things supposed to be tamper-proof?
She had a look at the pieces of paper he’d hidden. Nothing other than tampering instructions written by an amoral eBay seller.
“Argh!” she yelled as she crumbled to her knees next to the bed.
Her radio screeched for her attention, requesting support from all available units for a robbery in progress.
Although her blood boiled, she unclenched her fists. With her fingers shaking, she carefully repackaged his lies and returned the drawer and its dark secrets to their rightful spot.
Back in her car, with the lights flashing, Kate sped to the address provided by the dispatcher while the siren overhead drowned out her angry cries.
She arrived at the scene just as the sergeant ordered support units to stand down. The situation was under control and the suspect had been apprehended, so help was no longer needed. Kate figured she’d have a look since she was already there. She parked diagonally next to another patrol car and stepped out of her vehicle just as a handcuffed man escorted by three of her colleagues walked out of a jewelry shop. The dark-haired man in cuffs towered over the officers next to him.
For a second, she thought it was her husband. The man was about six-feet tall, dark, and handsome, just like Matt, but he was wearing scrubs. She squinted for a better look at his face, but it was pointless. He was too far.
What went down here? Did the man try to steal an engagement ring for his fiancée? Is this what real love makes poor people like me do?
The law-abiding side of Kate took over and shut down her romantic daydreaming. She approached the officer in charge of the scene to see if there was anything she could help with but was turned down.
Kate went back to her vehicle as her thoughts returned to Matt’s unscrupulous behavior.
How could he even do that?
But now was not the time to let her anger loose. She had to focus on work and forget about what she’d just discovered.
The dashboard clock indicated that the race she’d been assigned to help with was nearing its start.
As hateful thoughts bounced in her head, she realized there was no word to describe how low Matt had stooped. With his manipulative actions, he’d destroyed every single ounce of trust she had in him.
With her heart stinging in her chest, Kate restarted her car, turned off her patrol lights, and rejoined the traffic, slowly driving past the crowd of casual onlookers that had accumulated nearby. When she finally cleared the group, she sped up and headed toward the meet-up point to be briefed.
At least the race would give her time to digest her discovery about Matt’s devious plan.
After attending the pre-race meeting, Kate proceeded to the intersection she’d been assigned to block and monitor for the duration of the charitable event.
During the first thirty minutes, as the sun set over Boston, she cheered while watching people of various fitness levels run by her with their four-legged companions. Some runners had taken their kids along. Some had flashlights strapped to their heads; some relied on just the streetlights. At least this part of town had all of them in working conditions.
Shit.
She made another mental note to report those burnt out near her apartment. But screams emanating from the nearby park interrupted her thoughts.
A man spoke over the walkie-talkie, “A dog just fell between checkpoints five and six. He’s not bleeding, just shaking and convulsing. Requesting a vet.”
Odd. That was probably what those screams were about.
Checkpoint five was just a few hundred feet away.
The walkie-talkie screeched again, this time with a female voice saying, “A dog just fell near checkpoint twenty. Do we have another vet available?”
Dogs don’t normally keel over like that, right?
How can two unlikely incidents occur so close to each other?
Then something clicked: the animal killer.
And just as the idea occurred to her, she spotted a little toy poodle coming her way in front of its owner. The dog’s strides were erratic, then it tripped, collapsed, and began convulsing.
She was about to report it to the race coordinators, but then got on her police radio instead. “This is Harry-145, acting as safety officer for the Happy Doggy Race in Ronan Park. At least three dogs have collapsed in the span of a minute. The area is packed with runners and their dogs. I’m not sure what is happening. I’ll report again when I find out more.”
Kate broadcast the nearby collapsed dog on the walkie-talkie, then left her intersection. She would be a lot more useful at the scene.
Another voice chimed in on the walkie-talkie as she made her way toward the toy poodle. “We have another collapsed dog between checkpoints twenty-two and twenty-three.”
When Kate reached the toy poodle, she placed her hand on the owner’s shoulder. The petite woman in pink Spandex gear was bawling.
“Duke Westshire, wake up! Wake up, sweetie!” She wiped tears from her cheeks with one hand as she petted her furry friend with the other.
“What happened here?” Kate asked. “I saw your dog collapse.”
“I don’t know!” she cried. “Duke Westshire! Wake up!”
“I already requested a vet. Let’s try to calm down. Deep breaths. Did you feed him something special today?”
As the woman in pink grew hysterical, rocking her dog in her arms, another woman spoke up. She, too, had taken her small dog in her hands, and a vertical line separated her eyebrows. “All sorts of people have been petting and offering treats to various dogs. With all due respect, Officer, I don’t think Elsa will be able to answer your questions.”
Kate nodded and thanked the woman before standing up.
“Shit,” Kate muttered under her breath as bloody drool dripped from the poor poodle’s mouth. His eyes were moving erratically, as though possessed by an evil spirit.
Johnston spoke next on the walkie-talkie, first identifying himself, then reporting, “We have a serious situation on our hands. I just saw a veterinarian pronounce two dogs dead. I believe someone’s targeting the animals here tonight. Possibly with poisoned treats. Whatever it is, it’s fast-acting.”
Thirty long seconds elapsed before anyone else came on the air.
Nearby runners, who’d stopped to observe the scene and overheard the last radio transmission, stared in stunned silence, holding their dogs for dear life. Bystanders around Kate started weeping. Hysterical screams pierced the air as Kate tried to reassure them.
But how could she? What could she say that would reassure anyone when she didn’t know anything herself?
“The race is officially canceled,” a male voice reported on the walkie-talkie. “All safety personnel are to immediately spread the news and instruct people to leave the race and not let anyone feed their dogs anything. Once runners have cleared the path, all race personnel are to report to the starting line as soon as possible.”
A series of “affirmatives” filled the airwaves, and Kate lowered her walkie-talkie volume before getting on her police radio.
“This is Harry-145. Following my previous report. The Happy Doggy Race is officially canceled. Several dogs have died. Causes of deaths unknown. No human casualties have been reported, only dogs. I repeat negative on human casualties, just dogs.”
Then Kate began to follow the orders announced by the race officials, strongly encouraging people to head home right away.
She returned toward the woman in pink Spandex. She was now rocking her immobile dog in her arms, bawling her eyes out.
It was clear her dog had stopped moving and breathing.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Kate said before kneeling next to her. “I’m going to need you to leave this area now. The race is officially canceled. Please go back home. I’m certain the organizers will be in touch as soon as they have some information to report back to you.”
The woman was deaf to Kate’s words, but Kate knew it wasn’t out of spite. The woman was just in shock.
Kate gave the woman time to register the information and was glad to see the woman’s friend coming toward her, her phone against her ear.
The other runners had left, signaling to Kate that the safety personnel manning prior checkpoints had advised everyone of the situation. So, other than helping the woman who’d just lost her dog, Kate’s tasks for the race were mostly over.
And just as the woman finally managed to get up, a TV reporter wearing jeans, a white shirt, and a navy blazer showed up with his cameraman. The red light on the camera indicated it was rolling.
Shit. Is this live footage?
“I’m near Ronan Park where the Happy Doggy Race was holding its annual fundraiser to help rescue animals, but this evening turned out to be far from happy. We just heard that several dogs collapsed and died during the race.”
The reporter then moved his attention to Kate, his microphone tilting toward her as he stepped closer. The cameraman followed him.
“Officer, can you give us more information?” the reporter asked Kate.
She shook her head, then moved her hand to block her face, her palm facing the camera. “I’m sorry. I have no information to share.”
She knew that talking to the media without permission, or without being briefed ahead of time was a big no-no. Handling public relations or any other PR jobs like news interviews was a role left to leadership. Not her. And she was already in plenty of trouble with her colleagues and supervisor without adding this to the list.
No way she was going to make it worse.
Then her police radio crackled again with another report by Johnston, so she returned to the privacy of her vehicle to keep the discussion out of the range of the reporter or his microphone.
She had to talk to her colleagues and see how they were going to handle their report on the race that had gone all wrong.
By the time Kate parked near the starting line and entered the school where race officials had gathered, the air was buzzing with alarm.
Johnston spotted Kate, waved at her, and then approached.
“How fucking crazy is this shit?” he asked. “So much for a quiet assignment.”
His phone beeped before Kate had time to say anything. Not that she knew what to say anyway.
“Argh!” Johnston exclaimed.
“What’s wrong?” Kate asked.
“My son. I hate that he has a cellphone. He managed to talk his mom into getting one. He’s nine fucking years old! He doesn’t need a cellphone!”
Kate’s eyebrows and shoulders went up, but she kept silent as Johnston texted his son back. Once he finished his message, he looked at Kate again.
“So, he knows about the dead dogs. He’s worried about Rory, our dog.” He shook his head before adding, “Fuck!”
Kate nudged him on the shoulder with her fist. “Come on. Not much you can do about it. A lot of crazy energy around here. You want to step outside for a sec?”
Johnston nodded as he put his phone away.
The two of them exited the building just as a now-familiar face from Animal Control walked in.
“Hey, Jerry!” Kate said, stopping in the doorway, surprised to see him again.
“Officer Murphy… We seem to cross paths a lot these days. About that—”
“No. I wanted to thank you for reporting it.”
“I couldn’t not report it. Hope it didn’t make things worse for you, though.”
Kate didn’t want Johnston to overhear, so she changed topics. “You’re here for the dogs I assume.”
“Yep. It’s getting worse by the day, I swear.”
“Didn’t you say you hired two other people? Why is it that I only see you?”
He giggled before answering. “I’m the one in charge, so I get to pick and choose who gets what. Safe to say I no longer handle skunks and other stinky roadkill. I choose the calls that excite my curiosity instead. Like the one at your station, and now this…”
“So, what’s your take?” Kate asked.
“Crazy. I probably won’t be collecting any carcasses tonight unless some of the owners abandoned their dead pets behind, but I had to come as soon as I heard.”
Kate leaned closer to Jerry and lowered her voice, careful to avoid being overheard by the handful of civilians standing near them. “Between us, what do you think happened here?”
“Most likely poisoned. I’ve seen a shitload of large food bits and crumbs around dead birds, ducks, and squirrels. Probably some really fast-acting poison.”
“So, what now?” Johnston asked Jerry.
“No idea. I’ll just report to the race organizers. I doubt I’m needed here tonight, but when I saw it on the news, I simply couldn’t ignore it. Is the BPD doing anything about it now?”
Kate raised her hands in the air, shaking her head before exchanging looks with Johnston.
“Don’t know,” he said. “I’m afraid this is well beyond our pay grade.”
Kate knew she wouldn’t make it home anytime soon. Not with the dead dogs. Not with the late shift she’d just finished. But it was for the best, really. She wasn’t ready to confront Matt about the sugar pills in his drawer.
So instead, while sitting in her Subaru at the station, she got her phone out and started googling community health clinics and abortions.
She appreciated her uncle’s advice to keep the baby, but her husband’s lack of scruples and respect toward her changed everything.
With all the debates she’d had to listen to and participate in while at school, she never thought she’d find herself in a situation where she’d have to choose. Heck, she wasn’t even sure she knew where she stood in terms of whether or not a fetus was a life. But assuming it was, would she be ready to kill another human being to keep her job?
Presenting it as a choice between a job and a human life would be phrasing it very poorly, though.
What kind of a monster would I be for even considering this?
No, job versus life wasn’t an accurate summary of her conundrum. More than two options existed, and she’d be able to keep her job, baby or not. Nowadays, the force would get in big trouble if they fired her for getting pregnant.
No, she’d keep her job, but be temporarily stuck behind a desk, pushing paper until she’d physically recover.
The real obstacle wasn’t her job.
Her childhood wounds were the real reasons why she couldn’t decide right now.
Since Kate had lost her parents so early in life, she couldn’t even entertain the idea of going back to work after the baby’s birth. Keeping the baby meant becoming a stay-at-home mom, so her baby would get the attention she herself lost when she was only thirteen. She’d have to forget about her dreams, her ambition…
But Matt didn’t treat her with respect as it was, so why would he start treating her any differently after a kid entered the picture?
She could already hear him in her head, saying, “Woman, your baby’s crying. Make him shut up!”
No, she didn’t want that.
Her marriage was falling apart. If she were honest with herself, she’d acknowledge that it had been falling apart for months. Had it been built on a shaky foundation? Did she really know him before they tied the knot? Had he fooled her for two whole years while they were dating?
Where had the real Matt been during that time? Where did the sweet, romantic man she knew and fell in love with disappear to?
She shook her head, unable to answer her own questions.
So many things had gone wrong between the two of them. So many fights and arguments in the last year alone.
The pill tampering was far from the only thing on her mind. There was still that woman. Kate needed to know if Matt was sleeping with Sam. And Kate really had to decide what to do with the life growing inside of her.
Time was ticking.
What if she kept the baby, became a stay-at-home mom, then found out Matt was cheating on her? What if her husband were to leave her and the baby? Would Kate be able or willing to raise a kid alone?
And just like that, the mental image of her dead baby brother popped to mind again.
Would she be able to protect her own child? If someone broke into their apartment while they were sleeping or while a babysitter was taking care of her future son or daughter, could she live with losing her child? She’d barely survived losing her parents and baby brother…
Oh shit. What am I going to do?
And just then, Kate knew.
Instead of going home and dealing with an angry, unscrupulous, and manipulative husband who’d for sure complain about the absence of a hot dinner waiting for him, she would go talk to the only trustworthy person in her life.